Big Man On Campus!!

I can't believe my little man is such a big guy now. Today I thought that I would let him try eating his applesauce by himself instead of feeding it to him. And to the surprise to both Steve and I he took the spoon and shoveled in two helpings of applesauce. You could just tell that he thought that he was so big also. He was all smiles!!!

I know I have some back blogging to do about our trip to Spokane and I hope to get my pictures uploaded soon. We were so blessed to be able to be in the hospital to welcome the newest member of the family....Miss Emma Grace.

We would also like to ask for your thoughts and prayer tomorrow. Jackson is going in at 8 am to get tubes in his ears. He has had a lot of recurring ear infections that never seem to get better. And after much consideration from us and the Ped. Dr. we are going to put tubes in his ears and hope that this will help alleviate the problem. I know that it is going to be an easy and routine surgery I am just nervous because Steve is unable to go with us. Thanks to the Air Force. :) He has two classes and then a sim. The hospital that this is taking place is an hour away. I just ask for your prayers that the surgery goes well and that both Jackson and I have the strength. It is going to be hard to let them take him away and know that he is going to be in the operating room without me.

Back Home!

Before I started to write this post I was reading back at old posts that I have written throughout the pregnancy with Jackson. I can't believe how far we have come. Jackson has come so far and he is the light of my life. I am so blessed to spend my days with him. He is growing up to be such a little man. So Jackson when you read this later in life you are the best part of my day. I love to hear you call my name, I love your snuggles, hugs, and your kisses. The best are when you stop playing and walk over to just give me a kiss and turn back around and continue playing. I love you!!!

We are all safely back in Oklahoma after a trip to Spokane. Jackson had a great time with his cousin “ate”, Kate. They were the best of friends and Jackson has been missing Kate, Aunt Courtney, and Uncle Ian. We have been working on saying more names. It was so nice to be able to see Honey while we were out at Courtney’s house also. Honey enjoyed giving baths to both of the bigger kiddos. It is so weird to say that Jackson and Kate are the big kiddos. Poor Emma doesn’t know what she has gotten herself into. :) Kate is a great big sister and we talked about Emma with her every day. Even Jackson got in on it. While Kate can say Emma’s name Jackson was content calling her baby. He liked to point out all the things that belonged to the baby. He liked to pat her and give her kisses.

We were all together to celebrate both my mom’s birthday on the 29th and mine on the 30th. For those of you keeping count I am the big 3-0. I officially feel old with a one year old of my own and two nieces. Thank you to Courtney and Ian for the deep fried ice cream cake! It was the first time in a long time that I had been with family on my birthday and it was so nice. We left the next day to come home. Steve was able to pick us up at the airport and Jackson was fantastic. We had a much better trip home than we did going out there. Jackson was a champ after getting up at 4:45 am to catch a flight. He won over all the people sitting around us and the flight attendants. He enjoyed waving at everyone has the came on the plane and also as everyone deplaned. We ate a belated birthday lunch with Steve before we returned to Altus. Jackson has had a bit of an adjustment period with his sleep since we have returned. He does not want to nap as long as I would like for him to. :)

We are preparing and trying to keep Jackson well for his surgery that he will be having on Wednesday for the tubes. We will find out on Tuesday what time his surgery will be. We are hoping that this will not only help get rid of the ear infections but that it will help with his speech. He wants to say a lot more words but with a bit of hearing loss in his right ear it may be preventing him from saying even more words. Although I will tell you that he is very much able to communicate mama, dada, and no, no, no. He likes to tell you no, no, no and shake his finger at us when he doesn’t want something that we are offering. I would like to thank Miss Kate for teaching him these words. :)

Jackson is starting to pick up speed and he is very close to running. He still loves spending as much time outside as possible. The weather is starting to warm up again and we are hoping to hit the zoo tomorrow and let Jackson see all of the animals that we talk about in person.

I forgot to mention in my last post, sorry Steve, that Steve has been selected for promotion to Major. We are very excited about this and we are thinking he will be promoted by the end of the year. We will keep everyone posted.

Enjoy the photos….Courtney’s friend Brittany took some awesome photos of Jackson for us. I was able to be in a couple. We took them on my birthday and they are a great birthday present. So Brittany if you are reading this…I LOVE THEM. I can’t wait to print some out and hang them in my house in Okinawa. You are great!!

