Bumbo, jumparoo, and bouncy time!!

Baby boy is enjoying play time these days. He likes his bumbo because he wants to sit up on his own. His friends monkey and cookie play with him a lot! He loves them!

"Yes, cookie. You are my favorite friend, but don't tell monkey!!"

"You talkin' to me???"
Other pics...

A little sad......(my daddy's birthday)

I contemplated blogging about this because it is a rather personal thing, and I try to only blog about Holden and other happy things. However, I thought this could be a good way for me to release what I am feeling and be able to deal with it a little easier. "My therapy" I guess you could say. September 27 would have been my daddy's 56th birthday(young, I know). He went on to Heaven on November 26 of last year, and it has been hard to deal with at times and this occasion is one of those hard times. My daddy was a wonderful daddy and friend! I have the best memories of him! He was a very involved daddy and always made time to do things with me. I was a daddy's girl....his hugs could make the worst hurts somehow feel better. November was a tough month and watching my big, strong daddy become so frail was one of the hardest things. We had some good visits over that month. I kick myself a lot with "if i had only" or "i should have done..." Losing him was the toughest thing I have ever experienced. The thought of never seeing him again takes my breath and hurts like nothing has ever hurt before. But, I know that it is a part of life. I think the hardest thing for me is knowing Holden will never know his pops! Daddy was so excited about becoming pops...he would tell anyone in the hospital that I was pregnant, although I was barely showing. He talked about what all he wanted to do with his grand baby and he would be loving every minute with Holden now. I do see my daddy each time I look at my precious little boy because Holden has his eyes, just like me. I know daddy watches over us and that it is a little selfish of me to want him here on Earth, but I am only human. Sometimes a girl needs her daddy, even when she is all grown up. But, I do know that he is in a much better place, where he no longer hurts and can play all the golf he wants and watch all the football he wants, and I bet he is talking the ear off of anyone who will sit still long enough. I have peace in knowing that I will see him again one day. Anyways, I could go on and on but I don't want to get bogged down. I love and miss him very much!!

This is a picture taken Christmas 2006,

which was our last Christmas together. It was such a good holiday!

HAPPY 2ND BIRTHDAY MARY MARTIN!!!

Holden was invited to his very first birthday party!! It was Mary Martin Booker's 2nd birthday and the party was at Pump It Up. For those of you who do not know Mary Martin, she is a little miracle!! Her mom Deidre, who is a great friend of mine, developed HELP syndrome and had to deliver MM at 29.5 weeks ,and we almost lost both of them. That was one of the scariest times in my life, and I am thankful that they are both great now!! MM weighed a whopping 2 lbs. and spent 6 weeks in the NICU. But thanks to a lot of prayer, she is a smart and healthy little girl and a great blessing in all our lives!!!

Birth

At her 2nd birthday party Holden had a great time and did so well!! He even made some new friends!! He was especially intrigued by Keegan, a precious little boy who is about two weeks younger than him. Mary Martin had a big time sliding and jumping, and of course, Deidre had the cutest invitations, decorations, cake, and party favors! We had a great time guys!! Thanks for inviting us!!

Below are some pictures from the party.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DADDY!!!

O.K. so I am a little late posting this, but Sunday, Sept. 14 was Jack's birthday! My parents, Holden, and I had Rendezvous ribs fed exed to Jackson as a surprise for him. It is hard to surprise him, but I think we did a good job. I made him take a picture eating his ribs to capture the moment. The ribs were sooooo good!! Here are some pictures from Jack's day!

Jack, I hope you know how much I love you and how thankful I am to be your wife!! Holden is very lucky to have you as his daddy, too!! We hope you had a great birthday!!!

Breakfast with Holden

Enjoying his ribs

Feeding Holden

3-2: What a game!!!

Last weekend, we headed back to Starkville for the game. Our friends, Deidre, George Robert, and Mary Martin Booker stayed the weekend with us, along with another friend, Shari. The Bookers are Auburn Tiger fans and this made year number three that we attended this particular match up together. Ofcourse, the Walters and Shari are Dawg fans and we were so disappointed with the outcome. It was a great defensive showdown between the two teams and we had a chance to beat them. However, they ended up with a victory. The atmosphere at the game was the best it has been in a long time. Hopefully, we'll get things turned around tomorrow at GA Tech. Mary Martin and Holden stayed at the house with my mom(thanks grammy!!) so we could all go tailgate and go to the game. Here are some pictures of them. Instead of the saying a house divided, this is a friendship divided. I have to say though, Mary Martin almost made me want to cheer War Eagle when she walked out in her precious uniform! They are too cute!!!

Mary Martin says, "WAR EAGLE!!"

First photo attempt- they are too cute!!

The best we could do with a 4 month old and two year old.

