sick.tired.overwhelmed.

That pretty much sums up my life right now.

It all started last Thursday with a video message from our rock star nanny. Jackson was pitiful. Teary-eyed. Saying Momma, momma, momma over and over again. He was obviously not feeling well. I ran home and gave him lots of cuddles and assessed the situation. His nose was pouring, he was warm and he was tugging at his ears. Our nanny was convinced he had an ear infection.

Since I'm 3 for 3 on taking Jackson to the doctor for this same behavior and told it's teething, I didn't listen to her. They all say that breastfed babies don't get ear infections and to stop worrying. Then they point out new teeth that are poking though, causing the symptoms. So, I didn't worry and went back to work. Jackson always tugs on his ears, so this was no different.

Well folks, I had a Momma fail moment. Our nanny knew my son better than I did. She kept saying he had an ear infection. And I was convinced it was just his teeth...until later that night.

I've never seen my baby is as much pain as he was in Thursday night. All night, he cried a cry I've never heard. A cry of such pain, I cried with him. Can you imagine the guilt I felt for going back to work instead of taking him to the doctor?!?

So Friday morning, off to the doctor he went with Mr. {another Momma fail moment in my book. Work came before my son and I'm not sure why I did that}. Our pediatrician was out of town, so I sent my boys to the doctor on call. The last time I was so sure Jackson had an ear infection, this guy not so nicely told me it was just teeth.

Turns out that that breastfed babies can and do get ear infections. Not only did Jackson have an ear infection, but both of his ears were infected! We immediately started Jackson on an antibiotic and were told to give him over the counter medicine for pain and nasal congestion.

As the weekend progressed, so did Jackson's infection. And running on empty with a sick baby is just exhausting. Even more so you feel completely helpless. Every four to six hours I was pumping my baby full of medication that seemed to do no good.

By Monday Jackson developed a terrible cough. His little voice even turned hoarse. So I waited for 8AM on Tuesday and called our doctor's office for an immediate appointment.

We went in and I talked to our doctor about the lack of improvement and pain Jackson is still in. Jackson's ears are still red and full of fluid, after 5 days of antibiotics. Oh, and he's cutting two more teeth! So, we're trying a different antibiotic and a prescription nasal decongestant to help with the drainage. No more over the counter meds!

Jackson was already showing signs of improvement last night. We still didn't get a full night's sleep, but it was better. Teething tabs came to the rescue a couple of times:)

I'm so ready for my baby to feel good! The Momma fail guilt is getting the best of me, and I know it shouldn't. I think the lack of sleep leads to the suffocating, overwhelming feeling with life in general. Oh how a night of sleep would fix things!

With the new day comes new strength and new thoughts.
-Eleanor Roosevelt

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My 28th birthday weekend

I love to celebrate birthdays. Not just my birthday, everyone's birthday. It's the one day out of the whole year that you can claim as yours. And I believe we all deserve a day {or a week, or a weekend} for just that:)

Since I was going to be in New Orleans with Drew Brees on my actual birthday, Mr. spoiled me all weekend! I got a manicure and pedicure after work on Friday. Mr. came home with flowers. And my boys took me out for Mexican {my favorite} on Friday Family Date Night. They even surprised me with a new watch. It's perfect for the Fall!

Then on Saturday night, Mr. took just me out to dinner. It's been too long since we've been able to go out on a Saturday night! We had an amazing time, good wine and lots of laughs:)

Sunday was pretty laid back. Mr. had my oil changed and put new tires on my car. Jackson and I played in the pool for a couple of hours and my mom cooked a little birthday dinner for me.

I was sad to leave for New Orleans Sunday night, Jackson was in an awesome mood. Mr. stayed at my mom's and got some work done while Loli & Pop entertained Jackson. Some how Jackson managed to get into dog poop, with three adults supervising. I was totally disgusted when I called to check on my boys and Mr. told me everything was shitty, literally. Boys will be boys, right?!? Gross, I just threw-up in my mouth thinking about it.

My actual birthday seems like a blur. My insomnia and nerves got the best of me on Sunday night. So my 4:30am wake up call just plain sucked. We were at the Saints practice facility ready to shoot by 6:00am and out the door at 8. I normally don't even leave my house until 8:20 to go to work!

The office had a yummy chocolate and strawberry cake waiting for me when I got back. It was delicious! I even got a nice spa gift card {and another one from my mother in law}, so I think a day at the spa is in my very near future:)

It's hard to believe that I met Mr. just days before my 22nd birthday. Thinking back, I was such a baby! And on Monday I celebrated my 28th birthday as his wife and the mother of his son. I always wished that this would be my life. I couldn't be happier that my dream came true. As a matter of fact, I had a hard time thinking of what more I could wish for as I blew out my candles.

