Day 43- Sick baby :(

Jackson picked up a pretty bad chest cold so I'm going to make this short. I have a feeling we'll be up a lot tonight. He was in pretty good spirits this morning despite the cough so I was still able to make his 1/2 birthday cake and get a couple of pictures of him with it. I was also able to get him to do his Valentine's Day pictures. I couldn't find any boy Valentine shirts I liked, so I made one instead.

Jackson's 1/2 Birthday Cake!

He had fun grabbing at it, but don't worry he didn't eat any!

He did think it was funny though.

His Valentine's Day diaper

I can't get him to stay on his belly at all- here he is rolling over about 10 seconds after I laid him down.

Watching Dad play Call of Duty

Showing off the shirt I made him- now I have to wash this whole outfit so he can wear it again Monday.

Crazy hair!

Big boy!

Yummy flowers

What am I supposed to do with these?

His teeth are bugging him too :(

"Reading the sign"

Happy Valentine's Day!

Day 42- 6 Months Old today

Happy 1/2 birthday Jackson! He had his shots today and did great. He didn't need tylenol at all. He was 26 1/2 inches (53%) and is 16lbs 12 oz (37%). He's getting so big! He's growing wonderfully and getting smarter every day. OK- enough bragging :)

At the doctors today, Jackson wore his Happy Heinys. We have 2 one size diapers from them and they are some of my favorite velcro diapers. They fit Jackson wonderfully and are the softest pocket diapers we have. I love their patterns too! For a one-size diaper they are really trim. I definitely see myself getting more HHs down the line. If/when we have another baby, I'm pretty sure I'm going to have a big stash of happy heiny minis. http://www.happyheinys.com/our-products/one-for-all This is the diaper. We have the cow print and the one Jackson wore today, glow in the dark skulls. The doctor said "that's one bad-ass baby" I LOVE it! He doesn't have to be cutesy all the time. I like him to have a little attitude :) That bad ass diaper, inspired a very tough little guy when it came shot time. He cried more because the nurse wouldn't let him kick his feet than he did because of the shots. As soon as he could kick his feet again he was done fussing. And there was no screaming at all this time.

Tomorrow we are going to do Valentine's day pictures and Sunday we are going to wash his diapers and hang them outside to dry/ sun out the stains. It's going to be an awesome weekend b/c we will have great weather. I think we'll even get out for a few walks! Maybe the groundhog was right.

Today's pictures are from a project I'm doing with some friends. It was sooooo hard getting him to sit with the paper letters and him not eat them.

Day 41- Last day as a 5 month old

Jackson's last day as a 5 month old ended early b/c he only slept 15 minutes at Miss Brenda's and by the time I got him home, he was beat! He went to bed early and I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE the fact that through the "No Cry Sleep Solution" and waiting until he was ready, I can put Jackson in his crib with his monkey blanket and seahorse wide awake and he will talk to himself, play with monkey, and then go to sleep on his own within 15 minutes.

Tomorrow is his 6 month appointment, I'm excited to see his new "stats" I'm also excited because I got his new Happy Heiny Diaper in the mail today. It has glow in the dark skulls on it- how cool is that. He will definitely be rocking that diaper for the pediatrician tomorrow!

Here are the very few pictures I could snap in the 40 minutes of awake time we had pre-bedtime routine.

He likes his roasted sweet potato.

A little playtime in the exersaucer before bed

I found out that I was selected to host a party for Philadelphia Cream Cheese. These are like taste tester parties. I hope a lot of you can come, anyone local is invited! If you come to the party you get the following coupons: Philadelphia cooking creme, home shopping network

You also get: cooking creme notepads, magnets, recipe books, and cooking spoons. Also if you are looking to get free stuff (I get 4 free Philly Cooking Cremes, a Greenpan stainless steel skillet, a pamphlet for that skillet and a Philly oven mitt just for hosting) go to www.houseparty.com and apply for one of the available parties!

We will provide some of the recipes from the book! The party is March 12th so clear your calendars (and for all of you who can still drink- you will get to help Russell clear out the beer fridge!) It's the day of the big east championship so come and watch on our big screen!

