First birthday and such

Jackson's first birthday was about three weeks ago...we had a great day! I flew home from a business trip in Utah on Wednesday evening and was happy to be home with my boy on his first birthday. We made some cake and had all the grandparents over for his first birthday dinner. He smashed and threw his cake around, but did not actually put any in his mouth on his own. He likes to have a clean face when he eats and smashing cake into his face just wouldn't go with that.

We had Jack's party on Saturday, August 30th and had a great time! We had lots of company and Randy's barbecue for dinner. It was great. The cakes for the party were from Publix-we had a Nemo themed party and cake to go with it. The small cake for Jack was decorated with yellow and blue frosting trim. He smashed it around and made a horrible green mess. The worst part was trying to clean him up-it left a really funky ring in the bathtub. The cleanup from the homemade cake was MUCH easier!!

We have been pretty low-key for the last few weeks. I am being laid off at the end of September, so we are trying to prepare for that. I am actually somewhat excited about staying home with Jack for a while and getting some things done around the house. We'll see how the projects go...Jack will certainly keep me very busy. However, he does nap at least once a day, so I hope to do some sewing while he's snoozing. My mom will certainly be at our house a few days a week. She's going to go through Jack withdrawl, I'm afraid. I am grateful for the help, honestly.

Other than my layoff, there's not much news around here. Jack is walking around like crazy and we swear he's on the brink of talking...he jabbers a lot but hasn't even started calling us Dada and Mama yet. He is teething again...poor kid only has four teeth, so it's about time!! Jack is also back in ISR swimming lessons. We are hoping it will last for another few weeks or so. The teacher has been incredibly gracious and is comping the lessons to make up for our last experience. Jack went through six weeks of lessons and was not remotely ready to save himself if he fell in the water. It's a terrifying thought, but at least we are fixing the problem. Jack has bonded much better with this teacher and we are going to her house instead of her coming to my parents' place. The change in enviroment plus a heated pool have done a great deal already. Instead of him screaming bloody murder the whole time, he only fusses a little bit while in the water and afterwards. Keep your fingers crossed that this time we are successful!

Helmet Graduation!

We are pleased to announce the Jackson has graduated and no longer has to wear his helmet! We got the green light for abandonment yesterday from the pediatric neurosurgeon and we are so excited!

On the injury list is Jack's left big toe. He has been eyeing the canned goods (to his peril) at Gran's house for some time...and the worst has finally happened. He dropped a can of beans on his toe on Monday and it is pretty clear that he is going to lose his toenail. It's very purple and bruised and is starting to lift up. I have some pictures that I will post later...I am leaving for Utah EARLY tomorrow morning but wanted to post before I left.

One more thing-in case anyone was wondering, we survived Fay with no problems. The backyard flooded to near dangerous levels and we thought our back porch might take on some water, but Randy went out in the worst of it, dug a trench in the yard, pulled out a bunch of grass and some landscaping timbers and saved the day! The yard drained onto the front sidewalk pretty quickly and a crisis was averted. Whew!

Way overdue

Ok, so we've basically fallen off the face of the earth...but now we're back!!

In our last installment, Jackson had just begun to crawl around and get into everything. Within a week of crawling, Jack was able to sit himself up, which was very convenient for us. He'd get onto his hands and knees and then didn't exactly know what to do with himself, so he'd pretty much either lay on his belly or make noise until someone sat him up. You can imagine that by this time, he's just zooming around...which brings us to another milestone. Jack took his first real steps on July 10th and is now walking around all over the place. He FINALLY got his first teeth about four weeks ago and his top two teeth broke through his gums just this weekend. We're a little late in the teething department (just like his Mama). No words yet, but he babbles all the time.

Jackson was quite the little traveler in July. We went and met Amy and the three kiddos in Key West for the Fourth of July and had a great time. Poor Steve was at work, but Randy and Mickade fished off the crazy neighbor's dock and we went downtown on Duval for a little bit too. He did really well in the car and we all enjoyed ourselves. I highly recommend the Fly Navy hotel down there-it was simple but nice. And very affordable!!

