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?