The Jackson Family

Blake is in Kindergarten!

2010-09-27T19:13:00.000-07:00

Blake started Kindergarten after many sleepless nights on Scott and my part. As many of you know, we have debated for over a year on whether or not we should send him to kinder. He is so young and he can be immature at times. We slept on it and we decided to send him. We are so glad we did! He is thriving in the environment. He is learning so much and he LOVES school! He wakes up everyday ready to go to school and I love having him at my school. It has been such a blessing. He loves his teacher and I am very pleased with his progress. I think we did the right thing so far. I am looking forward to a very successful year with him. He is so eager to learn and looks for answers to his questions and he has started reading even more than he already did before. He even likes art which he HATED before. I love hearing all the funny stories from other teachers at my school. They make me giggle most of the time like the one on the second day of school. He said to a teacher he didn't know while standing in line for the bathroom, "Excuse me. Can you tell me when graduation is?" Then there is another story of lunch. I packed his lunch because I wasn't sure how he felt about the lunchroom and all. I saw him walking down the hall to lunch. It took me a minute to remember he was going to lunch and he had no lunchbox. I found someone to cover my class and went down there in time to see him eating pizza! They were having pizza in the lunchroom so he decided that is what he wanted. I asked him how he got the money and he said they let him charge because I am in the building! The little stinker! I was so worried that he didn't know he had a lunch but he played me. His teacher has been great with him and she called him on it. I needed to see that too because my mommy genes were worried that my baby didn't know he had a lunch. Well I was wrong and I am glad his teacher got that out of him. Another funny story is how he tried to play a little girl in his class. He gave her a big smile and asked her nicely to color his dinosaur for him. She did it! His teacher told me this story laughing. What a stinker! There are so many more stories after that. I need to write them down. He cracks me up on a daily basis. I knew he was a handful because he always looks for the gray when there is only black and white. His teacher says he keeps her on her toes. I am glad he likes her so much and I am glad she isn't letting him get away with anything. My kid is the kind that will take a mile after and inch. He needed the structure and consequences that kinder is giving him. His teacher told me that the first week she had to tell him the consequences for not doing his best and such and now he does it without any second thoughts. He strives to do a good job. My mommy heart is so happy. I am so glad we sent him. :-) Here are some pics from his first day.

Daddy took him on his first day. One drawback to being a teacher is I had to be in my own classroom so I couldn't take him to his. :-( But I get to see him everyday so it is ok.

Blake sitting at his table the first day of school.

He walked past my room and I got a picture of him. He looks terrified. Too funny!

We made it 9 years!

2010-07-23T08:53:00.000-07:00

Scott and I celebrated our 9th anniversary on the 14th of July. We couldn't celebrate on that day this year because it was a Wednesday, but we did celebrate on Saturday. Scott's mom watched the boys while we had a new experience together. Both of us got a little dressier than we normally would have for date night. I actually wore a skirt! That never happens so that was me dressed up. hehehe Having a new experience together was great especially since we have actually been together for over 12 years. We went to the Melting Pot and it was so much fun. Scott had arranged a wonderful romantic surprise for me. He had roses, balloons, and chocolate covered strawberries waiting for us at our table. We started the four course meal off with a wonderful cheese fondue. We dipped apples, bread, and veggies in that. Then we had the most amazing Caesar salads ever! Scott and I both loved them. Then we had the main course of shrimp, lobster, steak, chicken, tuna, and more I cannot remember. I wasn't a big fan but Scott loved it so it worked out well. Last, we had the most amazing chocolate ever. It was new and not even on the menu yet. It was snickers and had carmel, nuts, and peanut butter in it. We dipped strawberries, bananas, brownies, cheesecake, and more yummy stuff in it. The whole meal was wonderful, but the best part was spending it with my wonderful husband. It was fun and new and we talked the whole time and not about the kids. Yes, of course, they were mentioned, but the majority of the date was just about us which was great. We have to take time for us sometimes and to remember how much we love and adore each other after all this time. I have loved this man for most of my life. He is the father of my two amazing children and the love of my life. I look forward to the next 90 years with him. :-) Here are some pics of the night.

Us at our secluded table.

The first course before we started. I got so busy eating, I never took anymore of the food. LOL

Me with my yummy drink. It was a special occasion after all.

Me and the love of my life. I don't know what I would do without him. MUAH!

Our first road trip as a family of four!

2010-07-23T08:26:00.000-07:00

Scott and I decided to take a road trip to Galveston this summer and we actually went with some of our great friends. My friend Terri and I were talking about our summer plans and realized we all were going to go to Galveston for a quick trip to the beach. After talking about it and a lot of searching on Terri's part, we booked a condo in the community of Pointe West which is beautiful and out of from downtown Galveston where everyone is. From previous posts, you will notice that Brooke (the daughter) is Blake's little girlfriend. They met over two years ago and have decided to be boyfriend and girlfriend ever since. We went after fourth of July and drove down. I wish I could say that Luke enjoyed the drive, but that would be a HUGE lie! He hates the car and sitting in his seat for that long was not his idea of fun. Scott and I made several stops on the way down there and according to the GPS, we were stopped for three hours! He still was not a happy camper. :-( We stayed at a wonderful condo with our friends for the whole week. We went to the beach, ate at great restaurants, fed seagulls off of balconies, went to Moody Gardens Aquarium, played in the condo when it rained, went to the pool, hung out on the balcony, and really enjoyed the time we spent together. The weather was mostly beautiful except for Thursday. We were having so much fun we decided to stay all day Friday and drive back in the middle of the night thinking that Luke would sleep. Well.... he was not happy the entire ride home either so that was a waste. It was a great trip overall and we had so much fun we have decided to make it a yearly trip with the Musias. We need to start thinking where we want to go next year! I am thinking somewhere we DON'T have to drive. LOL Here are some pics of the trip.

This was our first dinner. The kids were SO tired from the driving that we decided to just hang out until dark. Then we went crab hunting, but I didn't get pics. I was too busy making sure Blake didn't go into the water and try to grab a crab with his bare hand. LOL

Our friends the Musias having fun in the water.

The whole gang at Landry's

Luke at the penguin exhibit at the Moody Garden's Aquarium.

Blake on the beach. This day we made him wear a life jacket because it was the day after the storm and the undertow was strong. Better safe than sorry. :-)

Baby Luke was so tired. He loved the ocean. This picture was taken during his very short 20 minute nap. :-) He didn't want to miss anything!

It was time to leave, but Blake loved the ocean so much he didn't want to leave. LOL He even got a tan line! Too cute.

It was a great trip with great friends. I wish I would have taken more pics but when you have two kiddos its harder. Especially at the ocean. :-)

Blake Turned 5!

2010-06-17T12:59:00.000-07:00

On Sunday, Blake turned 5! We had a wonderful day filled with friends and family. Scott and I decided to have the party at our local splash park. We had pizza, a water balloon fight, cake, and lots of splashing! We probably had 50+ people there. It was so much fun and everyone got to laugh and the kids got to enjoy the beautiful day. We gave the kids a personalized beach bucket to kick off their summer too. They were so cute! Blake got a lot of great presents and we haven't even got to open them all yet. We are very blessed to have so many people who love him. I know that Blake is loved by so many people and it makes my heart happy. :-) Here are some pictures from the party.

This is how the day started. Blake and some of his friends running around in a circle.

Then came pizza. We had to wait on Blake because he kept eating more and more! LOL

Then came the water balloon fight. :0) I got in on the action too! hehehe

Then it was splash park fun! Blake was getting a water board here. (I think that's what they call it. hehe)

Cake time and we sang happy birthday to my 5 year old!

Some of you are probably wondering where Luke is. He was there, but he hung out with his aunt in the shade. Here is a pic of my little hot red faced baby with my cousin Trudy. :0)

Blake lost his first tooth!

2010-06-17T12:33:00.000-07:00

The week before his 5th birthday, Blake lost his first tooth! He was opening a water bottle with his teeth and it loosened it. Yep. A water bottle! I was feeding Luke and Scott was golfing. I am not a fan of teeth at all! It was just dangling there so we waited for the dentist to tell us what to do. We waited for two hours until Blake kept wiggling it and it was so lose it was barely hanging on. I spoke to Uncle Genie and he gave me a tip to get it out without pain. (and the best part is that I couldn't see it! LOL) He told me to put a washcloth in the freezer and then yank the tooth. I did and it worked! I wanted to throw up, but I kept my dinner in my tummy. He was so brave, but scared to death. I hadn't talked to him about his teeth so it took some getting used to. He was sad for a little while, but he told me to pull it after a little while. He actually was trying to pull it himself. He says now that he has a joker smile because The Joker has a missing tooth there too on the Batman cartoon. :-) The tooth fairy visited Blake that night and he got $5! The tooth fairy didn't realize what the going rate for teeth was so she overpaid for the first tooth. hehehe Scott took Blake to the dentist and the dentist said the tooth must have already been loose because it was ready to come out anyways. He also said that Blake will be losing the one next to it very soon. You can already see the new tooth coming it. That is a relief because I thought for sure he would be without a tooth for a year!

