Melissa Weighs In

I have lost a total of 11 pounds and 15 inches. I posted some before, during, and after pictures for you to view on my fitness blog. Please click here to view the blog.

Jackson Weighs In

I weighed Jackson in last week---drum roll please---and he weighed in at 18 pounds, 10 ounces!!! He has gain over 5 pounds since his 6 month check up! I also measured his length. He is 27 inches long. He is back on the charts at 10th-25th percentile for weight and 5th percentile for height. All that formula, meat, eggs, cottage cheese, fruit, and yogurt has paid off! This made me feel extremely happy! I have to admit, after weighing Jackson, I picked up Jackson and danced around the living room and screamed, "Yea!!!! Jackson's a big boy!" I'm sure you all could imagine that, right? :)

Time for a baby gate!

Jackson is crawling everywhere and climbing up everything. We went to some yard sales on Saturday and found Jackson a new baby gate (with the tag still on it) for three dollars! You can't beat that! After a few days of using the baby gate, I have come to the conclusion that I need a few more of them! By the way, this photo was taken when I first put up the gate, and Jackson's curiosity was peaked. He is no longer happy about the gate!

Hawaiian Boy

Big Boy Bath!!!

Jackson is taking his baths in the big tub now! I bought a non-slip tub mat that is amazing. He can even crawl on it in the water without slipping! He absolutely loves it! There is more room to splash!

Sound Sleeper...

The other night, Jackson woke us up because he was crying. When I went into his room, he was standing in his crib sobbing, so I calmed him down and left again. He cried when I left the room for no longer than a minute. I assumed he fell back asleep. My assumption was correct. However, when I went in to check on him in the morning, I found him in this position. He must have been so tired that he couldn't muster enough energy to lay back down after he stood up again! Poor little guy! He didn't seem to mind, though! What I would do for a back like that!

Busy Weekend

This past weekend was very busy! It started with going out to eat with Troy's family to Knott's Berry Farm on Thursday night. To be healthy, I ordered the broiled chicken. Let's just say I was wishing I hadn't! Why does the healthy stuff always have to taste bad?

Friday morning we left to Disneyland. We took our friend, Ahmet, who was visiting from Turkey. This was his first time there, so we stayed all day! Phew! I haven't done that in a while! I forgot how exhausting it is!

On Saturday Morning, I went to Joleen's bridal shower, which was a whole lot of fun! The food was delicious, the company was pleasant, and the house it was held in was the biggest house I have ever been in! I passed it up because I thought it was a hotel! Its too bad I didn't get a picture of it!

Shortly after I got home from the shower, Jackson and I left with Michael, Timmy, and my mom to the Orange County Fair. We met Jenni there. I will never go on a Saturday again! It was extremely crowded, and, unlike Disneyland, they don't have crowd control. Jackson did get to see cows, chickets, goats, and rabbits, though! The highlight of the evening was definately the frozen chocolate covered banana I got. Again, I was trying to be healthy, and everyone else had the funnel cakes (which were good...I had a tiny taste). The banana was worth the efforts to be healthy, though...mmmm!

So, without further ado, here are the photos from the weekend! Enjoy!

Oh, happy day!Jackson loves to climb Mt. Daddy!Jackson's favorite ride so far is The Jungle Cruise! Jackson and his good friend, "Aunt Tiffany"My favorite ride, the Tower of Terror
Middle Row, L-R: Me, Troy, Ahmet, Alistair, LizetteJackson in I in a very stinky barn with cows. Jackson doesn't seem to like the smell.Cute boy!

Me and My Boy!

Yea!

For the past few nights, Jackson has slept through the night. We didn't even hear a peep from him last night! For the first time since Jackson was born, I slept 8 hours straight, without waking up! Oh! That felt glorious!!! I am enjoying this while it lasts!

The BEST Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe...EVER!

Due to so many people asking me for my chocolate chip cookie recipe, I've decided to post it again. So, for all of you who asked, here it is! And to quote Lizette, "These cookies are healthier than vitamins!" Enjoy!

For years I have been on the search for just the right chocolate chip cookie recipe. Not too doughy, but not too hard...just the right amount of chewy goodness. It seems I have found it. I got the recipe off of allrecipes.com and tweaked it a bit (I always do!). I used whole wheat flour, so it is a bit healthier, and it is surprisingly delicious! My dad ate the cookies and enjoyed them...and I'm not sure if he noticed the difference in taste...which means there isn't much of a difference! I also used more vanilla. So, in the end the recipe turned out a bit different. Feel free to try to recipe yourself!
Ingredients:
1 c butter flavored shortening
2 eggs
3/4 c white sugar
3 teaspoons vanilla extract
3/4 c brown sugar
1 teaspoon salt
2 1/4 c whole wheat flour
2 cups milk chocolate chips
1 teaspoon baking soda

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease cookie sheets.
2. In a large bowl, cream together the butter flavored shortening, brown sugar and white sugar until light and fluffy (beat them on med-low). Add the eggs on at a time, beating well with each addition, then stir in the vanilla.
3. Combine the flour, baking soda and salt; gradually stir into creamed mixture.
4. Fold in the chocolate chips.
5. Drop by rounded spoonfuls onto the prepared cookie sheets.
6. Bake for 8-10 minutes in the preheated oven, until light brown. Due to the fact that the dough is darker because of the wheat, it may be hard to tell what "light brown" is. Cookies will still be a bit doughy and light brown around the edges. DO NOT OVERCOOK! Allow cookies to cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.

