No meds = Fantastic Friday

We will NOT be giving Jack his steroids today. Here's hoping for a fantastic Friday with my boy.

I have to work from 4-10:30 and I am hoping it will be a smooth night. Last night was horrible.

But, I will not be thinking about work until 3:30 today. I'm off to go eat breakfast with my boys.

TGIF, everyone.

Stay-at-home Mommy

When your child is sick, it is so hard to leave them to go to work. I can't wait until May 2013.....I mean, I can.....and I have to, but I look forward to the day when I turn in my notice. I do not mind my job, but it is what I am missing at home that kills me the most. I look forward to the times when our little family is all together and I can do what I love best. Being. a mommy. and. wife. 

Ben and I usually say hello/goodbye and tell each other about what currently has been going on with Jackson (what he has eaten, times of sleep patterns, diapers, etc) If we are at home together, Ben is either sleeping or studying. He works 20 hours a week and then goes to school. Then, I run out of the door to go to work until usually 10pm. I knew that our life during school was going to be crazy for these 2 years. I am blessed with such a flexible schedule with my boss. I am blessed to even have a job to support my husband to achieve his dreams.

But, I am tired and I want to put all my energy into creating fun things for Jack and I to do daily. I want to learn how to cook well. I want to finish some projects. I don't want to miss a thing during these important years of Jackson's life. For the most part, I am with him until dinnertime. However, he is missing seeing his parents together at dinner. One day very soon that will happen. 

Until then, I will press on, and on May 18, 2013, you will hear a loud cheer and if you are with me, see happy tears run down my face. I will know that I was being taught so many lessons on perseverance and trust. 

I will be able to fit all the pieces of this jigsaw puzzle together and know that I followed directions from God and continued until I have finished the 1000 piece puzzle. 

Crazy baby

I don't want to give Jackson steroids again.

He can't sleep because of the meds. He is n amazing sleeper. ( see previous posts)

He has been so spastic and then just had a panic attack. It took 20 minutes to calm him down. He seemed disoriented and out of control. He was confused and couldn't calm down. I am not okay with that. :( poor little guy.

Jack needs to get better soon.

Trickle

Our humidifier has a trickling noise....I wonder if he will have a fuller diaper in the morning. 

Listening in the monitor might make me get up in the middle of the night. Ha!

Croup

Our little Ladd sounds like a barking dog when he coughs. Good thing we went to the doctor early to help him get better in a swift manner.

sick boy

I know Jack is not feeling well because he wanted to take a nap at 11:30 this morning and is still not up (3:15). I might just go in there and gently wake him up. Poor boy. Ear infections stink. Now, he is getting a cough. Not good.......

(worried mommy)

My outdoors kid

Jackson DID NOT want to come inside this afternoon. He loves to run THROUGH the leaves, chase after the neighbors' cats, and rake leaves. The only thing that convinced him to come inside was to eat...Hungry Jack can always eat. 

It was a beautiful day! Now, on to uploading videos and photos over the last couple of weeks. 

Happy Thanksgiving!

Enjoy the Parade, sitting by a fireplace, being with family, and being thankful for all you have. 
Happy Thanksgiving!

The Ladd Trio

Cousin Time

We are in Cumming at my parents' house. My brother, his wife, and two girls are here as well. I love watching the kids run around the house playing together. It is mad chaos and it is wonderful. Dinnertime is interesting too. I am looking forward to our Thanksgiving meal tomorrow night and what that will hold. 

The girls adore Jackson and Jackson adores them. They hold his hand and walk around the house. "K" and Jack are 8 months apart and "G" is the big girl about to turn 5 next week. Fun times! I wish we lived closer together so they could play more often. 

Oh, another cute thing. "G" calls her boy cousin "Jackie" or "Jack Jack." That will come in handy later on when they are teasing each other. :)

Good Night from a full house of "Terrells" and the "Ladd Trio." :)

As a good friend would say, "We have been Terrellized." 

