Sunday, December 30, 2007

Working on my Resolutions

Okay, so I never stick to them, but I have been thinking of nothing but things that need to change in my life for the past month.
1. CLUTTER GO BYE-BYE!!!
Mine, Chip's, and (especially) Katie's. I need to grit my teeth and cull the mess. I need to figure out how many of one thing my child really needs. Does she need 30 purses or 50 teddy bears? Do I need to hang on to all my magazines? Does Chip need all that old computer junk? Do any of us need a ton of books we will never read again?
2. NO MORE MIDNIGHT MEALS!!!
No more eating every night when Chip gets home. Sure, if you ask I will say I am hungry. I probably am hungry. But you know what ... I don't need a fourth meal. Especially since it is bound to come from a fast food place. And think of the money we will save (surely it won't be spent elsewhere)
3. COOK AT HOME!!!
Fast food is not doing any of us a favor. I can blame the weight after Connor was born on Halloween and Thanksgiving and Christmas all I want, but it probably has a lot to do with eating fast food several times a week. We probably eat fast food or pizza more than we cook. That has definitely got to stop, from a financial and health stand point.
4. GET CRAFTY!!!
I need to give myself time to create things. Time to disappear into my room for more than 3 minutes at a time. Time to complete a project .... in less than a year. Time to play and do something for myself.
5. BE PATIENT!!!
This will be the hardest. I have no patience whatsoever! Whether we are talking about Katie or letting paint dry. I need to learn to relax.
6. FINISH HOME IMPROVEMENT PROJECTS!!!
We have a ton of stuff that we have bought the materials for and have not done. We have a sink and faucet sitting in the garage for the 1/2 bath (maybe for 2 years now) We have paint for the stairway, paint for Connor's room, paint to finish up our master bedroom. Heck, we need to do everything for the nursery. The pieces are all there, just need to put them together.

I am sure there are a ton more I will think of before New Years Day ... but for now, I need to see about something else that should be a resolution ... GETTING MORE SLEEP!!

Friday, December 28, 2007

Merry Christmas

Well, mostly merry. We headed to Atlanta to spend the holiday with my family. I was planning on staying for a week, but plans changed quickly. We ended up leaving Monday instead of Sunday. We were exhausted from being up all night with the little man, and we did not want to risk the drive. So, we left fairly early Monday and we got to Grammy's house around 6 pm Atlanta time. Connor did great on the trip. He slept the whole way!! We stopped in Anniston at the Target and gave him a bottle while we did some quick shopping. (ran in to the nicest and friendliest people in that Target)
Vince, ronka, and Austin came over for a while and we had some chili and visited. Then Katie scattered her reindeer food in the yard, put out Santa's milk and cookies, and eventually went to bed. It was getting pretty late and I was starting to think Santa would pass her by, but after 5 stories she was sound asleep. Then Grammy, Chip and I stayed up to help Santa with the gifts. It is a good thing that Connor did not have to be asleep or Santa would have never come. Katie woke us up bright and early to tell us that Santa had come.
She was so EXCITED!! We got all the presents opened and stockings unstuffed. Then we had to get ready for the rest of the family to arrive at 2pm. Much cooking and baking ensued.
Katie was ecstatic to see her cousins!! They had a great time playing. Running around screeching seemed to be the majority of it. And of course we got to meet Amelia for the first time. She is such a smiley happy baby!! The cutest mohawk you have ever seen!! Austin did a great job of being the oldest cousin and being "in charge". It was wonderful to just sit around and be able to chat with the whole family. No stress, just hanging out.
Sometime on Monday Connor started wheezing. It got worse on Tuesday. By Tuesday night we were really getting worried, so we decided that the best idea would be to head back to Mississippi so we could take him to his pediatrician. We left at 1 am (12 am central) and arrived in Horn Lake before the doctors office was open, so we hit Cracker Barrel for breakfast. Good thing we did get to eat because the rest of the day flew by. The doc listened to Connor's chest and diagnosed him with bronchialitis, and gave him a breathing treatment. Then they sent us on to Le Bonheur for a chest xray. Results ... Connor has RSV. We were admitted to the hospital, and after 6 hours finally got a room. Luckily, we caught this early. Connor is eating fine, which is one of the main worries. And he is STRONG!! He is up to 12 lbs. 4 oz. They kept us over night to be able to watch him, but since he was doing so well they let us come home Thursday afternoon. He is on antibiotics because they saw some spots on his chest xray that could mean pneumonia. But, like I said, he is a strong little man and he is doing great.

