34 Weeks Old

Wow!  Jackson is 34 weeks old today!  That just seems so crazy!  We have had a busy but great week!

My mom took Jackson to therapy again on Wednesday.  He still cried, but he did better than when I was taking him in the afternoons.  We are going to continue going in the mornings and see how it goes!

Tim had several games this week, and I had to travel to Spartanburg for a school thing.  Jackson got a lot of one-on-one attention.

Laurel and Brent welcomed Brynlee Gray on Wednesday, January 25!  She weighed 5lbs, 9 oz, and is perfectly healthy.  All prayers were answered!  We can't wait to meet her!  We are hoping to head down to Charleston in 2 weeks to meet the latest Griswald!  She is absolutely precious and already has more hair than Jackson!

On Friday, we took Jackson for his eye appointment in Greenville. Sometimes babies with torticollis have vision problems that actually cause the tilting.  Since Jackson is not cooperating during therapy, they wanted to rule out other issues.  Dr. Hart thinks that Jackson is just being stubborn, and that does seem to be the case.  His vision is not causing the head tilt.  However, he does have an issue with his extreme left gaze.  It is nothing that we would recognize, only a trained doctor looking at it.  We do have to go back in 6 months to make sure that Jackson's vision is developing as it should.

The weather has been absolutely beautiful!  We enjoyed a great Saturday.  We had breakfast at MaryBeth's, then headed to a consignment sale, Clemson beat Wake Forest, and then we had a nice, long walk around our neighborhood.  There is nothing better than temps in the 60s in January! We spent some time outside, and Jackson was making some funny faces! Tim grilled burgers and we ate in our dining room.  Jackson sat in his booster seat for the first time and loved it!

Here are some pictures from this week:

                                                            Giving Daddy kisses!

I love apples!

Look at all of my hair!

First Time Brushing Teeth

Making Silly Faces!

My first time in my booster seat!

January=Rain

It seems like it has been raining forever! We have had lots of heavy rain the past couple of days, so have spent most of our time inside! I hate that I have not had that much time to blog but that has been because I have been working on one of my goals-to be on the computer less!  When we get home from school, Jackson and I usually hang out on the floor and play with all of his toys. Then we have dinner and then a bath and then a snack before bed. I still want to make sure that I blog enough to remember all of the cute things that Jackson is doing!

Jackson is definitely learning how to get what he wants.  He is at a stage right now where he always wants to be in the same room with you.  I can't even leave him to go fix his bottle without him crying. He is still scooting on his bottom.  He rolling over like a champ from his tummy to his back.  I am not sure if he will ever crawl, because he HATES being on his tummy! He loves his fruits!  So far, we have tried apples and bananas. He loves them both! He still wants to be held while he sleeps.  The only time he will sleep by himself is in the car seat. He loves to play in the bath and drink the water.  He loves it when we squirt water in his mouth with his squirt toys.

I am amazed at how he has learned to play with all of his toys.  He knows which buttons to push and how to get them to move.  He is so observant.  He just seems to get cuter and cuter and sweeter and sweeter.  He loves to give hugs and kisses!  I am going to take advantage of it as long as he is willing to give them!

Two cheers for the weekend!

It is finally Saturday, and we can finally relax!  Not really, but we are not at work!  This week has been so busy that I have not even had time to post. Tim had 3 games to ref this week, so Jackson and I had a lot of mommy/baby time! Jackson now has 4 teeth.  That last one finally poked through, and he feels much better! He is giving lots of hugs and kisses these days!  His kisses are so cute; he just opens him mouth wide and comes right at you for a good slobber!

My mom took Jackson to therapy on Wednesday at 8:00.  We thought trying at a different time might give us better results. He still cried but he did much better.  His head rotation was great, and he got that checked off.  We are still working on rolling from back to tummy. He was doing so good that he even stayed until 8:50!

It is supposed to be a rainy weekend, so I am not sure what are plans are.  I love that it is 8:20, and I still in my pajamas!

