The End...

Im sitting here, the last night in athens, fully packed feeling very sad. It has been a wonderful experience in just over the 3 months I have been here. The people are more wonderful than I could have ever imagined, which is what makes it so sad to leave. Pat and I have been so fortunate to raise Jax in such an amazing place with so many people that love him!
We began the day drinking espresso freddos and eating cream bougatsa. Most amazing breakfast ever! Pictures to come....but the camera is packed. After the delish breakfast we went to the Olympic Stadium which is actually called Panathenaic Stadium. We had been putting it off while here, because we figured we had a while, but all of a sudden time ran out. The stadium was pretty amazing to see and Jax had fun on the track!
After the stadium we went to therapy for the last time, which was another sad ending. The therapists had so much fun with Jax everyday, and Jax just adored them all. He really is going to miss them!
Last night we went out with our closest friends here in Greece. Evy, Christos, Mandy and Laz. We went to a great mexican restaurant and of course had a margarita. YUM. We spent so much time with them, and will never forget them!
The end this year in greece...but on to the next journey:)

Security blanket

While most kids have a teddy bear, or a blanket that soothes them at night, of course my child has to be difficult. My hair is his security blanket. I already had thin fine hair before Jaxson was born, and now it is broken really thin fine hair. All he wants to do is rub my hair through his fingers, and it relaxes him like nothing else. When he wakes up in the middle of the night, I just put my head near his hand, and he grabs a chunk and falls back to sleep in a second. I wonder when this habit is going to stop....

Lunner

I guess that is what you would call the meal we ate today, Lunner. This meal began at 345, and ended at 715. May I add that all three and a half hours of that time Jax was the freaking man. He was so happy, smiling, playing, trying to eat everything and just having a blast the whole time. Who is this child?Everyone that meets him loves him and tells us what a great kid he is. I always say this is not normal, but I may have to change my response to, this only happens while we are out in public. At home, he is wild. When he can't have something he wants, he has a fit. I guess I will just have to take him out more often.
Anyway, as I mentioned before, we had a long meal. It was a great meal. We went out with Pat's Greek agent Kostas and 3 of his teammates (who also have the same agent). We went to a fabulous Italian restaurant and had way more food than I could ever imagine eating. However, I just kept eating! After tons of appetizers, multiple salads came out, then the main meals, then of course desert (I mean who can turn down such deliciousness). During the meal we were sipping on wonderful champagne and after dinner drinks were a no brainer. The whole evening was perfection. Did I mention how much I love Pat's agent, he is a great guy, funny and knows great food!!

Jax with Laz and Mandy, eating a big hunk of bread

Here he is with Kyle. Jax loves him!
Eyeing up his little glass of champagne

going for it!!

NO Jax...you're too young. 

haha, hes playing with the window

Jaxson and his love for music:)

Here is Jax, listening to one of his favorite songs!

Resolution

Well the past few days I have realized that our time here, in Greece, is really coming to an end, which means packing. I hate packing so much! I hate packing to leave the states to our home overseas, but I hate packing to come home even more. To start with, every year I tell myself I don't need half the things I take (mostly clothing), but while I'm packing I always over pack and take those things I don't need. While many other "basketwives" are very organized and have lists and lists for their lists, I am not like those, unfortunately. I wish I had more of an organized personality, with routines and lists, but I am just not. While it does give me a more relaxed and laid back personality (which I may have developed by being with Patrick for too long) I have come to realize I may need a bit more structure in my life.
About two and a half months ago, I was playing with Jax, while Pat was at practice and I looked around and realized the house was a mess. My house is not always the neatest. Usually toys are everywhere, clothes on the bed and not always be hanging in the closet, kitchen usually has dishes that need to be washed, etc.  So I decided then and there, that was going to stop! I was making a resolution to keep the house neat and put together at all times.  Now this is not a New Years resolution, you know the ones people make every year and never follow up on,  like dieting and going to the gym.  I never make resolutions for New Years, and usually I think they are kind of stupid. Like, why do people wait until January 1st to do the things they can do right now?!?  Anyway, my resolution started right away, putting more effort into being more organized in life, starting with the home! I wanted to always come home to a place that was calm and relaxing, not messy. I also wanted to be more organized, so I knew where everything was all the time.  I decided I would be more organized, having a "place" for everything. I was doing really well, everything was neat and clean, toys put away once Jax was finished playing, things like that. However, once Pat was injured I thought we were coming home around Thanksgiving time. So I had taken everything out of the closets, opened suitcases, packed a lot of things which I wound up needing once we decided to stay. So since that time, things have been a bit chaotic. So although there was a little hitch in my end of the year resolution, I will get back on track as soon as I get home, oh and I will make lists so our next trip to Europe I will not over pack! Stay tuned...I'll let you know how this one turns out:)

