Happy Birthday Myles!

July and August:
Myles arrived as planned on July 22.  We went to bed the night before anticipating his arrival.  I didn't sleep much and when I did manage to fall asleep, we ended up over sleeping.  We were supposed to be at the hospital at 5:00 am and we needed to leave by 4:00 to get there but we did actually wake up until 4:10.  It took us about 10 minutes to get out the door.  Thankfully, I decided to wash and dry my hair and put on make-up at midnight before going to bed.  We arrived at the hospital at 5:30 am but it didn't seem to matter that we were late.  We were admitted and sent to labor and delivery where we could settle in the room before surgery.  After being prepped for surgery, we had to wait a bit for the doctor.  Nana, Pa, Uncle Ty, Bro. Robert, Mrs. Cheryl, and Bro. Arnold were there early before Myles was born.  At 7:30 we were taken to the operating room and Myles was born at 7:49 am.  He weighed 8 lbs and 13 oz and was 21 1/2 inches long. Several people came to the hospital during our stay - Jackson, Aunt Katie, Kathy, Kortney, MiMi, Great Mee Maw, Jarard, Uncle Ty, Aunt Ashley, Elaine, Mrs. Kathleen, and Johnathon.  The nurses in the nursery said that Myles was the most quiet baby in there each night.  We were able to go home on Thursday, July 25.  When we arrived at home, Jackson had gotten a virus while at daycare and was quarantined at Nana and Pa's house so we didn't get to see any of them for another three days.  We didn't have any visitors on the day we got home and we enjoyed the peace and quiet.  On Friday, Mee Maw and Paw Paw came by and visited for a little while and Bro. Arnold came by with bulletins for Sunday that included Myles' picture since we would not be attending that Sunday.  Several other visitors came over the course of the weekend - Aunt Vicki and Noel, Haley, and Heather.  Jackson came home on Saturday and Nana and Aunt Ashley brought lunch.  A little over a week after Myles was born, we went to dinner at Christopher and Leigh Ann's house.  Jackson played with Hattie and enjoyed watching tv.  It gave us some adult conversation time.  When we took Myles back to the doctor for his 2 week check up he had gained a pound and grown an inch.  Mary Kay, Susan, and Barb came down and visited on a Saturday and took Jackson back home with them.  He stayed with MK for almost a week and had a wonderful time.  Aunt Glyn and Uncle Rex came by and ate lunch and visited on their way home from the beach.  They brought Myles some sleepers and a book, "Good Night, Good Night Construction Site".  Great Granny and Granddaddy came to visit and spent two nights with Nana and Pa. Shortly after Myles' was born, we secured a contract on our house and it took a little over a month to close the deal.  We took Myles to church when he was almost two weeks old.  He sat with us in Sunday School and church.  He slept most of the time except when he took a bottle during the church service.  I tried to burp him during the music so that he would not disturb the whole church.  He went to the nursery on his third Sunday and those workers in the nursery love him and enjoy holding him.
September:
 We went to see Nana and Pa at the camp site at the beach for Labor Day.  Jackson loved the water and Myles enjoyed the air conditioning of the camper.  I was able to stay home with Myles until he was 6 weeks old and then I had to go to work at my new job.  Myles and I enjoyed staying around the house most of the time.  We did get out and visit some but mostly napped at home.  I went back to work on September 6 and Myles stayed with Nana until September 30.  On September 30, he started to his "little school" (as Jackson calls it) with Ms. Amber.  According to Nana, Myles rolled over on September 23 while at the doctor's office.  And on October 6, we saw he roll over while laying in the floor playing.  We have to really watch Jackson closely with Myles because he has a tendency to be very rough with him.  I don't think he realizes that he is too little to rough house with at the moment.  I am wondering how many things they will tear up when they get older from rough housing with each other.  :)
October:
We have had to change Myles' formula to Enfamil AR and he takes Zantac three times a day for acid reflux.  He seems to be adjusting to the new formula quite well.  Well, we seem to be a "normal" routine around the house.  I know there will be more stories to come.  I will add some more pictures to this post a little later.

Conversations with Jackson

We enjoy the conversations we get to have with Jack and hearing about what he has said to other people.

Jackson: "Ma, I poo pooed and pee peed in the potty."
Ma:  "That is so good.  I am so proud of you.  I think someone needs some candy."
Jackson:  (while pointing to himself) "ME!"

Ma:  "Jackson, what did you have for lunch today?"
Jackson:  "I not want it." or "I not like it."

Jackson:  "Don't leave Jack!"

Jackson:  "I go night-night in the night-night room."

Every time we come to a bridge while driving/riding in the car, Jackson says, "We go over the shake-shake bridge."

