It's been busy around here

Another weekend, another ear infection.  Yes, Jackson made yet another trip to the pediatrician's this weekend with a high fever only to find out that he has another ear infection.  This makes two ear infections in the last month and a half.  I'm fearing we are headed towards tubes in his ears unfortunately.  He had a bad night on Friday night and woke up Saturday morning with a fever of almost 102.  After a call to the doctor's office, we got everyone bundled up and away we went to get him checked out.  He hated every minute of the exam and was equally unimpressed with more medicine.  Poor little guy!  It will be nice when he is older and can understand that medicine actually helps him.  Anyway, he basically spent all day on Saturday sleeping on my chest.  I felt so badly for him and although I really hadn't eaten all day, I didn't want to move the little munchkin.

The previous weekend was a little more fun for both Jackson and us.  There were all sorts of new things, some good, some he didn't like so much. First, Scott and Jackson had to get their Vikings gear on in the hopes that the Vikings could beat the Cardinals.  Unfortunately the Vikes lost but don't the boys look great?  GO VIKINGS!

Later that afternoon we decorated the Christmas tree and put up the Christmas decorations.

This picture is just precious!  I love my boys!

The finished product...

Our stockings....all hung by the chimney with care.

While Jackson wasn't thrilled to be in his exer-saucer while we were putting up the tree, he was fascinated by it when he got to see it up close.  He loved feeling the branches!  Jackson has really developed a texture thing.  He wants to touch, feel, grab EVERYTHING!  It's not that uncommon for us to wake up in the morning to Jackson scratching at his sheet.  Weird but somehow adorable at the same time.

Finally, Sunday night Jackson got his first taste of rice cereal.  Needless to say, things didn't go quite as well as I had hoped.  He hated the entire thing.  The good news is that I learned that daycare is going to help us in this endeavor.  They will work with Jackson each day and we can try cereal at night.  Hopefully he get used to the texture and spoon thing soon.  In the meantime, these pictures make me laugh!

The first taste....

Mom, what the heck is this gross stuff you're giving me?

Dad, please help me!

Well, we tried again Thursday night and it didn't really go any better.  We'll try again tomorrow, and the next day, and the day after that.  Hopefully one of these days he'll decide he likes it! 

Here are some super cute pictures taken right before Thanksgiving of Jackson hanging out in his exer-saucer just because I couldn't resist sharing these with the world.

And here are pictures of Jackson's first Thanksgiving in Iowa.  I was really concerned about how it would go.  He'd never really been around that many people before and I knew everyone would want to hold him.  Boy, was I surprised when people started showing up and he went from pretty sleepy to the happiest little boy in the world.  He loved every minute of it and by the end of the night, try as he might, he couldn't keep his eyes open.  I guess he's going to be quite the little social butterfly when he grows up.  I really wish I had taken pictures of Jackson with everyone but I was too busy just enjoying the day.  Here are a few from our trip though. 

The obligatory family pose in front of the fireplace...

I don't really let Jackson watch TV in our house with the exception of the occasional football game.  While we were in Iowa I let him watch a little more than normal.  Here he is the morning after Thanksgiving watching Curious George for the first time.  He absolutely loved it!

And finally, here is a somewhat unhappy Jackson modeling an adorable sweater given to him by Grandma.

Well, Christmas is quickly approaching and I still have quite a bit of shopping to do.  Winter has also set in here in Minnesota so it's getting a little harder to get around, especially toting an infant.  We're having fun though and I can't tell you how much I'm looking forward to our first Christmas as a family of three.  I get a little teary just thinking about it!

Fall Picture Time

It seems like I haven't posted any in a while so it's time to play catch up.

In early November we were finally able to take some fall pictures outside.  I had wanted to get this done for about three weeks but the first week Jackson cried the entire time and the second week both he and I weren't feeling too well.  Well, third time is a charm and we were finally about to get some pictures taken outside.  Jackson didn't cooperate as well as I had hoped but I still think we got some good ones. 

