It's the most wonderful time of the year!

This truly is my favorite time of year and not just because I have two weeks vacation from work ;) We have had a great few weeks leading up to Christmas including a Secret Santa gift exchange party with Jackson's friends, a morning with Santa at St. John Neumann (Jackson's future school), an adult holiday party, and today baking cookies. Last year was my first attempt at baking cookies from scratch and I successfully made white chocolate cranberry cookies, YUM! Unfortunately, Nick doesn't really appreciate the yummy goodness of white chocolate so this year my cookie elf, Jackson, and I decided to make half milk chocolate toffee cookies...also YUM!

As soon as we got home from church we set the butter out to soften and I began measuring out all the ingredients to make it easier for my cookie elf to help. I should've started by explaining that softening butter takes ages, imagine "Are we there yet?" car rides but switch it to relate to the butter. Finally the butter was soft and we were ready to go! Jackson did a great job helping and was really into it, I think he may take after his father with his interest in the culinary field. Good news for me...maybe he'll start cooking and I can stop, ha! Here's a little peak at how happy he was in the kitchen...

Baby Update 16 Weeks

I'm stealing this idea from my sister, although my updates probably won't be weekly, I'll try to keep everyone posted as often as I remember :)

How far along: 16 weeks 5 days

Total weight gain: none

General disposition: Doing great, so far nausea seems to have disappeared this week (knock on wood)

Sleep: Hmmm between bathroom breaks, back pain and barking dogs, I don't get much but I did just get a snoogle so hopefully that will help at least one of those!

Best moment this week: Listening to the heartbeat on the doppler on Wednesday, music to my ears!

Movement: None yet, I thought I felt a teeny tiny little flutter a few days ago but haven't felt anything since. We'll find out at my next appointment if I have another anterior placenta, if so, I probably won't feel much if anything for a few more weeks.

Labor signs/Body changes of note: Today I couldn't button my favorite jeans, time to go shopping LOL.

What I miss: SUSHI!!!!!!!

What I am looking forward to: The ultrasound which thank goodness is my next appointment and will most likely coincide with my next update post so check back the first week of January.

Happy Thanksgiving!

My day was off to the best start. I went into Jackson's room and we were doing our good morning cuddling when I told him I was thankful for him. He looked at me and said, "Mommy, I'm thankful I'm going to be a big brother." It was the cutest thing ever! I love my sweet Jackson.

After that in true Jackson fashion, he continued on to say he was also thankful for his clothes, specifically naming his shirts and pants and of course shoes! After that came Mommy and Daddy and then his house.

We hope everyone has a Happy Thanksgiving!

One Proud Mommy!

Jackson asks for directions and street names wherever we go lately. Last Sunday we were on our way to church and this was our trip conversation...

Jackson: You said we were on Two Notch, it doesn't look the same, I don't see Target (yes, we frequent Target)
Me: I went a different way, Target is behind us but this is still Two Notch.
Jackson: What's the name of this road? (as we make a turn)
Me: Polo Road
Jackson: Polo? Ahahahaha, that's not a road. That's the name of my jeans and shirts!

It's that time again...HOLIDAY CARDS!

I love shopping for holiday cards. Although with all the designs to choose from, it can be a very tough decision! I upload our photos to http://www.shutterfly.com/ and usually order all our grandparent photo gifts from Shutterfly. A couple years ago, I also used Shutterfly for our Christmas card. I couldn't narrow down the pictures I had taken of Jackson to just one so I loved that I had the option to insert more than one picture into the holiday card design I had chosen.

I like pretty simple cards so I'm thinking of using one of the many choices they have on www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationary/christmas-cards. They have HUNDREDS of options so feel free to check out the link and help me decide :) While browsing their site, I also noticed they have holiday story cards. Since we have big news to share this year of adding to our family, I may go with one of these cards, www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationary/holiday-story-cards.

Too many decisions...at least I'm starting early! And I love this time of year so I'll enjoy every minute and save some money! Shutterfly is offering 20% off all holiday cards so if you're interested check them out at www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationary.

