Weekend Fun

We had another busy weekend.  We crossed another project off the list!  Here's a shot of Elese's  room before we painted.  It used to be Eli's but we put him in Elese's old room and she got his room.

We got about 1/2 way done on Saturday.  The trim was in horrible shape so we repainted everything.  Scott was a trooper...painting is not his favorite job.

In between the kids played with the new pad for the trampoline.  We decided to wait to put in on until the snow passed...yes, we woke up to snow on Sunday morning!

Elese & Eli played in the box that the trampoline pad came in.  Why is it that they always love the boxes?

 Such a sweet baby...and husband!  :)

 Two little babies in a box...nothing but trouble.

Emery did a little dressing up and a performance followed.  It was too funny.

This was Elese last night in her new room.  She did really well!

Today I put the finishing touches on her room.  I think it turned out really well.  You can't tell from the picture but her name is below on that tree.

Typical Day

Here are some shots from a typical day here at the Jackson's.

This is what Eliot looks like when Emery comes home each day.  I made sure to have a camera handy today so I could capture them together.

Emery said to him, "Give me a kiss sweety boy!"  I was surprised that he knew exactly what to do.

The "To Do" list around here is VERY long this year.  We've been checking a few things off.  Last weekend we painted the front door and shutters black.  Previously they were a blue color. 

We also hung a new light fixture.  The old light was just a recess light in the ceiling of our porch.

When all the kids got home and got up from naps, we headed to the park to play.  This is becoming part of our daily plan.  The kids love to head up there to see what's going on.

Several of Emery's friends were up at the park.  One of the Mom's brought sidewalk chalk and they had a ball drawing all over the place.

Eli & Donovan were chilling out on top of the playset.

Elese has been super excited to try out the short pj's.  This pair was Emery's that Aunt Cindy bought her a couple years back.  I did notice today that the steriods have started to make her swell.

Tonight was Mom's Night at Eli's school.  We did several crafts and had a good time.  This is a shot of everything that we made.

I recently bought some caterpillars for the kids.  We're watching them go through the lifecycle and turn into butterflies.  The kids are really enjoying checking in on them.  I'm thinking the next step will be this weekend.

Landon's 3rd Birthday!

A couple weekends back we headed home for Landon's 3rd birthday.  It was at the bowling alley and Kelly did a fantastic job with the decorations, snacks & treat boxes.

None of the kids wasted any time sucking down a soft drink!  Here's the birthday boy.

Uncle Jason joined us at the party.  It's always nice to have an extra set of hands when you have 4 kids!  Eliot looked so adorable in his new hat but he just wanted to chew on it.

Elese loves to bowl. 

A funny face from Emery.  On a side note, we didn't take any pictures of Eli...not sure how that happened!

Landon & Papa Bear (Brandon's Dad)...these 2 have been best buddies for a long time!

Kelly is such a great friend...she ordered gluten free cupcakes for those of us with the gluten allergy.  Scott, Emery & Elese were surprised and said they were really tasty.  Landon's Jay C cake was pretty yummy too.

Elese...

It was 1 year ago on March 17th that Elese was diagnosed with celiac disease.  I'm including a picture so that you can see how sick this sweet baby really was.  She was 20 months old in the picture and weighed a mere 17lbs.  While Elese is doing much better, the road to total recovery is LONG.  At her follow up appointment last week, we found out that her blood work tests negative for autoimmune hepatitis but her liver biopsy looks just like autoimmune hepatitis.  Hmmm...  In order to give her liver a "break", we need to put her back on steroids.  Yesterday she started 3 weeks of steroids at which point we will redo her blood work to see if her liver enzymes have returned to normal.  Be prepared that in upcoming pictures she will be very bloated looking and her face will look really swollen.

