4 Months

Here are some of Jackson's 4 month pictures. His personality is really starting to show and he was pretty funny the other night when we took his pictures.

I think this picture is hilarious! It's like he's Joey from Friends..."how you doin'?"

Just chillin out here...

He's getting pretty good at sitting up, but has apparently decided that he should lean forward when sitting, which sometimes works out well...

And sometimes it doesn't! He clearly found this to be extremely funny!

Jackson seems to be doing well. His breathing is much improved. The ENT doctor today said that while his breathing is still a little loud, he isn't concerned. We go on Friday for our 4 month well baby visit and for a follow up from the last ear infection.

Here are a couple of pictures from Sunday morning of Jackson wearing Daddy's WVU cap.

Uncle Evan Knows Santa!!!

On Saturday Uncle Evan flew Santa Claus and 2 of his Elves into a Christmas Party on Evan's base in San Diego. If Jackson were just a few years older he would be totally impressed!!

Look close, there's Santa waving and that's Uncle Evan in the seat in front of him...

Jackson has yet another ear infection- that's 2 in 2 weeks- so he's been a bit grumpy and not himself the last couple of days, but he seems to be on the mend today.

Laundry Day

Some know today as Sunday, but around here it's known as Laundry Day. After a 2 1/2 hour nap (woo-hoo!) Jackson volunteered to help his mommy match socks. He wasn't so sure about it at first...


but he soon decided that sock matching was actually not too bad. He only made it through the white clothes and we are now up to our 7th load today and he's sound asleep in bed.


Actually, the laundry was so exhausting that he wasn't able to completely make it through his cereal tonight.

He slept for about 30 minutes this way. Jared ran the vaccumm and I used the blender, he never moved!

When he did wake up he had the cutest smile on his face as though he was thinking "oops, I didn't mean to doze off!"

O'Christmas Tree

The Sunday after Thanksgiving Jared and I ventured out to Pliny, WV in the pouring rain to choose the family Christmas tree- luckily Grandma and Grandpa agreed to watch Jackson and loan us their truck! We hadn't been to this place before and will probably not go back there next year- although the experience was ruined somewhat by the rain. The trees were a little holey and not as pretty as the trees from last year's tree farm.

But, we finally found one that we thought was suitable. We got it decorated on Monday night and I have to say that I think it turned out quite nice. Jackson has been less then impressed, although in the past several days he has really started noticing it and seems to be enjoying it.

Now if I could just find some time to get some presents wrapped and under it! Here is a picture of Jackson "helping" us decorate the tree on Monday

We have started reading books often and Jackson clearly has a love for "One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish" he can be crying but will stop to listen. We tried "The Cat in the Hat" tonight and he didn't seem to be as into it.

We had Christmas pictures taken today at JcPenney's. Picture taking in studios is not going well. The first attempt at Walmart in October was a 30 second session that ended in a total melt down. Today he was happy as he could be while we were waiting, but the minute we went back to the studio he turned on the tears and turned up the volume! We took a quick bottle break, during which he was smiling and having a great time, but again the minute we went back to have pictures taken things totally fell apart! But we got a few good ones anyway, if I can figure out how to post scanned images I'll post some once we get them.

We have a fairly busy week ahead, hope everyone has a great week!

Jackson's Baptism

We had Jackson baptized today. He was awake for the first 5 minutes of it and then went to sleep until it was all over.

He didn't even wake up when the water was put on his head! We thought for sure that he would wake up then, but it didn't even phase him.

Here is Jackson with his Godfather Tony and his Godmother Kim. For those of you who don't know Tony and Kim, they are good friends of mine and Jared's from law school. We are really grateful to them for agreeing to take on such a special role in Jackson's life.

And it's all over, so Jackson woke up for a few pictures. After the service we had a reception at our house. It was a wonderful Saturday and a special day in Jackson's life. Thank you to everyone who travelled so far and scheduled their holiday plans around today in order to be part of it!

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Hope everyone had a Happy Thanksgiving!! We celebrated with the Tully's yesterday and had a great meal!! Jackson seemed to really enjoy his first Thanksgiving, even though he is currently fighting an ear infection. He had a great time hanging out with his great grandmothers and I think they had an equally great time hanging out with him...

We came home after dinner and Uncle Evan came over to meet his new nephew. Jackson really liked Uncle Evan, he couldn't stop smiling and laughing. Evan's Naval Academy class ring was really a big hit with Jackson, he couldn't take his eyes and fingers off of it- we may have a future midshipman here.

Here are a couple of pictures from this morning. Jackson now definitely knows he has a dog and he thinks she is pretty fun. Morgan may not be quite as taken with Jackson as she once was- in her mind Jackson is taking valueable attention away from her!