Before. Hard to get him to show me right after the tooth came loose.

Here is the loose tooth! Can you see it just dangling there! UUUGGGHHHH

Blake and his joker smile!

The Adventures of Luke

2010-06-17T12:13:00.000-07:00

As I told you in our last post, Luke started solids. Let's just say it has been an adventure. He is so in charge. He wants what he wants when he wants it! LOL He kinda tolerated solids at first and after a month now, he has started to like them. His favorites so far have been squash and bananas. He was not a fan of green beans at all, but that could be because Blake kept saying, "That is disgusting Mom! EEEWWWWEEEE Gross!" in the background. hahahaha I wish you could have seen Blake's face. He was seriously disgusted. He could not believe I was feeding that stuff to his brother. I tried to give some for Blake to taste, but he didn't fall for it. hahaha Here is a few pictures of him eating. :-) We have now found Blake's small tabletop high chair which Luke prefers. He kept getting out of the bumbo! LOL

Luke turned 7 months old this month. This big baby is growing so fast! He started sitting up right after he turned six months. He has really gotten a lot more mobile. He started reaching for me when I come near him. I am his favorite after all. :-) He is so alert. He cracks me up because when he can't reach something with his hands, he tries to get it with his feet including the dog! Too cute! Thankfully, Trixie doesn't mind. She loves Luke. He has really been trying to pull up already. He will pull up on my but he is still a little wobbly. He has also gotten up on all fours in the crawl position but hasn't put it altogether yet. I am ok with that! haha He has such an amazing giggle. Sometimes, Blake just looks at him and he giggles. Makes my heart happy to see that. He is a happy baby mostly. He has really been teething. I looked back at Blake's baby book and he had 11 teeth at his first year. I am thinking Luke won't have that many since he still doesn't have any. hahaha I am staying home with the boys this summer and I have already realized that Luke HATES the car! He protests the entire time mostly. He cried so loud yesterday, Blake even said something. He does not want to be in there and he will tell you all about it. Just another way he is showing me he wants to be in charge. :-) He is my strong willed little baby. He went swimming for the first time at Auntie Lynne's house. He was kinda tired and didn't want to sit in his floaty. We went swimming again yesterday at Auntie Hah's house and he loved it! As long as he was with me and not in the floaty. hehehe I think I will be going and getting a smaller floaty for him. Here are some pics of my little baby boy.

We actually got all of the family in this one. You just can't see all our faces. hahaha

Luke is 6 months and Blake is signed up for Kinder!

2010-05-12T19:18:00.000-07:00

Things have been changing over the last month or so. Luke has turned 6 months and Blake is signed up to go to kindergarten next August! Big changes. I just cannot believe how fast they are growing. I haven't had a chance to get new new pics of them yet so I will post some this weekend of both of them. I take great pics with my phone because I can never catch them with the real camera! hahaha

Luke is really working hard at sitting up. He gets it but he cannot stay still. He just gets so excited that he jumps around and falls over. He is so funny! His newest thing over the last couple of days, is to get Trixie to come over to him and grab her. She thinks its funny, but Mommy doesn't let him do it much. He tries to put the dog hair in his mouth! YUCK! He get so excited. When Trixie is out of his reach, he uses his feet to grab her hair! hahaha He is too much! He never stops moving his feet. We were at Babe's the other night with the music, and he just kept dancing. He is so active. When I hold him at the table at dinner, he tries to eat the table. The poor kid is starving! He finally gets to try rice cereal this week. The doctor told us today that we can try that for a week and then do veggies. We have to be extra careful because of his allergy. He will be so happy when we try it. We are gonna do it tomorrow so I'll try to take pics and post soon. :-) I bet he will be so happy! He is also impossible to keep on his back anymore. He WILL NOT sleep on his back anymore. I have to hold my breath and check on him all the time, but he is sleeping through the night. Maybe I will get used to it soon and be able to sleep too....

Blake is officially signed up for kindergarten in the fall. YIKES! When did that happen?!?!?! He is so ready. He is so smart. I cannot believe what he already knows. He will be graduating from Pre-K soon and he is kinda sad about that. He will be leaving behind Mrs. M. His other teacher, Ms. Wilens, actually moved back home this past month and Blake was so sad. He loved her so much. I hated to see him go through that. Mrs. M and Ms. Wilens worked with Scott and I to try to help Blake be successful and ready for kinder. We appreciate both of them SO much. He has truly loved his time with them. BUT he has to go to big boy school! We are trying to get him excited about it eventhough Mommy wants to throw up! hehehe

Gotta run for now, but I will try to get some pics up soon. We also had two additions to our family this past week. Blake got two African Dwarf Frogs! Fred and Ted. I will post pics of them too.

Happy Easter!

2010-04-04T19:50:00.000-07:00

We spent the day with the Jackson clan today. The boys played so much with their cousins. We ate some yummy food, hunted eggs, and just enjoyed family time. It was so much fun and both boys are worn out from all the fun. Blake got all the eggs since all the other kids are 'over' the whole thing. All but one are teenagers of course so it is so not cool. hahaha Here are a few of the cute pics from the day!

Blake couldn't keep all his eggs in his basket. He needed some help so cousin Casey let him use his shirt for a basket too!

We are SO busy! Here is a QUICK update!

2010-04-03T14:23:00.000-07:00

It has been forever since I have had the time to write a blog so I figured I better write a quick one today.

Luke fell alseep playing today. He didn't want to stop!

Luke turned 4 months and is now almost 5 months! I cannot believe it. My baby never stops moving. Friends and family tell me all the time they cannot believe how chatty he is or that he is always moving his legs. When you hold him, he doesn't lay still. He can do all sorts of things right now. His school writes me notes about how he can roll and roll and roll to get across the room. He is in such a hurry to grow up. He has such a sweet smile and just loves his big brother. He only cries when he is hungry and is known as the 'happy baby' at school, which makes Mommy very proud. I am very blessed. He is even teething! No surprise there since his big bro got his first tooth at 4 months. I just cannot believe how fast he is growing. He just loves his excersaucer. We finally got him off the expensive formula and NO insurance never covered any of it. I am still mad about that. Because of who Scott works for(I won't say bc I am not saying nice things), they don't have to follow state law. UUUGGGGHHHHH!! So we just had to pay it ourselves. We spent well over $1400 on that the past two months. It still makes me mad, but he needed it. We always do what our kids need no matter the cost. All you parents know what I am talking about. :-) I would have paid one million if Luke needed it. I digress. Luke is such a big boy these days. He loves to be read to and Blake actually will read to him. Luke loves to giggle and Daddy is the best at making him do that. It is too cute!

Blake is getting closer and closer to that 5-year-old birthday. He is SO excited. We are trying to come up with options this year for his bday party. It is hard! I don't want to spend as much as we did last year, but I want him to have a great time. We will see.... We have really been working with Blake the last couple of months. We took him in for some testing due to his teacher observations in his Pre-K class. We thought he might have an auditory processing disorder or something. We got him a detailed test and it came back ADHD. (They told me in the parent interview that they usually do not diagnosis 4 year olds unless it is very very prevalent. Well. Two weeks later, they said it was and he was diagnosed.) Now that I know the diagnosis, everything makes sense. He used to run from me when he was younger. He jumped into a pool and almost drowned when he was 3. The impulsiveness comes from the ADHD. We have really tried to be more patient with him and I am reading every book ever written to help him to cope with this. A lot of people ask me if I saw signs and I have to say no because he was my only little boy. I just thought he was active like all the others. I never saw anything. His doctor tells me that he is intellectually on the level with a 7-8 year old. It amazes me that he is that smart considering everything that is going on in his head. You can see it in his eyes that he has a lot going on in his mind. He is SUPER smart though and such a great little boy. We are trying some things to help him be ready for kindergarten next year. Bottom line is that we want him to be happy and proud of himself. I worry about his self-concept because ADHD kids sometimes think they are losers or dumb. We are going to make sure he knows how special and wonderful he is no matter what. This is just a hill to climb, but together we can do it. Scott and I will do whatever it takes to help him and to make sure he is a happy kid. He and Luke are everything to us. Scott and I took Blake and Luke fishing a couple of times and he caught a fish! He loves fishing. He also loves going to see sporting events. Scott and Blake are going to opening day on Monday. Are you jealous? I am! hehehe Scott is going to make it a family tradition. Maybe next year Mommy and Luke will be able to go. :-) Blake started blastball again and Scott and I are coaching again. This year, Luke gets to watch too. It is so much fun and Blake is really good at it. We are enjoying our family time together that is for sure!

I think Scott and I are going to change Blake's room this summer. We did it in Cars when he was two and now he has moved on to other things. He would prefer a transformer or power ranger room now so I will see what I can find. Blake has been reading to Luke like I said and he just loves being a big brother. He told me that we need to have another baby soon. I would love to, but I think we have our hands full enough for now. :-) Tomorrow is Easter and it is going to be a beautiful day! TTYL!

