Our Little Rookie

Jax is getting ready for spring training with the Yankees! 

They are Jasper's favorite baseball team, go figure.

In order to go out for the team though, he has realized that he has to be mobile.  He is therefore working really hard at crawling.  He isn't there yet but at least now he is moving forward!  Here is his current progress: 

It is more of a lunge forward with both knees at the same time.  I think he will be there soon.  Looks like I have some baby proofing in my near future!

Seven Months Old

Jax,
We now call you our sleeping baby and it is a beautiful thing.  Sleeping is by far your biggest accomplishment this month.  You are such a big boy now that goes to bed on his own.  We still watch you on your monitor and love watching as you snuggle down to the corner of your crib and go to sleep.  You are so peaceful to watch.  When you  awake, I go into your room to be greeted by the biggest of grins on your face and you are ready to play.

You are lots of fun to play with and we fill most of our days with peek a boo, songs and lots and lots of climbing!  You try to climb up us all the time and are really adventurous. You seem to test the boundaries of what you are physically able to do and that sometimes results in a face-plant into the play mat below.  Right now, as you aren't very mobile yet, I am able to catch you most of the time.  I can't imagine what you will be doing once you are able to be on the go.  Your father already is saying "safety first son, safety first" daily and I think he will have the hardest time coping with your daredevil personality.

You are still babbling constantly and we always wonder what is going on in that little head of yours.  This week you have started to enjoy story time.  Until now books have been more like teethers for you.  This week, however, as we were preparing for bed you laid your head on mom's chest as she read the story of Little Hoot to you.  It was one of the sweetest moments and we look forward to many story times to come. 

This month we will be preparing for Christmas.  We have been asked what we want for Christmas this year and we haven't had an answer.  This is because you have brought us more joy than we could have imagined and you are the best present we have ever been given.  What more could we need this year?

Much Love, Mommy and Daddy

See that little tooth!

It wouldn't be complete without a "serious baby" pose!

Black Friday

It was a day of pure chaos that ended with an exhausted baby and family.  No I didn't take Jax out shopping in the middle of the night, instead we still had family function to attend and friends from out of town to meet!

We started off at Jasper's parents' house for the Thanksgiving celebretion with his mom's side of the family.  They are a big Catholic family with lots of people and lots of food and wine.  It is pure chaos at these gatherings and we love every minute.  The kids run around and play with each other while the adults are either watching games on tv or sitting around and chatting (sometimes very loudly!).  It was so crazy over there that I didn't even get the camera out.  The kids were very excited to play with Jax and were just great with him and even took turns holding him and entertaining him.  Surprisingly, Jax didn't seem overwhelmed and I think he is going to fit in well at these gatherings.  I even got a tiny nap out of him upstairs, though nothing close to his usual.  By the end he was really overstimulated and exhausted.  When we got home I think he was practically begging me for a nap and went down instantly. 

As soon as naptime was over it was time to head to our friends house for a get together with Jasper's high school friends.  Many of them live in other states now and so the holidays are a great time to get back together when they come in to visit their families.  Now that everyone has kids, we get together at a house and let the kids just run around.  It is lots of fun and we all do get a chance to catch up.  This was Jax's first time with most of this group and I think it was a special day for him.  You see when he entered the room he saw this little lady: 

Little Miss Sarah.  She was due 3 days ahead of Jax and her mommy and I were both very excited for them to meet.  Since Jasper and I heard that our friends Marie and Jason were expecting a little girl, we have been discussing whether an arranged marriage was in order.  Sure enough Jax was quite taken with Sarah.  

At first he tried to play it cool and get her attention by sitting near her and just playing with other toys.  I think it worked.

He then leaned in to make his move and grab her hand.  

Ok, maybe he was actually just trying to take the toy from her.  There were sparks though I tell you!

 Luckily for Sarah, her big brother Max was there to make sure Jax played nice. 

That is until he got distracted by the "digger" and left Sarah to fend for herself.  

 Sarah wasn't the only pretty little girl there.  Miss Mary Lee, 3 months old, was also at this party, it was her house after all.  I love this picture of Sarah and Jax on the couch with Mary Lee.  We plan on keeping this one to show them years from now. 

This one also shows the two bigger babies just pawing away at poor Mary Lee who just had to sit there and take it. She was a great sport about it and a fantastic hostess!  

We didn't get a group picture of the rest of the older kids as it would have been near impossible to get them to all stop playing and get together.  They seem to all be having a great time.  We didn't get home until after Jax's bedtime and he did really well with the change in routine.  He was happy to see his bed though and went down without a peep.  We might not have gotten any shopping done on Black Friday, but I still this it was a big success!

Feeling Thankful

This Thanksgiving our family has so much to be thankful for:  Jasper and I have a great partnership and marriage, a supportive family and an amazing little baby.  For the first time, we got to celebrate Thanksgiving Day as a family of three.

