Mother's Day 2012

My Mother's Day weekend was nothing short of wonderful! Kris went out of his way to make the weekend just as I would have it!  It was low key, start to finish, my favorite!  He knows that big gifts and fancy things aren't my thing, not that I don't appreciate them, but my love language is quality time and acts of service! 

We started out by him taking me to lunch on Friday, which is a real treat, working from home I seldom eat lunch anywhere other than my desk or the few days he comes home to eat with me, at the kitchen table. We went to Bin 303, one of our favorite restaurants in Rockwall.  If you haven't tried it, we highly recommend it! We have never been disappointed!

Saturday morning he got up and fixed me an amazing breakfast and completely took care of John Thomas!  After breakfast, he gave me the first part of my gift.  I received three sealed envelopes each enclosed with "coupons" one envelope had house cleaning coupons, one had sleep coupons and the final one had no cook coupons!  It was the perfect gift!!  He had written a sweet note on each one and it meant the world to me!

We spent the rest of the day lounging around and running errands, just the three of us, it was wonderful!  Instead of going out to dinner we decided to order take out from Olive Garden and turn in early!

Sunday morning while I was feeding John Thomas, again, Kris cooked a complete breakfast and got "set up" for my first Mother's Day. I walked down the stairs to breakfast and the cutest face was waiting on me!

I had two of the sweetest cards, along with a spa gift certificate and pearl earrings.  I couldn't have asked for more! 

John Thomas spent some time signing my card!

We then hurried to get ready and head to church together.  After church, we went to Ken and Mandy's to have lunch. Following lunch we decided to get a picture of the four babies together.  To say it was a challenge is an understatement.  There were lots of laughs, a few tears, several love taps to the face and a trip is never complete without an eye poke!

We ended the day with some time outside enjoying the beautiful weather and playing corn hole!  John Thomas had to borrow Kennedy's shades because it was so bright!

 

We also reached a big milestone - John Thomas took his first whirl in the walker!  It was a sad moment for me, I never imagined he would be able to sit up in a walker and his little tippy toes scoot himself across the concrete at 3 months!!

All that action was exhausting, so he had to take a power nap! Thank you Abe and Ben, for letting us borrow your walker for the afternoon!

Mother's Day 2012

Two of the biggest blessings in my life!

Thank you Lord, for allowing me to be Kris' wife and John Thomas' Mommy!  There is no greater gift in the world than being a wife and mom and I am so glad He chose me for the two of them!

John Thomas - THREE months!

John Thomas,


You have blessed our lives for THREE months as of May 2, 2012!

I cannot remember what we did before you came along!  Here are some of the things you have been doing this month:

• Standing and holding all your weight by just holding our hands
• "talking" in response to Mama and Daddy 
• Sitting up in your Mamas and Papas chair and also in your big cousins' feeding chairs!
• Reaching and grabbing for animals above you while on your play mat
• Went for your first boat ride
• Slept through the night for the first time, and unfortunately for Mommy, the ONLY time (April 27, 2012)
• Slept in your room and special crib for the first time! (April 28, 2012)
• Laughing, or as we call it, your grunt laugh
• Went to your first baseball game to watch Koen
• Attended your first Easter Egg hunt, you weren't impressed :)
• Spent the first day with your new Nanny, you seemed to like her!

You are still in Size 2 diapers.  You are wearing mostly 0-3 month clothes, and some 3-6 month.  

Your hair is still very blonde, and sometimes appears red!  Your eyes are still blue (please stay this way, it's the only way people know you are mine!)

You probably weigh around 14 lbs, and you're a great eater!  You are still exclusively on breast milk and only get a bottle when I work. 

You are still holding on to your fists, and rarely open your hands!  They always seem to find their way to your mouth, you chew on them all the time!

You still love to have a bath and give the biggest smiles when you are in the water.  

You slept in your crib for the first time and completely kicked your way around to lay the opposite way we laid you down.  You also ALWAYS kick your blankets off!  I was sad to move you to your room, but you seem to really enjoy having extra room to move around.  We didn't realize just how much you move until we watched you from the video monitor!

You love to be held and snuggled, but you are content to lay in your Rock N Play sleeper, too.  Your favorite part of the day is when Daddy gets home, you give him the widest grin with major dimples and don't want him to put you down, even while he eats!

Your schedule is still almost the same: 

Wake up between 6 and 7:30
7:30 eat
8:00-9:30 play while mommy gets ready for work and eats breakfast
9:30-10:30 nap
10:30 eat
11:00-12:30 play, read books, swing
12:30-1:30 nap
1:30 eat
2:00-3:30 ish playtime
4:00-30 ish eat
4:30-6:00 wait for Daddy to get home to play
6:00 - eat
6:30-7:30 sit with us while we prepare and eat dinner
7:30 - bathtime
8:00 - you have started to get fussy again around this time and recently let us know you are ready for your bedtime to be moved up from 9:00! 
8:30 - eat and bedtime

A typical night is you sleeping until 3:00 am or 4:00 am, nursing for about 10 minutes and going back down until 6:30 am.  We are hoping you start stretching out and sleeping longer very soon!

We love you so much, sweet boy!  There is no greater joy than spending time with you!  We are so proud to be your parents!

