Enjoying My Goodies

First for an update: My return to dinner-making was quite a success. I wanted to use two of my Christmas gifts, biscuit cutters from Rob and an immersion blender from my parents, so I tracked down some recipes that would give me an excuse to play with my new toys. I made a tremendous mess in the kitchen, but we had a yummy dinner of sweet potato chipotle soup and white cheddar and sage biscuits. And best of all, we have lots of leftovers- yum!

Cooking dinner was certainly a different experience now that Jack is here. Rob and I really enjoy cooking together-- we compliment each other well, and it only takes about half the effort to produce a nice meal. Cooking last night was a more solitary experience; I scurried about the kitchen while Rob entertained the wee one. It was still really nice, though- just in a different way. Can standing in the kitchen with a pot on the stove and your hands covered in dough count as a break? Because it sure did feel like it! And I'm already scouring my new cookbooks for the next project...

The kitchen gadgets are not the only Christmas gifts I've been enjoying. I received both of SouleMama's books, and I've already finished The Creative Family (gifted to me by my brother). I don't consider myself a very creative person (though I greatly admire those who are), but this book makes family creativity pretty accessible. Jack is still too young for us to implement most of the ideas that she suggests, but I feel like I have some great starting points when the time comes. I love her ideas for encouraging your young children to create and display their art, and she has some great ideas for encouraging imagination. She suggests hanging a tension rod with fabric in a doorway to create either a puppet show theater (hung low) or a stage (hung high). I love that!

She has great ideas for birthdays and other milestones that focus on celebrating the child, rather than just gift-receiving. I had already been thinking about these next two ideas, but it is nice to have them there in print (and I hope that by mentioning them here I'll be more likely to carry them out when the time comes). She suggests writing your children a letter every year on their birthday that they may save and have when they are older. I would also love to give Jack a birthday book with the story of his first year, though mine will very likely be created on the computer rather than a sewing machine. Anyway, this book is filled with great ideas, and I'm sure I will be pulling it off the shelf often over the next several years. I'm looking forward to Handmade Home, and I hope there are at least a few projects in there simple enough for my rudimentary skill set!

And finally, I've had a great time the past couple of days losing myself in The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society. Oh, what a lovely book, especially for anyone who considers herself (or himself) a reader. I just want to be friends with the characters, and I predict that Guernsey has had an influx of literary tourists since the book was released-- I certainly want to visit now. If you haven't read it, do so immediately!

(I didn't mind it all yesterday when Jack decided to take an extended nap in my lap!)

We ended up with the book at our annual community group Christmas dirty santa gift exchange. We always swap books (or other media)-- great idea, Gwen! We've come across some great reads this way, and I highly recommend it if you're ever looking for a party theme. It was a lovely evening with good friends.

A Country Christmas

We're back, rested, and unpacked. We still have to pack up the Christmas decorations, but at least we've already conquered the laundry! Time to blog...

We had a lovely Christmas with friends and family this year. We were able to spend several days in Carlowville with Rob's family. It was so nice to get to spend time with Pop, G, Aline, Bou and the cousins, Davis and Grayson. I think the boys enjoyed the newest addition to the family.

On Christmas Eve all of the boys had on their rudolph shirts, so we decided to attempt a picture. This is about as good as it got:

I'm tempted to post this whole series of pictures. It is hysterical, and though we never got all three boys smiling for the camera, I think I prefer these. I wonder how old they will be before we actually get a "good" shot?

Christmas morning with little ones was chaotic and loud and lots of fun, as it should be. We enjoyed the morning with our little santa, who mostly slept through the hubub.

With no cell phone reception and no internet access, we had a nice relaxing couple of days- reading, playing Wii, building Lego models, playing Candyland and Hungry Hungry Hippo, and taking walks down the lane and through the pecan orchard. Rob's family's house is a beautiful antebellum home surrounded by some great scenery just begging us to take far too many pictures. I'll attempt a slideshow...

Jack did really well and got in lots of cuddle time with his grandparents and aunt and uncle. He met lots of new family friends and generally just seemed to enjoy taking it all in. He seems to grow and learn new things every day now, so it was fun to get to share that with the rest of our family.

I better wrap this up... I'm going to attempt to really cook dinner tonight for what is probably the first time since Jack was born. What a wonderful gift all of those meals from friends and help from mom were! Wish me luck!

Merry, Merry!

We didn't send Christmas cards this year, opting instead for a combo baby announcement/Thanksgiving/holiday card. If we had, though, this picture would have been a serious contender. Consider this our Christmas e-card.

