Happy 1st Birthday Jackson!

My little man turned the big number 1, last Saturday, January 18^th! We had his party on Sunday. It was a john deere theme naturally!

He got so many clothes and toys, it is ridiculous!! With his birthday being so close after Christmas, it puts us in a dilemma, because he got so much new stuff at once. What a wonderful problem to have!!!

His Stats:

Weight – 22 lbs, 1.5 ozs (62 percentile)

Height – 30 inches (53^rd percentile)

Clothes: Wears mostly 12-18 months

Diapers – size 3

Shoes – size 5

Eats – He is eating all table food, he does have a baby food fruit pouch everyday generally, buts that’s just because he really likes them!!  He’s pretty much down to at most 3 bottles a day, but generally only 1, and that is a night.

Sleep – still bad. He is now full time sleeping with us, and I don’t mind that, he’s just such a light sleeper and has to be right next to me. Well I am not a still sleeper, so everytime I need to move I disturb him. He goes to bed at 8pm every night and is always up by 7am. If we could only get him a sound sleep during that time, I think we’d be good. He still takes two naps a day.

Jackson,

I can’t believe it has been a whole year since you made your grand entrance and stole my heart. I am so proud to be your momma. Everyone says how smart and cute you are, and it just makes me so happy because you are MINE! You are such a little ham! After your bath every night, you run naked from me while I try to put lotion on. You scrunch up your little face and pouch out your belly and just laugh while you run!! It is so funny!

I prayed for so long for you and you’ve fulfilled every dream I ever had of motherhood. I love you so much, all the way to the moon and back. I will never grow tired of your sweet kisses! I hope you always know just how much I love you and wanted you, I pray you never doubt my love for you! I love you my sweet, sweet boy!

Six!!

 My beautiful Haylei girl turns the big 6 today!! She has brought more joy to me over the last six years. She is so funny and smart and caring!! She has a huge heart, made of gold. She loves everyone, especially her cousins, and gives to others.

She loves to do chores and especially loves to work with Uncle Matt. She is his right hand man. He’d rather take her in the pasture, than do anything else. Likewise, she’d rather go in the pasture or work with him than do anything.

Jackson absolutely adores her. Last night, we were sitting in the floor coloring, and he kept walking over to her and laying his head down on her and giving her hugs. We went to Walmart last night to pick out cupcakes for her to take to school today, and instead of getting all girly ones, she got some that had Star wars on them, so that the boys could have some too!

Haylei girl,

I love you so much and I am so incredibly proud of the little girl you have blossomed into. This past year, having Jackson around, things have been different at our house a little, and you’ve embraced it and learned to roll with the punches. If you get any money, you automatically say that you’ll give some to Peytan. You love your sister immensely and she is your best friend. You take your own toys and wrap them to give to other people, so that they’ll have a gift.

You are such a good helper and are constantly picking up toys or trash. When I have to tell you to do something, you never gripe or throw a fit about it, you just do it. That is so special to me, because I know that you do not a defiant spirit about you.

Some of your favorite things:

                *chips and salsa-you absolutely love to eat Mexican food. You always get a cheese enchilada with rice and beans, and will always clean your plate!

                * unsweet tea (like your Uncle Matt)

                * crayolas, pens, and note pads (you’re always making a list or writing people’s names)

                * your cousins (the highlight of your weekend is spending time with them, it’s the first thing you ask when you wake up)

                * you love going to Mema’s house to harass Hughie Lewis.

                * you love fishing, John Deere and anything Matt does.

                * you are a tom-boy through and through, but also love to have your nails painted and necklaces.

You are an incredible little girl and I am so blessed to get to be a part of your life. You’ve brought me so much happiness and joy the last six years and I can’t wait to see what the next six have in store for us! I love you to the moon and back baby girl!!

Thoughts

First things first. I just want to say that I guess I should consider it a compliment that the way I live my life is indicative of going to church? I don’t know. But what I do know is this: do I believe in God? Yes, wholeheartedly. Do I pray? Yes. When I tell someone I’m going to pray do I do it? Yes. Am I perfect? No. Absolutely not, farthest thing from it.  I am merely a sinner, saved by Grace. I believe Jesus came to this earth as a babe, and then died on a cross, taking and covering my sins. I believe that he rose again and I pray, with faith, that He hears me and will answer my prayers (even if it is an answer I don’t like).  If all of these things make me a fake, churchy person…well I guess I’m guilty. I do not claim to be perfect, I do not claim to have a perfect life, and I sin daily. I fall short daily. I lose my temper frequently. I am not perfect, and pretty sure I’ve never claimed to be.

