Jack - month 9

9 months!

9 months of pure love and energy!

Jack Amadeus. He is something else. This month has been lots of changes. He is known at the YMCA as the "rolling kid". He knows how to get where he wants to go. :) He is a very happy baby and has lately become very expressive. He "talks" a lot and is starting to get into things. Gone are the days where you could just lay a quilt down and he would stay on there and play with his toys. It's almost as if the quilt is the last place he wants to be. He wants to be under the piano bench eating the piano pedals or messing with the coffee table or chairs. He thinks Lucy's toys are just as fun as his own...gross! :)  

I am going to be sad to see nursing go soon. I don't know when it will end, but it probably will be in the next 3 years ;) kidding. I love the little noises he makes when he nurses. He may be getting older and more mobile but his nursing noises remind me that he is still a sweet little baby. As soon as he is done nursing he goes back to being a big boy and sticking out his tongue and talking and being busy. I dont want to forget those moments. 

I don't think he can get any cuter!

Sweet boy!

Jack's pumpkin won most creative at the pumpkin carving party! :)

Handsome little guy! 

Halloween with friends

Jack's first lemon experience! :)

You can no longer say he looks just like Christopher! :)

Autumn in TN. He is so stinkin cute!

This is an action shot of Jack taking care of business!

Those eyes... 

He is quite the charmer!  

Sleeping baby...he is such a good sleeper!

Quote for the month:
My sister posted this on her Facebook this month and I resonated so much with it...I want to frame it! "Find every excuse you can to celebrate everything you can." 

Blog post of the month:
I came across a blog post this month that I wanted to share. Click Here: Tell a Friend: You are a Good Mama Its a great blog to challenge me to not compare but to encourage other moms. 

Thought for the month:

Ok so onto the details of #babyjack or now #bigboyjack this month!

• Highlight of the month - He goes back and forth this month from saying - "Mama", "Dada", "ssssss...", and a click noise "ts..ts...ts..." He wont do all of them really in the same day/week...but he will mix it up each week. Its hilarious. He keeps us on our toes.
• Another new thing is he started sticking his tongue out. Its cute...for now.
• Sleep: Same for this month 8:30pm-7:00am! 2 naps a day (9-11, 1:30-3:30) and most days he has decided not to to take the catnap.
• Schedule: Same schedule since 6 month old. Going great.
• Clothes: He is in 6-9 and 12 months now. He is wearing a size 3 shoe (which is the only way to keep socks on this kid) :)
• Diapers: Size 3 still. 5-6 a day! Side note - I fibbed about the Costco diapers...no good...going back to Pampers swaddlers.
• Food: Still nursing 5xs a day (7, 11, 3:30, 6:30, 9:30). Not near as long as he use to. He eats two solid food meals a day. The items he has tried so far are - sweet potatoes, butternut squash, acorn squash, carrots, green beans, green peas, avocados, broccoli, black beans, apples, bananas, and prunes. He eats oatmeal now too. Oh and he is now doing raisins and little baby crackers. 
• Funny thing about food- he does not like anything on his highchair tray while he is eating. If there is even a crumb of something...he is distracted until its removed. I think we might have a little OCD on our hands :)
• Drink: Still not into sippy cups of water. Any tips are appreciated.
• New things: He has almost started crawling - he has kind of beeing army-crawling-creeping the past 3 or 4 days.
• Bad Not so Good things: He enjoys his food a lot...however he moves really quick and sometimes he sticks his fingers in his food bowl if you have it on his highchair tray and holds on for dear life. It drives us a little bonkers. He is also a distracted eater. If he hears something...he will move his head right when you are about to put a spoonful of mush into his mouth (cue the food going all over his bib and face). 

Jack - month 8

My little 8 month old!

Our little Jack has been pure delight this month. Each stage of his development has been completely fascinating to me. Today, I looked back at all of his "sticker" month pictures and cannot believe the difference one month makes between these photos. When do they stop changing so much each month? Cliche's are no longer cliches ...they are realities. "Time flies", "Enjoy each moment", "They grow up so fast", etc. It seems that those lines were not real thoughts to me before having Jack. Now, they are realities that ring so true each day. 

