We ♥ San Diego! Day 1

Our annual San Diego trip was a success! Fun was had by all 3 Pearsons. This vacation was definietly a "Jaxon" vacaton. We planned everything for him & around him, what else is new? It was a great time and a different way for Brian & I to see San Diego... through a two-year-olds eyes. We hit the beach right from the airport. The rest of the trip was filled with surprises for Jaxon... Wild Animal Park, Sea World, & San Diego Zoo.

Let's start with our first few hours.

I honestly think that Jaxon was more excited to go to the airport than anything else. Granted, he had no idea what San Diego was or what was in store for him, but he does know that we drop off or pick up Abu & Lola from the airport and that when Abu isn't at Lola's house he is on the airplane. This was a concern for me the minute we booked our flight. I KNEW that Jaxon was going to think that Abu was going to be flying our plane. Sure enough, when I told him we were going on a plane the first thing he said,

"See Abu? Abu fie erpain."

"No, Abu won't be working. You're going to ride on an airplane."

"See Yoya! See Izzy! Go to Yoya's house!"

"No we are going to San Diego. Jaxon, Daddy and Mama are going to the beach."

"The beach! Yes. Put bafing suit on. Put yoshin on face. Come on!."

Once we got to the parking lot he was excited! We got on the airport parking shuttle and he was talking to everyone! "I on dis. I on bus. I go on erpain. I go to Diego. I go to beach." I don't think he stopped talking until he went to bed that night. He would tell anyone who was within feet of him what he was doing. I felt bad for everyone around us. Good thing he's cute!

Brian & Jaxon waiting to check in. There's no traveling light with a toddler. We checked in 4 bags, a carseat, a stroller and carried on 3.

Boarding the "erpain"!

Sitting like a big boy in his own seat, eating pretzels. This was his favorite part of the plane ride! We picked up our rental car, which was supposed to be a full size and ended up not. We got a Dodge Caliber and our stuff barely fit! Then off to Chipotle for a quick dinner.

This might look full-size, but trust me, it wasn't.

Notice the stroller next to Jax? And that barely fit in the door!

We seriously need one in ABQ!

And FINALLY... THE BEACH! It was a bit chilly, so we decided against bathing suits. Which meant we all got soaked! Brian was the only smart one and he wore shorts. At least I was prepared with a change of clothes! These 2 hours at the beach made the entire trip worth it! Jaxon was so happy to be on the beach. He could not get enough! And Brian & I couldn't get enough of his smiles, giggles & squeals. I am mad at myself though, because on the way to the beach I told Brian, "My goal is to get some family pictures this trip. Especially ones on the beach." Did that happen? Nope! GRRR! The only thing that consoles me is that we were too busy having fun to stop for a family picture.

This is what we did... run in, run out, grab Jax before the waves knocked him down.

And the jeans had to come off!

All that running made Bubba tired!

Stay tuned for Day 2 of We ♥ San Diego... the Wild Animal Park!

The Cat Whisperer

Does your cat hiss meanly at people? Is he unsocial? Does he hide and only come out to be fed? If you answered yes to any of those questions then you need to call.... Jaxon Pearson The Cat Whisperer! Yes, my friends, I believe Jax has found his calling in life. Let's start at the beginning.

A few weeks ago I was coming home from a walk with Lucy. I let Lucy off of the leash to go potty in the front yard. All of a sudden I see this black cat sneaking up on Lucy. Now, I'm not sure if I've mentioned this before, but Lucy has gone blind. All of a sudden, for an inexplicable reason she's completely blind. This means she cannot see the cat approaching her and looking as if she wants to attack. So I get in between Lucy and the cat and finally the cat goes on her way. All the while Lucy is CLUELESS! Poor girl.

A few days after that, I go out to the garage and see this animal coming towards me. I, of course, scream and jump back in the house. After I have composed myself, I open the door again and the same cat is at the door trying to get into the house. Jaxon sees the cat and of course wants to go see it. Then point to me and says, "Cat scare you? You Mommy?" with an evil little smirk on his face as if he thinks this is the funniest thing in the world. And still, weeks later he will point to me, cock his head to the side, smile that little smirk and say, "Cat scare you? Cat scare you Mama. Not me. I not scared cat." Yes, Mama is scared of a cat.

A few days later, the cat is back. This time, all 3 of us have come home from an day out and are getting out of the car when the cat just comes bouncing our way. Brian and I start walking towards the house, but Jax stays in the driveway with the cat and I'm not kidding you, the cat lays down and lets Jaxon pet him! Then Jax gets on his belly and is eye to eye with cat, talking to him! "Hewoe Cat. How you? Hewoe. Name? I yike you." The cat is so happy. Just wagging his tail, enjoying a little pet from the kid. I have NEVER seen a cat like this. All of the cats I've known, run from kids, especially loud ones who want to pet them.

Now the cat comes to either our front door or to our backyard and meows. I swear he is saying, "Jaxon! Come and play." When Jax hears him his eyes get big, his mouth makes an "O" and he says, "I heard dat! I heard cat. Go see him. Cat happy to see me?"

