into the woods

Judgment

2011-09-12T15:21:00.000-07:00

Our family took a trip to Seaside last week. We had a fun time at the little aquarium, going to the candy store, and playing in the sand. On our way back to the car, Carter was in the front of the double stroller. I'm not sure all the reasons why he flaps his hands and makes a kind of grunting/yelling sound, but he does it often. I think the it's usually because he's excited about something. Anyway, for whatever reason, he was doing it as we were headed down the main street to our car. He does it often enough that I rarely take notice of it. However, I was made aware of it on this particular day because a young man walked by us with a girl, and after passing us I heard him making fun of Carter. Even as I type this now, my heart hurts and I'm getting angry all over again. How dare he make fun of my son!
We were just about to our car at that point and I said something to Eric about how pissed off I was. I kept thinking of all the things I wanted to do or say to that guy. Thankfully, I didn't do or say any of those things.
As I've had time to think about this situation, I can recognize that these things are part of life. Carter will not be my only child to be made fun of. I've had time now to cool off a bit and to really think about what I'd like to tell that young man. What keeps coming to mind, and what I think I'd say if I were in a similar situation again is, "You don't know his story". I know there are mean people in this world, but I'd like to think that most people, after knowing Carter's story, would look at him differently and wouldn't think that some of the things he does are so weird and would hopefully not make fun of him.
It's also got me to thinking about all the people I look at and think, they're acting weird or talking funny or choosing funky clothes to wear. It happens far too often.
Don't you just love how God so often takes the yucky things in our life to show us a little bit more of Him? It's like I'm looking through a different pair of contacts since this experience I had at the beach. In no way am I claiming that I no longer judge others, but my hope is that it is happening less. What would happen if before we thought a judgmental thought or said something judgmental about someone else we reminded ourselves that we don't know their story? What if we would strive to be a little bit more like Jesus in this area.

"The LORD does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart." I Samuel 16:7b

Promise

2011-07-26T22:04:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow is Carter's first occupational therapy appointment. I'm actually really excited for it. I'm ready to learn and help Carter learn. However, I'd be lying if there wasn't a part of me that's still grieving or sad or scared or all of the above.
That being said, I was just checking my blog reader and saw my daily promise for tomorrow (it gets posted the night before). This is what it said:
"Don't worry. I will take care of you." (from Matthew 6:25-25)
I love it when God speaks loudly and clearly right to me!

Jackson's turn to go to the hospital

2011-07-12T15:56:00.000-07:00

Early tomorrow morning, I'm taking Jackson to the Gerry Frank Center for children at St. Vincents to get a CT scan done on his throat. For many weeks his tonsils have been very large. A couple rounds of different antibiotics and steroids did little to decrease the size of them. The Ear, Nose, Throat doctor said it may just be an infection/virus that's resistant to medication and just making it's home in Jackson's tonsils. Or it may be something else. That's why we need the CT scan to hopefully get a better picture of what we're dealing with. If they find something other than infection/virus, he'll most likely have his tonsils removed and biopsied. If it's not, and his tonsils don't get better in the next week or so, he'll most likely have his tonsils removed and biopsied.
I'm a bit nervous about tomorrow because we've decided that Jackson will need to be sedated in order for the CT scan to be successful. I've told him he's going to the hospital and that they need to get pictures of his throat. I explained that he'll have to change into a robe, lay on a bed and they'll help him sleep, then they'll take the pictures they need. He seems just fine with this especially since there will be no "pokes" (needles). There will in fact be an IV, but they'll be able to place it after he's sedated. (Which is other reason we feel like he needs to be sedated. He had to get his blood drawn a few weeks ago to test for mono, and it was not a pleasant experience.) The other thing I'm just a bit nervous about is that he won't get to eat until after they're done. Thankfully, the CT is at 9am (check-in at 7:30), so we won't have to starve him for too long. :)
Please pray for peace for Jackson and his momma and that they'll be able to figure out what's wrong with him.

Woods Family Update

2011-07-07T13:20:00.000-07:00

The following is an email we sent out Tuesday evening.

Dear Family and Friends,

Most of you know that we’ve had concerns that Carter has autism. His pediatricians, both in Idaho and Oregon, expressed similar concerns and recommended that he be evaluated. Today we had Carter evaluated by several therapists and doctors at Doernbecher Children’s Hospital and it was determined that Carter has autism. While we weren’t surprised to have this confirmed, it is still a difficult thing to hear.

The doctors were encouraged by some of the skills that Carter has and gave us a lot of hope for his future development. Among these are his fine motor skills like feeding himself with utensils and holding pencils and crayons. It was also encouraging to hear that he is not dealing with many of the things that go along with autism like stomach issues, anger and violence, sleep disorders and seizures.

There are many opportunities available for Carter and us to take advantage of to help him in his speech/ language and social development. We will begin making contacts and setting up appointments in the near future. We will also have some follow up with the professionals at Doernbecher in the next few weeks and months.

We are sending this e-mail so that we can get the news to everyone without having to explain it a million times. ; ) However, we are not resistant or offended if you want to talk about it or have questions. We are not trying to keep this a secret and we are not afraid or ashamed to talk about it. This will be a learning process for all of us. We trust the doctors and therapists and feel that we are in the right place to get Carter the best help possible.

Above everything, we covet your prayers for our family as we begin this new chapter in our lives.

With love,

Eric and Janell

Jackson, Carter and David

pictures

2010-08-08T12:35:00.000-07:00

wow...i haven't updated my blog in quite some time. since my last post: david is 2 months old already, jackson will be 3 in a month, the camp season has come and gone at twin lakes friends camp, eric and i celebrated our 8th anniversary, we took a trip to oregon, played at the park, etc, etc...
instead of trying to catch up on everything, i'll just post some random pictures. enjoy!

they both loved the beach
susan, dad, me and david

after he got used to the sorta cold water, jackson LOVED swimming

david and david (notice baby david's shirt? "team grandpa")

fun at the park

during our time in oregon we spent a day at the coast. this double decker bus is at the blue heron cheese company in tillamook...it's originally from coeur d'alene

my boys-love, love, LOVE them

smiles!

bedtime story

"reading"

Happy Father's Day!

2010-06-20T12:22:00.000-07:00

Happy Father's Day to the best dad our boys could have. Thank you for always working hard to provide for our family and always finding plenty of time to play with our boys and help take care of them. Your love for them is so evident. We all love you so much!

Daddy & Jackson 9/10/07
Daddy & Carter 12/1/08

Daddy & David 6/4/10

David Michael

2010-06-05T10:57:00.000-07:00

David Michael was born Friday, June 4th at 8:45pm. He weighed 7 pounds 3 ounces and was 19 3/4 inches long. We're all doing good and are now home. Enjoy the few pictures my slow internet will allow me to upload.

good sleep begets good sleep...

2010-04-19T13:41:00.000-07:00

...unfortunately, the opposite is also true. ever since the boys got sick in february, they've been working on getting back to their normal sleep schedule. it seems like they're getting close. last week they started falling asleep well, sleeping until at least 7am (often until 8 or later!), and they took their normal naps (2+ hours for jackson and 3+ hours for carter). before this, jackson would wake up anytime between 4:45am and 6:00am (if he slept until 6:30, i

was excited). and when jackson would wake up, so would his brother. they would then take short, disrupted naps and have a hard time falling asleep. it was becoming a vicious cycle. i'm not really sure what changed...maybe they just got so overtired, they finally slept well. it sure has been nice to get more sleep myself, but even better is how much happier and well behaved they are when they get the sleep they need.

a perfect example is what happened yesterday and today. for some reason, jackson didn't nap well. he woke up early and woke carter up, they had a hard time falling asleep last night and then woke up by 6 this morning. those couple hours of lost sleep have really effected their behavior today. i had a couple little grumpies all morning (including myself!). i'm just hoping that they take good naps today and get back to how they were sleeping last week.

*this is what happens when they don't sleep well. i took this a couple weeks ago. it was only 9:25am and jackson was fast asleep in the car.

what's in a name?

2010-04-02T13:57:00.000-07:00

we've decided on a name for our baby boy. we are going to name him after my dad...david. and here's why:
the other day i was rolling up a sleeping bag and i had to get it really tight so it would fit into the bag it came with. i had no problem getting it to fit, because many years ago my dad taught me how to properly roll up a sleeping bag. that got me to thinking about other things my dad has taught me.
he taught me how to open a box of cereal. don't you hate it when it doesn't pour out of the bag correctly and you end up with cereal floating around in the bottom of the box? well, that doesn't happen at my home...i know how to open it right! when i was learning to drive, i remember him saying, "if you're going to pull out in front of a car like that...you better step on it." that's come in handy a time or two. the first time he took my brother, sister and i backpacking, he quickly figured out that jen and i didn't know how to pee in the woods. he gave us great tips and i've never had any issues since. he's taught me to finish what i start, to work hard, to be honest, and many, many other important life lessons.
but the most important thing my dad has taught me (and continues to) is the unconditional love of my father in heaven. dad has been the biggest example in my life of this truth. through thick and thin, dad has accepted me and loved me for me. he's always been available to listen to my joys and sorrows. he always has just the right advice for anything i'm dealing with...even if it's hard for me to hear. he's able to be honest and share truth in love.
dad, i have never once doubted that you love my unconditionally...thank you for being such an awesome example of how God loves me. my prayer is that our little david will possess your love for God, his family and those around him.

we're looking forward to the end of may when we'll get to meet our david michael!

