The Price is Right

At our house the best price for anything is FREE! Here are a few of the things we have managed to acquire the past couple of months for free! Love it!

Madelynne wanted one of these basketball hoops like you wouldn't believe. Our neighbors had one and let her borrow it in the spring. Shortly after Jackson was born they gave it to Madelynne since they no longer use it. Lucky girl!

This is an awesome vacuum! It retails for about $230+ and we got it for free for participating in a county program. Since we all know how fanatical I am about cleaning this is one of my new favorite things.

This swing is my new best friend. We are borrowing it from a friend (thanks Sarah!) and it is like having an extra set of hands. We got it right before Matt had his surgery and the timing couldn't have been better.

Jammies and Little Republicans

Little ones in jammies are just about one of the sweetest things. They are so cute and cuddly. Tonight after baths I realized that both Jackson and Madelynne had on their elephant jammies. I was thinking "Elephants are really big in fashion right now and so cute on my little ones...". Matt was thinking and said, "Our little republicans." What a difference in our train of thought. Can you tell which one of us is the lawyer in the family?

Matt's Knee Surgery

Matt had his knee surgery on September 25th and it went really well. The doctor was able to remove the cyst and repair the meniscus. The tear was a little more extensive than they originally thought, but they were able to repair it without having to remove tissue which in the long run will be better despite a longer post-op healing time. Matt is doing really well getting around on his crutches and was able to go back to work today. He will be on crutches for the next four weeks and will go to physical therapy once or twice a week.

Matt's first IV ever!



ICE, ICE BABY....THE ICEMAN IN OUR LIFE

The Iceman Cold Therapy unit helps reduce pain and swelling and facilitates rehabilitation. It provides up to 7 hours of continuous cold therapy for a variety of indications.

The hospital sent us home with this gadget. Do not be deceived by it's small appearance. This little "cooler" is like a gas guzzling car. We go through 22 pounds of ice a day to keep this thing operating!!!! I had to do some major rearranging in my freezer and divide the ice into gallon size ziploc bags to make it fit in my freezer. I thought that we would take it home for Matt to use and then return it to the hospital when he no longer needed it (you know, like renting a movie from Blockbuster). But, no it is ours to "keep forever" as the nurse said. What are we going to do with it? When I asked Matt that he said, "Sell it on e-bay." The nurse laughed and agreed. I joked with Matt as he was being given his discharge instructions that he couldn't decide to sell "The Iceman" on e-bay for 24 hours because you are not supposed to make any important decisions before then. I looked it up on e-bay and people are trying to sell these babies for $150!! You know what I could do with $150? The big question is how much did the hospital bill our insurance for this?

The Jackson Report

Jackson had his two month well check last week. Here are his stats:

Weight: 12 lbs 9 oz (75th percentile)
Height: 23 3/4 inches (90th percentile)
Head: 15 7/8 inches (50th percentile)

Jackson is a healthy little boy despite some reflux issues. The doctor told us to add a little rice cereal to his formula to help weigh it down and (hopefully) help keep him from spitting it back up. Sadly, (for the mama) Jackson gave up nursing last week at two months to the day (Sept. 30)due to supply and demand issues.

Other fun facts about Jackson:
-Sleeping habits: slept through the night for the first time at five weeks, he started doing it consistently at 6 weeks!!!!! He also loves to sleep in the car.
-Smiles and coos
-Loves: his sookie, to be in his swing, to be snuggled, and to sleep in the car (just like his Uncle Joel) :)
-Nicknames: Jack, Little Man, and Buddy
-Hair: dark brown , quite a bit in the back, but pretty sparse up front
-Giggled for the first time Saturday, Oct. 5th
-Recognizes Mommy, Daddy, and big sister, Madelynne
-Does not like: to be alone or having his bum wiped with cold wet wipes!
-Tricks: Jackson can roll himself onto his side and holds his sookie in his mouth with his hand to prevent losing it (smart boy!). He also tries to hold his own bottle. Jackson is also a charmer. When we were at the hospital for Matt's knee surgery, Jackson was pulling out all the stops and smiling for all the lady nurses. I must admit it is hard to resist his smiles. We are going to be in trouble when he gets older...little ladies man that he is....

It is hard to believe Jackson is almost nine weeks old! Where does the time go? We are cherishing and loving every minute with this sweet boy! We love you Jackson and are so glad to have you as part of our family!

Bibbity Bobbity Boo!

This video is for the grandparents. Madelynne found this little pumpkin and immediately adopted it for her own purposes. Here she is trying to turn the pumpkin into a magic coach to take her to the ball. The best part is she really believed that if she sang the song it would happen. Oh, to have the faith and belief of a child...


P.S.-I don't know why the direction of this video is wrong. If you know how to fix this problem leave me a comment with directions, please!

You Go Girl!

Madelynne is officially toilet trained! Once Madelynne decided she wanted to be toilet trained (and not Mommy wanting her to want to be toilet trained) things went a lot smoother and we have not looked back. She filled up her sticker chart and picked out this Cinderella princess dress with wand and slippers as her prize for doing such a good job. You go girl!

Madelynne's Charlie and Lola sticker chart all filled up!

What a cute Cinderella!

Unfortunately this is a common occurrence at our house now that Madelynne is toilet trained. She thinks it is so fun to put BIG wads of toilet paper in the toilet and flush it down. We are trying to teach her moderation, but what is the fun in that?

Take Me Out to The Ballgame

Matt's boss gave us tickets to an Indians game as a congratulations gift for the birth of Jackson. The ultimate guy gift, right? Originally he gave us box tickets for a Sunday afternoon game with tickets to the Terrace Club as well. Since we do not do those kind of activities on a Sunday we were bummed and were trying to think of who we could give the tickets to or they would just go to waste. But, the more we thought about it we decided we should just give him to his boss to take his family because he had spent hundreds of dollars on the tickets and we couldn't see wasting them. When Matt told his boss the situation and how we were so grateful for the tickets, but didn't want them to go to waste he said he should have know better since he knows we are Mormon. And then nice guy that he is he gave us new tickets to a game on a Saturday night. We were not expecting that at all! Matt was totally stoked! He has wanted to go to an Indians game all summer. So, last Saturday we packed up the kiddos and headed to the ballpark. Even though the Indians lost to the Royals 8-4, we had a great time. Go tribe!

Matt and Madelynne sporting their baseball caps in preparation to go to the game.


Mama and the kiddos at the game.


Daddy and Madelynne watching the game together.


Jackson did so well at his first baseball game at only 6 weeks old!


Who can resist that face! In the background of this picture you can see that our seats were behind first base and we were seven rows back. We had to keep our "heads up" because many a fly ball came our way. In the section next to ours someone got hit in the head when one of the Royals players threw the bat behind him to run to first. I guess he threw it a little too hard cause it went into the stands!