Happy Birthday to Me!

Yesterday was my birthday. The big 2-4. I feel old. But then again I am married, with a child, so I guess it's ok to not be young. We didn't really have any big plans for my birthday, but that's just what a wanted. Lucky for me, my birthday fell on a Saturday, so I was able to spend the entire day with my cute little family. We woke up and had a good work out, then consumed all the calories we burned at The Original Pancake House. There have been several people who have recommended this place, so we went for a yummy brunch. It wasn't until today at church we discovered that you get a free meal on your birthday! Bummer. Should've asked I guess.

It was like a high end IHOP. It was sooo yummy. Ryan got Caramel Banana French Toast, and I had the Apple Pancake. We tried to finish it all, but couldn't quite make it - it was all so yummy, but so much food. Livy sat in a high chair for the first time, and I think she like it. It was nice for us to not have to hold her the whole meal.

Livy continued to get several comments on her eyes (her eyes are especially big in pictures because of the flash, she really doesn't always have eyes this big). She is also pretty excited about her cute little Puma jacket.

 We did a little shopping, hung out as a family, and then grabbed a quick dinner at Chili's. (We have learned that if you don't make reservations at least 4 days in advance there is no chance you're getting into a decent restaurant). Since it was a big day, we decided to go all out. We got an appetizer, and dessert along with our entrees. When we were walking out, it was then we realized why we never get appetizers or dessert - once again, way too much food! It was so wonderful. What a great birthday. Since my last birthday, we've been to Hawaii, New York, California, had a baby, rented out our home, sold a car, and moved to Minnesota! We'll see what many surprises this year will bring!!

Bedroom Makeover

When I found out that Ry was going to take the job at Target, move our family out here, and leave all we had behind - I discovered I had a bargaining chip. I told him that I would go to Minnesota if...I could get a new bedroom set. We had a 13 year old mattress, we never had owned any bedside lamps, and our bedding was nice...but confused (brown, tan, red? who knew what was happening?). Here was our bedroom

BEFORE:

AFTER:

Pure happiness. I had a spend and splurge kind of attitude, and it worked out wonderfully. We left all of our old bedroom furniture in Utah, and started brand new here in Minnesota. First we bought our new mattress at Macy's (splurge - but it was on sale, so we saved a few hundred dollars, so maybe a splave: a splurge and a save) and they shipped here to our new address, it was perfect! We bought our duvet cover from Anthropologie (splurge), and I love love love it!! My desire for new bedding all began with this duvet cover. (We already had our down comforter so we saved a little by not have to buy a whole new comforter).

We made the headboard (save), and also made the pillows (save).

 

And thank you to IKEA we were able to get some cute but inexpensive side tables and lamps. (SAVE!)

The great thing about have a neutral headboard, side tables, and bedding is that I can always switch out and change the pillows and just have fun with a bunch of different colors. They're fun for now! I love walking into my bedroom, it makes me so happy.

Going Private

I've decided to make our blog private. I always thought I would when we had a baby. I've put it off because I know it can be annoying to have to log in to read. But I figure one extra step is worth it. There are some weirdos out there, and this way I'll know who's reading my blog.

Anyway, I won't do it for a few weeks since people don't check my blog everyday (not that I expect anyone to :). But if you'd like to see the latest Jackson family happenings feel free to leave a comment with your email address, or you can send me an email to rebeccafjackson@gmail.com if you want to keep your email address private from others to see.

Thanks!!

The Stats

We went to meet our new pediatrician today for her 6 month check up. Livy wasn't sure about all of the poking, she just furrowed her brow and gave the doctor "the eye". Eventually she warmed up to her and gave her some cute little smiles. Livy got measured and weighed and came in at:

Weight: 17.2 lbs. -  75th Percentile

Height: 27.5 inches -  97th Percentile

Head: 17.5 inches -  92nd Percentile

As you can see, she is a very healthy and growing girl! She must have tall parents or something. She's still spitting up a lot, so it's good to see she's still growing lots and lots. Tonight at dinner she actually ate an entire container of baby food bananas, and she wanted more! She was loving it! I would try and eat my food and she would lean forward and open her mouth. I think she's finally catching on to the idea of solids, and I'm glad she's liking it. I'm excited to slowly introduce her to new foods.

