It was a ONE-derful Birthday Party!

This past weekend, despite everything we had going on, we had Jackson's first birthday party.  I did most of this planning before I knew I would have surgery, and I have to say a big thank you to my hubs who did a lot of the work that weekend.  Gamma got here last Thursday, and she has also been a big help.  

Here's our month pictures.  

The smash cake turned out so good.  

So glad my Aunt Snooks got to come.  I was very sad that my family couldn't come, but that just means we'll have to have another birthday party in McGehee in a couple of weeks. 

For lunch, we had sandwiches, spinach dip, mango salsa, chips, and watermelon.  And of course, cupcakes! 

Opening presents was like herding cats.  We were inside and there really wasn't enough room for everybody, and he had so many people and things to look at.  Talk about over stimulation!  

Brent's dad and stepmom got to come, so I had to get a snapshot of the Haywood men together.  

Cake time!  He did NOT want to wear that. 

Hmm...wonder what this will taste like. 

Maybe I should try both hands. 

We were so blessed to have so many friends and family there.  Here's a panoramic shot of who was here:  Gamma, Aunt Connie; Uncle Wyn, Aunt Maria, Malia; Stuart, Judith, and Collin Beckham; Rich, Natalie, Jonathan, Jacob, and Hannah Moellers, Jeff and Jack Thomas Yates; Deanna, Mason, Grant, and Miles Atkinson; Kristen and Cooper Black; Terri and Lila Cross; Whitney Kirk; Tegan Akins; Aunt Snooks and Katie Ausbrooks; Grandpa Gary and Dottie Haywood

Cake face! He kept looking at us like "I can't believe you're letting me do this." ha! 

From mommy and daddy, he got a small swing set and toddler slide.  Gamma got him a red wagon, and Mimi and Pops got him a little riding Thomas the Train.  He got lots of cute toys, clothes, and books.  It looks like a daycare in my house, but I'm loving all of the new stuff.  We did put up a few things that I'll bring out in a couple of months. 

Overall, it was a great birthday party, although I do understand now why people go to McDonald's or Chuck E. Cheese for parties. ha!  It's hard work getting everything set up.  But seeing his face in that cake is totally worth it. 

One Year Old!

Jackson,

Today you are ONE year old!  We can't believe it.  I spent a lot of time thinking about the day that you were born.  I was so excited that I couldn't sleep the night before, and had no idea what was about to happen.  Oh I thought I knew, but I was not prepared in the least for your arrival!

You have been the light in our lives when things looked dim, and made us laugh every day.  I'm not going to be untruthful though, it's been hard.  I've had times when I just didn't know what to do or how to do things, but by the Grace of God, we made it through.

We've gone through a lot of changes this past month.  Since you turned 11 months old, you're officially a walker, but probably more like a runner.  You've also started this thing where you show us a toy you have, and you act like you're going to give it to us, then you walk away with it. It's hilarious! Until you start doing to another kid, and then it's not so cute.  We're going to start practicing sharing, and you've already started following orders from Mommy and Daddy, so I know you can do it!

As far as your schedule, it's really gone through a change about the time I started writing this, so I hope I can remember it.  At Dr. Wilson's visit, you weighed 19.4 lbs, which put you in the 10th percentile.  Dr. Wilson was not happy about that, so that's why you're still on the bottle.

6:30 a.m. - wake up/bottle of milk and/or formula (after we finish this last pouch, no more!)
7:00 a.m. - leave for school
8:30 a.m. - breakfast
9:30 a.m. - playtime outside
10:20 a.m. - milk cup
11:00 a.m. - lunch
12 - 2 p.m. - nap time
2:30 p.m. - milk cup
4:00 p.m. - snack and juice cup
5:00 p.m. - leave school - drive home with daddy
6:30 p.m. - dinner then bath time
7:30 p.m. - final bottle then sleepy time!  You're usually in the bed asleep by 8 p.m.

The daycare moved your class from two naps to one nap, and surprisingly you've done a great job at it.  Sometimes when you're at home, you nap earlier and longer, but it will just depend on what time you got up that morning.

You drink out of sippy cup like a pro and I think the bottles are just a comfort thing, and we may have to go cold turkey in a few months.  Although the doctor was worried about your weight, Mimi looked in my baby book, and I was also 19 pounds at one year.  Looks like you're right on average with how I was.  Oh and you're also 29 1\2 inches long.  You're going to be tall like your daddy and Pops!

