The Jackson Family

Happy 3rd Birthday Ty

2011-11-06T12:57:00.004-05:00

What is my son into the most at 3 years old? Painting. Then again, what 3 year old isn't. So for his 3rd birthday I decided to have a painting party. What was I thinking? A bunch of kids with paint....IN MY HOUSE! But ya know what....it was so much fun. The kids painted all kinds of pictures, made hand prints for their character pictures Unkie Monkey drew for us. So the day started out with Ty unrolling a whole thing of streamer paper around the house. It was funny. We had trails everywhere.

Unkie Monkey drew Ty a fire truck!

Let the fun begin!

Time to paint our hands!

I'm so silly.

Work of Art!

More paint PLEASE!

Time to have our pictures done. Now Mason, you know your momma has enough pictures of you like that!

I don't think I could love this boy any more than I do.

Baby Josh. Could he be any cuter?

Chase the firefighter!

Happy Birthday Ty. Mommy and Daddy love you. Hope you had the best birthday.

The birthday gang. Thanks everyone for coming to the party.

Just because it is tooooo funny.

UUMC Fall Festival and Halloween 2011

2011-10-31T11:27:00.002-04:00

Halloween is so much fun. I love to see the kiddos all dressed up! Last year, Aunt Missy found a great King costume at Cracker Barrell. It was to big at the time but fit just right this year! The crown was a little small but we added a "magic ribbon" to hold it in place. The costume really was great.

All Kings need an umbrella to complete their ensemble! They surely dont want their crown to get wet.

Add a little NINJA to it and that is one bad King!

Ty had his personal body guard, Superman, aka Will.

All kings have to have a Princess and I believe Lizzy makes the prettiest one. Although those lights make her look a little devilish. Kinda fitting for her I must say. Jamey scared all of us with his vampire teeth!

On the smaller side, Miss Maya was just the cutest ladybug ever.

We also went to Union's Trunk or Treat. Ty liked it. Not so much walking which mommy really liked.

Yummy candy. How many pieces can I have again?

This guy and his hat were a blast. It was hilarious.

Festivals are always so much more fun when cousin Ali comes along.

Face painting. Always a must.

Bucket full of Candy Cake Walk!!!! We didnt win, but it was fun dancing to the music!

Halloween Party

2011-10-28T11:03:00.002-04:00

Yes, I took Ty to a Halloween Party with no costume. I am such a good mom. He wasn't the only one so I felt ok about it.

Ty loves his Lizzy.

Just a little crafting of pumpkins. What kid doesn't love a bunch of markers.

Decorating with the BIG boys.

Cheese time!

What a great time with friends. So much fun!

Harmons

2011-10-14T10:52:00.010-04:00

We took a quick trip to Harmon's Tree Farm. That place is so much fun. Ty is really into measuring things so when he saw he could measure himself to see how tall he was, he was all about it.

A little over 3 feet. Yep, my big boy.

We were taking pictures of each other. He was showing me the picture of us.

My oh My the HAIR!!!!

Hayride anyone? He loved it. The scary stuff didn't even bother him. He said they were being silly. Works for me! I love those blue eyes!

Please mom, NO MORE PICTURES!

A Wedding in Hilton Head

2011-10-09T10:20:00.002-04:00

Everyone knows I LOVE Hilton Head. But to go to a wedding in Hilton Head. I was so excited. My sisters best friend growing up was getting married at the 18th green at Harbour Town. This made Travis excited! Despite the downpour of rain, it was beautiful, so romantic. And LaDawan was just stunning.

An IPOD always works wonders when you need Ty to be busy and quiet.

Mickey and Ashlyn. Can she be any more beautiful!

Three people I love with all my heart!

Will I ever have another picture taken of me when I am NOT pregnant.

Always time for silliness!

Ty's First Day of School and Meeting His Teachers

2011-09-15T10:03:00.001-04:00

Well, the time has come. School time. It is so hard to believe that my little man is going to school. This will be a challenge in so many ways. First, I have to prepare myself that Ty is growing up and I will now have to share his wonderful little personality with others. Second, Ty has to learn to be away from Mommy. This has been hard for both of us. He cried and I cried (but I only cried just a little).

Ty and Daddy ready to meet his new teachers Mrs. Kasir and Mrs. Ayers!

He loved finding his name on the door. He read it right away!

I don't know how this is my child. The first thing he finds to play with is the broom and dust pan. He LOVES to clean. I am sure his teachers will appreciate this. His Grandma has taught him well.

Ty and Mrs. Kasir. I am happy he is so comfortable with her.

Mommy and Ty. We had so much fun playing together.

Trying to update

2011-08-02T19:31:00.001-04:00

I am trying to get caught up with some post. Sorry they are seperated, but I am trying to keep it in order. Here is a list of them:
1/10 SNOW DAYS
2/18 PICNIC AT LAKE MURRAY
3/9 SILLY TY
4/2 IM A BIG BOY NOW

Edventure with The Higbe's

2011-07-30T20:37:00.000-04:00

Yes, I am behind again, but I will catch up. Lets start with a fun day at Edventure with the Higbe's!

Its always an adventure when you hang out with the 3 Higbe boys. They are so much fun and very creative.

They were very excited to be jamming on some drums making delightful music.

Heather is showing them her skills. She's got rhythm.

Ty crossed this bridge, I believe, 15 times.

Who doesn't love a good camel ride!

What! Ty not cooperating for a pic?

How cute are these boys!

Mason is one amazing boy. He is so sweet.

I fear the day that Ty really does want to snow board.

These boys were killing the boards. Heather should be afraid too!

Cooper tunneling through!

They found the slide....lets just say we were there for a while.

Collin driving the boat. Everybody ....hold on!

That can't be good Collin.

Heather. One of the strongest, loving, caring, determined and beautiful woman I know. I am blessed to call her a friend.

Can this boy be any cuter?

Time to go shopping.

He did so well getting healthy items.

Who doesn't love to drive a firetruck?

These boys are some kinda cool.

This scares me. Is this a glimpse into the future?

Heather, are we ready?

Silly boys!

Drawing and Drawing and Drawing and Drawing and more Drawing!!

2011-07-29T20:34:00.001-04:00

I knew it would happen. Ty got way to much for Christmas. So I put a few things away to bring out when he got tired of his current toys. I decided to bring out the easel that his Aunt Bitty got him. Oh boy. HE LOVED IT!. It has a dry erase board on one side, a chalk board on the other and a spindel for a roll of paper to go on. He really really really likes the dry erase board. We have bought 3 packs of dry erase markers already! He tries to write his name and can do the T perfect but the Y is still a little iffy.

So proud of his work!

Bye Bye Pappy!

2011-07-27T20:04:00.002-04:00

I am hoping to start Ty in a preschool program this year. I have so loved my mom keeping him during the day for us. He loves it too! So in preparation, I decided it was time to say bye bye to pappy. I knew this was going to be a battle, but I was ready for it. I sat down with Ty and told him we had to give his pappy back to Mr. Pappy Man. We came inside and colored an envelope and addressed it To: Mr. Pappy Man From: Ty.

Daddy walked him out to the mailbox

Time to put it in the mailbox!

Push it in there real good.

Make sure the door clicks!

Don't forget the flag!!!

Even though this looked painless, it wasn't He was OK for a while, but when night night came, he wanted Mr. Pappy Man to give it back. I stayed with him for a while in his room and held his hand and he went straight to sleep, ONLY to wake up in the middle of the night WANTING his PAPPY!!! I ended up putting him in our bed for 2 nights. Now I am letting him cry it out. He has done ok. The one thing I really miss is, he use to sleep til atleast 8, sometimes 9. Now he is up at 6:45-7. UGH! But all in all, he has done good. We are still whinny when we go to bed, but it now only last for a few minutes. Praise God!

Potty Time

2011-07-15T19:48:00.001-04:00

We have been working on potty training for a while, but Ty has not been too interested.

Everybody always told me "When he is ready, he will get it". So the second week in May, we tried again. Grandma went to the Dollar store and WRAPPED a punch of toys and put them in a basket, everytime he pottied, he got to unwrap a present. At home, he got m&m's and a toy (mcdonalds toys, I have been saving these since he was born) from the basket. It took 2-3 days for him to get the hang of it. He only had a handful of accidents. I was so proud. A couple weeks into it, after doing so good, he had a few bad days, but got right back into the swing of things. At night, he wore a pull up. He would wet them on occasion. One night I told him " we are going to wear your big boy underwear at night now, so you cant wet the bed." He has not had an accident yet. (KNOCK ON WOOD!). I am so proud of my boy. He is growing up so fast. Here are some good first date pictures!

A Sneek Peek!

2011-06-26T18:24:00.000-04:00

As everyone knows...ours lives have drastically changed in the past 3 months. (WOW, 3 months so hard to believe). There is alot to blog about, but until I can wrap my head around all that needs to be said, I am leaving you with a few pics Cynthia Pace took of our sweet Luke.

I'm a BIG boy now!

2011-04-02T18:58:00.001-04:00

Well, Ty has climbed out of his crib 3 times now so we decided it was time for our big boy bed. I can't believe he is already big enough for a toddler bed.

He jumped right in and loved it. I am so happy he has taken to it so well.

He got all his stuffed animals in and showed Grandy his new bed. Man time flies.

Could it be in 4 weeks!

2011-03-31T05:09:00.000-04:00

So I haven't been feeling well lately, which I know is part of pregnancy, but I wanted to head in to the Dr anyway. I wasn't scheduled to go in for another 2 weeks, but they got me in this past Tuesday. We did a growth U/S and there was good and there was not so good. As for the brain, everything is looking good. No enlarged ventricles, no hydrocephalus and my favorite u/s tech said that if she had not seen the small part of the vermis missing at 19 weeks she may have missed it this time. It is not very prominent so I hope that is a good sign. As a lot of you know, I was terribly sick the first 22 weeks of pregnancy. I lost weight and was a little worried. Well, since then, I have gained 13 lbs. 12 lbs of that was in 4 weeks. That is a lot to tack on and be able to carry comfortably. I knew that it wasn't fat weight because if you have seen me, I look as if I could explode at any minute. I barely eat anything as it is because there is no where for it to go. I am packed inside this belly of mine. So when we had the u/s done it confirmed what I thought was going on. I have A LOT of amniotic fluid.

So after the u/s we met with my doctor and she said she had some concerns. First, there was a lot of amniotic fluid. Second, the baby is growing small. Third, we have to factor int he Dandy Walker varient. What does all this mean....my heart is racing. Well, in a nut shell we could have a baby here in 4 weeks. After measuring the baby, she is only weighing 2lbs 5ozs. This is less than 3 percentile. She needs to be growing better than this. For some reason she is not getting what she needs from me. One positive thing to look at though is that she is proportionate. A lot of infants with DWS tend to have a large head and small bodies. She is measuring just fine. Praise God. Another factor in all of this is my blood pressure. My top number has been getting high but the bottom number has stayed normal.

So here is our plan from here. I received a steroid shot Tuesday to help the baby's lungs and brain mature faster. This is so if she decides to come any earlier, she will have a better chance of breathing on her own. I will get another shot on Friday. I will now go in twice a week for NST's and keep a close eye on this sweet baby girl. We will do another growth u/s in 4 weeks unless we see the need to do one earlier. We are trying to give her as much time to grow as possible. If she still isn't getting what she needs and is not growing, we will have us a baby! Whew! 4 weeks. Kinda scares me. If things looks ok we will try to push it to 6 weeks. I pray she is able to stay in as long as possible, even though I am totally miserable.