Happy Birthday Daddy

2010-02-25T19:40:00.000-08:00

The 3rd of this month marked my Dad's 70th birthday. My Mom and I decided to give him a surprise party, but because of his busy schedule, we had to wait until last Saturday to have the party. When I was growing up, he was always saying that the WHOLE month of February was his birthday so I guess we just added fuel to that fire. I think he was really surprised. There were more than 50 family and friends there. Wow! I was so happy with the turn out. My in laws came as well as my aunts and uncles, numerous cousins, neighbors, and lots of friends of my Dad's. There are too many to name them all! Some traveled a long way just to share this special moment with my Dad. Thank you all! I enjoyed the party with everyone and I am so glad he had fun. Nothing makes me happier. :0) Luke even had a good time hanging out with everyone. He was held by everyone at the party pretty much and Blake loved to play with Keagan. Keagan loved Blake's light up shoes so Blake loved entertaining him with them even after Keagan had lost interest. hehehe

I think he looks surprised. :-)

Me and Dad

Mom and Dad

Me and Scott.

See. This is the picture that shows Keagan has lost interest, but Blake just wants to make him giggle again. :0)

And here is baby Luke in his carseat ready to go home. He was partied out!

Scooter Junior

2010-02-25T19:22:00.000-08:00

As a child, Scott's nickname was Scooter. We now have a Scooter of our own. Luke can scoot across the floor already at 3 1/2 months! He is so funny when he does it. It is hard to believe. Last week, he even rolled from his back to his tummy. He is so mobile! Here are some pics of the process.

And after a couple of minutes. I never let him get far. I am afraid he will start crawling or something!

The cutest boys in the world!

2010-02-13T21:31:00.000-08:00

We had the boys pictures taken the last week in January. They are so cute so I had to share. Their Godmother Krystal bought the orange polo outfits for Christmas and my cousins, Robin and Sami, sent me the other 'western' outfit for Luke. Both were SO cute! Blake was so funny! He had the photographer laughing SO hard. She said she had never had a kid like Blake before. He was creating HIS OWN poses! hehehe I love that he has such a personality and I bet Luke will be right behind him soon. :-)

To the zoo we went!

2010-02-13T21:19:00.000-08:00

This post is a little late. We went to the zoo one Friday when the weather was actually wonderful with some of our best friends. We had told Blake that we would take him the week we had Luke, but Luke surprised us so we had to wait. We had a great time and it was a bonus that the Tungcabs got to go too. Brandon and Blake have been best buds since before they were born. hehehe (Brandon, Lauren, and Blake are in the top pic) We went to the Dallas Zoo which we had never taken Blake to so he got to see something new. We also went on a day that NO ONE was really there. I have never seen a zoo SO empty! It was great. We were able to do whatever we wanted. Blake ran and ran and ran with Brandon and Lauren. He slept so great that night and Luke loved being outdoors. Luke loves being outside and since it is winter, he doesn't get that much of a chance. :-) Here are some pics from the zoo.

If I would have been just a little faster, you would see the penguin and Blake looking right at each other!!!

Luke enjoying a ride through the zoo. :-)

Luke is already three months!

2010-02-13T21:08:00.000-08:00

I cannot believe that Luke is already three months. Time is flying so much faster with the second one. I have to tell you about some of the things he is doing. He is such a chatty baby. I have strangers comment on how vocal he is. He coos and talks back like he is trying to say so much. He rolls over which you already know and he scoots to get to around some. If I lay him on the activity mat my cousin lent us, he will move around to get to his favorite toy on that mat! My friend Lisa was just telling me today that his legs never stop. (Well. At least when it's an awake period. hehehe) He is just getting so active during his awake times. I don't remember Blake being like this. Blake was a great sleeper at 6 weeks old even he slept through the night. Not Luke but I knew lightening probably wouldn't strike twice. :-) He loves his big brother. We were getting ready today to go to The Tungcab house to visit our good friends and Luke was on the bed. I turned around and Blake was talking to him. Luke loves it when big brother talks to him so I continued to get ready and keep an eye on them. I turned around and Blake was holding Luke up to put him in his bumbo seat! It shocked me because Blake has NEVER done that before. I knew it was a matter of time before it happened, but I kind of giggled instead of getting mad. Most likely I didn't get mad because Blake was doing a good job. He was supporting his head and everything. He immediately placed him back down on the bed gently when I told him to. What a great big brother! How time flies! Wasn't Blake just that size??? :-( Momma's hold your babies tightly. They grow way too fast!!!

As I posted this picture, I am realizing that a lot of Luke's pics are on this mat. Probably because he loves it SO much! Thanks Sean and Dana for lending it to us!

This is how we roll!

2010-01-27T17:48:00.000-08:00

Luke rolled over on January 21st! I could not believe it. When he did it, he actually scooted like five inches and then rolled like he had been doing it everyday! I caught it on still camera tonight when he did it again. Here is the play by play. :-) He is growing up so much. I cannot blink!!!

Here he is starting to roll.

Now he is getting his leg ready to help him and he has thrown his head over to the side more.

And then the big finish!

When will it end???

2010-01-20T18:54:00.000-08:00

The boys in the Jackson house are sick again! I am so tired of having my baby boys sick. They need to be happy and healthy! We went back to the doctor today to find out they both have bronchiolitis. Yep. They both have awful coughs and wheezing. Not fun at all. We will be doing breathing treatments on both boys for the next couple of weeks. Here are some pics of our boys being brave while doing their treatments. They are brave boys. I don't think Blake really minds because I let him watch one episode of whatever show he wants to watch. That is a treat for him. :-) Luke has his moments of crying because he is mad at me. :-( Poor baby!

What in the world....

2010-01-07T20:55:00.000-08:00

It has been a long road, but I think we have finally figured it out. Luke has had a lot of trouble keeping his milk down. He would projectile vomit and he was so unhappy. We have tried a lot of things from different doctors for the past two months. We thought it was just reflux and we have tried every medication. It helped a little but he was still so unhappy. We then were sent to the ER because the docs thought he had a condition called pyloric stenosis, but thankfully he did not have that. (That required surgery so I am still thanking my lucky stars!) We then were sent to a pediatric GI specialist who thought that Luke had an allergy to the protein in milk. (I was nursing so that would be me.) We had already tried two days of formula with no help and it actually made him throw up more. The GI doc thinks that Luke has a protein allergy so not even a soy milk based formula would work. He told me to stop nursing and pump and try this amino acid based formula for 5 days. We did and Luke is a completely new kid! He is so happy and hardly ever projectile vomits. He still does it every once in a while, but no more screaming after he eats and no more regurgitating either. He sleeps so much better too. He still has reflux a little but it is so much better. I am kinda bummed though because I have to dry my milk up. :-( I was so looking forward to nursing. I didn't get the chance to do it as long as I wanted with Blake because of medical complications. I am happy, but very sad about this. It also sucks because this formula is $52 a can! Yep. That is over $600 a month. Kinda makes me want to throw up. LOL I must do what every mother would do which is what is best for her baby. He is worth it. :-)

Now on to my next two hurdles... First, the insurance company. They are supposed to cover this but are making me jump through hoops with fire and won't say for sure if they will or won't. Second, helping Luke learn the difference between night and day now that we have made him more comfy. :-)

It was a love/hate relationship

2010-01-04T11:45:00.000-08:00

Christmas at the Jackson house was so much fun this year sort of. Blake had a fever all week the week of Christmas and wasn't fever free until Christmas night. :-( The poor kid was so tired, but luckily snapped out of it in time to rip through his presents and play with them. Luke got to join in on the action this year too. Ok. He was sleeping, but he was there! LOL We got an early Christmas present this year. SNOW! I know. We live in Texas and we actually got snow on Christmas Eve! I LOVED how beautiful the snow looked. Here is a pic of the outside of our house during the day. It was during a brief lull in the snow. ;0)

This is after dark and it started snowing again! I love the way you can actually see it snowing!

The snow was SO beautiful. We didn't get to play in it though. :-( And so here is the HATE I had for the snow. Poor Blake couldn't go out in it with his fever so Mommy and Daddy decided it wouldn't be fair to go and play in it either. It was all or none. Poor Blake kept asking me to let him put his shoes and socks on and go outside in the snow. I had to look at the pitiful face and say no. :-( No fun! Another reason I had to HATE the snow is because it kept my parents from getting to come over early Christmas morning to see Blake (And Luke now I guess) open his presents. They have come over every year to see Blake wake up Christmas morning and I really really missed them this year. As much as I loved Christmas morning, I felt like something was missing. It made me sad to make Christmas morning breakfast without my Dad and Mom. We watch Blake open gifts and then Dad runs to get Mom and him coffee at 7-11 and then I make breakfast with Dad. Then Dad and Mom help Blake (and us) put together and play with all his toys. (It helps to have more hands to open all those stinkin boxes with all the twist ties, etc!) Last year there was an airplane incident which ended with Scott flying Blake's new airplane onto the neighbors roof. Dad was there 'helping' him too. LOL It made me kinda sad to not have them there. :-( I have to count my blessings though. I have Scott, Blake, and Luke and we have been very blessed this year. We went over to Scott's sisters house that afternoon after the ice cleared off the road and I made Scott take me to see my parents. I was NOT going to go all Christmas Day without seeing them. :-)

All in all, it was a great Christmas. I asked Santa for a healthy baby last year after our miscarriage and he came through for me. :-) Actually Blake asked him for me. LOL We have been blessed with two great, wonderful, handsome, brilliant boys. I am the happiest Mom on earth!

