Family Photo Shoot, March 2012

 We spent our St. Patrick's Day at a beautiful orange grove having our family pictures taken by the lovely Amber DeCiccio of Inspire Photographers. We feel pretty lucky to have been chosen for her 2012 Beautiful You campaign. You can read more about that here. As you can tell, she did a beautiful job. I had trouble choosing which lovelies to post on the blog, so there are a million. Okay, not a million, but 46, which is a lot for one post :) It's going to be even harder to pick which ones to hang on the wall!

Funny things to note about this shoot. Jackson was C-razy. Probably because we gave him a sucker and chocolate chips to stay happy while waiting for Amber to arrive. It was windy, and Clara didn't like that so much. She was cold, and of course I wasn't prepared with the right kind of blanket. Oh well, though. They turned out great and we are SO happy with them! Enjoy.

Jackson, almost 3

I feel like Jackson is long over due for an update that is all about him. He is very nearly 3 and is growing up and learning things so quickly. I can't believe how big his is getting. Time is passing so quickly. He is incredibly observant and very inquisitive. He has more energy than three of me. :) He loves to run and run and, well, here are some more things that have been going on with Jackson lately... {Beware, this is a long post, but I had to write down some of these cute stories before I forgot them all.}

Jackson started saying, "No Thanks," and "You're welcome," this week. It seems like the whole "please" and "thank you" thing has really clicked for him lately too. He doesn't use them every time he asks for something, but he's getting better. It makes me feel like over a year at working at it might have been worth it.

A couple weeks ago, Jackson snuggled up next to me on the couch and said, "You're my buddy. Huh, Mom? Troy says this to Jackson all the time and he has picked it up. Jackson tells us we are his buddies almost daily now. It's pretty cute. I love it!

The other day I was hurrying to get things together to go to the park. Jackson was in the middle of everything I was doing as usual. I was frustrated and kind of snapped at him. He sat down on the floor started to cry and said, "You're making me sad Mom!" Whoops. I felt really bad. Despite running behind, we made cookies together to make things better.

He's been going to bed at 7:30pm and waking up around 6:45 a.m. We lo-oove the extra 45 minutes of sleep we are getting these days. It is great. He still takes a nap everyday around 1. I put him in his bed at that time and he will play for up to an hour and then sleep until about 4. So the nap may be getting shorter, but he is still in his bed (and happy about it) for the same amount of time so I'll take it!

Jackson has literally NO interest in being potty trained. I bought him a little seat that goes on the toilet a few months ago. Nothing. He even actually went once. Troy's mom helped while she was here. He came running out of the bathroom so excited, but that wore off. When I ask him if he wants to be a big boy and wear underwear he laughs and says, "No mom!" or even "No thank you." Well, alright then. I mentioned we could probably buy some Spiderman underwear. At first that sounded fun, but he changed his mind pretty quickly. I don't want to force it on him, but I'm starting to wonder if he'll ever care about wearing a diaper.

He asks to go to the park and/or play with friends everyday. He is quite the social little guy and has gotten SO much better at sharing. He's not perfect at it, but he's much more willing to let others play with his toys than he used to be. He even likes to take extra cars or "guys" (action figures) to the park so his friends can have one to play with too.

Jackson remembers everything you say to him. When Grandma and Grandpa Bushman were in town, we went to a spring training game. On the way down, we passed the Cardinal's stadium. We pointed it out to him and I told him it was where the "football guys" play. He told us he wanted to see the football guys instead of the baseball guys. Whoops. I told him the football guys weren't there, they had to go home and eat lunch. He said, "Oh, they had to eat lunch?" He almost always repeats back what I say to him. After the game, when we passed the cardinal stadium, he reminded me they football guys had gone home to eat lunch and every time we've passed the stadium since then, he's mentioned it again. Who would have thought that fact would stick so well?

He still loves shoes. He especially likes the ones that make him "run faster" as he puts it. This morning we had preschool. I asked him which shoes he wanted to wear and he told me the "new green runnin' shoes." After I put them on he said, "My friends will love them mom." Ha ha. Yes, I'm sure they all took note of your shoes Jackson.

When Jackson's little cousin Madi was in town we went out to dinner together. Uncle Regan gave Jackson his phone to play with. Madi wanted a turn and started to cry. At first Jackson didn't care that she wanted it. Typical almost 3 year old stuff. I think either Troy or I explained to him that Madi was sad and wanted a turn too. A couple minutes later he gave Madi the phone. She was delighted. Then Jackson looked at her and said, "What do you say?!" Hahahaha! Hmm, Jackson's only heard that from me one hundred times a day for his entire life. He wanted to be sure Madi said thank you. It was pretty funny.

And speaking of phrases of mine Jackson's picked up, here are two more. "Oh I get it!" I usually say that when I've had to ask him to repeat himself several times because I can't make out what he's saying. Now when he has asked me a question and I've explained something to him, he says, "Oh I get it, Mom!" And usually smiling when he says it like he's really figured out something great. It's pretty funny.

