3rd Haircut!

Jack had his 3rd haircut yesterday at Sports Clips! He was in desperate need of one, and we finally got to take him in! He looked like such a big boy and we were proud to take him to such a cool, sports haircut place! :-)

He was a little squirmy at first, but once we gave him a sucker, he was happy and still, and now looks so handsome!

Thanksgiving!!

Jack enjoyed his second Thanksgiving this past week and weekend, and it definitely had its ups and downs, but we will start with the ups!

It all began last Saturday at Mimi's house in Hartselle. We went up there for an early celebration, plus it was the first time the whole family had gotten together since Poppy passed away last November 29 (a year ago yesterday!) :-( We had a good time of fellowship, though, and it was great to see everyone.

Wednesday night we had dinner at Papa and Sherbo's house. Sherbo cooked so many yummy things, and we all had a great time! Papa even wrote a poem for each of the 4 grandkids, and Jack's was really sweet and ended up being everyone's favorite! Here is a sweet picture of Jack with his Uncle Tay and Aunt Kat.

The next day was Thanksgiving!! We had lunch at Granny and Granddaddy's house, and that's when the "downs" started happening! Jack was very puny and ill most of the time we were there, plus he screamed whenever we tried to feed him! He felt like he had a fever, too, so we could tell something was wrong. He wouldn't lay down for a nap, either, so once we left their house around 3, he was out!

Jack got in a great nap that afternoon at Granna's, and then we headed to Aunt Mary Kay's house for dinner. There was even more food there, and of course, delicious! Sweet Jack, though, still didn't want anything to eat, plus he felt even more feverish than he did earlier in the day! He managed to hang in there for a couple of hours, though, and got to play with cousins Maddie and Mary Carol who just adore him!

When we got back to Granna's, I checked his temperature and it was at 103! No wonder he was acting so sick! So, that next morning I made an appointment with a pediatric clinic in Opelika, and the doctor said he had a double ear infection! She prescribed him an antibiotic, and by the afternoon he was back to acting himself again, which was good because the Iron Bowl was coming on soon!

While Jack stayed at Granna and Poppy's house, Kurt and I went to Granny and Granddaddy's house to watch the game since they were having a big tailgate outside and grilling lots of food! We still can't believe Auburn had such a GREAT comeback and WON the game, but we loved it and had a great time celebrating at Toomer's! :-)

Jack's Pops even came with us to celebrate!

Plus Uncle Jim, Aunt Deena, and cousin Blakely

And Poppy and Granna (plus thanks to them for bringing Jack out there to celebrate, too!)

After leaving Toomer's, we went to dinner with Jim, Deena, and Blakely, and then headed out to the Athletic Complex to welcome the team back home! We were amongst so many other loyal Tiger fans and we had a blast! It was so cool to see the team up close, too, and so pumped after a huge win!

Emory Blake! #80!

Video from The Welcome Home Tiger Walk! :-) Please ignore the annoying screaming! We all got a little too excited! :-)

Saturday morning, we had fun just playing around and packing to go home. Poppy taught Jack how to put headphones on and listen to the radio, while dancing, of course, too! Jack also watched his favorite shows on Nick Jr. while sitting on the floor propped up against the couch like a big boy! Then, as we headed home that afternoon, he realized how exhausted he was after a hectic few days (plus being so sick), and fell asleep! :-)

We had such a blast with all of our families and we appreciate all the hard work everyone did to provide so much wonderful food and fellowship! We love everyone so much!

Back to work!

This mama has gone back to work part-time! Last week I started back working for ESS, a company I worked for 3 years ago. I only work 2-3 days a week, and half days, so it's hard to beat! My first 3 days went well, and I think it will be a good thing for me and for our whole family! Mama Becky has been keeping Jack for us, so we really appreciate that, and know he is in good hands! Please pray for us during this transition!

Overwhelmed

Most of my blogs are from events we've been to or things we've done, but this time, I just want to talk. Lately, I've been so overwhelmed with the love that I have for our little man. He is just so amazing and so wonderful, and just such a joy, and I'm so blessed to be his mama and get to play with him everyday! Every now and then I'll just look at him and be so in love that I start to cry! He's so beautiful (if I may say so myself!), and so funny, and just has the cutest personality! I love watching him figure out things, learn how to climb things, or just realize how to get around or over something! He seems to always be thinking about something, which is probably why he's so smart! That brain of his is constantly working! I love how he looks at us and calls our names when he wants us to play with him, feed him, or just hold him. I love how much he loves his da-da, and how fast he runs to him when he hears the garage door open every afternoon! I love how he brings me books to read to him and teach him the characters or animals in the books. I love how much he is talking now, some real words, and some Chinese-sounding words! I love how he now grabs our phones, holds them up to his ear, says "hey", and then walks around the house talking on it. I love how he dances when he hears any kind of music. I love how he stomps around and waves his arms when acting like a monkey. I love how he throws a ball as hard as he can at whoever he can! Also...

I love how he goes "oooooo" when he sees something he wants to eat or play with.

I love how he does Touchdown Auburn!

I love how much he loves to play outside.

I love how he sometimes watches his favorite shows while lying on his tummy.

