Jackson: 11 Weeks Old!

Jackson, you have just about outgrown your size three month clothing.  You eat between 4-6 oz. of milk at a time.  The other night, you slept from 10:30 to 8:00 the next morning.  Having a full belly puts you right off to sleep!  However, you still don't nap much during the day.  You are a light sleeper unless laying in someone's arms.  Your current weight is 12.8 lbs... almost 13 pounds!  It's so hard to believe.  You were so teeny tiny when you were born, but you are becoming a big boy.  You have a teeny tiny birthmark on your abdomen that just appeared and it is just like one your daddy has.  You are so mild-mannered and rarely cry.  You giving me the biggest smiles and you are just about giggling.   

Daddy reading a bedtime story to you and Bri.

Visiting the Dilli girls!

On the road!

Little Swimmers!

Jackson got in the pool for the first time tonight!  He was so amazing.  He immediately stretched out and floated on his daddy like it was no big deal.  HE LOVED IT!  He was so relaxed and he really seemed to enjoy it.  Brianna really thought it was funny that Jax was swimming, too.  She told us earlier in the day that he couldn't go swimming because he might float away LOL.  She's too funny.  They had a good time together in the pool.  Bri pretended to be a baby in our arms like Jax and wanted to float on her back, too.  She enjoyed showing off her swim skills in front of Grandma.  It was a great evening!

Brianna: 28 Months Old!

Brianna, you are 28 months old!  I'm not sure how to describe you at this age, Brianna.  Here are a few words that come to mind:  vivacious, loving, energetic, kind, dramatic, outgoing, expressive, beautiful, and most importantly, SMART.  On August 13th you were playing with your Aquadoodle mat and you said, 'Mommy, look an R'.  And sure enough, you had drawn an R on the page.  You simply amaze me.  You are beginning to recognize your letters and numbers and you are not even two and a half.  And you have started counting.  You had three clementine oranges in your hands.  I asked you how many you were holding and you answered three.  Brilliant I tell you!  Your vocabulary is out of this world!  I can have entire conversations with you without a problem.  It is surreal.

Your R:

You love art and here is your recent wall art:

Thankfully it is washable

You love for us to read to you and love to 'read' the books on your own as well.  You currently enjoy the Curious George books and the Dr. Seuss books like 'There's a Wocket in my Pocket'.

Lately you have really gotten into tv shows and movies.  You love watching Caillou and Curious George over and over again and you quote and act out scenes from the episodes.  You have a great memory and you really get into it.  You copy this fake cry from the Caillou show where he accidentally writes on a library book and pretend to be sad.  And you love Tangled, Piglet's BIG Movie, and Puss N Boots.  You start yelling at the TV when Humpty Dumpty gets arrested by the soldiers and you pretend to cry.  You seriously get upset and I calm you down lol!  Acting might be in your future haha.

You LOVE sweets.  You love going to the potty if you know you will get candy!  You helped me bake brownies yesterday:

Just a little messy...

You ate a licorice jelly bean and LIKED it.  You get that from Aunt Becky!

You like a variety of foods but I have trouble getting you to sit down and eat.  You have no time for that. :)

You love your little brother so much.  You love to help mommy take care of him.  I have caught you trying to give Jax a bottle while he was sleeping and also trying to soothe him with your sippy cup if he was crying.  So sweet! 

Loving on Jackson

You love going to parks and swimming.  You've always been my water baby and that has not changed.  You're swimming skills have really improved lately.  You can get all over the pool by yourself and fast with your life jacket on.  Daddy and I took you to Peach Creek a few weeks ago and you had a blast.  We will be going again soon.

Enjoying some pool time

You are such a sweet, sweet girl.  We enjoy watching you grow into such an amazing individual.  Keep it up, Bri Bri!

I love you, Babe

Bri:  Are you going for a walk, mommy?

Me:  I don't know. Do you want to go for a walk?

Bri:  No, Babe.

Me:  Ha, I love you, Babe!

Bri:  I love you, too, Babe. What are you and Daddy doing tonight?  Where are you guys going?

Me:  Daddy and I are going to the store.

Bri:  Can I come?  (come pronounced as 'tome' with a pout and starting to cry when I say not this time).

Me:  No, honey, we need to go to the store and run a few errands.  

Bri:  PLEEEEEEAAAAASEEEEEEE!!!  I WANT TO COME!  (crying continues) 

Me: We need to go by ourselves, sweetie. You're going to stay with Grandma and watch movies and eat popcorn.

