Viper Driver

So here it is, the day I have been waiting for my entire life. I took my first flight in the mighty F-16 , and I am proud to say I am finally a Viper Driver. I haven't had much to blog about for months because of the move to Tucson and all the academics and simulators I have been doing to get me ready for this day. Here I am getting suited up in the life support room.

My Instructor and I walking around the jet before we strap in.

There are a lot of things that need to be set up in the Viper. I was a little nervous about all the ground ops we have to do during start, and yes I screwed some stuff up, but no big deal.

Fighter pilots by nature are perfectionists, I mean it is either perfect or it is crap, so everything we do has to be perfect and it all starts with ground ops.

The start up today was awesome. I have never felt the rumble of an engine that puts out 25,000 lbs of thrust before, the entire plane was shaking, and it was definitely intimidating. The Viper definitely lets you know she is ready to party the moment she starts up.

In the chocks still doing checks of all of the controls and avionics.

We taxied out and the takeoff was insane, this plane is very powerful, and I didn't even light the burner this flight ( it takes a few rides to get used to the power so I get to do a burner takeoff on my 3rd ride). The flight was a lot of fun. This plane is very easy to fly, but right away I realized she doesn't mess around with the G's. The viper doesn't respond to G's like other jets, I mean she will hurt you real bad if you ask for it. I pulled on the stick (sts) during a maneuver and hit 7 G's right away and it hurt, cant wait for 9 G's. My landings were a little rough, but I greased on my full stop to leave me feeling in awe as I taxied back thinking that I am finally one of the big boys!

Old Friends

Do you ever hear about FaceBook and how people have been in contact with people they haven't talk to in years? Well, yesterday we went to visit an old friend of Jeff's! Jeff and I were sitting and talking one night about old times and who we used to hangout with. This is an on going conversation, I think we always wondered why we never crossed paths earlier in life. We hungout at the same places and some of the same people.

So we were talking about old friends and I told Jeff to look them up on FaceBook. There was one friend who he always had so much in common with and lost contact after Sheldon moved to Arizona and Jeff moved to Huntington Beach. So we looked him up and found him!

We went yesterday to meet up with him and meet his family. He is engaged with a son and another son on the way! How perfect, we are pretty much in the same boat. We have a son and another one the way. We hungout, got to see his brother and had a BBQ! It was a fun filled day! The only thing I didn't do while I was there was get a picture of Jeff and Sheldon:( I totally regret it now that I am posting these pictures.

Jeff and Jackson riding on one of Sheldon's 4 wheelers

They were having so much fun, Jackson even got to do the throttle all by himself!
This is Sheldon's old brothers daughters mustang. She even had a helmet that Jackson wore around pretty much most of the day!

Up and down the street they went! Jeff eventually got on a bike to keep up with him!

All n all it was a fun filled day! We were so tired on the way home!

We will be seeing them again!

20 Week Check Up

Today I had my first appointment with my new doctor here in Tucson and it went really well. Especially with how spoiled I have been with my previous doctor. So my expectations were set a little high and she passed.

This little guys heart beat sounded really good. He was being a little wiggle worm and kicking so it was hard to find it at first. She took a blood test to check my thyroid due to my really dry itching skin. A symptom of me being pregnant! She also suggested a fish oil vitamin for my mood swings, I will start taking those tonight and see if they work! Hopefully soon! LOL I think Jeff will divorce me if the mood swings continue after the pregnancy! LOL

I go back next week on Wednesday for a sonogram. This will check to see if everything is looking good, measuring right and to confirm if he really is a boy! No doubt, but she said they will check it for sure! The last time I was seen was Dec 15th and since then I have only gained 6 pounds. I think that's pretty good considering I gained 60 pounds with Jackson.

So far so good! She did however tell me that she is going to go off my original due date of June 22nd instead of June 20th, so we will see. I am curious to know on Wednesday if he is measuring bigger, because I was told I was a whole week ahead of my due date. Who knows!
I will update on Wednesday and let you all know how that went and hopefully have some pictures!

