All Things Southern...

I've decided to devote this post to 'All Things Southern!'  We ate at the Courtyard Cafe today.  It's my absolute favorite southern cookin' hometown place!  I don't even have words for the next picture:

YUUUUUUUM!

Notice the super sweet tea, peach cobbler, fried green tomato, homemade mashed potatoes and gravy, corn, green beans, and yeast roll.  Oh my gosh.  Shut up, I'm not going to fit in my clothes by the time I get home!

We also finally made it to Mommy and Me baby store, home of smocking heaven!  We spend about two hours there and picked out some super cute clothes for the coming months! Just like any good man does when shopping with women, JM fell asleep in front of the television in his stroller while MeMe and I shopped.  Every good little southern boy (and girl) needs a few smocked outfits for church and pictures.  The problem with having a boy is that you're on a timeline with how long you can actually force them to wear monogrammed or smocked outfits.  I figure I've got about 2 more years and then no more smocking.  Boo.

Too precious!

I love this little smocked santa diaper bag.  I had to have it.  MeMe bought JM this cute little Christmas sweater, too.  We've also got a cute little Santa outfit ordered that should be perfect for JM's first Santa pictures!  I'm kind of glad that we don't have a store like Mommy and Me in Northwest Arkansas because I would be in all kinds of trouble!

Also, MeMe bought John Michael's first pair of Stride Rite little white dress shoes.  Every proper southern guy needs his little white Sunday shoes!  They are too cute.  I'm picturing them with seersucker this summer..are ya with me?!  I just noticed I said "cute" about 5 times in the last 8 sentences...not good.

Tuesday we went with my mom and were her guests at the Women's Club meeting.  We had a lovely catered lunch and all the little old ladies came over to squeeze JM's cheecks!  He was a perfect baby and acted just perfect.  If you had told me a couple of months ago that I would be able to take this baby places and have him not scream and disrupt everything, I would have called you a liar!  It's amazing how far he's come in just a few months!  He's so much happier!  Anyway, the Women's Club is a wonderful, old house in downtown Gadsden.  We actually got dressed there for our wedding.  The girls got our make-up done and got in our dresses and took some wonderful pictures around the beautiful house. Here are some pictures from Tuesday.

They don't make staircases like this anymore.

And what blog post would be complete without a picture of the little guy?

Dad holding JM. Check out my dad's super-sweet championship ring.

Bye y'all!

Cheering on the Tide and other fun things

We have had a very busy weekend!  We cheered on the Tide to a victory against Tennessee, went to chuch and introduced John Michael to lots of new people, visited with Aunt Janna, and also introduced him to great-Aunt Sandra.

Roll Tide!

 

John Michael is learning to sit up all on his own!  He has almost mastered this skill and he has just learned it over this past week!  He was really hamming it up after bathtime on Saturday night!

Things quickly turned south and it was time for bed!

 Sunday we went to church and we had a really nice time visiting with friends.  JM had a great time at nursery and he was a really sweet baby!  The new pastor was really good.  I liked his style and liked what he had to say.  He was no Dr. Trader, but that's hard to measure up to.  I think it was weird for people from church that have known me all of my life to see me come back home with a baby in tow!  I sure do miss that church, but while I've been home I've been missing our new church too!

The baptistry where I was baptized as a child.

Me, John Michael, and Uncle Judd on the stage at church.

It seems like just yesterday that Jordan and I were on that same stage saying our vows at our wedding!  It was one of the top two days of our lives!  How time flies!  The rest of the pictures are just pure John Michael fun.  We're looking forward to Jordan coming down this weekend.  We have missed him and he has missed us!  Alabama Homecoming is this weekend so we are SO excited to go down to Tuscaloosa and see how everything has changed, go by the Alpha Gam house and go to the game!  Now, I've just got to come up with something cute to wear.

Smiley boy

Thinking hard

A few professional pics...

I have yet to upload our professional pictures that we had taken in September.  I was so excited about how they turned out.  We took mom for her birthday and got her picture taken with John Michael and they turned out so cute!  Myra Wike did a wonderful job.  John Michael was in a great mood and he and mom took some wonderful pictures!  Enjoy!

What an angel!

 

Cutie!

Slobber kisses!

Three generations.

Smile!

Today John Michael met his great-grandmother, otherwise known as Mamaw.  She was so excited to see him and she could not believe how big he was!  She thinks that JM looks so much like Dad did when he was a baby.  John Michael has brought such a unique, fun, new dynamic to our family. He has been like a breath of fresh air that blew into our family after a couple of years of emotional heartbreak over family health issues.  I truly believe that God gave him to us at a time of His choosing, not our own, because He knows what we need before we even know it.  John Michael is the first grandchild on both sides.  He is showered with such love and affection!  What a lucky little baby to have such wonderful family members who are so obsessed with him!  Actually, WE are so lucky and blessed to have him as our very own baby!

Meeting Mamaw for the first time!

Feet are fun!

