Stubborn! Wonder where he gets that from?

Jackson has been eating rice cereal now for about 6 weeks.  Recently he has started to refuse to eat his cereal.  He sucks on his lower lip and won't open his mouth.  I had read somewhere that when babies refuse to eat or try something new, let them explore the food and eventually they will want to eat it.  So, I let Jackson take the spoon and stick his fingers in the cereal.  Sure enough, after he played with his food for a bit he started to eat.  I spent quite a while cleaning up the mess he made.  

Jackson took the spoon and tossed the cereal everywhere.  

Jackson playing with his cereal. 

Jackson 24 Weeks- little explorer

Our baby boy is almost 6 months old!  He is such a delight to be around- he has the best smile and his laugh is hilarious.  I'm excited to go back to Kansas City for Christmas so our family and friends can see how much he has grown!

Jackson has really started to explore the world and become more aware of his surrounding.  He loves to explore mommy and daddy's faces and stick his finger up our noses (awesome) and loves to reach out and pet Oliver.  Since he is so fascinated with everything, we have had to make sure he is not near anything valuable, as you can guarantee he will pick it up and put it in his mouth or bang it on the floor.

 Mommy turned her back and Jackson grabbed a pear decoration and started chewing. 

After he was done chewing the pear, he decided to bang it on the side of the table.

Jackson has also become quite the little explorer in this bouncer.  He whips himself in circles and jumps up and down laughing and grinning.  On the particular day when I took the pictures below, he decided he needed to suck on his pacifier, watch tv and play in his bouncer all at the same time.  

Jackson multitasking- pacifier, tv, bouncer.

Sweet baby blues.  

Picture Perfect

The Hargers bought a new SLR camera for their trip out to San Diego.  The camera took awesome pictures. After seeing these shots of Jackson, I definitely want to invest in one of these cameras.  I mean, you can't let such a cute face go to waste with a regular camera, right?

Legoland

Legoland was a blast.  Jared and I will definitely buy season passes to the park.  It is kid friendly and very interactive.  We drove lego cars, put out fires in firetrucks, rode a pirate ship and got to see all sorts of animals built out of legos.  We're hoping the Hargers come back soon so we can go back!  

And on a side note, wouldn't it be awesome if your job was to build things out of legos.  Every day you wake up, grab a coffee, drive in to work, and play with legos and glue.  Sign me up!

Lets do this!

 Campbell playing in the water.

 Roar!

This car is made completely out of legos.  

 It took over 600 man hours to create this piece. 

Happy Holidays!

SeaWorld

Coleman was so excited that we got to go see Shampoo (aka Shamu, but Coleman thought his name was Shampoo).  It was a little chilly the day were were there, but it warmed up a bit during the day and all of the walking kept us toasty.  While Coleman trotted around the park enjoying all of the animals, Jackson passed the time gnawing on his hand and Campbell passed the time by eating popcorn and taking off her shoes :)   

 Shamu car at the entrance.

 Jackson bundled up and ready for action. 

 Campbell enjoying a piece of cake for lunch. 

 Campbell taking a pit stop to take off her shoes. 

Fun hats to keep the kiddos warm, as well as some popcorn. 

 Dolphin show. 

 Shamu getting some air time. 

 Finale. 

Getting geared up for Shamu.  The Hargers bought Jackson a Shamu stuffed animal.  

Thankful for great friends for Thanksgiving

The Harger family came out to visit us for Thanksgiving.  We had a blast and were so sad when they left.  Campbell and Jackson became best friends, Coleman got to see "Shampoo" (aka Shamu) and old friends got to have a night out on the town and catch up. 

Lets eat!

Babies first Thanksgiving.  

Best friends hugging.

Snuggle time. 

Jackson 5 months

I am such a big boy!

Catching up for the day

Jared: "Hey Jackson, what did you do today?"
Jackson: "I pooped a lot"

Dance Fever

In Jackson's spare time away from eating, pooping/exploding, sleeping and playing belly buster, he enjoys practicing his dance moves.  He's still perfecting them, but here is a sneak peak at the action.

 The sprinkler. 

 The YMCA (his version of a C)

Michael Jackson's "Thriller" zombie dance

Reindeer Games

Here are a few games that Jackson has enjoyed playing with mommy this week.

Game #1: Belly Buster
Jackson rolls onto his belly, plays for a few minutes, screams, mom rolls him back over.  Repeat 50 times a day.  Looking forward to when he learns to roll from tummy to back.

Game #2: Pooper Scooper
Mom puts on diaper.  Jackson explodes and poop goes everywhere.  Mom puts on a diaper.  Jackson explodes and poop goes everywhere.  Mom learns her lesson and puts on a LARGER diaper.  Jackson explodes and poop goes everywhere.

I think next week we'll try to stick to games like "peek-a-boo" and "where's Jackson".

