Scrappin Again......

I have bene on a scrapbooking hiatus for the past four months, however, thanks to Darcy organizing a crop a week ago, i have totally been on a roll. So I thought I would take the time and catch you up on Jackson's first year. Check it out:

the first three are from the crop at Darcy's. it was so much fun to see others work and see the different styles. It was also nice to meet others that share the love of this great hobby.

I love this one: this is totally not a normal baby book page, but when Jackson started to roll he would search under our couches daily. there was no hiding anything from him under there, from flip flops to power cords he would find them and then try to chew on them. not the safest or the cleanest thing.
Next I tried my hand at sewing on a page. not bad, as Darcy reminded me in Home Ec, they first taught us to sew with paper. Don't get ahead of yourself this was not accident free, I did break the needle...I am not an amatuer, but definitely not a professional, when it comes to sewing. Something I would like to start up again. There is so much you can do that can be so individualized if you sew.
I then had to go home, it was already 11:15 pm. I was going to be exhausted for a very big day the next day. But yesterday I pull out all the stuff again and it helped that Jackson decided to take not only one, but two 3 hour naps. It was great til last night when he wanted to be awake at 2 am. Anyhoo....here are the pages I finished yesterday.

I love these pictures on the park bench and love how this page turned out as well. first time using the gaffer tape, and I have been dying to use red, black and white and finally I found red paper without flowers. boys can't have flowers!!! :)

then 11 months was an odd page. I like how it came out but i am not elated. the picture is so cute that I wish the page was cuter. oh well.

At least I am two pages away from being done with the every month pages and then I have alot of firsts and a few Jackson only fact pages; like how many miles he as traveled in one year and how many hours he as spent in a hospital. We also traveled through the flooded areas of Iowa on our latest trip to MN and I want to document that that was big news this year. So I need to do a in the year you were born page. There are a few more to do, I got a steal on Thickers today when I went to HObby Lobby they were 50% off of 2.99. I can't believe I got them for 1.50. that is NUTS. So I am sure I will whip out the stuff this weekend to.

I need some prayers too, our garage sale is not selling much and that is the money I am going to use at the resale next weekend. So please pray that we have more attendance tomorrow. For anyone who needs baby stuff boy or girl go check it out it is on State Road 15, don't look at the road construction signs, it is before you get there.

Have a great Labor Day Weekend, enjoy the extra day before all schools begin.

You can't believe what gets done in a day?

ok Al I know, you build houses in three days but I have been waiting to see things happen for like 3 plus years. So this was amazing to me. Thank you so much guys for coming in and telling me I could watch but just taking over and getting it done. we are so overwelmed by the generosity. Thank you.

bye bye, yellow sponge paint and pretty pink flower border. I just have to say I will give the previous decorator credit...they didn't have a pink flower border with the yellow paint, but she did take a short cut and not take the first border down before she painted over it and then wallpapered again over the top of that. crazy lady. this house if anything has made me an anti-wallpaperer. if I wasn't before (sense the sarcasm).

So first they took everything out. Poor guys carried a cast iron tub out and dumped it in my front yard. I think I could have made the next revised version of:

You Know You are a Redneck IF:
they wanted me to use the bathtub as a flower planter...how redneck is that? (sorry to anyone that is offended by it, hope noone has one already)
we lost a wall...it is drastic how much bigger a bathroom looks without a privacy wall. come on, don't most close the door for privacy. I do.

this should be called blue board too...it is definitely ocean blue, not green. i was starting to think it is kinda pretty maybe i won't paint we will just leave it this way. minus the shop vacs and super bright lights. i am telling you only people that know what they are doing should do home remodels, not just anyone. cuz you just make it frustrating for virgil when he comes to fix your mess. hehe. sorry for the work of the previous homeowners. and a BIG thanks for fixing it.Stay tune...

Destruction in our HOME.

So we (or I should say the guys) started the bathroom destruction, aka remodel today. (aren't these colors special...love the decorating, just add a sunflower border over those pink flowersa nd you get the idea. I used to like yellow until I entered this room.) They are doing the gutting and the prep work for what will come when we add the cool new stuff. We have been so blessed by our church. I personally thought the pray and support of our church family was phenomenal, but they have totally out done themselves with this benefit they are planning. the support and encouragement is overwhelming and the passion to give. I can't wait until I can pay it forward to someone else.

We will continue to give you guys updates as the day goes on, or the weeks, or the months. However long it takes. I have lived with it stripped this far for three years. nothing will seem long, now that I know it is happening.

Thanks to everyone that has helped this happen...it means the world to us.

I didn't even believe it with my own eyes....

I am telling you I didn't believe my eyes when I saw it the first time either. Everyone of you told me that miracles happen when they turn one...they start to do things out of the blue..
Well I now have my proof. here it is...prepare yourself. I never thought a year ago that we would be doing this three days after his one year birthday.

then on tuesday evening Adrian and I went to get our dinner in the kitchen and when we entered the livingroom we both stopped in our tracks when we saw this. I had no idea how he did it...but he was standing there. Up until this point he was barely army crawling, but now since we traveled to mn this is what we do...enjoy the video below.
I didn't get to him with the camera til the third time he did it so he was a little tired and started out army crawling but then picked himself up to hands and knees and then oh what the heck we will just pull up on the hardest thing papa and nana have...a tiled fire place. Papa promised he wasn't going to go bang...but he proved him wrong.

in the news also, we have two white bumps on our lower jaw...we will see, they have disappeared before, but we have rosey cheeks and a wicked cough with congestion to go with these two bumps. wish us luck, he is still sleeping really well.