4 months old- September 8

4 months old- 15lbs and 11.5 ounces

Holden was 4 months old on September 8. He has the best little personality and is starting to discover a lot of things around him. He is so strong and wants to sit up so badly! His new things are blowing bubbles, playing with his monkey and cookie monster, playing with his newly found feet, and talking nonstop in the cutest little voice. He seems to learn something new every day. We think the prevacid is beginning to help him with the reflux. When he feels good, he just plays and giggles!! Can't believe it has already been 4 months, but they have been wonderful!!! Happy 4 months lil man!!! You are loved sooooooooo much!!

Cutie pie!! OUR greatest blessing!!

Loving his cereal!!

Chillin' with his new friend cookie! He LOVES him!!

Watching football--he LOVES it!!

Yum!! Yum!! Cereal is good!

Holden had his first cereal feeding Sunday night. Due to his reflux, he now takes prevacid, and we give it to him in his cereal. At first, he was a little hesitant, but quickly decided he liked it. He did so good and was so precious! We kept with the theme of the weekend by wearing a MSU bib(thanks Bootsie!) when he ate.

At the beginning of his feeding.....

At the end of his feeding...he loved it!! How cute is that face???

We love this little boy so much!!

Big Weekend

We had been looking forward to our first MSU game for so long because it would be Holden's first MSU experience. Poor baby and I ended up at the doctor's office Friday morning because he hadn't been able to eat or sleep well for most of the week. One thing I know about baby boy is that he LOVES to eat! So, when he couldn't and cried because he wanted to, we knew something was up. He has been on medicine for a while for reflux and it had helped most of the time. Well, the reflux has gotten worse and we have stepped it up on the meds(Prevacid). Hopefully, once it gets in his little system soon, he will be better. While we were there, she went ahead and gave him the first round of his second shots. So, now the reflux and shots made him not feel well. But, sweet little man still charmed the ladies at Walgreens when we went to get his medicine! Needless to say he was worn out by the time we headed to Starkville. All mommy wanted was for him to feel better! Well, bless his little heart...we gave him malox and tylenol and he went to sleep at about 8:45 and slept until 4 am!!!!!!! I checked to make sure he was breathing a few times because he was so sound asleep. He and I both needed that!! :)
We got up and while I got ready to go tailgate, Jack and Holden watched college game day together on ESPN. I got the cutest pics of them!! Meme and Bossy also played with Holden while we were getting ready. I must say, Holden looked extremely cute in his MSU outfit. We walked around and introduced him to lots of friends and by game time, he was exhausted. He wouldn't nap all day because he was watching everything that was going on. He was so good although the only pics we got of him make it look like he was not interested. Hopefully we will get some better pictures of him this weekend. Meme took him back to their house and we stayed and watched the Dawgs win.(THANK GOD!) Here are some pictures from our trip.

My boys watching college gameday.

Mommy and her Little Bulldog!

Family Pictures

Uncle Brad and Holden-

(Brad is Jack's good friend, and he has been so sweet to Holden!)

Uncle Brad, Holden, and Maren

Sunday with Meme on the swing- Poor baby was worn out!!!

15 weeks-August 28

15 weeks old
Little man weighed 14 pounds 10 ounces on his 15 week birthday. He is so precious!! Here are some pictures of what he has been up to. Enjoy!!

Bear skin rug fun- Holden really likes playing on this furry bear. If you look back at an earlier post titled Naked Baby Alert you can really tell how much he has grown. He really likes playing in his diaper only!

"Hey mommy. Take this outfit off so I can really have fun!!"

"Thanks!! I'm having fun now!!"

"Hey daddy! Check out my six pack abs!! Jealous, aren't you??"

Olympic Practice

He is so cute after he wakes up or when you change his diaper because he puts his hands over his head and stretches like he is about to do a filp or dive into the water like Michael Phelps.

He is sooooo long! Looks like we may have a tall boy!!

The Jumparoo- His feet barely touch the ground, but he can make it move. I know once he can touch the floor, he'll be jumping all the time! He likes to play in it for a little while at a time now.

"Hey mommy! This is pretty neat. "

So precious!!!

His stuffed monkey- Because we are already teething, he puts EVERYTHING in his mouth. Here are some pics of Holden showing the monkey who is boss.

Shout outs to the family

WOW! A lot of celebrationg has been going on around our house. MeMe and Bossy(Jack's parents) celebrated their 40th wedding anniversary on August 24 and MeMe's birthday was on August 27. She came down and spent the day with us. I made her lunch and Jack, Holden, me, and her had lunch together. We ate on our pretty china and used our silver. It was fun to get to celebrate with her and use our nice things. Happy Anniversary and Happy Birthday!! We love y'all!!!

