We got to have a play date with adorable Jackson. He is my sweet friend, Christy’s, son and we just love him! He is 5-months-old, which is the exact age Peyton was when he was born. Unreal how time is going by so fast for both of us as mommas. Check out this cuteness.
From our morning playdate! So much cute in these photos!
On Sunday Jackson & I attended sweet Zoe’s 3rd birthday party! Her mom, Ali, is one of my dearest friends, and probably the most talented photographer you could dream of. They set up a photobooth at the party and I had to steal these photos from Ali to show you guys! (The first one is my favorite)
Happiest of Birthdays to the best husband and daddy in all of the land!
All photos taken by the wonderfully fabulous Ali Caudill.
The teething gods are not being good to my boy these days. He is, in a word, miserable. Luckily for me,he tries really hard to keep it together and flashes a few smiles, riddled with swollen gums, to make me feel better. Here are some of the symptoms I have noticed with J:
1. EAR PULLING. Good GOD does he tug on those ears! He has been doing it for quite some time. My mother in law commented on it, concerned that he might have an ear infection. I noted that I thought he might be teething since its all connected. The pediatrician checks his ears every visit and there hasn’t ever been an issue, so I was pretty confident that its teething. I was looking at symptoms of teething today and BAM! Ear pulling was on the list.
2. Food Refusal. Homeboy isn’t nearly as interested in eating as he typically is. He usually will eat as much as you will give, but these days, he is just not interested.
3. Drool. Seriously people, Its like the hoover dam up in here! This kid has more drool than I know what to do with.
4. Loose Poop. He was pretty solid for awhile, but the past couple of days its loosey goosey. ick!
5. Strange Sleep Patterns. Jax was a sleeping champ for awhile. He would wake up maybe once a night, but the past few days its been two or three wake-ups.
6. Chew. This kid can’t stop gnawing on stuff. You name it, its in his mouth. Mostly his fingers. He has also taken to chewing his pacifier within the last day.
7. COUGHING. The past few days I kept joking with Zac because Jackson has been ‘coughing.’ It seems like it is more of a ‘makehimselffeelbetter’ cough, or even a joke, maybe mimicking what we sound like, even. But to my surprise, coughing can be a symptom of teething!
8. Grump! My boy is being quite the little boss these days. Super grumpy. ‘Irritable,’ if you will.
9. Spit-Up: The kid spit up more times than I can remember yesterday. I really think its from all of that excess drool again.
10. Fever. This last one is the most sad. Due to a mostly sleepless night last night, J was in my bed, and this morning after catching a nap, the poor angel was a little ball of fire. He had a 101.5 degree temp :(. I gave him some meds to reduce his fever (which worked beautifully, thankfully), and am monitoring him closely all day today.
Its a dreary, rainy day here – so we are happy to stick close to home and snuggle in front of the TV. I just wish that these teeth (tooth, more likely) would just hurry up and pop through so my boy can get a little reprieve.
When I rolled over the clock read 3:47. This time I didn’t groan. I heard your whimper over the monitor and turned to look at you. I walked into your room and you were still asleep. Your small whimpers could have been easily soothed by a pacifier, but I selfishly wanted to hold you. I scooped you up and brought you to my bed. Your sleeping body weighed heavily on my chest. My heart burst with love, and I was glad you had woken me up. I thought to myself ‘what a beautiful, peaceful night.’ You stayed asleep and I lay in the dark, cradling you, and marveling at just how big you have gotten. Today has brought a great deal of sleep and have also been quite fussy. I have a strong suspicion that you are working really hard on those two little bottom teeth. In any case, mama is happy to have the extra cuddles, I just hope you don’t hurt too much sweet angel. And if you need to wake up again tonight, I promise to keep the positive attitude from last night and cherish these moments, for one day you will be too big for me to hold.
Dear Jackson,
I cannot believe another month has passed! You are five months old today! This month was pretty big for you. You, also are pretty big! You weigh a whole 20 pounds now! We even had to get you a new carseat, as yours only had a 22 lb weight capacity, which you are quickly approaching! You have become so much more animated. You interact with us constantly. You love to hear your sweet voice, growling, squealing, laughing, and making all sorts of different noises. You recognize more people, and get very happy when your father or I enter the room after being gone for awhile. You are laughing out loud so much these days. I caught you laughing hysterically at Looney Tunes when your cousin Bailey was over the other day. You still are in love with your exersaucer and will spend more than an hour bouncing around and playing with the toys. Whenever you catch me watching you, you swing back and forth forcefully & jump around excitedly. You also always put one hand in the air as if you are riding a bull – I lovingly refer to you as ‘Rodeo Jack.’