As for eating, here lately it's been a struggle at dinner time.  I think you're hungry by the time we get home and you're ready to eat.  You still eat some baby food just to make sure you can get some fruit and vegetables.  You love bananas, apples, grapes, green beans, potatoes, bread, squash, carrots. macaroni and cheese, graham crackers, ritz crackers, cheerios, and of course you drank whole milk like a champ.  At your birthday party you also had cake and you did enjoy it, although I think it turned you into a crazy child that night.  We've also given you a few sips of a Sonic slushy, and you of course love it and want more.

Playtime usually consists of dragging out every toy we have until the entire house looks like a daycare.  There are balls and books in every room of the house, and I really do love it.  Although when it's time for bed, I want it all picked up.  Guess that's Mimi coming out in me.  You still love to read books, and have begun to bring books to me to read.

Aunt Dr. Sarah and Dr. Wilson both agreed that it's time to brush your teeth every night, especially after the night bottle of milk.  Oh. my. word. child.  You hate that tooth brush.  I don't know if its because you're tired or you just don't like to be held down, but you get so mad at me and cry big old tears.  Believe me when I tell you that I do not like to do that to you, but you have to brush them.  This is where Pops says you have to suck it up and just do it.  Luckily, Aunt Sarah said it won't make you not want to brush them later in life, so that's good. I know it'll be easier once we drop the night bottle, so I will just take this as a phase.

As far as your communicating skills, I have a feeling that once you start talking, it will be tough to get you to stop.  You can say Mama, Daddy, nana (as in banana), dog (and then bark), and duck.  You also know what sound a monkey makes, and we're starting to work on other animals.  You are still pointing at things around you, and you are starting to follow directions from us.  You can find your toys when we ask you where they are, oh and you also know where your nose, belly, and toes are.  Along with learning all of these things, you also know when you're NOT supposed to have something.  If you think we will take it away, you will run to the corner and then look back at us.  Sometimes that little smile gets us to laugh, and I think you do it on purpose!  How smart you are, little man! When we've gone to church the past few weeks, you just smile and wave at everybody.  It's awesome that you are so flexible and friendly.  I watched you work the room at your birthday party, and I know without a shadow of a doubt that is an inherited trait from your Pops and Pa.  

All in all, I think you are just the cutest, smartest, sweetest little brown-eyed boy in the world and we are so blessed by you.  I know God has great things in store for you and I can't wait to see what He has planned.

We love you more than you will ever know,
Mommy and Daddy

Happy Father's Day

When I married Brent almost five years ago, I knew in my heart he would be a good dad.  What I did know is how good he really is to Jackson.  God has blessed me with him far beyond what I asked for.  He helps out around the house, and has always helped with Jackson, whether it be feeding, bath time, or diapers.  He has also stepped up these past two weeks to help take care of us while I have been unable to.

Many of you know that Brent doesn't have a good relationship with his father, but when we got married, my dad has made him feel like his own son and has encouraged him along the way.  I think those actions have helped shape Brent into the father that he is and that he will be to Jackson.

I've also thought a lot today about my dad.  He is having the best time with Jackson - teaching him new sounds to make and wrestling.  It's so fun to watch, and Jackson now recognizes his voice and points to him when he's here.  For those of you who don't know, our family has had some struggles in the past few weeks.  During a routine scan, a small cancer spot was found on my dad's liver.  His blood work looks good and there are no other metastasized spots in his body, but unfortunately this one spot needs to come out.  On Wednesday, he will undergo surgery to have it removed by one of the top liver doctors in the state.  It will be a fairly invasive surgery and he will be in the hospital for a few days, so please pray for us as we go through this again.  I now understand the pain of having abdominal surgery, so I know it's not going to be fun.  Once the place is removed, then we will know more as far as him possibly having to go through another round of chemo.  One hurdle at a time, right?

I think this was Father's Day 1980.  Me and Dad. 

Couldn't forget about Pa.  This is exactly how Dad looks at Jackson.  

We talked in Sunday School about pessimistic and optimistic and what would Jesus do given our own situations.  I'm disappointed in myself that I always go to the worst possible scenario, but I always remember after those thoughts that God is God regardless of how I think, and He is in control. Despite the circumstances, Christ gives us joy in Him.

I can't stand it.  He looks so big - where did my baby go? 

