A Special Day

Today is my parent's 30th anniversary. Congrats you guys, that's an accomplishment. Love you both.

Happy Easter 2011 from the Jacksons

Greetings everyone... and Happy Easter. It's 8 o'clock, Easter night... our lil man is sleeping soundly upstairs, dishwasher is running, garbage taken out, laundry is spinning, and I'm sitting at the computer, just cracked open a beer... yum.

I guess... before Easter details... Rogan and I went to our first swim lesson of the new session Saturday. When we went before he started at 6 months and the class ended when he was 8 months. So he couldn't do much more than splash and get comfortable in the water. And he was great at that and we had a lot of fun. Now that he's 14 months... he can do so much more. It was really great to see. He can sit on the edge and kick his feet in the water, climb out of the pool and get back in with very little assistance, and paddle with his hands (occasionally). Never once did he cry. And the only little fuss he made was in the beginning adjusting to the water temp. It wasn't cold, but it's not his 100 degree bathwater either.... so who can blame him. We had so much fun! He babbled pretty much the entire time, "singing" along with all the songs.

Next weekend I think Ryan and I will both go and then maybe I can take a few pics. Note to self: buy bigger swimming diapers! had to use the old ones since I forgot to buy the next size up... they worked in a pinch, but will be corrected for next week.

Anyways... after lessons we came home for a quick lunch, shower/bath... and off we went to Champaign for Easter!

We ate dinner Saturday night at the new El Toro, my favorite mexican restaurant in its new location, and stopped for Custard Cup where Rogan and I shared a vanilla scoop on the way home. A great "towny" night.

We got home and Rogan was excited. Walk/running around everywhere. Playing and getting into everything. Cassie, my parents dog, was a HUGE interest of his. And they were both very good with each other. Rogan usually goes to bed between 6 and 7... usually closer to 6 than 7. At 7 he's still up, still playing around and is smiling and happy.














But we knew our toddler was tired. Sometimes he gets fussy, but this time he was still perfectly happy, but every once in a while stopped walking to lay down on the floor to rest for a few seconds. So cute. After a few seconds he would get back up and continue on his journey. But after seeing him do this a few times we called it quits and put pj's on.

... 5 minutes later, after some good snuggles with Dad in bed, out like a light in his crib with no fussing.

He slept until almost 6:30 this morning. A really good night's sleep for not being in his own room. Well done, little man.

This morning he got his Easter basket, he's still a little young to get really excited over new toys, but we still had a great time. The ONE DAY I need him to follow his schedule... nuh-uh ma, not gonna do it.

Rogan ALWAYS takes a nap around 8... he sleeps until 9 or 10. You can set your clock to this kid and his naps. Except today. When I needed him to sleep from 8 - 9 or 10 so we could go to 11 o'clock church, come home, eat lunch, pack up the car, and then have nap #2 on the way home from 2-4.

Like I said... it didn't go as planned. After putting Rogan to sleep at 8am... he was still talking to himself 35 minutes later. He wasn't crying, but he wasn't asleep!! Hmmm... I go in, and yes, the killer of all naps had happened. The tragic pre-sleep poop. Rogan was perfectly content to listen to his music and sit in his crib... but he was not going to sleep with a full diaper. Hrmph.

Change diaper... refill cup of water... play a little more... crap it's 9:30... ok maybe he can make it with no morning nap... out of pj's into easter clothes... rubs eyes... starts to yawn... crap it's 10:00 ... starts to be fussy ... time for pictures... more yawning... it's 10:30... he's not going to make it... Ryan stays home... I go to church with my mom... Ryan texts me he's asleep less than 5 minutes after we left.

Pics before we left for church:
FAMILY EASTER 2011 (see previous post for FAMILY EASTER 2010)


































GRAMMIE YOU ARE SO FUNNY!!

But oh well... he got the nap he needed. When we got back to the house we had an awesome easter lunch of pork, deviled eggs, broccoli salad, scalloped potatos, green beans, and rolls... hats off to my mom for feeding us so well. I was stuffed, and we needed to get going, so I made her give me some carrot cake to go. Thanks Ma!! Love you!

LETS GET THIS SHOW ON THE ROAD PARENTS!!














Rogan slept 80% of the car ride home, and that was that. A quick but great trip, and a memorable Easter as a family.

NIGHT NIGHT.














oh p.s.
Rogan got us something for easter too. Bringing in the stuff from the car and putting leftovers in the fridge, Rogan decided to help out by pouring his old baby oatmeal all over the floor and doing a little dance in it (future star of STOMP right here) until I caught him. Thanks Rogan.




















HAPPY EASTER EVERYONE!!

Day off... Easter Prep

I have the day off today... so the morning was spent doing laundry and running a few errands... and then I picked up Rogan (since he is only good for 1 MAYBE 2 errands he went to daycare this morning). But I was able to get him early and we came home and played before afternoon nap... this is what he wanted to do before nap:




























After he went down for his nap, I went to work being the Easter Bunny... making sure everything is in order. I made him an easter BUCKET... another blog a read did this for her child... I think it is so cute, and maybe a little more "boy". Plus, anything I can personalize, I love. So that sold me right there. SPECIAL AGENT OSO, eggs filled with M&M Mini's, some Cadbury Eggs (a staple for Easter, thanks Cheryl), and some Pretzel Flipz... I wonder what he will go for first.
















I will repost this Sunday night with a picture of Rogan in his Easter clothes... but I always like to look at how Rogan was at each holiday last year... Here he is at Easter 2010 (before I started blogging a lot). He chose to spend pretty much the entire day asleep.




















