Getting Jackson's 1st Tree

Yesterday we went to pick out our Christmas Tree and Jackson's 1st Christmas Tree. We bundled him up lots which meant in addition to all of his clothes we also wrapped him into my coat. We got the tree home and as usual it is always bigger at home than it is in the Christmas tree lot. I guess it is something that they put on it that makes it grow bigger on the way home. Jackson slept through the decorating process and woke up just in time to see the end result. I will post finished results soon.

Happy Thanksgiving to you all!!

We hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving. We love you all so much and we all have so much to be thankful for. I received this poem in an email a few days ago and it was so appropriate for Thanksgiving so I decided to share it with you all.

My Baby Boy and Me

Its 3 am they're all asleep

And no one's here to see

As we rock slowly back and forth

My Baby Boy and Me.

His little head is feather light

tucked up against my chin

I hold his tiny hand in mine

and stroke his baby skin.

The house about us creaks and groans

the clock hands creep around

He snuggles closer to me still

and makes his baby sounds.

I love these quiet hours so much

and cherish every one

store memories up inside my heart

for lonely nights to come.

All too soon he'll be grown up

his need for Mama gone

but until then I still have time

for kisses and for song.

Time for quiet hours like this

with him cuddled in my arms

where I wish he'd always stay

protected safe and warm.

And yet I know the day will come

when this tiny little hand

will be much bigger than my own

he'll grow to be a man.

But until then he's mine to love

with no one here to see

as we rock slowly back and forth

my baby boy and me.

Yummy!!

Here is a new picture of my big boy I am just so amazed how much he is growing and changing every week. I went back and looked at some older blogs and wow I am amazed at his changes.

Jackson is trying so many new foods and so far he has liked them all. If this is any sign he is going to be a great eater. No telling what my grocery bill will be when he gets older... We started him on oatmeal cereal over a month ago and he did really well with it to start with but as I mentioned last week he has been having some poop problems. So we started fruits 1st but skipped bananas to try to help with this. So far it has not so we are now trying some prunes (just a few bites at lunch every day) and we have cut out the oatmeal cereal and giving him fruit in the morning along with some apple prune juice in his bottle. As of today he has ate apples, pears, carrots, squash, and sweet peas. His favorite is pears and his least favorite is squash. I say least favorite because he eats them a little slower and gulps everything else down. But he has not refused anything. He will get to try green beans on Thursday. Here is a picture of his trying carrots for the 1st time. And yes I know this is a trick or treat bib but it is big and protects his clothes from the orange color....

We are using as many organic baby foods as possible. I can't help but think the more natural stuff I put into his body the better. I don't consider myself fanatical and Chad and I do not eat organic but if we had a whole foods or something nearby we would consider eating it more. When we were in Birmingham we went there and loved it so I am going to try to go by there when we are down and get some things to use when we get back home. Like I said I don't think that I am fanatical but I just can't help but think the more natural foods you can eat the healthier you would be..

However, Jackson has also found one more additional thing he loves to eat. His hand. He is not longer sucking his thumb but he chews on his thumb, finger, fingers, hands, or entire fist (he does not discriminate) all the time. If you pick him up you better wipe his hands off or you will have a slimy, wet and sloppy hand and he goes straight for your shirt or face with it.

Now as for foods we like.... Chad's parents took us to Ruth's Chris to eat for Chad's 31st bday which is next Sunday. However, due to Thanksgiving, The Iron Bowl, a trip to Mobile and Christmas stuff we are booked the next 3 weekends so this was the best time for us to do his birthday. We took Jackson and he did wonderful. He slept thought salads and sat in my lap through dinner then MeMaw held him during the wonderful dessert. Here is a picture of my favorite 2 boys with the dessert. Yes you will notice in this picture they look almost just alike especially the eyes.

Now as for this week "THE GAME" is Saturday so we will be in Tuscaloosa to tailgate for that and we will be going to the game also. So I will have pictures of that event next week. Roll Tide Roll!!!

4 months old..... Where does the time go?

Jackson was 4 months old last Thursday and I am not sure where the time has gone. It seems just like yesterday that I was pregnant and not being able to sleep because I was so big and having to go to the bathroom every five minutes. And in reality I have a 4 month old sweet little boy who is sitting in his swing and taking his morning nap.

We took Jackson for his 4 month check up with Dr. Anderson last Thursday. Jackson was up to 15 lbs and 3 oz (60th percentile) and 26" (50th percentile). He gave us the go ahead to start baby food but wanted us to also make sure he still gets plenty of milk. We also talked to him about Jackson not sleeping through the night. He gave us some handouts and in a very nice way suggested that it might be things we are doing that prevents him from sleeping all night. Such as picking him up when we know he is not hungry or in need of anything and rocking him when he is clearly already asleep. Yes we are guilty as charged.