Finally, you see this new signature I have? I won it from a comment game on Penny Pinching Polly. I love doing comment games on facebook. While it might send some annoying stuff on walls- I've won over $100 in prizes doing these. All you have to do is like a page on FB and then comment on the prize. They then use random.org to pick. I've won things from "ouchie bags" to blog signatures, to diapers! This was created by Cutesie Blog designs. http://www.facebook.com/CutesieBlogDesign

Day 40- Quick Pics

I don't feel well and I'm headed to bed, so just some pictures of our day today.

This is how Jackson wakes up in the morning when he gets to sleep in.

I don't know why, but I just love these PJs (and he has on a matching diaper!)

Not a fan of green beans.

Not really sure about the nectarine either

But the boy sure loves his yogurt (tonight it was mixed with black raspberry preserves!)

Day 39- Snow Day :)

I love snow days! It was a good day to recharge. We also have a 2 hour delay for tomorrow so we can take our time getting ready in the morning. Since we were home, Jackson and I had breakfast and lunch together. However it was a late breakfast and a later lunch (3:30) so we skipped dinner. For breakfast Jackson had greek yogurt mixed with fruit preserves, toast with cream cheese on it, and watermelon. He loved it all and ate everything he could feed himself. The food pictures are from this morning. He's getting better with the spoon and continues to amaze me at how proficient he is becoming so quickly.

For lunch he had part of a whole grain English muffin with preserves on it, apricots, steamed apples, and steamed carrots. He loved the apples and carrots, didn't really care for the english muffin, and ate the apricots, but didn't love them. He loved the apples so much that he started to eat the pieces off of his bib.

I need to go shopping soon to get more baby friendly foods for Jackson. I think him eating with us will also make me make healthier choices because he wants what I have and it makes me think twice about what eating habits I am teaching him.

Yummy Breakfast!

I'm getting better with my spoon- no yogurt on my forehead today!

So tasty I'll eat it right off my bib.

All done mom- just finishing up the toppings on my thumb.

Also, he got a baby mohawk this morning. It wasn't on purpose, but after breakfast he had yogurt everywhere and got a quick bath. After I got him out of the tub I let him play in the crib while I cleaned up, but I forgot to brush his hair- thus the crazy baby mohawk. I have two pictures of him being his happy self :)

Jackson's favorite toy this week: http://www.amazon.com/Fisher-Price-L5739-Chatters-Cookie-Monsters/dp/B00280MB48, http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000W9PXFG/ref=pd_lpo_k2_dp_sr_3?pf_rd_p=486539851&pf_rd_s=lpo-top-stripe-1&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_i=B00280MB48&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=1M5534VDV8J5SX5NSAWX Cookie Monster or Elmo chatters. You can see cookie monster in the pictures in his nursery. He'll shake him and make him talk and just crack up. He got them for Christmas and as much as they drive Russell and I crazy- they are awesome to have around. I didn't think he would like them for awhile, but they have been a big hit as of late.

mmmm....cookie monster

Crazy hair!

I love snow days with mom!

He has finally taken to Elmo as much as he has Murray. Here he was being fussy since he didn't get to watch TV (normally he watches as soon as I get home from work so I can unpack and get things ready for dinner) so I let him watch Sesame Street with me. I love watching him when Elmo or Murray comes on so here is a video.

Oh and I was totally the person swearing my kid wouldn't watch TV until he was two- well life hit. I'm home alone with him the majority of the week and the dogs need fed, out, attention, dinner needs cooked, I have to pump, I need to unpack from school, and all in all it takes about 30-40 minutes to get everything ready to go when I get home. I tried it without Sesame Street and every time he would start to cry halfway through pumping or right when the dogs needed in and it just wasn't working. So I decided one tv show a day and it had to be educational. So we DVR Sesame street and it's become a part of our routine. So I eat my words b/c ideally he would be TV free, but as we all know- life isn't always ideal. I don't think he will be forever damaged from an hour a day of Sesame Street.

