Mimi, Mile-stones, and such.

Mimi was here for almost her entire Spring Break to visit and help with the kiddos while Andy was gone for the last part of this week for his annual fantasy football draft. It was a fun week and it went by incredibly quickly. I can't believe she left this morning. I feel like she just got here. In addition, I have to go back to work one week from today and I'm dreading it. And I mean dreading it in a you-have-to-have-a-root-canal-while-landing-in-a-757-during-a-thunderstorm kind of dread. I DO NOT want to go back to work. I don't want to go for several reasons: (1) I'm in love with my son. He's perfect and cute and cuddly and just starting to smile and coo and I CANNOT LEAVE HIM WITH STRANGERS FOR 8+ HOURS A DAY. How did I ever do this with Emma? Was I insane? (Although many of you have met Emma so you are probably well aware of just how I could go back to work after she was born. So far Jackson seems a little more laid back that Big Sis. Thank God.) (2) I'm not sure I can deal with 15 year old imbeciles for 8+ hours a day after having the last 2 months imbecile-free. Granted, it is just 8 weeks. And there are a few days of inservice scattered in there as well but anyone who knows the current adolescent mind-set will agree with me that perhaps some of the notions about mandatory sterilization aren't all that bad. At the very least, the Europeans know what they're doing when they send their kids to boarding school when they turn 11. (3) I have no idea what I'm going to teach. My sub has done a bang-up job. So much so, that I have not really paid attention to my classes at all while I've been gone. Monday, my 1st day back could be a "So-what-have-you-guys-been-doing while I've been gone?" day.

On a personal note, my mother is the best. She was here for an entire week when Jackson was born and spent this week with us too. I don't know how I would be sane or functioning if she hadn't come this week. She let me sleep for 3 uninterrupted hours, not once but TWICE. That's amazing in and of itself. Not to mention the countless hours of entertaining Emma, watching "Enchanted" a bazillion times and being the best baby-burper in the world. (I still have "How Does She Know?" ringing in my mind. Those Disney Alan Menken songs are just catchy and that's all there is to it.) Why is it only now that I realize how amazing she is? Mamas are awesome and aren't we all so blessed to have one and (some of us) to be one. God is so generous.

In a continuation of the cat saga, we bombed the house again for fleas while Mom was here. At least this time we didn't all contract some heinous virus afterward. We were on fire that day: we got so much done. We took E to school, then I had to go up to school to enter grades before Spring Break. Then we took a stop in the in-school daycare to take over some of Jackson's things to get him ready (sob) for when I go back to work. Next we took Zoey to the vet. She's been coughing and hacking for a little over 3 weeks now. Clearly, it's not just a kitty-cold or it would have gone away by now. (No, MK, it's not kitty cancer!) The vet says she has mild asthma and probably a bronchial infection. So, now I'm administering 3 different types of medicine to Zoey in addition to the flea-tick ointment. Yea! It's SO EASY to give cats medicine too! Mostly I think the vet just wanted to give me medicine so that I would have to pay for it. My favorite of the 3 is the antihistimine that makes her foam at the mouth if she bites it. That's great. I get to follow her around for 10 minutes after I give her the pill wiping up cat-mouth-foam. Blech. I think we're going to discontinue the antihistimine. Although, I might give her one more just so I can take a photo. Yes, I'm that mean.

On a happier note, Andy is home from the fantasy football draft and I am glad of that. Mom was really helpful while she was here and I again realized just how much Andy does for us. Not only is he a phenomenal father and husband but he helps me so much around the house. It's amazing to me also that I don't just miss him because of what he does for us but I miss his friendship too. I get lonely not having him to talk to. Sappy, yes. Deal with it. He's a pretty cool guy. God gave me the better end of the bargain, that's for sure.

I COULD NOT be a single parent. At least not living this far from my parents. If I was alone with the kids for some reason, I would move back to AR. Even though I'm not alone now, I'm still scheming about ways to move back to AR. Or at least within one day's drive.

