Will it ever end?

I am still trying to get over this pneumonia but it is tough. Jackson's cold has now turned into an ear infection so he is now on medicine. And this morning, Billy wakes up sick AGAIN!! UGH!! He took a sick day today and is trying to rest and get better. We have got to get our household back on track and hopefully before Christmas. We have been sick for a month now. We are all praying for us to get well soon. Jackson is still happy most of the time considering his condition, but he has his moments for sure. He is gagging and spitting up quite a bit and we won't even discuss trying to clean his nose or give him his medicine. He will probably grow up thinking Mommy tortured him.

I can't believe Christmas is coming so quick. I really wanted to put up our tree for Jackson. I think he would like the lights, especially since Billy puts a million lights on it! I don't know if it will happen. I am so tired from being sick and still getting up every night I don't know if I have the energy. Billy has been working hard at work and has been sick so I don't think he has much energy left either. We will just have to see how it goes. There is so much to do and its all hitting me quick...decorating, cards, not to mention shopping!!! I am behind this year! Is it just me or do you feel it is coming quick this year???

Sick again...

I have been fighting pneumonia last week and this week and have been out of work. Billy and Mom have been getting Jackson back and forth to daycare for me which has been great because I haven't had to leave the house. Jackson started coughing yesterday so Mom came and we took him to the doctor today. He has a cough and congestion but is doing well otherwise - no fever. He weighed 17 lbs 1.4 oz this morning. Mom kept him out of daycare today since he is coughing and had a big day yesterday. He is keeping her busy too!

Yesterday was Jackson's special day. We had Jackson's Dedication at our church and we all went out for lunch afterwards. We were really glad that Grandma and Grandpa were able to make it. Jackson ate at the table with us for the first time - Papa fed him some cereal while Jason held him (down). It was a good day and Jackson did well all day and slept good that night too. He was so handsome all dressed up!

Jackson is growing like a weed. He rolls from his back to his tummy really well now. He is sitting with support. He is very strong and can stand and support his body weight. He is getting more active and I know we will have to do some child-proofing soon! He won't stay put for much longer. We "played" with a sippy cup this weekend and he was a big boy holding the handles.

Dedication pictures will be posted later. Here are some from lunch and other misc pictures...

Playing with his gym at Grandma and Grandpa's house...


And there's Grandpa!


Sleepy baby


Goodnight baby...



3:something AM


Good morning baby!


This is how we found him another morning. He entertains himself by kicking this aquarium (turning it on and off) and "stomping" his feet on the mattress. He wakes us up in the middle of the night doing it!


Now that he scoots and wiggles so much, I never know which way he will be in his crib the next time I go in there!

I am getting sick again! It seems to be the same bad cough. I just really hope it won't last as long and I hope I won't lose my voice again...

Billy had to babysit Jackson for a few hours on Saturday. He did better than he has in the past for Billy. He didn't want to take his bottle though. I got some new nipples for his bottles this weekend that I wanted to try, so tonight I gave Billy a bottle with 1.5oz in it to see how he did with it. Billy cradled him and that milk was gone in less than a minute it seemed. I tried to get a picture because it was so sweet but believe it or not, Billy's 4GB card was full! There is 1040 pictures on it. We haven't had time to clean them off completely yet!!

Pictures

Here are some pictures. A few from when we celebrated Billy's birthday with his parents a few weeks ago. We are introducing rice cereal to Jackson. This is the second time that he has had it and I think you can tell by the pictures he wasn't very excited about it. After he had his cereal, Billy played with him on the floor "practicing" rolling over.

Jackson is growing!

Well, Jackson had his 4 month visit Wednesday. Once again, he had an excellent check up. He is now 16.6 lbs and 26 inches long. He is still high on the charts (80 and 86 percentile) but is lower than he has been (95). He is growing and developing well. We are going to start experimenting with some foods soon. That should be really fun. We will have to pull out the camcorder for sure! I think he still has just a touch of his cold left that he is struggling with but overall is doing great. We had his pictures taken again last weekend and they are really good. I can’t wait to get them back. I think he likes the camera which is great since he was born into my family (there is always at least 3 cameras around at all times!!). He is doing well at daycare; however, he still doesn’t sleep much while he is there. We have had some issues with him not sleeping at night lately but the doctor just said hang in there, it will happen for the first year. Easier said than done when I have to work full time! I really look forward to my weekends but sleeping in late is a thing of the past. Daycare was closed on Tuesday so Jackson got to stay home and Mimi came over to keep him. He did really well and they had a lot of fun playing and reading books. I wish I could have stayed home and had fun with them!

Billy and I are doing better. We still have the lingering cough but otherwise are good. It was no fun. I ended up being sick for 2 weeks and couldn’t talk for 8 days! And I never thought about how bad it would be to not be able to talk until then. I couldn’t work, couldn’t make phone calls, and there wasn’t much dinner conversation at our house! I wanted to talk to Jackson and play so bad but the best I could do was whisper with a squeak from time to time.

I love fall. The trees around Winston are absolutely beautiful. The colors are just amazing so my drive to work has been quite enjoyable lately. At one point I pass a field (of sheep, but anyway) that is full of trees in the background with the brightest yellows, oranges, and reds. Over the trees, you can see a stretch of the mountains. I would love to get a picture of it.

