Rough Times

We've had a rough couple of weeks since Ross' return from Hawaii. My Papaw passed away that week, and since I am so close to my due date, we weren't able to travel to the funeral on February 20th. It was very hard for me not to be with my family during this time. I have many fond memories of my Papaw from walks around the boulevard in front of their house and learning to play croquet in their backyard to watching him love and adore my Mamaw. The last time I saw my Papaw was at my cousin, John's wedding. Here's a picture of him proudly listening to my Mamaw play the piano at their reception.

On top of that Jackson got a really bad stomach bug that Friday. I won't go into the details, but I will say I can't even count the number of times we all had to change clothes. It lasted through Monday when I finally caught it. I guess my immune system was even weaker than Jackson's because I had it until this past Friday. I was finally able to eat real food Saturday evening. 5 days of being sick and hardly any food while you're 39 weeks pregnant is NOT fun! Fortunately, I was able to enjoy our first crawfish boil of the year to celebrate our friend, Stephen's birthday! My energy really returned on Monday, so I've been able to take care of a few final things around the house. Now we're ready and eagerly awaiting Audrey's arrival!

Zoo with Pop

Yesterday we made our way to the Houston Zoo for the afternoon with Pop. Once again, the monkeys were a big hit. The giraffes, known as "necks" by JD since they have long necks, were also a favorite. Here are some pics from the day, and there are more in the album.

Checking out the monkeys...

Comparing JD's hand to one of the monkey's...

Checking out the "necks"...

Getting a close look at the cheetah...

Children's Museum and Other Adventures

I've fallen a little behind on my posts this week, but I have to say...it's been a bit of a rough week. We'll start with the fun weekend and pictures first though. Last weekend my mom, now known as Nana, was here to help with Jackson. Since it was pretty cold and had been raining a lot, we decided to take Jackson to the Children's Museum. This was the second time he's been, and I'm not sure he was really old enough to remember the first visit. He had a blast though. He loved driving the red pickup truck and even made a few friends in the process.

He is apparently a two footed driver. This truck had two accelerators, and he had his foot on both!

He enjoyed getting a closer look at the ceiling with the telescope.

Racing cars with Nana was fun too!

He got serious about pouring some tea.

His favorite by far though was playing outside with the popper.

It was only topped by riding the fish AND holding the popper!

There are more pics of the fun in the album.

Monday provided my first real pregnancy scare with Audrey. She decided to stop moving for a LONG time. After realizing I hadn't felt her move in quite a while, I spent 2-3 hours Monday evening doing everything I could think of to get her to move...a glass of cold water, eating something sweet, lying on my left side, and even pushing and poking her. It just felt like a brick moving around though. I finally decided I should probably go to the emergency room, so I called my friends Heather and Todd to come watch Jackson. Of course, as soon as they got to the door, she made a little movement. They very nicely sat with me for a few minutes to make sure she moved some more before heading back home. The next day I was still very nervous, but her movements continued to get stronger, which was very reassuring.

Wednesday started a whole new adventure. I started itching all over, which apparently isn't good when you're pregnant. The itching kept me up all night, so I went to see the doctor first thing Thursday morning. They let me know it could be one of two things, either PUPP or ICP. They are running some lab work to determine which one it is. PUPP isn't a big deal at all. It's just irritating. However, ICP is much more serious and would likely result in delivering Audrey early. I expect to know more on Monday when I go back for my next appointment. Until then they have given me some medicine to help with the itching. The only side effect is that it knocks me out, which meant no work for me on Thursday or Friday. My dad came down to help with Jackson for the weekend on Thursday night, so I've been well taken care of between family and friends...more on our fun weekend in the next post.

A few of JD's favorite things...

This afternoon my mom, now known as Nana, came down to give me a hand with Jackson for the weekend. Jackson was SO excited to see her. He said "Nana" over and over the whole way home, and when he actually saw her, he ran to give her a big hug. We spent the afternoon playing, watching a little TV to relax, and eating...

Jackson and Nana played with the rocket and took Gator and Dog for a walk.

JD had fun dumping out his blocks, briefly stacking them, and then putting them back. Jackson loves to put things back...something we really hope continues as he gets older!

Once Gator and Dog were worn out (Nana and Jackson too), we settled down in front of the TV for a few minutes to watch a little Elmo...what JD calls Sesame Street. The TV seems to put Jackson into a trance...

Then it was time to chow down...

For Ross...

Ok...I'm behind on posts, and I've been bad about taking pictures lately. Some of my friends threw a great baby shower for Audrey a little over a week ago where we racked up on clothes and diapers. We had family from all over come to show their love and support, and I don't have any pictures to show for it! My friend Sara did take some at the shower, so I hope to download and post some of those soon.

The real reason for this post is because Ross is off working in Hawaii, and I thought he'd appreciate seeing some pics of Jackson and everything he's up to. I hope to do several short posts especially for him while he's gone. This one may be a little longer since I'm playing catch up. Here are a couple of pics of Jackson just before Ross left.

