Ups and Downs

This week has been full of them. Right now its a Saturday afternoon and I'm sitting here in my sweats, no i haven't showered. I have a sick baby. I just laid him down for a nap and I'm hoping he'll fall asleep but I'm upstairs on the computer in case he starts crying.

I'll back up a bit. This week started great with Halloween on Monday, but then it all ended rather suddenly as Tyler drove up to Jacksonville that night.

Tuesday was a good day. We went to the park and played in the glorious 75 degree weather that November brings here. Tyler got home later that night and we got caught up watching our favorite shows - Castle & The Sing Off (Go Vocal Point! but wow, I loved another group's Queen number this week)

Wednesday was not as good. I woke up feeling dizzy, not something I'm used to. And the feeling kept coming back during the day. Jackson took an afternoon nap that lasted less than an hour and thus was grouchy for the rest of the afternoon. Tyler went to a study group that night and didn't get home until after Jackson was in bed.

Thursday was great though. Tyler was home in the morning until 9:30 am so I was able to shower and get completely ready while he watched Jackson before he left, it makes such a difference in my mood for the day. We ran some errands and then at the library I took Jackson to the toddler singing time for the first time (18 months and older) and he did great. That afternoon he redeemed himself and took a 3 hour nap and I was able to get some cleaning done. That night I made homemade pizza for dinner - so yummy! And then since Tyler had already done all his studying, we went to Magic Kingdom for the night. The weather was great, the lines were non-existent, and Jackson had lots of fun. I think we hit 6 rides and a parade in less than 2 hours.

But maybe we kept him out a little too late, we left at 8:30 and he was falling asleep in the car and was home in bed at 8:45. He had acted fine all evening, but he was refusing to take a binky in the car and crib, which always means something is off...

I always jinx myself when I admit out loud that things are going well. The best/worst example was when Jackson was 4 months old he was already sleeping through the night. One night I was lying in bed talking to Tyler about how blessed we were to have such an amazing sleeper - that night he woke up a couple times in the night. He kept waking up at least once a night for months of teething afterward. This week I was commenting on how Jackson is such a healthy kid, he hadn't been sick since July and he doesn't get affected by new teething anymore. Then Thursday night into Friday morning happened and I was up for hours in the night with a feverish / croupy cough baby.

Tyler has school this weekend so I had plans to go to Sea World, the Mall, and other activities to keep busy while he's away. But sadly I haven't left the house for 2 days. I hate seeing a sick baby, listening to his cough in the night, and hearing his raspy voice. He's been laying on the couch and on my lap watching lots of nick jr and mickey mouse. Every now and then he gets bouts of energy and he'll throw a ball or play with choo choos, but then he gets tired all of a sudden and just collapses back on the couch.




This morning I was feeding him breakfast on the couch, just to make him more comfortable. Later this morning I gave him some pieces of bread in a bowl for a snack while I cleaned up the kitchen. He had a little more energy at that point and walked with his bowl over to his high chair and started to climb up. He's such a good boy and always tries to do what's right. He's so sweet and cuddly when he's sick and he really doesn't whine or cry hardly at all. He's a tough little guy and I love being here to help him feel better.

But back to the point, it's been an up and down week. But I feel like as a mom, most weeks are. There are often hard times but the tender moments with Jackson giving me kisses, playing hide and seek, and just being goofy together make it all worth it :-)


(here he is happily watching thomas the tank engine for the first time, we rented it at the library and i loved hearing him say choo choo with a big grin on his face for a change)

Halloween Weekend

We haven't had much time to be a family of 3 recently, and finally this weekend we were able to spend some a few hours together for Halloween! A couple days after I got back from NY, Tyler flew to Cali for a week of work. He got home late Thursday night, and then had school all day Friday and Saturday. Luckily we squeezed in the Pumpkin Patch on Friday night right as it stopped raining.

But as you can tell, since we waited til October 28th to get our pumpkin the pickings were slim! This is actually the third pumpkin patch we drove to, the first 2 had already shut down for the season.



That pumpkin was sitting on a crate all by itself and was one of the only large ones left so we picked that one!

Jackson helped Daddy wheel it around the patch.


I think this is the only picture of the three of us together from the whole weekend :)


This little guy is growing up so fast!

Last year he was our little 7 month old tiger He couldn't even crawl yet last year, and now we've got a toddler who runs everywhere!


Love that little chunky baby :)

This year we had our little man dress up as a train conductor! He is so into trains right now and says choo choo all day long. He actually calls all trucks "choo choos" but we're trying to teach him the difference. It was the perfect last-minute costume choice to go along with his recent obsession!



Saturday night we headed over to the trunk-or-treat about 5 minutes after Tyler got home from school (oh he had 2 tests that day nbd).

