Milestones & Mother's Day

I finally got the chance to download the pictures from our camera. Below are a few from when he turned 4 months. I have do admit that I'm not the best with keeping up with these. I have a friend that takes her son's picture every month on the day he was born. Me...not so much. These were taken a few weeks into his fourth month but it is still fun to see the progression and how much he's changing.

He wasn't able to sit up when we took these pictures so he's leaning against the chair. 

Jack is 5 1/2 months old and he is sitting up very well. Not to say that he doesn't still unexpectedly fall over on his side from time to time (TIMBER!!!) but he is doing very well. He can sit unassisted for several minutes. He's a big show off.

 I am still really enjoying my Fridays off. We call them "jammie Friday" for obvious reasons.

Apart from napping, bath time is probably Jack's next most favorite thing to do. Granna gave him his bath when they were in town last week.

And last, pictures from Mother's Day. I went back and added one in the last post, too. It was such a wonderful day! I am one lucky lady. These past few months have been the best months of my entire life.

Here are the gorgeous flowers Justin surprised me with. They smelled so good!

Sherry and Cliff got me a beautiful, full, blue hydrangia. Jack liked it too!

I sure love this little boy!

My First Mother's Day

Yesterday was my first mother's day and one of the best days of the last 5 months. 

The day started off with a good snuggle with my baby boy. We fell back asleep for a few hours while Justin snuck out and came back with bagels, flowers (peonies, tulips and hydrangea) and a sweet card. Then we ran errands and around three, I took another two hour nap with Jack. They're my favorite! He's such a snuggly baby. It was a perfect day, I hated to see it end.

The next best part of the weekend was...WE BOUGHT A HOUSE! Or, I should say, we signed the contract. Justin was panicked but I wasn't, likely because I have no idea what's going on. Ignorance is bliss and I'd like to keep it that way. We're both very excited. Every decision we made about where to buy, which house to buy, etc, was from the perspective of what Jack would want. "Jack would love this playroom," "Jack would have so much fun playing in this park," "This will be Jack's room!"

I can just imagine the floor plan we picked out at Christmas time with garland going up the stairs and stockings over the mantle. Justin wants a snow village in the sunroom. I think he has major plans...that village just got upgraded to a city, population 1 million. We daydream about Easter egg hunts in the park, oyster roasts at the oyster pavilion with friends, kayaking in the marshes (Justin's on his own...gators everywhere!), and weekends at the pool. That kitchen! The kitchen alone was worth buying the house for. Christmas cookies, Thanksgiving dinners...I can't wait!

The best part is that we will finally have room to accommodate guests! It's a four bedroom house so it will be years before we outgrow it. There are two bathrooms upstairs (one Jack and Jill, and the other very near the guest room). We go to pick out all our finishes at the design studio very soon. We already know what we want and can't wait to start construction on the house. We'll be moving in by September! Just in time for Clemson tailgates and the holidays. Jack will spend his first birthday in our new home. Happy baby, great hubby, and now a house to make a home! Life doesn't get any better than this! Below is Jack just before bathtime. He's such a happy guy!

We were very fortunate to have Justin's parents in town this weekend. At the very last minute, prior to signing the contract, our relator (Jay), called to say the builder of another home we had been interested in, was going to drop the price by 25K if we were interested. It was a tough decision but in the end we are very confident that we picked the one that's right for us. With the help of Sherry and Cliff, of course. ;) Best in laws ever!

Jack got a hold of his baby monitor. He's on to us!

"Time to wake up and play Daddy!"

Happy baby boy.

Playing with the new rings that Granna bought him. It was cute how he found them. I was walking to the back door to let Kramer out and had Jack facing out on my hip when I bent over to remove the broom stick we use to lock the sliding glass door (ghetto fabulous). When I stood by up, Jack had a hold of this toy set. It was the funniest thing. Like, "Look what I found Mom!"

Dad's toes had him fixated for a while. Don't worry Jack, they frighten me too sometimes.

Another toy that Granna and Papa brought. This boys not loved at all, I tell ya :)

Not sure what these videos are...as usual. Probably involve me and baby talk.

Flying through the air! He loved it.

Today at daycare, the girls told us that Jack fusses when he sees them pick up other babies. They were surprised at how smart he was. Not surprising...he's a genius. They're finding that out though ;)

Will try to post more photos later. Goodness knows I have a ton to post. It's getting a little late now and my mouse battery is dying. Will catch up later. Love you all!