Please excuse the messy glass door. I know it needs to be cleaned, but with Jaxon's hand prints and Lucy's nose prints, I just figure what's the point? But let me tell you, after seeing these picture, you better believe I have some motivation to clean it!

Here's a video of me asking Jaxon about the cat before his nap time.

After his nap he was talking about the cat again and I asked him what the cat's name is. This time he named him, "Harry" pronounced "Hah-wee". This kid is too funny!

To Be Young & Care Free

This evening was spent in my very favorite way... outside with my boy & dog running around having a blast. These days, being outside means bubbles & water.

But, before we headed outside, Jaxon put on his new Diego sunglasses. He was so proud of himself because he put them on himself...

"I did it! I put on!"

Oh no, your eyes aren't deceiving you, they are indeed on upside down!

LOVE IT! Now time for some water! The point of the hose is to fill up his little plastic pool. But Jaxon being your typical 2 year old, has his own agenda.

He felt the rocks were thirsty.

"Yook! I wader gwass."

Then he watered the owie on his foot.

And then he watered Mama.

While all of this watering was going on, Lucy was wandering if she should get in the pool.

Jaxon finally decided to join her.

He refused to take his shirt off, but after a minute of it being wet, he FREAKED out and had to have it off

Then he got cold & hungry, so in we went where he had to put on his robe (per his request) and have a bowl full of snack (another Jaxon request... yes, he is quite bossy that little one!)

After his snack it was time to "breafe" and watch Diego with a nice cold glass of orange juice.

Thanks to Brooks & Rebecca, Jax no longer has to share his little share with Lucy. He has a nice big chair with his name on it that Lucy is not allowed to sit on.

In 10...

I just checked my friends Ami & Nicole's blogs and they both did a blog about where they will be in 10 years. It got me thinking about where my little family would be, plus it meant doing a post that didn't involve uploading pictures, so why not? Here we go...

1. I will be 41 (gulp) years old and Brian will be 43 (YIKES!). We will have been married for 16 years (double gulp).

2. Jaxon will be 12 and in 6th grade... oh dear god! That scares the crap out of me. That means he won't be at my school anymore and I won't be able to help him with his math homework. Well, I'll be honest, those days will have been long over once he got into 3rd grade!

3. Maybe Jaxon will have a sibling (that's a BIG maybe and probably not likely, so please don't hound me about it).


4. We will be living in Tucson in a one-story house with 4 bedrooms, a den, an enclosed playroom, a 3 car garage and a pool. (the Tucson part is one of those unrealistic fantasies I'm known for. In all reality, we will probably still be in ABQ. boo)


5. Get A Grip will be doing VERY well, maybe we'll own another franchise.


6. Brian will be a manager for a medical company or will be running Get A Grip full-time.


7. I will be working part-time, maybe as a teacher or helping Brian with Get A Grip, and volunteering at Jaxon's school on my days off. I'd love to be a room mom and actively involved in the PTA, although, if Jax is in middle school he probably won't want me around school. Sad.

8. IF there is a sibling for Jaxon, then I will be his/her room mom!

9. I will have gone through a maximum of 5 radioactive treatments, body scans & ultrasounds and all of them will come back clear.

10. We will have taken 10 family summer vacations to San Diego, and maybe Brian & I will be able to get away a couple of times on our own. Our next dream vacation.... Portugal! (Watch last weeks episode of The Bachelorette and you'll want to go too!)

11. We'll be having family dinners (Pearsons & Rios together) each Sunday. That is the one thing I miss the most about not living near family.

12. My brother will be married to a nice girl and have at least one baby who will call me Titi (Auntie). His wife and I will be good friends who will go on shopping trips and mornings out to Starbucks. (This is another one of those fantasies)

13. I will be the mom that is home after school for Jaxon, with a nice snack ready. I'll even have a nice little treat fresh from the oven... chocolate chip cookies, brownies, Rice Crispy treats...

14. Lucy (who will be 16) will be waiting for Jaxon to come home from school, by the front door each day. Just like our dog, Muffin, used to do for my brother & I each day.

15. My house will be neat and organized.

My Favorite Part of Yesterday

Yesterday, Jax & I had a Mama & Son date. We went to Music & Gymboree Play then we went to Chick-fil-A for lunch. We've never gone to lunch just the two of us and it was so nice. He sat in the booth like a big boy, sipping his "yemonade", eating this "chik nuddets & fies" and happily wearing his cow hat. I couldn't help but look at him and smile the entire time. This little boy makes me so unbelievably happy. What made me even happier was when we were getting ready to leave he looks at me, tilts his head to the side, gives me his serious eyes & says, "Doe to Tardet Mama? I wear cow hat." Who am I to deny a 2-year-old a trip to Target while wearing a cow hat? Have I said how much I. LOVE. THIS. BOY!!

The other day when I was telling my mom about the 4th of July parade and how much fun Jaxon had, she said, "When doesn't Jaxon have fun?" Yup, it's true. Jax has a great time wherever he goes and whatever he does. He just loves life. This could be a toddler thing, but I'd like to think it's a Jaxon thing. I have high hopes for this kid. I think he is going to do wonderful things when he grows up.

The 3rd of July??