It is so hard to get a picture of Jackson smiling while looking at the camera so in this one, he and Tyler are chasing me around the field!


It was also hard to get him to wear both the bandanna and hat at the same time, but here he was so distracted with his new love - chips - that he didn't mind wearing them.


Because of Tyler's busy week, we didn't end up dressing up this year but we did have fun passing out candy and seeing Jackson get excited to get candy and put it in his pumpkin :)


On Monday afternoon we carved our pumpkin and Jackson wanted nothing to do with it! I tried to show him the guts and seeds, and have him get close to the pumpkin for pictures but he was completely content playing with his golf set and basketball hoop.


Tyler does the carving, I do the "gutting."


Getting ready for the real big night!

He also learned he loves laffy taffy.


Not gunna lie he was being pretty difficult that night and would not pose for any pictures or keep his hat on. The happiest face he made was here when he heard an airplane flying overhead. He's also very interested in airplanes and can always spot them in the sky when he hears the noise. We might have a little pilot next year...


We started the night over at Mickey and Minnie's House - they live down the street from us and yes, they legally changed their names to Mickey and Minnie.


He was so intrigued by everything that the hat even stayed on! He kept staring at this Pluto saying "woof woof"!

They decorate their yard for every holiday (even Labor Day) but Halloween and Christmas are the most intense. I actually think Halloween is even bigger than Christmas for them though.


Then we met up with some friends who live in the neighborhood to go trick or treating together. They happened to have a train set out in their family room and Jackson was in love! He may or may not have screamed when we took him outside to go trick-or-treating...


He did pretty good and went up to lots of doors with Daddy, the only thing was that he would often try to walk into the houses so Tyler had to carry him of the porch several times.


He got tired as the night went on, so we used the stroller to push him the rest of the way.




When we got home he looked through all his candy and fell asleep quickly afterward. Poor Tyler had to be in Jacksonville the next morning so he left around 9 to drive up there and stayed the night in a hotel. So it's been a busy time for poor Tyler but we're glad we were able to spend some time with him for Jackson's 2nd Halloween.

Oh yeah, I'm pregnant!

Oh yeah I'm pregnant! And I haven't really blogged about it. Such is the story with the 2nd child (or fetus). The countdown app is now up and I'm trying to make up for lost time with this post - and no Jackson pictures in sight! Anyways, we found out in August and it was actually a unique and memorable experience. I found out right along side Tyler's sister, Jamie! She had just discovered she was pregnant while visiting us in Florida. So we were both secretly taking pregnancy tests under the same roof. Neither of us could keep it a secret and it was fun to get excited together. She is due (with her first) 2 weeks before me and I'm so excited they will be cousins so close in age!


Definitely a fun memory.

We were so excited when we found out, but honestly it was not hitting home - I still couldn't believe I was really pregnant again. You'd think after having a baby already that it would really sink in, everything that was to come. But for some reason I really was in denial that there was a little baby growing inside of me. Wasn't that just what happened with Jackson? How can it be happening again - with another baby? OK maybe I'm just weird but I wanted to be honest in how I was feeling!

The month of August got tough when Tyler was traveling week after week and pregnancy symptoms started flaring up. When I was pregnant with Jackson I didn't have a job, we had just moved to Florida, so when I was sick I could just lay in bed all day and rest. Now with Jackson to take care of ... things got a little more challenging. Around my 6th and 7th week of pregnancy I was really scared that I was going to be just as sick with this pregnancy as I was with the first. During those times I was reading Katie McNeil's blog about her pregnancy sickness, cravings, food aversions, etc and I wanted so much to comment and say I'm right there with ya! I read about Jamie Cook feeling sick and exhausted and thus allowing Bryson to watch hours of tv a day, and it made me feel better as Jackson watched his 5th episode of Mickey Mouse.

I knew this would pass, but luckily for me it passed much quicker this time around. I went to my doctor during my 7th week primarily to ask for medication (Zofran) to help me through the nausea. I got that drug when I was 15 weeks along with Jackson, and I wish I had gotten it sooner. It helped so much, and since I started taking it a couple months ago I've gotten much better. They took an ultrasound when I was 8 weeks 2 days along - the exact day I got Jackson's ultrasound. It was just a little peanut back then, now I've got an avocado sized baby :)



This time around I have still been sick in the mornings, but it normally passes in a couple hours. I have been pretty tired, but I take naps during Jackson's naps almost every day and it helps a lot. The best part about this pregnancy compared to last is that my appetite didn't suffer nearly as much. With Jackson, I lost 8 pounds because I literally couldn't eat anything for a couple months, than I started eating cheese and slowly my appetite came back around 13 weeks. This time I have definitely had some food aversions and cravings, but I am still eating as much food as a normal person, if not more. I have been craving cheese again, but as I've mentioned - I'm super into Greek food too! Something different about this time around is I'm obsessed with milk, or chocolate milk. I am drinking a couple glasses a day and can't get enough.