We also took Jackson on his first airplane ride two weeks after Key West. My grandpa turned 87 on July 19, so we went to Michigan for a long weekend to visit. We went ahead and bought Jack an airplane seat and set up his carseat in the plane. What a great idea that was!! He slept for most of the way there and back. I thank my lucky stars that we weren't the people with the screaming baby. This time. Jack was a bit hit with my family and we had a good time visiting with everyone and going to the farmer's market and all that jazz. We also took Jack to EPCOT to see my sister a couple of days later (my birthday, actually), as she and her kids were there for a week with some friends.

We are finally weaning Jack off of his formula and he's now at 50/50 formula and milk. He had some stomach issues at first but seems to have adjusted quite well. We are excited to be through with the most expensive formula that's not prescription. God bless the internet, because I was able to get it much cheaper there than anywhere else.

We enrolled Jack in ISR swimming lessons (a must for little ones around water) in June. After about six weeks of lessons with (what I later discovered was) a terrible instructor, I am afraid that if Jack fell in the water, he'd sink like a stone. I wrote an email to another local instructor (she's a Master Instructor instead of just a Certified Instructor) and she has graciously offered to re-train Jack at no charge to us. I am waiting for a medical clearance because of the helmet (more on that in a minute) and we will hopefully start this week. I am quite thankful that she has offered to do this for free and hope she will pass on my terrible experience to the other people in the organization. For those of you that don't know, ISR teaches basic rescue swimming for infants as young as six months of age. They learn to roll themselves over in the water and float on their backs until help comes to get them. It's not a complete answer, but can at least buy you some time for when you realize that a little one has gone missing. Drowning is the leading cause of accidental death for young kids around here, so it's very important. In fact, Randy's parents found him at the bottom of the pool about two weeks before his brother was born. He was obviously very lucky. Anyway, I'll keep you updated with the swimming thing.

As for the helmet, Jack is in it for another ten days or so. He goes to what I hope will be his final appointment with the pediatric neurosurgeon a week from Friday. I am really over this helmet thing. I think he's getting headaches from it and he cries quite a lot when it is on these days. He had it off for most of the weekend because there was a spot that was rubbing quite a bit on his head (it left a red spot for quite a while after we took the helmet off). You have to be especially careful with stuff like that because if they get an abrasion on their head while in the helmet, you have to leave the helmet off until it heals completely, so you lose time. Keep your fingers crossed that this is it and that he's done.

Jack learned how to use a straw cup yesterday...I put some water in it and before I knew it, he was sipping from it. Amazing. I thought it would take much longer than half a day.

And finally, some pictures...

Jack enjoying his first ice pop to help with teething (it's Pedialyte from when he was sick-all I had, but he loved it)...

Jack and Mama in Key West on July 4th...

Jack's new girlfriend, Lucy...isn't she a total cutie?!!


Sitting on the beach, waiting for the fireworks to start...Mom, how much longer?

Four generations-us on Grandpa's 87th birthday

Nine Months!

I can hardly believe that Jackson will be 9 months old tomorrow! He started crawling the day before Mother's Day and hasn't stopped since. He is motoring like crazy and can now sit himself up as well. He has pulled himself up to a standing position a couple of times, but I don't think he realizes he can do it.

We had our first really bad bout of sickness two weeks ago with Jack. He had diarrhea one day and for the next week, his stomach just wasn't right. He threw up (all over me, of course) several times and managed to throw up in his bed as well one night. Finally, on day seven of being sick, he finally came around. In my mothering wisdom, I thought that giving him juice at this age wouldn't be a great idea. I don't want him to get the horrible sweet tooth that I have and it's just empty calories that rot your teeth (omg, I am turning into my mother). This totally backfired while Jack was sick, as he wouldn't drink Pedialyte or even the Gatorade G2 the pediatrician's office recommended to ensure he had enough electrolytes. He just wanted what he always drinks if he's not having formula in a bottle-plain old water. He did try and like saltine crackers which was a bonus, so we gave him those since they are chock full of salt. He's fine now and is making up for lost time with an insatiable appetite.

Jack has really got the chewing thing down now and enjoys food quite a lot. He likes chicken, pasta, carrots, potatoes and fruit. He does really like applesauce (apples and blueberries to be exact) and I don't mind giving that to him for dessert. And baby goldfish. Loves the goldfish to death. Did I mention that my growing boy STILL has no teeth? I think maybe they'll come in when he's in high school or something...

Helmet!