sick

2010-03-02T11:59:00.000-08:00

We've all been sick the last few days. It started last wednesday when carter threw up. It was a one time thing, so we didn't think too much of it. Then he threw up the next day. Other than that, he seemed normal, so we still didn't think to much of it. Fast forward to saturday at noon...we were on our way home from the store and jackson started crying, then threw up. Okay, now we think something must be up. Jackson continued to throw up that day and by 9pm, eric and I were both sick. Seriously not fun. Jackson and eric slept on the couch, I slept in the lazy boy. Carter slept in his crib and was really the only one that slept much saturday night. Sunday was more of the same. Jackson wasn't keeping anything down all day, so after talking with the on-call nurse, we took him to the ER. Thankfully, he wasn't dehydrated. They gave him some anti-nausea meds and a popcycle. After he was able to keep that down, we went home. Carter was at eric's parents' while we were at the ER and although we thought he was getting better, he threw up all over his oma (so sorry vicky). Thankfully, we all got some decent sleep sunday night. Monday was a good day for jackson, but carter was throwing up some and was just really miserable. We woke up this morning at 4:30am to crying from jack's room...more sheets and pjs to wash. After giving him some pepto and little bits of juice at a time, he hasn't thrown up since about 6am, and carter has kept the very little he's had in too! Carter's going to the doc this afternoon and I think we've figured out how to keep jack's tummy not so upset. Hopefully, they'll both be feeling better really soon (thankfully, eric and I started feeling better by sunday night/monday morning). So...that's what we've been up to. Hopefully we'll be having better days here soon.

jackson at the ER eating his popcycle

2010-02-19T13:50:00.000-08:00

A few days ago I mentioned that Carter got 2 new teeth, but I lied. The 2 new ones I was talking about were the top two next to each of the top front teeth. I thought it was a little strange that the top ones came in before the bottom ones (but maybe that's how it usually goes, I can't remember.). Anyway, I was feeling around in his mouth to see if the bottom ones felt like they might come through and I felt something towards the back of his mouth...could it really be a molar already? Sure enough, he has 3 of his one-year molars. I had NO idea he was getting those teeth...it sure does explain the extra fussiness we've been experiencing. Now, is it me, or do babies usually get more of their regular, front teeth before molars? I can't remember how Jackson's came in. Anyway, I'm glad he has them, it'll make it a lot easier for him to eat all kinds of food.

P.S. Side note: Why does Jackson call me daddy a lot? I'll tell him I'm not daddy and then he'll say mommy...what's up with that?

what's been going on...

2010-02-17T13:21:00.000-08:00

i keep getting online and wanting to blog about something, but it seems like there haven't been too many exciting things going on in our lives right now. i decided i'd update you all on all the not-super-exciting-things that we've been up to.
carter and jackson have both been sick for over a week now. carter seems like he's just about better, but jackson is still coughing a lot. i feel bad for them, but also fortunate that this is the first time they've been sick in quite awhile.
a few weeks ago we transitioned jackson from his crib to a "big boy" bed. we're happy to report this has been an easy move for all involved. moving jackson out of the crib also means that carter finally gets to move from the pack-n-play he's been sleeping in. he really seems to enjoy the extra room (and more comfortable mattress). the next transition will be moving carter into jackson's room. i like that they both sleep so well, and i'm nervous about upsetting that by having them share a room. since we have another little one on the way, it's something that we're going to have to do eventually. we're thinking about having all 3 boys share a room, then they'll have a separate room that's just for playing in (and it'll be our guest room).
eric has been busy remodeling the bath house here at camp. it was in desperate need of an update, and i'm sure the work he's putting into it will be well received by our campers this summer.
pregnancy #3 has been going fairly well for me. so far, my midwife says everything looks as it should...which is always nice to hear. it does look like the hernia i got while pregnant with carter is showing up again. so far i've had minimal pain from that, and i'm just really trying not to lift too much (including our kiddos...unfortunately carter's not walking well enough to not be carried some, but i'm doing the best i can). hopefully, this will be my only "complication". also, we're pretty sure we've settled on a name for him and we're also pretty sure we're going to keep it a secret (until he's born, of course). when we decide for sure on his name, we'll make the final decision on whether or not we're going to tell people before the birth, but until then, mums the word. (is that the correct expression???)
like i said, not too exciting...

walking (and other stuff)

2010-02-15T13:05:00.000-08:00

carter took his 1st step on January 26th and since then he's been gaining more confidence in his "walking". he's walked across the living room a number of times now (probably 10-15 steps). he definitely prefers crawling still, but i'm not worried that he'll be walking well by the time his little brother is born.
in other news:
*carter got 2 new teeth last week, making a grand total of 6! his little teeth take so long to come through, that we're always glad when they finally do.
*jackson has enjoyed playing outside A LOT these days. we've been fortunate to have a mild winter this year, so he has been able to enjoy the back deck quite a bit.

(i have some cute pictures that i tried to upload, but my internet connection is too slow...i will try to upload them on facebook)

Oregon Zoo

2010-02-04T14:57:00.000-08:00

we were in newberg last weekend for some meetings i had to attend. eric was able to come with the boys and me, so we stayed a couple extra days to visit family and to go to the zoo! i've been wanting to take the boys for awhile, but it hadn't worked out on any of our previous visits. the weather was decent, so we took the boys and our niece and nephew (kiah and micah). jackson LOVED it. carter seemed to be somewhat interested in the animals, but i think mostly enjoyed being pushed around in the stroller outside.

i'm still here...

2010-01-14T13:06:00.000-08:00

i'm not sure if there's anyone out there that still reads this blog. it's been a couple months since my last post and before that i've only posted about once a month (letters to carter). with our 3rd kiddo on the way (we found out today we're having a boy), i'm not sure if i'll ever post again! i hope so...i figure with 3 boys under 3, i won't remember anything about life unless i do a good job writing stuff down. so, my goal is to get back to the blog...at least for my sake. and now that we have internet that's a little faster than dial-up, i should be able to post more pictures (without having to wait forever). here's a picture of the most recent addition to our family (his name has not been decided yet...hopefully soon):

11 months

2009-11-09T08:18:00.000-08:00

Wow, Carter...in less then a month we'll be celebrating your 1st birthday! It's been so fun to watch your little personality develope each day. You are such a happy, content little guy. This last month you've continued being more mobile and have been practicing a "real" crawl (although you still prefer the "army crawl"). We took a trip to Newberg for a week, and while there you learned how to get to a sitting position all by yourself! You've started eating some big people food recently. You like crackers, bananas, and pizza crust.
You continue to sleep like a champ! You wake up around 7, take a nap from 8:30 or 9 until 10, then another nap from about 1-3:30 or 4, and you go to bed at 6:30. Some mornings you miss your morning nap, but you seem to deal with it pretty good.
It's been fun to watch you and jackson enjoy each other and we've even caught you guys playing together sometimes (without taking each other's toys!). You enjoy bathtime together. When you hear the bathtub being filled, you stop whatever you're doing and make your way to the tub as fast as you can...it's really cute!
We love you lots!

double digits!

2009-10-05T13:24:00.000-07:00

Wow, Carter, you're 10 months old now (and 4 days). What a joy you continue to be to our family. Jackson just can't get enough of you. When you're napping he'll ask over and over, "Carter? Carter? Carter?". When you're up, he loves holding you, laughing with you, playing on the floor with you, and steam rolling over you. We're often saying, "Jackson get off your brother!".
You've perfected the army crawl and have enjoyed the freedom that brings.
Those pesky top teeth have still not made an appearance...hopefully soon. Teething is not a fun part of baby-hood (for you or mom).
Aunt Jennie came for a visit, but you didn't get to spend lots of time with her this time because she and mom did lots of scrapbooking while dad took care of you and Jack.
You had your 1st fat lip last month. Jackson was driving one of his metal tonka trucks around and smashed into your face. You got a small scrath above your eye and one below your nose as well as the fat lip. At first, Jack thought it was funny, but quickly realized you were hurt. He got his truck taken away and after you calmed down he said sorry and gave you kisses. Then all was right with the world again.
Today, while I was feeding you breakfast I was trying to get you to say "ma-ma"...but what did you say instead?..."da-da". Jackson did the same thing. Oh, well. I know one of these days you'll say ma-ma. We love you lots!

getting older

2009-09-14T10:07:00.000-07:00

Carter,
Sorry for slacking on writing this month's letter. You turned 9 months old on September 1st...It's now the 14th! August didn't seem like a super busy month for us, but it sure did fly by. The highlight of the last month was your Tante Bean's (Aunt Elizabeth) wedding. The day started out overcast and rainy, but by picture time the weather was perfect (which was important since the wedding was outside at the camp). I (mom) was in the wedding so Dad had to have you and Jackson by himself...and you both behaved wonderfully!
You continue to move around more and more...we're pretty sure you'll start crawling here soon. You can sit like a champ and you will still eat anything we offer. You've started eating more solid food like puffs and cherrios. One of our favorite things now is to watch you and Jackson interact...you both get such a kick out of each other.
At your 9 month check up you weighed 19.1 lbs and were 27.5 inches. Still in the 25th percentile for both. The doctor said he seldom sees such a perfect growth curve...nicely done!
Well, I guess that covers it for this month...hopefully I'll get next month's letter written on time.
We love you lots!
Mom & Dad

another month...another blog post

2009-08-05T19:22:00.000-07:00

Carter,
You are now 8 months old and counting. This month you've been rolling over a lot...this becomes a problem when all you want to do is roll and we're trying to change your diaper. You've also been sitting up lots more and have learned that you'd rather ride in the shopping cart than in your car seat. We like Costco because both you and Jackson get to ride in the same cart...you guys are so stinkin' cute! Also this month that pesky first tooth pushed it's way through. Followed quickly by tooth #2. You ended the month with a weekend without mommy. I had a fun girl's weekend and you, Jackson and daddy enjoyed a first guy's weekend!
We've introduced you to lots of new food (including peas again) and we're finding you are not a picky eater at all. You continue to giggle lots and have started interacting with Jackson more.
Lots of love to you little munchkin!

it is time for my montly blog post...