California Dreamin'

Nick and I decided to take a little vacation without Jackson and head west to San Francisco. We have been able to take a couple vacations this last year but they have all been with family so it was nice for just the two of us to get away for a few days. Nick had never been to San Francisco and I hadn't been in twenty years so we wanted to pack in as much touristy activities as possible. Here is a quick rundown of our trip:

~ We arrived Saturday afternoon and decided to take the BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit) to our hotel after the flight attendant told us a cab would cost $45 and our hotel was a couple blocks from one of the stops. What we didn't plan for was the rain we'd have to walk through to get to the hotel and that the "couple blocks" was more like 10!

~ Almost two hours after our plane landed we were in our room relaxing. Our itinerary (yes I had a daily itinerary for our trip) for Saturday afternoon included walking around Fisherman's Wharf which we decided to skip due to the rain and just hang out until dinner, which was so nice...I can't remember the last time Nick and I just hung out for a few hours. And he didn't even turn football on!!!

~ We had an amazing dinner at Town Hall followed by the most delicious dessert, Butterscotch and Chocolate Pot de Creme! We were so full but the dessert was so good, we took the rest back to the hotel and asked for a fridge in our room so we could enjoy it the next day, ha!

~ We woke up bright and early Sunday morning and decided to walk to brunch since the rain hadn't really started yet. We borrowed some umbrellas from the hotel and started our hour long walk to Home Restaurant. At this point it was drizzling which wouldn't have been so bad if it wasn't so windy. I had MANY issues with my umbrella, I'm blaming it on the umbrella and my height ;) Needless to say our walk was a wet adventure full of laughs...at my expense!

~ After enjoying a delicious brunch, we headed back to the hotel stopping at a few stores in search of ponchos! We had booked the Alcatraz tour that afternoon and the forecast called for heavy rains. After a few stops, we found some adult ponchos at Walgreens and were ready to head to the Pier. Although we missed the views on our way out to The Rock, we really enjoyed the Alcatraz tour.

~ The rain finally stopped about an hour before dinner so we decided to walk to dinner. Although I specifically told Nick, I was fine strolling but I couldn't walk fast in my 4" heels, we ended up booking it to dinner! We ate at Boulevard and had another yummy meal. Both of our appetizers (crab salad and tuna tartare) were the best we've ever had, mmmm.

~ Monday brought our first day of beautiful sunshine. The time difference had us up early again so we had a quick breakfast at a diner around the corner and walked up (and I mean UP) to Fisherman's Wharf and Ghirardelli Square. After walking around for a couple hours enjoying THE toursit location, we hopped in a cab and headed to the Ferry Building. The Ferry Building is a marketplace all about local, seasonable and sustainable food. We could've stayed all day eating all the yummy meats, cheeses and breads! There are also a few restaurants overlooking the bay so we enjoyed an outdoor table at The Slanted Door for our first Vietnamese meal. After lunch we decided to take a walk along the bay to AT&T Park since the SF Giants were headed to the World Series.

~ We were picked up by a tour bus on Tuesday morning to head to Muir Woods and Sausalito. We spent about an hour at Muir Woods walking the trails and then headed to Sausalito with a quick detour to enjoy an amazing view of the Pacific Ocean! We arrived in Sausalito at noon and Nick and I decided to go our separate way from the tour, enjoy lunch, walk around all the shops, and take the ferry back to enjoy the views. The weather was picture perfect, pun intended, and we got some great shots of Sausalito, The Golden Gate Bridge and The Rock.

~ After arriving back at the piers, we headed up to the top of Lombard Street and then back down and across to North Beach (Littly Italy) and Chinatown. We walked through a few of the markets and by we, I mostly mean Nick as I was too grossed out by what I saw in the first one! Then we headed over for dinner at House of Nanking, a popular hole in the wall restaurant. Unfortunately, their menu was very limited especially for those with seafood allergies and those (Nick) craving specific Chinese entrees (Mongolian Beef).

