Am I five yet?

For the last couple of weeks, Jackson has asked every morning whether he was five yet.  It really started when we mailed his party invitations and as soon as they were in the mailbox, he asked if he was five.  Each time he asked, I hated to break his heart and tell him no, while at the same time I hated for the day to get closer that he would turn five.  The day has come and our baby is most definitely no longer a baby.

He's finally 5!!

 Jackson had his party last Friday night and we saved some presents for him to open this morning.  Apparently all of this present-opening has him spoiled.  Once he finished opening presents this morning, he ducked his head and sheepishly said he wanted more presents.

 Every gift this morning was dinosaur related.  It's becoming his new obsession.  I can't believe how many dinosaur names roll off of my tongue each day, much less all the names Jackson has learned!

 We headed to Krispy Kreme for a birthday breakfast this morning!  I had a candle to stick in his doughnut, but he informed me candles were for cakes.  My bad.

 He loves the doughnuts almost as much as the doughnut machine!

He is always asking to watch the machine.

 I tried to get a picture of the 2 of them.

I think this pretty well sums up our life with these two.

 Jackson did sit still for me to get a quick picture of the two of us!

 From here on out, I'm backtracking.

  The Sunday before Jackson's party, Grammy and Grandpa came down and we took Jackson to pick out his birthday present from them--fish!!  We found an aquarium and he picked out a blue, red, and gold fish.

 He and Katherine love feeding them and Jackson likes to put his dinosaurs in front of the tank pretending like the dinos are about to have an easy dinner.

 Fast forward to Friday . . . it's time for a party!

 Although Jackson is obsessed with dinosaurs, he discovered Angry Birds several months ago and said he wanted an Angry Birds party!

 Getting a glimpse at his cake!

 Headed to the party!

 Jackson's party last year was at a jump place and that's where he wanted it again this year.  Jackson with William and Nicholas.

 Grandpa even got in on the fun with Katherine!

 The big moment!

{If you look at Jackson's friend in the white and red shirt in the picture above and below, he was getting ready to blow the candles with Jackson!}

 I feel like I'm cutting the fun off abruptly, but after cake and ice cream, the boys jumped a little longer and we headed home to open presents.  A couple of his friends were crying when they had to leave, so I think it's safe to say they all had a good time.

We've had a fun time celebrating our FIVE year old!  We can't wait to see what this year brings with all of the new adventures we're about to have!

13 Days Ago

I'm a little late in our 4th of July pictures!

We went to Alabama for the better part of the week and had a good time.

On the morning of the 4th, Katherine was a little excited to

get in the water and started prepping early!

 Uncle Sam even made an appearance!

I'm crossing my fingers our Christmas card

will have a picture this good of the two!

Two more Uncle Sams!

Ready to swim and begging for the gate to be opened!

 Jackson's favorite thing to do in the pool!

 Jackson and Katherine both took swimming lessons this year.  Katherine's class only worked on blowing bubbles in the water and floating on their backs.  During the lessons she always wanted me to let her go, but they weren't wearing floaties in the class, so she was frustrated.  Zach took his hands off of her here and she turned into a FISH!!  Our little girl is a swimmer.  She started kicking her legs and could get to wherever she wanted.

Our future Olympic swimmer in action!

Headed to help her older cousins pick apples . . .

she ate her weight in apples!

Since seeing the 'dinosaur robots' in New Orleans, Jackson had been asking non-stop to see the 'dinosaur bones' again.  So we headed back to Atlanta for the museum and while there Katherine experienced The Varsity for the first time.

 I don't have too many pictures from the museum since it was a repeat visit, but there was this new exhibit.

 Jackson ran in the exhibit, but once we chased him down in the first room, we had seen enough. It's a good thing we had eaten prior.

We had a pretty low-key and enjoyable holiday!

Bedtime Story

Happy 4th!!

Three Peas in a Pod

Outside.  Barefoot.  Water.

Audubon Zoo

We took a trip south today to New Orleans to visit the Audubon Zoo.  I had high expectations, but we were let down.  As pricey as it is, there didn't seem to be too terribly much to see.  But, you never know until you try.

There was a dinosaur exhibit we told Jackson about, so we had to make a stop there first.  He was expecting "dinosaur bones" as he calls it, but it was full of "dinosaur robots"!  Jackson wasn't too sure when we walked in and Katherine was terrified.

 Maybe this is why they were a bit apprehensive.

 Along with the look, the dinosaurs roared and moved. 

The stegosaurus below was near the end of the exhibit and Jackson had worked up enough courage to walk up and touch it.  Just as he was reaching his hand out to touch the baby, it started growling.  Needless to say, he didn't touch anything.

 After the dinosaurs, we took a train ride around the zoo.  Following that, Jackson wanted to go back and see the dinosaurs again, so we did.  This was Katherine the second time around.

 After scaring Katherine to death once again, we walked around a little and saw a few other exhibits.  Katherine and I visited the giraffes while Jackson and Zach bought snow cones.  Jackson had his own, so Katherine had to have her own as well.  She grabbed mine and Zach's snow cone and sat down beside Jackson and refused any help to eat it.  Only problem, ours was red and she kept spilling it.  Zach had the brilliant idea to buy her some shaved ice.  I think it kept her entertained for an hour . . . best $2 we spent all day.

 Katherine's ice lasted well until we were back in the car headed home.  She finally finished it and I looked back to check on her a minute or two later and this is what I saw.  Poor baby fell asleep with her spoon still in her mouth.

Even though Zach and I were disappointed in the visit, it was nice to go somewhere different and experience something new. 

Muddy Puddles

Jackson went through a phase where he was obsessed with the children's show, Peppa Pig.  If you aren't familiar with it, the characters are English and therefore have an English accent.  In the height of his obsession, Jackson told me that his train needed petrol and when he requested tea to drink, he would ask for a 'cup of tea' in his finest English accent.  He's moved on from the show, but another little person in the house is now obsessed.  Anyway, Peppa and her family like jumping in muddy puddles, so today after Jackson spilled some water outside, they began pretending like they were jumping in, well . . . muddy puddles.

I have been trying to get a picture of Katherine jumping with both feet off of the ground for a little while now and this is the best I have caught.  For months this child has been running around trying to truly jump and her determination has paid off!

Before they started jumping in the mud, Jackson decided he needed a hat so he went inside and grabbed his.  Little sister took one look at his and declared she needed a hat as well.  Thankfully, Jackson had a smaller spare.

After puddle jumping, they decided to wash the race car.

 As usual, Katherine checked to see if the sprayer would fit up her nose.

 It wasn't a good fit, so they went back to

washing race cars and jumping in muddy puddles.

Piggies

A few weekends ago, Katherine had her first little pedicure!

 All she heard was "paint" and she was ready!  The whole time I painted her little toes she was begging for the brush so she could have a turn.

 When I finished her first foot, I let her have a turn and this is what she did in a matter of seconds!  Jackson happened to walk in about this time, looked at her foot for several seconds as a distraught look came over his face, and at some point he was finally able to mutter, "What happened?"

 Needless to say, we got her little piggies cleaned up and although she begs for the "paint" when she spots it, she hasn't been given free reign again!

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Katherine's hair is getting longer and I've been meaning for some time now to buy ponytail holders to give pigtails a try.  I finally remembered today to get some,

so we had to give them a try!

 Her first pigtails!!

My, my, how are little baby girl is growing up.