Like Grandfather, Like Grandson: Update on Jackson

Somedays, Jackson really favors my father in looks and actions. This particular day (shown in the picture above) was certainly one of them. I came home from the grocery store last week and Charlie had put this great Polo hat that Sandi got for him on him. I think my dad has the exact same outfit so it was really hilarious.

Things are progressing with Bright Star. Yesterday, the speech therapist had to do her own evaluation (how many evaluations does he have to have?) and she was great! She said that he has a good amount of words that he can say but the only problem is that they are descriptive words and he will not use words to tell me what he wants. Another problem is that he should be putting two words together by now. She is coming Thursday to set more goals and then another speech therapist (we cannot work it out with our schedules to have her...sad) will start working with him hopefully the next week but it might even be the next...ah! This is a long process that is definitely trying my patience. It has taken two whole months to get a speech therapist! Since this is taking so long, we have gone to see a personal speech therapist twice and today we made a ton of progress and she gave me many things to work on. I just finished typing up my notes from the session. We will probably only go to the private therapist 3-5 times and then I will file the insurance myself and pray they cover some of it. If they do cover some of it, we will go back to her as well before the baby comes. I just really want to have and learn about as many resources as I can for Jackson before Abigail comes. The good news is he is progressing, but it is hard work on my part and takes tons of repetition! If you are interested in the homework exercises they have assigned me let me know and I will post them...I probably will post them anyway when he accomplishes them in another post.

Here is some video from last week... enjoy!

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My Baby Boy is Growing Up!

Jackson has had many changes the last couple of months. We went over to a friend's house from the church (she will remain nameless) and got many great clothes for Abigail. God just keeps on raining blessing down on us! We also got this great booster seat so now Jackson sits at the table with us when we have our Dream Dinners. Yes, I went back to Dream Dinners and got 12 meals (they will prepare it for you if you order it Thursday and then pick it up Friday). I think it comes out to about $8 a meal for us which is great! Charlie enjoys cooking the meals and I do not mind cleaning them up.

I have never been in a real big hurry for Jackson to grow up. I want to make sure he is ready for changes and that I am not pushing things just because I want him to do things. He really has adapted to these changes so much better than I thought he would...maybe because we did it so gradually. Here is a summary of his major changes (we have not been able to do many of these changes before because he had that double ear infection this summer that lasted so long).

1. Jackson got rid of all bottles in the month of August.
2. Jackson does not get his pacifier at all during the day even in nursery situations. We will be getting rid of it all together in the next couple of weeks.
3. The newest change is that he is now in a big boy bed! Since Jackson has gotten so tall, we have noticed the last couple of weeks that his legs have been hanging out of the crib. The crib that was given to Jackson was smaller than the crib that was in the fire. Charlie and I had finally had enough and we felt like we were making our big boy sleep in a shoebox. We had gotten a new mattress from my parents (what a huge blessing) while we were at Crosswell that has been just taking up space in our garage. So now Jackson has gone from a crib that is way too small for him to a huge double bed. The only time we could get the bed out of the garage was on Friday so at the last minute we got it all ready on Friday. Charlie's parents got us these great Gamecock sheets for Jackson's birthday. So, how did he do? He did great! We heard him banging his legs against the wall a few times throughout the night (I guess since he is used to having those bumpers in his crib). We got him a couple more Gamecock pillows at Walmart to put up against the wall so maybe he will not be banging throughout the night. Since it is a double bed (we do have a rail up), he does not feel comfortable getting down by himself so he was just waiting for us this morning propped up against pillows like a king. He loves his bed, and was so excited about it! I have a lot of great ideas with his "Gamecock" themed room. We just got a lamp on sale at the Cracker Barrell (part of Sandi's present for Jackson was some money for this lamp...again we are so blessed). Once I get it all situated I will be sure to post pictures. He will have this gamecock themed room for a very very long time. I just do not want to keep on doing new themes...it is not very wise for us. Also, Abigail's room will probably always be a bows and mongramed themed. Update/Night #2: He fell off the bed at 12 am last night. There was only about one foot at the front of the bed where the rail is that he could have fallen off of, and he managed to do it. He cried but then went back to sleep and had no problems after that. The bed is not very high up at all praise God. If you have any suggestions on how to prevent this from happening again, I would love to hear from you! We moved the rail up completely so there is not that space there anymore, but now there is about 3 or 4 feet of space at the bottom of the bed. He is just such a violent sleeper (he is all over the place when he sleeps).
   

