Thursday, October 29, 2009

Jackson Goes Mobile

Jackson has grown increasingly mobile. He can now crawl backwards, which is incredibly frustrating for him. He sees a toy he wants and just crawls farther and farther away from it. He can also get up on his knees. He can't really get anywhere on his knees, but he keeps trying. The new activity has led to a few later nights. Twice in the past two weeks Jackson has been trying so hard to crawl that he's spent about 30 minutes in his crib trying to move around. One night he moved himself over to the other side of his crib and started playing his kick piano and just laughed and smiled when we checked on him. Although we were frustrated and wanted him to go to sleep, it's hard not to smile back.

Although we have not made Jackson "cry it out" yet - it was nice to have him rolling around in his crib tonight when we put him down and have him fall asleep on his own after a few minutes. Of course this isn't the case every night, but when it is - it's nice.

Thursday, October 22, 2009

The Reynolds Kiddos - Comparison

Look at these darlings in comparison...

The Twins Have Arrived!

Welcome to the world Baby A and B! We are still anxiously awaiting the announcement of the names, but are happy to know that they are healthy and Mommy is doing well, too!

I talked to Shannon at about 6am and she sounded calm and well. She thought she still had a ways to wait.

I talked to Joe a short 3.5 hours later (maybe not short for Shannon!) and their family had grown to a family of 6! Shannon is a champion! Shannon's doctor arrived at 8:30 a.m. and her babies were born at 8:47 a.m. and 8:50 a.m.! Talk about some fast work! She did not need a C-section either. I knew if anyone could deliver the twins without a C-section (with one breech) it would be Shannon. She's a toughie!

Here are the stats:
Baby A: 19.5 inches - 8 pounds, 2 ounces
Baby B: 19 inches - 6 pounds, 9 ounces

Congratulations! We cannot wait to meet the little guys and introduce Jackson to his new friends!

Friday, October 16, 2009

New Topic

It's been a long week, and everyone we know greets us with a question about how Jackson is doing. I honestly spent about two hours of each day answering this question the past three days. I appreciate the thoughts, prayers, and concerns from all of our friends and family, but when it's worrying me, I hate getting others worried too. I also hate describing all of Jackson's symptoms and describing how he still smiles and laughs even though he's in pain or woozy. It makes me all emotional in the workplace, and that's getting old for me. I know I'm a sensitive male, but I hate being the most sensitive male at the school.

So, Jackson is doing better, thanks for asking. He slept through Thursday night and he's sleeping now, which is what I should be doing. No fever since Friday and Dr. Gonzalez, who is awesome, says his ears are getting better. (Dr. Gonzalez and I got to talk comics for a solid five minutes the other day - this is a rare treat for me. I keep my hobby under wraps because of its dorkiness, but this is my fantasy football league or Halo or fishing, and it's not often I get to discuss it. Also, Dr. Gonzalez asked me if I was a professor, trying to remember what my job was. That was another rare treat - someone assuming I have a respectable job.) (I know I have a respectable job now, but teaching is not actually respected, for the most part. True story.)

Anyway, new topic now, so everyone can begin to shift out of uberconcerned mode. Tonight we took the boy out to dinner to celebrate the end of the week, his seeming recovery, and the beautiful weather. We have only a few good restaurants with outside seating in Katy, and we decided to return to Jarrito's to try their patio.

Well, it was a long wait for outdoor seating, so we eventually opted for the empty inside. Our waiter Bryant arrived on the scene, and I was sure something mind-altering was impeding his logic and conversation from the start. We'd ask for something simple (water, straws) and he'd disappear for twenty minutes before bringing them by, usually after someone else showed up with what we needed. Whatever though, it made us laugh. Eventually we got to order dinner, and when he failed to write it down, we gave each other the "this is going to be wrong" look, but it was still more entertaining than frustrating. Noelle wanted her chicken on the side of her chalupa and extra beans, no rice. I wanted my usual - no beans, double rice. Well, as Noelle changed Jackson in the Ladies' Room, when the food arrived, there was the rice and beans on Noelle's plate and the rice and beans on mine. I actually really hate beans, so I brought it up to Bryant that we had requested our beans and rice a certain way - segregated to separate plates. There was that moment where he was wondering if I was going to ask him to take it back, but I told him I'd be okay and I'd see if Noelle was okay with rice up in her beans and all. He pointed to the chicken, on the side of the chalupa, and said, "Well, at least I got the chicken right."

Wow, Bryant. You're right.

We ate the food as was, and after ordering some more chips and salsa, we finally just got the check. It took about twenty minutes of wrangling for that, and we never got the chips and salsa, but we made it out of Jarrito's. We were trying to remember if we had ever had a worse waiter. It seemed like we must have, but Bryant really stands out with his getting the chicken right.

(Second favorite Bryant moment - when he was spinning around near our table with a hot tray of food, trying to remember which of his tables the food belonged to. Classic.)

So, rather than showing us how lucky we are to have such wonderful friends caring about our boy and all, please instead regale us with awful waiter experiences.

Wednesday, October 14, 2009

God Bless Antibiotic Shots and Dr. Gonzales

Today Jackson went in for his second antibiotic shot. Even though he didn't have an appointment, Dr. Gonzales told us to ask the nurse to get him when he arrived for his shot. He checked him out - listened to his lungs (typically when an infant dies from flu it's related to respiratory issues) and said he seems to be doing really well, as things considered.

We weren't fans of the nurse, though. The nurse Jackson usually has administered his shot yesterday. She was very gentle and slowly injected him. It's a lot of medicine for such a little leg. He cried for about 10 seconds and then was fine. It didn't get red and he didn't get a knot. Today's nurse pushed the whole amount in at the same time. Jackson screamed and cried for quit a while. Jackson now has a big knot on his leg. Poor little guy.

