Rough Couple of Days

I haven’t had the best week so far. It happens, I know, but it doesn’t make it any better- or easier for that matter. It just seems like it’s been one thing after another. I’m really ready for a good day. I had a doctor’s appointment Monday morning at 9:00 to have my blood pressure checked. I’m still having some issues with it getting high- nothing like it was in the hospital but still higher than it should be. I still have to go periodically to have it checked.


Collin wakes up every morning at 6:00 like clockwork. Don’t worry; I didn’t just jinx myself because Monday morning, he DIDN’T wake up at 6:00. It was 6:45!! Geez. Starting off the morning 45 minutes later than intended should have told me how our day was going to go. I fed Collin, and laid him back down while I got ready. During the day Collin eats every three hours, without fail. So, since he ate at 6:45 that meant 9:45. Right in the middle of my doctors appointment. I pumped a bottle the night before just for this reason! Yay, for being prepared! Collin doesn’t like bottles though- yes, he’s spoiled rotten. I can’t help it. Okay, maybe I can, but I’m still not back at work yet, so I’m taking every opportunity I can to bond with my little guy. I’m fine with it! I decided I would try and feed him right before we left just to ‘tide him over’ until we got back home. Well, apparently he didn’t get enough to eat before we left because he was not a happy camper in the waiting room. When I was pregnant my sister told me one time that out in public other babies will bother you if they are crying a lot, but that if it’s your baby, it doesn’t bother you. Well, I’m not sure I agree with that statement. I was trying everything to get him to calm down while every single person in that waiting room was looking at me like I was trying to make him cry. I got looks of disgust, anger, and annoyance. Not a fun way to continue the morning that already was off to a rocky start. Finally, after what felt like 2 hours they called my name. I start gathering up all of our stuff. I had taken Collin out of his car seat during his meltdown to try to get him calm, so I had him in one arm, had his diaper bag on my shoulder, and his car seat on my other arm. My hands were FULL. I did think to grab my wallet out of my purse, and shove it into his diaper bag, so at least I didn’t have a purse to also carry!

We get back to the room and start waiting again. At this point, Collin still isn’t happy, and I don’t really blame him. I was seriously interrupting his morning nap and he was not going to let me, or anyone that could hear him, forget that. I sat in the chair in the room, wrapped him up in a blanket and rocked from side to side. As soon as he closes his eyes the door opens and the doctor walks in. Just my luck. I didn’t get good news at the appointment. My blood pressure is still higher than he wants it to be. He’s changing my medication up AGAIN. I asked him why he thought it was still high and I got the same answer I always get…”because your preeclampsia was so severe it is going to take your body longer to bounce back.” I just don’t understand how long “longer” is. I’m tired of feeling sick all the time because my blood pressure is high. Dr. C did tell me that getting some exercise into my routine would help me to feel better. Just when would he like for me to get some exercise?! It’s still way too cold for me to be okay with taking Collin out in the stroller. Maybe one day soon. I go back in another month to have it checked again. I’m hoping it is better by then. We finally got back home after that appointment. I was not in a good mood, at all. I fed Collin and then we both had naptime. It’s okay for mommy to have naptime too, right?!

That afternoon when Eric got home I left Collin with him while I went to Kroger to get a few groceries and my new medicine. I was starting to check out when I get a text from Eric. Apparently Collin was not happy. Actually, he was freaking out. Eric wanted to know when I would be back. As soon as I got the message I tried to get home as fast as possible. I’ve been having some SERIOUS issues lately with anxiety and being away from Collin. Just the simple text sent me into a panic. (That’s really another post, for another time.) I get home and pick Collin up, and he immediately stops crying. Poor guy. This makes me happy and sad all at the same time. I love being that comfort and feeling so loved, but it hurts Eric’s feelings so bad and I won’t always be able to rush home to make him stop crying. I do have to go back to work eventually!