Tomorrow night is the Alabama vs. Tennessee game.  It should be a good game and John Michael can wear his Alabama uniform to cheer on the Tide!

Hallelujah!

Praise the Lord!  John Michael slept until 3am this morning!  That's over 6 hours of sleep in a row!  That has not happened in weeks!  He has still been a little fussy and sleepy today, though.  I think that he is still catching up on his sleep. We did not have too much planned for today.  It's been kind of overcast and chilly so we have not ventured out and about.  We've mostly been in PJs today.  We are planning on having gumbo for dinner and Jordan's mom is coming over to eat with us.

In other exciting news...John Michael learned to use his Nuk sippy cup this afternoon!  A little water and pear juice won him over and he took to it right away. I have no idea if the doctor would approve of this, but he likes it.  It's amazing what a little prodding from MeMe will do!  He grabbed the little handles and put it right in his mouth.  What a big boy!  He took two naps over at Gran's this morning and that meant that I got to also take an hour-long nap.  That has not happened in a very, very long time.  I am hoping that I can start catching up on some much-needed sleep, otherwise, these dark circles aren't going away anytime soon. 

Sippy cup!

We spent much of the morning over at Gran's house.  Jackson has been staying over there and he is liking being spoiled with lots of petting, snuggles in the big bed, and beef broth on his doggy food.  John Michael got to meet his great-great-aunt Dot this morning.  I did not take any pictures, but she was excited to finally meet him.  We are hoping to to have a play-date with Lindsey and her lil guy, Landon.  We still have not gone up to Boaz to the outlets yet either.  Maybe John Michael will start feeling better and less fussy and we can do some more things here over the next week.

I hope this isn't a sign of things to come!

 

Taking a loooong nap in the swing!

 

Playtime

Verse of the Day:

Be strong and courageous! Do not tremble or be dismayed, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go.
Joshua 1:9 

What a comforting verse!  It just doesn't get more simple than that:  God is with you wherever you go!

Back Home

We have been so busy visiting with friends and family!  John Michael has really been enjoying going new places and seeing new sights.  My mother-in-law, Jane, and I went to the mall yesterday and JM was a perfect angel.  He had the best time and was a wonderful shopper.  We ran into a few people that we knew so we got to introduce John Michael to them!  It's fun being out and about and running into people that you have known for most of your life and introducing them to the new guy! That's one thing that's different about being home.  Here, I have the possibility of seeing people that I know at Wal-Mart or at the mall.  While we're out and about in Arkansas, since we do not know lots and lots of people, we rarely run into people to chit chat with while we're shopping, etc.  We did not do too much today because JM was fussy for most of the day...one guess why.  He has decided to fight me on taking naps.  Not only are the naps getting worse, but he has now been waking up once or twice before I even make it to bed at night.  I have no idea what is going on, but I'm tired!  I honestly did not think that the whole "sleep situation" could get much worse, but it is.  I'm about at the end of my rope with it.  Every night I pray that THIS will be the night, but it never is.

JM crashing at the end of a busy day of shopping!

 Monday afternoone we all went to the Fish Market to attend the Republican Women's Luncheon where my brother, Judd (a political afficionado), spoke about the upcoming election. Judd did a very good job and I learned a lot from his speech.  John Michael started fussing when it was Judd's time to talk and I eventually had to take him out of the room.  Woops!

JM enjoyed the political atmosphere - check out his shirt!

 After the luncheon on Monday, we went up to Dad's new office so that he could show John Michael around.  Dad has yet to pick out a grandparent name.  I'm sure he'll think of something or else John Michael will just call him something silly!  John Michael met even more ladies who loved him and his chubby cheeks and pretty eyelashes. 

Dad and his little clone.

It's so fun at MeMe's!

Tonight we ate at one of my favorite seafood restaurants.  Top 'O the River is so yummy and I love their greens, cole slaw, and corn bread.  Sounds pretty southern and it is!  If I don't stop eating at really yummy places, drinking too much sweet tea, and eating all the yummy food my family makes, I'm not going to be able to fit into any clothes by the time I get home!  Tomorrow we are going to hopefully go visit Jordan's Aunt Dot and perhaps his old neighbor from their old neighborhood. I hope that John Michael sleeps well and is a happy camper tomorrow! 

New Places, New Faces

Well, we've made it back to Alabama!  This has been John Michael's first BIG car trip; all 15 hours of it.  We left around 4 am and as we got into our car, the car wouldn't start.  Nothing.  You'd have to know our family luck with cars and trips to understand why this did not surprise me in the least.  I just sat there in my sleep haze and had to laugh to myself.  Our plan to have John Michael asleep for the first few hours was shot as he sat there wide-eyed as we had to jump off the car.  He fell right back asleep as we hit the road and slept until around 8:45 or so.  We stopped every two hours or so to feed him, change him, and take Jackson to potty.  The first part of the trip went pretty well.  My dad picked us up in Memphis and the last half of the trip was a little more rough, but it still went better than I thought it would. 

Our first stop of the day!

