The Wilson Family

Maybe it's just the calm before the storm...

2012-01-25T12:28:00.001-06:00

Hello, is anyone still out there?!?

I know, I'm quiet.

I have yet to blog about our amazing trip to Disney or Jackson's big boy room, that was so last year.

There was no year-end recap

or reflection.

I'm quiet.

I'm processing.

I'm just trying to make sense of things.

Everything happens for a reason, this I am sure of.

It's trying to understand, make sense of, or discover the "why" of everything that I'm processing.

That's making me feel oh so quiet.

We've spent the entire month of January thus far, sick.

One morning I woke up nauseous and late and prayed that this was it... Only minutes later I realized that I was sick as shit, and not with morning sickness. It was the stomach flu - and now a sinus infection and bronchitis.

We're taking Jackson back to the specialist in New Orleans tomorrow to discuss possible options to get him off antibiotics and out of the urgent care every other week.

I've peed on more sticks this month than I will share with you.

They all turn negative faster than I can put them on the counter.

I'm ready to loose my mind.

I'm ready to move forward.

Ready for the next step.

Ready to embrace our "infertility" title yet again.

I pray that you'll stick with us and be just as amazing and supportive as I become vulnerable and put it all out there yet again in our journey to grow our family.

Because looking into these eyes, and having his smile light up my life - I know that we cannot have just one of these precious gifts. I know now more than anything, I need to give him the greatest gift of a sibling.

I know that we need to grow.

And the overcoming feeling of this finally being right for us has kicked in and I will do whatever it takes.

So bring it on cycle day 1.

No, really let's get this show started.

I am ready.

BCS Championship Weekend

2012-01-12T10:57:00.000-06:00

Mr. and I had the best tickets to the worst game ever Monday night. That's pretty much all I want to say about that...especially because the weekend before said game was too much fun not to blog about:)

Saturday afternoon we filled my car with everything purple and gold and dropped Jackson off at my mom's before we headed to the big easy. Truth be told, I think Jackson may have been more excited to spend 3 days at Lolipops then Mr. was to see his Tigers play in the national championship game! Seriously, we got one kiss bye and were basically kicked out of their house. It brought tears to my eyes, but also warmed my heart knowing how much Jackson enjoys his grandparents...that and the fact that they had big potty-training plans for the weekend:)

Mr. and I made it to New Orleans just in time for kickoff for the Saints game. We checked in to our little hotel, quickly unpacked and caught a cab to the House of Blue to meet up with friends. We watched the Saints win and called it a night so that we'd be fresh for our Sunday Funday!


Waiting for our cab on our private balcony!

Our day started with brunch at 11:15 at NOLA and quickly progressed to a pub-crawl until our dinner at American Sector much later that night. I may or may not have ended up a hot mess, but it was oh so fun!

Mimosas at NOLA

Honey Badger shots at Johnny Whites

Absinthe at Pirates Alley Absinthe House

the crowd on bourbon...

Needless to say, Monday was a much more sober day for this momma! We met up with my in-laws around lunch time and headed to our first party at the Foundation Room back at the House of Blues.

Waiting for our cab, game day!

Mrs. Wilson x2 at House of Blues

Love my handsome hubby in purple and gold

We hopped around a few more places, but we were nervous about getting stuck in bad weather so we headed to the Super Dome a couple hours before kickoff...and that's when the fun quickly ended.

The last smile of the night...

Even though we didn't have the outcome we had hoped for, Mr. and I had a wonderful time eating and drinking our way through the weekend. And it was so good to come home on Tuesday! I'm pretty sure Jackson never realized we were gone, and is on his way to being potty trained. I think it's a safe bet to say that he'll be completely trained by next season, ha!

Christmas 2011

2012-01-06T12:14:00.000-06:00

I can hardly believe we're a week into the new year and Christmas has come and gone. I'm in complete disbelief at how fast time is passing by and am trying to keep with my resolution to take it all in!

Christmas was such a whirlwind this year, more so than ever before. I guess the whole surprise trip to Disney the day after really put a twist on things!

My sister, brother-n-law and precious niece drove down to Louisiana from St. Louis on the eve of Christmas Eve. The day before we ended up in the urgent care with Jackson, running 102 fever and diagnosed with tonsillitis yet again, so we hung pretty low that night.

The next morning, Christmas Eve, we did something that we've never done before - we had Christmas morning at my mom's house. We normally always do Christmas morning at her house, but everyone wanted to see Jackson wake up to "Santa" at our house instead. So, the day started out with Irish Coffees, Mimosas and Bloody Mary's and progressed to lunch and presents!

Sweet Amelia is a little present under the tree:)

Jackson and Amelia were so excited to get into all their presents at Loli&Pops!

Later that afternoon, the boys started a little game of t-ball with Jackson's new t-ball set. And before we knew it, nap time had come and gone and it was time for Christmas mass.

Running the bases in his pjs:)

I love that we're all big kids at heart:)

We attempted one final trip to see Santa before he delivered packages to all the good little boys and girls. However, cutting nap time short and the excitement of the day was a little much for Action Jackson and he.was.not.feeling.it. Mr. and I even contemplated taking him back home to bed and skipping church. But, after a train ride with Loli he was back to smiles and sweetness just in time for church.

This did not go as we envisioned:(

After church Mr., Jackson and I headed to Mr.'s mom's house for their traditional Christmas Eve dinner. Nana and Papaw made a delicious gumbo that was perfect for the chilly South Louisiana evening. After we all filled our bellies, Jackson and his cousin were spoiled rotten with presents! Jackson's favorite was definitely his interactive Buzz Lightyear and Woody.

Two Christmases in one day made for an exhausted ~~Momma and Daddy~~ Santa. We got home and put Jackson straight to bed. He was so tired he didn't even have the energy or desire to put out milk and cookies for Santa.

The early hours of Christmas morning...

I had to put out a plate of cookies and milk for Santa...even though we had no milk or cookies...

Mr. and I stayed up a few hours longer putting together toys, making breakfast casseroles and hanging the stockings on the mantel. Jackson was so concerned (and still is) that "Santa's stuck in the chimney". Melts.my.heart!

Christmas morning I woke up pretty early, being that I am not a morning person and felt sick all night. Jackson on the other hand, slept until 9AM! I kept peeking in his room, and he was sleeping so soundly. He was finally ready to come out and see what Santa had brought for him when my family came over.

Mr. made an awesome Christmas morning feast and we sipped coffee and opened more packages! My tree looked so bare without presents under it by the end of the morning.

And in a blink of an eye, Christmas morning had come and gone. All the planning and dreaming and preparing for this special morning was over, just like that! We cleaning up the leftover wrapping paper and missed Grandma terribly as we tried to save the bows just like she always did. Once our house was somewhat put back together, my family left us to get ready for our next Christmas at Mr.'s dad's house.

We put Jackson down for a quick nap and rushed to get ready for our last Christmas at the Wilson's. We got there just in time for dinner and more presents! Poor Jackson is having a hard time understanding why everyday isn't Christmas now:)

After a nice evening of visiting and playing with cousins, it was time to head home to finish packing for Disney.

Our alarms went off at 3AM, and we hit the road for a magical week...

Things I want to remember

2011-12-21T17:01:00.000-06:00

This time of year always seem to sneak up on us all, and it's easy to get caught up in all the hustle and bustle of it all! I'm trying to carve out little memories and soak up every moment that I can, even when I've literally worked two 13 hour days back-to-back and countless hours over the weekend. I am determined to find the balance and cherish this holiday season!

There is so much that I want to remember about this year; from Jackson's cute little voice pronouncing ~~Santa~~ Sinta, to the morning we made our own gingerbread house, the almost daily trips with Loli & Pop to go visit Santa, and to the magical way Jackson looks at our Christmas tree and lights up the room with his grace and understanding of what this time of year is all about.

Life is too short to not remember all of these small things and create a memory for each new day.

My parents surprised us with a Christmas trip to Disney World the day after Christmas, so I wish you all a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year if I don't make it back to blog! Now, go kiss your loved ones and make the best of the moment:)

CT Scan and Results

2011-12-15T16:31:00.002-06:00

Due to Jackson's chronic sinus and upper respiratory infections, and wheezy cough, his pediatrician recently recommended that we seek out treatment with the pediatric ENT specialist in New Orleans again. After our lovely visit with him in August, I was anxious to hear what he had to say, and I blogged about Jackson needing a CT scan done here.

Checking out the fish while we waited

Fast-forward a few weeks: Jackson had the CT Scan of his sinuses on Tuesday. We left our house at 6:30AM and arrived at Oschner at 9AM for his prep. They called us back to the holding area where Jackson was a total ham for a good 30 minutes. He had the nurses bringing him balloons and toys and then helping him decorate his balloon with stickers. They even took him around the halls to wish the other patients well before their procedures - and this was all done before he was given "happy juice".

The "happy juice" had the same effect on him as when he got his tubes and adenoidectomy...tired, drunk ol' man. My nerves always get the best of me when I see the medication start to take it's effect. I can't help but to worry, but try to always put on a brave face.

They wheeled Jackson away from us at 10:54AM and it was an hour before we were called back to recovery. After about 30 minutes, I really started to get anxious and worry about the what-ifs. Luckily, the procedure just took a little longer than expected because the anesthesiologist had a hard time getting Jackson's iv's started. Poor guy has some beat up little hands!

Jackson was a pretty typical toddler coming out of anesthesia, crying and super irritated with everything. Especially the fact that his balloons were gone from his room. But, after a couple popsicles, he was finally ready to take home.

I thought he'd sleep the whole way home, but that certainly wasn't the case. He ate almost all of the banana bread muffins we had made together the night before and asked a bazillion times for his balloon, with the Santa stickers on it. Pitiful.

Such a good lil baker:)

By the time we all got home, it was bath, breathing treatment and bed. We all slept in our bed, and were out by 8:30...just what I needed!

The doctor called us with the results from the scan last night. They came back abnormal and showed that Jackson has significant sinusitis aka blockage in his sinus cavities, specifically in his maxillary sinuses under his eyes. Hence, the reason why he constantly has puffy, dark circles under his eyes.

Considering Jackson's age, he just kept saying it was significant. He even offered to do surgery to basically drain and irrigate his sinuses. The downfall to this, is that children under the age of 4 heal so rapidly that the irrigation would close up within weeks. We discussed this surgery with him in August and he was very against it then, and still doesn't think it's the best option, just offered it to us...

His next step for us is a sweat-chloride test to test him for CF, cystic fibrosis. While Jackson is a thriving little boy, he does have a good bit of the symptoms and this test has been brought up in numerous doctor's appointments. So, we have an appointment for the lab test at 1PM tomorrow.

Other possibilities or reasons for the abnormal scan is that Jackson may have a syndrome called Immotile Cilia Syndrome. This basically means that his cilia's aren't able to move mucus through his sinuses. We'll have to go back to his immunologist for this test.

The doctor spent a good 20 minutes on the phone with me, which was amazing. He gave me a lot of medical information on diagnosis possiblities as well as medications to try. The good news is that Jackson is thriving and developing right on track. He will eventually get better with age, or grow out of this. This phase too shall pass:)

He advised us to not proceed with allergy testing because clearly Jackson is allergic so there is really no need. His orders are to keep a dust free house, no feathers, no pets, no carpet, and no cats. All of those seem pretty easy to do, and maybe I can convince Mr. that we need our cleaning lady to come once a week now!

UPDATE: Thank you God, the sweat test was negative!!!

Blood work updates

2011-12-05T11:41:00.001-06:00

I finally got the results back from my cycle day 3 blood work, taken a couple of weeks ago. I called and spoke to the office nurse, which I'm not too thrilled about. I understand that we haven't started an official cycle with them yet, but the nurse did a poor job of selling me on our next step and explaining the results. I have it on my list to call back and speak with our RE for a better understanding.

I've also been out of the RE lingo loop for a few years now, so I'm not fresh as to what these acronyms or numbers really mean - nor have I had the time to really look them up and over analyze everything.

FSH: 6.96
LH: 8.25
Estradiol: 26
Ovarian reserve test: scored a 16, which indicates they would be able to retrieve 5 eggs through IVF. The nurse said this is a "good" score.

I asked her about PCOS, since both the RE and ultrasound tech said that I had a text book PCOS ultrasound. She said that these results were not indicative of that and our next step would have to be a HSG test before we could cycle.

As for now, my thoughts and feelings are strongly leaning towards trying on our own for a few more months and re-visiting with the RE if we're not successful. Knowing that my ovarian reserve score was good lifted a HUGE weight off my shoulders. And while I want another child and for Jackson to have a little brother (or sister), I don't feel like I'm fighting against time or my biological clock. Don't get me wrong, it's ticking, but I feel more in control of it's pace now.

I know this may sound crazy, but I'm suddenly at peace with giving it more time and not rushing into injecting myself full of hormones. Something has clicked for me lately and I know that God has a bigger plan. I am totally putting this in his hands and know that everything happens for a reason.

I may need to come back to this post a time or two, but right now I'm letting go and letting God - and I mean it this time:)

Hosting Our First Thanksgiving

2011-11-28T16:36:00.001-06:00

Well, we did it! We survived hosting our first Thanksgiving holiday, and everything was wonderful. Sure, my floors may never be the same and I may be sweeping up little crumbs of food from now until the end of time, but it was so worth it!

The Wilsons - Thanksgiving 201

I've said it before, but having such a large extended "family bush" makes our holidays somewhat hectic. There is always pressure to head to the next house and disappointment for cutting visits too short, which is why we decided to stay put and invite everyone to come to us!


Mr. proudly carving his first turkey

The inside table setting

One of the outside table settings


You can't have Thanksgiving without football:)

A Thanksgiving blessing before the meal

We've been in our new house for 6 months now, which makes it not so new anymore, but this was the first time for many of Mr.'s side of the family to see it. Even the Tennessee bunch of Wilson's came home for the holiday!