Ps-Now I get e-mails giving me updates on my Preschooler...what? Jackson is now considered a preschooler by babycenter!

Video of Jackson Feeding Mommy on Her Birthday

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I had a Great Birthday!

I had a wonderful day today. I met my mom to go shopping at Harbison mall at 10 am. Much to my surprise my dad was with her. I was so excited. I have the best parents ever! He was a great help with Jackson while we went to Motherhood and shopped for like an hour. My parents got me a huge gift card to Motherhood and I really needed some Fall outfits since many of my maternity clothes got burned in the fire (I am also so thankful for the beautiful outdoor furniture that Charlie's parents got me for my birthday...I really racked up this year!). Then, we went to Chili's for lunch and it was so great; they even brought this beautiful cake from Publix for me.

Then tonight we went back out to Harbison and got Jackson and Charlie some much needed shoes and me my jeans that we forget to get. Then we had the best meal ever at the Olive Garden (Charlie got me a beautiful card and gift certificate to the new book store at the church). Jackson insisted on feeding me with my fork my salad...it was hilarious and we got some video of it.

Birthdays are a big deal in our family. I think birthdays need to be a huge celebration of the life that God has so graciously given us. I believe that birthdays need to be different than Christmas in terms of present-giving. Christmas is Jesus' Birthday - not ours (more about that at Christmas time). What special traditions do you have for birthdays with your family? I would love to hear! Treasuring God in Our Traditions by Noel Piper is a great book for ideas on how to make traditions as biblical as possible.

Losing Miss Nancy Sue so suddenly when she was not even sick just makes me so thankful for the life God has given me and all the many blessings he has so richly bestowed. He has given me the most perfect husband for me, the sweetest boy as a son, and I cannot wait to see what God has in store for me with this little girl.

This day was chosen by God especially for me and I am just humbly thankful this year.

“In Him we live and move and have our being” Acts 17:18

“For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things.” Romans 11:36

Great Deals at CVS this Week

I do not have all my receipts but it is a great week to shop at CVS...it is so good I should have gone Monday not to miss out on the Huggies diapers. I missed out big!

First Purchase
4 12 Pack Pepsi's for $12 get $3 CVS Bucks Back
I think it was $15 worth of candy (I hid a lot of it for my 4th grade girls) $7 Bucks Back

Second Purchase:
I wanted to buy Diapers, Toilet Paper, and Paper Towels.

Here is the deal:
Buy $25 of these products Get 10 ECB, Limit 1
Huggies Mega Pack diapers $15.00.
Cleanteam 9 oz pump or wipes 42-80 count $2.99
Viva 8 pk Paper Towels and Cottonelle 12 pk. $6.49ea.
Poise and Depends $13.00 ea.
Kotex Products $6.0 ea.
Kleenex Facial Tissue $1 ea. $1/4 8/3 S

They were completely out of Diapers, and Paper Towels...so sad!

I bought $27 worth of Toilet Paper but out of pocket I spent $18 using the bucks I earned in the previous purchase. We have toilet paper for the next 3 months...yay! 12 Pack (equally 24 roles) 6.49 each. I also earned $10 CVS bucks to spend in the next couple of weeks.

Additionally, I went to Walmart and used 15 coupons that I have cut within the last month.

Coupons were for:
Nutrigrain Bars
Ceaser dog food for Millie
Yoplait yogurt
Juice
Zip lock bags
Speed stick deodorant
Lysol wipes
Spray in wash refile
rice
Bendrayl
Pasta salad (I crave badly for lunch now) Suddenly Salad
Chex mix
Lysol foam hand sanitizer
cereal $1.00 on 3

People ask me what I actually use coupons for so I thought you might want to see. After cutting coupons for 8 months I really feel like I am getting good at it and it does not take me a lot of time because I know exactly what I am looking for. I went to Walmart late Tuesday night because I had so many coupons.

