Leaving For Vacation

We are leaving tomorrow to meet Steve's parents and cousin in Sanibel, FL. I am looking forward to sleeping in and visiting with family. I am also looking forward to a bit of time off with school. When we come back from Sanibel it will be my last week of student teaching. It is bittersweet...I am so excited to be graduating and start the process of getting a job but I am going to miss all of the kiddos from the class that I was in and I am going to miss the mentorship that I have received from my supervising teacher. THANK YOU to all of you!!

Okinawa Here We Come!

I took the day off school today because of the ER visit last night and Jackson isn't allowed to go back to the CDC until tomorrow. We were trying to catch up on sleep when Steve called to tell me that he finally got his orders and we are moving to Okinawa. We will be stationed at Kadena AF Base. We will be leaving Florida at the end of January when Steve will head to Altus, Oklahoma where he will learn how to fly the KC-135. Soon thereafter, Jackson and I will meet up with him after doing a little cross country drive. We are welcoming all visitors to Pensacola in the last couple of months, or the more adventurous are welcome to come visit us in Okinawa. I may be giving some of you a call for a place to stay on our cross country journey. We are very excited about the adventures to come and hope to see many of you before we leave the States.

E.R.

We are all okay and got home at 2:00 am this morning. Jackson was sent home from the CDC yesterday with a a fever and Steve was the great Dad and took him to the doctor after he picked him up. The doctor said that there was nothing to be concerned about but that his right ear was trying to get another infection. He was very snuggly today that is a big indication that Jackson is sick. He would just lay on the couch and lay his head down on our laps. It was so sweet but that is how we know he is sick.

After Steve gave him a bath and we gave him so Tylenol I was getting ready to put him to bed when I noticed he was super warm. I took his temperature and it was 104.5. I told Steve that I did not feel good about that and I think that we should take him to the hospital. So we loaded up in the car. Jackson was throwing up every ten minutes. Once we got to the hospital they took his temp. again and it was still 104.8. The nurses were great and they started to pump him full of Motrin and Tylenol. They also said that his right ear did look a little infected but that would not have been the reason for such a high temperature. They had to run a bunch of tests that were horrible for all of us. They had to give Jackson an IV and we had to hold him down for it. It was so sad. But they were able to draw the blood that they needed and if they would have required more medicine they would have been able to give it to him this way. We were all not very excited when they wanted to get a urine sample. They had to use a catheter and it was such a horrible cry. After all the tests he was so worn out we got him to sleep for a little bit. All in all it was just a high temperature and a start of an ear infection. We were able to get home at about 2:00 am after stopping by Wal-greens to pick up his antibiotics.

Birthday Party!!

Today was Jackson's First Birthday Party! We had a small gathering for him at our house where we grilled out and had birthday cake. We were so blessed to have so many friends that came to celebrate with us. Jackson received some many great gifts and we are very thankful.

He loved the truck Carissa and Joe gave him.

Opening gifts

I don't think that he liked the hat!

His cake. (Yes... I made it)

It was a slow start

But I think that he liked it after all!

I can't believe that it has been a year!

A year ago I was sitting in the hospital wanting to go home and start our new life with our newest addition. When I think about it now it just feels like he has always been here. On November 13, 2007 I felt as it might be the day but I wasn't going to say anything to anyone or say it out loud after I had been to the hospital a week prior on a false alarm. So that morning I went to the school where I was doing my practicum to talk to my teacher about my lesson plan that I would be presenting the next day. That afternoon I went about running errands as I usually did. Steve was flying that day but was coming home early to go with me to my final OB appointment. At 3:15 the contractions started. I had been having contractions for the last couple of days but these were finally coming at a regular rate. They were all ten minutes apartment. Steve went into cleaning mode and straighting because we had a feeling that we might not be coming home after the appointment. The contractions did NOT feel good. Steve keep track of the contractions has a stood cringing against the wall. We got in the car for my appointment at 4:15 after packing the car just in case! We decided to call the parents on our way and told them that we would call them after the appointment to let them know what was going on.

We went into our appointment and I told the doctor that the contractions we ten minutes apart and she told me the disappointing news that they were not going to send me to the hospital unless they were five minutes apart and that I should go home and "try" to get some rest. She then checked to see if I was dilated and told me that I was only 1 cm. I was ready to cry and looked at Steve with disappointment. I was so uncomfortable and ready to have this baby. But as soon as the doctor delivered the news to us she noticed that my water might have broke. She did a quick check and sure enough it had! She told us we had to go to the hospital and that she would call ahead and they would have a room ready when we arrived.

We left the doctors office to drive the 15 minutes to Sacred Heart and called everyone on the way. Steve's parents got in the car and started driving down. My parents on the other hand I had a problem get a hold of. I finally got a hold of my Dad who then got a hold of my Mom. She was going to teach a quilting class and could not get a flight out. Side note: I was suppose to be induced on the 19th and this was the 13th. Everyone was going to be coming in the weekend of the 17th and 18th so that they would all be here. So we made it to the hospital and my room was ready to go. Here we go!

