Happy 1st Birthday Jackson!

What a year it has been!!!  My sweet baby boy is now ONE!!  We decided to have a small family party to celebrate this big event!!

My photo journey of Jackson's 1st year!

Jackson's homemade pumpkin spice cake with homemade cream cheese icing!

My Uncle Harv and Aunt Sue with Jax

Happy Birthday Jax!  Mommy and Daddy love you so much!

My parent's attempt at a picture with all 3 grandkids!

My Cousins Chuck and Lori and Jax!

The family!

The "kids" table!  (Sorry Sarah, Brandon, and Grandma!)

Daddy and his boy!  They are buds!

He did a great job opening gifts!

He totally rocked the cake!!!

Only crumbs were left!   He ate a HUGE piece, no dinner of course!

Group picture minus the hubby!

We are so excited to have our sweet Jackson and I am SO glad the boy is FINALLY CRAWLING now!! Yay, on to walking next ... well, in a few months!

Of note ... Please don't do this ... If you see a baby in the store and you ask their mom how old they are and they tell you ONE and DO NOT ask, "Is he walking yet?" and the mom says, "No." DO NOT SAY, "Really? He should be!"  Not every baby walks at 1 year ... ok, stepping off my soapbox!

Finally .... Finally ... Finally!

I have waited and waited and waited ... and the time has FINALLY come!  My sweet boy FINALLY decided he was going to crawl!!  Of course he held out and waited until First Steps came YESTERDAY to work with him for a full hour of physical therapy!  By the end of the PT, he was doing "2-3 crawls" on his own!  Tonight he crawled for about 10 feet!  Here is a clip from his first "real" crawling adventure to get to my cell phone!!

I am excited to watch him grow stronger with the continued PT and see what is in store next!  Maybe, just maybe, he will walk by 15 months!!  I am not holding my breath, but oh ... he is getting SOOOOOO heavy! 22 lbs to be exact!!

Stay tuned for more pictures from his 1st birthday party!

The many faces of Jackson at 11 months and my rants about govt inefficiency!

Last Wednesday I turned 11 months old!  Yay, such a big boy!!  Always willing to smile at the camera for me ... his sister, well, not so much!!

Chillin' with mommy!

How about a side-view mom?  

"I just can't take all the paparazzi flashes!"

How big is Jackson, "So BIG" -- this is his response

Yeah, not sure what he is doing but cute, isn't? 

Well, the countdown is on to his big 1st birthday ... 25 days!!  I can't believe how quickly time has FLOWN by this year!  I know a lot of it has to do with the fact I also have a preschooler around the house too!  Never a dull moment around here!

The other countdown is to Jackson deciding he is ready to crawl ... too bad I can't put a number of "DAYS" to that!  From conception (or even before conception), we as moms worry about our children!  It seems like each stage in life brings a new worry and stress!  A friend shared with me today that God is not up there clinching his fists and wondering what is going to happen next with our problems!  Thankfully He is an all-knowing and sovereign Lord who knows the future and how all of our problems are going to turn out!  Although, while going through these trials, it is always hard to remember this truth!  

I think the majority of my recent anxiety is due to the fact that when I recognize a problem and know the steps to take it, I like to jump on it.  I want to work to solve my problem ... the waiting is SO hard for me!!  Also, when the dr tells you month after month well-child check ... "Your son is just perfect ... he is right on track" then you are slapped in the face with the fact that something could be wrong .. milestones are being hit .. that is a lot to stomach as a parent.  (Disclaimer ... I know there could be WAY worse things and I am VERY THANKFUL for the blessing of 2 healthy children!)   When I put him on all 4's and he just screams his bloody head off ... you begin to wonder ... what else might be going on?  

Sophia was a late crawler (she crawled at 10 months and 3 weeks -- see, when you wait that long, you remember the EXACT day and week -- Nov 21st!).  Once Jackson's 10 month and 3 week birthday came and went ... I thought, anytime this week he will start crawling.  Well, that didn't happen and we made it to 11 months.  I called the pediatrician and asked her if we should wait till his 1 year apt to start therapy or if we should start the process.  She advised I contact 1st Steps and start the process to get physical therapy.  When I called 1st Steps, I had no IDEA how LONG of a process and INEFFICIENT process that it would be!   Don't even get me started on government process'!  Ughhhhhhhhh!

Would you like the timeline? 

Monday August 6th - Put in a call to 1st Steps, was told someone would call me in 2 days!

Tuesday August 7th 4pm - Received a call from my "intake coordinator" and we scheduled to meet Friday August 10th to start paperwork.

Friday August 10th - Met the intake coordinator (Super sweet!) and spent 30 min doing paperwork and she called someone and scheduled Jackson's PT/OT eval for the first available ... WAIT ... in 2 weeks.  

Friday August 24th - Supposed to be his PT/OT eval 

Wed August 29th - Supposed to have a mtg with the Service Coordinator (yes a 3rd person in the process) to write our plan.

READY FOR THE NEXT STEP?  Wait for it .... count the days ... 14!

Wed September 12th - The first possible/allowed date for PT.  This isn't even a guarantee if the PT doesn't have openings!  There is a FANTASTIC state law that mandates a 14 day waiting period b/w the plan written and the 1st mtg with the therapist!  And this makes sense b/c WHY???????  Oh yeah, it doesn't!!

(If anyone can fill me in on the reason behind this lovely 14 day waiting period, I would LOVE to know!)

All of these days would be further apart if I wasn't johnny-on-the-spot and being super eager and FLEXIBLE with scheduling and timing!!  

Isn't that UNBELIEVABLE???  It will take me (BEST CASE SCENARIO) 38 days to get a physical therapist IN MY HOUSE to even begin therapy????  My blood is just boiling typing this all out and seeing how INEFFICIENT this process is .... all I want my kid to do is crawl before his 1st birthday ... is that too much to ask???   It probably isn't going to happen, so I am not getting my hopes up!  At least you don't have to crawl to eat your first birthday cupcake!! Right?

Many have told me that maybe he will just walk and not crawl at all ... I know many kids have done that and turned out fine ... but I want him to crawl ... to meet each milestone ... according to many wise-medically trained experts ... crawling is a more important milestone compared to walking!  

I would be willing to pay more money to get this process to move faster .... nevertheless, glad I started it when I did!  Hindsight looking back, I should have started it at 10months!!  Mental note ... for the next baby ... oh wait ... no more babies for this mama!!

I am so thankful to have a SWEET SWEET friend that is going through a lot of the same stuff with her son!  She has been such a blessing to me and such an encouragement!!  JB thanks so much!!  She has shown me many exercises to start doing with Jackson before I can get some professional help!! 

Anyone have any good PT exercises to work with him?