May Flowers

April showers brought us the most beautiful May flowers, theoretically speaking.

Life presented us with some tough choices and wonderful opportunities this spring. Opportunities that literally presented themselves in such a way that you couldn't ignore or pass up.

After we had Mattie we knew some things had to change in our lives, but we really weren't sure what needed to change.  It wasn't the actual birth of Mattie Jayne that rocked our world.  It was the realization that we only have one life to live this beautiful life that we've been blessed with.

Mr. and I were always stressed to the max and both worked jobs that required our attention or thought 24/7.  That, on top of our family, which obviously needs us 24/7+. We also need each other, but were too tired to give anymore to one another at the end of the day.

We contemplated me not working.
We inquired about me dropping a few hours, working a bit less.
We prayed.
We felt change was upon us, just not sure when it would present itself.

And then one night, on our way to Friday Family Date Night, I got a text that was the change we were waiting for.  An invitation to join a dream team.  An invitation so sincere and real that I was re-charged. Re-charged in myself more than I've ever been before.

43 applicants, 2-rounds of interviews, countless hours of prayer for guidance, and one offer that I couldn't pass up.

I am not the most religious person.  We don't go to church.  I've yet to have my children baptized.  But, I believe.  And I pray and worship with myself often. I know in my heart of hearts with all my faith, that this was the answer I had been looking for...quite possibly longer than I'm even aware of.

So after almost nine years in the advertising agency world, I am now the Marketing Specialist for a local hospital.

From day-one, I knew that this was the perfect job for me.  I'm doing something that I love, for an industry that's second nature to me.  I have the flexibility and support that our family needs.  And my family has me, and it feels good.

May flowers didn't just bloom for me though.

Mattie finally got an open position at Jackson's school.  She'd been on the waiting list since conception, seriously.  She had a rough first few days, but she's finding her routine too.  We absolutely love the school and couldn't be happier knowing that our children are in such a loving and educational place.  Talk about making going to work so much easier...especially since our nanny literally no-showed her last two weeks with us and I don't even want to think about how she may have treated our princess.

First day of Pre-K4 & Daycare. May 27, 2013

5-months and a few days

Two weeks shy of his 4th birthday

Jackson started Pre-k4 the same day that Mattie started at his school...which also happened to be the same day I moved in to my new office.  We decided to cram as much change into one day as possible:)

So that pretty much sums up the changes that transpired into our May flowers that are in full bloom now!

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Daddy & the flu

It all started on a beautiful Friday afternoon in January...it was the last weekend of my full maternity leave (I worked from home, part-time, the month of February).  My littlest love had just turned one month.  I felt amazing.  My house was scubbin' bubbles clean.  The laundry was done and put away.  Beds all had fresh sheets.  I showered and applied a full face of make up.  I even squeezed my 5-week postpartum self into a pair of jeans. Mr. had been out of town and working crazy hours all week to catch up from our trip to St. Louis and we all missed our daddy.  We had planned a Friday family date night and I was more than ready for a night out with my family!

I called my hard-working Mr. that afternoon and asked where he wanted to go for dinner.   To my dismay, he sounded terrible.  He so kindly asked if we could just order-in after he ran by the urgent care for what he believed to be another one of his sinus infections. I was sure it was nothing and he was just run down from the hard week and little sleep.

No big deal.  I changed into my comfy clothes and nursed Mattie while soaking in the freshly cleaned house.  I dreamed big dreams for our last weekend of my leave.  Parks, walks, nothing but quality family time.  Romantic.day.dreamer.

I headed to Jackson's school to pick him up, excited to hear all about his day.  I was going to surprise him and let him pick what we'd order for dinner.  But, as I walked into his school I could hear him cough.  That dreaded cough that lets me know he's having one of his flare ups.  Lovely, just lovely.

Between unloading the kids from the car and getting Jackson started on a breathing treatment, I got a text from Mr.

"Just tested positive for the flu"

My response, "FUCK"

The next text from Mr.
"Doctor says that I cannot be around Mattie for 4-6 days.  I am really sorry."

Good news was that he had been out of town Tuesday - Wednesday and was home after the kids and I went to bed on Wednesday & Thursday.  We barely saw him Friday morning, so I knew our exposure was low.  However, Jackson was burning up and the breathing treatment was not helping his cough.  My next thought was that he may have the flu too...so much for our family trip to get flu shots!

We had two options - either he left our house or I did.  But first, we needed to get Jackson tested as well.  If he had the flu, he was staying with daddy.  If not, I was a single mom again...for the next week!

Mr. and I discussed the options and he thought it would be better for me to go to my mom's with the kids instead of him going to his mom's.  My parents would at least be able to help me out for a day before they left on business trips for the week. And if I stayed home, it was all me the entire time.

The next call was to my mom.  Before I could even get the words out of my mouth, her and Pop were on their way to my house to help.  Pop immediately took Jackson to get tested for the flu and my mom and I gathered the crazy amount of shit you need with a newborn and headed to their house.

Poor Mr. sat in his car in the driveway and just kept apologizing.  I felt so sorry for him, but I'm sure my state of panic outweighed my sympathy for my sick husband.  Babe, I am sorry too!

Jackson's test was negative, but poor guy was sick.  Our first night at my mom's was rough.  He coughed until he puked all.night.long.  On me. On my mom.  On himself.  In his bed.  On the couch...

Mattie on the other hand, slept in a crib, in her own room, all night.  At exactly 5 weeks, she slept 8.5 glorious hours while her brother and I didn't sleep at all.  I'll forever be grateful for those hours though.  Not sure how I would have managed them both!

The weekend was long, but a little more relaxing then I thought it would be.  I had strict orders from my mom to rest when the kids napped.  No excuses of needing to pick up or do laundry.  So I managed as best as I could.  And after a couple of phone calls in to our pediatrician, I finally got Jackson medicine to clear him up and he was able to go back to school on Monday.

Cookies, wine and redbox...what every single momma needs!

My parents flew out on Sunday, so it was just me and the kids until we went home on Wednesday.  I managed to get Jackson to school relatively on time.  I was thankful that he was able to go back to school, since I went back to work.  There's no way I could have managed working from home with both kids! Nursing, pumping, answering emails, holding a sweet baby and entertaining Action Jackson would have put me over the edge.

Momma's little assistant, sleeping on the job

Thankfully, Mr. recovered very quickly from the flu.  He was really fine by Monday, we just couldn't share air space with him until Wednesday night.  I tried to maintain my cooking every night, but was so happy when my mom's sweet neighbor brought dinner for all of us one night!  I had to leave dinner on the door steps for Mr. and just wave to him on my way to pick Jackson up from school.  It was pretty pitiful!

To say Wednesday night was Home Sweet Home was an understatement.  I hope we don't have to deal with the flu ever again...or for a very long time, at least! And sadly, my cooking (and everything else) has slowed down a bit since returning to work.  There just aren't even hours in the day, and when I do have a free minute, my arms are full of these kiddos!

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A perfect fall weekend

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!

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Just playing the part...

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!

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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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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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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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hApPy HeArT :)

It's been a crazy week at the Wilson's. You know the kind of week that you work for the weekend?!? I have a hard time keeping my mind off of what our nanny is going through. She'll be coming back to work on Monday and I hope that Jackson can make her heart a little happier.

I'm off to Baton Rouge today for meetings, so I'll leave you with some pics of Jackson and another silly video {Jackson's life before 5, part 2}.

This little guy sure makes my heart happy!

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