I'm Sexy And I know It....

Oh he thinks he's sexy alright!! 

Little Roger Jackson.  He had a birthday last week.  He's a big ole' 1 year old now. And I've been wanting to blog about all the things he's been doing.  Except he's quite an intensive child.  And so I don't get time to blog about him or anybody these days.  But here goes nothin'.....

Radiant. Observant. Gleeful. Energetic. Rascally.  

Nosy. Independent. Strong-willed. Bright.  

Fast-learner. Prankster. Adorable. 

My Little RJ

The beginning - Due July 31.  8 days late.  All my midwives felt and said, "Oh, he's little. 6 lbs, maybe 6.5."  So we waited for him, gave him time to grow.  5cm, 80% and no signs of labor at a week past.  What the heck.  A castor oil induction.  4 hours of labor, 45 minutes of pushing.  They were WRONG!  8lbs, 12oz.  21 inches long.  Wednesday, August 8th, 2012 at 4:07AM.  (Why are all my kids born in the middle of the night??)  

Came out into this world, looked up at me with his wrinkly little face and then promptly fell asleep in my hands as me, Daddy, our midwife and nurse dried him off, wrapped him up and counted his fingers and toes.  Fell asleep in my hands, you ask?  

Let me explain.  When I got to pushing, nothing was comfortable and I couldn't seem to lie down, although I had birthed the other 3 in a semi-sitting/lying position.  My wonderful midwife suggested (from her spot in her rocking chair, calmly knitting a blanket) getting on all fours on the bed and leaning on the birthing ball to take some pressure off.  I did this and one thing led to another and I was pushing (honestly what a better way to push than from that semi-sitting position!).  So when he was coming out, my midwife said, "Reach down, Mama, and catch your baby..."  And so I did.  And although ALL of my births were wonderful, special, enlightening and empowering... catching my little son myself was BY FAR a most amazing experience.  I think this is what made him so peaceful.  He just fell asleep right in my hands.  Not a single cry or squeak.  "What's wrong?" I said.  "Nothing," they said.  "Babies born peacefully and without intervention often don't cry... isn't it beautiful?"  But, alas, he would surely make up for this later.....!

Sleeping in my arms just seconds after birth.  

Still sleeping... 

After we're all cleaned up and checked over, we all rest together on the comfy bed at the Birth Center.  

 He is my "Never Baby."  I never had morning sickness before him.  Never had extremely low blood pressure in pregnancy before.  Never had a baby who wouldn't sleep lying down (he slept in his car seat or nap nanny for 5 months).  Never had a baby with thrush before.  Never had a baby that cried for months before. He yelled for 4 months.  Just cried.  Yelled.  Screamed.  From 4PM to 10PM on a pretty much nightly basis.  But slept... LONG. 4-6 hour naps.  And all the way through the night.  People said, "wake him up and feed him."   Ummm... no.  I like sleep too!! 

Meeting the fam.  We got home about noon on the day of his birth.  Riley isn't too sure what to make of this....

Indy is a natural...

Look!  He's not crying! 

 RJ liked to stand.  From the start.  At one month he would go in the exersaucer (while his core and head flopped on the side) and MARCH.  Just march.  March his little legs back and forth.  As he grew and got stronger, his little body went side to side as he marched daily.  He marched on people's legs, on the floor, anywhere someone would help him stand up.  When not marching, he'd put anything he could get in his mouth.  Sat up unassisted at 4 months.  Laughs at songs.  Loves Itsy Bitsy Spider and Wheels on the Bus.  

 

 Big boy sitting up 4 months  

           Sleeping it off

 

       Fist pump for Daddy     

     Serious about my driving!! 

     Hanging out in a cabinet that Daddy was building. 

Crawled at 6 months.  Crawled fast a week later.  Pulled up and cruised at 7 months.  Crashed a LOT.  Bumps, bruises, cuts.  Mostly on his head and face.  Stands, climbs.  So strong.  Hides things he shouldn't have behind his back if he sees you coming.  

                              Climbin the security bars at Bob & Mimi's store     

 The beginning of the end.... of my sanity... 

Makin a mess.

Started baby-led weaning at around 6-7 months.  He's gradually increased his food repertoire.  He gets our table food, not baby food.  And we do our best to eat real food, not the Standard American Diet of mac n' cheese, corn dogs and chicken nuggets. He eats nearly anything but especially loves Pears, Plums, Cantaloupe, Tomatoes, Potatoes, Pasta, CHEESE!, Watermelon, Tuna and Chicken.  LOVES  Bananas and will spit out or throw anything else nearby to get that banana.  

 
                Eatin'


                     Done. 


