Jackson is Seven!

 I can't believe my little boy is seven.  He is such a wonderful boy, I don't think there is a sweeter boy on the planet - and I'm lucky he belongs to us!  Here we are at his birthday breakfast.  

 This was the year of the weapons.  Double sword that comes apart to make two swords, a killer hatchet and a transformers mask from Grama A.

 We took him AC for lunch.  Here he is with two buddies - Carson and Wesley.

 Instead of a cake he wanted cupcakes and thanks to daddy, mom now has a thingy to frost them with.  Fun!

 Did I mention it was the year of the weapon?  We made marshmallow guns for the birthday party and then had a marshmallow war.

 I just wanted him to make marshmallow guns, but in his usual fabulous way - John gave them enough parts to make two different kinds of guns.  It was great!

 Of course we had to have protective eye-gear! 

 Here they are in the "safe way to have a marshmallow war" seminar.

 Let the war begin!

 We found very quickly that they wanted to remake and remake their guns in different configurations - something that my girly mind didn't even consider.  I guess I should have wised up when John was making the prototype and had to show me 80 million different ways you could make a marshmallow gun.

 Even Grama got in on the action - she even did a double marshmallow shot!

 Jack blowing out candles.

 Jack and Sammy showing off their guns.

Overall, it was a fabulous party.  Jack had a ton of fun and just enjoyed the day.  Sometimes I look at my little boy and realize he is not so little anymore.  I am enjoying the stage he is in right now, but some days I long for those warm cozy days where I would just sit and rock him for most of the day.  I love this guy!

Jack's MRI

Jack was born with hearing loss in his right ear, we have always known this, but for the past year I felt that we didn't know all there was to know about his hearing loss. I had noticed he was starting to compensate and turn his left ear towards whomever is speaking.

I took him to the ENT that has worked with Jack since he was 1 month old. After doing a series of audiology tests, it was determined he has very little hearing in his right ear at all and the dr. wanted him to have an MRI to see "if there was something in the brain that was causing the hearing loss." (His ear inside is perfect - he has all the right parts and they are all fine.)

In the above picture, Jack had to be sedated. I hate it, they are so suddenly still and it doesn't look natural at all - in other words he looked dead. He did much better with the sedation than Jacee however, he did not fight it at all and just slowly closed his eyes and went under, no fuss. He did, however, scream bloody murder when he got his IV in, that was not fun.

Here he is trying to wake up. When I pulled out the camera he gave his best effort at a smile...he was SO tired. When the dr. called later that day with the MRI results, the first thing he said was, well - there isn't a brain tumor. WHAT? This is what we were looking for? A tumor is what he meant when he said, "Let's see if there is something in the brain causing the hearing loss..." I'm actually so glad I didn't know this before hand because I would have been a mess waiting for the results. As it turns out, the hearing part of his brain is a little underdeveloped. So, he will never have hearing in his right ear, but his left ear compensates and he will live a normal life. The biggest problem will be that he will not know exactly which direction a sound is coming from. Oh - and his girlfriends won't be able to whisper sweet nothings in his ear.

Overall, we are grateful for the news. As you can see, he is a happy, healthy, very fun boy. We are so thankful he is in our family and love him with all our heart. Love you big guy!

Losing It!

Jack has been losing teeth like crazy. He lost two the same week so they both went under his pillow at the same time. He is in hog heaven thinking he's the richest kid ever! The money is burning a hole in his pocket - he can't wait to get to the store.

I know this is quite the picture - but when I asked what he was doing - he said he was being a pirate - arrrgh!

This is a pic of the hole on top before his tooth started coming in at light speed - and you can see the one on the bottom is pretty loose. He's really not a fan of loose teeth - he babies them. He doesn't really brush around the loose tooth and he will NOT wiggle it with his tongue. But - they finally practically fall out when they are ready - no pulling required!

Two Wheeler

Maddie - always game for a picture.

I have been asking John, forever, to take off Jack's training wheels. Well, right before school started - the kids came running in shouting that Jack was riding a two-wheeler. The little neighbor girls had teeny tiny bikes without training wheels - and there was Jack on one of them zooming around the street. Well, that's all it took - John went to work and that afternoon Jack was riding his own two-wheeler - without any coaching from us.

He has never liked to ride this bike - but now that he has freedom - he loves it and boy is he FAST! He's a little crazy and it worries me and sometimes I think I might want the training wheels back on for no other reason than to slow him down.

But he's happy and he loves it and as he says, "Now I really am a big boy!"

Jack's 1st Lost Tooth

Jack has had a wiggly tooth for a while so on Thursday night - John yanked it out!

He didn't cry but he was none too thrilled. Jack, like his mom, is not a fan of blood - especially his own. It's to the point that I might need to buy stock in a band aid company because anytime he finds a speck of blood anywhere on his body - out comes the band aid box! I think he would have put one on his gum if he could have figured out how.

Here he is checking it out. The Tooth Fairy brought him two dollars and he was pretty excited about that - now he wants to go buy a toy! I guess this officially makes him a big boy.

Jack's Bday

The Traditional Birthday Breakfast - donuts and chocolate milk.

Wow - is he really six?

1st Lego set put together - the Castle and Catapult.