Developmentally Elese is doing SUPER!  Scott & I laugh all the time at how her personality is turning out.  She is very much like Emery was at 2 years old...which makes her very hard to parent at times!  She wants to do everything by herself, outgoing, is full of energy and can be reduced to tears very quickly!  Just yesterday while I was getting ready for a date, she said, "I'm thirsty" and proceeded to go into their bathroom, get her Dixie cup, run back into my bathroom and turn on the bathtub to get herself a drink.  Mind you she was very proud of herself too.  Every day is filled with funny stories like this!  Such a sweet girl and I promise you that we will make it through all the obstacles that her illness sends our way.  Thank you for all of your prayers for Elese.

Father/Daughter Dance!

Tonight was the annual Father/Daughter Dance at Emery's school.  This is her second year to go.  Scott says it's really cute and that the girls have a lot of fun.  Emery loves to have a date with Scott so she was thrilled.  She took a shower, I flat ironed & braided her hair, put on a little make up and she was all set to go!

This is a shot of them last year before the went.  You probably wouldn't notice, but a year on the gluten free diet has done some amazing things for Emery.  She is 10lbs. heavier & the permanent dark circles under her eyes are gone.  I'm amazed at how sick both of my girls really were.  I can plainly see it now when I look back at photos.

We took a few shots before they left.  I was actually able to kind of french braid a section of her hair...which I have not been able to do in the past.

Group shot!  We were all looking pretty rough today except for Emery & Scott.

Everyone wanted to have their picture taken with Eliot.  Is it me or does it look like none of his clothes fit him?  That shirt is a 24months!

Eliot-9 months!

Eliot had his 9 month check up today!  He's doing really well & growing like a weed...23.4 lbs & 29 inches.  I'm amazed at how different his growth is compared to my other kids.  Developmentally he's doing well too.  He can sign Mom & Dad with help, all done and milk.  Verbally he can say Mom, Dad and talk VERY loudly just to be heard!  Some days it's nonstop squawking at me and the kids.  One of my favorite things that he does is when Emery comes home from school each day.  He literally tries to jump out of my arms to get to her.  He squawks at her & flaps his arms until she takes him from me.  She acts like she doesn't like it but she loves for him to talk to her. 

Now his movement development is another story!  Physically he doesn't do anything but sit up.  He loves to be on his tummy but doesn't roll over & doesn't scoot much either.  I'm not worried...he is a 23lb. 9 month old after all!  It will all happen as it should. Who needs to crawl or roll around when you have 3 siblings to help you?  :)

Loving the Weather!

We've had a couple of really nice days here lately.  The kids are ITCHING for warm weather so they can play outside from sun up to sun down!  My garage is slowly filling up with all the warm weather "junk" we have for these kids.  I'm thankful though because the "junk" keeps them busy!

Elese & Peyton crusing in the Barbie Jeep.  The new ride on toys have been a huge hit!  The funny thing about these sunglasses is that she usually wears them upside down.

While the girls were cruising, Eli was helping me withe landscaping.  He's all about helping, especailly when it comes to doing something outside.

He had to put his gloves on too...just like me.  He did a nice job raking, sweeping & picking up the dead leaves.  We didn't get the project finished but we atleast got a nice start.

Peyton went home and got her work gloves too.  We had a pick up sticks game around the yard.  The storm earlier in the week pulled a ton of limbs down.

Most of the time we were outside Eliot was napping.  Once he got up I brought him out to watch the other kids.  He hung out in the stroller and held his ball.  He was also having fun dropping it and watching me pick it up...over and over and over!

Elese LOVES to swing!  This red swing is too tall for her but she loves to try it out.  Her teacher from school calls her the "Push me higher" girl!



Update on Elese

We have some good news about Elese's procedures last week.  We have ruled out autoimmune hepatitis!  The biopsy of her liver showed that it is inflamed and her enzymes are still elevated although we're not sure of the cause.  Her doctor wants to do another blood test to check for another autoimmune disease just to be sure.  Her colon is fine and her small intestines once again confirmed her diagnoses of celiac disease.  When I hear the results of this new blood test, I'll be sure to let you know!  Thank you for your prayers.