Friday, December 21, 2007

Microwave Fudge

Just adding in something to make the holiday prep a little easier...

my perfect fudge recipe is NO STRESS!! And it only takes about 5 minutes to mix up, 1 hour to harden.

Microwave Fudge

1 lb Confectioners Sugar
1/2 cup Cocoa
1/4 cup Milk
1/4 lb Butter or Margarine
1 tsp Vanilla
1/2 cup nuts (optional of coure)
Mix Conf. Sugar and Cocoa to combine. Add milk and butter, don't mix. Microwave uncovered 2 minutes. Stir in Vanilla and Nuts. Pour in container (I suggest you butter it) let harden in refrigerator for 1 hour.

SIMPLE and DELICIOUS!!

Watch out though ... if you get good at the ratios you might find yourself mixing up "personal pan fudge." Yummy!!

Tuesday, December 18, 2007

My Chubs

We took Connor in for his two month check up this morning. I knew he had grown a good bit and he is definitely a chunky little thing, but I totally did not expect for him to be ELEVEN AND A HALF POUNDS!!! I mean, WOW! From 4 lb. 14 oz. to 11 lb. 8 oz. in under 10 weeks. He is up to 21.25 inches and his noggin is 16 inches. He has quite the melon :) It definitely runs in the family. The doctor even commented on how strong he is. And, of course, he is the cutest little man in the world.

Friday, December 14, 2007

Connor is 2 Months Old

Hard to believe that 2 months have already passed. Our little chunker is growing so big! He is holding his head up pretty good. He is super dooper strong. His hair is still not growing, but it still looks "gingy" to me! Some nights he sleeps pretty good, and if I would just go to bed instead of waiting up for Chip then I would not be exhausted all the time.
Poor guy experienced his first Momma photoshoot last night. I got everything all set up, and got him ready (wasn't hard since I was dooing nakey pictures ;) ), laid him down and took two shots .... and he peed! That boy LOVES to pee at the worst times. I had prepared for it with waterproof pads underneath so I just decided to keep shooting. Chip thinks I am mean for doing nakey pictures, but I think they are absolutely adorable!! Besides, he is 2 months old and you HAVE to have naked pictures of the babies.






Wednesday, December 12, 2007

Yet another Santa visit




This will go down in history as the year of the Santa. We went back to the mall to get a picture with Connor in it. Of course, this HAD to be done so I guess it is nothing out of the ordinary ... but today Santa will be at Katie's school for pictures. I had luckily sat down and explained to her about multiple Santas. I told her that Santa sends out his elves dressed as Santa to get all the lists of toys for Santa to deliver. He may be magic, but he can't be everywhere at once. I say lucky because there was a different Santa at the mall than two weeks ago. I would never have thought they would change at the same mall. I figured they have one Santa ... looks bad to keep changing him. Maybe one of them had an emergency, but it is confusing for kids. Santa freaks kids out enough without making them question his existence in the middle of a busy mall.
Katie was sweet. She had already told Santa what she wanted last time, so she told Santa what her little brother wanted. I will have to find out what that was :) And then we went to Build-A-Bear. Katie had been begging to go. She even used her own allowance to pay for her new bear. Her name is Sierra (named after Katie's best friend from school). She got her a Mrs. Claus outfit and some sparkly shoes. It really is a cute store. A good experience all around. Maybe she will love this bear more since she created her. Then we hit Ruby Tuesday for dinner.



