Thursday, January 31, 2013

Happy Birthday!!

Happy Birthday to our sweet baby boy!  One year ago today we welcomed Jackson into our lives, and we just love him more and more every day!  We are so lucky to have such a happy little boy who, even when he is sick, will make us smile and laugh all day.

Next week I'll update you on his latest antics and his stats after his 1 year check up, but for now enjoy these pictures and silly video from last night.
February 4, 2012
January 31, 2013

Monday, January 28, 2013

Angels among us

It has been a crazy week. A week ago Sunday, we were awakened by Jackson's crying at 1am. I went to go check on him thinking he had wedged his leg in the bars again. Come to find out, he had thrown up and then proceeded to throw up again. Court doesn't do well with vomit so I got cleanup duty and she got to give Jackson a bath. Monday more of the same and now a cough.

Wednesday, Jackson was sick again and now his cough was worse. He hadn't been eating well either. We decided to keep him home. I was staying home with Jackson and Court and I decided we should take him to the doctor. The doctor said it was croup. Don't know what it is? You should look it up. Not fun. We got some meds and took him home now knowing that he was contagious and couldn't go to daycare.

Court and I split days between work and school to be home with him. Later Court told me the medicine he was on was a steroid and would lower his immune system and could make him susceptible to other things. Yes, this was my poor attempt at foreshadowing. Jackson kept getting worse. We called the doctor and he thought it sounded like Jackson might have pertussis, or whooping cough. He had us start him on an antibiotic. However, Jackson kept getting worse and eating and drinking less. One night he woke up and was coughing like crazy. We tried to go in and comfort him and ended up spending like 4 hours trying to get him to calm down and go back to bed. It was then that Court suggested I give him a blessing. We believe that Jesus Christ restored His church again in our day. With his church he also restored the priesthood or power and authority to act in his name. I was able to give him a blessing that he would fully recover. We were able to finally get him back to sleep again.

It is Saturday now. Court was supposed to take a midterm Friday but because of Jackson's health never really got to study or could take the test. Saturday was her last chance to take it. She left in the morning to go study for an hour or so and then take the test. Jackson and I stayed home. Anyone who knows Jackson knows that even when he is sick he never stops moving, playing and smiling. We only can tell when something is wrong if he is sleeping worse or eating worse. Well, Saturday morning he didn't move. He laid on my chest for like 3 hours solid and didn't move. He drifted in and out of sleep as we watched tv. He felt hot so I decided to check his temperature. He had a fever. When Court got out of her test we decided to take him to the doctor but it was closed so we went to the emergency room.

After poking and prodding Jackson, taking blood and doing x-rays. We find out that he not only has croup, but that he also had RSV, was extremely dehydrated and had a fever. They got him on an iv and got us admitted to the hospital. The exciting thing was after an hour on the iv he started becoming the same wiggly we know and loved but still very sick. Sunday afternoon they let us go home.

He is doing better. But the doctor asked us to come in again and check up with him. Some of Jackson's blood work came back today. Turns out Jackson has croup, RSV and a bacterial infection. Poor boy has his mother's genes. He now has a nebulizer which our doctor, who is also a neighbor and friend, let us borrow to administer some of his medicine to him.

Today he is drinking his bottles and eating a little more. His fever is gone for the time being and his cough is getting better. Through it all I've been sick and Courtney is starting to get something too. We are tired both physically and mentally.

There has been tons of support, people offering help; others stopped by the hospital. We have appreciated the outreach and love. Those who know us know we would never ask for anything. Sunday we came home exhausted and we hadn't gone grocery shopping. We were hoping someone one would offer to make us dinner to no avail.

This brings me to my title. This morning Court received a text from a very good friend of ours saying dinner was being provided tonight. It was an answer to prayers. I thought about it for the rest of the day. I was in tears as I was thinking about these wonderfully, amazing friends of ours and how they didn't ask what they could do to help but just did it. They didn't let distance stop them from serving. They were truly angels. I miss them and I am grateful for their examples. They are true disciples of Christ. Always serving others around them.