Bri:  BYYYYYYYYYE!!!  (guess she won't miss us afterall!)

Wow. She's not even two and a half. And then she asked us to bring her a prize. Cereal, candy or popcorn.  Asking for a prize every time we go somewhere - she definitely gets that from Stephen!  And she got one of course.  A Tigger Pez for her and a new Curious George Goes Fishing book for her and Jackson to share.  Love it! 

Jackson: 10 Weeks Old!

Jackson, you are a growing boy! You have been eating a lot lately, sometimes even over 4 oz. at a time. But you still like to take your time while you eat. You might even take a short nap and then wake and finish your bottle. You haven't done much napping during the day lately unless I am holding you. You really love to be held and cuddled. You have had a fun week with mommy and Bri. We have been watching Puss N Boots a lot since this is Bri's new favorite cartoon movie. You love to watch mommy and Bri dance around the living room. You seem very aware of everything going on around you and you watch us with interest. You have been really talkative and almost laughed at Daddy tonight. Your little coos are are so sweet. Last Saturday was your first photo shoot. You did amazing! April got so many shots of you smiling. Such a happy baby! You dipped your toes in the pool for the first time. We can plan on getting you in the pool very soon! It's hard to believe that summer is almost over. I need to start planning for Halloween! I have to think of some cute costumes for you and your sister.

Photo Shoot!

Yesterday a friend of mine took pictures of the kids. I felt really guilty because Jackson still had no newborn photos and my photographer options were suddenly slim. Since Jax spent extra time at the hospital, it definitely threw my plans off. April was nice enough to take on photographing my two little ones. She has plenty of practice since she has three beautiful girls of her own. Bri cooperated for the most part, although she was a little cranky since she had not had a nap yet. But April got some great brother/sister shots and individual photos. I am so happy to finally have great pictures of the two of them! I will post preview pics soon. And April brought the kiddos a jungle gym they no longer use. Bri was pretty excited to see that. It was fun to see all of the kids playing together and getting along so well. I so wish all of my friends lived closer so we could get together more often but it is certainly nice to see everyone when we can. And Bri always loves having 'priends' over. Hopefully there is a family BBQ in the future! And maybe a night out for mommy and daddy...

Current Love: BABY GAP

I think I might possibly want every item at Baby Gap right now.  Everything is so cute.  Brianna had to have this denim dress and swimsuit:

A few other items I might have to grab:

Gorgeous!

Stephen loved this tee:

Can't forget little man:

Seriously such cute stuff!

Brianna the Magician

It has come to light lately that little Miss Bri Bri might be a bit of an actress.  Currently she is obsessed with the kids' shows Caillou and Curious George.  Like seriously she can't get enough.  Well, Caillou pretends to be a magician in one episode.  Tonight, Brianna gave us a real show as she became a mighty magician right before our eyes.  It was just sort of random.  Stephen and I were eating dinner on the couch, having just got in from making a trip to JCP, and Grandma was feeding Jackson.  Suddenly, Bri jumped in front of the living room and yelled 'Abracadabra!'.  We just looked at her and laughed and smiled.  Then, she proceeded to pull a rabbit out of a basket and yelled 'Ta-da!'.  We started cracking up.  She came over to each one of us to show us the bunny before putting it back in its basket.  And then she said 'Abracadabra' again and said 'Start clapping!'.  It was hilarious.  This went on for a good 15 minutes as she replayed her actions for us.  Once she even 'dropped' the bunny and had to go back and grab it.  We each took turns petting the bunny and holding it in our hands.  I captured some of this on video and will post soon.  Brianna is quite entertaining to say the least! 

Fun at Hermann Park

After having a bit of a lazy Saturday at home, we decided to take to Brianna to Hermann Park to hit up the splash pad and lake.  Jax stayed home with Grandma since it was so hot.  Bri was super excited about going.  She loves parks and especially Hermann Park because the amount of animals we get to feed lol.  Today did not disappoint.  We stopped off at a waterway to feed a few ducks nearby.  Before long, turtles, fish, goose, and even more ducks were competing for the bread and tortilla chips we were tossing out.  We saw a large purplish/black fish hanging out as well.  We could not figure out what kind of fish it was but it was huge.  And would you believe a nutria rat came up so close to us we could have touched it?!  Not that we would want to... I thought it was an otter at first.  Leave it to Stephen to know all about water rodents and correct me.  And Bri thought it was a puppy lol.  She kept calling it and telling it to 'tome here'.  A/w, nutria rats prefer bread to tortilla chips, just FYI.  It was really fun to get so close to all the animals.  It is one of Brianna's favorite things to do.  She also had fun running through the water sprayers and playing in the playground.  Hermann Park is absolutely one of the best and most beautiful parks I have ever seen.  If you are in Houston, take advantage and go check it out!  It is right next to the zoo and close to all of the museums.  Don't miss out!!!

