Jackson--live!

So, I've been trying to post a video of Jackson for SO long! But, with technology how it is--it's just really difficult to upload videos... or, I guess it is when you're working our laptop. BUT, we finally did it--just in time for Father's day (which is doubling as Grandpa's day). So, happy Grandpa's day Dad.

Here be Jackson B.

How to cart 10 lbs of human around

Graco, BabyTrend, inStep, EvenFlo, BOB, Quinny, Phil & Ted, Bjorn, Mobi Wrap, Ergo, Infantino, Baby Jogger.

Where in the world do you start!? All of these lovely brands were up for consideration as we tried to figure out how to best move little Jackson around.


Get excited to see what ended up being the finalists!

Carseat.

Here is Jackson, modeling the Graco Snugride--5 point harness--infant carseat. This was the one thing that we HAD to acquire by law. The hospital won't let you take the baby w/o one properly installed. Really, these things are so awkward to put a baby into, but LUCKILY Jackson will usually stop crying once he gets moving (via the car or his parents arms). Unfortunately our arms are not looking forward to Jackson's continued weight gain, as these things are already too awkward to hold and carry.

 Laundry Basket.

Gosh! We didn't even have to buy this one! A baby in the house has turned out to mean I GET to do an average of 5-6 loads of laundry a week. (SO GRATEFUL FOR A WASHER/DRYER!) It's really quite impossible to carry up a load from downstairs with a baby in arm, so why not throw him into a freshly dried basket of clothes. Despite his face of "I'm not really sure what to think of this," I'm convinced heaven must include adult-sized baskets of warm downy goodness--just for lounging about.

Stroller.

By far the most difficult decision. There are only five billion choices of the same thing, and yet NONE of them had everything that I wanted! So, we're going with 3 different ones, and we'll probably have to get more once a sibling comes around in a few years. Mark is sporting the BabyTrend Snap n' Go stroller (picture above). Basically it's PVC pipe in a collapsible form that holds a car seat.  Love it. ESPECIALLY because this one was 7 (not 70) dollars at a consignment sale, and it works magnificently.

Jackson is awkwardly buckled into the Combi EX Cosmo--cranberry. I went to Babies R Us to register for a lightweight stroller that would fit him when he got older, and I was so overwhelmed by the choices I asked the salesman for advice. He picked up this stroller, folded it in two seconds, and slung it over his back like a backpack, opened it back up in 2, and showed me how it lays flat for an infant, but holds a baby up to 55 lbs. Super lightweight and it has ONE handle at the top. I was totally sold.
Funny enough, he must have said the same thing to everyone else, b/c when we went back to get it with gift certificate money that Mark's office gave us, it was totally out of stock--in EVERY STORE, AND the warehouse. Guess it was popular. SO, after a grueling hour, we were finally able to have one shipped to our home. Whew! 
Jackson and I took it out for a spin, and decided it was awesome.

We will also be purchasing an Instep Safari Jogger but since mom and baby aren't jogging yet, we're enjoying a no guilt postpartum.

Baby Carrier.

LOVE THIS. Yes, I garden, cook, clean, sing, dance, jump... all in my lovely Infantino Front to Back carrier. He can face either way in the front, and when he gets too big keep his hands to himself, we'll just turn him around and wear him on the back (I'll have to let everyone know if I still appreciate it at that point).

As lovely as it is for me to do all these domestic things, it's even BETTER when I get to strap junior onto Dad.



We went to the International Spy Museum last Friday. Apparently they have a strict "no stroller" rule--which meant Mark got to be the baby carrier. Love having a willing man around. Jackson did great as a spy, until he decided the media and images were just a bit too much for him (after about 30 min). So, to save the ears of the other patrons, he was held and bounced for the last hour and a half of our little spy museum tour. But the subway ride out there, and all of the walking was definitely w/ Dad right next to him.



For memorial day, we went down to Fredricksburg VA--a National Park/Memorial for 3 different civil war battles. We brought the snap n' go, but for a lot of the walking we strapped the poopster (Jackson) onto Mark. Jackson did amazingly. Besides napping more consistently than ever before, he was definitely our little celebrity. "OH!!! A baby!" "Look how little" "He's SO cute!" (Most of the time he was under blankets, so I'm not sure how they knew he was so cute, but I guess he just puts off the vibes.)

Mark is ALSO standing in front of the latest FAMILY Carrier. YES. We finally retired ol' Betsy (the 94' Ford Taurus that has been loved so dearly by so many), and got a 07' Toyota RAV4. We definitely love it, (especially the AC!!!) but we've driven old cars for so long we almost feel embarrassed to drive it. It's just a bit... worldly?

Hands.

With Hands. My old roommate Kimberly, came and got to practice. Jackson was so used to the other methods, he didn't know how to react! ;) ...No, he gets held all the time, and boy is that our favorite too!