I can't wait to meet my sweet little angle. I want to hold her so badly. Thanks everyone for all your sweet encouragement. It helps me through this.

As for the rest of us, Ty is doing good. Molars are coming in so we are cranky and pollen has his allergies all messed up. He loves to kiss and hug baby sister. It is the sweetest thing to see. We will see how sweet he is once she gets here. Travis is good too! He just got the slap in the face that there is so much to do before the baby gets here. I have a list as long as Santa Clauses for him to do. We don't even have a crib bought yet. We are having a garage sale April 9th at my house so come out and buy some good stuff. Stereo, air hockey table, cell phones, pocketbooks, and more. Its a multi family sale!

Hope to get some pics of the belly up soon. I just haven't felt to photogenic lately :).

Silly Ty

2011-03-09T18:16:00.002-05:00

Boxes are so much fun. I miss his curls!

Neurologist Appointment

2011-03-04T12:09:00.034-05:00

Oh how God is teaching me. He has given me 3 more months to learn about faith and patience.

I have written and re-written this post and I just cant get down what I want to say. To sum up the appointment, it goes like this. As of right now, there is nothing I can do but wait till she is born. The doctors will continue to keep a close eye for hydrocephalus (water on the brain) and making sure nothing else comes up in the mean time. As for the neurologist, his main concern is for when she is born and what the brain looks like then. They will do an U/S on the brain to determine if there is any water. If there is not, I will be able to take her home with me. If they do find that there is water, she will have to go in for surgery and have a shunt put in. I know I have mentioned a fetal MRI to many of you, but after speaking with the neurologist, I believe we are going to skip that. It wont be as definitive as he would like and she would still have to have one. He said that I can wait a few weeks to have the MRI done for our baby girl. The MRI will confirm the Dandy Walker variation diagnosis.

So, we continue to wait and pray. Thank you all for your prayers and thoughts. They really do make a difference.
Oh yeah...I hope to have a name nailed down soon so keep checking.

Follow up U/S

2011-03-01T12:03:00.002-05:00

Well, I went in for my follow up U/S and everything still looks great. No water on the brain, no enlarged ventricles and no new symptoms. Praise God. However, I did find out I have gained 6LBS in 2 weeks. WHAT!!!!! Anyway, everything looked great on U/S and we will continue to monitor. My blood pressure was a little high, but we are attributing that to my anxiety and nerves. We meet with the Neurologist this Friday. This appt scares me but I know I can get through it. Thanks for all of your prayers.

Picnic at Lake Murray

2011-02-18T17:16:00.019-05:00

It was a nice day out so Ty and I packed up and headed to Lake Murray for a picnic lunch.

After digging in the sand, we decided to take a break and check out the water.

We had to look at it over and over again. It was very interesting.

That finally wore me out. A little napping in the sun.

And now, we eat.

24 Week Appointment

2011-02-17T13:25:00.000-05:00

Went in for my 24 week appointment and had a chance to go over things with the DR. We have set a plan of action and I will go in on March 1st for an ultrasound. We will be making sure there is no water on the brain and no cyst has formed. We will also look to see how the vermis has matured since the last U/S. The baby's heartbeat was 132 which is good. I also got the ball rolling on getting a neurologist/neurosurgeon. They sent referral papers over so as soon as things get squared away with them, I will meet with that Dr. and get his opinion on the situation and what he thinks will be the best course for when she is born. I am also requesting a fetal MRI. I am terribly afraid of having her put to sleep so soon after being born to have an MRI done to asses her situation. I figure I would rather endure the 90 minute process and have the MRI done while she is still in my belly and the risk involved with anesthesia is eliminated and they are still able to get all the info they need. Thanks so much for all of your prayers and thoughts. They have meant so much to Travis and I. As soon as I know more, I will pass it on.

The Results

2011-01-24T16:40:00.001-05:00

On Friday the 21st we went in to have another U/S done of our precious little girl. I was on constant prayer all morning. On the drive there, in the waiting room, walking down the hall, laying on the u/s bed. It was the longest morning of my life. We finally got started and had to do a full scan of the baby. As you know, the head was the last thing she scanned. As I am laying there waiting patiently the tech says " I see it". To us we think she means the Vermis which is what Dr. Salley thought was missing. As Travis and I get excited, she informs us that she sees the malformality, the missing spot. My heart sank and in an instant everything just fell apart. My heart was breaking and I just didn't understand what was going on. After we found out, I had to lay there for another, I dont know, what seemed like forever for her to get the rest of the info she needed. When she was done, she left for the Dr. I cried so hard. I tried so hard to keep myself together. We waited for eternity for the Dr to come in and explain to us what was going on. Thank goodness I got a good feeling about him from the first few minutes. He was very good at explaining things. To make a long story short, Baby Girl Jackson was diagnosed with partial Dandy Walker Syndrome. This is a rare genetic disorder that occurs in about 1 in 3000 births ( I have also heard it is even rarer than this, but this is the number I am going by). There are so many things that make up DWS. We are VERY FORTUNATE that she only has one part of it so far. She is missing about 1/4 and inch of her Vermis. This is a worm like or fiber like piece between the hemispheres of the cerebellum. ( I am not very good with these terms yet so bare with me). The vermis controls movement like balance and coordination. This would affect things like walking and throwing a ball from one hand to another. Because we are missing only a 1/4 of an inch and some fibers are there, we won't know how severe the disability will be and because there are no other signs of DWS. Her brain had formed perfect and round, not strawberry or lemon shape. She has movement in her arms and legs and no club hands ot feet. These are all good signs. I know this isn't a very detailed description of everything, but we are still learning things. Most things we will not know until she is born and goes through numerous testing.

So here is where we are at. We will continue to see my normal OBGYN and they will keep a close eye on the baby's development. If things progress normally I will be able to deliver at Baptist. If some complications come up, I will have to switch over to USC and deliver at Richland so there will be specialist on hand for when she is born. I should have a normal pregnancy and go to term.

I know that God is still weaving this special little girl. He will make her in his eyes and I will love her so much. I already do!!!! There is a plan for everything and I can't wait to see the plan He has for her. I am truly blessed to be able to carry this child and I can't explain how excited I am to hold her and grow with her and for Ty to get her in trouble and teach her all his bad habits.

Right now we are praying things stay looking as good as they do. We are also praying for strength to get through the hurdles we still have to jump and for the knowledge we still need to learn about our little girl. To be honest, I really can't think about anything else but holding her in my arms. Thanks so much for all your prayers and kind words. What a blessing we have on the way and I can wait for everyone to meet her somewhere around June 6th!

So was Ty right?

2011-01-18T15:41:00.009-05:00

After having our Ultrasound appointment cancelled last week due to snow, we got rescheduled for today. After waiting an extra week I am super excited about finding out what we are having.

Ty has been sure of what he was getting. Anytime you asked him if he was having a baby brother or a baby sister he would always tell you......BABY SISTER! Yep, he was right. We are having a girl. I still can not believe it. I would have bet money on it being a boy. I even asked Marina to check one more time to make sure and she was right. Yep, its a girl again.

Here is her precious profile. It was so funny while getting the u/s because she was moving so much but I wasn't feeling a thing! It took her almost an hour to get all the info she needed.

You would think I would feel that knee poking me but I don't.

She looks like she is karate chopping me with those arms.

Towards the end of the scans, Marina was a little concerned about a spot in the back of the brain. She called Dr. Salley in to take a look. He was concerned about it was well so he referred us to USC Specialty Clinic by Richland. I can't describe to you the feeling of not knowing if something was wrong with our little girl. We had to wait 2 days to get an appointment confirmation and it wasn't going to be until NEXT TUESDAY! I could not wait that long. I called USC myself and told the wonderful person who answered the phone that if any appointments become available before then to put me down and I would take it. About 2 hours later I got a call saying I could go in Friday morning at 7:30am. So now we wait for this scan.

Snow days!!!!

2011-01-10T16:08:00.015-05:00

We had two wonderful snow days and Ty enjoyed them to the fullest.

He LOVED getting hit with the snowballs!

Daddy liked throwing them too.

But Mommy's favorite was snow angels!

Christmas 2010

2010-12-25T18:37:00.005-05:00

I have hardly any pictures of Christmas morning because our crazy family gets up at 4-4:30 AM. We have done this for as long as I can remember. Ty did rather well getting up this early.

What does he want to do first? COLOR. That is one of his favorite things to do.

Can you tell we are both exhausted!?

What crazy parent tells Santa to bring their 2 year old son a drum set with a tamberene, harmanica, and whistle? Glad they did, he loves his drums.

Eating some bacon between presents!

This is Will, Ty's cousin. They came over at lunch and Ty had a blast playing with Will and showing him his new toys. We ate real good and got to spend the afternoon hanging out.

We had such a wonderful Christmas this year and are so thankful for all the Lord had blessed us with. I hope next year I do a lot better with pictures!

Santa Clause

2010-12-10T18:31:00.003-05:00

Santa came by our house on the firetruck and boy is that a double whammy. He LOVES firetrucks and he LOVES Santa. He couldn't get enough of it.

Ty told Santa all about his shoes and Santa listened very intently. 5 minutes later Ty was still talking and telling Santa he wanted a Christmas tree and Christmas lights for Christmas. Santa told me he was a talkative little thing. I said don't I know.
We did get a good picture, I just haven't scanned it in.

Thanksgiving 2010

2010-11-26T17:59:00.004-05:00

I love that we go to the beach every year for Thanksgiving. It is such a great time to spend with family. I was super excited about Ty going fishing. We always have a great time fishing on the inlet behind the house. We can go out back anytime we want and throw a line in. This year the weather was good and bad. Kinda windy some days.

Missy getting another pole ready. She is my go to girl when something goes wrong with my pole. (I don't touch fish or bait).
Weez was rather proud of her double catch. She had 2 blowfish on her line. I would have freaked and just cut the line. I hated catching those things and it seemed like that was all we were catching.

Ali was flying a kite here (remember it was windy). She isn't as patient to sit there but she does like to fish.
All of us out and about fishing. Ty did very well casting and reeling in. He had a lure named freddie and he "threw" him out a bunch of times.
Grandma helping Ty with a big boy rod. I think next year, we will have to take him out fishing on the boat and go clamming with us. I am already looking forward to next year and we will have a new addition with us then too!

Happy 2nd Birthday Ty

2010-11-07T20:42:00.006-05:00

I can hardly believe we are celebrating Ty's 2nd birthday. It seems like yesterday I was bringing him home.

At the beginning of the year, I went to Tot Trade to find a pair of white dress shoes at a good price, since he will only wear them once on Easter because Travis doesn't like the shoes. When you come in, you register for all sorts of things. I registered for a free party at Monkey Joe's. I WON!!!! What what! Those parties are rather expensive, at least to me they are. So in February I had Ty's party planned.

We had a blast. Ty slid down every slide and jumped on every jump house.

He is not afraid of any caricature. He loved Monkey Joe and so excited to see him. He really liked sitting in the big chair.

He is really into Happy Birthday song. He thought it was funny we were all singing it to him. He still hasn't mastered blowing out the candle but I am sure with all the birthdays coming up, he will get lots of practice. The Elmo cake was a big hit with him. He liked the airplane a lot.
This is one of the many times he went down the slide with his Aunt Biddy.

