The sweetest boy on the planet returns!

So last night Jackson went down easy enough…no fuss. We went to a barbecue with a few new friends and had a blast and Jackson was able to play with 3 other babies and even stole some kisses from the cutie, Millie. He loves everyone. Anyway, he fell asleep in the car and when we got home I just put him in his crib and he fussed about 30 seconds then OUT. He slept until 3:30 and I immediately went in and got him because lately I have been trying to let him cry through his early morning wake up but his cries have been really sad! So, I went in and got him and brought the cutie in bed with me. Usually he nurses for about 20-30 minutes and tosses and turns trying out all different ways of laying down while still being attached (nice visual eh?!) Well, last night…he would NOT go back to sleep! He was up for about an hour and a half and then finally fell asleep and about 3 minutes later, the crying started. Jackson doesn't cry…he just doesn't, it's not his style. So I knew something was wrong. He kept doing it allllll night long waking up out of his sleep crying..needless to say, I was freakin' milkless and sore. Oh and tired, duh. So we watched some cartoons at 5:30 and Thomas played some words…He went back to sleep and woke up a few times crying again. Then at 7 we got up and I handed him off to daddy and said "Hold him while I pee." He reached his arms out and grabbed on. 45 seconds later I hear a big thud followed by crying…? "Is he okay?" "WHAT?!?!?! Where are you?!" Okkkk, so apparently my husband sleep holds the baby? So after consoling my poor baby (he was fine, not even a bump, he is getting pretty good at catching himself) and arguing about whose fault it was … clearly it was his…duh. Anyway, I went in and scrubbed my hands and decided it was time to check! Opened up his mouth while Daddy kissed his tummy and THAR SHE WAS! A big pearly white on the top left! Almost all the way through, right under the skin…. I knew it. He wasn't just being neurotic. So, for his first two teeth, he was fine, he never got grumpy or anything and so I kind of scoffed when people would talk about "TEETHING" like it was so horrible..pshhhh, it's not that bad! Well, now I understand after this last week! I'm sorrry, I'm sorry, I'm sorrry to all the mommys who talk about teething, I know you are not lying now! It really IS that bad! But…. just like that, it was gone. My happy boy was back! Smiling and laughing and playing all day. I may even venture to say that today was his cutest day of life so far. We played this morning and he kept trying to go for the plug as I was blowdrying my hair… I swear the electrical outlets emit a magnetic baby charge. He watched as I put my makeup on and climbed in and out of the cabinets in the bathroom--one of his favorite pastimes. I emptied them out so he can just climb in and sit. We went to the Little Gym and he took a quick nap in the car so he was pretty recharged! He was soooooooo cute today! Let me just tell you some of the things we did today. Well….we walked around and showed everyone how big we are being a walker now. We gave Miss Pat a high five even when she was asking for one from someone else. We did forward rolls and instead of tucking his head, he just laid it down to the side. We walked on the balance beam and wouldn't put our feet down because it feels weird on them, feels velvety. We climbed stairs onto the higher balance beam and then jumped off. We stole everyone's turn to do..welll..everything. We tried to make out in the tunnel, but Millie wasn't having it. Last week Isabella was all over it, so he kind of had his feelings hurt when she wouldn't smooch on him. We tapped sticks together to the beat and used them as swords on our friends. Annnnnd, for the first time, we PUT AWAY OUR SHAKER! We have been working on it for months and he always gets angry and not only will he not put it away but he tried to grab the other ones. Well, today he took the shaker, walked over to Miss Pat and dropped it right in front of her while she sang, "it's time to put the shakers away!" My heart melted…. he is learning! What a good boy he is! After our class we met Daddy for lunch and J sat in his booster seat like a big boy and ate the turkey and squash from my wrap and bobbed his head to the music playing in the restaurant. It was literally THE cutest thing ever. He also kept flagging down the waiter and babbling at him like, "I need some ketchup, and could you bring me a sippy cup of juice please?" He is so precious. I love him so much. Then he slept the whole way home. We played outside with the dog for a bit, and tried to eat grass. Then…before dinner time, we just played on the ground. He was pushing my legs around and laughing and cracking up and giving me kisses!!! I haven't gotten a kiss in so long, and tonight it was like he remembered he loved me and couldn't stop telling me. We ate dinner, had a bath and he SAT in the tub…which he never ever does, and stuck our letters and numbers on the wall all while laughing and splashing around. We brushed our hair and teeth and and got our jammies on, read a bedtime story and I just spent about 20 minutes rocking him, nursing, and telling him how much I loved him and how special he was to me. How I hoped that he would be happy in life and that he would always always know that no matter what I love him more than life. I kissed him a million times and brushed his sweet hair and smelled his head and just took in every ounce of him. My baby will be one in less than a month and it has flown by too quickly. I know the days when he will let me rock him and whisper in his ears and stroke his head will soon draw to an end and it breaks my heart to think of it. But then, I think…even when is 12 years old I will just sneak in and do it while he sleeps. He is my baby, and he always will be…but watching him grow up and the days passing at the speed of light makes my heart ache. I'm so blessed to have the cutest, sweetest little man by my side every hour of every day. He is my partner, my sidekick, and my best friend. He is happy and funny and silly and as he develops more and more of an actual personality, I love him more every single day. Wow, that is a lot of love in one blog :)

Jumpin' on the Bandwagon!

