Happy Birthday, Sweet Girl!

Ok...so it's been a while since I've updated this blog. I know this because when I logged in to post pictures of Caleb's birthday, I found...

pictures of Olivia's birthday.

From February.

Oops!

Our baby girl turned 5 this year! It's so hard to believe she's already 5. Such a big girl.

We had her party at a place called Jump Street this year...basically a big trampoline place. Perfect for a pediatrician's daughter, right? Cause pediatrician's LOVE trampolines! :P

It was a lot of fun, and super, super easy for Levi and I. No clean up!

She had several friends that came and they all had a lot of fun jumping around.

It was a Rapunzel theme once again this year! Olivia loves her Rapunzel. Her cake turned out very cute. :)

Her big present from Daddy and Mommy this year was a new kitty. She had to wait about 2-3 weeks after her actual birthday before she was able to bring her home though.

This is the picture we gave to her of her kitty, since she had to wait for her. She wasn't impressed until we explained it! Then she was very excited. :)

And this is Cookie! The newest member of our family.

She is a great kitty, loves to be held but is also very feisty and playful...just like another young girl I know...

This is how she spent the entire afternoon after we brought Cookie home. I think she likes her. :)

Our beautiful girl will be going to Kindergarten this fall. She has already started learning to read and surprises us with how well she can sight read some of her books. She is very, very talkative, and we often have to remind her to actually eat rather than talk, else we'll all be at the table for hours before she is finished. She started learning to play soccer this year, and is going to camp at the YMCA this summer. She loves to draw and to dance, and loves her baby brother. She's such a great big sister.

We love you, Sweet Pea. You'll always be our special girl and we are so proud of you!

A Day at the Park

Yesterday was a lovely day today in Austin...79 degrees and partly cloudy. After church we couldn't resist taking advantage and having some awesome family time at the playground!

We had a lot of fun playing and running and climbing. We are so blessed!

Fun on the slide! On a side note, I have a picture of her in almost the same pose, from when she was almost 2...

CUTE!

Caleb had some fun on the slide, too...until he turned over and started to slide down by himself...

Silly girl

I'm gonna get you!

Swinging time

Daddy and Caleb

Daddy and Olivia!

Mommy's turn!

Smiling boy.

Time to go!

We had so much fun. Hard to believe it's January around here!

Two peas in a pod

From day one, we have been amazed at how much Caleb resembles Olivia...it's like they are twins but 4 years apart! There are several pictures that highlight this, and we're glad that the outfits in them give a clue to gender because otherwise in 20 years it may be hard to tell who is who!

Olivia's birth announcement photo

Caleb's birth announcement photo

Olivia looking over Daddy's shoulder

Caleb looking over Daddy's shoulder

Olivia smiling for Mommy

Caleb smiling for Mommy

Am I right? The resemblance is amazing. Except for the eyes. Olivia's were always a hazely-brown (now pure brown) and Caleb's are a definite blue-grey.

And simply because I cannot resist...a few extra pictures of the two of them, now:

So, so sweet! I have several of these poses and I love them!

Olivia is very good with him. And he loves looking at his big sister when she stays still long enough for him to focus on her.

Playing together

Caleb getting manhandled by his feisty sister

Up next...Caleb at 2 months! :) Stay tuned.

Introducing...Caleb James Jackson!

That's right, he's finally here! Caleb was born on Tuesday, April 24, at 6:07am. He weighed 8 pounds, 1 ounce, and measured at 19 & 1/2 inches long. I find it interesting that both of our children were born on Tuesdays...how does that old poem go?

Monday's child is fair of face

Tuesday's child is full of grace,

Wednesday's child is full of woe,

Thursday's child has far to go,

Friday's child is loving and giving,

Saturday's child works hard for a living,

But the child who is born on the Sabbath Day

Is bonny and blithe and good and gay.

I like the idea that our children are "full of grace." They are certainly both a blessing and precious gifts from God.

Caleb's arrival was very smooth and without any problems, thankfully! We did end up having to evict him...we had an induction at 39 weeks. I think he was pretty comfy in there...he still curls up like a stink bug as much as possible.

Big sister is very excited. She loves to hold him, and always runs over to give him hugs.

Now we are a happy family of four!

First bath! he wasn't impressed at first...

We catch sleep whenever we can!

Checking to see if Daddy has milk...he was disappointed.