Living on the edge

This boy took at 3.5 hour nap! I had to make some noise to get him to wake up a little bit. 

See his sweet little toddler pillow? He loves to lay on it and say "night, night." 

He has to have his blankets. He only has them in his bed. No Linus blankets at our house. We knew he needed a toddler pillow when he started bunching up his blankets and laying on them. 

See the bump on the mattress. I rolled up a blanket and put it under his sheet. 

Then, JUST IN CASE, I added some pillows to the floor. I think we are safe! :)

Paci

It would have been nice to remember to tell the babysitter that your son takes a pacifier to go to sleep......2 hours later.............."mom that wants to crawl under a rock" moment.

Big Boy Bed

We have advanced to a big boy bed. And by that I mean that his railing is off on the side of his crib. The scary fact is that he can get out of bed anytime he wants. I thought this transition would not happen for a while, but it was a very spontaneous decision yesterday. 

Previously, I had "pinned" all sorts of ways to help with the transition. All my "pins" were forgotten when I forgot to put a blanket/pillows or something up on the side so he wouldn't fall out of the bed. (2 feet off the ground).  During his nap yesterday, I heard a "BOOM." I opened his door and all I saw were legs and Jack running toward his bed. I immediately shut the door quietly and ran back to the monitor. I think he was embarrassed because he got back in bed and "acted" like he was asleep. I thought it was hilarious. No harm was done. 

Tonight, I have a blanket rolled up down the length of his bed (under his sheet) and pillows on the floor. We said prayers and talked for a moment. I could tell in his eyes that he enjoyed this quiet moment with me while he was laying on his little toddler pillow and holding his blanket. He thought about getting up, but then sweetly snuggled down in his bed and went to sleep. 

I really think one reason why he is okay with this spontaneous change was that he helped me unscrew the screws and pull the railing off the bed. BeBe (Ben's mom) and I talked with him about how it was his big boy bed. We let him get in and out of the bed and praised him for being a big boy. He was a part of the transition. He examined the railing leaning up against the wall and then looked at his bed. It was a surreal moment. I hope this willingness to sleep in his bed continues. If not, I will find him snuggled under his fort (table) with his stuffed animals in the morning. And, that is okay too. Every boy needs a fort to sleep in. 

Sleeping in....

Jackson has decided to sleep in this morning. I had a nightmare and can't sleep anymore. Go figure....I will be productive during this restful time and get a little reading done.

Enjoy your chilly Saturday morning.

Ta-Da!!!!!!!!!

So, I have a confession. I was sooo tired today and took a nap while Jackson napped. Well, I was in such a deep sleep, I thought that he had been awake and was hungry and ready to get up. (see previous post) My son does not scream to get out of his crib. He doesn't try and climb out of his crib. He is playful and quiet and really could been awake in there an hour and I wouldn't know it. Well, I woke up in a panic and turned over to the monitor and thought, "I need to go get him up....it has been almost 3 hours." .................
I am usually dramatic when I walk in his room like a mom on a commercial trying to wake their teenage son. (I am practicing for later.) I opened his door and exclaimed, "Ta-Da....!" (Jazz hands and all)  No movement. Um.....oh no! Well, I walked closer and he was sound asleep. He was like the "Niquil commerical" sleeping.

So, I am now cleaning up our house and getting his snack ready because "Hungry Jack" comes out after a 3 hour nap.

I am a little embarrassed, but no harm was done. I can just document this occasion to share with him when he is a teenager and will not get out of his cozy bed.

Good Morning, Hungry Jack!

Jackson doesn't say "Mommy" when he wakes up in his crib. He talks and reads the letters on his wall and is currently saying "eat." I guess I better get up and feed the boy.

Shoes

Anytime Ben or I put on our shoes, Jackson automatically starts blowing us kisses and running up to us and gives us kisses because he thinks we are leaving. Then, he waves bye bye. 

My sweet boy.