War on Stratford

UPDATE:
The link below was removed since it was a prank. Here is what it said:
free diapers
Date: 2009-09-28, 7:15PM
Stock Pile of diapers, no longer need them child has out grown the size need to get rid of no charge14555 Fern , houston, tx, 77079281-560-7550call between 8 am and 5 pm ask for mustang
Location: houston
it's NOT ok to contact this poster with services or other commercial interests

I had to post about this because I thought it was too funny! My school is playing our rival, the Stratford Spartans this week. This is a huge game for the Mustang community and Stratford's community gets fired up about it also. I was always pretty neutral since my mom use to be the principal at Stratford, but in years past there have been many funny pranks on both ends. One year the Stratford kids stole those giant concrete fruits & vegetables that sit out in front of HEB and put them in the middle of Memorial's parking lot entrances so that no one could enter the parking lots. It was very good! How on earth they managed to pick up the concrete things is beyond me!

I just got an email that this is Memorial's prank on Stratford this year. Too funny! The address & phone number listed is Stratford's and it says to ask for mustang, which is our mascot. I love it! I'm sure they will get us back next year and as a teacher & role model, I shouldn't get a kick out of it, but I can't help it. Cracks me up!

Diversion Tactics

Road trips are torture! Jackson has developed what I believe to be motion or car sickness. It first surfaced when he had a virus, so I first attributed it to that. He threw up about 6 times in the course of 2 weeks, all but once were in the car. Well, it has been over a month since he had the virus and it is STILL occuring. He doesn't actually get sick now, but I can tell that he is nauseous. He starts fussing, pointing to his mouth and swallowing hard. Ugh! I know that feeling and it sucks! I wish there was something I could do to make it go away. As I think more and more about it, I am convinced that we didn't notice this before because he had his pacifier and that kept him from being nauseous. If he has something in his mouth - crackers or a sucker - he is fine. We now carry a blanket (to throw over him - washing his carseat cover is a major pain!), sleeve of crackers, change of clothes (just in case) and sippy of water in the car at all times.

This weekend we went to San Antonio for sweet Hailey's first birthday party. Jackson fell asleep in the car until about Universal City, but then cried the whole rest of the way to Tiffany & JC's. Of course, Emerson was crying too because she was hungry. Luckily, Jackson did not get physically sick, but the poor little guy was miserable! The party was great - we had so much fun! Tiff made adorable ladybug cupcakes and Hailey had a classic 1 year old reaction to her cupcake. So cute! Jackson "helped" Hailey open all of her gifts (sorry Tiff!) and then pushed her doll stroller around and around and around, at times telling Tiffany's Memaw to "Go!" I quickly apologized & told her that he can't say excuse me yet, so when he says "Go!" he means it with the utmost respect! She was a really good sport, as usual, though. We had so much fun with the Williams family - I wish we lived closer! We also got to meet Uncle Brennan for lunch. What a treat! Jackson adores B! On the way home yesterday, Jackson again fell asleep until about Columbus, so we had to figure out some way to distract him from feeling nauseous. I started launching his toy tractor from the console/arm rest thingy back towards him, trying to jump the gap between the console and his car seat. He was laughing so hard and it was so cute that I had to get it on video. The camera slid off the dash at the beginning, but that was also comic relief as you can tell from the precious giggles. We are in LOVE with his laugh! It is contagious!

Let the record show..

Jackson said "I Love You, Mommy!" last night (8/22/09) as we were going upstairs to bed. Aaron asked him if he could say I Love You, Daddy and he said Mommy instead. ;) He may have meant Daddy but my heart melted immediately!

He also cut his last incisior - top left - yesterday too. Hooray! It doesn't seem to be giving him too much trouble either.

Emerson wore her very first pair of jeans today and I must say, she looked pretty darn cute!

Fall is HERE!

This new, cooler weather is fabulous! There is one problem....I realized this morning as I was dressing Jackson for school that he has NO pants that fit him and very few fall shirts that fit. I put him in one shirt that I picked up on sale a couple of months ago and figured he'd grow into it. It was a little big, but would look ok with jeans. I grab his jeans - they are 12-18 month jeans, but he has always worn pants a little smaller than his actual age because he's skinny. They fit perfectly in the waist and then I put his tennis shoes on him and stand him up. Total highwaters! I pull them down a little and then take him to the bathroom to somehow tame his bed head. As he's walking, I just can't bring myself to send him to school this way, so back to his room we go and I find a pair of 24 month pants that I bought on that same shopping trip I mentioned earlier. I get him undressed, redressed and re-shoed, put him down, I back up and assess. He looks like he's been playing dress up. The pants are way too baggy and coupled with the shirt that is a tad too big, he just looks ridiculous! So back to the changing table we go. I finally settled on a layered look - shorts (the high is 78), a short sleeve t-shirt with a long sleeve t-shirt over it. So hopefully, he doesn't look too out of season and I don't look too much like a bad mom!

*sigh* Off to find 18-24 month pants!

3 Months

Emerson Kate - 3 Months Old

We have officially been a family of four for 3 months now. Emerson turned 3 months old on Wednesday. She won't have a well check this month, but the last time I weighed her (about 2 weeks ago), she weighed 12 lbs 6 oz. I don't have any clue about her length and she's asleep right now or I'd measure her. She definitely looks longer to us though.