Getting Old

This year my parents will be turning 50. Although that seems young for most people's parents my age, they are certainly hitting a mile-stone of an age. Strangely enough, I would say they both look very young for 50. Wrinkles are at a minimal, gray hair is there (but not age-defining), and both are exercising more than they did in their 20s.

Jackson's body has decided to celebrate for my parent's mile-stone birthday, taking over an area that hasn't affected them much--hair loss.

Last Saturday, Mark noticed a little "bald spot" at the front of Jackson's head. I thought that it wasn't that big of a deal, and couldn't really tell much of a difference. However, Sunday morning, there was definitely a difference, and by Monday? Whew! We were ready to try implants.

Luckily we are aware that this is only supposed to be temporary, but goodness! It's really awkward now, because he's got tiny little hairs in the front, and then a gap until the old hair starts up again.

Here's the hair before the loss



Here's the aging:



We'll let you know when the new stuff comes in. Meanwhile, we'll enjoy getting old!

Umbilical to a belly's button

According to Denis the Menace, a man's bellybutton exists so he doesn't look bad in bathing suits. (Girls have them so the baby can be put into a mother's tummy).
So, the questions for little Jackson is, how good will his bellybutton look in a bathing suit!!??

The umbilical cord is truly an amazing thing. It supplies perfect blood and nourishment to a growing little fetus--without producing gas (like a mother's milk!!!). Unfortunately, it is an UGLY looking thing, that gets to stay with a new little infant, for what seems like FOREVER!

As a child, I remember being absolutely scared of the little stub. And it is no wonder. As you can see, this miraculous thing goes from looking like a slimy white DNA strand, to this crusty black and green protruding scab.





Can you imagine my delight last Monday (day 13), when I was changing his diaper, and most of it had disappeared!? OH! I was thrilled. It took me a while to find it (hiding in his diaper), and it also took me a while to throw it away (I definitely had to show it off to Dad and G'ma).

I was ALSO thrilled, because now we could give him a full-fledged bath! Sponge baths are just a mess and difficult to deal with.



So, observe carefully. Will it be an innie or an outie?



Whatever it ends up being, it will definitely look amazing in a bathing suit :)

This I love about you

They say you love your new baby like nothing before. No one ever mentioned how many things there were to love about a new baby! I feel like I could stare at little Jackson all day long. "Hello my beautiful baby!" is all I can say everyday.



Here's a little list of lovely things about him.

purring as he doses off into unconsciousness
little feet
the victory arm--the arm that shoots straight up into the air
big eyes
shifty, guilt ridden eyes as he poops or tries to
biceps that are furry and look deceptively buff
cheeks that want to be kissed
strong legs that want to stand
soft, soft hair--oohhh, I can't stop caressing it
a pointy little ear fold
his endless struggle to get his hands out of a tight swaddle
smacking lips that say, "I'm hungry....see if you can feed me before I cry :) "
crooked smiles -- coming from gas
kisses in the neck folds
watching dad swing him up and down

Jackson Paul

5.4.10 12:28 pm 7 lb 14 oz.


Monday May 3rd.



I went to school to teach. I was definitely dialated to 3 cm, BUT still no labor contractions, so why not go to work? By 11 pm, I was fairly convinced my water had broken--no embarrassing gush, just a little trickle. Still, no labor contractions. So, I told the poor secretary in our office, left a class of 15 students in the hallway, and called an advice nurse who told me to get to a clinic AFAP (as fast as possible).

Too bad we thought our car was dead, so I was relying on public transport. I called Mark, who had great news about the car--it had been in neutral, hence not starting. Good. And he would meet me at home. Amazingly we hit the same subway on the way home, and got to hold hands and get excited together.

We packed. We went in, and....we went home.

False alarm. No broken water.

Great. I'll go to work tomorrow.

Tuesday May 4th

12:40 am. I go to the bathroom. Back ache--it goes away. Was that a contraction?! I go back to bed. Ooo. Ouch. another one. I look at the clock. 12:50 am. Hmmm. 1 am. Another.

I get up, and start planning lessons for the rest of the week--b/c I'm probably not going to be going in to work tomorrow. I plan, uterus contracts, I write down the time, I go back to planning.

I wake Mark up at 2:38 am.
"Honey, I actually have contractions. They're coming 3-5 min. apart. I think it's finally time."

I did not feel so great driving in the car. I was predicting I would be 5 or 6 cm by the time we got to the hospital--I didn't want to get my hopes up too quickly.

3:30am



When the Dr. FINALLY checked me, she told me I was a 4+. Ha! No chance that baby was going to come out anytime soon.

We brought plenty of stuff, except the two bags we forgot--which Mark went home for around 5 am.



