Christmas 2010

When we were living in SC we would spend Christmas together just the three of us. When Jackson awoke we would all go downstairs and see what Santa had left for us under the tree. Then we would open presents in our jammies and eat breakfast and spend the rest of the day playing with our gifts and pretty much relaxing. Since moving to WI we've been heading to MI every Christmas to spend it with our families. It's wonderful getting to spend the holiday with the ones we love but we are always so busy going from place to place trying to see everyone, not to mention how lovely the traffic is around Chicago at that time of year, that when we get back home we are just exhausted from our "vacation".

So this year we decided to stay in WI and not battle the traffic or the craziness. I won't lie, it was a little sad not being able to see all of our family and I know Jackson missed his cousins. But we were lucky enough to have Neil & Patty come over with Grandma Barnett and Josh, Amy and Ricky drove up from FL as well. We sort of had the best of both worlds. We didn't have to drive or run all over to see everyone, yet we were still able to spend Christmas with family. Josh and his family came up a little early and we spent Christmas Eve day tubing at a ski hill near our house. After two hours of tubing we were all ready to go except for Jackson. His little hands were freezing but he still asked for "just one more time".

Christmas morning we woke up in our own beds and when Jackson called out "Dad, come in here" (that's usually how we know he's up). :) We all got up and went to see what Santa had brought. I went first to plug in the tree and thought Jackson was behind me but when I turned around I noticed that he had first gone to the kitchen to see if Santa got the snack of milk and cookies that he had left for him. He was soo excited to see that Santa ate them and then went to see the tree and all gifts. His little eyes lit up but instead of grabbing the first one for himself he went around back to the ones that he and Brandon had wrapped for me. He is such a sweet boy. Santa didn't let him down and I think we had opened everything before 7am. That left the morning for playing and breakfast. Everyone else came over around 9 and we were still in our jammies. We visited and opened more presents and visited some more. Then they left to go back to the hotel and to get ready for dinner later that night at the hotel and we played some more. I was even able to sneak in a little nap! Early that evening we went to the hotel and enjoyed a delicious ham dinner with everyone. It was soo good and I ate way too much but still found room for some peppermint ice cream. When we left to go back home it was snowing. Big, giant, heavy snowflakes, my favorite. The perfect end to a wonderful, relaxing Christmas.

Waiting in line for the "Magic Carpet" to take us up the hill.

Jackson & I
Getting a ride from Daddy.
Our Christmas tree (had to go fake because of naughty Tucker) Trying one of Great Nana's famous Molasses cookies...yum! A remote control truck & helicopter sent from Auntie Heather & Unlce Matt.
L-E-G-O-S!!!

Update

It's been awhile since my last post. I guess we've all been pretty busy and it isn't as easy to find time to update this as much as I would like. Jackson continues to do well. He absolutely loves school! His favorite classes are art, gym and library. He did well in soccer this fall and even scored his first goal!! YAY!! We were all soo excited and happy for him.

Both Brandon and I have been keeping busy at work and bowling has started back up again. It's only once a month but it's time we have together with some wonderful friends and is soo much fun!! For Halloween, Jackson was Iron Man at school but for Trick-or-Treating it was so cold that he used last years costume and was a lion. Thanksgiving was spent here in WI, just the three of us. Jackson and I watched the Macy's Parade and he was SOO excited when Santa was on. He kept calling to Brandon "hurry dad, Santa's coming on". It was too cute! Here are a few pictures from this fall:

1st day of Kindergarten

His classroom
Jackson & Brandon hiking

Jackson playing in the leaves Playing soccer
All set for Trick-or-Treating!! Playing pass the pumpkin at school with Erica.
Mrs. Griesemer getting into the yarn spider web the class made. Brandon & I celebrating Crystal & Trey's 5th Anniversary.
Jackson's new bed.

Walk

Well the 2nd Annual Hydrocephalus Walk was this past weekend at the Milwaukee County Zoo. We were really looking forward to it and Jackson was super excited about going to the zoo with friends. But on Sat morning Jackson woke up with a headache and not feeling well and just wanted to lay down. Being a parent of a child with Hydrocephalus is hard because you never know when a malfunction can occur and even if it's only a cold or a virus the craziest things go thru your head. Jackson gets up so early that we just let him lay down and sleep a little hoping that when he woke he would be alright and we would then start our day and head to the zoo. But when he woke he was still complaining of head pain and didn't want to move and had a slight fever. At that time we knew that we wouldn't be making it to the WALK and were hoping we wouldn't be making a trip to the ER.