So since Saturday night when we got home we have stopped. We are instead reading him a story after his bottle and putting him in his bed. Saturday night he went to sleep really well but woke up at 4:30 and wanted to be picked up. After about 10 minutes of fussing he went back to sleep and slept till 7. Sunday night he slept ALL night from 9:30 till 8:00 am!! WOW. Now he may never do it again but he did it once. I woke up at 6:30 and went straight to his room to make sure he was ok. And of course he was fine just sleeping away.

Now as for the baby food things we started apples first. Yes I know you always hear if you feed them fruits 1st then they may never want to eat their veggies. But the doctor says that is not true. And since Jackson has had some poop problems with his cereal and has been constipated quite a bit. So he was thinking the fruits may help with that and they have so far. We tried apples till yesterday and then we started pears last night. He seems to like the pears better as least he ends up with less of them on his face and more in his mouth.

Saturday night we decided since it was so cold we would stay hom and watch the Bama game. So of course we still wear our Bama shirts but since all of Jackson's shirts are short sleeved we had to improvise a little and I think it came out pretty cute. And I am of course glad to say that Bama was victorious again. It is so nice to be having such a great season. And it is sort of neat that Jackson's 1st season of Bama football has been such a great one. And we will definitely be in the stadium for the Alabama vs Auburn game. Roll Tide!!!!

3 month pictures

I wanted to get 3 month pictures made of Jackson so we went tonight to have them made at Portrait Innovations. Yes I do realize Jackson is almost 4 months old but I still have two days to spare. I will try to plan better in the future and not run it so close. My intention was to only get pictures of Jackson and Chad but I decided I would be in one of them. However the photographer put me in another one and I ended up really happy with that one. I guess that figures. However, I was not overly happy with the photographer we used because I thought he rushed us a lot. I have used them several times and really never felt this rushed. Here are some of the pictures we had made I hope you enjoy them!

Jackson Rolls and The Tide does too!!!

Saturday was a big day for us because as the title of my blog states Jackson and The Tide both rolled on Saturday. Let me explain a little... First thing Saturday morning I asked Chad to lay Jackson on his tummy time mat. Now I have made it clear in prior blogs that Jackson hates tummy time, so Chad asked if that was going to make him scream. I said yes probably but we do it as long as he will tolerate it. So he laid him down and I went on about my chores. Chad called me into the living room and said I think he is going to roll over. When I got there I moved some of his toys to give him more room and flip flop there he went straight from his tummy to his back. Then I did what every loving Mommy would do ... yep I flipped him right back over to his tummy and grabbed the video camera so I could get footage of this milestone and sure enough he rolled over again. Since this event he has even enjoyed some tummy time a little bit more. He has been propping up in his bed and watching his Rainforest aquarium.

Here is Jackson just after he rolled over. Maybe it was the shirt that helped give him the strength to roll!

Now for the Tide Rolling over the LSU tigers. We watched the game at home with Tim and Amanda and their children (ok they are dogs but they are still cute and Jackson loves to look at them). We cooked and enjoyed the game. Yes this was a little more nerve wracking than some of our other games this year but we were all very excited about Bama's win and being 10-0 and clinching the SEC West title!! ROLL TIDE ROLL!!!!!!

Here is Jackson right after he figured out that the puppy had hair and he knew exactly what to do with it.... Pull it!!

This is an action shot. The dog jumped over his head and he tried to watch her!! I can't believe I got the dog in the air in my shot.
Jackson is growing and changing so much and one area where we can really tell he is growing is in his bath tub. Here is a picture of Jackson in his tub on October 5th and then on November 5th. Yes that tub is getting full!!!

October 5th

November 5th

Things Jackson has and has not figured out

Since I have already posted all about Halloween I was not sure what to put into this blog so as I was sitting here reading other blogs I decided to tell you about some of his Jackson's ideas on life

• Jackson does not know that I have a monitor in my room and can hear all that chatter. He talks some in front of us but he talks the most when he is in his bed in the mornings by himself. When he sees me he just goes quite. But I love to lay in my bed and just listen to him chatter.


• Jackson does not know that his thumbs are not going to give him milk. He thinks if he sucks hard enough something will come out. However, all that happens is that I take them out of his mouth.


• Jackson does not know or care about the benefits of tummy time. He hates it. I have tried everything and the longest he has ever been on his tummy is about 5 minutes.


• Jackson does not know or want to know about this time change stuff. But his internal alarm went off at 5:30 am and he wad ready to get going.


• Jackson does know that Mommy loves to take pictures and has literally taken several thousand since he was born. Some of my favorites are the ones that show his personality. Like this one where he is pouting because Daddy is not talking to him.


• Jackson does know that he likes to eat! He wants his food to be sitting there ready as soon as he signals he is ready for it. And if its not noise pollution sensors may go off as a result of his screams!


• Jackson does know how to flirt already. I am not sure if that is good or bad. But he has this certain smile complete with dimples and happy eyes that is so cute!!
• Jackson does know that he is very loved and very spoiled. Hey who doesn't wanna be spoiled!!

I am sure I will think of tons more but these are just a few of my thoughts!!