Going down all by himself. He's a big boy now.

This is him and his friend Chase from church. They both loved the slides.

Back at home opening some presents from the family. He is pretty good at opening them, but very slooooowwww.
Aren't we a cute family.

Ty we are so proud of you. You make us smile every day with your many facial expressions and Ty'isms. You learn so fast. I love to hear you say your ABC's and count to 20!!! You have taught me shapes I didn't remember. When you say "I love you mommy" my heart just melts. The past 2 years have been so amazing and your daddy and I couldn't imagine our life without you.

Halloween 2010

2010-10-31T19:54:00.000-04:00

My little spider. Ty was excited about trick or treating this year, once I explained to him that he would get suckers. Our first stop would be the McClures. We picked up some candy and some kids to t or t with.

We got the fireman, spriderman, and just like a woman, Lizzy who is not yet ready.

Here is the whole gang before we set out.
A little giggly after so much fun.

I stayed home this year, a little tired, and passed out candy for mine and Kate's house. Not as many trick or treaters as last year, so we had waaaayyy to much candy left over. Ty is showing me one of his MANY suckers he got.

Daddy took Ty out. I think they went through 3 or 4 suckers due to Ty dropping them. It was OK. They had enough to get them through the night.

Ty super jacked after eating candy after candy. He was so deliriously tired, but had way to much sugar in him to go to sleep. It was so funny.

Ty's First Hair Cut

2010-10-28T19:09:00.002-04:00

So I finally broke down and got Ty's hair cut. We went to Sharkeys in Lexington and really had a nice time. He picked out the race car for his chair and he also had his own tv screen to watch. When it came down to it, a sucker was the magic trick for him sitting still.

I wouldn't let her cut much off because I really didn't want to loose the curls. Here's the final cut. We didn't loose much, but it is not in his eyes anymore.

2 day beach Trip

2010-10-15T15:58:00.003-04:00

Every year there is a Vending Association Conference in Myrtle Beach. We go to a food show to see all the new products available for vending machines. I eat the whole time I am there. Really, I do. This year, Ty was able to eat everything too, and he did. People were giving him all kinds of stuff to eat. The show was held by the beach so afterwards we scooted out to see it. It was a little breezy so I didn't let Ty get wet, but he thought it was funny to run from the water. I thought it was funny to watch Trav drag the stroller through the sand. It was not easy to do.

I just loved all these pictures. He really did love the water.

Our little surprise

2010-10-01T20:15:00.001-04:00

Yep. You got it. Ty is going to be a big brother. We are so excited. It kinda happened a lot faster than we expected. I decided to let Ty deliver the news, so I put him in a Big Brother shirt. Travis came home and I put Ty in the table for him to show daddy his new dance. Ty strutted his stuff and Travis says "where did you get that shirt?". I'm thinking really....you dont get it. So I let him ponder it for a minute more and then I'm like "do you like his shirt?". He looks at it again and it hits him. Ty's a big brother. He was just as shocked as I was when I read the stick.

With our first pregnancy, we waited a wile before telling anyone, but this time we spilled the beans to the family that day. My sister came over and we did the same routine with her. When she finally got it, she went stupid. You got to love her. My parents were in the mountains for a weekend get away, but she insisted on calling them and telling them on the phone. She is not a good secret keeper.

We are all thrilled about a new little bundle. I believe Travis is wanting a girl, me, I'm leaning to a boy, but it doesn''t really matter. We just a healthy baby. What more can you ask for. I am praying this pregnancy is as uneventful as my first. Keep us in your prayers these next 9 months.

Ty's First Time TUBING!!!

2010-09-25T15:38:00.004-04:00

I don't know what I was thinking. Maybe I wasn't even thinking at all. But in the end Ty enjoyed going tubing. I was a nervous wreck the whole time, but the tube was so big that it made it difficult for it to flip. We didn't go very fast, Ty doesn't care for wind in his face. He rode forever. As soon as we stopped he wanted in the water to play with Uncle Boom Boom and Ali.

Ali, waiting her turn.

Irmo Okra Struut

2010-09-24T15:21:00.004-04:00

This year we met Missy and the crew out at the Okra Strutt. Before they got there, we decided to try a couple of rides since Ty LOVED them at the beach. Our first stop was the slides. Not a good choice. Ty was fine going up but coming down.....not so much. That thing goes kinda fast. As you can see, he didn't like this so much. He was holding on to his daddy real tight. This didn't set a good tone for rides for the rest of the night.

After we calmed down, we headed off to eat. My favorite thing to do.

Ali and Erin finally got there and Ty was super excited. With them there, he warmed up to the rides again.
Here is Ali and Ty on the Pirate Ship. He was being such a big boy.

Ok so he was super excited about riding the choo choo train. We waited in line forever. Finally we got on and started to roll. On the second turn, the train came off the track. They tried to put it back on but it just came right back off. So, my "train" of thought was that it could possibly be my fat but that caused it so I made Travis get on for the next try and it still did it, so I felt much better. even with no one on it came off. Whew....

And what was he most excited about the whole night......his glow in the dark bracelet.

Funny Face

2010-09-12T15:13:00.002-04:00

Just another silly day at the Jackson's.

This is our new look for when I tell him to say "cheese". I have a feeling that we may have a difficult time getting some 2 year old pics taken.

He also loves to wear his daddy's hats.

usc game

2010-09-02T15:05:00.002-04:00

I love going to the USC games. My parents have had season tickets forever. Since we sit with the same people every week, you get to know them. Here is my friend Stephanie, AKA Step. She is crazy. I have found myself wanting to go to the game not only to see my dear Gamecocks, but to hang out with Step. We have so much fun.

Me and my dad. It took 4 trys to get a picture of us. LOL
And the LOVE OF MY LIFE.

15,18, and 21 month old post....

2010-08-20T13:41:00.010-04:00

Yep...it all started when Ty started walking. I slowly but surely got behind on EVERYTHING. It seems the blog was the last thing to get done and this post is the proof. I had good intentions to get things rolling but never followed through. So I's gonna start with 15 months:

My child has surprised me. He started walking a little late (they say this is normal for boys though) so I figured everything else would fall a little late as well. NOPE. Ty started really walking around 13 months. He started trying to say some words, more like babble, around the end of 13 months beginning of 14 months. By 15 months he could say 28 words. He is into everything and wants to know what each thing he touches is. He will touch something and look at me for me to tell him what it is. He will go through all of his toys and all his facial features. We have started with animals and their noises but haven't gotten too far. As for his dr check up, here are his stats: ht-31 1/4 (50%), Wt- 24.4 (50%), Hc- 19 1/4 ( 95%-gets that big head from his daddy). He did well with his shots and only cried for a minute.

18 months:

Ty is talking. No really. Like can almost hold a conversation with me. He can pretty much repeat any 1-2 syllable word. Although we just taught him how to say Happy Birthday for mine and Travs birthday. He can pretty much do anything he wants and if he cant figure it out he screams for a second and then figures it out. He is very stubborn and usually doesnt like help unless something is "too heavy" which he tells me and then I have to carry it for him. He knows all the animal sounds thanks to a book he makes me read over and over and over again. We have been working on ABC's and 123's. He can say ABCD and 1234. I am such a proud momma. If he spots a B somewhere, he points it out immediately. It is crazy. He is growing up so fast.

21 months:

To the now. So I have put up posters on my cabinets of the ABC's and 123's. My cousin had some up at her house and Ty was very into them. He stood there for 15 minutes telling me all the letters he knew and counted to 10!!!. He is also now putting 3-4 words together. His most famous "sentence" is "Mommy, where pappy go?". I am sure to hear this all day long. He can point out 1-10 in numbers on the chart and only about 6 letters. Still pretty good I think. He knows the difference between up and down, in and out, off and on. He loves to tell me if the lights are on or off and as soon as we get in the car he tells me "radio on". He is infatuated with clocks and radios. He looks for them everywhere we go. In walmart all I hear is...radio and lights...ooohhhh. The funniest thing of all right now is what he calls my sister. Her name is missy and he could not get the "m" down on it for some reason (even though mommy and moo he says just fine) so he calls her aunt Biddy. She hates this but we all laugh. I have even been working on saying mmmmmissy and he says: mmmmmbiddy. So stinkin funny. He is also just now learning how to scoot on a "bike" . He had a hard timem understanding the concept that he could push himself and mommy and daddy didnt have to do it for him. I could go on and on about all the things this amazing and smart little boy can do. He makes me so very happy and I thank God for him EVERY DAY. He has blessed our lives so much. We love you Ty.

the wiggles

2010-08-15T15:00:00.001-04:00

So Ty's favorite show is The Wiggles. The closest they were coming to us in concert was in Raleigh. Fortunate for us, I have family I am crash in on there so I didnt have to get a hotel room. The great thing was, I was more excited about seeing my cousin than taking Ty to the Wiggles. Here are some fun shots of My cousin Kenji, his wife Danette, and their children Michael and Sara Grace.

He was so enthralled with the show, he barely turned away.

A trip to see Brynlee

2010-07-24T14:52:00.005-04:00

My cousin Brandy has a little girl who is 9 months younger than Ty. She is adorable. We took a day trip to Charleston to pay her a visit. She really liked Travis...who doesn't (hahahaha).

They both decided to crawl on me. I told Brynlee to hold on and she grabbed Ty.

I am still trying to teach Ty the meaning of share. He gets it sometimes and then other times he just really wants the toy.

Beach again

2010-07-15T13:38:00.004-04:00

7-15--7-`17

As you can tell...I love going to the beach. This week we went with Travis's family. It was sooooo much fun. The week was packed with all kinds of activities..that would be due to his Aunt Lori because she wants Ty to "see it all". So we hit Broadway at the Beach and Ty got to ride some rides. We bought a few tickets and then realized that it wasnt going to be enough so we had to go back and buy twice as many. Once Ty would get on a ride, he didn't want to get off so he rode with 2 or 3 times.

Here is Mike, Lori and Will on a ride. Poor Mike was getting squished.

Here is me and Ty on the Pirate Ship. This is one that we rode over and over.

Aunt Lori had to ride the Tea Cups with him. I don't do well on the round and round rides.

Here we are heading home and he was enthralled with this light. It seemed alot brighter because it was so dark outside.

Another day we went to the Aquarium. That place is nice but very busy. I felt like I couldn't see everything because it was so packed. Having a stroller didn't make it easier. Ty loved looking at the fish. It was so neat how they swam right up to the glass and over your head. I loved seeing the belly of a shark and other scary fish.

Ty is chillin out and taking a break from the conveyor belt. He was tired from pointing out all the radios along the wall...yes he is still infatuated with radios.

We took a break on the indoor playground. We needed to wear some more energy out. He liked the bubble and the big slide.

I cant remember what these things were called, but Ty wanted to touch them.
He was trying to find "nemo". Hope he wasn't in there. He would get eaten.

We were getting ready to go to the beach.

As you know, Ty loves the beach. He likes to bury his feet and run from the water. I was excited about our trip today because his cousin Will would be there to play with him. After Will was done riding the waves, he came in and him and Ty dig lots of holes.

We then needed a sucker break. Don't ask how many times I had to rinse sand off the sucker.

I am big on sunscreen. As you can see in this picture, Will has it caked on him. He was so tired of me applying it.

