Girls night in Savannah and Gulf Shores trip

I have been waiting on pictures from my girls night in Savannah before posting this, but it is taking too long, so here goes-

A few weeks ago we left for our week long trip to visit with family and celebrate Justin's graduation. We rented a beach house in Gulf Shores, AL. My mother-in-law drove down with us and we made a quick stop in Savannah for the night so that I could go to my good friend from college, Jenny O's bachelorette party. Fun story about Jenny O-she met her soon to be husband at my bachelorette party almost 5 years ago. We were all playing party games and one thing was that we had to find a guy in a bar to take of his shirt and propose to me. It just so happens that Jenny hit it of with the guy who was chosen (we affectionately named him "Cowboy Steve" and they were inseparable after that.

I am so excited that they are getting married, although sad that we are going to miss the wedding in Punta Cana, DR. Let me say it again: I am SICK that we are going to miss their beautiful wedding :( At any rate, It was such a treat to see many of my long lost BFF from college in Savannah. I sure do miss the old days in college where we all were pretty much inseparable all of the time. We were all on the dance team together and so we saw each other pretty much every day. Now we are all spread out across the U.S., so it is a rare treat to get together. And can I just say I LOVE how everyone is exactly the same when we get together. I hope that never changes! Even though life has taken us on different paths you can always count on the same personalities to click, the same ones to clash, and everyone to have a blast together. Although I do have to say, the night would have been even better if my girl Sara had been there. We had a great time and I was just so happy to be there. Plus I really needed a girls night. JennyO looked beautiful and we had a lot of fun. My girl Whitnei was hilarious and kept me laughing most of the night. I got in pretty late that night and only got about 4 hours of sleep that night. It was so worth it, though!

The next day was Mother's day and we headed out for FL. We stopped halfway and stayed over the night in Marianna FL. There was nothing too exciting there, but it was nice not to have to make the trip all in one day. The next day we arrived in Gulf Shores. A few hours later, Justin's sister Brooke, Adrian, Kaylan and Kendall showed up. It was SO nice to see them and get to spend time with family and our sweet nieces. Jackson didn't know what to think about Kaylan at first, but he was actually scared of Kendall...it was hilarious! I am not sure why. The best part was, sweet tiny Kendall was enthralled with him and every time she came near him he would run away. I can't wait to tell him about it one day when he is older! That afternoon we all headed out the pool. Jackson proceeded to rub his eye and get sunscreen in his eye, which made him VERY unhappy. He cried and cried-It was so sad to see him so upset. Finally we made it to the pool and he really seemed to enjoy it. That night we ordered takeout from a nearby restaurant and then crashed.

Throughout the rest of the week, we spent most mornings at the beach. We rented a tent for the kiddos to play under and we had beach toys galore. Jackson seemed to really like the sand and water, although we didn't go too far out in the gulf. The water was kind of rough most days. Once Kaylan ventured out with Adrian into the water, she didn't want to get out. Kendall on the other hand preferred to hang out inside. She wasn't too keen on the feeling of her feet in the sand. We had a couple of dinners at the house that were just so delicious! Adrian made a shrimp boil one night and then grilled out hamburgers and hot dogs another night and it was SO GOOD! We also ate at some fantastic seafood restaurants: Bahama Bobs Beachfront restaurant, The Hangout, and The Original Oyster House were a few of our favorites. One of my favorite parts of the vacation was our afternoon naps. After a morning at the beach and showers, it was just awesome to climb in bed with Jackson in between us and take a long nap. I have always been a huge fan of naps! One day after our nap we went to the zoo, which was fun. It was a small zoo, which was perfect size for us. Jackson seemed to enjoy feeding the goats. Another highlight for me on the trip was our evening walks on the beach with the whole fam as the sun was setting.

