babies, b.o.bs, balls, and bethel

The 2nd weekend in December I did the the Ugly Sweater 5k. Well, I didn't end up walking it becuase the weather looked like it was about to pour rain. Jonah and I hung out and watched all the crazy runners in their tacky sweaters! I borrowed my beautiful sweater from my aunts.

Babies and B.O.Bs

The sea of tackiness!

Later that night we went to Randi's annual Rum Ball Fest to kick off the Christmas season.



My sweet Jonah

Our 1st Christmas tree photo.

Ele and Jonah

When we got home, we put Jonah in front of the tree and he loved it!

He was amazed.

One of this favortie things to do.

His famous lips!



Sunday morning we made it out to my parents church. My mom took Jonah around and I barely saw him! Their church is so sweet. The pastor gave us $50 for a present. They are great to my parents.

Grandpa and Jonah

The also have a breastfeeding station. It's in the nursery and they have a glider with a screen they put up. So glad this is catching on.

What a busy weekend for Jonah.



working 9 to 5

We finally made it to visit daddy at work the 1st week of December. Jonah was a hit! Kyle actually started a new job today but his old job was VERY good to us! He will miss them.

Proud Kyle!

Jonah is ready to earn his keep.

The many faces of Jonah....

I love him!





college wars & baby eli

I am trying to get all my December posts up to date!

My in-laws love to buy Jonah tons of Mississippi State swag. I feel the need to share my UT side to him so he is not brainwashed!

a confused fan.

Do I go with dad's team or mom's? Help!

Later that day, one of my best friends had her baby! It was December 4th and he was 2 weeks early.

Jonah is so excited to have a playmate! It has been fun being pregnant with Steph! So excited we get to raise our babies together and they are only 2 months apart! Baby Eli and mom are doing great!

shop til ya drop

I'm not a huge fan of shopping. I mean I like it but I don't like it because I shop on a budget. Once we pay off our house and have no debt, then I will LOVE it! But that will be a while from now. One thing I do love is our annual family girls shopping trip. We do it the 1st Monday in December. They started it when my Meme was alive and have kept on doing it. We used to do small town shopping near my college but a lot of the shops closed due to the economy. This year they came to me! It worked out great since I had a 2 month old. Plus they got to see him. My MIL came down to keep him for the day.

My aunts showed up to my house looking like this!

For the past few years, I've been to a tacky sweater party. I always call my aunts to get those. They are good sports about it. I needed them this year for a 5k I was doing. They were being silly...and didn't wear this shopping but wanted to make a statement! ha! They don't wear them anymore but they kept them. Which makes me wonder....haha! I LOST it laughing when they walked in the door! Love my family!

I hate I didn't get a picture of all of us (my mom and Aunt Vicky).

My MIL played dress up with Jonah all day.

I love technology these days. I kept getting texts of my cute little boy while we shopped.

It was a fun day. So glad we didn't go 3 hours away this year. I am still nursing Jonah and I went to pump at lunch and guess what? I forgot a part of the pump and had to go home. Darn...got to see Jonah! So I pumped real fast then headed back out to meet the family. We had so much fun and I am so glad we still do this.







my non-half marathon

Ever since 2006, I've ran either the St. Jude half marathon or full marathon. This year I had a special reason to not run. I had just given birth to Jonah!! That was a marathon in itself. Whew! The race was on Dec 1st so Jonah was 2 months old. Kyle ended up getting a race number 4 weeks before the race. I told him that would be plenty of time to train since he'd kinda been running. So he did it!

This was my 1st time to cheer and it was fun! We cheered for Kyle in 3 different spots. It was a cheer leading marathon! My MIL was in town so she kept Jonah so I could cheer for Kyle.

Kyle is in the back with the white hat on waving his hands. That is the best picture I got. A lot of people kept tripping over the trolley tracks so we'd say "don't trip!" We were all drinking sodas in a koozie and people thought we were drinking beer. At 8am? No thanks!

Good job marathon and half marathon runners. Hopefully I'll be back at it next year! 



2 months old- a big shot!

So I am behind again...imagine that! Jonah turned 2 months old on Dec 1. We went  for our well child visit the day before and got his shots.

He didn't know what was coming!

So sweet! He was such a big boy. They let me nurse him while they gave him his shots. I think that was more for me so I would be distracted than him! But I think it helped. He was eating then he screamed for about 10 seconds, then back to eating. It went better than I expected and I held it together!

weight-12.15 oz 90 percentile

height-24 inches 95 percentile

He was 100 percentile for his head!

How cute is my baby? I love him more everyday!

already dating...

I wanted to make sure I felt comfortable taking Jonah out in public. It was nerve racking the 1st couple of times. But I got used to it! Jonah had his 1st date with another baby his age a few weeks ago with little Harper. My high school friend Melissa had her little girl 2 weeks after I had Jonah.

I guess Jonah was boring since Harper fell asleep! Harper 6 weeks, Jonah 8 weeks. We ate at the Crackle Barrel and we were the hit of the brunch crowd!

Next I dropped off Jonah at my parents and I finished up Christmas shopping.

Jonah swaddled in my blanket from when I was a baby.

Love having grandparents nearby. They are a blessing!



mother's room

As I mentioned in my last post, we had to leave the church service early so I could nurse Jonah. When I was pregnant, I knew I wanted to breastfeed. I knew it could be challenging...it was! I won't go into details just yet but let me say that I can't believe I made it! I know everyone can have different experiences but that 1st month was a doosy.

Anyway, I noticed when I was pregnant that my church had a Mother's room. I see nothing wrong breastfeeding in public with a nursing cover (honestly I'd be fine if I saw someone without one) but our society is still getting used to it. I'll talk about that later. Since breastfeeding is becoming more common with working moms, a lot of businesses have a Mother's room. If you go to Babies R Us, they have one there too (I've pumped there!)

I've seen a mom breastfeed her baby in church with a nursing cover and I am not that brave yet. So Kyle and I headed to the Mother's room.

I was excited to use it!

It came with a glider, boppy, bathroom, and....

a t.v. to watch the sermon!

The curtain is there so if someone walks in, they have another barrier since there is no lock on the door.



Kyle wanted to try out the glider. We all looked so tired!

But not this guy! He is as happy as he can be. Just feed him!

Now that I am a nursing mom, I am on the lookout for places that have a mother's room. Not many do but kudos for the places have them.





1st church trip

We finally made it to church in November.

Jonah chilling while we get ready.

I don't think I slept that great the night before but we made it! I know better to take Jonah to the nursery at this young age. That place is a germ magnet. We did have to leave the service midway so I could nurse Jonah. I'll have to blog about my church's mother's room! That will be next. I was very impressed.



novemeber recap

November came and went. Here are some week-by-week and random pictures of my pride and joy!

A growing boy!



Kyle's favortie thing to do these days.

sweet boy!

daddy time

melts my heart

The Carters came to visit and loved Betsy!

Jonah loves the Ergo

And bathtime!

my Jonah whale!

The best lips in the world!

jonah's 1st thankgiving

We had our friend thanksgiving the Sunday before Thanksgiving. Always a fun time. This year was very special because we had Jonah to pass around!

How cute is he?!

The spread! My friends are amazing cooks.

We are growing and need a bigger house! Who is going to buy one?

Jonah was a little fussy. Granted, he did travel from Meridian that day and had traveled all weekend.

Love him!

Onto Thanksgiving day:

It was the year to spend it with my side of the family.

Grandpa and Jonah

resting on his great-aunt Connie

family photo

Such a pretty day! Aunt Rita and dad

3 generations

He was tired of having his picture taken!



He will be so big next year!