Our new home sweet home

I've been very hesitant to post anything house related in fear of jinxing everything, but I think it's finally time to share!

As you know, the day we sold our house we actually had two buyers. After 6 long months on the market, we got two offers within hours of each other. We negotiated back and forth for a couple of days, and ending up choosing offer #1. Well within hours of accepting her offer we found out that her financing wasn't going to go through. Our wonderful realtor reached out to offer #2 and we were back under contract almost immediately.

In the meantime, we were also in negotiations on our new house. It was a crazy 48 hours, to say the least! Mr. and I almost didn't even go and see "our house" at first. I wasn't sure about the area and the school it was zoned for. But, on a whim, we decided to drive by and see it...and it was love at first sight!

I'm still trying not to let myself fall totally head over heals in fear that something will fall through, but I'm in love. The house is in a quiet little gated community, on a pond, with a walking path, and a pool.  If you know me, then you understand my love:)

Our house happens to be on the pond, so our back patio has a lovely view.  The master and kitchen windows have views of the fountains.  The floors are hardwood.  The counters will be granite.  The master shower floor will be river rocks, like a spa! There's two gas fireplaces, one inside and one outside.  It's a 4 bedroom, 3 bathroom house - perfect for us to grow into!!!

We're packing up this weekend and just got word that our buyer needs us to close in less than 2 weeks.  I'm trying to remember to breath, we have a lot to do!!! If anyone wants to come help box up our house, we'll welcome you with beer and pizza:)

Introducing our new home sweet home! Due May 18th:)

the front of the house

our backyard, which will be fenced in!

from the pool, looking down the walking path to our house.  we're about 6 down!

standing in kitchen, to the left is the family room.  Out the door is our back patio.

our back patio with gas fireplace.  TV will be mounted above it!

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Clean bill of health...

Y'all, I can't hardly believe that I'm actually typing this - MY JACKSON IS HEALTHY!!!

We had our follow-up appointment this morning with our allergist and their diagnosis seems to be right on - Jackson has most likely had a bacterial infection in his lungs since he was sick around Halloween.  We just never found the right antibiotic and steroid mix to totally kick the infection out of his system...until now!

As of today, Jackson's lungs are official clear, his cough is gone, and there is no need at this point for any allergy testing!!!

Mr. and I cannot tell you the relief this brings to us.  Seriously, Mr. even got teary-eyed during the appointment.

We'll keep Jackson on the Flonase everyday and dry max as needed.  These are just because we live in Louisiana and who doesn't have some sort of allergies right now?!?

We can drop the Xopenex from his breathing treatment and only use it as needed for a cough or rattle, which again can be expected just because of the climate we live in.

The doctor wants us to continue Pulmacort daily as maintenance at least through the Spring.  He imagines that Jackson will require this drug seasonally, which is fine.

The last medication Jackson will continue to take is the Prevacid, just for the next month to see if he was having any silent reflux issues.

And the best news, Jackson doesn't have to go back to the doctor for another 6 weeks!!! The real test will be if we make it that long without going to the doctor...which hasn't happened, ever.

The grand total in medical expenses this month topped over $1,000 - but having a healthy boy at the end was worth every penny.  Jackson is like a new kid I tell you, and it's amazing.  He is so happy and you can tell he feels good.  I'm rethinking the terrible two preview, maybe it was just a desperate cry for help to make him feel better!

my happy boy with his Popsicle

a little water fun after dinner

this chair can finally be used for lounging instead of breathing treatments around the clock!

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Skeet Shoot 2011

If you're not familiar with "the annual skeet shoot" you can read about it here or here.  I started joining Mr. when we were dating, back in 2005, and haven't missed one since!

It is so hard to believe that at this time last year, Jackson was just a scooting, gummy smiled, baby boy. Oh what a year it's been, but I'm loving my toddler more than ever...even though he had me up at 3AM last night, I forgive him:)

The boys were back in Louisiana this year and the weather was about as perfect as possible.  The days were warm and the evenings were crisp, just the way I like it!

I was nervous about taking Jackson out to the country with his allergies/asthma/whatever it is that makes him cough like a crazy man...but wouldn't you know, my boy is well!!! He was all smiles and never coughed once, not once!

We headed out to Abbeville after work on Friday and we able to watch the guys shoot until sunset.  Jackson was in his element, let me tell you.  He ran as far as his fat little legs would take him.  He chased the dogs until they wouldn't run anymore.  He played football and flirted with a special little friend.  He got dirty and played with bugs.  He said the word BUG! It was such a fun night for my little family of three.