A long few weeks...

Even though we had a wonderful Christmas break, it was also a very stressful one for us. I had a suspicious mole removed on December 5.  I got the call that it was a melanoma, and that it was too early to be staged.  Well, I thought that meant it was too small and not to worry about it.  I was scheduled to have it out December 21. Tim went with me, and we left Jackson at home with my mom.  We did some shopping ahead of time, but I just had this awful feeling about this surgery.  When I got there, I found out that the melanoma was invasive meaning that it had already penetrated under the epidermis.  The doctor had to cut a 2cm diameter incision and several mm deep.  It was actually more painful than I thought it was going to be. I tried to hold it together in the office but I immediately broke down in the car.  I was terrified. I wasn't terrified about the possible treatment; I was terrified for what life would be like for Jackson without me. I cried for days.  I didn't want to have to think about Jackson growing up without a mother. I felt nauseous and barely ate.  I was so worried about the results.  I had to wait almost 2 weeks until I got the phone call that the margins were clear. It was a big relief, but I didn't want to feel totally relieved until I saw the doctor.  Tim came with me to get the stitches out.  The doctor said that the margins were clear, and it was not any worse than what we thought at the beginning.  The tumor had gone .2mm below the epidermis and was 1 mm in diameter.  It has not spread anywhere else.  He did emphasize that this was a serious cancer especially since I am so young. I have to keep a constant watch and will go back every three months. My days of laying on the beach are over. I can go out before 10 and after 4 loaded with sunscreen and layers of clothes. The good news is that I really don't ever have to worry about bathing suit shopping again!  I guess I should go ahead and buy stock in sunscreen too!  Of course, none of this matters.  I am just so glad that it was caught early. It is amazing how a health scare can change your whole perspective on life.  I am learning to not waste time worrying about things that I cannot change.  I am working hard to bring less work home so I have more time to spend with Jackson.  Tim and I are trying to spend more quality time together. I am enjoying every single day.  We never know how many days we will have, so we should enjoy each one.  I continue to pray every day that a cure for cancer will be found and that I will not have to worry about melanoma again.


We also had to deal with another difficult issue during Christmas break.  We made the decision to have Splash put to sleep.  She had terrible arthritis and could barely walk.  She had basically stopped drinking water, and you could tell she was in pain. Tim took her and stayed with her.  Splash was the sweetest dog.  When she first came to live with us, she could run with me.  We used to enjoy long walks during the summer.  Splash loved children and was always gentle.  I remember when Tim first build her doggie door.  She was terrified to go through it.  He had to show her how to do it.  We love you, Splash!

The First Week is the Hardest!

This has been our first full week back at school, and it was the longest week ever! Jackson has been kind of fussy this week.  He is getting more teeth.  One at the top next to his front teeth has popped through, and the one of the other side is about to pop through. He has been rolling over consistently from his tummy to his back.  We have to give him a push to go from his back to tummy.  Jackson did not have a good therapy session.  We did show Ms. Kelly that he could roll. Then he started his screaming again.  He cried the entire time!  We are going to try having Noni take him in the morning and see if that changes anything.

We went to dinner with the Watsons on Friday at the Saluda River Grill in Piedmont.  It was really good. I definitely want to go back.  We ended up taking Jackson with us, and he was fussy but eventually fell asleep. 

Jackson did try mashed potatoes and banana pudding last week.  Here are some pictures from the past week.

First Trip to the Zoo

We have been having some beautiful weather, and I love it!  Who wouldn't love upper 60s the beginning of January?

We started our day out with breakfast at Mary Beth's and then did some shopping at Costco.  Then we met up with my parents and the Iveys for Jackson's first trip to the zoo. The Greenville Zoo is the perfect size for young kids.  He was sleeping at first, but quickly woke up and wanted to get out of the stroller.  It was beautiful out, and he loved just being outside. He enjoyed looking at the animals and playing with Charlotte, Maria, and Murphy.   It was fun to watch Jackson's expression as he took everything in.  He was so observant.  We are thinking about buying a yearly membership.  I can see us spending a lot of time there this summer!

