"We're Back, We're Back!"

I told you it would be a couple weeks; sorry I didn't get a chance to post anything while away. But, we're back home "on the Texas range" and happy to get back in our routine. I haven't downloaded the pictures from Florida just yet - that may take some time - but I promise to blog about that as soon as possible. However, a little teaser - the beach was beautiful (as always), the house was gorgeous and it was a blast watching Jackson have a blast! We also had a great time visiting everyone in Sulphur despite our bout with that nasty little stomach bug that spread through the town (okay, not really, but close enough!).

Today, we visited Dr. Hunt, Jackson's pediatrician, for his yearly checkup (a couple months late). He got a round of immunizations and screamed like he was having his leg cut off. Of course, this broke my heart into pieces. It must be terrible for them to get poked so many times - and I still hate getting shots to this day, even when it's only one! She monitored his growth and we reviewed all the skill sets for this age. He is doing very well with his development and she was impressed to see how well balanced he is at this age. He is 31 inches long (placing him in the 60th percentile and his head circumference falls in the 18th percentile) However, the bad news is he still is not gaining weight. He is now only 18lbs 3oz - that means he's gained less than one pound in three months. His weight is below the 3 percentile; in fact, he doesn't even register on the growth chart. So, we have to really continue working hard to get him to eat really fattening foods as much as possible. We have a checkup scheduled in 7 weeks to see if he's improved at all and at least made it onto the growth chart. If not, we will do another round of blood testing to determine if there are any issues we need to know about and deal with. I, along with his doctor, am still not extremely concerned at this point because he appears to be healthy, active and with a good color in his cheeks.

He had gotten two new molars in the bottom of his mouth while we were in Sulphur, so we are going to schedule a visit with the pediatric dentist in the coming months to monitor those chompers of his and make sure they're growing correctly.

Finally, I just want to add that I went out and bought myself a brand-new Dyson vaccum cleaner. I got so tired of messing with our old, cheap ones that I decided it was time to move up in the world of household cleaning. I have now reached "housewife heaven" - or maybe I've sunk really low, depending on how you look at it...

Jackson and PawPaw are both under the weather... but we're ready for brighter days!

On Friday of last week, Jackson's little sniffles turned into a faucet of yellowy mucus. So, I waited and watched all weekend and after he did not get better AND started pulling at his ears, we headed straight to the doctor this morning. We love Dr. Hunt - she takes good care of Jackson and is so gentle with him. It's funny to watch him with her because he becomes somewhat entranced while she makes these little humming noises to him and distracts him. I'm wondering if this is a class they teach in med school for pediatricians? "How to hypnotize crying babies 101" Anyway, she gave us some antibiotics and ear drops for the pain and sent us on our way. Now that my little man is resting comfortably; I can take a breath to catch up and log on (to the internet that is). In a few days, he should return to normal. Well, about as normal as a 13 month old boy can be...

Status update on the little man: Jackson now weighs 18lbs, 4oz - what can I say, my little heavyweight! He's eating great and has discovered he really loves strawberries (oh, and his Uncle Brian's cherry kool-aid) but just doesn't seem to want to add any fat on his bones. He's moving even quicker and can just about keep up with the dogs except when they get whipped up into a frenzy over a squirrel; then he just looks at them like they're nuts (which they are). His hair gets more blonde as we spend more time outside. I load him up with sunscreen but he's still getting a little brown tan (but, luckily, no burns!). So he looks like this little surfer dude/beach bum. He likes to wave at the airplanes when they fly overhead heading to the DFW airport and has developed a MAJOR fascination with my makeup brushes. He knows the cabinet I keep them in and will head up the stairs by himself, straight to the bathroom, open the cabinet door, dump out all of my makeup on the floor and pull every single brush out of the bag, then walk around with them. His daddy insists he will be a painter one day which would be wonderful - I would absolutely love to have a little Monet!! He still loves swimming and is now holding on to little noodles and kicking his feet. I'll strip him down naked after we get out of Aunt Debbie and Uncle Brian's pool, not the community pool - we don't want to get blacklisted this early - and he'll strut around in the buff. We got some great pictures of his tiny little naked behind pruning the flowers on her patio after I took off his wet bathing suit. It was a sight to see (a little one, but very funny)!

