Sneak Peak- Jackson Kyle Sevier

Jackson Kyle Sevier

Born on August 24, 2012 at 7:24 a.m.

9 pounds 8 ounces

21 inches

 Jackson and his big sister Ellie

There has never been a big sister so proud and in love with her baby brother!

 First Family Photo

Of course, I have about 300 pictures to sort through, but with a newborn and a 2-year-old, we'll see just how long it is before I actually get those posted on here!

For now, I'm just enjoying my sweet baby, his awesome big sister, and their wonderful daddy.  I'm so proud of my family.  My heart is so full of love I think it might burst!

Ellie's First Day of School (Mother's Day Out)

Today is Ellie's first day in "school." It's actually a Mother's Day Out program that she's starting.  She'll go on Mondays and Thursdays for 5 whole hours!!  She is very attached to me and she's also very shy around new people, so I've been talking about school all summer long.  She's known her teacher's name for months and has been excited about her new lunchbox and napmat.  I was a little worried for this morning . . . more about myself having a breakdown than Ellie, but a little nervous for us both.  She only slept about half as long as she usually does.  She was up at 6:45, which is totally unheard of with her.  And she didn't go to sleep last night until 12:30 a.m.!!  She hasn't been taking naps anymore for the past few months, but she will have a naptime at MDO.  I'm hoping that goes well.  Hopefully it will today since she didn't get much sleep last night.  Then, she only ate about 3 bites of breakfast.  She's used to snacking whenever she wants, so she'll probably be starving at lunch!  Okay.  I'll stop freaking out.  It's only 5 hours, right???

Plus, she did great when we dropped her off!  She walked into school carrying her lunchbox and put her things in her basket.  Then she went and found some baby dolls to play with since her crazy mom had her there 15 minutes early!  When we were about to leave, I went over and gave her a kiss.  She said, "Are you going now?" and her voice started to crack.  I told her I was and I'd be back to get her soon.  Kyle and I walked out and she was just feeding her babies!  I'm so glad!  I thought she might be holding onto me by my hair and screaming.  Geez!  I'm so crazy!  You'd think I was shipping her off somewhere for a month.

Anyway, she looked SO precious today and was in a great mood!

I'm so proud of my big girl!!

Busy Weekend/Ellie's 1st Time Bowling/Open House

We had a busy weekend!  On Saturday morning, Ellie's Grandpa came and picked her up and took her to breakfast at I-Hop.  Then they went to Bass Pro Shop where Ellie got to see a bunch of fish, "drive" some boats, and pick out a stuffed animal (turkey for her, fish for Jackson) and lots of candy (really . . . lots . . . huge bags of Twizzlers, gummy bears, and jelly beans).  Next, they went to "see Haven's soccer ball team."  Ellie got to watch the game with Sadie, Grandma, Grandpa, Aunt Des, and Uncle Mike.  She had a great time with on her date with Grandpa!  Thanks Grandpa!

While Ellie was with Grandpa and I was taking a nap, Kyle washed and cleaned out my car.  I mean, DETAILED my car.  He cleaned every inch of it right down to conditioning the leather and shampooing the carpets.  I also think there were several q-tips involved.  I don't even want to drive it now!  It's cleaner than when I bought it!  Thanks babe!  You're so good to me!

Then Ellie had a date with Daddy!  Aunt Des took Mommy for lunch and pedicures before Jackson gets here.  We had a much needed girls' day out and by the time she dropped me off that evening, my cheeks and stomach hurt from laughing so hard!  Thanks Aunt Des!  I had a wonderful day!  I felt very spoiled!

On Sunday, we went to church and then took Ellie bowling for her first time.  She liked it and had fun, but one game was enough.  Her attention span isn't quite there yet!

She picked out her orange ball (even though it wasn't the lightest one they had), and would carry it up there every time!  It was an 8 lb. ball!

 She'd jump up and down waiting to see how many pins she'd knock down!

 Watching Daddy take his turn

 She noticed that Daddy didn't use the ramp so she didn't want to either.

 Daddy had to help just a little bit.

 Final Scores!  Ellie even got a strike.  I'm also supposed to mention that Kyle usually bowls much better than this, but he wasn't trying very hard and couldn't concentrate with Ellie running up behind him, etc. ;)

 They had bowling shoes in her size!  So cute!

 Daddy and Ellie

 Mommy just watched and took pictures

On Monday night, we took Ellie to the Open House at her new school.  She walked around wide-eyed and quiet, just taking everything in.  We met her teachers, Mrs. Brandie and Mrs. Jessica.  They both have long, brown hair and are soft spoken like me, so I think that will be good for her.  There are 10 other kids in her class.  I take her Thursday morning for her first day!  I've never left her with someone besides all her grandmas for this long.  We'll see who cries more . . . Ellie or Mommy!  Then I will have 5 hours to myself the day before I become a mother of 2.  What shall I do with my time???