Well, Jackson got his helmet on Tuesday...it seems like we have been waiting for this forever. He is getting used to wearing it. They have you ease into it so the kid doesn't totally freak out. He wore it three hours on Wednesday (one hour at a time with an hour break), then six on Thursday (two hours at a time), then twelve today (four hours at a time). Tomorrow is supposed to be eight hours at a time, but we will probably just leave it on him. My friend Alison from work says that he looks like Speed Racer (and I think she might be right).

Turns out my sister got word on Monday that she and her family are moving to Houston this summer. While sad to be leaving Dallas, she seems to be ok with it. Ian is excited-they went to Houston a few weeks ago for a Tae Kwon Do tournament and he had fun, so he's looking forward to it. They have known about the move for a couple of years, but I think it was a shock to hear that it was FINALLY going to happen. I am excited to kill the proverbial two birds with one stone next year and visit Charlotte and one of my best friends, Anna. Anna's son Wyatt is exactly seven months younger than Jackson and I can't wait to see them.

I am so excited that my other best friend, "Little" Amy, is back in Florida again for a few years. She and her husband Steve are moving to Key West in June, and she has come down from New York early-yay!! She had baby #3, a girl named Lucy on March 2nd. I can't wait to meet Lucy and too see her other two little ones, Mickade (who will be a whopping six years old in about a week) and Lilli (age 3 1/2). Amy is looking forward to seeing Jackson for the first time. Should be fun...I haven't seen her since about this time last year when I was still pregnant (obviously).

We are looking forward to a quiet weekend...we need a break. Jack's sleep is still erratic. Last night, he slept through the night with nary a peep. He's been up a few nights this week with wet diapers and needing to be turned from belly to back. He freaks out when he wakes up on his belly. I am praying he sleeps as well tonight as he did last night.

Jack is finally getting the chewing thing for food. He had some avocado tonight and just LOVED it and was begging for more. He also had some yogurt, which I am giving him sparingly given his previous sensitivity to milk. I am hoping it doesn't upset his stomach, because he really did like it.

Birthday/Baptism weekend!

I promised an update on the first weekend of April, so here it is. My Grandma Shirley turned 85, my sister had another 29th birthday and Jackson was baptized.


Charlotte, Dean, Ian and Jeanette arrived on Thursday (also Charlotte's birthday) and we had dinner at our place with a lovely birthday cake. Apparently, Jeanette was very concerned about her mom having a cake since they were traveling, so we went all out. A beautiful Disney Princesses cake was set alight for Charlotte's birthday with a few candles for her to blow out.


We had pictures taken of the kids on Friday for everyone and they turned out so cute!! Ian was extremely helpful and fed Jackson his bottle in the car so he wouldn't get fussy and ruin the pictures. Here are our cuties!


Shirley's younger brother Jon came to visit Friday and we went to Islands Fish Grill for lunch with him and had a great time. She was incredibly surprised to see him and it was so sweet of him to visit. He flew in from California for just a few days and then flew back for his wife's birthday celebration. I just returned from California a week ago and can tell you that it is a grueling trip, so hats off to Great Uncle Jon.



We had a really nice dinner for Grandma's birthday at the Yellow Dog Cafe on Saturday evening. We lucked out and the kids managed to keep from melting down while we were eating at the restaurant. We had yummy Ben and Jerry's ice cream cake for dessert...soooo good! Ian decided that he wanted to spend the night at our house, so we put him up on the blow up mattress and he slept like a rock. He was such a great helper with Jackson and was so very sweet to him. He's a terrific kid...we wish we lived closer so we could see them more often.



Sunday morning was Jack's baptism...we packed it in so everyone could attend, since they were already there for Grandma's birthday. The baptism followed the longest Mass we have ever attended at our church...we were there forever! Jackson didn't make a peep when the priest poured the water on his head and was good the entire time. The lunch afterward went on into the evening hours and we had a very good time. May we state for the record that this is the only time that we will put Jackson in a dress, opting for the very traditional Christening gown that my mother made for him with her own two incredibly talented hands. It was beautiful and we had more pictures taken of Jack in the gown.


