Once again, I am sitting here thinking, how can another month go by?  Here is what Jackson has accomplished this month:

• He now weighs 18.5 pounds!
• He now wears 9 month clothing.
• Jackson can open his mouth when he sees the spoon.
• He now laughs all the time!  He is ticklish around his neck and laughs when we take off his clothes.  He finds it funny when I do sit ups and will laugh at me then.
• Jackson is now eating solids.  This month we have tried: cereal, peas, squash, avocados, and zucchini.  We like it all!!
• He now knows how to squeal and does it when he is happy, sad, frustrated, or bored!
• He is starting to teethe, so he is putting everything in his mouth and is drooling like crazy.
• Jackson is also becoming very shy.  When people smile at him, he tries to hide his face.
• Jackson’s first toy that he played with was a set of keys, now he loves playing with everything!

Thank you Jackson for teaching me so much about myself!  I am blessed to be your mommy!

This past week has been a week full of inspiration as I have attended three different events at church that have inspired me to be a better mother.  On Wednesday, my mom’s bible study meet to discuss Chapter 3 in our book on Feminism that Pope John Paul II wrote.  This chapter was on humility.  We talked about the joys of being a mother and the hardships we face.  Ultimately, as a mother you are faced with many tasks at hand and how you choose to accomplish those tasks are up to each individual.  Some mothers are able to work and still accomplish everything while others choose to stay at home and take care of the kids.  Sometimes we feel like our job goes unnoticed or unappreciated, but the real joy of accomplishment will come when we get our children to heaven.  Another thing we talked about was the pressures we felt to raise our children right and make sure we are doing all we can to raise Christian children.

When I first found out that Hollis and I were expecting a boy, I felt a lot of pressure.  How am I going to raise a boy to become a strong, Christian man?  One that every woman would want as the father to their children.  I didn’t know if I was cut out for the job.  I spent many nights talking to Hollis about this and trying to figure out what I need to do to be a better woman and mother for my son.  I am sure I would of felt some pressure if I was having a girl, but for some reason raising a son meant a lot more pressure to me.  I want him to be the perfect husband and father and I know that every thing I teach him at a young age will be carried with him as he starts a family of his own.

Once Jackson was born, I had the opportunity to join many mother groups at church and I now surrounded around many other women who struggle with the same “job”.  Through them I am able to hear ideas of how to raise a Christian son and how to enjoy every moment of it.

On Thursday morning Taryn and I enjoyed mass at a Catholic School and heard talks from a nun and priest there.  They also had many inspirational things to say about grattiude and the joy we should feel about being a mom and wife.  Sometimes we go through our days and don’t appreciate what we have.  I know there are many days that I do this.

Thursday night we had another incredible mom’s meeting for our group at church, Saint Anne’s Society.  Once again we learned about motherhood.  3 different people spoke on being a mother and we even had a personal testimony.  I walked away from the meeting feeling inspired to write this post and to commit to myself and my family to be a better mom.  In this promosie to myself, I knew there were things I needed to change.  The first change that needed to be made is to cut the stress out of my life.  I find myself constantly “testing or quizzing” Jackson to make sure he is on task with all others.  He might not be rolling over like other boys and girls his age, but he will get there. I am doing all I can as a mother and have to realize that God has a plan and will let our son learn new things when the time is right.  I also need to trust in myself and trust in God.  Becoming a mother has been by far the hardest, most rewarding job I have ever had.  I need to understand that unlike teaching, Jackson can’t tell me when I am doing something right or he can’t tell me he loves me yet.  One day he will be able to, and I can’t wait for that moment.

My blog stopped here, and then we meet for our couples bible study on Sunday night.  Once again we talked about trusting in God.  Our study was on Abraham and how he had to trust God in his decisions.  What a significant lesson to learn to wrap up our week?

I should end this blog, because I feel like I am beginning to ramble.  I feel like this week has been an inspirational one in many ways.  I am looking forward to reading the books that I bought this week that went along with the topics that were discussed and and I can’t wait to share my knowledge with my son and other mothers.  I am beyond blessed to have such an amazing family and support system.

How could you not be excited for 2012 after seeing that cute little face?!

Another year as come and go and what a year it has been!  This year has been a year full of growing (in many ways:  growing belly, growing family, growing faith and friends).

We welcomed in the New Year with another wonderful New Year’s Eve party.  This was our 4th year to have the party and it is always so much fun!  This year we had the biggest crowd yet, about 24 people.

What a wonderful year we had.  Here are the highlights of our year:

1.   January- we found out we were having a baby!!!

2.  February- we traveled to Burnett, TX with friends for a relaxing weekend.  We also heard our sweet baby’s heartbeat for the first time!

3.  March-  we took a trip across 6 states and visited many cities which include:  NY City, Atlantic City, Phillidelphia, Baltimore, and Washington DC.