I love how he sleeps on his tummy with his knees up underneath him.

I love how he can touch his nose when you ask him to, and then claps for himself when he does it.

I love how much I love both of my boys, and how much God must love me to have blessed me with them!

Auburn vs. Georgia Weekend

Last week Jack and I left for Auburn on Wednesday to start our Georgia weekend early! Mama Becky and Daddy Mer were heading down then, so we decided to go down with them and help get the party started! :-) It was hard leaving our Daddy behind, especially when Jack kept asking for him before bedtime Wednesday night, and when he couldn't find him, he had a hard time falling asleep. I tried everything to calm him down, and then came to my last resort of bringing him in bed with me, and he fell asleep within minutes of me singing to him and rubbing his head! Sweet boy! He did take up half the bed, but of course I didn't mind!

The next morning, even though Jack wasn't that dirty, Mama Becky wanted to give him a bath. Not just any ordinary bath, though, she wanted to bathe him in the kitchen sink!! He loved it and laughed the entire time!

After the bath, we went to eat breakfast at The Big Blue Bagel, which was definitely one of my favorite breakfast places when I was in college. Jack loved it, too, but mostly loved saying hey to everyone else there! Here he is on the way back to the condo being silly with his hat!

Daddy finally made it down to Auburn Thursday night after work, so all was well with our little family again! We went out to dinner with all of Kurt's family at The Irish Bred Pub in Opelika and the food was delicious! We'd never been there, and had a great time with everyone.

On Friday morning, we all piled in the car and went to The Barbecue House for breakfast, another staple of ours from college. The line was out the door at 9 am, but the wait was worth it because the food there is always amazing! The workers were even nice enough to sneak Jack a biscuit early so he could go ahead and eat! So sweet!

Later that afternoon, we saw there was going to be a Reverse Tiger Walk for the players when they left the Athletic Complex headed to Montgomery. There was such a huge crowd, and we could just tell everyone there was standing with Cam and our team after all the allegations that had come their way that week. We got to see a lot of the players, even Cam, but most of all we saw the spirit of the fans for their football team!

Saturday morning we took Jack to the condo to get a good morning nap in, then Kurt and I headed to the tailgate. A couple of hours before the game, Daddy Mer strolled Jack over to the tailgate so he could hangout with Granna and Poppy there during the game.

Kurt and I headed over to the game a little earlier than usual, mostly so we could see the players warm up. We really didn't have any doubt that Cam would start, but it was awesome to see how "electric" the stadium got after they announced him as the starting quarterback! I even got chills! The game itself had a few low points, but for the most part was amazing, and we were so proud of our boys for another win!! Auburn hadn't beaten Georgia since 2005, but the streak ended and Auburn won 49-31! 11-0!!

This also wasn't just ANY win, it won Auburn the SEC West and now we are headed to the SEC Championship game to face South Carolina in 3 weeks! Our boys definitely earned it and we are so proud of them! Here we are celebrating at Toomer's again! War Eagle!

Sunday afternoon we went over to see Pops, Granny, and Granddaddy for steaks! They were of course delicious, and then we played ball outside for a while. Uncle Bruce, Aunt Valerie, and cousins Katelinn and Matthew were also there, plus Uncle Clay and Auntie Em! We had a great time with everyone and enjoyed one of the last days of warmer weather!

We got back to Birmingham around 4:30 Sunday afternoon, but went straight to Papa and Sherbo's house to let Jack play there while Papa, Kurt, and I went to the Over the Mountain Touchdown Club to hear Curtis Luper speak! He was really great and it was cool to hear about some behind the scenes stuff with Auburn and their coaching staff. He was a very nice guy, too. Thanks Papa for taking us!! We had a great time!

We all had such a fun LONG weekend, especially because it was down in Auburn, which is definitely our home away from home! We appreciate all the home game tickets (plus one away game) Daddy Mer and Mama Becky bought for us because we have had so much going to all the games! We also appreciate all of the hospitality and help from Daddy Mer, Mama Becky, Granna, and Poppy this weekend! We love all of y'all so much!

Halloween

Halloween was a lot of fun this year! Our little Elmo was the hit of the neighborhood in Leeds where we went Trick-Or-Treating! We didn't stay in our neighborhood in Moody because they celebrated the night before when we were in MS. The only negative to the night was for Kurt since he couldn't be at our house to show off his decorations, but I think he got over it quickly once he saw how cute Jack was and how much fun he was having!

For most of the time we were out, which was only about 45 minutes, he walked on his own with his pumpkin pail, until we got right up at a house where he wasn't so sure what was going on. He also got skiddish when the homeowner had on a mask or costume, and even really got upset when someone had a Joker mask on! He didn't cry, but kept pointing and making noises like he knew something wasn't right with that person!

He never said "Trick-Or-Treat?" or "Thank you", just "Bye-Bye" after we left each house! He definitely loved the candy, though, and had a tight grip on that pumpkin pail once there was candy in it! He also bit through a Kit Kat wrapper to get to the chocolate faster! Hilarious! We were so proud of our little man and couldn't believe how grown he seemed! Sweet little Elmo!