While Mom was here, we got Emma's haircut for the 1st time. I highly recommend waiting until your kids are almost 4. It was a very pleasant experience for all of us. After hearing Katie's horror stories about Nathan's haircut experiences, I was nervous. But she did great. I guess with Jackson, we won't be able to wait until he's 4 unless we want him to look like a member of VanHalen in the early 90s. Thank goodness his Grandma can cut hair. That will be a lot easier than some stranger coming at him with what he thinks are a giant pair of shears. Speaking of the boy, he's waking up and making the cutest little grunting noises. Love to all.


Before the haircut.



Lovely blonde locks. Did I remember to grab a few for her baby book? Of course not. At least I got the picture of them. They took off 3 inches!


During
After



P.S. I finally got my diaper bag that Katie bought for me. It looks so cute. There's a photo of it too. This comes from a website called Lovely Stitches. You can design your own bags: not just diaper bags either. Take a look. Cute, huh?

T minus 19 days and counting...

I have to go back to work in 19 days. 19 DAYS, PEOPLE! That's ridiculous. The past week & 1/2 has felt like something on In the Motherhood. Take a look if you're not familiar. I, in fact, am thinking of writing in. Here's the short, short, super-short version.

prior to Day 1: we bring home brand spankin' new infant boy

Day 1 : Emma comes home with fever of 99

Day 2: We discover flea infestation & I buy Advantage for the cats(amazing stuff, this) Yeah for humidity and mild climates of freakin' FL

Day 3: Emma still running fever of 102+ AND spewing snot (keep in mind this is, of course, the weekend). I spend 2 glorious and horrific hours combing dead fleas bodies and eggs off said cats who we now refer to as "The Carriers"

Day 4: We bomb the house with OTC insecticide and spend the day at the park with a breastfeed infant and a feverish 3 year old; Andy begins feeling ill but perserveres in cleaning every surface in the house that might be eaten on or licked after we have bombed for fleas

Day 5: Emma goes back to school. Andy runs fever. I feel illish.

Day 6: Andy still ill with fever, chills and aches. I have fever.

Day 7: Emma sent home from school with fever again. We all have the CRUD. Jackson blissfully unaware and healthy, demanding all things babyish. MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT: Jackson eating. Emma has bad dream. Andy stumbles to E's room to deal with screaming. Jackson falls back asleep. I stumble to our bed and crawl in. Leg touches something wet. Andy emerges from E's room right as I say, "Yuck." Discover MASSIVE hairball bestowed upon us by girl-cat who is immediatly cussed and verbally damned to hell. All linens and blankets in giant plastic bag under bed to avoid flea-bombing chemicals. They haven't been removed due to PLAGUE residing in our home. Cannot disturb plastic bag for fear of waking both kids. Make-shift comforter (ours is at cleaner's being de-flea'd) and top sheet thrown on floor. Throw-blanket from living room brought in for show (b/c is it really gonna cover both of us???) AND - wait for it - a towel is thrown over the cat-gack wet spot so we can both go back to sleep.

Day 8: Feeling better after an irrational crying jag in which I assure Andy that MK will disown me due to the state of the house and the fact that they could leave infected with Plague and vermin. No fevers all around. E still can't go to school b/c she has to be fever-free for 24 hours. Sheets and make-shift comforter get washed. Jackson still healthy. Massive load of dishes in sink finally cleaned and put in dishwasher AFTER it is unloaded from 4 days previous. MK and Scott coming tomorrow...we must clean the filth so they don't get the PLAGUE or fleas or hate us or run screaming from the living room. Jackson still fine.

The lowest point was discovering the cat-gack. Of course, all I could do was laugh b/c if I had let myself cry, I think I would still be crying. Sleep deprivation + flu + newborn baby = borderline psychotic break. I took my prescription pain pills on Thursday, not b/c I had abdominal pain but b/c I couldn't swallow to drink water or choke down soup so I could continue to feed the baby. Isn't life grand?

Here are some funny shots we managed to take despite the fleas and the PLAGUE and an overall feeling of doom. Just in case you are wondering, we are all finally healthy and Jackson never got sick. God is laughing.