In the past when Jackson had a malfunction his symptoms were pretty much always the same; he would cry and hold his head, lay down (he would scream if we would try to hold him up or sit him up), throwing up and being lethargic. When he is sick we go thru the symptoms in our heads and see if he has enough of them to warrant a call to the Neurosurgeon or a trip to the ER. We decided to wait it out because he didn't have all the symptoms and he had a flu shot or the nasal mist earlier in the week. As the morning went on he would sleep and wake and cry of head pain and then sleep again. We started to pack a bag just in case. He woke again in the early afternoon and said he was feeling a little better. We even went out in the yard to enjoy the sun for a short time and then went back in to lay down because he said his head hurt again and he slept a little more. The next time when he woke he was ready to go. Like the rest of the day hadn't happened. We decided to take it easy and ended the day playing Wii. We had missed the WALK but thankfully we didn't have to make a trip to the ER and we think that the symptoms were from the nasal flu mist. Next year we are going back to the shot!!

Thank you to everyone who donated and supported us in the WALK we really appreciate it and hope that one day there really is a cure for Hydrocephalus. And a special Thank you to the Tollstams and The Tobey's who went to the WALK in our place. You are always there when we need you and so amazingly supportive. We love you!!

Liam, Madelyn and Geyer

Team Jackson (minus the 3 of us) Madelyn, showing her moves. :)

Hydrocephalus Walk 2010 at OneTrueMedia.com

Join us or support Team Jackson as we raise awareness for Hydrocephalus at the 2nd Annual Hydrocephalus Walk on October 16th. To make a tax deductable donation visit our team donation page link:
https://www.kintera.org/faf/donorReg/donorPledge.asp?ievent=346174&lis=1&kntae346174=91DEB846E00742E9B9ADBE814F5D5BFC&supId=0&team=3756001&cj=Y

Thank you!!

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Northport Vacation

We took our annual vacation to Northport last week and again had an amazing time! The weather was beautiful, the water was warm, well maybe refreshing is a better word for it, and the sun was shining. We went fishing, bike riding, kayaking, hiking, did a little shopping and a lot of relaxing. Thank you Neil and Patty!!

Jackson going for a dip in the lake.

Helping Papa drive the boat
Brandon & Jackson flying a wooden airplane. Playing with the boats on the beach Jackson kayaking! Lake Michigan
Playground fun.
More playground fun.
Watching the sunset in Northport He's too cool to smile. :)
Just north of Onekema. We stopped to use the restroom and caught an airshow.
Minature golfing with cousins, Austin & Cameron. Bumper boats!!

SIX!

This morning at 8:00am Jackson turned 6. It's hard to believe that my baby is growing so fast. I can close my eyes and remember visiting him in the NICU just after he was born. So tiny and fragile, yet even then he was so strong willed. Now...well now he's a little boy. A bright, funny, sensitive, adorable little boy who is about to start kindergarten. I'm amazed at just how fast he is growing up. I pray that the next year doesn't go as fast as the the last.

So today was all about Jackson. It started with him opening a little present from Brandon and I, a train Smudger, and a book of Thomas puzzles. He opened his big gift, a Wii, a couple of days ago. I think Brandon was almost more excited about it then Jackson. Though it only took a game or two and Jackson didn't want to put it away. He loves to bowl, play baseball and tennis. Especially tennis.

Birthday's are your one special day of the year and so I have only one rule, anything goes (well pretty much anything). So he decided he wanted popcorn for breakfast. He did have scrambled eggs & sausage later but the first thing he wanted this morning was popcorn. After breakfast we played trains and puzzles and tennis on the Wii while we waited for our friends to arrive so we could go to the zoo. It was the perfect zoo day! Most of the animals were out and about and the weather was beautiful. We checked out the animals, had a picnic, got ice cream (blue moon of course) and then rode on the train and the carousel. When Brandon came home from work Jackson wanted to play putt-putt and then we all went out for pizza. He was so tired that he fell asleep on the way home.

Presents he picked out from Great Nana Barnett & Luban Geyer, Liam and Birthday boy at the zoo
Grizzly Bear in his "easy chair".
Polar Bear Geyer & Jackson watching the seals Lion
Boys w/their Blue Moon ice cream
Liam had his own Blue Moon too. :) Everyone on the Carousel. Birthday Boy

Happy 6th Birthday Jackson Dean!!

Batman & Bowling Birthday Party

This year for Jackson's 6th birthday party (wow, 6!!!) he wanted to go bowling but also wanted batman. So we put the two together and did a Batman Bowling Party. I made capes for the kids to wear while they bowled and the cake and favors (which I forgot to take a picture of) were also Batman. His birthday falls on a Tues this year (same day he was born), and so many of his friends were busy the weekend before his birthday and we will be on vacation the weekend after so that left two weekends before his actual birthday. He invited 9 friends and all were able to come. I think it turned out well. He had a great time and I believe that all the boys did as well. Jackson was so tuckered out after the party that he fell asleep on the car ride home.

The invitation
Batman Cake
Party room at the bowling alley
The birthday boy & his friends

Getting the bowling started
Ryan & Pierce
Jackson & Rob
Brady, Brett & Andrew making silly faces
Rob bowling

Birthday boy bowling
Enjoying pizza
Happy Birthday Jackson Dean!!
Liam loves the cake!

Ryan likes that he has a blue mouth.
Party balloon fun
Presents!! More Presents Sleepy boy