just like grandpa

i realized this morning that jackson sticks his tongue out just like grandpa hampton does. he was trying to pull himself up on the couch and i saw his little tongue sticking out and curling up towards his nose...just like grandpa does when he's concentrating on something. i remember my dad doing this the most when we were at a gas station and dad was washing the windshield. maybe jackson will someday be able to touch the tip of his nose with his tongue...what do you think dad?

it's a...

...boy! we had our ultrasound and are excited that jackson will have a little brother to play with and boss around. although, since they'll only be 15 months apart, i don't know how much bossing the younger brother will take :)
the ultrasound pictures weren't very good this time, but i'll probably be having another one in about six weeks. they weren't able to get all the baby's measurements they wanted and although there doesn't seem to anything to worry about, they just like to be sure. so hopefully with the next one i'll get better pictures to show off.

a jackson update

it seems like it's been awhile since i've posted about what jackson's doing. he's still sleeping quite well at night. we no longer have to feed him during the night, but we're still having issues with runaway pacifiers. they fall through the slats in the crib then he wakes up and wants it. so, we're still having to get up a couple times each night to give him his pacifier, but that will soon be taken care of (hopefully) with the bumper i ordered. i rarely get pictures of him sleeping, because i wouldn't want to risk waking up a sleeping baby. this one was from sunday when we had to wake him up a little early to get to church. i like how his arm is resting on his back.


one of jackson's new favorite things is to stand at the screen door and watch the world got by. he looks like such a big boy.


another cute thing jackson does is bury his face in his stuffed animals and make an "oooo" sound. he also does this on pillows the couch my knee...whatever he can shove his face against.

i've mentioned before how great of a dad eric is. it seems like he and jackson are growing closer and closer...jackson's definitely a daddy's boy. when eric gets home from work, jackson'll hear him at the door and stop whatever he's doing to crawl as fast as he can to meet his daddy. it reminds me of dino greeting fred flinstone when he gets home from work. this is a picture of eric and jackson playing with the gate between them. eric will reach through and tickle jackson and play peek-a-boo. jackson gets such a kick out of it.

some other things jackson's learning: he's starting to walk along furniture and around the outside of his exersaucer. and i think he's learning how to wave. usually while he's eating he'll start opening and closing his hand and just watch it like he's amazed he's doing it...it's really cute. and a couple of times he has waved back to eric and i. it's weird to think that i may be soon blogging about him taking his first steps and saying his first real words...time flies!

*on another note, we have an ultrasound today and will hopefully find out if jackson's going to have a brother or a sister!

About Grandma

Grandma and Me (Eric) 1983
So, my Grandma passed away this morning. Besides my Grandma passing, the only other family that I have lost is a dog that I wasn't really attached to anyway. I cried a little when I was putting Jackson to sleep this evening. I think it was because I was just sitting there and had time to think about Grandma. I don't usually cry about anything. Ever. I think what saddens me the most is how she died, where she died, and who was with her. Don't get me wrong, I love and miss Grandma, but I grew up in Idaho and she lived in California. It is hard to build a strong relationship with someone you only see every other year. Anyway, she died in the car, on the way to the hospital with my Grandpa driving, of a possible heart attack. Grandpa is all but deaf, blind in one eye, and has trouble communicating because of his hearing. We estimate that she passed between 2:30 and 3 a.m. My dad didn't get a call until about 7:30 a.m. What was Grandpa doing in between? Did he know what was going on? Did he contact anyone else to be with him? Were the doctors able to communicate with him? Was he crying? Did he and Grandma get to say goodbye? She was alive when they left for the hospital, and slumped over in the seat on the way. He thought she was reaching for something in the back. I don't know what I would do. I just feel really sad about the situation. Kind of a "coulda, shoulda, woulda" feeling. Maybe I could have written more letters or e-mails. Maybe I could have called. Maybe I could have visited more often. A piece of the family, of my genetic makeup, doesn't exist in physical form anymore, yet life is still supposed to go on.
As I was putting Jackson to bed I thought about Grandma and cried out to God (Jesus) to bring comfort to Grandpa and Dad and Uncle Mike. I cried out for comfort for myself. I don't know when I last had enough tears that they fell off my face. I then remembered the good times we had, like when the whole family flew to Oceanside, CA to visit them a few years ago for their fiftieth wedding anniversary. They didn't know we were coming and I don't think that I have ever seen anyone so happy. I remembered our family trip last spring, when we all went to CA again, this time with two great-grandkids. I remembered when I went by myself during college and they drug me all over Southern California. I remembered the sleeping bag that they gave me when I was five or so. I still have it and my son will be able to use it in a year or two. More recently, I remembered my son's dedication at church. Grandma and Grandpa flew up to be there with us for the occasion. I remember how I mistakenly called Grandma two weeks ago, (we have never spoken for more than five minutes on the phone) and talked with her for half-an-hour. I learned some things about her past, she asked how Jackson was doing and about how cute the pictures we sent her were. I remembered that the last thing I said to her was "I love you". Those are important words. As I think about all the pictures I have of Grandma and all the things we have done together, I feel Grandma saying," I love you". Even though Grandma is gone, I know that she understood that Jesus loved her, and she loved Him back. I understand that Jesus loves me and I love Him back. I know that when she made it home Jesus greeted her with a loud, "HOTDOG!", and a big hug. Grandma's life is just beginning. She is up in heaven at the right hand of God, watching and waiting. I am confident that I will be able to hug my Grandma again one day.