What A Day

Warning! I used a cuss word!
Today has been the day from hell as most of you know from all my posts on Facebook. It started out with no sleep thanks to Jackson. Jeff and I went to bed pretty late last night (11) and Jackson decided to get up at 12:40 am. I got up with him and went back to bed at 1:20 and then was woken up at 3:40. We had a friend staying the night so it was a little difficult to be stern with him while our guest was asleep next to Jackson's room. I finally had it around 4:30 and made Jeff go in there to lay down the daddy rules. Well, that didn't work and ended up fighting with Jackson until 6 something and he finally fell asleep and obviously no sleep for me.
I took advantage of catching up on my DVRed shows. There was really no point in going back to sleep. I knew if I did, I would be more tired and a grouch. So I waited for him to wake up and that was finally at 8:30.
We ate breakfast and got ready for Little Gym. We had one timeout before we left and that was because he wouldn't pick up his toys, I asked him a handful of times and every response was, "no, you do it." WHAT! So off to his room he went. We finally got out the door and in to Little Gym where he didn't want to follow directions until it was almost time to go. So, he finished class got some stamps and decided to play with the blocks. I was standing at the door telling him to pick them up, he acted like he couldn't hear me. Now, this is the thing that really urcks me. I told him 2 more times and finally another mom told her daughter to help him.
So they finished and when it was time to head out the door he threw a fit, so I picked him up and carried him out like a football. This is when he twisted around and slapped the shit out me. It literally hurt and I started to cry. ( Have I mentioned that I have been super emotional?) So, I put him in his car seat and he put up his fight. I grabbed his arm and kind of gave him a good pinch and he stopped but continued to scream bloody murder. At this point I was ready to kill him. I literally wanted to knock him out, but the good mother I was trying to be didn't want to cause a bigger scene. We finally made it home with screaming and yelling the whole 20 minutes of the drive. Luckily Jeff was home waiting for us and when I saw him I lost it. I got Jackson out of the car and marched him to bed where he stayed until 4 o'clock. Mind you we got home at 12:30!
I am so glad Jeff was hear to calm me down and just talk with me. I wish on every bad day, I could just call him and have him hear to fix it or help. So, needless to say while Mr. Jackson was fast asleep I took a nap myself! The rest of the day was fine, we made dinner and got some ice cream. We just finished getting him to bed and hopefully tonight will be better.
Tomorrow he goes to school and I think the break will be well deserved for both of us. I am trying to keep him busy and active!

20 Weeks

I am officially half way done! I don't really look that big when Jeff takes these pictures of me, but it was the same way with Jackson. My mom says I'm a late bloomer! Which is true, I didn't get big with Jackson until 7 months + and when I took my pregnancy pictures at 8.5 months, my photographer was telling me to stick it out! Go figure.

In the last 4 weeks I have had at least 1 day out of the week that I am dog tired and can't seem to bring myself to do anything. I guess maybe it's just the baby growing and taking all of my energy? I have also been a little crampy this month and my weekly updates from pregnancy.com said to expect a growth spurt this last month.

I am emotionally a wreck. Jeff has told me at least every other day that he has never seen me this unhappy. I don't think I am unhappy, but I do feel different with this pregnancy. Hopefully it's not a bad sign of an unhappy baby.

I am feeling him move a lot and Jeff gets to feel him as well. This little guy loves to roll around and kick me when I lay down at night. This is my favorite part of being pregnant. Nothing can describe the feeling of your unborn child kicking away! I absolutely love it!!!

I finally am going to the doctor here. My first appointment with my new doctor is on Thursday. I am curious to see how much I have gained and to hear his little heart beat.
Until then, I will post after my appointment!

All Lined Up

Have I ever told you about Jackson and his jets? Well, if I haven't then I must tell you now!

This kid of ours loves his jets. I'm not sure if "love" is even the right word. You could buy him anything like Thomas The Train, Monster Trucks, Dinosaurs or even a Scooter and he would rather play with his jets. To top it off he could name just about everyone one of them, thanks to his daddy!

So, this morning I was checking my email and could hear him playing with his toys, but I wasn't sure what he was doing exactly. Now don't get me wrong, but he does this often and it's usually on the floor. I think he likes the table more then the floor now! As I was saying, I was checking my emails and Jackson comes in and says, "Cindy, come look at my jets!" Yes, he said Cindy!!! So I go look and this is what he has done and boy was he proud! I told him that I wanted to take a picture and this is what I got!

What a good job he did at lining them all up!
He even remembered his flag! He must be proud to be an American!

Good job Jackson!

An Update On Mr. Jackson's Life These Days

Mr. Jackson has definitely been through a lot of change in the past few months. We left Jeff in October to finish training in MS, we stayed with lots of family members, moved and now that we are getting settled, we started making him sleep on his own in his room!

