i LOVE my new camera!

Sadie was not very cooperative, but Daisy never misses an

opportunity for a little extra attention.

Yes, it's hard to believe sometimes,

but people other than Jay live in this house!

Merry Christmas to All!

I think I've decided that Christmas is meant to be spent with children, even if they don't know it's Christmas like our little Jay. I took lots of pictures so that we could remember as much of this as possible (and to practice using my new camera - - see if you can tell a difference!). It was just another day to Jay, but what joy it brought to the rest of us to watch him play (or look) at his new toys and smile at each and every one of us. He even spent a little time visiting with his "just-my-size" cousin Hannah - - and they were both awake at the same time!

Jay is exhausted and has gone to sleep for the night and for some reason, all I keep thinking is "Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!"

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Congratulations Aunt Ev!

We are very excited that Josh is joining the family! Congratulations to you both!!!

And the stats are in. . .

Today's weight: 18 pounds, 13 ounces (95th percentile)
Length: 2 feet! (45th percentile - - Do you see Husky jeans in our future?)

Level one spoon foods here we come!

4 Months!

Today is Jay's 4 month birthday. He is celebrating as I am typing this by sucking on his fingers and kicking his feet. Very exciting! Here are some (ok, a lot) of the pictures we took. . .

I just couldn't resist this last smile. . .

He Just Keeps Growing and Growing. . .

It's really hard to find "My First Christmas" clothes in size 12 months, so after searching high and low, I finally found pajamas to fit the little man to celebrate his first Christmas. The lingering question, though, is whether or not I will be able to find one of those adorable 1st birthday outfits in a 2T - just a guess here, but I think that one is going to be tricky too. . .

It only looks like there are chicken nuggets stored in those cheeks.

Happy 30th Birthday to Me!

What a great weekend! To celebrate my 30th birthday, we had a real grown-up escape. Sam took me to Savannah Saturday afternoon for dinner and an evening on the town. We checked in at the River Street Inn which turned out to be a beautiful little hotel. He hurried me to get ready when we got there despite the Christmas parade I wanted to watch out of our window overlooking River Street and the free drinks available in the lobby. So, we got ready and set off to go and have a drink at the Hyatt. Don't laugh, but it really is one of my favorite places on River Street - - it's clean, it has a great balcony overlooking the river, and it is easy to talk in there. We walked up the stairs and started talking about which table to sit at and. . . I walked in and immediately knew where we would be sitting. Sam had arranged for some of our very best friends to come and meet us for the evening!!! Thanks to you all for spending my 30th birthday celebration with me. :)

A nice dinner at the Chart House. . .

and a little more fun at City Market.

When he took his own hands out of his mouth, Jay was in the very good hands of his Nana and Papa for the evening. Thanks for coming!

Sausage Anyone?

Thanksgiving is all about the turkey at some people's houses. At my parent's house, it's all about the pig (with a little turkey on the side). Mom and Sam made over 200 pounds of pork sausage starting Thursday evening after our Thanksgiving dinner and worked through until late Saturday night to finish the project. I keep telling them they need to open a gourmet butcher shop. . . maybe one day they will share that fantastic Greek sausage with the rest of the world!

You'll never guess what you're going to be eating if you come to dinner

at my house anytime soon. . .

Toys Are Fun!

When you have a baby, you have absolutely NO IDEA what you are getting yourself into. I think I may have said this before, but I am still so amazed by this whole experience. It's overwhelming, exhausting, and still the most wonderful thing that has ever happened to you all at the same time. Jay spent so much of his first few months sleeping, crying, eating, and pooping like all babies do. But, since about the time he hit the three month mark, it's like he's woken up and become a "real" baby. He smiles more, he makes a lot of noises (other than crying) to express himself, and now he's playing with toys! He has a "love baby" that is basically a rag with a head that makes him smile we kiss him with it. He has toys that hang over him in the pack-and-play (playpen) that he has all of a sudden stopped staring at and starting batting around. And the smile - - there's nothing like it. He smiles at us, at his toys, at food. . . We do everything we can to keep it coming!