Ramblings tonight...

2009-12-19T20:23:00.000-08:00

This past month has been so exciting with all of the changes in our house. We have been getting to know Luke and his cries, noises, and what he likes/dislikes. He is very talkative. He has his cute little coos which are just so sweet. He talks in his sleep even. I had to get used to that especially. :-) We have been bonding as a family of four and Blake is having to get used to sharing mom and dad. I think we are transitioning pretty well and Blake seems happy. Luke is just a joy to have. Blake always wants to hold him and kiss on him. It is really very cute. Blake did figure out that when Mommy is feeding Luke, he can do whatever he wants. He is too smart for his own good and mine!

We have enjoyed family time. We went to Gaylore Ice this year to see all the amazing sculptures. This years theme was Dr. Suess's How the Grinch Stole Christmas. Blake loves that movie and he loved the ice! It sure was cold. Luke stayed in the warm lobby. We had a blast at Thanksgiving as well. Blake enjoyed playing football with Daddy and his cousins. We also go to go to his first Thanksgiving Feast at his school. Last week, he had his first Christmas concert and his first Christmas party. With me and Scott being off on leave, we are both able to see all of these special moments with him. Luke gets to come too. Blake loves to show his class his brother. :-)

I actually spent all day with both boys by myself and I think it went well. I had been worried about this because I wasn't sure how I would juggle two. I have only had one for four years! I even had an outing to Babies R Us too. Blake was a great listener and stayed by my side. He even stayed with me when I had to feed Luke before we left and helped me get things when Luke threw up in the nursing room. He is really maturing right in front of my eyes. We played cars, trains, and transformers and watched a Christmas movie when we got home. He even laid down for a short rest. :-)

I am so excited for Christmas to get here. Each year it gets more and more fun and now that we have two kiddos, it is even better. If someone would have told me when I was little that Christmas was so much better when you are the parent, I would never have believed them. It really makes my heart happy to see Blake light up with the magic of the season. This year we even had him focus more on giving. I am sure he doesn't quite get all of that yet, but I figured the more we talk about it early, the better we will be when he is a teenager and wanting everything! LOL We tried to show him how much fun it is to go shopping for a friend or a family member. We let him pick out presents for Luke and some of his friends. We made a big deal about how the shopping trip was about giving and he actually got excited about it. The one thing I did not foresee is that what he picked out for his friends may not be in my budget! It was tough to explain to him that we couldn't get a $100 helmet or whatever for his friend because our budget was not that high. It is the thought that counts because the things he picked out that were too expensive, the kids would have loved. :-( If only money were no object...

Blake has really been into sports lately. He is always wanting to play football and has actually gone to a couple of his cousins basketball games and enjoyed it. He is into being a spectator. My dad and Scott took him to a couple of football games this past month as well and he LOVED it! It was a great idea too because the last one was after Luke was born and it gave him the opportunity to have his Dad and Papa's full attention as the big boy. He is such a joy. Now if only he would stop learning certain things at school like stupid and shut up. I do so hate that he speaks that way sometimes. We will continue to work with him on that but I guess those aren't 'bad' words, but I don't want them in his vocabulary.

My boys may look alike, but they are different. It is amazing how different they already are. Luke will tell you when he doesn't like something. He likes his swing, but Blake loved his swing. He would spend hours in there and fuss when you got him out. Luke not so much. He doesn't like it to move most of the time, but because of his reflux he has to sleep in it. Luke still wakes up all night long usually between 2-3 hours between feedings. Blake was already sleeping through the night. Luke is such a sweet baby though. He just likes what he likes. He likes sleeping in the rocking chair with one of us. Blake liked that too. :-) Blake loved his car seat, but Luke does not. Blake reminds me every time Luke fusses that he still likes his car seat. hehehe Luke is growing so big so fast. He changes everyday. He started rolling over from belly to back at 2 weeks and he still does it. I think it will stop when he starts getting a little chunkier. Blake did that too. I can't believe he is almost six weeks old. I am going to turn around and he is going to be 4 like Blake. I am so blessed. Both Blake and Luke are perfect. I have a wonderful husband and perfect boys. I can't ask for anything more.

Here is a pic of Blake and Luke with Santa. Blake was so funny. He had his verbal list in the car memorized, but froze when he saw Santa. He didn't remember all the things he wanted. He said, "UMMMM.. Let me think about it.... UMMMMM.... Let me think..." Then he listed a few things. He also spoke for Luke and told him what his baby brother wanted. Baby toys of course! Then we walked away and a few minutes later he said he forgot to tell Santa something. I thought he remembered something he wanted but he ran up to Santa and said, "Merry Christmas Santa!" My little boy forgot to tell him Merry Christmas. What a sweetie!

Wow! The difference!

2009-11-21T13:40:00.000-08:00

So Luke was having some 'tummy time' in the floor this week and I got the idea to have Blake lay beside him to compare. (Yes, Luke fell asleep during this time. hehehe) I cannot believe how HUGE Blake looks next to him. I cannot remember Blake being that little. Where did the time go??? Here is my picture that compares my perfect boys.

The story of Luke's arrival

2009-11-17T20:49:00.001-08:00

It all started on Monday, November 9th. I went to the doctor for my weekly check and had no progress. I was dilated to a two and 50 percent effaced which I had been for the previous two weeks. I was finishing dinner with Blake and Scott and decided I needed to make lunches and do all of my nightly chores. I went to the bathroom and then called my friend Lisa. I was talking to her and chatting away when I got all wet down there. I was a little flustered. I had coughed and just wet myself. I thought nothing of it and changed my clothes. I continued my conversation with Lisa and then it happened again. I told Lisa that I was wetting myself and she asked if it could be something else. It dawned on me that it could be my water, but I was expecting a huge gush. I also had just been at the doc a few hours earlier... I kept talking to her and she talked me into looking it up in my book and calling the doc. I honestly thought is was too early. I was having no contractions or anything. I called the doc and he said go and get it checked out. Scott and I called my parents and threw some stuff in a bag. I was thinking we were coming home so I didn't really think about what to pack. It was Scott's idea to pack a bag. I forgot! I went to the hospital thinking I would be giggled at and sent home and I told everyone that same thing. Blake got super excited when I told him where we were going. My parents were meeting us at the hospital just in case. I got there and they did the little test they do and sure enough it was my water breaking. It was a leak at that point and I had to stay in the hospital. I was dilated to a three and 75 percent effaced. So I was in labor! The nurse said that I would be having the baby by the next day because they won't let you go more than 24 hours after the leak starts. The contractions must have heard the nurse tell me I was in labor because that is when the contractions started. LOL Blake was so cute. He came in the room again and sat in the rocking chair and said he was sitting there until Luke was born. It took some convincing, but we finally got him to go home around 10pm with my Dad. We told him Papa really needed him to take him home so he could go to sleep. He was a little concerned about leaving me in the hospital though. He had a few tears. My Mom and Scott's Mom stayed at the hospital. At this point, I was calling everyone I needed to call. I was not expecting this yet. I had to call my sub and everything! My phone and Scott's phones were ringing off the hook and who knows how many text messages I sent! I was only 36 weeks and 5 days that day. Way early! I continued to try to sleep all night but it was no use. The contractions kept me up. The nurses told me I should get an epidural and my mom was really trying to get me get one, but I was worried it would stall my labor and progress so I said no. They told me that the doc would give me potosin if I had not progressed very far by 7am and I really didn't want to have to do that. I was induced with Blake and I was kinda excited about going into labor all on my own. I know its weird. LOL So I waited through the night. At one point, my mom tried to talk Shirley and the nurses into talking me into getting the epidural. hehehe I finally decided at 6:30 to get the epidural. I was dilated to a 7. Well. It's a good thing I went ahead and got one then because Luke Bradley Jackson was born at 7:31 on November 10, 2009! I pushed for less than five minutes! He was ready to join our family. It was such a great labor experience. I know that sounds funny, but it really was. Even with no sleep and working all day the day before, I was tired, but happy. Our Mom's got to come in right away and meet their new grandson. I wish Blake could have been there, but it was really early. He came in by the time I got to my room to meet his brother. He was still super excited! He got to hold him and kiss on him. He did ask if he could poke him in the eye though. LOL (We are watching him rather closely now. hehehe) Luke was 7 pounds and 5 ounces. He was 19 3/4 inches long. He was a big boy. The nurse said that he would have been over 9 pounds easy if he had waited. I had a feeling that he would be coming early, but I didn't even take it seriously. We are very lucky to have a beautiful healthy baby boy. He is perfect and we are so happy to add to our family. :-)

