Texas State Fair 2010

Jarod, Allie, Jack and I ventured out to the fair on Sunday after church. It was the last day of the fair and boy was it crowded!!! There was so many people and it was a little hard to enjoy being there but I enjoyed being with my favorite people! Allie had a great time like always and enjoyed doing many things! When we first got there, she hit off the tee and did pretty well. Then, she drove a power wheel car around for a while and had a lot of fun doing that too! Jack did a great job at the fair. He was a happy little boy in his stroller and enjoyed watching everyone. Allie also played in the sand and was a farmer! We did that at the end and it was a great way to end the afternoon. We let Allie choose one "big" thing to do while at the fair and she wanted to ride the swan paddle boats. I rode with her and of course we didn't get to ride in the swan, we had to ride in the "ugly duckling". She wasn't too excited that she didn't get to ride in the swan but she still had a fun time and said that the duck was pretty cute :)

My Little Slugger

My sweet happy boy!

Riding in the "Ugly Duckling"

Dollar hot dog break (no, we didn't try any fun fried food)

Just won't give it up...

Ahhh, sleeping baby

Allie loves Jeep Wranglers and loved sitting in one

Cutest Pig I've ever seen!

My Lil' Farmer

My Two Favorite Boys

This is the smile we get to see about 97% of our day!

Jack at 6 Months

My sweet Jack was 6 months on the 24th of September. It's hard to believe he is already 1/2 a year old! Here are his 6 month stats: 19lb.s (90%) and 28 1/2 inches long (97%). Needless to say, Jack is a big, healthy boy!
I really love this age. Jack gets excited about everything and wants to explore everything too! We all laugh and smile more than ever because that is what he does most of the time! He loves to play with toys, watch Praise Baby, play with Allie, laugh and be naked! He is doing a better job at taking naps at day care, but there are still some days he doesn't sleep as much as he should. He really doesn't have a great day time schedule b/c his naps are so unpredictable. He started eating oatmeal at 5 months and we've just started feeding him fruit. His first time to try bananas was really funny! He wasn't quite sure of the new taste, but now he likes everything we've given him. I love that Jack recognizes us when he sees us. He gets so excited whenever he hears our voices or sees us. He has done this for a little while, but it happens more frequently now. It just warms my heart when I pick him up after work. He has also started getting upset if I leave him and then he sees me again. I try not to let that happen! When meeting new people or in new places, he takes everything in. Once he is comfortable he will flash his million dollar grin! I love that he smiles all of the time! He is such a sweet and lovable little guy. Our lives truly feel complete with this little guy!
Here are some things I would like to remember about Jack at 6 months:
-has 2 bottom teeth
-likes to click his tongue and blow raspberries
-can hold his own bottle (has done this for a while, but he is a lot better at it)
-can rock on his knees (he loves to do this and I fear the day he can crawl)
-puts anything and everything in his mouth
-rolls or inch worms his way around very fast!
-transfers objects from hand to hand
-sits with some support (we are still working on this; he doesn't like being still and my trick to get him to sit up is to put on Praise Baby)
-babbles more and more (he isn't my big talker like his big sister was)
-loves swinging at the park
-starting to wear 12 month clothing
-wears size 3 diapers (changing his diaper has become quite a challenge; he wants to escape!)
-he is now on formula only
-loves music; this is how we calm him in the car and they get him to sleep at day care and why he will sit for Praise Baby
-still takes 2 naps. Usually one short one and one longer one
-loves to jump and stand and bounce
-reflux has improved but is still on meds
-loves to interact with people
-is still my snuggle baby
-still have no idea what color his eyes are; we know they are two different colors. We think blue and brown on most days
-is still a great night time sleeper!!!!
*I'm sure I'm forgetting something, but I think I've bored you enough!!!

Love pictures of sleeping babies! I call these pj's his jail bird pj's!

Watching Praise Baby

Both of my babies at day care

My little snuggler

LOVES swinging, especially when his big sister is pushing him!

