Jackson is 16 Weeks Old

Jackson is now 16 weeks old and growing bigger everyday! He is so sweet!  He still loves to play with his Bumble Bee and links.  He is still eating his fingers and now likes to chew on his toys.  Jackson still loves music and looking at lights. He is still eating 4 1/2 ounces and wears mostly 3-6 months clothes. 

We have gotten into a terrible habit. He has been waking up around 3:30 in the morning. He is not hungry, but he still wakes up. Tim is convinced that he is lonely.  Anyway, we have been putting him into bed with us. Jackson goes right back to sleep and snuggles up beside one of us.  However, we don't sleep very well.  I know that we should not put him into bed with us, but it is so hard not to.  When you have to be at work at 7, you don't want to be up from 3:00-4:00. We could let him cry, but I hate for him to cry.  We will break the habit eventually.

Another Therapy Session

Jackson went to therapy again on Wednesday. This time he met with Carol, one of the physical therapists. Unfortunately, he did not want to cooperate with her. He was kind of fussy and did not want to turn his head. So for now, he will have to keep going every week to see Mrs. Kelly until he can turn his head when he is laying down. He can do it, but he never does it there. He was upset when he left too.  He cries real tears now!

My head looks better.

Tummy Time is NOT my favorite!

Swinging calms me down!

On a positive note, we have had a couple of days of rain!  Even though it has been humid, the rain has been nice.  We even had a thunderstorm this morning.  I can't remember the last time we had thunder!

Being Balanced

I was supposed to grade lots of papers today, but I didn't.

I was supposed to get ready for parent conferences, but I didn't.

I was supposed to clean the bathrooms today, but I didn't.

I was supposed to vacuum and mop, but I didn't.

I was supposed to get out all of the fall decorations, but I didn't.

But I did spend all day playing with Jackson and holding him.  We even took a nap together (before our neighbor woke me up with her leaf blower!) I did make this apple cake from Southern Living. I did eat a wonderful dinner with my family and the Ivey children. What I did today was definitely better than what I had planned to do.

I love my job, but I hate everything I have to bring home with me. I work everyday from 7:00-3:30/4:00. That is an average of 45 hours a week. That doesn't count the additional hours I spend at home during the week and weekend. You always hear, "Teachers have it easy. They get 2 weeks off at Christmas, and 3 months off during the summer." I wish those people would spend a day in my shoes. We had to do a teacher writing last week about which IB attitude or attribute we wanted to work on this year. My goal is to be more balanced. I need to learn to balance home and school. Now that is Jackson is here I want to spend my time with him instead of doing all this school work!

I have always liked a clean and organized house. It is funny how my definitions of clean and organized have changed. I would rather spend time with Jackson and Tim (It wasn't that long ago that I used to vacuum every day!)!  It is funny how life changes!

Some of the things I love about Jackson at 15 Weeks

• For the most part, he is sleeping through the night! He usually goes to sleep between 9:00 and 10:00 and gets up around 5:00.
• He giggles when he sleeps.
• He  likes to grab my hair and hold on while he is falling asleep.
• He loves for Tim to hold him!
• He loves to play with his Bumble Bee and look at himself in the mirror.
• He loves to snuggle.
• He loves music and singing.
• He is the best thing that ever happened to me!

Better Late Than Never

So I have been meaning to do a new post all week, and then suddenly it was Saturday!  This post will be a week in review!

Going to Church

I like to drool!

I love my Bumbo!

Wednesday = Therapy
Jackson went to his PT again on Wednesday.  Thankfully, he was in a much better mood!  Mrs. Kelly had him sitting up and turning his head!  They also worked on rolling over!  He is doing so well that that the PT is coming in next week to evaluate him.  If he does well, then we will go to therapy every other week. That is great news! He has made so much progress even if he does hate those stretches.  His head is looking great too!

I hate my stretches!

I am happy after therapy!

My head looks so much better!

Jackson's First PTA and His Last
I had my first PTA meeting of the school year on Thursday night. Tim had a training until 6:30, and I hated to leave him with my mom all day. I know she doesn't mind, but he would have been there for for over 12 hours, and I hate to do that.  When we got to school, he was asleep.  He woke up after about 15 minutes screaming! ( He never screams!)  Of course, my room was packed with parents and students. Jackson would not stop screaming.  He was so mad.  His face got red, and nothing helped! I decided that I had to skip the performance and take Jackson home. (I hated to skip it to since a lot of my kids had speaking parts and two of my girls were singing solos.) As soon as we walked out of the building, he stopped crying!  When we got home and I told Tim about it, Jackson just laughed!  He is 15 weeks old and hates school already!

Melting Pot
Since Tim and I did not really go out for our anniversary or my birthday, we decided to go to the Melting Pot Friday night.  We have not been there in years (plus we had a coupon!).  My mom and dad kept Jackson, and we got a night out! It was nice to go out just the two of us, but I was also exhausted.  We picked Baby J up about 8:45 and headed home.  Jackson did not want to go to sleep.  I don't know if it was because his schedule was different or what.  He ended up sleeping in his swing, and Tim slept on the couch until 4:30.  Then we switched places, and I slept on the couch.