All in all it was a fantastic trip and we were able to do/see all we had planned despite the weather the first couple of days. Wednesday morning, we were all packed up with our Ghirardelli chocolates, sourdough bread, and of course trolley cars for Jackson and Emerson, and ready to head back east!

Jacksonisms

Yesterday Jackson saw a couple gifts I bought for my friend Laura's baby shower this weekend. This is how the conversation continued:
Jackson: Are these for me?
Me: No, they are Mrs. Laura's baby!
Jackson: Baby? Where is her baby?
Me: In her tummy.
Jackson: Oh (sounding shocked), she ate her baby?!?!

Hilton Head Highlights

We're back in Columbia after a fun but not so relaxing trip to the beach. Jackson and I were there for the whole week with Tamara, Emerson and Mariam and although we didn't do much, it's still not as relaxing as a week away should be when you have two toddlers with you :) On Thursday, the rest of the family joined us with a surprise visit from Yousif!

The week was spent mostly at the pool with some beach time each day. We spent the first few nights cooking and eating in and enjoyed some dinners out once the entire family had arrived. On Friday night, we went to Shelter Cove and as we were walking around after dinner, we stopped to enjoy a show that seemed centered around children. There was one man up on stage with tons of little ones surrounding him. Soon enough Jackson was one of those little ones, I really couldn't believe it! Not only did he go sit up on stage, he waited his turn (patiently) and then got up on the man's knee and talked into the mic!!! I am still upset I didn't have my flip with me but here's how the exchange went:

Man: What's your name?
J: Jackson
Man: How old are you?
J: 3!
Man: What do you want to be when you grow up?
J: Mommy....how old will I be when I grow up? (everyone in the crowd laughing)
Man: Sorry let me clarify, what do you want to do when you're all grown up. (Jiddu standing on the side loudly whispering doctor...)
J: FIREMAN!!!
Man: What song do you want to sing tonight?
J: ABCD..."Itsy bitsy spider..."

Jackson continued to sing the entire Itsy bitsy spider song in front of everyone! I was so shocked and proud and loved every minute of it :)

Jacksonisms

Jackson LOVES dancing especially to Disney music. In addition to his dancing, we often hear him singing songs while he's playing with his toys. A few nights ago, we heard him singing "Prince Ali" from Aladdin. It was hilarious because he didn't know all the words and the words he did know weren't entirely accurate. Here's what we heard...
"Prince Ali, Ali, Ali, Ali a Baba."
Then he continued on to sing this and got louder each time...
"Prince Ali, Prince Ali, Prince Ali!" You get the picture, Nick and I couldn't stop laughing, it was adorable!

He also sings "Skidamarink" but instead of singing, "I love you in the morning and in the afternoon, I love you in the evening underneath the moon," Jackson sings, "I love you in the distance and under the tress." Again, it's hilarious especially because distance sounds like dentist!

Tonight as Jackson was cleaning up his toys before bedtime, he kept dropping them by accident. Each time he dropped a toy and had to pick it up again, he would say, "Oopsie spaghettio" instead of "Uh oh spaghettio!"

Jacksonisms of some sort...

Sometimes Jackson gets very excited when telling a story or asking questions that he can't seem to get the words out fast enough. Recently when this happens, he will be rambing and mixing up his words and then all of a sudden he'll say, "Aaahhhhh" pause for a minute and then go on. It's really funny and cute :)

Jackson has been requesting to dance a lot lately. We usually turn on Pandora to the Disney channel. Jackson has become very good at identifying which songs come from which Disney movie and dances (jumps) around for ages. The other night after dinner he was dancing around the living room and the next thing we knew, he had taken off all his clothes and was dancing around totally NAKED! We aren't sure what prompted this but it was hilarious, clearly we have an exhibitionist on our hands ;)

Oops I've been so busy I have forgotten to blog!

I just realized I haven't blogged in over a month...oops! Not that I think I have that many followers but for the few loyal ones, here's a quick update of what's been going on to keep me so busy. We travelled to Dahlonega, GA the first weekend in May for Eric and Lauren's wedding. Nick was a groomsman and Jackson was the ring bearer. The wedding was beautiful and Jackson performed his duties very well.

