So Busy

We have been so busy the last few weeks and weekends that I have not had any time to share our exciting adventures.  So I will try to be brief to get everyone caught up with our family.  LOL!

Over the memorial holiday we traveled to Chicago to see Jackson’s fragile X doctor, Dr. Elizabeth Berry-Kravis.  We left on Monday for the Tuesday appointment.  We only stayed one night and drove back, we are brave.  Jackson did really well; it took us around 6 ½ hours there and about the same back. I think trip took more of a toll on us.  The appointment went really well.  I entertained Jackson while Sara asked as many questions as one could ask.  Dr. Kravis is such an amazing woman; I am not sure how she fits all that information in her brain.  She was very impressed with Jackson’s progress.  Last year when we visited Jackson only had about 3 signs for communication, now he has communication oh plenty.  The room we were in had a computer that Jackson was obsessed with.  Dr. Kravis said that all her FX patients love the computer and felt he couldn’t break it.  He somehow changed the video to display sideways using nothing but keystrokes.  I might be a computer geek, but this computers system settings were locked down, so without knowing what in what sequence the keys he pushed I could not get the display back to normal before our appointment was over.   Dr. Kravis wants to try Jackson on a medicine during the day to help with hyper activity and focus.  She also was impressed with the amount of energy he had during the time we were in that room.  Sara is going to brave the medication next week while the two of them are both home for two weeks.

Watch out Bill Gates!

The following weekend we went to a “mommies like us” outing and we had an open house.  It was nice to meet other families like ours with two mommies.  It was hard for us to get to know the mommies as Jackson is a busy toddler.  I brought my camera to take pictures of the other families, but didn't a get a chance.  After lunch we dropped Jackson off for a nap at grandmas, and then Sara and I did a 24 hours blitz deep cleaning to our house making it all sparkly for the whopping two couples who came and took a look see.  The only feedback we got from the agent who was at our house, which by the way is not our actual agent, was one couple really liked it and was going to speak with their agent; the other couple was concerned about the roots for the tree in the front yard.  We have not heard from our actual agent since our open house, so my guess is she did not follow up with the agent of the couple that said they liked it.  So in the 3 months our house has been on the market we have only had 3 lookers.  Either way I am still very positive that someone will fall in love with our house and put an offer on it soon.

Every weekend Sara and I are going to as many open houses as we can.  We switched buyers’ agents recently and our new agent has been very helpful.  We have gone to a few houses outside of open houses and taken a 2^nd look at two houses we are really interested in.  Both houses our listed outside our budget, one of which has come down in price, just not down enough…  Any spare time we have at home we have been online looking at houses.  Pretty much that is where our spare time has gone too.

Sara started working at Howard Park Center a few weeks ago.  Jackson is also attending school there over the summer.  She loves her job and Jackson is doing well at school.  Last week he had a few hair pulling incidents, we are really trying to find the best way to manage this.  We asked Dr. Kravis about it when were in Chicago and she said a behavior analyst would be able to advise us best.  This is the one behavior that can’t be ignored as it harms others.  We keep trying multiple avenues, I hope we find a working one soon.

This past weekend we walked for one of Sara’s high school classmate’s daughter at the “Seize the Day Walk”.  The event was in Kirkwood at the train station.  Jackson got to see a train go by, which was probably his favorite part of the day.  They had a lot of silent auction items available, a bubble bus, food, and beverages.   The walk started early, we were there just before 7 AM.  We finished the walk just after 8 AM and it was already very hot.  Jackson lasted till about 8:30 AM before he was ready to go.  

Watching the train

That is not Thomas Na-na!

We stopped at his favorite store on the way home, Target.  We got home in time for lunch and a nap, and we all took part in the nap.  It has become a weekend family tradition, if Jackson naps, we all nap.  After then nap, Jackson and I vacuumed that house.  We are using this as a reward for after naptime.  I was able to a snapshot of him helping. 

 My little helper

Sara and I had a date night for the evening.  We went to Elephant Bar in West County.  I have an onion allergy so it was difficult for me to find a menu item, we didn’t realize that before booking the reservations.  We ordered the lettuce wraps for an appetizer, but it had red, white, and green onion throughout.  Our waiter was nowhere to be found after the plate was dropped off, so I told Sara to go ahead and enjoy them while I enjoyed my yummy adult beverage.  After dinner, we drove by a house we had on our list to go see, but the backyard was nothing but a huge slope, no level ground at all.  We drove around a little bit more in the area and then stopped at Blockbuster.  Since the evening was falling a little short we grabbed a comedy, Tower Heist.  The movie was hilarious, just what we both needed.

Sunday we both spent time with our dads.  My siblings, sister-in-law, and I took my dad to 66 Roadhouse for brunch.  Because we booked the reservations late, we had an early bunch, but it did not disappoint.  There was plenty of great food.  My sister-in-law is related to the owners, but I didn’t know that before deciding on that location, small world. That did not get us any sort of discounts though.  Sara and Jackson got home shortly after I did.  Jackson was really tired, so we all took a nap before lunch.  We slept 2 ½ hours, wow I guess we all needed that.  Sara vacuumed after lunch while I packed up swimming gear.  I took Jackson over to my parents for a swim so Sara could do some cleaning.  She suggested it before you go thinking I am a bad guy.  Jackson and I had a blast at the pool.  We bought him water wings with a chest belt and within a few minutes he was swimming on his own.  He needs some work on kicking those feet, but by the time we getting to ready to get out of the pool he was starting to get it.  My dad grilled some shrimp and steak.  I ate some before we headed home and it was so yummy, Jackson didn’t really want any part of it and I was still full from our late lunch.  Sara cooked some baked spaghetti and he was ready to eat as soon as we got home. 

Mr. Independent!

Kicking his legs

This coming week we have a lot going on.  Sara is going to a support group on Tuesday night.  We might try to see a few houses.  We also are switching agents, so we have new contracts to sign.  Friday night I have softball with my ladies. Saturday is the 6^th Annual Fragile, Not Broken Walk for Knowledge.  If you haven’t already, it is not too late to register to walk with Team Jackson.   Our team is going to be wearing Cardinals gear.  Go CARDS!  It is a fun family event with games, pony rides, and raffles.  Come visit our team page for more details and read our story: TEAM JACKSON