Lots of updates

2009-11-07T05:26:00.000-08:00

This morning we go and play our last Blastball games of the season. It has been a wonderful time this year. Blake really loves playing the game and he is actually getting really good. He tells us he hits the ball like Optimus Prime. Hey... Use whatever works. hehehe He is a little sad this morning that today is the last day. It won't be the same next season because baby Luke will be joining us. I think it will be better though and Blake is telling me he is going to teach Luke how to play blastball. (I haven't told him Luke won't be able to play for a couple more years. hehehe He can tell him all about it anyways.) Scott and I have loved coaching again. It is so great to be a part of this. I think Scott and I are going to coach as much as we can with the boys. There is no greater feeling you get than 'teaching' these kids how to play blastball. I love encouraging them and cheering them on when they succeed. I guess that is the teacher in me... (Last week, Scott put me on video taping duty though. Big meany! Something about his 8 1/2 month pregnant wife shouldn't be chasing the boys around. Sure... He just wants to have all the fun! LOL)

I am referring to the baby as Luke because Blake has his heart set on naming him that. I think it is very cute that he named his brother. There are no other options according to Blake. We even asked him if we could name him Optimus and he still said no! You know how much he loves transformers so he must know that Luke is the perfect name. :-) Anyways. Blake has really done some growing this fall. I am super proud of his accomplishments and he is really trying at school. He told me all about how apples go from apple seeds to apple trees yesterday. He even told me about what bees do with nectar. He is really starting to pay attention which is great! He had a rough transition when his fav teacher left and he got two new ones, but he is doing great now! I think that his school is a great place and he is learning a lot. He misses his friends when he is not there too. It is so strange to see kindergartners this year because when I see them I think, "Next year that will be Blake!" Weird!

Halloween 2009

2009-11-07T05:11:00.000-08:00

Blake and I went trick or treating last weekend and it was a blast. Poor Daddy was at home sick. :-( I made it pretty far and my dad came and picked us up when I couldn't walk anymore. (I felt good until I realized I wasn't going to be able to make it home. LOL) We went with our Mulkey friends this year as well and Grammie went along for the fun and to make sure Mommy didn't overdo it I am sure. We got to see baby Alyssa in her little ladybug costume. She was so cute and she was so interested in watching Blake. She is Juan and Christina's little miracle and they are great friends. It was fun going and Blake had a blast as Bumblebee. (Yep. A transformer. Shocked huh?? LOL) He was sick on Thursday night throwing up so he had to miss his school carnival on Friday. I think I was more bummed about that though. hehehe The funniest part is that every time he would say trick or treat he would also offer that his Daddy was at home throwing up! He wanted everyone to know that Daddy was sick. He really missed his Daddy. (I was like... What am I chopped liver. LOL) You know boys and their Daddy's. But I am lucky because he also has a special place in his heart for his Mommy too. :-) He has on his pouty face to tell you he missed his Daddy on Halloween. It was his idea. hehehe

Gifts for the Baby

2009-10-22T15:41:00.001-07:00

This month one of my greatest friends threw me a shower for our new little baby boy to be. It was a wonderful day filled with friends and family. It was in Rockwall where my friend Lisa lives. A lot of people made the drive and we got great gifts for our new little bundle of joy. Thank you to everyone who came and shared this special occasion with me. I wish we would have gotten a group picture but it went by so fast that we didn't get a chance. I am putting some of the pics of me and my fam and friends that I remembered to get taken. The one with me and Blake and his shirt is a little blurry, but I am posting it anyways. It is so cute! I am never good about remembering to take pics. Maybe that can be my 2010 New Year's resolution. hehehe Blake even got a big brother t-shirt and he loved it. His Godmom, Godaunt, and Godgrandma got him a really cool toy too. He is gonna be such a great big brother. He went around the room giving everyone hugs for all the presents they gave to his brother. So sweet! A piece of advice for some of you who are expecting...never wear a skirt to a baby shower when you are as large as me! LOL I spent a lot of time having to crop the pictures because there was a little peep show. hehehe Thanks Carly!

It has been a month!

2009-10-21T16:59:00.000-07:00

Time really flies. It just seems like yesterday I updated the blog, but alas, its been another month. At least I am still holding to my New Year's Resolution about updating monthly. :-) Let's see. Last time we talked I was put on bed rest. Well, I am off now and back at work. I am lucky that my administration is very helpful and 'reminds' me to be sitting. Krystal also works at my school and frequently reminds me that I need to be sitting when she walks by my room. I need the reminders because I get so caught up in teaching I forget and then I regret it. Even my students remind me. I have not had the tightness much lately so I think I am out of the woods on that.

Now I am on bed rest for another reason this week. STUPID SWINE FLU! Yes, I have the luck to get the swine flu while pregnant. I will spare you the details, but after taking all of the drugs I can while I am pregnant, staying in the hospital last Friday and Saturday, I am not better a week later. I started getting pneumonia so they put me on an antibiotic to stop that progression yesterday and I started feeling a little better today. I actually slept for three hours straight this afternoon which is longer than I have in a week! I am not allowed to go back to work until at least Monday because my immune system is so compromised not to mention I have no energy to take a shower much less teach for 8 hours. I didn't like what the doc said at first, but I know she is just looking out for me. It would be a waste if I went and caught something else on top of this junk. The one thing I really learned about my OB through this is that he is a dedicated doctor. He admitted this was new territory for him because he doesn't usually deal with pregnant women with swine flu (Lucky him) and he and his nurse have been trying everything to help me that they can. When I was in the hospital, he came in on Saturday to check on me. I asked the nurse if he usually comes in and she said no. That is going above and beyond. His nurse has also called to check on me several times daily and they have tried to help me as much as they can. I will be writing a wonderful thank you card when the baby comes. Just when I think my doc and his nurse can't impress me more, they do. I would recommend them to everyone! Dr. Greebon at Women's Specialists of Plano is the best and his nurse Justine rocks!

The person I worry most about right now is Blake. He took it very hard when I was in the hospital and while I have been sick in bed. He comes home everyday and asks if I feel better. I told him when Mommy gets better, we are going to have a Blake and Mommy day very very soon! I miss my big boy! Here is a picture of him sleeping with his favorite transformer Bumblebee. The minute he comes in the door, he looks for his transformers. Very cute!

I don't want to miss a thing!

2009-09-19T11:01:00.000-07:00

It was a stressful week to say the least. I started having pains in my stomach on Monday. It just felt like a growth spurt because it was so tight. I didn't think anything of it and I figured it would go away. Tuesday it got worse. I was laying on the couch after I got home and the pain was not letting up. It literally felt like my belly button was going to pop open and expose the baby. Even Scott could feel how tight my belly was. Wednesday it was even worse and spread to my back. I decided I should probably call the doctor because I didn't think growing pains lasted this long. I was told to come right away so of course, I was freaking out. I left school almost immediately and drove to the doc. Probably not a good idea since I was hurting and crying I realize now, but who else was gonna drive me. After the miscarriage last year, I did not want to go alone so I called Scott and he met me at the doc. Everything started going through my mind. What if's are not always healthy ones I must say. Scott was able to calm my fears and tears by the time I saw the doctor. We saw the doc right away and he said that my options were bed rest or meds. I don't really want to start medication to stop preterm labor if I don't have to right now so I just kept looking at Scott. My doc is so good and saw my hesitation that he gave me another option. One I can actually live with for now I think. He said to try the bed rest until Monday. If the pain goes away, I can try to go back to work on Monday. If the pain doesn't go away, then we will talk on Monday. I figured I could live with bed rest until Monday because after all I am Positive Patty so I think everything will work out by Monday. I am convinced that I will be able to go back to work on Monday pain free. Now if I can just convince my body of that everything will be great. I spoke to the doc yesterday and told him I was feeling better so I am allowed to try on Monday. If the pain comes back though, I have to be on bed rest for the rest of the pregnancy. That is a LONG 10 weeks! But I will do whatever it takes to make sure this baby makes a healthy and safe entrance into this world of course.

I think the hardest part of that option is that I am going to miss out on Blake. I really was upset because I have NEVER missed anything of Blake's. I have been to every game, practice, swim lesson, karate class, etc... I have always been there even when I am sick or whatever. I have never missed anything. This weekend of course was to be his first blastball game. I am the assistant coach of his blastball team again this season. (Yeah. I know. Looks kinda dumb now huh, but when I signed up I was ok.) I was going to miss out on that. Thank you rain for raining that game out! LOL Every year we take him to the balloon festival and he was so excited to go this year. He had been talking about it all week. He was telling his teachers and friends at school. I was super pumped to go with him because he is such a joy to watch and I like the balloons too. I had to miss it last night and stay in bed. :-( He got to have a Daddy and son outing though so I am looking at the bright side of course. I am going to have to miss his swim lessons tomorrow morning so I am bummed about that. I know I have seen probably 30 of them, but it doesn't matter. I want to be there for ALL of them! I am his mother. Blake was super cute when we tried to explain to him that Mommy had to stay in bed and couldn't go to the balloon festival. I told him the doctor said Mommy had to stay in bed. He was gonna make a compromise. He said, "Well. Then Daddy can stay in bed and Mommy can take me to the balloon festival." That was so sweet! I am not usually the favorite, but it meant a lot to me that he actually misses me not going. :0) Anyways. They had a great time. I will get to see it next year I keep telling myself. I am also missing my MIL's birthday party in VA today. I was looking forward to that this weekend too. But I am stuck in bed. ;-( At least, I have had some wonderful friends visit and call. I had a friend deliver food, books, and movies yesterday. The fifth grade team made homemade meals for me. Isn't that so thoughtful?!?! Today, another friend came by and brought me lunch and they each kept me company which was great. I have a few more friends who plan on coming by this afternoon. I should probably catch a nap now then huh? LOL

I just don't want to miss anything else so please God, let me be able to go back to work and life on Monday so I don't miss a thing!