We have so much to celebrate and be thankful for this and every year. Merry, merry Christmas to you all!

The Second Month (sort-of)

Well, with all of the travelling and Christmas fun, I let Jack's two-month update slip right past me. Not a great track record so far, huh? I'm not sure that I will really be able to separate his progress in the second month from his progress in the third month, but I figure it is worth a shot. My OCD tendencies are battling on this one- is it worse to skip a monthly update (only the second one!) or to include the wrong things in the monthly update?? Ah, well...

First, the stats. At Jack's two-month appointment (actually at almost 10 weeks), our big boy weighed in at 14 lbs., 9 oz. and was 25.5 inches long. Here is Jack at that appointment and then a picture from his first appointment at around one week:


He's grown so much. It is really incredible to watch. As you would expect, he is a very good eater! During this month Jack has been on some medication for reflux, and it seems to be helping. It is hard to know if the medicine has helped with his fussiness, or if he just happened to turn a developmental corner around the same time that we started the medicine, but either way- we'll take it!

Jack still certainly does not have a real daily schedule, but some definite patterns have emerged. Mornings are his happy time. I've never been a morning person, but I find that changing. How can I be grouchy when there is a chance that this little man is going to smile at me? Most of the time, Jack eats every three hours or so, and towards the end of this month Jack began sleeping for about 5 hours during the first stretch many nights- bliss.

Jack's awareness seems to grow every day. He loves laying on his back on his playmat and staring at himself and at his toys. And he also loves his swing. The mirror above his head fascinates him every time.

He also really focuses in on us now and clearly follows our faces. Love it!

And the smiles are becoming more and more frequent.
(This is delight, in case you couldn't tell.)

While Jack's sleeping is getting better, he still doesn't fall asleep on his own, and he would much prefer to sleep snuggled up with someone. Who can blame him?

We are loving seeing so much of Jack's sweet personality. We're just soaking up every bit of it. I still want to freeze time and keep him this small and cuddly always. However, as Jack becomes more interactive, it is so exciting to watch him grow and learn. Our man is definetely not a laid-back baby, but he has proved himself quite adaptable and social this month as he has met tons of family and friends and travelled all over the place. We love him so much and continue to be awed that we get to be his mommy and daddy.

A Not-So-Quick Recap

There is lots to catch up on, and I surely won't do it justice here, but I'm going to at least try to record all of the fun we've been having.

A few days before Thanksgiving my sweet office hosted a lunch with Jack as the guest of honor.

And a fine looking guest of honor he was (if I do say so myself).

We left that afternoon for our first stop in Birmingham. Jack actually did much better than we expected in the car- at least on the first couple of legs of our trip. There was some screaming, but the sleeping dominated... what a relief that was! We are still a long way from being out of the woods when it comes to car trips, but at least now we know that a peaceful ride is possible.

Jack got to meet his cousins for the first time, and he is looking forward to spending lots more time with them over Christmas. Rob and I have had lots of fun thinking about all the mischief that these three will be able to get into at Pop and G's house in the future (only innocuous mischief, of course, like playing in mudpuddles and building forts in the woods).

Next we were off to spend the night with Dori and Chris. This was Jack's first time to meet his precious not-cousin Audrey. Jack is surrounded by all of these beautiful, slightly older little girls, and I can't help wondering who is going to be the first to make his heart flutter. I hope they are kind.

Then we headed to Memphis for Jack's first visit to my parent's house. I had wondered about the new dynamic that a baby would create, but that was silly. I think everyone would agree that this was one of our most enjoyable family holidays ever.

It was Uncle Matt's first time to meet Jack, and I think he was smitten.

And Jack enjoyed plenty of attention from everyone.

We played tons of Rock Band, and I predict that it will be making an appearance at many more family gatherings in the future. I, of course, was everyone's favorite vocalist.

We also took lots and lots of pictures. Rob and I got a new camera for our birthdays, so I spent lots of time playing around with it.

I think this one accurately captures Jack's thoughts about my new hobby:

My sister's friend, Margaret Cary, came over to take some family pictures of all us. Here are some of my favorites:

(Note Jack's hair. My dad can't resist every opportunity to give Jack a crazy 'do.)