Jack will be eight months old on Monday. We have been giving him cereal puffs and just today I noticed him finally starting to chew them rather than trying to suck on them and swallow them whole. Woo hoo! Solid food, here we come!! He is sitting up by himself, turning around onto his belly and is so close to crawing that we are overdue for babyproofing the house. He LOVES to drink water out of a sippy cup and finds both our dogs and my parents' dogs just hilarious. He laughs at them quite a lot.


I am running a 5K for the Melbourne Art Festival on Saturday with some coworkers...should be fun. I haven't run a race in about a year and a half, so I'm looking forward to it.

Too long!

It has been way too long since my last post...a little catch-up.

Jackson's first Easter was great. Randy had just returned from a week in California and a totally botched (not-so-Good) Friday morning flight from San Jose...he missed his Friday morning plane and rather than being home Friday night for dinner, he was home for a late lunch on Saturday instead. And then we had the family over for Easter dinner on Sunday. Yes, I know we're crazy. But we already had all the food. Here's some pictures: coloring eggs with me, Jack's basket from the Easter Bunny and hanging out with Nana on Easter Sunday. Notice the super-cute sweater vest...my mom knitted it for him before he was born and it fit like a glove!!

We took Jackson to the pediatric neurosurgeon a couple of weeks ago and discovered that he has moderate to severe plagiocephaly (i.e. a VERY flat back of the head). Dr. Olivarria did indeed recommend helmet therapy to correct the problem. Thankfully, my friend Anna's husband Ben (also a doctor) is a great counsel in this area, as this is his specialty AND he just finished a two month rotation at Children's Hospital there in Houston dealing with issues such as this. Basically, it is no big deal, it will take 6-12 weeks depending on how fast his head grows and weather or not he has a growth spurt while wearing the helmet. The downside is that most insurance companies have determined that this is a cosmetic problem, not a developmental issue and will not cover the (in Jackson's case) $2000 cost for helmet and treatment. According to Ben, this is an awesome deal and is cheap compared to other places he has heard of. The neurosurgeon's office made our case to Health First anyway. I finally got so exhausted and insane from praying that insurance would cover it that I asked God to just give me peace and let me be happy with whatever the decision was...lo and behold, Health First approved the helmet therapy. We are so thankful!! Here are a couple pictures of our boy's very flat head. You can see that the one side is indented more than the other and that the back of his head isn't rounded out like it should be. His reflux and the throwing up he did every time we put him on his belly didn't help when he was a younger-he spent a lot of time on his back. Apparently, we are lucky that his forehead isn't bulging due to this. He has to go hopefully this week for the mold, then back two weeks after that for the fitting. Once we have the helmet, it's back once a week for the first three weeks to Orlando to have them check it and then it's up to the docs there how often they will see him after they have seen his progress. Very crazy and a huge pain, but I guess there's a possibility of brain damage if they don't fix it?

This weekend was another whirlwind that I will save for next time...Grandma Shirley's 85th birthday and Jackson's baptism were the highlights of the weekend.

Jackson update!

Jackson went to see Dr. Witte on Friday for his latest check-up and shots. As of Friday, he was 18 lbs. 5 oz. (65th percentile) and 28 1/2 inches long (off the charts-95th percentile +). We are going to give soy formula a shot next weekend at her suggestion, so that should be an adventure. We are also going to visit the pediatric neurosurgeon (don't freak out yet) because of Jackson's warped head (also called plagiocephaly). She wanted to be cautious and have us go now. Should he need a helmet, it will be quick and easy now rather than later when his bones have calcified more. His head has quite a slope to one side, so we've been expecting this for a while. We'll see how that goes. If he does need one, it should only be for a few months at most.

Jackson continues to be a very happy kid and just loves being outdoors, taking baths and eating. He watches in earnest as we eat, wanting so badly to have some. He did have a little taste of cake, frosting and ice cream a week ago Sunday at Aunt Nancy's birthday party. He also had some toast at breakfast the same day and managed to get butter in his hair. He's pushing himself up with his arms quite well these days and Gran said just today that he managed to get up on his knees. Here we go! It's all downhill from here. Jackson hates lying down and wants to sit up or stand up all the time (I think so he can see everything). We have switched him out of his infant car seat into his convertible one because having him in "the bucket" was just way too heavy! He can sit up a bit more in the convertible seat as well, which he seems to like.

All is well here...we're just very tired.