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

All the kids at the babysitter's have the same cough. . . no worries, Nana!

Sweet Baby Jay

Just a picture from this afternoon. . . Jay has been very into his hands the last couple of days. He's been sucking his fingers for a few weeks now, but we've noticed Jay watching his hands more and more. Sam and I watched him last night for half and hour while he waved his hands in front of his face and opened and closed his fingers. I love seeing him discover new things!

Three Whole Months

My big boy made it to three months on Friday! Its amazing to think of how life has changed in these last three months. When Jay first came home, we could barely anticipate what would happen in the next hour, much less the next day. Now, we have to plan ahead for a whole day with his babysitter and we can leave the house (just the two of us) in two hours flat from the time I wake up in the morning. You all know how high-maintenance I am, so two hours for my own prep AND Jay's is really a small miracle every morning. I remember crying from exhaustion just a few weeks after he was born and wondering how we would ever make it out of the house every day, but it has all fallen together and somehow we are making it!

We're Still Alive!!!

I'm going to say (since it's Thursday night and Friday's bag is packed and bottles are made) that we have made it through the week! Everybody is tired, but we are still happy. Here are a few pictures I've taken of Jay this week in the evenings. He looks so big. . . When he is on his tummy on the floor, he is able to push up really far. He's growing so fast!!!

What a happy little face (and a chunky arm - - look at that roll above the wrist!)


And now for a more "serious" expression. . .

This is not the end of the world, just the end of life as I've re-learned it. . .

I have to keep reminding myself that Jay will be waiting on me everyday when I finish working. He won't forget me. He's not going away, I don't have to give him back, he's still my baby. It's just going to be a new routine. I am heading back to work on Monday and its really all I can think about these days. What will life be like as a working mom? How do working moms do it? How do you have enough energy to be Mommy, a good wife, and, in my case, a good teacher? None of those deserve a half-hearted effort, but two out of three of those are already taking up all of my energy. Before Jay was born, I was obsessed with thinking about what my life would be like with a baby. Now that I think I'm starting to get the hang of that (at least today), I've got another big new challenge. Life never stops moving forward. . .

So, in celebration of some of Jay's new skills (and so I don't forget them), here are a few videos. The first part shows his fun new hobby of hand-sucking and the second shows how he is starting to play. He's been kicking his feet and waving his hands at the toys that hang over his bouncy seat. It's not much of a video (I don't see any wedding videograhy in my future), but it is amazing to me considering how much he has changed in the last twelve weeks. . . I don't say anything in the second part because when I talk to him, he stops playing with his toys. As soon as he notices me though, it's all eyes on mom! He won't forget me when I go back to work, right?

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Again, Why Jay Has a Daddy. . .

Have you met my redneck baby?? Wait, can you find him?

(These pictures were taken before the Georgia-Florida game, so Sam and Greg are still smiling.

It didn't last long . . .)

Happy Halloween - From the Cutest Little Crawfish in our Pot!

Why Jay Has a Daddy (According to His Daddy)

I love my cute little BABY. Sam loves his little BOY. Sometimes, the two don't mesh - - we don't always agree on clothes (yes, I think BABY boys can wear gowns and a bubble on occasion) or anything that comes across as a little too dainty for a boy. So, when I came home from Savannah yesterday with a new hat for Jay to wear in this cold weather, he rolled his eyes and we had the conversation, again. Jay is a B-A-B-Y for awhile longer and I want to enjoy it!

Don't you love his new hat!!! (He makes that face all the time - -

it has nothing to do with the hat!)

"Best Party Baby Ever"

Happy Birthday Nunu!

"He's the best party baby ever," said Aunt Evelyn at the end of the evening Saturday night. I couldn't have planned it any better if I had written a script for the night. We flew to Memphis this weekend for Nunu's 90th birthday party, and I really couldn't believe how good Jay was. When we got to the party, he enjoyed a nap in his car seat while everyone oohhed and aahhed over him. Then, he woke up and had a bottle, let a lot of strangers hold him, and finally dozed off to sleep again without making a peep. He really seemed to enjoy visiting with everyone and even passed out a few smiles before he fell asleep. I had no idea I have such a social butterfly for a baby!