Welcome to the world Emma Grace

Jackson and I are so glad to welcome our newest family member Emma Grace Slazinik! We came out to Spokane on Wednesday and we have enjoyed hanging out with the family. Courtney had Emma on Friday, March 20 at 4:40. She came into the world weighing 7 lbs 8 ozs and she is 20 inches long. She looks so great...being a c-section baby pays off. We have been coming up to the hospital to visit with Courtney and Ian. Jackson LOVES Emma. He likes to look at her and give her a little pat on the feet. He walks over to her and says "baby". He also likes to go and look at the babies in the nursery.

Jackson and Kate are having a ball together. They chase after each and make each other laugh. Kate loves to wait for Jackson to get up in the morning and for him to wake up from his nap. She will be the first one to yell "JACKSON"! Jackson does not like it when Kate cries. He feels when she cries he needs to cry also. We are enjoying it in stereo! They are both every excited to have their Honey here. They love their Honey!

In other Jackson news he is learning more words every day! He loves to point out all trees and has learned to say Kate. Or as he calls he "ate". He was quite a trooper on the plane ride out here. This is the first plane ride that Jackson and I have take together. He sat in his own seat and enjoyed looking at the window and pointing out all the planes. He loves planes right now!

Before we came out to Spokane we had an appointment with an ENT to take about options for all of the ear infections that he is having. They have decided that he is going to need to get tubes. We should find out this week when the surgery is going to be. We are hoping that this will help cut down on the number of ear infections that he will have. He developed another one the day that we got out here to Spokane. We had to make a trip to the urgent care clinic and get another round of antibiotics. He is doing well otherwise. I am looking forward to cutting the ear infections back.

We will be heading back to Oklahoma on the 31st of this month.

Emma Grace has arrived!

Well after much drama with Courtney's pregnancy little Emma Grace decided to make her entrance into the world today, March 20, 2009 at 4:40 pm weighting in at 7lb 8 oz and 20 inches long. We have decided that this little girl wanted to make sure that we all knew that she was individual and much different from her sister, Kate. Emma tried to come early at one point and then decided that is she was not going to be allowed to come out when she wanted to than she was going to turn herself around in protest! She did not turn herself back around and ended up coming into the world via c-section. She was beautiful!!! What a difference a c-section baby verses a baby out of the birth canal. She had a perfectly shaped head and had such good coloring.

Jackson was so excited to meet her and loved checking in on her while we were at the hospital. He would talk about all the things that the baby uses and he would worry if he could not find her. He is going to be a great big brother some day!

Don't you just want to eat her up? I made her and Kate matching tutus but could only get Emma to wear it.

I would like to say to Emma; Welcome to this crazy family! I am so excited to watch you grow and spend so much more time with you when you move to Okinawa! Right now I am your only Aunt so I expect to be your favorite. :) I will have anything that you could possibly ever need. I will keep you fully accessorized and will always be here for you to talk to about anything.

Kate, the same thing applies to you too. I know that the way to your heart right now is shoes. And if you are anything like your Aunt that will be the way to your heart ALWAYS!!! You and I have something in common that no one else in the family does....we are both the older sister! I will let you know how to be the best big sister in the world....and also how to pass the blame! :)

I love my two nieces...they are my favorite little girls in the world!

Happy Fitzpatrick's Day!

That is what I use to call it when I was a kid!  I can't wait to pass on all of the great traditions!  This year we were all decked out in our green.  We had Jackson's ENT appointment today to talk to them about the possibility of needing tubes.  They have decided that he is going to be getting them and we are waiting to hear from the surgeon for a date.  They say that it is a very easy and quick surgery so we are hoping that we will be able to schedule it on a day that Steve does not have class or a sim so that he might be able to go with me.  We also drove up to OKC today so because we are taking our flight out tomorrow morning at 7 am headed to Spokane for the birth of Courtney and Ian's baby.  She is scheduled to have a c-section on Friday the 20th because she is a stubborn little girl and she is still breech.   

Many Hats!

Jackson use to HATE wearing hats but this week I think that he has found every hat that we have here with us.  I just thought that I would share a few of the cute photos.  

My favorite!!!

So Proud

Today the Major board postings came out. (I am sure that there is a more Military word for it but it is a list of all the Captains that have come due for a promotion). Steve received word that he has been selected to be promoted to Major. This is very exciting for us. The list has come out and Steve has received a line number and they promote in that order. I am not sure what his line number is but it will probably be about a year from now that he will pin on Major. This is very exciting as we will be in Okinawa by then. Steve also learned today that he received a school slot. I am not sure what that will mean for us once we leave Okinawa but we are excited that he will be able to go to school and I am sure have an interesting job.