                                                                         Sleeping

                                                                    Happy Sunday!

Whew! What a week!

We have had quite a busy week!  Thank goodness for the weekend! 

Jackson went back to therapy on Wednesday after taking a two week break. It was not pretty.  He pretty much screamed and cried the whole time. They were doing check-offs on Wednesday too, so he didn't earn many checks.  Kelly and other PT were concerned that Jackson might have an ear infection or some kind of reflex since he screamed every time he was on his tummy.  Since he had to go for his flu booster shot anyway, I made an appointment to see Dr. Hart.

We went to the doctor on Thursday.  Jackson was in a pretty good mood. He weighed in at 21 lbs and 6 oz (with clothes and shoes). He was even smiling at Dr. Hart. However, when he got his ears cleaned out, he screamed!  The good news is that he does not have an ear infection or reflux.  However, we are going to see an ophthalmologist in Greenville to make sure that he does not have any issues with his eyes.  Babies with torticollis sometimes have trouble focusing and that makes the torticollis more pronounced.  Dr. Hart does not think that is the case, but he just wants to rule it out.  We have that appointment at the end of the month.

Even though Jackson has refused to roll for Ms. Kelly, he was rolling for Noni on Friday.  He is going from his stomach to his back on his own.  He still needs help getting from his back to his stomach.  That is major progress!

 The Ivey kids came over Friday to open their Christmas presents.  Jackson was a little upset that he did not have anything to open!  Then we all went to eat at Cracker Barrel. This was Jackson's first trip there, and it was his first time sitting in a high chair!  He loved it!  He thought he was such a big shot banging on the table!

Jackson-7 Months

January 4, 2012

I cannot believe that Jackson is 7 months old!  He has changed so much in the past month.  He is growing up way too fast!

• Wears mostly 9 months clothes.
• Wears size 3 diapers.
• Wears size 3 shoes. (He still hates shoes.)
• Eats 5-6 oz, cereal, and veggies. ( We are starting meats this week!)
• Has 2 bottom teeth!
• Loves to babble and talk.  He says "MMMMM" and "HEEEEEYY"
• Makes noises when he eats solids
• He is not a picky eater!
• Jackson does not like to nap during the day unless he is being held.
• He sits up by himself and loves to sit and play on the floor.
• Favorite toys- Animal Train, Bumble Bee, Monkey mirror, star, giraffe.
• He is now taking a bath in his duck "big boy" tub.
• He recognizes his name and turns his head toward your voice.
• He will roll over in our bed, but he still won't do it on the floor.
• He is still going to therapy once a week with Mrs. Kelly.
• This baby loves Elmo and Katy Perry.  We pull it up on You Tube when he is fussy, and he calms right down. 
• He loves music and lights.  I still sing "You are My Sunshine" to him, and he always smiles when he hears it. (I hope he never forgets that!)
• Jackson has become more independent, but not independent enough to sleep in his crib.
• Jackson went on a road trip to Asheville this month.  He also celebrated his first Christmas.  
• He still likes his Paci, but he really wants to chew on it more than suck on it.
• Nicknames- Scooter, Snuggle Buggle, Boo, Bug
• He still loves books especially the ones that have different textures.  He still loves Llama Llama.
• He is getting so much hair! 
• Jackson gives hugs now and slobber kisses. He also pulls hair!

Happy 2012!

2011 was a great year for us, and we are excited to see what 2012 brings! We spent New Years Day hanging out with family and preparing to go back to work. I dread the thought of going back to work tomorrow and leaving Little Man. I have loved getting to spend all this time with him. I didn't really accomplish much on my To Do list, but that's okay.

Goals for 2012:
Spend more time playing with Jackson and less time doing school work.
Spend more time enjoying life and less time worrying about things I cannot change.
Spend more time with family and less time on the computer/phone.
Save more and spend less.