The next day wasn’t any better. I started out my day with some pretty awful news. My sister is pretty sick. Not, sick with a cold or anything, but really sick. Hopefully I will be able to share more about that soon. Please be in prayer for her.

I decided to try to get out of my funk. One thing that always puts me into a good mood is baking. I love it! I love how it makes my house smell! I have been known to buy bananas and not eat the last three so that I could make banana bread when they started going bad. Banana bread is one of my favorite things! Since I had had a stressful day I decided I would make some banana bread. It just so happened I had three bananas that needed to be either thrown away or something done with them. So here is what I did…

Ingredients:

3 or 4 ripe bananas, smashed

1/3 cup of melted butter

¾ cup of sugar

1 egg, beaten

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 teaspoon baking soda
Pinch of salt
1 ½ cups of flour

Preheat the oven to 350°F.

With a wooden spoon, mix butter into the mashed bananas in a large mixing bowl.

                       

Mix in the sugar, egg, and vanilla.

Sprinkle baking soda and salt over the mixture and mix it in.

Add the flour last, mix.

Pour mixture into a buttered 4x8 inch loaf pan

Bake for 1 hour

Cool on a rack. Enjoy!

If you follow these directions your banana bread will be amazing. However, if you forget one little important step, it will be awful. It will look like THIS.

I forgot to put in the teaspoon of baking soda. I had it out and everything. Just forgot. Maybe if I wasn’t taking pictures for my blog? Oh well. The bread is now in our trash can. So, here is your warning: Do not attempt to make this if you are exhausted, had a horrible day, have a screaming baby begging for your attention, just receive horrible news about a family member, or anything else that claims your attention.

  

Wow, that teaspoon is so very important! Who would have thought that not having that little amount could totally ruin some amazing banana bread? I promise I have made it a million times before and it is always so good. See, I told you I was having a rough week!

Simple things…

It is incredible how much my interests, and what’s “fun” for me, have changed over the last year. This weekend, one year ago, was the last weekend before I married my hubby. I was counting down those short 7 days and running around like crazy! I look back now and it seems like so long ago, but other times it seems like yesterday. While maybe I wouldn’t have necessarily “planned” some of the events over the last year, I definitely wouldn’t change anything!

First of all, I vowed to love this handsome guy for the rest of my life…

 We visited this awesome place for a week! (I can’t wait to go back with him)

I got an amazing job here!

We were SURPRISED with this little cutie!

After an awful pregnancy we were once again surprised with the early arrival of our little guy!

He is growing like crazy! Almost THREE months old. Craziness!! All in all, I wouldn’t change a single thing over the last year.

I love my boys more than words can describe. Now our Friday nights are what I look forward to the most. What are we doing tonight, you ask? It’s movie and waffle night!! I could not be more excited. It’s the simple things in life that really mean the most to me. It makes for some amazing memories.

Productive Weekend with a SMILE!

Last week I was so lazy! It was just way more fun to sit and hang out with Collin than to do anything that needed to be done around the house. This was great at the time, but also made for a ‘to-do’ list that was growing out of control! So… I started Saturday morning and didn’t stop until Sunday night.

This is what was on, but by no means limited to, my list for the weekend…

* Kroger (we were in desperate need of groceries)
* clean the kitchen (unload the dishwasher, wipe down the counters, etc.)
* vacuum
* laundry
* hang shelves in Collin’s room
* dust the living room
* bake a cake for our wonderful neighbors
* work in our front flower bed
* sweep back porch (grill area)
* finish thank you notes for baby gifts
* start cleaning the garage
~ obviously, I had high hopes for this weekend. HA!

Collin woke up early Saturday morning (6:00) so instead of laying back down like we do most Saturday mornings we decided it would be a great morning to go get breakfast! We loaded up the car and we were off to Shipley’s! I can’t even remember the last time I had a Shipley’s donut. It was SO good. Started my crazy busy weekend off with a little treat!

