A Few Days Off

Jackson did end up at the doctor on Saturday morning. Tim took him so I wouldn't have to be around all of the sick children. Jackson has a sinus infection, and got a prescription.  He was pretty pitiful all Saturday.  It was a yucky rainy day, so it was nice to stay in the house. He took a 3 hour nap!

On Sunday I went to church for my last Sunday before Brooks gets here. Jackson stayed home with Tim. It was another yucky, rainy day, so we spent the rest of the day at home. However, we did have a mini disaster last night.  Jackson bit a hole in "poppy", his pacifier. We had to take it away and tell him it was broken. We figured it was a good time to get rid of it.  He finally fell asleep last night but tossed and turned.  Surprisingly he never called for poppy, but he was looking for it.

He woke up Monday in a horrible mood!  He wanted his poppy and tried looking everywhere for it. The rain finally stopped, so we went to pick strawberries. I wanted to get some pictures and was worried that if we didn't get to go today that I would not get to go with them.  Jackson loved it.  He liked walking in the mud and putting the strawberries in the basket.  He was upset when we left.

We ran a few errands, and he fell asleep in the car.  As soon as we got home, he woke up though.  He was not happy about not having poppy. He has felt better today, but has still been coughing a lot. He has passed his cough along to me. When the sun finally came out, we went outside.  Jackson went straight to the water that pools up on the driveway.  He loves playing and splashing in the water. Of course, he and his clothes were a muddy mess. He had a good time though.  We also went on a walk with our new stroller, and Jackson loves it!  He has lots of room to stretch out.  We have not been on a walk like that in a long time!

April Showers...

Yes, I know it has been almost a month since my last post, but we have been running around like crazy!

I am officially on maternity leave as of this past Tuesday. It was time. Baby Brooks is doing great, and I am scheduled to be induced on May 6 unless Brooks decides to come on his own. He heart rate has been consistenly around 160, and he still likes to roll around! I have had terrible heartburn, so we will see if this child has hair! I finished my last ESOL class (hopefully) last night.  We have had a lot of projects due these past few weeks, so it is a relief to have that done.  Now I have to study for the PRAXIS test.  Leigh and I have been celebrating our last classes with Sonic. I am looking forward to getting the house in order and resting some before Baby B gets here! Of course, it is hard to keep the house clean and organized with Jackson and Tim!

Tim has been really busy at work as usual and has had to be a single dad on nights that I had class. He also had to take care of Jackson while I worked on all of my projects and papers.  When it rains, it pours!  We have had so much that had to be done on our house.  $1700 for a new roof for the screened porch was not something that we had planned. Now we have a big branch that probably needs to be cut off of the oak tree. We need to get this rocky area paved and need a fence to keep the Wild Man from escaping to the busy road that we live on.  Have I mentioned how much I want to sell this house? Don't get me wrong, it is a nice house.  The location is not nice though! Plus it has been one thing after another with this house. (Please pray we don't have to replace the sewer line any time soon.)

Jackson has grown up so much these past few weeks.  He is putting more and more words together. He is asking questions like "What is that?" "Where's Daddy?" He also says Elmo instead of "Melmo" and Abby instead of "Beabby." His tantrums have definitely gotten more frequent, and he gets WILD sometimes! He still loves trains and Mickey Mouse. His appetite as changed greatly though.  He is the pickiest eater!  One day he will eat grilled cheese, and the next day he won't. He hardly eats anything. I think he has actually lost a few pounds. He does like chocolate milk and will eat pastina or "soup" as he calls it. He has even gotten picky about pizza and doesn't even eat pancakes that much any more!

Unfortunately, he is sick right now.  I thought maybe it was just allergies, but now I think it is a cold.  His eyes are even red and nasty, so I see a Saturday trip to the doctor in our future.

Last weekend I took a photography class, so I am looking forward to taking more pictures.  I had planned to take Jackson to Furman this weekend because the flowers there are gorgeous, but it is supposed to rain until Wednesday. Yuck!

We have done some fun things on the weekends, so I will post pictures soon!

Where Did Spring Break Go?

I am so depressed! Spring Break is basically over! Where did it go? I am excited to say that we were actually productive... new roof on screen porch (not an option), washed baby clothes and put away, moved Jackson's clothes, lined Jackson's new dresser, adjusted crib, got room ready for Brooks, filed papers, got started on all of my classwork (not as productive as I needed to be), played outside, went to downtown Greenville, enjoyed some family time, etc.