So much for using the pumpkins as a prop.  He wasn't able to use them to sit up as well as I'd hoped.  As many of you know, with a baby not much goes according to plan.

I think Jackson was too fascinated by the cars driving by to pay any attention to us.  As much as we tried to get him to look at the camera, all he wanted to do was watch traffic.  Oh well.

Jackson and I had to get decked out in our Iowa Hawkeye gear to cheer on the Hawks as they beat the Minnesota Gophers for the second year in a row.  Yeah!  Jackson is a little Hawkeye in training, if I have anything to do about it.

There are more coming -- some from Thanksgiving and such.  This is just what I had time to do for now.  Stay tuned!

Christmas Traditions

I'm so excited for Christmas this year I can hardly stand it. Just three weeks from tomorrow we will be celebrating Jackson's very first Christmas! Growing up we never had any specific Christmas traditions. We had things that we all liked to do from year to year but it oftened changed as the three of us Blair girls got older. Several versions of traditions included driving around South Sioux City looking at the over-the-top Christmas lights after a yummy dinner at Kahil's. When we were a little older, we would open gifts until the wee hours of the morning on Christmas Eve so we could drive to my Grandparent's house in Indianola, IA on Christmas Day. A few days later we would head up north for the New Year's holiday. I also remember always having a delicious homemade soup on Christmas Eve between services at church. I always liked to go to both the early service (lots of kids which always made me smile) and the late service (lots of Christmas carols, yeah!). There is nothing so wonderful as singing "Silent Night" in a candlelit church on Christmas Eve. Last year I cried thinking about how wonderful it would be celebrating Christmas this year with a baby.

I'm really looking forward to creating family traditions, even if they change a little from year to year. Christmas was always such a special family time for me and I want the same thing for Jackson. Memories are so precious and I want him to have wonderful memories of this special time of year. Here are some of the family traditions that I would like to create.

1. Dropping off Jackson for some Aunt, Uncle, Cousin or Grandparents bonding time while Scott and I go out for dinner and do some Christmas shopping. We actually did this a couple of weeks ago although we didn't end up buying that much for Jackson.

2. Reading "The Night Before Christmas" with Jackson. I remember growing up that I pretty much had this book memorized and could recite it on command. It's such a special book to me and to this day I can recall the worn pages of the book and beautiful pictures. I spent quite alot of time picking out the copy I bought for our family -- looking at the illustrations and hoping Jackson would like it as much as I do.

3. New pajamas for Christmas Eve. This isn't an original idea. I got it from someone else and I think it's wonderful! On Christmas Eve we all (or maybe just Jackson, I haven't figured that out yet) will open up a new pair of pajamas, something comfy to lounge in when we open presents in the morning.

4. Driving around and looking at Christmas lights after dinner. Maybe we will start this tradition when Jackson gets old enough to actually look at the lights. He's still at the point where the car equals sleep. Then again, maybe we will start this year and Scott and I will enjoy the lights.

5. I would also like to have a special movie that we watch every year at Christmas. I haven't figured out which one yet but I'm working on it. I don't know if we'll go classic with "It's a Wonderful Life" or modern with something like "The Polar Express." Then again, maybe we'll let Jackson pick the movie when he gets older.

Ok, so I guess all the traditions aren't set in stone quite yet and I think that will probably be part of the fun too -- letting the traditions really develop as we grow as a family. Can you tell I'm excited and have put some thought into this stuff? This weekend we are putting up the Christmas tree so hopefully I will have some great pictures to post.

Heavenly Sleep

For the last two nights Jackson has slept from the moment we put him in his crib (between 7:30 and 8:30pm) until 6am. I can't tell you how wonderful it has been to actually sleep for an entire night without waking up several times. We're keeping our fingers crossed that this is the beginning of a trend. It's such heaven to be able to close my eyes at 11pm and not wake up until 6am!!