Jackson's 1st birthday Party

From here:

to here in ONE YEAR

It was wonderful to celebrate with our friends. I spent alot of time thinking about what began a year ago today and it brings tears to my eyes to see how far our little guy has come in a year. He has amazed us all including the doctors this last year.



a bean bag toss...(corn hole) tourney....we went with cupcakes...instead of cake...it was fun to decorate them with little ones all over them. and much easier to handle outside.

check this out. we didn't put any in our mouth but we sure smashed it on our tray and had a lot of fun making a mess. gotta say we didn't expect much more. it was cute. thank you to all who celebrated with us in spirit from far away and have sent us encouragement and support over the last year. it is so much easier to stay upbeat about it all when you know you have your friends and family there to support you and lift you up in prayer. I am sure this next week will be emotional as we remember all that we have been through over the last year.

thanks again everyone....thanks for celebrating with us.

Riley update.....

After lots of playing in the office mirrors, lots of funny songs, books and peekaboo, we survived our two days, and 6 appointments at Riley.
we were a little scared on thursday that everyone was going to be disappointed with his weight gain, but fortunately he didn't grown in height which gave him some catch up in weight and everyone was actually for the first time ok with his weight to height ratio. that was a pleasant first. We however had to do some extra blood work to check into why he wasn't growing in length the way he should be. this could be due to alot of different reasons. Blood work will tell next week. they drew 6 viles of blood so we will have lots of results, from Renal and Endocrinology. We talked with his kidney doc about the possibility of growth hormone shots (not because I want to give him a shot a day, but because it might help him). She was tentative due to the side effects being slowing of his thyroid and hip problems, both which we already have issues with. So she is going to research it and discuss it with his other doctors.

in regards to feeding and nutrition we got some answers to some questions and some new foods to try orally...including puffy cheetos, who would have ever guessed that would be on my babies new one year old diet. Will see if he likes those. I know his papa vince and his mama like cheetos. we will see if it runs in his genes. :) over all she was happy with his gain and there were no changes to his formula or diet.

then we saw Urology. they are testing his bladder fuction, watching the renal reflux, and the mechanics of his single kidney. So we had a half hour of tests and then we met with the doc. we were hoping to see a change in the bladder function, spasms and reflux, due to the untethering of his spinal cord, however the results showed little to no improvement. what does this mean you ask? well, a few months back we got put on on detrol, that was to control bladder spasms, but it caused the severe constipation and enemas he got back in January and we stopped the medicine in hopes that the surgery on his spine would help. We now have to go back on the medicine, most likely if it works for a lifetime or he could grow out of the "overactive bladder". the other options are pretty severe so we are praying that we can make the medicine work. the overactive part in conjunction with his renal reflux puts a greater risk on his kidney. not only daily with the idea that your pee in waste/toxins from the body, but especially if there is a urinary or bladder infection of any kind or of any size.

So all in all we had 1 bad news appointment out of 5. I think that is a good trip all in all. it is one more medicine to ingest and another challenge to get his stools regulated once we add this new medicine. but like all the other challenge we take this one on head on with the help of God. We are starting to journal his intakes and outtakes again to help with reporting to the doctors. WE have learned in the last year that sometimes a little more work everyday pays off in the end. We also got to see my cousin and her baby Brice while we were there...aren't they both soo cute.

thank you in advance for all of the prayers for these appointments and over then last year. Can you believe it has been a year? WOW. what a journey we have all taken. You all have been such a support and encouragement so far. I can't wait to share what God has in store for our family over the next year to come.

Happy Birthday Little Jackson, two days Early.

Happy anniversary to US.....thank you Adrian

three years ago today I was hooping it up at our reception with family and friends celebrating the biggest commitment I had made in my life. Giving up my independence and joining with my husband Adrian. This year has taught me so much about my relationship, my faith and my commitment to my hubby. This year has reassured me that I made the best choice I possibly could have. When times have been tough, he has been my shoulder to lean on; when I haven't had the words; he knew exactly what I was thinking; when I just needed someone to cry out to GOd for me he did; and When I didn't have the heart to ask the tough question, he was right there holding my hand asking for me. God new we would compliment each other when he brought us together.

I remember during the sermon at our wedding three years ago, Myron spoke of the road ahead of us and the ups and downs we would have and used a YOYO as his special gift. I don't think he truely knew how prophetic his words were going to be or maybe I didn't. But our last year has proved that his words were truly inspired. As if we needed proof, :) He reminded us to keep God in the center and to put our faith in Him and we could make it through all the ups and downs. That YOYO has gotten alot of work going up and down in our last year, but God has only strengthened us through it all. I am sure we have ALOT more ups and downs to come in the future, but I know that with my Husband by my side and God in control we can make it through anything.(You know our life has been changed when I have no pictures of the two of us from the last year saved on my computer. OOOPPPSS.)

Thank you Adrian for an amazing year and all the support and encouragment you have been to me. When I don't have enough faith, energy, sleep, *anything* you have it for me and for that I am grateful.

multiple color changes and and my decorating husband

so a few post back I was telling you that ET had not entered our home, but there were things brewing in our home. I am here to show you the results: I know I said it was going to be green, and I tried but the color I liked didn't go with the rest of the home. I am pumped about how it looks.
this is the new sliding shade we got for the patio window, I love it it is so natural made out of bamboo and let just enough light in ...also these are the thrift store chairs I found love them...not sure if I am going to still paint them or not. what do you think, I was going to go black...I am not sure, either way the table has to be painted or maybe not let me know your imput. this is the work of my fabulous husband...i wanted a family picture wall and I got it..all black frames except the shrock painting on top not sure if I will leave that or paint it yet either. then I can't not leave you with an adorable picture of my baby....here he is sport in the colors of our favorite baseball team. the ......can you guess????
have a great week.....