having a ball

A tennis ball, to be exact.

Henry's birthday party was Sunday in Starkville. He insisted on the theme and I must say my sister pulled off one heck of a tennis party. Everything was precious and they all had a ball.

I cannot believe my sweet little man will be FOUR tomorrow. Doesn't seem real. He is such a precious boy - a true joy to be around. And he and Jones are best friends for life!

Happy 4th Birthday to my sweet, sweet Henry! We love you so very much.

giving thanks

I have been blessed with so much. It is nice to have a time to really stop, think, and give thanks to our God.

Jones on his first Thanksgiving - it was about 80 degrees!

 

holding hands with his great-grandaddy on the swing.

Then we left early on Friday to spend the weekend with my family in Starkville. I was really bad at taking pictures.

Not to be left out during our Thanksgiving meal - sweet potatoes!

Lots of family, fun and food. A perfect Thanksgiving!

"And now, our God, we give you THANKS and praise your glorious name."

1 Chronicles 29:13

a week in Starkville

Like I mentioned earlier, Jones and I spent the week in Starkville at my parent's house a couple weeks ago. My whole family lives in Starkville, so we were able to spend lots of quality time with everyone.

Before I forget, here are some of the fun things we did:

- Went to Meridian one day to visit my sweet Mamaw in the nursing home. Jones gave her some good lovin!

- Ate breakfast with Lita and Grandaddy every morning. After they left for work, Nana would come over and play, play, play!



- Looked out the window at Lily, Kristen and Rob's Golden Retriever. She was fascinating!


- Thought Grandaddy's gooby singing was very funny.
- Played hard. And mastered pulling up to standing!

- Told secrets with his big cousin, Henry, before we took him to school one morning. They played together the whole week.

- Got some Christmas shopping done.
- Ate my Mama's good food.
- Had craft time with Jones at Dandy Doodlez
- Went out with Kristen, Rob, Henry, LT, Jake (my cousin) and Mary Kate (his girlfriend) to Tipico.
- Went to a new (to me!) Greek restaurant for lunch with two high school friends, Will and Bart. They loved Jones, naturally.
- Went to lunch at City Bagel with my sweet friend Amy. Oh how I have missed Amy and CB.
- Went out one night with Kristen and Laura. Just the three sisters! It was so fabulous. (And, yes, I get jealous when I know they get to hang out without me.) Went to Sushi Martini in the Cotton District:

Had the best time!

no nurse stats - night 2

Time - 2:18 am, day after Thanksgiving
Duration of Jones' crying out episode - 57 minutes.
That is 1 hour and 13 minutes less than last night.
I feel progress in the air!

Now is a good time to point at that some people are on their way to crowded stores for what the American society calls Black Friday.

And you thought I was insane.

Go home people. No deal is that good.

Him? Big? Me? Tired? Yes and Yes

I took Jones to the doctor today. For the past week or so I have noticed very dark, red circles under his eyes. Some days he looks like he has a black eye. Strangers always comment "Aww...it's nap time". No, it's not. Leave my kid alone.



Turns out he just has a cold. Minor stuff. Congestion, which explains the runny nose/stuffy nose none sense. Over the counter remedies and we are good.



That's not the problem.



Enter the scale: 25.2 lbs. Yes, that is right. He is 7 months old.



The doctor told me he was pretty large. No kidding, Sherlock. Check out my biceps. I know the babe is big.



Then she asked me a million dollar question: "Do you ever feed him in the middle of the night?"

Umm, yes. Sometimes more than once. He cries. He acts hungry. I feed him. He goes back to sleep. Sue me.



She then proceeded to tell me to never, ever again feed him in the middle of the night. He doesn't need it. He is just used to it. He is getting too many calories. And I deserve to sleep through the night. (I concur)



I told her that I do let him cry it out some, but then he cries himself in a corner, falls asleep off the sensor pad and sets off the alarm on the Angel Monitor. I run in, wake him up and we start the process all over again.



