Adventures with the White Family

JM's 1st Birthday!!!!!

2010-05-17T20:08:00.011-05:00

Five days before JM's 1st Bday...he was just too excited to take his nap!

I made JM's cake...I think he was intemidated by it. You can see one little blue glob of icing. That was all that he got on him...at least from the big cake.

The many faces of JM while eating cake:

I love that last shot...thanks to our friend Tom for taking the pics at the party!

JM's friends going for a Jeep ride in J's Scrambler. Instead of pony rides at parties we have Jeep rides through the yard.
All of JM's peeps that came to the party

While opening presents we had some help from the boys...once we'd open something they would immediatly take it and put it on the coffee table.

I still can't believe a year has gone by already!

JM actually started to crawl (on hands and knees) on his birthday.

Really, the kid doesn't need any more toys...for at least few years :)

Random JM pics from Feb.

2010-05-17T20:02:00.003-05:00

Whenever JM was taking a bottle or sleeping he's got his hands up behind his head.

He would be kicked back in front of the TV (I know bad habit, but it was usually a kids show) just chillin taking his bottle.Then we started doing the inch worm crawl...not really a crawl more of an up, thrust foward, and fall on his belly movement.

My two guys :)

Justa Swingin...JM loves to swing at the park!

No matter what position he's in when I try to take a pic he'll turn around and grin just like this.

Animal Walk...or so we thought

2010-05-17T19:49:00.005-05:00

In Feburary I took JM downtown to see the Animal walk. Every year when Barnium and Bailey Brothers Circus comes to town, they unload the animals from the train and walk them through downtown to the civic center. Its like a parade of the animals. I had never been but had talked to some that had gone and they said it was neat. So I loaded up JM that day and headed downtown. We got there an hour early so we could get a good parking spot. I opened the back hatch and JM and I sat there waiting, and waiting, for what seemed like eternity! He ate almost a whole can of puffs while waiting. Finally the people started going towards the street and the police were blocking the roads. I scooped up JM and we stoof in the street waiting for the animals. now when I say Animals, I was thinking the circus Animals, like all of them. Much to our dimay it was only 5 elephants. Yep thats all 5 elephants. It was disappointing, well at least to me. JM probably didn't care, plus it was his nap time.

Waiting in the Jeep to see the Animal Walk

The Cirus train...there were numerous Circus train cars

5 Elephants...all that for 5 elephants. They could have at least

held each others tails with their trunks...come on they are Circus Elephants!

Later that week it snowed...again. I think it was the 3rd or 4th time it had snowed. I got JM up that morning and put on his fleece pants and hoodie over his jammies and sat him in it. I don't advise that first thing in the morning for a kiddo his age. He was gumpy the rest of the day.

Smoky Mountain Trip - New Years weekend

2010-05-17T15:34:00.010-05:00

For J's B'day we dropped JM off with the Grands and headed to the Smoky mountains over New Years weekend. It snowed most of the time we were there. We had an awesome little cabin with a view of Mt Leconte, which we could only see the last day we were there. We could also see Ober Gatlinburg. One of the days we were there they had closed every road in the park! This almost never happens! The next day we were finally able to go up to Newfound Gap and it was FREEZING! I'm talking about 6° and you could only stand ouside for about 2 mintues before you started to shiver uncontrolabley. But the view was AWESOME.

Our Cabin in the snow

Mt Leconte Trail

Newfound Gap Rd

Temp at Newfound Gap parking lot

I took these shots by sticking the camera out the sunroof...it was just too cold.

Roaring Fork Motor Trail in the snow

This stream at some spots had ice all the way across it.

The road above Treemont

So its been a while....

2010-05-17T14:35:00.005-05:00

So we'll start with Christmas:

After Santa visited

Opening gifts

Playing with our new stuff.

Belle loved her new bed.

We visited with J's side of the family (all nine Aunts & Uncles...and numerous cousins)

The BIG picture with everyone
All of JM's Christmas presents...he doesn't need anything else until next year!

Merry Christmas

2009-12-24T14:00:00.008-06:00

Here's a few pre-Christmas pics.

This was the pic for our Christmas card this year. We could not get JM to smile, so if you recieved a Christmas card from us with him smiling, that smile was Photoshopped in from another pic.

I LOVE our Christmas tree this year!! We bought it from a Boy Scout troop. In B'ham every road intersection has a Boy Scout tree lot, but here in north Alabama this is the only one we could find. It smells so good...it might be a while before we take it down :)

Since we had to redo our fireplace/chimney this year, we haven't put up the mantle yet (we are making is stone up to the ceiling), so our stocking are hanging on a piece of furniture that was my grandparents. My stocking is Vixen, J has Dasher, and JM has Roudolph, and of course Miss Belle has her doggie paw print stocking.

This is our family stocking. It has history. When J's parents got married and they lived in Tuscaloosa, a neighbor gave it to them. It was their first stocking. It has "White" knitted into it. I don't put anything in it because I'm afraid it'll streach it, its very delicate.

