FINALLY we have figured out what works for jackson in terms of his feedings!!! ok, to be perfectly honest, “we” didn’t figure it out…. 2 weeks ago, jackson’s nurse, miss mary mentioned that we might want to try adding a tsp of rice cereal to jackson’s formula. this would coat the stomach even more, helping with his reflux and making him more satisfied. 2 weeks ago, paul and i felt like what we really needed was consistency. i ended up dismissing what miss mary suggested simply out of selfishness and not wanting to change something else just to end up miserable, like we have been for so long. then…… i talked on the phone with mom one day this week….. and as it happened, mom mentioned the same thing. apparently my brother, brian, had been starving as a baby and mom needed to add rice cereal to his formula to make sure he was getting enough to keep him satisfied. when she mentioned this on the phone to me, i told mom, “funny you mention that, 2 weeks ago miss mary said the same thing….” so we tried it……. AND IT’S GREAT!! what we do is add 1 tsp of rice cereal to jackson’s bottle and then take a fork to the nipple on the bottle and poke it through the hole. then you push the prong on the fork all the way through and turn the fork a few times. this creates a little slice instead of a hole in the nipple so that jackson can get the rice cereal through. it’s absolutely amazing in two ways…. 1) jackson is getting a heartier meal and is satisfied longer, and 2) jackson can suck out of a bottle faster and feel like he is getting more and not getting so frustrated during his feedings. this weekend was the perfect time to try this out because paul had thursday and friday off with the 4th so we have had a 4 day weekend to experiment. the look on jackson’s face, as he eats with these bottles that have been tampered with, is enough to sell you on this method. he looks like he is in sheer bliss. he latches on to the bottle and won’t latch off to save his own life. it’s like christmas morning with each feeding for him. he takes 5 ounces at his 8 am feeding, 6 ounces at noon, 5 ounces at 4 pm, and then 6 ounces at 8 pm….. then HE GOES TO BED FOR THE NIGHT!!!!! usually around 8:30 he has passed out and gone to bed for the entire night. granted, on the 4th of july, he was up later because we took him to see fireworks, but then he slept til 7:30. last night, he went down at 8:30 and slept til 6:30, then waking only wanting his pacifier and then went back to sleep until 8:15. HOW GLORIOUS TO HAVE A SATISFIED BABY!!!!! he is happier during the day time, which i have missed so much. he really had started to fuss quite a bit during what used to be his happiest time of day…. and now we have that back, which is wonderful. he is playful and content because his belly is satisfied. i’m nominating both mom and mi
ss mary for the nobel peace prize in the category of “baby happiness.”

so this weekend has been GREAT!!!!! we enjoyed the 4th with good friends and “family” coming over for a cook out over here and then taking in some fireworks on the river. it was so nice. paul and i did a ton of housework on friday, before having people over for a cook out. it was awesome though!!!! we got so much done….. cleaned the house top to bottom, lawn duty, furniture rearranging… and red graduated from his crate. we finally moved his big old crate out of the house. red has, with time, shown us that he can totally handle being alone in the house without being crated even though there is baby stuff everywhere to tempt “the animal within.” getting that crate out of the house was a wonderful moment for me because i felt like i was claiming back a small piece of my sanity. we put a book shelf against the wall where the crate once stood, and made our home that much more “home-ier.” and since this was done on friday, paul and i were able to enjoy our house all weekend long. then yesterday we visited our friends, jamie and rob (baby jago’s parents) and played rock band all afternoon while jackson danced like a madman. needless to say, dear blog readers, this weekend was a big one for our small family.

enjoy the pictures from our weekend with a happy baby!!!! we head to atlanta on friday for jackson’s baptism. we will be there for a whole entire week together, then paul heads to fallon for work for 2 weeks, and jackson and i stay with grammy, granda, and uncle b for those 2 weeks!!!!! HAPPY SUMMER VACATION TO US!!!! ~