I'm sure Jackson is pooping in this picture

Oliver doesn't mind Jackson rolling over- it gives him a better angle of the goods. 

Jackson was quarantined to his pack-n-play after each explosion so the clean up crew (aka mom) could clean up the mess.

The Price is Right

Did you know that Walmart price matches?  No need to run all over town anymore to three different grocery stores to get the best price.  They match anything, as long as it's not a buy one-get one free offer,  internet pricing or a sale price that is out of date.

I  weeded through all the weekly ads (Target, Ralphs, Albertsons, etc.) to see if any sale items were on my grocery list.  I circled the items in the ads I wanted to price match and then off to Walmart I went.  It took me about 1/3 longer to shop and the check-out attendant was about ready to kill me- BUT I saved 24% off my total bill.  That amounted to $30.14 that I now have to go get a pedicure.  Yay me!

Some tips:

• The item you want to price match has to be the same brand level- i.e. Store brand=Walmart Brand,       Name brand=Name brand. 
• Make sure that the item you want to price match is actually more expensive at Walmart.  There were a few items that Walmart already had the lowest price on so there was no need to price match.  
• Line your items up on the check-out counter starting with the items that are not price matched, followed by price matched items (grouped by store you are matching to), then your coupons.     When you are sweating bullets at the counter because you are getting dirty looks from the long line of customers that has formed behind you, you will appreciate the organization above.    

I have pasted the link to all the rules on price matching at Walmart.  It does take some time to sit down and weed through ads, but in my opinion it is well worth it!

http://walmartstores.com/7659.aspx

Happy Price Matching!!

P.S. Did you know that you can use your 20% off coupons you get from Babies R Us on wipes?  I just found that out today!  Yahoo!

P.S.S.  If you know of any other great deals/discounts/tips, please send them my way.  It is my goal to squeeze every penny I can out of our monthly budget :)

Friends from KC

Our friends Curtis and Kristen came into town this weekend to visit.  Curtis use to live in the San Diego area, so he was able to show us a few of his favorite spots.  Friday night we visited Cordiano Winery and had pizza and wine while watching the sunset. Saturday morning the gang (minus Jackson and I) went mountain biking followed up by the KSU game Saturday evening.  Sunday we watched the Chiefs and relaxed.  Daylight savings time ended while Kristen and Curtis were here, so their internal clocks were out of whack.  Luckily Jackson got the memo on DST ending and gave me an extra hour of sleep.  

P.S. I thought it got dark early in KC during the fall, but here in SD the sun sets at 4:45 pm now!  Good thing I'm up at the crack of dawn with Jackson so I still get a full day of sun in.  

Jared, Shari, Curtis, Kristen at Cordiano Winery.

Kristen and Jackson. They became best friends while Kristen was out here. 

Daddy tending to Jackson while the gang watches the Chiefs.  

Stop, Drop and Roll Over

A side of rice cereal please.

Jackson had his first taste of rice cereal this week.  Needless to say, it was a messy event.  He wasn't sure about the cereal at first, but now he opens wide for each bite.  

Leave a message at the beep

Several of you have said that you have had trouble leaving a comment on the blog if you are not a registered user of blogger.  Here are instructions on how to leave a comment.

1.) Click on the comment link below the post you wish to comment on.

2.) Type your name in the top of the comment field (so we know who you are) and then write your message below your name.

3.) Click the anonymous button, then click publish your comment.

4.) You may be asked to type in a security word that appears on the screen to make sure you are not a hacker :)

5.) Your comment will appear below the post you commented on.  It may take a few minutes for your comment to appear.

It didn't take long ...

For Jackson to start picking on Oliver.  

Halloween 2010 (Jackson 19 weeks)

The citizens of Carlsbad can sleep easy tonight knowing that Sheriff Oliver and Cowboy Jackson are on the job.  They can sniff out criminals from miles away and only require three naps during the day.  

Howdy Partner

Getting ready to go on duty.  

The sheriff needed to take a quick nap.  

All rested up ... Giddy up, Lets go!

Cordiano Winery

Jared found a great winery in the hills of Escondido a few weeks ago.  The family is originally from Italy and used to own Italian and Pizza restaurants before moving to Cali and opening up their winery.  The family is so inviting- in fact the first time we went to the winery they invited us in to their home for sandwiches and wine.  

Rosa, the owner, is in love with Jackson and each time we have come in she can't get enough of him.  We love the winery so much, we even became members!  Bottoms up!  If you come out to visit us, you can guarantee we will take you to the winery for some wine tasting, pizza on the patio and one of the best sunsets you can find in Cali.  

Jared and Jackson enjoying the view.

Jackson found a friend while at the winery.  

View of the valley from the winery.

Going ... 

Going ... 

Gone. 

Jackson had the house white. Mom and Dad had the house red.