So the next real question is boy or girl?? I've been telling people about how much easier this pregnancy has been and they want to assume it's a girl this time. But I'm not so sure it's just been easier since I knew what to expect, and of course for my lovely miracle drug. At first Tyler was totally convinced it was a girl too, especially after hearing Elaine Dalton's talk during General Conference - where she started her talk with the line, "No words describe the sacred occasion when a new father holds a baby daughter in his arms for the first time." But I think he doesn't want to jinx it so he's now coming back with, "well it could be a boy..."

I will be thrilled with either (obviously, right?) If it's a boy then awesome - I am in total boy mode anyways, I love being a mom to a little boy! I have so much cute baby boy clothes that Jackson barely wore since he got so big so fast! We have a nursery painted blue, and our house is scattered with trucks, trains, and balls of all kinds. It would be so great to have 2 boys 2 years apart, buddies for life. But then again, a girl could be so amazing. We would have so much fun getting all girly at our house and Jackson would be a great protective big brother to his baby sister. It'd be great to have one and one, but as I said - I'd be thrilled with either news. We will find out after Thanksgiving.

I'm in my 16th week right now and starting to get a big belly. It's not really a pregnancy tummy yet as much as it just is bulging a little bit. The friends out here can tell there is a little growth, but random people wouldn't look at me and say, "oh she's pregnant", probably more like, "oh she's been eating a little too much Greek food!" So yeah I'm getting along in weeks and now that the news is out it is starting to get a little more real.

Anyways, that's probably enough rambling for one post. I'm so excited to have another baby, I just hope Jackson will be ready for his world to turn upside down in April!

new york part 2

see below part 1, to get to part 2. How the heck do you change the order of blog posts??

New York Trip - Part 1

Another adventure is behind us - Jackson (and I) have now been to Ithaca, New York! Seriously, this kid gets around! I guess what is more accurate is that we're taking advantage of flying with him while he's under 2 ... and free! Flights 24 & 25 could not have gone better. I'm not going to lie I was really scared about flying alone with Jackson. But he did great. We had a 50 minute layover in Detroit that I was kind of panicking about, but luckily my flight was on time and we made it just fine. And they moved me so there was an empty seat next to me on both flights! Jackson ate dinner and watched Mickey Mouse on the first flight, and slept the 2nd flight.

We got into Ithaca, NY at about 11 pm and Paige and Ben drove the long 5 minutes from their house to come pick us up. I should have taken a picture of the airport it is so tiny but I loved it! Anyways, Jackson woke up but was groggy as we reunited with Paige and Ben that night. We went straight back to their place and straight to bed! We had a busy day ahead of us...

Friday morning we woke up and drove straight up north to see some LDS Church history sites. Our first site was the Martin Harris Farm - where the LDS Church was organized, among other things. It started out as a beautiful day - it was sunny and the leaves were at their peak of autumn colors!




Then we drove up to Palmyra where we met up with my mom and brother, Steven, who had flown into Syracuse the night before. The girls went to the temple while Ben and Steven took Jackson out for a Pizza Lunch. Jackson got along with the boys just great but I was told it might have worked out better if the restaurant had a high chair.




As evidenced from the sky behind us, the weather took a turn for the worse - it got really dark, windy and eventually the rain came pouring down!
We headed to the Joseph Smith Home & Sacred Grove, hoping to get the outdoor tour done before it started raining too hard, but sadly we get soaked!


It didn't start out too wet and we had a great tour of the Smith Family Properties. Jackson did so dang good during all of this!

Steven and my mom had walked around the grove before we met up with them so luckily they were able to spend some dry time together there.


Then we entered it was raining lightly but we were still ok, Jackson was laughing at Steven as usual here...


But then it really started to come down! I had no interest in taking pictures, even though I wanted Jackson to have something to remember his time there. Luckily my mom snapped this one, but we weren't doing too well at this point, ha.


This last picture makes me laugh bc it just captures what was going on at that moment. The floor is so covered with leaves that you can hardly see the path. I am in the lead, holding Jackson (he was scared and wouldn't let anyone else hold him), and walking super fast to get out of the rain. My mom is hunched over trying to get something out of her purse as I rudely took the whole umbrella - sorry mom, I thought I was sharing?? Steven is holding my diaper bag on his stomach (bc Paige pointed out it was getting absolutely drenched on my back) while trying to deal with the sketchy purple umbrella we got for free in Harrods in London 6 years ago. Paige and Ben are walking behind, taking pictures - probably laughing at us "tourists."