Mr.'s dad's side of the family

Mr.'s mom and her family were all able to make it, as well as my mom and step-dad. The guest list was just as full as the dinner menu, I'm so glad to be a part of a family that can cook!

Mr.'s mom's side of the family

Everyone arrived around 3PM and dinner was served around 4PM. The rest of the evening was spent visiting and watching the cousins bounce in the fun jump and run wild together. It's not too often that we're all under one roof!

Jackson loves his bounce house, and spent most of his Thanksgiving bouncing:)

Once the sun went down it got just crisp enough to turn on the fireplace outside to keep the adults warm while the kids continued to play. We were even able to get a few family photos before everyone started to clear out.

And after the last guest left, Mr. and I sat for a minute and reflected on our Thanksgiving. Jackson fell asleep in Mr.'s arms after his bath and slept straight through his breathing treatment, sweet boy played until he couldn't play anymore!

Then the real fun started...cleaning up Thanksgiving dinner for 30! Cleaning up after a party is much like coming home from vacation - it's so much more fun to pack your bags then to unpack them! We are oh so thankful for my parents, who stayed until the last dish was washed and even took the silver home to polish! Bless you:)

The rest of our weekend was full of family time for our party of 3, Christmas trees, football and garland...more to come!

A Hodgepodge Post

2011-11-21T13:47:00.000-06:00

Call it what you will - a catch up, a catch all, a recap, a hodgepodge or sorts, or a brain dump - here's what's new with the Wilson's:

Jackson is literally leaping off of anything he can climb, trying to fly like an airplane or soar to infinity and beyond like Buzz Lightyear. Why? you may ask, well that's a simple answer. He is sick yet again, and had another steroid shot that has him bouncing off of the wall. Don't believe me - watch the video and you'll see for yourself!

And speaking of hodgepodge, please ignore the hodgepodge of an outfit he's in!

After our last trip to the pediatrician with an ear infection, sinus infection, respiratory infection - and I'm not sure what else because he just said it was all infected - we are headed back to New Orleans on December 13th for a CT Scan of Jackson's sinuses. I'm sure I'll be back to blogging before then, but could you please keep him in your prayers on the 13th? He has to be put under general anesthesia for this and it will be treated as an outpatient procedure due to his young age.

The holidays are always hectic for us - as we're truly one of those families with Four Christmases. In an effort to lessen the stress, we decided to host Thanksgiving this year. So, as of today, we'll have 28 members of our immediate family over for quite a feast. The only thing that would make this holiday better is if my dad and sister increased that count to 33, which is just wishful thinking. We started setting tables and making plans to stuff the turkey this weekend. I truly can't wait for us all to be together, even though I'm not really sure this is less stress!

The Thanksgiving Invite (with our address marked out)

And since my body loves to mess with me, on top of planning Thanksgiving for 28, I of course started my period this weekend. I would be lying if I said that I wasn't hoping for a Thanksgiving pregnancy announcement, but I've closed that door and moved on. I even went in today for my CD3 blood work at the RE's office to begin down that path, wherever it may lead us.

Jackson loves his big boy bed, and I promise to take some pictures and dedicate a post just to that.

I wish my almost 2.5-year-old was ready to potty train, but it looks like I'll be wiping butt's for a while longer.

I am having the best time playing Santa already this year, it's amazing how children can change you. I normally don't even start thinking about presents until after Thanksgiving, but the UPS man has already delivered a few packages to the Wilson address!

Speaking of Christmas, have you seen these cute Reindeer pillows that Sweet Meredith is making?!? I haven't placed my order yet, but I just love love love them:)

I'm helping out with Thanksgiving Lunch at Jackson's school and am so excited, as this is my first mom-opportunity to do such a thing!

And if you're still reading, I promise to get back to blogging - as I foresee a lot to blog about in the upcoming months!

Lastly, I'm so thankful for each and everyone of you! I love reading your sweet comments and emails, and reading your blogs as well!

Loves,
Kristen - aka Momma

Saints & Sinners Masquerade Bash

2011-11-08T11:16:00.000-06:00

One of the perks of working in advertising is some of the amazing events we get to attend, and even better when it's done in trade. Our small agency was recently given a generous bunch of tickets to a Saints & Sinners Masquerade Bash in exchange for designing the print collateral for the fundraising event.

When I found out the date and theme of the event, I immediately called up my neighborhood ladies and invited them all to attend. Great band, free food and open bar - it wasn't a hard sell:) The event was last Thursday night, so Mr. was already out of town for the LSU @ Alabama game {days before the actual game, which I don't have much to say about} but I tried not to let that bring me down!

I found a sinfully, amazing red dress and put on my highest high heels for the night out! The band was Bag of Doughnuts out of New Orleans, and I don't think I've danced so much since my wedding. Sad, but true! It was totally a night to remember, and one that will never let me look at tea lights without cracking up again:)

Being the responsible ladies that we are, we hired a couple of babysitters for the kiddos and a couple of drivers for the adults. Best decision ever, by the way. It was much cheaper than taking a cab home and we didn't have to leave our cars anywhere!

Snap shot before we left the house, loved my dress!

The band from our private balcony viewing area

The Villas Krewe

My date for the night, and partner in tea light stealing crime:)

Love these ladies:)

No night is complete without a group shot with the band, and our tea light:)

We got home in the late hours of the night, which made for a rough day at work on Friday. Being a slightly hungover and ridiculously tired single momma was not fun, but oh so worth it!

The kiddos all snoozing away in Jackson's big boy bed:)

Jurassic Jack

2011-11-02T11:10:00.000-05:00

I hope y'all had a great Halloween, I love seeing all the posts with your kiddos all dressed up. Even though I hate to dress in costume, Halloween is one of my favorite holidays to celebrate. I guess that's why I was so excited we got to do Trick-or-Treat twice this year!

Our neighborhood community had Trick-or-Treat on Saturday night, and the front part of our neighborhood hosted on Halloween night. It really worked out well since Jackson was too sick last year, so we made up for lost time:)

I made a deal with Jackson one weekend in Target that if he'd ~~stop throwing a fit so CPS wouldn't get called on us~~ dress up as the Cowardly Lion one night, he could be Jurassic Jack for Halloween. I started to get a little nervous as Trick-or-Treat got closer, and my toddler seemed to forget our little deal. But, with the help of a little candy, the dino costume was completely forgotten about on Saturday night!

Jurassic Jack - ROAR!

already eating some candy:)

ROAR'ing to scare away the birds flying over the pond

True to my word, I let Jackson dress up again on Monday and we loaded the wagon on a mission to get more candy. I was so surprised that Jackson didn't get more into character, but he was so funny walking around with his strap-on-dino! He is so social and knows no stranger, which is a little scary. The more ghosts and pumpkins and Frankenstein costumes he saw, the more he wanted to stay and visit with each house. He may or may not have come home with a pumpkin or two in addition to the bag full of treats. Who can turn down a dino roaring for pumpkins:)

Momma & Jackson self portrait on the back porch

Never without an airplane in hand:)

Pouncing the pumpkins with his friends

Hey look, you're a dino too - RAWR!

Thanks for the sucker, I'll be back next year for more candy:)

It makes my heart so happy to see my little man growing up to have such personality and character. I am so thankful that he'll still cuddle up in my arms at the end of the day and want his momma, otherwise I'd be a basket case for sure!

Follow the yellow brick road

2011-10-31T11:05:00.000-05:00

My sister and her sweet family came down for a visit this weekend, which was extra special since our neighborhood Trick-or-Treat was Saturday night! As soon as Megan booked their plane tickets, we started brainstorming costume ideas for Amelia and Jackson.

It wasn't until Megan was going through some of our old baby clothes for Amelia that we finally found the perfect theme. In the box was a beautiful Wizard of Oz "Dorothy" dress. All Amelia needed was some ruby slippers, ~~a lion, a tin man and a scarecrow~~ Jackson, her daddy, and her uncle!

Much to my surprise, and with a little bribe or two, we pulled off a seamless Trick-or-Treat! And even more to my surprise, I think Mr. had more fun dressing up than Jackson:) It only took a few houses before the neighborhood turned into the yellow brick road and they were skipping about!

Tin man, Scarecrow, Cowardly Lion & Dorothy

The tin man needed some oil:)

I hope y'all have a spooky Halloween today! We'll be out again tonight, only with a much bigger roar...remember those bribes I mentioned;) Trick or Treat!!!

It's about time...

2011-10-28T14:22:00.000-05:00

two weeks without updating the good ole' blog, I think it's about time to catch y'all up on the Wilson happenings! Be warned - this may just be the most random post ever:)

Let's start back with my business trip to Chicago. The conference I attended was awesome, and the week of "city life" was an amazing experience. Staying on the magnificent mile, getting our morning coffee, and walking with the morning commuters to "work" was thrilling. I even contemplated having my boys pack up and try this lifestyle out for a little while, but I realized two things: City life isn't cheap and walking in the rain really sucks! I have a new appreciation for my home-brewed coffee and front row parking spot at the office.

Post-it RIP Steve Jobs - Apple Store Michigan Ave.

Night from our room

After spending a week away, I also realized how much Jackson is really growing up. Literally, he's grown over 2 inches in the past couple of months and is now in the 98% for height and 88% for weight! And even more than is physical growth, his mental growth is blowing my mind. In 4 short months, he's gone from no vocabulary to speaking in sentences, counting to 12, singing his ABC's and knowing all of his colors. He's such a social butterfly and always wants to play with his friends. And by friends, he means anyone under the age of 10 that will look at him. Poor boy needs a baby brother so bad!

And speaking of baby...I had a consultation with my RE this week. We've been trying for about 6 months now and thought it was best to go ahead and schedule a consult. I thought it would be months before they could see us, but instead it was only days! It was just the sign that I needed. I was so incredibly nervous about going back {both physically and emotionally} but felt at such ease once we saw the doctor and got back in the stirrups again for a date with the vag cam:)

From the looks of the ultrasound, I may have PCOS, but no conclusions or treatment plans have been made just yet. I go back on day 3 of my next cycle for blood work and we'll go from there. Depending on the results, specially my FSH results, we may try on our own for a few more months or proceed with Dec/Jan medicated cycle.

Jackson is participating in Meredith's Itty Bitty Pen Pal program, and we just love our pal! We hope that Charlie has a great trick-or-treat and we can't wait to see pictures.

Someone couldn't wait to get their hands on the loot!

Speaking of trick-or-treat...I've got my fingers crossed that Action Jackson will cooperate with what we planned on him dressing up as...reasoning with a 2.5 year old is pretty impossible though. Again, fingers crossed:)

Other big news around our house is that Jackson's room is being converted into a big boy room this weekend. For the past two weeks Jackson has been waking up all night long. I'm not sure if this is some sort of wakeful period or if he's rolling out of his bed because it's too small. We're going with the later reason, so I've been painting an antique rod iron full size bed all week. My pointer finger is officially numb from testing out so many spray paints, but I think I like the oil rubbed bronze color I settled on. I'll post pictures as soon as the transformation is complete!

Big boy in a little bed:)

Lastly, I'd like to give a shout out to my Cardinal's! Was last night's game not incredible?!? I'm hoping tonight's game is less nerve wracking and a big win to close out Red October. Who would have thought one of my childhood best friend's little brother would be such a rock star. Go Freese!!!

A perfect fall weekend

2011-10-13T14:01:00.000-05:00

Hey lovely readers! I'm blogging from Chicago this week, and boy am I missing my boys! But, momma has to keep up with the ever changing advertising industry and I'm learning a lot. I've been gone since sunrise on Tuesday and don't get back home until tomorrow night - which is the longest I've ever been away from either of my boys. There may or may not have been some tears shed when they were both blowing me kisses bye and shouting LOVE YOU out the car windows at 5 o'clock in the morning!

Since I was going to be gone this whole week, I made sure to plan a fun-filled family weekend before I left. We laughed and played and spent some good quality time together.

Friday night was my little brother's senior night before his high school football game. Of course, Jackson had to sport his uncle's number and run across the field trying to play "b-ball" with the big boys. After the presentation of all the seniors, we had to head home to babysit our neighbors itty bitty baby boy! I can only hope when God blesses us with another baby that our nights are as fun and easy as Friday night was. Jackson so needs a baby brother:)

Mr. woke up at the crack of dawn on Saturday and left for Baton Rouge to set up the tailgate and start his "famous" Alligator Sauce Piquante. He cooks this every year for the LSU vs. Florida game.

Jackson and I got to Baton Rouge a little later in the morning and ended up staying until after the game! I wasn't too sure how long Jackson would last this year at the tailgate, but he did great. He even went into the game with his daddy for the whole first half of the game! I sat out at the tailgate with some girlfriends and met Mr. at halftime to bring Jackson back with me to run around and play. It was such a pretty day and an even better game for our Tigers, which made for a very happy Mr.:)

Jackson did not want to stop playing for a picture:)

Every.single.time Jackson saw a tiger (which you can only imagine how often this was) he'd ROAR as loud as he could and sing his little version of the LSU fight song. It was so sweet and melted my heart!

Sunday was an early morning for the Wilson's, which ended up not being so bad being that I am not a morning person. Mr. had to go to a gumbo cook-off for his firm, so Jackson and I made blueberry muffins, did 3 loads of laundry, changed the bed sheets, played outside, blew bubbles, colored, went for a walk, and counted pumpkins in the neighborhood...all before 11AM!

And since we were able to get so much done in the morning, I showered while Jackson napped and Mr. got home just in time for us to head to the pumpkin patch for the afternoon. Jackson had the best time, ever! He ran from pumpkin to pumpkin, chased the bunnies and chickens, got "lost" in the maze, and jumped until he was silly in the fun jump. Now, getting him to leave was not so fun!

