Bain Holiday

Laura came home from Atlanta for the holidays and Eric's family came from AZ after Christmas. 

There was tons of fun to be had but not as many naps... 

Jackson conked out on Grandpa during 9am church. Lightweight.

Sunday night we did a little gift exchange and it included lots of laughs, smiles, surprises, and tantrums (specifically from Jackson). We've GOT to work on sharing!

All the kids were so cute with Jackson and really wanted to help him go to sleep.

It was adorable.

Jackson on the other hand, wanted to help others.

Laura wasn't really working out but if she were it would have been tough!

We went to Fairyland and it was awesome. For 8 bucks it was a crowd pleaser!

They had a cute puppet show for the kids.

Hailey the Queen.

Jackson even got to ride most rides!

New Year's Eve we went to Nickel City in San Jose.

It was epic and everyone loved it!

Parker played air hockey for hours!

Jackson needed a little help with DDR.

Bedtime!

Those kids really love their pickles!

Parker is an excellent guide to Jackson. 

If he lived closer I'd have a top rate babysitter!

We rang in the new year with kids and games.

(Thankfully Jackson was finally tired enough to sleep through the night this night.)

Even grandparents were too tired to stay awake!

Happy 2015 everyone!

Lawn boy

All the Bains descended on Fremont for some of the holidays.

My mom and Jackson spent the day cleaning the house and yard 

(while I sat on the bench and made sure no body parts were mowed).

Jackson is never happier than when he's outside.

"May she rule with fairness and honesty."

This is my niece Hailey and she's 3.

Everything about this photo captures her personality.

I took it while she was watching a puppet show.

I could not be more proud of capturing this candid moment.

And baby #2 is...

A boy!

I made a cake to surprise my YW with the gender. I tried my hand at decorating and it went alright with a few mistakes. Next time each layer should just be an entire cake and I need to use better frosting. The cake tasted good though so that was a hit at least!

We're excited to be having another boy. Jackson has entered the stages of loving babies and throwing tantrums so we're in for quite the ride. Pray for us!

Jackson really only ever has 2 things on his mind: trouble and food.

No matter the age of the friend we're eating with Jackson will eat more.

We decorated some cookies with friends and did more eating than decorating.

He loves to take medicine as long as the syringe is filled with water afterwards.

And sometimes we just have to take his clothes off to eat.

Handsome Jackson

Jackson was quite the handsome guy at church in December. He had 2 cute little outfits to wear and did so with style and enthusiasm. 

Getting him to take a picture proved to be quite the challenge however.

Homeownership...

We bought a condo in March 2014 and since have had many joys of ownership.

As soon as we hooked up the water in the kitchen we realized a pipe wasn't secured and had damaged the downstairs neighbor's floor, just to name one exciting thing. (We love insurance!!)

Now this special number is clogging with 1 square of toilet paper and pee. It all started when Jackson pooped in the shower and we flushed his turd...

Ahh, what a joy it is to be the tenant and landlord!

(Not that I wanted to share about our toilet problems. More this photo was just evidence of how much fun we're having. I walked in to get ready for bed and the toilet had overflowed during the day since we struggled to fix the clog and the water leaks a little bit. We called my dad in a panic to help. Next call is to the plumber! We think the problem is more than 1 turd deep.)

Swimming Lessons

Scott got the entire week of Thanksgiving off so before heading off to LA Scott took him to swimming lessons. (I have loved American Swim Academy because I feel like they have a real program that focuses on helping kids feel safe in the water.) I got to just sit in the audience and take pictures. Usually there are a few dads in our class but it was just Scott this day. An older couple sat in front of me and talked a ton about how "nice it is to see a dad involved" and "how good it is to see a dad step up and help". I laughed but also felt slightly annoyed. Scott is an excellent dad and I'm glad to have him by my side but usually he's at work. Just because a dad isn't there on Mondays at 11am doesn't mean they're not involved. Usually they're at work!

Jackson's not too sure about swimming on his back.

These pictures were taken from the bleachers so they're not amazing but you can still see the happiness on both of their faces. It was cute to watch.

Thanksgiving in LA

Scott has a brother and sister-in-law in LA that we decided to visit over the break. They were both busy with work and school but we really enjoyed our time there.

We went to the Science Center and Scott was able to lift the Tundra 

that pulled the Endeavour space shuttle across a bridge.

Jackson had a great time in the toddler section on the museum. 

(Each of the rooms had a place where house mice lived. Disgusting!!!)

We also went to Santa Monica pier.

Jackson jumped in the cold water like it was no big deal.

Jackson terrorized their house that is beautifully not kid-proofed. Luckily no serious damages were inflicted (that I know of). Curtis had a good time playing the piano with him too!

And sleeping in the car is a lot less fun than looking out the window!

Sadly I didn't take pictures of Jamie or our Thanksgiving feast.

We had a great time! Thanks again!!