Meeting More Family

We took the boys over to Michael's grandparent's house yesterday. Jackson always loves playing at Pa & Gran's but it made it even better to have Nana and his cousin, Madison, there.

ELMO Live!

Before Grayson was born, I bought tickets to take Jackson to see ELMO Live. I thought it might be something special for him. He had a great time. I would highly recommend this show to anyone with young kids. The show was actually about 1 1/2 hours total, with a 15 min intermission. Jackson was glued to the show the entire time. All of the singing and dancing kept him entertained.

One piece of advice to any of you who might ever go to a show...As with any show like this, there is a ton of overpriced stuff to entice your little ones. We thought we were in the clear once we made it past the lobby of little Elmo dolls that could put you into debt. Little did we know at intermission, two guys holding about 30 Elmo balloons would make their way into the audience. Our thought that we might get Jackson a balloon was short-lived when we heard a father say, "Can you believe this thing was $10?". Michael's response (which he didn't dare share with the poor sucker) was, "And you actually bought one?" We couldn't believe it. A balloon for $10? Needless to say, we left ELMO Live without anything....as did several of the sucker balloon purchasers who were probably crying as they watched $10 of their hard earned money floating up to the ceiling of the Nokia Theater because their precious child let go of the string.

Land of the FREE

While most people are waiting around for President Obama to "make them rich", I'm getting rich off all the free stuff that is out there. Michael has been making fun of me lately for all surveys I sit and take with the promise of getting a free drink or a free desert at my next visit to any specific restaurant. Currently in my wallet I have 2 receipts worth a free Rt 44 at Sonic, one free desert at La Madeline, and a free chicken sandwich at Chick-Fil-A.

So yesterday I drove to meet my mother-in-law half way between her house and our house to pick Jackson up. On my way back home, I decided I needed a Sonic drink so I stopped to use one of my free Rt 44 coupons to get a free drink (it wasn't Happy Hour time so I was not about to spend almost $2 on a drink). I ordered and let them know about my coupon. Between the time I ordered and the time they brought my drink, I got busy messing with Jackson and Grayson and forgot to pull my coupon out. When he was handing me my drink, I apologized and started to go for my wallet to get the coupon. Well...the very nice man said, "Don't worry about it. Save your coupon for next time. Just take this today." WOW...a FREE Rt 44 without even using my coupon! Yippee!

So I thought my luck was over until this morning. I had to take Jackson by the doctor and wound up with another prescription (drainage is YUCK-O). After the doctor's appointment, I carted Jackson and Grayson both over to Wal-Mart to have his new prescription filled. I was hoping to be in and out fast as I'm still nervous about going in public with both the little ones. After getting everything I could think I needed in Wal-Mart and waiting FOREVER for them to fill the prescription, the pharmacist looked at me and said, "Ma'am we are going to give this prescription to you for free because you've had to wait so long." Wow...a FREE prescription for having to wait at Wal-Mart! Who knew Wal-Mart actually cared about my time or convenience?

So there you go. You can't say there's nothing free these days. Michael, on the other hand, has now become a believer of my search for free things. He was shocked yesterday when I told him my story and even more shocked today. Maybe now he'll start saving the receipts that give you a chance to get something for free.

After all that reading, here are a few pictures of the boys. You deserve to look at something cute after reading all of that.

Jaundice Update

We are officially on the down-hill side of jaundice. After 5 jaundice tests and multiple trips to the doctor, the jaundice is going away! We still have to do "sunlight therapy" to knock the remainder of the jaundice out but it's much better than having to go up to the hospital every morning for a heal prick.



The result of 5 heal pricks. Poor little baby heals.



Grayson enjoying the sun.

Jaundice is NOT our friend.

No pictures today, just an update on Grayson's jaundice. He's been on "jaundice watch" since he was born. Apparently jaundice runs in the family and since Jackson had jaundice Grayson had a high risk of having it to some degree as well. We've been going to the hospital each morning for the past three mornings to get a billirubin level done and each morning the level has gone up. Today it was at 19.3. Apparently, if the number gets to 20, they'll have to admit him to the hospital for light therapy. We go back for another test tomorrow morning and then have an appointment with the doctor so pray that the jaundice clears up. We're praying for any number under 19.3. We'll keep you posted.

Jackson with Grayson

Jackson wasn't quite sure what to think when we first brought him to meet Grayson last night.

This evening when Jackson came back to visit he was much more excited about Grayson. He wants to hold him and help with everything right now. When I was changing a poopy diaper, Michael was holding him and letting him watch. Once he saw the poopy he yelled, "Yuck. Get out poopy!"

Twins??

Michael and I have been talking about how much Grayson looks like Jackson did when he was born. I really can't believe how much our boys look so much a like. Jackson got to meet his little brother last night and was soooo excited. He followed the nurse around everywhere wanting to know what she was doing to his little brother. He is going to be great. I will post the pics of Jackson meeting Grayson as soon as I get them on the computer.


Grayson, February 09.

Jackson, April 06.

Happy Birthday Grayson!

After a long day of labor (not that I could feel anything thanks to the beauty of modern medicine!), Grayson finally arrived at 4:37pm. He was being very stubborn but finally gave up and decided to come into the world. The doctor and nurse thought he'd be here by lunch but Grayson had other plans. Weighing in at 7 lb 5 oz and 19 3/4 in long, he beat out Jackson by 1 oz and 1 1/4 in. He's alert and looks a lot like Jackson, bright eyes and a little strawberry-blond peach fuzz for hair. We'll post more pictures tomorrow.

Baby Grayson Arrival Update

So we have a date. We'll be going in to induce on Friday, Feb 6th at 7:30am. I am not progressing any on my own so the doctor agreed to go ahead and induce me since I am absolutely miserable. I wanted so bad to go into labor on my own and have the "rushing to the hospital" experience but I guess my body just isn't into that plan. I'm a HUGE planner so I guess having a spontaneous delivery is just too much against my nature.

BounceU

This morning I took Jackson over to the new BounceU in Carrollton to play. They have a ton of great bounce activities that are just perfect for Jackson. He was fearless...after he made me go through the obstacle course with him. (I know the mental picture of me 39 weeks pregnant going through a blow up obstacle course is causing you to get a good laugh! It made the BounceU worker laugh pretty hard too.) One of Jackson's favorite activities was the T-Ball. A stream of air blows a small ball up in the air and then Jackson could hit the ball into a net. He loved it...and we found out that he hits left handed. (Since he was a baby, he's done everything with both hands but favoring the left. We've been wondering if he'll be right or left handed. Maybe this is a clue.)