Jaksen's 1st Birthday

Happy Birthday Jaksen!!! It's hard to believe our baby has already turned 1. It seems just like yesterday that he was a tiny little baby. They grow up so fast.
We are also happy to report that Jaksen started walking last Monday the 10Th. That was the first day I actually went back to work, and that is when he chooses to start walking. He was at home with Daddy that day, so he got to be the lucky witness to it all! Since then he has been on the go and does not want you to hold him much anymore. He has a new set of wheels and he wants to use them. He is really good at it too, considering he has not been walking very long. He has only had a few bumps and scrapes. He is also really trying to talk and say more words all the time. His main words are daddy, doggie, na-na (no-no), hi, bye, mama, and attempting to say brother and thank you.
Jaksen is truly a joy and has blessed our family in so many ways. We could not imagine life without him or Austen. They are really good brothers to each other. They play good together and both of them love to be the first person in the room when the other one wakes up. Jaksen loves to pick brother up from school and Austen is always checking on Jaksen asking him if he is OK. And if Jaksen coughs, Austen says, "Goodness Jaksen, are you OK?" Too cute and I am sure that is only the beginning!!




The start of the cake fun!!! Watch the mess unfold!




All done!!! Happy Birthday to me and that was some gooooood cake!

To Catch up and new swing set

We have not posted in a while as nothing too big has been going on. So we wanted to just catch everyone up on the boys with some random picks and few highlights over the past few weeks. We have taken the boys to Kiddie Park a few more times. They love it and it is cheap entertainment. One thing that we are excited about for Austen is that he finally started riding his John Deere Gator again. For the longest time he would not get on the thing and ride it around. Then one day out of the blue he decided he was ready to ride but only if Jaksen would ride with him. So we strapped them in and off they went. We have done many Gator rides since then and Austen is starting to figure out the whole steering thing.


These kids really go through phases. Another one for Austen was wearing a hat. You could not get a hat on that kid's head forever. All of the sudden one day, he wanted to wear a hat. He now has no problems putting one on when we go outside or go into to town for something. He will even ask his dad where his hat is if he is not wearing one.
Austen is also potty trained now, well at least half way. He is doing great with going tee-tee, but pooping is just not happening. Any suggestions on this. We try not to get too frustrated with him, because he really is doing well and he is not even three yet. But just the fact that he knows when he has to go but refuses to sit on the potty to do it is just a little frustrating. He will get there. Patience!
Jaksen is standing on his own and taking a few steps here and there. He likes to get behind walkers and go all over the house. Anytime now he will be doing it on his own. He has surprised us with a few words here lately. He says dog when he hears them bark and can identify ducks on the See and Say when you ask him where it is. He loves to tell you "Hi". He is always saying that and then gives you a big ol' hug when he says it.
We went to Dallas last weekend for Lucy's three year old Birthday party. It was a great party. They rented a party room with very large blow up jumping castles and slides. The kids loved it, even dad got in on the action and was having a blast. While we were there Grandy and Nana gave the boys their Birthday presents early. It was a swing set. We worked on it for three evenings and got it all put together pretty easily, which surprised us since Grandy and his two adult helpers had such a "hard" time with Lucy's. It is a great swing set and the boys love it. So far, the swings seem to be the favorite thing, although Austen likes the picnic table and Jaksen loves to crawl up the slide. Thanks Grandy and Nana!!!
Overall, things are good here. There always seems to be something going on, but what else is new with two little ones!

This was the when Austen decided he wanted to wear the hat. He loved the fact that he was vacuuming in his undies and hat.

Jaksen was very fussy and this is how he finally fell asleep. How sweet and silly is that!

How sweet is this!

We love movie time together!


Focus on the devil like horns that have formed in Jaksen's hair, need I say more!!!

We went to feed the ducks the other day, and just like at the beach Austen loved to chase the ducks and geese around the park! The geese would get close, but Austen was not scared at all.


Pics from Lucy's party!