Well….here I am. And here is my life right now:
So, I graduated in 2008, got married in 2009, and had a baby in 2010. We moved to Texas December 2009 to birth our babe on Texas soil. I worked about ten days and the rest of the time I just incubated. Then came Jackson Gregory…the light in my life. I could write a million words about my baby, but they would never be enough. Since then I have just been running around chasing after him, inspecting his poop, soothing every tear, kissing his boo boos, singing him made-up songs, and feeding him…lots and lots of feeding him! I can't say all of this without the HUGE shout out to my hubby Thomas who makes it all possible and works full-time and goes to school full-time all so that Jackson and I can play all day long and plan our tomorrow.
Lately I've been staying up late and working all day trying to get the house clean for our fourth of July party. I have no idea why, I mean…we live on a farm. Come on. But anyway, I am trying…and getting angry every single morning when I see how much dirt my husband/son/dog have dragged in. Last night I went through the cabinets in the bathroom and threw away a million things that were here when we moved in and I was what…waiting for someone to ask if they could take it? Anyway, I found a thousand dead spiders, one so large that all I could do was pray that I never ran into his brother. I also cleaned off a spot on the wall that had been there also since we moved in…guess what it was… Oh yeah, a rollie polie wrapped in dirt and hair. I almost threw up. Yep….we live on a farm. For the last three days I have had to let the dog out to round up the cows and get them off of the front lawn. FARM.
Thomas is taking a class this summer…listen to this, the politics of globalization. Exciting right? I know, I sometimes wish I could go to class with him just to sit and listen! He is taking this class for the first session of summer school, and then another class online the second session, and then in the Fall he will have only 2 classes left! It's been a long road and suffice it to say WE ARE PROUD. He's also working, as I mentioned before… he still hates it, but he only works Friday-Monday and evenings, so we still get to spend our days together :)

And nowwwww, for the little man of the house. JACKSON! If I could describe him in one word, it would be WILD. He is wiiiiild. Right now he is getting his top teeth and he is grumpaaaay. He is usually so happy and smiley all the time and lately all he wants is to nurse and hit me. Oh yes, he hits. He is kind of mean like that. I have been asking for a kiss for a week, and tonight, I finally got one instead of a smack, and I think it was a fluke because he was extremely tired. In fact I think he smacked me afterward like, "Oh wait…shoot!" He also just started walking! And he has taaaaken off! One day he walked a couple steps while he was holding my cell phone (texting and walking, I know…) and we thought he did it just because he was distracted. The next day he took about 5 steps on his own! The next day, he did about ten! And the next day….well, he walked around the entire house up and down halls and all over.  Today he figured out how to stand up on his own without holding onto anything so he stopped crawling almost completely. Every time he would start to, he would stop and then stand up. He is learning so fast! This evening we went outside and walked around in the grass and he played with Easton and her chuck-it. What an adventure we are on now! I still can't believe he is walking, every time he does it, I just sit and stare in awe. My little guy…growing up. So bittersweet. He's also eating like a teenager. The kid can put away a meal. He still nurses about 6 times a day and eats 3 solid meals. For breakfast he loves pancakes or oatmeal with fruit and of course, cinnamon graham crackers! For lunch we like to mix it up…usually whatever we are eating he eats too, or he eats leftovers, or mac and cheese or beans, or whatever. He likes vienna sausages, which makes me kind of want to barf. For dinner he loves ravioli, any pasta really, and he loves meats and rice, but not vegetables. I always mix them in, but he usually picks them out. It's pretty cute. The other night we spent about 10 minutes playing "eat the pea." Every time I would get him to open up, I would literally throw a pea in, and he would take it out and throw it back at me and crack me up. It was so funny I didn't even care that he didn't eat the peas. He also gets dessert every night. He is so spoiled. He loves Nilla Wafers and basically any other cookie. He loves to laugh, all day. I think his goal in life is to make mommy laugh… a lot like his daddy in that sense! I could go on and on about my boy and how wonderful and unique he is… but at this point I am realizing I am just procrastinating my pointless cleaning.