Superhuman Mom Strength? I Think Not.

If last night was a test of the strength I have as a Mom, I failed miserably. I am not sure if it was the fact that Darin stepped up to the plate, that it was my birthday, or that there was so much blood pouring out of my child's mouth. Any way you look at it, I turned into a bigger baby than my 15 month old last night.

It was a perfect birthday. My family decorated my office to the max, so I was so surprised when I got to work! I got to wear a tiara at work (for those who know me, know that I am a big fan of tiaras!). I was showered with gifts, including the most beautiful bouquet of 30 long stem roses from Darin, Jameson and Hoyt. Had lunch with my family and the day flew by at work. After work, my Mom, Dad, Darin and I went to State Farm Park to go swimming. Jameson was super crabby on the way over, so I thought it would be a flop, but the kid loved the pool once he got used to it!! He hung on to Darin and me for dear life most of the time, but he was all smiles and even learned to float on his belly and to jump off the side of the pool! After we were done, we had dinner at the clubhouse and then Jameson had his very first ice cream cone! He usually eats it with a spoon, but he took charge last night and ate the cone all by himself at one point! He was getting pretty sleepy, so we ventured home, said our goodbyes to my parents and then headed inside.

We weren't home for more than 15 minutes before Jameson decided to get into an altercation with the hardwood floor. He was playing with one of my birthday balloons and slipped on his pants and boom. The crash and the screams that followed are noises that will honestly probably haunt me for the rest of my life (Dramatic? Yes, but it was awful). The worst was what followed. We both rushed over to pick him up and there was blood everywhere. He was dripping and it was getting all over Darin's white shirt. This is when I lost it. Any amount of strength I had went straight out the window. Instead of stepping up like a strong mom, I retreated into a sobbing baby. Luckily, Darin became Superman and was calm as can be. He did so well with calming Jameson, as well as his crazy wife. As I reflect on it now, I am so extremely impressed with how well he did in the situation and am thankful to have such a strong husband.

After I calmed a little, I wiped Jameson's mouth with a wet towel and a chunk of skin came with it, hurling me back into a state of panic and horror. I tried to look at his teeth and between my shaking and Jameson's crying, it looked as if they had been pushed up in his gums. I immediately said we needed to go to the ER. I had to leave the room while Darin assessed the situation, coming to the same conclusion about the ER. I called my parents and we went on our way.  Jameson had stopped crying and I managed to get some Advil in him, but the whole way over, I just held his hand and apologized over and over. He was beyond tired at this point and was just making these little whimpering noises. The good thing was that he had his plug in his mouth and he wasn't letting go, so I was hoping that was a good sign.

We got to the ER and he was actually talking (behind the plug!) and smiling. We got checked in and at this point, I was the only one still upset. Jameson did not like getting his blood pressure done, but overall, he did an amazing job. The nurses all loved him and he was hamming it up with them, brushing his hair and waving! He got some Sesame Street stickers and he was just beside himself with those! Once we got back in the room, the Elmo sticker and my phone kept him busy for awhile. However, I am thankful that my parents were there to help, as that distracted him...and me!! Doc came in and Jameson wasn't too thrilled about being looked at, but the doc was able to look at his mouth and determined that no stitches were needed and that it looked like his two front teeth had been pushed up into his gums a little. Next course of action was to go to the dentist. Good thing we have a connection! Grandma Kim told us to come in first thing the next morning and everyone would take care of him.

Jameson slept great - woke up once screaming, but I think it was mostly because his plug fell out. I, on the other hand, had a tough time going to sleep and then had dreams of toothless children and adults!! Ugh. We woke up and Jameson was happy as can be. If you didn't know what happened, you would think nothing was wrong. He ate breakfast and was talking up a storm. We went to the dentist and after doing an X-Ray, both Kim and Dr. Randolph agreed that it looked more like Jameson gave himself a Frenectomy and that his teeth may have been pushed a little, but nothing too bad. They may come in a little discolored, but they may not. So, the huge chunk of skin I saw was definitely part of his frenulum. I can't tell you how relieved I am that it was nothing serious and that his little teeth are going to remain intact. I am not sure I would have been able to handle stitches! I took my little bean to Barnes and Noble after the dentist, so he could pick out a book and/or toy. I figured his first trip to the ER warranted a present!

The good thing is Jameson is one tough little cookie. I am so impressed with how well he did and how well he is doing today. I, on the other hand, am not so tough!  After all of this was said and done, I realized that I really need to learn to control my emotions in these types of situations. Jameson is a very intuitive little guy, so I know he can pick up on emotions. And, when he gets older, I am just going to exacerbate these situations with my crying and worrying. As much as I would like to hope this will be our only ER visit/major scare, I would be delusional to think that. So, I need to step up to the plate and develop that Superhuman Mom strength. Jameson knows that I am always there to wipe a tear, kiss a boo-boo or just give him a good squeeze when he needs it. He knows that's what Moms are for. But, I need to ramp it up so it carries over to the extreme situations. Let's just hope I don't have to be tested again for a VERY long time!  This whole situation also proves even more that there is nothing, absolutely nothing, worse than seeing your child in pain. I know I will not be able to protect him from everything. But, you better believe I am going to try my hardest.