Andy and Emma traded bodies for this photo. Andy was in charge of all the babies and Emma was reading the Sports section.
This is Jackson with a faux-hawk. He also looks a little peeved at having his photo taken. Tough, buddy.
Zoey decided to play queen-fo-the-mountain with Andy. I'm not sure he noticed since this was during the height of his sickness. She was kneading his back which I thought was sweet. They just recently started sleeping with us again since Jackson's arrival. I think they're finally used to the midnight squalling.

Love to you all.

SAHM-hood

For those of you not aware, SAHM = stay-at-home-mom. This time around, I'm relishing staying at home with my little man. I think with Emma I was so frazzled and ready for Emma to make it to the next mile-stone, that I didn't appreciate her babyhood. Is it like that with all 1st children ladies? Regardless, I'm IN LOVE with this little boy. Don't get me wrong, Emma is still the center of my universe too, but I have such a strong UHMPH for this boy. It's like my heart has expanded to 3 times its normal size. I know this smacks of complete cheesy overload, but I can't help it. I was ready to go back to work when my maternity leave was over with Emma. I'm not sure I'm going to be OK when I have to go back to work this time. Now, if Emma was staying home with us every day, that might be a different story but right now, I'm loving being at home with him. Then when Emma comes home in the afternoons, it's a lot of fun too but a lot more work. Jackson stays where I put him, you know. Plus, he sleeps a lot. Emma - not so much with the sleeping. :)

I checked my email from school/work today. I have 377 messages. I stopped trying to go through them after the first 2 pages of messages - most of which I deleted. I think I'll just mass delete them all when I go back in April.

So - updates. Mom and Dad stayed here with us for the 1st week and Andy's folks were with us the 2nd week. They were a great help as well as doting on both grandbabies while they were here. As much as we appreciated the help, I think it was good to be alone last week. Emma really enjoyed being more involved with him last week and having me and Andy back to be with her one on one. Leanne came this weekend and it was a great visit. I think she enjoyed being the Aunt extroidanaire and was happy to head back to her childless home on Sunday. It was probably good birth-control. We took both kids to the mall on Saturday and we ALL needed a nap when we got back.

Emma is doing FABULOUSLY with Jackson. She loves to help me and she wants to hold him all the time. She is a great big sister. So far, there's only been one incident of her acting out against him and it was more her reacting to something Andy had said to her than her being mean to Jackson. She also likes to help me settle him down when he's fussy. She puts her hand on the top of his head and says, "It's OK, Jackson. Sissy's here." The only downside to this is that if he doesn't settle down easily, she feels that saying this LOUDER and directly in his face, will help. "IT'S OK, JACKSON. SISSY'S HERE!" We're working on that. At least she's trying. The one thing that's scary is that his ear-piercing screams at night don't seem to phase her at all. Lisa, I didn't believe you when you told me Avery ignored Savannah's crying. I am now a believer. She sleeps right through it and sometimes sits right next to him on the couch and acts like she can't hear the noises that are making the cats cower under the beds.

Speaking of cats - they have vacated our bedroom at night. Max is sleeping on the couch and Zoey is sleeping in one of the kitchen baskets on top of the kitchen cabinets. Zoey has also claimed the "sheet-saver" in Jackson's crib. She'll have to give it up when he starts sleeping in his crib in a few weeks.

We have actually kept him in the room with us at night. Emma slept in her room, in her crib from Night 2 at home. She was a noisy sleeper - still is. He is sleeping in the pack 'n play in our room. It works well for his feedings. We'll probably put him in his crib when he works down to one meal at night. At night, he's already going 4 hours between meals after his midnight meal. That is encouraging. I'm going back to work when he's 8 weeks old so I'm hoping soon after that, he'll be sleeping from about 10:00 until 5:00 or so. That would be fabulous. Emma slept through the night like that at about 9 weeks so hopefully he'll follow his sister's lead.

Gotta go pick up Emma. Gimme a call. I'm just hanging out doing lots of baby laundry and watching HGTV.