My ‘babies’ with my baby

Today was Wanda’s birthday-Happy Birthday!-so we went to visit and bring Cupcakes!  It’s crazy to think about how much my first two ‘babies’ have grown over the past almost 10 and almost 8 years!  I remember bringing little toddler Sam to the hospital to meet his new baby sister, Anna!And now they’re holding my baby?  Crazy!  We sure do love those two! (please excuse the picture-of-a-picture quality)Jack will be this big before I know it!

Getting big!

Jack, you’re just growing up way too fast!  You prefer all your meals on your very own plate with your very own silverware, and sometimes eat in a big boy chair instead of your highchair!  You ask for specific things to eat-tonight was broccoli and cheese, but you ask for a sandwich, chicken, and yogurt a lot-and hand me or daddy your plate when you’re ‘all done’.Tonight, you were very happy about eating in the big boy chair!  Be still my heart! 

I love you, t-tiny!!

28 Weeks

We’re 28 weeks along with baby boy number two and doing just great!  I still feel really good, and Jack still has no idea, so there’s nothing new to report and we’re very thankful for another uneventful pregnancy so far!  For my family near and far, here’s the belly!

Halloween Fun-part one

While I know we’re over a month out, I’ve been having a lot of fun with Halloween crafts and decorations!  The internet is full of Fall Festival links (where different people link up to show crafts they’ve made), so I’ve found a ton of cute ideas from really creative mommies!  For instance:

Giant Candy Corn and friendly spiders, Halloween signs (I have an extra B if anyone wants to make this.  The letters come in a two pack.) and cheese cloth ghosts (I made the ghosts a couple years ago so I don’t have a link), and candy corn bunting. I have a few more crafts on my to-do list, but I’m working on our little monkey’s costume now.  I’m crossing my fingers that it’ll turn out how it looks in my head!  We’ll see!

Happy Fall!

My favorite time of year is here!  I just love Fall and Winter and all the celebrations that come during these Seasons.  And I especially love seeing it all through the eyes of our little boy!  I don’t know how I missed a picture of him on this day, so here he is on his very first first day of Fall!To welcome the Season, Jack brought some simple goodies to his friends at Day School.  (I’m loving all the Fall crafts!)  I found these printables here if you’d like to make some, too!And I think hers are so much cuter than mine.  I couldn’t find a scalloped punch that big and I didn’t have the right bags at home, so we made due with a circle and some ribbon! 

Happy Fall!

Of course!

Doesn’t every little boy need to get in one last car ride before bath time?

Nineteen Months Old

What! Another month gone by? Yep! You’re nineteen months old now, sweet boy! You are absolutely funnier than ever and make us smile all. the. time! You love to read, and your favorite books right now are the Llama Llama books. We love to read them with you, but you’ve started to want to read alone-you tell us, “My turn!”, read a little bit, and then clap and say, “Yeah, Jack!”. When it’s our turn, we read the first part of the line and then you finish it. It’s the cutest thing-I’m going to try to get it on video soon. In Llama Llama Misses Mama, you always get really excited when Mama comes back-most of the time you give her a kiss! You’re still a good eater and sometimes surprise us with how much you eat. We had a bit of a struggle this month with you throwing your food when you’re finished, but we’ve turned a corner on that. You now tell us you’re “all done” and hand us your plate-good job, buddy! You just started eating cold cereal with milk and your spoon and that just amazes me. You have twelve teeth now and have really done great with teething. You don’t seem to mind when they pop through at all. You dropped your morning nap this past month and now take just one after lunch. You’ve been a great sleeper from the very beginning, and we’re hoping that’s something you’ll teach your little brother! Bedtime is still 7:30 and you wake up at 7:00 or 7:30 in the morning. You are all over your crib when you sleep, so I’m really wondering how the big boy bed is going to go. You say SO much right now, and we have a great time listening! Some of my new favorites are:
* Clean up, clean up, everybody (the first part of the Clean Up song)
* Jack, silly!
* Ok!
* Deal!
* Bye, bye! Soon! (Bye, bye! See you soon!)
* Bible
* Bird? Daddy got it. Yeah Daddy!
* Beep beep! (When you’re trying to get around or by something/someone)
* Truck, Bus, Car and Airplane (and pointing at them as he sees them)
* Night, night! (really sing-songy)
* Go? (Where did he/it go-with a look of total concern on his face!)
…and on and on!You LOVE to hide-behind things, around corners, behind your hands-and have us try to find you. I love it when I ask if anyone’s seen Jack and you respond “no” from your hiding place! I also love it when you and I are hiding from daddy and you whisper, “where’d he go?” basically begging to be found! And speaking of daddy, you. LOVE. him!! He’s the one that made you smile so big for these pictures! You pretty much smile like this whenever you spot him-me too! Boy, does that face melt my heart!! He had to get on you the other night for throwing your food (and your plate!), and you were devastated! You’re such a people pleaser and we could tell that you knew what you did was wrong. It was really sad for us to see you so upset, but I’m glad you’re learning that your actions have consequences and you’re learning from them. You guys ended up snuggling to dry your tears and you were back to our happy boy before too long. You’re such a fun, sweet little boy! Daddy and I are so thankful that you’re ours and that we get to snuggle that sweet face each day! You’re a blessing, little one! I can’t believe you’re closer to two than to one!!
We love you!
Daddy and Mommy