We love our swing set! Thanks Nana and Nene!

The 4th

Happy late 4th to everyone! I am so slow with this blogging thing. Anyway, we had a good holiday. Adam's Dad (pawpaw) and his friend Janet came to visit us. We had a really good time. Pawpaw brought us watermelons, good Texas beer, and an ice cream maker. How did Pawpaw know I had been wanting an ice cream maker?! It feels like all we did all weekend was eat. Why does that happen on holidays and when family is around. On Saturday the 4th, we made a huge dinner. We had steak, squash, and beans, and to finish it off I made some homemade vanilla ice cream of course. It was all so yummy. The normal thing to do on the fourth is to pop fire works, but we did not know if Austen would like it or not. He is at that age where one day he likes something and then the next day he doesn't. Our neighbors had some sparklers and he gave us a few for Austen, and turned out he loved it! Pawpaw and Daddy decided to go get some sparklers and came back with all kinds of fireworks. They said the guy was practically giving them away. So we popped fireworks and Austen did his sparklers with a smile on his face the entire time. He also liked the popper things that when you throw them on the ground they pop and make a spark. He thought those were so cool! He went through about 3 boxes in a couple of minutes. He did not end up going to be until about 10:30. It was late but he had so much fun. It was worth it. And Jaksen, yeah he slept through it all. Poor thing has been pretty crabby lately. I think it is teeth getting to him. Hopefully it is not an ear infection:( Pawpaw had to leave on Sunday, and we were sad to see him go, but we had a great visit with him and Janet. Jaksen is on his way to walking. He is now able to stand up from a sitting position without holding onto anything. He is also starting to let go of things to stand on his own. He is so close and I am excited, but I think it will open up a whole new world of things for him to get into which will be just so much fun for us!! It is hot here in Oklahoma just like everywhere else, so it has been hard to get out and do much with the boys. I hope it does not stay like this all summer.
WE WOULD ALSO LIKE TO SAY HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO OUR GRANDY (NENE)!! HIS BIRTHDAY IS TOMORROW ON THE 9TH. WE LOVE YOU AND MISS YOU LOTS NENE! HOPE YOU HAVE A GREAT DAY!!

We found that Jaksen loves him some watermelon!!



Jaksen is also quite the little daredevil!! This is funny because Austen used to do the same thing on this 4 wheeler!!







Firwork fun!




Austen loved the poppy things. After he would throw them, he would make a fist and pull his arm down and say, "YES!"

Jaksen's 1st Haircut

Ok, so we finally did it. We took Jaksen to get his first haircut. It was beginning to look a little mullet like in the back especially when it was wet. There is a place in Bartlesville called Kiddooz Salon. It is all decked out like a jungle with TV's and video game consoles at each station. The kids can play games or watch DVD's while getting their haircut. Too bad Jaksen is not assumed by either one of those. But overall he did pretty good. We kept him occupied with food. Imagine that. He got to sit in the yellow Hummer Chair while getting his haircut. It was pretty cool. Austen would have nothing to do with it. If you do not know, Austen thinks he is being murdered when he gets a haircut. We took him once to this place and it was horrible. He screamed the entire time. We just stick to giving him cuts here at the house so no one has to bear the horror. So while Jaksen is in the back getting his haircut Austen stays to the front with the movie playing on the big TV. He is not chancing having to get into one of those chairs. We didn't cut too much hair off of Jaksen. The curls are just too cute to cut completely off. We got it out of his eyes and trimmed it up a tad and that is it. But it sure looks good.





And were done! Not too bad!!


Here is a glimpse of just how bad a haircut is for Austen. Good thing these pictures do not have sound. :( A little fuzzy but you get the idea.


Check out the cozy coupe we got for the boys the other day. These things brand new are $40 to $50. At a Bartlesville, OK garage sale you can get it for a buck. What a deal!! The boys love it.


Scary, huh? He already has bad driving habits. One hand on the wheel and the other out the window with one leg hiked up. He thinks he is cool.