Autumn

Recently, I've been a little obsessed with Autumn, the pregnant giraffe here at the Greenville Zoo. She is due any day now and the zoo has set up a life webcam so everyone can track her progress as she approaches labor and delivery.




At first, I didn't get the phenomenon. However, once you start peeping in on her, its hard to stop. And the handy little app makes it easy to track her on the go and can even stream live to AppleTV. I mean, I'll get up to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night and I literally cannot resist checking in on Autumn. Who wouldn't want to witness the miracle of baby giraffe birth streaming live? And I won't lie, we also went to the zoo this week hoping to see it in real life, but no luck.

And on the zoo's facebook page, its amazing to see the comments from people who have laid out of work, kept their kids home from school or just stayed up all night expectantly watching Autumn. I mean, really?!?




So if anyone has a few extra hours a day to waste, check out Autumn:
http://www.earthcam.com/usa/southcarolina/greenville/?cam=giraffe_ext

It's fairly addictive, so don't say I didn't warn you!!


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Happy Feet Redeemed

After a rough first week of soccer, we took a self-proclaimed "bye" the following Sunday due to overcast weather and a church event that evening. We figured we all needed an extra week to recover from the drama and emotional fatigue of the initial game.


However, Jackson came back this week raring to go. He got out there and represented. He got tackled (by his own team-mate, who by the way, needs a little discipline), shoved and kicked and bounced back each time, with no hesitation or tears.



He was aggressive and fought for the ball. And he scored 2 goals. Yes, two goals. He was over the moon, and so excited that he "won". But more importantly, he had a blast. He ran, jumped, laughed and just had a ball the entire time.






Go Red Rockets!

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Happy Feet - Week 1

Last Sunday was Jackson's first foray into organized sports. We had talked it up for several weeks now, and were excited about the low-key introduction to soccer. The concept of the Happy Feet league fit what we wanted in his first organized activity: 1 practice/scrimmage per week for an hour. Each Sunday afternoon, the kids spend the first 30 minutes practicing skills, running drills and playing silly games. The last 30 minutes are spent on a 4 on 4 game versus an opposing team. Jackson's team is the Red Rockets (Ben has enjoyed making jokes about this team name for a month now). Jackson T. & Jackson P. (as they are referred to in school) really cause some confusion for the coach!






While the first half of the deal was awesome and Jackson had a blast running, kicking and playing, the second half was a different story. Let's just say that the week prior to the game, I had emphasized scoring goals and did not even prepare him for the fact that the other team would be trying to stop him from doing so. So on the first play, he got the ball and was driving for the goal when another player managed to kick the ball away from him.

M-E-L-T-D-O-W-N.

Throwing himself on the ground, kicking & screaming that, "I didn't win, I wanted to win." Talk about a team player. Ben spent the next 20 minutes trying to calm him down and convince him to get back out there and try again.



He eventually got on the field but as soon as the defensive team came within range of him, he lost it. I guess its our fault for not explaining that unlike kicking it around the backyard, the actual soccer field consists of two teams who are competing for the ball. But more importantly, this has given us an excellent opportunity to teach sportsmanship, team-mentality and that its not all about winning.

On the upside, he does look adorable in his tiny shin guards.


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Julie's Baby Shower

A couple weeks ago, a few friends and I threw Julie a diaper shower to help celebrate the upcoming arrival of baby Liam.




It was so much fun to host the shower and actually use my fine china and crystal (for only the second time in 7 years, I'm ashamed to admit). We had a really good turnout and Julie should be stocked up on diapers & wipes for at least a few months!















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My neck. My back. My neck and my back!

Well not really back, just neck. But I couldn't resist using one of the few movies lines that I actually know.

Anyways, Jackson woke up at 4:30 AM on Monday morning in screaming pain. His neck was hurt and he could not move his head without major discomfort. Neither Ben or I could get him calmed down so we called the peds after hours line and the nurse basically told us to go to the ER because neck injuries were serious. While it was not injury-related, we had never seen Jackson so hysterical and in so much pain. He did not have a fever or rash, so the nurse's theory of meningitis was scary but not realistic. But when Jackson said he was okay with missing that day's pizza party at school and that yes, this was an emergency and he needed to go to the hospital, we decided to air on the side of caution and make the first of probably many trips to the ER.

We loaded him up in the carseat and braced his head with towels and he was somewhat comfortable {for all of you former lifeguards like myself, don't fret -- this was not a spinal injury that needed proper bracing}. Of course, the children's ER is clear across town as opposed to the hospital that is literally less than a mile from our house.

By the time we get to the ER, Jackson had calmed down and the motrin has started working. He quietly laid in the hospital bed in the ER and watched Full House while we waited on the doctor.




Upon consultation, they suspected that he had a crick in his neck, or had jarred it somehow the day before, and that, combined with a mild upper-respiratory infection and swollen lymph nodes, he had severe localized pain in his neck. We got a bottle of amoxycillian as a consolation prize - because one of his ears was "slightly inflamed" - and were sent home with orders to rest and take motrin every 6 hours. And the gummy Halloween sucker I had thrown in my bag as a Hail Mary didn't hurt either.




Jackson was passive until about lunch time, but by the time we picked Weston up at 2, he was bouncing off the walls, the medical drama from the wee hours clearly forgotten.
We are thankful that it was nothing more serious, but next time, unless it is a definitive emergency, we vow to wait an hour or so to see if things improve as opposed to listening to the on-call nurse's CYA approach.

Three days later, I had to literally hold Jackson down in order to cut off his hospital bracelet.




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Hi-Ho, Hi-Ho, to Oma & Opa's we go

A few weeks ago, we headed down to Brunswick to spend a long weekend with Oma & Opa, Uncle Jon and William, Tinka & Cora. Let me preface this by saying that the week prior to our trip, Ben was traveling and had plans to fly directly in to Jacksonville, meaning I got the privilege of driving the 6-hour trip with both kids solo. What a treat. Lets just say that I do not plan to do that again any time soon. We did stop in Cola for a little intermission at Sally's house, and the kids loved seeing their buddies.






Jon is moving to the Seattle area this month and he will be there for the next 3 years. So our weekend in Brunswick also served as a farewell send-off for him. We baked cookies, went out on the boat, went to the waterpark, ate and ate and ate, and just enjoyed spending time with family that we don't get to see nearly enough.



























On Saturday night, we did a big low country boil with all of Lill's extended family. We enjoyed seeing everyone and had Ben an early little birthday party with the most delish red velvet cake I've ever eaten. Jackson thought it was the greatest thing to have a "party" for Ben.



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Fall Fun

Over the weekend while Ben was consumed with getting our rental house finished up, the boys and I hit up a few fun fall activities.
On Friday afternoon, we went to Freaky Friday, an annual fall carnival fundraiser for a local elementary school. While the name alludes to a scary theme, the afternoon festivities were not scary, and included rides, bounce houses, midway games and lots of food. We met up with some friends and the boys had a blast with all the activities.









On Saturday, I took the boys to the local pumpkin patch. They had so much fun running through the pumpkins, seeing chickens and chicks and climbing on the "horses" made of saddled up hay bales.










The hayride...not so much. In theory, it sounded like a great idea, but one Mommy wrangling two squirmy kiddos on a hot, bumpy, 30-minute hayride was not the best decision I've ever made. About 10 minutes into it, Weston wanted down. And of course I didn't have any snacks or drinks to pacify him with, and we are clear across the farm so we really can't jump ship unless I want to carry the kids on through cornfields and barnyards to get back. So needless to say, we were all very thankful when that overloaded wagon pulled back into the barn.