By Eric

we miss grammy and papa

now don't get me wrong, we're glad to be back home and especially glad to be with eric/daddy. but we miss grammy and papa while eric's at work. it was really nice for jackson and i to have someone else to share the day with. my mom and step-dad were great. they really helped keeping him happy and entertained (it's quite a bit of work these days). papa was always good at calming jackson when he got fussy. one day, dick (papa) got down on the floor with jackson and they played for quite awhile together. i wanted to get some pictures, but didn't want to interrupt their fun. it was also nice to be able to eat a meal in peace. mom and dick would play with jackson so i got to eat while my food was still warm! jackson's not much of a cuddle bug (he likes to be moving about too much), but grammy seemed to always be able to calm him down and get a little cuddling in.
thanks for a fun week grammy and papa...we'll be back soon!

on another note...i had mentioned that jackson slept great while in seattle (including sleeping through the night all but one night), but that he didn't seem to continue that when we got home. well, i'm happy to report that the last 2 nights were pretty good. he made it through without needing a bottle and last night eric had to get up just once to cover him up and slide him down in the crib (he tends to scoot up and then he keeps bonking his head).

we're back home. jackson and i spent the last week at his grammy and papa's in seattle. we had a really good time. our week even included a visit with my good friend, lauren and her son, caleb (we only got to see troy [lauren's husband] for a little, since he had to work). probably one of the biggest highlights for me was that jackson slept through the night 5 out of our 6 nights there. (i mean through the night...like 11-12 hours!) unfortunately that did not happen last night. i'm hoping the long car ride home, getting to bed late and being a little cold was what caused the change and that tonight and forevermore he'll sleep through the night...i'll keep you posted! there were lots of other fun things as well. it was fun to watch jackson interact with grammy and papa. he doesn't get to see them often enough, but it took no time for him to warm up to them and keep them busy chasing him around. one of the first things we did when we got there was baby-proof the house. this was really nice, since my boy is quite the adventurer and is constantly exploring everything. with the house basically baby-proof, he was able to explore and we didn't have to constantly be telling him no.
the day i spent with lauren and caleb was also really fun. caleb and jackson are less than 2 weeks apart, so it was fun to watch them interact. lauren took me to her favorite tea shop (part of my birthday present) and we got to just hang out and chat and try to keep up with 2 9-month olds.

so, now we're going to try to get back to our at-home routine...and hopefully that good sleeping at night!

here are some pictures from the week:

jackson relaxing with papa
mom was fixing some pants for me and jackson got such a kick out of the sewing machine. i'm not sure what it was that he found so funny, but he laughed and laughed
jackson's great-grandma, doris made this hat...a little big for now, but still oh-so cute
jackson and caleb at the tea shop lauren took me to...such precious boys

it's been a long day

it's days like today that really make me realize how much i appreciate all eric does to help with jackson. eric is in spokane all day today, tomorrow and both saturday and sunday of next weekend for a class. and by all day i mean ALL DAY. he leaves the house at 6am and won't be back until 6:30pm. okay, enough complaining. i am going to be positive and thankful for how much eric does do when he's home. he always gives jackson his baths in the evenings (i've only given him one in the last 5 or 6 months), he often feeds him his dinner as well as puts him to bed most nights. oh, and i can't forget to mention that he also gets up to feed jackson in the middle of the night (when will he finally sleep through the night?). so, kudos to my wonderful husband. and thankfully, i'll be at my mom's next weekend, so jackson and i will have plenty of company.

100th post

this is my 100th post...congratulations to me!

happy 80th birthday oma

yesterday was eric's oma's 80th birthday. her 3 daughters were all there, as well as lots of grandkids and all her great-grandkids. it was lots of fun.

the birthday girl blowing out her candles

oma with her 4 great-grandkids

random pictures

jackson new favorite toy

we've been told by the folks that work in the nursery at church that jackson loves playing with the balls. while at target the other day, i found this big red ball. it's his new favorite toy.

swimming pool

last saturday was a pretty warm day. jackson didn't take his afternoon nap, so we needed to find something to keep him entertained (we didn't want grumpy jackson). we found this cute froggy pool...
of course as soon as we got it set up and filled with warm water, it started raining. oh, well...at least i got a cute picture!

clapping pictures

on monday i mentioned that jackson started clapping. i tried to get some pictures of his new trick. this is the best i could do...

clap your hands

it seems as though jackson has learned how to clap. it's actually really cute. ever since he was really little, if he had something in each hand he would bang them together. and sometimes he'd just bang his hands together without anything in them. i'm kinda surprised he didn't start clapping sooner. it's quite amazing to watch him learning so much. i can hardly believe all the new things he's doing and saying just in the last few weeks!