I can't believe how fast time is flying by!  We are all doing good and enjoying the new addition to our family.  Jake loves to hold her and is always very concerned about her.  A friend made this onesie for Grace...in case you can't read it, it says "If you think I"m cute, you should see my big brother Jake!"  He is a great big brother to her.

Jake also likes to give Grace kisses on her head.  

Here she is all dressed up for her first sunday at church.  She looked SO cute (I am a little biased though)  

Here are Grandma and Grandpa Jackson with the kids.  They just left yesterday from spending a week with us.  It was so fun to have them around and they were so helpful.  It was nice to have the extra help around to either play with Jake or hold Grace.

Grace had her 2 week check-up on Tuesday and she is getting big!  She weighed in at 7 lbs. 12 oz. and was 21 1/2" long.  She had to have her heel pricked, and that did go over too well.  It was kindof funny because they showed a video about how to deal with babies who cry all the time.  The 4 other babies that were there were so quiet and happy...then there was Grace, screaming and inconsolable.  She was angry that I undressed her to be weighed and measured.  

And here is Mr. Charming looking cute as ever.  He is really turning into quite the chatterbox, talking to random people we see at the store or when we are out and about.  He always cracks us up.

let's go fly a kite

So, this weekend we had some beautiful weather, but it was a bit windy.  Saturday Brooke got the idea to go buy some kites and take them out for a spin at the park.  Jake was pretty excited for the whole thing an once Brooke got the whole thing put together, Jake ran out with Brooke to launch the kite.  Brooke got the kite up in the air and after it whooshed around a couple times and took a nose dive into the ground, Jake ran in the opposite direction saying he was all done.  

He watched Brooke from a safe distance at a nearby picnic table.  I think the kite had trouble handling the wind (it only cost $5, so our expectations weren't too high).

When we got home, Jake pulled out Brooke's motorcycle helmet and ran around the house like a little bobble head. 

And last but not least, Grace is doing fabulous.  She had her first dr.'s appointment yesterday and she weighed in at 6lbs. 12 oz.  She is doing great and is a healthy little girl.

baby update

So, we decided on a name.  Grace Elizabeth Hanson.  Considering we didn't have a name for Jake until 2 weeks after he was born, the 2 days we took to decide on Grace seems like nothin!  

We came home from the Hospital Monday afternoon...and it was nice to be back at home.  Things are going great...Grace is letting us get some sleep at night and Jake LOVES being a big brother.  He likes having a turn to hold her and is alway ready to help out when we ask him to.

 

Yesterday we all piled in the car to go run some errands.  Grace wasn't too happy, so Brooke suggested to Jake that maybe she would like him to sing her a song.  He started to belt out Happy Birthday...it was pretty cute.  We will try to keep you all up to date with pictures and stories.  Have a great weekend!

Happy Birthday!!

Well, today was the day.  Our little girl was born.  We haven't completely decided on a name for her yet, but that should be coming within the next day or so.  It was an exciting evening and morning for us.  Jalynn started feeling some contractions starting around 10:30pm, we arrived at the hospital at midnight.  She was born at 1:19am.  We figure that there was only about an hour of real labor.  She was 6 lbs 4 oz and 19 inches long, with a healthy set of lungs.  We are all very excited to have her in our family, Jake is especially grateful to be a big brother finally.  Thanks to everyone for their support and love.  Here are a few pictures, expect more to follow.

The winners: Marcy got the day.  Paige got closest to the weight.  A few guessed 19.5", but no one guessed 19".

take a guess...

Well, we made it back home safe and sound.  Our Alabama adventure has come to an end and now we are looking forward to all the adventures that will come our way in the next few weeks.

So, I've been thinking that it would be fun to have a little contest about the birth of the baby.  There will be three categories...date of birth, weight and length.  The deadline for entries is Monday April 7.  You can either leave your guesses in a comment or email me with them.  There will be a prize for those who come the closest.  Good luck!  

easter weekend

Friday evening, after Brooke was done with his classes, we set off for a quick trip to Florida.  We have some friends that we met in England who are now stationed there.  Of course, we had to take a picture at the Florida state line.  I think that will be the last one we get during our stay here in Alabama.

Saturday morning we met our friends, The Sophies, at Hurlburt AFB where there was an Easter egg hunt.  We weren't able to find an Easter basket for Jake, so Brooke found a bunny bag at the store and that worked just fine.  He is so resourceful!  For the 2 year old age group, the put tons of eggs on the playground area of the park and let the kids pick up all they could.  

Jake was doing pretty good at gathering eggs, until he realized the eggs were full of surprises.  Then, all he wanted to do was open the eggs and see what yummy treat or cool prize was in the egg.  

After all the eggs had been claimed, Jake sat down with Shelby (the Sophies 2 year old girl) and they compared their loot.

The two kids had fun at the playground and Jake kept wanting to hold Shelbys hand.  What a ladies man!  After the Egg hunt, the guys took the kids back to the Sophies and Kristin and I hit the outlet mall.  We had a great time shopping!  That night, we all went to dinner at a local seafood place.  The food was great and we had such a fun time.

The next morning, we had to go back to Montgomery so Brooke could finish his last big project.  We couldn't leave Florida without taking some pictures by the ocean.  It was VERY windy outside, but very pretty.

We had a great time on our little trip and it was so fun to see our friends again.  Our only complaint is that it wasn't long enough.  We hope you all had a great Easter weekend too.

weekend fun

Last week, there was a kids party that Jake and I went to. There were several activities set up for the kids to do and things for them to play with, one of which was a play bowling set. Jake bowled with a few of the other kids and he had such a blast. Since he enjoyed it so much, we decided to take him to a real bowling alley on Friday night. We went with a couple other families and everyone had a great time.

We got some dinner there and the most extraordinary thing happened....Jake ate some green beans! They weren't your average, healthy green beans though. They were fried. (yes, we are in the south) The boy just likes anything that is fried!!! But, i must admit, they were pretty tasty.

On Saturday, we left in the morning for a little trip to Birmingham. It was only about an hour away, so not too bad. We went to do a little shopping, but while we were there, we also went to an air museum.

At first, Jake was excited to see all the airplanes. One of the displays had a motion sensor and when someone got near to it, a recording would play of an airplane engine starting up. The noise scared him and he was a little reluctant to walk thru the rest of the hanger.

This actually ended up being the highlight of the museum for Jake...the kids playroom.
And this was a close second...Jake was helping Brooke fly one of the simulators they had set up.
It turned out to be a nice relaxing weekend!