I might not have been smiling at the time, but its a fun memory looking back :-)

As soon as we left the grove we put Jackson in the car seat and he fell asleep. So we took turns sitting in the car with him as we went to the remaining (mostly indoor) sites.


The first copies of the Book of Mormon were printed here.


Hill Cumorah & Visitors Center.


Afterward, we drove up to Syracuse for a night there at a hotel. Jackson stayed asleep until we got there - putting his mega nap at over 3 hours! He did so well in the PaiJetta! We got dinner at Dinosaur BBQ and Jackson loved his pulled pork sandwich!


Jackson and Steven had lots of fun playing on the beds at the hotel :)


Then Saturday morning we did some shopping and other "activities" in Syracuse before we headed back to Ithaca! And yes, Jackson fell asleep on the drive - love that baby.

New York Trip - Part 2, Ithaca

Saturday afternoon we drove back to Ithaca and on our way we stopped off at the Hollenbeck's Cider Mill. You Northerner Folk probably think this is no big deal, but we don't see to many apple trees down here in Florida so it was fun to see!





We got some donuts, cider and lots of apples for a yummy apple pie my mom made the next day. (We took turns sitting with sleeping Jackson in the car)

We got back to Ithaca and ran over to the local Farmer's Market before it closed. You may remember me posting about being obsessed with greek food lately? Some of you even predicted I was pregnant because all my mentioning of "craving" in my birthday post. Well I guess it is truly a pregnancy thing bc when I saw they were selling Gyros at the market, I had to buy one! Here we are posed at the back of the market, such a pretty setting!


The only problem with said gyro was it was huge, it was 3 o'clock in the afternoon, and sometimes my mind thinks I'm more hungry than I really am. I ended up feeling sick that night so I stayed in bed while my family took care of Jackson for the rest of the evening and they all went out for the night.


The next day was Sunday and we checked out their Ithaca Student Branch. It was a cute little church and it was at 9 am - can I tell you how envious I am of 9 am church!! Even though I love sleeping in and being lazy on Sunday mornings, I would switch in a heartbeat! It's so much more worth it for Jackson to have a good afternoon nap and all the little ones (me being our ward nursery leader would know...) Jackson did great at church and had fun in the small nursery (they have 5 kids - we have 18 back home) and I went to classes without Jackson for the first time ... I think since he was born!

After his lovely nap (first and only nap in a crib during the trip) we drove around the beautiful Cornell campus.



The weather was chilly, but the leaves and views were amazing! We also stopped off at Ithaca Falls, just south of campus.




The next morning we were excited to wake up to sunny weather and headed up to Watkins Glen State Park.



This place was like nothing I'd ever seen. It was a really beautiful hike and I guess I'll let the pictures do the talking.







The other thing I've been craving during this pregnancy - cheese! Not to the extent I did with Jackson, but still cheddar cheese has been my best friend over the past couple months. Paige and Ben had heard about a small cheese factory not too far from Watkins Glen. I was all up for free cheese samples so we decided to go! I don't think any of us realized how small this place would be though haha. They let us sample their 3 types of Gouda and some Brie, sadly there were no other varieties (aka cheddar) but it was still great for a super cheesy photo op.


We went to lunch at this great place in Downtown Ithaca called College Town Bagel. They had so many amazing choices for sandwiches and wraps - at least 100. It was fun to just look at the menu at all the interesting combinations of toppings, cheeses, etc. I was tempted to get something greek (of course) but I was still a little shaken by my Saturday experience so I went for a turkey pesto wrap. I need to see if Paige or Mom took a picture of us there bc all of us got the most unique sandwiches it was fun to see.

We finished the afternoon at a fun center with a corn maze. Jackson enjoyed playing on the playground and in the arcade (aka skee ball) while the others explored the maze.




Who knew you could find corn on a corn maze! I guess you're allowed to eat it?


Monday night we hung out around their apartment in Ithaca, helped with some decorating and ordered some yummy calzones.

The next morning was our last, and Paige and Ben had to get back to real life. Ben got back to studying and Paige had to work at Panera Bread as the sandwich maker / caterer extraordinaire. We went to visit her for breakfast and she hooked us up with yummy assortments of foods :-)


Jackson and I flew out of Ithaca later that morning and once again, he did amazing on the flights (his #26 and 27). He stayed awake and happy on our first shorter flight to Detroit, and then slept most of the way back to Orlando. Even with people next to us on both flights, he stayed in my lap and didn't cry or fuss once.

It was such a fun trip and a great time of year to visit New York! It really helped me get in the mood for fall and Halloween and of course it was great to see my family after 4 long months :)