30th Celebration

My 30th birthday was awesome! If I knew turning 30 would be so much fun, I would turn 30 every year!!! My celebration started last Sunday with Jarod surprising me with tickets to the season opener of the Cowboys game. I honestly had no idea that he had gotten tickets. He and my mom had been conspiring together to convince me to come to Arlington to watch the game at my parents house. I had a lot to do, and didn't want to go, but was guilted into going. We had decided to go to our church (8 am) and then head to Arlington to my parents house to watch the game with family. We had not been gone 5 min. from our house and Jarod insists we just go to church with my family (their church starts at 10:15 and currently it is 7:35). That made no sense to me and he didn't listen to my plea's of not wanting to do that and just go to our church since he made me get up early. Then he threw papers at me during our conversation. I had no idea why, but when I finally looked at them, there were are tickets to the game. I was shocked! So, we headed to my parents house to drop of the kids and then made our way to the game.

I had never been inside Cowboy Stadium. It really is amazing! I was in awe of it all! We had amazing seats and a fantastic time, even if they did lose!

I looked forward to the weekend because my b-day was on Saturday and we had planned some fun activities for the day. We had planned to go ride go carts, bumper boats and play miniature golf, but mother nature had a different idea and we didn't get to because it rained! So, Jarod cooked us a big breakfast of eggs, pancakes, biscuits and turkey bacon. Yummy!!! Then we lounged around and Jarod and Allie left to go get a present. This confused me because they had been out the night before too, but I wasn't going to argue :) When they came back they let me open a present. They had gotten me a Wii!!! I was very excited because Allie is at a good age where we can play games together as a family. Then Jarod brought out another gift (oh, and at breakfast Allie game me a black watch from Charming Charlies and 4 cupcakes). I was shocked again, b/c I really thought the tickets to the game was my gift. When I opened the gift it was a new Mac Book. I'm pretty sure my mouth was hanging wide open. He told me he couldn't decide what to get me so he got both! Crazy boy! Oh well, I am very appreciative and I'm glad I can share my gifts with my family! Later that afternoon, Allie came with me to get our nails painted. I got a pedi and Allie had her toes and nails painted a pretty purple! It was fun just being us girls!

We had a family dinner planned at Buca di Beppo. I thought we were meeting my family, but Jarod had another surprise in store...he had invited friends too! I had no idea and was quite shocked at seeing everyone when I got to our table/room!!! It was so awesome to have so many people there who are so important to my life. Thanks to all who helped me celebrate. I had a great time talking with everyone. I wasn't very good at getting pictures of all who attended and I didn't get any of me with my hubby or my kids!!! One of the funniest events of the evening is when they had me stand up in the booth and sing I'm a Little Teapot! Very funny and embarrassing.

I feel truly blessed to have a husband who went to great lengths to make sure I had a fun and memorable birthday. I love you Jarod! Thanks to my friends and family for celebrating with me.

Jerry's World

How awesome is this drink? I ordered a diet coke and this is how they brought it!

Greer, Karlie and Allie

Poppy, Mimi, Jack and Sara

Chandler, Aunt Peggy and Uncle Jack

Me and my brother Chad

The girls enjoyed my drink too!

Me singing "I'm a Little Tea Pot"

Five Months

I'm a little late with this post, but we've been pretty busy at our house adjusting to me being back at work! We are all surviving and I know once things settle down, everything will be a little more calm! Jack was 5 months old on the 2nd day of school. I really can't believe he is 5 months old! He grows and changes all of the time. I only get a couple of hours with him before he goes to bed and I try to take it all in and pay attention to how much he has changed. We are really cherishing our weekends more than ever as a family. Jack is such a sweet little boy. In a new place or when meeting new people, he likes to take it all in. Once he does, he will give you one of his great big smiles or even laugh; especially if Allie is around! Jack and Allie are such sweet friends. He loves to watch her in the car and she loves to entertain him! He isn't sleeping very well at day care and Allie isn't happy when I tell her to leave him alone so he can sleep in the car. He is still an awesome sleeper at night! He is usually down by 7:30 and I wake him up at 6.