Finally, it has been a long weekend so far and Jackson is clearly exhausted! We are off to celebrate Thanksgiving with the McNeers this afternoon- Round 2! Then tomorrow Mr. Jackson is being baptized- stay tuned for more pictures.

3 Months and so much more

WARNING: PICTURE OVERLOAD

Since it's been a month since I've updated the blog (I apologize to the faithful readers) I have a lot to catch up on. So, to kick things off...here is Jackson's 3 month picture taken on November 11th. He is able to sit up really well when propped up and is smiling all over himself these days. He is not too far off from laughing.



We did end up visiting the hospital again at the end of October for another 24 hour test- this time I didn't have to be a patient as well! Jackson was tested for acid reflux, which thankfully he does not have!! While in the hospital he was also seen by the pulmnologist, who determined that he does not have asthma either!!! An ear, nose and throat doctor also came for a visit and he was able to give an answer to Jackson's breathing/respiratory issues that so far has made the most sense. He thinks Jackson's nose makes too much mucous. Hopefully this is something he will grow out of (or his nose will grow into) and for now we are just suppose to use saline drops and suction out his nose. He is really doing a lot better with his breathing. Jared and I have noticed a steady improvement over the past month with the suctioning.

So Jackson spent his first Halloween in the hospital, but was released just in time to go to Emma and Ethan's Halloween party. He went as a "Jackson-O-Lantern!"

Finally, we have started eating some cereal in the evenings like a big boy. I keep it pretty runny and he seems to love it!! Although not so sure at first, he quickly came to really like it and now when we put him in his highchair in the evenings he smiles and gets so excited because he knows what's coming.

This is a picture from the first night, not too sure about all this...

But here are some pictures from last night, as you can see cereal is a HUGE hit!

I had surgery at the beginning of the month to remove the kidney stone that landed me in the hospital with Jackson. The surgery went well and the doctor didn't seem to think that I would have any future trouble with kidney stones- which is great since the pain was worse then anything I experienced giving birth to Jackson!

We are having him baptized next Saturday while his Uncle Evan is home for Thanksgiving. It will be the first time they have met and Jackson is pretty pumped up about it.

I will try my very best to be better about posting in the future, but stick with me, I have a trial coming up in just a few weeks that is taking up a lot of my time, but I will do my best! I am working on downloading our videos to the computer, once I get it done and if I can figure out how to get them on blogger I'll post a few.

Everyone have a wonderful Thanksgiving next week!!!

I Promise

I promise I will post new pictures soon. Things have been pretty busy lately! I had surgery to remove my kidney stone and now I'm getting ready for trial, Thanksgiving, Jackson's Baptism and Christmas all at the same time!! HECTIC!!!!!

But everything is going well. Jackson had a good report at his well baby visit last week and weighed almost 12 lbs- we've doubled our birth weight. The respiratory issues seem to be resolving and he now is only on the apnea monitor at night. WOO-HOO!!! He is really growing and changing everyday. He has become pretty vocal and I think is getting closer and closer to rolling over. He is also smiling all the time now! He ate cereal out of bowl for the first time on Sunday evening- pictures coming soon (maybe even video if I can figure out how to do it)- and seemed to really enjoy it.

Stick with me, pictures coming soon-hopefully tonight!!!

The Perfect Fall Day

Yesterday we decided to go on a drive to check out the fall foliage. We drove up the mountain through Montgomery, Gauley Bridge and into Fayetteville. It was a beautiful drive and a great day! We stopped in Fayetteville and ate at our favorite pizzeria Pies and Pints- so delicious!! Then we drove down into the New River Gorge and stopped to take some pictures under the Bridge.

I think this one turned out great! We used the timer and did it ourselves.

Different view of the Bridge...

Jackson seemed to have a good time, although he was not impressed with having to get in and out of his car seat. After that we headed to Summersville to visit with his Nana and Papa. I know that Jackson enjoyed that visit (as did his Nana and Papa!).

On Saturday Jackson was all set to go to a Pumpkin Carving Party, but not 5 minutes after this picture was taken he had a complete melt down. He and I ended up opting out of the party. He fell asleep at 6:30 pm and slept until 10:30 pm, so he probably would not have been much fun at the party. But I love this picture because it looks like he's dancing!!

On a side note, he seems to be doing much better. We have not had any alarms with his monitor and his congestion is getting much, much better. I too am feeling better. We are both still waiting for our referrals, which hopefully we will get this week.

