Guns Up! Beat Texas!

I am very nervous & excited all at the same time for the game this weekend. We are planning to go out with my family for my birthday on Saturday afternoon, but Aaron has made it abundantly clear that we WILL be home in time for the game & we WILL NOT watch it with my family. Aaron loves my family, but does not love our talking during football games, so I have emphatically promised that we will make it OUR home in plenty of time for the game sans any of my relatives. Sorry Mom, Dad, Nana...

I was reading an article in the Chronicle about TTU. Mike Leach had this to say about his coaching strategies. I thought it was hilarious & very fitting.

“I think that in the world of football, a lot of times there’s a temptation to pick up rat droppings when elephant droppings are flying everywhere. So we try to focus on elephant droppings around here.”

I hope my boys in red & black kick some Longhorn boo-teh! Guns Up!

Jackson is 11 Months Old!

As promised, here is the video of Jackson saying "Hi" & "Bye-Bye" while in the bath.




Jackson is 11 months old today! Man, how time flies! I can't believe that in just one month it will have been an entire year that we've had this precious little man in our lives! We are so blessed and now it's hard to imagine a time when there was no Jackson Dean Hiler. He is the absolute light of our lives and we enjoy EVERY second with our Wacko! Now for brag time:

• Jackson drinks 12-15 oz of milk a day & at least 1 sippy cup of water a day. He won't hold the sippy cup by himself, which is really frustrating, but we're working on it.


• Takes 2 naps a day - one at school from around 10 -12:30 & another in the late afternoon from 4:30-5:45 or 6. He goes to bed later than most babies, so this works for us!


• He crawls on all fours (finally) almost exclusively. He finally figured out that army crawling is MUCH slower & who has time for that?


• He walks around the coffee table, behind push toys, ottoman, & boxes -- if you haven't seen the box video, check it out below!


• He can climb up as many as 7 stairs (supervised, of course). We are working on learning to go down on our bottom.


• He eats almost any kind of table food, but has started to reject certain veggies (peas, mainly). I try & make him eat them anyway by disguise. He still LOVES broccoli & asparagus!


• He says: dada, mama, hi & bye-bye -- has said yaya a couple of times, but we're still not sure it's the real deal. He also says "ba," which we think means bath since he says it when he sees his duck bath tub.


• He waves at everything - even a picture of a prisoner on TV this afternoon. He's an equal opportunity waver! ;)


• He loves to swing, go for walks, play with boxes, playing catch & taking baths.


• He gives kisses - the good open mouth slobbery ones! We love 'em!


• He claps usually after we clap, but occasionally when he knows he's done something good.

He is generally the happiest, most easy going baby so Aaron & I are scared to have another one. They say the second one is nothing like the first. (Not that there are any plans, yet!)

Well, Jackson: Mommy & Daddy love you with all our hearts! Happy 11 Month Birthday, little one!

Jackson said his first phrase!

We were SHOCKED to hear him say "Hi" yesterday, but then this morning when he said "Hi Dada," we were floored! We started laughing and he started clapping -- he knew he had done something special! It was so awesome to literally hear him develop right in front of us. He sort of said "hi dada" yesterday, but it was further spaced and so I wasn't sure he meant the words together. We have a video from last night while he was in the bath -- I'll post it later.

Figured it out!

Thanks for everyone that emailed help! Once I had a little more time (instead of in between classes) I was able to figure it out.

Background Issues

I am trying to change my background & got it partially changed, but I can't get the green background in the body of the blog to go away. Anyone with specific knowledge of this?

Pushing diapers

I can't seem to get a video of Jackson playing with his push toy, but I was able to get him walking behind a diaper box. He zoomed all around and then Aaron made his entrance....

Pumpkin Patch

Despite his ear infection & thrush, we went to a pumpkin patch yesterday -- I cleared it with the Dr. first. This pumpkin patch looked great online and it was called Old MacDonald's Farm. Now, Aaron & I had been hearing about this all our lives and about how there was a moo, moo here & a moo, moo there and a quack, quack here & a quack, quack there, so needless to say we were excited about it too. Unfortunately, I think Old MacDonald's Farm had seen better days! We were seriously disappointed, but it still beat sitting at home & doing nothing.