 Her school has this awesome little carousel right outside the door of her classroom that really works.  She was a little scared at first, but then she got the hang of it.

She kept getting down and changing horses.  We were about ready to leave so Kyle told her it was her last ride and to "choose wisely."  She pointed to a horse and asked, "Is this one Wisely?"  She thought it was the horse's name!  She cracks me up!

6 days, 36 minutes to go, but who's counting??

We've been very busy getting ready for Jackson around here.  Kyle has been checking off all the items on his to-do list and we're getting there. . . slowly but surely!  I haven't been a whole lot of help, but these days I'm doing good to keep Ellie fed and entertained each day!  I've had to be creative since it has been so hot and I really don't feel like leaving the house. 

One day last week she told me she wanted to do a "project."  I'm not even sure where she picked up that word, but I came up with a project for her to do.  We went through a magazine and found a bunch of pictures of dogs and cats.  We sorted them and I let her use a glue stick and glue them down onto paper.  She had fun doing it, but then she wanted to pull all the pictures back off.  The mom in me wanted to let her, but the teacher in me was about to have a heart attack.  Why would anyone do such a thing???  She also put the glue on her lips and called it chapstick.  Other than that, she did well for her first time using glue! :)

 Finished product

Last weekend, we took Ellie to Chuck E. Cheese.  We've only taken her one other time since she was old enough to actually do anything and she wasn't too crazy about it.  She had fun this time.  She especially liked going down the slide and putting the coins into the slots.  Kyle had to play a lot of games simply because Ellie kept running around putting her tokens in!

Ellie has also been such a big help while I've been trying to do things around the house.  A few days ago, she helped me sweep and mop.  It probably took twice as long and I was ready for a nap afterwards, but she did a great job!

 Love this look . . . she's really concentrating!

 Just being silly!

I can't believe that we're less than a week away from having another sweet baby.  Ellie is very excited and will tell everyone about how she's going to rock him, feed him, change his diaper, and share her toys with him.  (We'll see about that last one.)  She has been practicing the last few months with her baby doll, Lily.  I'm actually very impressed with her mothering skills.  She can put a diaper on her doll like an expert, and when she hands Lily to you, you have to hold her "like a baby" with both hands and bounce her.  She doesn't like to be rocked.  She's also very empathetic.  She will bounce Lily and just talk to her.  It's the sweetest thing.  I think she is going to be an amazing big sister!

She is also starting Mother's Day Out next week.  We have her open house on Monday night and her first day is on Thursday.  She's never been in that type of environment for longer than an hour (like church and the YMCA).  I'm a little nervous, but know that it will be great for her.  Now I'm just crossing my fingers that I don't go into labor before next Friday.  I might die if I have to miss her first day!

Summertime Pics

We've spent the past few weeks trying to stay cool!  Being 9 months pregnant in 115 degree weather is not something I would recommend to anyone!  The countdown has begun . . . 18 days until Jackson will be here!  Unless he decides to come earlier than the 24th, in which case I might freak out because I've got all my plans made.  I guess we'll see . . .

Ellie is having fun this summer!  She loves to be outside, which is no bueno with the heat we're having right now.  She sleeps too late to go out in the early morning (and who am I to mess with that??), so unless we're getting in a pool, we're staying in.  We did go to the library and lunch with Daddy and Grandpa on this day.  Unfortunately, she took her pigtails out between the library and Jason's Deli, so she looked like she had 2 horns on top of her head.  Usually, I'd fight her to get them back in, but it's too hot and I'm too pregnant. 

She's getting braver and actually playing in the sprinkler now instead of just running around the outside perimeter.

 Sometimes she has to stop for a drink

 Ellie's cousin Haven just turned 8 last week (unbelievable!).  Here are some pics from her very cute, very fun swim party!

Ellie's future boyfriend, Gage, giving her a hug

 Daddy and Ellie

Grandma and Ellie

 Little Swimmer

 Ellie and the birthday girl

 Ellie and Sadie playing shuffleboard

 Don't laugh . . . He's going to be a big baby.  However, if he ends up weighing 7 pounds, then I will give you permission to laugh.

 Flowers from my husband . . . no special reason besides the picture directly above.  He knew I needed them that day!



Ellie and I have 18 more days to spend together so I'm going to try to think of some fun, indoor ideas to do with her before the big day.  Not only is she getting a new baby brother, she's starting to Mother's Day Out the day before he's born.  She's so excited and proud of her new nap mat and lunch box.  We'll see how long that lasts once she realizes what they're actually used for!