A Sip and See for Jones

This past Sunday my mom hosted a sweet Sip and See in Starkville for Jones. It was fabulous and Jones was a perfect angel. He let all those women hold him, squeeze him and kiss him until he finally fell asleep in one lucky guest's arms. (after which Nana quickly took over and held the sleeping babe the remainder of the nap)

It was beautiful (and full of delicious food) and a party I will never forget. Thanks, mama! Jones and I had a blast.

Me and my chubby baby

Me and Jones with my sisters

Nana and my mom with me and the honoree

Lita and her baby with her baby!
"seriously. how much longer do I have to be around all these women?"

It's exhausting being this cute
Nana's favorite part of the day.
My little family after the party (when the other boys were allowed back in the house!)

Trey's almost 30 birthday party

While in Starkville, my family had a little cook-out for my almost 30 year old husband. He is so not a birthday person and gets super embarassed opening gifts and having the birthday song sang to him. Luky for him, my family is full of birthday lovin' people. We celebrate for weeks. And sing really loudly.

baby got back

Jones had his 4 month check-up today.

They confirmed what I already knew...I am raising a linebacker.

At four months:

Height: 26 inches - 95%

Weight: a whopping 18 lb. 3 oz. - 95%

Head: 17 inches - 75%

After the nurse laughed while weighing our chunky monkey, the doctor came in to announce she was "alarmed" by his weight but then saw the height and told me to just be thankful he is proportional. Well, good. He is just huge all over, not fat. Love it.

She told me that exclusively breastfed babies are generally larger than formula fed babies and that obviously I am doing a good job at producing the milk. I would say so.

I love my little Buddha belly babe.

We plan on holding off on rice cereal until 6 months. The doctor recommended that since he is still doing so well on being exclusively breastfed. She did have to remove one more thing from my diet because of an allergic reaction Jones is having from something causing his eye to swell a little. So now no soy, caffeine, dairy, or spicy foods. But it's worth it.

At four months, Jones:

* Can hold his head completely up and follow you around the room. He practically is sitting up with little support.
* Is super strong. He will pull my hair out if I let him and can have a death grip on your finger.
* My dad and Trey both think he may be left-handed. We will work on that pitching arm soon.
* Loves to kick in the bath.
* Loves his exer-causer
* Loves to read. He holds the book.
* Laughs out loud so hard he has to catch his breath.
* Still loves the guitar. I pray he has his daddy's musical talent and not mine.
* Loves to be outside. It can be 110 degrees and if he is fussy the minute we walk outside he stops and starts smiling. Daddy's boy.
* His hair is falling out in a hilarious pattern.
* Sleeps 12 hours at night. CAN I GET AN AMEN?! He sleeps from about 8:30-8:30, eating at around 3. He usually wakes up around 6 or so, but I think it's because he hears Trey leaving for work. I can usually let him talk himself back to sleep, but sometimes he wants to rock. But he always goes back to sleep for a couple more hours.
* Is so ticklish when trey kisses his belly with a scruffy face. It's the cutest thing.
* Finally will take a bottle, but is quite the snob about it. The milk must be freshly pumped, he refuses previously frozen milk, and will only take it from a Dr. Brown bottle.
* And our newest thing: teething. Yes, at 4 months. I swear he is going to look like a one year old by the time he is 6 months.
* Is perfectly healthy and we are falling more and more in love everyday!

"I am how old, again?"
"WOW! Being 4 months old is SO much fun!"

My BIG 4 month old

operative word being BIG. He is such a chunk of love. I love those rolls.

His appointment for his check up and shots is next Monday; I will have his weight for you then. But I am fairly confident he is knocking on 18 lbs.

Why, yes, he did weigh 6.6 lbs 4 months ago. I am feeding him something good.

Here are his monthly pictures. As usually, shirt on and shirt off. He is getting more and more mobile, which makes the pictures more and more interesting.

And I apologize in advance for the multiple shots. I couldn't pick just one. And I wanted to remember them all. And it's my blog.

eyelashes

(picture stolen from Nan.)

oxford wedding weekend

Well, mark Oxford off of Jones' places to travel list. He made it in style. It was his longest road trip yet. We could not have asked him to be a better traveler. Sweet kid. Trey and I did decide we need a bigger car. I swear we packed our entire home. This was our first night away somewhere besides to stay with my parents, who have a crib, swing, baby stuff, etc. Trey says if we get a bigger car it will be a 1987 Chrysler mini-van with faux wood paneling just so we can say we went through that stage in our lives. S'cuse me? I think not.

