Trip to Mississippi

Halloween weekend for us meant a trip to Vicksburg Mississippi for a Malik family reunion (Joey's dad's mom's family). We were the last to arrive and I didn't even realize just how big of a reunion it was to be - I was really expecting just about a dozen people! :) There are some pictures that other people took, but here are some highlights from my camera.

Friday made for a bit of a dreary drive, but Saturday was a beautiful day so we made sure to take Jackson to the Vicksburg Battlefield - Joey says there are pictures of him sitting on canons when he was little so we obliged with the same pose for Jackson.


Here are the boys in front of the Illinois monument - where there are several Shoup's listed


Inside the Illinois monument:


Other than that, I did a horrible job of making sure we got pictures, but since it was Halloween, at least we got some of Jackson in his costume!

Our little "Jackson-o-lantern"



One of my goals is to do better about taking pictures even though Joey sometimes makes me feel like "crazy picture lady". :) I take some snapshots almost every day on my phone, but haven't done as well with actually using the camera so that's an area that needs improvement, especially if I ever hope to own a nicer camera. I do have a tripod already which I used for many of my pregnancy pictures since by the time I was ready for work Joey had already left for work and at the end of the work day I wasn't usually feeling much like being photographed. :)

...Til next time, Keep Shuffling!

Who's a bigger ham?!

I still owe a post update on our Halloween weekend trip to Mississippi, and the great visit Jackson and I had with Kim & Ben this past Friday, but for now, I just wanted to share one picture from that outing...Kim took us to "The Club" (Mira Vista) for lunch and while she was in the bathroom getting Ben all set in a new diaper, I was taking some self-portraits of Jackson and I. This one made me laugh because I wasn't looking at him while taking it so I was talking and making noise and apparently it worked - we both have big open-mouth smiles, but I wouldn't have it any other way!



...Til next time, Keep Shuffling!

Friday Night Lights

Another football game - the last of the 2009 season for the Sachse Mustangs. It was a bit chilly and the kids weren't in the best mood by the time I finished feeding Jackson and tried to snap a pic of Jamie, Camryn, Jackson, and I, but here we all are!


I'm really glad we went and know that once Jackson is able to move around, he will join Connor in having a blast with Joey and all the "uncles" (like Uncle Baker who made sure Connor got some thundersticks at this game)!

...Til next time, Keep Shuffling!

Kisses

Once upon a time I might have been bothered by the slobber, but now I wouldn't trade it for anything as lately Jackson seems to be trying to learn to give me kisses (or possibly eat my face). Here are a few pictures I tried to take on my phone while he was "kissing" me on Saturday evening:




I did have Joey take one between all the kissing. Maybe I'm biased, but what a cute (ornery) little guy! Obviously Jackson was enjoying it, although I'm pretty sure mommy enjoyed it more!

...Til next time, Keep Shuffling!

We Shuffled!

We have been so blessed to have such beautiful weather for the ALS Walk our previous 2 years and this year was more of the same!

We haven't raised as much money as in the past, but hopefully we'll find a way to get back to that moving forward. We did forgo ordering new shirts to donate the money instead and have actually talked about combining efforts for the many charitable walks we do with our friends and making our own ALS/Cancer/Heart Walk in honor/memory of so many of our loved ones.

A family picture:

I just love the look of wonder in Jackson's eyes in this one

We've made it a tradition to have lunch at one of our old favorite watering holes after the walk. Rick, Brooke, and Baby Avery couldn't make it, but here are our other 3 little ones (with their dads) on their first trip to Adairs:

These are the amazing friends who physically walked with us this year (not pictured is Don who gets special kudos for doing another walk earlier that morning and still making it to Grand Prairie to finish our walk with us). We have so many amazing friends, not just those who physically walked with us, but all of our family and friends - We are so lucky! While it hasn't been exactly the same group each year, we've always had such a great turnout and it's been fun to watch our group go from about adults and 1 kiddo (only Connor the first 2 years) to 18 adults, 4 little ones, and a dog (Jason'g dog Oliver - aka Ollie) this year!

...Til next time, Keep Shuffling!

Our little Noisemaker

Jackson can be quite loud when he wants to, as is evident from the following video. One minute he was quietly playing in the exersuacer and the next, we think all hell has broken loose. Joey and I were trying to get dinner ready so at first I thought Jackson was just done with it and wanted out, but it turns out, he just wanted someone to watch him play! Since he always seems to pull a "Michigan J Frog" when I hold the camera to video him, I decided to just set it on the coffee table and watch him from the couch. (I love how Buddy is just sitting on the love seat in the background!)


...Til next time, Keep Shuffling!

Jackson is 5 months old!

I've always been told the time flies, but hadn't experienced it to this extent yet. I can't believe our little man is already 5 months!

More pictures to come soon, but first, a comparison of the first 5 months (Lesson learned - I'm going to take his picture in our living room chair every month for a better comparison of growth month to month)!
5 months


4 months


3 months


~2 months


1 month


"Birthday"!

...Til next time, Keep Shuffling!