Saturday was another gorgeous day so Mr. got a head start out to the property while Jackson took a long afternoon nap.  The night before totally wore him out and he slept from noon until 4! It really worked out perfectly that way though because Jackson was able to stay up later:)  Jackson and I got out to the shoot just in time for the "hat round" and a plane flew by and buzzed us.  The look on Jackson's face was priceless!

Mr. and Jackson had a nice little review of toy gun safety and they played until long after the sunset.  Between dancing in the moonlight and teaching him how to play soccer while we ran from the bugs, it was another night to remember.  Jackson sure made me one proud Momma and Mr. made me a proud wife!

I'm not sure what I did to deserve my sweet boys, but I've never been so thankful.  They give me so much joy - sometimes I find myself speechless.

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Jackson's Sweethearts

These little ladies may or may not have changed my desire for having a house full of boys. Regardless, seeing Jackson love and play with his big and little cousins made my uterus crave a sibling for him...someday:)

photo taken by Aunt Steph

photo taken by Aunt Steph

photo taken by Aunt Steph

photo taken by Aunt Steph

These two will be trouble one day:)

couldn't be more true!

Cruising in the mini with his sweetheart:)

You think I went a little monogram crazy or what?!? Gotta love it though:)

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Another day, another doctor

Y'all, I think I'm going to have to change the name of my blog to "mother who spends her life in a doctors office with a sick kid"! Seriously, something has got to change.  Between co-pays and prescriptions for Jackson, I'm going to go broke! However, I have high hopes that things are going to get better.

During Friday's appointment with our pediatrician, Jackson got a cortisone shot and we were told that Jackson needed to be allergy tested ASAP.  Well Friday night was by far the worst night, ever! I expected the shot to help and boy was I wrong.  We rotated between breathing treatments, hot steam shower, the recliner, our bed and the couch.  Jackson's cough and wheezing was just terrible.  Words cannot describe the pain and struggle Jackson was in. Not to mention, he also ran 100 degree fever most of the night.

I'm no doctor, but since when do you run fever with allergies.  And if this was an allergy/asthma coughing attack, then his fast-acting rescue drugs should have helped, but did not.

Since none of us were able to sleep and staying inside didn't seem to help, we decided to walk in the Race for the Cure Saturday morning.  Surprisingly, Jackson did really well.  He coughed a little during the walk, but nothing at all like the night before.

Again, I'm no doctor, but if this was allergies then wouldn't he be worse outside with Spring in full bloom?!?

Saturday night was amazing, Jackson slept from 10PM straight through to 8:30AM.  Hallelujah, the medications must finally be working!!!

We all woke up Sunday feeling so refreshed and hopeful.  However, as the day progressed we were singing a different tune.  The coughing kept Jackson from napping and playing and he got very pissy.  The days of coughing were finally catching up to him and bringing him down fast.  With every cough, you could just watch him hold his chest in pain.  Talk about heart breaking and feeling so helpless.

First thing Monday morning, I called our pediatrician and told him something was just not right.  I begged for something to help Jackson's cough - he said to give him honey.  I mean seriously, honey.  I try and keep my blog PG, but I'm sorry, you've got to be fucking kidding me.

Well, all I can say is thank God for my momma! As I've said before, she is a pharmaceutical drug rep and spends her days with allergists and pulmonologists.  So literally within the hour, she had her top docs looking at Jackson's medical history and working together to figure out what in the hell is causing him to be so sick.

We were able to get in to see an allergist yesterday, and we finally feel like we're heading in the right direction.  Here's how our appointment went:

Is it possible that Jackson has allergies?
Absolutely.  He has a tone of clear mucus in his nose, which is causing a good bit of drainage down his throat.  

Are his allergies bad enough to make him this sick?
Not likely.  A child younger than 2 should not be this sick just from allergies.  There's something else going on here.

Does he need to be allergy tested?
Maybe, but again, we need to find out the root of the problem first.  And this isn't it.

Shouldn't his maintance (pulmacort) and rescue (Xopenex) medication work better?
Exactly, Jackson's on a very good dosage and he doesn't seem to be responsive to either.  We did a treatment in the office and confirmed that it didn't really help.  This would indicate that the big problem isn't asthma, which is a good thing.  I would love for Jackson to be asthma free!

So, what gives?!?
Looking back on all of the medications Jackson's been on since January, he was not properly treated for Pneumonia.  We did steroids and breathing treatments for the RSV, but no antibiotics for the bacterial Pneumonia infection. In her personal opinion, we're dealing with an unresolved case of Pneumonia.  Jackson should have been hospitalized when he had RSV and Pneumonia, with out a doubt.


