Exhausted!

I can honestly say that I am not a whiner.  I usually can bounce back.  But these days it seems like I am constantly on the go.  Now that we are taking care of four children, I can see how in many ways I had it a lot easier with two.  Make no mistake about it, I love that my niece and nephew are here but man am I tired.  In addition to the daily grind of work, cleaning and taking care of family, Jasmine had a scare this week.  While driving in the van, Jasmine complained of severe chest pain and so I immediately rushed her to the ER at Cardinal Glennon.  Quite frankly it was scary and she was not exaggerating.  She seems to be fine now, but we are following up with additional testing and an echo cardiogram.  I am sure that she is fine.  I am starting to learn to not be concerned about things that I have little control over.  I think that is one of my downfalls in life. 


So after a week of meetings on top of meetings,  attending a resource fair for summer options for Jon, attending a workshop after hours on augmentative communication, along with  Parent Teacher conference, being involved in a hit and run accident with Ken's Cadillac, ER visit with Jasmine (now mind you she fainted last week in school but that is another blog entry) and a computer failure, the week ended on a positive note.  Friday night, we attended the church's talent show as a family.  On Saturday, the girls were able to go to a very nice birthday party on Saturday.  One of Jasmine's classmates, Concetta turned eight years old.   Her parents threw her a very nice girlie bash as Sweet and Sassy Spa in West County Mall.   The girls were very excited about attending.  One of the best parts was that Concetta's mom invite Renae to come along, even though Renae does not go to school with them.  The party was a blast.  Turning eight is not what it used to be.  We had a wonderful time and it was what we all needed to top off a a stressful and exhausting week.

The Sweet and Sassy Limo

 Renae's up do!  With glitter!

The girls at Concetta's house before the take off. 

The group photo 

The birthday girl, Concetta!



Introducing Gabrielle Jackson

Its not everyday that things seem to work out for teenagers who fall in love at a very young age.  I am  happy to say that I know of one success story.  My sister La Quita and her husband George started dating as teenagers.  Early on into their relationship my sister became pregnant with my niece Ericka and at that time of her birth they were also teenagers.  Despite the challenges of parenting young, they were able to preserve their family.   By keeping true to God's promises and protecting their family by keeping it first, they made it.  Almost twenty years later they are still together and very much in love.


For many years we have all teased my sister about having another child.  She almost always said no.  Sometimes even laughed in our faces. To her credit, she accepted responsibility when she had my niece at a young age and those early years were not easy.  As the years went on, the persistence of family and prayer, her heart began to soften. 


On Monday January 31, 2011, My sweet niece Gabrielle Jackson was born via C-section.  It was a long time coming.  It had been almost seventeen years since my niece Ericka was born.  The birthing process wasn't the easiest for my sister.  A C-section is surgery and is nothing to take lightly.  On Saturday February 12, we packed up as a family to visit sweet Gabrielle for the first time and boy is she a cutie.  Brings back memories of when mine were babies and I miss those days.  Below are a few photos that were taken that day.  I elected to take them in black and white because to me black and white photos are timeless. 

 Gabrielle and her maternal grandmother Mary

 Gabrielle

 Mom and Gabbi

My niece Renae and Gabbi



So Long to My Toothless Wonder

I absolutely loved the way that Jon looks without his two front teeth. So cute, so squeezable, so sweet. But like most good things, his time of being a toothless wonder is coming to an end. When I was helping Jon with his afternoon snack, I was rather surprised to see that one of his front teeth has started to break through. I know that soon after the other will as well. However, I noticed that the emerging tooth seems to be huge, relative to the one that came out. I am just not sure if there is enough room for two new teeth to fit in such a small space. My mom tells me that I have nothing to worry about. Everyone else that I talk to tells me that the teeth have a way of working themselves out. I just don’t see it. But then again, I’m no expert.


As with any milestone, I took a second to snap a few photos of him while he was bathing. Bath time is a time where I can typically get a lot of smiles out of Jon.  I am so glad that I was able to capture the emergence of his big boy tooth.  I hate to admit that part of me is sad that he is growing up.  It seems like only yesterday that I was bringing him home from the hospital. Time is moving so quickly, but that is a part of life.

 Big tooth, big smiles.

My very happy little big man.