Video of Jackson Enjoying His New Basketball Goal

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Here is video of Jackson enjoying his new basketball goal that Grand and Gigi got him for his birthday. I meant to put this video up a while ago. We are so blessed to have family to give Jackson so many gifts. Grand and Gigi got him toys, and church clothes that we so desperately needed for the Fall. We are so blessed!

If you notice he had his pacifier in his mouth...well that is all about to change. We are not giving him his pacifier during the day no matter what. Studies have shown that prolong pacifier use can cause speech issues. It is fine for them to have till about 12 or 15 months old before they start really talking. We are not giving him his pacifier at all during the day and today he had a breakdown for like 20 minutes and I did not cave in. Either this Monday or the next we are going to let him go to sleep with a pacifier and then take it out of his crib at around 11 pm. Then the next night we are going to brace ourselves and not give it to him. I know it is going to be a very difficult time, but I really want the passi gone before Abigail is born. Any suggestions on how to gradual get rid of the pacifier...I would love to hear!

We are Going to the Wiggles...Come With Us!

The Wiggles are coming to the Colonial Center here in Columbia SC, Saturday, November 15, at 1:30 pm.

First Baptist Columbia is going to get a group rate and group seating so we can all sit together. The only catch is that you have to sign up by next Sunday so we can go ahead and order the exact amount of tickets needed. If you want to go with us we would love for you to come seat with us (even if you have no connection to First Baptist) for a family fun event. The tickets are $15 for each person (under 1 is free) and contact me at emilywallace80@hotmail.com if you are interested. Jackson loves the Wiggles and he loves concerts so I cannot image what he is going to act like during this concert (even though it is during his nap time) Any suggestions on how to help Jackson have fun and not be cranky during his nap time, I would love to hear it!

“Will You Remember Me?”---Miss Nancy Sue McCutcheon

This blog is definitely for my experience with motherhood and being the best mother I can possibly be through Christ and Christ alone. However, when a mom loses a mentor suddenly, the mentor becomes a priority to write about.

Last Spring I taught a women’s Bible Study on Overcoming Fear Worry and Anxiety (Fitzpatrick). One of my most faithful women was Miss Nancy Sue. I think she only missed one session. Miss Nancy Sue was many years older than me (I think she could at least be my grandmother) but she acted like I had so much to teach throughout the Bible Study. She had her Ph.D. from Columbia International and was a principle of Alice Drive Elementary in Sumter for years. I had a lot to learn from her! She encouraged me so, and told me that God had really given me a special gift for teaching. I know God put her in my life to encourage me in the confidence of this gift he has so richly given to both me and Charlie. She would always pray when Jackson was sick and I really would talk to her about every other week. She never married or had children so she had time to devote her life for eternity and time to pour her life into others even though she could not even stand up all the way because her back was so messed up.

The past Sunday morning Charlie came to me with the look on his face (one he cannot hide from me) that something was very wrong. I was about to teach my huge class of 4th grade girls. He said, “Honey, you know Miss Nancy Sue had hernia surgery last week,” I nodded my head in response. He preceded to tell me that she had complications from the surgery and had thrown up a lot (Charlie had seen her in the hospital last week) and they think she had a blood clot and a stroke and was now on a ventilator. What? I was in complete shock. She had just given me my book back, Trusting God (Bridges), a couple of weeks ago. All she was having was hernia surgery. Being almost 7 months pregnant I started crying and could not stop. For some people, it takes them a while to process information. For me, it hits me like a ton of bricks and I immediately react. I was able to get it together by God’s grace and teach Sunday school. I was just so upset that I had not called her back last Sunday night when she told me to pray fro her surgery (I just made sure Charlie went to see about her in the hospital).

