Poor baby

Well our Monday morning didn't quite go as planned.  Mommy had hoped we would follow swim lessons with a trip to Whole Foods for some grocery shopping.  Instead, we came home after swim with a broken toe (or seriously jammed) and one sad little boy.

There is a big wooden door leading to the swim area at swim school.  Being in a rush this morning, and excited, Jackson dashed in front of me right when I opened the door and hurt his toe.  Major tears followed.  I felt so terrible!  I looked it over, didn't see anything wrong, and tried to console him enough to get in the water and swim.

As soon as the lesson ended I pulled him out of the pool and the first thing I noticed was his toe.  It was reddish, purple and swollen.  Bless his heart!  I showed it to his instructor and she agreed it looked traumatized.  She also confirmed what I already knew- even if it was broken there isn't any treatment other than to tape it to the next toe.

On the way home, we called daddy, nonnie and papaw to get their opinions.  All agreed with the swim instructor.  Papaw suggested we pull the toe to straighten the bones. This way if it was jammed the toe would continue to grow correctly.  This did not sound fun.  Jackson could hear the conversation (through the bluetooth) and he too must have sensed it didn't sound fun. He started saying mommy, my toe fine. all better.  We don't need to fix it.  However, it was clear he was still in pain because he had his legs crossed and was holding his foot in the car seat.

Once home, mommy played doctor.  She pulled the toe straight.  It popped.  Jackson screamed and cried.  I held him and then I used athletic tape to tape it to the next one.  Then we iced it and kept it elevated.  We also took some motrin for the pain.  Jackson didn't like keeping the ice pack on his foot so I had to wrap an ace bandage around it to keep him from pulling off the ice.

It was a sad day.  For being such a good patient Jackson was rewarded with a happy meal for lunch, a lollipop and got to watch a Curious George movie.  When walking he didn't put pressure on the foot until very late in the day.  By bedtime he seemed fine.  It is still bruised and you can tell it was injured.  Today he told me it hurt a little but walked (and ran) without difficulty.   I guess that is yet another good thing about being a little boy....fast healing time!  I am so glad he is feeling better!

Concert on the green

Saturday night we met our sweet friends, the Rice and Cassida families, at the concert on the green.  We had a fantastic time!  Stapleton's Founders Green is a large space of grass, about the size of a football field, near the town center that is used to host community events.  In the summer months it hosts the Farmer's Market (every Sunday morning), concerts on the green (every other Saturday night), movies on the green (every other Friday night at dusk), Sweet Williams Market (a small, monthly craft and antique fair) and many impromptu family gatherings.  Kids love the green because it is a wide open space with a natural slope at one end where they can literally run themselves ragged.

We brought a picnic dinner (ice cream for our family since we had a really late lunch) and enjoyed the cool summer breeze before the concert started.  The kids ran, played and danced to their hearts content.  It was a wonderfully relaxing family evening.

Great weather, family, friends, big band, football tossing and ice cream....what more could you ask for on a Saturday night?

Jackson rough housing with daddy

Sweet Lauren

Lauren and her sweet mommy Jen

Jackson and Gavin

One happy boy

Lauren borrowing J's hat

J and Sarah taking a spin around the dance floor

the band

28 week sonogram

Last Wednesday, I had an OB appt and a sonogram.  I love sonograms.  Such a great opportunity to catch a glimpse of your sweet little baby.   Clara looked healthy and appears to be developing right on track.  The doctor estimated her weight at 3 pounds, 3 ounces.  This puts her about a week ahead of the actual 28 weeks and 5 days I was into the pregnancy.

During the sonogram, the technician switched to 4D mode and we got the special treat of looking at her sweet little face.  So cute!!  Although adorable, I was struck by how much she didn't look like her brother.  This was kind of a surprise since everyone tells me that newborn siblings tend to look very much alike.

Later that evening I was still thinking of her beautiful face and trying to figure out who she looked like.  I decided to look at Jackson's sonogram pictures and see what the big difference was.  Boy was I in for a surprise.  First, I noticed that we had a sonogram with Jackson at exactly 28 weeks, 5 days.  What a coincidence!  Then I noticed that at Jackson's sonogram they estimated his weight to be 3 pounds, 4 ounces- one ounce larger than his little sister.  Finally, when looking at both sets of 4D pictures I was blown away by how similar they looked!  Its a good thing the pictures were dated because otherwise it was very difficult to know who was who.

