Introducing Jackson Henry!

Jackson Henry Crowder is finally here!! Hot dog!!

Getting ready to leave for the hospital Sunday afternoon! He was born at 10:49 that night!

7 pounds, 6 ounces and 20 inches long!

I could eat him up!

Sleeping soundly!

He's so handsome...just like his Daddy!

Love this one!!

Sarah just adores holding him!

Papa Bear and Jack!

Sarah's Getting Ready!

Tomorrow will mark one week until Jackson's due date, and the three of us can't wait! Sarah is beyond excited and reminds us of this everyday! Each night as we say grace before we eat dinner, she thanks God that Jack is almost here. It melts our hearts!

As the time has been getting closer, Sarah has started practicing getting dressed as quickly as she can in case we have to head to the hospital in the middle of the night! She has also said that while Jack is asleep, she's going to play in the hallway right outside of his room so when he wakes up, she can rush in and help him!! How adorable is that?!

The other day, Sarah told me that she had a dream about how he's going to look when he's born: straight brown hair, freckles, and wearing a cowboy hat! Maybe that's why my tummy is so big--he's sporting a hat in there too!!

Things We've Made!

Thus far this summer, we have done a ton of projects and crafts! We have had a blast working on different ones each day, and we can't wait to do more!!

Sarah shaking up ice cream in a bag! Yummy! Then, we decided to make a volcano! Sarah is putting in the food coloring here--red and blue to get purple! As much as she loves science, she's also a huge girly-girly, and didn't want it to explode all over her, so Bryan's telling her to get closer so she can see!

Watching it closely!

I love the purple lava!

We made matching flip-flops!

We've done a lot of finger painting!

This is Fany--the octopus we made out of yarn!

I taught Sarah to braid while we did this project, and she thinks she is so grown up now!

She loves Fany!

Sarah painted this little bird feeder. (I still need to fill it for the birdies though!)

We made puff paint and created lots of cool pictures with it! (Her poor nose is a little red because she's getting over a cold, bless her heart!)

Here's one of mine!

2 Weeks To Go!

Today, we are at 38 weeks! I can't believe we only have 2 weeks--or less!--left! The doctor said that his heartbeat is great and his head is down, so it could be any time now!

An Early Father's Day

Just in case little Jack decides to come early, we did Bryan's Father's Day yesterday. Before giving him our gifts, Sarah and I made him breakfast: eggs with cheese, tomatoes, and sauteed onions and mushrooms, bacon, and crepes filled with caramelized brown sugar bananas. We were going to take it to him in bed, but he got up just a few minutes before it was done, (he smelled the bacon cooking, haha!). No big deal though, since soccer was on!!

Papa Bear getting ready to feast in front of the TV!

Awards Ceremony

On Saturday night, Bryan and I went to the Anesthesia Graduation and Awards Ceremony. These events normally aren't our cup of tea because they're stuffy and awkward, but it was a fun night out! We even met a new intern and his pregnant wife, so we hit it off with them right away!

Bryan and I before leaving Bryan with his diploma for completing his intern year. I know what you're thinking...sometimes I don't know how they let him become a doctor either!! : )

World Cup

Since Friday, our TV has been tuned to the World Cup. Bryan looks forward to this event every 4 years, and this year, Sarah has loved watching it and learning more about soccer from Daddy. And like her Daddy, she too, is extremely animated during the game. While watching the US play England, she would shout and even slap her forehead in frustration from time to time! It was too funny!!

Sarah watching very intently

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A little sidenote on how to pick the team to root for: if you don't know either country or their skills, just go with the prettiest uniforms. For example, Saturday morning, Sarah cheered for Argentina merely because she likes the color light blue. They ended up winning, so it may not be such a bad strategy!

Art Wall

We have tons of pictures hanging up around our house, and yesterday, I created a new gallery.

Sarah's Art Wall!

These pictures are hanging up in her game room using cheap Ikea frames we got awhile back. Some of the masterpieces she created when she was 2 and others, just a few weeks ago. I just love it!!

3 Weeks To Go!

Well, it is official! We only have 3 weeks left! Bryan and I can hardly believe it, and Sarah is hoping that her little brother will be here tomorrow!! Today, I had my now weekly check-up, and since Sarah is out of school, she went with me. She was so excited to be going! On the way there, she asked me what my doctor's office was like. I told her it was fancy, to which she replied, "Does it have a chandelier?" I was sad to tell her that it does not, but then again, I have yet to visit a doctor's office that does have a chandelier! Our doctor said I am measuring right at 37 weeks and that Jack's heartbeat is great. He even let Sarah hold the monitor to my tummy so we could all listen to the heartbeat! She loved that! We're hoping he'll be here sooner rather than later so we can finally meet him--and so Bryan will be able to have more time off for paternity leave.

Weekend Fun

This weekend, Bryan was off, and it was glorious! The three of us slept in, then made breakfast together both days!

We started one of Sarah's science kits and had a ball! Here, she is mixing colors before we turned them into crystals. Saturday night, we bought a few things for Jack off our registry, then went out for ice cream. It was so much fun!

Checkers

A couple of nights ago, while Sarah and I were waiting for Bryan to get home from the hospital, we played checkers. After she had taken all but one of my men, I said, "This is getting boring, huh?" Sarah replied, "Yeah. Do you want to keep playing, or do you just want to declare me the winner?" Haha!!

Needless to say, I'm the brown...but in my defense, she's still too young for me to beat her. Besides, she's a really sore loser!!

Patriotic Attire

The 4th of July is Bryan's second favorite holiday. And since it will be Jackson's first holiday, it will be even more special this year. (Well, he will hopefully be here by the 4th!!) From the time Sarah was a baby, we have loved buying her a special patriotic dress to help celebrate. And this year, we had to buy something for Sarah and Jackson!

It took me awhile to find hers this year, and although it's not my favorite, it's still cute and red, white, and blue! I bought Jack these two onesies a couple of months ago! I got so excited when I saw them! How adorable is this one?! Honestly!!

Last Day of School!

Today was Sarah's last day of school. Now she's a second grader. A SECOND GRADER! Bryan and I just cannot believe she is that old already!!

So after school, I took her to the Starbucks at Barnes and Noble to talk all about her day...

...just like I did on her first day of school!

End of the Year Gifts

Today is the last day of school, and we had to get Ms. Zarate some goodies as a thank you!

I painted her this sign for the classroom. Sarah made her this acrostic poem and had so much fun doing it! She came up with everything by herself except for the letter "Z." When I suggested the word "zealous," she thought I was making it up, so she asked Daddy if it was a real word!! And sure enough, he defined it to her just as I had...then, she believed it was real! The sweet picture of them.

In the bucket o' thanks, we also included a Fancy Nancy book for the class library. Sarah said they don't have any of her books, and that just won't do! A gift card to DSW Shoes--Sarah told me that Ms. Zarate loves shoes! And some homemade brownies and snickerdoodles.

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For Sarah's Principal, Vice Principal, PE coaches, art, music, and computer teachers, we packed up baggies of our baked goodies as well!

Gifted and Talented!

A couple of months ago, Ms. Zarate nominated Sarah for the Gifted and Talented program. Shortly after that, Sarah spent a few days testing to see if she would make it into the special class. Well, yesterday, the results came back that Sarah's in! She scored a 98 and 99 on 2 of the tests! We are so proud of her!! And we really appreciate Ms. Zarate thinking of Sarah when it came time to pick out potential candidates for the program! She can't wait to start working in the GT class next year!