It took about an hour to get to a room. Because we had decided to go al-natural, I was really concerned I would be able to walk around and move. These beds were certainly cool--if you were 8 years old and liked to push buttons--but not the most comfortable things for labor.



Luckily, the dr. let me do "intermittent monitoring." We did a bit of walking, lots and lots of breathing, squatting, rocking, and Mark's hands are still recovering from the hours of pressure and massage he gave my back.

The last hour of dialating (from a 9 to a 10) was where a C-section started to sound REALLY nice. Pushing was probably the most exhausting thing I have ever experienced. Every push felt like -- OK, something's got to be coming out now -- and the dr. wasn't even there to catch him yet!

Finally, (after only 20 min) I yelled out if anything was even happening down there... and Mark goes "Shaunel, he has black hair."

Wow. New surge of energy, and we got him out of there.

Totally worth it.



The nurses and Dr. were amazing. We probably had 10 the whole time we were at the hospital, and definitely only took a picture of a couple. But all were fantastic.



We were at Fairfax Hospital--rated one of the top 50 hospitals in the US. They have an average of 30 babies born each day. Luckily we got a private room, so I could walk around in my skivies :)



(notice the crooked yawn...awww.)

First time in the car seat was a bit traumatic, (oh, those hard screams just break my heart!) But we after conking out, he had no complaints.



First night was kind of rough. Ok, really rough. Mark ran to the store at 2 am for some Vaseline, then we had our first of daily sprayings from his manly hose, and finally we went to bed at 3 am--with everyone exhausted. Needless to say, we didn't get up until 12 pm the next day. 3 nights of no sleep can do anyone in.



Despite extreme frustration, lots of tears (go hormones) and complete exhaustion, I look down at his perfect eyes, his beautiful skin, his gassy smiles, his little neck creases, and I'm overcome with gratitude.

What an incredible gift from God.

Food Love

A Mark-Approved Experiment
(AKA--"you should make this again")



Being a teacher at an urban school comes with interesting benefits. We have all sorts of grant money being poured into the school. One of these programs is a daily "fresh fruit & vegetable" snack--an attempt to expose low-income kids to healthy snacks. Generally the kids love the snacks--especially the fruit. However, 2-3 times a month, there will be plenty of left-overs from kids who just don't like plain cauliflower or raw zucchini (go figure). These left-overs go home with me. Last week's leftovers were especially exciting--red peppers. YUM! Luckily for me, many of the kids didn't feel excited to eat these sweet delicacies, so I got quite a few snack size portions to work with for dinner.

My creativity river was roaring that night, and I danced around the kitchen creating a masterpiece of an experiment. Usually I try to find a recipe online--similar to the one in my head, but not this time. So if it is patented to another experimenter--great! But I swear I made it up :) While I was making it, I had so much fun, I decided if it was a flop, I would still post it on the blog--b/c it was SUCH a blast to make!

Mark always comes with an open mind to the dinner table, but especially if it's an experiment. He's a fairly good audience, but I can REaLLY tell if he likes something by how many portions he dishes out to himself. We had this dish with Barley and a grape-fruit lettuce salad. He took a small amount of barely, plenty of salad, and came back for more of "the experiment"... probably 4 times. I deem that a ringer for sure.

Anyway, here's to:

Filo Frenzy

20 sheets Filo dough
Olive oil
1 sliced onion
1 sliced red bell pepper
1-2 Handfulls of spinach
1 can garbanzo beans
1 Lemon
Handful of nuts (almonds or pecans)
Salt and Pepper
Shredded Cheese (I used pepper jack, but any normal block cheese would work)
1 fresh tomato, sliced

1) Let your filo dough de-thaw (if it's frozen); pre-heat oven to 400
2) Saute onion until browned (5 min), add pepper and beans. Cook for 5-ish min--until beans start to soften, add spinach and the juice of 1/2 the lemon. Stir and cook until spinach is wilted, season with plenty of salt and fresh pepper.
3) Chop the sauted stuff in a food processor with the nuts or mash it up really well and add chopped nuts. If it needs more juice, add chicken broth or plain yogurt to help the mixing.
**Taste it at this point. Add lemon as needed or seasoning. Fresh Parmesan would also be delightful.



4) Grease a casserole dish (9x9 or a basic cornel).
5) Layer half of your filo dough on the bottom, brushing a bit of olive oil on the layers to help them stick together (I think I used about 8 pieces). I let my pieces fold over the sides, but I don't think that really matters.



6) Spread the cooked stuff on the top of the filo, and layer the rest of the filo dough on the top.
7) Cover with cheese, and bake for 20 min. Add the tomato slices during the last 5 min of baking or at the end--depending on your taste.
Enjoy!



**Disclaimer. I have never written a recipe for my own experiments. Let me know where I can improve for clarity sake:)**