2009-07-04T20:23:00.000-07:00

carter, you are now just over 7 months old! there has been lots of activity here at the camp. we've had staff training, a work week for our summer staffers, and sr. high camp. you've been around for parts of all of those things...and of course everyone loves to see you.
as i was thinking about what i wanted to tell you this month, i just kept thinking about the bond you and jackson have been forming. it warms my heart to see the two of you smile and laugh at each other. and i've been known to get a little teary-eyed when i'm holding you and jackson comes over and insists that he get a turn. he enjoys letting you sit on his lap and the two of you just giggle and giggle...it's so precious! our prayer is that you guys will continue to grow close and be great friends!
development wise, you've mastered the art of blowing raspberries....you get soaking wet, and it's quite entertaining. the last few days you've been saying "da-da-da" a ton (which of course your daddy loves to hear!) we've been trying to provide more floor time so you can practice rolling more, but you haven't quite gotten all the over from your back to your tummy yet.
we're still trying some different foods with you, but pears and sweet potatoes are still your favorites.
we also had a dedication service for you at church. we want to let you know that with the help of our family, church family and friends we will show you the love of God. we want you to grow up knowing that God loves you and we want you to love God. it was special that some of your extended family was able to be there.
carter, you are such a delight!
love, mom and dad

(pastor bob praying with carter)

2009-06-11T12:52:00.000-07:00

oh my precious carter,
i'm a little over a week late, but happy half birthday. this is our 1st summer working at twin lakes friends camp and as expected, we've been very busy (that's my attempt at an excuse about being late with your 6 month letter...i'm sure you'll forgive me!).
you continue to be a happy, laid-back baby. and we continue to enjoy watching you grow and seeing your personality develop. if you have something to chew on, you're perfectly content (well...most the time). i thought for sure i'd be reporting that a new tooth made an appearance, but it's still playing hide and seek.
the biggest highlight of this last month was going to the coast for our every-other-year mardock family reunion. we had beautiful weather the whole time we were there...no rain and even very few clouds. that doesn't happen too often on the oregon coast. it was fun to see family and you did great the whole time...even sharing a room with your brother and parents.
you're growing as you should (taller more than chubbier). last month you were 25 percentile for height and weight and this month you were 45 percentile for height while you remained 25th for weight. when the doctor asked if you were rolling over from your back to tummy yet and had to tell him we weren't sure if you could. i think i mentioned before that we don't put you on the ground much due to a very active older brother in the house. so far you haven't gotten stepped on or sat upon, just the occasional toy car driven into the top of your head!
we noticed that you seem to like holding a blanket while you sleep so i got you a nice, little, soft one that's also a teddy bear and you snuggle with him during your naps and at night.
another new thing this month was the introduction to food! you have liked the sweet potatoes, tolerated the prunes and rice cereal and avocados, and you very much disliked the peas. jackson likes to watch you eat and he always wants to try a bite.
you are such a fun baby...we love you!
mom & dad

at the tillamook cheese factory (suckin' away on those 2 favorite fingers)

carter update

2009-05-05T13:39:00.000-07:00

dear carter,
i can't believe how fast this month has flown by. with summer camp season just around the corner, i'm sure the next few months will go by just as quickly.
you are such a happy baby. you'll smile at anyone who talks to you...and you have such an adorable smile. i have to mention again that you continue to sleep wonderfully. this month you've mastered the art of falling asleep all by yourself! i love that you and jackson take long afternoon naps at the same time...it gives me time to check my email and catch up on chores around the house or to just sit and relax.
up until a few weeks ago, you slept in your car seat. because you slept so well, i didn't want to move you to the pack-n-play. however, you're getting bigger and starting to move around more, so it was time to move you. thankfully, you had no problem with the transition.
the snow has finally all melted (even though we had a couple days of snow in april). it's been nice having warmer weather.
i thought for sure i'd be saying that you got your 1st tooth. you've been teething something fierce, chomping on anything you can get your hands on. but, alas...no tooth yet.
you've finally grown out of your 3 month clothes. jackson was quite a bit bigger than you at 5 months...which is no big deal except all his summer clothes are way too big for you...i guess that means mommy gets to go shopping!
i can't believe that next time i write you'll be half a year old already...it's almost time to start food!
we love you lots!

carter's 4 months old

2009-04-03T18:58:00.000-07:00

carter,
you're 4 months old now (and 2 days). you turned 4 months on your uncle matt's birthday. it also happened to be april fool's day. don't worry, we didn't play any jokes on you. you did, however, have to get shots at your doctor's appointment...which you weren't too thrilled about. the doctor said you're growing just like you should. you're in the 25th percentile for everything...height, weight and head circumference. very well proportioned.
you got your first cold this month. i'm actually surprised you made it 4 months without getting sick. you've dealt with it quite well and even with being sick, you're still sleeping at least 10 hours at night. you've continued sucking on your fingers and actually do that a lot. it's cute, you mostly suck on the 1st two fingers on your left hand and you use your right hand to help hold them in. you've also rolled over 3 or 4 times...from your tummy to your back. we don't put you on the floor as much as we did with jackson because he's still learning to be careful not to run right over you when you're on the floor. thankfully, you like sitting in the exersaucer and bouncy seat. you've even started grabbing toys and you mostly try to chew on them.
you're a pretty content boy and usually only get really fussy if you're extra tired.
your aunt jennie and cousins (micah and kiah) came for a visit during their spring break. it was fun to have company and they liked getting to see you and jackson again.
we enjoy watching you and seeing your personality start to develop. it's also fun to watch you and jackson start to interact more. he likes to hold you and share his snacks and sippy cup with you. i have to keep telling him that you're not quite old enough yet. (we'll see if he still wants to share when you are old enough!)
we've continued to get more snow even though the calendar says it's now spring. thankfully, it usually melts the same day it snows, but it'll sure be nice to have warmer weather.
hopefully when i write next month there will be no mention of more snow!
lots of love,
mom and dad

getting along

2009-03-02T12:48:00.001-08:00

jackson wasn't exactly very fond of carter when we first brought him home. when i was changing carter's diaper, he'd wedge himself between be and the pack and play (there's a little changing table on it) and try to push me away from him. when i would feed carter, he'd come whine and pull on me or bring a book that he wanted me to read to him RIGHT NOW. sometimes he'd hear carter crying before i did and he'd come running to me and start fussing out of the blue. i realized he knew i'd be going to get carter and he wanted to be held instead. it was hard...i was always feeling like a sucky mom to at least one of the boys if not both.
thankfully, things have started to turn around. recently jackson will want to help hold the bottle when i feed carter. he no longer wedges himself between me and the pack and play while i try to change carter. and this last week he's been wanting to hold carter. it's so cute...except that he wants to carry him around and when i try to explain that carter's too big for him to carry around, he gets really upset. we're trying to teach him to sit down and hold carter on his lap.
one of the only issues now is that jackson doesn't get a binky anymore except for in his crib and in the car. carter, on the other hand, gets one all day. jackson's gotten a little sneaky and trys to snatch carter's binky. every now and then i'll give in and let jackson have it for awhile, but i'm finding he's getting to where he expects in now. i guess it's time to get more strict about it...i'll have to be the bad guy again.

carter's three months old!

2009-03-01T14:27:00.000-08:00

well my little c-man,
i'm not surprised that you're already 3 months old, but it sure is flying by.
we started out the month with a road trip to aunt jennie and uncle jonah's in newberg. i drove with you and your brother and we stayed for nearly 2 weeks. it was nice for me to have your aunt jennie's help for a little bit.
you are still sleeping wonderfully at night...10.5 hours on average. and usually you'll eat and go back to sleep for another hour or 2! it is soooo nice for us to get a regular night's sleep.
in the last couple days you've started sucking on your fingers quite a bit. i can always tell when you're doing it because you make a loud slurping sound.
we got jackson's excersaucer out a couple weeks ago and you really enjoy sitting in it. you'll sit in it for quite awhile and talk to the toys.
you've been smiling and talking a lot. you'll really get talking if someone talks to you...it's super cute!
you've been getting more used to being in the nursery during bible study. and today was your first time in the nursery during church and we were told you did well.
we're looking forward to what this next month holds.
we love you lots!

thankful

2009-02-10T14:01:00.000-08:00

today i'm thankful that i have boys that sleep well. jackson is a pro in the sleeping department and carter does quite well for a 10 week old. they are both sleeping right now...and have been for the last 2 hours. (and i'm thinking i'll get another hour out of them both!) i love when it works out that they're sleeping at the same time.
i was looking back over my blog and remembering that when jackson was carter's age he wouldn't take a nap for more than 40 minutes...and night time was a nightmare. carter will usually take at least one 2-3 hours nap each day and has been sleeping 8-9 hours at night and back for another 3-4 after getting changed and fed.
jackson now takes a 3 hour nap each afternoon (and sometimes an hour nap in the morning) and has slept 12-13 hours each night since he was about 9 months old...he goes down between 6 and 7 and doesn't usually wake up until 7am!
it's definitely been a challenge have 2 kiddos...but today i'm going to focus on the positives...and having babies that sleep is a postive for sure!

2 whole months

2009-02-04T13:09:00.000-08:00

c-man,
you are now 2 whole months old. we've enjoyed seeing a little more of your personality come through. you're growing like you should. at your 2 month check up you weighed 10 pounds 6.5 ounces and were 22 1/4 inches long.
you've also started smiling a lot. you even giggled in your sleep once. one of my favorite things is how you smile as you're drifting off to sleep. i think you are going to be a happy baby.
we're also enjoying hearing your voice. you make such a cute cooing sound when we talk to you.
probably our most favorite thing that you did this month is sleep through the night. the last day of january was your 1st time. you slept from 8pm until 5am. and you've continued sleeping at least 7 hours in a row each night...keep it up!
well, this note is going to be short and sweet because you just woke up from a nap and are screaming to be held.
love,
mom and dad

lots of learning

2009-01-07T10:08:00.000-08:00

jackson has been learning so much recently. i mentioned him saying bye and signing please. he's now learned how to blow kisses, say "woof-woof", he says "ooo" when he hurts himself (when it's not too bad to cry), and as he was sliding off the couch this morning i heard him saying "weee". he's so cute!

snow, snow, snow, snow, snow, snow...you get my drift

2009-01-04T15:30:00.000-08:00

our area has broken a record for amount of snow fall so far this winter. we've had at least 12 feet of snow fall up at the camp...although there's only about 5 feet on the ground. last year i remember seeing dump trucks hauling away snow from store parking lots because they ran out of room to plow it. i'm sure that'll be happening again this year.
i'm just thankful we decided to trade in our taurus for a 4-wheel drive vehicle. i'd have been stuck at home most of last month.

jackson update

2009-01-04T15:26:00.000-08:00

last week jackson learned the sign for "please" and said "bye"...two new things in one week! boy howdy, my boy's smart!

also, i learned why he's been so fussy recently (besides being a bit jealous of his little brother)...he's getting four molars at once. now that we've learned his reason for his behavior, we've given him some tylenol and he's been doing much better.

baby spanish

2009-01-04T15:20:00.000-08:00

jackson was over playing with his cousins the other day. at one point the 3 of them were all hanging out around the table talking. lauren (3 years old) said that jackson didn't know how to talk yet to which daniel (5 years old) replied..."yes he does, he just speaks a spanish that no one else can understand."

