4 months!

My little handsome is four months old! I can't believe it! He is officially no longer a tiny newborn but rather a chunky, giggly, roly-poly baby! We fall more in love with him each day and it's so hard to even imagine what life was like without him!
He continues to have a layed-back "chilled" personality! He'll let us know if he has a dirty diaper or if he's getting sleepy but for the most part he is just along for the ride! :)
It seems like he has really come to life this month! He loves his tummy time mat...and loves laying on his back and pulling at his toys (his monkey is his favorite). He rolled over consistently this month and is just about to roll back to tummy! He smiles all the time and giggles too! He's especially ticklish under his chin and on his chubby thighs! Nothing sweeter than that open mouth giggle! He loves looking in mirrors too! He continues to love his swing...still takes all his naps there! It amazes me that he can still sleep so soundly for hours! We will probably be transitioning to his crib soon for naps (pretty sure I said that last month)! Haha! He continues to sleep in his bed next to me...I know he'd be fine in his room but I am not excited about having him across the house from me! He loves riding in the stroller with his sissy...but we are sure ready for some cooler fall weather!
We all four made the trek to see Dr. Dean yesterday for Jackson's four month appointment! Here are his stats:

Height: 25 inches. 55%
Weight: 16 lb 2 oz. 75%
Head: 42 cm. 50%

He showed the doctor all his smiles, babbled for him and even showed him his awesome tummy time skills! :). Since he's doing so great on gaining weight, we will wait a bit longer for cereal.

His routine:
7ish Wake/Nurse
8:30 Nap
10:00 Nurse
11:30 Nap
1:00 Nurse
2:30 Nap
4:00 Nurse
5:30 Cat-nap
6:30 Nurse
8:30 Nurse/Bed
10:30 Nurse...and hope for good sleep!
4:30ish Nurse

We love this handsome little guy! It's gonna be a fun fall season together! :)

"School Time"

Bella has loved getting back into our little school routine! By "school" I mean...singing rhymes, learning numbers, doing projects....reading books and so on! I'm following the "abc Jesus loves me" curriculum...which I love! It is a perfect guide for us as we integrate learning throughout our day! With Bella, just barely 2, we don't have tons of structure but just enough to keep our day flowing smoothly together! If you are interested in the curriculum google...."abcjesuslovesme". Of course I love supplementing with various resources but I use this as my major source. We will have to post pictures of our projects throughout the year! :)
We have a little board in the kitchen where we keep our flash cards and tactile number/letter cards to practice. And we made the wall in Bella's room above her desk her "project wall". We keep our objectives for the week on the refrigerator so we can be learning all day....while cooking dinner etc! Jackson's morning naps have been the perfect time for Bella and I to enjoy this special time of learning together! :).

She surprised me with her sorting skills! =)

We get to practice  our Bible verse and flash cards during meals too!

Bella's "project wall"...

Our objectives for the week!  And Bella was so proud of her first "Puggles" project (She started Awana's this year at church as well as Music on Sunday nights!)

Rain, Rain, Rain!

Last week, hurricane Isaac came through the Gulf Coast. Thankfully it hit East of us but we got tons of rain! By the end of the week, we had a bad case of cabin fever!!! But, we sure enjoyed some rainy afternoon naps and playing in the puddles! :)

John Johns!

I can't wait til these little John Johns fit my handsome! They coordinate with some smocked dresses Bella has...got a great deal on them last winter. I just monogrammed them today...just in time for fall :). John Johns and smocked dresses.....I can't wait!

Oldest Best Friend Reunion...

Twenty years ago, my family moved to Atlanta where my dad was becoming the pastor of a new church.  As a young, 10 year old, I was nervous and my little tummy seemed to constantly be full of jittery butterflies.  I remember at our "meet and greet" at church, a sweet lady came through the line with her daughter, Katie.  They were so welcoming and talked about how they wanted to plan a slumber party for me to come and meet a few new friends.  I was of course a little scared to spend the night away with new friends...and I'm sure it took a few weeks of begging before I finally accepted the invitation.  I had no idea at that little slumber party I would meet three of my life-long best friends.  Starting from the left...Betsy "Bets", Emily, "Em" and Katie have grown to become three of my dearest...as Anne of Green Gables would say "bosom friends." =)

We had many slumber parties....played on church league teams (thank goodness for Bets and her amazing athletic abilities!)...countless mission trips, summer camps, retreats and adventures together.  Over the years, the one thing that has remained constant in our relationship is the foundation that our friendship is rooted in Christ.  We had the opportunity to be in a small discipleship group together from 8th grade through 12th grade.  The most formative years of a young teenage girl.....and we shared that journey together.  Weeks and weeks of praying together, holding each other accountable to scripture memory and learning from our wise mentor Keri.  I am forever grateful for the hours that sweet Keri prepared her lesson each week and invested in each of us.  Whew!  All those years when we were just a bit distracted by boys and petty things.......