Yet another trip with the two kiddos without Chip. It isn't impossible, but it is stressful. Guess I will get better at that in time.

Tuesday, December 11, 2007

Seeing Santa

It always amazes me how contrary kids can be! Last year Katie refused to go anywhere near Santa. She was so freaked out that I did not make her sit on his lap. We even had to tell her that he doesn't come down the chimney like the story says .... he just wiggles his nose and the presents appear in the house magically. So, imagine my surprise when we were at Wolfchase Mall two weeks ago and she insisted she see Santa. She HAD to see him!! I tried to argue that she wasn't dressed, but there was no stopping her. And what could bring on the about-face? What else ... Polly Pocket! She knows that her only hope to get the Polly Pocket Jet is if Santa brings it since Mom and Dad have had enough of Polly Pocket. Katie ran right up to Santa, jumped in his lap, and gave him the biggest hug!! And she sat and chatted with him. Just talking away. She asked for the Jet, and two Polly sets, and a set of Barbie make-up. When Santa asked if she had been a good girl she said "yes ... but Marlin is always bad." She ratted out one of the boys in her class! Hilarious!! Santa was really slow so we got to take a lot of pictures, and she got to take her time talking to him. She did GREAT! Now I just have to take them back so Connor can have his picture taken with Santa!



Tuesday, November 27, 2007

Grunter McKickles

We had to add to Connor's nickname. Poor thing grunts and strains so much. His little face gets so red. Still adorable though.
Connor has decided he wants to be a little piggy man. He finally started nursing on the 17th!!! I was about to give up, but decided to try one last time ... and he latched right on. He is doing great!! His little neck is getting stronger, and soon he will be up to having some tummy time. Now if he would just learn to sleep longer at night!!





Sunday, November 18, 2007

Halloween 2007

So, like everything I am writing this way too late. Too bad, this is when I have the time :)


We actually decorated the house this year. We always mean to , but never get around to it. This year we did. Sadly we decorated it on Halloween and took it down the next day, but better than nothing. The "scarecrow" was a big hit, and we had the "SCARIEST" house in the neighborhood. Mainly because the kids thought the scarecrow was a real person that was going to jump out at them. I was a good girl and did not scream through the open window to freak out the kids as they walked up. Lucky kids that Chip was not in charge of candy distribution!!



This Halloween I got to stay home with Connor and hand out candy. We had a TON of kids. Well, most of them were kids ... and most were in costumes. When did it become acceptable to show up at someone's house in regular clothes, with a walmart bag and Trick or Treat??? That is nuts!! But most of the kids were dressed up, and very cute. I was impressed that almost every single kid said thank you, even the ones with no costumes. Connor and I had fun though. I got to snuggle and take a few pics of him.




Katie and Chip went out with one of her little friends and her family. They were adorable! Katie was dressed as a Bratz Batgirl. She insisted we buy black lipstick, and then ran out of the house without putting it on, even though she had been putting it on almost every night before Halloween ... Shelby was dressed as Dorothy, and her whole family dressed up too! Endira was the Wicked Witch, Ryan was the Tin Man, and her grandfather was the Cowardly Lion. They came to our house, and Katie tried to act like she did not know it was her house. Very cute. Katie apparently was a little jealous of all the attention that Shelby got as Dorothy. They cleaned up on the candy front. Good news for the diabetic kid, huh?


All in all, Halloween was a success. What could be bad about free candy??

Wednesday, October 31, 2007

Happy Halloween

Katie got to wear her costume to school today! She was so excited about being a "bat-girl"!!
I am sure there will be more pictures taken tonight!