She's my little buddy. She loves to read books, watch me cook, take baths, play in her BE, watch Sargie, suck on her binky, grab her toes, occasionally roll from back to front, stare at people, squeal, scream, and coo. We love you Livy!

6 Months

Olivia is 6 months old today. She is a very good baby. She loves to smile. It's her natural reaction to smile when she makes eye contact with people. She is using her hands very well, wanting to grab everything in sight. She is officially sleeping through the night, usually from about 7:30 pm - 7:00 am, which we are loving!! We've tried some solids, but she doesn't seem to thrilled, so we'll try again soon.

She takes out her binky and will put it back in her mouth. I will hold her binky in front of her face and she opens her mouth and leans forward to put it in her mouth. She loves her binky, and we do too! It keeps her very high-pitched squeals and screams to a minimum :) And she loves Sargie! He always makes her smile.

Her hair is really starting to grow in, I'm excited! It's a really light brown, almost a dirty-blond. Her eyes are still a really pretty kind of greenish-gray color. It's hard to tell in the pictures, but they're definitely not brown.

 Olivia is starting to get the concept of sitting up on her own. She can do it for a few seconds, but will slowly fall to the side or forward. She'll be doing it very soon I'm sure.

 She has also learned that she really likes her tummy time. She's still trying to figure out how to roll from front to back, but she has gone from back to front several times. you would think she'd figure out what is supposed to be easier first!

We have loved seeing her grow, learn and develop. She is a beautiful girl, and is so happy. We're getting so excited to visit family in a few weeks and show her off!

New Hobby

I decided Thursday night that I wanted to crochet. My mom is pretty talented in this area, but I never really picked it up. I did a washcloth or scarf here or there, but I decided I wanted to learn to do hats. So I watched a few youtube videos, like this one, and this was the result!

Now that it's getting warmer we'll see it she actually wears them much, definitely next year. As you can tell from my little model, she loves her tongue. She is such a silly baby. Now I need to learn to make some flowers. Thank you to those smart people that post videos so I can learn!

Foodies

Ryan and I love food. We love to try new things, but we love finding thing we like and eating them over and over again. We soon realized that food out in the West is much different than the food in the Midwest. We are excited to try all the new and fun places to eat! We've been here a few weeks already, and here are our few places we've tried. Some we liked, others we disliked. There are still a LOT of places we want to try, but for now here's the 101 on the Food in Minneapolis.

Yum! Yep, the name of the restaurant says it all. We loved the relaxed feel and atmosphere of the Kitchen and Bakery. We had the Southwestern Salad and the Chicken Club, both we're a-mazing. They had a bunch of yummy cupcakes and desserts, that we did not try, but we will definitely be back!

This was some serious good pizza. It was super authentic Italiano pizza. It was fire oven baked, with a crispy thin crust, and fresh delcious toppings! We had a pepperoni pizza as well as pepperoni/sausage pizza, next time we'll go with just the pepperoni. But we will definitely be back - the only thing negative was it took awhile for us to get our food. But we will be back.

We were hoping to find a good Thai place out here, and we sure did! Ry had a curry coconut dish, and I went with the orange chicken. We both were so happy, and ate our food way too fast. Can't wait to go back.

We heard their Uptown Salad (chicken, apples, candied nuts, craisins, grapes, and special vinaigrette) was to die for, so we both got it, and it was just as good as it was talked up to be. We can't wait to try their sandwiches and shakes.  

We love Panda Express and we heard that this was the Midwest version. Fail. Blah. Did not like it. Sorry, but I'd rather go without Chinese than have this.

Four out of Five, not bad! Can't wait to see what's next! Yummy food :)