It was totally one of those weekends that filled my heart so full of happiness and joy, I thought it could explode! I really want to make this more of our norm - besides, the cobwebs can wait and the house can actually be dirty for the house cleaner when she comes!

It's fall y'all!

2011-10-06T11:37:00.002-05:00

It's finally fall, my most favorite time of the year! The weather is amazing, the skies are crystal blue, and tailgating is in full force around the Wilson household.

Football season means that it's time to bring out the fall decor and pumpkins!I usually wait to put up my Halloween decorations until later in October, but start early with fall and keep it out until Thanksgiving. I have a few turkey's that will be switched out with Halloween though!

Decorating the new house was fun and stressful all at the same time! I absolutely love how I have everything decorated, so I didn't want to change much to make room for the fall. I actually kept about half of my stuff in boxes this year, maybe I'll feel differently next season!

All I need now is a family trip to the pumpkin patch and we'll be set!

Welcome to Fall at the Wilson's

Our front door, which will be decorated with a large spider web for Halloween!

Decor in the foyer

Witches and candy corn added to the family room

Fall tablescape, much less than years in the past!

"trick or treat" and pumpkins added to the buffet

more pumpkins on the bar

love this "trick or treat" frame. it also can be hung

I couldn't leave out the patio decor!


there's signs of fall everywhere!

Happy Fall Y'all!

Taking some mr. & mrs. time

2011-10-03T11:43:00.001-05:00

As much as I love my lil man to pieces, every once and a while I need some time to just love on my big man aka my Mr. I have such a love/hate relationship with the balancing act of the Momma and the Mrs. inside of me!

The second I start to daydream about getting dressed up for a date night or think about getting that much need pedicure, the momma guilt kicks in. Don't get me wrong - I take a lot of time out for me and us - but it's so hard to enjoy the same level of satisfaction as I once did. We've all been there, I hope!

I digress.

We ended up having a few extra tickets to the LSU game on Saturday, so we had a tough decision on whether or not to invite friends to the game sans kiddos or to go as a family. We decided to take friends and spend a day as just Mr. & Mrs. We left our parental responsibilities in the hands of Loli & Pop and knew that Jackson would have a better time with them. Besides, kickoff time was also his nap time and I knew that we I would be chasing around a tired Action Jackson and roaring with Mike the Tiger instead of watching the actual football game.

We couldn't have asked for a better day or friends to spend the day with. The weather on Saturday was picture perfect {I am praying for a repeat this Saturday since I plan on taking Jackson}. The tigers had an exceptionally early kick off, so as soon as Jackson was safely turned over to my parents, we started our day with mimosas and coffee as we headed to Death Valley.

We were able to push through the game day traffic and make it to campus about an hour before kickoff. And within a minute of arriving to our tailgate, I was already showing off recent Jackson pic on my phone:)

However, knowing that Jackson was eating my parents out of house and home, seriously 7 pancakes must be a record, and then napping for a good portion of the game allowed me to relax and enjoy our date day! And by the looks of all the self-portraits in my iphone, we may have enjoyed ourselves a little too much:)

Geaux Tigers!

Grandpa's Farewell

2011-09-28T16:31:00.001-05:00

I've been neglecting the blog lately, but with good reason. We've had a lot going on and I'm still trying to catch up! On September 14th, my Grandpa passed away in St. Louis. He was very old and not in good health, so we were praying for him to get his wings.

When the time came, he went in peace, but the finality of his life was harder than I expected. Maybe because I was so far away from my Dad and sister. But, we celebrated the end of his pain and focused on the good memories and funny stories we all have.

The services for my Grandpa were in Somerset, Kentucky last Friday. So me and my road warriors hit the highway again! It was 805 miles, which took us about 13 hours getting up there and 12 hours coming home. Jackson did amazing the whole trip, again I have to thank Buzz Lightyear & Woody, and Sarah from the Land Before Time {do you remember that movie?}.

Since we were traveling such a long way, my dad decided to make it a whole weekend farewell to Grandpa. Dad rented a beautiful lake house on Cumberland Lake, so we could all stay together in one house. I can't tell you how much better this worked out, as opposed to staying in different hotel rooms.

We never spent much time in Somerset growing up, probably because there's not much to do there unless you farm cattle or corn. No offense to anyone who lives there! Seriously, there were cows in the front yard of the lake house, which was located at the end of a 3 mile road with corn fields on both sides.

The land was absolutely gorgeous and we soaked in as much of it's beauty as possible. It's amazing how connected you feel to both the land and those around you when your cell phone has no signal and you can't pick up a wireless internet signal to save your life. It was pretty awesome, expect for not being able to watch Grey's Anatomy with my sister. We can't say we didn't try though, for an hour or more:)

After the funeral service, and Jackson's visit with Grandpa's angel {true story}, we spent the next couple of days sightseeing and visiting with family. My dad's mom was born and raised in Somerset, so there were old farmhouses and land to explore were they once resided.

We also spent an afternoon at the Haney's Apple Farm, which is owned by cousins of ours. Jackson got a special new airplane to remember the farewell weekend with and picked about 100 apples!

And of course, the trip wouldn't be complete if we came all that way and didn't go to the Cumberland Falls! Again, a beautiful sight that I had a lot of appreciation for now that I'm older.

I'd say that Grandpa's farewell was one that we'll all remember and one that Grandpa was certainly watching over. Even the Preacher was a little taken back by Jackson's connection with "Harry". I think I'll save that story for another post!

Did I mention that I got to love on my little diva for 3 days, and I was in heaven. How could you not just eat this little girl to pieces?!?

Even Jackson simply adores her, or maybe it's just her pink bunny and little dolly that he loves so much...I guess time will tell;)

Big Boy Bed Updates

2011-09-20T11:43:00.001-05:00

Tried and true, Jackson has always followed a rule of three. Any change in his schedule or routine means 3-days of hell before it sticks. And just like that, on the 4th day, it becomes the new normal.

After converting Jackson's crib into his toddler bed, we had a few sleepless nights and multiple meltdowns {both toddler and momma}. I won't go into the details of said meltdowns where this momma may have rearranged furniture in the middle of the night in attempts to turn walls into makeshift crib rails. Or the morning we woke up and found Jackson asleep on the floor outside our bedroom door because he knew he'd be in trouble if he crossed our threshold one.more.time.

Those 3 days seemed to last an eternity, but are now just days in our past. That phase too has passed, and my baby is a little boy now more then ever.

Jackson climbs up in his bed and taps his fat little hand on his pillow to signal for me to lay with him a minute. He certainly doesn't need me to lay with him, but his kind heart knows that his momma needs to lay with him. And when he's had enough, he kisses me goodnight and politely rolls over as to say, ~~okay you can leave now~~ get out now momma!

And that's all we hear from him until the morning, when his sweet feet pitter-patter all the way to our room.

Sure there are still the rare nights that I find him curled up on the floor or with a random toy or two when I go in to peek on him, but those instances are fewer and fewer.

But, I have to say that last night's findings was the best one yet. I had to play a little game of Where's Jackson? to find him under all of his friends. He went to bed with just two airplanes and his blankets...and some how Elmo and three puppies snuggled there way in!

Someone was a very quiet, busy boy last night:)

Gone Fishin'

2011-09-14T10:42:00.000-05:00

It's taking me a while to get caught up on the blog. I feel like the summer slipped by and cannot believe football season and fall is here!

A few weekends ago my boys melted my heart way too early in the morning. I am not a morning person, but not even I could sleep through Mr. taking Jackson fishing. They both got up extra early and Mr. tried to be oh so sweet by taking Jackson fishin' in the backyard while letting me sleep in. But, when I heard what they were doing I rolled out of bed and in my groggy state I grabbed my camera and zoom lens...

I love being momma paparazzi incognito:)

Oh and I apologize to any neighbors who had to see me in my pj's, before coffee and brushing my teeth. Did I mention that I'm not a morning person!

Geaux Tigers

2011-09-07T16:22:00.000-05:00

We decided to sit out the opening LSU game in Dallas this year. Mr. wasn't too happy about "our" decision, but with the new house and Jackson's health costs, we needed to just stay home. I was happy to save a pretty penny on tickets, and instead spent the money to host a party our house! I love an excuse to decorate the house and throw a party:) I'm pretty sure Mr. would agree the weekend was a win-win!

I just wish that I had precious pictures of the 5 grown men cheering on their tigers like it was Christmas morning, or the 5 toddler boys getting caught jumping on the bed, or the 2 sweet baby boys trying to keep up with their big brothers, or the little 6-week old cheerleader dreaming of her pom-poms, or the 4-day-old newborn wearing his purple and gold for the very first time.

Instead I had my momma juice in one had and a baby in the other, or a food tray, or a wooden spoon chasing around crazy 2-year-old boys up way past their bed time!

Yes, it would have been a slight to see:) Oh well, as least I snapped a few good shots before everything got started!

Geaux Tigers!

My favorite tailgate party dish would sadly never make it for the party, Jackson thought the football was real...

PB&J and Fruit Snacks for the little boys

Purple M&Ms and Yellow Jelly Beans for Sweets

The bar set up and ready for action!

Test results...

2011-09-05T10:43:00.002-05:00

Just a quick post to let everyone know that Jackson's immunology test results came back and everything was normal! While this is such wonderful news, it still means that we don't have the answers as to why he's always sick. But, we are overjoyed that there wasn't an underlying immune deficiency that was going undiagnosed.

Jackson is tolerating the antibiotics pretty well, even now that I'm dosing him correctly...momma fail moment last week when Mr. discovered I was only giving him 1/2 of the dose prescribed. I couldn't figure out why all three of Jackson's doctors were calling to check on him. I knew the prescription was very aggressive, but I was shocked when we realized we were supposed to give it to him twice a day. Now I know why everyone was so concerned, I thought it was a lot just once a day!

Anyway, we're dosing correctly now and have about 4.5 more weeks to go. We have decided to wait on allergy testing until Jackson's done with the antibiotics. I'd hate to put him through another test if his issues are because of an infection somewhere and not allergies!

I hope y'all are having a nice holiday weekend. We've enjoyed the blustery, raining weather from Tropical Storm Lee and have slept more hours than we've been awake! Jackson especially needed to catch up and rest his little body:)

More updates soon...

Beach Bums x3

2011-09-01T16:55:00.000-05:00

A couple of weekends ago my little family was lucky enough to go to the beach for a third time this summer. There is just something about the sand on my feet and the beach air against my skin that makes me feel alive. I cannot begin to tell you how much I needed this third trip!

Mr.'s mom planned a little getaway for herself, her sister-in-law, her step-daughter, and her two daughter-in-laws and three grandsons. It was a perfect girls trip that made for some much needed bonding and connecting! Everyone went up for the entire week, but with my work schedule I couldn't sneak away until the last part of the week.

After work on Wednesday, Mr. packed Jackson and me into my car and watched us drive away once again! Only our good-bye wasn't too bad since he and his brother planned on crashing the girl's trip the very next night:)

Jackson did amazing {thank you DVD player, Lightning McQueen, and Buzz Lightyear} despite the endless traffic and my excitement to get to the beach!

We woke up bright and early on Thursday and listened to the waves crash as we all sipped our coffee and watched the three boys trade cars, share Cheerio's, and test out their mightiest dinosaur roars! Then it was time for the beach. I needed some sun on my face and sand in my toes:)

The big boys made it to the condo late Thursday afternoon and Mr.'s step-dad was able to meet us on Friday, so the girls trip actually turned into a family vacation at the beach!

The weather was beautiful and the sun was intense. We had a wonderful time, which of course includes too much eating and drinking...and napping on floats:)

On our last night, we went back to Bud & Alley's at Seaside and I was reminded just how good God is. We sat and laughed with family and watched the sun set. And as I attempted to hold my oh so busy toddler, I realized that we were sitting at the same table Mr. and I sat during our "baby making" trip way back when. Needless to say it was much, much later before we actually got pregnant - we were blissfully naive!

If you're lucky enough to be at the beach, you're lucky enough:)

Doctors, doctors, and more doctors

2011-08-26T13:48:00.001-05:00

I'm just going to jump right in and start rambling on and on about Jackson's health. This blog has proven to be more than just a fun way to share our life stories, it's also my documentation for my sick kid.

I'd like to add this disclaimer: There are thousands of sick kids that are far sicker than Jackson. From an outsider, I realize that Jackson seems to be a perfectly healthy, thriving toddler. We are blessed beyond belief that we are only in and out of doctor's offices, and not hospitals, and ER's.

So, here I go!

After Jackson's last round of mastoiditis, ear infection, sinus infection, and tonsillitis - we finished 10 days of aggressive medication and three days later, he started getting sick again.

Jackson is at the doctor with sinus infections and bronchitis once a month. In the past 6 months we've had 32 prescriptions filled, this doesn't include the shots and samples that we get in the office or the over-the-counter drugs.

Jackson's chronic sinus infections cause a lot of drainage down the back of his throat, which makes him cough. And because he is one of the lucky kids that was left with hyperactive and restricted airways from RSV, his cough quickly turns into a bronchial asthma attack.

This past Saturday afternoon, Jackson woke up hoarse from a 4 hour nap, hello red flags. By Sunday night, Jackson was in a full blown episode. Gagging and retching from couching so hard. Holding his chest and crying from pain. Pressing on his eyes and holding his head telling us how bad it (the sinus pressure) hurt.