This is my Christmas card garland. Ever wonder what to do with all of the Christmas cards you get??? Well I took last years cards, traced a Christmas tree over the most interesting part of the front of the card and cut it out, punched a hole inthe top and tied a ribbon to it. I cut out who it came from and taped it to the back of the tree. (please excuse the view of the backyard...it has been neglected for quite some time now.)

It snowed here a few weeks ago!! It didn't last too long but it was JM's first snow. He wasn't really sure about it at first, and neither was Miss Belle.

This is the fence along the pasture across the street.

The boxes almost beat us.

So folding some boxes shouldn't be hard, right??? I bought JM some of those boxes that have the brick pattern on the side of them. I remember them from preschool and saw a set for cheap at Target. They came with instructions, that should have been my first clue. It took us longer than it should have to figure our how to fold them. The first few were not easy, but it got better once we figured them out.

Boxes - 1, Us - 0

Belle finished folding hers before we did one :)

We needed to rest our brains after the box folding event.

I made a $5 five minute scarf for JM's sitter. She is AWESOME and I wanted to do something for her for Christmas. I saw the directions on Natalie's blog, and had to give it a try. It was super easy! You need to use the super thick yarn for this.

We have a sick doggie right now...Miss Belle has a UTI, which has not been fun for any of us. She had to sleep in the kitchen 2 nights in a row, so she wouldn't destroy our carpet. She usually sleeps in our closet floor, so she was not happy with us when we gated her in the kitchen. Funny, we use our baby gates for the dog, not the baby.

JM got to see Santa Claus!! And I think they liked each other, what do you think?? Beofre it was our turn one kid in front of us cried and screamed when it was his turn with Santa, nothing made him happy. Then the other kid I believe talked Santa's ear off. The whole time I was thinking please don't cry JM. The only time he really smiled is in this pic when he looked up at Santa. I love it cause its not posed, and it makes you wonder what is going on in his mind.

His little outfit cracks me up, its smocked with the scene of a roof top with Santas boots sticking out of the chimney and a bag of presents. Santa asked if he could stay, sorry Santa its bedtime!

What the......

2009-11-12T21:14:00.008-06:00

heck is this making this noise in our backyard??????? Don't worry nothing is going to jump out in the video at you, it was just so I could record the noise (we never did see it). We've heard lots of wildlife "noises" around our house (baby coyotes yelping, the 3 owls hooting back and forth) but this is new...J thinks its a pterodactyl and that its going to swoop down any minute. We figured out what tree it was in but thats it. If anyone has any idea what it is, please leave a comment and put my poor husbands mind at ease. Oh and this happens to be outside our bedroom window...I hope this thing quiets down in a little bit.

Other news at our house...JM has a top tooth coming in!! You can kinda see it in the pic.

Halloween

2009-11-09T13:15:00.008-06:00

I had bought JM a Halloween costume, a Chili Pepper, a month or so ago, hoping he'd still fit into it once Halloween got here. I trie it on him Halloween morning and this is what happened...

He had outgrown it...so sad cause it was so cute! See his legs are supposed to fit into the body of the pepper outfit. I think we were about 2-3 inches too long and round :) There was no hope of "fixing"it so he would fit. So I went to plan B...make a costume.

Remember this is Saturday morning...Halloween day! So I rummaged through the material I had from projects that I have hopes it one day of starting and finishing...and I found a piece of brown material. So I wiped out my sewing machine (more like drug it arcoss the floor while huffing and puffing, it must weigh 50 pounds!!) and some tissue paper for a pattern. ** Note to self: Self, pattern making is not as easy as you thought it would be.**
Ok, so after an hour of so of cutting, recutting, pinning and stiching, we had a.........Monk outfit. I had found some twine in the garage and a little wooden cross a pastor from a church had given me from Israel, and the costume was complete, hood and all. Now I just had to get JM intot he costume. I hadnt made it wide enough for him to get his arms through the arm holes, so I had to undo the side seam to get him in it. He wasn't very happy with me at this point. But we suceeded and took some pics and headed out.

Our little lounging monk..."hhhmmm can I get this into my mouth???"

JM tried to eat the pumpkin top while posing for pics.

We went to just a few neiughbors houses cause lets face it, JM didn't know what we were doing and we really just wanted to show him off. Ended up on 2 neighbors were home. The first one was an elderly couple who are some of the sweetest people. JM got a pair of Halloween socks from them (since he can't eat the candy, we took care of that for him). He'll probably be able to wear them in a few years :)

Our pumpkin we carved. We each got our own mini pumpkin to carve. JM's is onthe left, J's is in the middle (go figure, a Jeep grill), and mine on the right.

The other day JM was napping and I went to check on him and found this...

