Day of Labor/Day of Birth

Growing up my birthday party was never quite like I wanted because two of my best friends had a yearly family camp out over Labor Day weekend. And, since my birthday is usually Labor Day weekend, they usually could not come or if they did come, they could not spend the night and would leave early for their camp out. The last two years I have been loving that my birthday coincides with Labor Day weekend. Last year we had a family get together and my sister surprised me by coming! This year my parents hosted a sibling reunion with my dad's brothers and sisters and their spouses. A few of my cousins came as well. We spent the weekend on a lake in Virginia. We went kayaking, boating, tubing, and swimming. We played games, had devotionals, looked through family time capsules, and relaxed. It was so fun spending my birthday with so much family. I'm not one who is way into my birthday and I don't like being the center of attention but I felt so loved and that of course is a wonderful feeling. Then, the day after we got back, Jon took me to a Japanese Hibachi restaurant for a birthday dinner/date. It was nice getting out together for a bit. It was the first time since Jackson was born that we have eaten out alone, and it was also the first time since Jackson was born that we didn't go to the temple or Lowes for part of our date. It was really good and we had some wonderful friends who watched our little guy. After dinner we got frozen yogurt and then headed home. Here are some pictures from the weekend:

Maggie- the sweet lake house doggie

the skit my cousins did, all about our family history

Uncle Otto and Aunt Cindy

Oldest to youngest: Mark, (Jim-deceased so he obviously wasn't there), Otto, Cindy, Phil, Susan, Perry

(Front to Back, Left to Right) Bella, Susy, Cindy, Otto, Stephen, Nicole, Jon, Jim, Jackie, Me, Claire, Susan, Mark, Linda, Phil, Bill, Jeff, Kay, Perry

Aunt Susan rapping I'm a Little Teapot

Aunt Susan made me a hat

Cousin Nicole loving on Jackson

Jack and Jackson

Birthday dinner

Susan and Perry

Uncle Mark and Aunt Cindy after Minute to Win it Games

Siblings and spouses- Perry, Kay, Cindy, Jackie, Susan, Bill, Susy, Otto, Phil, Mark, Linda

Yoga on the Dock- Janet, Otto, Claire, Cindy

Jon and I

creeper Uncle Phil

Uncle Mark, Jeff, Uncle Phil, and Perry- playing the traditional Pinochle 

Lyric, Claire, Susan, and Bill Adney

Jackson, Jon, Me, Lyric, Isis, Bella, Cindy, Susy, Otto, Perry, Kay, Mark, Jack, Claudia, Stephen, Jim, Jackie, Susan, Bill

Susan, Stephen, Veera, Claire

Jack, Jeff, Nicole, Phil

Jeff and Nicole

twinners with Grandma

Phil and Linda

mom and Susy

Bella and Lyric

Minute to Win it

Claudia, Isis, Bella, Jim, Otto, Susy, Stephen

Susan and Jackie- they look like little kids, so cute!

Minute to Win it

Love this man!

so sweet! Uncle Jackie and Jackson

Isis, Jackson, Stephen, Bella

Jon with his Bass

the dessert from the Japanese restaurant

Stephen and Jackson

Recent Events

Jon's back to school and work full swing now. He is taking 2 classes this semester, one of which is online. He is enjoying it so far and the work load doesn't seem terrible, but he is definitely busier. Jon is still working in the Elders Quorum at church.

I'm still doing the same old things, staying home with Jackson and taking care of things at home. I have been looking to do some part time babysitting. I think it would be good for me and Jackson as well as bring in a bit of money. But I need the job to be ideal or else I won't do it. One big thing is it can't take me away from Jon or Jackson, so it has to be something during the day where I can bring Jackson with me. I applied at the YMCA to do child care so we see. I'm ready to have some type of other commitment besides family and church, although I'm ok without it too. If I get a job, I want to only work on a very part time basis because I cherish my 1 on 1 time with Jackson and want to keep that as part of our day to day life. Either way, raising that boy is my first priority.

We had an amazing summer and did so much. This summer Jon had a lot of free time and we tried to soak it all in before reality set back in. We had such a fun summer together. I love having time with both of my guys. We will probably never again have such a carefree summer. It was awesome!