We also were able to celebrate this day with both of my grandmothers.  I love that Jax gets to spend time with them both and know how lucky we are.

While waiting for dinner, Jax played with some of the awesome toys at my parents' house.  

They are building quite the collection. 

Every kid needs a shiny red convertible right?

Jax wasn't the only new member to the dinner this year.  My cousin Jessie and her husband have a new addition to their family this year as well:  Boogie.

Jax enjoyed his first Thanksgiving meal.  He ate more than he usually does 

and must have gotten the memo that you stuff yourself of Thanksgiving.  

Thanks for such a great dinner Madre and Papa Bear! 

 
This year has brought so many blessings in our lives that it doesn't feel like one day of celebration is adequate.  So while the turkey and family get togethers might all occur this weekend, I am trying to be thankful for what we have been given every day and not take any of it for granted.

Happy Thanksgiving.

Let the Festivities Begin!

The Thanksgiving celebration has officially started for this family.  We are so lucky to live very close to almost all of our family and so we don't miss many family get togethers.  This also means that most holidays are celebrated for at least 3 days.  :)  Thanksgiving for us always starts on Wednesday with dinner at Jasper's parents house with his goddaughters Sophie and Chloe and their Dad Kevin.  This year two of their stepsisters also were able to come which made it even more fun.  Of course Jax was the newest addition to the get together and he was a big hit with the girls.    

Seriously, could he get anymore attention?

I loved watching the girls play with Jax.  I see some awesome babysitters in his future. 

Kevin was a big hit with Jax.  Here he is showing his signature "pick me up" move.

Another highlight was the MASSIVE playmat that Mike and Tina bought.  I think I am going to call their house "Mikey and Meme's Fun House."  They already had lots of toys for the children of their neices and nephews that all come over for holidays, but having a grandchild has taken their toy collection to a whole new level.  The girls loved the play mat pieces and we decided they would make an awesome fort.  

Of course this was fun for the adults as well. :)

Plenty of room to play!

Jax was obsessed with the girls and loved watching them play.  I told them I need them to come over and play just to entertain him for awhile!  He watched their every movement.  

A big milestone also happened at the Thanksgiving dinner, Jax napped in the Pack n Play!  This was a first attempt at a nap outside the house since his sleep training and he went down really quickly and slept for an hour.  I call that a success and am hoping this continues for the rest of the week's festivities.  We are also hopeful that this means he will continue to sleep well during our upcoming trip to Savannah! 

We were all pretty tired when we got home and had a pretty relaxing evening tonight.  Trying to prepare for all the food that will come our way tomorrow at my parents' house.  Jasper treats Thanksgiving eating as a sport and he really excels, so I expect great things from him tomorrow.  Hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving tomorrow.

Lazy Sunday

It was rainy today and I think Jax knew it.  He usually wakes up at 7-7:30, but this morning decided not to get up until almost 8:30.  Wonderful for me because I slept in right along with him.  However that meant his morning nap wasn't until 10 which is when Catholic church starts.  (We alternate between Jasper's Catholic church and my baptist church every other Sunday.  I know this isn't a plan that will work as well once Jax is a little older, but for right now it works for us.)  So we didn't make it to church today.  Instead, after Jax got up from his nap we headed over to Mikey and Meme's house for brunch.  Uncle Kevin and Megan came as well and we had lots of fun.  Mikey and Meme had just bought a playmat and toys for Jax to have at their house and he had lots of fun checking them all out.

They might have provided some fun for the adults as well.  As much fun as Jax had, he also showed off his signature pout today and we were able to capture it in all its cuteness on camera.  

 

I promise once he actually got upset I came and took care of him.  

It is just the pretend pout that we find so adorable.

We took this as our sign that Jax was ready for another nap.  

He always rubs his eyes when he gets tired and I find it so adorable. 

 It rained all day and so we just had a lazy day around the house filled with naps, eating and a little time in the play room.  The perfect way to spend a rainy Sunday.

 

Male Bonding

Today I did it ... I left the house for 8 whole hours without Mr. Jax.  I headed to the outlet malls with a good friend for some much needed girl time and retail therapy  While I was gone Jax got some great guy time with his daddy and I think they had a pretty good day. 

"Wait she is going to be gone for HOW long??"

"Do you know how she makes my lunch?"

"Seriously, did she leave instructions?"

This Daddy time is pretty fun!

 So precious

I had a fantastic time out with Tiffany today and got some great deals.  My favorite part of the day though was walking back through the front door to see my two favorite guys with big smiles on their faces.  All in all a great day.

Splish Splash

Jax was having lots of fun during bath time tonight.  This kid really cracks me up.

He thinks his daddy is the funniest thing on earth.  Seriously, Jasper gets the biggest laughs from him.

Out of the tub and getting ready for bed!