....or at least dress him in bubble wrap from head to toe.

Hanging on to Daddy for dear life. I love these boys.

Floating on his belly like a big boy!

J Man's first ice cream cone!

Talking to the fishies at the dentist!

Trying to decide what toy and book to pick out at Barnes and Noble!
He may or may not have left with 2 toys and a book.

The goods! Plus, his little frog from Gma Kim at the Dentist's office.

J Man's X-Ray!

And, Ray decided to buy a Superhero helmet for the little man!
Couldn't find a toddler helmet, so this will suffice!

Eating lunch like a champ. I am so very proud of my little trooper.

Monkey Do

Monkey Do is my new nickname for Jameson. Monkey See, Monkey Do is definitely his motto for life right now (has been for months!). I absolutely love it though. Everything we do, everything we say, he tries to repeat. What's funny is that he always has to make sure everyone is doing wahtever it is we are doing before he will do it. Guess he wants everyone to be included (or he wants to make sure we all are making fools of ourselves together!). He loves making new sounds, so it's fun to teach him things.  My car alarm went off the other day while I was trying to get him in the car seat and I heard BEEP, BEEP, BEEP the whole way home from the little man in the backseat!! It was super cute. He is seriously like a little sponge and it is amazing to me how quickly he picks up on things. I am sure it is normal for this age, but he honestly leaves me in awe sometimes with the new things he learns. Can you tell I am one proud Momma?!



Say CHEESE!!!!!



He was copying me!

Busy showing us how to spell his name!

Mother's Day 2012

I have always loved this day because I get to celebrate my Mom - a woman who is everything to me. She has set a great example of what a mother should be and I hope that I can follow her lead. She taught me about patience, optimism, faith, sacrifice, love and laughter simply by watching her be my Mom. She continues to teach me these things and so much more. And, now she does this for my son too. It is so evident how much she loves him and I am so thankful for that! And, I am one of the lucky few who can say the same thing about her Mother-in-law! I couldn't have asked for a better MIL and Darin and I are lucky to have 2 very amazing Moms!

I can't believe I celebrated my 2nd Mother's Day already. We had such a great day! Jameson was a complete trip all day. I swear he woke up bouncing off the walls. He was non-stop on the go. I am surprised that he actually sat down to eat breakfast!! After he was done, he was just running around all over the place, flopping on the floor, stepping on things and then body slamming whatever it was he threw down, jabbering all the while. And, then he would run over and give me a hug or a kiss or chase Hoyt. It was seriously hilarious watching him. Darin and I could not stop laughing because he was so wired. I think I called him a nut about 100 times! He was pure entertainment!!

The first part of Mother's Day started Saturday with my family. We went over to my parents' to have some lunch and cake. It was fun as usual and Jameson thoroughly enjoyed the Dairy Queen ice cream cake! On Sunday, I opened my present and cards from the boys after we all woke up. They got me an external hard drive for all of my pictures and videos!! And, two amazing cards. After we played for awhile, we headed out to Cooksville to see Kim. Jameson was a bit nutty out there too! We played in the bouncy house and just chatted for a few hours and Jameson slowly started to wind down. He fell fast asleep on the drive home and slept for about an hour and a half.

When he woke up, he was a bit upset because his room was a pretty hot! Once he got up and moving, he was back to his crazy self! We went outside to play some basketball and then got him in his swim trunks and played with his water table out on the deck. He played hard for quite awhile and then I could tell he was getting sleepy again. We changed him into some comfy clothes and I swept him up and took him into our room and watched cartoons and snuggled, which I guess is a Mother's Day tradition. He is the snuggliest little boy and I hope he doesn't outgrow that any time soon! After about 20 minutes, he fell fast asleep and I just laid there and enjoyed every moment.

After dinner, we played quite a bit more and he was still being a goof ball! He is always so fun and entertaining, but he was "on" all day ! It was absolutely perfect on a day that was a bit rough for me (I am sure there will be more to come on this later). I thank God every day that He chose me to be Jameson's mom. He is my sunshine and can make any dark day instantly bright. He is my love. He is my world. 

My sweet little angel.

We surprised my Mom with pictures of all the grand kids by
their trees in my parents' backyard!

CHEESE!

The kids by their "grand kids" trees.

Jameson's project for me and both Grandmas!

Cuddling with my bean on Mother's Day!!

Reed women celebrating each other!

Always giving him kisses!

Ice cream cake!

Jameson seemed to like it.

More please?!

He loves his "Mawmaw" Debbie!

And, his "Mawmaw" Kim!

Being this sweet little boy's Mom is the best thing on the planet!

14 Months!!

Let's get right to it!