Ross left on Saturday, and my Dad came to help out for the weekend since, yes, it's almost 5 weeks until Audrey's due date! We spent a lot of time at the park over the weekend. JD wanted to swing almost the entire time. There are a few pics of him doing other activities, but they didn't last long. JD loved playing with Pop at the park!

Yesterday when we got home, Jackson went straight for the legos. After stacking several he started walking around with them making flying noises, which I recognized from the noises he makes when playing with his rocket. When I asked him what he built, he said "airplane"!

Today he was interested in playing with his hammer and counting, which I managed to get a shot of. He went back to playing with legos when his friend, Mrs. Heather, stopped by. He made her day by saying her name while she was here for the very first time! He's said it to us before, but that was the first time she'd heard it.

There are a few more pics of all of these fun activities in the album, so enjoy!

Mitchell's Baby Shower

While we were all in Leakey, I helped host a baby shower honoring Leslie and Mitchell along with friends, Jessica and Dianne. If you couldn't guess based on the previous post, the theme was Caterpillar. We used lots of toy CAT equipment and black and yellow decorations. There was a great turn out, and Leslie and Mitchell got lots of great things. Here are a couple of pics. There are more in the album.

While we were busy partying, the boys took another trip around the ranch. This time Jackson got to ride with Grandad!

More pics of the ranch ride in the album.

New Years 2010 in Leakey, TX

Leslie and Philip held their 3rd annual New Year's Eve party at their house. We were bad and didn't even pull the camera out, but we had a great time visiting with family and close friends. Last year we started the tradition of Wii bowling to entertain us while we waited to bring in the new year. The tradition continued this year, but everyone was exhausted. We decided to celebrate when the ball dropped in New York, but then everyone stuck around and visited longer, which meant we ended up celebrating twice!

New Year's Day was a real highlight for Jackson. Uncle Philip let him drive a real tractor! How many 18 month olds have ever done that? Here's a link to the video if you don't believe me, and here are a few photos of the fun. He steered the tractor around their yard, and then got to turn around and move the arm! Of course, there are more pics in the album.

Christmas in Leakey, TX

Unfortunately, we weren't able to make it to the Christmas celebration with my Dad's side of the family. I have 3 cousins on that side of the family and two of them have gotten married in the last couple of years. Between their new commitments and our traditions, our schedules just didn't work out this year. We missed them and hope to see them soon!

Our final Christmas stop was in Leakey, TX where Ross' sister, Leslie, and brother-in-law, Philip, live along with Jackson's cousin, Mitchell. Jackson LOVES his new cousin! He points to him saying baby and enjoys giving him hugs and kisses. Mitchell was a little tired for our Christmas celebration, but you only knew that because he kept doing this...

Jackson decided he was Ross' gift this year.

Jackson got his first phone from Aunt Leslie and Uncle Philip, which was a Catepillar phone, of course!

He also got some fun new wheels to drive around on a fun track!

After all of the Christmas fun, the three of us went for a ride around the ranch. It was a beautiful day, and we ran across several cows, which Jackson recognized immediately.

We stopped for a short walk along the Little Dry Frio where Jackson tried to throw every rock he could find into the river.

There are more pics from all the fun in the album.

Christmas in Shreveport Part 2

Our second celebration in Shreveport was with Ross' family. We had a wonderful brunch and spent hours visiting and opening presents. It was so much fun to watch Jackson open a present then play for a while before moving on to the next. Two of his favorite gifts were a jack-in-the-box and a pull-a-long alligator toy. Both provided lots of etertainment and even exercise for everyone. Jackson walked "Gator" around and around the house, but he insisted someone walk with him. Granddad and Ross happily complied. Here are a couple of pics, and there are more in the album.

After a full day of playing, we made our way to Ross' Uncle Ronnie and Aunt Laura's house for delicious dinner with the rest of his family that was in town. It was great to see everyone and catch up!

Christmas in Shreveport Part 1

Our next Christmas celebration was Christmas morning with my parents, now also known as Nana and Pop. By this point Jackson had become an expert at unwrapping presents, so he helped everyone when he wasn't too busy playing with his new toys.

Apparently, the sit n spin was one of my favorites as a little girl, and Jackson loves it too. It took him a little while to get the hang of spinning himself, but now he gets on, spins, and says, "Wheeeee!"

Jackson also got his first laptop, which Dad was happy to help him with.

He also loved digging through the stocking that was almost as big as he was!

Jackson also got a wagon the day before Christmas, which he enjoyed riding in and pushing up and down the street with Nana.

The rest of us got fun stuff too, but Jackson was more fun to take pictures of (and he was much cuter than the rest of us that early in the morning). My favorite gift, which was given to me by both my parents and grandparents, was Audrey's bedding! I'm looking forward to getting her room set up now.

It was lots of fun! Thanks Nana and Pop! Here are more pics if you're interested.