Apparently he had been giraffe wrestling during nap time :)

and then yesterday he was sitting in the boppy pilow on the floor playing and I was int he kitchen cleaning and I came out and this is what I found...

He was laughing not crying. Oh and his onesie says Mommy's little stinker with a skunk on it :)

FIRE!!!! we now have an operational fireplace!!!!!

And JM loves to try to drink for a glass...most of it ends up being spit/drooled out so I pretty much have to undress him for him to drink.

Have a happy week, from the Southern White House, as J like to refer to it as :)

Tate Farms Cotton Pickin Pumpkin Patch

2009-10-27T13:50:00.022-05:00

We went to the Cotton Pickin' Pumpkin Patch at

Tate Farmslast Saturday and we had a blast.
We rode on a hay ride to get to the pumpkins and then you can pick your own pumpkin.

We decided not to get one since I had already bought one at the store.

We did however take TONS of pics of JM in the patch.

I found one, Mom!!!

My Pumpkin!

Two cool Dudes!

JM and the Llama

JM and the sleeping goats

The pigs that snotted JM's shoes
they were dirty pigs :)

This is where the rabbit almost jumped outta

J's hands cause JM was holding it so tight.

Just a swinggin'...I really don't like that song.

This gourd looked like a swan.

I love the ugly gouds/squash/thingys.

Apple gourds, I like these, they were neat looking.

Mini pumpkins!!!!!

JM in the corn crib.

Not as comfy as you would think...

Mom and JM in the cotton

Now this is comfy...maybe a little itchy.

Two cool dudes again!! They seem to follow me where ever I go...

maybe its because I keep feeding them ;)

A 2 headed scarecrow!!!

Gotta have a pic of the guys and the firetruck...

and the tractor.

Time to go!!

By the time we got home JM was passed out!

We had tons of fun at Tate Farms.

Roll TideRoll!!!

2009-10-17T18:30:00.003-05:00

JM loved the Alabama shaker. Everytime he "shook" it he laughed at it.

Roll Tide!!!!

More pics

2009-10-15T20:52:00.010-05:00

Here's more pics as promised....

My little blue eyes.
All I did was make the pic b&w and make the blue show through.
That is the color his eyes were in the original pic.

Hanging with Dad on the couch, look at that belly peeking out!

Ready for food!!!

Play time turned into nap time

Little Carhart overalls...so he can be like Dad!

JM's Christmas outfit...note Santa's feet in the chimney.

JM's Halloween costume...lets hope he'll still fit in it by then.

Tummy time with the Hungry Catapiller...

"Uh, mom I think we're done here"

Uncle J and JM. Uncle J does the best blast off with the jumparoo.

Watching UA beat Ole Miss...ROLL TIDE!!!

Catching up

2009-10-12T11:27:00.006-05:00

I know, I know, its been a while. We've been having so much fun here lately that I havent found the time to blog. JM is doing something new everyday it seems.
He loves food now, more goes in and stays in his mouth than what comes out! He eats carrots, avacode, apples, bananas, rice cereal, and next he'll try peas. Its funny when he eats he lunges for the spoon with his mouth open. Sometimes it's like I can't feed him fast enough! I have decided that instead of using a bib when he eats, I just strip him down to his diaper and feed him. Makes for an easy clean up.

The aftermath of the avacado.

Who you talking to ??me??

Roll Tide!! (he's in his game day getup) You can also see his 2 bottom teeth in this photo.

He loves this monkey Crazy Aunt J gave him. He can be crying and we'll walk over to the monkey and he'll start laughing at it!

That leads me to the next fun thing...laughing. Its so funny to hear him laugh. I mean he'll get so tickled at stuff! J's mom gave him an Alabama shaker to hold the other day and he would move his hand and then laugh cause the shaker moved too. I'll post the video, its too cute!

JM had a BIG week and weekend. First my mom came up to keep him Tues-Thurs while our sitter was out of town, then Fri J's parents came up and stayed until Sun. We also had a group of Scrambler owners in the southeast (and Kansas) come in to town to go ride. Sat they all came over for dinner. Mr S and Mrs S occupied JM while I finished cooking. I really need to be better about taking peoples pics with JM. JM thought Mr S was really funny, he'd laugh at everything he did. On Sun and Mon JM took 3 long naps, usually its just 2 hour long naps. I think he was wore out!

This coming weekend we're going to the pumpkin patch at Tate Farms. I'm debating on taking JM's halloween costume with us for some pics. He's going to be a Chili Pepper, as long as the costume still fits then :) He's growing like a weed!!

I'll be posting more pics in the coming days.

6 Months Already!!!

2009-09-15T21:03:00.008-05:00

ROLL TIDE ROLL!!!!!

JM on his 6 month Birthday!!!

We love to bounce!

6 months have come and gone since JM was born...A lot has happened in those months.