Jack is quite the big boy! He still wears 6-9 or 6-12 month clothes. He is close to 17lbs and he is 27in. long! He has big hands and enjoys being able to hold all of his toys. He tries to help assist me in feeding him and becomes very messy! He enjoys grabbing his feet and chewing on his toes. Right now he is teething and we are waiting for his bottom tooth to come in. It's pretty painful and we can't wait to see a little white tooth! He loves to chew on anything and everything. He loves to snuggle and hug and grab your hair! He is starting to get mad when you have something that he wants or gets frustrated when he can't get to something. I fear the day he starts to crawl! He is obsessed with watching us eat or drink. I think he is wondering why he can't have our food! We have enjoyed these last 5 months with our little guy and feel so blessed by God to have him in our lives.

*sorry for the poor quality of the pictures. They were taken with my phone.


It is hard to change Jack's diaper and clothes these days. He loves to get away from us and be naked!

Balancing Act

Most of you know that I went back to work last week. I've had just under 5 months off with my sweet kids and I feel so blessed to have had that time with them. Going back to work is always an adjustment in our family. It usually takes us a while to balance everything! This will probably be the hardest one yet b/c we now have two kids to get ready and out the door in the morning. I really do feel like we are trying to balance everything right now. Hopefully we will all adjust sooner rather than later.

We all survived our first week! We were all exhausted by bed time, but we all survived! Allie has stayed at an in home day care since she was 4 months old. This year, our friend went to part time and I decided it was a good time to make a change. Allie really needed Pre-K and I wanted both kids at the same place. I enrolled both of them in my district's child care program. I absolutely love it there! I couldn't have asked for a better fit for both of them. Allie already loves Pre-K. She has already made lots of friends and loves being there. Jack is also doing well. His teachers tell me that he is the most spoiled! He is the oldest in his class and the most active and aware of what is going on, so he is having a harder time with naps. They have to put him to sleep (which has made this weekend difficult), but hopefully he will be able to do it himself soon. His teething has also gotten worse this week and he is working on cutting a bottom tooth. You can see just a little white and his gums are so swollen. All in all, Jack is doing well. They love how much he smiles and how happy he is (until nap time or time to eat!). I'm so glad that they already love the things about him that I love too!

I feel like Jarod and I have our system down pretty well. I feed Jack at 6 while Jarod gets Allie up and dressed. Then I pass Jack to Jarod and he gets him burped and changed and I fix Allie's hair and finish packing up our things. The night before, Jarod cleans bottles, fills bottles and then makes lunch for Allie while I feed Jack. Once both kids are down, we are in bed too! We are exhausted! After everyone eats dinner, we are able to spend a little family time together. It's weird going from being with my kids for 12 hrs. to only a total of 3. It's a very hard adjustment, but we really try to make the most of it!
Thanks to all of you who checked in on me or sent me a message this week. I really appreciated the thoughts and prayers. It was hard, but I am so blessed to have a two beautiful and healthy children, a thoughtful and helpful husband, caring friends and family and a job that allows me to have as much time off as I can with my children.

I think Allie is the only one who looks good in this picture!

Jack's face cracks me up!

Had to have pictures on our first day! I did the same thing when I went back to work with Allie.

Love this kid! (please ignore the mess in this picture)

I think this was taken Tuesday night during our family time!

Jack started oatmeal last night! This kid is obsessed with watching us eat and drink. He loved biting on the spoon and you would never have known it was his first time to try food. He was a natural!

More please!

Mmmm!

More Pictures

I got the rest of the pictures and wanted to share them with all of you! I had a really hard time deciding and I really could have added a lot more. I'm sorry there are so many! I think Jenn did such a wonderful job of capturing the relationship between Allie and Jack. They really do love each other so much and have lots of fun together.

Did you notice Jack's initials?