I learned a lot of things from this experience. One, I was never too worried for Jackson. After his blessing a couple nights earlier I knew everything would be ok. I'm grateful for the priesthood. I know that it is real and have seen it bless many people in my life as it has been used to bless others. Two, we can all be angels in someone's life if we choose to act when we see a need like our dear friends did for us. I hope to be a little more sensitive to others and  their needs. I hope to be able to act and not wait to be asked. Maybe I can be an angel in some other person's life.

Here are some pictures from Jackson's stay at the hospital and with his nebulizer at home.



Jackson needed his Mickey on his lap while he watched his Mickey Mouse DVD.
 

Monday, January 14, 2013

11 Months!

I'm finally getting around to Jackson's 11 month post.  And in 2.5 weeks, it'll be time for his 1 year post!!  Jackson is getting so big and so fun.  He is definitely turning into quite the little ham.  Here are some highlights of Jackson at 11 months.

- Has 8 teeth, 4 on top and 4 on bottom!  He got his 7th tooth around mid-December and the 8th one popped through right at the end of the month.

- Is sleeping at least 11 hours at night (sometimes almost 12)!

- Loves making different noises!  He's been growling for a little while, but it was always in his throat.  Being in CT over Christmas, he learned how to growl with his mouth open and thinks it is hilarious when he gives me a big growl and I act scared.  He also likes to blow raspberries and has recently started spitting when he is upset at something.  He loves hearing animal sounds, especially cats after being at my parents' house, and laughs every time we "meow".  He also started smacking his lips together.

- Still loves to wave and is now clapping his hands.  It isn't uncommon for him to clap (and want us to clap) after each bite of food

- Is still mostly eating pureed baby food.  He is a pretty picky eater and if he doesn't like the texture of something he spits it right out.  However, he discovered chicken nuggets and veggie straws over Christmas and LOVES them!
 

- Holds his own bottle most of the time.  When he doesn't feel like holding his bottle, he holds my hand while I hold his bottle and it totally melts my heart :)

- Loves to play peek-a-boo!  It is his favorite game to play while we change his diaper.  He uses his pants to cover his face, or he just pulls his arms over his face and plays.  It helps keep him from rolling all over the place while we change him.

- Isn't crawling yet.  He is really good at getting where he wants to go by rolling, scooting, and pulling himself around with his arms, and last night he scooted forward by pulling his knees up and using his elbows, so we are getting there!

- Is getting pretty good at standing against furniture

- Is talking a lot!  He loves to say "mama" and "dada," and usually if we ask him to say one, he says the other. 

- Grabs, pulls, and eats EVERYTHING!  Anything that is within reach of Jackson is not safe and will either end up in his mouth or on the floor.  He especially loves chewing on plastic water bottles and cups. 
 

- Is turning into quite the little flirt.  He likes to smile at random people everywhere we go.  He also pretends to act shy and he tilts his head to the side and gives the cutest looks!
Here are some fun pictures of Jackson from last month!
Jackson got his first big bump last month!  He had a toy in his hand while waving his hands all around and it flew in the air and bumped him in the head.  Poor guy!

LOVE that smile!
Loves to play with his Mickey and will occasionally just pull it on his lap.  He also loves to stack things and knock down towers that we have built. 
 

Jackson loves toys that make noise :)

 

Growling at mommy :)
We call this one the "creeper" look.
Driving the car with daddy!
 This next set of pictures is a funny story ... Jackson has figured out how to get his snack containers open with his teeth.  Well, last week in the two minute drive from his babysitter's house to our house, Jackson got his puff container open, dumped them out in a pile between his legs, and was furiously shoving them in his mouth with a huge grin when we pulled into our garage.  Silly boy!!
Caught with the empty container ... notice the pile of puffs between his legs :)
 


Friday, January 11, 2013

Snow Day!