I love the new park at the old Air Base. If you haven't been it is really nice. Across the street are lots of shops and a PF CHANGS. YUMMY. We didn't go this time, but I am making a note to stop by next time. Ty wanted to chase the ducks until....they turned on him and started chasing him!

Ty decided to take Will for a ride. Will is so sweet with him.

Fun at Hilton Head

2010-07-12T20:42:00.008-04:00

Since this was our first trip with Ty to Hilton Head, we tried to hit all the kid places. Although, Dafuskie Island is not a kid place, he did get to ride the boat over and then travel around on a golf cart. We had so much fun learning about the Gullah traditions and seeing the history on the island.

This is the sunset from behind our place. I love when the boats come in in the evening. It is so beautiful seeing them with the sunset. How can you not relax looking at this.
Oh yeah...thats right. Just have a 1 year old running around carrying HUGE chess pieces. That will throw that relaxing feeling out of the window.

I must say though. This life size chess board was pretty fun. I have no idea how to play chess but Ty and I had a blast rearranging all the pieces. He had to carry them all. As you can see, they were all so heavy.
We are headed out to The Salty Dog Cafe. I was SOOOOO VERY excited about this. They have the BEST crab legs. When we finally got seated, I looked at Travis and told him he was on Ty duty and to pretend I wasn't even there. I enjoyed those crab legs to the fullest and thanked Captain Phil and Captain Sig for braving the Bering Sea to catch them for me.

After some good food, we headed to Sea Pines to look at the big boats, do a little shopping and have some ice cream. Where I found room for ice cream after those crab legs I do not know.

We also hit a kids interactive museum called The Sandbox. Ty had a blast here. Lots for him to do and it was inside which made me happy. I can not explain the heat we had to endure on this trip. It was terrible. Anyway, Ty got to dress up in many costumes but I liked the pirate best.

This one he might not like when he gets older. LOL
So many things for them to play with. He had fun playing with his Daddy.

I have so many more pictures but they are on my other camera and I haven't got those on the computer yet so these will have to do. I can not wait to go to the beach again. He absolutely loves it.

The Beach at Hilton Head

2010-07-12T20:01:00.008-04:00

We have a place in Hilton Head we go to in the summer. It is on the inlet and not on the beach but I like that. We are able to watch the big boats come into the harbour and see the Fireworks over the marsh at night. It really is great. This was the first year we took Ty there. Oh my goodness did he have fun. HE LOVES THE BEACH. The sand is his most favorite. He played so hard. Sand was everywhere. In the hair, in the ears, in his mouth, down his diaper.

Here he is with his Daddy taking his first trip into the ocean. He liked it too. He thought the waves were funny when they "crashed" into him, but he did not like the water to hit his face. (sorry for the pic looking hazy. I didnt give my camera enough time to adjust to the humidty when I took it out of the bag.)

He was all about making some sand castles, although we weren't very good at it.

Sunday School

2010-06-06T13:29:00.002-04:00

Travis and I keep the Walker One class at our church. I just love this. All the children are so much fun. Here are just a few fun pics of the kids in Ty's class:

Ty and Zoe Kate....always ready for snack time. Love this girl.

Sweet Greyson. Always giving hugs.

Zoe Kate...Doesn't say much, but a look is worth a thousand words.

Ty and his friend Chase. He loves Chase. Every Sunday on the way to church, he repeats over and over....Play Chase...Play Chase. Too cute.

Day at the Zoo

2010-06-02T19:37:00.003-04:00

I love the zoo. Now that Ty knows all the animal sounds and does them on his own, it is fun to walk by an animal and hear him make their noise. Grandma and Ali joined us on this particular visit.

Ty decided he wanted to walk, which means run, and that is not so easy to keep up with. He never wants to go the way I want to go. I did a lot of chasing, but that just meant a longer nap when we got home.

Ali is by far Ty's favorite person, well maybe Gandy (grandaddy) coming in real close. He absolutely adores her. He follows her everywhere and does what she does. She is like a mother hen to him. She takes very good care of him. Always feeding him and making sure he is not thirsty.
This was funny. Ali was a little afraid of the giraffes' tongue. I got a kick out of it. They are very gentle when they eat. I was surprised.

Ali and Ty had on matching outfits. He will kill me when he gets older but that is OK. It was cute.
Ty loved the fish exhibits. He kept referring to NEMO as every fish. He was enthralled with the alligator. It was like they were staring at each other. Kinda creepy.

These flamingos STUNK. This was funny because I made Ali stand there while I took a picture. It really did smell bad.

Autism Walk for Riley

2010-05-15T09:00:00.002-04:00

What a day this turned out to be. We went on an Autism walk for a friend of ours who's little girl has Autism. I love to support causes like this especially when I know I am helping a friend out. We were already excited about it being at Finlay Park but really got excited when we realized that ELMO was there. My son has absolutely NO fear of ANY large size character. Even when we are at the mall and the Chick-fil-A cow comes out he has to be pried away from him. Here is Ty with his FAVORITE. ELMO!!!! He could not get enough of him.

Collin on the other hand had to stay atleast 20 feet away. How heartbreaking is that face. He did not like any of the characters.

Here is Ty hugging Cookie Monster all on his own. The hard part is getting him to let go of the hugs.

Elmo once again. He tried to share his snack with him. He likes to be right in their face.

I tried to get him to take a pic with me but I made him mad because I kept him from playing with Elmo.

Here is our wonderful group. They were all so fun. I am so blessed to have such wonderful friends.

These Boots are Made for Walking

2010-05-08T09:37:00.001-04:00

How cute is a diaper and boots!

The State House

2010-05-05T13:09:00.001-04:00

Ty and I took a field trip to The State House and boy was it exhausting.

First of all, I had a picnic packed with lots of fun snacks and drinks, books to read and balls to kick. Ask me, did we use any of that? Nope. Ty had is own agenda and it included: chasing squirrels and birds and people, running through bushes, running down sidewalks, talking to complete strangers, chasing squirrels some more and then climbing steps. You would think the climbing steps would wear a kid out. Not so much.

Here is Ty on the backsteps of the State House. He had so much fun running around and watching the other childern that were there on field trips.

Here is a brief moment where I had him contained and got him to eat something.

Now we are playing with those squirrels. One keeps getting away from him (thank goodness) and he gets a little annoyed. The squirrels there are so use to people that you can almost touch them before they run. Ty would get maybe a foot away and they would run.

My handsome little fella.

I think this may be a spot we go to when we have a lot of energy and need to run it off. He had so much fun.

I know now that I dont need to pack a picnic and toys and to put more than an hour of time on the meter.

Ty's Favorite 2 Summer things

2010-05-02T12:50:00.001-04:00

Here are Ty's 2 FAVORITE summer things to do.

1. Play in the sand box. He would be in that thing for HOURS if I would let him. I have it in the garage to keep the bugs out and so he can play out of the sun. The sand unfortunatly is mortar sand so it sticks to everything even his skin. You can not just wipe it off. So, I filled up his pool and after the sand box we ALWAYS get in to get the sand off so we dont take it all inside.

2. In the pool. That is his second favorite thing to do. Either at home or at the neighborhood pool. He loves the water.

"Camping" with the Carnaggio's

2010-04-07T21:38:00.002-04:00

My sister loves to camp. Me, I'm not the first to jump on it, although I will go. They went to Dreher Island for a couple of days, so Ty and I decided to stop by and camp for a few hours. It was too much fun. Ty had a blast. He got in a real tent for the first time, went fishing and boat riding for the first time too! He loved it all.

Here is Ty getting his pole ready for fishing.

I hate crickets. I have fished all my life but I have never baited with crickets. I could never hold them. I always had my grandma do it for me if that was the only bait we had. My son on the other hand is fearless. That goes for a lot of things too. Aunt Missy showed him the crickets and he reached right in for them. Not once but time after time he stuck his hand in there and CAUGHT THEM!!!! I almost died but tried not to show him how terrified I was.

Here we are taking a break. Ty is always saying "look at me"!!!!

Ali and Erin on the boat. They are such good friends.

Ty liked the boat but did NOT like the wind in his face. He thought it was funny when the water would spray up and hit him in the face.

Ali is Ty's absolute favorite person. She can get him to do anything!

Ty also go to help Uncle Tony drive the boat. He liked to honk the horn, ALOT.

Now we are back fishing and Aunt Missy/Ty caught a fish. Once again, Ty is fearless. He grabbed the fish. No second thoughts about it. I freaked out because my dad is really allergic to fish and I am not sure if Ty is as well. He cracked up laughing at it every time it jumped around.

Aunt Missy's favorite moment.

After a little fishing, we kinda went swimming. the girls went all the way in, but it was just way to cold for T y get all the way in. He took his shoes off and just went knee deep.

My child is such an outside child. I love that. I can tell we will be going on many camping trips and cant wait to get our house at the beach for Thanksgiving and do lots of fishing. Ty will love it!!!!

Super Hero!

2010-04-07T10:50:00.003-04:00

I found Ty in the linen closet one day taking towels out and wrapping them around his shoulders. I have no idea where he got this from but I helped him tie it on and this is what I got! A SUPER HERO!!!!

Check out that gut.

He thought it was the best. We do this all the time now. My little super hero.

Easter at Aunt Missy's and Uncle Tony's

2010-04-04T19:20:00.007-04:00

I love Easter. I love the miracle of Jesus Christ and the freedom to celebrate his resurection. What a wonderful thing to rejoice!

Easter Sunday is always so busy. Ty woke up with a ridiculous Easter basket. Daddy helped the Easter bunny by telling him what he wanted in Ty's Easter basket. So daddy had a alot of candy to eat. Ty also got a dump truck that talks and drives. He really liked it, but not as much as him morning cup of milk.

I woke up with my lower back hurting something fierce so I was not as happy as I usually am. We got dressed and heading to church. We keep nursery so we went to the early service and then scooted over to keep the kids. By this time, my back was really hurting. Not good. All the kids want to be held. We finally made it to my sisters where I could get some advil in me. It took about 30 minutes for some relief but by this time Ty was already out of his church clothes and off playing. No family Easter pics for us. This is the only pic I got of Ty with his easter outfit on. I love Seersucker!

How precious is this little one. Her name is Brynlee. She is Ty's cousin. Her smile is one of the cutest I have ever seen. She had a blast checking out all of Ty's toys.

Now its time for the egg hunt. Once again I forgot Ty's Easter basket. I am so slack, but I blame it on my back hurting. So, we borrowed a basket from Aunt Missy and went a huntin'. he found a few with goodies in them but none with money. I know 6 eggs had $1 in them and one had $5. I looked everywhere for that $5 egg and couldn't find it.

Ty took his basket to granddaddy to show him what he had found.

Now he is back out to find some more or atleast run around a little.

The McClures and the Tolers came over for the egg hunt to. I know Jamey found some money in his eggs but I think he was more excited about the candy.

Kate and Lizzy searching for eggs. Lizzy wanted the Football basket to pick eggs up with. That little girl is so stinkin sweet.

Ty is still out finding more eggs. And none other is he with....Granddaddy. Oh and way past naptime. That is why we have a paci.

Ty and Grnadma, aka Ya Ya, strolling through the back playing and wanting on the trampoline!

Here is everyone looking for the $5 egg. Kelsey, the girl with the orange bag, found it.
How funny was this. Ty was looking at me like "this kid better not touch my sippee cup" and Brynlee was like "mommy, I want some of that".