First thing Monday morning, we were back at the pediatrician's office. He ordered a chest x-ray and sinus x-ray, and then told us there was nothing more he could do for us. Jackson really needs to see a specialist. He also gave Jackson his 4th round of steroids in the past 6 weeks. Most adults aren't supposed to take more than 4 rounds in a year, just to put this in perspective. However, after conversing with a pulmonologist it was deemed necessary if we wanted to keep the bronchitis from developing into pneumonia by the weekend.

Tuesday morning, I took Jackson to see his ENT. Her only option for us was surgery to irrigate his sinuses and replace his tubes, which are about to fall out. This would require Jackson to be under general anesthesia for 30 minutes, and have a few days of recovery. Again, this was her only option to us and we still wouldn't know what exactly was causing Jackson to be sick all of the time.

I left the appointment and knew we had to look at other options. My mom and I spent the day looking for our next steps. She took Jackson's charts to all of her top doctors in the area and they all agreed that Jackson needed to be seen by a doctor in New Orleans at Ochsner Hospital. He is a pediatric ENT that specailizes in cases like Jackson.

So I called, expecting to get an appointment with him 6 months down the road...and they were able to get us in on Wednesday, the very next day! Thank you Grandma and God, for answering my prayers:)

Wednesday morning, my mom drove me and Jackson to New Orleans for the appointment. We arrived at Ochsner about 20 minutes early, and they took us right away! The doctor spent one full hour with us, and not a minute of that time was spent warming up to Jackson. Jackson left with a sticker that he proudly gave him that said, Dr. G made me scream!

And boy did Dr. G make Jackson scream...

He first sat with us reviewing Jackson's charts and patient history. Then we went into a different exam room, where it took 4 of us to pin Jackson down so that he could look at his ears through a microscope. This allowed for him to rule out any ear disease or need for tubes.

Next he jammed some numbing medicine up Jackson's nose and told me to hold him down tight. Note to self: Do no wear a dress to hold and pin your screaming toddler down. Bring football pads and Daddy!

Once the numbing medicine kicked in, Dr. G was able to put a scope up Jackson's nose and down his throat. We were all able to watch on a big screen, as he checked everything out. It was pretty amazing, I have to say. Jackson's sinuses are full of puss and mucous, causing a lot of drainage down the back of Jackson's throat. It's no wonder he coughs all the time.

The scope ruled out a lot of possibilities; he doesn't have a deviated septum, or malformations, or need to have his tonsils removed, and his adenoids are still gone.

He believes that Jackson has some sort of secondary infection, on top of his chronic sinus infections. In order to clear up his bronchial issues, we have to clear his sinuses first. However, he does not want to do surgery like his regular ENT recommended because the results just aren't proven in children his age.

His prescription: Jackson will be taking 42 days - 6 weeks - of aggressive antibiotics, in combination with nasal steroids and a diluted Afrin nasal spray for 10 days. IF Jackson gets sick again within one week of completing the antibiotics, then he wants to sedate him and do a CT Scan of his sinuses.

More importantly than that, he wanted Jackson to be seen by an immunologist to have an immunity work up done. Dr. G highly recommended a doctor in Alexandria, Louisiana...

So, we literally left Dr. G's office in New Orleans, and called Dr. C's office in Alexandria and they told us to come on up that afternoon!

We arrived at Dr. C's office at 3:30 and didn't leave until 5PM. He spent almost that entire time with us, reviewing Jackson's history with me and asking a lot of questions. I was exhausted by the end of the appointment.

We discussed a lot of possibilities and next steps. A lot of if this, then that situations. And we left with orders to go to our local hospital's lab for an immunology work up.

And 12 hours after meeting my mom to begin our day, we arrived back home!

Thursday morning, Mr. took Jackson to get his lab work done before school.

We have to wait a week for the results, which I'm praying goes by fast and answers the mystery to Jackson's health. I need a plan. I need answers. I need to know what to do to make my baby feel better.

I know that some of these test could give us answers that will change our lives, I'm praying for the strength to handle that news.

I also know that these tests could all come back completely normal, which would mean that we would move forward with allergy testing immediately.

It's a 50/50 chance. If this, then that.

While I avoid Dr. Google, please join me in praying for all of those seeking answers. Please pray for the healing and peace for all of those who are sick, their families and the doctors and nurses that care for them.

No matter how healthy or how sick, our children are our everything!

Happiness is...

2011-08-22T10:47:00.001-05:00

Flying airplanes through the house...

Coloring all Saturday morning in PJ's...

Putting stickers all over Momma's house...

Drinking homemade milkshakes, while Momma and Daddy drink frozen rum drinks:)

and cracking yourself up eating Cheerios in your diaper...

and family date nights for ice cream and art walks!

What is happiness to you lately?!?

St. Louis Trip - Summer 2011

2011-08-17T08:44:00.001-05:00

It's taken me a few days to get back to posting about our summer trip to St. Louis, as our trip getting there was cause enough for a vacation!

Jackson and I made it back to my sister's house pretty late into the evening, and it was even later by the time I was able to get Jackson settled and asleep. I made a mistake of letting him sleep with me while we were gone, and it's making the big boy bed transition this week harder than it should be. But, he was sick and has outgrown the pack and play - and well it just felt right at the time.

No sooner then I rested my tired eyes for a couple of hours of sleep, the sun was shining and we were woken up with some sweet cuddles from little Miss Amelia and our vacation officially began. In true Kerns (our maiden name) fashion, we drank our coffee and cuddled our babies for a good hour on the couch before it was time to shower and pack up again!

As if our travels the night before weren't bad enough, we had to cram in the car for a 3 hour drive to the Lake of the Ozarks to boat with my dad and Mr., who had gone up the day before to get the boat ready for us. Thank goodness my little butt fit in between two car seats, or I would have been strapped to the roof of the car:)

We made it to the lake a little after noon and it was so good to see Mr. and my dad! We spent the rest of the afternoon on my dad's boat, trying to entertain Jackson and keep him happy...between the diaper blow outs, the horse fly attacks, and running out of diapers...we didn't make it too long.

Sunday was a much better day all around. After a very rough night, Jackson was starting to feel better and the weather was beautiful. We took the boat out to lunch and shopped a little before heading back to St. Louis for the rest of our visit.

Monday came and went way too fast! Mr. had to work, so I spent the day shopping and lunching with my sister and the kids. That afternoon we had an hour to kill before taking Mr. back to the airport, so we made a quick trip to the Zoo! Maybe one of my favorite things to do for free in St. Louis!

Who needs a double stroller?!? :)

We ran through and saw as many animals as we could. Jackson was amazing by the hippos and elephants - his expressions were priceless!

Mr. made it safely back to Louisiana, and I had one last morning with my sister so we went to the park. The weather was so so nice in comparison to the oppressive heat we've had lately. We got some great pictures of our Big Fish and Lil Fish and wore Jackson out before our flight home!

My dad works at the airport, so he took Jackson around to see lots of big planes before we boarded our flight. Poor little dude still can't figure out that he's on a plane, but that will come soon enough:) And thank goodness, we made it home without any problems!

And because I'm true to my word, I told Jackson that if he'd stay in bed all night last night I would take him to the beach today...so we're heading to Blue Mountain Beach after work today to meet my in-laws:)

Big Boy Bed

2011-08-15T15:56:00.001-05:00

Well the time has come - Jackson is officially a toddler and no long my baby boy. I certainly wish that I was saying this because I had a baby growing in my uterus, but that is sadly not the case.

Instead of transitioning Jackson into a big boy bed to free up his crib, we had to make the conversion purely out of safety for our little monkey. It all started Thursday night through the wee hours of the morning, said monkey climbed, jumped, and leaped out of his crib and waddled his way into our bedroom a total of four times. While I'm sure this is just a residual affect of the three rounds of steroids he's been on this month, we decided it was probably time for a big boy bed anyway.

I cried like a baby when I had to pack up his crib bed skirt, and flashed back to putting him in his crib for the first time like it was yesterday.

We made sure to make a big deal out of Jackson's new bed and even let him help us put everything together. However, when nap time came Jackson was completely frazzled by his "broken" bed and kept saying "uh oh" and refused to ever really nap.

Bedtime was about as unsuccessful as nap time and hasn't gotten much better. My good little sleeper now finds his way to our room at least once an hour, on the hour. He's even so nice as to close each door behind him.

Waking up to your toddler staring at you while you sleep is a little eerie, to say the least. Needless to say, I'm a very sleepy momma today and have quickly been reminded what sleep deprivation is. And for a second, I think twice about hoping for sleepless newborn nights again:)

I know this phase too shall pass - or I'm putting the crib rail back up and tenting Jackson in until he's 18!

Jackson and the terrible, horrible, very bad day

2011-08-11T10:06:00.003-05:00

If I could redo a day in our lives, I think last Friday would totally be one of them...

It all started a few weeks ago, when we all got sick on our anniversary. Par for the course, as soon as Jackson finished up his antibiotics he got sick again. We went to his allergist and he was given the official label of an asthmatic toddler. Jackson got another round of steroids to help him breath, but besides his nebulizer medicine - there wasn't much else to do. He has allergies and asthma and we live in South Louisiana.

Fast forward to last week. Jackson was no better, no worse. Just totally irritable and throwing fits left and right. I tried to remind myself that I'd be cranky too if I couldn't breath. We counted to 10 a lot and drank lots of wine after bedtime.

Thursday night was unbearable. Jackson cried from the time I picked him up from school until he finally passed out around 9. During his bath the cries turned in to screams and shaking from pain. I could not figure out what was causing him so much pain. He wouldn't even let me wash the shampoo out of his hair...and that's when I saw it.

Jackson had a marble sized lump behind his left ear and it was red and tender to the touch.

right after Jackson's bath, when I first noticed the lump

I took this pictures and sent it to my mom and mother-in-law, who were both as dumbfound as I was. We couldn't tell if it was a bite or a bruise - certainly the farthest thing from what he was diagnosed with!

Around midnight, Jackson was sleeping but momma was up worrying...

Of course, the timing of this lump couldn't have been any worse. We were flying to St. Louis Friday afternoon and Mr. went up for work the day before us. I had an out of town meeting all day on Friday, that I would have canceled had I known what was about to happen...

I called Jackson's pediatrician first thing Friday morning and arranged for my mom to take Jackson to have his lump looked at. I went on with my boss to Baton Rouge and met with a client all morning. We took a quick break at noon and I had numerous missed call from not only my mom, but two doctor's offices as well.

Thank God my mom is so well connected with the medical community where we live, she took him to a few doctors Friday morning to address the multiple issues with Jackson.

The mysterious lump behind Jackson's ear was diagnosed as mastoiditis, which means that he has such a bad ear infection, the infection went into the bone behind his ear and the lump was his bone. The link has much more information about what it actually is. Serious shit.

Jackson never ran fever or tugged at his ears, and never had drainage. We've had no trouble with his ears since he got tubes last December. Jackson was given an antibiotic shot, another round of steroids, and two additional antibiotics that he takes orally for 10 days...we're averaging at least one massive diaper blow out a day. Oh and if you've lost count, that would be his third round of steroids this month!!!

On top of the mastoiditis, Jackson has an ear infection, server sinus infection, and tonsillitis. So that nasty eye drainage and "allergy eyes" were because his sinus were so infected, not because his allergies were acting up - thanks Mr. Allergist for missing the boat on that one! And now his ENT wants to talk about taking out his tonsils...it's always something...

If you're still reading this post, our day doesn't get much better after this. This all happened before noon.

After excusing myself from my meeting to call everyone back, my boss agreed that we needed to end our meeting early so that I could see about Jackson. So nice right?!? Well it's a darn good thing we left when we did. Our hour ride home took nearly three hours because of road construction!

Did I mention that we had a 5 o'clock flight to catch - yep, we came dangerously close to missing our flight...until it got canceled! So between seeing about my sick baby, picking up all of his medications, now I had to call the airline to see what the heck we were supposed to do!

Since our flight was canceled due to mechanic issues, they were able to put me on another flight with a different airline. Great news, I had an extra hour to get to the airport and I'd get in to St. Louis a little earlier! In theory, this was great news. The reality was that our connecting flight in Houston was delayed almost 5 hours.

Does he remind you of Dennis the Menace - he should!

If you've never spent 5 hours in an airport with a severely sick child, totally jacked up on steroids, running wild - all while trying to keep you bags in tow and not lose your shit - well then consider yourself blessed!

Thankfully, Jackson was so worn out that he slept the whole way to St. Louis and I was able to recharge as well.

We finally made it to my sister's house in St. Louis around 1AM...more on that next!

Just playing the part...

2011-08-04T14:49:00.001-05:00

As if baby 2.0 hasn't been on my mind enough lately, I had to strap on a prosthetic maternity belly last week and play the part of an expectant mother for a client's TV shoot.

While I never mind being on camera, the irony of this part just made all of us laugh. Here we are trying to get pregnant and having to act as if we are well on our way to becoming a family of 4.

I think that maybe the strap on belly was just what my body needed to have baby fever completely take over. I sure did ovulate shortly after the shoot, putting me at 5 days past ovulation and my basal body temperature on the rise. So here we are in the lovely two week wait time period and I'm pretty sure my boobs are so sore because I'm poking at them to check to see if they hurt every other minute!

After the shoot we asked Jackson if he'd prefer a baby sister or brother and as clear as day he shouted out sister. Not sure if he really knows the difference, but it was too sweet:)

In the dressing room, with my big ol' fake belly

snap shot on set - my make up looked much better on TV then camera!

love my wild little man:)

Oh and I only wish that I could look this "all belly" next time around...whenever that may be. I'm really trying to let go and let God!

Mr. Romantic

2011-07-26T14:06:00.002-05:00

Well Mr. did it again, he pulled off a surprise night away without me even having the slightest idea! I think the fact that I absolutely hate surprises, makes him enjoy these occasions even more...

