What I'm Loving Wednesday

♥ I'm loving that Jackson is feeling much better and taking all his bottles and binkie again! I'd been so worried about him and I am so relieved that he's feeling better.

♥ I'm loving that my cousin Brice and his girlfriend Christina welcomed their little baby boy into the world this morning. My cousin is a HUGE Dallas Cowboys fan and so they named their baby Dallas. They live about an hour and a half away so I won't get to meet Dallas for a couple weeks, but here's a picture that they posted on Facebook today. I can't wait to hold him.

♥ I'm loving that its Cardinals opening day today and that means we're having a food day at work!! Lots and lots of yummy food.

 ♥ I'm loving that Easter is Sunday and I get to spend the day with my family!! 

♥ I'm loving that Jake and I might go see a movie this Saturday. Its been since Valentines Day weekend that we've gone to see a movie. We're thinking we'll probably go see 21 Jump Street. The previews look pretty funny and it has Channing Tatum in it... need I say more?

♥ And as always I'm loving my super fabulous family.

Jackson is 23 Weeks Old!

I'm very late posting this, but Jackson turned 23 weeks old last Thursday.

This past week we tried many new foods because he wouldn't take his bottle due to an ear infection. We tried oatmeal, peaches, pears, applesauce, and green beans. It took him a little while to come around to the fruits, but he did end up liking them. He's still not too sure about the green beans yet.

He's rolling all around now and is really pushing off on his feet to try and crawl. He was pulling on his play-mat and moved forward just a couple inches so he's definitely close to army crawling.

His core is getting really strong and he's sitting supported very well. If he had better balance he would be sitting unsupported very well. He just can't seem to stay upright, but definitely has the strength to do it.

He's wanting to roll over no matter where he is now. In his swing, bouncy seat, bed, everywhere! So we have to strap him in now if he's in some kind of seat. :-)

He laughs at everything. He thinks Daddy is especially funny, but he will laugh at almost anyone or anything. He has such a cute laugh, very contagious. I love it!

He is really starting to notice the dogs and cat. He really likes it when the cat jumps up by him and meows. He will talk back to the cat. Its super cute. He also likes when Max comes over and gives him kisses. :-)

At the Dr. the other day he weighed 18 pounds 4 ounces!! He's a big boy for only 5 months old. :-) I love his chubby cheeks and the rolls in his legs. So cute!

A visit with the Easter Bunny!

First off, let me start by saying that Jackson is doing so much better, thank goodness! I was so worried over the weekend and its a huge relief to know he's feeling better. He's taken several bottles in the last day and a half so I think things are getting back to normal. I was starting to worry that was never going to happen.

We took Jackson to visit the Easter Bunny yesterday evening. We got there right as they were closing. Who knew the bunny left before the mall closed. :-( But I begged and thought I might have to shed a tear, but they were nice and stayed open just for us. :-)

Jackson LOVED the Easter bunny. I was so happy. I thought he might be scared but he definitely was not. He went right to him and just smiled and laughed the whole time he sat on his lap. She got lots of great pictures of him smiling. :-)

After he was done taking pictures, I turned him around so he could see the bunny and he smiled and reached out for the bunny's paws and wouldn't let go. It was SO cute!!

Here's the picture we chose. Its funny because he looks like he has red hair in this picture. In some lights his hair does have a strawberry blonde tint to it. :-)

Happy Easter!!

Our Weekend

Well the weekend didn't go exactly as I had hoped.

We ended up having to leave work early Friday to take Jackson back to the doctor because he still wasn't taking his bottle or binkie. :-( The doctor took another look at his ears and said they looked red to her then. So she put him on a different antibiotic this time and said to keep giving him as much fluids as possible if he won't take a bottle.

He took one bottle early Saturday morning and that was it until 4 a.m. this morning. In the meantime we continued to give him oatmeal mixed with his formula, along with baby food. We also gave him pedialite through a syringe or straw. I was worried about dehydration still but when he was at the Dr. Friday, she said he didn't seem dehydrated. He's stayed happy and playful all along and even went all day Sunday without any pain meds. :-)

Friday night and Saturday we just hung out at home. I took Jackson for a long walk in his stroller Saturday afternoon just to get out and get some fresh air and sunshine. He loves going for walks and being outside. He even took a little nap in his stroller.