Easter Egg Hunt at Church

2010-04-02T14:42:00.001-04:00

We went to our church Easter egg hunt this year and Ty had some kind of fun. There was so much there to do. Here he is in the bounce house. He thinks those things are so much fun. I think it is an accident waiting to happen.

We have been trying to teach Ty the whole concept of finding eggs and putting them in his basket. Well, who walked out the door and forgot his basket? Yep, me. I was so upset. Our neighbor had him a cute bunny basket made with his name on it. So, we comenced to picking up eggs and letting mommy and Ali carry them. He "found" 5. There were treats in them so that interested him alot.

For the children 3 and under, they just toss out a bunch of eggs on the ground and they just wonder around picking them up. Do you know how hard it is to keep a 1 year old away from a BUNCH of eggs. VERY HARD. He kept wondering over and picking them up. We let him hold one just to keep the screaming down to a minimum. That is why you see no other childern or adults in this picture.

Here is Ali (his favorite person other than grandaddy), helping him find the eggs.

Oh no! There is no treat inside. He kept wanting to open up all the eggs and throw whatever was in it on the ground. Uugggghhhh!

Now the hunt is over and he has to see whatever else he can get into!

So, we had snow cones, one of my favorites, popcorn, and cotton candy. Oh yeah, we did eat a hot dog and chips before all the good stuff. Ali is so good with Ty. If I need him to do something, Ali can usually get him to do it. She even shared HER snow cone!

They also had live Chickens (it may have been a rooster, either way it scared me) and bunny rabbits. You were allowed to pet them easy. As always, my son that is not scared of ANYTHING!!!!!!, and wanted to "touch". He wants to touch everything around him. He gets that from him daddy. No matter what store we are in Travis has to touch everything. It drives me crazy. Now Ty can say touch, so everything is touch....touch....touch!!!! Anyway, Ty is not the gentlest child. My neighbor has a dog and cat and when Ty comes over they run. I am trying to teach him to pet easy, but somehow he still has to grap and pull. My sisters cat is also terrified of him. When Ty comes over the first thing he says is mu mu. The cats name is Mufasa and we call him Mu Mu for short. When the cat hears Ty he hides. It is so funny. So needless to say I was a nervous wreck letting him pet this chicken/rooster. He did ok other than poking it in the eye. Geez.

We had such a good time with lots and friends and family. Oh yeah, Aunt Missy and Uncle Tony were in the dunking booth and Ty got to dunk one of them. I think it was Aunt Missy helpinghim dunk Uncle Tony. I think Ty's favorite part was being able to run around play with out me having to tell him no and you cant go over there. He so loves being outside.

Happy St. Patricks Day

2010-03-17T20:23:00.003-04:00

Ty's new bike helmet

2010-03-10T20:26:00.007-05:00

I know Aunt Missy is a good bike "driver", but you cant be careful enough. Helmet-check, elbow pads-check, knee pads-check, cup to take with me everywhere-check. Ready to go.

This just cracks me up.

Playdate with Jackson and Savannah

2010-03-10T20:21:00.004-05:00

My friend Stacey came over with her 2 adorable kids Jackson and Savannah. They played real well together. I didnt get alot of pics because Stacey and I were catching up.

Ty was being very nice and sharing his Goldfish with Savannah. He even helped feed them to her.

Then Savannah was like "Thats enough. I can do it by myself" I think Ty started shoving them in too fast. You can see one flying in the air.

This is Jackson. He had fun playing with Ty's Thomas the Train set. Doesnt he have the greatest smile.

How adorable is this little girl.

Here they are all playing together. Thanks Stacey for coming over and playing. Ty had a blast.

New Shoes

2010-03-08T20:24:00.005-05:00

How do you like my new shoes?

I am stylin' and profilin'!

Oyster Roast at Uncle Randy's and Aunt Charlene's

2010-03-07T20:13:00.010-05:00

Ty was in Heaven on Earth. My Uncle Randy has acres upon acres of land in the country. My child walked all day long. He had free range to go anywhere. He went to see the chickens, walked to front yard, then the back and then the front and then through the house, and then around the porch and then back to the chickens and then who knows where after that.

One of Ty's favorite things he did was going on a ride on the 4 wheeler. He thought that was just cool. I was a little nervous but Daddy was holding on tight. I got on the back and rode along for a while too. I dont think I could have held on to Ty any tighter.

All girls love boys in camo riding in a Barbie Jeep.

Daddy showing Ty how to blow a pinwheel.

Ty trying to blow the pinwheel. He almost got it.

Ok-so the chickens and roosters were a hit. Ty was mesmorized by them. I had to watch him carefully because he kept trying to put his finger in the fence. He is in the "touch" phase. He tried to mock the sound they made. I cant even type how it sounded when he tried. It was so funny. These chickens look hungry and like they are ready to peck his little finger.

Here is Ty's cousin taking him for a spin around the yard. He had a blast being toted around in the Barbie Jeep.

Fun Times at the Park

2010-03-07T15:14:00.008-05:00

My child is and outside little boy. He will pitch a fit if we come inside. He has really gotten into being independent. He does not like to hold hands when he walks. When you put him down, he is off. He is walking everywhere!!!! He has no boundaries and is FEARLESS!

He says HEY to everyone. In WalMart, at church, the ball field, the grocery store. No one gets by without a "hello".

Ty had a blast at the park. He climbed this thing a billion times and wanted NO help. He is a big boy now and can do it on his own.

The slide was a little big for him. He kept getting his feet caught and it would throw him forward. He hasnt learned to pick them up when he slides.

Daddy and Ty sliding and sliding and sliding.

We will definatly be at the park a bunch this summer.

Ronald McDonald

2010-03-07T15:10:00.002-05:00

Sorry Ronald. I like your ice cream, but you scare me!

First Bike Ride

2010-03-07T14:54:00.005-05:00

Ty took his first bike ride with Aunt Missy. If I said he LOVED it, it would be an understatment. I know he needs a helmet. Aunt Missy bought him one, but she got one for a 5 year old.

Looks like Aunt Missy is gonna get her work out.

15 Month check up.

2010-03-07T14:54:00.001-05:00

I'm slack. I will ge the post up soon

Snow Day 2010

2010-02-17T10:08:00.016-05:00

Oh how I LOVE SNOW!! For our honeymoon, we went to Lake Tahoe to go skiing. I LOVE SNOW. I LOVE snowball fights. I was involved in 2 really good ones. One in my sisters neighborhood the night of the snow fall, and one in my neighborhood with the kids across the street. I dont mind getting nailed int eh head with a snowball as long as no one else minds me nailing them in the head with one. At my sisters house, I think the last count was 24 kids and 10 adults. It was crazy. Tony actually drug me down the hill and I do believe there was more snow down my backside than there was on the ground. Some of them kids had a good arm. One sad thing was that Travis's back was hurt so he could not come out and play. I was so bummed. We had to leave early before the roads got to bad (we only live .8 miles away from my sister). I dont like driving on bad roads and since it was already dark, that wasnt going to make it any more fun. It took me 8 tries to get up my driveway. I keep spinning out and sliding. Kinda scary.

Here is Ty playing in the snow for the FIRST time in his life: And here is Ty playing in the snow for the SECOND time in his life:

I think he liked it the second time better. Cold does not seem to bother him. As long as he is outside, he is happy.

I must say though, he didn't like the snow hitting him in the face.

This is the next morning. We went across the street to play with all the neighborhood children. I had a MAJOR snowball fight with these 3 boys. I mean NOTHING was off limits. I got smashed in the face maybe 3 times. It was a riot. We had a blast. Here is Aiden riding with Ty on the sled while Miss Kate pulls them. Ty seemed to like this alot. I love the fact that when I told Aiden to hold on to Ty tight, he put him in a choke hold.

This is Lizzy with Ty. She loves "babies". She always says "where's baby Ty?" , "want to go to baby Ty's house". Ty, on the other hand likes to be left alone. Lizzy is just trying to be helpful and put Ty's other hat on and Ty is trying to tell her, "look lady, I already have on a hat! Enough already!"

Do you think he woudl get rid of that paci for pictures? NO WAY!

We were not able to make a snowman because it would not stick together the next morning, so we marched across the street to the McClures and took a photo with their snoman. Ty is sitting in their driveway here.

Can you spot their snowman in this picture? It is already leaning and dying. It was a minature snowman.

Ty looked at me like I was crazy for taking so many pictures. I dont think he understood that snow is not a normal around here and this much at one time only happens every 20 years!

Ty cruising in front of the house. I love how all of our bushes look like they have icing on them.

His little cheeks are not even red. He had so much fun in the snow and so did I!

Jamey's Circus Party

2010-02-12T11:42:00.003-05:00

This is just to prove that my neighbor Kate is just freaking awesome. First of all, before Ty was born, we would eat dinner with them 3 times a week. She is a great cook. She is also one of the most creative people I know. About a year ago, they bought new patio furniture. Well, they took the big box and made a castle with a fully operating draw bridge out of it. This was for Jamey's birthday last year. It was a Knight's party. Well, this year, they cut the same box up and made this:
A Lion cage with rolling wheels,

A ticket booth so Jamey, the Ringmaster, could take up tickets as his friends came in.

This was the BIG TOP. She made the living room look like a circus tent. SHe had refreshment signs an dress up staions and cotton candy as the goody bag. She even made a balancing beam for the kids to walk on.

Here are the cupcakes she made. Yes, she is Betty Crocker too! She did a great job on these. They are all kinds of animals and everything is edible.

Great job Kate!

Ali Dancing at Dutch Fork

2010-02-12T11:23:00.003-05:00

Here is my neice Ali. She is 9 years old and LOVES to dance and is really good.

I remember when I could do some of these moves. Now, I would end up at the doctors office if I thought about trying to do any of these!

Gavin's Birthday Party

2010-02-11T22:07:00.008-05:00

So to explain how Gavin is related. Gavin is my sister's husbands brothers little boy. He is a hoot. He had is birthday party at one of those inflatable jump house places. This was Ty's first time going to one of these places and boy did he have fun (Trav and I did too, Shhh). We started him off on the kiddie slide and he loved it. Here is Trav letting him go down all by himself. Aunt Missy is catching him.

We decided to move to the bigger slide so we could have some fun too! Here is Trav taking Ty down the first time. Those things are FAST!

Can you tell how steep this slide was!

Mommy's Turn! I was scared to death. Now it is his turn to go all by himself. He flew down this thing. I mean just plain FAST!.

Me and Missy having just as much fun as the kids.

It was so cold in this place that we kept his jacket on pretty much the whole time. Here is Ty trying to crawl around on this thing. He did pretty well.

We played together in one of the bounce houses. He cracked up laughing in it. Good times!

The Many Faces of Ty

2010-02-11T21:34:00.010-05:00

Day by Day

2010-02-11T20:38:00.007-05:00

Yes I know. It has beed forever since my last post. Everyday life just gets in the way of me getting to this. We have been very....um....busy lately. ( I can also use the excuse of being just lazy, but busy sounds better).

So Ty is walking and walking and walking everywhere! He started this the begining of January and has taken off. He does not like to hold my hand any more either. He can do it ALL BY HIMSELF. I try to hold his hand and he says "No No". This is his favorite word. If he knows he is not supose to do something, he does it anyway and then looks at me and says "no no". It is so stinkin cute but I have hold in the laughter becuase he really shouldn't be doing what he's doin.

