Road Trip

I had a little fun with photoshop on this picture. When I left to join the Navy, Mrs. Ingram wanted me to promise that i would never get a tattoo. I don't think I ever did make that promise. I still haven't gotten one... as far as she knows anyway.
I can remove those with photoshop too ya know ;)
Jenifer and I took Joey to Peachtree City, GA this past weekend for his first big road trip. He traveled really well on Friday evening. He slept almost the entire way there. On Saturday we went to the north side where Perry and Marge hosted our Christmas gathering for my Mom's side of the family. They have a beautiful home and always throw a classy party. It was very nice. My only regret is that not everyone could make it.
We made the most we could of the rest of the weekend, fitting as much visiting with friends and family as we could into the short visit. We were so happy to introduce Joey to everyone. Most everyone knows how long our road to parenthood was and everyone seemed to be forgiving of our overflowing pride and boundless happiness. It was so special to hear people telling Joey how much they had prayed for his safe arrival. That really does mean the world to us. Joey was a little more grumpy for the trip home. The important thing is we did arrive home safe and sound. Even with all the people we got to see this trip, we still have lots more we need to get a visit with.
I am happy to announce that our plans have changed and we will be visiting PTC again this coming weekend. Our original plans were to have our Christmas celebration at our house since I work on Christmas day. I found out I won't have to work any OT on my off week before Christmas so we have decided to celebrate at my parents house on Tuesday morning 12/23. I am looking forward to that very much. I really do miss everyone in Georgia.
Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas!

December is finally here... and I have finally made some blog and photobucket updates. I don't have time right now to write a long blog post... I am busy getting ready for Joey's next big adventure. Let's just say that I'll have lots to blog about next week!
Oh... We did go see Santa yesterday... but I am forbidden from sharing those photos just yet.
I hope the Christmas season is shaping up wonderfully for everyone!
Merry Christmas!

Milestones

Joey smiles regularly, he started smiling purposely around mid November.

Joey giggled for me on Saturday Nov. 22nd and he laughed for his daddy last night Dec. 1st.

Joey coo's and carries on baby conversations now. If you coo at him or say la and wait he may talk back if he's in the mood, but it sure makes him smile.

Joey is clutching at things, he tends to grab handfuls of fabric, be it burp rags, blankets or your shirt. If you place toys in his hands he will hold small rattles or linking rings also.

Joey holds his head up more now. He is working on not wobbling so much while holding his head up. He is still working on this during tummy time but he's quite good at it when he's being held upright.

Joey found the toes on his right foot yesterday, he was sitting up (with a little help)
and he kept leaning (more like lurching) forward when all of a sudden he connected with his toes and held on.

Observing Joey growing and learning constantly is fascinating!

Look How I've Grown!

Joey had his eight week checkup today, he is a healthy growing boy. Joey is now 11 pounds 15 ounces and 22 3/4 inches long, he grew two inches and gained nearly four pounds in the last four weeks.

I know its hard to fathom the changes so I've gone through some photos to try and illustrate the change. The first photo was taken October 22nd while Joey was on his play mat, note the outfit he is in, it fits nicely sleeves are not short and he has room to grow in the mid section and length wise as well.

Note the second photo though it was taken while he was laying on his changing table. This photo was taken on November 20th. Joey is in the same outfit, on this date the sleeves were short, the mid section did not have much room left for growth and the length was at capacity. We retired this outfit after November 20th.

November Pics

I have been pretty busy lately as you can probably tell from my infrequent updates. I am also way behind on commenting all of the blogs that my friends have. I will try and get to that soon. I updated the Photobucket account yesterday finally. Today I figured out how to embed a Photobucket slide show on my blog post. This slide show is some pictures from the November daily pic album. I will play around with this feature more in the future so that it might be a bit easier for you to check for updates. You will still be able to see all the pictures by following the link and password instructions at the top right of this page.

For some strange reason the computer keyboard I am using will not enter an apostrophe, so I am trying to avoid contractions and possessive nouns.

Joey is doing really well... Jenifer is taking him to get some of his shots today so we are crossing our fingers that it will go easy on him. I am sure she will have a story to tell about that later. Joey has not started sleeping through the night yet but we are thinking it might happen real soon. The doctor said that once they get above 12 pounds is when it seems to happen. My guess is that he is there. Jenifer is excited to get the official weight today at his doctor appointment.

Last night was a real treat for me. He was totally awake, not fussy at all, and really making good eye contact and even smiling some. When he does get fussy it is usually about food or gas... That boy of mine can suck bottle dry in no time at all and still want more. I think it is time to move up to the next size bottle.

My next big improvement to the Jungle will be to post some videos here.

Until then I hope you all stay happy and healthy!

Later!

Mommy Time and Music

I have always loved music, music of all types, I hope to pass this on to Joey. While I was pregnant I enjoyed listening to my playlists of music I've built up on my ipod while Jamie and I were in the truck on road trips. I felt Joey respond occasionally to some music, he'd kick and let me know he was there and the music was coming through loud and clear. I took his response to mean he approved and enjoyed the selection.

So today while spending time with Joey while he was awake we had some fun with music. It started off with me singing silly camp songs to Joey, things like John Jacob Jingleheimer Schmidt, Fried Ham and I Had a Little Chicky (want to see some camp song lyrics check this site; http://www.ultimatecampresource.com) then I started up itunes on my computer and we listened to music I have stored there. Joey seemed very content and I enjoyed singing along with the music, crooning to him and delighting him with my vocal styling. (He's not a tough critic thank goodness.) We listened to and I sang along with; Aerosmith Sweet Emotion, I don't Want to Miss a Thing, Walk this Way (I think he really enjoyed this one), Alan Jackson A Love Like That, Alicia Keys No One, Big & Rich Ride a Horse Save a Cowboy, Black Eyed Peas Don't Phunk with My Heart, Bono (from the Across the Universe Soundtrack) Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds, Billy Miles Sunshine and finally Bowling for Soup 1985. We ended the music lesson there, by then Joey had finished a bottle and was grinning at me sleepily as his eyes fluttered and his eye lids shut for his mid day nap.

Mommy time today was a lot of fun. I hope I can make you grin that goofy grin of yours again soon Joey.