Here we are enjoying some famous Memphis barbecue at the Rendezvous in downtown.

I was so afraid of having a screaming baby on the flights to and from the big M, but the little man slept almost the entire way there and all the way home. I will never forget some of the dirty looks strangers gave us as we got onto the plane, but we proved them wrong!!!

A Family Affair

We enjoyed dinner with Sam's parents and family last night. Jay enjoyed sitting in lots of laps and getting some love from his grandparents, great-grandparents, and even his great-great (I think that's right) Aunt Marguerite.

Here is a slideshow with the most photographed baby I know!

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

And finally, a picture of Jay participating in his favorite new hobby - - he's found his hands!

Boys will be boys. . .

So I have a confession to make: I think I'm getting addicted to this blogging thing. It's 10:30(ish) Sunday night and I have this compulsion to get pictures from this weekend posted so that I don't fall behind. We enjoyed a visit from our friends Lee and Lindsay this weekend and their son, John Ross. Lindsay took some beautiful pictures of Jay - - I especially love the black and whites, so I couldn't wait to post and share.

Here is John Ross peeking in on Baby Jay.

We enjoyed our first fire of the year on Saturday night.

Lindsay and me

And of course, boys can't just let the fire go without being played with. The cookie sheet was being used to fan the smoke while adjusting coals to melt glass. And to think, now there are 2 boys permanently in my house. . .

Hep B - - Not for this little heavyweight!

Sorry for this upside down picture, but I had to show Jay's little band-aids after his first round of immunizations at the doctor yesterday. (There is a band-aid on each leg - - the left side is just a little hard to see.)

What a sad little face today!

After the official weigh-in at Jay's two month check-up, I am happy to say that I have won the bet at our house. Sam's money was riding on Jay weighing over sixteen pounds and I bet that he would weigh under. Jay weighed in at a very healthy and even fifteen pounds. Apparently, that's on the large side for two months, because they showed me a chart with a line for the 95th percentile, and then they showed my Jay's line just above that. As the nurse so nicely pointed out, his weight is off the chart. . .
All is well and our pediatrician fully anticipates that he will be back in a more "normal" percentile range when he starts walking and drops a little of his baby fat. You do have to peel back the rolls when you bathe him and change a diaper - - that's more of the Broucek Baby I was expecting when he was born!

We don't stay settled for long at our house. We loaded Jay up this weekend and headed to Peachtree City for a nice visit with the grandparents. Jay did fantastic in the car on the ride up and back. We had a great time visiting with Nana, Papa, Aunt Ev, Josh and all of our PTC buddies!

The last picture is from a diaper change on the way back home. The trip would not have been complete without a little pee-pee sprayed at Mommy and a clothes change for Jay in a parking lot!

Make an on-line slideshow at www.OneTrueMedia.com

PS - - Happy 2 month birthday Baby Jay!

Jay loves the ladies - - already?

An excerpt from watching TV with Daddy tonight:

"Regular" people on TV - - crying Jay

Pretty blonde lady on TV - - happy Jay

"Regular" people - - crying Jay

Pretty blonde lady - - happy Jay

Sam swears it was more than a coincidence because it happened six or seven times in a row. . . Could he be a ladies' man already???

As far as what I've noticed the in the last couple of days - - - Jay is sitting up with just a little support to his back. So we tried the Bumbo seat, and what do you know?! He can sit up in it! He looks like a baby now instead of a newborn "creature," and the little laughs and coos that slip out from time to time are starting to reveal a little bit of his personality. When you put his bib on, he smiles and even has started to let out a little giggle from time to time because he knows the food is coming. He has a temper, though, if he gets too hungry and watch out if you take the bottle out of his mouth before he is ready.

Also, I know all babies are fascinated with lights and fans, but he REALLY loves them. He even stares at lights and fans that are turned off and seems to be willing them to turn on. Sam and I are so well-trained, they almost always do!