The Jackson Chronicles

Wednesday, August 21, 2013

I got an email yesterday from a photography studio. They go to hospitals and take pictures of newborns and their families. When I had Tate I didn't know they did that, and the day we left the hospital (as we were walking out) someone asked if we wanted to have pictures taken. To be honest, I remember thinking I didn't, because I was a mess, I was tired, and I was emotional (I didn't enjoy my stay at the hospital) and I wanted to go home as quick as possible. But I figured I would regret not doing it, so I said yes. Tate had on a goofy hat and outfit, but he looked so precious. Josh had on nice clothes and looked great. I looked greasy and chubby, haha.

In order to get the pictures, we had to order them by a certain time. I didn't order them and my code to view the pictures stopped working, so I assumed they were gone. But last night the email said I could view them and buy them. So I went to their website and bought them! There are some really great pictures.

These are so special because I lost almost all of my photos of Tate when he was first born (which of course I cried about for a few days). So I am so happy we have these. I can't believe how small he was...

A Pleasant Surprise

1:57 PM Nicole Jackson

Yesterday was a day I thought I would never have. Tate slept wonderfully and ate beautifully all day. He slept 2 hours his first nap and 1.5 hours his second. He ate well and was happy all day. We found out he loves pears. Josh loves pears too, so it makes sense. He ate a whole container at lunch! He loves it! So yesterday was wonderful! He got really tired at night and I still need to figure out when to feed him so that he will get all he needs, but it was a step in the right direction.

Monday we did something I have wanted to do for a long time. We went to Bed, Bath, and Beyond and bought a mop! These are the things that get me excited these days...Tate's eating and sleeping and cleaning supplies. We ended up buying a few other things because we were using gift cards (from our wedding!) and we had a coupon. We bought a bigger (and of course better) colander and a food chopper. I really don't like cutting up vegetables. I can't stand it and it prevents me from trying out a lot of recipes. Now I have a food chopper and we are going to eat like royalty. Anyway, we had fun at BB&B...maybe a little too much fun. We started taking pictures. At one point there was a lady behind us and I'm sure she was confused, annoyed, and concerned all at the same time. But we were having fun. I haven't tried out the mop yet, but I am excited to give it a spin.

I did a training session at Doug's practice and I realized I miss coaching. I don't miss everything about coaching (like hate emails, parents yelling at me, and tons of pressure), but I do miss being out with my team and running a practice. But I guess I don't miss it that much, or else I would've kept doing it.

Tate is getting more and more mobile. He is pretty good at crawling (I think) and he is grabbing everything. He has a weird obsession with my jogging shoes, the grossest things on this planet. It doesn't matter what toy is in front of him, if he sees my shoes he goes for them. He also likes my sandals, which are almost equally disgusting. And he likes the wheels on the stroller, which are also pretty gross. So, Tate pretty much loves gross stuff.

Here are pictures from our adventures at Bed, Bath, and Beyond...

Here's Tate's face up close. Josh and I agree this is what Tate would look like if he was a cat.

Tate was confused by the massage chair

A Wonderful (Almost) Perfect Day

10:14 AM Nicole Jackson

Here are pictures from our adventures at Bed, Bath, and Beyond...

Here's Tate's face up close. Josh and I agree this is what Tate would look like if he was a cat.

Tate was confused by the massage chair

Doug got Tate a hat in Europe

First, I have amazing news...someone returned my jogging stroller! Saturday Josh had a soccer practice he coached and when he come home, he opened the door and had the stroller with him. My first thought was that he bought a new one that looked like my old one. Then I saw the head rest I put on it and I knew it was mine. Josh parked the car and the stroller was just sitting outside of our shed (because now we have a lock on it). I honestly stood there and looked at it for a few minutes. I couldn't believe it. I am so happy and grateful! I don't know who stole it, and I don't know who returned it, but my faith in the human race has been restored. So thank you whoever you are!

Friday Josh, Tate, and I went up to Salt Lake for a reception of a friend from my home ward (we call our local church congregations wards) in Georgia. I was debating whether we should go or not because we had tickets to the BYU women's soccer game v Haiti. The reception started at 6 and the game in Provo started at 7. So I figured we could get to the reception at 6, leave, and get back to Provo around 7:15. It was a great plan. Unfortunately, we used an app I have on my phone for directions and it lead us to who knows where in Salt Lake and we had to call my parents in Georgia to look up directions on their computer because my 3G wasn't working. It took us a long time to get there. But the reception was lovely and we got food. By the time we left it was close to 8, so we gave up hope of seeing the game. As we were leaving SLC, Josh thought he had found a shortcut to the freeway, and we ended up at the train station. At that point Josh grabbed the steering wheel and yelled "Get my out of here!" We were glad to be on our way home. We found out that the game started late, so we headed over there and made it for most of the second half. I saw a lot of friends and little girls I used to coach, so it was fun to be there.

Today before Church, Tate graced us with his music. It really prepared us to be reverent.

Today we also went to my grandparents' house for dinner. It was fun. After dinner Josh and I went outside and put Tate on the grass. He was so funny. He stayed up on his hands and toes like he did not want to touch the grass. Then he fell to his side and he wouldn't move a muscle. He just laid there with his head up off the ground. When he finally did move, he put his head down into the grass, but that tickled his face and he quickly lifted his head up again. He did that for a while. Then he went on his stomach and, of course, started licking the grass. We also blew some bubbles and he would watch them intently has they floated past him.

This is a typical scene when Josh gets home from work.

Nathan (Josh's brother) and Sarah (Nathan's wife) are back from living in California over the summer. I am happy they are back! Sarah is having a baby girl in November! I am excited for them. I hope we haven't made them scared of parenthood. Tate had a rough beginning and cried a lot and then we tried to sleep train and he cried even more. But now things are great. Well, we are still working on the naps and eating and sleeping at night, but he is so happy all the time it makes it okay. He laughs and smiles so easily. He is so curious about everything. He wants to touch everything! We put him down for a few seconds and he reaches for somethings immediately and puts it into his mouth. He can hold something and look at it and put it in his mouth for a long time. He is a thinker.

Here are a ton of pictures we took in Georgia. Believe it or not, these are just a fraction of all the pictures we took during our photo shoot. Props to my sister-in-law Chelsea for taking all of these.