.celebrate.

Before we get any further, let me just say:

Here or there or anywhere,

We do like Green Eggs & Ham

We do so like Hop on Pop, and

One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish...

Happy Birthday, Dr. Seuss!

That's right, the legend would be 107 today!  This may be as good a time as any to admit I am kiiiiiiind of obssessed with the world of Dr. Seuss. 

But while we're on the subject of birthdays, someone just maybe might be kind of turning a quarter of a century old this Sunday. 



Who? Meeee???

Yes, me! :)  I cannot BElieve how fast this past year has gone by!  It's insane.  What a year, though, right???  I mean, I kinda kept myself busy I do believe.  Here's the rundown:

• More fun with the man I love :)
• Expecting :)
• Goin' to the chapel and we're.....
• Let's buy a house!
• Let's gut and remodel said house in a month's time!
• And baby makes three!

Okay???  Bit of a big year.

So, I'm looking to 25 to be a little more laid back.  Perhaps a few more creatively cheap (but totally AWESOME!) vacations with my hunky and the little man.  Fielding our way through Brian's upgrade to captain and figuring out how reserve is going to treat him.  We've heard good things about CR-J reserve for captains... but only time will tell.  I should be getting into the groove of school by the fall which is sooooooooo exciting.  It may sound crazy, but I miss studying and late nights cramming and presentations and tests and everything else that goes with college.  Another big milestone will be reached in my 25th year: Jackson will celebrate his 1st birthday!  I can't wait to decide on a "theme" and get everything ready for a nice little celebration here at our house (I love saying that!).  The wish would be that all of my South Carolina family could come up, but I know at least my mama and Bruce will be here so that's awesome in itself (Jackson loooooves his Grandmama and Papa Bruce!)  And of course we'll have all of our Illinois family in attendance so I think it's going to be quite the soiree!  I think among all of the exciting times to come in the next year, I am really looking forward to the summer sun and pool time with Jackson, his first trip to a beach.. it's going to be so much fun!

Speaking of fun... yesterday was a big ol' day out for my little family.  Brian got in from work at around 10 or 11 in the morning, and so instead of wasting the beautifully sunny (albeit cold) afternoon we headed out to get some things done.  Brian was in need of jeans and some shirts that he can take with him to training, and I'm in need of EVERYTHING.  Our first stop was TJ MAXX which just may be one of my favorite places to shop (hello, unique better-than-cheap-department-store-quality clothes and shoes!).  I went into the dressing room with 8 things and emerged with.... zero.  Bleh... I am not appreciating my body right now.  I just don't know how to dress a size # body.  I knew how to dress a size 7 body, and I enjoyed shopping for size 7 clothes.  I am not digging shopping for clothes at the moment.  Which stinks, because I really need a new wardrobe.  I know one thing, when - yes, when - I get back to my happy place I am going to appreciate it a little more and work a little harder to keep it that way.  In other departments, Brian found a couple of button-ups that were nice and looked really good on him.  Then it was on to Old Navy where we found him some jeans (which required some cat-calling) and a couple more shirts.  After a quick stop at Carter's for some gift clothes and a few things for Jax, Brian "surprised" me by taking me to Golden Corral.  Some of you might jump to be like, "ewwwww," but I gotta tell ya - it's the only place, really, up here that I can get flavorful southern comforts.  In other words, I loved every minute of my turnip greens, fried okra, and banana pudding.  My hubby hit a homerun on that one, and though he says "no way" I think it would suffice as a birthday dinner! : )  At any rate, it was a great long afternoon/evening out and about, and it made coming home and putting the baby to bed - and then ourselves - all the more enjoyable. 

So this weekend, we leave for South Carolina.  One of my best friends (indeed on of the three girls I consider my sisters) is getting married in May and her shower is Saturday so we're going down for that and to celebrate my birthday with my family.  It's going to another quick trip for us, but it just means that the time is getting closer when Jax & I will be spending a LOT of time down there while Brian is away.  Warm weather, sunshine, visiting daddy in Dallas for some pool time, lots of Grandmama/Papa Bruce/GGmama/GGpapa/the "Great" time... Exciting! 

I think that'll about do it for now..

Until next time, get excited about the things to come in your next year!

.catch-up.

I'm beginning to think that maybe my blog will be composed of posts that happen in clumps if I don't start writing when I think to write.  Sorry, folks.  It's funny because I am constantly thinking of things I'd like to post, and then something else comes up and I don't get to it.  I can't really blame it on baby because I follow enough blogs by people who have babies.  So, I think it can really only be blamed on scatter-brained me!  At any rate, let's get things back up to speed:

This month has been a busy one for us.  We went to the Chicago Auto Show the Tuesday after Valentine's Day.  It was a lot of fun (though much more exhausting with a 4-month old!).  It was so funny to think that last year when we were there, Brian and I found so much excitement in the idea that "Next year, we'll have a 4-month old with us."  It was almost surreal to walk around a year later with a stroller and all the provisions an infant requires.  Blessed, we are.  So, of course, here's a picture or two from this year's Auto Show:

Excited, obviously. : )



One of the many pitstops of the day!