Connor Charles Jackson

I know it has taken forever for me to post this, but you have to understand how retarded you feel the first few weeks after giving birth. Add to that the fact that we have nothing prepared for Connor!! We thought we had another month and a half before we had to have the nursery ready!! The house is a mess, the nursery is still full of Katie-stuff and PURPLE, the cat is shedding everywhere (anyone want a neurotic 8 year old orange tabby that is completely declawed??), and of course we are entering the busy time of year. There is so much to do with Katie. I had to miss her first fieldtrip to the petting zoo because I was in labor. Sure, it is a good excuse but I don't have any pictures!!
So, here is the breakdown of the last month for the Jackson 4 ...
I worked up until the morning of the 7th, and when I woke up that afternoon we found out that my water had ruptured. Luckily it was a slow leak! We went straight to the hospital, and they ended up admitting me. I got a lovely stay at Hotel Desoto ... although with what they charge I should have flown to a world class spa!!! They monitored my fluid levels, but by Thursday they were super low, so Dr. Ryan decided he would induce me on Friday at 4 AM!!! That put me at 34 weeks and 2 days. Luckily we had those days in the hospital to settle on a name. Katie was partial to the name Brendan, but Chip and I both loved Connor. So, being the parents we overrode Katie. Though Daddy promised her that if we have another child (girl or boy) that we could name it Brendan. We kept Chip's first name for the middle name since it went back four generations. It seemed only fitting.
So, they finally got my IV run after four tries, and we got the Pitocin going. Chip fell asleep on the couch (in his defense he had worked the whole night before)and I waited. I was not dilating, or really just dilating very slowly. Finally I gave in and asked for some pain meds. They gave me Stateall (or however you spell it). And according to Chip they gave it to me twice, not that I remember it :) So I slept. Around 5 PM I was hurting bad and had Chip call the nurse about touching up the pain med. She came in and said that if I had dilated to 3 or 4 they would go ahead and do the epidural. Like I said, I was dilating SLOW! I ran to the potty, and when I came back I could barely get laid back down for the contractions ... and the nurse checked me. She did not have to look very far because he was crowning!!! Needless to say, I did not get my epidural!! All hell broke loose as they tried to get the room ready. Dr.Ryan made it in the room just in time! I was trying so hard not to push until everything was ready. I was just about to start pushing when Katie came running in the room!! Grammy, who had made it in town a few hours earlier had taken her to get a snack, and they had no clue what they were walking in on. They got shooed out, but only for a little bit. I pushed through one contraction, then through another. They told me to rest, and I think I grunted "uh-uh" and pushed one last time ...
Connor was born at 5:47 PM! He weighed 4 lbs. 14 oz. and was 19.5 inches. His head however was 13.5 !!! We were so lucky!! His lungs were strong, and he did not need to be put on oxygen. We were allowed to let the family in and let everyone see him. Katie was so excited to see her little brother!! My Mom was there, and both of Chip's parents. It was perfect!!




Connor did end up staying in the Level II nursery for two weeks. It was a lot of driving back and forth, but thankfully we had our parents to help us out. My Mom stayed a whole week, and Chip's Dad came back on Wednesday before we got Connor home. I don't know how we would have managed without them. Especially since I had to "room-in" the night before Connor came home, and the night he came home Katie had a school fair that PopPop took her to (once again, no pictures).
We have spent the past week adjusting to life with an infant! You forget what it is like after 5 years :)

Tuesday, October 2, 2007

Our Annual Ole Miss Game

Ok, so this post is about a week and a half late, but I just wanted to get it all down and post some pics. Every year we try to get together for a game with all the family from school. Chip's fraternity brothers and their wives, and those we met at the house. I wasn't a sorority type girl, but I am glad Chip did the fraternity thing because those people are definitely part of our family. It also helps that we have a gaggle of crazy kids that get along pretty great. Half the fun of getting together is watching those goof balls play.
The game itself was pretty good this year. Ole Miss vs. Florida. Florida, being ranked number 3 was supposed to blow us out of the water, but our Rebels made a pretty good showing. We even had a chance of beating them, but in the end we just couldn't do it. No matter, the game was great. It was exciting. We had a great time cheering. We sat with the Martinez family and Josh and Kim. Katie and Riley had a blast cheering on the Rebels. At least we know we are raising them right :)
After the game we ran in the Rebel Bookstore, and then headed back to the Grove to hang out somemore. When we just couldn't take it anymore a group of us headed over to Joe and Julie's for a little cookout. And the girls got a baby cake for my belly ... I mean, for my prego belly. Any excuse for cake!!
We love you guys! Wish we could do this much more often!

