Happy 4th, Baby Jackson!

For the Fourth of July we packed up the kids and headed to OKC to visit Baby Jackson. Ross and Jenny had been waiting for God to bless them with a baby for a long time, and we couldn't have been more excited to meet the little guy! Lydia had been talking about "Baby Jackson" all week! The moment of meeting did not disappoint...

"I'm still your favorite, right Mommy?"





Me, Baby Jackson, and a VERY proud daddy, Ross

Growing up while we still lived in Oklahoma, the 4th of July always meant the HUGE picnic cookout at Mama Jo and Papa's house. 300+ Oklahoma Christian faculty and staff would come, the Summer Singers band would play. Great fun! This year we were able to have a little throw back to those days...

Lydia and Cooper shared the tire swing






Nothing like being naked in the back yard...


Aunt Beverly (or "Aunt Bebs" to Lydia) got the great-grandbabies matching 4th of July outfits.










The Anderson family




Lydia finished up the night in a much too small swing


then a ride on the paddle boat...a rite of passage for all North grandchildren








Luke and Levi: Take 1


Luke and Levi: Take 2


Fishing off the deck






Yay GUS!!

Father's Day with Pop

We celebrated Father's Day with Pop at a Traveler's game. He loves baseball and Lydia does too! We had a great time with Pop, and the Trav's pulled out a come from behind win!

Jeremy and Levi bonded over Levi's favorite thing...FOOD!


Daddy and Lydia


Their trademark "CHEESE" face


We actually got a decent family photo!!


Watchin the game

Father's Day and Big Girl Bed

Father's Day 2009 was special this year not only because it was Necon's first with two kiddos, but also because it was our first weekend back from our trip. Being without the kids for those 2 weeks was really hard, but we appreciate each minute with them now that we are back!

Lydia all dressed up


Daddy and his babies


Take two: ditched the pacis


This is typical around our house: Lydia cuddles with Daddy and Levi wants Mommy

On Father's Day we also decided to tackle moving Lydia into a toddler bed. There are two main reasons for this.

First, we were finding her asleep in random beds around the house

Second, and most dangerous, this was one of her favorite things to do:

So...as you can see it was necessary for the safety of our firstborn that she transition into her toddler bed. Since it was Father's Day, we gave Daddy the job of taking pictures. That meant the other man of the house had to pick up the slack.

At first he pouted to get out of the job

Then he pitched in gladly!!


Unfortunately, the whole making-the-bed-safer-plan didn't work out so well...

Oh, well. The transition to her big girl bed went really well. I guess we could have expected this since she was putting herself to sleep in the guest bed and her crib already. She loves waking up and walking into our room or the living room. She is so proud of herself. Too bad taking the paci away and potty training are going to be MUCH harder!

Trip to the Zoo

Necon took off work the Monday after we got back from the Holy Lands and we took the kids to the zoo. Apparently we picked the HOTTEST day of the year to go. We were all so hot, but the kids did great! This was their first time to go. Lydia was super excited about the animals!

Lydia kept saying, "He lookin at me, mommy" about all of the animals.


When I told her to "look at those monkeys" she said,
"No, mommy. It's a gorilla." She was right.


We had a hard time convincing her this was just a toy gorilla.


Lydia loved watching the elephants. I think she could have stayed there all day. It was her favorite when they were splashing water over their backs with their trunks.


We took her all over the zoo, and the waterfall was still her second favorite thing we saw!
She was probably imagining cooling off...