Below are some pictures of our swine flu/ear infection baby. He's still as cute as can be.


Swine flu, you better watch out - Jackson is going to get you

Emily through the years

Emily is born
Emily turns 1
Emily turns 2
Emily turns 3
Happy birthday Emily!

Tuesday, October 13, 2009

Swine Flu - I hate you

My poor little Jackson. We are so ready for him to feel better. He finished his antibiotics on Friday. Friday night we got to San Antonio and Jackson had a 103.7 fever...lovely. It went away over the course of a few hours with some Tylenol and was completely gone in the morning. He seemed okay over the weekend, but didn't sleep well on Saturday night. This morning he was unusually fussy and sleepy. We figured he just didn't sleep well again and was just really tired.

Around noon Noelle received a call from his school that he had a 102 fever and needed to be picked up. After some major coordination, Noelle picked Jackson up, brought him to Westside's parking lot, Rob drove him home to meet Grandma Stockman, Noelle borrowed Niki's car to go to a recruiting meeting, Rob returned to school and taught 7th period, Noelle returned to school and gave Niki her car back, then we drove to the doctor's office to meet Grandma Stockman and Jackson. While Jackson was at home his fever got up to 103.4 and he wanted to be held the whole time.

The past two visits, Jackson has seen other doctors. We liked them, but were glad to have our doctor back. He looked at Jackson... One ear looked better, but one still looked awful. Keep in mind this is AFTER 15 days of antibiotics. He also thought he might have the flu, so he gave him a test. The last doctor wouldn't test him because she said she couldn't do anything for him since he's not one yet. Jackson tested positive for the flu. We're glad our doctor did test him and now we wonder if he also had it 2 weeks ago.

Dr. Gonzales gave him an antibiotic shot for his ear infection. He has to go back tomorrow and the next day for another one and so Dr. Gonzales can check on him and make sure he's doing okay. Since Swine Flu is the worst for babies and the elderly, he wants to be careful.

Say some prayers that little J is better soon. Despite being sick, Jackson has maintained a fairly decent attitude. He was clingy during the day, but actually played a little bit tonight.

Emily and Maddie were nice enough to share their walker and Jackson LOVES it. It allows him to come to us and to go after his dogs. We hope that Jackson did not reciprocate by leaving them with H1N1.

The face of Swine Flu

Sunday, October 11, 2009

Happy 3rd Birthday, Emily (almost)

Although Emily's actual birthday is still a few days away (Wednesday), we celebrated her birthday this weekend. As always, we had a nice time with the Reynolds Family (and the Georges). I tell you, those little girls are going to be some heart breakers!

In addition to celebrating Emily's birthday this weekend, it was also monumental because Emily said my name correctly for the first (and 100th) time this weekend and Maddie almost said Noelle and Jackson!

Here's the beautiful cupcake Emily's Mommy and Daddy made for her!
Someone is getting a little ancy waiting for her cupcake!The anticipation...Happy Birthday to you...
Worth the wait? I think so...
Like Grandpop - Like Granddaughter
Sisters with 'staches
I wish I could remember what caused this face!What a cutieTime for Dress-up
Too bad this one is blurry. I think it's hilarious the way Em is watching JOn Saturday evening, while the weather was nice, Rob and I took the kiddos for a walk. While on the walk, I got some great pictures of Maddie
Jackson protects his toys while he sleepsJackson is determinedOur TotAnd they're off
Next time we see the Reynolds, Jackson will have two more friends!

Happy 5th Anniversary!

Congratulations to our friends, Joe and Shannon, on their 5th wedding anniversary (Friday). It's always a nice reminder of how many years Rob and I have been together.

No more medicine!

On Friday, Jackson officially finished his antibiotics. He was on one for 5 days before the doctor switched him to another for an extra 10 days. So, in total, it was 15 days. He cried nearly every dose (two times per day) for the first 13 days. Then, he stopped. I'm sure he'll forgot antibiotics aren't the enemy before it's time to take more... Here are some pictures of a happy boy finished with his medicine and excited about hitting the road to San Antonio to see the Reynolds!

Sunday, October 4, 2009

Jackson at play

Although Jackson is doing about the same as far as BMs and vomiting goes - he seems in better spirits. That's a step. See video and pics below.




Visit to see the MacGregor, Morris, and Kennedy Families

Yesterday was our last chance to spend some time with Penny, William, and Neil before they return to California. We were not sure if we were going to make it out to Spring since Jackson has been sick. Jackson threw up once in the morning and had bad diarrhea once and then was doing better, so we decided to make the trip. We're glad we did!
Here's Neil and Jackson

Neil - both he and Jackson are teething. Poor guys!

All the cute boys! This is their attempt at a "serious picture"

When we arrived Grandma and Granddad MacGregor were there, but heading out for some ballet so they weren't there long. The Kennedy family was in town visiting Penny and company with their cutie pie boys Jack and Hayes. So we had Neil, William, Jackson, Jack and Hayes as well as the daddies. A fun house of boys!
Hayes, Jackson, Neil, and Hayes with silly faces

Jack and Hayes were as cute and sweet as last time we saw them and we had fun playing with them and watching them play with William. They were very patient and loving towards him and even read to him.
Hayes, Kristin, Williams, and Jack

Penny and Jackson had some snuggle time
William liked to watch Jackson

William loved to play with the blanket that Bethany made for Jackson. We hope that William doesn't try this later on Neil!
We also had some fun playing ball, but we don't want to get in trouble with Grandma and Granddad MacGregor, so we won't post those pictures. But, I think our record was 83?

It was great seeing Penny and the boys one last time, too. Penny, our fingers are crossed that we'll see you in May!