After Sunday School, Charlie and I walked across the street to Baptist hospital to at least see her sister. I know that because she does not have a husband and children, I would be able to at least talk to her sister. Her sister and children had just arrived, but they wanted me to see her. I have never seen someone on a ventilator (life-support) and it is so terrible. The machine really makes a person’s body shake upwards for breathing to occur. I told her that I was sorry that I did not get a chance to call her the last week (I spoke to her the week before) and that I loved her and I was glad that she soon would not be in anymore pain. Our wonderful senior adults pastor came in (God has given him an unbelievable gift) and we prayed over her.

She went to be with her Savior yesterday at 4:30 pm after being taken off life support around lunch

• I am really upset because of selfish reasons. I will miss her calling and praying for my little ones…she was so excited about this little girl. I will miss her blunt encouragement. However, I know she is no longer in pain, and I am praising God for that.
• One of the last things she said to Charlie was that she hoped I would teach Trusting God (Bridges) next spring. This certainly is an encouragement to find time to do both children’s ministry and women’s ministry.
• Her voice is still on our answering machine from last week and I just cannot erase it yet.
• The visitation is Wednesday night and me and another lady from my Bible Study will be going. The funeral I think is Thursday, which is my 28th birthday, and am sure if I will be able to go to that.
• With older people, and with everyone really, you never know when God will bring that person home, so make the most of every conversation. This just brings back hard memories of my grandmother passing away when I had not seen her in 9 months. I was also very pregnant when my grandmother passed away, and I just really wanted my grandmother to meet Jackson.
• I know without a doubt that God wanted Miss Nancy Sue to finish Trusting God (Bridges) before she passed away. She tried to finish it all last semester, and tried to give me the book back without finishing it and I told her I could just have it back when she finished it. She finished it 2 weeks ago. What an awesome last book to read!
• After church, I was scrolling through the radio and I heard “FreeBird” by Lynyrd Sknyrd. Do I think God can speak through you through crazy songs like this?...Yes. The first line in the song says, “If I leave here tomorrow, will you still remember me?” I know that I will always remember and love Miss Nancy Sue, and I know she is free with her awesome and powerful God and Savior Jesus Christ.

Google Reader Saves So Much Time!

I love mom's blogs...even more than facebook. I spend a good bit of time checking mom's blog and I know I waste time seeing if mom's have updated their blog. Now, that time will not be wasted anymore thanks to google reader...yay! It automatically tells me when a mom has posted a new post...I just check it like e-mail.

Go here to Charlies blog to see exactly how to set it up. It really does not take that much time even to set up. http://charlie-wallace.blogspot.com/
Or go to: http://www.google.com/reader/view/#overview-page

Jackson's 2 Year Old Doctor Check Up

• He was 36 inches and in the 87 percentile in height! She said he just might be going through a growth spurt but he has never been in this high of a percentile before!
• He was 27.2 pounds and in the 40th percentile in weight....yay! He had lost a couple pounds a few months ago so I was excited about his weight with him not drinking but a couple ozs of milk a day.
• She was glad we have gone with Bright Star as a provider under Babynet (Babynet is a federal funded program), and said they are the best with speech delay. She did not say this but Charlie and I feel very strongly that he has the speech delay due to the very long double ear infection that he had this summer (lasted 6 weeks). I really feel like he shut down during this time because he could not hear with all the fluid in his ear. I still have not met my speech therapist but I have assigned one now and she has to come out next week and evaluate him, and then she can finally start working on his speech. I started this process at the beginning of August and still have not gotten help with Jackson's speech so if you think your little one might have a problem try to contact people as soon as you can. I wish I had contacted them about a month early. If you have any questions feel free to contact me at emilywallace80@hotmail.com
  
• Jackson can say, "daddy, bye, doggy, bubbles, ball, go, outside, here (more like gee), bad, it's bad, no, gamecocks ducky." He still calls me daddy...sad. He tries to say many other words but they come out "ga ga." He should be saying more like 20 words and he should be able to start putting phrases together. Today at the doctors we think he said "I want to go," but not that clearly, but he said "football" clearly tonight. He is already making some progress without the speech therapist.
• Dr. Greenhouse said to expect some short lived regression in everything when Abigail comes. Ah! I cannot have three living beings not speaking to me all day long...Jackson, Abigail, and Millie Boo.
  