I do say frequently how thankful I am for the life God gave me. How could I not be? I was raised by two parents that were flawed, but that loved me. My mom took us to church most every time the doors were opened. They taught us respect and values and hard work. I am blessed to have a good job that I worked my way up to, a home that Matt works hard for us to live in, a beautiful baby boy that I endured fertility treatments and prayed lots of prayers for. I have always considered myself to have a “normal” family unit, as in aunts, uncles, grandparents, cousins that were supportive and loving. The older I get, and more people I come in contact with, I have learned that the family unit we have, is somewhat rare. Not all people have the type of family we have and I have come to realize, we are incredibly blessed.

Do I go to church every Sunday? Nope. I know I need to and I should, not so that I can continue to be “perfect” HA!; but to continue to learn and grow and to fellowship with other believers.

I am just unsure as to why every time, someone disagrees with you or you disagree with someone else, immediately you’re judging. And after all, we know judging is a sin. You know what? Gluttony is a sin. Lying is a sin. Stealing is a sin. Sex outside of marriage is a sin. Adultery is a sin. Point is, we all sin. Does that make it okay? No. But why do people automatically say “you’re not supposed to judge!! Judging is a sin”.  

This post is kind of all over the place; my point of it is: I am not perfect. I do not have a perfect life. I struggle daily. I have hurts daily. I sin daily. I also pray daily, thank God for what I have daily and try to live a good life. If that makes me fake and churchy, well so be it I suppose.

2013...What a Year!

To say this has been the best year of my life and the worst of my life is the absolute truth. In January, I gave birth, via emergency c-section, to my beautiful answer to prayers. Jackson Lee Simon entered this world on Friday, January 18^th, 2013 at 10:16am, weighing 7lbs, 8.3 ozs and 21” long. He was perfectly formed and perfectly healthy. I had prayed for this blessing for a long, long time and God finally sent him to me.

Then, one Thursday afternoon (the 25^th), in April…we said goodbye to my dad here on earth. Sure, he’d been declining for quite some time, but watching him take his final breath was extremely hard, yet peaceful. I am so thankful he didn’t struggle at the end, I am so thankful for the peace that I know where his soul went. I am so thankful his earthly body isn’t in pain and is whole and healed. I am also beyond thankful for my siblings. My dad’s last 6 months on earth were incredibly difficult, but we all worked together so that my dad’s wishes and best interests were kept at heart.

Those two events, pretty much sum up my year, I’ve watched Jackson learn and grow. I’ve watched my sweet Haylei blossom from a toddler/small child, into a beautiful, little girl. She has a heart of gold. She is so precious to me and all those who give her the opportunity to shine.

Nothing can top this year in the high I was on, and I do not want to know if anything can be lower than the low I experienced.

So, goodbye 2013 and hello 2014. Let’s have a fantastic year. I pray blessings and safety over all of my loved ones.

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Pre-Christmas 2013

This year, Christmas, has been by far the best year of my life and the saddest. Let’s start with the fun and happy!! We’ve been Christmasing for several days, we started on Thursday night with Matt’s parents because they were going out of town. Jackson had fun carrying around tissue paper, it was his favorite! J We had steak and pasta and shrimp…yummy!!!

Friday was Haylei’s Christmas party at school…or should I say Christmas snack. They really didn’t do anything but eat Christmas trees made out of ice cream cones and then take all of their goodies down (ornaments and such that they had made). On the way home, Haylei and I ran to Walmart to get a few groceries and then she went to Mema’s and opened her gifts. She got a Lalaloopsy doll, some jeans and a few other things that I can’t seem to remember! Ha!

On Saturday, we went to my aunt and uncle’s for our annual Christmas party with my Gigi and all of my aunts, uncles and cousins. A few years ago we started playing Dirty Santa at the party and that just makes for barrels of fun. All of the kids loved stealing each other’s gifts and formulating a plan to get the one they wanted. Jackson got his first black eye during this party…he was walking over to a chair and had lots of cousins around him, I’m not sure if he got pushed or was just so excited that he tried to run, but it ended with him whopping a chair and getting a nice black eyelid! L So to make it all better, Nana fed him Banana pudding!

Saturday evening, the kids and I went to Applebees to eat with Amber, Phillip and Andrew, so that the kids could exchange gifts. Jackson got a set of Mega Blocks (that he loves!) and Haylei got a couple of doodle pads and markers (she loves those too!!).

More on Christmas Eve and Christmas day, when we continue!!