this girl is good

A few weeks ago Jones and I headed over with some friends to Mobile to have Jones' 9 month pictures taken by the fabulous Tricia at Betty Donne Photography. Outdoor picture, mind you. On a not so glorious February day.

Freezing temps? Absolutely.

Sleeting? Most definitely.

But all for the sake of cute pictures, we forced ourselves out into the chill. I felt like a bad mama, taking my sweet man out in the cold, taking his hat on and off at each shot location. I did, however, stop myself from changing his wardrobe multiple times out in the cold. I do have some sense.

We have never been able to get a smile from the little man while taking his picture...until now! We were so pleased. He just laughed and clapped. Thought the 20 degree biting chill was hilarious.

Get a load of these. Is she not the best?

Love. Love. Love.

My how he has grown.

Check out his 6 month pictures

And 3 month

And newborn

And in the belly

Oh. And check out pictures my totally adorable and hilarious nephew

I can't believe we only have his one year pictures left and then his Grow With Me package is over. No fear, Tricia will be taking multiple photo shoots of Jones each and every year. How blessed I am to have such talented friends...and that live so close!

Such precious, priceless pictures.

Great news

We had Jones' appointment with the Pediatric Orthopedic Surgeon on Wednesday for his consultation about his feet/legs. And we received wonderful news...NO BRACES! We were so very, very relieved about this. It would have been fine, of course, if he did have to wear braces on his legs, but the thought still made me a little sad.


His hips and spine are prefect. The reason his feet are turning the way they do is because this particular muscle (I can't remember the name. Not that I would be able to spell it if I did...) is a little bit underdeveloped. So he gave us some simple exercises to strengthen them. That's it! We will go back at a year to see if there is any development.


What a relief.


So in the meantime, little man and I have mini workout sessions throughout the day.

Here is sweet man reading his book waiting on the doctor:

After the appointment, we headed to the park for some fresh air. Precious boy.

Apparently contemplating the book he read earlier...

Sophie is not upset

Jones has discovered that if he drops his food on the floor, Sophie will eat it.

Sophie is not hating it.


And Jones is very proud.

spring has sprung

Well, maybe not officially but we are loving this spring-like weather around here!

Park with friends in Ocean Springs -

Park in our neighborhood with Daddy -




Swinging in our backyard -

(He likes to eat things.... )

Please, weather, stay this perfect!

splish splash

Hayes and Jones taking a bath!

They may not like these pictures one day...

But how cute!

And here is Jones swimming away (while laughing) when it was time to get out. He would stay in the tub all day!

10 months - double digits

I promise there was once a sign involved. And that sign said ten months. Those signs stopped working months ago.

I wish I had this on video. He was laughing so hard at Trey laughing. Seriously. Trey would get tickled at Jones then Jones would get tickled at Trey and they both couldn't stop laughing. Hilarious.
(Trey was trying to help...)



How did we spend his 10 month birthday? Well, when it's 70 degrees out, you spend it outside! Only Mississippi do we have sleet one week and spend the day at the beach the next.

We went to the park with Hope and Hayes after his morning nap: (pictures taken on my phone)

Then we ran errands. On our way home on HWY 90, I looked over and saw how pretty the water looked so I swerved over and let Jones play in the sand for the first time. Poor baby has lived at the beach for 10 months and never touch the sand. He wasn't sure at first, he just sat there, but then he got in to it and loved it. Anything outside and he is game.
(more phone pics...)

Then after his afternoon nap Hope and I wanted to take the boys back to the beach. It was getting a little windy by this point so we didn't stay long. Plus, we were at a different part of the beach. There was trash. And way too many sea gulls. But the boys had fun!



At ten months:

* Jones' personality is becoming more and more apparent. He is so chill and so funny.
* Some days he is a good eater, some days not so much. I don't worry too much about it. He is still a good nurser so I know he is getting all the nutrients he needs. This past month I have introduced chopped hard boiled eggs, avacado, fruit smoothies, pieces of boiled chicken and organic yogurt. He loved it all.
* Bath time is his favorite...still. He tries to climb in while I am getting the water ready. Cracks me up.
* He started this smirk thing recently where he tries not to smile at you. He gets teased and tries his very best to not smile but then can't take it any longer and smiles so big. It melts my heart.
* He can say mama, dada, and nana, which of course makes me tear up. I know he is trying to say banana, which I say to him every morning at breakfast. He looks at it and says nanananana. Nana would love it. He has no clue he is saying mama and dada, by the way. And he never says it on command.
*Can cruise along furniture and can take a few steps if you are holding both his hands, but seems pretty satisfied with his crawling. And why wouldn't he? He can move.

