Confessions of a Summer Stay-at-Home Mom

So at the end of the school year, I had big plans for summer. I have a long list including organizing and decluttering the house, Pinterest craft projects, and of course spending time with my favorite boy. I was going to clean my house and cook dinner every day. I want to redecorate the dining room. Here I am, halfway through the summer, and the only thing I have done is hang out with my favorite boy, but I am not complaining. I spend my day fixing breakfast, lunch, and snacks. We go for walks, play upstairs, play outside, run errands, read books, and nap. Yep, nap. I confess that I usually nap with Jackson. He loves to cuddle when he is asleep, so I take advantage of it. I know that one day too soon he won't want me to hold him. I love our afternoon naps. You would think I would have more time to blog now that I am out of school. Nope, it's just not happening. I never have time to add pictures, and then it takes me forever to edit everything. I have to do better. I was so excited about the baby book that I ordered for Jackson. I remember before he was born, I couldn't wait to complete the book. I don't think I have written in it since he was 3 months old! I have got to use the blog to update it. I have 500 pictures on my phone. I need to back them up on the computer.

Water Table

Jackson loves to play at his water table. He likes to splash all of the water out of the table. He cruises around the whole table and tries to get me wet.

I am way behind!

I am way behind in blogging! It has been a crazy week, and I have spent my time plaing with Little Man. Today we went to toddler story time at the library. Jackson loved looking at the other kids. He liked listening to the music and singing. He sort of paid attention to the books, but he was more interested in watching the other kids. We skipped the craft today-we are not quite ready for coloring and glue sticks. We went to therapy this afternoon, and Jackson did great. Kelly was so impressed with how he was holding his head that we got to skip the tape this week! Yah! We worked on cruising and standing. I am so proud of the progress he has made the past couple of months. I think he deserves an ice cream from QT tonight!

Saturday, June 23

My mom, Tim, and I went to see The Lion King at the Peace Center. It was amazing! The costumes, puppets, and sets were unbelievable! It might be my new favorite musical. Tm got us box seats. One of the African singers/dancers even performed right behind us. I didn't even hear him come in behind us. Jackson stayed with Brent and Whitney. I know he had a great time. Then may mom went home to get Jackson. He spent the night with Noni and Papa J. It was his first time spending the night away from us. I was really nervous. I knew he would be fine. I just don't like being away from him. Tim and I went to eat at The Orient and then we went to the see Thompson Square, Darius Rucker, and Lady Antebellum. It was a great concert. We decided to end the evening with hot donuts from Krispy Kreme. Even though I missed Jackson tremendously, I did sleep all night without waking up. I was so excited to see him the next day. He gave me a big hug. It was nice to be missed!

Summer Days!

This is really my first full week of summer vacation. I was in a class all last week in Clemson. I learned a lot of new tech stuff I can use in my classroom, and it was at the Madren Center which is so relaxing. My mom kept Jackson for me, and he enjoyed his Noni time.  

Friday, June 22 Jackson did have some excitement last Friday. My mom was walking Jackson and her dog Rudy around her neighborhood when her little dog was attacked by a mastiff, a huge dog! It was a very scary situation that could have been so much worse. We know God was watching over them. Tim came to get Jackson, and Rudy went to the vet. Rudy will be fine, but had to have surgery and a drainage tube around his neck. The dog owner had to pay the vet bill. The police were called and responded immediately since there was a child present at the attack. I was glad the situation was handled so quickly. One great thing that happened Friday is that Baby Will was born. We are so excited that he is finally here. We went to see him Friday night. Since babies are not allowed back, Tim and Jackson went to the mall. Will is so precious and has tons of reddish hair. He weight 8lbs 4 oz and was 20in long, so how was a little bit bigger than Jackson. We are happy that Jackson has a new cousin to play with.

 QT Ice Cream We have discovered that Jackson loves the vanilla soft serve ice cream from QT. I love to watch him eat it. It is even better that they are only 49 cents a cone. Now I know why all of my students love going to QT.  We celebrated the first official day of summer with ice cream.  I think that will be a new tradition!

Our Typical Day So Jackson usually sleeps until 7:30-8:00. He eats his bottle, and we cuddle on the couch for awhile. We eat breakfast around 8:30-9:00. Breakfast is usually pancakes or waffles, fruit or yogurt, and water. Then we do an outside activity like take a walk or play in the water table. Then we get dressed and get ready for nap time. Jackson likes to nap around 11:30-12:00. If I hold him, then he will sleep for at least 2 hours. If I put him down, he will do good to sleep 30 minutes. After nap time, it is time for lunch. We usually have pastina, grilled cheese, fruit, or leftovers. Then we play upstairs because it is usually too hot to be outside. Daddy comes home around 6:00, and then it is dinner time. After dinner, we take a walk, go for a swing, or play on the porch. After a bath, it is time for a bottle and then bed.

Summer Nights

As I was running tonight, I enjoyed the beautiful summer night- a perfect 80 degrees, birds chirping, and lightning bugs flashing. You know it is truly summer in SC when the lightning bugs start to glow. Catching lightning bugs brings back wonderful childhood memories. Brent and I used to spend what seemed like hours catching them, putting them in jars, and then having races to see whose would fly away first. 8:45 is the perfect time to catch them. I can't wait until Jackson is old enough to catch lightning bugs with me. He already notices them but would rather squish them right now.

Happy Father's Day!