I pray that my sweet Bella will be blessed with a Godly group of girlfriends who will love her unconditionally, hold her accountable to the high standard that Christ calls us to....and friends who will rejoice with her on her wedding day....and cry with her through the hardest of struggles.  These dear women of faith are some of my strongest prayer warriors.....it just takes one quick text or an email and we know that we are on our knees praying for each other.  At some point during our weekend together, we were once again reminded we are each on a journey "home"...this world is not our home and is not promised to be easy or perfect by any means.  We have each been abundantly blessed...but yet each of us are enduring various struggles.  Praise the Lord that we serve a sovereign God who orchestrates the events in our lives....we know we can trust Him every step of the way!  This weekend blessed my heart and encouraged my soul!  I love these dear friends...their husbands and precious babies too!

Betsy with her two twins Hannah and Eli, Emily with Abby Jane and her twins Blythe and Joy, Katie with Carlton and Clara...and me with Isabella and Jackson

the two sets of twins relaxing on the dock...

my little handsome enjoying all the extra attention and entertainment

love, love, love my little guy!

daddies helping the girls feed the fish

Blythe and Joy sharing fish food with Bella...

Bella LOVED swinging...and giggling the entire time!

Katie's sweet Mamma cuddling with Jackson...

Bella Boo and Blythey Boo hit it off from the start =)

a totally non-posed picture...how precious!

a fun night of swimming and grilling out!

sweet friends...

all the kiddos except for baby Jackson!

Em and I spent many a day by the pool together.....now our girls enjoy doing the same =)

After a lovely breakfast with our mentor, Keri, we ventured out to the splash park!

Bella loved every minute!

After returning home......we all enjoyed a nice, long, Sunday afternoon nap =)

Terrific Two Year Old!

I'm going to try, try, try to just sit and blog these special little memories so I never forget them!  Seems like these days and weeks are going by TOO quickly and my baby girl is quickly turning into a little girl!  I want to remember these sweet days...

Last week, Bella and I both came down with a nasty cold!  It was the kind that makes you just feel miserable and your whole face itches....sneezing....watery eyes.  So, we decided that we needed a little something special...we ventured out to get ourselves some Chick-fil-A. We put brother down for a nap and enjoyed a nice little lunch together. =)

Then, my precious girl helped me get a few loads of laundry done!  Notice her fashionable outfit!  She loves the days when mommy lets her pick out her outfit.  Today consisted of a sundress...which was a bit on the short side.....with a ballet skirt....socks and crocks! 

After helping me load the washer, dryer and fold clothes....we decided it was time to wash dishes!  Bella  helped load the last of the dishes while I fed brother...

 Then, I walked around the corner to find this little terrific two pouring our Dawn dish soap into the dishwasher!  HAHA.....SO during nap time, I got to run the dishwasher several times and soak up big ole bubbles off the kitchen floor!  Oh, yes the life of a terrific two!

It was a bummer we both caught a nasty summer cold....BUT it's always makes things better when you have a spunky, entertaining friend to share it with. =)

3 months...

This sweet, tender, layed-back little fella is 3 months!  Can you believe it!?  I fall more in love with my handsome every day...and I can not even imagine life without his tender snuggles and sugar filled slobbery kisses.  I know I blog about it each month...but I seriously didn't know that a baby could be so easy!?  Who knew!?  He is nursing 7-8 times a day...about every three hours.  He will wake around 4am for his night feeding...he chows down for about 10 minutes and then dozes right back to sleep.  His days are filled with eating, sleeping and playing!  His wake times are becoming longer and longer which makes for a more fun day for us all!  We love playing with him and trying to get him to smile and laugh at us!  He still loves his swing...which at this point is where he ends up taking most of his naps.  We will probably transition his naps to his crib in the next month but for now he sleeps good and loves the motion so we'll stick with that for now! =)  He also started enjoying his play mat this month!  We do tummy time on it...where Bella and I lay on our tummies and make faces at him.  When he gets tired of tummy time, we flip him over and he loves to bat at and kick the hanging toys as well as looking at himself in the mirror.  He enjoys riding in the stroller...and I'm so thankful that Bella has become good at popping his pacifier back in so I can enjoy a little exercise without constantly having to stop. =)  We put him in the nursery for the first time this past week and they said he slept most the time! The sweet ladies held him and rocked him the entire time...I told them that he would make up for every tear Bella cried that entire first year! (For those of you who may not know...our sweet Bella cried every Sunday for the entire first year of her life...)  But, this handsome man takes everything in stride and just kicked back and relaxed in the nursery without his mamma! =)  He is laughing...a sweet little coo...and has started "talking" sweet goo-goo ga-ga.  He loves to nurse and nap holding his tight little fists together like he's praying.  He curls his toes a lot too...notice in the picture above!  He still only has a dirty diaper one day a week...but on that one day he goes A LOT and makes up for the rest of the week.  I guess he's just absorbing all that good nutrition!  He's already a little charmer!  I'm looking forward to what's ahead with this little guy...but I kinda want to just freeze time right now...it's so sweet!

His schedule:

We start our day around 7 and then begin a 3 hour-ish routine.  He eats, plays and then naps.  He takes about 4 naps a day...each about 1 hour or so.  He is most alert from 5-8...so we have lots of fun then!!!  Around 8, I nurse him and then he falls asleep for the night.  I top him off around 10:30 and he will usually sleep 6-7 hours!  He is still in our room...which makes the night feeding easy...but I bet we will transition him to his crib in the next month or so.  I just don't want him to go......

We love this little guy.....such a sweet blessing from above!