We can't wait to meet little Clara.  We know she will have her own distinct look and personality and we can't wait to watch as she grows and unveils her uniqueness.  However, it was kind of neat to see how similar she and Jackson are in size and appearance at this stage of pregnancy- especially since the pregnancies have been so completely different.

On Friday (the 20th) I'll start my 30th week. The countdown officially begins.....just 10 weeks until baby girl's arrival!

Belleview Park

Last week Jackson and I went to Belleview Park with my mom's prayer group.  Belleview is a great park in Englewood with a small train, a petting zoo, a creek that children can wade and play in and an awesome playground.  We had a great time!

My mom's prayer group consists of 8 women (including myself) who meet once a month to share prayer requests and pray with one another.  We pray for our families and anything else going on in our lives. We're also committed to praying for one another's families throughout the month.  It is such an amazing group!  I love these women and they have become my closest friends.  Its such a great blessing to have a group of mom's you can call on for support, encouragement and prayer.  Our children range from infants to 5 years old, so right now we are praying our way through pregnancies, potty training, the terrible twos and starting school.  We hope to be meeting years from now and praying our way through first dates, beginning drivers, adolescence and college.  Like I said, its an awesome group and I would highly encourage other moms to form one.  I promise you will be blessed!

We try to get our kiddos together for a playdate every other week so the kids get to know one another as well.  Its always a good time.  The kids are close in age and play really well with one another.  Belleview park was no exception.  The kids LOVED the train.  It circles the park making its way over a small bridge and through a tunnel.  The petting zoo is fun as well.  It features a couple of cows and calfs, turkeys, pigs, goats and chickens.  We brought a lunch and enjoyed a picnic by the creek.  The kids ran and played.  It was a great morning!

I wish I would have taken more pictures.   I was having such a great time visiting I wasn't very diligent with my camera.  Below are a few:

An attempt at a group shot....unfortunately not even half of the kids!

picnic....can you tell mom just took a bite of her sandwich?

Clownfish

Jackson started swim lessons at the end of February.  What's resulted from those lessons has blown us away!  He is a complete natural in the water.

Cole and I decided to put him in lessons for a couple of reasons.  First, he loves the water.  He was always asking to "swim" in our bathtub.  Second, we planned to frequent the pool often this summer and wanted him to gain a healthy respect for the water and its possible dangers.  We also figured lessons would equip him with a few skills he could build on this summer.  Lastly, J and I had never done a mommy and me class and I thought this would be a great organized activity that we could do together and both enjoy.

Luckily there is a great swim school in Denver, Starfish Swim School.  They focus on aquatic safety skills and recreational and competitive stroke development from beginner to advanced swimmers.  Jackson started in their Tiny Bubbles 2 class.  Its a class for 1.5 to 3 year olds and requires a parent's participation in the water.  From the very beginning, we both loved it!  We looked forward to the class each week and it wasn't long before Jackson was mastering the skills and really excelling in the water.  We went to Cabo mid-April and by that time he could swim short distances independently.  I can't tell you how many people at the resort asked us how old he was.  Here was this almost two year old jumping in the water and swimming to us without fear or hesitation.  He became well known at the pool and quite the little attraction.

While he could swim short distances, Jackson still wasn't safe in the water.  He could only swim as far as  he could hold his breath (5-8 feet).  To solve this problem, he needed to master rolling over to his back, holding his backfloat while retrieving breath and then rolling over again to continue swimming.  He was the only one in his class ready to start learning this skill and I didn't think I could teach it to him. His teacher recommended moving him to private lessons to learn the swim, float, swim technique.  She anticipated it would take approximately two weeks of privates for him to figure it out.

We had our first private lesson on July 5th (we were on the wait list for over a month).  I was a nervous wreck.  I was worried Jackson wouldn't want to swim without me, especially with an instructor he had never met.  After all, I stay home with him and there aren't really any activities he and I don't participate in together.  Boy was I wrong.  He walked right into the pool and introduced himself to his teacher by saying, "Hi Ann.  My name is Jackson.  Let me show you how I can swim."  My mouth about hit the floor!  Who was this kid?  He was so grown-up and confident and didn't care in the least that I wasn't going with him.  I had just given the teacher my whole spill about how timid he might be with someone new and without me in the water.  She quickly shot me a look that said you were worried about this kid.