We started remodeling our kitchen cabinets! I was on a roll but am frustrated because I am having difficulty sanding them right. We bought a new sander to hopefully help. I think I will have Jon primarily sand and I will stain and lacquer. I love using a paintbrush, even though I am not very good. It is such a therapeutic thing for me. We have one door completely finished and 2 that are close to being done. It is going to take a long time and a lot of work but it will look AMAZING and hopefully add value to our home. It is looking great so far.  I will post some before and after pictures although it will probably take us a year or two to finish. This is a big project!!!

Here you can see where Jon has painted part of the wall. We plan to paint the rest of the walls too. It looks much better like this!

7 Months

Jackson is still growing like crazy. He is sitting up better and better but still falls over sometimes so if I am leave him unsupervised for a bit, I usually surround his body in pillows. Jackson has recently taking to steam rolling around in his crib. He rolls back and forth and flips over on his tummy and tries to crawl in his crib. He also frequently gets his arms and legs stuck in the rails and will also chuck his pacifier out of the crib. He mostly just does anything to avoid sleep, especially nap time. :) But, he is sleeping MUCH better at night, usually waking up to nurse once in the middle of the night and again at 5am. Jackson was sleeping until about 7 but now that Jon is waking up earlier, Jackson has decided to wake up earlier too, so we are back at him being up around 6. He just needs his daddy. Jackson isn't very close to crawling but is getting into the position more often and seems to be trying to do it. He started "waving" this month. It doesn't seem connected to anything yet, but he will hold his arm out, turn his wrist back and forth, and watch his hand moving. I love seeing how fascinated he is with all the little things. I love his curiosity and watching him learn and develop everyday. I keep thinking that we are in a great stage, I am loving it. Jackson is getting a longer attention span and is fun and interactive, but he can't get into too much trouble since he isn't mobile. Naps are still our enemy though....it is a miserable time when nap time comes, lots of screaming and minimal sleeping. I had a dream last night that Jackson was sick and hospitalized again. It brought back some fear and the memories of his RSV. I am so grateful for a healthy baby and pray he stays that way.

Stats:

Weight- 17 lbs 4 oz

Length- 26.5 inches

See, he sits!

laundry basket bath

first and only time sitting in the cart...he didn't like it. He does great in his car seat still so I will keep doing it that way until he gets bigger. 

his new way of sleeping, it is so sweet.

this one and the next few were taken on his 7 month bday

notice the shirt Amanda! 

first time eating a frozen mango

BIG BOY!

waving

BFFS- we go out to play with Callie every morning in our PJs after Jon leaves

We finally took Jackson to the petting zoo. He was tired and mostly unimpressed.

Jackson drove us through the zoo 

first time going down a slide

helping mom construct a cabinet for the laundry room

Jon found this truck for J at a consignment store. Jackson is such a southern man in those overalls with that truck.

we tried on hats to see which ones fit

this is is face right before he gets tickled/when he is really excited. It is my favorite. 

An Incident

So last night I decided to take Jackson and Callie on a walk while Jon was out late for a student orientation for work. I was going to go to the park but at the last second I decided to just drive to a local neighborhood to walk. I had been running around all day with Jackson and I wanted to keep the outing short because I knew he was tired. I pulled into the neighborhood and went to the spot where we normally park on the side of the road. I thought to myself, I am going to pull further into the grass so that I am more off of the road. Next thing I know the car stopped with some force. I felt Callie fall off of the seat and hit my seat. It took me a second to realize what had happened. I had hit the huge ditch (I call it a cavern, Jon calls it a canal). It is not your run of the mill ditch, this thing is huge and deep and hard to see from the driver's side. Jon has almost driven into numerous times parking there. He usually is the one driving so I never even though about it. I sat there for a few minutes saying out loud, "what should I do?" I stayed pretty calm but couldn't think or pray, I was frozen. My initial instinct was to try to get the car out but after thinking about it I realized we were suspended in the air and leaning a lot and that if I tried to move the car we would roll over which would damage the car much worse (and possibly injure us). I then told myself to put the car in park and turn off the car (although I know it was the spirit telling me this). Then, I decided to call Jon. I also thought I could call a friend in the ward who lives close and who would know what to do. My phone had fallen to the floor of the passenger side and so it was a little scary leaning for my phone because I was afraid it would tip us. I debated for a minute and then carefully reached for my phone. In retrospect, I shouldn't have risked it but luckily it didn't tip us. I sat in the car to call Jon and then realized we needed to get out first. At this time a lady on a scooter showed up and asked if I needed help. This was just a minute or two after it happened. I kept reassuring her that I was fine and everything was ok. She kept asking if I was sure and then told her I might need help getting my son out. I was so embarrassed but I had to make sure he was ok.

