The Quarterly Blog Post...

Here is my quarterly blog post...I have been so busy working and chasing Jackson around that I haven't had time to blog at all. Jackson definitely has become more comfortable walking and running these days. This makes keeping him under wraps a challenge for Todd and I. We are having a great time though. He is talking a lot as well. A few things that he can say are: "tickle tickle", "bath", "clock", "ball". He is really taking an interest in the world around him. We have been to Seaworld two weekends in a row b/c he seems to enjoy it so much. I can't tell if it's just the hustle and bustle of the crowd that he enjoys or if it's really the animals and the shows. Either way, it is really fun to do those things as a family. I know that those trips will be something we can look back on fondly. Here are some pics of our most recent trip to Seaworld with our friends the Humphreys and then a fun meet up with old friends who were in town(Lauri, Jon and Kirsten Conrad). It was really cute to watch Kirsten and Jackson. She shows her love by tackling her friends...we were dying laughing just watching this whole process. Adorable!!!

Catching up...

Well, it has been waaay too long since my last post. I have been so behind in making posts and keeping the site up to date. There has been a lot to keep us busy. Christmas seems like a distant memory now. We went to visit my family for Christmas this year. It was a great trip, filled with good times. In February, we took a trip to Oahu with our good friends the Barnetts to celebrate their son Colton's 1st bday luau. It was a great trip. Jackson just turned 1 on March 18th. We had a great bday party for him with family and friends. My mom and brother Scott came out for the weekend. It was great to have them with us. It has been an amazing 1st year for us as parents. I feel like it just gets better every day with Jackson. He is a fun, sweet little guy who is keeping us on our toes. I hope you all are doing well and hope you enjoy the pics. I will try to post more b/c I know that at the very least my mom, grandpa, and aunt and uncle check the site regularly for updates since they are far away. I love you guys and promise to be better about posting pics.

Catching up...

It has been waaaay too long since I last made a post. We have had so much going on with Thanksgiving and gearing up for Christmas. We are making the trip back to visit my family and will be leaving town on Christmas Eve to travel back there. It will be fun. Here are a few pictures from the past month:

This is a neat picture for me. Jackson is playing with his toys that are held in a cradle that my Grandpa made for me when I was a baby. He refinished it for us to put in Jackson's room. I love that Jackson is always crawling up and playing in it.

This was taken over Thanksgiving. Our friends The Nylands were in town for the holiday and we went to Balboa Park so our kids could hang. Of course, we couldn't get a good picture with all of them (from left Joshua, Jackson, Ella) looking at the camera. This is us picking out the Bankhead family Christmas tree. It was fun to walk through the lot and pick out the tree. This is Jackson's photo with Santa...can't you tell he is fired up?!? The shopping center down the street from us held a cute little event with fun things for kids. They even had "snow" set up, which really ended up being a slushy mess! But, it was a good time.
Gram made Jackson a Santa hat, which is absolutely adorable. It has been fun to throw that on him when we go to the store or on a walk.

BIG smiles.

I was able to get together with some girlfriends and our kids over the weekend. We had a total of 6 kids (and 2 on the way!) that we were busy corralling while we were hanging out. It was so great to see everyone before Christmas and the babies (Eli and Tyler) get here! Here is a pic of the kids.

The latest and greatest...

I wanted to post some of the latest pictures of Jackson, as well as a video of him crawling. He is all over the place now and has even started to pull himself up from all fours to standing while holding onto something for support. This has been an adjustment for us b/c now we have to hover over him constantly to make sure he doesn't bonk his head on everything. He also now has 4 teeth....two on top and two on bottom. The ones on top look like they are big chompers...he is constantly knawing on anything he can get his hands on.

Jackson swinging at the park...he LOVES this!

Me, Jackson, and Ella at the park. It only took 3 or 4 tries to get all of us looking at the camera!

Janice, Ella, and Jackson. Jackson boy...

Just hangin'....

Jackson (the skunk...aka Lil' Stinker) and Todd on Halloween...

The Bankhead fam on Halloween...aren't Todd and I's costumes great?!?

Here is the video of Jack crawling...crazy stuff.

Catching up...

This post is appropriately titled b/c I haven't blogged in FOREV! On October 11th, Todd and I celebrated our 5 year anniversary! We ended up going out on a date for a nice dinner and dessert without Jackson. It's funny b/c when we were driving from dinner to get dessert, I actually forgot that we had Jackson for about 1 second! It felt so much like the old Sue and Todd...it was really funny. Here is a picture of us at dinner in Del Mar and another one that we tried to take ourselves. We have been so blessed with a great marriage and can't believe that 5 years have gone by so quickly. Here's to the next 5...

Here is a fun picture of Jackson after eating his dinner...he finally likes being in the booster seat! He plays the drums with the tray and everything. Fun stuff...Here are our friends Marla, Dave, and Jordan with Janice, Ryan, and Ella after church. It was fun to see everyone together with the kids! I am probably going to post waaaay too many of these photos, but here are some pictures of our trip back to Massachusetts. We travelled back there for the Homecoming football game, at which UMass' 1998 National Championship Team was honored. It was really special for Todd to be back there b/c of all the good memories and just the reminder of how blessed he was to be there to play football. I was so happy to get to meet many of his teammates and even his coach, who is now a coach with the Philadelphia Eagles. A shot of us on campus with the Minuteman. Jackson in the New England leaves...Todd, Jackson and Coach Mark Whipple...

Me and Jackson trying to stay warm in the Alumni tent...it was pretty chilly. But, it was fun football weather.
The team..From left...a Pittsburgh Steelers Super Bowl ring, the UMass National Championship ring, and the Patriots Super Bowl ring. That is some serious bling...Happy Jackson...
Watching the Chargers blow it against the Buffalo Bills.

Jackson's Halloween Costume...

Just wanted to post some pics of Jackson's Halloween costume. He is going to be a skunk. The little heart on his bum says "Lil Stinker". CLASSIC. Any suggestions on how Todd and I should incorporate our costumes with Jackson's?? I can't think of anything...so if you have a fun idea please send it our way!

He CRAWLED!!!

Okay, just had to post that this morning, with both his Mom and Dad present, Jackson crawled! He kept doing these push ups and going to his knees and finally he realized that he could inch forward by using his knees and arms. The first time it wasn't pretty, he kind of lunged forward awkwardly. But, he got better the longer he tried it. It was awesome! One thing I will say about him is that he is tenacious. If there is something that he wants to look at or get to, he tries so hard to get there! He won't stop until he can do it. So, I guess that I will have to baby proof our condo after all...I was hoping that we would move into a house by the time that he was moving around. But, hopefully, that will happen soon! Ah to have a garage...and a 3rd BR...and Air Conditioning. All joking aside, with all that is going on in the world right now, I realize how blessed we are. I am SO thankful for what we have!