Night with friends

2009-09-19T06:37:00.001-07:00

I was talking to a friend last night and she was telling me how much she appreciates that even though I am a mom and busy all the time that I make time for my friends. I had never really thought about it before, but I guess I try my best to for my friends and me. I then told her that I think having friend/adult time is very important to me. I believe making time for myself and enjoying my friends makes me a better mother. I also think having time with family and friends is important for Blake. He loves spending time with his aunts, uncles, cousins, grandmas, and grandpa. (We really have no shortage of sitters. We are SO lucky.) He enjoys his time just as much as I enjoy my outings. I remember a time where I felt guilty about getting a sitter so Scott and I could go and do something. I don't know when that changed, but I would guess when he was no longer breakable in my eyes. :-) I was so worried about leaving him when he was younger, but pretty soon I could tell he loved seeing his family. I also realized how important the bond that he was developing is to him. When Scott and I decided to have children, we made a deal that we would try to have a date night at least once a month. We have been pretty good about it most months. I think it is important that we get this time to ourselves as well to work on our marriage too. Sometimes we spend our night out with friends and others we do a date alone. This past weekend we went to Joe T. Garcia's for dinner and Billy Bob's to see Clay Walker. I am 28 years old and have lived in DFW my entire life. I had never been to either place. Of course, I wait until I am 7 months pregnant. LOL It was a great time and I didn't get too tired. I watched people dance and have a great time just talking with friends and listening to music. I even danced with Carly who is a great dancer! She decided I needed to get out onto the dance floor because my hubby doesn't dance. (It doesn't bother me. I knew it when I married him and those people at Billy Bob's are serious dancers!) Let's just say I was winded after the first time around the dance floor and couldn't walk after the second. LOL It was so funny really! She didn't believe me. hehe It didn't even really bother me that it was pouring rain and we had to walk a long way to get to and from the door because the valet was full. It was a great night. Let's be honest. I won't get a chance to do that for a while once the baby comes. Thankfully I took two naps that day so I would make it until 2am! I hadn't seen that time in 7 months. LOL

Blake's first day of Pre-K

2009-08-13T20:16:00.000-07:00

This Wednesday was Blake's first day of Pre-K. Blake picked a Transformers backpack and lunchbox for the occasion. He was so excited that I don't think he slept much on Tuesday night. We got up in the morning and Mommy and Daddy got him ready and took him in. Blake's teacher's name is Mrs. Berry and she couldn't be nicer. She was welcoming to Scott and I and very nice. Blake walked in and immediately felt at home. Scott and I watched him for a few minutes and spoke to Mrs. Berry. She told me to call her and she would call me and not to worry about a thing. She really was welcoming and inviting and it was very appreciated. I kept my tears in check the whole day on Wednesday. I felt at ease somehow. I even peaked in on him later that day. :-) He didn't seem to miss a beat. He was ready for school and his excitement was contagious.

I had my first experience of packing a lunch that I won't soon forget. I wanted to make sure everything that we needed to take his first day was all together so we wouldn't leave anything behind that morning. Blake and I put his name on everything and packed his lunch. I put his lunch inside his backpack and placed it by the backdoor so we wouldn't forget it the next morning. Then I went back to the paperwork to see where I needed to leave his lunch the next morning to be refrigerated at school. Here is the mishap... I made sure I knew where to leave the lunch in the morning to be refrigerated, but I actually didn't put it in there all night! I got it out of his backpack and school and realized my mistake. Scott giggled at me. I couldn't believe that I had actually looked up in the paperwork to find where to put it to keep it cold as school but I didn't do it myself that night. Must be pregnancy brain. hehehe I was able to take the lunch home to remake and Blake was still happy as a clam. Scott found the whole experience very funny.

Back to Blake's first day. He had so much fun! He got to play on the computer, read books, had circle time, and they went outside. Mrs. Berry said he loves to learn and tried to soak up everything they talked about. I saw evidence of this because he told me all about all of it when I picked him up. She said he wasn't sad until it was nap time. I believe its because he didn't want to stop playing. hehehe It might be the new place too. They went outside on the playground and Mrs. Berry was playing with Blake. She was trying to get him to chase her and he told her, "Mrs. Berry, its just too hot to do that. Maybe tomorrow." LOL I wonder where he heard that. hehehe Mrs. Berry said he made her laugh all day long and he was so sweet. He had a great day and couldn't wait to go back on Thursday. I picked him up early on Wednesday during nap time. It told him we needed to grab his backpack and he said, "Mommy, we can't forget my transformers lunchbox too." That choked me up a little. His is just so big! When did my son start worrying about his lunchbox! I knew the day would come, but he is till and always will be my baby. Scott took him Thursday morning because we are practicing for the real thing next week. He came home talking about all the things he did. I got a little bit more sad today so I broke down and called Mrs. Berry to check on him today. She told me all about what he had done and said that he was having a great time. They were eating lunch when she called me back and we got to have a great talk. She is so nice to talk to and I think she truly enjoys her job. She has the love of teaching that I wish all teachers had. She has put me at ease every time I spoke to her and I feel like we have a great communication going. She said that he listens to her directions and does everything the first time she asks. She said she wasn't used to this. I was shocked that she was talking about Blake of course because he doesn't do that for us. LOL I guess no kid does that for his parents though. :-) I think he is enjoying school. I am glad that Mrs. Berry has already noticed his love of learning. He wants to know about everything. I think he fits very well into her class. He told Mrs. Berry that he was going to get a pet frog and name him Max. He has been asking us for a few days and I am trying to talk Scott into it.... We will see.... :-0

Finally some good news!

2009-08-13T19:59:00.000-07:00

Blake had his annual VCUG on the 6th. This was the first year that Scott couldn't go with me so I was very nervous. Since I am pregnant, I was not allowed to be in the room with him during the test so my Dad was nice enough to go with. I think Blake really loved have Papa there because he has such a calming effect on all of us. (When I start to freak out about something, I just call Dad and he sets me straight. :-)) The results were not what I had hoped when I spoke to the doctor on site at the hospital. She said that one of Blake's kidneys had not grown in the year and that his reflux had gone from a 1 to a 3 on the left side. The right side stayed a 3. I was very upset. I had thought since last year he got better that we would be able to continue that pattern and he would be growing out of it. I started hearing the alarming words the doctor had used about everything and might as well not even tried to sleep the next four days because it did no good! Well come to find out, all that on site doc did was make me have a few sleepless nights for nothing! On Tuesday, we had our visit to Blake's kidney doctor and I was set completely at ease. Blake's doc has been his doc since he was an infant and he is very well known and seasoned in this field. He came highly recommended by many doctors not just our pediatrician when this whole process started. He looked over the scans from the VCUG and told me that I had no reason to worry. Blake was doing great and his kidney was not small for his age. It was just the right size and there was no reason to be alarmed! He also told me that since Blake was not done potty training at the test last year, that he had expected the grade of reflux to increase because he is holding it longer now. Completely normal! He also told me that Blake has a great chance of growing out of it since he has had no infections at all. He took Blake of his medication and said that we will watch him from now on. We don't even have to repeat that stupid test anymore. (We have to put him under every year for that. Not fun.) He said as long as Blake doesn't start having infections that he won't even consider surgery. (I am so relieved. I had the surgery and it was very painful. I was 18 even not 4.) He also gave me more good news. I had a doctor tell me that the second child has a 95% chance of getting the condition since I had it and Blake had it. The doc said it is more like 60% and boys are much more likely to grow out of it. I know 60% isn't that good but its not that bad either. Much better the 95%! I am officially counting my blessings. I went into that office on Tuesday expecting to be scheduling surgery and I walked out being able to tell Blake he didn't have to take the yucky medicine anymore. YEAH!!!! Now let's just keep our fingers crossed that he stays healthy and has no infections. I have faith though. :-)

All good things come to an end...