Stats

Wow I just read that according to the CDC only 22% of moms are still breastfeeding at 1 year. Kind of a crazy statistic to me! Considering I have a very adorable but stubborn boy who refused taking bottles(breatmilk or formula) I really have no choice in the matter. However, as I was feeding Jax yesterday Pat looked over at me and asked," did you ever think you would love nursing as much as you do." The question kind of took me off guard because although I knew when I was pregnant I wanted to nurse for a year, I never really thought about anything other than the health reasons. When similac came out earlier this year with a recall because of beetle eggs and other nastiness in the formula, that definitely solidified my nursing for a year! However, I also now know that I have breastfed for the past 11 months because I do love it and the bonding time I get with Jax is wonderful! Jax is a major mommas boy, but I always laugh and tell Pat that it's going to change once Jax is drinking from bottles haha. I am actually very sad to stop breastfeeding, but in another month when Jax turns 1 he is going to get gift of cows milk. And by cow I do not mean me:)Hopefully Jax will transition well!
(oh and a little disclaimer this is not a slam to formula feeding moms. I tried it with Jax, giving him a bottle of formula here and there once he turned 6 months, but one day he just didn't want a bottle! Just wanted to put that out there that this isn't about right/wrong. Just about how much I like nursing!)

strikes and picture time:)

Well as everyone knows, we love Greece so much! So much so, that we would LOVE to come back next year if given the opportunity. One of the things I do not love about Greece, however, is the strikes! First it was the basketball league strike. It messed up all the games and weeks, but i understand what they were trying to do. Next, it was the garbage strike. The mounds of trash piled up in the trash cans was disgusting and smelly! Currently it is the public transportation system striking. It totally sucks! All the buses, metros and trams are striking today, tomorrow and possibly Thursday (also happened last week). Pat and I drive daily to rehab which is about 10 miles away. On a good day it takes us 30 minutes. With this strike, it takes anywhere between an hour and two hours. Good thing Jaxson is too young to understand what I'm saying, because driving with all the Greeks in all this traffic is stressful and CRAZY!
But here are some cute pics of Jax over the past few days. He got a balloon at the opening of a new mall here. Needless to say, he love the balloon.

SMILES:)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

By George, I think hes got it!

So last night Jax was really moving. He still will not start walking on his own, but once we stand him up, the boy can move, when motivated. Like, when he sees something he want, usually means he cant have, like the computer, or the outlet, or anything electrical. He knows he is so bad too, because as soon as he touched something he knows he can't have, he turns around to look at us, like ahhhhh look what I have. So bad and cute and funny all at the same time!
Other than that, things have been going well. Just hanging out, going to therapy, the usual. I started packing up this week, have one suitcase done, and many more to go. I feel like I have so much to do, and only 9 more days to do it in.

Back to the grind

Well Jax and I missed going to rehab with Pat yesterday because Jax had a little fever. Of course our thermometer wasn't working, but I had tylenol so I gave him that Sunday night, bought a new thermometer and now no fever! Yeah! I was so excited waking up this morning and he was feeling great! He hasn't been sleeping well, but hopefully tonight he will. Pat said everyone was asking about Jax at the rehab office! They missed Jax so much, they all say he is their mascot. I just think it's so funny how much they love him. When he came in today they all picked him up, hugged and played with him. What are they going to do in 2 weeks when we are gone for good?!?! We will miss them, but I think they will miss Jax more:)
Anyway we found a great new playground for Jax, that he absolutely loved. Only problem is it costs 5 euros to get in. At first I was about to leave and go find a different place to play, but I figured we can play there every now and then. The nice thing is that it is in the mall, so now that it is getting a little colder (in the 60's haha) we can still play and not be freezing outside. My mother would die if she knew I let him play in the balls, but I had to cause he loved it! Sorry mom. Funny little story, Jax was walking around pushing this toy and these two bratty 4 year old girls tried to take the toy. I said no, and they wouldn't stop. Then they stood in front of it so he couldn't move. I was getting mad thinking to myself where are your mothers?!? Finally I took the toy and Jax and moved away so he could play with it. Don't mess with Jax, for real! HA

when did he get so tall?

he wants all the balls!

hi mom!

he already knows how to share

trying to eat them, gross

we drive on this road everyday for 2 hours to and from rehab

Potato Bombed

Our car was freaking bombed today with potato peels, and as I was cleaning the nastiness off the car, there was a big chicken bone or some kind of animal bone just hanging out. So disgusting! I was going to take a picture of the madness but i didn't want to bring back memories of me cleaning the car. Best part of all, this happened while I ran in the store to pick up a few things(literally I was in the store for 5 minutes) and Jaxson and Pat were in the car.  But gimpy couldn't even get out of the car to find out what the heck happened, cause he was trapped, hahahahah. While I was cleaning the car off, a nice young guy walked by and asked what happened. I told him and he said,"What is this world coming to?" hahahah. This story is ridiculous! I love Greece, for real!

