Thursday, September 25, 2008

Our little Jackie


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.

Sunday, September 21, 2008

A new networking blog



I started a new Blog to help myself as well as others fellowship sisters everywhere. I hope that it will unite us together in friendship and help us all be better wives, mothers, daugthers and sisters. Enjoy and please let me know if you'd like to contribute to the blog. The more the merrier! :)

Friday, September 19, 2008

Chocolate Covered Strawberry Tuxedos


My cute friend, Camille was so sweet the other night. She and her family brought ME, and I emphasize ME, a plate of these beautiful and OH SO tasty chocolate covered strawberry tuxedos. We stayed out chatting with their family while the strawberries cooled in the fridge. After they left, Coby went upstairs to tuck Corbin in and I wasted NO time digging in to my little treat. After about 10 seconds I had already downed two. Then Cobe came downstairs to let me know that Corbin needed me. So, upstairs I went, but NOT without giving Coby a death threat about touching my strawberries. I ended up falling asleep. So the next morning I woke up and remembered my yummy treat waiting for me so I opened the fridge and lo and behold this is what I found....



Well, natually I FREAKED out on him. But to my shock and surprise he was only playing a trick on me. He had actually hidden the rest of the strawberries in a baggy in the fridge. That little stinker!!! He nearly lost his life. So, I'm happy to report Cobe is still alive and that we ended up sharing the rest of the strawberries. SO the lesson to be learned...DON'T mess with a girl's chocolate!!! Girls C'mon...you know what I'm talking about!

Thanks again Camille! They were soooo yummy! Don't be surprised if that plate ends up back at your house again!

Wednesday, September 17, 2008

Bear Lake Runion

Playing "pit" with the gang
Lance doing a flip...cool huh?!
Cob making it look easy...
Isn't that water beautiful????
The Spread...

I think Lance liked the corn...

A cute friends, the Sloans...(John, Mandy and Rosky ...aka Roxy - Corbin's girlfriend)

A little cuddle time
We had so much fun this Labor Day up at Bear Lake with our friends. We made some of the best friends when we lived in Lansing, MI. I'm happy to say that we are still hanging out after all the moves. We all make time for each other and try to see each other as much as possible. It's sometimes hard to coordinate our schedules, in the end we get together and have the best times. We took tons more pictures (click here to see). I just love these guys. Every single person bring so much to our little group with absolutely NO drama and I feel so blessed to have them in our lives and for the opportunity to call them our friends. We love you guys and can't wait for the next trip! Brett and Camille...Next time for sure!

Wednesday, September 03, 2008

Mexican Riviera Cruise

Okay, I know this is a lot of pictures, but we had a lot of fun. If you need to see any more click on the picture on the right.

Casting off from Los Angeles

A dog made out of towels...and Steve our room attendant that Coby was going to get "lucky" (i.e. the nighty carefully layed out on the bed!

The boys entered a "Sexy Leg" contest...and won!! Aren't they sexy or what?? :)

Whit, me and Momma Jo at dinner

We played lots of games! We even learned this one called, "Pit" and due to all the yelling pretty much cleared the game room everytime we played. I don't think they liked us very much...but it's okay we had lots of fun anyway!

Lots of days were spent like this...reading. Many of us reading some portion of the Twilight Series by Stephanie Meyer. I swore I wouldn't read them, because "everyone" else was doing it...and now I hate to admit it...I'm hooked! I'm on the third one now! I guess there could be worse things to be addicted to.

Shuffleboard was really fun. I don't think I won very often, but that's really not a shocker!! Coby was awesome!

Here is our cruise director, none other than Anna-Lisa Osmond Rich! She was never without the ship itenarary for the day!

On our way to Cabo San Lucas

This was part of Cabo. There were two beaches. The calm beach, the boring beach was called Lover's Beach and the fun, way more exciting, much more dangerous beach on the other side was called Divorce Beach. Coby, Pat, Anna, myself and Ben I think preferred this beach the best...you'll see in a few minutes.


Gateway to the Pacific


Divorce Beach....see what I mean?!!
Ginormous Waves!!
I was trying to save Anna-Lisa
I think this may be Lover's beach...see BORING!!


But still, we had lots of fun!!

The next day we went to a beach in Mazalan. We took a Catamaran, then a tractor ride to Stone Island. At first the weather looked yucky, but it soon cleared up. Coby and I rode horses on the beach. Mine was named "Clown" and Coby's was named "Gringo" and only had one eye. We rode the horses in the rain. It was so fun, I am bummed that we didn't take pictures though. Then we body surfed. The water was so warm. The salt water was brutal on our eyes! Then we had lunch and I couldn't wait to get back on the boat for some tastier food. Then, me, Cob, Ben, Lance and Marse took a banana boat ride behind a boat. I am so glad we didn't fall off because I don't know if the boat driver would have even noticed. He didn't look back once. I held on for dear life while that banana boat bounced us so high in the air I thought for sure we'd all be thrown off. It was a blast and well worth the wait!

Check out that sunset!
This is my favorite picture of Coby and I at sunset!

Doing a little shopping aka bartering!

Mazalan, the tour guide said that two people go in...but three come out! :)


This is Puerta Viarta where they filled the movie Predator with good old Arnold! It was so cool!

There was a rope swing and the boys wasting no time jumping off into the water!

There was even a natural water slide! So fun!
Here's a picture of most of us!


Coby...."bringing sexy back...!!"


Momma Jo just sippin' her Pina Colada...Yummo!


In honor of my 30th birthday I thought I'd be adventurous and try something new. When we got married I told Coby I loved to rock climb. Now I've actually been. :)

Our last over-glutenous meal

Ben's burned belly

One Happy boy because we were finally home

Here's the other one!

Thanks to my mom and dad and Aunt Schlimy for taking care of our babies all week long. We really appreciated it. The boys had so much fun and we were able to enjoy our trip and didn't have to worry because we knew they were in such good hands! Thanks guys! We love you so much.

Thanks again also to the Riches for taking us on this trip. We had a blast! We love you guys!

Raspberry Days

Our booth

Posted by PicasaMe, Jacee and Whit
This year me, Whit and her cute friend Jacee decided to try our hands out in doing a booth for Raspberry Days up at Bear Lake. It was really fun. We were out in the sun CONSTANTLY and so I got a pretty good flip flop tan line. I did decent in sales with my Moby Wraps and the company was fun, but I think this will be my first and last booth! :)