Standing boy!

I have not caught it on camera, but jackson is pulling up to standing, holding on to something of course. He has only done it 4 times but that was in like 2 hours. He was so proud of himself- you could tell by the huge grin on his face.

"Breathholding" spells?

Jackson and Daddy

Afternoon snack at her playhouse

Madeline wanted to be a kitty at my party. This was her Halloween costume. She loves to dress up.

When my daughter was about 15 months she had her first spell. Doctors call them breathholding spells or bhs, because the child loses consciousness from not breathing. Now, I do know that a lot of these spells are temper tantrums and done on purpose but this is not the case with Madeline. She is pretty tempermental and dramatic, but it is very obvious to anyone who has witnessed her spells that they happen when she is suddenly scared or hurt. Following the injury/fearful moment, she opens her mouth to cry and nothing comes out and then she just fall out. It is sooooo scary, even now that I know it is supposedly normal and she will outgrow it by around age 6. When she passes out, her lips start to look purple and her eyes roll back and she will jerk some like she is having a seizure, which they have ruled out. She will sometimes have accidents because she loses all control of her body. When she comes back to, after what seems like an eternity, she is very lethargic. I bring this up because she had her 7th one in front of my grandma yesterday. I was starting to think that we were done with these because it had been 7 months. I am constantly fearful that she will have one while up high or something. The preschool knows not to perform cpr and just to make sure she does not hit her head. My grandma was so freaked out. The worst thing you can do is give oodles of attention following one because they say that the child will start to do it on purpose. Madeline's are just a reaction and not intentional, but how can you not love on your child after an experience like that? Anyways, I am just curious if anyone else out in the blogging world has experienced this because the doctors told me that like 5% of kids have them but I have not met one yet.

I would also like to vent that I am extremely exhausted from lack of sleep, especially this past month. Jackson has been waking up every 2 hours or so for about a month because of a bad ear infection, followed by stomach issues caused by the antibiotics, followed by his first tooth. Poor baby. But he still smiles constantly. He is my little trooper.

Something cute that I have noticed recently is how much Madeline looks to Stephen for answers on "life', like what to do when someone at school is mean to you and whatnot. I could tell her something over and over but when he tells her something, she just looks at him and nods her head like "I finally understand". I love that her daddy is her hero. She just says and does the sweetest things sometimes, like she went to the school of how to steal hearts. Come to think of it, it seems like a lot of kids that I know have gone to that school........

On a happier note, my birthday was yesterday and family came over to celebrate. I had a lot of fun and am posting a couple of pics and some random pics of the kids. I am the big 3-0 now, so no more excuses for acting childish-haha.

Fun at Nana and Grandpa's and Jackson -6 months

My princess.

I love the look she is giving her grandpa. He is her only grandpa and she adores him.

He really is the spitting image of his father, aside from his hair.

We went to Stephen's parents this weekend. My mother-in-law takes really good pictures and always seems to capture my kids' personalities so well.

Also- Happy 1/2 birthday to Jackson!

My baby boy is 6 months today. He is pulling himself to a sitting position and almost crawling. Right now he sort of lunges and creeps really fast to get where he wants to go. He is so happy all the time, even when he is sick. He is my little butterball and weighs 19 pounds, but he is long, too. Right now he definitely prefers me to the point where I cannot leave much. Madeline is sooooo sweet to him and is like a little mother at times. They like to roll around on the living room floor and screech at each other and giggle. I know that sounds weird, but it is really funny and cute. He lights up when he sees her. When daddy comes home, he practically leaps out of my arms and starts making excited noises. Jackson has been such a special joy.

The things kids say.............

Today, Madeline and I were discussing swinging on her backyard swing. She does not like to go high and prefers to move herself. I told her it was really fun to have someone push you and go a little higher. She said "But mommy, if I go really high then I will go into the clouds and you will miss me." My heart melted.
Later in the day, while typing her name into the computer, my grandmother was saying that she could put "Maddy". Grandma and I got in a discussion about how to spell "Maddy". The Madelyn on Jon and Kate + 8 spells it Mady, but we thought it should be Maddie or Maddy. Keep in mind that when I named her I fully intended for her to be called Madeline because I love the name. Madeline very matter-of-factly said "Excuse me mommy, I will be Madeline please". I said, good for you, mommy called you madeline because it is so pretty. On a similar note, she told her daddy that she wanted to be called "Uniqua" like on the show "Backyardigans". She cracks me up.