Jackson's Early Birthday

Jackson is going to have 2 birthdays this year. We celebrated his birthday tonight with the family because we wanted to do it before we left the Valley. On his actual birthday, Nov 6, we will celebrate it again with Mom, Dave and Ethan. He's a lucky kid!!! Silvia and I made him a cute cake and we realized it really wasn't necessary! He didn't eat one bite, he just wanted to play with his presents! So, lesson learned... don't stress about making a cute cake! He liked the way it looked though. Notice the phone in the picture of him with his cake? That is Luis on speakerphone helping us sing "Happy Birthday" :) He was most excited about the cars that Grandma and Papa Lew got him. Becky gave him a Jesus puzzle and Article of Faith flash cards. Luis and I got him new coloring books and crayons that he can use on the airplane! He also got a Truck and trailer from G and G. He was so upset when he had to go to bed and put away all his new cars. I think I will let them both take 2 cars on the airplane... it's amazing how entertained they are by them.

3 and a half days until we go to Grandma and Grandpop's house! We are getting prepared for it! It was in the 60s this morning with a high today of 72... very unusual for McAllen this time of year! It is usually in the 80s even in December! We enjoyed the fresh air outside but it was just shocking to have to put sweaters on the boys when we went outside to feed the chickens! (The boys are going to miss those chickens!) Can you tell from the pictures that I didn't know it would be that cold when I got them dressed? :) Oh, and the socks and sandals look isn't a shout out to the 80s... it's to protect the blisters on Jackson's feet- which by the way, are looking great! The bumps and blisters from the Hand Foot and Mouth disease are healing nicely, but won't be completely gone for a while. As for the other virus, Erythema multiforme, he is also healing pretty well. He hasn't gotten any new lesions, and the ones that are there already are disappearing. He still has the big ones, but Lew seems surprised by how quickly they are going away! An answer to many prayers! We may even get to go to Sacrament Meeting on Sunday. The bishop had asked if I would bear my testimony before I leave... so we will see how Jackson is doing on Saturday night. So, overall, happy to report that the sickness seems to be on it's way out!

What is the plural word for virus???

I really don't know. :) Jackson has 2 at once. He has Hand Foot and Mouth Disease, like I said in the last post. His bumps are finally starting to blister over... which means that in the next few days they will fade away. Thank goodness... then around noon today I Jackson started scratching his legs like crazy and I looked and he had dime-sized welts all over his body! Poor thing! I showed them to Lew and he told me it is ANOTHER virus! I can't remember the name for it, but you pretty much get ring or target-like welts all over. They can itch or burn, which is the case with Jax, since he keeps scratching. He needs to be on benedryl and motrin and Silvia is going to pick up a topical cream that is supposed to dry them out quicker. Jackson just fell asleep on the couch. I am going to try really hard not to let Jacob, or anyone else in the house get this virus! I just dissinfected surfaces and doorknobs and all... please pray for us! (And everyone we share an airplane with on Tuesday :) Here are some pics of his bumps... they are a little worse than that now, but you get the idea. POBRECITO! Oh, and I couldn't resist a pic of Jake doing his cute "side look".

Pictures and surprising update!

Let's get the update out of the way. Luis is no longer working with RMS. It's kind of a long story but the bottom line is they had to shut EVERYTHING down on Friday. They all left on good terms and Luis has an idea to get a job quick, hope it works. He is going to start looking for jobs again though. We were kind of shocked and I am a little uneasy, but Luis is handling it very well. I just miss him and wish he was here with me. I am still going to stay with Mom and Dave on Nov 1, but after that, we really don't know what our plans will be. I guess we are kind of taking it as it comes. Please keep us in your prayers.

We have had a week of sickness... Jackson came down with a stomach bug on Mon-Tues (vomiting, fever, diarrhea) then Jake got it on Tues-Wed and I got it on Wed-Thurs... fun right? Well, today is Saturday and last night Jackson woke up at midnight with a fever and complaining of a headache. By the time I realized he needed to go to the clinic they were closed. His fever hasn't been extremely high, but hasn't gone below 100 all day... even on Tylenol. I was waiting for a call from his Dr all day to get a referral so he could go to a diff clinic but the call never came. I am going to call the Dr again tomorrow and see if there is a clinic open on Sunday. I think he must have an infection of some kind since his fever is pretty constant, but I would feel weird taking him to the ER over the weekend because of a fever and headache... We'll see how he is tomorrow, either way, I don't think I will get much sleep tonight. Then finally... Jacob on Thursday-ish developed a rash on his bum that Silvia and I thought were from the stomach bug or something, nope... It got really bad so I took him to the clinic on Friday (WHy couldn't Jax have gotten sick one day early and I couldve handled 2 in 1 visit!) and he has a bacterial/fungal infection on his bum! Yikes! SO he is on antibiotics and a fungal cream. Not cool. AND, yes, there is more... today he developed blister-like bumps on his hands, feet, and mouth... the diagnosis... he has "Hand, Foot, and Mouth Disease" which is a different virus all together! GIVE ME A BREAK!!! There is no treatment and the bumps aren't painful but our little family is experiencing a wide range of illnesses :) Lew said that in a week or so the bumps will go away. JOY! I sure hope Jax doesn't get it.
Ok, now for some pictures!

It's rare to see them sitting this close together!