We have been kind of lazy this weekend. All of that walking on Friday wore me out! Some days I feel like I have tons of energy. Then there are days where taking a shower is exhausting, and I have to sit down and rest before drying my hair. Saturday was that kind of day. We did run some errands and enjoyed the beautiful weather! I think Spring has finally come to SC! I am so glad. I am over the wind and cold!

Today after church, Jackson and I played. Then we went to the Pendleton Jubilee. We left with cotton candy, kettlecorn, lemonade, and a wooden car. My child will no longer eat cotton candy! What is up with that? When we got home, Tim put together his table, and Jackson helped!


Jackson enjoyed pizza at my parents, and then it was back to our school night routine! YUCK! I think going back to school after Spring Break is the hardest! The weather is so nice, the end is in sight, it stays lighter longer, the flowers are blooming... However, it is the most stressful part of the school year. PASS testing is right around the corner. I already feel nauseous, and I won't even be there for it this year! I have three weeks to finish mountains of paperwork plus all of the work for my grad classes, and we don't have a free weekend in April! I see late nights in the future!

A Day in Atlanta

We spent today in Atlanta.  We woke up early and went to the Aquarium. I have been several times on field trips, but it was the first time for Jackson, Tim, and my mom. Jackson did not sleep the entire way there, and he really should have!  He was not in the best mood.  It was SO crowded that it was hard to see the animals sometimes!  I think Jackson was anxious with all of the people around.

We did go see the Dolphin Tales show, and he really liked watching that.  Of course, he really only liked when the dolphins jumped out of the water! As we were walking to the penguins, he fell asleep. He usually really likes penguins. We pushed him around asleep and looked at the rest of the exhibits.  Of course, he woke up right when we were getting ready to leave. 

We decided to take him back to the penguin exhibit. Of course the second time we went, the penguins were done with their tricks and were just sitting. You know he was in a bad mood when he didn't even want something from the gift shop!

When we got outside, we let him run. Of course, he was as happy as could be! The Final Four is in Atlanta so there is a lot going on!

We ate lunch at California Pizza Kitchen in Atlantaic Station. Jackson loves pizza, and he even ate an ice cream sundae too!

ESPN Game Day was being filmed there. We walked around there even though it was hard to see. Noni and Jackson went on a train ride too.  It is a really neat shopping area.  I would love to go back and spend the whole day there!

We went to IKEA after that.  Going there was the main reason we wanted to go to Atlanta. I wanted to get a table and chair set for Jackson, and we also needed another shelf for toys.  Jackson was really well-behaved there especially after he took his shoes and socks off!

We got stuck in traffic on the way home and stopped at Wendy's for dinner in Commerce.  Of course Jackson only ate his Frosty.  When we left, he told everyone, "Bye!" as if everyone was sad to see us go!  It was too cute. It was almost impossible to get him to go to bed when we finally got home! Hopefully he will like the aquarium more the next time we go.  I think we will stick to PetSmart for right now!

Jackson is 22 months old!

I am having a hard time believing that Jackson is almost 2! It is amazing how much he has changed in the past few months.  He doesn't look like a baby anymore, and it breaks my heart!