Rob had to fly to Boston for a few days after Thanksgiving, but thankfully I had my parents around to help out with Jack. As I mentioned earlier, my dad's favorite part was doing Jack's hair. Carly and Matt and I were all baldies, so I guess he never had this opportunity before :)

My mom and I made a quick trip to Mississippi one day to introduce Jack to his great-grandparents, my Mawmaw and Pawpaw. I was tickled that he turned on the charm and immediately took to them.

He did well in the car that day too, but he was exhausted when we got home.

When Rob got back from Boston, we were off to our last stop. My friend, Julie, got married in Kentucky, and I was a bridesmaid. Julie and Jason did the reception decor themselves, and I thought they did an incredible job. A church fellowship hall never looked so good!

And, of course, Julie was a beautiful bride.

Jack did well and seemed to enjoy his first hotel stay. He had to spend lots of time with Daddy, as I was busy with bridesmaidy things, and I don't think Rob (or Jack) minded that one bit.

Our trip from Bowling Green back to Atlanta was not as smooth as the other legs, but we took our time and made frequent stops. All in all, our whirlwind tour went really well and was tons of fun. We loved getting to spend time with so many of our friends and family. We were also very glad to get home, just in time to jump into Christmas festivities. More on that later... I think this is the longest post blogger might be able to handle! Thanks for reading!

Baking, not Blogging

I have a good excuse for my extended blog absence... several, actually. We've travelled the southeast, tried to catch up from being out of town for so long, attempted to get a bit of Christmas shopping done, and managed to enjoy the holiday season with family and friends (updates forthcoming!).

Lately, though we've been all about the baking. It just doesn't seem like Christmas until my kitchen and I are covered in sugar cookie frosting, so that's what we've been doing. The marathon baking sessions have been a lot more interesting with a two and half month old in the house, and it would have been completely impossible had my dear mom not come down to help me (i.e. bake and ice about 95% of the sugar cookies herself while I nursed, bounced, soothed, etc.).

The cookies are done...

And so is the fudge...


And so is the banana bread...

And, perhaps yummiest of all, so is the cinnamon-honey butter (sorry- I didn't get any pictures of that).

Now it feels like Christmas :) The baking is finished (assuming that I can resist the temptation to reenter the kitchen), and I only have one or two odds and ends to pick up before Christmas. Our only real task over the next several days is to celebrate with our little man... and maybe to catch up on some blogging.


Well, our task tonight appears to be getting this little man to sleep. Nightime is usually not a struggle, but tonight is the exception. He likes to keep us on our toes, I guess. Rob and I have been switching off for about three hours now, with only about 15 minutes of Jack-sleep to show for it. Here's hoping we get a nice long stretch tonight after all this!

To the bestest husband and daddy

Rob, I hope that you have a wonderful 30th birthday! You deserve it! You are a blessing to everyone around you, and I am amazed daily that I have the privilege of being your wife. And, well, just look at how happy this little guy is that you are his daddy!

Toddler and Baby

Rob and I have loved our days (and nights) with Jack. We have quickly learned how much time, attention, and energy an infant demands, and we keep wondering how in the world all of our friends with toddlers and babies manage things. Perhaps one day we'll be blessed with the opportunity to try to figure that out ourselves. In the meantime, though, we've been given a little taste of life with an infant and a toddler in the form of our beloved Molly-dog.

Here she is with one of the many toys that usually adorn our living room floor and that we are constantly finding under our feet.

Molly is a very loving puppy who really likes to be included in whatever we are doing. That is especially true when the things that we are doing happen to involve Jack. If we are bouncing the baby and getting ready to gently lay him in his crib? Molly-dog runs into the nursery with her jumbo bone and chews noisily. If I'm settling in to nurse Jack? Molly usually tries to take the spot in my lap before her little brother gets there. At least half of Jack's feedings involve a very closely nuzzled-in (stinky) puppy dog.

A few pictures from the early days:

Like a toddler vying for mama's newly-divided attention, Molly seems to develop a sudden urge to go outside rightnow (and then to come back inside, and then to go back outside...) just when Jack needs us the most. Needless to say, this little puppy dog has been recieving many a lesson in patience lately :)

Despite the mild irritation she can cause, Molly-dog really is a very good big sister. She has never snapped at baby Jack, and she seems to want to look after him. If we leave him in the swing and walk into the next room (shame!), she stands patiently by him and let's us know that we are shirking our parental duties. This was my view last week as I got ready one morning in our bathroom:

Jack seemed pretty content with Molly as a babysitter:

Maybe Molly will be able to help out during the long car ride to Memphis in a few days? We'll let you know how that goes ;)