Bedtime had gotten much better. (please don't let this be jinxing myself). When it is bedtime, I say let's go night night. He goes straight to the stairs and climbs up. Goes to his crib and wants in. We say our prayers and then he gives me and Trav a kiss and lays down. No more rocking him to sleep (which I kinda miss). He cries sometimes when we leave, but he usually stops before we even get down the stairs. It used to take 45 minutes to get him down. Now its a cool 5 minutes. Another sign he is growing up so fast.

Bath time is a battle. He hates it! I can not emphasize hate enough. He won't even sit down. Every once in a while I can get him to sit down, but it doesn't last long. I've tried putting him in the shower with me, but that makes him just as mad.

He is also talking up a storm. He is always saying SOMETHING. I have no idea what he is saying half the time, but he looks at me like "do you understand me mommy?" Here are his main words:

Mommy-mama

daddy-dada

gma-yaya

Bye-bye

ball-baaalllll

bowl-bowllllll

Juice-youse

boo-boo

moo-moo (he likes cows)

cow-caw

quack- kack kack (he LOVES ducks)

He signs: more, all done and thank you. We are going to start learning more soon. I have started getting slack with it.

His new thing is this: when he has a stinky or pee pees in his diaper he makes a yucky sound (like a hard K sound). It is so funny. I guess it is nice for me because he lets me know when he is wet.

I have such a sweet boy. He always wants to hug me and give me kisses. It just melts my heart.

Super Mario Bros.

2010-01-10T15:24:00.007-05:00

This is when Ty was so sick. I am addicted to Super Mario Brothers for the WII. I know, that makes me a loser, but that is ok. I had just gotten out of the shower and he was in Mommy mode which means he was sleepy. I held him for 2 minutes and he was out. While he has been sick, the only way to get him to sleep for more than 20 minutes was to hold him. So I got comfy on the couch and started playing. I just got a kick out of this photo. This post is more for evidence for Ty for when he gets older, to prove that Mommy does understand how addicting video games are and that he still has to stop playing and do as he is told. ( I am sure this conversation will come up with us in the future).

Daddy had to finish holding him because Mommy was moving to much playing.

FYI. I have already saved the princess and only have 3 more worlds to get all the coins from.

Mom's Birthday

2010-01-04T21:31:00.007-05:00

My mom's birthday was on January 5th, but the Sunday before was the day we could all get together for it. Missy cooked beef stew and I made cupcakes. We headed over to Missy's around 6. Ty was still not feeling good at all. I thought maybe getting him out of the house and letting him see Grandaddy and Ali would make him feel better(these are his favorite people). It kinda did, but you could tell when he had had enough.

We sang Happy Birthday and that turned out to be violent. Mom stood up fast after blowing out her candles and NAILED Missy right in the nose with her head. It was not funny, but then again it was.

After Missy was done crying about her nose, mom got to open her present. I was excited about what we got her this year. We had a portrait taken of all the grandkids (Ashlyn, Ali and Ty) together at The Picture People. It tunred out great!!! Mom liked it too.

Mom and her girls.

Mom and her girls being so silly, and Ali and Ty getting in on the action.

Ali and Ty playing. That girl makes him so happy.

This picture is just funny to me. So funny that I could not come up with anything funny enough to caption. Rachel W. Jones, if you read this, can you write a funny caption for this. I think you are pretty good at coming up with funny stuff!

I mean look at the silhouette of that belly!

Happy Birthday Mom. Love you!

Uuuhhhh.... Happy New Year?!

2010-01-04T20:27:00.012-05:00

What a New Year celebration we had at the Jackson household. I could post 1 picture and you would know exactly what kind of night it was for us, but how much fun would that be. I know you want to know all about the misery. Well, Wednesday Ty started wheezing pretty bad. I called the doctor and brought him in on Thursday. He was not doing good at all. He was just miserable. Coughing, wheezing, runny nose, congestion, but not a fever yet. When we got there, one of my favorite nurses there, Ms. Jill, was like "back again Ty". Is it bad when they know you by name at the doctors office. As soon as she heard him wheezing she checked his pulse-ox. It wasn't horrible but it wasn't 100%. Ty's normal Dr. was out so we saw another one and loved her just as much. She was concerned about how bad he was breathing so we started breathing treatments right then. Ty DID NOT LIKE IT ONE BIT. He would not take the mask or the paci attachment, so I tried the mouth piece and he did OK with that, but not to sure about it. So after being there for almost 2 hours, I was ready to be home. We had plans with our neighbors across the street and I HATED to cancel. I was so looking forward to it. They understood and still brought us some food over. Just to give you a picture of what we were working with with Ty:
He was pitiful. His eyes were watery and he could barely open them. The Dr. put him on breathing treatment until at least that Saturday and also put him on STEROIDS. Never again will I be willing to do that. It has been horrible. They hyped him up so much. Friday, Jan 1, 2010, he took no nap. A kid who is as sick as Ty and who has had no nap is NOT A HAPPY BOY. Well, to make matters worse, he did not sleep at all that night either. He would take 10-20 minute cat naps. All together he probably slept for MAYBE 2 hours. I slept maybe 30 minutes. I could not put him down and then he wanted to be walked around. He was just miserable. I felt so bad for him. We had a follow up appt down town Saturday and thank goodness we did. Ty started running a fever that morning. It started at 103.0 and then after Tylenol and an hour later it was still climbing to 103.2. By the time we got to the Dr.s office it was 103.3. This can sure make you nervous when it keeps rising after medicine. Well, Ty was doing his worst this morning. The wheezing was horrible and his cough was thick and loud. They sent us to the hospital for a chest xray. If you've never seen what they put toddlers in for xrays, it is kinda funny and scary. It is a chair that velcro's them in, but it kinda looks like an electric chair as well. Kinda creepy. BUT he did great in it. I got to stand next to him and keep him relaxed and he didn't move a muscle. I am thinking it had a lot to do with how tired he was. Well the results were no pneumonia in the chest which was a blessing from God. I was so afraid it was going to be. The doctor diagnosed him with either Atypical or Viral Pneumonia and Restrictive Airway disease. He is now on Biaxin for that and has to continue the breathing treatments. ( quick note: He loves the Penguin and tolerates the inhaler only if he has the Wiggles to watch. I am so tired of singing: Lights, Camera, Action and The Big Red Car. ) Now a quick recap...Thursday an hour nap, Thursday night on and off again sleep. Friday NO NAP, Friday night maybe 2 hours of sleep. Saturday, didn't nap but 3o minutes that afternoon. Can we say I was exhausted!!!! My mom and dad stayed with us Saturday night so we could get some sleep. I still had to get up and give him his breathing treatment at 1:30am. He didn't wake up which made it easier. Mom got up with him that morning and was comfortable enough to give him his next one. He woke at about 5:45 which was perfect timing. I got to sleep until 7:15 which was awesome. Ty slept OK. Mom had him upstairs in the bed with her. She didn't sleep all night because she is a worry wart. My child likes to talk in his sleep and she would lay there and listen to him wondering what he was saying. He seemed to be doing a little better Sunday. He actually played a little and smiled. Sunday night was OK. He woke up at 4:15 am and was not wanting to go back to bed so we got up, did a breathing treatment, ate some grits, Dad left for work and by 6:30 we were going back to bed. That only lasted for an hour. As of today, we still are pretty sick. No fever, but congested, hoarse from coughing, and still wheezing. We go back to the Dr. on Friday. If nothing has changed we will change our course of action. Please pray that he starts to get better soon. I absolutely hate seeing him like this. It just breaks my heart. I will keep you posted on how he does the rest of the week. Just becasue I think this is so funny, my husband says this to me the other day. Ty got all your ailments and got all my good looks. That is so funny I know. So again, HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!

Here is my handsome boy on a better day. I always like to leave on a good note.

Oh and a friend posted a quote that I love. I believe it was a quote from Kate Moss. It is going to be my motto for 2010: " Nothing taste as good as skinny feels".

Christmas 2009

2009-12-28T21:25:00.042-05:00

So I have decided to make one big post for Christmas. So much has been going on that it has made keeping up almost impossible. So lets start with Santa on the fire truck. We were watching football one night and heard Santa on the fire truck coming down the road. I threw on Ty's coat and grabbed the camera. Trav ranand got a blanket because it was FREEZING outside. Santa made a quick stop in front of our house so we could get a picture. I was amazed that the loud music and sirens did not phase Ty one bit. He waved and blew kisses to Santa the whole time he could see him. It was precious.

Another big milestone for December, and one that I wish had not happened ever, is Ty grabbing my flat iron. I had already turned it off and pushed it back, but he still managed to grab it and got 2nd degree burns on 3 of his fingers and 1st degree burns on all 4. I rushed to the doctors office and did pretty well holding it together. Once I saw Ms. Teresa (0ne of the best nurses EVER!!) I just lost it. Ty was screaming, I was crying and everybody was staring at us. She took me straight back and Ty's doctor came right in. He is very good at calming my nerves as he goes on to say he is calling DSS to report me. I was there for maybe 5 minutes before my sister and Travis showed up. There are no words to describe how horrible I felt. Still to this day, I get sick when I think about it. Here is what it looked like the next day:

The blisters ended up being bigger that his fingers.

They look so painful. After he took a nap and had his hand wrapped he was fine. He never cried when I had to change his dressings and he crawled on his hand just fine. He did have a problem when playing because he is used to using his right had to pick things up with. He adapted and started using his left hand. I was impressed!

This one is just cute.

Back to the fun stuff. This year, we had my moms family Chistmas at my Uncle Randys house. Oh boy was it fun. SANTA CAME IN ON A BLACK HAWK HELICOPTER!!!!! You read that right. No reindeer for Santa out in Ridgeway. This thing was HUGE. We got to get in it and take all kind of pictures. Ty also did good with Santa. We got to take a family picture with him. It was funny because Santa's glasses were all fogged up. It was some kinda warm in there. Santa gave Ty a " I love my Puppy" book which Ty loves to read. We also got to see Ty's new cousin for the 2nd time. Brynlee is just adorable and I think she liked me the most.

Ty flying the Blackhawk.

Ty was just not to sure about Santa.

Ty making his "happy face" with his cousin Ashlyn.

This is Ty's 2 cousins Brynlee (4 months old) and one of the twins, Kelsey or Bailey, but I think it is Bailey. Isnt it horrible that I STILL cant tell them apart.

Ty and his Cousin Brynlee. She is one cute little girl.

Brynlee and her Momma Brandy.

Ty and his Uncle Bo. This was right before Uncle Bo came in and told me that Ty had pulled all the feathers off one of the chickens. I went to investigate and this is what I saw:Obviously Ty did not pull out all these feathers. This chicken is born like this. Yes, I know. This is one ugly chicken.

For Christmas this year, I saw the cutest longjohns with the back flap and all. I had Ty embroidered on the flap. I thought they came out pretty cute. Here is Ty on Christmas Eve. As you can see, I had to move up most of the ornaments because Ty wanted to play with them and pull them off.

Ty and his HAPPY FACE. This totally cracks me up. He does Happy face and Mean face. It is such a hoot.