2 Months & an ER visit

Sorry to have not posted in a while, but things have been HECTIC!!! Jackson turned 2 months old last Saturday. Unfortunately he spent his 2 month birthday in the hospital. Last Thursday I had him to the pediatrician because he has been so congested. Well the pediatrician didn't like the sound and the way he was breathing, so we did a whole bunch of tests- all of which came back normal. But he told me that if Jackson started breathing fast again to call immediately. Well of course he started breathing really fast on the way home. So I called and off to the ER we went.

Jackson was admitted to the hospital from the ER for observation overnight because he is so young and they didn't want to send us home late at night with an infant having breathing issues. So we had a pneumogram performed, which is a 24 hour test that measured his oxygen saturation, heart rate and something else. We finally got to come home on Saturday evening with an apnea monitor.

So we got all the test results back yesterday and everything came back normal. But because his breathing is still out of whack we are going to stay on the apnea monitor for now and are being referred to a pulmonlogist.

But that is not the end of this tale, I left out a small detail...

While we were in the ER for Jackson, I had to be admitted as well!! I began having terrible pain in my left side and started throwing up- turns out I have kidney stones (big ones!). Poor Jared, there he was with his baby and his wife both sick and in the ER. Jackson got sent upstairs before I was released from the ER, so Jared finally called my parents at 2:00 am to come to the ER to be with me so that he could stay with Jackson. I follow up with the doctor tomorrow and will probably have to have the stones lasered.

It has been quite an adventure the past week, I'll keep everyone up to date on Jackson. He seems to be doing better, just a ton of congestion. We've only had a couple of alarms, but I understand these apnea monitors have a lot of false alarms.

But on to more fun things, here are some pictures we took the other night...

Gearing up for Halloween...

And one from yesterday morning...Jackson is very into the environment!

Two Days Down

Well we are two days into our "return to the real world" and I think we are doing okay. Yesterday wasn't too bad leaving Jackson at daycare and then going to the office all day. Sunday on the otherhand...well that was hard because I thought about everytime I looked at him.

I'm slowly getting back into the swing of things here at work. I think by the end of the week I'll be totally back in the groove. Jackson seems to be doing well with daycare- I haven't heard any complaints anyways.

The hardest part has been dragging my butt out of bed in the morning. I didn't acknowledge the alarm was going off this morning for 45 minutes, which then made us all (Jared included) late for work. Jared has been great about helping in the mornings. He gets up and gives Jackson his 6am bottle and then gets him cleaned up and dressed. He also washes the bottles from the nighttime feedings so they are clean and ready to go when we get home.

I'm not sure what Jackson thinks of this whole thing, but he does seem to be adjusting well to it. Hopefully that will continue!

Last Week

This is mine and Jackson's last week at home. Starting on Monday I go back to work and he starts daycare. While I am excited to get back into a routine and be back at work where I can have conversations with adults before 5:30 when Jared gets home, I am really going to miss the time that Jackson and I share together during the day. He and I have really enjoyed the past 6 weeks together (or at least I have, I'm assuming that he has!)- but the time has really flown by quickly!!

It will be nice that Jackson's daycare is in my office, he will just be one floor below me. So I will be able to sneak down and see him during the day and go down at lunch and give him a bottle. I think that will make it a little easier.

Of course he's crying right now for no reason whatsoever, so maybe Monday won't be so bad! :)

Let's Go...Mountaineers

Just a quick post tonight because we are watching the 'Eers. We are hoping that Jackson's second WVU game goes better then his first (although it's not looking to great at the time of this post).

Not much to report on this end. We have changed formula in an effort to help Jackson's gas problem (he'll be so embarrassed in a few years!) and we are working very hard to learning to sleep in the crib rather then in the papasan chair in the crib. Some nights it goes better then others. He is much more alert during the day, so he is learning his days from his nights.

One Month Old

Jackson turned one month old yesterday. It is hard to believe how much he has changed in such a short amount of time. When he was born he weighed 6 lbs. and newborn clothes were huge on him. This week at the doctor he weighed 8 lbs 6 oz! He can no longer wear newborn clothes and is wearing 0-3 month without any problem.

How tiny he was here...

He is changing every day. His hands were so teeny tiny when he was born, you could almost see through them they were so little. His hands today have really filled out and gotten so big. He is starting to stay awake more during the day and will hopefully start sleeping better at night.

We want to say a big thank you to Uncle Evan who sent him a Baby Pluto for his one month birthday. Uncle Evan is in the Navy and is stationed in San Diego, California, so they haven't officially met. Sadly they won't get to meet in person until Evan comes home for Thanksgiving. But we know that they will be best buddies, even if it is long distance. So, Thank you Uncle Evan, we can't wait to see you in November!!