There is nothing better. . .

There is nothing better than seeing your child run to you with a big smile on his/her face after you've had a long day at work. What an awesome feeling!!

Back to work

So I am heading back to work tomorrow, and I can honestly say that this has felt like the shortest summer break ever. I have been so busy getting the house ready to sell, selling the house, packing, painting, moving, unpacking, and cleaning that I don't feel like I have had much of a summer. I have enjoyed my time with Jackson though, even though we have been so busy. We spent a lot of time with Dani and the kids. Wow. . . I miss them. They are only 15-17 minutes away, but it is so weird to not be able to walk across the street at 10:00 to talk to her if I need it. This is going to be a great thing for us though, and I think it has really helped Grandad perk up a little knowing that we are beginning our journey in the home that he and Miriam loved so much.

Tomorrow is Kurt's last class, and he starts his new job next Monday. We are so excited for him to be home with us more often. The last two years have been so hard with him being gone to class or being so busy with work, class, internship, etc. all the time. Jackson and I have really enjoyed the time that we have had with him since his last day at BehaviorCorp and we are looking forward to having that time with him all the time. Life is really looking good for the Cantlons!! Who knows. . maybe we will have time to add another Cantlon to the mix now that he is going to be home with us. :)

To wrap up our summer, we ran SEVERAL errands today, one of which was having Jackson's pictures taken. We always have such a hard time narrowing down the photos, and this time was no different.

I really am not a fan of baseball, but how could I resist this adorable photo.
Sorry it is not rotated. It is late!

He seems like a little natural with the football, which makes his daddy happy!! (Notice he is wearing Husky Orange since he is a future Hamilton Heights Husky!)
As cute as these photos are, it was not easy getting him to cooperate today (which is not like him). When all else fails, we give him food (since he LOVES to eat) so in several of the photos his hands were to his mouth eating cheerios or goldfish. Whatever works!

He really liked the toys that were there, and every time the photographer would ask him if he wanted to sit down, he would say "No" in the sweetest little voice. So, we pulled out this motorcycle for him to sit on.

He loves "quack quacks" and talks about them all the time. As we were getting ready to leave we saw this duck and he went crazy for it. Of course, when he sat down with it, he would not really even smile, but it was still a pretty cute picture.
And finally, I had to get a picture of his silly smile. We kept asking him to smile and he would say no, and then finally he turned and gave us the biggest, most fake smile you have ever seen. It was like he was saying, "Will you just leave me alone. Here is your stupid smile!" Too cute, though.
I cannot believe that I go back to work tomorrow. I am really going to miss him, but I think it will be good for him to be back with the other kids, especially since we don't live around any other kiddos anymore. I am just going to have to take my cd and play my slideshow of pictures all day at work. He is so stinkin' cute. I really don't know what we did to be blessed with such a cutie, but I am so thankful. He is such a sweetheart.

I will try to update my blog more frequently now that things have calmed down. I hope I still have some followers. :)

It's time for bed for me. Night Night!

Bye Bye Summer

I have wanted to update my blog all summer and I cannot seem to find the cord to upload my photos. I will keep searching and hopefully post some soon. It has been a busy summer here in the Cantlon house.

We listed our house early in the summer and it sold in 8 days! Wow! We then learned that we need to replace the roof (on our 7 year old house) before the buyers will take possession. It is a manufacturer's defect. Bummer. Oh well, we are taking care of it and now packing for the move. I'm not sure how things will be when we move because we are going to be doing renovations to the new house. . . significant renovations. I''ll try to upload photos to keep everyone updated (if I even have any followers anymore. .it has been so long since I have posted!).

Jackson is getting too big! He is talking so well. . .he says 2 and 3 word sentences pretty frequently. I think he is pretty smart. We have had a lot of fun this summer playing with the neighbors, going to the zoo and the Children's Museum. He had his first weekend away from Mommy and Daddy while we went to Matt's wedding. It was a great time, but I missed my little man. He, on the other hand, seemed perfectly content staying with Mom Maw, and Pop Pop.