The start of all of this is when we left Jeff, I thought that Jackson would be fine with the separation but who was I kidding. My poor son missed his daddy and it really started to show when we had some knock down fighting matches, I think all of the moving around and staying here and there didn't help. He threw some nasty temper tantrums and I seriously thought I was going to loose it. Being pregnant I physically and emotionally thought I had my last straw with his little attitude. This was just about the time for Jeff to finish up and come home, so thank god for that. Since being back with Jeff we haven't had as much of the attitude, but he does resist timeouts and on occasion he will hit when he gets mad. I honestly would rather have these little faults then the kicking, punching and screaming at the top of his lungs that we had at my dads. Someone did tell me that the 3s get worse!

After we moved and were back together in our own home things have gotten a lot better but Jackson still has his tantrums. I am guessing this is all apart of the terrible 2s!

I know this is like the 3rd or 4th time that we have tried to get Jackson to sleep in his own bed, but this is the last time. He is a snuggler and when we sleep he is right next to me or practically on top of me. He does stay in one spot, no flipping or kicking so that has always been a plus. But now that I am pregnant and starting to get uncomfortable at night I just can't handle it anymore. Especially when we bring home our little man and I am getting up to nurse in the middle of the night. Besides, it's time for him to be a big boy!

I starting telling him a couple of months ago that when we move he was going to have to sleep in his bed like a big boy. He would say ok and that would be the end of it. I tried to prep him that way it wouldn't be such a surprise. He was also seeing some cartoons like Little Bill and Olivia and they were going to bed by themselves. He was aware of this and would say, "I want to do that." So last week on Sunday we started putting him to bed by himself. It was rough for the first few day. We went through the whole 2-3 hours of walking him back to his room and then it got to the point that he wouldn't even listen or stay in his room. So my last resort was to lock him in his room. Luckily there is a key to unlock it from the outside, but he has no clue how to open it from the inside of his room. A friend suggested putting a baby gate up instead of locking him in his room, but if you know Jackson this wouldn't work. I would have to block the door way from ground up. He would climb over it. So needless to say I only locked him in the for a couple minutes at a time. He finally would get tired and give in. So, the last two days have been so easy! He goes to bed and has woken up once in the night and I go back in to tuck him in and sit in the computer room for a few minutes and walla! Nighty! Night for all of us!

It is so nice to be able to lay next to Jeff and not have Jackson there. We miss him sleeping with us, but it's for the best.

I think from all of the lack of sleep my body finally gave in and decided to get a cold. So I am fighting that now.

Here are a couple of pictures I took of him yesterday.

Stacking his letters
It's so funny to see boys play! Jackson would stack them and then just knock them down.
Jeff and I are going to enroll him in a 2 day a week daycare over by Jeff's work! Jackson is super excited about this. They have a few different rooms for learning and then their regular classroom. They have a library, a science room, forecast and music room in 1 class, a dress up room with a bank, grocery store, fire station, etc and they can dress up while playing. There is also a rec room with 3 big aquariums that he loved when we did the walk threw. We are also going to an introductory class on Thursday at Little Gym. I enrolled him in this right after he turned 1 and I think it did wonders on his motor skills, climbing, balance and self confidence. We are signed up for a sports class this time! It's time to keep him super busy and lots of learning!

Changed My Mind

Yesterday I was looking at the living room space and telling Jeff that something is missing. He totally agreed and I kept telling him that we needed to go get something for that wall. Sooo, being that we are only going to be here for 7 more months, why would we go and buy something! Might as well use what we have, besides we still have a ton of boxes that aren't even unpacked.

Back to my wall! I love love love my collage of pictures and just decided to move my sofa table to the picture side instead of the window side. This picture below is of the room before. See the table under the window?

Now here it is under all of our pictures! I think it looks so much better!
Well, I just thought I would share my rearranging with all of you! I just really like this wall! Oh, I have also decided that I am going to add some color to our life. I am getting tired of all this beige and neutral coloring that everyone has! I think I am going to add some hot pink, green and purples! I just feel like everything is drab! There is a ledge above these pictures and I think I may start filling that with color before I buy anything big. Maybe just some pots with flowers or something like that! I will have to show you when I do this!

New House

We are finally settled! If you didn't know, we are living in Tucson, AZ instead of Goodyear. Goodyear was right outside of Phoenix, but they decided to move us 1 week before we were moving from Mississippi and we had already signed a lease in Goodyear. What a pain in the butt that was to get out of that lease and find a new house in just a week. I just told Jeff to choose one and sign a new lease. We were supposed to be in Goodyear from Jan to the end of October, but Tucson's ANG base training is shorter so we will only be here until the end of August! YAY!!!!!!!