And as an added benefit, there is an amazing cafe right on sight.  Seriously, Pinewood Cafe has the absolute best grilled cheese sandwiches EVER.  And the dessert is not too shabby either.  Bri wanted ice cream so bad so we stopped off and grabbed a banana split and a 'Suzanne', which I had been wanting to try.  Both were delicious!   

I'm glad we decided to get out of the house for a bit and enjoy the outdoors, despite the 100+ degree heat.  It was too bad we couldn't take Jackson.  But next year we will all get to enjoy things together.  Can't wait. :)

My Babies

I can't get enough of these two cuties.  Like for real. 

Love them so!

Jackson: 9 weeks Old/2-Month Check-up!

 8/3/12

9 Weeks and Counting!  Today you had your two month check-up.  Dr. Isenhower had not seen you since you were about two weeks old in the NICU.  She could not believe how much you had changed!  You now weigh 11 lbs. 8 oz. and you are 22.5 inches long.  She was really happy with your progress.  In comparison to full-term babies, your height is in the 30th percentile and your weight is in the 40th percentile.  That's a great jump considering you were in the 10th percentile for height and 25th percentile in weight when you were born .  You are still taking Prevacid for reflux but we're hoping it will be better in about a month or so and you won't need it.  No real issues though - you are a perfectly healthy baby boy!  Bri Bri told me that the doctor could not touch you and had to put you down.  She said that you were her baby Jackson and you wanted her arms.  She is very protective of you!  You had a few shots today (2nd Hep B, Pentacel, Pneumo) but you handled them well and only cried for about 15 seconds.  I could tell you didn't feel great this evening but a little Tylenol is keeping you comfortable.  You are becoming quite interested in your hands and fingers and often suck on your thumb and fist.  It's pretty cute to watch.  Sometimes at night I'll hear you sucking your thumb as you soothe yourself to sleep.  Adorable!

Today we went to lunch with April at Mission Burrito.  You slept while we ate and your sister played.  Last night, Bri 'fed' you with her baby doll bottle and put you to sleep in your bouncer.  It was too cute.  I did let her give you an actual bottle as well... she couldn't just tease you with an empty bottle lol!  You're such a good baby and mommy, daddy, and Bri love you!

Pardon my rambling

My posts can be a little all over the place. Random and not always put together so well. Truthfully, if I get to blog, it is a major deal. I can't always spend time on a post like I would like. I just try to get my thoughts out as quickly as possible before I am needed by someone or somewhere else. So have a little forgiveness for me when you read my random ramblings... I am just lucky I can get on-line sometimes! I did download an app that allows me to blog from my phone but it is very basic. Type and post - no edits, no images, nothing fancy. But it does the job, like right now actually, and saves my posts as I type them. And by the way... this entry took me a week to complete and post. Pretty awesome, huh? LOL

Jackson: 2 Months Old!

There's my little muscle man... and two months old!  So very hard to believe.  You grace us with more smiles and coos each day.  It is so awesome to see and hear.  You seem a little more interested in your toys lately.  We hold them up to you and you grasp at them and watch them move.  You love to lay in your sitster's arms while she sings to you.  We have a great video of Brianna singing "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star" to you.  She really loves you - she brings toys to you so you're not bored and makes sure I am quick to get you when you are crying.  You sleep pretty well at night and have a varying schedule during the day.  You usually drink about 3-4 oz. of milk each time you eat.  Like your sister did, you take your time and usually take about half the bottle, take a break, and then drink the rest.  This always drove your NICU nurses crazy!  Your doctor check-up is later this week.  Can't wait for the doc to see you!  Hopefully we will be taking you to the beach soon.  And you will definitely be getting a little pool time soon!  We are already planning all of the things we will do with you and Bri next year when you are a little older.  No rush though - we are enjoying every little moment while you are still so little.  You have stolen all of our hearts.  We are blessed to have you in our little family of four.