As I unbuckled my seat I fell forward some and it was a little hard to get out but not bad. Then I got Callie out because she was in the way of getting Jackson out. By then I saw that a small crowd had gathered which was embarrassing. An older man warned me to be careful getting Jackson out as it may tip the car. I just kept praying in my head that the car wouldn't tip. The man got Jackson out which was scary because he couldn't figure out the seat. He just unbuckled the whole base, pulled it closer to him and then got Jackson out. Jackson never cried or seemed to notice anything that was going on. A huge red truck had showed up during this time and a guy hooked up a big metal chain to the back of our 4 runner. The older man who pulled Jackson out struggled to start my car but after a few seconds got it started and helped guide the car while it was being pulled. They had the car out in seconds. All during this a lady held Jackson. She had a shirt on for the school Jon works for and when I said my husband works there she asked if I was Jon's wife. I had met her briefly once. She held Jackson while I held onto Callie and my other stuff. She joked because the people pulling out my car were trying to talk to the old man in the truck and she said he is deaf so he couldn't hear anybody. I called Jon and told him what had happened and not to worry and that we were okay. I told him not to come home because they were pulling me out. A few seconds later the car was out and everyone disappeared as fast as they came. I never got to tell the man with the red truck thank you. I barely even saw him.

Julie (the lady Jon works with) held Jackson while I fixed his car seat. Then she set off on her bicycle ride. I drove home and Jackson went right to bed within just a few minutes. Callie was bummed about missing her walk. The whole ordeal was probably only 15 minutes but I was pretty shaken up. I called my mom and Val and then I cleaned up the house quick, added a coat of lacquer to the cabinet door we are working on, prepped green beans for freezing, made a smoothie, then sat in bed so I could blog while I waited for Jon to come home. We feel so blessed that nothing serious happened to us or the car. It could have been worse. It scares me just thinking about it. I am amazed how quickly people showed up and helped. It was miraculous. I feel so blessed and protected. Also, I remember at some point one of the men there asked if my husband was going to be mad about the car. I told them no and Julie reassured them saying, "he is a nice guy." I am so glad that I didn't have to worry about that. First of all the only damage I could see is a small part of the bumper broke off. But it is like underneath the car so it doesn't really matter. Second of all, I knew that Jon wouldn't care at all about the car, even though it is his. I'm so glad for a husband who is patient and kind and who focuses on what is important in life.

Jon went to thank Julie today and she sent him this picture:

I am really embarrassed that she took a picture. But Jon was kind of bummed I didn't take a picture so I guess it all worked out.

A Memory

Yesterday I remembered something that made me smile. It happened a week or two after Jackson was born. I had been feeling slightly bluesy and feeling an extra need to have Jon by my side whenever possible. I was beginning to feel like Jon and I would never have fun the way we used to. I thought the next 20 plus years would be full of exhaustion, stress, and no time for each other. People seem to make life with kids sound miserable at times. Once Jackson was born, I began to worry, feeling like I would never have Jon to myself again. I would get impatient during midnight nursing sessions because all I wanted was to curl up with Jon and sleep. I just couldn't bear to be away from him. It was weird because I am usually crazy independent.

Anyway...the back to the memory... a few weeks after Jackson was born we were home on a Friday night waiting for some friends to come over. I don't remember how it happened, but after dinner Jon and I began throwing pecans to each other from across the kitchen and trying to catch them in our mouths. I hated wasting the pecans that fell on the floor but it was such a fun game. Jon makes everything 10x more fun than it would be with anyone else. I think we both ended up on the floor in tears as we laughed uncontrollably. It was literally one of the most simple but fun times of my life. I wanted to stay in that moment forever. It was just what I needed to be reassured that life could be glorious and Jon and I could still be us. Later our friends came over and brought us ice cream sundaes from McDonalds and we just sat and talked together. We were so happy to just visit with friends because we had felt a little disconnected from everyone after having Jackson. This memory is sweet and simple and won't mean much to anyone else, but it brings tears to my eyes just thinking about it and I never want to forget it. So that's that.