On Tuesday, September 23 our most precious baby Jackson was called home to our Heavenly Father. He was 1 year, 4 months and 3 days old. Though kind neighbors and paramedics worked for over 50 agonizing minutes to bring our baby back it was only for a few hours. They were able to get his heart pumping again, but his little lungs were too saturated to be saved. One good thing was able to come of this. Jack had a strong heart in more ways than one. We felt impressed to have his valves donated to help save someone else's little angel. If we could save one mom and dad from standing in front of a little white casket asking the Lord "why? Why OUR baby?", then it would be worth it. We were told that Jack is helping to save not one but four little babies born to damaged hearts.
He was our pride and joy (along with Corbin) and we will miss him more than words can describe. He was our sunshine, our ray of sunshine. Those eyes, that smile. Oh we will sure miss him. It will be the hardest thing Coby and I will have to do we pray. But feel so peace knowing KNOWING that we will see him again. KNOWING that through a loving Heavenly Father we'll have the opportunity to raise him again. We WILL see him again and with that knowledge while it doesn't take an ounce of the horrible indescribable pain away, gives us hope. So many people have offered their time, donations, flowers, testimonies and sweet condolances and we thank you. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts.
We wanted to begin writing down as many things as possible about our precious little angel as we remember them because I don't ever want to forget them. They are in NO order, just as they come to our minds. So if you wouldn't mind please send us your memories of our little Jackie. Thank you. Thank you.
I love that I could bite his neck and how he would laugh so hard. I loved biting his hands and feet too. I loved when he would see people and get a little shy while I was holding him he'd throw his whole body backwards because we were "dipping". He loved to play the game we named, "dip" where we'd just dip him back and forth and he'd laugh and laugh.
I loved that he liked to help me clean. He loved to push the vacuum and especially push the button on the swifter around the kitchen. If he had a rag in front of him, he'd pretend to be wiping something from side to side. One time some of Corbin's sippy cup was leaking out by the back sliding glass door and he went to the stove, pulled towel down and started wiping up the milk. He was so smart. He knew the sign for "more" and he did it so sweetly. I can still picture his little hands squinshed up together moving back and forth. He waved so sweetly from side to side instead of up and down. He liked to have us put his shoes on his feet, and waited patiently while we did it. He had quite the obsession with his little weiner! His hands were connected. I can still see him now, with one hand down his diaper and the other sucking on his empty bottle. He loved that bottle too. He loved fruit snacks and would not eat them one at at time, but felt the need to eat the ALL at the same time. It was never a problem for him to eat his gummy vitamins. We loved to tickle under his arms. The laugh was so wonderful and just music to our ears. We'd pin him down and tell him that we thought we found a "bee" and then just buzz under each arm. It was so fun and he loved it. He was just starting to say Mama. He had "da da" DOWN! I tried so hard to get him to say "mama" because I just asumed that since he used to prefer me to anyone else, it would be easiest. He said it over and over days before he returned to his heavenly home. It was shear music to my ears. I can still hear it and I wish we had it recorded somewhere. Of all the people though, Corbin was probably the one he most wanted to be around. He followed Corbin everywhere and tried to do everything that his big brother was doing.
The day before he died we were in the backyard and he spotted a yellow dandelion. I said, "Jackie, do you see the flower, the yellow flower?" and Jackie looked around and then saw it and walked right over to it, where he picked it and looked up so sweetly with those gorgeous blue eyes and handed it to me. As if to say, "here mom, I picked this just for you." He was so sweet.
