Thankful

This year I feel especially Thankful -

Thankful that:

I serve a loving and merciful God. 

I gave birth to a beautiful, healthy baby boy and became a mama for the first time.

I have an amazing, selfless husband that gives of himself every single day to provide for us. 

I have two really wonderful step kiddos.

I have a big family who loves us.

I never have to wonder if we will have a roof, warm bed, or food on the table. 

I have a great job that I love, even despite long days.

and much, much more.

I hope everyone has a special Thanksgiving and can spend it with those you love.  We all have so much to be Thankful for!

First Halloween

We celebrated Halloween a little early by visiting Sulphur Springs with the cousins, eating hot dogs and visiting Great Grandparents. 

First stop was Memaw and Granddad's House:

 Memaw and John Thomas

Granddad, Memaw and John Thomas

 Our Little Charlie Brown

 

Charlie Brown and Daddy

 Cousin Abraham made the cutest Carl Old Man from the Movie, "Up"

 and Benjamin was his trusty sidekick, Russell

 Pappy and Charlie

 Sweet Kennedy was a beautiful mermaid!

Our next stop was Pa Pa and Gran Gran's house!  We were in for a treat, she made chicken and dumplings and John Thomas LOVED them!  He couldn't shovel into his mouth fast enough!

On actual October 31, our little one was running a fever, so instead of Trick or Treating, we stayed in!  Maybe next year!

9 Months!

Happy 9 Months, Sweet Boy!!

 John Thomas, 

Another month has flown by!  It is hard to believe you are just 3 short months from being a ONE year old!  We are enjoying each moment with you and all the laughs and joy you bring to our lives!

Here are some of the things you have been doing this month:

• Waving and saying "bye-bye"
• Doing "hercules" for Papa J, which includes moving your arms up and down really fast and laughing!
• Saying "Nana"
• Signing Dog and All Done
• Pulling up and standing by the furniture, and moving back and forth between the ottoman and sofa, you are not afraid to fall, you just let go and fall gracefully!
• You are making the funniest faces, one of our favorites is your old man smile, where you pull your lips in around your gums and scrunch your face up!
• you smack very loudly after you eat something you enjoy!
• When you are happy and eating you kick your left foot
• You love to wrestle in the floor with Daddy and Brother!  You also "eat" our shoulders and faces quite aggressively!
• Anytime someone walks away or moves around the house you follow us every step.  Your teacher at school says you do the same thing to her all around your classroom!

Eating:
His favorite food is definitely bananas, but we are still introducing all kinds of new foods and to date the only thing he has turned away is cottage cheese!  He is becoming less and less interested in milk feedings and really only gets excited to nurse in the mornings and at night.  We are still doing 4-5 milk feedings per day, but he seems to be taking less and less at each one. 

Sleep:
We are still getting 10-11 hours at night!  Normal bedtime is around 8:00 and after the time change, normal wake up is between 7:00-7:30.  The time change took a toll on us, and took about a week to adjust to the new time!

 Toys: 
He likes his activity table and a few toys, but would rather just be on the move! Nothing keeps his attention for very long!

Stats:

We went in to the pediatrician for his 9 month check up and shots and his stats were, 

Head Circ: 17 3/4 - 50%

Length: 28 - 50%

Weight: 20 lbs 6.5 oz - 55%

He also had blood work completed and his labs came back that he is anemic.  Our pedi didn't seem very concerned, and they will check him again at his 12 month well visit.  Until then, we are giving him an iron supplement and I am trying to pack his diet full of iron rich foods!

Clothes:

We are still in all 9-12 month and 12 month clothes, and just recently moved up to size 4 diapers!  They are a little large, but fit better than the size 3!

As each month passes, we still cannot imagine what we did before you made our family complete!  We love you so much, little man! 

Love, Mama and Dada

Fall Festival Fun!

Every year our church hosts a huge fall festival for the community and finally this year we were able to go!  I knew in advance there wouldn't be a lot that John Thomas could do, but still wanted to take him in hopes that it can be a yearly tradition.

 Love this blue eyed boy!

We arrived really early so that we could beat the crowd and walk around, and quickly found the toddler area that had a few things John Thomas could ride!

Waiting in line with Daddy for the ponies!

 First pony ride!

Still not completely sure what is going on!

We were lucky that Papa J was in town and he went with us!  He and John Thomas enjoyed lots of people watching!

After the pony ride we found a train ride and a new friend!

Mama and John Thomas

The sweetest little girl rode in the train car with us and she was in love with John Thomas, she kept talking to him, it was very cute!

We ended up leaving after about an hour, John Thomas fell asleep before we even walked out!  So we enjoyed a funnel cake and went to the car to warm up!

I am so thankful for our church and everything they offer for kids and our community!

No words...

We have such a little ham for a son!  These pictures were all taken at dinner one night this week.  Kris and I laughed and laughed as he thoroughly enjoyed his food and dinner conversation with us!