Worst Mother of the year Award...

So I deserve the worst mother of the year award...

This weekend we went camping with Kevin's family on Friday out past Cedar Fort. We only planned on staying during the day and evening and returning to our super comfy bed for the nights. So we got home like around 11 pm on friday night and I got Jackson out as he had fallen sound asleep and started to carry him down our front stairs to our basement apartment entrance (about 10 concrete stairs). Halfway down the stairs Kevin thought it would be a good idea to turn the porch light out to keep Jackson asleep but he did it while I was halfway down- and midstep, suddenly it was pitch black and I lost my footing and fell down about 4 steps or so and dropped Jackson and hit his head really hard on the concrete. I was screaming and hysterical and trying to find blood or a hole in his head. I carried him inside with both of us bawling and checked him out, but couldn't find where he hit. He started to shake really bad and started to drool a foamy drool so we took him to the Emergency Room. They took him right back and looked him over and decided he needed a CT Scan. This was just as traumatic as the fall. He was so scared and was crying while holding his kitty cat. The x-ray tech was getting really mad at me for not stopping him from crying and was telling me "This is a complete waste of time if you can't get him to stop yelling and sit completely still" or sighing angrilly and mumbling "this won't work." "This will be a complete waste of money if he doesn't stop." I was trying to calm him and sing his favorite songs and help him take deep breaths, when the x-ray guy came out with tape and taped his head down in multiple spots... This was so not helpful! Finally Jackson calmed enough to get the CT scan done and I grabbed him up and took him back to his room.

The doctor thinks he will be fine and that it is a complete MIRACLE that the damage wasn't much worse! Needless to say I felt terrible and was so devistated for days. I was mad at Kev too for turning the lights out on me like that though, but mostly I was mad at myself. He seems great though, and I have just some scrapes and bruises.

We were truly lucky, it could have been so much worse!

Driving, Driving, and more Driving....

OH where do I even begin??? So about a month ago I stopped working because the nanny job just wasn't working out for me anymore and then two days later Kevin got laid off for the 7th time in a row!!! Terrible timing. Poor Kev, it's not his fault at all, just a slow building market. The day Kevin was laid off we were headed to California for Kevin to take the Written test for the California Highway Patrol application process. Kevin has been pursuing this for a few months now and is excited to possibly be working for them. Anyway, so since we both aren't working anymore we decided to spend an extra week in California and see my brother Matt who lives in Santa Maria (Central Cali). So Off we went driving for the first of many trips. We got to see my sister Angie in Long Beach and spend Easter with them. After the 10 days in California we came home because Kevin had school and found out that he passed his test and needed to be back in California in 4 days! So we finished unpacking and washing our clothes and put everything back in the suitcase and headed out again for his Physical test and a board panel interview. (This is trip #4 for Kev, and #3 for me and jack in 6 weeks, the first was an orientation meeting with the CHP and the second was his first attempt at the written test) He ended up passing the physical test and did a great job on the interview and we will find out how he scored on the interview in 3-4 weeks. The CHP tests are designed to be extremely hard to pass to weed out the people who aren't extremely dedicated. Kevin has done incredible so far on the tests and we are excited to find out how this one goes. If he passes the interview he has three other tests to pass before being invited to the police academy. All in all we ended up in California for exactly half of the month of April and have been so busy and driving so much that our heads are swimming! Jackson has been an absolute champ in the 70+ hours he's been strapped in his carseat!!!

Riding Dumbo in Walmart of Cedar City

Staying entertained in the car... best car toy ever!!!

More stickers... kept him entertained for hours.

Playing at the beach in Santa Barbara... Jackson loved the sand and water and had so much fun.

My brother Matt is a chiropractor in Santa Maria and the president of Kiwanis and organized a "Safe kids fair" while we were there. This is his booth, there was a line at it the whole time and he was on the news 4 times while we were there. He did an amazing job.

Jackson doing the bike obstacle course at the safe kids fair.

Kiwanis were giving helmets away to all the kids who did the bike rodeo so Jackson got his first helmet! Thanks Santa Maria Noontime Kiwanis!

Matt, his son Michael and the reporter after one of the news broadcasts. Matt was a natural on live TV.

Another pic of Jackson at the bike rodeo.

Jackson and his cousin Michael at the park.

The beach by Matt's

Tide pools

Easter party with Angie's Long Beach Ward. Jackson with all his cousins.

Easter bunny Jack

So Cal beaches....

We are totally exhausted but had a lot of fun going to the ocean and spending tons of time with my family. Hopefully Kevin will do well on the interview and we'll be headed out there again... but not for a few weeks (thank goodness).