That is all for tonight-I've got laundry to fold and dishes to put away. I'm going to try to make my 10:00 bedtime tonight. I've not been good with this and it's wearing on me!

Day 38- Fussy Night

I'm doing Penny Pinching Polly's monday night game trying to win some free stuff and I'd like to get to bed early so this is pretty quick. Jackson was great today at school, but at home the teething monster returned.

So I've included a rare happy picture of Jackson and two pictures of what the rest of my night was like. It's a good thing he's so lovable. He did go down smiling and to sleep without a fight. Yay Tylenol. (Which I always use as a last resort, but believe me the super in pain screams led to last resort tonight)

Seriously like 30 seconds after the first picture

Getting ready for bathtime

Day 37 Steelers!

Super short b/c I'm watching the Steelers in the Super bowl, hoping for a change in performance right now! Hopefully they can pull this out. Here are some pictures of Jackson cheering for his favorite football team.

Jackson rocking the baby legs and steeler tie in his pregame attire.

Getting ready for the game with his "Terrible Toddler Towel" and onesie (which is getting too small)

Enjoying time on the floor

Watching kickoff

Eating "pizza" aka gnawing on some crust

Poop on Green(bay) and some toe grabbing- ready for bed!

Day 36- We love Saturdays

Jackson was asleep by 8 and had two decent naps today. Hopefully we are starting to get on some kind of schedule. He's still getting up to eat at night anywhere from 1-4 times a night, but he's getting better about napping and he's sleeping on his back in the crib- so I'll take it.

Today I have quite a few pictures because it's been a whole week since I got to spend the whole day with Jackson. Russell even played with Jackson for a couple of hours so I could get things done. Weather was crazy today, which made it a good afternoon/evening to stay in.

Jackson ate 3 whole meals today. The first was breakfast of watermelon, banana, apple, and yogurt. He ate almost the whole banana again, tried a piece of apple and a piece of watermelon. He did great with the yogurt. The first attempt with the spoon put some yogurt on his forehead, but from there on out he got in the vicinity of his mouth with every bite. He's doing really well and has a great appetite. Here is a picture of Jackson at the end of the meal.

Jackson lucked out with a second bath after this meal :) We played all morning. Here is a picture of Jackson in his Sustainablebabyish Longies. These are knit wool pants. These are "seconds" but I can't for the life of me figure out why. I try to have him wear his longies at least once a weekend. We use fitted diapers under the longies. The fitted diapers are diapers that are not waterproof and thus much more breathable. By doing this it helps to make sure that he doesn't get a rash.

Here is a picture of Jackson wearing one of my favorite patterns- Cat in the Hat. This fitted is a Dippee Dypee. http://www.facebook.com/pages/Dippee-Dypees/154092501296597 This is not an overnight fitted, but is good for a 2 hour stretch. It has a snap in liner made of a very soft cotton material. This is a really soft diaper and can be folded for a boy or a girl. I would recommend it for a lower cost diaper that you will use during playtime. It probably would get soaked through during naptime if you have a heavy wetter, but if you are just looking for something cute to play around in, this is an excellent diaper.

Jackson had tomatoes and green peppers at Subway for lunch and then we came home for a nap. When Russell played with Jackson after that, I was able to start on some crafts for Jackson. I made him a Steeler tie shirt. I don't have a sewing machine, so I'm pretty pleased with how it turned out. Altogether this cost me $3.50 to make. I am hoping to finish the other two tonight. There is a WVU one and one for him to wear for Valentine's Day.

Here is a picture of Jackson modeling the shirt I made him.

Last picture of the night is Jackson at dinner. Russell saw this morning and since we had a late dinner decided a diaper would be the perfect attire for Jackson for dinner. His high chair cover was in the dryer so we used this chair instead.

Tomorrow will be a very short post b/c it will be the Super bowl! Here we go Steelers, here we go!

Day 35- Black and Gold work/sitters day

Well in honor of the February challenge- it's Friday. I needed Friday this week and I made it there tired, but unscathed. It was a long day at school as many of the kids were having as hard a time as a full days work as the teachers were.