Love, Mommy and Daddy

NC Trip in Pictures

Better late than never - here are pictures from our trip to NC!

We had a great Spring Break trip to visit our family in NC.  It was so nice to finally introduce John Thomas  to his family and friends who love him so very much!! We spent lots of time going from place to place and he did great!  He was an angel on the plane, something I had anxiety about for days before we left!  Luckily, on our way out we were upgraded to first class, which made things MUCH easier on all of us!  We joked and told him over and over, not to get used to flying that way!  

John Thomas and "Mimi" his Great Grandmother

He got his first baseball glove from his Great Aunt and Uncle, Lib and Roger

4 Generations

His Pa Hall (Great Grandfather and one of which the "John" in his name comes from) is smitten over him!

Erica and John Thomas' friend, Campbell

All week long, this was Campbell's reaction to him!  We are hoping for better times on our next trip!

LOVE going home and eating my Mama's cooking!

Koen loves my parent's basement and created this seesaw contraption out of workout gear and clothes!

Cousin Alek

John Thomas and I spent some much needed special time with our Mimi!

Such a good big brother!

John Thomas and his friend, Penley

Koen couldn't wait to take John Thomas to the creek, by far his favorite place in NC

Papa J and Daddy dared him to walk into the deep part, so  we took a pic to prove it!

They also thought John Thomas needed to put his feet in the water!  He was not impressed! 

 You may be wondering why he only has on a diaper and hat... well as soon as we got to the creek he decided to have a "blow out" that went through diaper, onesie, and pants.  So of course we did what any responsible parents would do and changed him in the back of my parents' Husquvarna on a feed sack :) the clothes were not able to be put back on, but luckily it was warm enough in the sun to go in just diaper and hat!

Papa J loves his John Thomas!

Campbell and John Thomas, try number 2, as successful as the first!

We spent lots of time with our Great Uncle Randy.  He came over every morning to play with John Thomas.  There was one morning he didn't come over and Koen kept asking, "Where is Uncle Randy, he ALWAYS comes over to see us in the mornings!" :)

Nana and Papa J

Thank you, Mom and Dad, for everything you did for us while we were home!  We love you and miss you very very much!!  Can't wait to see you in a few weeks!

Back to Work....

I have been back at work one week as of today! I am very fortunate to work for a company where I have the opportunity to work from home! I work with a great group of ladies that are encouraging and check on me daily to make sure everything is going okay with the transition. 

It has been hard, maybe harder than I expected.  However, we hired a wonderful nanny that will come to the house to keep John Thomas three days a week! Her name is Sara, and we are very happy with her so far!  We interviewed a couple of different people for the position and prayed that we would find the right one for us and that we would be the right family for them.  God provides!  As soon as Sara left our house that Saturday morning, Kris and I immediately knew she was the one and began praying that she liked us as much as we liked her!

This week, I have had John Thomas two days without help and he has been a very good boy!  For the most part, he lets me work without entertaining him as long as I make sure to acknowledge him frequently with a big smile and a few words!  It may seem silly to talk to him like he can talk back, but we discuss lots of random things during the day!  From what I am making for dinner to choosing accessories!  Yesterday, apparently he thought Mommy was pretty boring!  I am sticking with the conclusion it wasn't me, just that he isn't all that interested in model home design :)

Thank you to everyone who has prayed for the transition to go smoothly!  Although I would rather be a stay at home Mommy, and part time designer, right now the Lord has different plans and I am thankful that he has sent us the support we need!

Easter Weekend

We had a busy Easter weekend! My sister, her boyfriend, and my cousin, Alek came into town for their Easter breaks from school and were such a huge help with everything from John Thomas to helping me in the yard :)

Our weekend started with them arriving on Friday afternoon and we went non-stop the remainder of the weekend!

On Saturday we all enjoyed the beautiful weather with a pizza lunch and Easter Egg hunt at Ken and Mandy's house. 

 

Koen and Reagan dying Easter Eggs

A few of the finished products!

John Thomas and Aunt Allie

The boys enjoyed bubbles

Ben enjoyed some grass :)

 We were a little over prepared for our Easter Egg hunt.  With only two kiddos that could actually "hunt" eggs, I think we hid almost 100 eggs!  Needless to say, Reagan and Koen had a lot of fun hunting all those eggs with little competition!

Serious Egg Hunters

John Thomas joined the hunt for a short while!

Later that afternoon Kris and Koen went to the Rangers game for opening weekend.  They left in such a hurry I didn't get a picture!  At one point during the game Kris text me a list of everything that Koen had eaten, it was A LOT!  We joked that if John Thomas eats like his brother, we will both need second jobs!

On Sunday, we all got up to go to our Easter service at church.  It is always one of my favorite services because of the emotion and meaning it has.  I hope to always teach our children that although egg hunts, gifts and bunnies are fun, the true gift is the sacrifice made on the cross!

John Thomas' first Easter picture!  Yes, he is melting down, it was time for him to eat, but my two bigger boys couldn't wait to get changed!

Justin and Allie

My handsome cousin, Alek!  Hard to believe he is a Senior!  Seems like not too long ago he was John Thomas' size!



I hope you all had a great Easter, as well!  I'll leave you with a few photos of our cutie's First Easter!