Grammy and Gram(my mom and fireman) came down for the weekend to visit and celebrate their anniversary on August 31. We had a great weekend with them and they babysat for us each night. Jack and I got to go to dinner Friday night with George Robert and Deidre to celebrate Deidre's birthday, and we went to watch the MSU football game with friends Saturday night. Thanks Grammy and Gram! Happy Anniversary! We love y'all!!

14 weeks- August 21

(He isn't as big as this picture makes him look. The outfit is a little too big but we it is so cute!! )

Holden weighs 14 pounds 5 ounces. He is a HEALTHY boy!!!

Holden is now 14 weeks old. Time flies when you are having fun and boy are we!! It seems as though he learns a new trick each day. His smile is unbelievable and melts all our hearts(especially mommy's!!). He loves to babble and coo A LOT!! He is so smart though because whenever I try to catch it on video or let the grandparents hear him on the phone, he stops. The minute I turn off the camera or hang up the phone, he starts again! He talks to the tv too! He doesn't watch that much, but he is fascinated by the colors. He loves other kids--guess its because they are on his level. I LOVE the show Jon and Kate Plus 8 on TLC about a family of twins and a set of sextuplets. I get some good ideas from Kate. Back to my point--Holden talks to the little kids on that show. SOOOO cute!! He is in constant motion when in his bouncy seat or car seat or on his back. He kicks and wiggles and kicks and wiggles. He can follow me across the room with his eyes and hold a rattle. I think he is doing well developmentally. You know the teacher in me comes out each day--we have times each day where we work on our motor skills and hand eye coordination. Its really playing, but productive too! He still isn't a big fan of tummy time. I saw a thing at good ole Wal-Mart that lifts them up off the floor(just a little) that we may have to get. He likes strolling and watching his mobile(that he talks to). He has GREAT head/neck control, which is really good. He will sit in his highchair(which looks like it is swallowing him) when I cook dinner or clean the kitchen, and he got in his jumparoo for the first time today! He likes it but is still a little unsure about moving in it. We will start rice cereal in our night bottle tonight which I am happy/sad about. Happy because he will get full and it will help with his reflux---Sad because it means he is getting bigger! I am sooooo glad that he is healthy and growing so well, but he is my baby and time is flying by! As I have said before, Holden is such a joy, and we are so blessed!!!

In his highchair-

"Is this supposed to entertain me?"

"O.K.--I like this but that toucan is a little scary mommy!"

Holden's new friends- A couple of weeks ago, my good friend Sue Rives' daughter Jenni and her two beautiful girls came over to help me with some decorating(I shouldn't say help...Jenni did all the work while I played with the kids!) They were such a joy and I really enjoyed visiting with Jenni. She is a super mom to her girls and is a sweet friend. I only wish I had gotten a picture of her to post. Holden loved the visit and said to come back soon. THANKS JENNI!!! I really appreciated it!

Trevor with Holden

Tatum, Holden, and Trevor

Welcome Anna Claire!!!

Our good friends, Jeremy and Sarah Smitherman, welcomed their first child, Anna Claire, on Monday. Holden is so excited about his new friend! Jack and Jeremy became great friends in med school (so did Sarah and I) and they both are doing their Anethesia residency together at UMC. I have a feeling our families will be doing a lot together over the next few years!! Congrats guys!!! She is a doll!!

Christening- August 10

Being a mom is such a wonderful gift. Holden is such a joy, and Jack and I are truly blessed. Standing in front of the altar, minister, and church congregation as we watched Holden being christened and pledging to raise him in a Godly home was such an amazing and emotional experience! What an honor to make our committment as parents to the Heavenly Father from whom our little miracle came. Thank you God for loving us and for our little man!

Holden's Godfather, Will Estess, and his sweet wife Maggie were unable to attend. They are expecting twin boys ANY day! We missed y'all, but we look forward to meeting Ethan and Chase very soon!!

I created a slideshow of christening pictures. It was such a special day! We had the Christening and Holden wore Jack's christening gown(so precious). Then Jack's parents hosted a beautiful luncheon at the Country Club, which we appreciated so much!! I wish I had taken more pictures. I didn't get any great pictures of the tables at the luncheon or of every guest who shared this day with us. Jack and I apprecited everyone taking time to be there with us. Hope you enjoy watching it.

Disclaimer: I am aware that I mispelled altar in the slideshow. I will fix it once I have time to do so. Sorry!

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Sip and See- Saturday, August 9

Holden is dressed and ready for the party!!

Sweet Mrs. Beverly Grant and Mrs. Pam Wilson hosted a Sip and See for us. It was so lovely and we had so many visitors. I only wish I had gotten more pictures! Thank y'all for hosting this for us, and thanks to everyone who came!!

Below is my first slideshow!! It was so easy and took no time at all!!! Hope you enjoy!!

Make a Smilebox slideshow