Worlds Best Big Brother/Jinx

Brett giving baby Caleb his first bath at home.

Brett has been such a good big brother so far. He doesnt really want to hold him or anything but yet every once in a while you will catch him starring at him. Its very sweet.
Brett and Caleb look so much alike. I couldnt find the best pictures to show this but here is one of Brett. The first thing justin and I both said when he was born was- wow he looks just like Brett.

Caleb

Brett


Caleb



Brett


Well yesterday I blogged that Caleb was an angel who didnt cry much..... jinxed myself- he cries. He was up last night from 9-midnight just wailing! Thank goodness for all the help we had. Today I was able to take a 3 hour nap while Brett was at school and the baby was sleeping. Poor justin didnt have the luxury. Tomorrow he has class from 830-1030, 1230-230, and 7-9. He is going to be exhausted!

Caleb is now 3 days old. He is sporting all his Weber Gear!



Brett, Caleb and Cousins Aleck and Jace.


So far Caleb has been an angel of a baby. He sleeps an awful lot. Yesterday he slept all day long. Caleb was only awake around 430 in the morning. He is a very quiet baby and just squeaks a lot. We have heard his cry only a handful of times.

I had a few questions about his birth. I dont want to gross anyone out with details so I will just sum it up quickly. We went to the hospital at 7 am to be induced. The dr. came to break my water at 830 but there was a complication with how the water was sitting and a blood vessel that connected to Caleb. If they broke that it would be emergency surgery. So we just waited and waited to see if it moved. It never did. I had an epidural that was way to strong,then had them take it down a little my blood pressure crashed and I felt light headed. Finally they got a 2nd opinion and this dr. was able to very painfully break my water around 330. At that point I was in horrible pain and had to get my epidural turned back up and then I couldnt feel anything including my hands but yet I could still feel the pain I was trying to get rid of. So while I was so numb I couldnt move my legs or hands I was still in crazy pain. I called the nurse in 20 minutes later and it was time to push. The dr. came in and said the baby was face up and not moving so he went to the room next door who was also ready to push. The nurse worked with me for one push and Caleb flipped right over as soon as the dr. left and she had to send someone back to get him. A few minutes later he was here. So I had only about 2 hours of really active labor and only about 7 or 8 pushes. All it was more painful than I would have liked, and a little longer but Caleb got here safely and thats all that matters.

Brett has been an awesome big brother so far. He has been in time out a few times but with all the visitors and things going on we could not have asked for a better big brother. He is becoming a big brother on his own time frame. You cant push him into it but when we are not pushing he wants to hold him and love him.

Caleb Brycen Jackson

Caleb was born on March 4 at 5:43 pm. He was 7 pounds 3 ounces.

Brett's First Day of Preschool

Brett started his new preschool today. On Sunday we went out and bought him some new short sleeve shirts that covered his Belly. He has grown so much (or I have shrunk them all) that his tummy stuck out of most shirts. Anyway he had all these new shirts including: power rangers, toy story, batman lego, etc. But guess what he picked for his first day of school shirt..... Im the big brother! It was very sweet. Later in the day he also sung a song about starting his new school and being a good big brother! Lets hope this attitude lasts. He is very excited about it right now and just ready to meet the new baby.

Anyway he woke up and got dressed right away with no fight. It was a little early but he was able to stay calm. When we got there he was so good. He got a little nervous and hung on to me for a moment but when it was time to leave he let me go. He did a great job conquering his fear. I picked him up at noon. The teacher brings them all out to the front and he was inline marching just as cute as can be. He said he had a good day but that one kid told him they were going to beat him up. Guess it happens everywhere.

It has just amazed me how well brett has been doing since we have been home. Its only been a week now but I can see that this was the right choice!

As far as the baby goes things are going well. The baby is growing on course and I am just ready to evict him from my body. The only concern right now is that the cord is showing to be around the neck in the ultrasound. The midwife indicated that as long as he is still active and we are okay. So far so good. I have another appointment Wednesday for a non stress test and ultra sound- then everything is set for Friday. I am secretly (okay so its not a secret) hoping that he comes earlier than friday because I just cant stand it anymore- but so far just a few pains here and there but nothing lasting. Today was made better because justin brought home fresh Farr's peanutbutter and chocolate icecream.

1st Day Off

Well I must say that my first day off was exhausting! I have been working at home from the comfort of a recliner and my back has been loving me for it! The Dr. said that I should do some walking to help get things ready for the baby next week. Today I decided to take Brett to the Dino Park. We havent been since his b-day last year. It was a nice sunny day but when we got there I had forgotten about those canyon winds and it was a little chilly. however we had a very nice time. Brett kept saying- lets go exploring and be archeologists. He also went digging in the gem mine. After about only an hour and a half we were ready to have lunch and get warm.








After the dinosaur park I came home and decided to clean the house. One thing lead to another and I had all the chairs and rugs outside to clean the floors. Right now my house is spotless (by Christa's definition, not my mothers). I am sure it wont last long but man it feels nice for today. But my back HURTS!!!!! I cant even move now.