I have to go back to work 2 weeks from tomorrow and I think the rest of the summer is going to be consumed by packing and moving so I guess my summer is over. Boo!!! I love my job, but man, I have really enjoyed my summer with Jackson. I will be fine once I am back at work, but I wish I could stay home with him. Those of you who are fortunate enough to stay home with your children are so blessed. I have to say, though, if I am going to be a working mom this is the job to have since I have so much time off with him.

Kurt will be starting his new position as a middle school counselor in a few weeks. His last day of work at BehaviorCorp is this Friday. We are all very excited!! I cannot wait for him to have Christmas Break and Spring Break and Summer Break. He is going to be a terrific counselor, and I am so excited for him. He has worked so hard in the last couple years. I know he is looking forward to having those breaks too!!

Okay, I will search for the cord to upload my photos. I will post some soon. I promise!

I hope I never forget

I hope I never forget the joy in Jackson's voice and on his face when he is playing outside. He is such a special little guy, and I always want to remember how full of joy he is!! We could all learn from how carefree this little man is. . . I can anyway. I don't know what I did to deserve him, but God must really love me because he has blessed me more than I could ever fully express!!!

What a beautiful weekend!!

We had the most wonderful weekend. . .

Friday, we went down to the hospital to see Grandad. . .He was doing well. . .He even got to come home this weekend so we were able to spend Easter with him. . .Other than going down to see Grandad, we really did not do much! In fact, I think I went straight to bed when we got home. . .

Saturday was loads of fun! We went over to visit Chris, Heather, and Rees. Rees and Jackson had an Easter Egg Hunt. . . It was Jackson's first. They were so cute!! I can't wait for these boys to grow up together. They are just too stinkin' cute!
Jackson did not know what to think at first. He just picked up the eggs and looked at them.
But then. . .he got so excited about it. . . it was so cute. He ended up with a basket full. . . and he had so much fun!
Kurt and I really enjoy spending time with Heather and Chris, and it makes it so nice that Jackson and Rees are so close in age.

On Saturday night we had Kelly, Matt, and Ryan over for some grilling . . . It was so fun. . .Jackson was a little ham. . .He was so funny and he stayed up two hours past his bedtime. He and Matt and Ryan were all dancing to the hot dog song on Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. . .It was SO funny . . .Dinner was yummy, too. Thanks, Kelly & Matt.

Sunday was great. . .we went to church . . .Jackson was such a good boy. . .Then we went to Grammy and Grandpa's for dinner. . . and it was yummy!! Jackson had another Easter Egg hunt. . .and again, he was too cute. . .but of course I think that. He got so excited when he would find another egg. . .


And just some fun photos from the weekend. . .
It was a great weekend. . .which is good because Jackson went to bed with a fever. . .and I have a feeling we will be staying home tomorrow . . . and we have to write a big FAT check for our car repairs tomorrow, too. Yuck! But it was a great weekend. . . so that makes it all okay! :) Happy Easter everyone!

7 Things and Picture Overload

This is for Andrea! Love you!

My 7 things. . .
1. I, too, LOVE pictures. . .I love looking at them (especially if they are of my little guy), and I treasure them so much. I have, unfortunately, lost several people in my life and without the photos that I have of them I would be lost.
Pictures have a way of making me forget about all the things I want to forget and helping me remember all of the wonderful people and wonderful times I have been blessed with in my life.
2. I LOVE LOVE LOVE the sound of crunching leaves in the fall, and I LOVE LOVE LOVE crunchy french fries! Yummo!
3. I love singing karaoke! I have been blessed with a voice that has made people's heads turn and made bars go silent. I've won $1300 in karaoke contests (won the only two contests I have ever entered). When I am up there singing, I feel so good about myself. It is something that I know I do well, and I love the way it makes me feel (even though I am so nervous that all I can do is stare at the tv while I am singing). I'm not one who is too terribly confident in many things that I do so this is something that I look forward to doing. It helps that I am surrounded by such fun people when I'm singing karaoke!
4. I LOVE MY FAMILY AND FRIENDS! Enough said!
5. I love beaches, the feeling of sand in my toes, and eating in open air restaurants by the beach.
6. I love live music. . . it doesn't really matter what kind of music. I just love listening to live music. . .love the atmosphere. . .
7. Finally, I love springtime. . .except when it is raining and SNOWING! I love the REAL springtime weather. . .when I can take my little guy for walks and see his face light up and his arms and legs go crazy because he loves being outside so much. . .Actually I love doing anything that allows me to hear his sweet little voice when he is excited about something.