I will admit, that I was VERY BAD about taking the "right" pictures this 4th. I think it was because we weren't really in the mood for the 4th. You see, we live in a smallish city right outside of Albuquerque and the city decided to do their celebrations on the 3rd. I mean really?? Who decides to have the 4th of July parade & fireworks on the 3rd? Apparently, Rio Rancho does. Strange. Anywho... it was weird. We didn't go to the 3rd of July parade because 1) Brian was playing in the Member-Member Club Tournament (which he and he partner won by the way!) and 2) I decided to take Jaxon to an actual 4th of July parade in a neighboring town with a friend.

One of the things I truly love about living where we do (besides its super-close proximity to Target, I could walk if I was so inclined!) is that we have the BEST view of the fireworks EVER! I'm not even exaggerating! They launch from a hill the next street over from us, so it's like we have our own private fireworks display. Since our view is so great, we invited some friends to come BBQ and celebrate the 3rd of July.

My little family before our friends come over.

Fireworks are also legal in New Mexico, so of course Brian had to go buy WAY too many fireworks. this is where I should have taken pictures, but didn't :( Jaxon loved, loved, loved watching the fireworks light up in our backyard. He seriously had to be dragged from them each time one was lit. His eyes would get really big and his mouth would make an "O" and he'd yell, "I heard dat! Fire! Wow! " It was priceless. But, I was a bad mom and took no pictures. I figured since he had such a great time in the backyard, in daylight hours, he would really enjoy the fireworks show.

WRONG! The minute the sun went down and we headed to the front yard Jaxon freaked out! He was crying, clinging to me and saying, "No fiworks, day scare me! No yike woof (wolf). Youd noise scare me. I go bed." So off to bed he went, but not before he called Abu & Lola to tell them about his scary night.

This is the ONLY picture I took that night.

Michelle & I enjoying some sparklers. Notice Lucy on my lap? Poor thing was shaking like a leaf.

Ok, so maybe 2 pictures were taken

I was a teeny bit better on the actual 4th of July. I even took a video!

Before the parade I wanted to get a picture of our 4th of July outfits, you know me, I have to have a special outfit for every occasion!

Loving my boy

Notice his hand? What's up with that?

We made it to the parade!

Of course, when we get to the parade my camera's battery light starts flashing. Super. I'm ready for pictures and the camera is going to die! So I had to be selective on my picture taking.

It was quite the parade. We saw all kinds of animals... lots of dogs festively dressed, clowns, firetrucks, bicycles. But my favorites....

Goats.

Oh, these weren't the only goats at the parade. There was even one goat pulling a little wagon with two boys in it!

And what would a parade be without chickens in a cage! Yes, folks, those are 3 real live chickens in that cage. Not sure the purpose, but it sure was fun!

Jaxon's favorite!

He even pet 2 horses! My camera died right after the above picture was taken, so I have none of Jaxon petting the horses. My friend, Jana, took some so when she sends them to me I'll post them. He was SOOO excited! He was very tentative at first, but once he saw that I didn't get hurt or bitten by the horse he was all over it! After the first one he would yell, "Hoase stoooooppp! I pet you! Stoooooop I need to pet you!" to every. single. horse. that walked by. And let me tell you, there were at least 30!

After the parade, Jax took a nice long nap and then we headed to the pool.

Check out his swim trunks!

We stayed until after the pool closed and the staff decided to blow stuff up! Well, not really, but someone did throw an M-80 into the pool and the sound was deafening!

Not scared here.

We headed home to end the night quietly in our backyard.

But what's the real 4th of July without sparklers!

Finally, a smile for the camera! Maybe next time he'll look and smile!

Trying to get a family picture, but Jax walked off talking about "tooting" just as Brian snapped the picture. Boys!

Happy Independence Day, America!

1...2...3

Ever since I have been pregnant with Jaxon I have done things to prepare him for kindergarten. I know, he's just a baby, but still. I have seen LOTS of kindergarten kids and their parents and believe me, it's not always a pretty picture! Whenever my kindergarten team and I are discussing our students (only in a professional way of course) I always say, "I'm doing my best to raise a great kindergartener for you!" And it's true. We read everyday, we sing, we talk about everything, we limit TV time, we say nursery rhymes, we play outside, we do fine motor & gross motor activities. This kid is going to be ready for kindergarten if it kills me! So, I also measure Jaxon's "smartness" by what an incoming kindergartener would know. Jaxon knows almost all of the colors, shapes, letters & numbers (0-10) and can sort of count & say the alphabet. I'm not kidding you when I say that I have at least 2 kids a year that don't know this much on the first day of kindergarten! So I figure, Jax must be pretty smart right?

Well, his latest thing is to count. It is the cutest thing! He likes to count down to things, like if he's going to slide down the slide, "ooonnnne. ttttwwwwoooo." Most of the time he goes, "1, 2, fiiiive." Hilarious! (not when he's in kindergarten though.)

So I tried to capture his counting on camera. He starts off by searching for one of Handy Manny's tools, Philipe ("Hipe"). Which he doesn't find. Then he ingnores me and throws a golf ball in the house, then he counts ( I think to avoid going to time out!)