Here's some stats:

As of 9.14.09 JM weighs 18 pounds even, is 25.5 inches long, and has a nice round head of 44 cm. If you look at that in terms of percentages thats 75% weight, 25% height and 50% head...so he's nice and square as J would say :)

He can sit on his own, he has 2 teeth (bottom front)!

He does NOT like cearal or bananas...but we're working on that.

My parents came up this weekend to help fix the inside wall where we replaced the firebox. The pervious owners put rock up on the wall and well, it wasnt the best of jobs. I'll just leave it at that. So, since Dad does drywall he came up and fixed it for us! It looks awesome now. Dad also got to feed JM some rice cereal...still doesn't like it.

I stayed up late Sunday night sanding and painting the wall. An apprasier was coming on Monday to appraise the house so we can refinance it. We only had 4 days notice so we did lots of cleaning. On Monday after JM's 6 month apt the appraiser called around 11:30 and asked if he could come around 12:30. Ok, sure, no problem. So I run around like a mad woman trying to clean up and after a massive blowout by JM (I had to make a mad dash to the garbage can so the house didnt stink), the appraiser arrives. AT 12:15!! Ok, thats alright, I had done mostly everything that needed to be done. So he walks around outside and then comes in. He takes off his shoes so he doesn't track in mud (it had rained that morning). So we talk and he starts walking thought he house. When he goes to the back of the house, our dog, decided that right then adn there she needs to Christen the carpet in front of the tv. Yes, my dog peed in front of me while the appraiser was walking sock footed around our house!!! I ran tot eh laundry room, grabed a towel, soaked up what I could, and threw the towel back inthe laundry room befoer the sock footed man came back to the living room. I didn't want to admit that my dog had just christened the carpet, so I just stood over the wet spot while he walked around. He probably thought I had some sort of facination with our tv! oh well. If he knew he'd probably thank me for saving his socks!

Before all this craziness JM had an apointment that morning at 9:15 for his 6 months shots. No fun! First we were running late cause JM decided to christen me and the changing table. That was a sign of things to come, I just didn't know it at the time. So we were already running a little late. It had been raining all morning so everyone and their grandmother decided it was a good day to run into each other. Out of the 4 entrances to our neighborhood 2 were blocked by the police and power company due to an early morning wreck. I didn't know this until I got to them. It took 10 minutes just to get out of our neighborhood when it normally takes 3. Really we should have just stayed in bed. So we get tot he apointment and its pouring down rain so J meets us there with an umbrella at the door. The apointm,ent went well, well that is up until the shots. poor little guy. He got 2 in one leg and 1 in the other. We still have to go back for his flu shot in a few weeks.

Dad and JM at the doctor...why must they keep it a cool 50° in a dr office where they make the poor kids strip down????

Charlie Brown in space bandaids...appropriate for Huntsville.
Bugs bunny bandaid...like a laughing crazy rabbit is going to make things better.

So it was a busy weekend.

Here's some shots tonight with JM and his monley from crazy Aunt Jane (we love you!!!). He laughs everytime he looks at it.

He better watch out...I hear monkey flu might be the next rage :)

We came and....

2009-09-09T18:25:00.006-05:00

We didn't conquer. Cereal that is. It was pretty funny...I think next week we'll move on to some veggies. We'll save the good stuff (fruit) for last.

Before he tried the cereal he tried duck...plastic duck that is. I think he likes it better.

Sleepy head

2009-08-26T20:00:00.004-05:00

We came home from work and i put James inthe jumparoo while I started dinner and cleaned the kitchen. He bounced in it for a good 30 minutes, then it all stopped. I peeked into the living room and this is what I saw...

He was out! At one point he opened his eyes and started to bounce again but closed his eyes while he was bouncing and went back to sleep...this video is right after he closed his eyes, you can see a few bounces in the beginning.

He woke up after a few minutes of snooze time and started bouncing again like nothing had happened.

Kids....

2009-08-16T22:02:00.010-05:00

these days...Sometimes I just don't understand why kids act the way they do today. Surely we were not like this...we couldn’t have been...Mom, Dad please confirm this and say it ain't so. J, JM and I went to a car show Saturday night in Priceville. We had been to it a couple of years ago and enjoyed it. This year we decided to go once the sun had gone down so it wouldn't be so hot. Now, I know these things are family oriented, but I've never seen so many kids just running wild in all my life. Small children running around the cars, not caring who the run into or how many times they run into that same person. And then there’s the teenagers...the awkward years. I believe that now its all the rage for boys to shop in the girls department...some of their jeans looked like they were painted on...and this was on the boys!!!! And then you have the ones who think its cool to smoke...HELLO, can we say CANCER!!! They are probably doing it cause Paris Hilton or some celebratard said it was hot or cool. I know that you can't always control what your kids do but at the least give them the common sense to wear clothes that are not vacuum sealed to their bodies, or suck down some cancer stick.