Pears, Ham, Tuna, Fiber Bread, Apricot, Tomato in hand


Walked at 9 months.  Ran a week later.  He's full speed ahead, all the time.  There's no "Slow" in RJ's vocab.  Started mimicking words and talking 8-10 months.  The first distinguishable thing he said was "a cup.. a cup!"  "Thank you" and "up" came next.   Closer to his birthday he's got "Mom Dad Indigo (but he says "IndigoIndigoIndigo" real fast) Down Up Uh-oh Cup Go Yeah Done."  He knows when to say them... mostly.  If I say "no" to something, he looks at me and says "yeah."   Wants to get down from a highchair or stroller?  "Down" and points to the floor.  Finished eating or when the car stops?  "Done."  He signs well, better than his sibs before him I think, he picks them up real fast.  He signs for eat, more, please, all done.  Loves... I mean LOVES all wires (with a strong preference for USB ends!), plugs, cars, loud noises, dresser drawer pulls that go up and down, laundry baskets with holes to poke little fingers through, spray foam, the Toilet, hangars, radios or other electronics with BUTTONS, balloons.  He is madly in love with my Dyson Ball Vacuum and talks to it, caresses it, follows it everywhere.  He's still nursing. :)  He's big and juicy from Mommy's milk.  I get complimented on his weight from the kind of people who are aware of just how beneficial breast milk is.  He loves his big sisters and brother.  He is a total ham.  He sneaks up the stairs ALL the time.  He moves the gates to get around them, then stops and puts them back.  He sneaks upstairs while I'm distracted and puts things in the toilet.  Repeatedly.  He can open the glass stereo cabinet door, turn on the stereo, hit the Source button until the radio comes on and then crank up the volume.  Repeatedly.  

Checking out the bridge after a storm 

Crankin up the outside tunes

 Falls asleep on siblings

Looking at the fishies 

We celebrated the littles' birthdays together, in between 7/7 and 8/8 (yes, those are Riley and RJ's actual birthdays), had family over for food and cake.  RJ really didn't have much of a clue, but he knew there was cake... 

Mom picked an awesome chocolate cake with bright blue icing.  

This was AFTER clean-up.... can you guess what the next day's diaper looked like?

Having fun on his real birthday even tho he still doesn't know what's going on.  

Taking a birthday bath

Out to the Farm for birthday ice cream

Other RJ randomness:  

Our yard is clearly at the bottom of the neighborhood hill. We are flooded when it rains.  Kids having a blast.  

Look at them thighs and calves!! 

RJ will sell you his "Marching With RJ" workout DVD for just $29.95 plus shipping... 

Trampoline fun with sibs and a cousin 

Mom gave me a piece of her Dyson.  I vacuumed all day long! 

I even got under the table, just like Mommy.  

Who made this mess?

The Big Break-Up

As the title states, we've experienced a break-up.  

Are we ok, you ask?  

Yep.  We're fine.  In fact, we wanted it this way.  We're better off.  Happier now even.

We've dropped our cable service.  

We actually wanted to do this last year at this time, but apparently we were under contract for getting the HD DVR.  So as soon as the contract was up, we told them to shut it down. 

Our reasons?  We just don't need it.  Out of the thousands of channels, we actually are interested in very few.  The kids' shows today don't impress Roger and I - they are full of kids and tweens getting into mischief, without their parents around to guide them, taking no responsibility in general and making fun of their friends.  Not exactly Leave It To Beaver family values.  Reality TV is pure trash and should only be shown repeatedly to prisoners as severe punishment for certain infractions.  The News is also crap, showing the most horrible and dramatic things that happen and conveniently chopping segments to serve their own purpose for dramatic effect.  I could go on and on, but I will spare you.  

We are not the first to do this, in fact, many people we know are doing the very same thing.  We have our DVD collection and Netflix for those times when we want to sit down as a family and watch something (which is how TV should be watched, IMO) and for times when a kid is ill and needs to remain on the couch.  

The best part is.... so far no one has even missed it.  We are already not a family who spends a lot of time with the TV on, so our lives are not very different.  

So besides that, life is pretty normal.  There are Cheerio's all over my floor under a certain small person's chair.  The grass needs to be cut again.  It's hot as lava outside.  RJ has pulled out half of my Tupperware and containers from the lower cabinet and is now trying to eat the end of my phone charger... again.  Chase is complaining about having to do 50 minutes of trombone today... he bargained out of his 20 minutes yesterday, so not only does it double, waiting a day adds 10 minutes.  We're a week behind on spelling words but trying to catch up.  The kids are challenging each other to see who can do more time on IXL math.  Each is doing the grade they're going into, and so far we haven't hit any bumps.  We are harvesting tomatoes and cucumbers daily.  Peppers are growing, cantaloupes are getting taken over by the cukes and a single jalapeno has come out.  Every day the kids grab pots and pans and wooden spoons and have a band concert.  As long as I've had my cup of coffee, I just grab my own stuff and join in.  