I need to buy stock in Caribou Coffee

Well, remember yesterday when I was so excited that Jackson slept until 5am? Unfortunately it was not to happen two nights in a row. He decided to torture Mommy by waking up at 1am and again at 5am. Both times he was hungry and devoured a 6oz. bottle. Thank god it's Friday since I really don't think I would make it through if I didn't have the weekend to look forward to. I know we are really lucky that Jackson sleeps as well as he does but it's still tough not ever getting a full night's sleep. I'm hoping the rice cereal that we're starting this weekend will help.

To help combat my sleep deprivation I'm posting some cute pictures of the little munchkin. Enjoy!

There is some big new around the Carter household lately. First, Jackson has found his thumb. After months of trying to shove his entire fist in his mouth, he's realized that maybe just his thumb would be easier. There are still plenty of times where he makes himself gag by trying to suck on his fingers unfortunately (twice last night he made himself throw up while doing this). We're hoping that the thumb-sucking will help calm him at night since he isn't into his pacifier anymore. His pacifier used to equal instant sleep. Now it causes instant crying.

Much of the time Jackson's thumb-sucking looks more like a fish hook than anything else. He'll get the hang of it eventually. It's still really cute!

Just hanging out at home in super cute jammies from Grandma! Gotta love those big blue eyes!

And finally, here is a video of Jackson rolling over. We've been told many times that he can do it and does it regularly at daycare but until last night, neither Scott nor I had actually seen it. Here he is in all his big boy glory! I love how excited he gets afterwards -- kicking his little legs at his accomplishment. Please ignore my really annoying, first-time mom cheering in the background. I honestly couldn't be prouder though.

This week we're heading back to Iowa for Thanksgiving. It's been several months since he had to sleep in his pack 'n play. Hopefully it will go well because I'm looking forward to a little relaxation.

Exciting News!!!

I'm so excited about this I can hardly stand it!  Jackson slept from about 9:30pm to 5:15am last night!  For the last month or so, he has been regularly waking up once in the middle of the night (usually between 1am and 3am) for a bottle and then will sleep until 6:30am or so.  This means that Scott and I haven't actually slept through the night ourselves since we went to Maine and were away from the little munchkin.  I'm hoping this is a trend because it would be so wonderful to not have to get up in the middle of the night, every night.  The last two nights he has started to roll himself onto his side to sleep.  I think maybe that has helped him.  Anyway, keep your fingers crossed for us!

And back to the doctor's...

We were back at the pediatrician's office yesterday.  This time it was just for Jackson's four month check-up and another round of vaccinations.  I am not one of those mothers who will choose to skip vaccinations for her children.  Jackson (and any brothers or sisters he eventually has) will get vaccinated.  Despite all the controversy, I trust that they are as safe as can possibly be.  That being said, it is still heart-breaking and scary to have it done.  Jackson was in such a great mood yesterday, talking up a storm as if he was actually having a conversation with the doctor.  It just killed me to have him stuck three times with needles when he has no idea why it's happening.  He screamed his head off and just looked at Scott and me with such sad eyes.  Fortunately, within a few hours he was back to his normal, playful self.  I breathed a sigh of relief that we made it through another round of vaccines. 

Jackson was also weighed and measured at the appointment.  My little growing boy is up to almost 17 pounds and 26 inches long!  No wonder I'm beginning to have a hard time lugging his carseat around!  We also were told that we can start Jackson on rice cereal.  We picked some up at the grocery store last night and, after Scott assembles the high chair, we'll be trying it this weekend.  Don't worry, there will be lots of pictures taken, some of which we will be using as blackmail material when he is a teenager.  Hehe!

Another trip to the Pediatrician's...

I'm not sure it's possible for us to go more than a week or two without a trip to the pediatrician's office.  It happened again yesterday.  I can't remember if I mentioned this but a couple of weeks ago we had Jackson in for what I was hoping was not H1N1.  Turns out he just had an ear infection -- prescription amoxicillan.  Problem solved and within a few days Jackson was feeling much better. 