Don't get me wrong, my life is not perfect. I'm certainly not claiming to be God's gift or anything. I remember years of wishing Mr. would ask me to marry him. Then I wished, prayed, and begged to become a Momma. And last year, I wished to reconnect with my Mr. The adjustment to parenthood was one that wasn't easy on our marriage.

This year it felt selfish to wish for anything more than I have. I wished for God to continue to watch over and bless our families. For my sister to have a healthy baby. And for my Grandma to watch over us and be proud of who we continue to grow to be.

Jackson & Momma {28}

Jackson & Momma {27}

Cheerfulness and contentment are great beautifiers and are famous preservers of youthful looks. - Charles Dickens

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Working Mom Wednesday: My birthday with Drew Brees

Because of the nature of my job I have the opportunity to work with some pretty talented people. One client in particular has given me the chance to meet and work with Les Miles, Chris Paul, and most recently Drew Brees. I'm not one to get star struck, but I have to say that meeting Drew was pretty neat. He was super cute, and had an awesome personality. You could tell that he is a pretty cool guy. And I may or may not have a little crush on him {hi Mr.} :)

Working with "high profile" talent comes with a lot work behind the scenes to make it all happen. Late nights, early mornings and yet another night away from my boys. Our scheduled time with Drew was at 6:30AM on Monday, so we headed to NOLA Sunday night. Thankfully, this night away went a little smoother than my experience with CP3. I had to painfully pour about 12 oz. of milk down the drain, but I didn't get engorged or have to worry about keeping my milk cold while on set.

The shoot was a success and I'm confident that the client will be happy with the finished product. We were done by 8AM, which is earlier than I normally leave my house to go to work! So I was able to ran by Tulane and visit with my brother before making the trip back home to my boys.

I was totally exhausted when I got home, which isn't exactly easy to be with a 15 month old. However, I got my second wind and was so happy to be home. I always say that walking out the door to go to work is one of the hardest parts of my day. But, walking back in to see my sweet little man light up is one of the best parts of my day.

Monday was no different, except that I walked back in the door another year older than I was the night before. Starting my 28th year off with Drew Brees wasn't exactly a bad way to start. I just wish I would have gotten a birthday photo op with him. Instead, I got these {and a wake up call to stop with the daily ice cream}!



More on my birthday weekend coming up:)

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Weekend Recap

Since I've posted about our Friday Date Night and Jackson's first hair cut Saturday, I figured I'd fill you in on some other happening around the Wilson household this weekend:)

Saturday was the first Saturday in nine weeks that we didn't have swim lessons. We were a little out of sorts without it. Normally we all sleep late and are running around like crazy trying to get out the door by 10:30 to make it 11:00 lessons. Saturday proved to be no different, only we were trying to make it to the Barber shop by 11:30!

Sleepy boy!

Saturday afternoon we had some pool time with a friend of mine and her little boy at my mom's house. Jackson loves his ball and his truck!

While we were swimming Mr. decided to whip up some spare ribs and homemade pasta. If you read yesterday's post, this is half the reason I don't cook. Mr. is an amazing cook and puts my casseroles to shame! So we invited some friends over to indulge in some yummy pasta and watched the Saints game.
We dog sat for my parents all weekend, so Jackson had a lot of fun with Aubie. I'm not a fan of a dog in my house {I'm way to OCD for all the hair} but Jackson loved it.

Jackson gave Aubie some sweet sugars

Sunday was another fun filled day. Jackson woke up to nurse around 8, and stayed in our bed and snuggled. I was in heaven! At 11, I finally had to wake him up so we could start our day.

Jackson was trying to rope Aubie into Peek-A-Boo with him:)

Since Jackson slept so late, there was no napping. Instead we headed over to Mr.'s dad house for some fun in the sun with the Wilson cousins. We spent a good part of the day in the pool playing with all the kids. Jackson and I were soaking up our day with our Mr. He normally works during the day when we go and swim, so this was a nice treat for us!

Finally some swimming pictures with Daddy & Jackson:)

There's nothing like family:)

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Family Date Night

It's no secret that I don't cook much, or at all. I occasionally bake something. And I can follow a recipe, but I'm no Betty Crocker. Sometimes I feel guilty that Mr. never comes home to find me in an apron, cooking him dinner. But that guilt often gets buried under everything else, including "mom guilt".

In my defense, I only have the hours of 6-7:30pm to be Momma. And during that time Jackson nurses twice, has a bath and gets put down for bed. I couldn't imagine trying to cook dinner during that time too!

