"Sub me," says Jackson

Jackson was making way for a subway sandwich. His little mouth can only open so far. Poor kid. Sorry for the low-fi cell phone pics.

A new look

Hooray! I've been wanting to update our blog for ages, and finally today it has been done. My wonderful husband did it for me, and I really like the look of it. Hopefully you will all enjoy it as well. It's not quite complete, but it's late (for us) and we're going to bed. After just one more chocolate chip cookie. I can't help myself.

Jackson's bed

Well...after the climbing incident, we went and got Jackson a real bed. He loves the bed during the day time, but hates going to sleep in it. Big surprise. Usually, putting him to bed goes something like this:
A nice bath, a bottle and a story, brushing teeth, and saying prayers. This part usually goes fairly smoothly, minus the running around during prayers.
Then we give kisses and hugs.
Then we put Jackson in bed, throw a blanket over him and run from the room. Run? Yes. If we don't run, he makes it out before we do.
After running from the room, we shut the door quickly, then listen to Jackson pound on the door and cry for half an hour or so, before he finally falls asleep in front of the door. At nap time, we simply leave him there, he doesn't seem to mind too much. At bedtime, we just push him out of the way with the door, sneak into his room and put him into bed. Luckily, he generally stays asleep once we move him.

He is getting better. There have been a few nights that he's actually gone to sleep in the bed, and at least once he slept there during a nap. There is hope!
Here's a few photos of Jackson enjoying his bed in the morning...never mind the messy hair!

It's a boy!

I guess I should finally let you all know that we had our ultrasound and we are having another boy. How exciting! I'm a little bit disappointed because I wanted to do shopping for a baby girl, but that's really it. I think it will be great to have 2 boys that we can throw around and wrestle with. Now we just have to come up with a name that we both like. We'll take any suggestions that you have!
Although that was of course the most exciting part of the ultrasound, the rest of it was pretty cool too. I forget how amazing it is to see the baby moving around. He is pretty active, growing well, and has all his little bits and pieces. And he's right on time as well...my due date didn't change at all.
My biggest concern right now is that my sister, Heidi, is getting married on Sept. 12, which means my parents (especially mom) and a lot of other family members will be out of time for awhile right when I'm due to pop this baby out. Who's going to take care of me? I need my mom! I'm just hoping baby will come soon enough that Mom can help out, and still go to the wedding....we can hope, right?

Maybe we should just tie him down.

The main reason for this update is to upload the video that shows off how incredibly clever our kid is, and at the same time petition for your sympathies regarding Jackson's increased freedom. I'm starting to believe that there is a direct, inverse relationship between the freedom of the child and the freedom of the parents. Gone are the days when we could just put Jackson in his pack-and-play and let him scream himself to sleep.

(click on the video if it doesn't work)
This means it's time to buy Jackson a bed. Up to about an hour ago, the pack-and-play had one outstanding feature: it could hold Jackson captive. PNP's days are far from over: it will have a new resident in September, and will probably come with us to Australia.

In other news, we are probably leaving for Australia towards the end of the year. After working for a while, I've decided school is a lot easier and less complicated, and so I'll be resuming my professional career as a student. Other reasons we are moving to Australia:

- The ready availability of sausage rolls
- Not having to wait a day and a half to watch Rugby League
- No snow
- Be with family
- No snow
- Baby bonus (cha-ching)
- So Tiff's family has an excuse to visit Australia
- No snow

Updates

Well, once again, I'm a bit of a slacker, so here's an update on Ryland life. Italics throughout the post are provided by Sam.

1. We went to Vegas and had a great time, even packing Jackson around with us. We didn't do heaps, but we did enough. Sam and I were able to go to a show: Ka (Cirque du Soleil), which was really awesome. And we got to catch up with my fantastic cousin, Boedee. Not only did she feed us a delicious home-cooked meal, but she also watched Jackson while we went to the show. Thanks again! We love you!


2. Sam became a budget cut. Next week is his last week of work, he's being laid off because of the new state budget. We're hoping to find a new job soon, obviously. (Sam wants to remind everyone that there is a bright side to unemployment: lots of pajama time).

3. Jackson turned 18 months today. He's so big. He loves singing the itsy-bitsy (incy-wincy when dad is singing it) spider (while trying to do the hand motions), riding his silly tractor toy, and throwing things. And he loves dogs. Hopefully he won't actually want one.


4. I guess this is the big one. We're having another baby (could also be a tape-worm, results aren't in yet). What were we thinking? (I know what I was thinking...) I'm pretty sure it's all Sam's fault. But, either way, it's happening. The arrival date is sometime around 20 Sept. I'm so happy to almost be through with the first trimester. And I'm sure Sam is pretty happy about that as well (no comment). Jackson, he's clueless, but he does say "baby" a lot, so maybe he has some idea.

So there you have it. You are all updated. Maybe one day I'll get better at this blogging thing and start giving all these updates their own posts. Maybe, but if not, oh well, I'm pregnant, it's a great excuse for everything, right?

3 years later....

Today is our 3 year wedding anniversary. I feel like we've been married so much longer than that...in a really good way, of course. We didn't do anything special today, but we are going to Las Vegas tomorrow for a few days, so that's our big celebration. We are taking Jackson, but we don't really mind sharing our trip with him. We're looking forward to some warm weather!

When I think back to our wedding day, I really think it was perfect! Well, except for the snow and cold. But it was a wonderful day, and we were so blessed to have so many of our family and friends there to celebrate with us.

Thinking back over the last 3 years, I definitely can't say that it's been perfect, but it sure has been fun. I know that I'm not always the easiest person to live with, but Sam hasn't given up on me yet! I'm so lucky that he still loves me! He really is the best husband that I could imagine, and my best friend. I think I'll stick around for at least another year! Love you babe!

And here are some wedding day photos for all to enjoy! Awww....

This is where Sam proposed, minus the snow

I won this race!

We got married on Grandma's birthday!