Target here I come!

I am so excited that I just had to post that Jackson can now sit up in a grocery cart! This may not seem so exciting to most people, but it is so exciting to me! Ever since Jackson grew out of his infant car seat I have not been able to take him shopping with me unless I pushed him around in his stroller. I however am not coordinated enough to push a grocery cart and a stroller and so I would only be able to get a few necessities when Jackson was with. Today I thought, "why not try it again", and Jackson did great. So Target here I come. The only bad thing about this is that I might start spending too much money at Target again.

One more bit of good news is that Children's Special Health Care has approved Jackson for outpatient therapy and we will be starting again tomorrow. So Jackson, I hope that you enjoyed your time off, because tomorrow it is back to work.

Vacation Part 2: Louisville, KY

Our 4th of July weekend was spent in Louisville, KY with Eric's entire family. Eric's brother drove up from Georgia and the rest of us drove down from Michigan for a reunion. As always, it was fun to get together with everyone and we kept busy checking out all that Louisville had to offer.We spent one evening at Church Hills Downs and watching horse racing.

Annika and Jackson playing together in the hotel. Just recently Jackson and Annika have started to play together. Annika is finding it hard that she now sometimes has to share her toys, but it touches my heart to see them play together.

Annika with Graysen and Max at the Louisville Slugger Factory and Museum.

Annika LOVES her big cousins and she has been talking about them constantly.

Too bad that we live so far away.

We also spent a morning at the zoo. It was fun, but so hot!

Grandpa and Grandma with all the grand kids dressed in their 4th of July outfits

The kids traveled extremely well and the trip went very smoothly. We finally turned Jackson's car seat forward facing and he is so much happier. Here Jackson is with his favorite pal, Dora.

One more detour on the way home: Cincinnati.

Vacation Part 3: Cincinnati

For the final part of our vacation we stopped in Cincinnati, OH to visit my sister Leanne and her family. We only stayed for about 24 hours but it was a fun and relaxing time. Annika loved to play with her cousins and Jackson loved their dog. Annika also got to have her first "slumber party" with her cousins which she thought was so much fun. The kids were all crabby and tired the next day, but at least Annika slept for part of the drive home.

Annika, Ashton and Ella climbing trees in the backyard

Jackson with his new best friend London
(Jackson loves dogs and I know that we will eventually need to get him one, but I do not think that I am ready for it yet. Although, London is really cute).

Jackson, Adelyn and Wade swimming in the neighborhood pool.

Grandpa DeJong helped Annika cure her fear of pools while in Louisville and she is now doing great and getting braver all the time.

We also celebrated with fireworks and sparklers (a day late).

Nothing like letting your 3 year old hold a flame.

Thanks Wade and Leanne for putting up with us for the night!

Vaction Part 1: Indianapolis

Over the 4th of July weekend we headed out for Louisville, KY to have a mini-reunion with Eric's family. While planning for the trip Eric and I realized that we would be driving through Indianapolis where another family with M-CM lives. So on Thursday, July 1 we finally got to meet Makenna, and her mom and dad. This is the first time that we have had the chance to meet another kid with M-CM. We met for lunch at Red Robin and then spent some time at Makenna's house just playing with the kids and talking. Makenna is two years old and has gone through a lot the past year. Like Jackson, she also has hydrocephaly, but has had many complications with her shunt. After 12 shunt revisions she finally had her shunt removed in April and had a third ventricularostomy done where they basically make a bore hole in the third ventricular and she has had no complications since. Makenna and Jackson at first ignored each other, but after a while they started to check each other out. It was so great to actually talk to someone who understood what we were experiencing and we plan to meet up again in August in Michigan.

Jackson and Makenna

Makenna and her new wheelchair

After spending the afternoon with Makenna and her family we headed to downtown Indianapolis and stayed in a hotel for the night. The first night in a hotel with both kids was horrible and neither one of our kids wanted to go to sleep. I think we finally had both of them sleeping by 11:30. Needless to say they were both crabby the next day, but we still took them to the Indianapolis Children's Museum. This is the largest children's museum in the world and it was so much fun (I think that Eric and I had more fun then the kids did).

There is a large dinosaur exhibit and this was one of the really cool dinosaurs outside the museum peeking in.

Annika and Eric pretending to be dinosaurs

Annika liked to ride on the motorcycles

There was also a really neat Barbie exhibit which I thought was really cool since I use to love Barbies. Here Annika is at the Barbie reception desk. So cute!

Annika and Eric striking a pose

My little Diva

Jackson played a little, but was so tired that he really just wanted to hang out in his stroller. From here we drove to Louisville, KY. More about our trip to be posted soon.