He loved to play in the toilet. It was quite the problem, but I think he liked that we washed his hands afterwards and maybe that's why he always wanted to do it. He loved to turn the water faucets on and off. It was hard to pull him away from the sink because he was so fast. I loved when Jack would see anyone sleeping he would just laugh his grunty little laugh and almost run over to where whoever was sleeping and slap them on the back and just laugh and laugh. He was so excited to see us after any kind of nap. On the day he returned Home we were taking a walk in the morning. It was getting close to his 10am nap and I looked down and he looked like he was on the verge of sleeping. I peeked my head in closer and he just looked up at me. And the way he looked at me was so sweet. I remember thinking, "I love this boy so much. He's so beautiful. He's just so beautiful. His eyes..." I just can't describe the absolute amount of love I felt at that exact moment. He looked at me as if he were saying, "I love mom, I really love you." And I felt it so strongly. I felt like he was speaking to my soul. Then I tickled his neck and he laughed that sweet little giggle and kept looking up at me to tickle him more. Which of course I did because I could never get enough of that. He loved eating fruity cheerios. If he was sitting in his chair hooked to the table, as of recently he didn't want me to feed him any longer. But as long as he had fork he loved eating his dinner. He loved chicken nuggets. No matter how sad he was in his crib, as soon as one of us walked into the room he would just light up instantly and laugh. He really loved sipping anything out of a straw, be it coke, a slurpy. The last few weeks if Coby was sitting on the ground, he would just walk up to Coby and sit in his lap. In fact the last few weeks were so sweet between Jack and Coby. If Jack got hurt, he'd run to find Coby. When Cobe would leave for work jack would run to the back door and just yell and hit the door because he wanted to go too. A couple of weeks ago we went on a family walk with Jasmine to feed the ducks. On our way home he wanted to hold Jasmine's leash. So we let him and he walked Jasmine or rather held her leash all the way home and was happy because he was helping. He was always so busy. Busy, busy, busy. If we were at Coby's family's house he would always go looking for Marianne. I think he had a little crush on her because no matter where she was, we always knew if we couldn't find Jack...to find Marianne and there he would be. He used to growl like a Bob Cat and Ben nick named him "bob cat". We used to call him "doodle" for the longest time. He had these enormous cheeks that EVERYONE just loved to squeeze. In church, a couple didn't know his name so they nick named him "chunk". His feet were so fat that we never worried about losing either sock because we knew they were literally painted on and definitely wouldn't be falling off. I nursed him for 10 months and he was so good at it. I love the bonding time we were able to share. I didn't want to give up feedings in the middle of the night because it was the time I felt so close to him. I used to bounce up and down when I was holding him and even when I wasn't for that matter. And people used to say that the reason Jack was so chubby was because I wasn't giving him milk...but that my constant bouncing was turning it into straight butter. A few weeks after I was no longer nursing, I wondered if he remembered how to do it, so I decided to see if he would still nurse. So I get all ready, put it up to his mouth and I'll never forget how he looked at me. Keep in mind that he did have about 6 teeth at this time. He looked up at me with this mischevious little grin as if to say..."do you really want me to bite you...." It was really cute, and I never tried again. His last day, Corbin wanted some Soda in the fridge. So, of course Jack wanted some too. Corbin shook the 3 liter and when I went to unscrew the cap, the cap went flying through the air. We all followed the cap to see where it went and we all noticed it at the same time and we ALL just started laughing. Corbin and Jack laughed so hard. It was really funny. Jack used to try on my running shoes and try to walk around. I loved to push the water dispenser button down and just let the water escape the cooler. And he look at us and laugh and laugh until we would turn the cooler around and then he'd be a little upset. Coby told me that the Sunday before the accident we were at his family's house for dinner and Coby had gone in to change him. Any time Jack knew that we were chasing him, he'd laugh and try with all his might to run...without bending his knees somehow and turn around and laugh just to see if we were still there after him. Anyway, Cobe went to "get" him and he tripped and rolled onto his back. They were in the sun room and Jack noticed his reflection in the windows above and was so entertained by it. He laughed and laughed at his reflection. Poor Jasmine took the brunt of all kinds of abuse. He loved to poke her in the eyes. And she just put up with it because she knew what the consequences would be. Then he'd laugh and laugh at her. He loved to brush his little teeth with our toothbrushes. The other day he took mine and I hadn't been able to find it around anywhere. Well, I found it...it was in an attachment to the vacuum! Who would have thought to look there??!! When Coby would give him baths, Corbin would be undressed and Jackie would see him getting undressed. So, Jackie would try with all his might to take his clothes off too, but just couldn't quite get it. It was really cute. He just recently learned to crawl up on our bed. It was really cute other day. Cobe walked into our room and there he was, sitting on the bed, leaning against a big pillow, sucking on his empty bottle and just watching TV. Wished we took a picture.
Me, Jacee and Whit
