December 28, 2011 one year later

December 28 marked the one year anniversary of Jackson going to Heaven. God sent us a gorgeous sunny day. The days leading up to it had been very dark and gloomy weather wise. We were glad to see the sun.

We began the day at a healing service at church. It is a wonderful service that we went to many times last year before and after Jackson was born. The whole family went last year the day after he died. It is an uplifting service that includes Eucharist. My mom joined us. Father Jones said some very special healing prayers over the three of us. All of the priests always know exactly how to pray for us. Of course, I cried during most of the service. After the service, we went to the columbarium to put some flowers on his marker and spend some time with him. We visited with the sexton, Omar, afterwards, which was fitting, as he was the one to put Jackson's ashes in the ground. Every time we see him at church, we give him a hug. He is such a kind soul.

Our sweet friend, Melissa, (who was also our night nanny when Austin came home) came and kept Austin while we went to the service. She and Austin had a fun morning playing together. She was kind enough to bring a balloon to release for Jackson. She holds a special place in our hearts, too, as she was one of Jackson's frequent visitors at Vandy in the PICU. I will never forget the night he died when she walked in the door to spend the night and was in tears over losing Jackson. It made us realize what a kind person she is and how many lives our sweet little angel truly touched. She spent most of the day with us on the anniversary.

We ended the day watching the video of "Baby's First Day" from TLC. It was fun to see the excitement and anxiety in our faces going through the first few days of life. They captured some wonderful footage of both boys. I especially loved seeing the footage of the one and only time I held the boys together. Wish I had gotten to do that more, but sweet Jackson had way too many cords and tubes attached to him. We were amazed at how much he changed from his early days in the NICU to his last few days in the PICU. We found a picture Allen had taken the day he died. I had not seen that picture in a year. Some how it had gotten mixed in with all the other pictures. I was so glad we have the last glimpse of him on his last day even though he was so swollen and puffy and his skin coloring did not look good. The prayer blanket that my brother's friend made him with all the prayers our family and friends submitted was near his head. I was so glad to see it near him. We also watched the video that Allen made of Jackson. He has such a gift with making those videos. Every time I watch it, I cry, but they are good tears. It was a good way to end the day.

Christmas 2011

We have had a great Christmas this year!  Austin was not really into it, as we thought he would.  Even Christmas morning, he was more into the dog toys then his presents. He did not wake up for the day until after 11:45 am!  He was well rested to say the least!  We had fun decorating!

We decided to go to Bass Pro Shop to get Austin's picture made with Santa Claus.  We had fun looking around the store and people watching.  He did great waiting in line.  In the last few weeks, he has really started to have separation anxiety from me.  When I placed him in Santa's lap, no noise came out of his mouth he was crying so hard.  It was comical.  Typical first picture with Santa.  Good memories.

2011 Heart Walk

I decided to organize a team in Jackson's honor for the Heart Walk.  We raised over $1,000!  My best friend, Brittany, drove in town for the weekend from Louisville, Ky with her husband, Paul, and their twins, Samuel and Matthew.  It was so special to have them there.  Our friend, Melissa, came and walked with us, too.  My sweet mom joined us, as well as my friends, Adam, Linsey, and Brooke, and their kids.  We had a great time and great weather.  Before the walk started, we had a chance to go chat with Jackson's heart surgeon.  What a special treat.

Austin's First Birthday

Austin turned one on November 19th.  We had a great day!  My mom and dad, along with Allen and I gave a candle table to church in memory or Jackson and in honor of Austin.  One of the priests suggested dedicating the table on their birthday.  We began the service in the columbarium with a short prayer. Allen and I placed a nice wreath on Jackson's marker.  Then we went into the chapel and continued with the service.  Family and friends came and each walked up and lit candles.  This is not the finished product...they are actually redoing it to look a little more fancy.  What a great way to start the day.