We got here on the 8th of January and were totally unpacked by Tuesday. I have just been hanging pictures here and there. We didn't unpack everything this time. This house is roughly 1380 sq ft and doesn't have the storage space nor the room for all of our stuff. Plus, I don't feel like repacking everything in August with a newborn and Jackson running around. I have already arranged for my mom to be here the last week helping me pack and take care of the kids! She's not getting much choice in this matter! LOL

Our house is in a gated community, 3 bedrooms, 2 baths, living room and a connecting formal dinning or family room. We don't have an extra dinning room table so we've made it a sitting/play area for Jackson. Our kitchen is pretty small and I really like the entry way. I also love the fact that we have a backyard for the dogs and Jackson can go out and play and not hurt anything or get hurt. Well, that's if he doesn't fall or something!

Here is the front of the house.

Our backyard.

The kitchen coming in from the garage .
The kitchen coming in from the entry way.
Looking at the kitchen from the sitting area.

The entry way. I like the little sitting area!

Our sitting area/ living room. This is the view from the front door.

The hallway.

Master Bathroom! Finally something normal, especially coming from thee smallest bathrooms in the world.

Jackson's room. They aren't that big and we didn't even unpack all of his toys.

Spare/computer room. Not unpacked yet!

Our room!

Spare bathroom.

We are definitely figuring out what we will need and not need in our future home buying! There isn't much room for another child especially if we will be having company after the baby. All I know is that when we buy a house, we will need a 4th bedroom. That is a must! I guess until we move back to Fresno, the little guy will be in a bassinet in our room.

16 Weeks

(Negative Part) Here it is! I look like a fat cow, but what the hell I'm pregnant, right? LOL

I have gained 10 pounds, which it looks like a lot more to me. My back is killing me all the time and I don't sleep!

(Positive Part) I am feeling so much better! Besides the no sleep , I pretty much have all my energy back. I am starting to feel movements and just like Jackson, this baby seems low. I thought it seemed high at first, but now it really putting pressure on my bladder! Yay for that.

Jackson checking me out! He didn't want to join in on the fun this time.
I really can't wait to get back in the gym and hit it hard after this baby. My goal is to loose most of my weight by Christmas. Hopefully I can do that!

Shaver Lake Fun (New Year's Eve)

We headed to the snow for our New Year's Eve celebration with Jeff's oldest brother Chris and his wife Penny. Ashley his daughter brought a friend and we had a blast. This was Jackson's first time at the snow and all he kept saying was " can I taste it?" Jeff and I kept telling him "yes, but not the yellow snow!"

I do however have to say that we live in the best place! We may live in the valley, but this place was only an hour from our house. I don't know where you could live and be so close to anything. We could literally get up and drive to the beach for the day or head to the mountains or Yosemite for the day! We are truly blessed to live in such a great town and country!

Jackson stuck in the snow. He just sat there watching everyone make a sledding hill.
Jeff and Chris racing down one of the many hills!
I love this picture! My two boys having fun together.
Yes, Jackson and I went down together! It was small and just as bumpy as sitting in a car! No worries, I did just fine! But we did run in to a tree! LOL

We had an awesome time and the weather was perfect! I think we will be doing this again! If you all know Jackson, He was such a trooper and wanted to do everything on his own. He loved it and could have kept going. We ended the day with a snow ball fight until Penny took one to the face. It's always fun until someone gets hurt!

I just wish we did this before Christmas. I would have used one of these pictures for our Christmas cards.

Oh, and he made some yellow snow!!!!

Christmas With My Family

Our Christmas at my mom and step dads!

It's always fun with my family, we eat, laugh, catch up and eat some more! Everyone is growing up and getting married and having kids. Well, we are having kids! I think in five years this family will have a few more faces in it!

Jackson had a few more gifts to open. Mostly from grandma and grandpa and a couple from his uncle Scott and great aunt. He had a really good time running around and playing with the kids.
He got toooo much stuff. After we got home he played with it all, but after a couple of days we had to take it all away. Now he only gets to play with one at a time and I honestly think he's forgotten about a lot of them! Which is a good thing because I pull stuff out here and there and he'll have something new! This will all last until his birthday in March! LOL
I hope all of our family and friends had an awesome Christmas as we did!

Our Christmas

Our family Christmas was awesome this year! I think we went a little over board in the gift giving department, but what the hell! This year is actually the first year we bought other people and for one another! We usually just get Jackson a couple things and call it a day. I guess we felt a little more festive this year.

This is also the first Christmas tree we've had since 07. We have just been all over the place and never moved any of our Christmas decorations with us! So this year I went out! I have been deprived of all the festivities to say the less.

