1st Birthday List

Jackson is almost 10 months old which means his birthday is 2 months away! Can you believe it? I have some what started planning... maybe getting some ideas in my head... ok so I'm really close on picking out his outfit for the party and pictures (which I need to schedule). But I have started thinking of his birthday wish list.

1. Wagon: This one is pretty pricey so this will probably be our gift to him but even Jamie is excited about this one.

2. Chair: The anywhere chair from pottery barn. I mean he HAS to have one. How cute would he be sitting on (ok climbing all over) one of these bad boys? Of course his name has to be on it. Duh. I can't decide which one I like better: the navy or the surf print? I'm leaning towards navy.

3. Grill: Every man has to have a grill and Jackson is no different. I actually thought of this because girls have pretend kitchens and pretend play is very important! Instead of a kitchen he can have a grill.

4. Teepee or play tent: He LOVES the fort I built him but it does make our house look really messy and he's about to wack his head on the pool table if he gets any taller. I would love a Teepee! I found this one on Etsy. Cute ones are hard to find and they are pricey so I'm not willing to buy something I don't like the look. And yes you can DYI these but... have you met my husband? And not to mention I'm not very good at DYI and it would probably look like crap and then we would spend more money buying a good one. 

A close second:

I'm not so sure about the firehouse. It's cute but ehh if we had a girl this wouldn't really work.. we also don't have a play room so this would be hanging out in the living room. 

The realistic birthday list: 

1. Board Books (you can never have too many books!)

2. AGE APPROPRIATE TOYS- 12-24 months please. I really hate storing toys he can't use because we don't have a lot of room and then I forget about them. Obviously if they say 3 years but you think he would still enjoy it that's totally fine but you have to be careful a lot of things have very small pieces. He loves to put things in his mouth.. I know the grill says 3 years.. that's my exception :)

3. Trucks/Cars/Trains/Planes

4. Absolutely no more balls. We have about a zillion and he loves them but we are bursting at the seams with balls. They are everywhere. Everywhere. The stroller, under the couch, in the cat dish, under the bed. Ok except for the Elephant Pop Up Toy that one I would make an exception for.. and we obviously wouldn't complain about getting balls.. heck I'm sure Jackson would be thrilled.. I need to figure out a storage system for balls... PINTEREST.

5. Clothes- we always need clothes and pajamas!

Whoohoo now time to party plan! I should maybe order his outfit? Set a date? Ohh the list continues..

Cloth Diapering Whoops

Baby butt! This is such a hippy picture: cloth diaper and amber necklace :)

Yes, we are still cloth diapering! But of course, I just jumped right into it without really reading up on it so I've made some mistakes.

1. Do not use diaper cream with cloth diapers even if Dr. Google says you can use a little. It ruins them which creates more of a diaper rash. Now that we have most of the food allergies figured out (although occasionally we will still get a diaper rash from food), I started looking into the diapers.. and after researching (googling) I found out that I was creating a diaper rash from:
a. Using diaper cream
b. Using my HE washer to wash cloth diapers

Solution:
1. Strip the diapers (I would google this but basically you add Dawn soap and bleach with an extra rinse)
2. Use disposable diapers with diaper cream to get rid of the rash- VERY IMPORTANT! You might only need to use one disposable and it clears but it beats messing around and making everything worse. We do use disposables at night now and I put some cream on just for maintenance.
3. For HE washers:

• Add a wet towel to the wash
• Do an extra extra cycle (3 cycles)
• Add bleach to one cycle
• Wash less diapers in each load

*I'm still working with this one. I'm pretty consistent on the three cycles right now but I would rather just add a wet towel to the wash. And the second Jackson looks like he might be getting a rash I put bleach in the cycle. 

I will admit I was so ANNOYED that my cloth diapers were causing the rash.. until I figured out that I was causing it. Basically I took a week off messing around trying to figure it all out but now we are good. During that week off I did think wow disposables are so easy and then I though wow what I waste of $$$! hahah I would much rather spend that money on toys or clothes for Jackson! We are getting close to a year and I really think my new goal will be to use them until he is potty trained. I plan on potty training him early.. if possible. Right now we have at least broken even in our cloth diapering investment. Going forward we will be saving more and more with cloth diapering. 

*I should really say if you are working full time, I think cloth diapering would be really hard (time consuming). Now that I am only working two days it's extremely easy. And I started AFTER the newborn stage which I will probably do again with the next one.

9 Month Schedule

Babies schedules change about every three months- 0-3 (sleep, eat, poop), 3-6 (4 naps), 6-9 (3 naps), and now 9-12 we are down to two naps. I thought I would share our 9 month schedule, although I wish it was a little different, it works.

My sweet boy!! Attacking the camera (probably at 5am :) )

5:00am 

Jackson is awake GRR. He has to stay in his crib until 6... we are trying to get him to sleep until 6. And no he isn't hungry at 5 trust me. Half the time he isn't hungry at 6.

6:00am

Eat Breakfast

1/4 waffle (dairy, soy, egg free), fruit, and 6 oz formula

6:30-8:00am

Play, crawl around the house or play in the pack n play while we get ready for work

8:00ish

Nap. 