I am so blessed to have a wonderful dad who has always been there and made many sacrifices for me. He is a wonderful grandfather to Jackson. Tim made my dad a corn hole game, and I helped him paint it. It turned out great! I am also blessed to have a wonderful husband who is the best father to Jackson. He has always gotten up with him in the middle of the night, changed diapers, put him to bed, played with him, and read him stories. I hope that one day Jackson realizes how loved he is! Jackson got Tim some new sandals, a Loggerhead shirt, and a cute Jackson shirt.

Loving Summer!

Jackson and I are loving our summer schedule. We sleep late, shore/get dressed late, play, etc. Of course, my house is a disaster. Jackson screams whenever I leave the room. That is okay though. We went to the library with the Ivey children on Thursday. Little Man does not understand being quiet in the library. He got signed up for the summer reading program. We headed to Greenville to the Farmer's Market on Saturday and then to eat Mary Beth's where we ran into my high school friend Blair. It was great to see her! We have known each other since preschool! Then we headed to Gymboree to stock up on summer clothes for next summer. This is the best time to buy things for the next year. We headed home for naps before going to Mellow Mushroom. Tim and I have decided that we might have to stop eating at restaurants for awhile. Jackson gets very impatient sitting in high chairs, and then food only holds his attention for so long. This is a recent thing. He is also really into screaming and spitting at the table. Maybe I will finally learn to cook now! Jackson is pulling up on everything including the headboard. He is so proud of himself. Getting him to bed at night has been difficult lately. He loves to crawl all over the bed. Our Sunday morning at church was sad. Today was Thersa's last day. She has been such a great friend and boss. Jackson loves her. I know she will provide many blessings in her new job. I am still sad to see her go.

Therapy and New Shoes

Jackson and I started our day with a walk/run. Then we had pancakes for breakfast and enjoyed playing upstairs. Jackson had his first grilled cheese for lunch, and he loved it!after a short nap, we were off to therapy. Jackson did awesome today! He held his head in the middle, crawled, pulled up, and cruised along. He did cry when Kelly and carol put the tape on, but he got over it quickly! To celebrate we went to Cochran's to buy some "walking" shoes. At first,he was unsure of the lady fitting him, but he was so excited to walk in his big boy shoes. He just smiled in the mirror. It was so cute! We ended up buying big boy sandals too. He is just too precious!

Grandma and Grandpa/ Technology Conference

Grandma and Grandpa spent the afternoon playing with Jackson on Monday afternoon. Then we showed them how much Jackson loves to swing. On Tuesday, we headed to the technology conference. We hung out with Grandpa while TiM and Grandma went to sessions. We also went to the train store and lunch at Chick-fil-A. We had to take Grandma and Granpa to the airport. Luckily we will see them in a few months! We enjoyed their visit! Jackson especially loved spending time with them.

12 Month Appointment

We went to Jackson's 12 month appointment today.  He is doing great and is progressing like he should!

Weight: 24 lb 7 oz ( 89%)
Height: 29.5 inches (33%)
Head: 47.7 cm/ 18.8 inches (89 %)

Jackson did cry when Dr. Hart was in there poking at him, but then he was fine.  While we were waiting on the nurse to come back, Jackson enjoyed playing with the paper.  I think that is his favorite part of going.  The nurse came back, and the poor thing had to get 4 shots-one in each leg and one in each arm.  Of course, he screamed!  When we came home, he slept for 2 1/2 hours.  He was so tired!

Our goals are to get rid of the bottle and be on a cup by 15 months.  We also want to be walking by 15 months!

Jackson's First Birthday Party

Today was Jackson's first birthday party.  We are so blessed that we had such special family members and friends here to celebrate!  People all the way from Wyoming to Charleston came to party!

I was freaking out yesterday due to the rain forecast!  We had to cancel the jumpy castle which I hate since that was supposed to entertain all of the kids! However Tim balances out my OCD/craziness, and everything turned out great!  I have been planning this for months, okay really since Jackson was born.  We chose a crab/red/white/blue theme.

My mom has helped with so many of the details!  She made the cookies and helped put everything together.  She also made the tissues paper that we hung from the ceiling (I can't remember what they are called at the moment.) This party would not have happened without her!

Grandma and Grandpa and Papa J all helped watch Jackson while we were getting everything ready. Papa J even fed Jackson his lunch.

Thankfully Grandma Jeanne got Jackson to take a nap before the party started.  Jackson got dressed in his cute crab outfit, and the party began.  We started out with pictures before the guests began arriving. Even though, we were all cramped on the screen porch and the deck covered with tents, it was fine. Everyone ate, and then we did Jackson's cake.  We sang, but did not do the candle due to the incident last week. I kind of thought he would dig in, but he didn't. I fed him some icing, and then he took small bites.  He did manage to get it all over his face though. We served the cake and let everyone talk.

Then Jackson had a major blowout ( I apologize if this embarrasses you in the future!).  It was so bad we had to change clothes!  Finally it was present time!  Jackson was not really interested.  He basically played with one thing while I opened all of his presents. He got some great things, and I know he will especially love all of his books! Somehow, he managed to hop over to Kristi and eat a lollipop and a crab cookie!  Jackson was definitely on a sugar high! He had to show off how he scoots and spits and hits.

The kids played out in the yard and had fun with the water guns before the rain started again.  Auntie Ga Ga  was a good sport about all of the junk that ended up in her purse again.

We enjoyed the great company. Even Brynlee came all the way from Charleston for the party.  The Iveys made the sweetest book of advice for Jackson.  It was so sweet.  I might have to scan it and post it on here!

Jackson is so blessed to be loved by so many people.  I hope that he one day realizes how lucky he is to have family near and far who love him and care for him! We are so grateful for all of the love and support.  Tim and I couldn't do it without our families and friends!

 I can't wait to get the official pictures from Rebecca!