The next morning we were up bright and early to catch our flight to Aruba. We had an amazing week relaxing and spending time with each other and of course enjoying the gorgeous weather, pools and beaches! We arrived back in Columbia on Friday afternoon and we had a nice quiet weekend to clean house and do tons of laundry!!! On Tuesday I was off to Las Vegas for a few days to work and Jackson had a fun-filled week with Mimi and a surprise visit from PopPop!

I came home Saturday morning with just enough time to relax and enjoy my boys before gearing up to celebrate Jackson's birthday. We had a mini celebration at his friend Stella's house with a rice krispie treat "cake" and then a big birthday party at Bouncerific.

The following weekend we all went to Atlanta for another busy but amazing weekend. On Friday night, my mom threw a successful surprise party for my dad's 60th birthday, filled with more than one surprise. He walked in to the party not suspecting a thing, then shortly after he was surprised by one of his sisters and his dad who came in from London to surprise him! We enjoyed spending the whole weekend with Auntie Nida and Big Jiddu but as usual it was too short and we miss them already :(

Saturday, Nick and I went to Michael and Krista Barraclough's wedding. It was beautiful and we had so much fun catching up with all our friends we don't see often enough. Sunday morning, we had a small brunch to celebrate Jackson's birthday...AGAIN! Since the first two celebrations were in Columbia and none of our family could be with us, we figured we would have one more "birthday" this year. As my Auntie Taghrid put it, with three birthday celebrations, Jackson probably thinks he's already 5 years old!!!

So there you have it, our last month in review...crazy busy but we loved every minute of it!

Jackson's version of work...

Nick took Jackson to Waffle House (or as Jackson calls it, Waffle's House) Sunday morning for breakfast. After their meal the bill came, here was their dialogue...
Nick: I paid last time, so it's your turn to pay.
Jackson: Ha ha ha, Daddy, I don't have any money.
Nick: Oh, well that's okay, I'm sure they'll let you work here.
Jackson looking around Waffle House and thinking seriously about working there: I can't work here, they don't have any computers!

I guess since Jackson's only experience with work is watching me on my computer, he thinks that's the only way to work :)

Jacksonisms...another favorite!

This Jacksonism is more of a funny story that seems to go on and on. Last month we had lunch with our good friend Erin and her two month old baby, Jacob. After lunch, Jackson and I were talking to my mom about lunch and Jackson told Nana that we were going to have a baby come live with us. It was so cute and funny but at the same time I could see all the rumors flying around already! He has mentioned it a couple of times with friends in Columbia but a couple days ago when we were at the allergist appointment, the doctor asked if we had any pets, specifically dogs. Nick and I replied no and Jackson replied, "No, but we are having a baby!" Last night Nick and I were talking about how funny that was and Jackson said it again so I asked him, "Who?" meaning who is having a baby. Well apparently Jackson thought I was asking who is the baby because he replied, "Emerson!" LOL If you ask him who Emerson is he will tell you that she is his daughter, how cute is that?!?! I guess he doesn't understand the cousin concept yet but this whole baby thing is cracking us up especially since he thinks his cousin is our new baby :)

And a mini Jacksonism...we've recently been reading Disney books and his favorite seems to be The Lion King. We ask him questions about the books and he names all the characters as we're reading. I think it's so cute because everytime we get to Scar, Simba's uncle, Jackson says, "...and that's Uncle ScarF!"

Now we know...

It's been almost two years since Jackson had his first skin reaction. After his most recent reaction which covered him from head to toe in hives, I decided to call our pediatrician to ask what we should do and at what point we would be sent to an allergist. Dr. Shrouds referred us to Dr. Amrol and we had our first visit yesterday. I was thankful that so far none of his reactions had been life threatening but wanted to find out the cause so I knew what I should avoid in the future...not to mention the fact that I was hoping to avoid visiting additional ER's while on vacation!