I checked into the hospital at about 5:30 and I was feeling good, nervous, and excited about what was about to happen. They gave me an IV and patocin to help the labor along. Now that my water had broke I was at rest for infection and so was the baby. I labored through the pain but I was ready for my epidural when I was about 5 cm it was about 9:00. I was really ready about an hour earlier but my blood work had not come back so they were unable to give it to me yet. They offered me a little something to take the "edge off" through my IV and I took it. And just a note to myself for the future...I hated it. It made me feel like I had 26 margaritas. The room was spinning and since I was still experiencing the contractions it was too much to handle. But I was so surprised that the epidural didn't hurt as much as I thought that it would but I am sure that in comparison to what the contractions were like this was nothing. Now I was really ready and feeling great. Jackson keep trying to give us all a scare by letting his heart rate drop. They put me on oxygen and had me lay on my left side. After seeing Jackson and holding him and see that he already had a grip I think that he was gripping onto his umbilical and clenching onto it.

Steve had a small bench on the side of my room and we both tried to catch a nap and were successful most of the time unless the nurse came into to check the progress. By 1:00 am it was time to push after pushing for 2 hours Jackson finally made his debut at 3:06am, weighting in at 8 lbs 5 oz and 21 inches long. We made our phone calls to the parents and my mom asked does he have any hair...no...and he still doesn't. :) The nurses also told us that he was a big baby for someone that was 5 days early. They later told me after checking him out and seeing how scaly he was (dry skin on hands and feet) that he was really probably 2 weeks past due. No wonder I was so miserable!

I am sure that most people don't really care about this but I wanted to remember it and I was afraid that I would start to forget it.

Jackson is ONE!!!

Today my little man is one year old. I can't not believe how fast a year can go by when some of the days seem to drag on. Steve took the day off from one and I took the day off from student teaching. We decided we wanted to spend the day as a family and do something that we had been talking about doing but could never find the time to do. We knew that if we said that we were going to do it for Jackson's birthday we would do it so today we drove through Destin to the small community of Seaside. Before we left we opened the gifts from our family. Aunt Courtney, Uncle Ian, and Kate sent him a very cute shirt, hat, and a little V-Tech laptop that plays music. He loves anything that plays music. Honey and Papa sent him a Little Peoples farm tracker that also plays some music and a lot of great Carters clothes. Which is great because he has grown so much and so quickly that he was in need of clothes. Grandma and Grandpa send him some cute Air Force socks, "Goodnight Moon", and Grandma also knitted him some wash cloths. Thank you to everyone!!
We enjoyed the drive down and Jackson slept most of the way down. It was really warm today and we enjoyed eating lunch at a little cafe just outside of Seaside. It is a beautiful drive and it was a gorgeous day. We were so glad that the rain held off so that we could enjoy a much needed day away as a family. We bought Jackson his very own lunch instead of bringing him baby food or sharing ours with him. He had grilled cheese and pasta salad and he ate more for lunch than I did. He has become quite the eater.

After lunch we were off to Seaside and when we got there it was so cute and we walked around the community and looked at all of the houses that all had names of their own. It reminded me a lot of Martha's Vineyard with the different colored houses and how quiet it is. When my family use to come to Destin for our vacations we would drive over to Seaside and we would always get some ice cream. That was my only request when we went over there and we did get some ice cream and Jackson even got to try some ice cream for the first time. We had a great time spending the day with Jackson and we are looking forward to his party tomorrow!

One year ago today!

A great friend of ours, Joellynn Jones, offered to take some maternity pictures of Steve and I and since Jackson came so quickly after the photo shoot I thought that I would post them now. I want to be able to remember this years from now. It was a Sunday morning and I remember running late because I felt bad that morning. (Could it have been that I was going to go into labor in less than 48 hours?) We had a great photo shoot and I had a great time during it all. I was a little uncomfortable because I was so big but I thought that the photos turned out well. I know that I wait so long because I was swollen that day but I will always remember how big I was and will remember why...because I had a big boy in there!

Pilot Wives

I have joined this new group at http://www.pilotwivesclub.com/ It was started by a girl that is stationed at the same base as we are. I love joining groups like these that I can connect with women that are going through the same situations that I am. Here is to making connections with moms and other women.

Well Friday we went Trick-or-Treating with Jackson for his first Halloween. I think that he had more fun playing with the flash light and dumping the candy out of his bucket than anything else. He is not walking yet but he has been trying. He walked up to one house with me...it was SO cute. On Thursday Steve and I saw him take his first steps. He would take three or four before he would lose his balance and give up. But tonight, he walked between Steve and I about eight feet. We were so excited for him and were cheering him on that he would get excited and lose his balance again. He is getting to be such a big boy!