We had a big crowd at Austin's birthday party.  Allen's parents and brother came in town. His sister and niece had come the weekend before to celebrate!  We had all my family and our close friends there.  Everyone was so sweet to come spend time with our favorite boy.  Of course, the one day I needed him to take a good nap, he ends up sitting in his crib playing and only napping an hour.  That made for a very emotional boy during the party.  He usually takes 2 naps a day!  My friend, Wendy, from college, came all the way from Lexington, Ky with her husband and sweet baby girl, Caroline.  They drove all this way just for the party!

Halloween...a little late!

We had a great Halloween this year.  Allen and I had fun dressing up and going to my brother's annual Halloween party!  I even won the costume contest.....all because Allen did my face paint.  I didn't have a costume, and he and my niece, Olivia, went out that afternoon and got me a witch's costume.  I don't think my nephew, Will, recognized me!

Austin was a pumpkin!  He looked adorable and was a great sport about the hat!

Here are some pictures!

9 (10) months pictures

We had a great time getting Austin's 9 months pictures done...they were actually done at 10 months based on our timing.  He was so good again!  Poor thing had a cold or allergies or something that you can see in his eyes, but he was still such a good sport.  The first outfit with the sailboats was Allen's when he was little.  His mom made it, and I think Austin looks adorable in it. 

Gatlinburg and updates from last post

So it has been awhile since I have posted!  Austin has changed so much in these few short months.  Working full time and having a very active baby now does not leave much time for the computer!  

Since the last post, Austin has grown so much!  He has a lot more hair-it is still very wild-sticking up straight and out the sides.  There is not much I can do with it.  He is cutting all 4 top teeth, but so far only the top right one is coming through-he looks like a jackolatern!  His personality is really coming out.  He does not like to be told no and will cry like his feelings are hurt when someone says it to him.  He is crawling all over the place-and very fast!  He can get into Annabelle’s water bowl in a few seconds flat!  He is pulling up on everything now!  We really think he will walk any day now.  He loves the new perspective he has from this new point of view.  He is such a happy baby and so laid back.  He is so curious and just takes everything in wherever we are.  He is getting very independent now and does not want to be held as much unless he’s tired or his teeth hurt.  He is starting to wave bye bye.  He only really says mama and dada, but just this weekend he started using “b” and “n” sounds.

We went to Gatlinburg last weekend and stayed at one of Allen’s family friends’ house.  The house is gorgeous!  Not really kid friendly, but we made it work!  He had so much fun exploring the stairs.  They have a beautiful view from their deck where we spent most of our time.  We went on a fun hike one day, and he loved the backpack.  I did not love it so much as he thought it was a fun game to pull my hair the whole time.  He loves being outside!

Here are some pictures from our trip:

Next month, Austin will be 1!  The pediatrician and his grandfather have said no more bottles, so we are working on the sippy cup.  He basically just plays with it now, so we'll see how he does with the transition. 

We have had fun watching Auburn play this fall.  Austin even has his own little jersey he wears!  He looks really cute in it!

I took him swimming at the indoor pool at the YMCA near our house.  They have a gradual entrance into the pool.  They have a whale slide and a tree with coconuts that pours water out.  They have these 6 holes that spray water out.  He had more fun playing with the water spouts!  He would have stayed there for hours.  He was not happy when it was rest period, and he had to get out.  I will try and get a picture of him playing in the water.  The expression on his face when they turned the water on was priceless.  He was so excited! 

7 month Photo Session

We meant to do a 6 month photo session, but Austin came down with a rash that was the end of his stomach virus the Friday before we were to meet Dena.  Here are the pictures from his session. It was the best one by far.  He was so happy, and you can really see his personality.  His two little bottom teeth are seen, and you can see how his hair sticks straight out over his ear.  The pictures show how his hair kind of has a red tint to it in some light.  My grandfahter (my mom's dad) had red hair.  I think it would be so cute if he had some red or strawberry blond hair!  He does not have much of it.  This was the first time he ever felt grass, too.  His little expressions are so cute!