Not sleeping...again

Jackson broke his four-night streak on Friday and hasn't slept through the night since. Ugh. He is waking at 2am and is taking a full 7 oz. bottle, so we are certain he is hungry and not just waking out of habit. I did try giving him some baby food that has some cereal in it for his dinner tonight. We'll see how that goes.

Had a nice weekend. Jack and I went out with my mom on Saturday to the mall and then went out for lunch. We had dinner plans with Randy's boss so Jack and I got home and pretty much turned around and went to Adam and Sue's for dinner, which was awesome. Pork chops with yummy cherry sauce, asparagus, carrots and carrot cake for dessert (belated for Randy's birthday). So tasty!

Worked in the front yard on Sunday and hacked down the hibiscus plants out there, which was long overdue. Trimmed the crotons and the elephant ear plant and they all look much better.

Not much else going on here besides the daily grind. I've started running again, this time at work with my wonderful co-workers Jenn and Alison. This is their first go at the running thing, and they are doing awesome and are such troopers. I really hope the three of us can make it to the end of this running plan, as I think it's so much fun. I'm glad to be getting back into it for both the exercise and other health benefits. My ob/gyn suggested I get back to running to help build my bone density, as our sweet little babies tend to suck calcium right out of our bones as they get big and strong while in utero.

Speaking of sweet little babies again, Jackson will be six months old tomorrow. Amazing to think that six months ago, I was gazing out the window at the full moon at the hospital, with them just starting my pitocin. I had no idea what I was in for...ha! He's so much fun now and we just couldn't imagine life without our Jackson. Crazy stuff. :) And again on the baby front, I'm still waiting to hear if baby Atchley #3 has decided to make an appearance yet. I believe he/she is due on Friday, so we are all anxious to see how it turns out. Thinking good thoughts for Amy and baby for a quick, easy, painless birth....

Three in a Row!

Ok, so I'm probably jinxing myself...Jackson has slept through the night for the last three nights in a row. He was up REALLY early this morning (4:30am) but who needs sleep? Keep your fingers crossed for us...

Weekend update

Ok, so not as funny as the Saturday Night Live Weekend Update, but whatever. Casa del Burch was busy this weekend.

Jackson was a complete turkey in the early hours of Saturday morning and kept Randy up. When he woke me up in the morning, I decided that we needed to get out of the house and run some errands, so we went to Publix and Target and let Randy sleep in some. We got home around 9am or so. Amazing how dead Publix is at 7:30am on a Saturday and Target at 8:15am. It was great-I got my errands done and Jack even took a little nap. I can't remember what we did for the rest of Saturday; I'm sure Randy will remind me and I'll update later. I have no brain anymore-the baby fog has taken over.

We worked in the yard on Sunday. We finally dug out the planter in the backyard, so it looks like some respectable adults live in our house instead of lazy, unruly college students. Randy mowed and was going to use the weedeater and edger and discovered that the motor had been stolen out of our garage. I know the neighborhood had some thefts around the holidays, but neither of us knew it had been stolen until yesterday. We'd had a lawn service for about six months and hadn't needed to use the contraption, so I'm guessing it's been gone for some time and we just didn't know. We're both pretty ticked off about that-we think maybe some kids took it to power up their scooter and drive us crazy by running it around the neighborhood. It could be worse-some of our neighbors had a ton of power tools stolen from their garage in broad daylight while they were mowing in the backyard. We had been much better about keeping the garage door closed since the rash of thefts around the holidays and apparently it didn't make a difference. I swear we don't live in the ghetto-I think someone found our that our neighborhood is nice and a pretty good target since we are all usually comfortable and crime-free.

I had the day off today and Randy decided to take the day off, so we spent it with our boy. We hung out at home, met my mom for lunch and walked around up at The Avenue this afternoon before we got home and had the exhaustion hit us. Randy made a really good pork loin for dinner and I have been doing laundry all day while we've been home. It just mounts up like crazy. Anyway, another pic of our gorgeous baby boy...have a good week, everyone. :)

Happy Valentine's Day!

Here's our little boy all dressed up for Valentine's Day! Is he a hunk or what? He spent the day escorting Gran and Gran Great to the doctor's office and of course charmed all the nurses as Papa paraded him around. With a face like that, how could you not?!!