1 month

2009-01-01T08:15:00.000-08:00

dear carter,
i can't believe it's been a whole month already. your 1st couple weeks of life were pretty rough. you had to go to the doctor's office for the first four days after you were born to get poked in the heal. you were getting jaundice and they wanted to test your billirubin count to make sure it didn't get to a dangerous level. thankfully, buy the 4th day your numbers were down. however, that same night we had to take you to the hospital because you got a fever. they did all kinds of tests on you...poking and prodding and you were such a trooper. you had to be admitted and were there for 4 days. thankfully, you ended up just having a virus and your fever broke and we got to go home.
you also got your 1st hair cut at just 5 days old. the pediatric nurse wanted to shave your head in the spot where she was going to start the iv. she was really cute about it, saving the little bits of hair and taping them to a tongue depressor so i could scrapbook your "1st haircut".
after getting home, life became more normal (whatever "normal" is with 2 little guys under 18 months old!) you do the normal newborn things...eat, sleep, and go potty. when you're awake, you seem very alert, with your eyes wide open and taking in all that's going on around you. you're lifting your head quite a bit and trying to figure out what it is your arms and legs are supposed to do.
jackson is getting more used to having you around. although he still gets jealous when i have to feed you or hold you, we know he loves you. when daddy takes him down to bed each night, you are the first one he gives kisses to (even before mommy!) i'm looking forward to watching you guys grow up together and hopefully become great buddies.
during this last month you had your first christmas. you got all kinds of presents (books, toys, clothes) and of course your "my first christmas" pjs from us. you were supposed to have your first road trip to oregon, but we weren't able to go due to all the snow we had (over 5 feet) and all the snow in oregon. instead, we had christmas dinner at your oma and opa's house.
as of yesterday, you weigh 8lbs, 8ozs. so you've gained almost 2 whole pounds and you're beginning to look more like you and less like a newborn. we think you look like your daddy. we're excited to watch you grow and to see more of your personality come through.
we love you!

a woods update

2008-12-19T11:50:00.000-08:00

it's been awhile...we've been busy these last few weeks. as you know carter was born on december 1st. each day after his birth we had to take him to the doctor's for billirubin tests. he was coombs positive which means he was more likely to get jaundice and get it quickly. at the hospital his billirubin count was up, so we had to get it tested the next day. it was up the next day as well, so we had to go again and again. thankfully, by that friday the numbers were down and they said he was going to be just fine!
however, that night i realized he felt kinda hot. after taking his temp. and seeing that it was 100.3, i called the on-call nurse (which is what we were told to do if his temp was 100.3 or above.) she had me take his temp again and it was down to 99.something...so she said to just keep an eye on it. if it gets to 100.4 or higher she said we'd need to go to the er. well, we got to bed around midnight and i just had a feeling that carter wasn't doing so good. so about 30 minutes later i took his temp again and it was 101.1. i got eric up and we headed to the er. thankfully, jennie was still here so i woke her up and asked if she'd take care of jackson. we spent many hours in the er where they did lots of tests...blood test, urine test, x-ray, spinal tap and they got an iv started (after 3 tries that had to do it in his head) and started giving him some fluids and antibiotics. around this time, a guy was brought into the er by ambulance that was getting cpr. all the er staff had to attend to him for a couple hours trying to save his life. after he was taken to a different department, the staff was available to finish up with us and the other patients. they finished doing the necessary tests on carter and sent us upstairs to be admitted in the pediatric unit. until this time, we kinda thought they'd get carter feeling better and we'd be heading home in a few hours. once we got up to the peds unit and carter's doctor was able to come see him (this is around 9am on saturday) we found out that we'd be staying at the hospital until at least monday. we found out that all the tests had come back negative, but the urine test they let sit for 72 hours to make sure there is no bacteria growing. and in the meantime carter is getting iv antibiotics as a precautionary thing. so i stayed with carter at the hospital and eric and my mom (who came on sunday) took turns visiting us anf taking care of jackson. when the doc came in on monday, he said he'd like us to stay one more day just to be sure. tuesday morning came, (carter's fever had broke sunday evening), and the urine test was negative, so we finally got to go home. it was a scary ordeal, but we're thankful that it ended up just being a virus and that carter is doing wonderfully now.

since we've been back home, winter has officially began and we now have 4 feet of snow!

jackson is getting more used to having carter around. every now and again he'll just stop and watch carter and touch his head and try to hold his hands...it's really cute! he's also been giving him kisses. he's going to be a great big brother!
jackson is seeming to grow up right in front of our eyes. he's doing his sign language lots ("more", "all done" and he's starting to do "please"). he's also talking some. he continues to say "daddy" all the time and he's said please, more, baby, and carter (which sounds more like "ca").

so there you have it...kinda long, but an update nontheless.

carter gregory

2008-12-03T18:01:00.000-08:00

carter gregory was born monday, december 1st at 5:51pm. he weighed 6lbs 12 oz and was 19.5 inches long. we’re all doing well and are home trying to get used to life with another member of the family.

induction

2008-11-29T05:16:00.000-08:00

throughout my whole pregnancy i said i'd rather not be induced and just wait for baby to come on his own. well, that was when i wasn't 40+ weeks pregnant. i've already been in labor and delivery twice in the last week and a half and have left both times without a baby in my arms. a week and 1/2 ago, i was up all night one night with horrible abdominal pain due to the hernia i have. although they didn't do anything for the hernia pain, they monitored carter and found he was doing okay. i was having regular contractions, but not progressing in any way :( after doing the monitoring of carter and an ultrasound, the doc said he looked good and i should go home and take it easy. thankfully the abdominal pain subsided (after 24 hours) and we just keep waiting.
then, yesterday i had realized i wasn't feeling carter move much, so i layed on my left side, drank some cold juice and counted how many times i felt carter move in 2 hours (this was something doc told me to be doing). in that time i didn't feel him move at all. i wasn't super worried, knowing that this far along, babies aren't moving as much (there's just no room) and that i can't feel all of the smaller movements he makes anyway. i went ahead and called my doc and the birth center at the hospital, and they both said to come in to be monitored for a bit. so, eric and i headed out again. thankfully, my sister's in town so she took care of jackson for us (thanks, jen!). after getting checked in at the hospital, they put the monitors on me and i did a non-stress test. carter passed within 10 minutes...he's doing great! the nurse was reassuring and said i did the right thing to come in, but again...no baby in my arms.
so, all that to say i'm changing my tune about being induced and am scheduled to go in on monday morning. i'm still hoping i go into labor on my own today or tomorrow, but if not i should be leaving the hospital early next week with my precious carter gregory. i can't wait! we'll keep you all updated as soon as possible after he's born. the hospital doesn't have internet (we are in north idaho, you know...you can't expect too much!) so, as soon as we get home we'll send out a post.

getting closer

2008-11-24T12:45:00.000-08:00

we're due to have carter on wednesday. i had an appointment this morning and learned that i'm dialated to 3 cm and 70% effaced. after striping my membranes, the doc said he wouldn't be surprised if i deliver in the next day or two...i'm hoping he's right!

more communicating

2008-11-24T12:42:00.000-08:00

this morning jackson ate his breakfast all by himself. i gave him a piece of toast while i cooked an egg for him and then let him eat the scrambled egg with his hands. he did a great job and the coolest part was when he had just a couple bites left he did the sign for all done. he didn't smash the eggs in his hands or throw them on the floor (his normal routine when he's done eating). i'm so proud of my little man.

blue's clues

2008-11-14T14:06:00.000-08:00

what is it about blue's clues that gets my never-sit-still-for-anything son to do this:

there are other movies he watches (like baby einstein, the wiggles, sesame street) and none of them cause him to just sit. what is it about joe and blue?

ps i got a picture to upload. i did a small one and was able to be patient and it only took 8 minutes! but isn't he cute?

more?

2008-11-14T14:03:00.000-08:00

i'm not sure if i've mentioned it before, but jackson doesn't say much yet. he also hasn't really seemed to catch on to the little bit of sign language we've been trying to teach him. today, however, he did the sign for more. he was eating his lunch and wanted more hotdogs. i showed him the sign for more and asked "more?" and he did it. and did it again and again! here's to hoping he'll start communicating in other ways besides fussing!!!

climbing

2008-11-06T13:31:00.000-08:00

jackson learned how to climb onto the couch this morning. this is a little unfortunate because we often put things on the back of the couch that we don't want him to get...like the camera. and the off-limit items are what i think drove him to figure out how to get up there. he was pretty proud of himself for getting ahold of that camera. now he just needs to figure out how to get down. he seems to think that he can just kinda walk right off...this makes momma nervous.

(on a completely unrelated note, it's snowing here. it's very wet snow and so not sticking at all...but i'm still not ready to be thinking about snow. hopefully it goes away soon and stays gone for a long time.)