[caption id="attachment_38" align="alignnone" width="300" caption="Our Happy Traveler"][/caption]

We are missing Jordan on this trip back home, but we are visiting with lots of family members and friends who have not yet met John Michael.  My In-Laws bought a house one street behind my parents, so John Michael and I just pack up the stroller and head on over for a visit with Grams and Gamps in their new home!

[caption id="attachment_39" align="alignnone" width="300" caption="Visiting with Great-Aunt Faye!"][/caption]

I am hoping to have a fun-filled week of visitng some of my favorite shops and my favorite downtown eatery.  SOUTHERN, SOUTHERN, SOUTHERN home cookin' and sweet tea that'll knock your teeth out it's so sweet.  I can't wait.  I'm also excited to shop at a local hometown baby store that has the cutest, sweetest (and expensive) baby clothes and accessories.  I think I see a Christmas outfit in John Michael's future...  Most importantly, I have an appointment with my hair stylist because let's face it, I'm picky and refuse to go to anybody in Arkansas.  Not that there's anything wrong with hairstylists in AR, but I just love the way Melissa does my hair and it's so hard to trust anybody else.  I have found one lady in AR, but whenever I get the chance to come home, I make an appointment at Images right away.  I AM in need of serious hair help.  I'm thinking of going short....thoughts?

Joan lovin' oh her favorite new man, move over Clay!

Tomorrow we have a Republican Women's Luncheon and my brother, Judd, is going to speak about the upcoming election.  It should be fun and informative!  More pictures to come later!

Oh No I Didn't!

Oh YES I DID!!!  I so did put John Michael into his pumpkin zip up suit to go for a morning walk.  It was crisp and breezy this morning and I knew that he needed to be warm, so I just put it on over his footed sleeper.  He looked awfully cute in his little pumpkin suit!  Thanks mom!

What a cutie!

 Jack, as usual had a great time on our walk and it made him extra tired!

Jackson at the neighborhood park.

 We just didn't do a lot today.  John Michael slept in pretty good, so it threw our day off by an hour or so.  We went to the courthouse to register to get an absentee ballot since I'll be gone on election day, and then we went to the library.  I put John Michael in his sling and toted him around and got some very strange looks.  For some reason, whenever I carry him around in his sling, we get the strangest looks.  I guess it's just different and people aren't used to seeing slings as much.  I should post a picture of us with my very stylish sling.  I got a few books and books on tape for our car ride. I plan on doing some more packing tonight.

John Michael driving his car and looking like he has red hair.

And last but not least, Happy Birthday Baby Ian! Check out this CaringBridge site for a family from Alabama that was given the worst diagnosis possible for their precious newborn.  Baby Ian (against all odds) celebrated his one year birthday today!  Check out their story and read their CaringBridge site for more information.  I do not know them personally, but we always check on Baby Ian to see how he's progressing.  They are such a witness for God.  I do not know if I could have gone through the things that they have and still be praising God.  I'm working on that....

Out With the Old, In With the New

We finally did it....we broke down and bought the big ole Britax car seat. Our big little guy is just way too small for the Graco seat. He's always hated it anyway, so I'm kind of glad to be able to get him into this big, comfy (but safe) seat. It will be interesting to see if I can learn how to install it. I didn't realize how big it was until we got it into the car. I've GOT to know how to install it because I'm sure I'll be getting into different cars with JM while we are at home in Alabama.

Wednesdays are long days, not only for Jordan because of his work class that lasts until 10, but also for me.  This next picture kind of says it all about how long our day felt without Daddy here to entertain us after work!

Talk about a fussy baby.  He wasn't fussy all day, but most of the day.  Earlier in the afternoon we got the oil changed for the first time in our "new" car and then we all went to Red Robin for lunch.  Yum-O!  JM hammed it up as usual and had the best time looking at all of the colors and lights at Red Robin.  Our waiter was really interested in him!  He is starting to reach for our plates and cups.  I know he's going to be a BIG eater.  Maybe next year he can have a few french fries!!

I want some!

 

Finally, can you tell how bored we were after playing with every toy, every book, and waiting for bathtime?

Look at those blue eyes! Don't know where he got 'em!

Easy Going Monday

We didn't do too much today.  Guess who didn't want to take a nap all morning?  One guess!  I eventually gave up and put him in his swing!

 

Later in the day we went to a local walking trail and just took a leisurely walk.  Best of all, we brought Jackson with us.  I feel badly for him because he just does not get a lot of attention lately.  He had a really good time and was tired after our walk!

Jackson leading the way.

By the looks of our pictures, it seems like Jackson and JM are becoming better friends everyday!  JM seems to be very interested in him and he is always reaching out to touch his soft, cotton candy fur.  Sometimes he grabs onto him and starts pulling on his hair.  Luckily, Jack has been patient with him so far and just lets him do it!

 

And last but not least, this picture is just for fun!  When Jordan got home from work he was playing around and the 3 of them just happened to pose just right.

Tomorrow morning is busy for us.  We have morning Bible study and the author of our study is coming to speak!  It should be a fun afternoon.