5 months

Just this weekend, Jack got both feet to his mouth. He's been working on this for about a week or so...big accomplishment. And, we're not 100% sure, but it looks like he's trying to get two teeth on the bottom. The lady at daycare says he is so I guess I believe her. She's seen more teeth getting cut than I have. If so, he's being very pleasant. Not too long before we will really start with solid foods. My boy is growing up so fast! I need to get pictures soon before he loses his gummy grin!

This weekend, we had a visit from Mima and Aunt Katie! Completely forgot to get the first picture! What a dope! We went to Carolina Bay and toured the model homes. Then on Saturday night, Justin and I had our first post baby date night and went to see Iron Man 3. Great movie. And great to get a little time away. I only wanted to run home and see him once during the movie ;)

I just love this picture. Check out all those rolls! Two handsome fellas right there.

Jack has gotten very grabby over the last two weeks. He'll propel himself towards what he wants to grab and you have to hold onto him for dear life : That includes other people too. Very cute and only a matter of time before he really starts reaching for people to pick him up. Below he was taking a few pictures of himself with my camera phone.

Still loves his bath time. Think he has enough toys?

Aunt Cristell, my coworker, got him a giant stuffed bee for Easter, amongst other things. He has really enjoyed playing with "buzzy."

 Just love that smile...

I still look forward to Fridays more than any other day of the week. The picture below explains why. We snuggle all day in our jammies and it's the best thing in the world!

 More bath time fun from tonight (no nudity)! Except the picture below...Naked baby!!

Colds, avocado, and toes...

What do these three things have in common? Jack has experienced them all this month! :)

Wow. I can't believe how quickly this year is flying by. It's almost the end of April! I have so much to catch you up on. He just gets cuter by the day. Jack had his four month check up on the 9th. He did well with his shots. He weighed 19 pounds and was 27 inches. 96th percentile all around. Big healthy boy. He' s happy fella too, always smiling. At daycare today, they told me they call Jack the "gentle giant." I thought that was cute.

However, this little stinker still isn't sleeping well. And by not sleeping well...I mean he's getting up four times a night. To eat, to snuggle, to get rocked, for paci. You name it, I try it. Exhaustion doesn't begin to cover it. At work, I lose my train of thought, can't find the words I'm looking for, and get headaches frequently. I'm getting desperate. We may have to start, dare I say, crying it out. :(

We've tried a few more solid foods. Not every night. Maybe once a week. He didn't seem to care for the oatmeal. We tried a little avocado and that went over a little better. It's so fun to watch him "eat" or, I should say, push food out of his mouth with his tongue and make funny faces :)

Captions are as follows: "Here ma, let me help you with that."

"Whoa! What the heck is this? Are you trying to poison me!?!"

"I think I'm gonna be sick!"

"Wait, what? Papa eats this? Well, in that case, I'll give it a try. Not so bad!" :)

At daycare the other day, he gave his little head a good scratch. Made me sad.

But this shirt pretty much sums it up...

Jack has just recently started noticing the dogs. He absolutely loves them. He watches them eat in the evenings. He laughs at them and always reaches out for them. If he's sitting in my lap, he leans towards the dogs, to the point that he'll propel his body forward, onto his belly to reach out for them. I keep telling Kramer he should count himself lucky that Jack isn't crawling yet.

Jack is enjoying playing with toys more everyday too. He can get his little fingers around them and brings them right to his mouth.

The poor fella has had a cold for several weeks now. I think he's on the mend but for a while, we were having to prop him up to sleep. I believe this was a nap. Don't worry, we were very close by...

Last week, Jack "officially" found his toes. This relationship is still in the early phase but he is grabbing and holding them more and more. Only a matter of time before they find their way to the mouth. The pictures below were the first time he tried to get them up and grab onto them.

"Mom! Check these out!"

Love those sweet piggies!

Playtime when I got home...

Chewing on buzzy bee that Aunt Cristell got him for Easter :)

Smiling at daddy. Jack really loves his daddy. It's precious to see them play together and I look forward to watching them get closer. In the pictures below, he's wearing Dad's hat. I have very high hopes for these two buds :)

He's "little Justin" in this one...

Justin and I have been house hunting. It's taken up every weekend for the last several weeks, but today, Justin found out that we'd have to refinance the mortgage on the condo to be able to rent it out. So...maybe a new house isn't a reality. I bit of a bummer but it will give us more time to save up for a down payment. We'll have to wait and see.