Just Because :-)

6 weeks

Jackson was 6 weeks old on Thursday. He is growing so fast and changing everyday. Here are the highlights...

Jackson at 6 weeks-

Very alert and focuses on objects

Turns his head toward voices

Really likes his mom and dad and calms when he is held by them

Going to bed between 8-9, waking at 1, 4 and 7

Sleeps in his crib until 4

Still eating every 2-3 hours during the day

Stays awake for about 1 hour after eating during the day

Only likes to nap while being held or in stroller/car

Grunts a TON

Very close to smiling but we have yet to see one that wasn't when he was sleeping

His hair on top of his head is growing back

Baby acne is better

He is SOOOOO darling!!!

Worth the weight

That's right Jackson, you were worth the weight...IVF weight and pregnancy weight! I bought some fat jeans today because I've already given up! I've lost my pregnancy weight (I gained 20 pounds) but I still have about 7lbs of infertility weight to lose and I don't have much motivation to get it off. I think my body is going to hold on to a few pounds until I'm done breast feeding which could be another year from now. Then I plan on getting pregnant again (that's right, I can't hardly wait to do it all again...I would do it now if I could)! Therefore, I said forget it. I'm not going to kill myself trying to get into my skinny jeans...I'll just buy some fat ones and I'm so comfortable in them. I couldn't be happier about it ;-)

In other weight news, Jackson had his 1 month appt on Monday. He was actually 5 weeks 4 days and he weighed 9lbs6oz and was 21 inches long. He is in the 25 percentile for height, weight and head circumference. He is still a little peanut but he has gained 3 pounds in the past 4 weeks so he is doing great.

Tomorrow Jackson will be 6 weeks old. HOLY COW!!!! Where does the time go. I'll post some 6 week pics tomorrow, he is getting so big!

Wild Things

I'm so behind with blogging, I need to get my act together! We had a fabulous weekend in Portland with my family. The shower my mom threw was amazing! She did such a great job, it was gorgeous and it was so fun to show Jackson off to all of our friends and family. See the pics below, the shower could have been featured in Martha Stewart! My mom is so creative! My parents absolutely loved having Jack at Grandma & Grandpa's house and wanted him to stay for weeks and he did well being away from home. The four hour car ride was even pretty easy. I need to go feed Jackson but I have more posts coming. Here are pics of the weekend for now, tomorrow I'll post more updates!

Hanging out with his boy cousins

Loungin on Great Grandma Dunn

So lucky to receive such nice gifts!

The darling cupcakes my mom made

Diaper Cake my Mom made

Snuggling with his his Auntie Angie

Meeting Great Grandpa Dunn for the 1st time

Bonding with Grandpa

One Month Old!

Wow, Jackson is already one month old...time is flying. I have a feeling that before I know it I'm going to be writing that he is one year! Everything is going great on the home front. Jackson is getting bigger and starting to interact a little. I'm waiting for that first deliberate smile but I haven't quite gotten one yet. I think it will be soon though!


The nightly all you can eat buffet that Jackson has been attending lately has decided to close it's doors early for the past couple of nights and it is going well. We are getting a little routine in place for bedtime and I'm getting quite a bit more sleep. He is going down at about 9pm after a bath and waking at 1:30 and 4:30 and getting up for the day about 7:30. He is sleeping in his crib for the first 2 chunks of sleep and then comes in our room for the last few hours. For some reason by 4:30 he has had it in his crib and refuses to go back to sleep in it. He sleeps great in our room though. This is fine with me because I get some good snuggle time those last few hours and we both get to sleep longer rather than get up at 5 or 5:30.

Our days are just flying by. I feel like we are so busy but I'm not sure what we are doing all the time. I try to go on a long walk every day and I feel like we have constant errands to run. Since he eats every 2-3 hours during the day, everything just takes a bit longer and all of our activities are planned around Jack's meals. While we were out yesterday I nursed in public for the first time. I was proud of myself and it was really easy. I picked a quite bench at the mall and used a big blanket to cover up with and it went great. It added about thirty minutes onto our mall trip but it was a success!

We are headed to Portland this weekend for our first road trip. Due to my bedrest situation I never had my shower in Portland with friends and family so my Mom is doing it this weekend. Such a fun treat! We are super excited to take Jackson to Grandma and Grandpa's for the first time and I'm excited to introduce him to all of my family. Hopefully the four hour drive isn't too bad!

And of course...some pictures...

Dear Jackson

Dear Jackson,

Tomorrow you will be 4 weeks old. I can't believe that 4 weeks ago at this very moment I was bouncing on the exercise ball wishing you were in my arms. My water was about to break and I was about to embark on the most rewarding and exciting journey of my life.

I stare at you and I still can't believe you are here and you are mine. I don't know what I did to deserve such a sweet, beautiful baby but I can't get enough of your adorable faces, sweet smell and cuddly little body. I feel like I've won the lottery by being your Mom.

I just love how tiny you are. I love how you fit in my arms when you are feeding and I love how you swim in your tiny little clothes. It's hard to believe how big you will be getting so soon but I look forward to watching you grow and develop your personality. I know you will be the light of my life forever. Although I love the way you are right now I know every stage will bring just as much amazement and awe.

Thank you Jackson...for choosing me to be your Mom.

PS- Although I love our time together in the middle of the night, you are welcome to space it out from 2 hours to 4 or 5. I wouldn't mind!

Happy Birthday Grandmas!

Yesterday was both J and my Mom's birthdays. Weird that they were born on the same day isn't it?

We are all so luck to have you both in our lives. I love watching you both with your first grandson and I am looking forward to watching your relationships with Jackson develop. Thank you for everything you both do for us. We so appreciate you! We hope you both had a great day!!

We are awful parents :-(

Oh my, Jimmy and I are feeling our first bout of parental guilt this morning. We have been hugging and kissing and apologizing to Jackson for hours. Jimmy's grandparents are in town from San Diego to visit Jackson and they generously bought us a video monitor. We are thrilled and already love it. It is such a cool little gadget and it's so nice to be able to see Jackson when he is in his crib without constantly walking into the room to check on him. He has been taking naps and sleeping at night for at least one stretch in his crib and when he is in it I was constantly checking on him to make sure he was breathing. Last night after I fed him I put him in his crib and he was sound asleep. Jimmy and I went to bed and put the new monitor on. We watched him sleeping for a few minutes and then went to sleep ourselves. We must have been exhausted because at 1:30 I woke up, looked at the monitor and saw Jackson SCREAMING in his crib. We hadn't heard him and the sound on the monitor had been turned all the way down. He could have been screaming an hour! We were devastated and Jackson was hysterical!! We ran into the room and it took a while for us to calm him down. I was almost in tears and was so sad thinking that Jackson had been screaming for a long time and was thinking his parents had deserted him. I just held him the whole rest of the night and apoligized over and over again. I think that he is probably over it now but I'm sure Jimmy and I get the worst parents award for last night.

We are doing well and have had a nice week.

We had a serious heat wave in Seattle, temps in the 90's and we survived and even got out and walked every day in the sun. Jackson is growing and growing and eating and eating!!

I'll post more in the next day but I've got to run so here are some pics!!