Update on the development front...Mom said today that Jack was pushing himself up onto his arms today and even rolled from his belly to his back several times. I am an insane worrywart and know it has probably already taken several years off of my life. At least, that's what Dr. Oz says (he has a very interesting show on the Discovery Health Channel, by the way). So, we put him on his belly and I witnessed the pushing up, which is a huge plus. He didn't roll over, but I've actually seen him do it by accident several times before. Progress!! Hurrah!!

And while I'm here, I should mention that he did not sleep through the night last night, but boy was he hungry! At 1:30 am, he took an entire 6 oz. bottle and then went right back to sleep. We'll get there!

More sleep!

I am quite pleased to announce that Jackson slept in until 6am today-hurray!! I am hoping he continues this trend, particularly this weekend. As I get up for work sometime around 5:15am, sleeping in until 6 would feel like forever.

I am a bit concerned with Jack's development. He's 5 1/2 months old and still isn't rolling over onto his belly on his own (at least not on purpose). He does roll from side to side to play when lying on the floor, but he just doesn't make it all the way over. He's quite good at sitting up and is beginning to need much less support. The picture from yesterday of him with the hat was taken with him just gently leaning up against Randy's leg. I guess the fact that he not only hates to be on his stomach but also spits up profusely nearly every time he's on his belly has something to do with him not wanting to be there, but he's only rolled from his tummy to his back by accident. Maybe when he realizes that there's locomotion to be had on the belly, he'll choose to be on it. Can't say I blame the poor kid-his reflux is just terrible. On the bright side, he just loves his exersaucer and loves to stand up whenever you hold him. Unless he's very tired, he wants to either sit up or stand up. Yes, I know I worry too much. We'll see Dr. Witte on March 7th, so I'll ask her about it then. She didn't seem too concerned last time, saying that he had the muscle tone to roll over, just not the will to do it. Wonder where he gets that slightly stubborn streak...Randy, perhaps? :)

Randy's birthday

Randy turned 35 today-happy birthday! Jackson gave him (us, really) a great present by sleeping through the night and until 5am. Sure beats 3:30-4:30am like he's done lately. I think the trick was just keeping him up a bit longer. He went down at 7:30 tonight, so we'll see how it goes. Randy bought himself a lovely new stainless gas grill a couple of weekends ago for his birthday and Jackson got him some shirts from L.L. Bean that are no-iron oxfords. Not the most exciting, but we are clearly in the days of practicality now.

I am still working up at the Cape and am tired of the commute. Realistically, so many people that live in big cities have a much worse commute than me, but I would just rather work at Patrick, as it's so much closer.

Here are a couple of pics of our boy to round out this entry. He's so hilarious-I just can't get enough of him!

First post!

Hmm...with so many things going on in my world, it's high time I make some sort of diary not only for myself, but friends and family also. So, here I am. We'll see how long I can keep this up.

Randy and I dropped Jackson off with his parents today and spent the day in Orlando, mostly window shopping. We ended up buying Jack some new clothes-the kid is growing like crazy. He's only 5 1/2 months old and is already growing out of his 6 month clothes. He's just huge. Checked out Ikea in Orlando. OMG, that place was completely and totally insane. It was very crowded and the checkout lines were crazy. Of course, it was prime time on a Saturday afternoon, so I really shouldn't be surprised. Had dinner at Texas de Brazil and I am still stuffed. It was so good, though.

Jackson is still not sleeping through the night, although the other morning at 3, I found Randy asleep on the couch, still in his clothes with the TV and light on. Jack didn't wake until 3:45 to eat which isn't too bad. However, he is a marvelously happy baby, especially with all his stomach issues. Between the insanely expensive formula and the zantac, we do have him pretty well straightened out.

Not much else here. I am dragging my feet about losing the last 10 pounds I have left over from being pregnant. It really is bothering me. I know that it took quite a while to put on, but I wish it were easier to get off. It is just frustrating that I don't have much time to see Jack during the week as it is, so going to the gym is just another thing that I need to make time for after he goes down for bed. I think I am punishing myself internally, as I'm purposefully not buying myself any new clothes, as I keep thinking that I am going to fit into my old ones soon. I really need to quit griping and DO something. Argh. Very frustrating. For all of you that said it would come off easily, you're all a bunch of liars!! lol....