The past week has been a bit of a blur...I can't believe he'll be 2 weeks old in just a few short days! It's been lovely being home with my two kiddos...the park in the mornings, games with Olivia, family nap time after lunch, and lots and lots of rocking chair time with Caleb. :)  A few days ago we did a mini "photo shoot" and I was able to capture several really good pictures of them both...

He LOVES to be on his tummy, which makes his Pediatrician-Mommy crazy...but he's allowed only if I'm holding him (or taking his picture). :P

Sweet, sweet, beautiful children.

She loves her little brother!

Precious boy.

Lovely girl, growing up so fast!

Hoppy Easter! :)

We had a lot of fun with Easter this year! Olivia is getting old enough that she knows what to expect for holidays now, so we had several days' worth of "where's the Easter candy" and "let's go hunt for eggs now!"

It was also the first year that I dyed Easter eggs with her. Yes, I know, it's shocking that she's never dyed eggs before...but she was always too little to understand how to be careful (and if I'm honest I was probably working...) This year, though, I really wanted to make sure it was something we did. She helped me hard-boil the eggs (she's such a big helper in the kitchen), and then we set up 4 glasses with our chosen colors - pink, blue, green, and red. It was amazing to see the look on her face when we pulled the first egg out of the blue dye - lit up with so much wonder and excitment. It was so much fun, and I wish I'd taken pictures but I was too preoccupied with making sure the dye didn't end up all over everywhere. Next year!

I am proud to say that we have some very good pictures of her hunting Easter eggs (both the dyed and the plastic variety) and in her dress before church. Those are below...

The eggs seemed to like hiding in the grass but she was pretty good at finding them!

Pulling eggs out of the front bushes.

That's a lot of eggs!

Her Easter basket had books, colored pens, a memo pad, and stickers!

New Easter dress and new summer sandals!

Such a beautiful girl. (wish I'd curled her hair - it's really cute that way - but we ran out of time before church)

Emptying all of her candy into a bag...that she's still slowly working her way through for dinner time desserts! :)

It was a lovely day. Hope you had a lovely Easter Sunday with your family as well!

Happy Birthday, Olivia!

Levi and I can't believe our baby girl is now 4! She's getting to be such a big girl. We often joke that she's "four going on fourteen" because she can speak like quite the grown up young lady sometimes. :) I'm sure all parents think that their kids grow up too fast...it just doesn't seem possible that Olivia is already 4. Sometimes I catch a glance at her and just marvel at the budding young person she is - no longer a hint of baby anywhere. And while at times it makes me sad (well, nostalgic anyway), she's such a delight that it's hard to wish her to be any age other than she is at this moment...

Olivia is very loving. She is generous with her hugs and will often tell Levi and I "I love you" completely out of the blue. She picks flowers (weeds) out of the yard or the park to bring to me every time she's outside. She is happiest when both Levi and I are home. She loves to read books - either us reading the story to her or just sitting on the floor by herself and "reading" them, and we usually make weekly trips to the library to keep her supply fresh. She's one of the most athletic/energetic kids I've ever seen...I can't count how many people have commented on her ability to run far longer than most. She loves being outside. She loves to wear dresses and skirts with tights....and then play in the dirt. She is very excited about being a big sister, and often will hug my belly and tell me how much she's going to teach Caleb to do.

Olivia is a really good kid. I can't stress this enough. She listens, she's polite, she does what she's told 9 times out of 10. When she's having an off day, Levi and I almost don't know how to handle it because they're rare. :)

Okay...now time for pictures of her birthday party! We had it at a place called Inflatable Wonderland, which is basically a big room full of jumping castles. There were 9 kids from her class at school there, which was a perfect number of kids. She had lots of presents to open from both friends and family!

Her "theme" was Rapunzel. I'm not certain if that's her favorite princess, but I think it's safe to say she's ranked pretty high!

This cake was supposed to be chocolate with bavarian cream filling. It was white with raspberry filling...which we didn't discover until I started to cut it after she blew the candles out!  Luckily Olivia didn't notice, because she kept telling everyone it was chocolate. lol.

Doing the Hokey Pokey! It was the only dance she'd play along with.

Blowing out the candles after a nutritious meal of hot dogs, veggies, fruit, and Kool Aid. :)

Lots of kids having lots of fun. It was a great party!

Olivia, Daddy and Mommy love you very much, and thank God every day for giving you to us. :)