Western Day, who knew?

According to the McLendon blog, yesterday was Western Day. Who knew? Coincidentally, Jackson had on his western jon jon. As you can see, it was a little tough getting a good pic. Nevertheless, Jackson had great 10 month birthday (other than the teething which is evident by all the drool)! Howdy for now!!!

10 months!

Date Night

Last night, Russell and I had a little date night. It was so much fun. Russell got tickets to sit in one of the suites at the Texas Tech men's basketball game so we got a babysitter to watch Jackson. Russell had a little surprise before the game. He took me to eat at a Mexican restaurant on campus that he heard was good. I forget the name of it but it was delicious and I love Mexican food so it was a nice little surprise.

The game was so much fun and we hung out with some really fun people. A couple of them are our age and live in our neighborhood so hopefully, we will hang out with them again soon. One of the guys we meet has a little boy Jackson's age. Maybe Jackson will have another friend soon.

Anyways, Russell and I have not had a date night in a very long time and it was well worth the wait! Also, the babysitter seemed very responsible and good with kids. She even sent me a text to let me know when Jackson fell asleep. I could definitely do date night again soon!

What's wrong with this picture?

Sunday afternoon we put out our Easter Bunny and 24 hours later, the snow began to fall. I am starting to wonder if Russell secretly moved us to the North Pole instead of Lubbock, Texas. This weather is crazy but beautiful.

Do you remember "Where's Waldo"? Well, where's Jackson? Do you see him in this pic?

Jackson and his tools

The road to recovery

Sorry I haven't kept everyone updated on Jackson. We really appreciate all the prayers and well wishes!

The flu really wasn't so bad. He seemed to feel much better after the doctor visit on Monday but we could not get the fever to go down for several days. We could handle the fever - the most important thing was that Jackson was starting to feel better! Fortunately, Jackson is better. He got tons of TLC and we watched way too much Mickey Mouse!

Unfortunately, yesterday, Russell came down with the nasty bug that I had last Saturday! It was only a 24 hour bug so he is feeling much better today. At breakfast this morning, I knew both of my boys were on the road to recovery by their appetites. Jackson was eating pancakes and applesauce and Russell had eggs with cheese. Let's hope everyone stays healthy and let's hope Jackson doesn't get the nasty bug that Russell and I had!

Happy Mardi Gras

My Aunt and Uncle (and my godparents) were on a Mardi Gras court in Louisiana. They spent great time and effort in their costumes and preparing for all the Mardi Gras events. Here they are in their elaborate costumes. We didn't make it to the shindig but my parents went. It was such a great time my mom actually stayed at the party until 11:30. (My mother hasn't made a New Year's Eve past 10:00 in 15 years!)

Poor Boo Boo has the flu

Even though Jackson got the flu shot, he came down with the nasty bug, anyways. What a disappointment to have to suffer through the shot and the virus. Jackson hasn't been himself for a few days but we thought some of his clinginess was attributed to beginning daycare. Who knows?

Last night he came down with a fever and around 1:30 it was 103 degrees. Super scary for first time parents! Luckily our pediatrician has an on-call nurse who happily answered all my questions at 2:00 am. She reassured us that 103 is not that uncommon and gave us pointers on getting the temp down. Amazingly, we woke up at 4:30 am and his temp was back to normal. Relief!

Of course, I called the doctor first thing to make an appointment. Even if he was better, we still needed to have a discussion with the doctor on pointers for handling a high fever! When faced with these situations, I just want to head for the emergency room. Thanks to Robin, the nurse, for preventing that drama!

Anyways, the doctor checked Jackson out and determined he had the regular flu. He spirits were up at the doctor and he pointed out that was a good sign. We got prescriptions for the whole family since we knew it would be a matter of time before I came down with it if we didn't take preventive measures. Luckily, Russell got the flu shot but, like Jackson, who knows if it will suffice.

Lots of prayers for our little angel! It looks like it will be a rough few days but we will keep you posted.

Happy 1st Valentine's Day Jackson!

What we woke up to . . .

We were quite surprised this morning because we were not expecting to get snow until this afternoon and, if we did, we didn't expect much. Russell began working and didn't even look out the window. When I got up, I looked out the window to another snowstorm. It has been steady snowing all morning and there are several inches piled up. For the most part, schools are in session . . . for now.

Momma's Boy!

Mardi Gras arrived early for Saints fans!

The biggest little Saints fan!

Who Dat! Dat's the Superbowl Saints!

Mimi and Poppy are here visiting and we watched a very super Superbowl! The game could not have been more exciting for Saints fans. Congrats to the Saints and, more importantly, to the City of New Orleans! As they say in the Cresent City, laissez les bon temps rouler . . . let the good times roll!

Superbowl Sunday really is Super!

Superbowl Sunday has been special for our family because Russell and I meet at a Superbowl party . . . 7 years ago! I can't believe it has been 7 years. We have come a long way!

Hopefully, the Saints can make this a VERY SUPER Superbowl. No matter what happens, we are so excited the Saints made it this far. They have provided alot of excitement for us over the last few months!

Who dat! Who dat! Who dat say they gonna beat them Saints?!?

Countdown to the Superbowl!

The Superbowl is tomorrow and we are so excited! Other than the Disney channel, ESPN has been on at our house all week! Go Saints, who dat!

More snow on the way

That's right, more snow! I was watching Mickey Mouse in one room and walked into another room were the news was on and heard the prediction of 2 inches of snow expected tonight. What?!? I hadn't seen the weather in a few days.

When we moved here, I asked some Texas Tech grads about the weather and they said it was similar to Dallas. The year we lived in Dallas, we had two icestorms, no snow. If it snows as much as the weatherman predicts, this will be the fourth snowstorm so far. I love seeing the white stuff. It's beautiful . . . but I don't know about being stuck in the house again! I guess I'll be heading to the grocery store to stock up. Surely, it won't be as bad as last week!

We found a solution . . .

We found a solution to our organization problem, the big red buckets. As it turns out, the big red buckets are a solution to our little mover as well. He moves so fast, now we can contain him in the red bucket! He loves it in the red bucket but we only let him sit in there long enough to take some cute pics!

Jackson's first day at daycare

I can't believe I have been home with my baby for 9 months and now it is time to take a big step. It is time to go to daycare. And, it is time for me to get back to work! I have decided to get onto the court appointment list for criminal cases and for attorney general child support cases. These last 9 months have been wonderful but I am really looking forward to putting my education back to good use! Being on the court appointment list should provide me with the flexibility to balance spending time with Jackson and getting out of the house. Russell and I also feel that Jackson could really benefit from spending time with other children and learning from the curriculum his daycare offers. (He is going to a Montessori school.)

I actually thought this morning would be easier than it was. I have been looking forward to working and having a little "me" time and I truly think Jackson needs the interaction with other children. He did great when we dropped him off. We stayed with him for a while to settle him in (which we were supposed to do on Friday but the school was closed due to the snowstorm). We finished up some paperwork and, before we left, I peeked back in. To my surprise, he was smiling and doing great . . . until he saw me. Next time I peeked in, he was crying. Ugh, why did I have to take another look! Anyways, I came home and enjoyed a cup of coffee and did some work. Then, I decided to check on him with the daycare cameras. I didn't see him so I did what I did not want to do, I called to check on him. The teacher said he had been crying but he was in his crib now (and wasn't crying anymore). I really want to go get him but Russell asked me to try and leave him until after lunch. So, I am going to try and get busy and hold off on picking him up until after lunch. I'll let you know how that goes . . .