Come Fly With Me

So we are back from our first trip away as a family of three! Sure it was exhausting and we are a little crazy, but we had such a great time and I now feel more confident than ever that you really can do anything with a baby (well almost anything). There are too many pictures to put in one post, so first we will talk about Jax's first airplane rides!

I cannot tell you how much anxiety I had over these plane rides. It wasn't until VERY recently that Jax would be happy to just sit in your lap for any length of time. I was convinced that he would have a meltdown or a blow out diaper that needed changing or both! We decided to go forward with our plans anyway and it was well worth it.

Packing for a trip was much more challenging than ever before. Not only were we taking clothes and baby gear for a week, we were taking a rock n play for him to sleep in, a play mat to use in the hotel, a stroller AND a car seat! This is what we had to deal with at the airport!


Waiting for our first plane. Luckily the airport was not crowded at all so we had a corner area all to ourselves.



On the first flight and headed to Vegas. Jax started the flight like this...

and ended it like this. I might have taken a nap along with him.

As easy as it was to get out to Vegas and San Francisco, getting home was another matter. Our first flight was initially on time. After we boarded and waited for awhile for take off we were informed there was a mechanical problem with the plane and we would have to get off and wait for another plane. We were then told that there would be a 4 hour delay. This is what Jax thought of the situation.



Even with the delay we did manage to make our connection flight home so it all turned out fine. I will say that Jax was amazing on all the flights. Apparently other people assume a baby will cry on flights though. When we were boarding our first flight heading home I asked a lady if the two seats next to her were empty. She told me she was waiting for her husband who was somewhere behind me, so I moved on to the next available row. I noticed though that no man got on the plane to sit next to her and she ended up letting an older lady sit next to her who she didn't seem to know! I couldn't believe she flat out lied to me. Her loss because Jax was perfect on the flight and she missed out on this cuteness.

Three Months Old

So we are a few days late on this post because Jax turned three months while we were on the road! We still celebrated though and took pictures to document the occasion.

Jax,
What an amazing month this has been. You are starting to hit so many milestones that is is getting harder to keep track of them all. You are noticing objects now and grabbing them. You hold onto your toys now (even though many times you drop them soon after) and have started to try and put everything in your mouth. Your favorite object though is not one of the many toys you have been given, but rather you hands. They are always in your mouth and many times we find you trying to put both fists in at once which is very funny to watch. You can sit up on our laps and be entertained just watching what is going on around you. We love the expression you get on your face when one of us comes into your view. Your smile is so big that it looks like you are just overcome with excitement. That pure joy just melts our hearts.

We are having lots of conversations these days as well, though you seem to be the only one that knows what is being said. We still don't really understand "baby talk" but we pretend and that seems to be enough for you. One of our favorite milestones was seeing you roll over. You roll over pretty often now and always seemed to have a shocked and confused look on your face afterward like you don't really know what just happened.

Your hair is really starting to turn red and your eyes have stayed blue. We definitely never expected to have a red haired blue eyed baby, but we love it. It is hard to believe that you are no longer a newborn and are growing up so fast. You continue to change and we know that in a blink of an eye you will look different, so we try to soak up every moment we can of how you are now. That might be why we take so many pictures of you as we want to capture this time in your life forever. Every month has been better than the last and it is always so hard to believe that life could get any better, but it does. We can't wait to see what you do next.

Love, Mommy and Daddy

We took the photo shoot on the road this time as Jax turned three months in San Francisco!

This is the very first photo that was taken

By the time we took the third picture, the tie sticker was in Jax's mouth.






We decided to try and get the sticker out of his mouth in order to take a few more pictures and we got this.

We then decided to stop the photo shoot. :)

A New Adventure

So we are taking our first trip since Jax's arrival and I am excited and a little nervous. I hadn't mentioned it on here as I didn't think it was safe to advertise that we would be out of town on the internet. Now that my brother is staying at our house though, I thought it was safe to document our adventure as we go.

Where are we going? Las Vegas and San Fransisco. Why are we going? Well partly because Jasper has a work trip to San Fransisco and clients in Vegas and we thought it would be fun to make a family trip out of it, and partly because we are a little crazy! Before Jax was born we had talked about wanting to do more short family trips. Jasper is traveling more often for work and we thought that by tagging along he wouldn't have to be away from the family as much and it would be a lot of fun. I will say that preparing for a trip with an infant though is VERY different than preparing for trips without one. My list of things to take is so long and I have run out to Babies R Us a million times for little things I think of that I think will make the trip easier. I am most worried about he plane ride. What is he starts screaming? What if he has a massive blow out diaper with no place to change him? I realize that I just need to accept that with a baby, things will not always go as planned and I need to just go with it.