Anyway...back to the trip...


My dear, dear childhood friend was married this weekend at what was undoubtedly the sweetest wedding I have ever been to. Every detail was perfect and very much reflected Susanna's personality. It was an eleven am wedding so the reception was brunch. You know I love brunch. Mimosas and shrimp and grits? Yes, please. My favorite little detail (besides the amazing bluegrass band that played during the wedding) was the fact that her guest book was her favorite cookbook. She is amazingly gifted in the kitchen and loves food and wine, so it was so fitting for her guest to sign the pages of her favorite book. How creative. I love personal details in weddings. Hers was full of it! I hate to say that I didn't get one picture of the two of us. But Tricia was the photographer, so I am hoping I can get some of her amazing shots. I will let you know when the pictures are up - I am sure they are incredible.


Here is a pic of me and the bride at my baby shower. It's the most recent pic I have of us:
I love this girl.

I did get a picture of Trey and me before the rehearsal dinner. (one of about 4 that we have of just us since Jones arrived)



So not only did Jones get to meet Susanna, he also got to meet other very important people in my life: The Cantrells and Russell. It was a pretty big weekend for the little guy.


Here are some pictures of our very short visit with Luke, Amanda, Kate and soon-to-be Preston. (PS - Jones showed his love of Oxford by poo-pooing through his outfit while hanging out with them on the square)


How cute is she? and that outfit? precious.

We stayed the weekend with Russell and Callie. Long overdue. Being with close friends does my soul good. We miss those two daily!

The boys discussing something very important, I am sure.


Uncle Russ getting some quality time with Jones.


And this picture is just funny. My parents brought back this hat for Jones from The Varsity Grill in Atlanta. It looks like Jones has eaten one too many burgers from there. My little chunky monkey!

mmmmm...finger-lickin' good.

Speaking of my sweet parents, a big thank you is in order. They were planning all along to come to Oxford for the wedding and to keep Jones during the dinner on Friday night. Well, my grandmother had a somewhat last minute surgery in Jackson on Friday. My sweet daddy drove my Nana to Jackson on Friday morning at 3 am, stayed during the surgery, drove back to starkville, got my mom, drove to Oxford, kept Jones, woke up the next morning and drove back to Jackson to stay with Nana. What sweet, sweet parents I have! I told them we could figure something else out, but they wouldn't hear of it - they insisted on coming anyway. I have the absolute best parents. And Jones was very happy to see his grandaddy and lita. Thanks, mama and daddy. You are the best.

Nana is back home and doing great, by the way. God hears our prayers all the time! He is constantly looking after us.

And finally, I am asking for prayers for an old friend. We went to school K-12 together, cheered together for years, and went to church together our entire childhood. She is a wife to a wonderful man and mother of two precious boys, ages 2 years and 8 weeks. She found out last week that she has cancer. Please include Amanda in your prayers. I know God hears our prayers and still performs miracles! Thanks, blog friends!

life-long buddies

Our dear friends Nan and Jeremy came to visit us from Orlando a couple of weeks ago. We had the best time catching up with old friends and Jones had the best time meeting new ones. He and Leyton are sure to be lifelong friends, just like their mommys and daddys.

Come back soon, Knights. (and thanks for these amazing pictures, nan.)

hello, august

please don't stay long.

I hate to be all negative Nancy on you, but this is my least favorite month of the year. It's hot. Really hot. There is not even one fun holiday. And a new one for me, the peak of hurricane season. Welcome to the coast, Heather. The only good thing I can see about August is that it is one step closer to football season and October, two of my most favorite times of the year.

With that being said, get a load of this chunk of love:

A bit sleepy during his bath last night.

priceless

This past weekend while Laura, Kristen and Henry were here visiting, I put Jones in his crib to watch his beloved mobile as we were all getting ready to head to the church to visit Trey. Well, after a few minutes, we walked into Jones' room to find Henry "reading" to Jones and holding his hand. We had to snap a candid shot.

They love each other so much! It is just precious. I cannot wait to watch them grow up together.