Saturday night, Jackson didn't sleep well at all. He was up almost every hour throughout the night. :-( Since he wouldn't take his binkie, I had to stand up and bounce him back to sleep every time he woke up. Needless to say, I didn't get much sleep that night. :-(

Sunday I missed church since Jackson had been up most of the night, but we went to the Smith family Easter celebration which was at a local park/pavilion near our house. Jake's mom reserved it for our festivities and the kids had an Easter egg hunt and they flew kites. We had BBQ and spent the whole day there. Jackson loved being outside all day. :-)  Here are a few pictures from our fun day at the park.

The pavilion we reserved for the day all decorated for Easter.

Everyone flying kites.

Jackson's cousin Alexis blowing bubbles for him to look at.

My sister came up with her boys to join in on the fun. Mason smiling for the camera.

Jackson with his Easter basket from Grandma Diane.

The kids all getting ready for the Easter egg hunt.

The kids searching for eggs.

Grandma Diane holding Jackson while the kids looked for eggs.

Jake helping our nephew Landon look for eggs.

A basket of eggs after the Easter egg hunt.

More pictures from the Easter egg hunt.

My nephew Landon with his basket of eggs.

My nephew Jack with his basket of eggs.

My niece Bella with her basket of eggs.

My niece Sophia with her basket of eggs.

We had a super fun day at the park celebrating Easter with the family. Since we didn't get to take Jackson to see the Easter bunny over the weekend, I think we're going to do that tonight since he seems to be feeling a little bit better today. So far he's had 2 bottles this morning and though he wouldn't take his noon bottle, he did eat some oatmeal, peas and some peaches. Hopefully he will take a bottle this afternoon/evening. 

I hope you all had a great weekend!

Back to the Dr. with Jackson today.

I had Jackson back to the Dr. this morning. I feel like I'm there all the time lately. Earlier in the month we were there for congestion and what turned out to be a slight ear infection. This morning it was because he's not eating.

He hasn't eaten a whole bottle in close to 24 hours!! From the pictures I post of him, you all know he doesn't miss any meals, in fact, they weighed him today and he weighs a whopping 18 pounds 4 ounces (at 5 months old)!! So to say its a little odd that he's not eating, is an understatement. Normally he's wanting to eat before he's even supposed to and never misses a meal.

It kinda started Tuesday evening when Jake was trying to feed him and he didn't want to eat. I was on my way home from work, so when I got home I tried feeding him and he did finally eat for me, but fell asleep towards the end of his bottle. I thought maybe the reason Jake was having a hard time with him was because he was just tired.

He ate the rest of his bottles fine that night and then Wed. morning I fed him a bottle and he only ate a couple ounces of it. He normally eats 6 ounces every 4 hours. So I just took the bottle along with me to my moms and put it in her fridge for him to eat later. She said he didn't eat it until 10 that morning, which is about 3 hours later than when I first tried to feed him. This is very unusual for him. She said he then ate again at 1:30 and ate a whole 6 ounce bottle. When I got there to pick him up at 6, he had eaten about 3 ounces, but wouldn't finish the bottle. I figured it was just because he was distracted and that he would just let me know when he was hungry again.

We went to my Mother in Laws house last night for dinner and at around 8:30ish he started getting kind of fussy. I thought maybe he was getting hungry so I made him a bottle and he wouldn't have anything to do with it. He arched his back and cried everytime we tried to give it to him. So when we got home I thought I'd feed him some peas to try and get him to eat something before bed. He did eat those and ate them pretty well in fact.

Then at around 2 he woke up crying, which is pretty typical for him to wake up at around that time for a bottle. So I fixed him a bottle and once again he arched his back and cried and wouldn't have anything to do with it. He also wouldn't take his binkie, which is very unusual too. So for close to 2 hours, we were up with him trying to either get him to eat or get him to go back to sleep. I finally layed with him on the couch and we watched Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and he fell back asleep.