We celebrated our 4 year wedding anniversary on the 14th, and had a big date night all planned out. However, the morning of our said date night, Jackson and I both woke up sick. Determined to still have a night out, I took Jackson to the doctor and convinced his pediatrician to give me samples of the same medication he prescribed for Jackson. By the end of the day I was pretty jacked up on steroids and hot tea. Still on my mission for a perfect date night, I was doing everything to fool myself into feeling better only to come home and find Mr. - sick in bed.

Date night canceled and our weekend was spent watching movies and lounging around. Not the night out I had hoped for, but it was a perfect weekend anyway.

So on Friday, we had our rain check date night all planned out. We were going to go to a new wine bar and fun restaurant near by. I had my new outfit all picked out, a fresh pedicure and highlights to go with it!

Well at 10:30AM on Friday, Mr. came walking into my office and told me (and my boss) that I have to leave work no later than 3PM. WHAT?!? There was no need to start our date night that early, but he insisted otherwise and needed a list of stuff to pack. No wine bar, no fancy dress, just jeans and my overnight bag.

Did I mention how much I hate surprises, especially those that involve me leaving for the night without a clue as to where we are going and what we'll be doing!!!

I immediately thought we were going to New Orleans, since he pulled the same type of thing the night he proposed to me. But, then we got on I-10 heading west, not east, toward Houston, TX.

And that was all I got to know until I refused to speak and pouted for 10 minutes while Mr. chuckled with delight.

When Mr. knew I meant business, he finally told me that we were going to Houston for the night and that he arranged for my parents to keep Jackson until we got back. He had reservations for 7PM at The Foundation Room, and tickets for Christina Perri at the House of Blues.

Talk about a total surprise!

We got in to Houston and quickly checked into our hotel, freshened up and shared a toast of champagne. Our dinner at the Foundation Room was amazing and extra romantic. The concierge thought we were really nice and deserved a little something extra, so he sat us in their private Ganesha room. Ganesha is the Lord of Success - I may or may not have asked our dinner guest for some fertility success after a french martini or two;)

I wasn't too familiar with Christina Perri, but the show was awesome. She has an amazing voice and was so stinking cute - like you would be lucky to be her friend because she just seems so sweet!

After the show we passed by a dueling piano bar, which is a huge weakness of mine. I sure did make Mr. pay the $7 cover so we could go sit on a bar stool and sing like some fools until very late in the night. Seeing Mr. do soulja boy was well worth the cover, I'm just sayin'!

I'm so thankful that after all these years Mr. is still sweeping me off my feet - even if I start out kicking and screaming!

Baby 2.0

2011-07-21T10:29:00.005-05:00

I'm not sure if I have total baby fever - or complete baby fear. I feel like half of my friends are announcing pregnancies or births, while the other half is dealing with infertility. And while the pregnancies and births make my uterus crave a baby - to the point of temping and charting and planning out the perfect date night to try and make a baby - seeing the pain and praying for my friends that are still trying to get their BFP - leaves me ready to run for the hills.

In all honesty, some of my fear of wanting another baby stems from our struggle with infertility, but there is also the uncertainty of being ready for another. Jackson totally rocked our world. It was months before Mr. and I adjusted to parenthood, with the help of a great counselor. I'm not naive enough to think that some of our issues won't surface again, but are we ready?!?

Mr. is 37 and I'm a month away from turning 29 - so our clocks are definitely ticking, which was confirmed by my doctor this week as well. But, with the new house and paying off our vehicles, it's not like we have thousands of extra dollars laying around to pay for fertility treatments.

We pay 100% out of pocket for all treatments - every ultrasound, lab test, medication, and doctor visits. Just to give you an idea, Jackson was over $3,000. Thankfully, we got pregnant our first cycle. My fear is that we won't be so lucky the next time around. At what point do you stop - how do you put a price tag on a child?!? Jackson is completely priceless.

So with all this said, I had my annual exam with my OB/GYN on Tuesday. I walked in to the appointment both nervous and excited. I was hoping he'd tell me that my cycles looked great - be it irregular - but that I was possibly fertile. And that he'd say I was young, have fun, make a baby - when you're ready.

Instead, I left there totally deflated and even more confused then ever. It's taken me two days just to process everything.

Mr. and I have not used birth control since right after we got married - and have never gotten pregnant on our own, in 4 years. Have we been trying all that time - not exactly, but apparently it was alarming to my doctor that I had not gotten pregnant yet.

Am I having an irregular cycle - no doubt - but I am still having a cycle on my own. I'm a glass half full kind of gal:)

Sure, I'm about to be 29. I was 25 when we started trying to get pregnant for Jackson. Getting pregnant only gets harder the older you get, so my doctor doesn't understand what I'm waiting for. He seriously asked me this.

Yes, my RE told me I was in premature ovarian failure - but couldn't that have changed since I got pregnant and started having a cycle again?!? I guess not, since my doctor practically picked up the phone and scheduled an appointment with my RE for me.

Hold the phone.

I really want to see if we can do this on our own. I realize that I am getting older. That every month that passes my biological clock is ticking even harder. And that last month's perfect chart may have been a total fluke, as this month is not a repeat.

But, I am going to give us a couple of month to see what happens. I have some comfort knowing that if it doesn't happen on our own, I have a doctor that will fast-track me through to my RE. If next months chart is as screwed up as this month, then I will do a CD 3 FSH ovarian reserve test and go from there.

And just like that, I am coming out that we are trying for baby Wilson 2.0. As my sister said to me last night - just do it. So, we're going for it.

Ready or not!

Jackson's first school picture

2011-07-18T11:24:00.000-05:00

Jackson's school had pictures a couple of weeks ago, and we were able to purchase the photos on Friday. I wasn't sure how Jackson would do, especially being that he spends more time in "time-out" then any other student there. But, from the looks of these pictures - I'd say he's a happy kid:)

Please excuse the quality, I took a picture of the photos with my phone. I didn't feel like getting the scanner out!

P.S. Where did my baby go?!? I cannot believe how grown up my sweet boy ~~looks~~ is!!!

My beach trip with Jackson

2011-07-14T12:01:00.001-05:00

Back in the day, Mr. and I were total road warriors. I've always been a traveler and love to be on the go. My dad used to work for the airlines, so we got to fly for free everywhere we went. It was nothing for me to leave high school and jump on a plane to LA or Hawaii for the weekend, hell I'd even fly home from college for lunch and be back for night class. I was very independent and could navigate my way through any airport or big city. Oh to be young and fly for free again!

The real world changes things.

Instead of jet setting to see the world - we bust our asses to keep our jobs, raise a family, and keep afloat. I can't say that we don't see the world, or travel often, I mean we just got back from St. John weeks ago. But, we don't exactly have the jump in the car and go lifestyle that we once had.

Having a baby changes things.

And I certainly don't have the independence or self-confidence that I had at 18 - but I got a little piece of my mojo back last weekend and it was amazing!

The background: My sister lives in St. Louis and is a teacher, so she has the summers off. My mom lives around the block from me in Louisiana. I see my mom almost daily, and she has made a promise to see my sister at least once every six weeks. This means that she travels up to St. Louis or flies them down here a lot. But, it's still not everyday and being 10+ hours away from each other just sucks.

Anyway, my mom wanted some one-on-one time with Megan and Amelia, so they planned a 10-day trip from St. Louis to Destin, FL and back home. I'm not going to lie, I was bummed that we had to sit out this trip, but I totally understood why. It was torture knowing that my sister and sweet niece were just six hours away and I wasn't going to see them...

My sister must have felt the same way - I love the bond we have now that we're older!

At 5:15PM on Thursday I got a text while I was still at work telling me that mom says come on if you bring one swimsuit and two dresses - the room is full and we'll have to share a bed. Um, wait - what?!?

I about had a panic attack. Of course, I wanted to go to the beach. But, I have a job, and a husband, and I was going to clean the house... until my boss told me to go, my husband laughed and said that I had to go, and well the house has still yet to be cleaned... I packed Jackson and myself in one bag and Mr. loaded us into my car with enough snacks for a month, followed us to the gas station, filled up my car and put air in my tires.

And at 7:15PM on Thursday night, I was about to embark on a 6 hour car ride - with my toddler, all alone. It was terrifying and thrilling all at the same time.

Jackson's DVD player broke about :30 seconds into the trip and he cried the entire way to the interstate. He was pissed and wanted to watch Cars and this frazzled momma almost turned around and decided not to go. But, before I knew it Jackson calmed down and we were counting the trucks on the highway. We stopped in Baton Rouge for some coffee and changed Jackson's diaper before it was time for him to snooze the night away.

I'm normally a night owl, but I started to get a little sleepy around the halfway point. Luckily, Stephanie called and the next hour and a half flew by! My coffee kicked in and I had my BFF on the phone. And then I had to pee and there was no chance I could make it without stopping. Jackson was sound asleep and I really wished I had my Mr, so much so that I seriously contemplated putting on one of Jackson's diapers... don't worry, I didn't. We stopped and I carried Jackson into the quick stop, peed and got us in the car (with more coffee) without him even waking up! He did wake up when I started the car, but he chatted with me the rest of the drive to the beach.

We made it to the Sandestin Hilton at about 1:30 in the morning my sister came down to help us up to the room. Jackson was so excited to see his Aumee, even though he asked where his Uncle Shorty was no less then 599, 876, 300 times:) It's been a long time since we've both traveled sans husbands!

The next 2.5 days were spent going on walks, eating and drinking by the pool, playing in the sand, holding my niece, "shwimmin" with my little fish, laughing and capturing melt.your.heart moments like these.

Jackson and I slept together on the pullout couch and even though the mattress sucked, waking up to his sugars and Amelia's baby snorts was just what I needed. The weekend was simply amazing and Jackson was 100 times better then I hoped he'd be - even if he refused to smile for the camera!

Our drive back home took a little longer then going, but Jackson did great. His new airplane was the best $26 I've ever spent, and $100 less then the DVD player that may or may not be on the side of the road somewhere between Florida and Louisiana;) He's still sleeping with the hard wooden plane every night!

Traveling with Jackson alone may sound like a silly accomplishment, but I feel like it was a huge momma milestone. Watch out world, you never know where we'll end up next!

Tidbit Tuesday

2011-07-12T10:06:00.001-05:00

I feel like we've had so much going on that I just haven't had a chance to post about, I guess that means we're having fun:)

Would you believe that I went back to the beach over the weekend - just me and Jackson, 6 hours in a car?!? Talk about a momma milestone for me! I promise, this will be a post of it's own.

My lovely Brummett Bunch came a stayed the night with us on their way back from vacation and were our first guests in the new house! We had such a fun night swimming, barbecuing, and fishing in the pond. The kiddos played so well together and had a big slumber party in Jackson's room. Seeing our babies cuddles up together makes my heart so happy!

We took Jackson to see Cars 2, his first movie at the theater, and he loved it! He ate his popcorn and snacks and didn't move for almost the whole movie. About 5 minutes before it ended, he stood up and said all done and proceeded to walk out to the isle - I guess it wasn't the ending he hoped for?!? All in all we were impressed and are looking forward to taking him to more kid movies. It made for an awesome family date on a hot Sunday afternoon.

Speaking of firsts, Jackson also went to the dentist for his first check-up. I really liked the dentist we selected, she was super nice and sweet to Jackson. He let them floss and brush his teeth like a big boy, I was shocked he did so well! The room was a big play room full of exam tables. So he could play and get his teeth cleaned:) We did find out that Jackson has an extra tooth, so glad we got to go through the joys of teething an extra time! The dentist explained that it wasn't a big deal, she'll only have to pull it if he gets an extra permanent tooth as well.

We've finished our house projects for the time being. Our plantation shutters for the living room and kitchen came in and look fabulous! And I found bar stools that I really like, so our kitchen is complete. We really want to add copper awnings to the back of our house and get new patio furniture, but that may be a project for next year.

I love everything about our house, except for the hardwood floors. I would love to rip them out and start over - never do a dark wood floor! They show every spec of dirt and every mark your toddler leaves behind with his trains and cars and trucks.

We're trying to plan one last trip for the summer, to visit my dad and sister in St. Louis. Mr.'s work schedule has been c.r.a.z.y. so I really hope we can squeeze a trip in before football season starts!

Happy Tidbit Tuesday:)

Once an infertile...

2011-07-11T17:17:00.000-05:00

Once an infertile, always an infertile?!? This question has pretty much been on my mind since the first day we sat in the waiting room at our RE's office back in September of 2008...

I often find myself wondering if we'll have to go back to that same waiting room each and every time we decide to grow our family.

What would I say when I called to make our appointment? Would the nurses remember us? Would we be so lucky to get pregnant again on our first cycle? Would my meds be the same? What if I wait too long and my body doesn't respond as well because I'm many years older the next time around? What if it doesn't work?

That last question haunts me.

And then I look at Jackson. That child of mine melts my heart. He makes me feel so complete and more blessed then I ever knew possible. Sometimes I wonder if this fulfillment is because he is supposed to be my only one - or if it's to give me the courage to do it all over again?!?

Then there was a day, not so long ago, that my mind-racing questions shifted. And I starting thinking maybe, just maybe, we could do this on our own?!? You know, the good ole' fashion way of having unplanned, un-prescribed intercourse with my husband that would result in baby #2. That thought was a happy, butterfly in my tummy, nerve racking thought. The feeling you are supposed to have when you think about your family's future.

I'm not sure what the point of this post is, just as I'm not sure what the future holds for my little family. What I do know is that I randomly woke up one morning, and decided to take out my trusty BBT thermometer. To my surprise, this once infertile momma had a text book cycle. Ovulation dip and rise and all. I have no idea if this was a one time deal, or if this is the new - possibly fertile me.