We went to the park…

…and then he lost his clothes and found his hat!  Let me explain. 

After Jack’s nap and some attempts to tell him that it was too hot to go outside, I remembered that he’s a little toddler boy and deserves to play out there!  I was selfishly trying to persuade him otherwise because I was working on some Halloween decorations-that’s not what he needs from his mama.  He’ll remember us playing together far more than he’ll remember my silly crafts, so we took a walk to the park, and it was just what we needed!  Our little explorer was so happy, and boy do I love to see that smile! 

He found the bouncy elephant and hopped right on (all by himself!),and then gave him a kiss to thank him for the ride!  Gross, I know, but that’s my sweet boy!He walked around checking out the equipment, sat down to play with the wood chips (and drink lots and lots of water!),and then headed to the sun!  When did he get big enough to hold on to the rails and climb steps without my help!After a fun time playing, we loaded back up and headed home to clean up and get a snack.  When it was bath time, Mark took him up and our silly boy got even sillier!  Of course he knows he can’t bathe with his clothes on, but why not with his hat!!  (Thanks for thinking to grab the camera and take these pictures, babe!!)Daddy got the hat, so it stayed dry and Jack got squeaky clean from head to toe!We had so much fun with you this weekend, sweet boy!  I’m glad that we can make you happy, and I hope you know that you make us SO happy, too!

Watson’s 1st Birthday Party

Watson turned one on Wednesday, so his family and friends gathered at his ranch tonight to celebrate!  Amy did such a great job with all the little details and she and Aaron sure hosted a great hoe down for their baby boy!We told Jack that we were going to see Watson and his pony, so he was asking about the pony the entire ride over!  When we got there and Jack spotted him, he could hardly take his eyes off of him! We waited our turn in line, and when the time came, he didn’t want to ride for his first time alone-so mommy hopped on!  When we got off, he kept saying, “More!?  More!?”Sweet Callie, on the other hand, had no fear up on that horse! Emory looked super cute in her bandana dress and pink cowboy boots, and the birthday boy did an amazing job with his smash cake!I’d love to share all the super cute details, but Amy did all the hard work, and it’s her party to share!  Check her blog soon-you’re going to love it!

Happy 1st birthday, little cowboy!  Thanks for having us at your party!

Then and Now

Two Weeks Old almost 19 Months OldOoohh, I love my t-tiny!

Go Gamecocks!

What a game day!  Mark and I gave our sweet boy a kiss goodbye early this morning to go to the Georgia vs. Carolina game, and we had such a great day! We got to see Lindsey and Kendall (before Kendall joined Jack at home with G&G), and Adam. We spent time with some great friends like the Goddards, and the Dowlings and the Rabbs, who we don’t get to see nearly enough!  I always have so much fun with Kelli and Lauren! All the girls were there, so we were thoroughly entertained by the littlest Gamecock cheerleaders.  I missed a picture of Abby, because she was such a trooper and stayed in the stadium for the entire game! The game ended in our favor-way to go Gamecocks!!-and we’re so excited football season is finally here!