Time flies!

Jack - you are one cute kid in your PJs. Side note - zip pjs are a must once they come out of the swaddle! WOW...great invention!

We were at a restaurant and Christopher and I both were talking about Jack's Fred Flinstone feet...I had to snap this moment. His feet are thick! :)

This one is for the wedding slide show one day! 

Each little roll on him is so delicious. 

Very serious with his toys!

At Cheekwood with our friends, Shannon and Dustin and Creed.

Jack and Creed

Fall is here to stay. Love baby hats! Its a problem...I think we have 6!

Jack and Ruby..."sitting in a...swing"

Jack and Paxton - birth-day buds!

Jack and Uncle Phillip when he came to visit for fall break.

Jack and Lucy! She has finally given in to his ways!

Jack went to his first college football game this month! (Side note about the other love of my life in this photo - he is one amazing husband and father. I dont know how I would do life without him. He lights up my life and Jack's life so much.) 

We cheered hard...but the Bulldogs lost.

I am a blessed little lady! 

**Story of the month**

I think my story of the month is more a daily occurrence that I have just loved. I usually feed him at least one of his baby food meals a day and its so awesome to see him maturing and moving to this stage in his life. He is like a little birdy with his mouth open wanting more and more "yum yums". I think sometimes how did he go from not even know what baby food was a few weeks ok to wanting this baby food! Which leads me to think... how did he not sit up a few months ago but now does it totally fine all the time. Or its crazy to remember those days where he use to not smile and now he "smiling is his favorite"! :) 

It is true...its the small things that are the best! 

Ok so onto the details of #babyjack or now #bigboyjack this month!

• Highlight of the month - Jack says "mama" now! Be still my heart. Its so sweet. It doesn't necessarily mean he is asking for me...but he is saying the words.
• Sleep: 8:30pm-7:00am! 2 naps a day (9-11, 1:30-3:30) and most days he does an evening catnap around 5:45 for 45 minutes.
• Schedule: Same schedule since 6 month old. Going great. It is the one thing that definitely I am thankful I started early on. 
• Clothes: He is in 6-9 months mostly now. Loving the sweaters and hats we have started having to wear. 
• Diapers: Size 3 still! 5-6 a day! Side note - got the Costco brand this month and they are great! Way cheaper than Pampers too. 
• Food: Still nursing. Going ok. He eats two solid food meals a day. The items he loves - sweet potatoes, butternut squash, acorn squash, green beans, avocados, apples, bananas, and prunes. The one item he has tried that he does not like is brown rice cereal. Other than that he is loving his homemade baby food. 
• Drink: Still not into sippy cups of water. We have tried 3 kinds and he does more slurping and spewing than swallowing. :)
• New things: rolling from one side of the room to the next is his new thing. He loves to roll.  We have started putting Jack in a sleep sack and PJs now that its getting colder. Its like a sleeping bag that you wear. Its awesome! 
• Bad things: His play mat is close to our fireplace and he has started messing with the grates at the bottom. Not safe buddy. :( 

Jack - month 7

Jack is 7 months old! 

Jack is one awesome kid. I don't know how many crazy parents are out there that decide to fly overseas for fun...but we definitely joined the crazy train (plane?) of international travel with children this month. Million dollar question...how did Jack do? He did great. He was so sweet and so smiley the whole time. He hardly made a sad fuss the whole trip. He did not sleep well at night was the huge flaw. So how did mommy do? Lets just say I thought I was done with the infant stage of not sleeping through the night and I was not glad to see it back. Probably the worst part of international travel is the jet lag when you get home. You can grin and bare it (mostly) while you are in the foreign land but you want things back to normal when they get home and that is not what happens. We are still working through the jet lag. Ok other things about Jack this month. He is growing up so much. I call him rolly-polly for two reasons: 1) his obvious chunky rolls that are dreamy and 2) his rolling-all-over the place skills. We have not seen many signs of crawling and I am completely ok with that. :)  Everything goes straight into the mouth still. He loves to play with his toys. He is getting great at grasping things and not just "shooting in the dark" for a toy. His favorite toy is this silly fence post that my sister gave me as a hand-me down toy that goes to a little farm set. He likes the animals with the farm set but he LOVES the fence post to chew on. He's a southern boy already I guess. :)

Love those feet!