Who lets their daughter out of the house wearing this????? Purple tights under a yellow and white striped one piece short tube top thing...with zebra print slipper shoes. We saw this at Sonic after the car show and I just had to take a picture of it...J was getting embarrassed that I was doing this, but I can guarantee that this girl will be real embarrassed in a couple of years when someone whips out a pic of her wearing this and shows it to her kids.

I really like the rat rods...theres just something cool about them.

My favorite of the whole show...it was white with a pink pearl to it and it had white flames on the hood and down the side.

Another favorite...an old Mercury I think....it was really low to the ground.

an old '55 Willys Jeep it only has had 2 owners a man and his son.

I know raising James we will run into situations were he might not make the best choices. I just hope that we can raise him to where hopefully he'll think about what he's doing and the consequences.

Last Monday we went to the Concerts in the Park at Big Spring Park. Our roofer, Mike Ball has a bluegrass band called Mike Ball and the Madison Mountaintop Band. They were really good and played contemporary songs in bluegrass style. I had worked hard that afternoon to get a picnic all ready for that night. We had blankets, all baby stuff, the 3 of us, and the picnic baskets which had everything for dinner...except the chicken salad which I left in the fridge at home...oh well. We had rolls and a salad and went home and ate the second course :)
Here's JM kicking to the beat of Sweet Home Alabama...

The Duck Tub

2009-08-10T14:09:00.006-05:00

Since loading up JM to go to the pool can be a little time consuming, we have been putting him in the Duck Tub to play and splash. It's an inflatable tub that looks like a rubber ducky. He can sit/prop up in it and kick and splash around. Since its been sooo hot we've been using it out on the deck. He loves being outside and looking around. Oh and if you squeeze the duck's bill, it quacks!! Who knew something like this could be so entertaining for babies and adults :)

JM checking out the Duck Tub

before we put water in it.

See Mom I have pruny feet!!

Gummie grin...gotta love those!!

Greenway, the pool, and B'ham

2009-08-03T13:20:00.004-05:00

Again like usual we've been busy. A couple of Mondays ago we went for a walk on the greenway near our house. Belle and I walked around 4 miles...JM slept for almost 4 miles. When we got to the car to leave Belle crawled under the car and would not come out...she was a hot dog. The greenway is really neat. It runs along a creek on one side and on the other side is a farm with cows and horses. At the north parking lot they are building an awesome playground, with areas for different ages, and they are also including a dog park. That'll be fun in a few years. Last Monday we went to Mr. A's pool to swim. We only stayed around 20 minutes cause someone was getting hungry and cranky, but we still had a good time. This past weekend we went to Bham Friday night and Saturday we went to montgomery to meet my sister's future in laws...they are very nice people!! And Mr R, crazy Aunt J's future father in law, loved playing with JM. We came back to Huntsville that night and Sunday was our 6 year anniversary. We didnt do a whole lot just enjoyed being with each other and we drove up to our club's property (well not all the way, just to the trail head). We drove up to the monte Sano overlook and hung out there a few minutes and took some pics. Then we went to a Chinese place to eat dinner. then it started...JM was cranky, and we think his gums were hurting cause he was trying to stick both hands in his mouth at the same time. It was the most romantic of dinners but thats ok.

Flying with Dad

Hanging with Mom

If only I could hold my bottle I'd be set

You lookin at me??

Chillin in my highchair

After swimming

Passed out during our walk ont he greenway

Belle trying to cool off under teh Jeep

The greenway

4 Month Doctor Visit

2009-07-15T19:32:00.005-05:00

Monday I took JM went to the doctor for his 4 month checkup and J met us there. JM loves being stripped down to his diaper and squirming all around the exam table. Dr B. said everything looked good. He weighed 15 pounds 0.5 ounces and was 24.5 inches long!!

Then it happened...the nice fun doctor went away and that woman came in (nurse J really is a sweet nurse...JM just doesn't think so since she always sticks him). he had to drink one vaccine and he got one shot in one leg and then 2 more in the other. Poor baby...the daffy duck bandaids didn't make it any better either. We rubbed his legs hoping they would not be sore. Once he stopped crying we loaded him up and left. I took him back home while J went back to work. JM slept for about 2 hours after we got home. Around 3:30pm thats when it happened...JM cried and screamed and nothing, I mean nothing, would calm him down. That is when I had to play the part of the human pacifier for about 1.5 hours. His legs were really sore and had knots on them from the shots and he had a little fever. He was fine on Tuesday, and played and cooed like normal.

Oh and JM LOVES this monkey. I got it with our Pampers points. Its the best thing ever. C said that he was screaming today and C put the monkey in front of JM and he stopped and just stared at it. I love this monkey!

Chimney, fireplace and roof

2009-07-13T15:19:00.010-05:00

Here's some before and after pics of our chimney and fireplace. The fire place on the inside isn't done yet...we still have to put some stone around it and make a new hearth for it.

First this is the reason for the new roof, 3 inch hail! Before we got the new roof we had to fix our chimney which was not usable.