Here is a picture from this morning when Jackson and I were just about ready to leave. I think I'm going to need to move his bedtime earlier and start bath when he shows signs of tiredness after 7, not 7:30 because I'm having to wake him up at 6:30 everyday. He's in a good mood when I wake him up, but I feel like he's not getting enough sleep if I'm waking him up.

Day 34- Long Day

What does extinct mean?

Student smells armpit and plugs nose saying "yuck"

Even though it's been a very long week, it's moments like these that remind me why I love my job. A hug and an independently completed paper from a student who was out of control moments previous, a laugh from a grouchy kid, and a semi verbal student greeting a friend. These were the definite highs of my day today.

http://www.mamisandpapis.blogspot.com/ Mami's and Papi's- one of my favorite FB fan pages, stores, and blogs issued this challenge for the month of February, be more positive. Make the best of every situation. So I will try to issue the best moments of each day-moments with Jackson and moments without. I'd love to hear your highs of each day as well!

Speaking of Mami's and Papi's, we just got Jackson's CJ's Carcass cleaner and lotion. They smell awesome, are 100% natural and so creamy. All of her products are cloth diaper safe. You can only get the lotion at Mami's and Papi's. I totally recommend these products and I'm thinking that if we get a little extra money I'll get the wool spray and all purpose cleaners too. I use the CJs BUTTer that we have on my dry skin as well as a diaper cream. It works so well on dry skin, I always have some with me. So baby or not- you'll find a scent you love and it's definitely worth it! http://www.cjsewingroom.com/?cat=5

Today's pictures are from dinner, which was short b/c Jackson was tired and also from afterwards when he was cleaned up and waiting for bath time. I also put a picture of Jackson with his cup. He's doing so well- he didn't spill on himself at all today, he spilled a little when he set the cup back on the tray, but he brought it to his mouth and successfully drank 3 times today!

Day 33- Night out

It's another super short one as I hope to be in bed by 10. Jackson and I went out to dinner with friends tonight. He tried the applesauce, which he really liked playing with and he ate a little too. He was an angel as usual and quite the ham. He cracks me up b/c he just eats up all the attention and will do anything he can to make sure that it stays on him. He fake laughs, fake coughs, and will yell to make sure all eyes are on him. You can't help but love it b/c as soon as he has your attention- he'll reward you with a smile that will melt your heart!

We went to dinner 2 blocks from home so we enjoyed a nice walk there and back. Tonight's picture is me and Jackson just after we got back. I love seeing him all bundled up!

Oh and I have to wear my glasses in the evenings now b/c my poor eyes are so tired :( However those are the free Nike glasses I got from coastal contacts- such and awesome deal!!

Day-32 2 Full days of work- ugh!

I'm pretty tired so it's another short one. Jackson was up at 4:50 and I didn't get back to bed after I got him back down and with school, basketball, and a very playful baby this evening- I'm beat. I do have to say today started much better than yesterday though. Jackson slept until 7:00 and woke up in a great mood. He's been pretty happy all day long and just full of himself. He's a riot to hang out with and it makes all the not so fun parts (like the bottle I spilled in the car this morning) much more bearable.

This is Jackson right after he got up. How can you not have a good day when you're greeted with this smile?

Jackson at dinner time- he went after the banana with a purpose. He ate almost the whole thing tonight.

Jackson successfully drank from his cup by himself without spilling (and set it back on the tray without spilling) twice tonight! Now there were probably more than 20 unsuccessful attempts, but he's learning so fast!

After dinner we're down to a diaper and sweatshirt b/c learning to eat and drink is a very messy venture! He's wearing the Thirsties Fab Fitted, which almost doesn't fit him anymore. I'm so sad because they don't make this diaper anymore and it's so trim and soft. It's one of my favorite around the house daytime fitteds.

This was Jackson at 9:15, almost 2 hours after his bedtime. He apparently didn't get the message that it was bedtime. Thankfully he gave in to those tired eyes about 20 minutes later!