    We celebrated Megan's 2nd birthday with the family.  It involved some really good pizza, really good company, and lots of pink sparkly things for sweet little Megan.  It also strengthened my desire for a little girl for our second child... I loved looking for the little girl stuff!  Don't get it twisted, though... I LOVE my boy!!  I always wanted a blonde-headed blue-eyed boy followed by a blonde-headed blue-eyed girl, so I'm well on my way!  But, of course, besides the fact that our second is quite a time away, I'll be happy with whatever we get!  I don't know how it happened that we didn't get ANY pictures of little Megan, but we did get a picture of Jackson with cousin Dante that is just PRECIOUS!  Here it is: (c'mon did you think I'd tease ya and not post the picture??)

Last (for now) but not least we took a little trip to San Antonio.  Literally.  Brian had 4 days off (Sunday thru Wednesday) so we thought, "Okay, let's head somewhere Sunday thru Tuesday."  We chose San Antonio because that's where I was born and, for years, I have been DYING to get back.  The weather forecast was warm, and we got deals on the hotel and car so it set up nicely.  Sunday started out rocky - our first choice of flight was canceled and the chain reaction from that knocked us off the second choice.  So we had lunch at Chili's in the airport and hung out in the non-rev lounge for about 3 hours and finally made the last flight out.  Of course, the fun of flying didn't end there - we actually sat on the runway for another hour and a half before FINALLY taking off on our 3-hour flight.  Jackson was a champ and we finally landed in balmy SA, got the car, drove the short 20-minute drive to the beautiful and historic Emily Morgan Hotel and settled in for the night.  Or so we thought.  An hour after drifting off, Jackson woke up screaming with a stuffy nose.  I felt awful for my little guy.  I walked the room and rocked him and sang to him until finally he went back to sleep.  I propped up on pillows in the bed and held him since he was sleeping more soundly than he was in a crib.  After about 3 hours of sleep he was up again, miserable and moany.  So I remembered that the hotel shampoo in the bathroom was rosemary/mint which is similar to what is in ches rubs  (I had not brought the baby chest rub because I had no intention of needing it... lesson learned).  I stripped him down, rubbed the shampoo on his chest and belly, turned the shower on steam-hot with the head pointed toward the wall and sat down in the huge jacuzzi tub with him in my lap.  It worked like a charm and he perked back up a bit.  After the "shower treatment" I wrapped him in a warm towel and he went right to sleep.  Again, I held him as he slept and tried to catch some zzz's myself before we resumed our morning at about 7.  He was much happier (though still not feeling great) so I handed him to daddy and went to get ready.  When I came out this is what I saw...

PRECIOUS!

I couldn't resist capturing the moment!  After letting them sleep for a couple more hours (I figured, Jackson definitely needed the rest and since he was getting it snuggled with Daddy I'd let Daddy get the extra sleep, too!)  We ended up heading out around 9:30, stopped by the Alamo for a second before heading down to the famed RiverWalk where we ate breakfast and spent most of the morning.  Then, we headed back up to the Alamo to actually do the walk around - Sidenote: it is crazy to think of the things that happened on those grounds and the people who were there... I mean Davy Crockett??!?!  Really??? While we were there the sun popped out and the temperature & humidity headed up and it. was. HEAVEN.  Though it was also naptime for everyone.  After a quick cat nap in the hotel room, we headed back to the RiverWalk for some drinks at an outdoor restaurant (and, of course, Brian enjoyed his first cigar in San Antonio!).  We did more walking around the RiverWalk and had a DELICIOUS dinner at Saltgrass on the RiverWalk.  After a better - not perfect - night's sleep we got packed and ready and headed out again for a walk to Produce Row where we ate at one of THE greatest Mexican restaurants we've ever been to, Mi Tierra.  With full tummies, we walked back to get our car and hit the road.  We decided to fit in a trip to Natural Bridge Caverns just 30 minutes from the airport.  What a COOL (well, actually about 77 degrees with 99% humidity) place! 180 feet below ground with rooms that could fit a football field with room to spare!  The formations are thousands and THOUSANDS of years old, and it's just amazing to stand in awe of such things!  After surfacing, it was back in the car and back to the airport.  Shout out to Luis, a friend an fellow flight attendant, who brought us up to first class for the 3hour flight back to Chicago which was amazing. 
So, here are some pictures from the trip:

So, that's February so far.  I have more to post, but someone is waking up from his nap, so it'll have to wait until later today!  Until then!