We arrived at the appointment with list in hand of all his previous reactions and what I could remember we had done differently, food eaten, environments, dogs, etc. After a great discussion with Dr. Amrol, he decided to test for specific items that I mentioned including cashews, dogs, and eggs in addition to some more common allergens in the environment and based on our history, i.e. Nick's shellfish allergy. Jackson did great! He didn't like the skin test but no tears were shed, he took it like a big boy! Immediately after the skin test, he complained that something was biting him and tried to scratch his lower back. And that was by far the largest reaction he had to...cashews!!! The other big ones included dogs and shellfish, both of which didn't really surprise us. Dr. Amrol advised us he did see a small reaction to the environmental/pollen allergens especially oak and unfortunately, that would probably worsen in the next few years. And he had a reaction to peanuts too, guess that's why Jackson doesn't like peanut butter :) We're sad he'll be missing out on yummy nuts and shellfish but at least we know what to steer clear from and what to do if a reaction occurs. We're now equipped with an epinephrine pen and steroids just in case. Here's a picture of the test they did on his back, this was taken right away so he hadn't really shown much of a reaction yet but the cashew was in D, left column, second to last row.

What kind of face does an octopus make?

We went to Moe's for dinner tonight and the balloon man was there making balloon animals. Jackson asked for a red octopus. I told Jackson to look at me with his best octopus face and this is what I got...I love this kid!

Born to swim?

Jackson had his first swim lesson today at 4pm. He was very excited about it and kept following me around the house asking if it were time to change into his swim trunks yet. The class is for beginners up to age 3, twenty-five minutes long and focuses on water safety, submersion, kicking and breath holding. Jackson is a very cautious toddler and normally hesitant to try new things but today, he tried everything at least once! I was really proud of him. He loved kicking and splashing around but not so much anything that led to submersion. The teacher said she was really impressed and happy that there were no tears, great for his first day. Now the question is after all that anticipation did Jackson enjoy it? It was hard to tell until we got in the car and Jackson said, "Mommy, swimming is NOT my favorite!" We have class every Monday and Wednesday in April so I'll keep you posted on his progress.

Things to do in a room without toys?

It's been a full week since we moved Jackson into his new room and we've definitely had some obstacles to overcome...not that we know exactly how to overcome them. With the exception of the first afternoon and today, Jackson has not taken a nap. However, he has gone to sleep at night very easily...until tonight, that has been a different story. The first time I walked in to see what was going on, he had taken off his pajamas and diaper and had put on his undies and his SWIM TRUNKS!!!

The second time I noticed his light was on, I walked in and saw this...nothing...where was Jackson?

Hmmm, where could he be?

Now do you see him?

The Unveiling and night and nap one recap

Last week Jackson asked to take a nap in our bed and said he wanted a big boy bed. We decided it was time to make the switch. Finding a time to do it was a bit of a challenge because of course we both wanted to be here to see his reaction and I didn't want it to be on a work-night in case it was a sleepless night. So we started talking to him about how cool a big boy bed would be and that we could get one with trucks on it and thankfully, he was all about having a trucks bed, as he calls it. Sunday afternoon when he woke up from his nap we showed him his new room and he LOVED it! Step one was a success.


Now onto the next challenge...actually sleeping in his big boy bed. We are very lucky in that Jackson has always been a very good sleeper so we were hoping this switch wouldn't change his sleeping habits. Sunday night, I took him upstairs and laid with him while we read two books. Then I said goodnight and shut the door at around 7:30. I heard him talking and singing but he has always had his own winding down routine, even in his crib. I checked the monitor but he had apparently shut the closet doors and since the monitor was on the top shelf in his closet, I couldn't see anything. After about an hour of silence, I was sure he had fallen asleep and figured I would sneak in the room to make sure he was in the bed. As I walked upstairs I saw the light from under his doorway, so I knew it was time to see what he was up to. I walked in to see him sitting in his chair with his hat on and his backpack in his lap. I asked him what he was doing up. Jackson replied, "Mommy, can you help me put my backpack on?" I explained that it was time to go to sleep and we could play with his backpack in the morning. I couldn't help but giggle as I put him back in bed. After that, he went right to sleep and slept until the morning. He didn't fall off the bed at all, which I was worried about. Step two? Also, a success!