• Charlie was able to meet me there right before the doctor came in since I have pregnancy brain and since we are concerned about Jackson's speech. Jackson fell asleep on Charlie which was great because he slept through the Hep A shot and iron test. His iron levels were great and I will be getting him on vitamins asap. She recommended Polyvisol drops for vitamins or My First Flintstones (they disolve in your child's mouth). She strongly does not recommend starting vitamins till they are 2 years old however.
  
• The sheet I got said some intersting facts such as: "your child may get upset and impatient easily, becomes frustrated when not understood, shows anger by crying or striking out, gets upset when daily rountine is changed, etc." I guess this is why they call this age the "terrible two's."
  

28 Week Doctor Visit...Now in My Third Trimester! Plus An Update on Jackson

Wow, this week has been so busy! I had my 28 week doctor visit to finally find out that I do not have gestational diabetes. My sugar levels were perfect! I really did not think I had it since I failed the first test by 8 points, and many doctors offices would have not made me take the terrible 3 hour test. I really think working at doing exercise classes at Gold's Gym has made a big difference in being a lot more healthier this pregnancy. I have gained 22 fun filled pounds. The strange thing is that I am measuring more than 29 weeks and I am only 28 weeks, but she said that is normal. Even with as big as I got with Jackson, I never measured more than what week I was actually on. Please remind me that I went 40 weeks with Jackson and was dilated for like 4 weeks...haha. She told me not to get my hopes up. However, every time I eat I feel like my stomach is going to expand out to the moon. She moves around all the time, but I am not complaining. With Jackson, I had an anterior placenta and I could hardly ever feel him move which would always make me nervous Do yall think Abigail will come early?

Today, my Bright Star coordinator, Jackie, came over (she will be coming over every week until he is 3 years old I think). She is wonderful! She is so patient with Jackson. She brought over bubbles and got him to point to the right colors of objects and eat an entire thing of applesauce by using these bubbles. He has never eaten an entire thing of applesauce...I was able to feed half of it to him. The key is to offer the healthy food first, and then I let him have the grill cheese. The entire time he was screaming "bubbles." He said it so clearly! We have finally gotten a speech therapist and will hopefully be meeting with her next week (I started this early intervention process in the beginning of August so it has been a long process). Jackie will work on goals that we have for him, such as doing preschool tasks (tasks that would be asked of him in Preschool) and any goals that I want her to work on with him. What a blessing!

We go for his 2 year old well visit tomorrow. He has to get the flu shot this year because he was one of the first confirmed cases of the flu last year. I think we have to schedule that somewhere other than his doctor's office. We go to Palmetto Pediatrics and see Dr. Greenhouse...we love it there! I should have an update on his visit by the end of the week.

PS-We are officially done with bottles for 11 weeks until Abigail comes. Jackson did very well...I had to keep postponing getting rid of it because he kept on getting sick.

Pictures from Our Big Weekend!

The above picture is of Uncle Larry and Aunt Sandi who came all the way to Columbia for Jackson's birthday. It really meant a lot to us! The below picture is my dad giving Jackson a bath a the end of a very long day. Jackson loves bath time.

The below picture is me and Kelly baking in the sun at the Georgia game. Yes I went there and did not pass out thanks to the scholarship lounge (thanks Mimi and Pawpaw).

Here is Mimi, Jake and Jackson. Great picture!

Here is the delicious Publix birthday cake (yellow cake with fudge icing).

Jackson and his Gigi...he was obsessed with the balloons.

Today is Jackson's 2nd Birthday!

I cannot believe my baby boy is already turning 2 years old! He has had so much energy today. We even went to the gym this morning because he was bouncing off the walls. Maybe he does understand that today is his birthday. He was watching the Wiggles with his daddy and decided it would be funny to all of the sudden drop down from a standing position to on his bottom. He managed to nail his cheek against the back of the sofa and has a little red strawberry on his check. At least we did not have to go to the hospital.

My parents and my Aunt Sandi and Uncle Larry are coming this afternoon and then we are going to Jillian's tonight for his birthday celebration. We have reserved a private room and ten family members are coming tonight...I am so excited. We are going to have a Gamecock themed party at Jillians (they are going to have Gamecock themed balloons and decorations and I got a a cake from Publix with gamecock theme), and then tomorrow we are all going to the GA game.

