Easter Fun

So, as Murphy's Law dictates, any time we want to gather with family and friends to celebrate a holiday, Jackson shall have an illness (most of the time an ear infection). Considering that my little Bird must have felt pretty puny, he did well. Here are a few pics:

Opening his Easter "basket" from Meme & BigDaddy.

"Reading" his new book from Sara & Russell

All dressed up after Sunday's Easter services

On Monday, the pediatrician put Jackson on antibiotics for his ear infection and an inhaler and breathing treatments for his lungs. She also put him back on his Prevacid (reflux meds) in hopes that maybe this will help clear up the extra snot that seems to stick with him all the time. (And don't ask me how snot and reflux are connected, cause I don't know.) We will go see an ENT doctor in 2 weeks to discuss the possibility of tubes for his ears.

On top of that, the three of us stayed up until 2am Wednesday night (Thursday morning) because of the storms. Jacin was torn out of the frame, and Jackson could somehow sense the extra energy in the room. He thought it was just one big slumber party! So in addition to being sleepy and fussy, Bird is also ticked off that he can no longer have his milk in a bottle. When I put the sippy cup of milk in front of him, he grabs it and hums it across the room. The ladies at day care have even told me twice this week that he's acted like a troll (which is bad, considering they think he does not wrong).

Here's hoping to clear ears, healthy lungs, and a passion for sippy cups next week.

Bird's Bday Party

This past weekend (Saturday, April 2), we invited family and friends over to celebrate Jackson Bird's 1st birthday. We had planned to hold the party at Oostanaula Baptist in the fellowship hall, but a funeral displaced us. We moved it to our house, which was cozy, but fun.

Our Saturday morning started out with a cattle trailor arriving at our house. Surprise! Granna and PawPaw bought Jackson his own calf! His name is Buddy, and he likes to lick Bird's toes.

Then my friend Kim Witt dropped by with Jackson's cow cake. It was GREAT. It looked extra cute and tasted amazing! Thanks, Kim!!! When we finished eating the left-overs 4 days later, I thought Jacin was going to cry.

Then the party began. Lots of friends, family, cake, and gifts = fun, fun, fun!!! Bird opened gifts and played on his new playset in the yard (thanks to Meme, Big Daddy, Aunt Laney, Uncle Richard, Uncle Zack, and Aunt Aud).

Then on Sunday, Jackson was dedicated by our pastor, James Wisener, at TrueNorth Baptist Church.

It was a super busy, but fun weekend. Then on Tuesday of this week, Bird started walking! He won't take more than 5 or 6 steps at a time, and he'd still rather hold onto your hand, but he can definitely do it on his own now! Then on Wednesday (his REAL birthday), I made cupcakes. Bird was excited, but I think the flaming candle was really what got his attention. He did enjoy making a colossal mess with the cupcake, though.

Today was also his first day on regular cow's milk bottles. So far, he's done great! Now if we can just get him to eat solid foods without gagging. It's hard to believe that one year ago tomorrow, we were bringing our baby Bird home from the hospital (the 1st time).  It's been an awesome year full of God's blessings.

Happy 1st birthday, JBird!! We love you!

Spring Break Week

This week was my Spring Break, and Jacin and Jackson have been home, too! It's been great to just be lazy together, get some yardwork done, and even take a little excursion or two. Thursday we had to go to Marietta to pick out our granite for kitchen countertops (being installed later this month!!!). Since we were already half way to Atlanta, we decided to eat at the Varsity for lunch and then spend the afternoon at the Atlanta Zoo.

Going down to the heart of Atlanta was an adventure with my country-boy husband at the wheel. As we were driving through the Grant Park neighborhood, Jacin asked, "Is there some special event going on today?"
"Why?" I answered.
"Because there are cars parked everywhere along both sides of the street!"
I laughed. "Baby, that's where people park. The people who live here park on the street."
"That's stupid. Why didn't they plan space for driveways? Cities are stupid," he mumbled.
I just smiled to myself. Gotta love a country boy! There were several times I was afraid he was going to come unhinged (like when Bird licked the highchair at the Varsity and Jacin thought he was going to get AIDS!), but my overall-wearin hubbie really did pretty great.

The zoo was pretty crowded, and Bird thought the people were much more interesting than the animals (most of which were sleeping, anyway). One random highlight was that Bird tolerated sunscreen! This is a big deal for us. This was his first time wearing sunscreen, and I was worried he might be allergic to it like me! It was a beautiful day, though, and we had fun being together. Here are just a few pics.

What'll ya have? What'll ya have?

Holdin the zoo map so we dont' get lost

Checkin out the rhino with Dad

Cheese!

Sunny Saturday

Today was a busy day. Jacin left early to go hunting, and JBird and I slept until 9!!! Then we got up, got showers, ran errands, and came back home to make lunch. At 1, Dianne West came over to take some "cake smashing" pics. Jackson wasn't thrilled. He put up with it for about 3 minutes, then he cried. He thought the icing was gross. Definitely wouldn't eat it, and clearly wasn't happy about having on his fingers. Oh well. At least he was cute in his birthday hat. Next Saturday will be his 1st birthday party! Crazy.

After naps, we all went outside to put together our new patio set (bought last week for an outrageous deal). We enjoyed being out on such a sunny Saturday. And we're looking forward to a sunny Spring Break week!