All smiles in all pink!



Need to get the picture out of when I wore the same blue dress....



No room for a tree, but we did decorate the garland! Jackson and I had fun that day getting the apt. decorated and painted a Christmas tree picture to surprise Daddy when he arrived home.



What's decorating for Christmas without a Christmas cookie to enjoy along the way???

Some Love for Josie

Sweet Smile!
love those eyes
all dressed up...
the little side grin
she's our sweet baby!

Some Love for Jackson

Here he is a little over two months old...
... and here he is a little over two years old revisiting his old toy. Wow...
He's such a good helper... he loves to use the dustbuster.
Jackson: "There she is, the lady with the candy!" Peyton: "Lets Go!"
A typical good morning/breakfast look for tha J-Man.

Trick-or-Treat!

Hey Everyone! It's been a "frightfully" busy month here in Dallas with "super spooky" Hebrew exams and "monstrous" papers coming into view from out of the October fog, but, as you can see, we've sure found a lot of "sweet things" to keep the "battiness" away! Josie was of course our "little pumpkin" and Jackson was his daddy's boy as he donned the classic orange and white, a true Tennessee boy's uniform (while the Vols pulled out the black jerseys... which was awesome!... ugly yes, but awesome!). Josie is growing soooo fast. As you will see up close and personal in some future pics, she has started to smile... not just gassy grins but full blown, interactive, eyes locked in smiles and coos. Ahhhh, she has stolen her daddy's heart. Our little man is doing his own sort of growing. He is a little sponge, soaking up not only words, numbers, and songs, but contextualized relational concepts such as really hugging you back, telling you clearly what he wants, dancing with his mommy, and giving the instant replay and walk-through on what event, action, or boo-boo just happened (ask uncle Jake... he knows). He is such a joy to be around... yes, he's a two-year-old and he has his share of moments, but we are truly enjoying this once in a lifetime opportunity. We have to continually adapt the family routine so that it works well but we do feel balanced for now, which is a good thing. So, please enjoy these pictures that capture our Halloween fun and thanks for your prayers!

P.S.- We had a great time visiting with Gran Pat over her fall break and then with Mom Z and Papa Z over a long weekend. Thanks to the grandparents for making sure that Holly and I got some much appreciated mommy and daddy time. I think that they might remember something about how special those moments are.

Our Sweet Lil' Pumpkin

Jackson with his friends Peyton and Josie at the Halloween Parade

Jackson, Abby, and Josie checking out their candy loot.

Our Little All-American

Happy Halloween!

Fun this Fall

Josie is growing up fast...as expected. She is 7 weeks now and continues to be a great baby. She alternates between sleeping 5 - 8 hours a night. Every night is different but I'm not complaining! I'm getting some great rest and that helps everyone have better days! If Momma aint happy no one is! She just smiled "for real" for the first time this weekend. No "gassy" smiles, it was a real cheeky grin showing all the gums! She opts to smile at the 4 am feedings so no one has seen them but me....Ohhh to bad! Guess if anyone wants to get up with me they are welcome to join the show. Ha Ha.

We had a fun fall festival at school this weekend as well. Check out the picture of Jonathan! He had a blast fighting with his friends. Think it was a way for those guys to relieve a little DTS stress! Jackson had fun hangin' out with his best friend Peyton while painting some pumpkins. Later he made candy apples with his Gran Pat. I think the sprinkles were his favorite part! As you can see we are having a great fall. :)


Yes his mouth is blue, but not from the temperature! He enjoyed a blue jolly rancher for a while until I discovered it and retracted the choking hazard!!


Sticker, anyone???

We had a wonderful visit last week with Gran Pat and Uncle Jake. They came to spend some time with us and to also help out. Boy did they ever help out! We enjoyed many delicious dinners together each night and Jackson enjoyed several exciting activities as well. I even stole a few hours at the local coffee shop to finish my last blog thanks to Uncle Jake doing some babysitting!



One of Jackson's favorite activities of the week was playing on his personal bounce house (aka blow up mattress). They boys wrestled every morning....and Jackson took great naps every afternoon!




Since Gran Pat gave me a hard time about being reluctant to finger paint with Jackson (just a little scared of the potential mess I may have to clean up), I bought some paint for HER to experiment with as long as I didn't have to have clean up duty! Surprisingly, Jackson didn't make the enormous mess I had pictured in my head. Kudos to Gran Pat!

Pictures are Posted

Hey everyone. If you remember the awesome picts we had taken of Jackson when he was 3 weeks old, then you'll be excited about these! The same wonderful photographer took these new pictures as we welcome sweet Josie into our family. Just click on the link below for the slideshow and turn your volume up!

www.poeticexposure.com/josephinerenee