Now, here is my picture overload. I hope you enjoy them as much as I do! :)






Okay, now it just took me nearly two hours to upload those photos because my computer was acting up . . . Jackson and I were on Spring Break this week. We have to go back to work in the morning. . . boo!! We had pretty sucky weather this week, but we had a really good time! It was so nice spending so much time with him. He is at such a fun age. I am so looking forward to this summer, but I know that it is going to be SO hard to go back next year after spending so much time with Jackson. He is so amazing!! God has truly blessed Kurt and me with this little one!

Spring. . .please don't go . . .

I get so moody and depressed in the winter . . . and then spring comes and I am a different person. Seriously, I can feel a huge difference in my mood when it is warm and sunny outside. We have really enjoyed the warm weather lately. Jackson is at such a fun age, and he really loves running around playing outside. He says "outside, outside, outside". It's pretty cute.

He LOVES the slide. . . sometimes scary because he wants to climb on it when all the big kids are on it.


He loved playing with all the big kids on the swingset . . especially with Daddy!!

He is not quite big enough to play in the car yet . . . I turned around for a second and he was sliding out the bottom. He just looked up at me like, Mommy what's going on? It was pretty funny . . .after I freaked out because I thought he was about to get hurt.

It is amazing how much more fun it is with a little guy around . . . Come on Spring. . . just stick around . . .I'm ready for it to be here to stay!

What I love about my life

There have been a lot of things going on in the lives of some of my loved ones lately, and it has really made me stop to think about how precious life really is. It is so easy to let our frustrations get the best of us when we are tired and stressed (which seems to be our life since Kurt has been in school . . .not much longer though) so I have decided to really start thinking about the joys in my life, the greatest joy being my precious little boy!

Here are some of the things I love about my life:

1. I love that I have a husband who helps around the house even when he is in school, working full time, and doing an internship. My husband is the best. . . and I am grateful to have him.
2. I love the sound of Jackson's voice when he clings to my leg and says "Mommy!"
3. I love that when Jackson gives kisses, he puts his forehead to your lips and makes a kissing sound. It's too cute!!
4. I love that Jackson "runs" across the room to see me when I pick him up from Dover in the afternoons. I secretly love that he cries if I don't pick him up immediately when I get there. . . oops I guess it is not a secret anymore.
5. I love watching cartoons (or SportsCenter) in bed with Kurt and Jackson in the mornings.
6. I love Jackson's laugh! I love his adorable smile. I love his hugs and his kisses.
7. I love that Jackson loves books so much, and I love that if I ask him a question about something in a specific book he knows which book I am talking about and he brings me that book. He is such a smart little guy.
8. I love that Jackson dances every time we say the word dance. It is so cute.
9. I love that I have two best friends who, no matter how long we go without being in touch, are always just the way they were the last time we talked.
10. I love my neighbors.
11. I love my family.
12. I love the sound of the voices of my neices and nephew!
13. I love that even though Jackson has never met his Uncle Phillip he reaches for his photo on my nightstand and he kisses his picture. I also love that I can ask him to point to Uncle Phillip and he does with a huge smile on his face.
14. I love the proud look on Jackson's face when he does something new.
15. I love my husband. I love my son. I love my dog. I love my house. I love my job. I love my life!!!

I am the luckiest woman in the world!!!

I will post pictures soon. Our camera (and my computer) have been sick. . . and I have been too tired to post anything. Soon. I promise.