This was our first Sunday back at church and it felt good to be back with our church family.  My only complaint was that Jackson doesn't nap at all, so he was in melt-down mode when we got home.  He didn't even eat much lunch - just had a bottle and then went down for a 2 1\2 hour nap.  After he got up, Brent opened his presents and we went to Target to get some birthday party supplies.  

We've got a crazy week ahead of us, but most importantly, we ask that you pray for us.  That God will give us the grace to get through it all and that His name will be glorified. 

Two Weeks Later

I can't believe today has been two weeks since my surgery.  The first week was a blur - I was on pain meds and didn't even get out of my pj's.  I also had to keep it propped up constantly to keep the swelling down in my whole leg, which was pretty painful in and of itself.  I saw the tide turn around last Thursday, and luckily this week has been a lot better.  Of course my mom and dad have been here for most of this week, and I don't think it's a conicidence. ha!  She has been a huge help to us - washing, cooking, and helping with Jackson.

And speaking of Jackson, I just have to document one of the problems we've had this week.  The daycare called on Monday and said he had a rash on his face and it could be hand, food, and mouth again.  Being the cautious people we are, we picked him up and took him to Dr. Wilson to get him checked out.  Now keep in mind that he had no fever on Monday, but we still took him to the doctor.  She said he was fine and it was probably not another case of HFM, wrote him a note to go back to school on Tuesday, and that was it.  (Also on Monday, my parents weren't here - they had gone home on Sunday afternoon, but were coming back Monday night).  Anyway, on Tuesday morning, Brent and Jackson head to Little Rock.  About 30 minutes after he drops him off, the daycare calls and says that he can't come back because he hasn't been out for 24 hours and he's been drooling.  So I call and talk to the infant coordinator and try to explain that he never had fever yesterday, but it was like talking to a brick wall.  She wasn't understanding me and kept wanting to argue with me.  I told her to call my doctor's office and speak with them, and she said she would but he still needed to be picked up in 30 minutes.  When I tell you that steam was coming out of my ears, that's an understatement.  Very fortunately, my mom was here, so we got in the civic and headed to Little Rock.  Brent was in a meeting and couldn't leave right then.

On the way there, I got a call from the director of the daycare, who was much more friendly and understanding.  I explained the situation, and she said she would investigate what happened.  When we got there, me and my crutches went in to get Jackson, who was playing and happy.  Hmm.  After I got home, I wrote an email to the director explaining how we were dissatisfied with the attitude we received from the infant coordinator, and she said she would speak with her and make sure that the miscommunication wouldn't happen again.  (It turns out, his supposed fever wasn't documented on Monday).  The rest of the day on Tuesday, Jackson was just fine.  He played, took a nap, ate good, took his bottles, and slept all night.

SO on Wednesday, we send him back to school.  First they call and say that we forgot to send a cup for him to drink water and juice out of.  OK, so that was our fault, but we couldn't get him one until lunch time.  At this point, I felt like he was being picked on for the incident the day before.  You're telling me you can't find a cup for him to drink out of?  Whatever.  Brent took him one at lunchtime and he was clingy and didn't want to eat his food.  I told them that he had to stay because we can't pick him up every time he doesn't feel like himself - that's just reality - sorry buddy!  They called Brent back around 3 p.m. and said that he did have fever 100.4 and that he needed to go home.  So of course, Brent picked him up, but I swear they were just trying to do anything to say that he was sick.  Because it was documented, that meant that he had to stay home on Thursday, which also happened to be when my parents were leaving, so Brent had to stay home and help.  All day yesterday, he didn't have any fever.  He played hard, and had two good naps.  He ate a good dinner, took his night bottle, then went to bed easy peasy.  He and Brent went to school and work today, so hopefully he can have a full day playing with his friends.

As I said, he played hard yesterday at home and has learned to do a few new things.  First thing is learned how to climb onto the ottoman, and has figured out how to get down, which is so funny.  He's very cautious about getting down - he'll swing one leg over after studying it for a minute.  He is also fond of dumping his books out and then will put them back in.  He also pulled out every toy in his toy box yesterday, and then decided to get in it.  ha!

Once he got out, he pushed it into the kitchen and climbed on top and was scaling the kitchen chair before we got to him.  Oh yes, the race is on people. The race is on.  I cant' believe that in less than two weeks he will be ONE.  How in the world did that happen?  

As for me, I have to wait until Tuesday afternoon to go back to the doctor to get this split off and in a walking boot. (Hopefully).  My little scooter has been a huge help, but it's bruised up my knee. I'm definitely ready to walk and get back to normal. 