So we head out tomorrow and we are so excited. I will try to update from the road. Wish us luck, we may need it!

Jax is on a Roll

So Jax decided that grabbing objects was not enough of an accomplishment for the week and he should reach one other milestone as well. Yesterday, while apparently everyone else in the country was watching USA play in the World Cup, I was playing with Jax on his play mat and randomly decided to videotape it. Usually when I pull out the video camera Jax cries on cue, but when I pulled it out yesterday he suddenly did this:



I was kind of shocked that 1) he rolled over for the first time and 2) I got it on video! I called Jasper who was just about to leave work and told him the good news. When he came home he played with Jax and put him on the play mat. Jasper put Jax on his back and soon after that he rolled over again from his back to his front! We now have to wait to see if he continues to roll over, but we were pretty excited. He is getting to be such a big boy.

Get a Grip!

This last week has been pretty amazing as Jax has started to discover lots of objects and grab them for the first time. He grabbed on to one of his toys for the first time last Monday. It was a colorful peacock toy that I have probably showed him 20 times over the past couple of weeks. Until Monday he would always just look past it or around it and he had no interest in the thing. Suddenly on Monday I showed it to him and it was like he was seeing it for the first time. He was captivated by the colors and patterns and just reached out to grab it. Now he is grabbing on to lots of things and his favorite toys are some fabric books I had picked up at Costco. He loves them.



I am so excited for this phase of discovery and can't wait to see what is next.

Fun in the Sun

We spent yesterday outside enjoying the break from the record heat that was here last week and is suppose to return next week. It was so nice out and we decided to hang by the pool. Jax got to try out his new sun hat which I think is just adorable.


Notice the fist he has in his mouth. I think every picture I take for the next few months might look like this. He is obsessed with his hands .

Our friends Kat and Josh came over with their adorable kiddos to join in the fun.


I let Jax sit on the steps of the pool for a few minutes to see how we felt about water that wasn't as warm and he didn't seem to mind. We might get him in the pool sooner rather than later. The best thing about the warm weather is Jax loves to be outside in it and usually naps more when we are hanging outside. Luckily once he would fell asleep Madre or Papa Bear were able to be with him while he napped so I could hang out poolside.

I also loved these pictures I took yesterday of Jax playing with a new toy Madre bought him. He has such an intense look and we call him our "serious baby."




Hopefully the weather will cooperate and we can have many more pool days as the summer continues.

Mornings

Can I just say I LOVE mornings. They are by far Jax's happiest time of day and it is just a really fun time around our house. Our morning routine is never exactly the same as we don't have a set time we wake Jax up, it just depends on how he slept the night before. Whenever he does wake up though we feed him and he is always so happy afterward. This morning I decided to take a couple of pictures of our morning routine.

We start by hanging out in bed. I can usually entertain him for a little while with lots of talking and songs (Wheels on the Bus is a favorite right now).

However he is always able to be distracted by that oh so awesome ceiling fan. He will literally arch his back to look at it if I am holding him up. So I always end up laying him down so he can stare at it in amazement.


Jax then hangs out and watches his daddy get ready to leave for work.


By the time Jasper heads out the door Jax is usually ready for his morning nap. In the last few weeks it has become much easier to rock him to sleep. This morning his eyes were closed before I could finish the lullaby "Hush Little Baby" which is the song my mom sang to me as a child. There is nothing more precious than a sleeping baby in your arms.


Happy Friday morning to everyone!

Weekend in the Country

Whenever we talk about going to see my parents they joke about us coming to the country. Well this weekend Jasper had to be in New York for work so Jax and I decided to head down to the country to visit Madre and Papa Bear and a few other friends as well. We had so much fun and Jax is really starting to pay attention to his surroundings. Below are just a few of our weekend activities.

We got there during the work day on Friday so we decided to stop by Papa Bear's Office to say hi. This is Jax's third visit to a law office which might be some kind of record. Of course work productivity decreased drastically after we arrived but no one seemed to mind. Dad was already starting to recruit Jax as the next associate I think.