His ears looked great, no blockage at all.  She said not to worry about the hearing test, Jackson is obviously not deaf.  He's a boy and he's sick.  We need to get him well and then see.

Now what???
Jackson is on a super strong antibiotic for the next 5 days, and he got more steroids yesterday and today.  She changed up his medications a little bit, including a different GERD medication twice a day.  Silent reflux could also be a factor here.  We need to dry up his nose and get his lungs cleared up!

In a perfect world, by this time next week, we'll have a perfectly healthy Jackson! Fingers and toes are doubly crossed hoping that this finally fixes our precious boy!!!

Jackson's revised medication list

My little boob man before the Race

Oh.So.Pitiful.

Riding:)

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Back to the doctor

I'm sure y'all are just as tired of hearing about Jackson's health as I am writing about it. However, it's nice to look back and use this as documentation to remember what's happened when. I reference these posts a lot before doctors appointments!

Jackson is never well, never 100%, never as good as I believe he should feel.  Some days are worse than others, and well sick has just become our normal.  Jackson is still a wonderful sleeper, and thankfully, he doesn't let the snot nose, wheezing and coughing bring him down.  I truly believe the sound of his cough is much worse than it actually feels.  Wednesday and Thursday night and morning, Jackson coughed and coughed and coughed.  Once these coughing fits start, they last for a good hour or so.

Last night was the worst night we've had in a long time.  Jackson randomly ran fever on and off all night.  It never goes above 100 degrees, so I rarely give him anything for it.  As fast as it comes, it goes.  One minute he's warm, the next he's nice and cool.

At about 9:30 last night the coughing got so bad I went into his room and got him.  We slept together in our recliner, upright, for as long as my neck and back could take it.  Then we went into our bed and slept on a couple pillows up for a little while.  At about 1AM another coughing fit started and it was a rough one. 

I gave him another breathing treatment and by about 3AM we were all back to sleep for the rest of the night.  I decided to let Jackson sleep in his crib with the humidifier on full blast and turned our monitor up to hear for him.  I just worry that he'll cough something up and choke, it scares me to pieces.

When we woke him up at 8AM this morning, the coughing started once again.  I felt terrible waking him, but it's a work day and there was no other choice.  I called our pediatrician and asked for the first available appointment this morning.  I went ahead and gave Jackson his cocktail of medication and we were on our way.

We went back to the pediatrician instead of our ENT because this is clearly a lung/respiratory issue not his ears, nose or throat.  His doctor couldn't hardly believe Jackson sounded the way he did after seeing the list of medication the ENT has him on.  His cough was in full force and he was very wheezing for just finishing a breathing treatment.

Outcomes of today's appointment:
We're all on the same page that we have to get Jackson well and figure out the root of the problem. 

Jackson's ear's aren't infected, but his tubes are blocked due to the amount of congestion he has.  Which is most likely why he failed his hearing tests.  He'll continue to fail until we get him well. Ear drops will be needed for the next two weeks and again anytime he's sick - which right now is all of the time!

We're going to treat him for GERD/Silent Reflux for a month to see if that helps the cough.  This will be a new prescription given 30-minutes before dinner.

We are doubling the amount of Pulmacort Respules and giving him one large dose a day, instead of breaking it up twice a day.

Xopenex will still be needed to relieve coughing, as needed every 4 hours.

We're replacing Singular, Dry Max/Vazotan, and cough medicines with Flonase.  If we dry up his nose, and clear up the congestion with the Flonase, then the post-nasal-drip will stop with the coughing.  Fingers crossed!

We are going ahead with the full panel allergy test, ASAP.  Jackson's allergies and asthma seem to be too bad to wait until his 2nd birthday.  I'm slightly overwhelmed at the thought of spending two days a week in a doctor's office for allergy shots in our near future, but if it works, it will be worth it!

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Green Bubbles

We're needing a little luck of the Irish today, so I thought a post about green bubbles was more than appropriate for St. Patty's Day!

The lady that we excepted an offer from for our house didn't get the financing approved.  We're totally bummed out, but are expecting another offer from the other interested buyer by noon today.  Finger and toes are both crossed for everything to work out:)

Mr. worked late last night, so lil man and I went for a walk and played in the front yard with some of the neighborhood kiddos.  Stacey brought out a package of Crayola colored bubbles for the boys to play with and let me tell you, we all turned green! Thank goodness they're washable colors, but it was an absolute mess.  I'm still trying to get the stains out of Jackson's shoes!