He loves his toys and his toy box!

Look at me mom! (seriously he was asleep like this!) :(

On 1 of the 6 flights he took to and from Japan. I think he was about at his limit here.

1st time in a cart!

1st time with baby food!

1st time with a sippy cup!

Jack and all of his Japanese friends!

Uplifting story:

Just like last month...I came across a blog this month that I wanted to share. Click here: Great Marriage Blog. Its a great blog about marriage and kids and not believing the negative self-talk you play over and over in your head. It was very timely for me. :)

**Story of the month**

So Japan. I guess the best story is the "6 flight story". Definitely the highs and lows of my life. It took 3 planes to get to Japan (Nashville to St. Paul, St. Paul to Seattle, and Seattle to Osaka). We were afraid, going into this, that Jack was going to have a blowout 20 minutes into the first flight and it would all go down hill from there. Good news: that didn't happen. He did poop 3x's on one plane ride though. :) For the long flight to Japan, we were under the impression that we would have a seat between Christopher and me to put Jack's car seat. Unfortunately the plane was sold out and we traded seats with the middle seat person to one of our aisle seats. So yes, Jack sat in our laps for 12.5 hours. Poor little guy! On the way back to the US, our 3 flights had us go from Osaka to Seattle, Seattle to Salt Lake City, Salt Lake City to Nashville. Each way its about 21 hours of traveling in air/airports. On the way back, we upgraded our tickets to Economy Comfort so that we could get the lovely contraption seen in the picture below. That bassinet saved all 3 of us. Jack slept for 6.5 hours on the flight to the US. This picture cracks me up because he barely fit into the bassinet and his face is like, "Mom...really? I am supposed to sleep in this thing?" He did great. Once we got to Salt Lake we had a "1 hour layover" which turned into almost 5 hours of a layover. It was our 6th flight, we were all tired and loopy, and all we wanted was to get home. Again, Jack the trooper...he took it like a champ. We arrived to our house at 2:30 in the morning and were glad to be home! It was a great trip that we made many memories. My only international travel tip is: anything goes! :)

Ok so onto the details of #babyjack this month!

• Highlight of the month - more teeth! Two top teeth. Funny story - the Japan team all laughed when I said getting off the plane in Japan "That flight was so long...teeth grew...literally!"
• Sleep: It has been going great. He still sleeps from 8:30pm-7:00am like a trooper! Except for the past 18 days since being in Japan and coming back. We have not found our groove yet...say a prayer for us!
• Schedule: The new schedule from last month is going great. He is doing great with his two big naps and his cat nap before dinner. 
• Clothes: He is in 6-9 months mostly now. We still have some 3-6 months stuff that is working...but it screams. New to this month since getting out of the swaddle is footed pjs. He is so cute in his PJs!
• Diapers: Size 3 staying strong! 5-6 a day!
• Food: milk for 30 days of this past month and then on his 7-month birthday we introduced his first solid food, homemade sweet potato and apple baby food. He has had it once a day for 4 days now. We are gradually moving into the food world. We also introduced a sippy cup of water yesterday...he has no idea what to do with that. :)
• New things: Peekaboo is new this month. He pulls the cloth down off his face and laughs. That's a lot of fun. He has started taking his socks off his feet...its new but not so fun for mama. 
• Bad things: Now that he has those top two teeth...he has learned to grind his 4 teeth together. I am not a fan of that at all. 
• At his 6 month check up he was in the 90% for height and 50% for weight. I think it was 17.5 lbs and 27.5 inches. 
  
  

Until next month...

Jack - month 6

Jack is 6 months. Wow! He is amazing. Jack has completely blown my mind and my world. This past month I have learned a lot about myself. I have a whole lot more to learn thats for sure. I will blame these life lessons on the joys and woes of parenthood.

