houpley

You know it was a good birthday party when on the way home you had to briskly pull over into a car dealership parking lot because your newly and now overly excited four year old thought he might throw up so you scurried your pregnant ass out into the 123 degree heat and around to the back of the car to snatch a Spiderman gift bag out of the pile of gifts, remove the gift and shove it in his face when suddenly the moment passes and oh mama may I have one of these lovely balloons flying above the used cars?

Some of Jackson most dramatic moments include phrases such as: Mama, this is not gonna heal for a 100 years! (And when I put a tiny dab of alcohol on his skinned knee he then cries out: Oh no! It's poison! It's poison!) During one of his first nights in the new house we heard numerous times from his bunk bed: Hey guys? I'm scared for my whole life! If you don't come up here right now, I am going to come down those stairs and call the cops!

Four arrived in early August and everything seems so much more grown up. It was as if Jackson had been waiting for four his whole life. This birthday was a big one. So many milestones: a big boy party at BounceU with all of his friends, Pre-K starting days later, a big-boy bed, a big-boy bike, tennis shoes that light up, becoming a big brother, etc. He was so excited to turn four it was as if he was being given the keys to the car in the morning. The night before his actual birthday we mistakenly told him, "Jackson, when you wake up in the morning you will be 4!" Well, sleep became impossible the instant this realization sunk in. He was so electrified by the concept, he eventually crept out of bed and down the hall with a grave look of concern on his still-three-year-old face. "Mama? I better change into some bigger pjs. These might not fit when I turn four in the night. They might get too tight."

One my personal favorite stages is the current Did You Know phase: Mama, did you know that the smaller blueberries have more flavor than the bigger blueberries? Mama, I need to tell you something right now. Did you know that you can't see China but I can with my special eyes and that it is right next to Thailand? And one of my faves occurred while Jackson was having a conversation with our realtor and by conversation I mean he was correcting her: Actually, Ms. Jennifer roaches don't have disease, they carry disease.

Mama can I please have that sucker? No, Jack. Not right now. Please? No. But I am so hungry. You can have it after supper. But Mama! I am sucker hungry !

We have surfaced from under a sea of cardboard to finally locate the computer and internet access. Truly a miracle considering I still haven't found all of Jackson's clothes, Elvis' leash, the fake lemons I had in a bowl in the old kitchen, etc. Dishtowels though. I have found all of those. Who knew we had so many dish towels? So many things have happened since forever ago which is when I think I last posted. The biggest item on the list is that we have moved. It has been a long process of major decision making and worrying and waiting and recalculating but in the end I think we have made the right decision. We loved our little Midtown home. Truly. It was just right for us and in a great location to all of our friends and fun stuff happening in our area. Sure, it was going to be a bit tighter with the baby on the way, but we thought maybe we could make do. But now Jackson is approaching school age and we began to consider our options, districts, transfers, etc. They didn...