Papa Lew, being very protective of his cheeseballs... Jake and Jackson's bday gift to him. He has good reason to be protective... the first time he opened them Jackson ran up to him and said "Grandpa, I will share with you." :)

THis is Jackson reading the catalog for the Exchange, the military store... base exchange, I don't really know what the real name for it is... he stared at that page for probably a total of 2-3 hours throughout the day... he just loved all those cars!

My first ever attempt at making charro beans! I love them and Silvia trusted me to make them, with no exact recipe, just ingredients and it turned out ok... with one problem. She forgot to tell me a major ingredient! Jalapenos! So they were spiceless charro beans! Still pretty good!




And finally, these pictures are for Luis, he has been wondering how big Cindy is. She is probably 3-4 months old now. She is huge! Still likes to nibble on my boys' legs and hands which they hate. I can't tell you how many times I hear "MOM, help!" when we are outside and Jackson is running at me full force to get away from Cindy. Can you imagine Cindy up against Molly, aubry's dog :) Just kidding Aubry!

One of the things I will miss about being here, Silvia's omelets. I will also miss the delicious, authentic Mexican food. I have never had real tacos and gorditas til I came here... They are so much better than anywhere else... and so much more fattening... which is why I have come to believe that it is impossible to lose weight in Rio Grande Valley!!!

My darling Jacob... a fruitaholic. Mom, Dave, get ready... he will eat all your fruit!


A ramputan... the weirdest fruit I have ever seen. Apparantly there is a plethora of fruits that can only be found outside the US and this just happens to be a good example. It looks funky but tastes like a pear/grape... but... it is $7.99/lb! YIKES!

This is what happens to my hair when I am nervous during a movie... we were watching X-Men 3 and it is pretty intense. I twist my ponytail when I am nervous :)

Mealtime success

This is what happens when Jackson eats his food! He gets yummy cookies! He only likes to eat the frosting though, which is unbelievable considering how good those Lofthouse cookies are! Jackson has been doing pretty well lately and eats his food almost all the time. I am trying to remember to give him options. Hope you enjoy the pictures. I will try to post more soon.

Whitest of Whites

Sad news... I went to buy new makeup the other day... knowing I needed a lighter shade because for my entire life, I have never found a shade that didn't give me that orange-ish line under the jaw- you know? I think I've never found it because I have always, subconsiously, refused to try the lightest shade available. Well, I gave in and I bought the lightest shade Maybelline had to offer and sure enough... it's perfect. Who knew I was so white? Thanks, Mom. :)

Halloween and Birthday Party

So, my boys are going to be ghosts for Halloween... can't get any easier, right!? I was about to buy Jackson a race car driver costume because diapers.com is having 50% off plus and extra 25% off... so it was only going to be $11 with no tax and no shipping... pretty cheap! But then Silvia and I were going through her fabric and found a white piece that was just Jackson's size. Both boys loved being wrapped in the sheet. We fooled around with ideas about making other costumes, but nothing was as easy and low maintanance as a ghost... so the other day I went to Walmart and spent $1.50 on another yard of white fabric for Jake! Halloween costume worries? NO WAY! We had them practice saying "Ooooo" and other ghost sounds and they got a big kick out of that... we are going to put flour in their hair to make it white. :) Now I just have to figure out when Trunk or Treat is! ***Disclaimer*** I would NEVER take my children trick or treating for real in McAllen/Mission. It is SO dangerous. People here don't do it right. They drive from neighborhood to neighborhood with kids running in and out of cars and the streets are literally like an LA traffic jam with children running all over the place. The goal is obviously to see how many bags of candy you can fill from the most neighborhoods! Anyway, it ruins it. I just can't believe how many parents let their kids run amongst the cars like they do. Did I mention how dangerous it is... it's night, dark costumes, barely any street lights... can't see!!! I'm glad I won't have to deal with that next year. I hope :)

Also, I am planning a little birthday party for Jax before he leaves. His bday is Nov 6, but I wanted him to have fun with his friends before he leaves. So I wanted to have his party at a bounce house place but they want $250 for 2 hours... NO. Then I thought about having it at a public park and just reserve some of the covered picnic areas. Has anyone done that? I wonder how much it costs. I am going to call tomorrow. I was also wondering if maybe the library does something for birthdays... any ideas on other cheap places? He is only going to be 4 so I don't want to spend tons of money! Help me brainstorm!

Random

I am going to stay with Mom and Dave for over 2 months starting on November 1st! I am so excited. I bought my tickets the other night and I still can't believe it. I feel a little nervous about the fact that I am actually moving on with my life! I am so excited to spend time with my family! I just got off the phone with Ethan and it was so funny hearing him tell me that I will probably be bored because Mom will be the only one home and he will be at school... so I told him that Mom and I have a lot of fun together and I am so excited to spend all day with her!!! Maybe I can learn how to quilt while I am there ;)

In other news, Jacob not only went peepee on the potty like my last post said... he also went poo on the potty! He is my little advanced baby! Now, to get him to do it again! He is speaking a lot too. I think everyone will be surprised when they hear him. He repeats anything you ask him to and now he is starting to copy us, even when we don't ask him to.

I need more sleep because lately I have been saying things that really don't make sense. This morning... it was a very late night for me... I was finishing a conversation with Jackson at breakfast about an owie on his hand and turned to jake and said... "C'mon, you need to eat your owie!" Of course I meant food... but it was really funny! Like I said, that's been happening a lot lately and I need more sleep!