Happy Memorial Day!

What a weekend we have had!

We went to the Indy 500 Memorial Day Parade (something we have done annually for a few years). It was quite smart of us to find a spot at the beginning of the parade (thanks to Joe looking at the parade map ahead of time). It was so nice to watch in the shade too!

Then, on Sunday, Joe surprised the kids with a reservation to Caribean Cove. It was a "Staycation" for us. This hotel with a big waterpark connected to it is just a few minutes from our house. But, to our kids, we were in another world!

JackJack was a champ! Happy the whole time, just taking it all in and watching everything...this was our one attempt to get him to nap while we were there...didn't work.

We stayed in the "atrium" area that overlooked a separate indoor pool and all kinds of fun activities (ping pong, pool, putt putt). We never even made it there though, just watched all the action from up above.

When we first arrived, the pool was just opening and they had all these hundreds of kids wait 15 minutes while the checked the pools...luckily, that was the only time all trip they did that to them!

JackJack enjoyed the patio view too!

Amazingly, this was the first time ever that we've stayed in a hotel. So it was quite an experience for the kids - "Look a bathroom! Look at TV! Let's stay here forever" :)

We finished our stay with a small mis-hap.  (No photos of this one).
Morgan chose to jump into the pool backwards, which unfortunately caused her to bonk her chin on the concrete.  It was in a spot that was pretty hard to see and it was just about an inch wide...so nothing we thought would need stitches, especially Morgan!

She is just fine, just wearing a "Butterfly" bandaid until it heals - couldn't have picked a better option of style of bandaid for her, that's for sure.

Now, she joins many of her family members with a scar on her chin - Mo, Bubba, Ry Ry, me and Joe...hopefully none of the other kids join the club...but I won't hold my breathe!

What a memorable Memorial Day weekend!

Joe, Megan, Joey, Morgan, Jameson and Baby Jackson!

Jameson's Fish Oil Experiment

Our sweet 2 year old son, Jameson is not much of a talker. Actually, compared to his big brother and sister, he's practically mute.
So, when he reached 24 months in February, we decided we needed to start pursuing speech therapy.

We are involved in an amazing program called First Steps.
The program is funded by the state and assists families with children in need of therapy for minimal to no cost AND they come do therapy IN YOUR HOME.

We are so thankful that God placed Jenny, our amazing and gifted speech therapist in our lives and most importantly for an hour a week into the life of our son.

Per her suggestion, I purchased a book called The Late Talker.

Now, I have picked up my reading a little in the evenings, because of the Happiness Project I am doing, but this book was one I read in 1 night. I was dedicated to understanding our son's issues and willing to do whatever it takes to help him get his voice.

It's interesting, in the beginning of the book it lists some common things that parents are told by family, friends and even their pediatricians - we've heard them all too:

-Don't worry, he's just a late talker
-Uncle Eric didn't speak until he was four
-Einstein didn't talk until he was three
-He'll speak when he's ready
-His older siblings speak for him
-Just give him time

Well, although the advice had the best of intentions, there is still more that we can do...

In Chapter 8 of the book it talks about "Alternative Strategies: Nutritional Intervention"

So here's what we're going to do...
It recommends that you give your child Fish Oil.
Fish Oil supplements contain varying balances of Omega-3 LCP's, DHA, EPA, ARA, EFA, ALA and GLA (I am NOT going to type out what all those are - but they're good for you!)

So, I went to Good Earth (a local store that sells super good quality suppliments and everything else organic, even shoes, that are good for you) and invested in Coromega - orange flavored. It's a mushy pudding texture in individual sized servings of about 2 teaspoons per package.

I have been putting it into his orange juice in the morning since Tuesday.

From this point on, I am going to blog his progress and see if this little experiment works.

There is no clinical studies, no federally funded research on it's effectiveness...but parent after parent wrote of amazing results from the use of this "brain food" - we just need to get those synapses sparking in JJ's mind and this is a safe, harmless way to do it.