We left cookies out for Santa, but we didn't have anything for the reindeer's. I just told Jackson that they would probably be full by the time they got to papas house.
Jackson opening his gifts! I had a hard time uploading pictures for this posts so I will just have to tell you how much fun he had! LOL
Here he is opening the presents that Santa left him. He got a Helmet and a Radio Flyer 3 wheel scooter! He was asking for a skateboard, but I had to tell Santa to wait a few more years! Once he opened his gifts from Santa he didn't want to open the rest! I think this is a sign that those 2 gifts were just what he needed and nothing more! I am going to remember that and coordinate next year! Anywho, Jeff and I had to convince him to open the rest from us and Grandma B and Grandpa Art. Anyway, it all was done within an hour or so. It took a lot longer then I remember as a child.

I think one of the coolest gifts he got was a Tonka remote control car. It's the one that's 2 cars in one and when you hit something it flips and keeps going. Well, long story short. Our little French bulldog Bella thinks it 's the coolest thing ever. She chases it around biting the tires and barking at it. Well, I think she thinks it cool. Looks like she's having fun! Its been a great laugh for all of us.

Our over all family Christmas was great!

Christmas With The Blaufuss's

This years Christmas was celebrated with everyone! Usually we just go to my moms, but we seemed to be more relaxed and have a lot more time this year. Besides, it always seems that our families are so spread out and this year everyone was in Fresno! The only two people missing this year were Jeff's mom and step dad! They were on their way to Florida for a well awaited vacation/move!

We spent Christmas Eve at Jeff's oldest brothers Chris's house with his wife Penny and their two daughter Courtney and Ashley. Jeff's middle brother Gregg and his wife Lauren and their two boys Carter and Kyle were there as well. We had a really good time eating and visiting! I think the best part was hearing all the kids play! Lauren and I are both expecting so next years Christmas will be more fun and exciting with two babies crawling around!

My side of the family has mostly teens and no kiddos for Jackson to play with! So next years Blaufuss get together will be louder and more fun!

Jackson standing in front of Chris and Penny's beautiful tree!

Penny, Courtney and Ashley made all the little boys blankets this year! Jackson always has Jets on the brain so they made him a Jet blanket which he loves and we use all the time! It is so warm and we could have wanted anything better! We say it was made with love!

Thank you girls!
Here is the Blaufuss Family + my dad!

We had a really great time with everyone and can't wait for more to come!

Christmas Tree Lane 2009

Every year as a child and most of my adulthood my mom or dad took me down Christmas Tree Lane. I think we took Jackson down for his first Christmas, but can't really remember. Last year we weren't here for the walk down, but I do know that we did drive down the Clovis Christmas Lane.

So this year being that we have been here in Fresno for the last 3.5 months, we got to do it! Jackson would get excited over the smallest house lit up before Christmas, so I figured he would love this.

The tradition started in 1920 with the decoration of a single tree in memory of a child who died. It is also is one of the longest-running holiday events nationwide and 2009 was it 87th Anniversary! Fresno's Christmas Tree Lane has also made the Washington Post as a holiday tradition!

Here is Jackson standing in front of one of the million decorations!

He is totally digging the Santa thing this year!
Well, this is definitely the start to a good Christmas!

Guess What?????

It's a BOY!!!!!!!

13 Week Ultrasound

Here is our little baby! Moving around and as active as can be! I haven't been that excited about this pregnancy, but after seeing our little he/she I am getting that warm and fuzzy feeling I had with Jackson.

My girlfriend Ashley did my ultrasound and she thinks it a ????! I am not going to say until I have an ultrasound with Jeff and we will announce it then! So, until then you'll just have to wait!

So precious!

Jackson's Visit With Santa Claus

Last Thursday, Nicole and I took the boys to see Santa. The last time Jackson saw Santa was in 07. He was only 9 months old and didn't have a clue as to what was going on. This year was different. He wasn't to sure at first, but I walked up to Santa and kneeled next to him and started talking to him. This helped a lot and he pretty much climbed in his lap. Santa asked him what he wanted and Jackson said "a scooter and a skate board!" Little does he know that skate boards are for big boys and he's not getting one! LOL

Overall, he did a really good job and he actually wanted to keep talking to him! We even had to walk by a few more times so he could wave.

Merry Christmas to my little man! This Christmas is going to be so much fun! He is excited about our Christmas tree, but he hasn't seen all the gifts under it yet. I can't wait to see his reaction to that. He has already tried opening one of Jeff's gifts!

Oh well, he'll learn!