The first lesson went well. Ann concentrated on backfloating since she said it was clear no one had ever made him hold his float (oops I guess thats my fault).  She was impressed by how well he swam and said if he just learned to float he would be much safer in the water.  To say Jackson didn't like floating that day would be an understatement.  He cried the whole time.  She was persistent and wouldn't let him swim until he held his float for five seconds.  At one point my little charmer said, "I love you Ann can I please swim now?" He may not have liked it but he learned it.  By the end of his first class he could float on his own.  With all the tears I thought he would never want to go back.  Wrong again.  He didn't want to leave.  When we did he wanted to know when he could swim with Ann again.  We went twice a week for the next two weeks (4 private lessons total).  He and Ann had a great bond.  Jackson loved her and she loved Jackson.  She swam him hard each lesson and he couldn't get enough.

He mastered the swim float swim technique with ease.  Cole and I are so proud of him!  Now he can swim across the pool if he wants.  He just dives in swims until he needs a breath, rolls over to get one and then continues swimming.  This weekend we were swimming at a private pool with a diving board and he was jumping off into the deep end and swimming to the ladder all by himself!  The best part of mastering this skill is the level of safety it affords him in the water.  His natural instinct now if he were to fall in the water would be to float on his back for air.  On our last day of privates, Ann demonstrated this to me by tossing him randomly and gently in the water.  He would fall, completely submerged in the water, kick his feet to the surface and immediately start to float.

At the end of two weeks, Ann pronounced him ready to graduate to the next level of classes.  He got a ribbon that said he could back float all by himself and moved up to the Clownfish class.  Mommy doesn't get to participate in the clownfish class, just Jackson.  It focuses on strengthening the swim float swim skill and improving the child's overall technique in the water.  Jackson loves it so far!  Swimming is by far his favorite activity.   We plan to keep him in the school and let him swim year around as long as he continues to enjoy it.  He is learning so much.  Most importantly of course is safety. He's also gained confidence and is learning how to participate in a group setting (taking turns, listening to the teacher etc.).

I'm working on getting video of his swimming, but for now here are a few pictures of him backfloating and of his new ribbon...he's quite proud of it!

Great Grandparents

We spent last weekend in Cole's hometown of Farmington, New Mexico.  It was a quick, last minute trip.  Our last visit was in April and we knew this would be our last chance before baby Clara arrives.  Most of Cole's family live there so we get to see lots of relatives when we visit.

We enjoyed our visit with everyone, but primarily decided to make the trip so that Jackson could spend time with his great grandparents.  Jackson is so fortunate to have three living great grandparents.  It is very important to Cole and I for him to build strong relationships with each of them.  They aren't able to travel often, so the only opportunity for them to really spend time with one another is when we visit.

Momo and Papa really wanted to see Jackson swim.  His swim teacher asked him on Monday if he was going to put on a show for them.  All week before we left he would say, "we're going to see Momo and Papa, I put on show for them."  That he did.  Friday afternoon we went to the club so Jackson could show off his swimming skills.  Momo and Papa were amazed!  J had the best time swimming all over the pool, diving for rings and back floating.  Daddy and Pop also had fun throwing J around the pool...much to his delight!  Jackson kept getting out of the pool to give Momo and Papa hugs and kisses.  When it was time for them to leave he kissed them good-bye and when he got back in the pool I asked him what they thought of his swimming.  His only response, "They liked the show." :)

The rest of the weekend was wonderful.  We spent the majority of our time hanging out on the back porch with family.  Jackson enjoyed tons of great quality time with everyone.

Relaxing together in the porch swing.
Momo taught him a song (Ladybug, Ladybug) and read him stories.

Playing ball

J telling Papa a story

Playing ball with Grandma

Grandma and Jackson...what a cute pair!

touring Momo's peaceful flower-filled backyard

Taking a break from baseball

Momo showing J her garden

Sweet kisses for Grandma

Fish face playing baseball  

Tired boy after a great weekend

I love all of the above pictures.  They captured such sweet, precious moments.  It was clear both Jackson and his great grandparents treasured their time together.  All in all a weekend very well spent.