My cycles are no where near regular and range from 30 - 50 days, but it's enough to give me hope. Just the mere fact that I'm having a cycle at all is miraculous and leaves me continuously unprepared each and every month when "my time" comes around.

So my friends, I guess time will only tell. I'm not making any future appointments with our RE or running out buying Big Brother shirts, but I am enjoying the butterflies and the hope that I have for the time being.

Once an infertile...

4th of July Weekend

2011-07-05T13:24:00.000-05:00

I cannot think of a better word to describe our long weekend then blissful. It was simply pure bliss and my heart is oh so full right now.

The long holiday weekend was just what my little family needed to reconnect and refresh. Jackson was full of laughter and snuggles.all.weekend.long and we both enjoyed having Daddy around. Mr. has a new case that is taking up a lot of his time, but he was able to steal away a whole afternoon with us on Sunday!

We spent a lot of time at the pool and had a couple of BBQs at the house. Our new neighbors are amazing and have become fast friends, which makes the new house even better!

The weather was hot, but the afternoon thunderstorms made for great naps and movie time. I even took a lazy afternoon nap on Sunday, which is pretty much unheard of! Mr. said that I was napping with the biggest smile on my face:) I don't know what it was, but I needed this weekend more then I knew!

I hope y'all had a wonderful 4th of July as well:)

Our first family picture at the new house!

Things to remember

2011-07-01T09:35:00.000-05:00

It is truly amazing to watch your baby grow into a toddler in what seems like overnight. The rate in which these little tots grow before your eyes makes me catch my breath sometimes. One week can totally change everything.

This phase too shall pass.

In a period of 7 short days, Jackson as gone from clinging to me and wrapping his arms around my neck for dear life from the moment he wakes up to the moment his teacher has to peel him out of my arms to leaping out of bed and running into his classroom without even waving bye!

This phase too shall pass.

On Monday morning Jackson woke up and you could just tell his attitude about school had changed. Mr. took him and came home in shock. Jackson went in without a fuss and sat in his chair and waited for breakfast. There were definitely some high fives at the Wilson's!

This phase too shall pass.

Fast forward to Thursday - I walked into Jackson's room to wake him up and he stood up and greeted me with "HI Momma!". I picked out a new shirt from Loli for him to wear and he started squealing. I couldn't get him dressed fast enough before he was running for the door to go to school. When we got there, he didn't want me to carry him in. Oh no, my big boy had to walk in. I asked if he was ready for school and he roared YES and took off. No wave, no kiss bye, no looking back!

I just could not believe what a difference one week made!

Last night I was thinking about my little man and just had to get out of bed to peek in on him. I guess he was thinking about me too because at 10:30PM he was sitting up in his bed and was so excited I came to check on him. I decided to bring him to bed with us because well, sometime we just need some cuddles and babies grow too fast!

This phase too shall pass.

When we got back to our bed Jackson cuddled up and smiled the biggest smile and did a little dance before we all snoozed the night away.

These are the memories I want to remember for a lifetime:)

Lastly, I'll leave you with a recap from this morning because this phase too shall pass.

Mr. brought Jackson into our bathroom to say bye before dropping him off. I asked Jackson for a kiss, and in typical boy style, he made me fight for my sugars. As they were walking away, our conversation went like this:

Momma: I love you boys
Jackson: Love you
Momma: Be a sweet boy today
Jackson: You too, bye-bye

This just made me smile, I hope I can be a sweet boy today. I'd hate to disappoint:)

Happy long weekend loves!!!

The Big 2!!!

2011-06-29T10:21:00.000-05:00

I posted about Jackson turning 2, but I never shared the events of the day or more importantly, his cake!

Jackson's 2nd birthday brought a mix of emotions for me. It was so amazing to watch him in awe of how much he's grown - not just since birth, but over the past year as well. Birthdays really put things into perspective sometimes, and it's good to reflect back on the year and make wishes for the next year to come.

This day was bittersweet because my baby was another year older, but it also marked one year since I last saw my Grandma. Her dying wish was to see Jackson on his first birthday, and she not so peacefully passed days after. The last night I saw her was on his birthday. We ate cake around her bed and celebrated that she made it through her first great-grandson's year of life.

And on the same weekend that we moved her stuff out of her apartment, one year later we moved into our new home...it makes me wonder what we'll be doing next year! Hopefully, no moving is required:)

I digress. Jackson's actual birthday was a great day. We skipped a party and just celebrated as our little family. Our final walk through at the new house was the early evening of his birthday, which meant that we got a late start to his celebration. I don't think he knew the difference though as he ran wild through the game section of his favorite restaurant and scarfed down his favorite grilled cheese sandwich in town:)

After dinner, we went back to my mom's house and sang happy birthday. Jackson blew out his candles, and I made many wishes for my sweet boy! He loved every bite of his ice cream cake and was serious about it not being taken away from him - in true terrible two style:)

Jackson got lots of cool gifts for his birthday - a basketball hoop and four-wheeler, and bubbles and new books and some of his favorite cars character toys.

Happy "2" Jackson Christopher!

Drop-off meltdowns suck

2011-06-23T09:01:00.000-05:00

Sorry the title of this post is pretty lame, but it is what it is - sucky!

Jackson is doing well at his new school. He comes home with sweet projects and drawings. His vocabulary triples almost every day. And he's eating some really great food and is "the best napper in the class".

However, dropping him off every morning is pure torture. The first week was great. Mr. dropped him off and he waved bye like such a big boy. Weeks 2 and 3 result in Jackson clinging on to either one of us for dear life and screaming at the top of his lungs. His teacher literally has to peel him off of us while we run away.

I know that he settles down and has a great day minutes after we leave. But, hearing his screams when I get in my car to leave just plain sucks! I hate starting my day this way, it just breaks my heart.

We've been dropping Jackson off for child care since January, so this is not a new concept to him. I'm pretty sure Jackson just hates the fact that he has to share with 11 other kids and isn't as spoiled as he has been...guess time will tell!

At least picking him is a completely different story. He beams from ear to ear and can't jump into my arms fast enough - it almost makes me forget how sucky my day started, almost.

My new office

2011-06-21T10:09:00.000-05:00

I'm not sure whether this is my office-closet or my closet-office? Either way, I'm pretty happy with the new work space I created over the weekend.

Our new house has tons of storage and closet space, which I'm sure will fill up as we grow into the house. Until then, I'm enjoying the minimalist look I have going on!

The walk-in closet in our room (actually in our bathroom) is huge. And we certainly don't have enough clothes to fill all of the hanging racks, or the additional closet that is in our bedroom. We have a linen closet in our bathroom, so I was really at a loss as to what to do with this extra space in our room.

Mr. had to work Saturday, so Jackson and I made a little trip to Pottery Barn and it hit me! There in the corner of the store was this perfect little chair calling my name. It was the perfect size and height to fit under one of the shelves in the extra closet, and I decided to make the closet my little office!

As soon as we got home, the transformation started. First I moved the filing cabinet from the extra bedroom closet to the floor of the new office. Then I used storage bins to organize my camera equipment and chargers. I forgot to pick up a desk organizer, so I decided to use mason jars instead. I think it turned out so cute, and the best part - all I have to do is close the closet doors and it's put away from sight!

I guess I'll be blogging from the closet now:)

Morning with Jack

2011-06-17T11:37:00.001-05:00

Mr. has been out of town since Wednesday morning for work, leaving me a single momma for a couple of days while trying to work, not kill our new sod, and manage the completion of our punch list.

While I did manage to get cable hooked up, window treatments installed, trash picked-up, keep my job, and almost all of our punch list items taken care of - I may or may not have lost my shit a time or two. Especially when I realized that two rows of our sod is in fact dead, like brown dried up straw, dead.

Jackson must have sensed the stress in the house and decided to add a little excited to my morning!

Caption should read:

Single momma for the week leaves son on the couch watching Mickey Mouse Club to finish getting ready for work and finds this :30 seconds later!

Not photographed: Action Jackson rocking in his rocking chair (on top of the couch) and cracking himself up with his ingenious idea.

Also not photographed: The meltdown said toddler threw when his momma took his rocker off the couch, as if his momma was off her rocker for not appreciating the ingenious idea!

Mr. please hurry home and make sure we have lots of mommy juice, you can never have enough:)

St. John's Post 4: The Last Days

2011-06-15T11:18:00.000-05:00

All good things must come to an end, and the end of our vacation sadly came way too fast! We certainly lost track of days while playing on the beach, sipping frozen drinks and reading a few good books. Before we knew it we were down to our last days, but certainly made the best of them!

We successfully visited every beach on our must see list. The day after our sailing adventure we went to Trunk Bay. The snorkeling wasn't as great at this beach, but the water and sand made up for that! We literally sat on the beach until the mosquitoes tried to eat us alive, which happened at about 4PM everyday.

After the beach we all went home and showered for a nice dinner out at Waterfront Bistro. Of course, since we were all dressed up, I had to get a family picture before we left. I think this is my new favorite picture, hands down:)

Dinner was pretty good, but I certainly wouldn't recommend the restaurant. The menu was very limited and pretty pricey. However, the drinks and atmosphere were awesome!

*************************************************************

The next day was our last beach day so we were sure to get an early start. We still had 3 beaches left on our list and were determined to see them all! First on our list was Caneel Bay. The resort was beautiful and wild donkeys roamed the beach.

We easily could have spent the day at that beach, but had to make ourselves leave in enough time to check out Hawksnest Bay. Unfortunately, the "no-see-ums" bugs were terrible by the time we got there. So, we played in the water and snapped a few pictures before heading to The Westin.

The beach at the Westin wasn't much to see, but the pool was awesome. Jackson and Amelia took long naps on the pool chairs while we ~~swam~~ drank more frozens:)

After our beach packed day, we made one last stop before heading back to the house to clean up for our night out. This stop was a special stop for me...my loving Mr. took me to Jewels to pick out a new pretty for our anniversary! They had a lot of pieces from my new favorite designer, Marco Bicego, so I came home with an exclusive Caribbean necklace! Love:)

Our last night was so fun and came to an end way too fast. We laughed and enjoyed a nice evening at Banana Deck before heading home to pack everything up. I love my family so much, I wish everyday was a vacation with them at the beach!

We spent our final day shopping in St. Thomas before flying back home. Thankfully, our travel home was much less eventful then getting there!

Home Sweet Home!!!

2011-06-14T16:19:00.000-05:00

I can't believe that I'm finally saying this, but we are finally moved in to our new home!!!

We weren't sure when closing would be, which was beyond stressful for planning and coordinating the move. Jackson woke up Friday morning with a little fever (I hate teething) so he needed to be kept home from school. I stayed home with him, which ended up working out pretty good when we found out at noon that we'd be able to close at 4PM that day. Since Jackson wasn't sick, were able to get a lot done during the day in preparation for closing and the big move!

My dad flew down for the weekend, so he was able to watch Jackson while I got coolers of water and beer packed and loaded up on snacks for my helpful movers:)

While Mr. and I were at closing, my dad and step-dad picked up a U-haul moving van and went to our storage unit to start loading. I'm beyond blessed with these two guys. I have two of the most generous and selfless dads in the world!

After Mr. and I signed about a thousand pieces of paper, we picked up my mom and dropped Jackson off to Felicia (our old nanny), and headed to our new house! Felicia was in town for the weekend, so she watched Jackson for us and they kept each other quite entertained:) I miss that girl so much!

From Friday night through Sunday night, we literally busted our asses and got completely moved in. Every box has been unpacked. Almost every picture and mirror has been hung. And the guys even managed to completely floor the attic - in the oppressive Louisiana heat! My step-dad put his leg through the attic a couple of weeks ago, so the flooring was pretty necessary.

We have a list of stuff still to do, like getting new bar stools, candles, and putting out our picture frames - but, we're home and it sure is sweet!!!

Family room looking into kitchen

Family room and foyer, hall to bedrooms

Kitchen into dinning room (my patio umbrella is some kinda messed up!)


Bar in corner of dinning room

Dinning room - I am using my console/sofa table as a buffet and love it!

Outside covered patio

Outside patio (this space needs some work still. still need a tv and mini fridge for out here)

Addition to the covered patio, outside eating area

Master bedroom

Jackson's room

Jackson's bathroom

Guest bedroom

The 4th bedroom is pretty much empty, so I didn't take a picture and the master bath and 3rd bathroom are really hard to get a good picture of. But, we're ready for visitors and glad to be home:)

St. John's Post 3: The Big Surprise

2011-06-13T15:28:00.000-05:00

On our third day on the island, my parents announced that we were to be packed and in our Jeeps ready to go at 8AM. We were told that we would be gone for the entire day, and that we needed to pack the baby swing, one pack'n'play, and Jackson's life vest.

So, like the good children we are, we packed everything up and anxiously awaited the big surprise...

And a big surprise it was! Just when we thought that this vacation couldn't possibly get any better, a 42ft. sailboat with 4 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms - big enough for 20 people, pulled up to the dock. Hello Snubadu and yummy rum drinks just for us, for the entire day!

We had no plan for the day besides sailing away in paradise and snorkeling in places only accessible by boat. Captain Joe took us to some amazing places and we saw some incredible fish and coral. I missed it, but a few of us even spotted a couple of sea turtles and sting rays!

Jackson started off a little unsure of the boat, and like the airplane, never quite grasped the concept that he was actual on one. He took a little snooze with his cousin and woke up in a much better mood after lunch.

I can't even begin to tell you how many times a thing of puff's saved the day on this trip!

I think this last photo says it all, what a day!!!

Jackson is TWO!!!

2011-06-09T12:34:00.000-05:00

Oh sweet boy of mine, how these past 2 years have taught me so much about life! You are my everything and give me a purpose I never knew existed. The amount of love and pure happiness you bring into our lives, words simply cannot explain...as well as the amount of stress and meltdowns that come along with parenthood:)

You can brighten up a room with your laughter just has fast as you can clear one out with your fits, but your strong will and personality are some of the many things I love about you! And we'll work on those fits, this phase too shall pass.