It started snowing pretty hard last night, and when we woke up we had 15+ inches of snow outside!!!  That's on top of the snow that still hadn't melted from the storm over Christmas break.  This isn't our first snow of the winter, but it was the first snow where Jackson hasn't been sick, so we had to take advantage and get some pictures of him outside in his first snow!  He was pretty cute!
Our driveway, before Shawn plowed it
After Shawn started plowing, just to give you an idea of how much snow we got

Poor Shawn plowing before 7am this morning
Jackson in his snow gear
The snow was about as tall as Jackson sitting next to it on the driveway!

Hmmm, checking out the snow ...
Alright, this is kind of cool ...
And then he started sinking ...
Get me out of here!!
Jackson sitting in our sidewalk
 
Look at all that snow!!

Tuesday, January 8, 2013

December Update!

December was a pretty crazy month.  It began with Christmas parties and finals, followed by a whirlwind of emotions when tragedy hit my home town, traveling back to CT to spend Christmas with my family, and ended with New Year's celebrations. 
My family has a tradition for everyone to have their own baby's first Christmas ornament.  Here is the one we ordered for Jackson!
There was a Santa at our church's Christmas party.
Mom and Dad, who is this???
Alright, I've had enough!!  Crying began shortly after this picture.
There was a giant stocking at the party and we just couldn't resist putting Jackson in it :)
Grandma and Grandpa Ward sent Jackson their Christmas Bear.  It sings Christmas songs when you press its hand or foot.  Jackson loved listening to the songs!!

Because Jackson and I flew out on the 17th, we had our little family Christmas at our home in Utah on the 15th.  Jackson is still too young to really understand opening presents, but he did a pretty good job with the presents where there was some give in the wrapping and he could just hit the box and break the wrapping paper.  
It took us 4 tries to get a family picture under the tree!
Our Christmas tree, complete with presents!
Finding things in his stocking
Mommy and Daddy got candy, Jackson got sweet potato puffs!!
You want me to do what?
Chillin' with his new bath toys!
Present time!
Shawn with his Christmas presents
And me with mine!

On the 17th, Jackson and I flew back to CT and Shawn joined us on the 22nd.  As Shawn mentioned in his last post, even through the hard times we were able to see some blessings and really enjoyed being able to spend time with my family.  Poor Jackson had a really hard time the first week without his daddy and didn't want to leave my side. Everyone was so excited to see him, and he would cry anytime I left the room or someone else tried to hold him.  Once Shawn came, he was a totally different baby!  He finally started warming up to everyone by the time we left.
Playing with Grandpa and cousin Dante
All tuckered out after a long day of last minute Christmas shopping with Mommy and Grandma
Christmas morning!  Getting ready to open presents!
Jackson LOVES books!
First present from Auntie Kara ...
It's a Mickey Mouse!!!
Poor guy did not want to wait for mommy to get it out of the box for him
And Mickey is back!
Giving Mickey some love, Jackson style!
We had to open presents in two waves because Jackson was tired
I love his facial expression in this one!
 

Kara getting ready to take a nap
Kara and Dante!
Kaliah playing with her favorite Christmas present ... her Nintendo DS
Grandma, Grandpa, and the grandkids!
 

Dante, Grandma, and Merrie built a pretty awesome gingerbread house!
Dante was very good at sharing his DS ... he's showing Grandma some tricks!
Jackson hanging out with Auntie Merrie and Dante
Showing off his waving skills
Kara made sure Jackson loved her before he left!
We flew back to Utah on the 28th and had quite the miraculous experience getting through the airport (we almost missed our flight).  Unfortunately we spent Shawn's birthday traveling, so we celebrated the next day with dinner at Red Robin with the Stuarts, and then I made Shawn a birthday breakfast, dinner, and dessert on Sunday.

Monday was New Year's Eve, and we had the Stuarts spend the night so we could ring in the New Year without having to go home and put kids to bed.  We had lasagna for dinner, ate lots of yummy snacks, and played some games. 

New Year's Eve was also the day Jackson turned 11 months!!!  I can't believe my baby boy is going to be 1 in just over 3 weeks.  This past year has gone by so fast and he has grown so much.  He is turning into quite the silly little boy, and Shawn and I love it!!  Stay tuned for an 11 month post so you can see what new tricks Jackson is up to!