I have felt some high highs and some low lows for sure since being a parent. Since having Jack, I have learned (am learning) to love in a different way. Love is more than feelings... at least I am starting/trying to love this way. Love is what keeps things together when the feelings aren't there and its just plain work. I was reading in an awesome book this month (if you are married...you should be reading this book) about covenant love. In marriage you have to work for covenant love. In parenting, covenant love is instinctual. You give sacrificially 24/7 for a little person that doesn't give back to you. However, there is still so much joy and love that comes. That is what our relationship with Christ is like sometimes. How many times have I heard how having children makes you more aware of your relationship with God. I am getting it now!! How many times do I not give to God my best and he loves me unconditionally 24/7. 

This month I read two blog posts about being a parent that are very thought provoking. 

• http://www.regiehamm.com/blog/hows-your-daughter/
• http://lovingmylot.com/2013/08/23/mom-vs-mom-the-war-i-didnt-see-coming/

Ok no more serious stuff...onto the sweet boy who has taken his parent's heart. Jack has grown sooo much. We have a #bigboyjack on our hands more now than a #babyjack. :)

This month we vacationed with Christopher's parents in Charleston, SC. It was our first time to Charleston and it was just beautiful (Pics below). A friend that I use to work with came to visit for a few days. And our big news is we are getting ready for our first international trip (Japan) with little Jack. 

Jack at the beach at 5 months old

Jack on his first horse and carriage ride!

Jack... our love!

College of Charleston campus...so beautiful!

Jack the "fish"

Ch-all-ston - :) ...."Dahling everything is wandaful in ch-all-ston" (I definitely haven't perfected the Charleston accent...but it is awesome!)

Jack with his nonna and papa!

I am blessed with an amazing family!

I love this boy so much!! 

Our one all-family photo we got! 

Two of the most amazing people on the planet to me! And they are both adorable!

Kiawah Island. We loved this place!

I mean really...what do you with someone so cute, chunky, and handsome!!?? (This is my Iphone screen saver...definitely my favorite).

Jack got a new toy this month and he is pretty proud of it! :)

Jack went to his first every birthday party. His friend Nelson turned 1.

Jack learned to sit up this month. He has perfected it for sure towards the end of the month.

My little mickey mouse! :)

We now have an official weekly play date with Jack's birthday buddy - Paxton.

**Story of the month**

Mr. Jack officially has teeth. When we were with family in Charleston this month...Jack had Christopher's finger in his mouth and basically bit him. We knew he had been teething, but we had no idea he had two pearly whites that had hit the bottom of his gums. Well, now we know. 

Ok so onto the details of #babyjack this month!

• Highlight of the month -sitting up and his two bottom teeth....you know what he wants for Christmas? :) 
• We are swaddle free as of this month. Lets just say I found him on his tummy, face planted into the crib and realized its time to give up the swaddle.
• He still sleeps from 8:30pm-7:00am like a trooper! 
• We have as of last week changed his schedule to only 5 feedings a day and two long naps and a cat nap. So far so good.
• Clothes - Jack is in 3-6 months clothes mostly. Some of his stuff is 6-9 months. We are holding on to 3-6 for as long as possible...6-9 just seems so big! :(
• Diapers - Switched to size 3 diapers this month. We love pampers! He is using about 5-6 diapers a day.
• Food - still breast milk only! :) Until next month...
• We are holding off on solids till we get back from Japan at the end of September. It just seems easier to start that transition after we get back.
• New things: He loves his exersaucer that his buddy Nelson is letting him borrow. He is really getting into his taggie blanket that is orange on one side and giraffe print on the other (Thanks Mom!) He has started to watch us when we eat. When we eat...he is very quiet and serious and he opens his mouth when we take a bit...poor little guy. Hang in there...solids are coming soon!
• Bad things: He loves to pull hair now and eat peoples jewelry. Two things that I am not a fan of at all when I see other babies do...and definitely not what I want Jack to do. We are working on it!
• His 6 month check-up is next week and we will see how much he has grown. 

Until next month...