Another thing that happened this week was that we got another couch. We went looking for a recliner to have a little extra seating upstairs. A few weeks ago we had Grandma and Grandpa sitting on the Cuddle Sac and they just didnt look that comfy! So anyway we found an awesome couch on Clearance because someone bought it and it didnt fit in their basement. We got a killer deal and ended up with 2 recliners instead of one- for the price of one. Again I must say RC Willey Rocks. This is my one big splurge from my bonus this year. the best part for Brett was the fact that its electric. Up and Down, Up and Down, Up and Down...... He had a miserable time couch shopping again. Its a big joke now to tell him we are going couch shopping. On the way there we didnt tell him where we were going and when he saw RC willeys he just groaned! anyway we LOVE it!!! Now have extra seats.



Doesnt brett just look cute playing basketball on the Playstation with is daddy.
With the new couch we decided to make some room for Brett and the baby to play. We also decided to put Justin's boflex downstairs becuase it will be like 100 degrees up here this summer. So we made this cute little play area for Brett and his new brother.



With everything we did today and how my back feels tomorrow I am not doing anything at all!!!!!

Done with Work for 7 Weeks!!!

I havent have this much time off work Ever!!! Today after I closed my laptop for the last time I thought I can handle this. Now its 4 hours later and I have already checked my work email again. Would hate to return to a full inbox =) Its going to take a little adjusting too. Tomorrow is my first full day off- other than I have a Dr. appointment. Now I can start just enjoying my Brett and the nameless new baby in a week.....

so yesterday we were pretty set on the name Collin. Then justin was at work talking to another professor that he is friends with and he started talking about collin- his son. So you guessed it, there goes that name. Anyway Justin came home last night and we made a spreadsheet (this is how we picked out our house as well). It had each name, all the spellings and rankings as well as his rank and my rank. From there we added middle names and rankings for the names with the middles names. At this point we have a top 6 names but we are still undecided! I just love that fact that this has turned into a spreadsheet with numerical rankings. That is sooooo Justin and sooo why I love him so much.

10 Days Left!

Well the single digit countdown is on starting tomorrow we are down to 9 more days til the baby is induced!!!! So I have updated our Blog name to the Jackson 4. No we do not have a name picked out for the baby yet. Right now we are down the following list- which is subject to change- Collin, Dillon, Kaleb, Jacob. we are even farther away from picking a middle name.....

Justin does not want a popular name and made a very good point this week as Salt Lake Community College sent us a collections letter for 22.00 from 2007 that was meant for Justin T not Justin B. so Kaleb and Jacob might not be on the top of his list.

The changes are already starting at our house. I started to work from home this week. My back was killing me at work as well as driving. So while this is temporary I can not tell you how much it has boosted my attitude about being pregnant and getting through a work day. I made my final drive to Sandy Monday. I will be working from home until Thursday of this week. Friday my maternity leave will have officially began. Planning to go back to work around April 19th. This is the longest I have been off work since I can remember. My mom will stay with Brett the week after I go back and then Justin will be home for the summer. Its amazing how much I get done from home but being in HR working from home wouldnt be a long term option as dealing with people face to face is my number one duty. But for 3 days it works well. I have a great set up- My new recliner, ice cold soda, my PJs, my lap top and Black Berry. Now all's I need to make it perfect is an mint chocolate ice cream cone.

Brett was going to be in day care until Thursday as well but I think with all the talk about change he was ready to make his start as well. He went in to school Monday and had a rougher time being dropped off than usual. When brett gets over excited about something or anxious it makes it hard for him to concentrate at school so we decided to pull the plug and let him be done as well. Today on my lunch break I drove him out there to say goodbye to his teachers and friends. Really the only one he really wanted to say goodbye to was Samuel his best bud. The good news is that his mom and I have exchanged numbers and are planning some play dates starting soon. Brett and Samuel are two peas in a pod who bring out the best in each other, and can also get into trouble fast. Poor Justin has to get up and drive to work... poor guy.... I wont feel so bad for him this summer when he is home and I am off to work. I must say that today Brett was an absolute angel while I worked from home. I could not have asked for anything better.

Brett also got to go to the Quest academy this week to fill out his Kindergarten paperwork. He officially got into the charter school in our area. We are not 100% sure he will get to go there because of transportation logistics next year but wow it was a nice place. WE decided to fill out the paperwork to hold his spot and then make up our minds by next fall. They have more computers than kids there, brand new building and everything. His pal Seth goes there and Samuel will be attending as well. However we are not 100% sure yet as the public school in our area is known to have the best Kindergarten teacher around. Its amazing how tough these decisions are for a 4 year old. I cant imagine how it will be when he gets older. When I introduced Brett to the office staff they cheered for him. He was beaming ear to ear as he hid behind my back.

I was also ready with a schedule for Brett over the summer. But I learned quickly this first day that it just doesnt work out that way and adding a baby to the mix will make it harder. So for the time being with work and new baby his only will be getting to his new preschool 3 days a week for 3 hours. I feel bad about that but at the same time I dont want to set up our schedule for failure.