We had perfect weather, except for one afternoon right before we left when we got a crazy storm. The rain was coming down so hard and the wind was blowing it sideways. We went back down to the beach afterwards and our tent had completely bent-as in the metal poles were twisted and bent. I couldn't believe it! The people next to us completely lost their tent. Glad we were safe inside for that one! One funny part of the trip that I meant to mention earlier-the first day at the pool, we saw what we thought was a giant rat go scurrying by the pool. It really freaked us out and we got out soon after. The next day we saw a sign on the beach about the turtles and Alabama sand mice being federally protected in this area. Justin's mom was so funny-she kept saying " I can understand turtles, but RODENTS? You've got to be kidding me". Then me and Justin started calling the trip "Nights in Rodent-e", like the Nicholas Sparks book/movie. I guess you had to be there.


We had so much fun spending time with everyone and we were sad to go home. By the end of the trip Jackson was following Kaylan around and playing hide and seek with her. He was still leery of Kendall. I really wish we all lived closer together. Jackson also really warmed up to Aunt Boo Boo, Uncle A, and Nana, especially toward the end of the trip. I can't wait to see everyone again-hopefully soon! Here are a few photos:

My Mother's Day Flowers

Playing with Daddy on the Beach




Sweet Kaylan-she is getting so big!




Happiest baby ever!


Jackson in mid-tantrum. Also, theres nothing like spending a week in a bathing suit to make you feel horrible about your body. I am 3 lbs up from my pre-Jackson weight, 6 lbs up from wedding weight...unacceptable. I am working on it, though!


Gulf Shores Zoo-this tiger had it out for Justin. He kept acting agitated when Justin came around and kept spraying at us. Glad we were far enough out of the way not to get hit!

Enjoying his Firefly Sweet Tea:

Jackson thinks everything Uncle "A" does in hilarious!


He loves his Aunt Boo boo. He has been asking for her since our trip.

During one of our evening walks-please excuse the crazy hair

Kaylan was a little camera shy

Nana with all of her grands

This playground was amazing!

He would swing all day if it were up to him...

Can you find Kaylan in this picture?

Saying bye bye-giving Uncle A a high five

He sleeps like this all the time in the car now. Ah, to have the life of Jackson-It must be good!

It's done...

Breastfeeding, that is!

I can't believe I did it for just short of two years. Well, a year and 10 months to be exact.

No wait, to be exact, it would be 655 days OR 1 year, 9 months, and 17 days!!

It is certainly bittersweet. You know, it's funny I never thought I would nurse Jackson for this long. I remember telling my OB and the nurses who delivered Jackson that I would do ANYTHING required to ensure that I would breastfeed him exclusively for 6 months and that I try my hardest to nurse him for a year. I would have pumped every hour if I had to, taken supplements, etc. You name it, I would have done it. Thankfully I didn't have to do any of that, but I was always concerned that I was making enough milk. HAHA! If I had only known that I would be doing it for almost two years. Three things I learned:

#1) Your supply is going to be JUST FINE if you don't get up in the middle of the night to pump. Jackson was only sleeping in 4-5 hour increments there for awhile and still I was getting up to pump every 3 hours or so. No wonder I was so tired! Talk about a walking zombie. I wish I had slept when Jackson did instead of being a milk supply nazi and sitting downstairs pumping at 2:30 every morning. I was sleeping in 2 hour increments. I remember one such night I had just pumped a bottle and was so tired that I spilled it all over the kitchen counter. I was so upset that I cried and then had a really hard time falling back asleep. As soon as I fell asleep, Jackson woke up. Go figure! I remember reading a card at Hallmark soon after that almost made me start crying right there in the store, but brought a smile to my face at the same time:






#2)The lactation consultant doesn't always know best. Although I am SO thankful for them! Mine was great at the hospital and I am forever grateful to her for helping me get the hang of it. Once I got home, I started worrying about my supply because I was only getting about 3-4 oz when I pumped. When I called her, she said she had another patient who was getting 8 oz every time and that maybe I should try pumping more/longer. The result of that conversation is that I started trying so hard to get more and you know what? It was a big ole fat waste of time. As a matter of fact, I don't think I ever pumped more than 4-5 oz except if it had been a long time in between feedings. I know she was trying to help, but by her comparing me to another patient, I set a standard for myself that I was never going to reach. I realized it soon and gave up trying to get more milk and pumping longer. And obviously I was worried for nothing because Jackson never ended up needing or having a single drop of formula.