Finally a little snippet of Jax taking some steps

Well here it is people, a teeny tiny video from the shyest boy around town, I think he takes after his father. So shy and it's just the cutest thing. When the camera comes on he freezes. We do everything to try and hide it from him. I'm so sad though because we had to cut the video in half because I am on the couch in my pajamas and it is not appropriate for the blog:) Oh and did I ever tell you that he loves Michael Jackson music, must be in the name. HA
In other news the mall here is amazing! Tons of high end stores which makes window shopping more exciting and there is even Santa Clause here on Saturdays, isn't that fantastic?!? Although I'm so excited to get his first picture with santa, Pat and I have been talking about how we can raise Jaxson to think more about Jesus during the Christmas season, and less about the fat man with the beard (and I mean that in the nicest way possible because who doesn't love the guy). Try to teach him more about giving and less about receiving gifts.
Anyway Jax did catch a glimpse of a guy in a santa suit and had a freak attack, the whole I am going to hold my breath for as long as possible and then belt out the loudest scream ever to have all the people around think my mother is hurting me, kind of freak attack. Saturday should be interesting....
 Oh and here are a few pictures from the past few days, this kid has been the happiest kid in the world since recently getting his 7th tooth in. I mean soo happy and so fun. Just laughs and plays all day.

He thinks the CPM machine is his toy, we can't get him out

loving it, he knows he is being bad

another amazing dessert his agent gave us

So delish

Jax is a fan!

 

Big time fan, hahaha

Boredom

I am sitting in the burning hot car with the doors shut and windows rolled up while Jaxson sleeps. Why you ask, well because we are parked at the rehab facility and Jax fell asleep on the way here. I didn't want to wake him and there are so many motorcycles flying by, which are so annoyingly noisy. So I'm trying to let him sleep and so I sit here. Gotta love wifi otherwise I would be really bored. Jax has been sleeping for a little over an hour now, and God knows he needs it. He really doesnt like naps anymore so when he takes a long one, it's like I hit the lottery.
So Friday, as I said in my last post, Jax and I just sat in the rehab office because there was nothing to do around here and I obviously won't drive anywhere myself. Well...yesterday I found the most amazing mall tha'ts literally a five minute walk from rehab. So we will be walking there once he is up. Hopefully he will  get up soon, never thought I would here myself saying that.

Catching Up

Well it has been a few days, mostly because our internet has been down the last few days. Of course it goes down during the Thanksgiving holiday when we really want to use skype and see all of our family and friends. It is still not working great, but I can at least blog right now. So the last few days have been interesting. First I want to say that we had a wonderful Thanksgiving, and I am so thankful to have such a nice and loving husband, awesome son and amazing family and friends.
Thanksgiving started out great, with me going to the hairdresser. I was so excited because it had been way overdue, was was also a little hesitant because of a really bad experience while in Alicante, Spain a few years back. Good news is the hairdresser was a man, and did a great job. I took Jaxson with me and Evy watched him while he was doing my hair, and then I took him back when I was finished. He was an angel, everyone at the salon said how calm and good he was, I just laughed.  After getting my hair done Jax and I returned home to find Pat just where we left him:) On the couch dying of boredom. He said if this injury ever happened again, he would be done. He just can't handle just sitting. I feel bad for him, but he will be good to go in no time!
After hanging around the house for a little while longer a few of his teammates came to the house to visit, as well as an assistant coach and the trainer. everyone brought desserts which is terrible for me because one is better than the other and I can't stop eating them. We did bring one of the desserts to Kyle's house, which is where we had Thanksgiving dinner. I didn't prepare anything because on Monday I still thought we were coming home this week. Needless to say I was packing and the last thing I was thinking was preparing dinner. Lucky for us Pat's teammate Kyle and his girlfriend Megan had us and Deon (the other American) over for dinner. It was great, turkey, stuffing, gravy, mashed potatoes, basically everything. Jaxson loved his first thanksgiving dinner, especially the potatoes and stuffing. He couldn't get enough.
Friday I had my first driving experience in Greece. Now while it was scary and the drivers here are insane, I am kind of sad it took me this long to start driving. It's not that bad, and I probably blend right in with my terrible driving:) I drove Pat to therapy, and in my mind I thought it would be an hour, maybe an hour and a half. Well We left the house at 11:15am and got home at 3:30. Luckily once again, Jax was the man and was quiet and everyone loved him. One of the trainers came over to take a picture of him. Pat had a CPM machine delivered to the house today, which he has to use for 1 hour 3 times a day, which should make rehab quicker when we go. Other than that I have just been running after crazy man, and the last two days this boy has been WALKING. It's so cute, but every time we pull out the video camera he stops and just stands there. So frustrating. We are going to do a sneak attack with the video camera tomorrow so we can catch him in action. This boy has got some great balance!

Sleepy after surgery

Hanging out in the hospital looking at daddy

Happy Thanksgiving!

He is hungary

I miss everyone back home!

So sad he can't be in the US for his first Thanksgiving

Some of the yummy goodies Pat's teammates brought,
I couldn't resist I needed a bit of the chocolate, DELISH

Bored...but always in a good mood!