And here we are as a family Easter 2010... if you ask me, we look tired, and Rogan is definitely over taking pictures. Haha

Swim lessons!

Just a quick post... Swimming starts again on SATURDAY! Rogan and I will be heading off to the Naperville YMCA for the next 8 weekends. (minus 1 weekend we will have to miss because of our St. Louis Graduation Extravaganza in mid-May) He enjoyed last session, so I'm hoping this session is no different. Kicking, blowing bubbles, and getting comfortable in the water. Very excited to play with my little water baby. Pictures to come.

Guys Weekend

I had an alumni weekend at Wash U, so Ryan and Rogan stayed home for the weekend while I was away. I had a great time in STL catching up with old classmates, and was VERY ready to get home to my family. Ryan took videos and pics, and it's the best thing to come home to. Enjoy!

I think they had a good time. Rogan is getting more and more verbal. This is the best "Dada" I've heard from him.



C'mon spring!! Where are you?? Still.. nice to be outside.














My two favorite guys.

Ant Follow-Up

I have the best husband ever.

Seeing my distress... I think more than once I either hung up on him or pretended to listen to him on the phone as I fought the good fight against our family room ants. Whoops, sorry, my love. Without being asked, Ryan sprayed ant killer/deterent around the back of our house this weekend. 24 hours later, the ants are gone. Seriously haven't seen one in days. And he told me that he will keep doing this so that the ants are kept at bay and our crumb-fingered little man can play in an ant-free zone.

... Life is good (for many reasons, Ryan is a BIG ONE)

Mr. Toothbrush

This is our new obsession. Rogan has a green toothbrush, and he has become more and more fond of it. I think it's great! I mean, my kid LIKES putting a toothbrush in his mouth for fun... worse things could happen.

Up until last night, there was only one major drawback to his fondness for Mr. Toothbrush:

He has to hold it.

This caused the occasional fit at bedtime, where we would take Mr. Toothbrush from his deathgrip to properly brush his teeth. It was a 2 person job, one person to brush, the other person to hold a wiggling Rogan's hands down and he fights hard to get back Mr. Toothbrush. But, luckily, this didn't happen very often. (He behaves better for Ryan than for me when it comes to brushing his teeth). But as he's getting older, Mr. Toothbrush has become more and more popular. Rogan loves putting it in his mouth, sucking on it, and even properly brushing on occasion (such a SMART KID), and playing with the bristles on his fingers.

YESTERDAY. We go to the bathroom for bathtime. I start filling the water, he is standing on the floor, REACHING AS FAR AS POSSIBLE for his toothbrush on the counter. It is WAY out of his reach, but he does everything possible, tries every angle to get to it. No luck... and he has a fit. Not a large fit, more of a "here is what's to come in the terrible 2's" kind of fit. I let him have it, c'mon, it's a TOOTHBRUSH!!! who am i to deny him?

Sooooo, Mr. Toothbrush took a bath with Rogan last night. And they had great fun. So much so that Rogan's coveted yellow cup, which is ALWAYS in his hand throughout the entire bath, was set aside for Mr. Toothbrush. That's big. I was laughing, Rogan started with Mr. Toothbrush in one hand, and the yellow cup in the other. But he usually has one hand free to play with other toys, splash, and whatnot. When the time came to free up one hand I could TOTALLY TELL he had to think really hard about which item to let go of. So cute.

After the bath, Rogan and Mr. Toothbrush got dried off, then we brushed teeth (which was holding Rogan's hand as he held the toothbrush and brushed since he wouldn't let go), then Mr. Toothbrush went to bed with Rogan. Last night I could tell Rogan was tired, he was yawning and rubbing his eyes on our way home from daycare, so I tried to get him to bed early. But he was up too long and he was so tired he through another fit when I put him to bed. Usually he goes down without a peep, but if he's too tired he'll fight it and cry and want to be cuddled. After 2 times of going back in for some extra cuddles, an hour past his normal bedtime he fell asleep. Mr. Toothbrush didn't make it through the bedtime fit. When Rogan gets mad he throws all of his stuffed animals out of his crib. Mr. Toothbrush had the same fate last night. Sorry, Mr. Toothbrush, can't win 'em all.

... I will be buying a NEW toothbrush tonight for Rogan. Mr. Toothbrush will now just be for play, and hopefully we can keep a different one to use for the actual BRUSHING.

SPECIAL AGENT OSO!!!

FINALLY! Special Agent Oso has been bought. Since trying to buy this stuffed bear in November, 2010... he has been sold out at the online Disney store. Still sold out to this day. Apparently they haven't had them in stock since September. Rogan's favorite character is obviously very popular with other children as well!

Price for this 14" plush bear was listed as high as $180.00 on Amazon.com. EEK. I have been checking the Disney Store online almost daily for 6 months. Today, seeing it posted on ebay for $30.00 (MSRP is $16.95), I pulled the trigger. Oso will be delivered in time for Easter, and will be a great addition to Rogan's Easter Basket this year. Whew! The search is over!

Note: I did buy a smaller version of Oso (8" Beanie) for Rogan for Christmas, but he doesn't look enough like the Bear on the show, so he has not been a hit thus far. Fingers crossed authentic Oso does the trick.

Ugh...

Just a quick equation... Rogan = Toddler = Growing boy appetite = frequent cracker in hand = crumbs on face and hands and body = crumbs on carpet + spring = warmer weather = ants in my family room! Not a fan of ants, just sayin'. Vacuumed/cleaned tonight... But gonna be a battle I can tell. Bring it on!! ;)

The Fearless Climber...

A little video of Rogan climbing his fort, then chasing Bella. Watch him near the end.