June, what happened to you??

Golfing on the 4th of July.

Floating in Mimi's Pool.

Happy Birthday Jack and James!

Jackson was telling James how to "use" his new present.

Yes, it's been awhile. I could give excuses but mainly life has been busy. Traveling, visitors (Lee and Mimi), house projects, and our general daily schedule seem to take up the day and it's night before I know it - and I'm ready to put Jackson to bed and put my feet up! With everything going on, on top of being exhausted from the pregnancy, blogging has fallen behind on my ever-growing "to do" list. So, in an effort to catch up as much as possible, let me give you a recap of the past few weeks:

~ We had a great visit to Sulphur and Jackson enjoyed a fun, festive birthday party with his cousin James. We were so excited to see everyone and spend time with all our family and friends. Jackson came home with great gifts and lots of special memories. We spent some time with Paw and were able to have some nice conversations with him when he wasn't too exhausted. He is still uncomfortable and in pain, so we pray for him daily and know that God has a plan for him.

~ Uncle Lee made the drive back with us to Dallas - Jackson and the girls did great on the long drive I might add! He stayed for a long weekend and we were able to see SATC2, do a little shopping, swim at MawMaw's new pool and reminisce at Truluck's. Mom arrived a few days later and we got to work on "house projects" - I took advantage of her help (sorry, Mom, I know we wore you out). Everything is looking so great (and with a lot more color!) that I'm encouraged to keep going... I think I might be nesting early actually. Oh, speaking of that, we picked out Will's new bedding at Pottery Barn Kids. It has sailboats, ocean scenes, a beach house, etc. (it's called Santa Barbara if you would like to look it up in the magazine). We're focusing on the color sage for all of the accents and using sailboats as accessories. David even put together the bassinet for Will's room so at least he has somewhere to sleep for the first few months.

~ The 4th of July was full of family fun - we swam and ate at Uncle Brian and Aunt Debbie's, brought Jackson and Megan out to the golf course to practice a little, then watched the fireworks from our backyard (we had a front row seat). I'm thankful for living in a land where we have so many wonderful freedoms, thankful for the men and women who fight (and have fought) so we can keep those freedoms, and I'm thankful to live in a country where women have equal rights and we are free to worship how we choose. My hope is to use that freedom for good in every part of my life. I'm thankful my child can grow up in a country where he can have all the advantages we are given, while remembering to thank God for those blessings. Happy 4th to all!

~On a final note, though we still have many more pounds to go, Jackson has gained 1lb3oz since May 2nd. One small step but a big boost of encouragement for us - I believe the Instant Breakfast has been a big (caloric) aid and very helpful in this weight gain.

We are planning a weekend family trip to Fossil Rim Wildlife Park and a night in Austin so I hope to have great pictures of that to post. Have a great week!