"mommy"

2008-11-05T14:29:00.000-08:00

jackson doesn't talk much. he says daddy quite a bit and he'll say ball ("ba") and has said more ("mo") and every now and again he'll say mama...but not very often and it hasn't ever really been directed at me or about me.
the other day eric was showing jackson some pictures on our camera. they came across one of me and jackson pointed to it and said "mommy". eric asked if i heard what he said and of course i didn't. but don't worry, because they came across another picture of me and jackson said "mommy" again. music to a mother's ear!

bottle be gone

2008-11-05T09:55:00.000-08:00

as of late last week, jackson is no longer taking a bottle. he had been having one 3 times a day (before each nap and at bedtime). at his 1 year doc. appointment dr. brian said i should try to get him to just use sippy cups. so i started slowly decreasing the amount of milk he got in each bottle. we got to 2 ounces for each bottle and he seemed to be adjusting just fine. then last tuesday he didn't have his morning nap so he was extra tired when it came time for his afternoon nap...so i decided to see if he'd fall asleep without having a bottle at all. i took him to his room, gave him his pacifier, rocked him for a minute and tucked him it...no problem, he was asleep within minutes. over the next few days, we skipped bottles here and there and he continued to have no objections. i have now put the last bottle away and thankfully our little man is still sleeping very well. it was easier than i thought. now, i'll have to start thinking about when we'll want to have the binkie be gone.

pictures...or a lack thereof

2008-11-02T14:43:00.000-08:00

one thing that makes me kinda sad about having dial-up internet is that it takes FOREVER to upload pictures. actually the last couple of times i've tried uploading pictures for my blog i've ended up getting an error message and not even being able to get the pictures posted at all. i've realized that i do most of my blogging around pictures i've taken and now that i'll rarely be able to post them (at least from home...which is where i'll be a lot especially after next month when i'll have a newborn and 15 month old to take care of) i'm afraid i won't blog as much.
i'll try to keep it updated (mostly so i don't have to hear it from my sis about not having anything new to read on my blog).
here's some news from last week:
on wednesday i woke up with some pretty bad abdominal pain. i had had similar pain a month or so ago and my doc said it sounded like i had a hernia trying to make itself know. well, after an appointment that afternoon, it was confirmed that i do indeed have a hernia, but due to that fact that i'm pregnant, there is not much that can be done (in less it gets really bad, then they might do surgery...thankfully, we're not to that point yet). anyway, back to wednesday morning...the pain was bad enough that i called eric at work and asked if he'd be able to come home for the day to help with jackson. he's such a great husband! he came right home and after jackson's morning nap took him to the children's museum in spokane. (here's where i'd like to post some cute pictures eric took.) shortly after they left i realized the pain was going away so i took advantage of alone time and got 3 loads of laundry done, did the dishes, vacuumed and cleaned up the living room. now we're just hoping for no more pain during the last 3 weeks of my pregnancy.

after spending most of friday in my pj's i decided i wanted to get out and do something. so i decided we should get jackson a costume and take him to eric's parents and grandparents house. as soon as eric got home from work, we headed to target (i thought they might have their costumes on sale). they did, but there wasn't anything that'd fit jackson. so we headed to fred meyer...same thing there. we decided to try costco and if they didn't have anything, we'd call it off. they did have some costumes and the cow was the perfect choice for our little guy. (again, imagine super cute pictures of my super cute son in a super cute cow costume). i think he had a good time, and i got enough pictures to scrapbook.

yesterday, eric spent most of the day painting our family room. it's pretty big and open, so i felt it was okay for me to help a bit too. he did all the prep work and started all the cutting in (there was lots of this due to the 4 doorways and 2 windows). i did the rolling...which took less than an hour. now we just have to get the 2 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms done. do you think we can do it before carter's born?!

and now the boys are sleeping and i'm getting to get caught up on all the online happenings.

an update

2008-10-29T11:31:00.000-07:00

well, we have internet now. it is dial-up, so i'm not sure if it really counts :) i guess that's one of the bummers about living out of town.
we've been busy these last few weeks. although we're getting closer to being all moved in, we still have some work to do. we want to get the basement painted in the next week and then finish getting stuff unpacked and organized down here. i'm really hoping to get this done before carter arrives (which will be in about 4 weeks, give or take...hopefully take!) we have an amazing view of the lake out here and lots of area to play. jackson's really seeming to enjoy himself out here. he's also started walked lots. he actually very rarely crawls anymore and just recently he's been able to stand up without having to hold on to something. i'm really glad he's getting the hang of walking...it will prove to be very helpful when we have another baby that will need to be carried around.
eric's been busy with work and doing stuff around the camp...mostly getting it ready for the winter. we've already had a number of reservation requests (even a group that wants to use it in february...it'll be cold and snowy!)
i was going to post a couple pictures, but alas...the slow internet is making it not possible at this time. i'll try again later (as in tomorrow or next week or some time after i have forgotten how miserable dial up is)

new home

2008-10-08T17:52:00.000-07:00

we've moved to our new home at twin lakes friends camp. we still have many boxes to unpack and some painting to get done, but it's nice to be there. yesterday eric and i talked about how it just feels right...i'm glad we are where we're supposed to be. i have a neat picture of our view, but because we don't have internet at home yet and i didn't bring my camera to the library, i can't show it to you. i'm hoping we get internet soon...i'm really missing it. until then, i probably won't be updating the blog much (not that i've been doing that great anyway).

the deer

2008-09-26T14:05:00.001-07:00

some deer found their way into our yard the other day...

jackson had lots of fun watching them roam around and eat our grass...
then the deer left...
jackson wasn't so happy anymore...
(he really was this upset about them being gone)

the quail

2008-09-26T14:01:00.000-07:00

one evening last week, we were sitting in the living room when we heard this loud thunk on the screen door. i had seen something out of the corner of my eye and thought someone had thrown a ball at the house. eric went to check out what was going on and found this:
a quail had flown into the window part of the screen door. it hung out on the porch for awhile while it regained it's composure. eric helped it off the porch and when we checked later it was gone. i'm just really glad we have a screen door. i HATE birds and would have been a mess if it had made it into the house.

false alarm

2008-09-24T18:52:00.000-07:00

because i know you all are very consumed with what's going on in jackson's mouth, i thought i should let you know that the 5th tooth announcement was made prematurely. i could see that a tooth was trying to make it's way through, but jackson never lets me feel to see if it has actually poked through. eric has a special in with the boy, so i had him feel for the tooth. he assured me it was through. well, today i was feeling around (sometimes i am able to, but mostly against jackson's will) i realized that tooth number 5 was still under the gums. so i apologize profusely for the incorrect information...i hope you can find it in your hearts to forgive us.

super important update...or maybe not that important

2008-09-23T18:51:00.001-07:00

jackson's 5th tooth made its appearance today. why do i want to make sure and document each tooth that comes in? will i do the same for carter? what will i do with this information...his baby book doesn't even have one of those teeth diagrams to record these vital statistics. oh well...i will still post this entry and you might be lucky enough to get to hear about jackson's 6th tooth. i bet you can't wait!

we're moving

2008-09-22T09:23:00.000-07:00

we applied for and got the job as camp manager/caretaker at twin lakes friends camp. what we'll be doing is living at the camp, doing general maintenance, taking care of rentals, and being involved with hiring and training the summer staff as well as the 6 weeks of camp each summer. it's not winterized, so at this point there won't be any rentals during the winter time...this will allow us time to not only take a break, but get things ready for the next season. after we move (which will be in the next couple weeks) we'll put our house on the market and pray that the right people come along to buy it. we are provided housing at the camp so that will be nice (and it's at least twice as big as our 720 sq ft house we're now it!) i'm sure there's more i could tell you, but can't think of it at this point. i'll try to get eric to write a blog so you can hear/read about our new adventure from his perspective.

jackson's 1st ear infection

2008-09-17T13:09:00.000-07:00

we went to jackson's 1 year checkup on monday. the timing was good because he had started getting sick late last week and i wanted to make sure it wasn't anything more than the common cold. when the doctor went to check jackson's right ear, he couldn't get a good view due to a large piece of ear wax (i know...kinda gross). after removing that (which, by the way, jackson HATED), he saw that jackson had an ear infection. i'm not sure if that had anything to do with his cold, but i'm sure glad we found out. so now jackson's on antibiotics and hopefully will be feeling back to normal real soon.

the park

2008-09-17T13:03:00.001-07:00

now that jackson is getting more mobile, he does more at the park besides sitting in the kiddy swing.

steering the boat...good thing it doesn't really move since he's not even close to seeing over the steering wheel
he had a lot of fun on the motorcycle
i think this tunnel was his favorite...he crawled back and forth through it probably 20 times

birthday blanket

2008-09-17T12:56:00.000-07:00

when my mom's first grandson turned 1, she made him a blanket that looked like her baby blanket. she has done the same for each of her grandkids' 1st birthdays. jackson received his in the mail yesterday. when eric opened the package jackson got really excited. although i'm sure he loves his blanket from grammy, i think he was thinking that daddy was going to play one of jackson's favorite games...put the blanket over my head, but don't take it off-i like it to just stay there. thanks for the blanket grammy (now you have to get busy making carter's...you have 1 year and 10 weeks!)

jackson's party

2008-09-15T07:23:00.000-07:00

we had jackson's birthday party on saturday at my in-laws house. we invited family to join in the celebration (including my sister and her 2 kids from newberg. she makes great cakes and i really wanted her to make jackson's 1st cake. thanks for making the long, quick trip!) we had a little bit to eat, jackson opened presents (with his dad's help of course) and we had cake. i think jackson's favorite parts where playing with his cousins and his new tractor. here are some pictures:

jen decorating the cake
opening the presents (with help from the cousins)
he wasn't sure what he thought of the birthday hat
one of his new toys...thanks oma and opa, he loves it!
eating his cake...that's about all he ate, too! (cute cake, huh?)

same cake grandma made for me on my 1st birthday
jackson with all his birthday guests.

cousins

2008-09-12T14:00:00.001-07:00

yesterday was my sister-in-law's birthday, so we watched their 3 kids while she and her husband went to dinner. jackson was definitely excited to have other kids around!