• You weigh 24ish pounds and are 32ish inches.
• You are still in size 4 diapers and can actually still squeeze into a handful of 12 month stuff, but I think I am mostly just doing it because it makes me less emotional when I don't have to put you in something that says 18 or 24 months!
• You are officially in your big boy car seat! But, you are still rear facing...your legs are pushed up against the back of the seat, but you don't seem bothered yet, so we are going to keep going as long as possible.
• You are officially off the mom milk. The transition was so easy, so thank you for that! You pretty much led the way! And, man do you love your whole milk. I swear you would drink a gallon a day.
• You LOVE fruit. I know we have talked about blue/raspberries, but you love just about any fruit. And, it's crazy, but you LOVE broccoli. It has to be steamed (and sometimes smothered in cheese), but you shovel that stuff in so fast. You also do really well with green beans and peas! And, you love your mac-n-cheese.
• You have started doing this squeaking laugh and squeal when you get really excited or happy. Eeeeeeehhhhh. It is so funny and so cute.
• It's been said before, but you LOVE being outside. I swear you are the happiest when you are out there. You make me a little nervous because sometimes you get going too fast, but overall, you do so well. You did fall and skin your nose a few weeks ago and then you fell in the bushes/rocks a few days ago, but no huge battle wounds. And, you will easily walk half a mile without skipping a beat. I love our family walks after dinner - we get the mail and then take our walks! You always hold the mail as we walk - it's hilarious!
• When you get told no, you sometimes lean in and give me a kiss. Most of the time you get mad, but it's so funny when you try to reel me in with kisses. Especially, when you continue to look up at the TV when you are leaning in to kiss me...hilarious.
• You think it's really funny to "bonk" heads. I made the mistake of making it a joke the first time you hit mine so you wouldn't cry and now it has become a game. Fun times :).
• You found the pillow that has my and Daddy's picture on it and you will carry it around and give Daddy kisses. You don't really acknowledge that it's me on there...guess I look different!
• You LOVE ice. It freaks me out because you usually stuff the entire ice cube in your mouth, but you get so excited when you see ice cubes.
• You also stuff food in your mouth in bunches. There is no such thing as "one at a time" with you. It's all or nothing sometimes! It FREAKS out Ray big time :).
• You had another ear infection...followed by two teeth popping through! You now have your two front teeth...kind of! They are still working their way all the way through, but you can see the pearly whites!
• Like I said before, you copy everything everyone does, which is so neat!
• Whenever you see the Chief, I yell Chiiieeeeffff and you pat at him! This started many months ago because you love looking at the U of I blanket with him in the middle. You even gave him a kiss the other day!
• You say hi/bye to every car that drives by/every person you see and then you blow kisses. It is so cute!!
• You love to give kisses and it's so stinking sweet!
• You learned how to use a kazoo...awesome :). In all honestly though, I was quite impressed that you figured out how to use it immediately!
• You make the "ahhh" refreshed noise after you take a big drink. Sometimes even when you point to your sippies, you say "ahhh". It makes us laugh every time!
• You just love playing with bubbles. Most of the bubbles end up getting dumped on our feet though!
• When you get sleepy, you get so delirious and it's so funny. You just go, go, go and talk non-stop!!
• You love playing leap frog. Well, it's not exactly leap frog, but you started walking in between our legs and I started saying leap frog and putting my hands on your head as you pass through. You giggle every time!
• You really like your tongue! We pretend we are lizards when we read Baby Einstein books because of the lizard in the book. You think that is the greatest thing! And, you just like to stick it out in general!
• We started doing the "what's on your shirt" because you really started noticing things that you or we wear. You usually growl if it's some type of animal!
• You have quite the temper...but I know part of it is because you are learning to do things and it is frustrating when you can't get it or communicate exactly how you want to. You also sometimes smack yourself on the head when you are mad...hopefully just a phase!!
• You have become connected to your little Sesame Street stuffed animals. You carry them around and have to sleep with two of them! Elmo and Big Bird are a pair and then your little blue men, Grover and Cookie Monster, are a pair. I love it - you hold them while we read books at night and when I lay you down, you hang onto them for dear life.
• I had a few of those moments while rocking you to sleep that were just perfectly serene. One night after we finished our books, you flipped over on me and put your hands around my neck and let out this precious little sigh and then feel asleep. I couldn't have been more content in that moment. I really thought hard about just sleeping with you in the recliner like old times. You truly make every day brighter my little bean.

Attemped 14 month pictures:

Seriously Mom? You are still doing this?!

Ha! This was the only way I could get a picture with the sticker.

Pictures from the last month:

I always say that there are no words to describe my love for my bean.
I don't think words are needed when you look at this picture...you can just tell :).

We were having fun with ice cube trays and "treats". Until we started
flinging the ice cube tray!

 

Silly face! Loving the curls!

Can we PLEASE go outside?!

Watching Daddy build a baby gate for the deck!

First ride in the big boy car seat!

Holding onto his little men...wasn't sure how to get him
out of the chair without him letting go of Elmo!

Kissing Daddy on the pillow!

Started off with a fork....then just dug in!

Clicking his tongue!

Playing soccer....handball!

Stopping to take a break on my legs!

Love this picture.

Giving kisses to the cute baby in the mirror!

Sweet little cheeks!

Not the intended use of this toy, but fun nonetheless!

Success!!

Poor nose!

Jameson: 0  Bushes: 1

Sweeping up the Mancave on Drake's birthday!

I am pretty sure this is not how you play skee ball,
but who am I to ruin their fun!!

Playing with his bubbles!

What? Do I have something on my face?