We got back home and I started on some laundry. While that was going I started on baking a cake for our neighbors.

     We have the best neighbors! Before I met Eric, the husband mowed my yard one time! I had no clue who mowed it for months. They always stop and say hello or at least a wave if we are driving by. They also brought us a baby gift over when we had Collin! It’s so easy to live next door to people and never speak, or get to know them. It’s important to us that we get to know our neighbors. So, I baked a cake and wrote a ‘thank you’ card. We went over as a family to take the cake and tell them how wonderful they have been over the last year, and even longer for me! Hopefully, this will be the beginning of a great friendship!

When the cake was finished I went to Kroger to get us some groceries. It took me a while because we needed so much! I got back home as quickly as I could and started on my next task. (and I missed my little man)

I put Collin down for his afternoon nap and I went outside to work in the flower bed. I wanted to take advantage of the amazing weather!! I was able to get the entire front bed done before he woke up! Yay! It was in desperate need of some attention. Being pregnant and not feeling good for the entire pregnancy took a toll on my yard! Eric does a great job keeping it mowed and stuff, but it really needed some help in the flower bed department!! Weeds were everywhere! Everything was overgrown.

I sat down and worked on thank you notes after switching the laundry. Of course, as soon as I sat down and got ONE written, Collin woke up! Oh well. Eric played with him for a little bit while I cleaned up the kitchen. I swept and everything! I love a clean kitchen!!! Now if I can just keep it that way.

I did attempt to hang the shelves I got for Collin’s room, but I didn’t have a drill. I’m going to have to borrow my dad’s. I hate starting a project and not being able to finish it. Eric offered to vacuum for me!! I think he could tell I was getting overwhelmed.

Eric’s dad, step mom, and sister came Sunday for lunch. Eric and his dad cooked chicken and steak out on the grill. It was so wonderful to see them. I really enjoyed their visit.

Tammy with Collin

  

 Tori with Collin

Sunday afternoon I started getting a headache. I took some Tylenol and it seemed to help a little. Then Sunday night, it started REALLY hurting. I laid Collin down around 8:00 and I wasn’t far behind him. Thankfully, my little buddy slept 8.5 hours last night, woke up to eat, and went back to sleep for another 4! I was so glad because I woke up this morning to my head still hurting! I’ve had several headaches lately I don’t know what the problem is. Hopefully, that will end soon!

I didn’t get everything finished on my list… but it is a THREE day weekend! So, hopefully I’ll get finished today. That is, if I can pull myself away from the “cake” marathon on TLC.

It was a crazy busy weekend, actually it is still is. I am very thankful for President’s Day! I get an extra day to get caught up and spend time with my husband!

OH… Collin is smiling!!!! Such a great little bonus for the weekend! A couple of days ago he started opening his mouth as wide as he could in a circle shape. Now, after he does that, the sides come out into the cutest little smile!!! I haven’t been able to get a picture yet, but I’m working on that!

Valentine's Day

This year I had TWO amazing valentines! My husband started the weekend off with presents!

And LOTS of them! He gave me candy (reeses), a new book, and a card! The card was signed from Eric and Collin!

 Then Eric took me out to dinner! Collin stayed with my parents~ but not before we got a little family picture!

Then Kyndall, my mom. and sister came over Monday night to bring Collin a cute teddy bear!

Sweet little Kyndall!!

Little Man’s first Valentine’s Day!

Snow, Ice, and Broken Wrist

Central Arkansas has gotten so much snow over the past month it is ridiculous. It has snowed more in Collin’s little life than it has in longer than I can remember. According to my dad, when we lived in Russellville, we had a big snow. I was apparently only like 5 or 6 years old. I don’t remember that, but I will remember this snow! Wednesday morning it started snowing and by Wednesday night we had gotten 8 inches! Wow. That’s big for Conway Arkansas!

That means that the Jackson family has had a lot of time on our hands.

We made snow ice cream…

 Slept A LOT!