Side note: We are going Wednesday morning to the pediatric orthopedic surgeon for his feet/legs. I am a little nervous, but know it will be fine in the end. The nurse told me to expect to be there for at least a few hours. It's going to be a long day! I am just thankful we aren't having to go to New Orleans. He is from Tulane, but comes to the coast once a week for referrals.

Little man has hit double digits. Got to start planning that 1st birthday party now! I don't think I could love him more if I tried.

1st Valentine

This is how Trey and I spent our Valentine's Day:

Both sick. Both Still kinda sick. It appears Jones generously gave us his cold.

What's not pictured is the Benadryl we were taking. I saw today that it expired in 2006. It's no wonder we are not yet feeling great. Needless to say, I tossed it this morning. Also needless to say, I am cleaning out my medicine cabinet tomorrow.

So while Trey and I were no fun this Valentine's, little man had a great first one. The weather here this week has been be-a-utiful. I strolled Jones for literally 3 hours. Thank goodness he loves being outside and in his stroller. I was strolling him for that long for selfish reasons - it takes less energy to walk than it does to chase him around the house. Terrible, I know. I just was really not feeling well.

But look at that smile! I can't feel too guilty. He was so happy.
Here is the Valentine that Jones made for his Daddy. Isn't he creative?


This picture cracks me up. Jones got a Sesame Street DVD as a V-day happy from Trey's parents. I popped it in while I cleaned the kitchen. He was occupied for about 5 minutes. Not a TV guy, although I am not complaining. (I mean, we don't even have cable. Did you know that?) But he looks so festive sitting there with his balloon from his grandparents tied to his chair all under a terrible excuse for a homemade banner. I had to take a picture.

And here is Jones playing with his Valentine train from Lita and Grandaddy. Throws it off his chair, waits for me to pick it up, throws it off, picks it up....fun little game he plays with most anything.
Here are pictures taken Valentine's night. He has been showing interest in feeding himself with a spoon so I let him try. I was feeling wild I suppose. He was so proud of himself. Messy, but proud!

(I love how wild he looks in this picture)

So that is a wrap-up of our Valentine's Day 2011. Romantic, huh?

no, no, no?

In a matter of one week my child has mastered opening the fully closed pocket door to enter our bathroom and has discovered that splashing both hands in Sophie's water bowl is loads of fun.

While this is entertaining for my almost 10 month old, the combination of these two new discoveries has kept me on my toes. The little booger is fast. And he is very proud of his accomplishments.

Trey thinks he is old enough to understand the word "no". I am not so sure. But to make my husband happy - and to prove him wrong - I have been telling Jones no when he takes off at full speed towards the dog bowl.


Jones thinks "no" is one of the funniest things he has ever heard. He just laughs and then crawls faster and splashes the water harder. Now, a couple of weeks into the No Stage, Jones crawls towards the water bowl, stops, looks back at me, shakes his head no, then proceeds to splash the water.

I think that is a step in the right direction. Trey says he knows what he is doing and has outsmarted me. I think he is brilliant for being able to sign "no".

Baby steps, people. We will master discipline one day at a time.

Now for some cute pictures of recent happenings:

1. Jones' friend, Hayes, and his mama, Hope, came over for Valentine craft time one day last week. Have you tried to paint with a 1 year old and a 9 month old? Clearly I was not cut out to be a preschool teacher. There are no pictures of me and Jones. We were far too busy being covered in red paint to have our picture taken.
On a different note, we are so thankful Hope and Hayes moved to the coast! Wonderful friends already.

2. Jones had a cold (again) last week. Woke up Sunday in a great mood feeling fabulous but by the time we picked him up from the nursery at church he had 102 fever. Ugh. Hurry up spring.

Sunday sick day? I thought snuggling on the couch (in Christmas PJs) while watching a Disney movie was in order. Jones is not a TV watcher - much too busy to sit still - but he did sit for about 10 minutes and watched Aladdin. It was fun. My snotty nose snuggle man.

3. Hope, Hayes, Jones and I joined Kindermusik. It is so much fun and Jones seems to really get into the egg shaker. Here are some pictures from Kindermusik last week. I promise Jones' outfit is not that short on him. A bit high rising in these pictures.

4. And, finally, pictures from this morning at breakfast. Mealtimes are getting messier and messier. This morning he smashed an entire handful of bananas in his hair. Then died out laughing. Boys.