The bay window before

The Chimney before

The fireplace before

(to see the after pic, look at post below)

The chimney durning construction:

The guys were surprised that the chimney hadn't fallen off the house.
Before:

After:

Ken Geci did the chimney and shingles and he's a great guy!!! If we ever need anymore carpentry work done he'll be doing it!!

This is the little truck the roofers called "The Al Quieda" cause it looks like one of the truck they have over there with machine guns mounted to the top. I am actually taller than this truck (keep in mind I'm 5 ft tall). Note the wood bumper.

Mike Ball did our roof and he is excellent!! We can't say enough good things about him and his crew!!

Old Roof:

New Roof:

Busy, busy, busy...

2009-07-13T13:25:00.018-05:00

Hanging out with Mommy on the floor:

JM really likes this monkey:

For the past few weeks we've been busy. We're getting our chimney rebuilt, cedar shingles hung on the chimney and bay window, and we got a new roof (we had major hail damage back in April) (another post). J was in Hot Springs, Arkansas 3 weeks ago for the 2009 National Scramble (its a Jeep thing). While J was gone my Mom came and stayed with us and kept JM while I was at work. We pulled down some "new" toys from the attic. We borrowed these from some friends, and so far JM likes all of them.

JM is now smiling at people and when I say his name. I think he is attempting to laugh also. We have this stuffed animal thing that has a blanket attached and it looks like a cow but has little knobby things down its back, so it kinda looked like a dinosaur…so we called it the mooasaur. Our kind friends informed us that it was a giraffe not a mooasaur, we still call it a mooasaur, its fun to say.

Dad put the mooasaur on JM's head.
It didn't last long there:

JM likes to get in the jumparoo and the bumpo if he is in a good mood. I think he’s almost outgrown the bumpo. It’s a little tight fitting. We’ve been practicing sitting up while holding onto my hands and he does really good…I just can’t let go or else he face plants (that’s why we practice in his crib, soft landing).

This weekend we went to a picnic at Mr A’s house. He has a pool and has invited us to use his pool to get JM used to the water. I had been looking into swim lessons, but since he has offered us the use of his pool I think we’ll take him up on it and go at least once a week. I really want JM to learn to swim at a young age…I took lessons at the Y when I was small (around 6 or 7 months)…I don’t ever remember a time when I couldn’t swim. JM LOVED the water. At first he wasn't so sure probably cause it was cool, but once he got acclimated to it he loved it. We would hold him under his arms and let him kinda float on his belly and he would kick his legs while we moved him around.

Mr A's dog Molly checking out the little human.

The hat says "Chik Magnet"

Super Baby!!

JM had a bubble butt from the air in his swim trunks.

JM when we got home, he slept 11 hours that night!!!

Here's a run down of some things we did this past month:

Went to A's (AKA big dude) 2 year birthday party...James slept through most of it. It was a Word World theme party

June 10th J and I went to my 10 year high school reunion, that was nice getting to see some people I hadn't seen in years.
June 17th J went to Arkansas and my mom came up and stayed with us. That was such a big help!!

June 19th I decided to cut the grass for J as a Father's day present...keep in mind that I had never used our riding mower before...lets just say that the weeds got knocked down. I can now understand why those crazy people like to race riding lawn mowers...its fun once you get up to speed :) My dad decided to help take down the old stone that was around the fireplace...well he got it down...in one big piece that fell. No one got hurt except our big chair I was trying to sell. Looks like its here to stay. But we got the rock down!! Yea!! Thanks dad!!

Me, my dad and JM on Father's Day

The last week of June a wonderful friend had her third child! A little girl!! She is so precious and they are so in love with her.

I had an awesome Silpada party the last weekend of June. I need more parties like that one.

July 2nd we took JM down to Bham to stay with my folks. J was in a wedding in Abita Springs, LA, so we had to be down there by Friday night for wedding festivities. JM stayed with my parents and he got to go meet his great grandparents at their farm in Oneonta that Saturday. On Sunday he got to go to the family reunion on my mom's side.

July 4th we planned to watch fireworks on the banks of Lake Pontchartrain. We were told that they would start around 9pm. We got there at 9pm and sat on the wall and waited and waited and met some nice people from over neat Baton Rouge. talk for a while and then around 9:30 we decided that we either missed them or that they were canceled due to the wind. We did get to see some though...the ones in New Orleans. they were tiny, but being that it is flat down there we could see for miles (around 30 miles to be exact). Here are some pics from our trip:

I love the hanging pots on the rail...this was on the second story of a house.

Inside the cathedral

mmmm...Cafe Du Monde...I love beniegts
We saw this guy on Jackson Square, riding a Jazzy motor scooter thing, carrying an ironing board...yes you read that right. When he got to the curd he threw down the ironing board picked up the scooter put it on the other side of the curb and picked up the ironing board and went on his way. Wow the things you see in New Orleans...
The tin man across the street

The following shots were taken in a store next to Cafe Du Monde...I couldn't resist:

Note the Holy water next to the Voodoo doll

Lookin Good for Jesus!!! Get his attention, Repair Damage!!