So many of you have also kept up with Mr. Roy's progress through us and I wanted to give this update. On Saturday, Mr. Roy had to go to the emergency room for some complications from his latest round of chemo. He is now in ICU with pneumonia but showing signs of improvement. We pray everyday for him and I know our family and friends are also sending up prayers for him. This has been rough on him but we know he's a tough old guy and will get through this like he has so many other things. He is scheduled to go for a cat scan this Friday to see if the cancer is still isolated to his pelvic bone. We also pray that this scan goes well. My mother reminded me yesterday that he can come through this like others have before him, and I believe that if anyone is capable of beating cancer, it's PawPaw Roy!

Finally, we'll be leaving this Friday to head home to Sulphur for 8 days. We can't wait to see everyone! We will then be going to Florida for an additional 7 days. So, this blogger may be taking an extended hiatus but promise to do my best to give little updates while we're gone...

Mommy needs a vacation (and a relaxing beach)!!

Finally, Summer is here!

I can't believe its been such a long time since my last posting - I'm usually pretty good about staying on top of it. But, life, and Jackson, just hasn't slowed down very much, especially since summer is officially here! We have been outside most every day either walking, going to the park, working in the yard, swimming at the pool, strolling at Town Square, eating in the outside courtyard at Central Market...

Last weekend, Jackson got a visit from his Nana and Poppa Bush. We had a great time catching up and even though it was a short time, it was filled with many great moments. It was heartbreaking when they left because Jackson had grown so comfortable with them in such a short time - but this is something we'll have to deal with living so far from some of our family.

On Friday, we took Jackson to his first professional baseball game in Rangers Ball Park (Arlington, TX) to see the Rangers take on the Oakland A's. Uncle Brian scored us some great seats and Jackson had a blast. He yelled at the other spectators below us, chowed down on some great ballpark food including nachos and an ice cream sandwich, and finished the night watching an amazing fireworks show. He was in heaven, especially when daddy put him on his shoulders to see the fireworks. We will be going back many times, I just know it...

On Saturday, we spent more time at the pool with Jackson's buddies - Jackson and Kat (aka the Twins) and they all enjoyed splashing around. The kiddos especially like the water bubbles in the concrete by the pool (see picture). Jackson also likes for us to take him in the big pool and bounce him up and down in the water - he just laughs and laughs! He's also good about kicking his feet and going back and forth between us - with our constant supervision, of course. Although he still doesn't like getting his face wet, he's like a little fish and would stay in the pool all day if he could. In fact, he even started to fall asleep in David's arms in the pool on Saturday!

Yesterday (Sunday), after spending a little more time at the pool, we went to a place called "Life's a Beach" for a birthday party. This would be Jackson's first time around sand so we were anxious to see how he would do. Well, he's definitely a beach bum already! He just couldn't get enough of it and played for almost three hours straight before we finally had to drag him out of there and take him home to be hosed off! He was a mess! And, of course, he did eat some of the sand but there wasn't much we could do about that. I'm just hoping he'll realize how unpleasant it tastes and not do it again! He would get right in the middle of all the other kids and want to do whatever they were doing. He played with every single sand toy out there and especially loved anything with wheels (but we all knew that!). So, we are ready for the beach - FLORIDA, here we come!!

It was a wonderful weekend and I just loved being with my boys...

Summer is near!