I hope to get some more pictures added soon. I don’t get to use the computer much for personal use. And if I manage to find time, it is usually on the weekends - which is getting harder because we are getting to the busy part of the year. But I will do my best so check back in later…

Update

Billy is doing better. He still has a cough though. We are going to celebrate his birthday when we get better. I finally have more than a squeak for my voice today. I feel okay for the most part - just the cough and my voice. I hope I will be able to work tomorrow since I have been out for a week. Jackson is doing better I think. He is still stuffy at times and a cough from time to time. I don't think he had it near as bad as Billy or I but definitely had a little cold.

So we took the day to stay in and rest. Jackson tried out some of his "new" toys today and seemed to have a good time. We got the exersaucer from a consignment store and the gym from Craig's List. Great deals! He really likes the gym the best for now. I know I am a little obsessive with the pictures, but isn't he just too cute? I can't resist.

House full of sickness

Skipping the random 6 for now...

Billy has been sick for a week now. He has a head cold and is wore out. He has not been to the doctor and has been taking OTC medication. I started getting sick Wednesday, and got much worse Saturday. I have lost my voice completely now and keep having night fevers. I went to the doctor on Thursday to be told that I have a cold...like I didn't know that already. Then I went again today and was told I still have a cold and now a sinus infection from the cold. They finally gave me an antibiotic. Jackson went to the doctor with me on Thursday and guess what...he has a cold as well. He is stuffy and has a watery eye but no fevers. He weighs 15 lbs now. He stayed home with me Thursday and with Mimi on Friday. I hope he does well at daycare this week. I don't know what I will do about work since I can't talk...

I can't believe Jackson is almost 4 months old! He amazes me everyday. Just to look at him and see how he grows and learns from day to day. It reminds me daily of how awesome God is. How he made us. Jackson is so much fun. He has learned new noises and plays with his feet a lot now. He is such a sweet baby.

We went to have the second rounds of Jackson's portrait taken Saturday and then went to visit my brother's family. We had a good time. I just wish we would have all felt better. Today we have just been resting up and getting ready for the week. This is about all the news I have. Not a lot new going on. We are so busy its hard to do much else right now. We get up, get ready, work, fix supper, clean up, get ready for the next day, and then bedtime. Then repeat. Saturday is housework day and grocery day. Sunday is church and family day. But I really enjoy spending time with Jackson. We are so blessed to have him.

Update

It seems so hard to find time for anything lately. I have been wanting to put some pics on here and had a few minutes to post a few tonight. Jackson is doing well. He is growing and changing each day. It is getting easier to play with him since he is getting more active. We got out some of his toys this weekend and it looks like he enjoyed it. Mimi got him some books, so we will start reading some new stories as well. We get his picture made again this weekend. I am hoping that he does well and we get some good shots. As cute as he is, I don't see how we couldn't!



That's all for now but I will try to do better with updates and pics...

Good job!

Jackson did good with his bigger bottles yesterday. He drank 14 oz and they only had to throw out 1 oz! I was worried increasing the amounts because last time I did that, they threw out 5.5 oz and he was only staying partial days then. But he did good. I guess our problem may be solved partially. Now he is selective who he takes the bottles from. They said he did not sleep much at all yesterday so I was prepared for a rough evening. But to my surprise, he slept on the way home. When we got home, I fed him and then he slept for about an hour. Then I gave him his bath and did bedtime (actually a touch early). I woke up at 5 am and realized he had slept for 8 hours!!! He was moving a little but probably would have slept longer but I had to wake him up to feed him so I would make it out on time this morning. He ate good and then slept until 6:45 when I had to wake him up again! That is good but somehow for me it now seems the more sleep I get the more tired I am...or maybe it is just adjusting back to work? Both happening at the same time so I'm not sure...

A few quick notes...

Jackson's first full week at daycare has been pretty good. He has taken his bottles and started sleeping about 2 hours during the day. They tell me that he is doing well and actually said I should increase the amount in his bottles now that he takes them well. And actually, when I picked him up Monday afternoon they said we must have worked with him on his bottles over the weekend because he did so well but he only had 2! They said he may be hitting a growth spurt. When I pick him up I know he is exhausted and wants Mommy to hold him and therefore, cries/screams the whole way home most days. Sometimes I can get him to take a nap which is nice. As expected, it has been a big adjustment for both of us. I am very tired being back at work full time. There is always so much to do and never enough time. I am non-stop from 6am to around 10:30 when I get ready for bed. Jackson is sleeping better at nights since daycare wears him out. Monday night he slept 7.5 hours!!! He hasn't done it since but maybe soon he will sleep all night every night. So we still get up around 2:30 or 3:00 most nights for now. He is really growing and developing every day. He has learned his name...The other night I was holding him on the couch and Billy was in the chair where Jackson couldn't see him. Billy would call his name and Jackson would turn his head around where he could see Daddy. Billy did it several times and he looked every time! Billy kept him a few hours last weekend for me and Jackson acted up. He was fighting sleep and didn't want to take his bottle from Billy. Daddy needs to work with Jackson and his bottles so I will be able to get a break from time to time. So, over all we are doing good but I really miss him!!!