Swine Flu

The first case of swine flu is close to home now. I worry about Jack since so many people love to touch babies. Just last night we were in the grocery store and a lady grabbed his hand. I asked John if I would be arrested for assault if I started swatting peoples' hands as they reached for my baby. He told me that he would bail me out. Lucky me. Instead of swatting her hand, I got around the corner from her, pulled out a baby wipe, and wiped him down. Your time is limited with a baby because you want to wipe him off before that hand goes into his mouth. Ugh! For a germaphobe like me, swine flu is nerve-wracking.  

Rachel's Prom

I'm getting resourceful in my old age. I stole this photograph off Facebook. Anyway, here is Rachel and her Prom date. She looks beautiful too.

Megan's Prom

Here's a picture of Megan and her Prom date. Isn't she beautiful? I am waiting on a picture from Rachel so I can share that with you too. 

What a Difference a Month Makes- 3 Months Old

                3 Months 2 Months
   

Jack is 3 months old today. Where has the time gone? It amazes me how much a baby changes in such a short amount of time. I weighed Jack on our scale at home today. He weighs a whopping 15 pounds. While he still likes to sleep, he also enjoys playing now. He loves to ride a little pony down to town (Mommy's lap) and continues to think that the octopus on his playmat is the coolest toy in the house. He has little interest in any of the toys I spread out for him on his blanket. He does like the toys I dangle above him when he is in his carseat. He loves it when people cluck their tongues or whistle at him. Jack is extremely interested in the dogs. His eyes follow them around the room. Winston is the only dog that seems to reciprocate that interest. A milestone this month is that Jack has found his hands. He stares at them and sucks on his fists. Unfortunately, sucking on his fists often gags him, and that makes him angry. I often laugh at myself because I know that all children reach milestones like finding their hands, but when my baby does it I feel as though it is absolutely an unbelievable feat. Mom is pretty cool throughout the day, but Daddy is really entertaining when he gets home from work. I'm sure I have years of that ahead of me. Daddy is pretty active and fun. John and I feel so blessed to have such a happy baby. We will continue to update you on those amazing milestones that Jack achieves. 

Who do you think Jack resembles?

 Jack

 Ellie                             

                    John

Sleepy Sundays

Nagging Mom

In ten years, I will probably be nagging Jack about wearing his hat at the dinner table, but for now isn't he cute in his very first baseball hat?

All Work, No Play?

Here's what we've been up to today. I should add pictures of the washing machine, vacuum, and sink! Jack doesn't know that those are chores. He believes that tummy time is quite the chore though. Now Jack is down for his morning nap, and if I can just get the dogs to be quiet, he might get a good snooze in!

Jack's First Car Show

Getting Stronger

Steward's Garden

Jack isn't quite ready for fruits and veggies yet, but Mommy is getting ready. Our church tilled 25 acres of land and is parceling out patches to the church families. This spring we will have a 10x14 patch in which to grow all of Jack's first foods. The local paper wrote a story about Steward's Garden. You may notice that Jack's granddad is in the picture. He has worked hard on this project for the church. He is definitely one of Christ's "stewards". 

This weekend, John, Jack, and I are going to the store to buy seeds. We're going to go ahead and start the plants at home and transfer them to the garden when our patch is ready. I am thinking about planting squash, sweet potatoes, carrots, peas, green beans, and pumpkins. I don't know much about gardening in Tennessee, so I am going to have to see if that is even possible! Any advice is welcomed. 

So, Jack and I will be busy this summer maintaining out patch. John has dragged out a canopy for Jack to play under as I weed the patch each week. We're going to have to go early in the morning before the Tennessee sun becomes too hot! 

All Nighter

For the past two nights, Jack has slept through the night! His bedtime is around 8:30, and he's been sleeping until around 5:00 or 5:30. Unfortunately, this doesn't mean that Mom gets to sleep through the night. I still have to get up to pump:(

Beatrix Potter Joined Us for Easter

John's mom has been collecting Beatrix Potter figurines, and today they all joined us at the table to celebrate Easter. Until recently, I had very little interest in Potter's stories besides Peter Rabbit. Then Jane started pulling out her figurines, and I was enchanted. Jack and I have read Peter Rabbit a couple of times, but as I was browsing through Jane's complete collection of Potter stories I found many others that I want to share with the little man. 

Aunt Annie, Uncle Eric, and Annie's boyfriend, Shane, joined us as well. They had not seen Jack since his baptism. I think they were amazed by how much he has grown.

It was a big day with lots of excitement, and Jack is down for the count. Happy Easter, everyone. 

Tornado

Yesterday afternoon Jack and I were taking siestas when John came in and told me that he thought we probably needed to go to the closet. I grabbed a bottle from the fridge, and Jack and I went to our closet. John has a separate closet that he can take the dogs into with him. The news was on in the background, and I kept hearing locations that were coming closer and closer to our house. I was pretty nervous. Jack, on the other hand, was only interested in eating that bottle that I brought with me. When the name of my friend's neighborhood was announced, I started to pray. I know she is really frightened of bad weather, and all I could think of was her and her 7 month old in danger. So, I grabbed my cell phone and began my fruitless attempts to call her. Call failed was all my phone would tell me, nothing about if she was alright. In the end, her house was spared, but too many around her were destroyed. The storm came close to our house. We live right off the intersection of Dejarnette and New Lascassas Road; just outside the green arrow on the map. Unfortunately, there were casualties in the storm. A mother and her nine week old daughter were killed. So sad. This one struck too close to home!

Tummy Time Troubles

Jack used to be really good about tummy time. Now he seems to have developed an aversion to any time not spent on his back. It's difficult when your baby is so happy if you just let him lay on his back all of the time and stare at the octopus above his playmat. You're tempted to let him do what makes him happy even though you know that it's best for his development if he spends some time on his tummy. So, we are trying to gradually add some more tummy time into Jack's day. Wish us luck!

Rawrr- Sleep!

I haven't said anything for a few days because I was afraid of jinxing it, but I think Jack is now a once-a-night baby. For the last five nights, I have only had to get up with him once. John was the brains behind the operation. Last weekend when Jack woke up for his first feeding, John beat me to him. He just put Jack's pacifier back in his mouth, and the baby fell right back to sleep! Ever since then, if Jack fusses before 2 am, I just give him his pacifier and he goes back to sleep. Thank you, Daddy! You could not have made Mommy happier even if you'd brought home huge diamond earrings! Funny how sleep can make you happier than diamonds after having a newborn...

Jack's Juice Box

Playing Hard

This morning Jack was having a blast on his playmat, so I decided to try to videotape his excitement. He is especially fond of the hanging octopus who we have named Ollie, and he has recently discovered the mirror which is what he is looking into in this video. Like usual, he was a little camera shy, but he really gets into it near the end of the video.