She told me there was one simple solution: get rid of the blankity-blank Angel Monitor and let him cry.(ok, no curse words were actually used, but I could feel her hatred for the thing)

So I am doing it. I did not turn on the monitor. He has been asleep for twenty minutes and I have already checked on him twice. I am such a freak.



That monitor has been a sore subject since day one. I think I hear that awful alarm during the day (while holding Jones at times. Ca-razy, I am.), I wake Trey up screaming that the alarm is going off, when clearly it is not and I can not handle when Laura's phone is about to die because it reminds me of the alarm noise.



I tell you again, I am nuts.



So wish me luck. Tonight I say goodbye to the motion/breathing monitor. We are going old school, readers. I am letting him cry it out. No more nursing in the middle of the night. No more middle of the night false alarm scares. No more crazy.



PS - Doctor? Are you a reader? If so, you should have told that girl in the waiting room feeding her twin 8 month old boys Frito chili pies from Checkers that she should stop. If I have to give up my middle of the night nursing rendezvous, then she should have to stop feeding her infants fast food.

a shutterfly christmas card overload

There are so many cute Christmas card designs on Shutterfly.com this year. And with 50 free ones on the line, I am having an even harder time deciding which ones to get. It's an important year, after all. After 4 years of Christmas cards picturing only Trey and yours truly (and Sophie, of course), this year we will have a new main feature - a much cuter one at that! I am sure Jones will the star of all Christmas cards to come. (Sorry, Sophie. Malte-poos take a backseat)

Remember when I posted about 50 free Christmas cards for bloggers? Check out my post here and check out their offer here. Fabulous! It's a deal too good to pass up. Thanks, Shutterfly!

Now if I could just decide on which design to order. I need help!

Last year I didn't do Christmas cards.

I know. So un-southern. But in my defense, I was pregnant, overwhelmed with baby decisions, and, well, tired (ok, ok. Lazy)

This year is different. I have a cutie to showcase to family and friends near and far.


So will it be the simple look of Merry Blossoms? Or is that too girly now that my house is 50% male?
Oh what Fun is fun and festive.
And I love the Joy cards. Plus, that's my middle name. Is it meant to be? Perhaps.

Do I go fun fun? Modern? Traditional? One picture or multiple? So many decisions.

Not a member of Shutterfly? You are missing out! I have been one since college. It's a great way to store your pictures online. And you can order them and have them delivered to your house or pick them up at Target. Fab. Plus, they have great gift ideas. I want a 2011 calendar, full of Jones' preciousness, of course. And a Christmas ornament using a picture of our little man's first Christmas? I think so. My tree needs that.

They have such great Christmas photo cards with such a wonderful designs for all tastes - check it out!
Not into using pictures? They have great Christmas cards without photos. See them here!

I Love it.

Now...on to more shopping. Only a few more weekends left until Christmas. Can you believe it? Nevermind the 80 degree weather here - it's Christmas time!

7 months

While we were in Starkville last week, Jones turned 7 months old. The past month has been huge in terms of development for the little (big) buy. It went from one day being able to lay him on a blanket with a toy and being able to do housework to the next day chasing him around the house and putting up all of Trey's guitars after he climbed up them. He is a busy, busy boy!

At 7 months, Jones:

* No longer army crawls. He full out crawls. And is fast.
* Can pull to standing. And will remain standing firm as long as he has at least one hand on something.
* Has two top teeth and two bottom teeth. I can see number 5 and 6 (both bottom) coming through now. He will have a mouth full by age 1, I am convinced.
* Is so happy in the morning. It's my favorite time with him!
* Still loves to nurse. And I hope he will until he is at least one. I have heard once they get really busy, they often lose interest. I hope this doesn't happen. Right now it is my only time I can sit down, rest and just hold him.
* Eats rice cereal in the mornings with either mashed up banana or pureed pears. In the late afternoons he eats a vegetable. His favorites are still pureed sweet potatoes and butternut squash.
* He talks all the time. Two weeks ago he didn't. I even told my mom I was a little concerned that he never really "talked". Well, that has changed. He squeals and laughs and babbles all day. It's precious.
* He is really into biting. Not while eating, thank goodness, just various times during the day. Sometimes he takes a bite out of my shoulder while I am holding him, other times he crawls to my leg and nibbles my calf. I don't know what to do about this. It hurts!
* Still loves being outside.
* NEEDS to be able to see Sophie at all times. He thinks she is hysterical.
* Sleeping has become a challenge in the past month. Since his illness, he has not wanted to sleep well during the night. He still goes down by 7:30, but instead of just waking once in the night, he wakes about 4 times. I took him back to the Dr. two weeks ago just to confirm that he didn't have another ear infection. He didn't. She said he just got spoiled while he was sick. I admit it: I never let him cry during those 3 weeks. double ear infection AND pneumonia. I mean, would you? Well, now he has forgotten how to put himself back to sleep. And I am tired.
* He still naps 3 times on most days. His longest nap is usually in the mornings.
* Is huge. Seriously. So tall. So big. Trey loves it. I am concerned he will past me in height by age 7. Someone at the park told me she had a son that looked Jones' age. Come to find out that boy was 15 months. Mine was 6 months. HUGE.

He is so much fun and is such a chill baby. We have been so blessed with such an easy going, relaxed baby. Every month gets better and better. He is the love of my life and every morning I wake up thankful I am able to stay home with him.

The 7 month photo session didn't turn out so great. He was way more into eating the sign (naturally) and crawling away from me. So here are some pictures taken of him that day while confined to his seat:

And can you tell how fast he is? One determined little man.

Jones' baptism

Jones was baptised Sunday, November 14 at our church, FUMC in Gulfport. It was such a special day that we were able to share with our families. Jones was perfect for it. I was a little nervous because our church is at 9:30 - nap time - but he did great. He slept until right before it was time for him to go up then he woke up in a great mood. To add to the sweetness of it all, Trey played the guitar during the service. He played while All Creatures of Our God and King was sung. This was also sung at our wedding. So special!

 

Everyone had a great time and I know we will treasure the memories forever.

Before the service - Jones was sound asleep

And afterwards at my in-laws for the reception:

(This picture makes me laugh. Henry went and sat by the pool and told me he wanted his picture taken. Then he told me "it would be OK if I just took off my clothes and went swimming. Mommy said so." Doubt that, little man. But nice try!)

lots of updates!

I have so much to update on. Jones and I have been in Starkville all week visiting my family. We had the best time! Lots of pictures and posts coming soon - stay tuned!

PS - I never got an email about that Shutterfly picture thing, but others have said it really did work. Someone help a sista out! What am I doing wrong?

goody goody gumdrop

Oh how I love pictures. Oh how I love Christmas. Oh how I love free things. Even more so now that I work for free.

Amanda posted about free Christmas cards over at Shutterfly. I have had a Shutterly account since college, thanks to Amanda. It comes recommended by yours truly.

Anyway, they are giving 50 Christmas cards away to bloggers. Hip Hip! Santa came early to me. I have used them in years past for cards and have always been so pleased.

Check it out!

it has been christened

The rug for Jones' playroom came in last night. I am not 100% sold on it. It is a bit loud and busy, but I told Trey I would put it down and live with it for a couple of days then make up my mind.



2 seconds after it was down, Jones crawled on the rug and spit up all over it. Does that mean he loves it and wants to keep it? Or hates it and was showing his disgust?



Either way, I can't send it back now without a guilty conscience. So it looks like the rug is ours.


I think I will like it better once I change the window treatments (it's a sun room. lots of windows.) and paint the walls (no clue what color...suggestions? I don't need it to be loud).

LOVE.

Tricia is so good. Every month I think there is no way she can top the previous month. And after every photo session I think to myself that there is no way she got good shots - he refuses to smile when she gets the camera out.

Well, she proves both thoughts wrong each time. She is incredible! If you are on the MS or AL coast (or wherever - she is worth the drive) you must check out Betty Donne Photography. You will not be dissapppointed.

I have a whole disk of amazing pictures. Here is just a sneak peak.