Our last challenge was naptime! Most of my friends told me their child stopped taking naps when they moved into the big kid bed so I was determined to do what I could to make sure he would continue to nap. Today went perfectly, just like any other naptime in his crib. He talked for a bit and then fell asleep. I did have to go in there again to open the closet door, for some reason he has to have everything organized and the doors shut...wonder where he gets that from? I guess we'll have to find a better place for the monitor!

Another milestone has just passed and it's definitely been a proud mommy and daddy moment, although I must admit, a bittersweet one! I can't believe how quickly the time has passed and that my baby boy is in a big boy bed and about to turn 3!!! How did that happen?!?!?

London Recap

We just got back yesterday afternoon from a great trip to London. Jackson and I had so much fun pending time with family and Jackson enjoyed a few London firsts, although he refused to taste a scone! He doesn't know what he's missing ;-) Here are some highlights and best memories:

~ My grandfather walks up and down the hallway in his flat every day. The first night we were there, Jackson took his hand and walked with him. It was so cute and sweet, see picture below.
~ We walked to Hyde Park and fed the ducks and pigeons. We couldn't stay too long because it was FREEEEEZING!
~ Delicious afternoon tea at The Grosvenor House, best scone EVER!!!
~ Spent too much time running around the Harrod's toy department but Jackson and Emerson loved it. They had a huge Buzz Lightyear made out of Legos that Jackson was obsessed with, see picture below of Jackson hugging Buzz. And another picture of Jackson dressed up as Buzz, aka his new obsession.
~ Jackson made a new friend at a playdate my aunt hosted for us. They had so much fun playing and telling each other stories.
~ A trip to the aquarium which was unfortunately cut short because Jackson had an allergic reaction. We rushed home to get him medicine and ended up having to take him to the ER. Luckily it was a one day episode and he was all better by the next morning.
~ It only took a few days for Auntie (me) and Jackson to teach Emerson the "Uh oh, uh uh oh..." from "Single Ladies." Now as soon as the song starts, she dances and sings that part, it's super cute!
~ Jackson slept on a regular mattress for the first time in London. He is still in a crib at home and has used a pack n play on previous trips. I'm so proud of how great he did. Of course, he did have his nightly roll off the mattress but since it was on the floor, he was okay and it didn't even wake him. I would hear him tumble off and just scoop him up and put him back on the mattress. However, on our last night there, Jackson thought it would be a good idea to lock himself in the room. Although it took less than two minutes for my Aunt to bring me the key to the room, it felt like hours and I was freaking out!

We already miss everyone so much and hope to see everyone on our side of the pond very soon.

Entering the construction zone!

Jackson's new room is officially finished! Jackson and I are leaving town this Friday to visit family in London so we have decided to wait until after our trip to make the transition. He has no idea he is getting a new room, let alone a "construction site!" Here are a few more pics showing the wall decor and a few other furniture pieces, as you can see, we've kept it pretty simple, he won't have toys in his bedroom just books. Hopefully the next post will include a video clip of Jackson's reaction to his new room!!!


A little background on this poem...Tamara and I used to share a room when we were younger and we had a "Why God Made Little Girls" poem hung up and I have given my niece the same poem to hang in her bedroom. So when I found there was a similar poem for boys, I had to find a place for it in Jackson's room.

Jackson's New Room

Once Jackson climbed out of his crib last month, we knew we would have to start getting his new room ready complete with a big boy bed! Nana and Jiddu (my parents) were generous to give us a twin bed from their guest bedroom and Mimi and PopPop (Nick's parents) were so helpful and brought the bed up to Columbia for us...thank you grandparents!

And so it begins...I spent hours deciding on a new theme for his bedroom and searching for bedding and accessories and enjoyed every minute of it! Jackson has no idea that he is getting a new room, bed or anything in it. We decided on a contstruction truck theme and I have slowly been putting the room together in my "spare" time. Here are a few preliminary pics showing the progress...next on my list is the wall decor! A special thanks to Auntie Tamara for helping me with the decisions and putting up with countless picture messages!