2009-08-10T14:45:00.001-07:00

I am so bummed to see this summer come to an end. There have been many exciting things happening and I have gotten used to being able to rest. Blake has been growing in front of my eyes. He actually came up to me this morning and spelled balloon and told me that we need to take a hot air balloon ride with Mommy, Daddy, Trixie, and him! I couldn't believe it. He can also spell jeep, cat, pig, pie, corn, cake, radio, and some other ones that escape me. He is so super smart. He starts preschool on Wednesday and we went to meet his teacher today. Mrs. Berry is her name and it took me a long time to convince him that it was Berry not Mary. LOL He loved going there today and didn't want to leave with me. That's a good sign I guess. He started karate a few weeks ago and he loves it! I think we will start the new baby on it as soon as he is old enough. It has taught him so much in such a short amount of time. We love watching him each time. We are about to get very busy because of all of Blake's activities. We have Karate on Monday and Wednesday nights, then blastball starts on Saturday's again in September, and swim lessons start again on Sundays at the end of August. He begged to do all of these things and we want to encourage him to try everything while he is interest but I may be living in my car soon! LOL I have a very sweet story to tell that happened this week too. Blake wanted to do potatoe heads so we were building them. He sometimes likes to build the family so we were building Mommy, Daddy, and Blake like usual. Then he realized he forgot a member. He wanted to add his baby brother too. So sweet! It melted my heart. He calls him Luke but we haven't decided on the name. Blake likes that name though and won't hear of any others. Scott and I are tossing around a few but no names have stuck yet. We will see but he may have the nickname of Luke from his big brother. hehehe We went to the circus yesterday and we had a blast! Blake loves the elephants! He was actually trying to talk me into letting him have a pet elephant at home. All I could think of is how much they must poop! I don't know how I convinced him but he finally gave up. Thank goodness! I don't know what I said but I should prolly try to remember so I can put it in my mental file for later. I am sure the subject will come up again because my child is nothing if not persistant. heheh I hope to take some pics Wednesday morning of his first day of Pre K and I will try to post them soon after. :-) Here is a couple of my kiddo at the circus. He kept telling Scott and I that this was the best day of his life. He also said we were the best too! So sweet that little boy of mine. Oh and a pic of him in his adorable karate uniform! He has already earned several stripes for his outstanding performance during class.

We are having another baby boy!

2009-07-17T11:36:00.000-07:00

That's right folks! Scott and I found out this Tuesday that baby number 2 is going to be another bouncing baby boy! We are so excited. Blake keeps talking about all the things he wants to teach his little brother. He wants to teach him all about power rangers, cars, transformers, and the list goes on. It is really sweet when Blake puts his head on my growing tummy to talk to him. Sometimes the baby gives him a little kick and it makes Blake giggle. At first he thought the baby was hurting me because I won't let Blake kick me. hehehe But now he is ok with that. He is going to be such a great big brother! Now we have to start thinking about his name.... We are still due on December 2nd, but the sonogram showed that the baby was almost a week bigger than he needed to be. I have a feeling we may have something to be thankful for this Thanksgiving. :-) We will see... I will write more of an update on all of us later this weekend.

New and old

2009-06-14T18:17:00.000-07:00

Something new...We have discovered that Blake really loves to play golf. He wants to go all the time. Scott took him to the driving range and they took Blake's play golf clubs. He wanted to do it so badly that Scott let him hit a real ball with his play set. Let's just say the ball won! LOL One swing and it broke the club. Blake was so sad that he didn't have clubs. Scott took him a couple more times and they used Daddy's clubs. Scott got an idea to encourage this since its something Blake is showing an interest in so we got him a set of golf clubs for his birthday. Scott reminded me when we were buying them that Tiger Woods started at 3. LOL He said Blake can be his golfing buddy. That is so sweet. Scott is such a great Dad. It doesn't matter to him if he spends more time helping Blake than on his own golf game. He has taken him five times in the last week alone! They plan on breaking those out as early as possible. Even as I type, Blake has a golf club in his hand trying to hit a ball. Maybe we have a little Tiger on our hands. LOL Scott said he wants Blake to beat him by the time he is 8. I couldn't resist the easy dig so I said that wouldn't be that hard. LOL As long as Blake still likes it, we will do it. This is a picture of Blake and Scott at the driving range and a picture of the golf club they used which is now in pieces.

Something old... After last summers near drowning in swim lessons I was a little leery of going back and doing that again, but better sense won and I signed him up at a different place of course. We are taking it again with my friend and Blake's girlfriend like we did last year so I have support in case of heart failure. She was with me through the whole ordeal last year so she knows why I am kind of a freak. So far I am very surprised at how well he is doing. Mommy still can't breathe when he goes under water but at least he doesn't know any different. What is funny is that he doesn't remember it at all but his girlfriend that was in the class remembers everything. She remembers what he looked like and me jumping in after him when the swim instructor didn't notice and was too far away to get to him. She was telling him not to "bob up and down in the water" again. I am glad Blake doesn't remember though. Now if only Mommy could forget....

His smile shows that he loves it! His teacher is great. Aquakids is where we are going and Mr. Matt is awesome!

Spring Season of Blastball

2009-06-14T18:02:00.001-07:00

It was an eventful season. Blake made some great friends that I hope we can stay in touch with. A lot of them came to his birthday party too. There was a closing ceremony last Monday. It was so fun. We all got on the field with all the other teams and this time around the kids actually stayed in the in field with us. At opening ceremonies they were tackling each other in the outfield. hehehe They have come so far. Scott and I loved coaching! We will be doing it again this summer for Orange Crush. Blake got a medal for his participation and he was the first one to go. It caught me off guard. It was so sweet and of course I started to tear up. He is just growing so fast and he is having so many firsts and will have in the next few months. It just hit me and I started to choke up. Anyways. I must tell the story about the last game because I plan on telling Blake's girlfriends all about it someday. :-) We were playing last Saturday and Blake was running to the outfield which he sometimes does. He called to Scott to come and chase him and we decided we weren't going to make it a game for him so we wouldn't follow. We continued playing the game with the rest of the team and looked back at Blake to keep an eye on him. About that time I saw Blake grab himself! I thought, "OH NO!!" I sent Scott after him, but of course he was too late. Blake dropped his pants and peed in right field in front of the entire stands and everyone. And let me be clear. I do not have a shy son! He was showing it off! There was not a person in the stands who didn't see it apparently. I did mention to my Dad that I blame him for that display after he was joking with me about it. I did remind him that since he went to Grammie and Papa's house where Papa let him pee outside he looks for opportunities to do just that. LOL It was hysterical really, but only because he is 3. Papa said we needed to go check right field for a dead circle. LOL Just when I think Blake has surprised me with everything he could possibly do, I get a curve ball like that! LOL The summer season starts after we get back from Missouri to see Jody graduate from boot camp at the end of June. :-)

Blake turned 4!

2009-06-14T17:45:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was Blake's fourth birthday! I still can't believe he is already four. It seems like just yesterday that I was giving birth. Man how time flies!!! I tried not to cry at the birthday party, but man these pregnancy hormones can be killer! LOL We celebrated his birthday at Chuck E Cheese's this year and we invited all of his friends and family. It was an awesome party! We had A LOT of people there, but Blake was so happy that everyone came. He told me today how he was happy because all of his friends got to come to his party. We had 21 kids and over 30 adults. We had a great time! I was so busy this year thought that I didn't get as many pictures as I would have liked. :-( My Dad took some so I will get those from him soon. Here is a picture of my prince getting his birthday crown. They did a little parade around the tables with Chuck E and Blake was so excited to see him. We tried to get Blake's picture with Chuck E and below is all we could get. hehehe He wouldn't turn around. He was too focused on talking to him!

Introducing....

2009-06-10T12:01:00.000-07:00

Last week, we welcomed a new member to the family. Scott and I were shopping for Blake's birthday and came upon this puppy in the parking lot of Target. We instantly feel in love and knew she would be perfect for Blake. Trixie is our new puppy. She is actually Blake's puppy. She is a 13 week old yorkie and she is SO cute! Blake calls her "T dog" sometimes and he is "B dog." So adorable. Here is her picture.

Things are looking up!

2009-04-26T13:45:00.000-07:00

Well. It has been one crazy roller coaster the last month or so. We ended March with Scott's 30th birthday. His birthday was the 20th. I had a surprise party planned for him on the 21st for over a month and wouldn't you know that it was leaked two days before! Oh well. Scott said he liked it better that way. (I think he was making me feel better.) I sent him and 12 of his friends to play golf that morning and then we met at a restaurant for a little party with about 30 of family and friends. I hope I made it memorable for him. It was a blast!

