Another roadtrip!

Thankfully, we were all finally healthy enough to make the trip to introduce Jack to his Great-grandpa and Great-grandma Lion this weekend! We've been trying for a month or more to get up there but didn't want to take a nasty cold or earache or bronchiolitis with us so we just had to wait...and it was well worth it...we had such a good time!
























We arrived in time for lunch on Saturday and then spent the afternoon playing ladder golf, napping and just hanging out...

Jack meeting Great-Grandma:



















Hanging out with Grandpa:























Fascinated with the Coke bottle:



















That night, Tom and Jo Ann came over and Tom and Great-grandpa cooked up a great meal, complete with Kenny's favorite mac and cheese!

Playing with Grandpa:


















Meeting Jo Ann:
















Hanging out in Great-grandma's chair:


















Just enjoying himself:


















The next day was just as fun...

Breakfast with Grandpa: (the rest of us enjoyed a feast of some of the best pancakes ever ;) courtesy of Great-grandpa...Jack just got more formula)
















Relaxing with Great-grandpa:


















Great-grandpa teaching Jack patty-cake:
















Daddy being silly:


















Before we knew it, it was time to say goodbye, but not before a few last pictures...

The Lions:


















And 4 generations of Lion men...


















Thanks for a great weekend - we really enjoyed ourselves and can't wait to come back and see everyone again...and have some more pancakes!

Jack's 1st 4th

First of all...JACK SLEPT ALL NIGHT!! He went down around 9:30 and slept until 6:45!! What a nice way to start the holiday weekend!


















Then the morning began with a walk to the neighborhood parade with Grandma. Grams and Gramps met us there too! We had never been to the parade before and enjoyed seeing all the little ones in their decked out strollers and wagons. Next year we'll be sure Jack is in the parade!









































































Then cousin Dillyn came over to see us before she heads off to soccer camp and the beach. Jack was really glad he got to see her and her silly faces! He got to see all 3 cousins in the same week - what a treat!





































































And then, for his 4th of July grand finale...he got to meet his girlfriend Mary Alex! They were both a bit out of sorts (I think it was all the pressure of a first date) and it was tough finding a time when they were both happy to take a good picture. Aren't they cute snoozing in their matching carseats though?



















Mary Alex had on THE cutest little tank top with a sequined American flag and I wish we'd gotten a better picture of it (but there's a great one on her blog)! Grams bought Jack his little red, white and blue shirt to impress Mary Alex - Thanks Grams! It was a great night and we are all looking forward to watching these little ones grow up together.

Hope you had a great 4th too!

4 months old

Time flies...I cannot believe it's been 4 months! He just gets cuter and cuter by the day and easier to understand. He's an absolute joy these days, smiling and laughing at us, pushing up from his tummy, playing with toys, and rolling over.



















He was sick most of the month which made it feel quite long. It was really hard to know what to do to make him more comfortable and I felt like the newest of new moms as I took him to the doctor 3 times in the same week. But he's doing much better now and I think we learned a little bit about how resilient they really are (this picture was taken mid-sneeze!).



















He's eating so much these days - I think he's just about ready for cereal and we're looking forward to watching his expression as he gets his first few bites of food.



















He seems to have adjusted well to school and we have all gotten the hang of it. We learned last week that 2 new kids are joining his little 8 person class...and they are BOTH named Jack! 3 out of 8 kids named Jack! We told him to make sure and remind them that he was the first one! School really helped get him into a nighttime routine and it's often the highlight of my day. Reading books and snuggling while we listen to lullabies...it's just so peaceful and such a nice way to wrap up the day.



















I feel like we're making a bit leap into not-so-tiny-baby land and it's so bittersweet. He's getting heavy, doing so many more things, and paying so much more attention. It's simply amazing to watch him grow but it also means he'll never be the tiny little guy that he was...which can be a little sad at the same time. But so it goes - I know they all do this growing up thing - and I'm real excited to see what next month will bring!

And Sunday was great too!

Gramps and Jack declared it hat day!





































Jack took his first spin in the exersaucer! Thanks to Aunt Kari and Maggie for this super fun toy! Maggie loved hers and when they came to visit just before she was a year old, Kari bought one for her to play in here and left it for Jack to use when he got big enough. He was a bit overwhelmed but laughed a lot and just looked and looked at all the toys.










































































Jack and I took a nap (or maybe even 2!)...


















And then Auntie Stephanie and Uncle Dan and Emory and Ellie came over for a night of light installing (thanks Dan!) and lightning bug catching! Apparently they don't see many lightning bugs in Florida so that was a real treat. Emory caught so many lightning bugs and it was so much fun watching the kids get excited about it!

















































































































Hope that you all have a fantastic week! It's a short one!

Busy Saturday!

Yesterday we had quite a busy day, but filled with lots of good busy-ness!
We started off the morning with snuggles with Daddy in bed...






































Then it was off to visit with the Thayers. I didn't get any pictures there but it was great to see them! Then we headed to Grandma's...

She had lots of fun talking to Jack...



















Miss Judy stopped by...


















The cousins arrived just as we were leaving to head to Uncle Eddie's birthday outing so Jack stayed with Auntie Stephanie, Uncle Dan and Grandma and Ellie and Emory until we got back.
























































Everyone seemed to enjoy the day and we hope Sunday will be just as fun!

Tummy time

Jack gets tummy time at school everyday so we don't usually subject him to it again at home at night, but yesterday I noticed his "report card" from school didn't mention any tummy time, so I thought we'd give it a whirl and see how he was doing with it. Before I went back to work he'd move his head from side to side but wouldn't really push up or hold his head up for any length of time. But look at him now, he's a pro!



































For those that aren't familiar with tummy time, now that babies sleep on their backs, they have to have supervised time on their tummies to make sure they develop the arm, leg and neck strength they need to crawl. When babies slept on their tummies, they got plenty of practice but once the experts linked tummy sleeping to SIDS and moved them all to their backs, they noticed that babies were quite delayed in crawling because they never developed those muscles.

Eventually he tires out...


















and finds his thumb...