Pictures should be up later tonight or tomorrow!

Abigail's Clothes So Far

The picture above are clothes I bought from the MOM sale (it is a sale put on by moms who have multiples and want to sell their goodies...it is held twice at year at Sax Gotha church in Lexinton). Charlie's sister is so great got me a ticket the day before it was open to the public and we were one of the first people to get it. I got ten outfits (many long selve onesies) and 7 PJ's with footies. I also got a Graco Duoglider front to back double stroller for $80. I think they run about $220. I looks brand new and I am so excited! The picture below is of a pink polo jumper that looks brand new. I had one for Jackson that looked similar. I was so blessed to find it! I spent $50 for these gently used clothes

Here are the seven beautiful PJ's

Here is a Feltman Brothers dress that Grand and Gigi got Abigail. LOVE IT! Girls clothes are so beautiful. Can you tell I am excited about having a girl?

Here are outfits that Carol and Gretchen got for Abigail. I bought the bows at Once Upon a Child.

I do remember that Jackson was only 6 pounds 14 ozs, and I did not have many newborn outfits so I am definitely on the look out for new born outfits. Any suggestions on where to find newborn outfits? Especially PJ's with feet. It is so great to now know what I am actually going to need for this baby.

We have decided if she is born with a calm quiet spirit we probably will call her Abigail. However, if she has a big personality we will probably call her "Abby."

Charlie's New Blog

Charlie has a new personal blog and he is using blogger...yes! Go here to check it out: http://charlie-wallace.blogspot.com/

Ps- This picture was taken on that day we got free Chick Fil A chicken strips when we wore a sports logo. This night is the reason I was not able to take my three hour glucose test last week. I got so caught up in things that I ate the strips and lemonade and then felt like I was going to throw up afterwards. I think I might have failed the test the next day. Plus Charlie had meetings that next day and it was not a good day to bring Jackson to work with him. Anyway, I am taking the 3 hour test at the hospital tomorrow morning at 7:30 am no matter what so keep me in your prayers. Pray I pass (I really cannot overeat this pregnancy...unlike with Jackson. I get so full whenever I eat, and I am still exercising so I will be very surprised if I have gestational diabetes)! No to mention the fact that I only failed the test by 8 points and when I was pregnant with Jackson I failed the test badly and still was able to pass the three hour test. Some doctors would not have made me take this three hour test, but my doctors said if I did not take the three hour test they would treat me like I have gestational diabetes....no fun.

New Outside Toys

Jackson's 2nd birthday is next Friday...time has flown! Jackson has already received some early birthday presents. We got him this little slide at a consignment store in Lexington called "As Good As New." Mimi and Pawpaw got him this cute outside picnic table and sandbox for his birthday (I think they got it at Sam's). He loves having something to sit on outside. My parents got him this soccer goal and ball which he loves (they got it at Walmart) Needless to say, Jackson never wants to come inside now, and cries and cries when we have to go in. It is killing my allergies but I am so thankful for all these fun outside toys! What are your favorite outdoor toddler toys?

Psalm 44

Today in my Bible Reading plan I read Psalm 44:

verses 4-8

You are my King, O God;
Command victories for Jacob,
Through You we will push
back our adversaries
Through Your name we
will trample down
those who rise up
against us,
For I will not trust in my bow,
Nor will my sword save me.
But you have saved us from our adversaries
And You have put to shame those who hate us
In God we have boasted all day long.
And we will give thanks to Your name forever.

Through God, and God alone will we overcome adversity here one earth. Through His name...He is our only hope! Things of this world will not save us, but God will save us. Do yall think about this fact?

Sometimes I really do believe that God allows things to happen to us so we will pray. Then, we will see Him move, and He will get all the glory. I am so quick to be thankful for things here on earth...am I boasting in God all day long or in His resources?

Have I mentioned I love the Psalms? Whatever I am going through over the years God has really spoken to me through the Psalms and today is certainly no different.