paige is almost 5 months old and had lots of fun in jackson's exersaucer

lauren and jackson in the cardboard house...they had a blast in there!

daniel's such a farm boy...he really liked playing with the barn and animals

paige-y poo...super cute!

fireman park

2008-09-12T13:57:00.000-07:00

there's a park just down the road that's behind the fire station. jackson's too little to play on the big firefighter hat, but he enjoyed the fire chief's car and other toys for smaller kids.

walking

2008-09-12T13:55:00.001-07:00

jackson's getting better and better at walking. he still prefers crawling, but the other day he walked all the way across the living room!

jackson's 1st birthday

2008-09-12T13:42:00.001-07:00

we didn't do too much on jackson's actual birthday because we're going to have his party tomorrow. we did make sure to celebrate the day a little, though. the day started with jackson giving me a present by sleeping in until 8am (an hour later than normal). after breakfast, we went to the middle school where i used to work to say hi to the other secretaries. we've visited them about once a month over the last year, so i thought it'd be fun to stop by on his birthday. of course he gets lots of attention from "his ladies". after that, we stopped by the store and i got him a happy face balloon. he played with it a lot that afternoon and is still playing with it quite a bit 2 days later. when eric got home from work he took jackson to dairy queen and they shared a hot fudge sundae and then they went to the book store where jackson picked out a fun noah's ark book. although i'm sure he didn't realize it was his birthday, he had a good day and we're looking forward to celebrating again with the extended family. here are some pictures of his day:

good morning birthday boy!
trying to figure out how to get his balloon in his cardboard house
success!
dairy queen!!!
yummy...ice cream

happy birthday little man

2008-09-10T07:06:00.001-07:00

it's jackson's 1st birthday today. like every parent of a 1 year old says...we can't believe how fast it's gone. he's gone from the sleeping, eating, crying, pooping, tiny baby to a little guy that has started to walk.

on our way home from the hospital a year ago...
...and now he can drive!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY LITTLE MAN...WE LOVE YOU VERY MUCH!

a quick review...

2008-09-09T20:48:00.001-07:00

we've had company for the last week, so i've been a bit absent from blogging. i wanted to jot a few things down to keep my many, many faithful readers informed with what's going on in the woods' lives...okay, so maybe i don't have many, many faithful readers but i just want to remember some of this stuff for later.
*jackson's been giving me kisses for the last couple days. it's do precious and they're not like the slobbery "kisses" i used to get from him. now it seems to be intentional and i love it!
*he's been taking more and more steps. our friends that are here were counting the other day and he took 20 steps in a row across the living room!
*his sleeping has continued to be excellent. i'm sooo grateful for that. he very rarely cries when we put him in his crib and sleeps 12 hours at night at takes 2 naps (usually for 1-1.5 hours each). today he missed his first nap because i've started going to a morning bible study. i was a little nervous about how he'd do, but it didn't seem to bother him much. i ended up putting him down a little early for his afternoon nap, but then he slept for just over 2 hours. to have him sleeping so well has been a huge blessing for his dad and i.
*tomorrow jackson turns 1! we have a small family bday party planned for him on saturday. my sister and her 2 kids and my mom are coming. i'm excited to have my sister make his 1st birthday cake.
*i have another doc appt tomorrow to check up on carter. after this appt, i'll be going every 2 weeks. i can't believe i'm already at that point in my pregnancy. it sure has gone faster this time around. in less than 3 months, we'll have another precious little man joining the family!

now, im off to bed...i'll try to get bday pictures and walking pictures up in early next week.

steps

2008-08-29T08:22:00.001-07:00

i'm a proud mama...jackson just took a couple steps all by himself! two times, he took two steps! it's just really fun to watch him learn and grow and do new things. in just a couple of weeks, we'll be celebrating his 1st birthday and maybe by then he'll be taking even more steps! (however, i'll be happy if he's walking well by the end of november when his baby brother will be born...which, by the way is less than 90 days away!)

another tooth

2008-08-23T08:26:00.000-07:00

jackson's 4th tooth finally made it's appearance on thursday. i know, not necessarily very exciting news, but i want to post it so i remember for his baby book. deal with it!

nature

2008-08-22T14:28:00.000-07:00

we've had some neat sunsets recently...this is one i got a picture of last week. i think it kinda looks like a fire.
we've been having lots of rain the last few days (which i've really enjoyed) and last evening, as the rain stopped and the sun came out, we saw the most amazing rainbow. the picture doesn't do it justice...

jackson's new house

2008-08-22T14:22:00.000-07:00

eric brought a big cardboard box home last friday to make a house for jackson. he got to work on it after jackson went to bed on sunday night. he left it out in the living room as a surprise for jackson on monday morning. he told me not to show it to jackson, but to wait and see what he'd do. it didn't take him long to find his new house...and he loved it!

this is him looking through the window
even daddy can fit inside...aren't they cute?!

100 days to go!

2008-08-18T09:02:00.000-07:00

only 100 more days until my due date. here's to hoping carter decides to not make it too much longer than that...CHEERS!

sleeping, part II

2008-08-18T08:53:00.000-07:00

it's been just over a week since we've allowed jackson the pleasure of learning to fall asleep on his own. IT'S BEEN GREAT! he's now sleeping from 7pm to 7am each night (it's been that way for the last 6 or 7 nights) without needed any assistance from mom or dad! his naps started out a little rockier...he kept waking up after just 30 minutes. we tried letting him cry to see if he'd fall back asleep, we tried holding him to get him back to sleep, we tried a little of both and he kept waking up. i tried to stay patient knowing it had only been a few days, and what do you know?...he's started getting past that 30 minute mark and has been taking 1 1/2 hour naps twice a day for the last few days! i can't tell you how much less stress there is in the woods' house. i was starting to get kinda worried thinking about how i was going to deal with rocking jackson to sleep for his naps (and often once or twice during his naps cause he would wake up a lot) and at night while dealing with a newborn. i'm sooooo happy we read healthy sleep habits, happy child by marc weissbluth. i highly recommend it to anyone with kids or anyone planning to have kids.
oh, yeah...he also cries very little or not at all when we put him down now!

helping?

2008-08-15T10:27:00.001-07:00

jackson decided he'd help me with the laundry this morning. he doesn't know how to fold clothes yet, so he thought it'd be helpful to pull the basket off the couch. it ended up on his head!

thanks to help from his mom, he finally got the basket off his head.

look mom...no hands

2008-08-15T10:22:00.000-07:00

i think i mentioned that jackson's been learning to stand on his own...i got this picture the other day. he'll only do it if he has something in his hands...i think that he concentrates in it rather than the fact he's standing. this week he's also taken a step between furniture a few times. he'll let go of the chair and take a step to the couch, then hold on again. there's something exciting about the fact that he'll be walking soon, but i also realize that means even more chasing!

sleeping

2008-08-09T11:16:00.001-07:00

so my friend sent me this book. after reading most the parts that applied to babies of jackson's age, i realized jackson really needs to get more sleep and better sleep. one thing i really like about this book is that he doesn't say here's how you get your baby to sleep and if you don't do it this way, you're a bad mom. he does, however, recommend some ways of helping your child get the best quality sleep...namely helping him learn to fall asleep on his own. we knew it would mean some crying. i knew i'd have to wait until the weekend when eric would be home for emotional support. last night was our first attempt. while we were listening to jackson cry i told eric, "i'm sure this is going to be one of those things where we look back in a few days and say...'we should have done this sooner.'" and i think i'm right. within 25 minutes jackson was sound asleep and slept for 9 hours straight. i fed him, put him back down, and then he slept until 6:45am. then it was time for his 1st nap. eric was huckleberry picking this morning so i was on my own. i fed jackson his bottle and prayed that he would fall asleep quickly. he cried for 13 minutes and slept for 1 1/2 hours. already he's been sleeping better than he has in a few weeks...and it's just our 1st day!!! i knew it worked for other babies and other families, i just wasn't sure it'd work for us. i'm so glad we're headed down this road. especially with another one coming in a few months. (who's name, by the way, we've settled on...carter gregory. carter is from the movie the bucket list and gregory is eric's dad's name.)
so...here's to better sleep for all of us. at least for a few more months! :)

standing

2008-08-09T11:12:00.000-07:00

over the last couple weeks, jackson has been practicing standing unassisted. although it's usually only for a second or two, he's getting there. and yesterday he stood for at least 10 seconds while he was focusing on something else. pretty soon he'll be taking steps, then running, then going to school, then getting married...okay i'll stop there and just enjoy today :)

company

2008-08-09T10:26:00.000-07:00

my aunt carolyn and uncle ron stayed at our place last monday for the night on their way to montana. it was fun to get to spend some time with them and jackson really enjoyed having them around. we took them for a walk on the boardwalk and then eric bbq'd some chicken for dinner. they stayed in our "guest house" (our new camper) and then were on their way. although it was a short trip, we enjoyed having them here. one highlight was uncle ron doing the dishes after dinner and breakfast. what an awesome guy!

jackson with his great-aunt carolyn
uncle ron and eric chatting

family fun night

2008-08-09T10:08:00.001-07:00

last sunday evening we had family fun night at eric's oma and opa's. here are some cute pictures:

jackson with his opa
our niece, lauren, looking at pictures with her great oma & opa
eric's brother and sister with our nephew, daniel
aren't we cute?! me and my mom-in-law
jackson with his cousin, paige

our brother-in-law, darrin, with his daughter

1st haircut

2008-08-05T09:37:00.000-07:00

last saturday jackson had his first haircut. he didn't have lots of hair to be cut, but our main purpose was to get rid of his baby mullet. after he was born he lost all of his hair except this little strip in the back that looked like a little mullet (or a mustache). and as his hair started growing back his mullet just kept growing longer. it got to the point that we couldn't handle it anymore...so we took him to a kids' haircutting place. he got to sit on a purple and white zebra, watch a baby einstein video, play with toys and have a sucker! with all these distractions he did really well. i was surprised at what a difference it made. he's lookin' sharp now! they even gave us a little certificate with a bit of his hair commemorating his 1st haircut!