I was going to take pictures of every course, but I was so hungry I forgot!

Is Fall Finally Here?
It has been pretty warm all week- in the upper 80s.  We were able to enjoy nightly walks.  Jackson loves to take walks!  However, a cold front came in on Friday, and it got chilly!  I don't think it made it out of the 60s.  I like the low 80s.

Clemson v. Auburn/ Jackson is 15 Weeks Old!
We got up early to go tailgate at the Clemson game. We actually parked in our parking space for the first time.  It is actually pretty good.  Of course, Jackson was decked out in his Clemson gear! He is too cute!!!!! We went to my parents' tailgate spot and met up with them, Brent, Whitney, Tu Tu, Susan, Dumplin, and Rivers. We still are not brave enough to take Jackson into the game, so we gave our tickets to Tu Tu and Susan. After we left them, we walked downtown and updated Jackson's Clemson clothes. Then we headed home to watch the game.  Clemson won 38-24 and beat Auburn, the defending National Champions!  Plus we snapped their 17 game winning streak!    Go Tigers!

Jackson is also 15 weeks old today!  He is becoming more and more alert. He loves to play and talk. He is getting better about sleeping through the night.  I still hate to leave him and go to school!  Tim and I both live for the weekends!

Getting ready for the big game!

Jackson and Rivers

Susan and Jackson

I am tired after tailgating!

I am 15 Weeks Old!

Time to eat!

I love Tu Tu!

Clemson vs. Auburn!

Jackson and Aunt Whitney

Uncle Brent, Jackson, and Papa J

That is scary!

Family Picture

I love football!

Who is that handsome guy?

Daddy and Jackson watching the game!

I am glad that's over!

September 11, 2011

It is hard to believe that it has been 10 years since the terrorists attacks! The tributes this morning were very moving.  I remember exactly where I was that day.  It was a beautiful day, and the sky was gorgeous blue.  I was in my second class on that Tuesday at Clemson when a girl came in and told us that a plane had hit the World Trade Center. We all assumed that it was a small plane and went on with class (This was before Facebook, blogs, and texting!). During my next class, some girls came in and said that the World Trade Center buildings had collapsed.  This was hard to picture, but we went on with class. The professor did let us out early, and we all went to the Tillman auditorium to watch the news. I still had 2 more classes to go to.  (Clemson of course did not cancel classes.) I did not understand the magnitude of the events until I got into my car to go home.  I turned on the radio, and every single station had the same newscast on.  When I got home, my mom was watching the coverage on TV.  I became glued to the news the rest of the night and the rest of the week.

Our world has changed so much since that terrible day. It is strange to think that the group of children I am teaching right now are the last ones I will teach that were alive September 11, 2011. ( Most of them were babies, and a few were not born yet.) As I watched the coverage today, I saw this video.  Even though it is a State Farm commercial, I still think it is sweet and worth sharing. September 11 is one of our fifth grade standards, and I am always amazed at how well my students handle this subject matter.

We will never forget.

14 Weeks Old

Jackson is now 14 weeks old! We were very busy today and enjoyed spending the day just the three of us.  We started our day with breakfast at Mary Beth's. Then we walked to the Chocolate Moose to get cupcakes.  Tim ate his cupcake there, and Jackson ate his too.  Then we took Jackson to O.P. Taylor's, the toy store in downtown Greenville.  It was his first trip to a toy store.  He loved looking around at everything!  We headed to Babies-R-Us to get a Bumbo seat. This should help him sit up and not lean on his head so much.  We also went to 2 kids' boutiques, and Jackson got some cute outfits for the fall.  He needed some Halloween smocked outfits. (He really did need them!) Later in the afternoon, we went to the Anderson Greek Festival.  The food was delicious as usual!

14 Weeks

My first toy store

My New Clothes!

I still have trouble in my Bumbo!

Max likes the Bumbo too!

We watched some football games too. It is finally starting to feel like Fall even if it is still in the 80s. It is funny to watch Jackson look at the TV like he is watching the game too.

I am little depressed because the past 2 nights Jackson has not wanted me to hold him while he was falling asleep. He wanted Tim last night and just wanted to lay on our bed.  Then he just wanted to lay by himself tonight too. I still want him to love to cuddle.  I hope this is just a short phase!

By the way, he found his feet today.  He was in his swing and kicked one leg up.  He happened to see it and was just fascinated.  He tried to grab them but couldn't quite get them. It was so cute!

This past week he has loved playing with his toys.  His bee is his current favorite.  He also loves to lay on a quilt on the floor and play.

So Sweet!

I love to play!

He has not liked doing his stretches this week.  He gets so mad, and his face gets so red.  I hate making him upset, but I don't want him to end up with a helmet! We have been spitting up a lot lately, so our laundry load has doubled!