6 years!

Saturday was our 6th anniversary. We have been so busy lately and Justin has been working on a job that has required a lot of his time. So all we wanted to do is spend the whole day together. We first took Jackson to the zoo which he absolutely loved. Of course his favorite were the wolves because they looked just like dogs. Then my sister watched Jackson for us so we could go out together.
I love celebrating our anniversary I have the most amazing husband in the world. This is super cheesy but so true I knew I wanted to be with him forever from the very start. Little did I know just how happy he would make me. We have gone though a lot in the last six years and there is nobody else in this world that I want to share those ups and downs with. I am so lucky to be his wife. Love you Justin can't wait to see what then next six years will bring with you!

Truck Luvs!

Jackson loves this little black truck he gives it hugs and kisses all day. Thanks Grandma and Grandpa for the great gift it is a hit!

Running/Fisrt Word

Jackson has now decided that he has the walking thing down and is trying to run. He is still very wobbly with walking so to see him try to run is very entertaining. He falls down after two steps and gets super mad. The other day he tried to run for 30 min straight. This boy has some serious determination. It ended in giant tears when he realized his body was not going to do what he wanted.
Jackson says Mama and Dada but he said his official first word last week. Drum-roll please. It is "Got ca" or also know as got ya. He thinks it is so funny. He loves to play hide n seek and tackle with us and we always say got ya. So last week he thought it was his turn. Yesterday when I was doing the dishes he came up behind me grabbed my leg and said "got ca" followed by him laughing. We are loving getting to know who is inside of his little body.

Jackson's 1st birthday party pictures!

I know this is a little late but here it is. Jackson's party was so much fun! All of our friends and family came and spoiled Jack rotten (even though we said no gifts please nobody listened). When I was a kid my mom made birthdays a big deal and always made us a birthday cake of whatever we wanted. She was a professional cake decorator so we had some pretty great cakes. I wanted to follow the same tradition for Jackson and he loves animals so I made him a farm animal cake. When I was making it I really wished I would have payed more attention to my mom when she tried to show me how to decorate. She received a lot of phone calls that day. Right before the party started it got super windy and rainy so we had to move it partially inside and a few things got destroyed but it was such a great day despite the setbacks.












I love this last picture! He looks like he is sick from sugar overload. Poor little guy!

Rainy Days

It has been really rainy around here the past few days. This picture was taken the day we got home with Jackson. When I saw this rainbow that day it made me feel that our storm was over. I really do love the rain but my day yesterday made me rethink that thought. So the past couple of days I have been super sick. So we did not go anywhere. I was feeling a little better and needed to get to the store to get more sippy cups for Jackson because we just got rid of the bottle. I looked outside and it was raining a tiny bit no big deal right? So I packed Jackson up and headed out. As I started driving it started pouring like crazy. I could not see anything. My windows began to fog up so I turned on the defrost and it was not working fast enough so I hurried and rolled down the window. Thinking I would get a little wet but at least I would be able to see. As I rolled down the window a huge truck was coming the opposite way and my car was engulfed with muddy water. Jackson and I were drenched. Jackson did not cry he yelled like he was totally irritated. I felt the same way but all I could do at that point was laugh. My shirt that was once white was now brown and my hair was full of mud but we still made it to the store in all our glory. Love rainy summer days!

The Miracle Of Adoption

We would not be celebrating Jackson's 1st birthday if it weren't for the miracle of adoption and Jackson's birth parents. I would feel ungrateful if I didn't acknowledge the beauty of that miracle. We always felt that adoption would be a part of our life and we did not realize how truly amazing adoption is until we experienced it first hand.
I never thought I would say this but I am truly grateful for our infertility. There are still times that it slaps me around a little bit, but it is few and far between now. I know that there are conversations I will never be a part of and I sometimes wonder what it would have been like to have felt Jackson kick inside of me (but that is a bond between Jackson and his BM that I would NEVER take from them) I now see a pregnant woman and often think how lucky I am to experience the great love of a birth mother. I feel so lucky that I get to have Jackson's BM in my life. We are connected for life and the gratitude and love Justin and I feel for her is something that words could never express. I know that everything happens for a reason and I am so happy that adoption is the way our family is to be formed.
One year ago today we got the news that Jackson was born. It was the middle of the night when we got a text from our BM that she was in labor and on her way to the hospital. When I heard this I was literally running all over the house wanting to be there so badly. We already had plane tickets for the next day. We tried to change them but the airport we were flying into is small so we could not get out there any sooner. Then a few hours later we got the call that our sweet baby boy was born. We wanted to be there so bad but we didn't make it to the hospital until nine that night. We were a wreck all day. We knew he was in good hands though which helped a ton. He was with his birth parents who love him. When we got to the hospital nobody could have prepared me enough for that moment when we met our son for the first time. I think I felt a million different emotions. I felt overwhelming love for this sweet baby who I had dreams of having for years. I also felt so heartbroken for his birth parents. I wanted so badly to take their pain away and knowing that there was nothing I could do broke my heart. There was a very sweet and precious moment in the hospital that I will never forget. It was just the five of us in the room and Justin and I were holding our sweet little miracle and Jackson's birth parents were across from us holding each other. I looked up and saw his BM looking down at Jackson with the most beautiful look of love I have ever seen. At that moment I felt such an overwhelming feeling of love, humility, and gratitude. It is a look I will never forget and a story I will tell Jackson of often of how that quiet dark room was filled with so much love, all for him. I am in aw of the loving sacrifice Jackson's birth parents made. They are so dear to our hearts. They made us parents and most importantly made us a family. We love you guys!

Happy Birthday Jackson!

Today is Jack Jack's birthday! We had a party for him on Saturday (I will post pictures later). This picture is when we were singing Happy Birthday to him, he thought it was great. His face says it all. He is not afraid to be the center of attention. Jackson we are so happy that you are part of our family we can't imagine life any other way. You are such a sweet little guy who has brought excitement and joy to our home. We love you more than we ever thought possible. Have a Happy 1st Birthday Baby.
-Things Jackson Loves at 1 year:
-Balls
-Anything with wheels
-Peek-A-Boo
-Outside
-Animals
-Stuffed animal and blankets (he is such a cuddly baby he loves to snuggle with us or anything soft)
-The fridge and the freezer (whenever we open them he crawls over to them as fast as he can and then cries when we close them)
-When daddy comes home (When Justin gets home from work I will say daddy's home and Jackson giggles and crawls to the back door and lights up when Justin walks in)
-He loves to play rough and is quite the dare devil already