Lady of Leisure

Last Thursday was my last day working at Ashworth Middle School. Since then, I've taken a few days for myself. Jackson has spent this week as his last in daycare, and I've had some time to be a lady of leisure. I've been able to sleep in (7:30ish) work out every morning, go to the pool once, get my "toes did" with a friend, and get LOTS of little stuff done (laundry, cleaning, cooking, baking, running errands, and completing some Pampered Chef training).  Tomorrow's my last day of leisure. And Jackson and I are looking forward to going camping at Lake Lanier this weekend with Meme and Big Daddy.

Since Bird got tubes in his ears last week, he's been happier. And though he still holds his hands up and whimpers to be picked up every time I walk by, he's getting better at playing by himself.

Aunt Sarah, hope this makes you proud!

One of his new favorite things is turning through a book and chattering like he's reading. It's pretty cute. And every time he sees anything that slightly resembles a cow, he mooooos.
When he's hungry, he points to his high-chair and says, "Mmmmmm!"
Bird also loves walking - anywhere and everywhere. He was pretty steady before getting tubes, and then after the tubes his balance was thrown off. He's slowly gaining it back, though.

Here he comes!

And he also loves playing with gadgets - cell phones, remotes, and... cameras (as evidenced in the photo below).

SOMEONE has highjacked Moma's camera!

Have a great Memorial Day Weekend!

Back from Jekyll Island

Wednesday of this week, I woke at 4am to prepare to leave for the Jekyll Island 4H Center with a bunch of 7th graders. We returned last night (Friday) at 8:30 pm. It was L O N G and super busy, but fun! I learned so much Science stuff (which usually isn't my thing at all), and I really enjoyed being with the kids outside of the classroom.

While I was gone, Bird was such a good boy for his Daddy. Today, however, he's a bit fussy. I'm sure his ears hurt. Good thing he's having tubes put in this Wednesday. I'm having to miss the last day of school, so I wont' get to say bye to my kids, but that's probably a good thing. This will reduce the crying.

I have mixed emotions about finishing up my last year teaching and getting ready to stay at home full time. I know staying at home is what I am called to do, and I am so excited to be with my little JBird. At the same time, though, I will definitely miss teaching, interacting with the students, and having "adult time" each day. On the other hand, my Pampered Chef business is going really well, so between that and Bird, I know I'll stay pretty busy. Like I said - mixed emotions.

For now, I AM looking forward to field day on Monday. I am NOT looking forward to packing up my classroom.

Can't Catch Up

Life has been a bit crazy - crazier than usual - the last few weeks. Since I've started Pampered Chef, I feel like I have 3 full time jobs - teacher, mom, and PC consultant - and I'm not doing any of them particularly well. I'm so ready for things to slow down!

Last Friday I went on a field trip to Six Flags with our gifted students. It was fun, but exhausting. It made me feel pretty old when Mandy, my friend, and I got off the Scream Machine and immediately dug for the Tylenol in our purses. Geez, I'm getting old.

This weekend we went to Gwinnett to celebrate my birthday and Mothers Day. It's always good to see my family, but it also makes the weekend a whirlwind. Time goes by too fast! Then we came back Sunday night to eat with Jacin's family.

Tomorrow, I'm missing work to take Bird to the ENT. I think his ear infection is back (again), so this appointment is right on time. I also have an appointment with the Cardiologist tomorrow. Maybe we can figure out why I'm feeling so crummy.

At 4am Wednesday, I leave to take 60 7th graders to the 4H Center at Jekyll Island for 3 days. Should be fun, but, again, exhausting. I know I'm going to miss my boys, too.

Whew! All that to say that I am completely overwhelmed. The house is a mess, I'm behind on Pampered Chef stuff, the fridge is pretty empty, JBird is feeling yucky, and I have probably 5 loads of laundry heaped on my bedroom floor (which is also covered in dog hair). I feel like, no matter how hard I work, I'm never going to catch up.

Maybe things will slow down after May 19th when I quit work (or, when I quit getting paid - I'll never quit work. I'm just switching jobs). Counting down the days!!!

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!