Boys will by boys:) Thank goodness for good stain removers!

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Overdue updates from the Wilson's

First let me just say that this only blogging on Wednesday thing has got to stop! However, I'm just not sure I'll find the time anytime soon. So what has us to busy you ask, well let's see:

Oh my gosh, we're under contract on our house!!! After 6 months on the market and about 20 showing - it just took an open house on a beautiful Sunday for not one, but two different people to fall in love with our house. It's so bittersweet to think about packing up our home, but it's time! If all goes as planned, we're set to close in a little less than a month. :Gasp:

On Monday Jackson was scheduled to have his ABR test...which did not go well. Not because of his hearing, but because the terrible two's have arrived. This phase too shall pass, I just hope quickly! We kept Jackson up late, woke him up early, skipped his nap - so he was more than sleep deprived for the test. Well, a sleep deprived toddler does not mean that he'll fall asleep on demand. Seriously, the ladies showed us into the testing room. I was expecting to find a crib or a cot or a bed. Something, anything. Oh no, a chair. They gave us a minute to "get him to sleep" in a new room, with toys, and a chair. Let's just say after an hour and a half, they asked us to leave and reschedule somewhere else that doesn't require sleep to do the same test.

Jackson turned 21 months last week. Did I mention that the terrible two's have arrived?!?

I just got the call from Jackson's serum test, and he's allergic to eggs.

We had an amazing time with Stephanie and my sister. 11 straight days of company was oh so fun! You can read more about what our week was like here and here. Trust me, Stephanie's posts and pictures are amazing:)

We our currently in negotiations for our new house that I've fallen in love with. A backyard on a pond with a walking path and a neighborhood pool 5 houses away - yes, please!

Me and my boys will be moving in with my parents for a little while. While we are ever so grateful for their generosity, I'm nervous as hell that they'll regret this offer! Did I mention the terrible two's...at least Jackson's cute!

Speaking of cute, we got some precious pictures of Amelia and Jackson before they headed back to St. Louis on Sunday!

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Mardi Gras Recap

It totally rained on our parade y'all, but we refused to let it bring us down. And when I say it rained, it poured, and I'm not just talking about the weather.  Poor Mr. Action Jackson just cannot catch a break these days. On top of his lack of hearing and breathing, he now has pink eye! All I can do at this point is laugh, and laughter is great medicine:)

Despite the weather and pink eye, our Mardi Gras was so fun and completely exhausting. I think I'm just too old to party like a rock star anymore! My dad and his girlfriend came into town last Thursday and stayed through the weekend. We had a great time entertaining them and spent Saturday in New Orleans.

my pretty front door decorated for Mardi Gras

The weather on Saturday was terrible, but we didn't let it bring us down. Jackson stayed home with a sitter, so Mr. and I enjoyed our day sans kiddo! My mom and her husband and one of my brothers all joined us and it was a large time. From people watching down bourbon to during "the Bernie" at Razzo's, it was a day to remember!

me and my knight in shining camo:) I can't see you!

always fun running into friends on bourbon!

me and cam doing "the bernie", still not even sure what this is?!?

I so love my momma!

On Sunday my dad and Mary left, and Stephanie arrived with her sweet twins! Jackson is completely smitten with his Aunt Steph and it makes my heart so happy.  I've had to pinch myself a few times over the past three days.  It just blows my mind that Stephanie and I have real babies that are all snuggled up together.  They are all in Jackson's room at night for a big slumber party, just like we used to play with our baby dolls.  And I also have to say that Jackson is definetly trying to talk more around the girls.  It's not exactly english, but he's trying, that's for sure!

Monday night my sister and sweet baby Ameila flew down for a week long visit! This is also when we started to notice goop coming out of Jackson's eye.  Perfect timing, right?!? In a two hour period, I dropped $130 on prescriptions for lil man and tried to keep him away from everyone the best I could. 

When we woke up yesterday morning, Fat Tuesday, Jackson had full blown pink eye in both of his eyes.  We had a day of parades and fun jumps and face painting planned for all of the kids.  Since we had already paid for everything, Mr. stayed home with Jackson, and the rest of us went to Mardi Gras.  Truth be told, Mr. had enough of the rain and was happy to be home cuddled up Jackson:)

Sweet girl snoozing away at the parade!

Now we're just playing the waiting game to see who else comes down with pink eye.  My eyes are red and itching like crazy.  I can't decide if it's all in my head or if I'm next...

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