Stole this pic from Katy. I managed not to get one cute shot of the cheerleaders all together!






She just had to have the barbecue nachos ...


Chip said this was our Big Love picture :) Love you gals, but I ain't sharing!

Friday, September 7, 2007

Just catching up ...

Almost two weeks SHOT FREE!!! Katie has been doing awesome on the pills. I think her teachers miss talking to us because they were still calling the first week even when her sugar was not at the "call parents" point. She has had some highs, but they are mainly right before time for her second dose. She is loving it! Go figure, she prefers swallowing a few pills to taking a shot ...
Also, Katie is doing so good at school. Although she gets frustrated when she doesn't do things perfectly. Hard to convince her that everything doesn't have to be perfect ... and then turn around and insist she re-do something. Confusing, huh. She has a problem with curvy letters. They were learning M and S this week, and she (and I) was getting frustrated writing the S. She hasn't quite grasped the idea of staying between the lines on the paper. Behavior wise, she is doing great. Making lots of little friends. Last week we had a fundraising night at Chick-fil-A. Katie got to dunk one of the guys from the office.


I also ate lunch with her again today. I will have to enjoy what time I have before she is embarrassed to have her Mommy at school.
Katie is getting pretty good at swimming. Of course that may be because she insists on getting in the pool on a daily basis. The only time I get a break from the pool is if it rains, and considering the 16 inch rain deficit we have that is not very often. I did haul the camera out while she was in the pool, and even took the camera in the pool. Got some good shots before she started complaining. I told her that I would stop taking pictures when she stopped being cute, so she started making faces. I had to tell her that the faces did not detract from her cuteness.



Mr. McKickles is still living up to his name. Kicking me constantly ... and usually in very uncomfortable places. We go Monday for another check-up. Just over 10 weeks to go!! Really feeling the crunch on getting the nursery done ... and that is no where close to being done (or even started). I did just crochet him a little hat. My first attempt turned out doll sized, so Katie got a gift for one of her babies. My second attempt I paid more attention to the actual pattern. Now I just have to hope his head will fit in it. I did the bigger size, so it might be too big, but considering our family history of big head babies I did not want to take a chance.

Monday, August 27, 2007

FIRST DAY SHOT FREE!!!!!

Today was Katie's first day completely shot free in almost five years!! How cool is that?!?!? We pulled her out of school last week to wean her off the insulin shots and get her body adjusted to the pills. We were a little iffy on totally doing away with the shot this morning, but decided to go for it. We definitely don't want her dipping at school! And it all went perfectly. Not one call from her teachers about her blood sugar today!! Of course, Katie is loving the no shot. However, she still has not completely grasped the idea that she may never have to take shots again. She kept asking if we could "skip" her shot tomorrow.
I went in for my glucose test today. Hopefully, I won't hear from the nurse anytime soon, since they only call if there is a problem. Mr. Kickles' (yup, still no name) heart rate was 130. It was 150 the first time we heard it at 12 weeks, but still good. I still can't believe there are almost three months to go. Chip and I were sitting on the couch and he was just SO active!! Katie was definitely not that strong!

Katie insisted I take a pic of her first day back at school. Maybe she does have that scrapbooker mentality ...

She was out for a week so we had some work to make up, and they have started having "homework" as well.

We went to a baby shower for a couple we used to work with at the Grand, Randy and Carrie Woods, on Sunday ... and yes, Chip bought the shirt just for the baby shower. I told him it was fine as long as I qualify as one of the hot moms. He was nice enough to say I do ...