 Pictured also are 2 empty pumpkin beer kegs from last year's Pumpkin Beer Tasting that still need to be returned!  They make GREAT sound for the band.  

Happily riding a digger.  

"Mom, take me a picture." 

 I am trying, in general, to go through stuff from the attic (hotter than lava) and get rid of things we don't need.  The kids' Bible Camp is over, their concert done but Indigo still rocks out to the CD and has taught Riley the choreography so they both dance.  We swim every day.  RJ plays in the sandbox until he eats it, gets a bucket shower and then goes down the slide naked until he's exhausted.  He gave up crawling entirely a few weeks ago.  He runs.  Fast.  Toward you if have food, the iPad, wires, spoons or something else deliciously exciting.  Away from you if he just scored something to eat off the floor and knows you are going to dig it out of his mouth.  Chase is getting into cooking and making whole meals for us.  

                                  

We dig, dig, dig, dig, dig, dig, dig in our mine the whole day through! - Seven Dwarves

                                  

Chase's dinner for us the other night... roasted fingerling potatoes with olive oil and fresh rosemary, roasted balsalmic and rosemary pork, stir-fried veggies and gravy.  It was delicious.  

The Italian Feast, a local church festival with food, games and rides, was this past weekend.  We feasted on Pork, Meatballs and Fried Dough (so. delicious.)  Roger got Suffrite and La Tripa, which I probably spelled wrong and contains parts of animals that you don't really want to hear about.  He fed it to the little ones, who don't know any better.  But I do!!


                             Feasting.  








Roger's little sis got married on Sunday, it was a fantastic time and great food.  The kids danced the whole night and really enjoyed themselves.  Riley was the Flower Girl and looked lovely in her dress.  She did her duty well, walking with her cuz down a big set of steps that made Mom nervous.  We left RJ with my Mom because it didn't make sense to take a baby to a formal event.  He got to eat, sleep and play without interruption and we all were able to fully enjoy the wedding without having to find things for him to do.  He did get dressed up tho, and put a picture of himself in their card to let them know he was thinking of them.  

Handsomest little boy ever!

The lovely Flower Girl getting her bow fixed by Grandma. 

Rock Star.

Summer is halfway gone.  Back to school supplies are in your face in every store.  Already.  Time is a-flyin.'  Enjoy it while you can! 

Happy 4th and more...

Greetings and Happy After 4th of July! 

I tried to find time while on vacation to post but everywhere I went with the iPad, someone followed me!  We visited my Dad and Stepmom's home in Southport, NC last week.  We made it there and back WITHOUT being on the side of the road - AMAZING, right?  Some Georgia family were there too whom we don't get to see very often and it was wonderful to catch up with them for a few days.  

It must be nice to be a kid, sleep all night and wake up when the trip is nearly done... 

We went to the pool A LOT, it also had a splash pad for wee ones and a large area of sand, so we didn't actually have to go to the beach, which was fine and well for me!  We participated in some local kids' events, the watermelon roll, the hippity-hop and sack races.  Indy won one of the first heats but then was out in a later round.  Chase bought a net and he and his cousin Brayden were catching frogs out front of the house at night.  

This baby really knows how to kick back and relax! 

Indy is 3rd from the right, ready to hop! 

3 froggies!

Riley & RJ took some getting used to the dog, Mack, who is built like a small horse and thought they were both walking ice cream cones.  RJ complained about the licking but when Mack walked away, he called him right back for more.  The 4th had a big parade in town and although it was maddeningly hot and humid, we all had a great time.  

Mack & kids. 

One for me, one for you...

Riley is jamming to Patriotic Songs outside a gift shop.

One of many floats at the parade. 

Watching the parade. 

This little man had never sweat so much in his entire life. 

RJ is walking more than crawling.  He goes FAST and goes far... oh, the bruises and bumps!  

Baby's First Black Eye

Celebrating Ry's birthday with the NC crew... sprinkle cake with 3 candles, as requested! 

We got back home Saturday and Sunday the 7th was Riley's 3rd birthday.  She had 4 friends over to celebrate in small 3-yr-old fashion, they went swimming, had a dinosaur dig in the digger box, threw balls into buckets for prizes and played pin the tail on the donkey.  She planned her own menu for the kids' party, twizzlers, goldfish, BBQ chips, watermelon, blueberries, grapes, pretzel sticks, cake, vanilla ice cream, iced tea & lemonade.  At least the kids enjoyed it! 

She asked for McDonald's for breakfast... 

She got her favorite magazine as a gift!  We even have to talk about the advertisements, you can't skip a page with this kid... lol.