before...you can kinda see his baby mullet in this picture
playing with toys on the purple & white zebra
he even sat really still while she used the clippers...the sucker helped, i'm sure!
after
no more mullet!

peas and lamb

2008-07-31T13:47:00.001-07:00

guess what?...jackson likes peas! a long time ago i blogged about how he didn't really like his veggies so i'd hide peas and green beans in his avocado. well, the other day we gave him a non-pureed pea and he ate it...and loved it. as a matter of fact he ate lots of them. and last night he ate lots more.

last night he also had some of his dad's lamb sausage...and he really loved that as well. i'm really liking that he can feed himself some now. and he's even learning that just because there's food on his tray doesn't mean it needs to all go in his mouth at once.

eating his peas!
yummy...lamb (notice how all the peas are gone?)

pictures from newberg

2008-07-31T13:42:00.000-07:00

i said i'd post pictures from my trip to newberg. apparently i thought i took more pictures than i really did, but here are a few cute ones (unfortunately i didn't get any pictures of micah playing with jackson even though they played together all the time...)

kiah gave jackson a mohawk...i'm not sure if you can see it very well in this picture, but it was real cute
kisses from cousin kiah
kiah wanted to get in the pack-n-play with jackson...then she was just being silly

just like grandpa-pictures

2008-07-31T13:39:00.001-07:00

i recently blogged about how jackson sticks his tongue out just like grandpa hampton, and the other day i got a couple pictures. (while we were camping with the whole family over the 4th of july, i tried to get one of dad but he caught on real quick and tried mighty hard to not stick is tongue out...i'll keep trying, though!)

mr. friendly

2008-07-28T08:54:00.000-07:00

jackson is a really friendly guy. for example, yesterday at church eric was holding him and talking to one of our pastors and jackson just leaned over to have our pastor hold him. right after that he did the same thing with one of our ushers. it seems like he does it more often with the guys...we've noticed how much he really likes guys (especially his daddy!). jackson also really like other babies and kids. this is really helpful on sundays when we have him go to the nursery during church and it was especially helpful last week during yearly meeting when i had to go to board meetings and it allowed me to go to the evening sessions and hear tony campolo without worrying about him.
so far his friendliness hasn't caused concern, but eric mentioned yesterday that we'll have to start talking to him about strangers soon. how much would he understand at this point? i'm not sure, but it doesn't hurt to start early.

lots of movement

2008-07-27T14:58:00.000-07:00

baby #2 (sorry little man, daddy hasn't given the final okay of the name i want for you...so until then, you'll be baby #2. please don't think that we think you're 2nd best or 2nd rate or anything negative like that. it's just that you're our 2nd baby and we'll love you to pieces like we do your brother)...back to the story. baby #2 has been moving lots these days. i felt him move for the 1st time quite some time ago, but he's been getting more and more active recently and that's fun for me. it also makes it more real that in less than 4 months we'll have another itsy-bitsy baby boy.
why is it that everyone is calling us crazy for having our little guys so close together? i'm sure i'll find out! but eric and his sister are less than a year apart and my sister and i are less than 25 minutes apart for goodness sakes...i'm sure we'll be able to handle it.
we're learning more and more about jackson's personality and have discovered how much he likes other babies and kids. i think he's going to love having a brother (although he may get fairly bored with him at first). and it's not like it was some accident that we got pregnant again so quickly...we are aware how babies are created! maybe that makes us more crazy...now you're thinking, "you mean you planned for this to happen?" to that i say, "yes!" so, now i'll stop defending myself and you can just look forward to hearing all kinds of crazy stories coming from the woods' household in the future!

last week

2008-07-26T14:36:00.000-07:00

jackson and i just got back from a week in my hometown, newberg. we were there for our denomination's annual gathering of churches in the northwest (NWYM). we were also there to see family. we stayed at my sister's house which was really fun. micah and kiah (my nephew and niece) seemed to have lots of fun playing with jackson and jackson definitely had fun playing with them. unfortunately it's a pretty busy week for most of my family (seems like they're all involved in one way or another with yearly meeting) so i didn't get to spend much time with most of them. but we had a good time anyway. i think i have a few cute pictures that i haven't gotten off my camera yet...i'll try to do that in the near future.
while we were gone, eric was at home. although he worked all week, he stayed up late and got up early to completely redo our bathroom! he put in a new window and tub surround, as well as new paint, new flooring and all new towel bars, etc. it looks great. i'll try to also post pictures of it soon, too.
also while we were gone eric got our camp trailer set up so that it can be used as a guest house. he got it hooked up the the septic and electric. we're really excited about it because our house is so small (i mean small...like just over 700 sq feet) so it'll be nice to have space for family and friends to stay when they come visit.
and one last thing. jackson's 3rd tooth finally broke through on thursday. i'm excited for him to get more teeth so he'll be able to eat more big people food. he always wants to eat what we're eating, but is not able to always. so hopefully, he'll get more teeth sooner than later. and this time it didn't seem to bug him nearly as much as when he got his 1st two teeth. he slept well and didn't seem to get very grumpy or anything...hopefully that will continue as he gets more teeth!

california

2008-07-18T14:27:00.001-07:00

we went to california last weekend for eric's grandma's funeral. although it was a bummer to have to go for that reason, it was really good to see eric's grandpa and other extended family. grandma's service was...nice? not sure what word to use there. it was a wonderful time for her family and friends (lots of them) to honor her life. her 2 sons and a niece that lived with them for a number of years when they were young each shared. they told funny stories and serious stories and made me wish i knew her better.

we were also able to have some fun while we were there and i'm sure grandma was just fine with that!

jackson with his uncle dan on the plane

jackson's 1st time in a pool...he wasn't too fond of it :)

jackson with his great-grandpa, jack (who he was named after)

jackson's 1st time at the beach

a pretty sunset right out front of grandpa's house

a visitor

2008-07-10T14:09:00.000-07:00

as i was eating my breakfast jackson was playing in the living room. i heard him at the screen door talking and laughing and banging on the door. he likes standing at the screen door, but i've never heard him having such a good time. so i had to go check out what was so exciting for him. there was a black cat sitting on our front steps just looking at jackson. i was surprised it stayed put even with all of jackson's noise.

big people food

2008-07-10T13:58:00.000-07:00

it's been nice that jackson can now eat some big people food. some of his recent favorites are baked potatoes, fishy crackers (with the tails eaten off first. he kept gagging on the whole cracker and by me biting the tails off first, he's able to get some saliva in the middle of the cracker which helps it dissolve better), shredded cheese, his grandpa's french toast and the really healthy things like pudding and licorice. i'm looking forward to the time when he'll be able to eat the same meal we eat.

jackson's new game

2008-07-10T13:54:00.001-07:00

jackson has started playing the "i'll drop by toy, you pick it up and give it back to me, just so that i can drop it again" game. we were walking to the college for the really big raffle we had bought a ticket for. (we were hoping to win the $300,000 house...better luck next time.) jackson was playing with his little duck. he would hold it over the side of his stroller for a few seconds, then he'd let go. it was funny to watch him look at the duck as we continued on the way. eric would then pick it up and give it back. then comes the part where jackson did this over and over and over and over again. it was actually kinda cute and fun to play, though i know it'd get old real quick.

it's 7:45am...

2008-07-10T07:46:00.000-07:00

...and jackson is still sleeping! while i think this is great, i'm also a fan of routine. he usually gets up by 6:30 has his first nap between 8:30 and 9 and then another one between 12 and 1pm. what's going to happen today? there's no way he'll be ready for a nap by 9 this morning. will he just take one nap today? will he take two naps but just later? what will that do at his normal bedtime? will he be ready to go to sleep by 7:30? if not, will he sleep late again tomorrow morning? oh, boy...what's an anal mother to do?! maybe i should just try to relax :)

oh...guess who's waking up? i'll let you know how the day goes!

annual camping trip

2008-07-09T09:46:00.000-07:00

we had a good time camping with the family last weekend. it was our 7th annual 4th of july camping excursion. this year we met up at ll stub stewart state park in oregon. there was a little bit of rain off and on, but we had fun anyway. on saturday all of us went to camp 18 for breakfast and my brothers, matt and drew, and matt's girlfriend, mandy joined us. this was the 1st time we'd all been together in a long time...it was fun! eric and i enjoyed using our camper for the 1st time and jackson had a good time on his first camping trip. the older cousins liked playing with him and kept him entertained often. all of us at camp 18

eric and i enjoying hot cocoa around the campfire

jennie teaching kiah how to play horseballs

micah and kiah keeping jackson entertained

camping

2008-07-01T13:54:00.000-07:00

we will be heading out in a couple of hours for our 7th annual family camping trip. each 4th of july we join my dad and step-mom, brother and sister and their spouses and kids for camping. it is something eric and i look forward to each year and are excited to have jackson along for his 1st time camping. this year we're extra-super excited because we'll be stopping in newberg to pick up our new (to us) camper that we got. we got a good deal on it and can't wait to give it a try!
i've made many lists and i think i've got everything ready, so now we just wait for eric to get home and we're outta here. i'm sure i'll have fun stories and pictures to post when we return.

just like grandpa

2008-06-27T08:27:00.000-07:00

i realized this morning that jackson sticks his tongue out just like grandpa hampton does. he was trying to pull himself up on the couch and i saw his little tongue sticking out and curling up towards his nose...just like grandpa does when he's concentrating on something. i remember my dad doing this the most when we were at a gas station and dad was washing the windshield. maybe jackson will someday be able to touch the tip of his nose with his tongue...what do you think dad?

it's a...