Two days in a row?!?!?

No I'm not referring to my blogging regularity although that would be relevant with this title also. I am referring to Jackson and how he doesn't "need" me anymore and/or questions my knowledge (see post from yesteday). He just banged his elbow and said "Mommy, I hurt myself!" I replied with, "I'm sorry, come here and I'll kiss it better." Normally he comes right over, I give him a kiss and hug and he's completely healed :) Not today! Instead, Jackson said, "No Mommy, you're not a doctor, I need Daddy." Talk about a slap in the face! The good news is Nick was on his way home so Jackson didn't have to wait long to feel better.

And so it begins

We came home after school and as usual Jackson asked for a snack. He couldn't decide what he wanted so I decided to offer him something new, vanilla pudding. He loved it and was eating it up. Here's how our conversation went about midway through the snack...
Jackson: "Mommy, it's good, I like vanilla ice cream."
Me: "It's not ice cream, it's pudding."
J: "No, it's ice cream....see???"
We had a few more exchanges similar to that with me explaining the differences between ice cream and pudding. Then I guess Jackson had enough or felt sorry for me that I wasn't "getting it" so he walked over to me, started patting my shoulder and said, "It's okay Mommy, we all make accidents (his word for mistakes). It's vanilla ice cream."

On one hand, I can't believe he's already questioning me. I guess he isn't going to believe everything I tell him anymore. But on the other hand and the brighter side, at least I can give him pudding instead of ice cream!

Jacksonisms...well kind of...

Nick and Jackson watched Monsters, Inc. this afternoon. Towards the end I am told there is a somewhat sad part (I haven't seen the movie and I don't want to give it away if others haven't seen it yet either). Nick told me he glanced over at Jackson and noticed he had the saddest look on his face and was tearing up. My baby boy is so sensitive and empathetic...well towards monsters at least ;-)

He finally did it!

I've been waiting for this day for more than a year now. And yesterday it finally happened. Jackson climbed out of his crib! I will go ahead and say now, he's fine, didn't get hurt at all. I, on the other hand, am not so fine. I put Jackson in his crib yesterday for his nap and went out to run a few errands since Nick was home. When I returned, I asked Nick if Jackson had taken a good nap. Nick said he hadn't slept at all. He was in his crib talking and singing for an hour and then became very quiet. Nick thought he had finally fallen asleep. A few minutes later he heard Jackson so he checked our video monitor. To his surprise there was no one in the crib! A few minutes later Nick heard Jackson's bedroom door open and next thing he knew, Jackson was knocking on our bedroom door.

Even though I knew this day would happen sooner than later, and compared to other toddlers it happened later for Jackson, I'm still not ready to make the switch. Not to mention the fact that Jackson has been fighting his nap all together the last few weeks. I'm hoping this is just a phase and he will go back to his great two hour naps very soon. However, I know the crib climbing is not a phase and we will have to move him soon.

Jacksonisms...one of my favorites!

Recently, anytime Jackson asks for something whether it's to watch TV, eat, drink or anything that's considered "special" to him and we say no or we'll see, he responds with "Maybe yes?" And then we go back and forth for a few times and each time he pauses as if he's going to come back with a better argument for his case but all he says is "maybe yes?" It's pretty adorable :)

Our first visit to Richland's ER

While we have been to the hospital many times to visit Nick, we have never been to the ER. Well this morning, that changed. A little background on the issue...last April we noticed Jackson started wheezing. The pedi put him on albuterol and told us it's not asthma yet but it could be in the future or it could just be that he wheezes when he gets a virus or an allergic reaction to something. Since April, it has happened a handful of times and normally the albuterol does the trick and within a day or two, he's back to normal.

