Jax & River

Turned out to be a beautiful afternoon for a pool party.

 Finn & Townes

 10 silly boys made for a lot of laughs!

 Luke...I am your father!

 Lesson learned: A pull-string pinata doesn't hold up to a wack of the stick!  Jackson went first and it the goodies went flying on wack #3!  He was super pleased.  Big bummer for the line behind him.

What a fun time!  It was so cool to see these funny boys hang out.  Most of them have been friends for several years.  Between the 10 of them, they go to 3 different schools, but when they get together, it's like they never left off!  

Jackson's quote "I can't believe I'm 8".  Well, guess what?  NEITHER CAN WE!!!!!  

Sing us a song, Piano Man

Jackson took piano lessons this year and loved it.  He's turning out to be quite a performer.  His stage presence is awesome.  Here's a glimpse of his recital.  I've been kicking myself ever since that I was too "in the moment" to remember to video it (DUH!)!  At least I snapped a picture.  

To the rhythm of the boogity beat...

Jackson's hip hop recital was today.  In fact, he was in both shows.  He loved being on stage and had lots of special spectators (not pictured, Ellie, Daddy, Mommy, G, Meme and Grandma).

 Aunt Nene, Carly & Lea

 Aunt Lesle & Makoa

 Cousin Blake

 Bad boy hip hop!

And here it is!  Enjoy!  We did.  This is the second performance.  Once they are in their dancing formation, Jackson is at the far right.

Weeks 1 & 2

This video is sideways but it shows how small and weak his little cry was.

He was so tiny.

 One of the first times I was able to hold him.

 He had to have a feeding tube for a brief time.

 Odds against the "wimpy white boy" (as they call them in the nursery) 

didn't keep him from this peaceful grin.

 His first bath.  I would say this was near the end of week 2.  I remember being amazed by how tiny he was with no bundled clothes and blanket.  We bathed him in a bed pan until he was 3 months old.

 My little angel.  He was so fragile, yet so strong.

Meanwhile, this was what our freezer looked like.  I was able to feed him breast milk for almost a year from what I stocked up on while he was too tiny to feed.

 Our home away from home. 

Happy, happy, Joy, joy!

Happy Birthday!!

Happy Birthday to our Uncle Allen.

We love you with all of our silly hearts!

Jackson & Ellie

Forever buds! (Rebecca & Allen, I'm guessing mid 1980)

LOVE (Allen's wedding 7/3/11)

 Our baby bro!

You have always been a superhero in my eyes (Allen, 1982ish?)

You have always been a joy to be around.  I cherish you as my brother and as one of my best friends.  

I love watching you raise your own family now and couldn't be more proud of who you've always been and continue to be! 

Thank you for my beautiful SIL! (Terry Wedding, April 2012)

And my sweet Canolli! (Aunt Becca & Nolan, Easter 2012)

Love love love.

You are something special.

Your sister forever,

Becca

Countdown to freedom!

Last year in honor of Jackson's birthday, I did his 7 years in review.  This year I'm going to countdown our 5 week hospital stay from birth to home.  On May 21, 2004 after many stress tests it was time to bring Jackson Bradley Meyers into the world.  As we rushed to Norfolk, unsure of his future, we called family and I personally prepared for the worst.  Brad always kept a positive outlook that all was going to be okay (which now I attribute to his faith).  Inside I was dying, expecting to birth this baby and say goodbye to him shortly after.  Well, God had other plans for our amazing son.  Here's a small snapshot of his first day!

Two of my many rocks in life.

My forever love

 Amazing team who so carefully brought Jackson into the world.

  Here he is.  2 pounds 5 ounces.  This doctor, one of my heros!

Daddy is so happy, he was right!

 All is well, he gets to stay at Norfolk Sentara by 25 GRAMS!

 The journey to get home begins.

 Uncle Allen holds the diaper on his hand to show the size.  Jackson is wearing one in the picture above.  It was really big on him.

Family & friends waiting patiently, praying constantly for his health.

Love you guys!

Jackson's entire hand was the size of my thumbnail.  I will forever be grateful for this miracle I witnessed.  Daddy showing his hand in comparison.

WOW!

I just went back to my very first posts from 2008.  Gotta say they tugged at my heartstrings to see how time has flown by and how my babies aren't babies anymore.  We moved to the OBX 5  years ago this July.  I just can't get over how much the kids have changed in those short 5 years.  Jackson turns 8 in a little over a week.  I know 5 years from now, I'll be looking back at 2012 thinking again...where did my babies go?  It's all relative.  A reminder to embrace today and enjoy my 7 and 5 year old babies before they are 8 and 6!  WOW!

Here's a video of Jackson a week before we moved.