You caught your first little cold this month. I am sorry to say that I am the one who gave it to you. Luckily, yours was pretty short and much less excruciating than mine. You tolerated the aspirator, but would not have any part of the saline drops or spray. I’m happy to say you handled it like a champ though!
You started to test out some new stuff this month. From the photo above, you can see that we are toying around with the idea of cloth diapering (more on that later). You also began eating baby food. It has been an immense success! We have yet to meet a food that you don’t like, and if not like, you at least force it down. Your favorites are bananas, sweet potatoes, and anything with oatmeal. Your least favorites are peas, and carrots – you definitely hate carrots.
Your sleep schedule is getting much more regimented. You even put yourselfto bed two nights this week with nothing but a pacifier to help you. I was quite grateful for that. As much as you enjoy sleep (I can tell by the wide smiles I get when you wake up), you sure do fight getting there. You absolutely loathe being put down for naps/bedtime. It is a never-ending battle, but I do have a few choice weapons that have yet to fail me (pacifier + rocking, nursing + rocking, nursing with no rocking, nursing + rocking + waves noisemaker on my phone, the list goes on…)
With all of these developments, it is hard to believe you’re only 5 months old! It is harder, still, to believe that next month will be your half-birthday! Every day I spend with you is the best day of my life, and every time I am away I miss you more than you could know. There truly are no words to express the love I have for you, and it may be hard to believe, but it grows more fierce by the day. You are the greatest joy of my life.
Madly,
Mama.
One day shy of 5 months and sitting all by himself! Big boy!!
I was sitting on the couch tonight flipping through some photos I took with my new camera (shout out to the hubs!). Mostly I was just wondering why I have such intense writers block these days, marveling that my little boy has self-soothed two nights in a row, planning my busy, crazy day tomorrow that will begin around 6 and won’t end until 10 or later, and watching Bones re-runs. I kept flipping back to this picture of my nephew Carson. He has been on my mind a lot these days-probably because he began kindergarten a few weeks ago, and I have been spending a great deal of time with his little sisters. Whatever the reason, I felt compelled to write about him tonight.
Kindergarten. I still remember when Ang told me she was having a baby. I was shell-shocked, but ohhhhh so excited. I have loved babies since forever. Angie and I used to fight over who would get to hold whatever new baby was in our family. I was stoked because I would get to hold him whenever I wanted. Surely, she would be exhausted with a new baby! Carson Alan is the first grandchild to my parents. My dad was proud that she was having a boy (he has three girls, so it was about time for some testosterone). I remember the night he was born. It was a Tuesday. The 29th of November. I had just returned to school from Thanksgiving Break on the previous Sunday. I told her I wanted to kick her for going into labor two days after I left home, really I was giddy with excitement. After school & work that Friday I high-tailed it home to meet the yummy baby:
I remember everything about this visit. I walked in the house and ran to the bassinet…no baby. I ran to his room and peeked in the crib…no baby. I came back to the living room and said ‘where IS he!!?!’ Jason said “I’m holding him!” He was a little shrimp stick. He weighed 6 lbs 10 oz. (nothing compared to my Jackson, who weighed 9 lbs even!) He was possibly the most beautiful creature I ever laid eyes on. He’s had me wrapped ever since. Best buds here.
At this age ^ he reminds me of Jax. Only Carson was 8-9 months old in these, HA! I couldn’t believe it when he turned one. Now he is about to turn six. I took this picture on his first birthday:
I have really enjoyed spending time with him lately. I got to pick him up from school one day! It was so surreal, sitting in the cafeteria, waiting for the kids who were getting picked up to be dismissed. I was sitting there with Jackson, and when they dismissed them I stood up to try and find him. He looked so small, nervously walking into the cafeteria in his new black and yellow sneakers; he was chewing on his thumb nail like he does when he is shy, his backpack as big as he is. After what seemed like an eternity, I caught his eye, and he ran over and excitedly started telling me about his day. He talked my ear off the whole way home, while eating what was left of his lunch. This week I walked with my sister to get him off the bus twice. He looked even smaller, if that is even possible. When the bus pulled up I saw his big little head immediately. He happily jumped off and started telling us all about his day on the walk home. He much prefers riding the bus. When he was about 18 months old, he had these sticker books. He would thumb through the pages and point out different things “bulldozer” “combine harvester (yes, really. I called it a plow, and he corrected me)” but his favorite, by far was the “coobus…dadie’s coobus!!!” (dadie=Katie, my younger sister). I think it is really amazing to watch him grow into the sweetest big brother. Just yesterday, I was in the car with Bailey & Abby, and sweet Abigail saw a school bus. She pointed and said ‘bubbie’s coobus!!!’ and I smiled, thinking about how things had come full circle in these short years. The once tiny baby I marveled at endlessly is now a real big-boy. He is brave and timid all at once, funny, kind-hearted and sweeter than you can even imagine, and he is the best big brother and cousin for all the littler ones to look up to.