A wallaby in Houston, TX...hmmm.

Jackson's souvenir - Don't worry, I washed it. It was inevitable that it would end up in his mouth!

Jackson - What a fungi!

Yesterday morning when Jackson woke up I noticed his lips & tongue were coated in white. I tried to wipe it off thinking it was dried milk & when it didn't wipe off, I immediately knew it was thrush. For those of you not familiar with thrush, it is just a yeast infection that occurs in the mouth. Having worked in a pediatric clinic, I had seen thrush a lot so I was quite confident in my diagnosis. I called his Dr.'s office to see if we could get in and luckily Dr. Pielop was actually the Dr. in the office this weekend. We went & sure enough, it was thrush. Oh but wait....that's not all....Dr. Pielop also found an ear infection in his right ear. Ugh! This is the 2nd one and both have been in that ear. So now Jackson is taking Amoxil 2 times a day for his ear, Nystatin suspension to swish around in his mouth 4 TIMES A DAY, and Motrin prn for pain. We are new to this illness thing -- this was the first true "sick visit" we'd had. The first ear infection was diagnosed at his 9 month well check and the only other non-routine appointment we have had was for diaper rash. Hopefully, this ear infection thing won't be a recurring trend!

Oh..ma..gaaaa!

I found out yesterday that Jackson walks around behind various push toys at school. I couldn't believe it! He sort of takes a few steps around the coffee table now, but nothing like that. So, Aaron & I went out and bought him a push toy last night and sure enough he walked behind it. Now, it isn't the most graceful walk, but a walk nonetheless. He sort of waits to the last possible second to move his feet forward so he ends up being outstretched, looking like he's about to face-plant, but he doesn't. It was an amazing sight - I can't describe the feeling. It's a feeling nonparents wouldn't yet understand. We were so proud! If we are this excited now, I can only imagine when he actually starts walking on his own.

Uncle Brennan visits

The last couple of times Jackson has seen Brennan he cries at first. We think it is because he only sees B every so often and I guess that is so because Friday night Jackson cried. Saturday he went straight to Brennan and they were besties the rest of the weekend. So, moral of the story....come home more, Brennan!

Daddies...(I'm shaking my head)

So sometimes their judgement isn't top notch, but it does make for a funny picture and hey, no harm no foul!

Another, more appropriate situation. Notice Aaron did not want to have his picture taken while on a walk around the lake in our neighborhood.

My Little Man!

Jackson wore the cutest little outfit the other day when it was a little chilly outside. He looked like a little man. It's hard to tell from the picture, but trust me - little man! (Pic also shows his tremendous pulling up skills - he loves to stand!) I can't believe how big he is getting & his first birthday is around the corner. I've already started planning - cake is ordered, invitations are in the works, party supplies have been purchased - now if we could just get a few things done around the house so that it is acceptable for company!

** I was told that boys do NOT wear "outfits" so excuse my previous vernacular!

Stood up...

Well, unfortunately Hailey is going to get stood up this weekend. She & Jackson were supposed to have their first date this weekend, but sadly we can't go to San Antonio after all. My car is still having some issues since the 18-wheeler accident -- nothing major, just the airbag light & Traction Control System light keep coming on -- so I do not have my car right now & can't leave town in the rental. I think it is crazy, but I'm not paying for it so what can you do? Hopefully we'll get to San Antonio before Hailey turns 7! No - we'll probably go next weekend, I was just really looking forward to meeting that little angel! The silver lining is that Brennan is going to be in town helping my parents move into their new house, so Jackson will get to spend some time with his Uncle B! The TTU/Nebraska game better not be at the same time as the UT/OU game or my family will have some issues to contend with.

Our Weekend

A tiger & his cub








Lunch with Denise at Chuy's on Saturday. Jackson ate quesadillas and waved at EVERYONE & EVERYTHING!








Jackson's first shopping cart experience on 10/3/08 at Garden Ridge Pottery. It was windy so excuse the hair!








Jackson playing catch. He throws pretty well and LOVES to play with his Daddy!











Jackson pulls himself up now ALL the time. Here he is on Sunday standing looking downstairs at his Daddy.