Our 2nd Anniversary

We tied the knot in the small church that I grew up in. It was a wonderful day. No, everything wasn't perfect, things didn't all end up as planned, but once the day finally arrived, I didn't care anymore. I was going to get married to the man I loved, and really, that was all that mattered.



2 years later and I think it's safe to say that everything in our marriage has not been perfect, and things surely have not turned out as planned. But we still love each other just as much, if not more, than we did on our wedding day. We have an amazing little boy and a home full of love, and that is really all that matters.

Worried

I don't usually compare Jackson to other babies (or at least I try not to). I know that all babies develop at their own pace, and so I haven't really worried about Jackson not walking yet or anything like that. That is one thing I like about What to Expect the First Year, is that it is very reassuring about developmental milestones, and so far Jackson has hit every one of the "should be able to's" and "probably be able to's," and a few more.

But yesterday we went to the doctor (and you know how I hate doctors) for Jackson's 1 year check up, and she seemed kind of worried about him. She kept asking me questions about what he is doing and when I would answer 'no' she would give me these weird looks and say, "Well, I'm sure he'll catch up by his next appointment. We can wait until then to worry about it."

Let's just say, that isn't very reassuring.

Jackson isn't walking yet. I wasn't really that worried about it before. I mean he's a good crawler so I don't think there's really a problem. I know he'll do it on his own time.

He isn't talking yet either. I mean, he babbles ALL THE TIME. He "sings" to me going through the grocery store. He was saying "Hi" for a while but he has stopped doing that. So the doctor was worried that he hasn't started saying any specific words yet and was especially worried that he hasn't said "mama" or "dada." I am more worried about this one, but I don't know what I could be doing differently. I talk to him all the time, I repeat words to him, I sing to him, we listen to music and we read books several times a day. I know that he knows what some things are even if he can't say them. For instance, if you say "snack" anywhere near him and then don't give him a snack, you will have a tantrum on your hands. If you say "ball" he usually goes and gets the ball. If you say "mine" he will come try to take whatever you have away from you, even if he wasn't interested in it a minute ago. But the doctor says she will be worried if he doesn't know at least 6-10 words when we go back in three months.

She also told me I need to get rid of his pacifier, but I'm not going to. not yet anyway, because he's teething and if he doesn't have it he continually bites me. Plus he will not sleep through the night without it.

The last thing, and another one that I really am worried about, is that he is all of a sudden very afraid of taking a bath. He used to love bath time, he would stay in there splashing around for 20 or 30 minutes every night. He would hear the water running and get excited; he would try to crawl into the bathtub before I could even get his clothes off. But all of a sudden a few days ago, he has started hating bathtime. He screams his head off and tries to crawl out. He acts like he is so scared, but I have no idea why he would be. Nothing has happened that should make him afraid. I thought maybe it was just a stage, but when I asked the doctor she said she had never heard of anything like that.

So please, reassure me if you can. Give me advice if you want. Just please don't comment and tell me you had a baby genius who could read at 12 months or something. Tell me your kid didn't walk until she was 3 and kept her pacifier until she was 7. Just tell me I have nothing to worry about, please??

WW: Drag Show

"Let's have a red-headed slut, since our red-headed slut isn't here."

"Is she taking another shot? Isn't she supposed to be the DD?"

(on the phone)

"Do you remember going to high school with a guy named David?"
"Yeah, why? Is he at the gay bar?"
"Um, yep. He's a drag queen."
"OMFG"

"If more women put as much effort into getting ready as drag queens do,

the world would be a prettier place."

Alice.com

Alice.com is a new site where you can buy household goods and baby food, diapers, etc. online and have them delivered to your door for FREE. That's right, shipping is ALWAYS free. They have coupons that are automatically added to your cart. I got on there today and found Goodstart 2 formula at a great price. I would usually spend about $45 on 2 cans of this formula, I got in on Alice.com for less than $15! Please go to Alice.com and create your FREE account, then look around for more great deals! And please use my email address (cassie@jmcgraw.net) when it asks who referred you there!

After you have created your account, go over to 5 Minutes for Mom and enter to win $250 to use at Alice.com!

You're Lovely

Brandi @ Life of a New Mommy tagged me for this award:



Mr. O gave me this award:
I'm passing both of these awards along to ALL of you who read my blog. Did I mention you look exceptionally pretty today?

Father's Day

We celebrated Father's Day last Sunday since we were together with a lot of our family and since Jackson & I will be driving back to Georgia on actual Father's Day. Jason racked up on the gifts & Jackson looked super cute in his I Love My Dad shirt :)

Birthday Party Fun!

Jackson's birthday party was ridiculous! ha. My mother-in-law is so sweet, she went ALL out! She kept saying, "Well I want Jackson to know we're glad he's here!" It was a jungle theme, just like his room. His great grandfather even nicknamed him Tarzan the first time he met him. And notice how awesome the cake is? My MIL made it herself, even the fondant monkey!

Monkey Cake

We're in Alabama right now, we came down for Jackson's birthday and are staying until next weekend for a wedding. Jackson's party was on Saturday and yes I will be posting a ton of pics, but not today. On his actual birthday (Friday), we had a little get together with Nanny, Dede, my sister Jamie, my sister-in-law, & my 2 little nieces. Nanny & Jamie made Jackson a monkey smash cake. It was really cute, and Jackson got his first taste of cake!

My baby turns 1 today!

A year ago today, Jackson was being forced to come out into the world. He was a week late and apparently had no intention of coming out any time soon, but by 6 o'clock that night, I had my baby boy in my arms.maybe an hour old

Jackson has changed everything about my life. He has made me feel a completely different kind of love. He has made me more protective and yet surprisingly calmer (sometimes). He has changed my perspective of many things, and he has definitely given me a new set of priorities.

6 months old

My baby turns one today, and I don't really know how I feel about that. It probably sounds silly and cliche to say he is growing up so fast, but he is. I wanna keep him right where he is for a while. Before I know it, he'll be walking and he won't even be a baby anymore.

11 1/2 months old

But he'll still be my baby.

WW: Reading with Ronald McDonald

Love Ya

I got the Love Ya Award from Brandy @ Life of a Small Town Girl. Thanks Brandy!

The "Love Ya" Award states:These blogs are exceedingly charming. These kind bloggers aim to find and be friends. They are not interested in self-aggrandizement. Our hope is that when the ribbons of these prizes are cut, even more friendships are propagated. Please give more attention to these writers. Deliver this award to eight bloggers who must choose eight more and include this cleverly-written text into the body of their award.

I am passing this award along to:

Ritch In Love

South Meets South

This is Me, Consequently

The Salty Momma

Southern Fried Mama

Kelly's Krazy Kids

WW: Why do I even buy this kid toys?

I have a huge plastic bin full of Jackson's toys that I put in the floor with him everyday, and of course, he ends up playing with things like the hamper....




Yeah, he likes to get all of his dirty clothes out...and chew on his box of wipes. He really likes playing with that thing for some reason.

And OF COURSE looking at himself in the mirror. He crawls half way around the house and right to this thing to look at himself.

So why do we buy him toys?