Can you tell here that it is 5:15 in the morning and I am uber tired with no make up!? Ty looks like he is thinking "I am to tired to fight to not take this picture. Please take me back to bed!" Travis is just there. We were all zombies except for Ali. We do this every year. We all spend the night with Missy and Tony. Mom and Dad sleep upstairs with Ali, Ashlyn and Brandon and we sleep downstairs. We get up between 4-4:3o every year. I begged Ali to let us sleep until 4:30. By 6:00 we were eating breakfast. I was ready for bed as was everyone else. Ty had a blast looking and playing with what Santa brought him.
He was EVERYWHERE, but most of the time he was with Grandaddy (his favorite person). Here he is telling someone "no no" because they were trying to take him away from him.

I love our Christmas traditions. Even though I am completely exhausted the rest of the day, I love every minute of it. We have done the same thing for 30 years. God has truely blessed me with a wonderful family.

The day after Christmas, we headed over to the Jackson-Mooneyham Christmas. There are so many children there and Ty loves it. It was at Keiths house this year and he has some small dogs. I was terribly afraid for them because Ty can be brutal. I caught him one time poking their eyes and then another time pulling their tails. In the end the dogs survived. Ty got so much stuff. Clothes, toys, money....I think he needs his own house to store all him stuff. It is crazy.

This Chistmas was real special. Travis got to see his sister for the first time in 6 years. It was good to get a picture of them together. Julie, this is a great pic!

I hope everyone had a great Christmas and remembered why we celebrate it. Happy Birthday Jesus. May you all have a prosperous and Happy New Year!!!!

One Year Old Portraits

2009-12-04T17:48:00.007-05:00

Back when I was 8 months pregnant I bid on a portrait package at a fund raiser for a friend of mine Scott Higbe. I knew in the future I would need it so I am glad I won it. I decided to wait until he was one to use it. I met Karin down at the Horseshoe at USC. I love the Horseshoe. I would go there often when Iwas in college. Ty was actually in a decent mood so I was hoping for some cute pics and I think I got a few. Here is a sample of what we got:

Happy Thanksgiving!

2009-12-03T10:23:00.015-05:00

Everyone has traditions for Thanksgiving, but I must say that I absolutely love ours. The week of Thanksgiving we load up the family (mom dad, Missy, Tony, Ashlyn (this year her boyfriend Brandon came too), Ali, Travis, Ty and I) and head to Murrells Inlet to stay for the week. We rent a house on the inlet (our favorite house is OUR POINT OF VIEW, but we couldn't stay there this year because they sold it and the new owners were not renting it out this year) so we can do some fishing, crabbing, clamming, and what ever else comes our way. It is so much fun. My dad brings his boat so we go out and have lots of fun. My sister also brings her blow up boat that has a trolling motor on it and it is hilarious. She loves it and that's all that matters. I always make sure whoever is in it has on a life jacket as that thing could pop at any time. I wish I would have gotten a pic of it this year. Well this year we got down there on Tuesday and came back on Sunday. The plan was to come back on Saturday to go to the Carolina/Clemson game since we had 4 tickets, but when they announced it would be a noon game that kinda shot that out the window. So we sold the tickets and stayed there to watch an AWESOME game. Ashlyns boyfriend is a big Clemson fan so that made it much more fun. Anyway, I caught the biggest fish this year!!!! Considering, here is what we caught: a bunch of puffer fish ( you know the ones that blow up to a ball), a stingray, 2 whiting (one of which was mine and the biggest), a conck shell, a starfish and some I think pin fish that were the size of half my hand. Travis was sick this year and that was no fun. I felt so bad for him. He didn't get to go clamming with everyone which I know he likes to do. It is so funny to see someone stuck in the mud because they stood in one spot to long and sunk. I didn't go this year either. I stayed back with Ty and played and read a book which I really enjoyed. That is pretty much all we did that week. Fished, ate, watched TV, played cards, and games, and ATE ATE ATE. We had a great Thanksgiving dinner. Turkey, dressing, mac and cheese, brown rice, gravy, green beans, potatoes, cranberry sauce and apple pie with ice cream for dessert. It was all so yummy. We cooked all of our meals there except one night we went to one of those seafood all you can eat buffet's for $29.00 a person. Let me just say, I got my moneys worth. I was MISERABLE when I left there as were the rest of the family. I had more crab legs then my stomach could hold, not to mention all the other food and desserts. I even got a tea to go! LOL. I seriously gained 5 pounds. I love spending this time with everyone. Ty did OK. He was rather grumpy a good bit. I think we are still teething and he wasn't feeling up to par either. By Sunday he was a happy boy which was fine with me considering we hit the outlets and had a nice little drive ahead of us. All in all, Thanksgiving was a very memorable one this year. I cant wait for next year when Ty will be able to fish with me.

OK so I forgot to tell you about the arcade. I LOVE ARCADES!!!! I could play in them for hours. I just love them. We went to the arcade behind Sams Hot dogs across from the pier in Surfside. I had a blast. I love Skee Ball while my mom likes the quarter machine where you try and knock down the quarters. I think that is a no win game, bit to each his own.

Uncle Tony playing Guitar Hero with Ty.

Ty loves to steer.

Missy trying to punch. She cracks me up.

Another tradition we have at the beach is Krispy Kreme doughnuts. We usually get 2 dozen and they are gone in a day. We also get hats for everyone. Here is Ty sporting his.

I foam rolled Ali's hair the night before. It was super curly in the morning, until she went clamming and got stuck in the mud and then fell into the water.

Taking Ty for a walk to get him out of the house.

I love Palmetto Trees.

Ali is taking our pic. Can you see the nervousness on my face. I was letting a 9 year old hold my camera. I don't have insurance.

There was a large window by the dining room table. Ty would watch everybody outside from there and give them kisses through the window. It was hilarious.

Making faces.

Giving Grandma kisses. So sweet.

Playing with the chips. Anything to keep him occupied.

Chips are everywhere. Now is he going to pick those up. I think not. I was constantly picking up after him. I can't wait til we learn the "Clean Up" song.

First Curl

2009-11-11T14:06:00.003-05:00

I love curly headed babies and now mine has his first. I just love it.

Happy 1st Birthday Ty!

2009-11-07T20:51:00.002-05:00

I can hardly believe that ONE year ago I met a little boy who would change my world. I never knew that you could love someone so tiny so much. Ty has one of the sweetest yet determined personalities. This first year has just flew by. He has reached so many milestones already and learned to do so many things. He is growing up to be such a special little boy. I love getting sugar from him. He gives the best kisses. He says "aaahhh oohh"= Love you and "uh-oh" and many more things that melt my heart. Isnt that what being a mom is about. Kisses and hugs, first steps and first boo boos, Love yous and good nights. I just can't get enough of that sweet little boy. We had a family and few friends over for a party for him. He loved having his cousins and friends over to play even though they were years older. By the end of the party he was just exhausted but had eaten so much icing that he was wired on sugar, so after everyone left we layed down together and he finally went to sleep after 30 minutes of tossing. We took a good nap and woke up to a room full of toys to play with.

On November 11th he had his one year checkup. Here are his stats:

Weight: 23lbs 3ozs (60%)

Height: 30.5 inches (75%)

Head Cir: 19 1/4 (95%)
I can't believe how big he has gotten.

Here are a few highlights from his party.

Before the CHAOS!!!
Get this stupid hat off of me! NOW!!

Yeah! No hat AND I get a balloon!

Whats this? I get to eat it all by myself and you are not going to wipe my mouth after every bite!
A little help from Aunt Missy.

Really? Aren't YOU messy enough!

How colorful.

Is that enough?

Still eating...

Maybe now that is enough.

Our ONE YEAR OLD

Clean up time!

This could be his favorite moment of the day.

Don't forget to the icing from BEHIND my EARS!!!

Are you touching MY TOYS!!

Tired little boy.

Look at what Gtandma and Grandaddy got me!

Aunt Lori got me a Carolina Chair.

Thanks to all our family and friends who joined us for Ty's 1st Birthday party. We had so much fun and Ty really appreciates all the gifts.

Happy Halloween Gouls and Goblins

2009-11-01T20:19:00.000-05:00

Can I first say...can my life get any busier! Sorry for this post being so late, but I am trying to catch up! We had a GREAT Halloween. We started out by going over to Grandmas and Granddads house to trick or treat first. That was so much fun. Although it was super hot, we still dressed Ty up in his Lion costume and took him around to a few houses. When we got back to the house we met up with my niece Ali and brother in law Tony. We put Ty in his car and started the trek around the neighborhood. Ty liked riding in his car the best. He obviously didnt have a clue about the candy deal, but I was sure hoping for some good stuff. LOL. We didnt take a whole lot of pictures. I dont know why. We didnt stay out too long because it was so hot and his costume was not "too cool". All in all, we had a blast. Here are 3 of the few pictures we took.

Boo at the Zoo

2009-10-29T20:22:00.015-04:00

I love the zoo and to be able to go and get candy while at the zoo is even better. My mom and dad, Ali and Ty and Travis and I went on Wednesday. Ty was suppose to be a Lion but for some reason mother nature thought it would be a good idea to have 80 degree temps at the end of October. So, we went as a skeleton. Ali went as the Twister board game. Ty was mesmerized by the lights. He wanted to touch them ALL! So we stopped alot for him to "touch easy". He loved it. At the first Trick or Treat stand, he got a Mr. Goodbar and he was done after that. He wanted to hold it the rest of the night and wouldn't take any other candy. He eventually tried to eat it, wrapper and all, so I of course had to take it away.

He really likes spooky mask. My mom is one of those people who live to scare the tar out of others. She use to even creep around to the backyard with a scary Halloween mask on to scare the snot out of THE DOG. She would scare anyone or anything. She's pretty good at it. She even came running in the door one day after her and dad confronted the neighbors at the apartment complex next door and said that dad had been shot (yes I know this is not funny but my neighbor Brock was there and he was a good target to freak out and it was very easy to do) and both me and Brock started freaking out...running and screaming and I ran for the phone, Brock started crying and then mom had to tell him she was joking. It was so not funny, but looking back on it now, it was kinda funny. This is just what mom does. My poor dad gets the brunt of everything because she is always hiding behind doors and scaring him. He hollers every time. He may holler at me for telling everyone this. Well, now that I have really gone on, the point I was getting at was Ty likes spooky mask and when mom put on this super ugly mask at home, Ty laughs and kisses her. It is so weird. I would cry if I were a kid and saw it. Well they were handing out mask at the zoo and my mom had to have one to wear. She looked creepy in it but Ty just loved it. Kissed her all night with that thing on.

Once again he had nothing to do with sleeping on the way home. This time it was due to him playing with Ali in the back seat. He loves Ali. She takes such good care of him and wants to carry him everywhere she goes. I am sure next year will be even more fun.

The SC State Fair

2009-10-29T19:56:00.006-04:00

I have been so excited about the fair. I LOVE the fair. I like to walk around and look at things, see people I have not seen in years and smell the delicious smells in the air (except at the stables). I also love to eat my weight in food. This year we spent $80 on food and 2 games. The bad thing is is that I like to take a few bites and be done. I got a corn dog, elephant ear, cotton candy, caramel apple with nuts, nachos, philly cheese steak, fiske fries, and Travis got this and some polish sausage that just looks nasty. Ty got some of all of this except the sausage and nachos. He also got a chocolate dipped ice cream cone that was his favorite.

We did not ride any rides but watched my 9 year old niece and her best friend Erin ride the Himalayan (sp?). They looked funny trying to hold on. I remember when I was younger I would ride that with my dad and thought it was a blast. I would not hold on so I could squish him real bad. We would ride as many times as our stomachs could handle. We are now older and chose not to ride this year! Just looking at the Spaceship ride makes me sick.

