Happy Birthday, Jaxson!

Happy Birthday, Sweet Baby Boy! It is such a mix of emotions that I'm feeling today. I'm sad, because we can't be together. I'm excited, because I know that you are going to have such a wonderful day with the only family you've ever known. I'm thankful for the wonderful gift that I have been given to be your mommy. I'm grateful that I have many, many more birthdays to spend with you.

To celebrate your birthday, your daddy and I decided to try our first Korean restaurant. WOW! Chopsticks are hard! It was very, very good. I ordered the curry udon and Daddy ordered the bulkoki, but really we both shared it. As we were walking out, we were talking about what we are going to order the next time we go.

You are soon going to find out that your mother takes LOTS of pictures, so of course there are pictures of our night out.

So many choices!

YUMMY!

Curry udon

Definitely struggling with the noodles!

While we were at the mall, we had to stop in the Hawk Shop and guess what.....they have a University of Iowa t-shirt in KOREAN! I just had to have it....love it!

Hopefully, you have gotten your birthday care package that we sent last month. Hope that you are loving your new clothes and toys. In couple of weeks, we are going to Chicago to celebrate our anniversary and I plan on doing lots of shopping and picking out some pretty awesome gifts for you! My "for Jaxson" list at Ikea is pretty long!

We hope that you have a great day and love you more than you'll ever know. See you soon :-)!

Love,
Mommy and Daddy

Care Package #2

I sent Jax's latest care package today. It was very hard because I wanted to include as much as possible in this package because it will be for his first birthday. It took Steve and I to get it closed.  I held it shut and he taped it! 

I'm hoping it gets to him when he goes in for his birthday party at the Holt offices. I'm worried with the hurricane hitting the east coast this weekend that travel might be slowed down a bit. 

The one good thing about care packages is that you usually get some pics of your kids with them, here's hoping there's more pics in our future!

New Photo Friday

We got 4 new pictures of Jaxson today!  Here are two of them.

One of the other ones is a picture of him with his whole foster family and the last one is of his Mongolian spots. In his latest well baby check, it was reported that he had a couple Mongolian spots on his back. We were curious and requested pictures.

Summer Projects!

There were many projects that I wanted to get done this summer.  #1 was getting the room that had been our bedroom and turning it into a toy room for Jax.  I had a lot of fun with this project. Finding ways to organize his toys. Deciding on pictures and colors, I found two great alphabet prints on etsy and framed them.  I chose a gray for the walls and I love how it turned out.  I realize that once Jax is home it will never be as clean and organized as it is now, but I don't care, I can't wait for the mess!

Mayer Camp-Out and Shower for Jax and Sophie

This past weekend, Steve and I made the trek up north for the Annual Mayer Family Camp-Out. This tradition is quickly becoming my favorite tradition. I still love Christmas, Easter, Thanksgiving, and the Fantasy Football fish fry, but I love the campout because for three days we are all together.  That's some pretty awesome family time!

This year our family decided to have a baby shower for my sister and me.  It's amazing to me how much my family already loves Jax so much. They are so excited to meet him! 

Jax's new Hawkeye sweatsuit!

Steph and I got some amazing gifts! Jax got toys and books that I know he is going to love.  We got a space saver high chair, gift cards, and clothes. He's going to be one of the best dressed little guys around! 


  

July Well Baby Check and New Pictures!

On July 18th, Jax had his July well baby check (wbc).  There weren't any huge changes.

*He now weighs 23 lbs. and is 30 in. long. This is the first time that he hasn't gained more than one pound in a month, I think that he's getting more active!

*Jax is eating about 7 oz. of formula every 12 hours, which doesn't seem like very much, so I'm wondering if he is starting to eat some food.

*He has two teeth on top and two teeth on the bottom.

*He's still working on walking.  He is walking around furniture, he hasn't started standing on his own quite yet.

Here is his new picture.  I can't believe how big he is getting! Such a big boy! Part of me wants to freeze him like this, so that he doesn't grow anymore between now and when we go and get him!

Oatmeal Cake

I don't know why, but lately I have been missing my Grandma Mayer like crazy! I know not everyone out there knew Grandma Mayer and I feel really bad for you, because she was the most amazing person EVER! I can't believe that she's been gone for over 5 years. It just doesn't seem possible.

Anyway, I've been thinking so much about her.  I don't know if it is because we added a new baby to the family that she will never meet or the fact that Jax will never get to know her. Or maybe it's because the whole family is going to be getting together this weekend for the annual Mayer family campout and it is during those times that I miss her the most.

So I decided that I needed a little reminder of Grandma and I decided to TRY and make her oatmeal cake.  Oatmeal cake was a staple at Grandma's. I remember many, many times going to her house for coffee and she would have a pan of it on the counter.

I did a little research and found her recipe (thank you, Aunt Cheryl) and I got started.  There was one point in time when I was working on the frosting which is definitely the best part and it said to boil for 10 minutes stirring constantly.  So it boiled and I stirred and stirred and stirred. I was thinking there is no way that this is right, 10 minutes?!?!?  I wished that I could call Grandma, I wish that I could hear her voice one more time, and one more time get a little bit of Grandma's advice, but I can't and although I have years and years of wonderful memories, I could have really used her help on this one.