Who comes up with this stuff??!!

This is the grooms cake at the wedding we went to. Cassidy sells used cars in Columbia, SC. He does a pretty good job at it too.

Oh, and BIG news my sister got engaged July 4th!!!!! I'm so happy for them!!! I've been telling JM that he has a future Uncle L. They are thinking next June.

Just the other day another good friend had their first child...a little girl!! They are both on cloud nine right now. It seems that JM will have a bunch of little girl friends :)

The past week...

2009-06-07T21:45:00.008-05:00

We haven't done too much this past week. On Monday JM got a lesson in plumbing, and so did I. Our kitchen sink was only putting out a trickle when the hot water was turned on, plus it was cold not hot. So I decide that instead of washing dishes with cold water I'm going to figure out what was wrong with it. I took apart every piece of that faucet that I could to figure out what was wrong. I couldnt find a darn thing wrong, so I threw it all in a diaper wipe box, loaded JM up and we went to Lowes where we had purchased it 2 years ago. I page someone in plumbing to help me figure out whats going on with it. I must have been a sight, no make up, a sleeping baby in his carrier inthe buggy, and a diaper wipe box with a faucet that looked like it had been in a massacure. Mr. Plumbing departemnt amn came over and I told him what was going on. To make a long story short he took mine faucet pieces and gave me a new one just like the old one. YEA!!!! So we get back home adn after a couple hours of yelling at the stupid water lines and faucet I got it in and it works!!! AND no leaks!!!! I hate plumbing. I hope that thing works forever, caue I busted almost all of my knuckles putting it in. If I hadn't been so aggravated at it I would have taken some pics. JM slept through everything except when he was hungry...thank goodness.

The rest of the week was pretty much uneventful. I have been putting JM to bed earlier in hopes he still sleep up to 4:30am (yea, thats when I have to get up) . So far he's stayed asleep. I think he knows when I put his pjs on and turn out the light that he knows its time for sleep, cause I dont hear a peep outta him until the next morning. Let's hope he keep sthis up :)

Yesterday (Sat) he had kin of a grumpy day. I think I can feel his little tooth coming in and its bothering him. I found this little thing you put on your finger and it had little rubber bristles on it. Well I thought I could use it to massage JM's gums and boy does he like it. If your not careful he'll suck the thing off your finger!

Today he wasnt as grumpy. We tried to put him in his jumper thing that hangs in the doorway and he wasn't too sure about it. It's still a little big for him and if your not careful he'll fall face first onto the tray. I rolled up some blankets and put them in front of him to support him and he was ok with that. He still wasn't too thrilled with the whole thing. Here's some pics:

WAS UP!!!

Once I hung the elephant up he kinda started to like the jumper, but only for a little while.

Tomorrow work starts on our chimney :) Hopefully this winter we can a real fire! Here's some before pics:

We're going to put cedar shingles on the outside instead of siding and we're also going to add them to the bay window. Our whole house is brick except the chimney and the bay window. The cedar will make it look so much better.

I need to learn to like coffee, teething and Bham trip

2009-05-31T21:34:00.003-05:00

Friday James decided to get up at 3:30am, and not our normal 4-4:30am and since I had to go to work I decided it was best if I just stayed up and went in early. So, I get to work at 6am and surprisingly I’m not the only car in the parking lot…besides the security guard there are 3 other cars. Either these people also has little early risers or they are plum crazy. I think they are plum crazy…a friend once described our work place like this: “Its like a bowl of granola. What’s not fruit and nuts is flakes”…I’m still trying to decide which one I am. Well after a 7am granola bar and bottle of water I’m still dozing off and hungry (I’ve already had a bowl of oatmeal at home at 5am). Then a co worker comes to the rescue, BROWNIES with pecans…yummy. So after the brownie I’m still dozing off…I need to learn to like coffee. The other day I was in a store and saw chocolate covered espresso coffee beans…I bet just a few of those and I’d be wired the rest of the day and night and following day.

We think JM is starting teething. He’s been drooling and gnawing his hand lately, and we can feel a few bumps on his gums. I never would have thought to check, but thanks to C who watches JM, he noticed the teething signs. It’s nice to have friends who have been there and done that with baby boys. I bought one of those teething rings that goes in the fridge. Its got little bumps all over it. It seems like it would hurt more than help, but I’m no teething expert. As of right now JM really doesn’t like it but I think it’s more the cold he doesn’t like. Oh and he really doesn’t like that taste of the Cherry flavored Baby Oragel…apparently he prefers the Tutti Frutti flavor C gives him.