Here's the words Jameson could say before supplement (5/23/11):
HOUSE
CATCH
GO
OPEN
THANK YOU MOM
BOAT
PLEASE (peas)
QUACK QUACK (gack gack)
BLUE (boo)
BALL
BABY
MOM
REESE
UH OH
UH HUH
UH UH
TA DA
ROUND AND ROUND
UP
WEE-OOO (fire truck)
BUBBA
MO
BAMMY
BAMPY
JUICE
MILK
ME
JOEY (goey)
JACK JACK (gack gack)
GAWWY (daddy)
HELP
BYE BYE
MAMA
PAPA
NEIGH
PEEP
BEEP
BOO BOO
BUS
COOKIE
BUCKLE
OUT

Day 1 of Fish Oil New Words or Statements: (5/24/11)
EAT JOEY (goey)
EAT SISSY (gicky)
HI (usually just waves at neighbors but says nothing)

(5/25/11)
ROLL ROLL

We'll see where this takes us...it is just a small thing that may truly help our son...who'd of thought fish oil may be all he needs to get his voice :)


Joe, Megan, Joey, Morgan, Jameson and Baby Jackson!

Wordless Wednesday (and did happen today!)

Joeys Spring Fling!

Hickory Dickory Dock

This past Friday, Joey's school had their Spring Fling - it's an annual end-of-the-year celebration where each grade parades through the streets dressed as the theme of their learning for the year - Kindergarten learned Nursery Rhymes this year, so each child had to pick a story/poem and dress up.  Then, after the parade the kids  went back to their classrooms and recited their poems.

I only took video of the parade, so no photos here, but it was SO FUN!

Joey thought of, created and designed his entire costume himself - I just pinned cheese on a hat for effect! :)

What a wonderful year Joey has had at the Oaks Academy!
Joe, Megan, Joey, Morgan, Jameson and Baby Jackson!

Jackson is 6 months old!

I can't believe it.
6 months old already!

18.10 lbs
28 inches long

This boy is barely a baby anymore.  He has started eating 3 meals a day of solids - and now that this is our fourth, I have finally figured out the most efficient way for him to eat....WHAT WE ARE EATING!  Ha! Who'd of thought that investing in an immersion blender would allow such ease and simplicity at the dinner table.

Jackson literally eats whatever vegetable we are eating....just puree it down in the cup that immersion blender came with!  I have baked sweet potatoes and butternut squash for the little guy too, but green beans, carrots...he just eats those right with us....why did it take me this long to figure this out!

He is just a joy, smiles all the time, sits quietly and watches his brothers and sister.  He rolls from belly to back and is pretty steady sitting now too.  We're still working on sleeping through the night, but he is doing really well with 2 good naps a day and a consistent bedtime of 8:00pm.

We have quite a busy household, but having Jackson around is all the more fun!

Joe, Megan, Joey, Morgan, Jameson and Baby Jackson!

Happy Mother's Day!

I remember the very first Mother's Day after Joey was born (which was just a few weeks after his birth).  I remember the pastor at our church asking moms to stand and be recognized...I rememeber feeling so proud, so fulfilled...Mother's Day is just really special to me.  I guess because I feel I am doing just want I was created to do.  I feel so very blessed to be called "Mom".

I must add, that Jameson has just recently mastered the skill of saying my name.  Being 2 years old and with few words for his age gave us some concern and he is even in speech therapy through First Steps to assist with his speech development.  But after waiting for nearly 2 years to hear the word "mommy" out of his mouth, I can honestly say, it melts my heart.

Recently he has even mastered the more common way my name is said by his siblings..."Maaaa aaam" with a sort of sarcastic tone as if to say, "come on mom, work with me here!"

I got breakfast in bed on Mothers Day with all 4 kids and daddy piled into our "Family Bed" as Joey calls it when everyone is on there.
I got a massage gift certificate from Joe and a blueberry bush and butterfly bush from the kids.
It was a relaxing, wonderful day for me.

I am so proud to be a mom and I think I enjoy Mother's Day more than my own birthday...because being a mom is what I was made to be.




Bammie came over for brunch 



Joey made me a sign :)

 Joe, Megan, Joey, Morgan, Jameson and Baby Jackson!

Wordless Wednesday (5/18/11)

Wordless Wednesday (5/11/11)

Wordless Wednesday (5/4/11)

Wordless Wednesday (4/27/11)