Don't get me wrong, we eat, it's just sandwiches or leftovers after Jackson goes to bed. Our nanny feeds Jackson his dinner before we get home from work. I'm sure this will change as he gets older, but it's what works for now.

Since we eat so well during the week, insert sarcasm, we like to go out to dinner on the weekends. Fridays nights are always "Wilson Family Date Night". We look forward to it all week, it's one of our family traditions:)

We like to go to nice places, but I'm always mindful of everyone else and their dining experience. I never want Jackson to disrupt others and ruin their dinner. So, Friday night Mr. had to twist my arm a little. He really wanted to try out a new hibachi restaurant that he read about. To be honest, group dining with a toddler just made me nervous!

After some convincing, I let my guard down and decided what the heck?!? When the hostess sat us you could tell people were not happy to have us join them. I hate those looks. You know, the disapproving, why would you bring your kid here to ruin my night, kind of looks. But, we sat anyway. I ordered a glass of wine and blocked them out.

The waitress must have picked up on my apprehension. She brought out a fruit tray for Jackson to snack on {she must have known this would get her a nice tip at the end of the night}. So, it didn't take long for Jackson put the charm on.

The chefs kept Jackson very entertained. The fire and juggling of knifes had him completely mesmerized. And I couldn't have been more relieved.

There's something amazing about watching children experience things for the first time. I love watching Jackson explore the world around him:)

Sometimes stepping out of your comfort zone can be a good thing:)

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Jackson's new do

Since day one we've all been shocked by how blond Jackson's hair is. During my pregnancy I always imagined Jackson to have dark hair, blue eyes and an olive complexion. Mr. has some pretty strong family traits, so we didn't think that my recessive genes stood a chance. To our surprise, I delivered a blond, blue-eyed, fair skin boy. Jackson even had the same widow's peak hair line that I had as a baby.

Jackson really didn't start growing a head full of hair until about 10 months. And then it started to grow pretty quickly. I trimmed his bangs a few times with my kitchen scissors, sorry Jack! The week of his birthday party I took him to my hairdresser to have a "professional" trim. But, I was so nervous I really didn't let April cut too much. She just trimmed enough to keep his bangs out of his face.

Well, that was back in May and he hasn't had his hair cut since. This was mainly due to the fact that I love his hair long. It started to curl a little in the back. It's so fine and so bleach blond. Can you tell that I just love his locks:)

Anyway, Mr. started to think Jackson was looking like a girl. He wanted to have his hair cut and I couldn't argue too much.

Saturday morning I hesitantly called a barber shop that came highly recommended. They said their wait wasn't bad, so we loaded Jackson in the car and headed that way {of course, after I took some pictures of his curls}.

The guys at the shop were awesome and calmed my nerves. Marco was so good with Jackson and got him to sit perfectly still. I was amazed! We will definitely be going back there for all of Jackson's big boy cuts in the future.








Some say that a smile is worth a thousand words. If so, then I think that Jackson loves his new do!

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Jackson, in print

As promised, here's Jackson's first print ad layout.
Coming to a paper not so near you soon!

And here's the cover of the brochure that will
be used to market the pediatrician.

My cute lil frog:)

Happy weekend peeps. I don't know about y'all, but Friday hasn't been this welcomed in a long time! ribit, ribit:)

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Working Mom Wednesday: Ribit Ribit

Working for an advertising agency often means that your friends and family get roped into being models - especially when you're working with a limited budget. I'm not going to lie, I've been waiting for Jackson's first opportunity for about 14 months now:)

When we picked up a pediatrician as a new client, I not so secretly hoped that this would be Jackson's big chance. And as luck would have it, one of our art directors came up with the most precious campaign that needed a baby had Jackson's name all over it. The concept is seriously awesome {and I'm not just saying this because it involves my kid}.

Let's just say this doctor happens to be from Rayne, Louisiana, which also happens to be known for a little frog festival. My client loved the concept and thought Jackson's picture was pretty cute. So, yesterday morning Jackson came to work with me and totally worked the camera:)

I promise the frog costume will make much more sense when you see the finished products.

So, Jackson had to put in some overtime this weekend. I had a little dress rehearsal for him to practice being a cute little frog. Ribit, Ribit:)



I got a little nervous when the shoot started. It's a lot of pressure to make your 14-month-old "perform". It's one thing when you're the one behind the camera, but this was a professional shoot! Things started out a little crazy...
and Jackson got a little tired at one point. I had to bribe him with food. Big surprise, I know!

But, I think all the practice and pretzels paid off. Is this one cute frog or what?!?
And after a day like I had today, seeing this sweet face {Jackson's} in the art department made my evening!
Can't wait to show you his first ad...coming soon!

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