I still swoon when I see him.
Click for photo credit 1, 2, & 3.
Ten years ago I was a junior in high school. It was a gorgeous day. The kind of day with bright blue skies that make you want to be anywhere but sitting in your 2nd block SAT Prep Class. The teacher was Ms. Dent. She had a reputation for being tough, but I liked her. I loved that the class gave me a chance to be competitive with my friends. We were doing an independent exercise sometime in the 9:00 hour when Ms. Dent re-entered the room. She said seriously, “OK. Two planes have hit the World Trade Center Towers in New York City…” I waited expectantly for the rest of what I was certain was a math exercise. She continued to let us know that nobody was quite sure what had happened at that time, but that she would let us know when she had more information. She soon reported that a plane possibly flew into the Pentagon…just minutes down the street. We were to stay put. I couldn’t fathom what had happened. It seemed all of the classrooms put on the news and we began to watch the horror unfold. History in the making. All through the cafeteria and hallways people were buzzing about what might have happened. We watched as one of our classmates was taken from the classrom by the principal – we later learned that her father worked in an area of the Pentagon that had taken a direct hit, thankfully he turned out to be just fine.
I remember the first time I went to NYC on an FBLA Field Trip. The first sight you could see when entering the great city of New York were those giant, skyscraping, gorgeous towers. I have my own photos of the Manhatten skyline, both before and after, when I went on another FBLA Field Trip. It is a juxtaposition that is impossible to ignore.
After school that day, I went home and wept. I wept for our friends, who still hadn’t learned their family and friends’ whereabouts. I wept for the terror that was thrust upon our country. Most of all I wept for the souls that were not fortunate enough to be saved. Living in the DC area at this time was interesting to say the least. We wondered when the next attack would come. Worried day-in and day-out, for quite some time, about the uncertainty of the time. The evening of September 11th I watched President George W. Bush deliver a speech to the nation. I watched several more of these addresses, both to us and to congress over the coming months. His words were powerful and stuck with me. I was proud of the way our country was coming together in such dreadful circumstances. Last week I watched a documentary wherein former President Bush recounted the events of the time period, and he said “It became apparent we were facing a new kind of enemy; this is what war was like in the 21st century.” These words have stuck with me since, and have weighed heavy on my mind these days. This single event has forever changed, even defined our generation. In retrospect, I can see that this day changed my life. I gained a thirst for knowledge. I chose to get both a Bachelor’s and Master’s degree in Political Science, concentrated in International Relations.
Over time I have heard so many individuals’ accounts of where they were that day, what they saw, and how they felt. Some had harrowing tales of watching a plane fly very low over I-395, headed for the Pentagon. I found that my worry and sorrow was far surpassed by a certain sophomore at my school that I would later come to call my husband. Zac’s parents both have had a long career with United Airlines. Each of them as flight attendants, flying both domestically and internationally. On September 11th, while Zac went to school, his mom had taken a flight to Los Angeles from Dulles International Airport. His dad, was at home. The fear and uncertainty the two of them must have felt is striking to me. Being unable to reach her, and waiting for a call to let them know she was on the ground in LA. The fear his parents must have felt daily after 9/11, just going to work, is alarming.
We have come a long way in 10 years since these attacks. For my son, I pray daily that he never knows a horror such as that day. I feel with optimism that while he reads about the events in a history book, and watches some documentaries on television, he never feels the pain and terror that ensue with these attacks.
I grieve for all who have been affected by such a tragedy. Those who lost loved ones, and those who never got to know their parents. And above all, I mourn all of the souls lost on what should have been an unseasonably gorgeous, sunny day that was instead overshadowed by black clouds. I also am reminded of just how grateful I should be that all of those I love and hold dear were spared. That I can live and be free in this country and trust that our government and armed forces are diligently working and fighting to keep us safe. While I rejoice in the blessings I have been given, I also will never forget.
There is way too much cool in here!!!
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