That night we went to visit Jax's Great Grandmother or "Gey" as we call her. We had such a fun visit there and Jax was really happy to see her!




We also went to the Farmer's Market. Jax has been to the Farmer's Market up here but not the one in Elizabethtown. To mark the occasion I of course had to dress Jax in his green plaid overalls. :) As you can see Jax slept through most of the event (he passes out in that car seat) but when we got home he got to check out all the yummy produce that had been purchased.



We went to church on Sunday and Jax slept through most of the service. I didn't think I should probably be taking pictures during the service, but since Jax and Madre matched that morning we did snap a picture before heading out.


Jax got to meet some new people on this trip including his Great Uncle Pat at lunch.



We also went to meet a very special little girl , Ella Kate. Her mommy, Kat, is a very good friend of mine from high school and their little girl was born one day after Jax. I am envisioning lots and lots of play dates in the future.


We also decided it was a perfect summer weekend to relax by the pool. It was nice that my parents have a large shaded area next to the pool where Madre could hang out with Jax while his mom got some MUCH needed sun. Jax loves the warm weather so this was perfect.

I can't wait until Jax is able to enjoy the pool with us. Finally, Jax got lots of cuddle time in with Papa Bear.

All in all it was a great weekend in the country.

The Jax Classic

Today was a very special day in the Ward household as it was not only the Fourth of July but also the First Annual Jax Classic at Churchill Downs. Soon after Jax was born, his Mikey learned that you can purchase the naming rights to a race at Churchill and then you will get to present the trophy to the winning owners and jockey. Of course this is the kind of thing a baby who isn't even out of his newborn clothes yet must have and thus, the Jax Classic was born. Jax's Uncle Kevin works at Churchill and was able to get us two suites for the special occasion. So, many family members also came to witness the big event. I must say, we had a great time watching the races, visiting with family and friends and going down to see the horses and present the trophy. Below are SEVERAL pictures from today. These are just the pictures on my camera, I am sure there are many others floating out there as well. We really turn into the paparazzi around Jax, he is just so much fun to photograph!

The first thing Jax wanted to do after we arrived at the suite was check out the trophy he was going to present. We loved that it said "The First Annual Jax Classic" on the trophy. So cute!

Family portrait on the balcony of the suite. It was a great view of the track and Jax loved being outside on the balcony.


Jax holding the racing slip for his race to figure out which horse he likes. If you look at the top of the page it says the "Jax Classic."

Before they took us to the winner's circle, they first escorted us to the Paddock area to see the horses warming up. Jax checked out a few of the horses but after picking his favorite he decided to take a little nap to rest up for the big event.


Thanks Uncle Kevin for helping us have such a great day!


We were next taken to the track and stood in the front row next to the winner's circle to watch the race. Can you see how exited Jax was at this point?

The horses as they ran to the finish line. You can see from the bottom of the picture, Jax was still asleep.

The horses as they were finishing, I thought Jasper got a good shot.

OBJECTION! There was an objection as to the results of the race. We thought this was perfect as there are five attorneys in Jax's immediate family.


The winning horse and jockey as they made their way to the winner's circle. They do not present the trophy until the horse is out of the circle though for obvious liability reasons. Again, as a family of so many attorneys we could appreciate this.

Presenting the trophy to the jockey. Pretty cool.

After all the excitement, we headed upstairs to cool off. We decided it was time to start teaching Jax the art of betting so this is of him placing his first bet. Luckily Rose, the lady at the betting window, didn't ask for his I.D.


Not everyone was having luck with the ponies. Hopefully Tommy had more luck with the races at the end of the day.


Jax loves hanging out with Mimi and Mikey. Thanks for putting this together Mikey!


Jax also got some quality time with his Papa Bear and Madre. They had been away on vacation the last couple of weeks and were very excited to see him again!



By mid afternoon, the day's festivities were catching up with Jax and it was time for another nap. You might have noticed that Jax changed clothes during the day. That is because we had his first blow out dirty diaper in a public place. It was interesting to say the least and I have still not fully recovered from it.

We received this print with the pictures from the race and trophy presentation along with the info on the winners. I don't have a scanner so I just took a picture of it to put on here.

We passed this on our way out of the track. What a fun day and great Fourth of July. I can't wait for next year and the Second Annual Jax Classic!