We spent last Friday night in Bham for my mom’s surprise bday party at Nabeels. She had no clue (or so she says). Loads of fun, yummy food and great friends I think everyone had a blast. We got to show our friend T all of our baby gadgets that she needs before their little angel comes in July. Who knew you’d need so many things for a baby ;)

We also got to eat at Super Sam’s Samwiches in Homewood. I wish we had one up here in north Alabama.

J got the soft top on our Jeep Sunday, so once we get the back seat bolted down we can take JM for short rides in the Jeep. We won’t be doing any rock crawling just yet, we have to get a roll cage and JM has to wait until he’s a little older.

Busy Weekend...and The Dudes

2009-05-26T18:20:00.011-05:00

We had a very busy weekend. First, my parents came up and spent Friday night with us. We went to eat Chinese at our favorite little spot, Ding How II (I have no idea where Ding How I is) and for the first time a stranger (our waitress) reached into the carrier to touch JM. Now, I have no problem with people I know wanting to touch his cute little hands or feet, but if I don't know you don't touch my baby, especially while he's sleeping! To make it even worse it was like she was trying to wake him up...do I go to your home and poke you when your asleep woman??? We pulled the shade part of the carrier up to deter any more unwanted touching and it worked. OK, rant over. Besides that dinner was yummy.

The next morning we got up played with JM and went antique shopping. JM and Dad are pretty quick shoppers cause Mom and I were only half way through and Dad had pushed JM all around the store. We found a few treasures, a cabinet for moms crystal figures and a humingbird feeder hanger for me. Oh and a record of George Wallaces inaguration. We had some Boston Butt for lunch and then the grandparents went back to the Ham.

Grandad playing with JM on the playmat

Sunday our friends T and H came from Nashville. H is 5 months pregnant (with a little boy) and JM showed her how good little babies can be. He played on his play mat the whole time. We also made a Babies R Us run and gave H the low down on the necessary baby items to get. We saw a walker that is a Jeep...JM may be getting that :). T and J worked on T's Jeep the whole time...JM really wanted to join in but I think he's too young to start that addiction.

Monday we just did stuff around the house, nothing too interesting. JM spent some time out in the garage watching J work on the Jeep. I really think that he can sleep through anything...J was using the air tools and JM would sleep through it.

Oh, I for got to mention that Thursday at C and A's house (where JM stays Tues-Thrus) "little dude", as A refers to JM, got smacked in the forehead by a school bus. Big dude (A) was playing with his toy cars and it was an accident. No worries just a small scrape, nothing big. In his baby book I think I'll put down "At 11 weeks JM was hit by school bus and survived". :)

Well I think we've covered it all...JM is passed out in my lap as I type this...he can't be comfy in this position:

He's a sleepy little dude :)

Blogging...

2009-05-18T10:00:00.000-05:00

So people have been asking me "are you going to start a blog?" I thought to myself...when will I have time??? With a 10 week old, a dog whom doesn't get enough attention, and a husband who has lots of projects going on, when can I sit down a blog?? Well, since I'm off on Mondays, I'll make that day my blogging day (we'll see how long that lasts).

JM has been smiling for about 2 weeks now. He actually wakes up smiling, even if he was just crying, I go in his room and he stops crying to smile as if he's saying "Good Mornin' Mom & Dad!!" He's been sleeping through the night, at least 7 hours straight...lets hope he keeps this habit up :) The last 10.5 weeks have flown by, JM is outgrowing clothes, sitting up in his Bumpo chair (Thanks M.E.), and carrying on baby talk conversations with us.

Everyone kept telling J and I that your life is about to change. Well duh, we're having a baby of course its going to change, right?? Well I have realized that they were all right, but the change has been more than I ever could have imagined. Its not just a loss of sleep, or feeding James every 3 hours...its an emotional change. We are now a Mommy and Daddy!!! On Mother's Day I called my mom to tell her happy moms day and my dad told me Happy Mothers Day...Wow we both felt old, but it was in a cool way. It was a holiday we always celebrated for my mom but today I was also celebrated. We went to Carabas for lunch at 2:30 and there was a 30 minute wait!!! I guess everyone else thought they'd wait until 2:30 also to eat lunch. It was yummy! JM slept through the whole thing, which was fine by us. I also got a sweet card from J that he and JM signed (J put the pen in JM' hand and wrote his name). Oh, my other gift was 9 hours of straight sleep from JM!! That's right he slept 9 hours straight!!!!

Here are a few pics of JM:

Deep thoughts...

TUMMY TIME!!!!

The Bumpo chair rocks!!

Relaxing and watching the Firemen on TV

Pinky (the elephant) and JM love the playmat!!

We went to Panoply Arts Festival and heard the Fiddlers competition...JM really liked squirming around to the music!!

Yesterday I made the most delicious Monkey Bread with a mix from Williams Sonoma (I only bought it cause it was half off). It took a lot longer than expected...mainly cause the directions were in paragraph form and took up the whole backside of the box!!! Come on, I know that I should use oven mitts (yes, it actually said to use oven mitts)!!!