Drumroll Please...

Guess what Caroline learned to do yesterday?! Woohoo, you go girl!

Happy Thanksgiving

Caroline's first Thanksgiving... she couldn't have a prouder big brother! We certainly have a lot of blessings to be thankful for here! =)

Halloween Fun

Caroline's first holiday was definitely a success... granted, she slept through most of the "trick-or-treat" excitement, but hey she looked absolutely adorable as a little pumpkin ballerina. And big brother Jackson was definitely a hit decked out as a farmer with his John Deere tractor costume. He and Daddy had quite the fun time making this one, and I do have to say it turned out pretty neato - complete with working headlights and taillight!

15 Month Cutie

...or do I have to say handsome lil man now that's he's getting to be such a big boy?!

Football Fans

Jackson is now an official Illini baby... he made it to his first football tailgate and game! We cheered on the Illini as they beat Illinois State University this past Saturday. As usual, he did great and was quite the little charmer with everyone!

I've put a bunch of pictures in the slide show, but thought I'd point out a few of my favorites

First, of course, we have one of Daddy with a big ol smile because Jackson is at his first tailgate and game!

Next up, a picture at the start of the game with the team running onto the field...
and Jackson's reaction - SO EXCITED! =) He's a natural Illini fan, what can we say?!

Check me out!

Look at what our little munchkin figured out how to do today...

My New Playset

Daddy got it all put together, so naturally we had to test everything out!

Pool Party

Jackson had a great time escaping from the heat and taking a dip in his new pool on Saturday. No surprise given his adventures in the bathtub - he loves the pool, too!

Too busy trying to get back to playing to take a good pic with Mommy and Daddy

I'm not sure, was that "Hi Mommy" you said... wishful thinking, I know. =)

Watch out here I come!

Look out, Jackson's on the move! He's definitely starting to really work on crawling... but he won't crawl for just anything, he prefers Mommy and Daddy's phones. Kids these days are all about the technology! =)

Cubs and ... Squash?

We had a lot of fun with Birthdays and Applesauce a few days ago. And for anyone who may be wondering, yes, after that first day of strange tastes Mommy and Daddy were putting in his mouth, Jackson did decide he was ok wtih applesauce. We tried bananas a few days later - and Jackson is definitely with Mommy on this one so far - EWWW.

Today, we're watching the Cubbies play and having fun with squash. Yep, that's right, squash. As in 'babies love it, gotta get it all over everything but it'll bring a big old smile to your face' squash. Jackson LOVES it... can you tell? =)

Birthdays and Applesauce!

What a day... Jackson and Daddy kept a secret from Mommy this morning - Grandma and Papa were on their way to surprise me for my birthday! We all had a fun day hanging out and playing around. And tomorrow we'll get to see some of the aunties and uncles when we get together before our softball game.

Jackson has been doing a wonderful job eating his rice cereal so we decided Mommy's birthday was a great time to graduate on to trying out some more big boy food - applesauce! As you can see he's not quite sure about the new taste... we'll keep working on it!

Family Pic at the end of the day... too much excitement for Jackson! =)

Zoo-mania!

Mommy and Daddy decided to take advantage of a week off of work and the beautiful weather today and take Jackson for his first trip to the zoo! Miller Park Zoo is a smaller local zoo, but a good addition to Jackson's list of firsts... he really enjoyed walking around in the stroller and checking everything out. Maybe didn't really pay a whole lot of attention to the animals yet, but he enjoyed being out and about all the same - although as you'll see in the pictures, he didn't quite make it to all the way through the zoo before he was all tuckered out! =)

All ready for the big trip!

Making faces at Mommy on the way to the zoo

Checking out some animals with Daddy

Petting the tiger with Mommy

All worn out

Five Months!

Believe it or not, Jackson is FIVE MONTHS old today. Happy birthday to our adorable baby boy!