2nd Lego Set - Firetruck and Trailer.

Sitting with his toys and decorations. Dad and I can't let go and admit he is growing up - we did get him a Woody and a Buzz Light Year - both welcomed with a lukewarm smile. He is starting to outgrow the "little kid" toys. Sigh...

I thought we would be having a "Thomas" party this year - nope. He went for a Robin Hood Theme. Here is the mean Sherriff sleeping with the bags of gold under his chair. The kids had to try to sneak up on him and steal the gold.

And our version of "Don't Eat Pete" was "Don't Eat Robin Hood". Always a crowd pleaser.

Present Time - always the favorite!

John made each one a bow and arrow so we had some target practice. I must say that I don't know of cooler party favors than a Robin Hood hat and a bow and arrow to take home.

Way to go honey - you're the man!

Happy Birthday my son. I sure do love you.

You bring balance to a house full of crazy girls! Enjoy being six!

My Very Own Robin Hood

Jack has decided he loves the movie Robin Hood and all that goes with it - so of course his dad made him a pretty awesome bow-and-arrow.

At times I have to remind John that he made it for Jack...

Even Maddie got in on the action. She could almost shoot the arrow to the road. Jack can make it to the road and John shoot it across the road and usually over the neighbor's house.

He sure loves it - and just in time for his birthday. The theme was easy for him to pick this year- Robin Hood! If all goes well, each little boy will get his own bow-and-arrow. I'm not sure we want to unleash that on our neighborhood.

My Son

Jackson has always played on the floor - ever since he was a little guy. He is in heaven with our new house because it has a ton of hardwood floors that work great for his trains and train tracks.

It is fun to watch and listen to his made-up games with the trains. They go on lots of adventures! I just wish the adventures weren't so often in the front room blocking the front door. Alas - I'll enjoy it while I can because before I know it I'll turn around and the trians will be boxed up and he'll be off not wanting to play with mom so much.

Sure do love this little guy.

My Wise Man

Jackson was walking around the house today singing, "The Wise Man Built His House Upon a Rock". When he got to the second verse he sang, "The space man built his house upon the sand...the rains came down and the floods came up....and the house on the sand flew away."

Then he was looking out the window and asked if our house was built on sand. Nope, I said. Our house is built upon a rock. He contemplated this for a few moments and then proceeded to tell me -- Nope, our house is built on grass.

So, he started the song over, "The wise man built his house upon the grass..." At least he thought we were the wise men!

I love that little guy.

Jack's Finger

We had a little bit of trauma with Jack the other day. He came to me with this little ruler on his middle finger. His finger was so swollen, I could not twist it off, get it off with cooking oil, or cut if off with scissors. He was really starting to freak out - and so was I! I realized I had to get him somewhere and fast! At first I thought of the fire station because they had the jaws of life - after all, if it can cut through a car it could probably cut through plastic. (Remember - I don't think too clearly in a medical emergency - someday just ask me about when Jack cut his eyelid.)

Anyway...after that I remembered there is a new insta-care close - so off we went. As I was driving, I also remembered there was a new pediatricians office on the way - and that would save me $10 in a co-pay.

We got to the doctor's and they took us right back, got out the cast-cutting saw, and the rest is history. Whew! Of course I had visions of Jack losing his finger (just like I had visions of him losing his eye.) We are pretty lucky that there was only a tiny cut from the saw that didn't really even need a band-aid.

Love you Jack!

Preschool

Jack has started preschool this year and loves it! We just joined a neighborhood group that takes turns teaching so we don't have to pay any money. I taught the second week and was pleasantly surprised with how focused and hard working Jackson was. I didn't think he was really into "academics" like Jacee was - but he really loves it and works really hard. As soon as we make our million, I'm going to put him in a preschool class.

Even though I think Jack is as cute as can be, my favorite part of this picture is Maddie in the background. Notice she has her flip flops, a binder, jewelry, and I can't tell what else, clutched tightly in her paws. Whenever we go somewhere - she frantically grabs everything within reach to take with her - like we are never coming back so she has to take it all NOW! Most of the time it is cute - and sometimes very frustrating. Sure do love these kids though.

Turning Five

I'm not really good at my blog - I just post pictures the normal way and write captions - I can't get this picture where I want it so you'll see the rest of the post at the bottom!

Well, he is actually five. That is always the age where, to me, they stop being your little one and start to really be a big kid. Except...he is still my little one. I get frustrated that he still wants me to get him dressed but I love that he still lets me kiss him. I get frustrated that he never wants to go to bed, but I love that he wants me to snuggle him. I get frustrated that he never wants to brush his teeth or hair, but I love when he runs in the room to show me how how handsome he is after daddy combs his hair. I hope that he contintues to grow up healthy and strong but pray that he never outgrows his momma. I love this little guy.

Playing can ball for the first time was a big hit, you need to click on the picture to enlarge it so you can see the look on Jack's face!

He picked out a Wall-e cake...go figure.

He was very concerned that his excavator was put together correctly. When daddy wasn't using the directions - he brought them over and poured over them and checked daddy's work.

Good old King's in Burley. We found this for half off the normal price - everyone loves it (even daddy - I walked into the room to find daddy using the excavator to play with all the styrofoam pieces - picture at the top.)