Camp Mimmie and Pop Pop

Brian and I went went on a mission trip to Ecuador for 10 days at the end of July until the beginning of August.  Jaxon stayed with my parents.  It was so hard to leave him for that long but I'm so glad that they were able to spend time with him.  They stayed busy.  He rode the train, carousel, went to a petting farm, took lots of wagon rides, played in the pool, had a play date, had a visit from great grandaddy, aunt celeste, uncle jim, and cousin Lauren, and ate all their food.  They also got his hair professionally cut.  It makes him look so much older.

Brian and I had a great trip and were so thankful that we could go.  We really missed him.

He finally has his 2 bottom teeth.
He is still using his walker to walk around or should I say race around the house.  At times he will walk by himself and I don't think he realizes he is doing it all by himself.  Sometimes he will have toys in both hands thinking that he needs those to help him walk.
Mimmie and Pop Pop taught him "more" in sign language.
He also will put his hands together before meal time for us to pray with him.
He talks to himself alot in his own language
He loves to sit in his chair and read his books
He loves to take apart his train table and play with his trains
He loves to play with his toys and has figured out how some of them work.
He will give kisses on the cheek when you ask for them
He will hand you things when you ask for them
He can climb all the way to the top of the stairs
Can feed himself with a spoon
Depending on the day he usually wakes up between 7-8:30 and is still taking one nap after lunch time. He usually gets tired between 7-8pm
Still loves the outdoors

His report card and certificate of completion from Camp Mimmie and Pop Pop

Enjoying our summer

Jaxon enjoyed checking out the splash pad at a local park.

We met up with some friends to have dinner from the food trucks at friendly.

Another girls night...we ate at Wolf Gang Puck while the husbands were at home with the babies. So thankful we can do this once in a while.

Jaxon new thing has been to climb in his chair.  He can keep himself entertained for a while just sitting in it.  He loves to pull toys out of his basket.  He loves to make a mess at meal time, especially with his black beans.  He hasn't really started taking off and walking consistently but we have made progress. He will move from one toy to the next by himself.  On July 21st we put his walker out in front of him to go get and he took several steps by himself.  He seems to be pretty balanced.  He still is lazy and will crawl.  But for the most part he travels by holding onto the couch or the wall or he will push whatever he can find around the house.  He loves to make a mess with the toilet paper, it seems to keep him entertained when I'm in the bathroom.  He has also learned to put some of the shapes in the bucket.  He loves to dance to music.  Mostly its just stomping his feet.  He's figured out how some of his toys work. Its been fun to watch him play.

Storytime at Barnes and Noble didn't go so well.  He does not like to sit still.  He is so curious and active he wants to check out everything.  We didn't get to hear the whole story, he had more fun checking out the train table.

Cruising in the neighborhood with his buddy Andrew.  They love their wagons.

We had Jaclyn, Shane, and Bentley over for dinner the other night and the boys had so much fun playing together.  Bentley kept Jaxon entertained.

Cow Day and birthdays

What a guy would do for love and a free meal... Yep thats right it was Cow Appreciation Day at Chick Fil A on July 12.  We found stuff on Chick Fil A's website to cut out and put on our clothes for a free combo meal.  We went to get our dinner at one of the locations thats usually not crowded.  Guess who we got our picture taken with?  Tanya Rivera- one of the local news anchors.  She thought Jaxon was just the cutest thing.  She took our picture on her phone and she said she was going to tweet us out.
We had fun.

Jaxon's friend Maisley turned one and had a butterfly themed party.  It was so cute.

Celebrating Brian's birthday on the 14th with family

July 4th and the Lake

For the 4th of July we had a cookout at Aunt Susan and Uncle Larry's house and spent some time at their pool.  We brought our new friend Guobin with us.  It was a little cold for Jaxon but once he got used to the water, he loved it.  I think he would much rather stand in shallow water and hold onto the wall.

July 7-10 Brian and I were able to get away for a few days and had a babyfree vacation.  Jaxon stayed with Brian's parents.  We went to Smith Mountain Lake in Virginia.  Some friends of ours let us stay in their house.  We had so much fun together, it felt like we were dating again.  We went exploring on our bikes, took our jet ski out and almost sank it, relaxed in the water, canoed, enjoyed the hot tub, cooked some good food, and enjoyed getting away from technology.  We love Jaxon to death but I really feel like we can be better parents and have a better growing marriage if we take a little time for ourselves once in a while.  It was hard to leave Jaxon but we had a lot of fun together.  On July 10, the day we got back from the lake Jaxon decided to take his first steps. Can't believe we missed it. We didn't get Jaxon from Brian's parents until the next day.

We missed our little guy. We were so happy to get back home to see him.

His 2nd tooth is starting to come in now.  He is still into everything and he still loves to do laps around the house in his walker.

We got home just in time for Craft Night at our house.  Our small group this summer has been getting together for guy/girl socials and family cookouts.  Its hard not having childcare so the guy/girls take turns and it has worked out great.