He then slept til around 6 this morning. He woke up crying like he was hungry, but once again would not have anything to do with the bottle. So I thought I'd try some baby applesauce and some oatmeal and see if he would eat that. He wouldn't! He wouldn't even eat applesauce which I would think he would really like. So I thought something is not right.

So I called the Dr. when they opened this morning and took him in, thinking maybe he's teething and it hurts to suck on the bottle or binkie. Or maybe his tummy hurts. Its such a guessing game because they can't tell you whats wrong. For peace of mind, I just thought I better take him in to error on the side of caution.

The Dr. office doesn't open til 8:30, so in the mean time I went to Walgreen's and got him some infant Pediacare and gave that to him when we got home. He slept for around 1 1/2 hours and when he woke up I tried a bottle. He ate about 2 ounces of it and wouldn't eat anymore. :-( I was glad he at least tried to eat some of it, and that made me think maybe it was teething that was causing him not to want to suck on his bottle or binkie cause it hurt. After having Tylenol, it may have felt a little better, at least enough to eat some.

We were able to get into to see the Dr. at 10:15 and she said it wasn't his ears or throat, those all looked fine. She said it could be teething or just an upset tummy, or he could just be going through a phase where he doesn't want to eat. She said she had seen that before and it typically lasted a day. So she said to give him Tylenol and see how he did today and if he still wasn't eating, to give her a call back.

So thats what we're doing today. I dropped him off at my mom's after the Dr. and he was happy and smiling when I left. I hope he does finally eat and its just a phase. I hate when they don't seem to feel good and you don't know whats wrong or how to fix it.

Have any of you moms had this issue with your little ones before?? Does it sound like teething to you or something else??  He's been on the Zantac for a week now, so I wouldn't think it was that causing him not to eat, but who knows.

What I'm Loving Wednesday!

♥ I'm loving "pic monkey" which is a free picture editing website. I usually use Picasa and still do, but pic monkey has a few editing tools that Picasa doesn't have. I used this picture to do some cool effects and this is what I came up with. Just kind of fun to play around with.

♥ I'm loving that we're getting together with some friends of ours this weekend for a game night. We always have such a good time when we get together.

♥ I'm loving that we're planning to take Jackson to see the Easter Bunny on Saturday afternoon. I'm hoping he does okay and doesn't cry. He did fine with Santa, but he was too little to know any different. He's a little older now so we'll see how it goes. :-) 

♥ I'm loving that we also have plans to celebrate Easter with Jake's side of the family on Sunday at a park we reserved. It should be fun with Family, BBQ, Easter Egg hunt and a playground for the kids! Its also supposed to be great weather that day. 

♥  And as always I'm loving my sweet family!

Jackson is 22 Weeks Old!

I'm a little late in posting this, but Jackson turned 22 weeks old this past Thursday. He is growing so fast and getting so big.

He's now rolling from his back to his belly and from his belly to his back, over and over and over again! He loves being on the floor. Our new problem now is that he rolls and rolls until he gets stuck somewhere and then he won't roll the opposite direction. He only will roll one way and then when he runs into something he gets mad and starts crying. Poor guy, he just can't quite figure out that he just needs to roll the other way.

He's getting close to crawling but still isn't quite there yet. He moves his legs, but still doesn't move his arms. I don't think it will be too much longer though and he'll be mobile. :-)

He's loved all the orange vegetables so far (Carrots, Sweet Potatoes and Squash). He's had peas twice now and wasn't thrilled with them at first, but seems to like them a little more now.

We started him on Zantac this past week. The Dr. thought it might help cut down on the spit up. Jackson takes 0.5 ml/3 times a day. He doesn't like it at all, but it does seem to help some, though he does still spit up. I will be so glad when he grows out of that.

Jackson took his first trip to the zoo this past weekend. He really enjoyed being outside, but didn't really know what he was looking at yet. I'm thinking maybe by the end of the summer, he'll be a little more aware of what he's looking at. :-)


Here are his 22 week pictures!