Tulips Tulips Tulips!

Hope still only tolerates Jackson...but it's progress!!!

Hello friends.  We are settling in for a hot summer here in Dallas.  Jackson has been quite the traveler since his birth.  He has been to TN 4 times and then Lake Tahoe.  His only destinations  for a while will be to the closest pool in town, local farmers market, and the Dallas Arboretum.  We welcome all visitors, but we will be staying put for a few months!!  We had some recent visitors a couple of weeks ago.  Jackson's Gran Pat and Momma Z and Pappa Z all came to visit.  They had a blast watching Jackson learn to eat and helping him to sit up on his own.  He really made some progress with all the attention.  Poor thing. Now he is stuck having to sit by himself and learn to crawl all by himself!!  I'm not sure if he can do it without his grandparents by his side!!  Ha Ha.  Just kidding.  One of the things we did while they visited was go to the Dallas Arboretum during the Dallas Blooms Festival.  The tulips were beautiful and made for great photographs.  Gran Pat brought the Easter outfit she made for Jonathan 27 years ago and it fit Jackson perfectly.  I made a slideshow of our day.  It came out a bit blurry but you'll get the idea of how our day went.  

Easter 2008

Rice Cereal Anyone?...

Hey everyone, Jackson hit another milestone today in taking his first bites of semi-solid food. Up until now, it's been all mommy-milk, but today he got the scrumptious treat of dried infant rice cereal mixed with mommy-milk. Dad resisted the temptation to try out his son's new food, but he'll probably do it before too long. The video is kind of lengthy, so don't feel like you have to watch it all. We left it long for Grandparents, Aunts, and Uncles to see more of the dramatic action. Enjoy the video and our love to all! -Jonathan, Holly, and Jackson.

Laughing it up with Mommy!

Jackson update...

Jackson is having a blast growing up. He has had an eventful 4-5 months of live. Within this time he has rolled over onto his tummy, rolled back over onto his back, found his feet, raise his chest off the floor to play and look around, laughed for the 1st time (not at us, of course, but at his really funny Momma Z and Aunt Lisa), and cut his first 2 teeth, and had his first snow in Lake Tahoe. Now that he has a little more control over his body, he just mocks me when I put him down for tummy time by rolling back over onto his back. As you can see by the picture, he just laughs at me. Really, though, he smiles ALL the time. We are so blessed to have such a healthy, happy baby. I can even make him smile when he is crying!! Books are a new favorite. We have read to him since he was born, but now he is starting to interact with the pages...turning them himself. He loves his exersaucer ( last picture). He just plays and plays until he poops and it runs clear up to his neck...EVERY TIME!!! Sorry, you know we can't blog without bringing up the subject of poop. It just wouldn't be right. Thankfully it's not a subject that bothers Dad, so he gets to change lots of poopy diapers!! We are settling in now after traveling 5 times in 5 months. We're so glad friends and family have been able to watch him grow up. Now they will have to come here to continue that process!! Enjoy the pictures and we will continue to update all of you.

4 months

We celebrated his 5 month birthday with cheesecake....for Mom and Dad.

5 months

Lake Tahoe

What a wonderful wedding my sister and her husband hosted in Lake Tahoe!! Our families had a beautiful time of fellowship and fun together. I don't think I've ever been to a more beautiful place before in my life. I'm not that traveled, though!! Ha ha! We arrived in Reno on a Friday and made our way to our lodge. The entire group of 18 friends and family went out to eat for dinner. Then Heather, Dustin, Jonathan and I went out to spend some time together before the big day. The time I spent with my sister was truly priceless. That is one great pro to having a destination wedding. The time was much more intimate with the ones you love, rather than a huge production with lots of people and no close fellowship. Jackson spent lots of time with Gran Pat while I hung out with Heather getting ready for her ceremony. Jonathan spent a lot of time preparing for his part of the wedding and also spending time with Dustin. They have been friends since high school, so having him join the family has been extra special. We woke up Saturday morning to a beautiful snow....Jackson's first official!! It really was a perfect day since the sun came out later to make the wedding perfect. We celebrated after the festivities with more of the same. We had the best dinner at a local resturante on the second floor with private waiters and the second floor all to ourselves. And if you think we couldn't fit anymore into the weekend, we went snow skiing on Sunday. Some of the fam went snowmobiling in the afternoon. Jonathan and I continued to ski since he had never been before. We can't wait to go back. The reception in Jackson followed 3 weeks later. I waited to post this blog until I had those pictures as well, but then I didn't end up taking any. I guess keeping up with a 5 month old made keeping up with a camera near impossible!! Enjoy these from the wedding!!There had been a snow storm a week earlier, so the snow base was incredible.

This is an example of how deep the snow was. There really wasn't a true path and mom had a blast sinking into a drift!!

Hello to all. Happy Thanksgiving, Merry Christmas, Happy New Year!! We have had a wonderful last 2 months. Jackson has been so much fun. He had his first of many Holiday seasons, of course. He has also had many other first time moments. Around his 4 month birthday he rolled over from his back to his tummy, found his feet, and picked up his pacifier and put it in his mouth all for the first time. Jonathan and I were ecstatic to have been able to witness them all. The best part was the rolling over onto his tummy. Jackson hates to be on his tummy. We have to make him have "tummy time" so he can strengthen his neck muscles and he usually only lasts a few minutes before becoming pretty angry. Of course, as he headed over to his tummy I was laughing because I knew it wouldn't be pretty. It wasn't. He started crying immediately. Hilarius!! Hopefully he will figure out how to roll back over on to his back. Poor thing!! We have a few pictures to capture the past few months. Enjoy.

He is around 3 months old here just loving on his Daddy.

Hanging out with his good friend, Gerald, at our church Christmas Party.

Nothing special here, just thought this one was cute!!

Jonathan and I helped to throw a wedding shower for my sister, Heather, and her fiance', Dustin. They are getting married in Lake Tahoe on Jan. 12. Lots of fun additions to our family this year!!!

Doting Momma Z and Pappa Z.

Jonathan's brother, Jeff, couldn't help himself. He got Jonathan a onesie all his own...just like Jackson's!!

Santa brought Jackson and Jonathan a surprise!! It's called the "ride-a-Hope." It's a rocking stuffed puppy dog that looks like our cocker spaniel, Hope. Santa really brought it for Dad. He has been watching it in the store since Jackson was only a zygote!! I'm sure it will be fun in a few years for Jackson, too.

That's it for now. We are heading out for the wedding in California this Friday. I'm sure we'll have lots of fun picts of Jackson in the snow at a breathtaking ceremony for Heather and Dustin. Stay tuned!!