He has also started saying, "I have an idea!" I usually use this phrase when I am proposing a new activity as a distraction. Now Jackson uses it as a bargaining tool of sorts. "I have an idea mom! Go na-night, then go library?" or "I have an idea! Wanna play batmans daddy?" It makes me laugh every time he says it.

I was trying to take Jackson's picture the other morning while he was out playing on the back patio. I tried to sneak out so he wouldn't see me, but he noticed me before too long. He said,"No! Mom, I don't want to." Then he plopped down on the patio chair and said, "I just wanna look at the trees." Ha ha. Alright. So this is the only picture I got.

Earlier this week I was making cookies for a potluck lunch we were attending later in the day. Jackson heard me making noise with the cookie sheet and he ran into the kitchen. "What ya doin' mom?" (This is another one of his favorite phrases.) Before I could answer he said, "Makin' cookies?!? Oh! Yes! Mmm. Yummy cookies. Good job mom! Good job make cookies for me." It never gets old, hearing him repeat phrases that have directly come out of my mouth. I tell him "good job" all the time. Now he's picked it up.

Lately, when Jackson notices I'm in a different room, he comes running to where I am and says. "Oh there you are! I thought you lost me." Ha ha.

Last week he decided the movie "Rudy" is the best thing ever. {I don't think Troy could be more proud ;) } He has watched it a few times (Thank heavens for our Clearplay which edits out the swearing.) And now he likes to chant, "Rudy! Rudy! Rudy!" and then he adds in a few "B-by-U, B-by-U" for our alma mater. This morning I thought I heard him yelling "Mommy!" from the other room while I was getting ready. I expected to hear his little feet at any moment, but he never came. I poked my head into the hall and discovered he was actually saying, "Rudy!" He had his little Buzz Lightyear figurine wearing a mini football helmet (which Uncle Mckay gave him) and was chanting it up. Then he switched to some more "B-by-U!" as he smacked Buzz into the dryer. Then it turned into "B-by-U! Ouch! B-by-U! Ouch!" Silly, silly Jackson. He just cracks me up.

Clara Bug

Clara is 4 months now! I'm not sure where the time has gone. It's time for an update on the little miss to celebrate her being 1/3 of a year old.

Clara finally hit 10 pounds last week! That was a happy day. And this week she was up to 10 lbs. 4 oz. Maybe next week she'll have gained 4 pounds since she was born. That will be great. Our primary goal is to have her gain as much weight as possible before her heart surgery. She's been eating lots better. The new recipe her bottle is 2 tsps of formula and 2 tsps of rice cereal per 4 oz. of breast milk. We finally discovered a formula she doesn't mind eating. Similac Soy is the magic cure. We eased it in very slowly and she didn't seem to notice at all. We're doing a 26 cal diet to increase weight gain. The rice cereal is for thickness to help her swallow more efficiently. She had a swallow study done about a month ago which determined the correct thickness for her milk. We'll do another one in a few months and then every 3-4 months thereafter until her swallowing is deemed adequate.

Clara sleeps like a champ. We feed her between 6 and 7 pm, wake her up at 10 pm to feed her again, and then she sleeps until 6 or 7 in the morning. It's pretty wonderful. She takes several naps during the day as well. She tires out easily, I can only assume because of her heart. Right now, that's when I notice the difference between her and a typical 4 month old. She still sleeps like a newborn. From what we hear, we'll see a drastic change in this after her surgery.

The surgery will be in May or June. They'll repair the holes with either a graft from the epicardium, or a nylon patch. Pretty incredible what they can do. Dr. Puntel tells us to plan on her being in the hospital for 2 weeks. She'll start out in the ICU and then go to a step down unit. We'll know more about that once we meet with the surgeon, which will hopefully be soon. I am ready to just have a date to put on the calendar and plan accordingly.

Enough with all the medical stuff. Little Clara is the sweetest and happiest baby you'll ever meet. She is content to look around a lot of the time. She loves to stare at the lights. She is so wide eyed and curious. She watches me walk around the room and lets out a cute little yell when she's hungry or wants attention. Her whole face turns red when she cries hard, but she really doesn't do that too often.

Clara gets so excited when she sees Jackson, Mom, or Dad. Her face lights up into a huge grin and she kicks her legs and stretches her arms above her head. It's pretty adorable. She grins all the time and loves to play. She especially loves her Dad. They have a special bond. I swear she smiles better for him than for anyone else. She is just delighted when she sees him at the end of the day. She beams and snuggles into him as if she's thinking, "Finally! I've been waiting for you all day." I caught the two of them hanging out on the couch the other night. Troy was talking to her about her day and Clara was loving every second of it. You can tell by her expression in the first picture especially. So sweet. We sure love our little Clara!