Garden Update

Well, you'd think in the past 10 days, I've had plenty time to blog, but I have either been busy or not feeling well.  I wanted to document a gardening milestone that I reached this week.  I got to eat my very first tomato out of my garden!  In the past two weeks, I haven't been able to get out there and garden much, but luckily my mom has watched over my plants when she was here. 

This is a picture of the garden looking through the patio screens, which is as close as I've gotten to it.  As you can also see, the squash plants are done for.  They got huge and made a lot of squash, but once it gets really hot outside, they tend to die off.  Given that the previous garden I had didn't make any tomatoes or squash, I consider this a huge victory. I also have a cucumber vine that's doing fairly well. 

We got a good rain on Monday, which is great for the plants, but not so great for the weeds.  They're taking over, but they'll just have to wait until next week when I can get out there (maybe).  

Ankle Surgery Update

You never know how important a body part is until you don't have use of it anymore.  I had an ankle arthroscope done yesterday, but let me start at the beginning.  Way back last Spring, when I was pregnant with Jackson, I liked to go to the community center pool and swim.  It was relaxing, good exercise, and something to do while I was pregnant.  One Sunday afternoon, I went up there and ended up slipping down in the dressing room.  Those floors are always wet and I try to be careful, but apparently not enough.  I came home upset, limping, and mainly worried about the baby.  I honestly don't remember much about my ankle, but I know that I put some ice on it.

All was well until December, when I came out of my baby fog and realized that something was not right with my left ankle.  It was popping, hurting, and I was beginning to have problems with walking barefoot, so I went to see my primary care doctor.  He did an extra, and didn't really see anything, but said it could have been a small fracture, but since it had been so long ago, there wasn't much to do except take IB Profen and wear a brace.  I did that for a couple of months, and it didn't really help at all.  In fact, my ankle was getting worse and I was having more frequent pain.

That brings us to about a month ago.  I went to see an ankle and foot orthopedic doctor at Arkansas Speciality Orthopaedics Center.  At the initial xray, he didn't see a fracture, so he scheduled an MRI to be done.  The initial response was probably going to have to have some steroid shots and physical therapy.  Well, after the MRI, he discovered that I had a bone spur on the top of my ankle, as well as inflamed tissue, and a random chunk of bone at the back of my heel.  His recommendation was an ankle arthroscope.  It's a routine outpatient procedure, but apparently nothing I do is routine.  ha!

I went in yesterday morning for the procedure, and ended up having to wait an extra three hours before the surgery began.  I was super cranky because I hadn't gotten to eat or drink that morning and I had already had a nerve block (numbing of the leg), so I couldn't get up after that, but I understood that the doctor had an emergency with an earlier surgery.  They took me back around noon, and the last thing I remember is the anesthesiologist putting the oxygen mask on me.  The next time I woke up, it was a little after four and I was super drugged.  The anesthesia made me really sick to my stomach when I moved around, but thankfully it passed by the time I got home.  Apparently the surgery took longer than expected because when the doctor got in there, he discovered more damage to my cartilage and ligaments than the MRI found.  I have a hard cast around the part that was worked on, and the whole foot is wrapped in gauze.

I am so thankful for my friend Erika who kept Jackson all day yesterday.  We couldn't have taken him to school because Brent couldn't handle both of us.  (Plus, I had to sit in the back with my leg propped up). He had a great time playing with Faith and Rebekah too.  My parents were supposed to be at my house by the time we got home, but they beat us home and even picked up Jackson for us.  I am also glad they're here, because I am basically immobile for the next 24 hours.  I rented a "knee walker" but it really looks like a scooter.  It has been a huge help in getting from the bathroom to the couch or bedroom.  I'm not sure I could have managed in the crutches.  After these 2-3 weeks, the doctor will put me in a walking boot, and I'll probably be in it for at least a month.

So it looks like I'll probably be out of work longer than expected.  I go back for my follow up appointment on June 19th at 2:20, so I'm praying that these next two weeks will go by quickly.  I have plenty of magazines and books to read, plus a couple of other internet projects to work on. I knew deep down that this probably wasn't going to go away and decided to have it done so I can be on the road to recovery sooner.  I don't think I anticipated being in as much pain as it was, but I can keep it at bay as long as I have my meds.   I would greatly appreciate continued prayers for healing, and for Brent has he takes care of me and Jackson.