Brag points:

• Her little personality is being expressed more and more each day - she loves to smile and "talk." She just babbles and babbles carrying on conversations with the frog on the toy bar on her carrier and the bee that dangles from her swing. They are quite lengthy conversations!
• She eats about every 4-4.5 hours. Looking at her rolls this may surprise you, but she is still 100% breastfed.
• She wears size 3 month clothing and size 2 diapers.
• She takes 3-4 naps a day ranging from 1 hour to 3 hours. Just as with Jackson when he was this age, we have no schedule. *sigh*
• She sleeps from 8:30pm to around 4am before she wakes to eat. She'll then go back to sleep until about 7:15am.
• She found her hands on August 26th and hasn't stopped admiring them since. She will just look at them for a while and then decide they look pretty tasty and into the mouth they go.
• Lately she has figured out she can use her hands to play with the toys on her carrier, swing & play mat. I love it that she can somewhat entertain herself for short periods of time!
• Her best friend is Jackson, which warms my heart! She lights up when she sees him. He is still very affectionate towards her and has started coming to let me know if she is crying if I'm in the bathroom or laundry room and don't jump the second she starts crying. In the car, he tries with all his might to reach her pacifier if she has dropped it, but usually he can't.
• She can sit easily in the Bumbo - back at 2 months, she could sit there, but slowly she would begin to fold over, but that doesn't usually happen anymore. She does not have enough balance & control to sit up completely in the Boppy pillow, but we'll get there!

This is how our 3 month chair photo shoot went:

Notice the elephant that Jackson just knew Emerson wanted with her

Awww...

He kicked her leg as he was getting down - poor pumpkin!

Other recent pictures of our sweet Emme:

Struting her mad Bumbo skills - check the double chin! ;)

Uncle Bryan is funny!

Ah, tummy time. Her favorite! Notice her reflection in the mirror.

Little Emme, Little Emme did you know that you're so pretty?

Happy 3 Months! We love you, sweet girl!

New Words

Jackson is quite the talker these days. He starts talking immediately when we get in the car and doesn't stop well, ever! He has added many new words lately, but the most impressive are cashew, cactus and railroad. He uses them appropriately and everything. He also told his uncle Bryan "I love choo choos" twice on Saturday. Aaron then asked him "What about Daddy? Do you love Daddy?" and he said "choo choo." Ahh...poor Daddy.

I didn't do a 21 month post on the 28th so here are his stats based on when he was sick 2 weeks ago: weighs 26lbs 5oz and is around 33.5 inches tall. I measured the height on our growth chart at home and he wouldn't stand real still, so I don't know how accurate it is. I think his weight may fluctuate because he has wanted nothing but bread products lately. Saturday he ate a biscuit for breakfast; 2 diced pieces of tomato, 1 bite of fish, and loads of chips and tortilla for lunch...the only saving grace was the chicken slathered in ranch dressing he ate for dinner. If it wasn't for milk, there would be days he wouldn't eat protein at all. Does anyone else have this problem? It makes me crazy! Dr. Pielop told us we need to cut Jackson's milk intake back to a cup with his 3 meals only, none in between. He normally is a quart a day kind of kid, so this has been hard for him. But I just keep telling myself that if he is truly thirsty, he will drink the water I offer.

He is definitely hitting the terrible twos. Last night we were at my parents and he was in to EVERYTHING! By the time we left, all 4 adults were exhausted! He was digging in the trash, the dog bowl, my purse, dragging all the toys out of the playroom, playing with the needle on mom's sewing machine, trying to play with scissors, chasing the dog and the list goes on and on. It was crazy and the poor kid heard No! more times than he has ever heard it.

We love the little booger more and more everyday though...I can't get enough of this kid! He lights up our life!

Look What I Can Do....

Being at home has given me a chance to do more sewing. It is sort of meditative to me...except when something goes wrong and then you'll hear a lot of cursing. Anyway, recently I noticed Jackson using his stuffed elephant as a pillow in his crib, so I made him a pillow. It has trains and dump trucks and cranes on it, so he is a happy camper! I also embellished another onesie and made my very first quilt (well 2nd if you count the baby doll quilt I made in Home Ec in the 7th grade). I have another few projects in the works including Jackson & Emerson's Halloween costumes. This will be tricky considering I don't sew using patterns, but I will have to this time. I just hope I can finish them (and the other projects I'm juggling) before going back to work in just 2 and a half short weeks. *sniff sniff*

The quilt is hand tied & slightly larger than crib size.

Labor Day

This Labor Day we had a BLAST! We went to Canyon Lake and met my mom's side of the family at a friend's lake house. The house slept 12 and we had that many people and then some! Jackson got to play with his cousin, David who will be 3 in two weeks and with William who is 9 months old. We refereed many a fight over toys, but they loved each other's company. Emerson played a little with William, but was mostly held and loved on by older family members, which is just the way she likes it! We journeyed into Gruene one day, went out on the boat & jet skis, ate like it was going out of style, and visited. I got to meet my brother's girlfriend, Megan. I approve! She is super sweet and was quite helpful with Jackson. Overall, it was a relaxing and enjoyable weekend. The ride home was less than relaxing - Jackson is still having bouts of car sickness. Thankfully, he never actually got sick, but he was sure nauseated! He was crying and swallowing hard. I kept feeding him crackers to settle his stomach and we stopped to take breaks. I don't know what we are going to do with a car sick child....I got nauseous from riding backwards looking & tending to him. It's awful! I'm hoping he grows out of it and grows out of it SOON!

Me, Nana, Clay, Yaya & Emme in Gruene.

Aaron, me & Emerson - Jackson stayed home with Pops so he could finish his nap

Megan, Brennan and Emme

My cousin, Jennifer and Emerson shopping in Gruene

Feeding the deer outside the lake house

The boys playing with baby toys

My little life jacket with legs!

Aaron on the jet ski

Jackson's first lake experience - he's not a big fan!

David & Jackson pouring water on each other in the bath

Uncle/Cousin Brennan = hours of fun!

Cheesin' it up!