#3)People will pat you on the back and tell you how wonderful it is that you are breastfeeding for about the first 9 months. After that, the comments go from "Good for you! That's great that you are nursing him" to "Oh, wow...you are still nursing? When do you plan on stopping? to "OH MY GOSH GIRL I cant believe you are still nursing! Are you going to be one of those crazy moms that nurses their baby until they are six?" It's funny the comments that I've gotten, but some have been very positive. By the way, Justin said this was totally me when we saw this movie. We got quite a laugh!




The weaning process was a long one for me, but it was very gentle. Thankfully it was done with minimal tears and although not happy about it, Jackson seems to have accepted it. I knew it was about time, but my most recent dr. visit made me realize that the time was now. I have had several appts with the breast surgeon, who does my clinical breast exams every six months and it has been a standing joke that by the next appt, I would be done breastfeeding. Of course, I never was. Given my family history of breast cancer and the fact that I have had a past biopsy, my surgeon wants me to get a baseline mammogram this year at age 30. Of course I can't have one if I am pregnant, so I have a window of opportunity between when I stop nursing and when we start trying to get pregnant again. That being said, I realized that I wanted to have some time in between the two, so I am all set to get my mammogram in July, which meant I needed to stop breastfeeding now. So it was a good time to stop.

But like I said, it is really bittersweet. Even though I had 2 bouts of mastitis, at least 15 or so plugged ducts and 2 nasty bites from my vampire baby- I would do it again in a heartbeat! It was all worth it and more!


Of course, like CLOCKWORK, Jackson has now decided that since he isn't getting the good stuff anymore, he is going to refuse to sleep in his own bed for nighttime AND for naps. I will rock him and he will be snoring and as soon as I lay him down in his bed, he pops his eyes open and cries. Then it takes FOREVER to get him back to sleep. Because of this, he has spent he last couple of nights in bed with us. He had gotten so good at sleeping in his own bed for most of the night and then just like that, it was over. We are giving it a few days to see if it is a phase, but I am afraid this may be a related to weaning him. Who knows? I am hoping that this is just a short phase!

Packing Heat

"If I find you been creepin' 'round my back stairs...."

Thaaaat's right- It only took two years, but I finally fired my gun for the first time!

We decided to get a gun after I got pregnant b/c I wanted to have one in the house for protection in case Justin was out of town and I was home alone with the baby. We decided to buy a Walther P22. Once we bought the gun, it occured to me that I probably shouldnt go shoot it while pregnant and my OB said I should probably wait until after the baby was born because of how loud a gun range is. She also said that she had never had that question asked to her in all of her years of practice-haha, leave it to ME!

Anyway, in almost two years since Jackson was born, we never made time to go fire the gun until this week. We finally had a day when Jackson was at his MMO program and we both had an hour to get away from work. We brought my gun for me to shoot and Justin rented a 9 MM to try out because soon we are going to buy one more to add to our arsenal (ha). I was kinda nervous to shoot b/c I had only shot a 12 gauge and 20 gauge shotgun before, but that was years ago. It was my first time shooting a pistol. I did MUCH better than I thought I would. It really fun for both of us! Most importantly, I learned how to load the gun and empty the clip. I am looking forward to going back soon.

Justin really liked the 9 mm but I think he is going to try out a few different ones before we buy one. I also shot the 9 mm and it packs a much more powerful punch than my 22. Anyway, don't worry, we have the gun WAAAY out of reach from Jackson and the clip is stored separately, so it stays unloaded. Also, this weekend we are going to buy a lock box for it to add further protection. Safety first! :)

21 Months!

Where's Jackson? Loves to ride his bike!