LOOKED at the snow. No playing for us... We aren't big fans of being cold and wet!

 We watched movies, watched lots of TV, and we ate A LOT. Basically, we have been lazy bums!

One eventful thing that happened was Eric, FELL ON THE ICE!! Bless his heart. This was at the doctor’s office getting his cast. He picked blue! He ended up breaking his wrist in two places. Not good at all.

He can’t change diapers or swaddle Collin. Actually, even holding Collin is difficult because the cast is really hard and scratchy on Collin’s skin. I told him if he didn’t want to change diapers, all he had to do was tell me. He didn’t have to go and break his wrist! Ha! He gets his cast off on March 1st. We both can’t wait!!

I walked in the kitchen the other day to find this…

He was scratching his arm with a spatula. He quickly said…

“It was itching!” HA!!



Two Months

Two Month Stats:

Weight: 9 lbs 1 ¼ oz

Length: 21 ½ in

Head: 14 ½ in

*We finally made it out of Preemie gear!! You are wearing newborn diapers, and newborn clothes. I think we will actually be moving up to size 1 diapers soon!

*Mommy is having a hard time finding socks that will stay on your skinny long feet! You get that from your Daddy, don’t you?

*You haven’t smiled yet, but we are getting close! Your doctor says your milestones may be a little delayed because you were born a little early, but I have a feeling you will catch up in no time!

*You are becoming more and more alert every single day. You love to look around. You have started liking your swing a little more.

*You sleep A LOT! (Just like your Mommy) You are beginning to sleep longer periods at night. You have had three nights in a row of sleeping 5 hours! Yay!

*You still grunt all the time. I love it.

*Bath time is getting better. You still aren’t the biggest fan, but you don’t cry anymore. I borrowed a little space heater from your LeLe to put in the bathroom. With a combination of the heater and keeping a warm rag on your chest you don’t get cold.

*You are still nursing 7-8 times a day for 20 minutes. Mommy and Daddy have learned here lately that because you have been nursing every time you eat, you have trouble when we try to feed you with a bottle. It’s almost like it comes out too fast for you, and you get choked. We are working on this!

*One of your favorite things to stare at, are the curtains in Mommy and Daddy’s room. They are a dark red color with gold pattern that shines through with the sun hits the window. You love looking at them!

*You got sick for the first time this month. That is the worst thing ever! You started out with just a stuffy nose and it slowly got worse. LOTS worse. I took you to the doctor and they used this machine to suck out all this stuff from your nose. That helped you SO much. They told me you had RSV. Basically a horrible cold for babies. Mommy would have given anything to have been sick instead of you.

*Kyndall absolutely loves you!

*You went on a date with Mommy and Daddy for the first time. We went to Colton’s. It was an adventure. Mommy learned LOTS on this outing.

*Your eyelashes and eyebrows are finally starting to grow. Your eyelashes are so long! You are getting more hair on the top of your head. I think it’s got a little bit of red in it! Your Pa will be very happy about this!

*Sometimes Daddy’s feelings really get hurt. He can try to do everything to make you happy, but you just seem to cry. When Mommy comes and tries the EXACT same thing, you stop crying. We are working on this too!

*Your two month shots were awful. We have had a rough couple of days. They told Mommy that 5% of all babies will run fever with the shots. Well, you are one of those! We gave you some Tylenol, and that seemed to help a little bit. Hopefully your four month shots won’t be as bad.

Kyndall + Collin= BFF

I have a feeling that these two are going to be great friends. For the first month or so, Kyndall didn’t really know what to think about baby Collin. I think she was ready for him to actually do more than just sleep all the time. Once he started being more alert and could actually look at Kyndall, she became way more interested! I love sweet Kyndall, and want so badly for her and Collin to be close. I hope they become more than just first cousins, but friends. They are two years and one month apart. I think that’s the perfect age difference! I can’t wait for them to play and start blaming each other when something goes wrong!