Your daddy and I love to listen to you talk, and it amazes me to hear your sweet voice. One morning you woke up and decided to start talking, and you haven't stopped. I've lost track of off of your words, but you'll repeat anything we say (even our potty mouths).

School is going so well, even though it's just been a week, I can tell a huge difference. I think you've been craving this social interaction and structure for way longer than I was able to recognize. Daddy drops you off and I pick you up. You give sugars and wave bye to Daddy and you leap up and give me the biggest hug ever when I arrive. I'm pretty sure a little bit of my heart melts for you at this time everyday!

Tonight you will be surrounded by our family and we'll sing Happy Birthday and make many, many wishes for you!

Momma loves you sweet boy - all the way to the moon and back! Happy 2nd Birthday, Jackson!

St. John's Post 2: Which way to the beach?!?

2011-06-08T10:12:00.000-05:00

Our first morning in St. John was an early one, unfortunately. I was hoping that we would all sleep late to catch up on our rest from staying up all of Friday night...but between the light window sheers and bright blue, sunny skies we didn't have a chance of sleeping past sunrise. At this point, I think we're we still running on pure excitement and welcomed the early morning start.

We sipped coffee on the deck and overlooked all the sailboats, fed the fish in the fish pond and started to pack up for the beach! Packing up 9 adults and 2 babies takes some time, let me tell you! The bags of sunscreen, beach toys, beach chairs, towels, coolers, beverages, and floats made our 14 suitcases look like nothing:)

By the time we actually made it to Cinnamon Bay (even with our early start) and got settled, it was clear that there would be little "beach hoping" during the day on this vacation.

Jackson started out very unsure of the sand and the water. He hated his life vest and proceeded to throw tantrum #578 for the morning. Luckily, it didn't take long for his uncles to snatch him up and get him used to the ocean. By the end of the day, he was literally rolling in the sand and loving every second of it!

We stayed at the beach until the mosquitoes tried to eat us for dinner. We only thought that Louisiana was bad...these things ate.us.up. We tried everything and even resorted to pouring a bottle of Gin all over us, as suggested by the locals.

That night we left Cinnamon Bay and went home for an evening swim at our house and drank lovely frozen's in the hot tub until bedtime!

*************************************************************************

The next day we woke up feeling a bit adventurous drinking our morning coffee and decided that we would all hike to Leinster Bay to snorkel at Waterlemon Cay. And by hiking, we thought it was just a long casual stroll down a path to the beach. Well, it was a definitely a long walk, in flip flops, carrying all of our crap. However, the "path" was anything but a walking path. We were passed by quite a few hikers that were laughing at the site of us!

After hiking over a mile, carrying my 33lbs. toddler the entire way there and back, my arms have never been so toned! It was a good thing that the snorkeling was absolutely amazing and totally worth the hike. It was breathtaking!

The shore was a rock beach which meant that we spent the entire day in the water snorkeling and swimming. So to reward our tired legs and thirsty mouths, we finished off the day at Skinny Legs for hamburgers and you guessed it - more frozen's:)

We passed a few wild donkey's on our drive there, a pretty common site on the island!

Up next, the best surprise ever!!!

St. John's Post 1: Getting there

2011-06-07T17:18:00.002-05:00

The night before we left for St. John we basically pulled an all nighter, which is something I haven't done since college. Our flight left out of New Orleans at 6AM, so we had to leave the house at 2AM to check in by 4AM. By the time we finished packing and showering for our travels, we were way too excited to sleep:)

All 8 of us (we met up with my sister and her little family in Miami, making us a party of 11) made it through security and boarded our flight without a hitch. Jackson was totally mesmerized by all of the airplanes and couldn't wait to go for a ride!

The early morning flight started out pretty good. Jackson got a little antsy while waiting to take off, but we all took a snooze soon after we took off...until Jackson woke up and proceeded to puke on me, twice! It was a total mess and I only packed a change of clothes for Jackson, which won't happen again!

We said our prayers that Jackson wasn't coming down with a virus and kept him in just a diaper for the rest of the flight in fear that he'd get sick again and mess another outfit. Luckily, this was just a one time incident and Jackson seemed back to normal shortly thereafter.

Our layover in Miami wasn't too bad. I got myself cleaned up and we grabbed some breakfast while we waited for my sister to land. I couldn't wait to get my hands on sweet Amelia, who is even sweeter now with her smiles and belly laughs!

The flight from Miami to St. Thomas was much better then our first leg, especially since I didn't get puked on:) Jackson kept pretty entertained watching Cars and Fresh Beat while eating an entire thing of Puffs!

By the time we landed in St. Thomas, collected all 14 of our bags, and loaded into the taxi-van - it was time for a drink! Truth be told, a few of us took the locals up on their welcome shots of Rum as we got off the plane, but it was time for a beach drink. Our driver took us to Duffy's Love Shack and we celebrated the start of vacation with a lovely Bushwhacker, my favorite frozen!

After our quick drink stop, it was time to head to the ferry for our ride over to St. John. If you've lost track, we've now been in a car, a plane, and now a boat! Total travel time was close to 18 hours, on next to no sleep...but once we picked up our Jeeps and arrived at Edin's Whim - it was pure paradise!!!

One of our 3 Jeeps parked outside the main house

This is right outside our room, we stayed in the "pool house"

another view outside our room

Kitchen, completely stocked before we got there, in the main house

View from my sister's room - wing off of the main house - our "pool house" is back left

pool, looking up at the main house

Yep, you could say the the travel was well worth it! We were even able to rent all of our baby equipment and had it delivered and set up for us. The car seats were waiting for us in the jeeps and the beach toys, cribs, etc. were all at the house. I highly recommend renting through Island Baby is y'all are ever in St. John, they were awesome!

Next up - Days 1 & 2 of beach hoping:)

Jackson's first day of school

2011-06-06T14:06:00.000-05:00

Jackson started at his first school/day care program this morning, and I couldn't help myself not to tear up as he walked out the door with his backpack. I had visions of him leaving for collage tomorrow. My baby boy is seriously growing up before my eyes!

Mr. took him this morning and called me after with the full report. When they walked into school Jackson instantly found some friends and even managed to get a second muffin for breakfast before Mr. left. Jackson gave sugars and told his daddy bye without missing a beat. He had already found a little girl to be sweet on too:)

I'm so very thankful that Jackson is a happy and independent child...for the most part! I just hope every morning goes as smoothly as today and that I get a good report when I pick him up:)

We're back!!!

2011-06-06T13:19:00.000-05:00

The Wilson family is back home (at my parent's house) and can't believe our week in St. John has already come and gone.

The trip was absolutely amazing. I'm pretty sure it was a once in a lifetime trip, as it cost more for my parents then my wedding...but I think they'd say it was well worth it!

I'm going to blog about the trip in pieces all week, since there is way to much to say in just one post! Not to mention the picture overload that would be:)

We have a very big week ahead of us, with lots of changes taking place over 5 short days. Jackson started school today (next post) and we're supposed to close on our house one day this week...and my baby boy turns TWO on Thursday!!!

I've missed you all and can't wait to tell you about our week in paradise! It's good to be back, well for the most part;)

Almost home sweet home

2011-05-27T10:33:00.000-05:00

We had hoped to close on the new house before our trip to the Caribbean, but instead are closing the day after we get back...which is insanely stressful. Between packing for a week away, wrapping up work projects, and coordinating the final details of the new house, I find myself forgetting to breathe! I know it will all come together in the end, but it's stressful to say the least:)

We had our inspection on Wednesday, and our walk through with the builder yesterday. I was very pleased that our builder agreed to everything on our punch list and his landscaping plans are beautiful! Thankfully, he'll wait until we get back to plant and sod the yard so it doesn't die while we're away.

I spent more hours then I care to share pricing window treatments and going round and round trying to make my final decision. I ended up ordering fauxwood blinds with tapes for the bedrooms and plantation shutters for the living room and kitchen. I eventually want to do shutters on all of the windows, but that's just not in the immediate budget. Especially since Jackson's room alone was quoted at $750, really I don't think so!

I'll leave you with some pictures I took this week of the work in progress. I can't wait to come back from the beach and see it completed!!! Almost home sweet home, almost!!!

Living room looking into foyer

Kitchen island pendants

Master bathroom

Master bedroom

Living room looking into kitchen

Mr.'s new baby:) He's so excited about having a gas stove!

Have a great week ladies!!!

Fishy Face

2011-05-25T10:18:00.000-05:00

New suitcases have been purchased
Fresh sunscreen is packed safely in ziplocs
Each of our swimsuits have been accessorized with matching cover-ups and flip flops
Base tans have been established
Snacks and new toys for the plane ride have been purchased
Camera and DVD batteries are charging
And our little man has tested out his fishy face...

Yep, I think we're ready for our Caribbean getaway!!!

2-year well baby visit

2011-05-24T14:15:00.001-05:00

I can hardly believe the title of this post, can you?!? Jackson actually made it to his 2-year well ~~baby~~ toddler doctor's appointment without any visits in between!!! He's had a couple of colds or just normal allergies a time or two, but nothing that has required an actual visit to a doctor's office. Besides, I'm pretty much Dr. Mom now and can fix him up pretty well;)

Jackson stood at 35" tall exactly and weighed a whopping 32lbs, which puts him in about the 75% for both height and weight. Holding this big boy down for his shots wasn't as easy as it once was!

The doctor took a look at his ears, nose and throat. Tubes were great, throat was good, and his sinus were okay. A little red and inflamed, but nothing worth treating him for.

Jackson has cut 2 of his 2-year molars and the others are poking through. He'll definitely have all of his teeth by his actual 2-year birthday - which his lovely diapers are proving!

Jackson knows all of his body parts and is talking and chatting up a storm. It's seriously amazing! He repeats so much and says a few new words a day. He'll even point things out to me - like a trash can. He's good at throwing away his trash and diapers, so he's always on the lookout I guess:) Silly boy!

I feel like Jackson has grown so much since we've been living with my parents. And he's certainly not lacking attention, that's for sure. My little terrible two has us all wrapped around his fat little fingers, and we love him to the moon and back!

Life Lately

2011-05-18T10:38:00.002-05:00

Since we moved in with my parents last month, my little family of three has gone through some ups and downs. We have our own space, and bedrooms, and are certainly not living out of suitcases - but, it's just not the same as being at home.

Mr. refuses to enter into my mom's laundry room in fear of drying or washing something wrong. Jackson asks for Pop about a 150,000 times a day and has re-named Loli, Ya-ya. The dishwasher is like a space machine that we've yet to figure out and are cursed for putting a dirty cup into almost completed wash cycle about as frequently as Jackson asks for Pop.

I say all of this with a smile on my face because really, we are thankful to have my parents and the luxuries of their home. Every Thursday the maid comes and cleans our space and bathroom. Countless hours are spent lounging by their beautiful pool. Evening walks have been replaced with golf cart rides that make my heart happy. Laundry is folded faster than I can remember that I even started a load of wash. And Jackson loves his ~~Loli~~ Ya-ya and Pop to pieces and it's nice to have extra hands.

Happy boy on his ride!

My happy little family, and Momma's back as a blonde:)

All in all - I'd say the pros of living with my parents far outweigh the cons - which is a very good thing since I'm not sure when our house will ever be done!


My new laundry room, which Mr. will be using;)

The builder is finishing up the hardwood floors this week. The fence is almost complete and the appliances are in. However, we have a long list of "punch-list" items that have yet to be touched. So, we're not counting on closing until we return from St. John. I had hoped to be unpacked and ready for a vacation before our trip, but instead it looks like I'll be resting up for the big move when we return.

Work has just been absolutely insane and I see no end in sight. Jackson says a new word everyday and his little voice is too cute for words. Mr. and I have worked through some issues and are in a much better place. I attempted potty training for a day, but we're just not ready for this yet.

Jackson got a new bike since his is at the back of our storage unit. He's starting to figure it all out. Oh and we've been on the Medifast diet for a little over a month now. I'm down 8lbs., and Mr. is down 20lbs.! Hello beach babes:)

Did I mention how much love and joy these two handsome men bring into my life?!?

Happy Wednesday loves:)

P.S. Jackson will be 2 in less then a month, how did this happen?!?

Motherhood & Life

2011-05-09T11:55:00.003-05:00

For as long as I can remember, I've always wanted to be a mother. From stuffing pillows in my shirt to play pretend pregnant to daydreaming about a house full of babies that all call me momma. The day that Jackson was born, my dream surely came true, but life lately is not how I daydreamed it to be.

I wouldn't trade being a mother for the world. I never even knew my heart was capable of loving so unconditionally until Jackson was placed in my arms. Each day brings a new challenge, a new phase, and a deeper love. Waking up every morning to see my sweet boy is such a blessing, sometimes I don't know what I did to deserve such a gift.

But, some days I wish I could just soak in "motherhood" and be nothing more than a momma for a day. No laundry to do, or medications to keep track of, or gifts to buy, or work to do, or pressure to keep it all straight, or worry about potty training, or stressing about building a new house, or telling my husband what to do.

You see, when I dreamed about being a momma I didn't know what that title really meant. In my dreams there were far more hours playing and chasing each other and reading books and morning snuggles that last until noon. Sadly, in my reality there are more hours spent changing sheets and running the household then playing and reading and laughing.

My life in general needs more playing, and much more laughter. I have plenty of laughter and joy in motherhood, but sometimes I feel like I'm in this game of life alone.