Yesterday afternoon, Jackson started coughing and wheezing all of a sudden. The albuterol wasn't helping but Nick didn't think it was anything serious at this point so we just gave him a warm bath, put the humidifier in his room and attempted to give him honey for the cough. Jackson didn't sleep well at all. I could hear him all night coughing and at 2AM he was up and crying for me saying it hurt. I went into his room to soothe him and could tell the wheezing had become worse so I gave him another round of albuterol. He laid back down so I left his room until I heard him calling for me again a few hours later. This time the wheezing was much worse, and the albuterol didn't help at all so I took him into our room to see what Dr. Daddy thought we should do. Nick agreed that it was definitely worse and time to take him to get some breathing treatments and possibly steroids. We tried calling our pedi after hours location but after waiting an hour with no call back we decided it wasn't worth the wait...

So off to the ER we went. Luckily, we were the only ones there and were taken back immediately. His stats weren't good, he had a low grade temp and didn't look good at all. It was obvious how much trouble he was having breathing. I was internally falling apart watching my baby have so much trouble breathing. Luckily Nick was with us and I was able to hold it together so Jackson didn't see his Mommy so scared. He had some breathing treatments which helped almost instantaneously, a chest xray which thankfully was clear and some steroids. We explained that the chest xray was just a picture so he smiled and said, "Cheese," it was so cute. A little over three hours and we were sent home with a prescription for steroids and directions to follow up with our pedi tomorrow.

Jackson seems to be doing much better. The steroids are altering his mood but we can handle two year old mood swings ;-) Unfortunately, we didn't get a definitive diagnosis much different than what we were told last April so at this point we just have to wait and see and hope he grows out of it.

Jacksonisms

1. Jackson is now potty trained and whenever he has to go number 2, he says, "It's coming out of my body!" We aren't sure where he got that from but needless to say, we think it's hilarious.
2. He loves to play with phones and when he makes a pretend call, he says, "Hewwo, this is me."
3. We introduced him to the Grinch this past Christmas and ever since, he makes a scowly/mean face and says, "I am the Grinch."
4. On our way to his school, there are always cars in stop n go traffic coming the opposite way. And almost every morning, Jackson tells me, "Oh no, all the cars are stuck!"

Christmas and NYE

Christmas and NYE wrap up

We had a wonderful Christmas this year, and hope you did too. We spent the week of Christmas in Atlanta, and weeks before we arrived, we already had a packed schedule! There were so many people to see. We were certainly busy, but it was a lot of fun to catch up with so many that we hadn't seen in a while, especially since we hadn't come home for Thanksgiving this year.

To start off, the Kelly family had their annual Christmas party, and it was nice to see all the extended family. We planned on staying fairly late (minus Jackson), but he had a minor freakout so we ended up leaving relatively early. The next day, we had brunch with the Salman side and Emerson and Jackson got to play (fight over toys). I guess it's the age. Later that night, we hung out with Nick's siblings and their significant others. In lieu of getting each other gifts this year, we all decided that we would spend some quality time together. We ordered pizza, played some games, and just had a blast!

The rest of the week leading up to Christmas was spent catching up with some friends. There were two girls' nights! One is an annual holiday dinner that a high school friend hosts, and it's always nice to see those who are able to make it -- almost like a mini-reunion. Jackson got some quality time with both sets of grandparents, and I'm sure they all got their fill of babysitting for a little while!

Christmas Eve day came quickly, and with that came the hustle and bustle as we ran around to all of our family events for Christmas Eve and Day. It's definitely nice to have both families in town, so we can see everyone and celebrate with everyone. But it can also be exhausting! By the end of Christmas Day, we were pooped!

Saturday came way too quickly, and we were back on the road to Columbia. It was nice to get an extra day of doing nothing (unless you count unpacking, laundry, and cleaning) before Monday came around. That week was very busy for Nick, as the hospital had a skeleton staff.

We made some fun party plans for New Year's, but Jackson ended up getting sick, and Nick was on call the night before, so it was just me. Nonetheless, I had so much fun with my friends and got home in time to enjoy the ball drop right before going to sleep.

Happy New Year to all! May 2010 bring you happiness, prosperity, and good health!