2008-06-25T19:26:00.000-07:00

...boy! we had our ultrasound and are excited that jackson will have a little brother to play with and boss around. although, since they'll only be 15 months apart, i don't know how much bossing the younger brother will take :)
the ultrasound pictures weren't very good this time, but i'll probably be having another one in about six weeks. they weren't able to get all the baby's measurements they wanted and although there doesn't seem to anything to worry about, they just like to be sure. so hopefully with the next one i'll get better pictures to show off.

a jackson update

2008-06-25T07:43:00.000-07:00

it seems like it's been awhile since i've posted about what jackson's doing. he's still sleeping quite well at night. we no longer have to feed him during the night, but we're still having issues with runaway pacifiers. they fall through the slats in the crib then he wakes up and wants it. so, we're still having to get up a couple times each night to give him his pacifier, but that will soon be taken care of (hopefully) with the bumper i ordered. i rarely get pictures of him sleeping, because i wouldn't want to risk waking up a sleeping baby. this one was from sunday when we had to wake him up a little early to get to church. i like how his arm is resting on his back.

one of jackson's new favorite things is to stand at the screen door and watch the world got by. he looks like such a big boy.

another cute thing jackson does is bury his face in his stuffed animals and make an "oooo" sound. he also does this on pillows the couch my knee...whatever he can shove his face against.

i've mentioned before how great of a dad eric is. it seems like he and jackson are growing closer and closer...jackson's definitely a daddy's boy. when eric gets home from work, jackson'll hear him at the door and stop whatever he's doing to crawl as fast as he can to meet his daddy. it reminds me of dino greeting fred flinstone when he gets home from work. this is a picture of eric and jackson playing with the gate between them. eric will reach through and tickle jackson and play peek-a-boo. jackson gets such a kick out of it.

some other things jackson's learning: he's starting to walk along furniture and around the outside of his exersaucer. and i think he's learning how to wave. usually while he's eating he'll start opening and closing his hand and just watch it like he's amazed he's doing it...it's really cute. and a couple of times he has waved back to eric and i. it's weird to think that i may be soon blogging about him taking his first steps and saying his first real words...time flies!

*on another note, we have an ultrasound today and will hopefully find out if jackson's going to have a brother or a sister!

About Grandma

2008-06-20T15:43:00.000-07:00

Grandma and Me (Eric) 1983
So, my Grandma passed away this morning. Besides my Grandma passing, the only other family that I have lost is a dog that I wasn't really attached to anyway. I cried a little when I was putting Jackson to sleep this evening. I think it was because I was just sitting there and had time to think about Grandma. I don't usually cry about anything. Ever. I think what saddens me the most is how she died, where she died, and who was with her. Don't get me wrong, I love and miss Grandma, but I grew up in Idaho and she lived in California. It is hard to build a strong relationship with someone you only see every other year. Anyway, she died in the car, on the way to the hospital with my Grandpa driving, of a possible heart attack. Grandpa is all but deaf, blind in one eye, and has trouble communicating because of his hearing. We estimate that she passed between 2:30 and 3 a.m. My dad didn't get a call until about 7:30 a.m. What was Grandpa doing in between? Did he know what was going on? Did he contact anyone else to be with him? Were the doctors able to communicate with him? Was he crying? Did he and Grandma get to say goodbye? She was alive when they left for the hospital, and slumped over in the seat on the way. He thought she was reaching for something in the back. I don't know what I would do. I just feel really sad about the situation. Kind of a "coulda, shoulda, woulda" feeling. Maybe I could have written more letters or e-mails. Maybe I could have called. Maybe I could have visited more often. A piece of the family, of my genetic makeup, doesn't exist in physical form anymore, yet life is still supposed to go on.
As I was putting Jackson to bed I thought about Grandma and cried out to God (Jesus) to bring comfort to Grandpa and Dad and Uncle Mike. I cried out for comfort for myself. I don't know when I last had enough tears that they fell off my face. I then remembered the good times we had, like when the whole family flew to Oceanside, CA to visit them a few years ago for their fiftieth wedding anniversary. They didn't know we were coming and I don't think that I have ever seen anyone so happy. I remembered our family trip last spring, when we all went to CA again, this time with two great-grandkids. I remembered when I went by myself during college and they drug me all over Southern California. I remembered the sleeping bag that they gave me when I was five or so. I still have it and my son will be able to use it in a year or two. More recently, I remembered my son's dedication at church. Grandma and Grandpa flew up to be there with us for the occasion. I remember how I mistakenly called Grandma two weeks ago, (we have never spoken for more than five minutes on the phone) and talked with her for half-an-hour. I learned some things about her past, she asked how Jackson was doing and about how cute the pictures we sent her were. I remembered that the last thing I said to her was "I love you". Those are important words. As I think about all the pictures I have of Grandma and all the things we have done together, I feel Grandma saying," I love you". Even though Grandma is gone, I know that she understood that Jesus loved her, and she loved Him back. I understand that Jesus loves me and I love Him back. I know that when she made it home Jesus greeted her with a loud, "HOTDOG!", and a big hug. Grandma's life is just beginning. She is up in heaven at the right hand of God, watching and waiting. I am confident that I will be able to hug my Grandma again one day.

By Eric

we miss grammy and papa

2008-06-18T08:36:00.000-07:00

now don't get me wrong, we're glad to be back home and especially glad to be with eric/daddy. but we miss grammy and papa while eric's at work. it was really nice for jackson and i to have someone else to share the day with. my mom and step-dad were great. they really helped keeping him happy and entertained (it's quite a bit of work these days). papa was always good at calming jackson when he got fussy. one day, dick (papa) got down on the floor with jackson and they played for quite awhile together. i wanted to get some pictures, but didn't want to interrupt their fun. it was also nice to be able to eat a meal in peace. mom and dick would play with jackson so i got to eat while my food was still warm! jackson's not much of a cuddle bug (he likes to be moving about too much), but grammy seemed to always be able to calm him down and get a little cuddling in.
thanks for a fun week grammy and papa...we'll be back soon!

on another note...i had mentioned that jackson slept great while in seattle (including sleeping through the night all but one night), but that he didn't seem to continue that when we got home. well, i'm happy to report that the last 2 nights were pretty good. he made it through without needing a bottle and last night eric had to get up just once to cover him up and slide him down in the crib (he tends to scoot up and then he keeps bonking his head).

2008-06-16T09:44:00.000-07:00

we're back home. jackson and i spent the last week at his grammy and papa's in seattle. we had a really good time. our week even included a visit with my good friend, lauren and her son, caleb (we only got to see troy [lauren's husband] for a little, since he had to work). probably one of the biggest highlights for me was that jackson slept through the night 5 out of our 6 nights there. (i mean through the night...like 11-12 hours!) unfortunately that did not happen last night. i'm hoping the long car ride home, getting to bed late and being a little cold was what caused the change and that tonight and forevermore he'll sleep through the night...i'll keep you posted! there were lots of other fun things as well. it was fun to watch jackson interact with grammy and papa. he doesn't get to see them often enough, but it took no time for him to warm up to them and keep them busy chasing him around. one of the first things we did when we got there was baby-proof the house. this was really nice, since my boy is quite the adventurer and is constantly exploring everything. with the house basically baby-proof, he was able to explore and we didn't have to constantly be telling him no.
the day i spent with lauren and caleb was also really fun. caleb and jackson are less than 2 weeks apart, so it was fun to watch them interact. lauren took me to her favorite tea shop (part of my birthday present) and we got to just hang out and chat and try to keep up with 2 9-month olds.

so, now we're going to try to get back to our at-home routine...and hopefully that good sleeping at night!

here are some pictures from the week:

jackson relaxing with papa
mom was fixing some pants for me and jackson got such a kick out of the sewing machine. i'm not sure what it was that he found so funny, but he laughed and laughed
jackson's great-grandma, doris made this hat...a little big for now, but still oh-so cute
jackson and caleb at the tea shop lauren took me to...such precious boys

it's been a long day

2008-06-07T17:13:00.000-07:00

it's days like today that really make me realize how much i appreciate all eric does to help with jackson. eric is in spokane all day today, tomorrow and both saturday and sunday of next weekend for a class. and by all day i mean ALL DAY. he leaves the house at 6am and won't be back until 6:30pm. okay, enough complaining. i am going to be positive and thankful for how much eric does do when he's home. he always gives jackson his baths in the evenings (i've only given him one in the last 5 or 6 months), he often feeds him his dinner as well as puts him to bed most nights. oh, and i can't forget to mention that he also gets up to feed jackson in the middle of the night (when will he finally sleep through the night?). so, kudos to my wonderful husband. and thankfully, i'll be at my mom's next weekend, so jackson and i will have plenty of company.

100th post

2008-06-07T11:08:00.000-07:00

this is my 100th post...congratulations to me!

happy 80th birthday oma

2008-06-05T09:21:00.000-07:00

yesterday was eric's oma's 80th birthday. her 3 daughters were all there, as well as lots of grandkids and all her great-grandkids. it was lots of fun.

the birthday girl blowing out her candles

oma with her 4 great-grandkids

random pictures

2008-06-04T09:22:00.001-07:00

jackson new favorite toy

2008-06-04T09:18:00.000-07:00

we've been told by the folks that work in the nursery at church that jackson loves playing with the balls. while at target the other day, i found this big red ball. it's his new favorite toy.

swimming pool

2008-06-04T09:14:00.000-07:00

last saturday was a pretty warm day. jackson didn't take his afternoon nap, so we needed to find something to keep him entertained (we didn't want grumpy jackson). we found this cute froggy pool...
of course as soon as we got it set up and filled with warm water, it started raining. oh, well...at least i got a cute picture!

clapping pictures

2008-06-04T09:11:00.000-07:00

on monday i mentioned that jackson started clapping. i tried to get some pictures of his new trick. this is the best i could do...

clap your hands

2008-06-02T19:48:00.001-07:00

it seems as though jackson has learned how to clap. it's actually really cute. ever since he was really little, if he had something in each hand he would bang them together. and sometimes he'd just bang his hands together without anything in them. i'm kinda surprised he didn't start clapping sooner. it's quite amazing to watch him learning so much. i can hardly believe all the new things he's doing and saying just in the last few weeks!