We got another little surprise on the 27th. I happened to take a home pregnancy test because Scott thought I was pregnant. I didn't think I was because I had convinced myself every month after the miscarriage that I was. I took the test to prove him wrong and it ended up being positive! I was kinda half asleep and didn't realize I took a yes or no test. So when the test read yes I had to look at the directions to see what that meant. LOL It was pretty funny because I was not awake yet. I just thought it meant yes it was working. LOL Hopefully the baby will get Daddy's brains. hehehe We had our first sonogram on the 21st and everything looked perfect. The doc said I have a 95% chance of carrying this one to term and he also said that if I was going to have problems, I would already be having them. I felt a lot better after that doctor appointment. I feel like I can breath a little easier. I am due on December 2nd and the heart rate was 162. The nurse said that girls are usually in the 160's and boys in the 140's, but no guarantees. I honestly would love either one as long as they are healthy and happy. Blake has been such a joy that a boy would be great, but a Daddy's girl would be great for Scott too. I guess we will find out sometime soon. I am nine weeks tomorrow. So I guess that means 9 more to go to find out. LOL

Blake started playing Blastball this month too. I signed him up and Scott and I signed up to be coaches the day before we found out I was pregnant. It has been so much fun! His teammates act like they were separated at birth. They are all so cute and Blake loves getting out there and playing. He played so hard before the game with his friends on Saturday, he was little tired during the game. LOL We will have to make sure we don't get there that early again. hehehe Scott likes to be early though. :-) This is a picture of him with his team uniform and some of his teammates. There were two more added after this pic was taken.

Blake told me the sweetest things about the baby. We weren't going to tell him, but he figured it out and told my Mom I was having ten babies. LOL Scott and I decided we better tell him so he knows its only one. hehehe We told him a few weeks after we found out. Then, I was putting him to bed one night this week and he was telling me what color power rangers we all were. He told me like I have said in the past that he is the red one, Daddy is the blue one, and Mommy is the yellow one. But this time he added that the baby is the pink one! That is so sweet! My pregnancy hormones made me ball at how sweet that was. I haven't told him, but if its a boy, we may have to rethink pink. LOL The next day, he was begging me to let him go to school with me and pink power ranger. Now that was hard to tell him no. He is going to be such a great big brother!

This month we also had to say "See you later to Uncle Mudcat." My brother joined the army and he is currently in Missouri doing his basic training. He wants to become an airplane mechanic. I am so proud of him, but so sad at the same time. I am going to miss him so much, but I support his decision 100%. I would miss him no matter what he was doing anyways. Keep him in your thoughts and prayers please as he starts down this journey in his life.

This year has been hard.

2009-03-14T13:54:00.000-07:00

Well, let's just say this school year has been an interesting one. (Since I am a teacher, my year starts in August and ends in June so I measure it that way. If you are a teacher you get it. LOL) It started off great. I was pregnant and so excited, but as most of you know, that didn't turn out so well. I lost the baby on September 26th. It has been a long road, but I think we have made it up the hill and now are coasting down. This last week, my world came crashing down around me once again. I got a frantic phone call around 4:30 on March 3rd from my Mom saying there was something wrong with my dad. I have dreaded this phone call for all of my adult life since my Dad has suffered heart attacks over the years. My Dad had a mild stoke or a TIA as they call it. It caused him to not remember anything longer than 2 minutes for the better half of 9 hours. We would have conversations during this time and he would forget we ever had them. He said he felt like he was hallucinating. It was a long road in the hospital for 4 days and lots of tests, but my Dad was a real trooper. He is such an important person in my life, I can't imaging my life without him. All of this has made me look at life a little more differently. I have to say that the last months have been extremly stressful. The last week especially. I am glad to look to the future and spend as much time as possible with everyone that I love. I may not always feel that I am lucky, but I am. I have a wonderful husband, brilliant son, family that is always there, and friends who listen. I often try to find reasons for why such things happen, but I am coming to believe that sometimes we aren't meant to know the reasons.

Let's move on to some happier news. My son has discovered Power Rangers in the past couple of months. He is obsessed with them. He tells me that I am the yellow power ranger, Daddy is the blue power ranger, and he is the red power ranger. He talks about Megazords and spirt rangers all the time. He is so cute. He has grown up so much in the last months. I love this stage. I am sure I have said that about all of his other stages too though. LOL

One more thing...Scott's 30th birthday is Friday so if you catch him, tell him Happy Birthday. I still think he looks the same as when I fell in love with him when he was just 19.

Flying By!

2009-02-08T07:07:00.000-08:00

WOW. It is already February. Where did all the time go? It has been a rough couple of months here and at the same time it has been good. Weird I know... Scott has officially launched MJ Entertainment. He has been so busy with it and he looks so happy. He and his friend Scott are a mobile DJ service. he is doing such a great job and it is nice to see him so excited about something. Countrywide did another round of layoffs and a lot of his friends didn't make the cut. I hate to say that we were "lucky" when so many others were not so lucky. On of my best friends got laid off so it is hard to be happy for my family when she is looking for another job. It was very hard on Scott to watch all of his friend leave. (I know it could have been worse for him to be laid off too.) There were over 200 + employees in his department just a year or so ago and now they are down to 30. Pretty drastic change which is very depressing. It is hard to be thankful, but we are. Back to the MJ thing. He has been so down about his job since all the layoffs and even before since they had an idea that they were coming. It was kind of a depressing place to be. It is so great to see him excited about doing something. Last night, they DJ'd a Daddy and Daughter dance in Gunter. He was practicing dance moves before he left. You think you know someone who never dances and then they go and change on you! ;-)) I saw video late last night and it looked like a GREAT PARTY! All the girls were dancing and the Daddy's were having a great time too. They did an awesome job. He was so jazzed when he got home and I had to wait up to see the pictures and videos. Like I said, its nice to see him so happy. They have actually started booking proms too. Business is booming right now which is great!

Back to the sad parts of this year so far. Most of you know that we lost a baby back in September. I was almost 12 weeks pregnant when I had the miscarriage. If feels like my body has taken a beating. We have been trying ever since and we can't seem to get lucky. My cycles are so wacky and my hormones are going nuts. Right after I miscarried, I felt like I needed to make a plan to try again. I am a planner by nature. We had only been planning on getting pregnant at that time for 3 years. I plan everything. I think this whole experience has taught me that I can't plan everything. I have to sit back and enjoy the ride. I don't want to look back on this time and regret not spending enough time with Blake or Scott. It is hard to see the light at the end of the tunnel sometimes though. We got pregnant with both children the first month we tried. I am wondering if God wanted me to see what so many other women have gone through. It shouldn't be that easy for me when others have troubles. God has a plan, I just don't have a clue what it is... I have to say that the whole experience has brought us closer. The way he has supported me through the tough times while going through all of this has shown me the reason I picked him all those years ago. We have been together for 11 years now and I love him so much more than I ever thought I could. I still wish he would help do laundry and dishes more. LOL But I am a very lucky woman. If I am only blessed with Blake, then I will be happy.

Speaking of Blake, he is such a big boy these days. He has discovered Power Rangers. He eats, sleeps, and breathes them. They are a little different than when I grew up with them. We watch Power Rangers Jungle Fury. He says that he is the Red Ranger, Daddy is the Blue Ranger, and Mommy is the Yellow Ranger. I tried to tell him I wanted to be a Pink Ranger and he was not happy. LOL (There actually isn't a pink one on this Power Rangers) We officially signed him up for Preschool this past month also. He will officially start school next September. WOW! How times flies! He tells me he wants to go to school now! I keep telling him he has to wait to get bigger, but he informs me he already is. :-)

My Little Cowboy

2009-01-03T22:04:00.000-08:00

I was watching my boy today and I had tears come to my eyes. He is getting so big so fast. I know all you Moms understand what I am saying. Recently, Scott and I have been cleaning out our garage going through old clothes and deciding what to keep and such. We came to the boxes of clothes that Blake has had through the years and we would look at his little shoes or his favorite shirt and tears would come to my eyes. (I could tell Scott was a little chocked up, but would never admit it. hehehe) We forget how little he was. I was pulling out some keepsakes and found his Tigger costume from when he was 1 and Blake saw it. I showed it to him and he said he was too big to be Tigger. My little boy is growing up. I remember everyone telling me when he was a baby and I couldn't wait for him to start crawling or walking or talking or whatever milestone was next. I remember them telling me don't be in a hurry for him to grow, you will regret it one day. A lot of Moms told me this or something like this and I paid no attention. This is my message to all you Moms out there. I was wrong! My little boy is growing and I can't stop him. I have to say you ALL were right! I want him to be little. Only one more school year and he will be in Kinder. Anyways. To all of you to be Moms and Moms of little ones. Don't rush the milestones. Be patient and cherish the moments. You can't shrink them once they have grown. LOL

I took a picture of him today in his big boy cowboy boots and his cowboy hat. He looks so adorable and BIG! We went to his aunt Nini's birthday party at Babe's. He was so adorable in this. Of course we had to wear short sleeve's because it was 80 in Texas today. YIKES! I can't believe he has hit another growth spurt. I had to go out this weekend and buy another size pants. He amazes me everyday. I hope you enjoy the picture as much as I enjoyed him telling me he was Cowboy Blake. Couldn't get him to say cheese or smile. He is saying, "YEEEHAAA."

Finally a blogger!

2009-01-01T17:57:00.000-08:00

Well. I decided that I needed to join the blogging band wagon this year! I am new at this, but hopefully I will be able to learn a little more about how to do this. I need to join this century. LOL Look here for updates on our family soon. Here is a family picture of us from Christmas to get it started. Blake wouldn't smile because he was tired of taking pictures. I can't imagine why!!! Happy New Year everyone!