I spent my Mother's day doing exactly what I thought I wanted, but as I laid by the pool when Jackson was napping, my partner in life wasn't there with me. He was out doing what he wanted to do for the day. And I suddenly realized that I wasn't doing what I wanted to do, at all.

It's not really a "happy" Mother's day when you realize that you've taken care of everyone around you, but no one has really thought to take care of you and you're alone.

When life gets so busy and routine, it's easy to take people for granted. And as a mother, I vow to never let my son take anything or anyone for granted. Ever. Life is too special to not love with all your heart and make the people you love really know it!

Festival Weekend 2011

2011-05-02T13:32:00.000-05:00

I can't believe how quickly festival came and went this weekend! Let's just say, you know a good time was had by all when Loli decided to take over Jackson's stroller:) I'm in serious need for another weekend to catch up on sleep and do a little detoxing!

Thursday night of festival Mr. had a little networking event that we needed to attend. So, we decided to make it a date night and left Jackson with my parents. The weather couldn't have been nicer and the evening was wonderful! We networked for a good bit and ended the night at our new favorite restaurant downtown. The patio is just amazing and the salads were a hit. We had such a great time that my parents took us there again Friday night! Did I mention how much I love to sit outside, listen to music, and drink wine?!?

The weather turned nasty on Saturday, so we decided to skip out on Festival for the day. The sun came back out on Sunday, and let's just say the day unexpectly turned into a Sunday Funday downtown with Loli & Pop:) I wish I would have brought my camera, but it's probably best that I only had my phone!

Jackson loved the bands and did a little dancing for us. He was completely mesmerized by the band on stilts, but I can't blame him. The show was kind of like a high school marching band + burlesque + carnival. If you have a chance to see MarchFourth Marching Band, I highly recommend it!

House updates

2011-04-28T12:28:00.001-05:00

I realized it's been a while since I last updated about our new house. Things are slowly coming along and I cannot wait for everything to do be done. We have decided to paint the bead board the same color as the ceiling paint, and paint the cypress "beams" two shades darker. I saw another house with the stain and it was just too dark for me.

Our builder is beyond aggravated and pissed off with our decisions. So much for the client always being right, huh?!? You'd think he was giving us the house, not selling it to us with his attitude!

Anyway, the cabinets are all in place. The light fixtures have been ordered and are scheduled to go up next week. The workers are doing the tile this week and they made the granite pattern for the kitchen last night. The hardwood floors can't be done until the house has electricity so they can run the AC to keep the humidity out... so there's still plenty of work to be done!

I'm trying to plan out how I want to tackle decorating and each room. Jackson's bathroom is a new room we've never had before, so I'm starting from scratch. There's tons of gender specific decor out there, but since his bathroom is shared with another bedroom, I'm hesitant to make it "boy". You know, in case our next baby is a girl. So, if you see any cute gender neutral decor or shower curtains out there - please let me know!!!

Here are some pictures of the house, I'm going to try and post every Thursday about the house updates!

UPDATE: The ~~shitty looking 2 x 4's~~ cypress beams are coming down and ceiling will have crownmolding to match the rest of the house. I just couldn't deal with the "rugged" looked and prefer the beautiful molding instead! Finally, I'm a happy girl:)

Jackson's bathroom

master bath

The hall bathroom is kind of hard to photograph, but it looks like the master bathroom's finishes.

Easter Weekend

2011-04-26T14:53:00.000-05:00

Thanks to some sunshine and sweet baby sugars, I quickly got over my Easter bah-hum-bugs this weekend!

My mom's house was literally bursting at the seams this Easter weekend, and I don't think she would have had it any other way. Between my sister coming down for the holiday weekend and my stepbrothers home for Spring Break, we had every bed in the house occupied. Poor Amelia even had a nursery set up in the laundry room, but she's too sweet to mind!

We cooked, laid by the pool, talked, played and even dyed Easter Eggs for the first time ever. No joke, at 11 o'clock Saturday night I sure did have the ipad out googling "How to dye eggs?". There were many comments over the weekend about how we needed Grandma, she would have known just what to do!

My mom has always enjoyed the chaos of a house full and it the perfect hostess. She even extended an invite to my mother-in-law and her family to come and join us for Easter Brunch. In case you lost count, that meant that we had 17 people and a dog for Easter! And 12 people living at her house for the weekend.

My brothers and Aunt Katie played Easter Bunny so the boys could hunt eggs. As soon as Jackson figured out that jelly beans were inside of the "balls", his poor cousin didn't stand a chance! He was on a mission to get as many balls as his basket could hold. Literally, the kid wouldn't eat anything but jelly beans for the entire day!

Jackson was so sweet with Amelia, I actually had to fight with him for a chance to hold her. He wanted her all to himself. And being that I ended up catching pinkeye on Sunday night, I guess it was a good thing I wasn't holding her every hour of the weekend! Pinkeye, can you believe?!?

I hope the bunny was good to you and you had a blessed weekend with your loves!

Thoughts on Easter Baskets

2011-04-21T11:59:00.000-05:00

Lately I've been made to feel like I have the bah-hum-bugs for Easter?!? I know none of the comments were meant personally, but I'm just not seeing the need for "over the top gifts" at Easter. Growing up Easter was a simple holiday, with pretty church clothes and an Easter Egg Hunt in the neighborhood. The "Easter Bunny" would bring us little goodies, but nothing over the top. Jelly beans, chocolate, and maybe a new swim suit or beach towel.

I say this because twice in the last week I've been asked what gifts Jackson was getting for Easter - what, huh?!? This isn't Christmas or a birthday. The only thing he knows about Easter is that Loli & Pop's house is full of bunnies that we count every night, and that there's jelly beans on the kitchen table.

Jackson is convinced that the Easter Eggs are just balls and throws them everywhere, causing them to break open, which makes him laugh and say "uh-oh". And that's pretty cute, so we put them back together and he does it all over again!

Don't worry, I'll surely put together an Easter Basket with bubbles and eggs full of jelly beans, and maybe a beach ball or two. But, that's pretty much the extent of his "gifts". Besides, I'm far more concerned about what he'll be wearing then having another toy:) And I'm sure the matching Easter outfits my mom bought for the grandbabies are the cutest outfits ever, no really!

I'm certainly not judging any of you that may have big gigts all wrapped up and ready for the bunny to deliver, I'm just saying that it's not on my to do list. I'll leave the over the top gifts to Christmas:)

What are you doing for your children's baskets, do you do baskets?!? Am I the only one with these feelings???

A-Z, all about me:)

2011-04-19T11:13:00.000-05:00

A few of my favorite blogs have been doing this A-Z and I thought I would join in! If you haven't done so already, copy and paste and do the same:)

A. Age: 28, for a few more months

B. Bed size: Queen

C. Chore you dislike: Emptying the dishwasher

D. Dogs: No pets for me!

E. Essential start to your day: Plucking my eyebrows, and coffee.

F. Favorite color: Blue.

G. Gold or silver: Both! I love David Yurman and wear a lot of two-toned jewelry. My rings are white gold though.

H. Height: 5'5

I. Instruments you play(ed): None. And I cant hold a tune to save my life.

J. Job title: Account Executive, Wife, & Momma

K. Kids: 1 Boy

L. Live: In a bedroom at my mom's house until our house is finshed.

M. Mom’s name: Jayne

N. Nicknames: I've never really had one!

O. Overnight hospital stays: A few times when I was pregnant with Jackson: At 11 weeks with terrible back pain, 33 weeks for pre-term labor, and again at 36 weeks for delivery!

P. Pet peeves: I could write a book about this one - I cannot stand copycats, be true to yourself and have your own style, please and thank you!

Q. Quote from a movie: Just keep swimming

R. Righty or lefty: Righty

S. Siblings: A younger sister, and 2 younger step-brothers

T. Time you wake up: During the week, around 7-7:15 - I'm not a morning person and will snooze as long as I can!

U. Underwear: Hanky Panky Thongs, love them!

V. Vegetables you don’t like: No such thing!

W.What makes you run late: Me, myself, and I - I'm never on time, never.

X. X-rays you’ve had: Teeth, knees, and kidney

Y. Yummy food you make: I make a wonderful Lemon Lavender Cake, but I try to stay out of the kitchen as much as possible.

Z. Zoo animal favorites: All of the ones that don't stink:)

House help needed, please!

2011-04-15T10:23:00.000-05:00

Ladies, I need your help deciding on a few things for the new house. I have a look that I think I'm going for, but I have no idea how to execute!

I love, love, love creams, linen, blues, and comfort in a home. Our last house was full of red, green and brown. This was mainly because it was our first home and we had a hodgepodge of stuff given to use. I know it's going to take some time, but I want this new house to be reflective of our taste and style.

I just love this look!

We're "on the water" so I love the idea of light colors with a beachy, Seaside feel.

Our builder had planned on staining beater board and cypress beams on our kitchen ceiling. However, I just can't picture how this will work and he's willing to let me paint the ceiling instead. My fears in staining the wood on the ceiling is that it will close the room in and make the ceilings feel like they're not 10 ft. ceilings. I love everything about the house, but this detail. And the kitchen is the cornerstone of the house, so it has to be right!

So, my question for you - paint or stain?!? Here are two examples that I've found of paint vs. stain. I wish I had photo credits, but I can't remember where I pulled these from!

Moving on...

2011-04-14T09:28:00.000-05:00

After four years of making a house our first home, we've officially turned over the keys and have moved on. Our little starter home was just that, and after an exhausting week of moving I've hardly had a minute to process everything.

With the help of some truly amazing friends and family members, we were able to pack our lives up and move into two storage units and my mom's house in a little over one week's time. To my surprise, I couldn't be happier that we have a month to rest and recover until it's time to move into our new house. The thought of unpacking and cleaning again makes me slightly nauseous!

As I vacuumed and mopped my way out of the house, our decision to move finally felt right. For the first time I was truly at peace with our decision to move. Crazy, I know, but it's hard not to second guess if you're doing the right thing. A bigger house also means a bigger mortgage and putting that momma mobile on hold for a little while.

I left a welcome package for the new home buyer, complete with our paint chip samples, instruction manuals for the appliances, and a few detergent tabs for the dishwasher. As I walked out of the house, I never looked back. The house had been good to us, but it is time to move on to bigger and better, which is so exciting!

We took one final family picture with my iphone and I'll cherish this photo for years to come. Mr. celebrated his 37th birthday on moving day and Jackson has never been so cute. No matter where we are, with my boys, I am home.

The Wilson's 04.08.11

Oh the pictures I have with my little dude standing in this spot, he's grown so much and melts my heart daily!

Happy Birthday Daddy, time to get packing:)

And if you noticed, I sure did turn into a brunette before the move...not 100% intentionally either. Thank goodness I have a month to lay in the pool to lighten it up a bit;)

We didn't make it...

2011-04-06T10:28:00.000-05:00

Well we didn't even come close to making it 6 weeks without seeing a doctor. We only made it one week, to be exact. Why does this keep happening?!?

I'm in search for a bubble to put my sweet Jackson in at the moment. So, if any of you have ideas or recommendations on how I can keep this kid out of a doctor's office, I gladly welcome them!

10 days after Jackson finished his last dose of his antibiotic, the cough came back. After two whole weeks of not one cough and a happy boy, I'm completely devastated. Monday morning I heard the cough and my heart broke. I hoped that it was just a fluke, but by yesterday he was coughing all day and all of last night.

We went back to the allergist this morning and he believes that Jackson has come down with yet another infection. However, I am not sure if I buy this or not...

He still doesn't think this is allergy related, so I question whether or not I need to take him back to our pediatrician?!? We're starting another round of antibiotics this morning and he got a steroid dose as well. I'm hoping that the second round of antibiotics will continue to fight whatever is bring Jackson down.

The glimpse at life with a well baby was too wonderful to stop fighting for. I love my baby, but y'all just don't understand what a different kid he's been for the past two weeks. Falling back into the whiny, clingy, pissed off toddler last night was just so frustrating. At least now I know that this is because he doesn't feel well and not his "terrible two" personality.

Reflections

2011-04-04T11:01:00.000-05:00

As I laid my head down on my pillow last night, it hit me. This would be the last week we would start in our first home. The last Sunday night I would stare at my ceiling and reflect on our weekend and stress about the week to come. I hate to dwell on the last, but this is the last week we'll spend as our family of three in the first house we made a home. As happy as I am about our new house, it will never be our first.

We spent the entire weekend boxing up memories and moving our life into a storage unit - where it will remain for the next 6-8 weeks. With each box came a different emotion. I went from being completely overwhelmed to totally detached from the bare walls and hallow echos, but last night was bittersweet.

As we continue to grow, this house was more than our first home - it's our foundation.

Our house is where Mr. and I first lived together.
This house was where we came home and spent our first night as husband and wife.
The yard was the first yard that we ever planted a seed, a flower, a tree.
This house has seen and felt the pain as we struggled to start our family.
Our house is where our first son was conceived and brought home.
This house is where we struggled through our first year as parents - and made it through.
Our house hosted our first dinner party, our first baby shower, our first holiday.
I decorated my first Christmas tree, my first nursery, my first table scape and front door decorations.
The neighborhood where Jackson first trick-or-treated and played ball
This house is where Jackson first crawled, first stood and walked.

This list of firsts could go on and on and I'm sure as the week passes I'll have even more emotions about leaving. However, looking back at where we've been and how far we've come in 4 years makes me proud and I can't imagine what the next house will bring for us!

Our new home sweet home

2011-03-31T10:28:00.001-05:00

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!

Clean bill of health...

2011-03-30T14:43:00.001-05:00

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!

Skeet Shoot 2011

2011-03-28T18:28:00.000-05:00

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.

Jackson's Sweethearts

2011-03-23T10:31:00.001-05:00

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

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:)

Another day, another doctor

2011-03-22T11:52:00.000-05:00

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:)