Tip: Cookies will stay very moist for several days (if you can keep them around that long!), however, if you forgot to cover them up, or they are getting hard, you can either warm them up in the microwave for a few seconds or put a few apple slice in the same container as the cookies. This keeps the cookies moist for a long time. I learned the apple trick from my grandma!

Jackson AKA "Bruiser"

Jackson and the coffee table met. This was the result. Needless to say, we are getting rid of our coffee table! He was a good sport through it all, though, and even smiled a short while after the tragedy. We gave him Tylenol for any throbbing pain caused by the crater on his forehead and applied Arnica cream to the bump. ARNICA actually worked and made the bruise not as purple within a few hours! Shortly after he smacked into the table, he was hugging it again! How soon he forgot!

Jackson is 8 Months!

Well, I must admit that I totally forgot to post Jackson's 8-month-old post last week! So, here it is, a week late!

Jackson is growing up so fast! He is almost walking! He has taken a couple steps by himself and is pulling up on everything now. Which means he is also taking everything off the coffee table, the rocking chair, the couch, etc. He gets so happy when it discovers a new piece of furniture he can use to stand up. It is so cute!Jackson is also crawling. He gets around, which means I keep a close watch on him. If it gets really quite, I know something is up!

Out of all things in this world, Jackson is fascinated with fans at this time in his life. He can point out any size or shape of fan anywhere! I can ask him "Where is the fan, Jackson?" and he will point to it right away. It is so precious! He just stares at this with amazement, whether they are moving or not!
Baba, Mama, and Nana have been added to Jackson's regular vocabulary this month. He also is now saying "mmmmm" almost every time he takes a bite of food! As for food, he eats a lot of it! He is now eating a variety of food including egg yolks, cottage cheese, yogurt, apple sauce, mangoes (his favorite), any melon (another favorite), and lots and lots of Cheerios. He even knows the sound of the Cheerio box when I get it down!

As for sleeping, Jackson is doing better this week. He may be teething. Some nights we give him Tylenol. Some we don't. He doesn't have any teeth yet, but it time, they will come!

Troy and I can hardly believe it has been 8 months since God blessed us with this precious little boy! The time flies! I suppose it is because, despite some challenges along the way, we are having so much fun!

All American Boy!

Jackson got decked out in red, white, and blue for the fourth. Here are the photos! Enjoy!Jackson discovered this hibiscus on our front porch and was fascinated. I don't blame him!

Congrats, Alistair & Lizette!!!

Photo by Marlin Munoz Photography

Our friends (and neighbors....yay!!!) Alistair and Lizette were married last Friday. The wedding was beautiful, the cake was delicious, and the photographer was absolutely, amazingly talented! Most of all, though, it was a wonderful blessing to see how happy Alistair and Lizette are together! They are both, by the grace of God, amazing people and I'm sure they will glorify God in their marriage! Congratulations, Alistair and Lizette! We are so glad that we got to share in this experience with you! We love you guys!

By the way, if you want to view the "absolutely, amazingly talented photographer's" photos, visit Marlin Munoz Photography's blog. Once again, great job, Marlin!

Happy, Happy, Happy Anniversary!

Troy and I celebrated 3 years of marital bliss a couple of days ago (July 2). I can't believe it has been 3 years!!! I guess time flies when you are having fun! To celebrate, we went down to Duke's at Huntington Beach and then we walked on the Pier. It was great fun being with my hubby! I love him so much! He is waaaay more than I could've asked for in a husband! Here are some pictures from our date!

This is the GIANT Hula Pie that Duke's gave us for free being it was our Anniversary! It was sooo good!

Sleep...what is sleep?!?

I'm not sure I remember what a full night's sleep feels like. Just last week, Jackson slept through the night. That is a rarity. That night seems so far a way. It is 1:35 am and I can't seem to grasp what that night was like. The concept of a night without crying and screaming seems so far out of reach. Perhaps it is the lack of sleep. Perhaps it is that I haven't been this tired since Jackson was a newborn...seriously. Perhaps I am extremely frustrated because WE HAVE TRIED EVERYTHING!!! Crying it out hasn't worked. Non-crying methods haven't worked. Things we do out of desperation (like driving him to sleep...pulled that trick a couple weeks ago) haven't worked. Nothing has worked. I am pretty sure he isn't teething...we have assumed he's teething for 4 months now, just because he wakes up crying. He has no other symptoms of teething. Am I missing something here? Are there more tricks I don't know about? Did anyone else have trouble at nearly 8 months? Help!?!? Oh...wait...do I hear silence...maybe he is asleep. Perhaps I should go back to bed before he wakes up again. I'm glad I had somewhere to vent. I felt like screaming for a moment there. Phew.

Just some cute pictures....

Jackson gives kisses now...he doesn't blow them yet, but he sure puckers up!

Jackson and his daddy!

(this one wouldn't rotate...I'm not sure why!)

Look! He's crawling!!!