Jackson's First Week of Soccer!

We signed Jackson up for Spring Soccer!!!

He is on his buddy, Cole's, team.  They LOVE having soccer together in addition to school!

Jackson's first practice was Thursday, and he had a blast!  they did some stretching to warm-up, practiced dribbling, practiced kicking short kicks so they keep control of the ball, and played Red Light, Green Light with the soccer ball--this was his FAVORITE!

It was a chilly day for practice...

...but a beautiful day for our first soccer game!!!

Go Gold!

Practicing before the game

Jackson and Cole cheering on their teammates

Buddies :)

Graham was an excellent spectator!

The games consist of four eight-minute quarters with an eight-minute half-time.  We all signed up to take turns bringing snacks for each game.  That's the best part, right?  ;) 

The coaches referee each game.  There are no goalies and we do not keep score...technically...

Jackson scored FOUR goals in his first game! We were pretty surprised with how good he was!  His whole team is pretty awesome--it should be a really fun season :)

SNACK :)

Daddy and Grahammers!

YUMMY!

Discussing the game

Graham and me with Meredith and Blake

Running!  What a fabulous outlet for that :)

After the first game :)  Jackson already can't wait for Thursday to have soccer practice!

Graham is Ten Months Old!

This squishy face has been a part of our family for TEN MONTHS!!!  Where has the time gone???

This one looks like he's going to eat the camera!

Hi there, Mommy!

Silly guy!

We came back from Chicago with Graham crawling!!!  He had taken a few single crawls before we left, but he really took off the last couple of days of our trip.  Jackson really walked while we were with my parents, so I'm glad they got to see a big milestone from Graham too!  Graham obviously had his first flight during his tenth month, and he did great!  He continues to be the penultimate second child--super flexible!  If we are home, he is still between two and three naps a day.  If we are out and about, he is satisfied with cat naps in the car and stroller.  His usual bedtime is 6:30, and he is sleeping all the way through the night now!!!  Sometimes he likes to get up early around 5:30.  But, we know from our experience with Jackson, it's worth it for everyone's happiness to put him to bed when he really is ready, and we can adjust the time back as he gets older.  He is eating really well too--lots of table food!  He loves fruit for sure, but hasn't really not liked anything we've given him.

Thank goodness for hard hats!

I can't see!

What is this heavy thing?

Off goes our littlest construction worker...

Adorable!

End of the Trip

 

 We took Jackson to The Rainforest Cafe for the first time, and he LOVED it!  I wasn't quite sure how it would go since he still doesn't like to visit characters up close.  We took him in the gift shop the other day and talked to him about how there would be loud sounds and the animals moved.  He said it looked good, so we went with our plan!

 

We met some good, old friends of mine.  Lori and Christina taught at Elgin Academy with me.  Cassie is Lori's daughter, and she was in my first Third Grade class!  She is in high school now!!!  Christina's son, Russell, will be three this fall, and he and Jackson had a blast talking about Transformers and Mickey Mouse's Clubhouse :)

Cassie and Graham

Buddies

Mimi and Jackson spent a lot of time checking out the crocodile at the front of the restaurant.  Jackson reported that the crocodile liked to eat money since he saw all of the coins in the pond!

Believe it or not the above and below pictures were taken at Abt Appliance Store!  We went to pick out a new washing machine for Nan, and we had quite the pleasant surprise!  The showroom itself is HUGE, but then there is a whole mini-mall attached!  There is a storefront for some of the major appliance brands (KitchenAid, Electrolux, etc.) and there is a beautiful fountain in the middle surrounded by pretty flowers and statues. 

Old timey car

For dinner we met Bampa at Maggiano's--YUM!  This face totally sums up Graham's thoughts on dining out while on vacation :)

This one is just funny!

Bampa and Jackson snuggling up for a show before bed :)

Morning smiles

One last lunch at Herms'...and one last set of squeezes for Miss Marla!

Posing with Craig

We had an even better flight back to Virginia!  Again, TSA was super helpful getting through security, and the gate agent rearranged our seats so Graham could have his own seat again.  This time he slept through the whole flight and deplaning!  AWESOME traveler!!!  It was SO good to see Josh!  He had worked hard to make sure I didn't come back from my trip to tons of work--laundry done and folded, kitchen cleaned, floors vacuumed, mail collected, and dinner made :)  LOVE this man for "letting" me take advantage of this time to go home and being just so helpful in general!

Easter Bunny Boys and Baby Mia

HAPPY EASTER!!!

I am quite proud of this impromptu, yet artsy picture :)

The Easter bunny visited Mimi and Bampa's house!  He left some eggs just for Graham in the shape of a "G" right on the front lawn.  I guess he didn't want the first year of egg-hunting to be too challenging for him ;)  They were filled with puffs and yogurt melts, of course!

We had a beautiful day, and Jackson had such fun hunting for eggs outside!  He has always LOVED hunting for eggs, but we had never discussed who hid them.  This year, he knew it was the Easter Bunny :)  Ah, pre-school... ;)

Graham and I had a great time watching!

There were some hidden in the bushes

Graham and his eggs

He was confused by the grass at first, but then he started crawling to get them!

Funny face!

We followed the trail to the backyard, where some more eggs were hidden

There were Easter bags waiting in the tree for the boys!  FUN!

Easter 2013 at Mimi and Bampa's

A little lunch, and the "My 1st Easter" bib you can't quite see

Mommy and the boys (it was quite sunny)

Jackson was nice enough to open all of the eggs and sort the contents between him and Graham

My mom is AWESOME!!!  She drove all the way to Naperville with me (an hour each way) so that I could go visit Kim and her sweet, baby girl, Mia in the hospital!  She was due early April, and I had my fingers crossed that Baby Girl would arrive while I was in town.  And, she did!  She was born on Saturday, so off we went to see them!  Except, I was the only one who got to visit since the boys were too young too visit on the maternity ward.  So, not only did my mom sit in the car with me that long, but she just kept the boys entertained in the cafeteria for a half hour while I got in some quick baby snuggles!  Can't wait to see more of them in May!!!

After a yummy dinner at home, my mom and I went to a movie and Bampa held down the fort!  Jackson was super excited to have Bampa read him his bedtime story and tuck him in :)  We saw "Admission" with Tina Fey and Paul Rudd, and it was the perfect movie for our movie night--really funny!  I love special times like that out with my mom :)