Well, yesterday when I was dressing him before taking him to daycare, I noticed a huge red rash on both of his arms.  Totally freaked out, I decided to take him to the doctor's (this was about 7:15am).  Well, by 7:45 the rash was gone.  I decided to take him to daycare and let his teacher know about the disappearing rash -- just to keep an eye out for it and call me if it showed up again.  By 10:00am daycare had called to say the rash was back.  He didn't have a fever or appear to be uncomfortable so I told him that I would be there to pick him up in the early afternoon.  By 1:30 Jackson and I were waiting at the doctor's office and he was covered in a bright red rash.  Poor little guy!  After a quick once over by his pediacatrician, it was determined that the rash was hives and that he is probably allergic to penecillan. 

This is where a little light bulb went off in my head.  I am also allergic to penecillan, discovered after I was prescribed it for strep throat several years ago.  I should have know it was hives and should have been able to figure out the allergy myself.  Oh well.  I'm so paranoid about H1N1 that almost anything can freak me out.  After a dose of Benedryl suggested by the doctor, Jackson is feeling much better and I'm happy to have a child not covered in hives!

An Unfortunate Loss

Well, the Iowa Hawkeyes lost to Northwestern this weekend. If you know me at all (and frankly why are you reading this if you don't), you know that I bleed black and gold. I love the Hawkeyes and during football season, I just can't miss a game. This season has been great. Up until this past Saturday we were 9-0. While our wins weren't exactly pretty, we managed to win week in and week out. Unforunately our luck ran out on Saturday. Our quarterback went down on the third drive and we never recovered. Our perfect season came to an abrupt end. Boo. In order to make the loss more palatable, I'm posting some pictures of Jackson cheering on the Hawkeyes as best he can. Enjoy!

Well, here is my first shot at taking a video with my camera. Jackson was being really talkative tonight, unlike any other night. Of course, I thought of taking the video after about a hour of constant babble so this isn't as good as it had been earlier. I still thought those of you who don't get to see Jackson very much would enjoy this. Such a little cutie! There is even an adorable sneeze a few seconds into the clip.

This weekend we finally were able to get some cute fall pictures taken.  Hopefully I'll get those posted later this week. 

HAPPY FOUR MONTH BIRTHDAY JACKSON!!

Four months ago today was one of the best days of my life!  I love you so much, Jackson!

A Year Ago Today...

A year ago today Scott and I found out that we were expecting our first child.  It was totally exciting and surreal at the same time.  Now, I can't imagine my life without little Jackson in it.  It's been quite an amazing year and I've loved every minute of it (well maybe not the swollen feet and trouble sleeping of third trimester but oh well).  A true sign that I am a mother -- I went to work today with spit-up on my shoulder.  Unfortunately I didn't notice it until about 2pm.  Another sign that I am a mother -- the spit-up really didn't bother me.  Oh well.

Here are some adorable pictures of Jackson's first Halloween.  Both he and I have been battling colds this weekend so our photo session was cut short but I still think these pictures turned out well.  Enjoy our little lobster!

Hey Mom, I'm not so sure about this whole costume thing.

Sad eyes but still the cutest little boy in the world!

Jackson and I are still trying to recover from our colds.  Poor little thing also has an ear infection.  He didn't sleep more than about 30-45 minutes at a time all weekend long.  After a trip to the doctor on Saturday morning, we have some medicine (which he hates) so hopefully we're on the road to recovery.  He slept through the night last night and had a good day with Grandpa and Grandma Carter.

Alright...time to catch up on pictures

It's been a busy month around here.  We went from the ER to Maine to lots of new moves by Jackson.  We've had a great time though, and here are the pictures to prove it!