I am a little late on this update since we were on vacation last week. I can't believe that Jackson is just three months short of turning two. We put down the deposit for his 2nd birthday party. It is going to be at the Little Gym near our house. I am excited-I know he is going to love it! At 21 months:

-Jackson is jabbering up a storm. When he gets excited I have trouble understanding what he is saying. I wish I could figure it out. It is adorable! His favorite phrase is "what's this?" or "what is it?". He says that all the time. He still loves to read. I can tell he is really listening too. He has a book that has a school bus in it that I always point out. The other day we were sitting at a traffic light and he kept saying "school" over and over again. When I looked back, he was pointing at a bus next to us in traffic. Smart boy!

-His elevator obsession still runs strong. During our vacation last week, when we stayed in a hotel, we had to ride the elevator over and over. He gets extremely excited and will start stomping and dancing in the elevator. He also "helps" the doors close. The worst is getting him to leave the elevators when it is time to go. He cries and says "up and down" over and over on the car ride home.

-He loves Special Agent Oso on the Disney channel. He asks for "So" all the time. We let him watch one episode in the morning and one more after his nap. I don't know what it is about it, but he just loves that show. If he is crying, I will start singing the theme song and he will stop crying. Mickey has taken a backseat to Oso.

-He keeps going through periods of eating a ton of food and then not eating as much. I cut up a fruit salad for every meal and he loves it. He is still refusing most veggies, but his dr. says that is ok b/c he is getting what he needs from his vitamin. He has been doing great with eating chicken, and salmon but he is not a huge pasta fan. At dinner, sometimes I have to bribe him with ice cream. If I put the ice cream in front of him, he will eat whatever is on his plate!

-I think he has gotten taller. He just seems taller and bigger all of the sudden. He is also getting much more hair-finally! We are going to be getting haircut #2 very soon. I hope he doesn't cry this time!

-He is still so affectionate and sweet. He seems to be over his little nasty phase of being fussy and throwing fits...for now. I am sure it will come back soon. I am really enjoying this time with him. Tonight I was sitting on the couch reading a book and he came up behind me and put his arms around my neck and laid his head on my shoulder-it surely melted my heart! He is still very affectionate with Justin and when he is in bed with us, he is glued to Justin. Jackson is definitely a snuggler and I LOVE it!

-He is almost completely weaned. One last feeding to cut out, but my milk is almost gone. The end is near and it has been so much easier than I though and pretty stress free for both of us. More on that later...

-Church is going well, but he has begun to throw a fit as we walk in the nursery door. It is quite fun to walk past our pastor with a screaming child..haha, it's not that bad. The teachers say as soon as we leave, he stops crying almost immediately, so that makes me feel better. When we pick him up, he is always playing and having a good time. He'll get used to it soon-I hope!

-I wish I could remember all of the new stuff that he says and does, but honestly it is moving so fast these days. Jackson has the best sense of humor and we laugh every day with him. I just love to watch him and try to soak up every moment that we spend together. I love this boy so much!

Justin's Graduation

I can't believe that two years flew by so quickly! This past week we traveled to Gainesville, FL for his graduation on Friday. Somehow on the way down we managed to dodge all of those devastating storms that hit the deep south a few days before. Justin's mom came with us and we were so proud to see Justin walk across the stage and graduate! Jackson was an angel during the graduation. As a matter of fact, he was great for the whole trip. His favorite part was riding the hotel elevators. He is serious about those elevators. He knows his way around the hotel really well since we have stayed there many times. He knew exactly where to go. The staff remembered him and couldnt get over how much he has grown and how cute he is (of course! ) Justin is so glad to be done with school and getting to enjoy his evenings and weekends again. He did pretty much all of his schoolwork when Jackson was napping or sleeping so that he could spend as much time as possible with his family during the day. What a great husband/father! He will take a semester off and has been asked to come back next semester as a teaching assistant. Way to go honey! What a wonderful accomplishment! Here are some pictures from his graduation:


Getting ready for Daddy's Graduation

Picture from the big screen because I was sitting too far away to get a good up close picture.

Where's Waldo?