Ty has started wanting to walk holding onto someones hands and decided it would be fun to do this at the fair. My back was about to break after walking with him for so long. Here is Daddy taking him for a stroll while Grandma gets a new cell phone. She had her other one for maybe 7-8 years!

All in all we had a blast and Ty did really well. No crying or fussiness and I just knew he would sleep on the way home, but nope, he babbled the whole trip. I am thinking it was the cotton candy and elephant ear that kept him going. He LOOOOVVVEEDDD the elephant ear. If I got out of his site with it, he would stretch to find me. It was funny. I can't wait for next year already!

Skeleton

2009-10-18T16:06:00.003-04:00

Just thought these pics were funny. It glows in the dark too! He is not going to be a skeleton for Halloween, but he will be a LION! I love his costume.

Pumpkin Patch 2009

2009-10-18T16:05:00.011-04:00

So on our way home from church today, we stopped by a pumpkin "patch" at a church we pass by. I wanted to get Ty a pumpkin to write his name on. He LOVED holding the pumpkins! I think he liked the big ones that Grandaddy would hold for him as opposed to the little ones he could hold on his own! As always, he tried to eat it. Grandma purchased a pumpkin pie that we immediatly took home and ate. yum yum. Love pie with cool whip. Travis took one of the best pictures of Ty while we were there. It has to be one of my favorites if not my all time favorite. Here it is!

Hope everyone has a safe Halloween!

Last day with Toby

2009-10-18T16:05:00.006-04:00

Today was the last day with our wonderful weimaraner Toby. We got Toby when he was 9 weeks old. He will turn 6 in April. He is a beautiful dog that loves to be around people. We believe Ty is allergic to him (as we all know, I am allergic to EVERYTHING, even Toby) as he probably inherited this from me. So for the sake of allergies and sickness, we had to find Toby a new home. I must say we hit the jackpot when we found his wonderful family. They live in Orangeburg and had a weim previously that passed away. In talking with them, we found out that her daughter's weim is Toby's BROTHER!!!! Crazy huh? So we knew we found the perfect fit. They are very good to their dogs. They even bought their last dog, a pontoon!! They have a house at Lake Murray that they come to every weekend. So I will be able to see Toby on occasion which makes me super happy. So sad to see him with a new family, but so happy that they will love him like I do!

11 months!

2009-10-16T10:52:00.009-04:00

Wow how time flies. I know I missed a 10 month post but when babies start crawling you start chasing! We have been so busy lately. Ty has grown so much. He started crawling about 2 weeks after he turned 10 months. Now he is on full throttle. Nothing slows him down. I have even seen him crawl over the dog and as most of you know, we have a large dog. Toby, our dog, just looks at him like " what are you doing? you are being very annoying!" He loves to be in his walker and can go so FAST in it. You have to wear shoes or he will runover your toes. He loves to play with balls. He will roll them and then chase them. He does better at that than my dog does at fetching! He still loves a bath and will play play play as long as I let him. We are having problems with diaper changing right now. He does not like it! He screams and rolls and screams and rolls and refuses to lay still for it. If I give him the telephone he will usually lay still long enough for me to finish. He is also into this hitting phase where he like to whap mommy across the face. He thinks it is funny but I do not. I know he is doing it for just plain meaness sometimes because he gives me that look. Then he will be a "sweet boy" and just love all on me. He is definately growing into his personality! He has been in 18 month clothing and size 4 shoes for some time now and is still growing like a weed! Ever since we got the tubes put in we have not had to go back to the doctor so I am not sure of his weight. We go for his YEAR check up (as I sit here and almost cry) in 2 WEEKS! I just cant believe it! He still has only 5 teeth with 2 more ready to break through. I think that is what has been waking him up at night again. He was doing so well sleeping through the night. He is also doing a lot of mimicing! He does bye bye, smacks his lips, sticks his tounge out and i am sure other things that I just can not remember. All in all we are all doing well. We are just so proud of our little man. He amazes us everyday with his new "skills". We love you Ty.

Is it bad that I am posting this pic? I thought it was hilarious!

Irmo Okra Strutt

2009-09-26T15:39:00.005-04:00

How much fun but oh so hot! Ty got to ride the rides a few times and LOVED IT!!! I know he looks a little "redneck" because he has no shirt on but again, it was HOT! He ate everything too! French fries, funnel cakes, pepsi, powerade, italian ice, bread of a corn dog and this was all after he had already eaten dinner! He got a lot of dancing in with his Aunt Missy too. I think she got a little tired after "dipping" with him. I cant wait for the fair. He is going to love the lights and rides.

Game Day!

2009-09-19T11:41:00.003-04:00

Just some fun pics from Game Day at my sisters house!

Ty's second My Gym Class

2009-09-16T12:00:00.004-04:00

Ty started his new My Gym class 2 weeks ago. He really likes going. We went when he was a "baby" and I enjoyed getting out of the house and talking to other moms. This class is more fun for him because he gets to get into everything! He really likes the ball pit when there is not alot going on in it. They do activities with them and they are different every week. This past week he walked up a balance beam and got to swing on a tire swing. He did not want to get off of that. He really likes to watch all the other children. I am hoping he learms how to crawl after watching them. I hate that Travis is not able to see him play and learn new skills so I took some pics of Ty playing!

Baby Brynlee Brie

2009-09-12T10:56:00.007-04:00

Friday Ty and I wnet to Charleston for the day to meet his second cousin Brynlee. She was born 2 weeks ago and is absolutly precious. She is so tiny compared to when Ty was a baby. it felt good to hold a little one again. (Not good for Trav as he already knows I am ready for the next one.) Ty did well with Brynlee. He played pretty much on his own and didnt mind me holding her. BUT when she cried, he was "concerned". We were on our way back home and Brynlee decided she was hungry and started to really cry while in the car. Well, Ty stopped what he was doing and just stared at her, like what is she doing, is she ok, do I sound like that? Is was too precious. He just stared at her for a while. So Brandy, her mom my cousin, got her out and fed her in the car. Mind you she is sitting between two car seat and didnt have much room. Well Ty decided that he would like to poke and smack the baby in the head while she was eating. He didnt like is telling him "no you cant hit the baby". He was a mess. We got home and I held Byrnlee until she was ready to eat. I didnt want to give her back. She really is adorable. Here are some pics of our trip.

Carousel Ride

2009-09-12T10:54:00.003-04:00

So I found out down at the beach that Ty LOVES to ride the carousel. His Aunt Lori put him on one of those coin operated rides and he smiled the whole time. When we got home, we took him to the mall and put him on the big carousel and he enjoyed that one too! Me, on the other hand, realized that no matter how slow you go, I can not handle the round and round rides anymore.

Birthday fun

2009-08-29T18:48:00.013-04:00

Today we went over to the McGowans for a birthday party for Nicholas. He was turning 4. We also got to see Sean and Jessie with LILAH and Chris and Emily with CORT and COHEN. How exciting. I grew up down the street from Kelly, Chris and Jessica when I was little. We were almost this age when we first met! It was so good to see everyone and to meet the little ones. Chris and Emily have 2 boys named Cort and Cohen and they are just tooo cute. Cort was outsidc swimming most of the time I was there but I got so spend some fun playing time with Cohen. He is so wanting to be an independant child. He made me laugh.

COHEN:

CORT

Sean and Jessie have a little girl names Lilah. She was born April 27. She is absolutley beautiful. Her eyes just make you smile. I think Ty noticed her too! I was busy taking pictures and Ty went in for the move. Everyone was like "look at Ty!" He is sneaking a kiss. It was funny. He looked at me and went in for another one. I got that one! He is going to be a ladies man. Lilah didn't mind the first one so much, but the second was enough. I was waiting on Lilah's daddy to come over and have a talk with Mr. Ty. LOL! (mind you, he did all of this on his own. There was no forcing. He just did it. ) It is good to know he has good taste in women.

Beautiful Lilah:

Lilah and Aunt Leah, Two great faces....love you Leah!

Isn't she beautiful!!!! You see why Ty wanted some sugar.
Ty played so well over there. I told Mrs. Lynda she might be a new babysitter. He didnt cry once! (he has stranger danger issues.) You may notice I have no pictures of Nicholas. Well as the birthday boy, he had to much to do. He was outside in the pool most of the time and when he was inside, he was not interested in having his picture taken. 4 yeal olds have alot of energy and keeping him still for a pic was not part of his plan!

Thanks for having us over! We loved seeing everyone.

Let the Happy Boy Begin!

2009-08-25T18:01:00.000-04:00

We have TUBES!!! Travis, Ty and I went to Palmetto Surgery center this morning at 6:45am. At 7:30 the anesthesiologist came and took Ty back. He cried a little, but not to bad. At 7:38 the doctor came out and said Ty did great. Not even a minute later the nurse said Ty was awake and we could go back. HE WAS NOT HAPPY. Ty never cries like that. He was SCREAMING and arching his back. Usually when I get him he will calm down, but I wasnt even comforting. He cried all the way home. It broke my heart! He was so pitiful. He was hungry and tired and just plain done with everything. When we got home he took a 30 minute nap and woke up happy as could be. He drank a whole single serving of pedialyte. He tolerated that just fine and so we tried some grits (his favorite) and that went well to. He really does not like having the ear drops put in his ears. They burn so I give him Tylenol before hand. He is now feeling fine and doing better everyday. Here is our day:

In the car waiting to go in:

In the waiting room:

Waiting on vitals:

Getting ready for the anesthesiologist. He was so happy:

Tie goes in the back, look at that butt:

I think he knows whats coming and I don't think he is happy about it:

Laundry

2009-08-23T18:39:00.002-04:00

Ty loves to help mommy with laundry. When he was a baby I used to put him in the basket with all the clothes. He liked it then too! He thought this was just toooo funny.

TUBES

2009-08-23T15:15:00.004-04:00

So I took Ty to the doctor on Friday because I did not think his ears were any better. Well, his right ear was still infected. Don't forget, he has been on antibiotics everyday since July, 7th. We had an ENT appt set for September 11th. A WHOLE MONTH AWAY. I did not like this. I had called everyday since the appt was made to see if there had been a cancellation. Nothing. Since his ears were not better, Ty's doctor said it was time for rocephin(sp?) shots. I hate to see him get shots. It breaks my heart, but he handles them so well. I told Ty's Dr. when we had the appt set for the ENT and he said he was going to see if we could get it moved up. Well, 30 minutes later we were at the ENT's office seeing the Dr there. What a crazy Friday. I was not expecting any of this at all (mind you I am still hobbleing around on my injured toe, you know the one I hurt when I fell down the stairs in the middle of the night after tending to a crying baby at 2:3o in the morning, and yes it is still purple and HURTING). I called Travis and told him to meet me at the ENT's office and thank goodness he was able to. We have scheduled Ty's tubes for Wednesday morning probably around 6:45 am. I willl get the final time the day before the procedure. He said is should take about 5-10 minutes and that he will be put to sleep with gas and NO NEEDLES. I think the whole NICU experience has really made me sensitive to all this stuff. Anyway, Just asking for prayers for the little man and the doctor. I know this is a routine procedure, but it is not routine for me. I will let you know how things go on Wednesday.

You know I have to leave with a pic!