• Wears 18-24m clothes
• Wears 5.5 wide shoe
• Wears size 5 diapers
• Loves to brush his teeth (suck the toothpaste off the toothbrush).  He says "teeeth" when he wants to do this!
• Loves to take just one shoe off (Usually both shoes and socks eventually come off). We have to do shoe checks multiple times while we are out! He can also take his pants off.  He loves to run around in just a diaper. He is defiintely hot natured like me!
• Has become such a picky eater!!!! He will eat chicken nuggets from Wendy's and Chick-fil-A. He loves pizza especially from Frodo's (In fact, he says Frodo's "Foedoes" often and gets so excited when we actually go there. He still likes the pouches of baby food and calls them "pouch" now. He used to love cereal, pancakes, pastina,and grilled cheese, but not so much anymore. He has a sweet tooth- ice cream "ice", cookies "coookie", and M&M's. He likes to eat chips and Pirate's Booty.  We tried to get him to call that puffs, but he calls it "booty." He still loves to eat peas at my mom's house, but won't really touch any other vegetables or any fruit. However, he finally drinks chocolate milk!
• He talks ALL the time and will repeat ANYTHING you say. He now says "me" and "mine." He can say Parker and Brooks. He still says no a lot, but also says yeh a lot too (sometimes "yep").
• He is learning his colors.  He knows blue, red, purple, green, yellow, and white. Right now blue and purple are his favorites. He has identified pink too.
• He can count with you to ten. He knows the names and sounds of animals. He also knows the names of objects and toys.
• He loves to read books still. He is into Dr. Seuss right now.
• He loves to watch Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. (That is also the theme for his birthday.) He will also watch Chuggington, Jake and the Neverland Pirates, Doc McStuffins, and YouTube videos with Sesame Street characters like "Bi Bird" and "Melmo." He likes when they sing! Of course, he loves the iPad.
• Loves to sing- Wheels on the Bus; Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes; Itsy Bitsy Spider, Baby Bumbleebee; Hop; 5 Little Monkeys.  His voice gets high when he sings, and he loves to do the motions. He doesn't always want you to watch him though!
• Is obsessed with buses. He thinks anything yellow is a bus, and he has to have it.  He even sleeps with the bus. Currently his Fisher Price bus is full of plastic eggs.  He does not like people in the bus. He also loves "choos choos" especially the one his Uncle Charlie got him for Christmas.  He loves the "coach." He loves to play with cars and just about anything with wheels!
• Finished swimming lessons. I don't know whether he liked them or not. There were times when he did, and other times when he didn't. I thought about signing him for more lessons in May, but I think we have ruled that out.
• Loves to be outside and just wants to run.  We want to get the entire backyard fenced in, so he can run!  Right now we have to tell him "No Road!"  He repeats it, but he still runs toward the front yard and the road (which terrifies me!)!
• He can climb up one step completely by himself without a rail.  He is getting better about going up and down small flights of stairs. (We saw Mrs. Carol at swimming the other night, and she couldn't believe how much he had grown up in just a few months!)
• He loves dogs from far away, but does not want to get too close.  He still loves to feed the "qak qaks."  We go to the zoo a lot, and he likes the lions and giraffes.
• Jackson still has his blanket with the nasty tag and his paci.  He has now named his paci "poppy" and definitely wants it more than he used to.  We are thinking of ways to take it away.
• He does not like to cuddle with me like he used to.  I am not sure if it has to do with my big stomach or the fact that he is getting too big!
• We have a major issue with temper tantrums right now.  He will scream and throw himself down or pull his own hair and scream!

Spring Break Fun

We have loved being on Spring Break.  We have had great weather so far, and it has been nice to be away from work! We have enjoyed sleeping late (and stay up late).

Monday- The weather was gorgeous so we decided to go to downtown Greenville and walk around.  We started with a cupcake at The Chocolate Moose. Then we wandered in and out of stores as we walked down to Falls Park.  Jackson was so good in stroller. When we got to Falls Park, we let him run around.  He loved it! I tried to get some cute pictures of him playing.  We have not taken him to the see the falls in a long time.  We ended the day with drinks from Sonic! I tried to lay with Jackson tonight as he went to sleep.  I was in there for an hour before I gave up and called Tim for reinforcements! Jackson gets so goofy in the bed.  Not only does he have to take "poppy" (what he is now calling paci) and blankie, but he often has to take a toy with him.  Lately, he has had to take his bus.  This child is obsessed with buses! He kept giving me kisses like he thought that would let him stay up later. It was hard not to laugh at him!

Tuesday- Jackson went to stay at my mom's house today, so Tim and I could get some work done.  My goal was to finish all of my projects for my class. I did not get finished, but I got a good start. Tim worked out in the yard, and the front looks really nice.  Usually, we plant our windowboxes and pots during Spring Break, but we have had some chilly weather, so we are going to wait until later in April to do it. We picked up Jackson and then went for a walk in the new park close to our house. Jackson rode in his car.

Wednesday- We had to have the roof on our screen porch replaced.  Whoever had it built had the wrong shingles on there which caused some leaks and rotting. Of course we were not excited about paying for it, but it had to be fixed. The roofers were here bright and early.  We met my mom at Mama Penn's for breakfast, and then she and I took Jackson to story time at the library.  The two of them go every week, but it is a treat for me to get to go. They read stories and sing songs. Then there is a coloring activity. Jackson does not like to share his crayons! We got home, and my mom helped my switch the closets and clothes.  I am trying to get Jackson' new room and the nursery complete this week. These boys have tons of clothes!  Jackson decided that he wanted to go home with my mom, so Tim and I had a little more time to get some things done. We went to see sweet Baby Parker tonight.  He is so tiny and has so much hair!  Jackson wants NOTHING to do with him. He does not seem jealous. He just ignores him completely. Jackson also got to Skype with Grandma and Grandpa.  Today is Grandpa John's birthday.  Happy Birthday!