here is another one... this editing stuff is a lot of work but i love how the pictures are coming out!!

photography

We went to our friends house for their sons baptism the other day and i had the honor of taking photos.. this is my first atempt at "real" photography! so easy to take picture of such a cute little guy!! Thanks Peters family!!

jacksons first steps and then some

This morning Jackson took his first steps! i dont think it was actually intentional... but he still did it! lol. The past week or so hes been walking really well holding onto our hands. He will lead me all over the house clingling to my hands as if on a balance beam. This morning he was holding onto the trash can (yuck i know!) and reached for me. so i bent down about 2 feet away and put my hands out. 2 steps and he reached my arms!! so of course the rest of the morning mike and i have been trying to get him to do it again!! no luck yet...
Jackson has also really picked up on his communication in recent weeks. I have been signing to him for months now and i still cant get him to sign back.. (Parker was actively signing at this age) but Jack is a whiner/pointer... He will point to his milk and whine incessantly until he gets it... or points to his toothbrush and whine until he gets it. Its cute and I understand what he wants! He says a couple words, mama, and mainly dada.. my how hes making leaps with his milestones!
alright thats all i can fit in for now... mike is off working on his 1/2 marathon and the boys are getting into trouble!

growing little Parker

my little super hero has been pretty stinkin cute this week!! When you have another child who is also making leaps and bounds in their development you dont always notice the small leaps the bigger child makes.
I have definately noticed in recent weeks that my conversation with Parker has changed. I realized yesterday that I was no longer talking in my cute 'baby' voice... but rather actually having a conversation with him. I have done this before but its usually to make him understand that he was doing something wrong or was in harms way. Its almost as if something has clicked. The other night he threw up for the first time (coughing fits, not because he was sick) and he could see the look of worry on my face. He said, "its ok mom. i just threw up because i was coughing... im not sick. im ok! I love you mom." Melted my heart instantly. Hes becoming very observant and theres no pulling a fast one on him... you know sometimes as a parent you won't lie to your kids but maybe fib a little for their benifit...like say, "im sorry buddy the bank is all out of suckers." this is no longer an acceptable answer for him. He replied with,"mom... you didnt ask the bank lady, how do you know they are all gone???" Such a smart little thing.
So it seems that i now need to adjust my parenting for my growing child :-)

other recent develpoments:
*really taking note if he looks good, or matches
* has become very interested in older kid things like mikes video games, actually lighting the fireworks rather than just watching, and "Zany bands"
* has fun phrases like "just keep trying, " and "nah"

there are a ton more i just cant think of them at this moment!!