I have tried to push this to 9 but it just doesn't work. He starts melting down at 8.

9:30 

He is up! Time to play

10:00 

Eat Lunch

1 slice of turkey lunch meat (organic no soy), fruit, veggie, 6 oz milk

10:30-12:30ish

Play, Swim Lessons or My Gym, Running Errands

12:30ish

Nap.

Again we have tried to push this back but it just depends on the day. By 1:00 he is usually in melt down mode. Sleeps for 30 minutes to 1 hour and a half

2:00

Snack

"Smoothie" Puree fruit in a pouch, teething biscuit, 6 oz formula

2:30-5:00

Play time, go for a walk, go to the park, run errands, etc.

5:00 

Dinner

Puree chicken, sweet potatoes, rice, fruit, water

6:00 

Bottle 6 oz milk and start the bedtime routine (bath, story, lights out, insert crying)

6:30-7ish

Bed time 

And NO if we push bedtime later he does NOT sleep later. Actually we figured if he gets in bed by 6:30 he usually sleeps the best. The ped said he should be sleeping 12 hours!!!! Ugh. Maybe when he's 16?

Ideally I would like him to wake at 6, nap at 9 and 1 but it is what it is. Besides the 5am wakeup call it's been working really well. I have attempted to take pictures as a "day in the life post" but I always forget! hahaha I'm not quite sure how people do it. I get in our routine and poof the thought it gone. 

Summer Time Favorites

Who doesn't love summer? Now that Mr. Jackson is here and at the perfect age to enjoy summer, we had to get a few necessities:

1. Pool Raft: Get it here. This one is perfect because he can sit in it by himself and kick around (obviously with us holding on to it). It has a little shade you can take on or off. He LOVES it and we really love it too. We have even taken it in the ocean.

2. Baby Pool: We have a baby pool and it works. It was also super cheap. I'm not sure I LOVE it because it's hard to empty/clean, etc. But I would recommend getting one because Jackson loves playing in it. He can sit and play with his toys and splash around.

3. Beach Tent: Here We had a disastrous experience with a different one... this one is great- no poles, it pops up, you put sand in to hold it down, done. He really loves it too.

4. Bubbles: You have to have bubbles in the summer!! We have a giant thing of them outside! We also have bubbles for the bath for inside play. Lots of bubbles!

Next summer: wagon, water table :)

Father's Day

Father's Day 2013

Much different from last year! This year we went to brunch at Black Sheep in Riverside with my parents. It was very yummy! Jackson was quite the trooper this time- I was prepared with toys, food, and teething biscuits (these things keep him busy for long periods of time). I might have talked the men folk into baby proofing when they got home... I know I know it was their day but it HAD to be done. Jackson was really interested in helping out.

We were having issues getting him to sit still long enough to put his shorts back on...

This is my favorite picture!! Looking up at daddy.

Jamie's gift was Starbursts (of course), a handprint/footprint card from Jackson, and two Billabong tanks that he has been talking about FOREVER. He has also continually tried to wear his orange running shirt out in public to go to events!!!!!! With non matching shorts. Need I say more? I had to get Jackson a matching one because he is Jamie's mini and I know he's going to want to be just like daddy one day.

After we all took naps (Jackson was up at 3am) we took a swim in the pool.

And after the pool we went on a run/walk! It was a great day!

Happy Father's Day!

Happy Father's Day to the best daddy, who coached several of my sports teams, tolerated hair bows in his hair and countless games of Yahtzee. He is the very best handyman and car man around.. I still wish this would rub off on my hubby. My dad has a lot of patience (especially since he is 1 of 4 boys) and has suffered through endless hysterical phone calls about spiders/bugs, my car, or something else being broken (sorry dad this will still never end). And he absolutely amazing with Jackson! I couldn't ask for a better daddy or poppi!

Happy Father's Day to my wonderful husband! He has done such an amazing job with Jackson, who has been one challenging baby. From the holding my hand during labor, being my coach for the pushing, and encouraging Jackson to stay awake for feedings, I couldn't have asked for anyone better by my side. Jamie was willing to take shifts hold Jackson up right during those first three tough weeks. He still gets up when we have rough nights without a complaint. He has his own way of playing with Jackson that Jackson LOVES. The look on Jackson's face when he sees Jamie is priceless. They will soon be two peas in a pod (as soon as Jackson can run around I'm sure of it). Parenthood has had it's ups and downs- we have laughed, cried, cheered, complained but we have been one great team and it's been worth it. 

Pregnancy Book

It's finally here! I may have mentioned I made a book of the chalkboard posts? It only took my 9 1/2 months to put it together and print it :) Better late than never!

The cover:

The first page was about finding out we were pregnant- sorry no picture.

Then I put all the chalkboard posts.

Baby Shower

Jackson's room

His birth story

And the precious little angel!!

I am so glad that I did all the posts and made a book! It was so fun looking back at it.

Just for kicks.. Jackson this morning... taking all the books off of his shelf. What a big helper.