Ma:  "Jackson, how many butts do you have?"
Jackson: "3"

Ma:  "Jackson, do you want some hasenpfeffer for dinner?:
Jackson: "I not want has-pepper."

Jackson: "I want to see the choo-choo and the railroad choo-choo tracks."

Jackson: "Myles is the little boy and I the big boy."  "I go to big school and Myles go to little school."

Jackson:  Uh, oh momma!!  The paci came out." - when Myles was crying.

A funny story:  Ray took Jackson to Ms. Hazel to get his hair cut.  She was asking him is thing like, "Is that nose?  Are those your eyes?  Is this your ear?, etc."  And he looked up at her and said, "Is that you boobies?"  Ray was mortified.  Ms. Hazel said, "Yes, Jackson" and continued cutting his hair.  Ray apologized and she told him she had definitely heard worse and not to worry about it.

Jackson:  "What are you doing momma?:
Ma:  "Putting my bra on."
Jackson:  "Where's my bra?"
Ma:  "Boys don't wear bras."

Two of Jackson's favorite sentences, "What are you doing?"  and "Are you finished?"

Time Went By Too Fast!!!

It is now August and the last time I blogged anything was early May.  I guess with all the crazy things we have had happening lately, blogging has been the last thing on my mind.  Between moving (AGAIN) and getting ready for Myles' arrival, I have been a little preoccupied.  Summer time has been a blur for us and I wish it had not gone by so fast.  In June, we did our very best to stay cool!  It was quite a hot summer for us.  Jackson did get to enjoy some days in his little pool and even at Ms. Leigh Ann and Mr. Christopher's pool as well as Ms. Alison's pool.  That sweet boy loves the water.  If there was any kind of breeze we tried to take time out for the park (which wasn't often because it has been so hot).  We had a diaper/wipes shower for Myles in June and got to visit with friends and family from around town.  Myles was showered with lots of diapers in addition to some gifts.  In attendance at the shower:  Ms. Debbie, Ms. Ina, Mee Maw, Aunt Katie, Mee Mee, Nana, Kathy, Ms. Vicki, Shirley Ann, Ms. Elaine, and Ashley.  Also during the month of June, we took a weekend trip for Drew's wedding.  Jackson got to stay in a hotel for the first time and we told him he was getting to stay in the "night-night room".  He was so funny about calling it that.

For the 4th of July, we spent the afternoon at Ms. Leigh Ann and Mr. Christopher's house.  We got to enjoy some great food and fellowship.  Jackson was mostly intrigued by Hattie and Lola.  Jackson even discovered how a doggy door works.  I just know that Hattie appreciated Jackson invading her toy basket and chasing her around the house as well as in and out of the doggy door.  Jackson was especially entertained by Lola's love for swimming in the pool and retrieving toys.  Around the first week of July we got to see a 4D picture of Myles which was too cool!  Especially since we didn't get to see that kind of picture with Jackson.  Also during July, we spent time finishing settling in our new place of residence and again, trying to stay cool!  It was quite a hot month.  Two weeks before Myles' arrival we took Jackson and spent the night camping with Nana and Pa at the beach.  Jackson got to spend another night with them after we left.  The heat was just a bit much for a pregnant mom.  However, Jackson had a blast!!!  One week before Myles' birth, mom got a job offer that provided better benefits, more money, and being able to continue with retirement and sick leave.  She was sad to leave her friends and the job she had always wanted but it was the right thing to do.

Hang in there...

Hang in there with me...I am working on a blog post that will be published soon along with several pictures!  So, don't tune us out...we will have something to share very soon.

Where in the world did the time go????

It is now the beginning of May and I have just now realized that I haven’t posted anything on here since January.   Boy, do we have so much catching up to do.  Where do we begin?  I guess the best place to start is where we left off in January.  So, here we go!

February:

This was a very eventful month for all of us.  We start the month off in our normal routine and we rode through the middle of the month with lots of bumps along the way but we came out on the other side.  The week of Valentine’s Day, Jackson got sick with a cold and a sore throat.  He ran fever and just really felt terrible.  We ended up taking him to the doctor on a Wednesday morning and they ran several tests to try to determine what was causing him to be sick in order to treat him properly.  All of the tests came back negative but he was severely dehydrated because he refused to eat or drink due to his sore throat.  We went home from the doctor’s office and were asked to return the next day.  The next morning was Valentine’s Day and Jackson was off to the doctor’s office first thing the next morning.  After a long morning and lots of arguing with doctors, he ended up in the hospital for dehydration.  We spent the night there receiving fluids and Tylenol and antibiotics.  By morning, he was on his way to be his normal self and we were able to return home.  We checked out on that Friday afternoon and Saturday we had a very nice day playing and trying to rest from all of the events of the previous week.  Sunday morning, Jackson woke up with a stomach virus that appeared to be a 12 hour bug and by evening he was feeling better.  So, at this point we think we are on the mends and headed into the week back in our normal routine.  Boy, were we wrong!  Monday, Jackson didn’t return to school in order to prevent him from relapsing.  We all went back to work.  That afternoon, I had a doctor’s appointment after work so that is where I spent my afternoon/evening.  By the end of the doctor’s appointment (and in the doctor’s office) the stomach virus had hit me and little did I know at that point that Ray was heading to his mom’s sick as well.  I finally made it back home from the doctor’s office (let me just say that being sick in the car while you are the one driving is no cake walk).  I was sick all through the night and into the next morning.  Sometime during the middle of the night, Pa and Nana got sick as well as MiMi and Aunt Katie.  Everyone finally recovered and spent the rest of the month of February thankful to be well.

March:

March was a fun month.  We received and accepted an offer on our house and started making preparations to begin the process of moving and looking for another place to purchase.  We spent the entire week of spring break at our house working to finish packing up things.  In the midst of that week, we endured freezing temperatures (yes, it is weather in the South) and then had really nice pleasant weather within a day or two.  We shopped and bought Jackson some clothes and shoes for spring/summer.  He had his first trip to the zoo and got to spend time with Toot Toot, David, and Company!  We enjoyed the time of getting to visit with friends and get some work done at the same time.  We had another doctor’s visit and found out that we are having another boy!!  So, we will start preparing for his arrival.

April:

Sometime during this month we decided on a name for our new bundle of joy.  He will be called Myles Levi.  Myles is the name of my great uncle and Levi is the name of my great-grandfather.  As we did with Jackson, we wanted him to have a name that was strong and be after men who were hard-working and considered men of character.  We continued to work towards the closing on our house and the start of the process on purchasing another one.  We finally agreed on purchasing the house that Ray’s grandfather built and only his family has owned since the day it was built.  It is a house that needs lots of updating to get it where we want it but we are excited about the challenge.  We were scheduled to close on the sale of our house at the end of the month so we spent an entire weekend moving all of our belongings from all the places we had everything stored.  It was a challenging weekend and very tiring (especially for a pregnant woman).  The closing of our house got delayed to over into May but it didn’t stop us from continuing the moving in process on the new house.  I often wonder if the pile of boxes just keeps growing and growing even though we appear to be unpacking.  Somewhere in the midst of all this moving stuff, we had time to get a photo session in for the spring.  Jackson was not really interested in having his picture taken so we struggled to get him to smile.  He was more interested in the dog, horses, and everything else in the area than doing what the photographer wanted.  But I think the pictures turned out very nice and of course I think my little one is most handsome, smile or no smile!!

May: 

The end of school is upon us and the month of May usually flies by faster than any other in the year.  We have Jackson’s birthday, Mother’s Day, my birthday, hopefully the closing of both houses and getting ready for the arrival of Myles.  The first weekend of the month called for us to celebrate Jackson’s 3^rd birthday.  We decided to celebrate in our new house (which is not quite ours yet but we are close).  We had mostly family over to celebrate and a few friends (that are basically considered family).  Jackson had so much fun and we enjoyed hosting the party there.  The kids had plenty of room to run and play.  Queenie even got in on the action and played as well.  I think she had has much fun as everyone else did.  Jackson had so much fun opening his gifts.  His eyes would get big and then he would want to open the package and start playing immediately.  He didn’t quite understand that there were other gifts to open as well.  This year’s party theme was Thomas the Train.  We had a Thomas cake, balloons, table cloth, plates, and juice boxes.  That sweet boy loves trains and big trucks!  We were most appreciative and thankful for our family and friends that came together and celebrated with us.  They really made the day special for Jackson.  Toot Toot came and spent the weekend.  Jackson never let her out of his sight the whole time she was there.  He had so much fun playing and spending time with her.

Baby Sellers in January

We got to see Baby Sellers this month.  We still don't know if we are blue or pink but we know that we are right on track and everything is going well so far.

Welcome 2013!

Well, 2013 is here and we hit the ground running.  Jackson is still enjoying his time outside with his Christmas present.  We spent last weekend at the beach with our family, The Phillips’  The kids had a great time playing, going to the zoo, playing putt-putt golf, and riding go-karts & kiddie rides.  One picture shows Jackson in zebra stripped pants.  We went to Piper’s house and Jackson went down the slide and got his pants wet so we had to put them in the dryer.  Well, he insisted on wearing pants of some kind and we had to borrow some of Piper’s.  I have a feeling this picture will come back to haunt him.