4.  April- we traveled to College Station to watch Kayla get her Aggie ring!

5.  May- we celebrate 3 years of wonderful marriage!  We also found out we were having a boy!

6.  June- we took a trip to Concan, TX!

7. July- we were blessed with baby showers and setting up Jacksons room.

8.  August- JACKSON WAS BORN!!!  ( Can you guess which month is my favorite?)

9.  September-  we travled to many Aggie games!

10.  October-  we celebrated Jackson’s first Halloween.

11. November- we celebrated my 26th birthday!

12.  December- Our first CHRISTMAS as a family!

Some how time is flying by me and I feel like I am just a fly on the wall trying to catch it all.  What a wonderful holiday season we had with our son.  As a parent to a new born, I couldn’t wait for these days.  I found myself to be like a little kid, waiting to see what the holidays brought us.  I have looked forward to having a baby to celebrate Christmas with since we got married, and this year was our first.  Christmas 2011 will be one that I always remember.  I won’t remember it for any other reason than the love we felt during this time.  So many wonderful people gave our Jackson so many wonderful gifts to show their love for him.

We celebrated the season starting in early December and continued to celebrate through Christmas day.

December 9 -10:  Hollis and I had a Christmas party in Galveston, TX.  We stayed at the San Luis Resort and had a wonderful time.  It was our first night aways from Jackson and everything went smoothly.  We had a wonderful time!

December 8th:  Our bible study girls had an ornament and cookie exchange.  I walked away with a unique Owl ornament.  I loved it, but my sister-in-law would of been terrified.  (She is afraid of owls).

December 12th:  We celebrated Christmas with out Bible Study.  We had a wonderful time, opening up our gifts and playing our games!  We have been so incredible blessed to have these people in our lives.  I thank God everyday for them!

December 15th:  My mom’s group called Saint Anne’s Society had a cookie exchange and Christmas party!  It was so much fun!

December 16th:  We hosted a game night with our bible study and had so much fun.  We spent the night playing Scrabble, Logo, Pictoman, and the couch game!

December 17th:  Hollis, Jackson and I drove to College Station to attend the Grahams’ Christmas party.  We had a great time meeting new people and hanging out with Britany and Grant.  They are such wonderful people!

December 19th and 20th:  My niece Hailey and nephew Conner drove up to Houston with my mom to visit.  We had a great time attending Santa’s Wonderland in College Station and going to the Children’s Museum.  They have grown up so much!

December 23rd:  We had our first Christmas celebration with my family.  We were excited that it happened since Conner had been running a fever early.  The doctor told us it was a sinus infection and that he was allowed to be around Jackson.  What a relief!  We took family pictures in the afternoon, the last one we took was when Emma was born, and then we headed over to Granna and Pop Pop’s house for spaghetti dinner and gifts!

Jackson’s first Christmas gift

Emma and Jackson looking at one of his gifts

December 24th:  We started the morning with the Long Point Brunch.  We have been doing the brunch for 15 or so years now.  It started on the street that we grew up on and everyone would come over to my parent’s house on Christmas Eve to eat breakfast.  We have had so much fun doing it, that we didn’t stop when we moved from the street 11 years ago.  After the brunch, Hollis and I headed over to his family to visit, open up gifts and eventually go to Midnight Mass.  We had a wonderful time seeing his cousins and Aunt and Uncles.  Here is my favorite picture from that night.

December 25th:  We opened up gifts Christmas morning with my family and then headed over to Hollis’ parents house for Christmas lunch.  After lunch with his family we made our way back to my parents house for Chirstmas dinner with my grandparents and Aunt.

Happy Baby on Christmas Day

Our Family

Jackson with with Great Grandma, Gran, and Great Aunt

Jackson with his other great grandparents

What a wonderful Christmas that we had!  I can’t believe it is over.  Now it is time to count down for next year!

Our little man turned 4 Months Old on Christmas Eve!  What a fun month it has been!  Here are some things you learned this month:

• You now weigh 17 pounds and are in the 81%tile for weight.
• You are in the 80%tile for height.
• Your head is 18 inches around.  You are in the 99%tile for your head circumference.  They have me worried about your head size, but I think you will grow into it.  They just don’t realize how smart you are!
• You wear 9 month sleepers and 6 month clothing.
• You love attention and always wants us to stare at you.  When we don’t look at you, you start to fuss until I smile at you again.
• You love smiling at mom and dad. 
• You can now grab toys and your favorite toy to play with is your play keys.
• You laughed for the first time at your Granna.  She tickled you and you couldn’t stop laughing.  It was the best early Christmas gift!
• You turn towards sounds, especially the TV.
• You ate rice cereal for the first time on December 22, 2011.  You did a great job, but didn’t eat that much.
• You feel asleep at the dinning room table and gave us all a good laugh.

You continue to bless us and surprise us with everything you are learning.  We love you so much and can’t wait to watch you grow more!