It's obvious from the latest pictures of Jackson that the weather is getting warmer. He loves to walk around in his diaper and would prefer to be naked if we let him! He helped his daddy put together his new "cadillac" jogging stroller - it's nice and plush! We've been exercising almost everyday so I decided it was time to get a stroller more conducive to this active lifestyle. Plus, Jackson loves that he can sit up high and prop his feet up on the foot rest. We've also been working in the yard; I'm trying to do potted plants so we can take them with us when we move. So, Jackson and daddy strolled around in the buggy while I picked out things (see picture above). We've also been playing with the twins since they (finally) returned home on Mother's Day. We were so glad - we were getting kind of bored with no one to hang out with during the week. We all went to the zoo yesterday since the weather was so gorgeous. This is the first picture above - Jackson enjoyed playing around the trees at the picnic area. Though we quickly figured out that May is not the best time to go - it was filled with tons of school field trippers (and very few chaperones to control them). This weekend the pool opens in Trophy Club - we can't wait to try out the toddler area!

Jackson also loves to pull folded clothes out of the basket (as I've mentioned before) but he has now taken to actually crawling in the basket and playing. His daddy them pushed him around in the basket like a bumper car. They both had a blast...

The Beat Goes On...

Jackson is still walking everywhere and having a ball. We went to the library and TownSquare today and I let him hold my hand and walk around the fountains. It is like a whole new world has opened up to him - well, I guess it has actually! He did head right for the mud though - just like a little boy. No one ever said being a mother is boring, that's for sure. We bought a new jogging stroller yesterday and Jackson likes riding in it. He sits up much higher and gets a better view; and boy does he love to go to the lakes and watch all the ducklings. As I've mentioned before, there are quite a few sets of ducklings in the lakes near us. We walk almost every evening (all five of us). Though last night Maggie, the chunky one in the family, refused to walk with us so I had to bring her back home. Now I'm looking at her laying on her side next to me with that big potbelly hanging out and thinking maybe I should have forced her along. But, she is stubborn like the little German she is! Anyway, we're trying to enjoy the last few days of spring here before we are smacked with the summer heat. It's getting close to pool time though!

Hopefully we will all be in shape by that time... Have a great Wednesday!

Jackson's new PJs!

Jackson has been sleeping great lately - I'm not sure if I should attribute that to his new big boy PJs (courtesy of Mimi), the fact that he's eating more or that he hasn't been sick at all. I'll just claim all three! Everyday he gets better and better at walking and is now trying to break into a run, well actually it's more like a jog but you get the picture. He especially loves chasing after the wiener dogs! We had a wonderful mother's day and I got the cutest card from Jackson and his daddy along with the beach chair cover I asked for and breakfast in bed! I can't believe this was my second Mother's Day; though last year I was still recovering from Jackson's birth one week earlier. So, this year, my little man is a walking, talking (okay, jabbering) sweetheart and I love it! We had lunch at Aunt Debbie's house, punch at Miss Molly's with "the playgroup gang" and a long walk around the lakes looking at all the baby geese and ducklings. We finished that up with a game of soccer in the front yard - the weather was so beautiful! Jackson had a blast kicking the ball around. I would pick him up and he'd kick both feet at the big blue ball all the while laughing to his heart's content. Maggie would chase the ball and that would get him going too; meanwhile, Gertie had run for her life to safety indoors.

We wish all the mothers, grandmothers, and "adopted mothers" the best and hoped they had a wonderful day! It was our one chance a year to ask for, and hopefully get, whatever we wanted; now it's back to fixing our own breakfast, grocery shopping, cleaning house, and so it goes...

He's a walking man!

Jackson is moving all over the place so I snapped a picture today of him walking around the house. He puts his hands out in front of him and smiles a great, big smile. He is so excited to have this "power of mobility" now! He's going atleast 15-20 steps each time before he falls down, usually by tripping on something, or by grabbing onto an object to steady him. He hasn't needed any additional prompting from us - he gets up and goes on his own now. When I'm in the kitchen, I hear his little feet pattering down the hall towards me and I can tell he's walking. He'll turn the corner with that big grin and make a beeline for me. It's a blast!

He also loves to take things out of baskets, buckets, drawers, toy boxes, his highchair, etc and throw them on the ground. I got a picture of him doing this to my nice, fresly folded clothes in the basket. I made the mistake of setting them on the stairs and he got busy undoing all my work. Laughing the entire time, of course!!