Scott and I traveled to Maine to attend the wedding of a good friend of his from high school.  It just happened to be near Colby which made me very happy!  Maine is gorgeous in the fall and we had perfect weather.  We were in Freeport (lots of fun shopping!) and Augusta the first few days and then traveled down to Camden, ME which is right on the coast.  So absolutely picturesque!  I only wish we had a few more days to enjoy everything.  Here are some pics from the trip...

The Camden harbor was full of beautiful tallmast ships.  We had intended to take a short cruise on one of them but ran out of time.  Gotta leave something for the next trip, right?

This cool waterfall ran right through the middle of town -- right underneath several businesses.  You don't think of buildings in Maine needing to be on stilts but there were a few here.

Beautiful ships, beautiful fall colors, beautiful blue sky -- doesn't get much better!

Main street in Camden -- quaint and perfect!

It's Maine so you have to have a few lobster traps.  I won't mention how many bowls of clam chowder I had while we were out there.  It's kind of embarrassing!

Scott and I spent some time at Camden Hills State Park.  It had a fantastic view out over the coast and down on the town of Camden.  The beautiful leaves didn't show up as well in these pictures but they really were gorgeous.

The view down towards Camden and the harbor.

The next day, and our last day in Maine, the weather was a little dodgier.  Quite a bit of rain but we still had a good time.  Here is the much more commercial harbor of Rockland, ME.

On our drive back to Portland, we stopped at Boothbay Harbor.  The town was pretty much shut down for the season but it was still pretty.

We had such a great time, especially knowing that Jackson was on the mend when we left!  I don't think I could have left him if he was still sick when we left.  Of course, I called home to check on things at least twice a day.  Grandma and Grandpa had a wonderful time although I think it took a few days to recover from the sleep deprivation.  I know Jackson had a great time and he's looking forward to Thanksgiving!

As I wrote last week, Jackson was having some real issues sleeping but that seems to have turned around.  We're back to basically sleeping through the night.  Yeah!!  He's eating really well and he seems to be enjoying day care.  As hard as it is for me to admit, I think it's good for Jackson to be in day care.  He gets more stimulation there than what I could probably give him.  He is just such a curious little boy.  He studies everything he sees and there is alot more there for him to take in.  That being said, I cherish every single minute I get to be with him after work and on the weekend. 

This past weekend I really wanted to get some fun fall pictures taken.  I bought several pumpkins in various sizes, dressed Jackson up in an adorable bear outfit that his Gramma Carter bought him and Scott and I got everything set up outside to get the shots.  Unfortunately, Jackson had other plans.  The minute we set him down with the pumpkins he started crying.  I tried everything, all of the little tricks we know, to get him to cheer up.  Nothing worked so we gave up, me grumbling all the way back into the house.  Hopefully the weather will cooperate and we can try again next weekend.  I really want some cute pictures with him outside.

Here are some pictures of what Jackson's been up to this month...

We got out Jackson's new exer-saucer and he's loving it!  I'm continually impressed and amazed at his development (I'm his mom afterall).  He isn't rolling over yet but he "talks" all the time, is constantly smiling and has started to laugh a little bit.  He is also pushing himself up on his arms and likes to "stand" on our laps.  It is just so incredible to watch a child develop, to learn new skills and make new discoveries.  While he hasn't figured it all out yet, he's beginning to realize that he can move around in the exer-saucer and play with the toys.

Chewing on his hand -- one of his favorite things these days.  I'm petrified that he is going to get his hand stuck in his mouth.

I just love this picture!!  Look at those eyes!!

Jackson is also getting really good at pushing himself up on his arms.  He keeps moving his legs too and I'm sure that it won't be too long before he's scooting around.  It actually makes me a little nervous to think about him crawling.  He's so active now that I'm not sure how we'll keep up with him. 

This is one of my favorite pictures!! 

Too cute! 

Next up -- Halloween, Jackson's four-month birthday and my birthday.  Hope everyone is doing well!