First Taste of Rice Cereal

(I ADDED some pics below of Hunter eating his first rice cereal. I can't resist how fun it is to look back and see how similar or different their milestones are.)
At Blake's 4 month check up a couple of weeks ago, the whole rice cereal introduction was discussed. Our pediatrician said that it was more than fine to start Blake on rice cereal if we so chose. I originally thought not. With Hunter, I had waited until he was 6 months old to start. I guess in my mind, I was planning on following suit with Blake.

However... the past 5 nights have been rough. Friday night I barely slept at all while we were in Waco. Blake just wasn't going to sleep for more than an hour straight at a time. There's something about not wanting to bother everyone that makes you cave into feeding at every peep. Thinking it was a fluke deal, we figured that back home in his bed he would do better. So far, that has not happened. Last night and the night before, I wrote down the times I went to his room. Mostly to put the pacifier in, a time or two to feed him. Last night, it was 8 times!! 8!!! I even let him cry it out one of those rounds too. The boy has some willpower!!

Needless to say, I am rather zombie-like today. I'm tired and worn out- not thinking clearly at all. But, here are some of the pics of our first go-round with rice cereal. He seemed to like it a lot.






HUNTER at 6 months and his first taste of cereal. So fun!!

Are we sure about this???

Oh no, the big 3-0!!!

Chris is officially 30. Yikes! We had a great time celebrating with family and friends.

What's more fun than licking the beaters... especially when they are chocolate!

The finished product. Hunter was a great helper!

The place was perfect! We had about 40 people with kids. Everyone was able to eat, watch their kids play and visit. We had a great time!

Chris and I before the party. Happy 30th Birthday!!

After we got home, Hunter thought it would be a blast to run around all tangled in the balloons.

Meeting the newest Jones baby and seeing Dana!

We finally made a trip to Waco to see Dana. It was a wonderful trip and we were so glad to see her. She is tougher than the rest of us, that's for sure!

Hunter had not seen his Mimi since October, so he was beside himself excited. He pulled up a step stool in her hospital room and stood by her bed to talk to her. We visited Friday night in her room and then went to grab dinner. On the way back to the hospital to drop off Chris' dad, Hunter said he wanted to go back in to give Mimi a hug and a kiss goodnight. I sent him upstairs with a neat paper flower that I had made for Hunter to give her. He was excited to get to go back upstairs to see her.

Saturday, we stuffed ourselves silly at Harold Waitz's in Waco and then made the quick trip up to Fort Worth to meet our newest nephew, Adam. He is adorable and slept the whole time we were there. I did get to hold him and love on him and it's just amazing how little they are to start off. We put Blake and Adam next to each other and I know that will be the first of many pictures they are in together!

Hunter had a blast playing with David and Ryan. They don't skip a beat when they haven't seen each other in a while. He always loves whatever they are up to.

Later on Saturday, we had one more visit with Dana. She felt strong enough to be wheeled out to the waiting area and we had a great visit. Hunter is in a stage of not listening- I am hoping this is a stage- and was like a wild animal. He was all over the place.

After dinner, we loaded up and headed back to SA. Overall, it was a quick trip but so great to see Dana and Adam both.

Dinny (Chris' grandmother) with her 2 newest great grandbabies!

Adam and Hunter both completely sacked out!

I mean really?!!

Could you just eat him up? He's too cute!

Our own little artist up to no good.

Who is who??

Let's see how good you are... Which of these is Hunter and which of these is Blake???
I'll put the answer at the bottom.








The answer is.... Blake is the top picture and Hunter is the bottom.

Playtime back then and now

As a kid, I remember literally walking across the street and playing at the Woodridge playground. Now, having 2 kids of my own, we live one street away and just 2 blocks from that very same playground. It's kinda neat. One of our favorite things to do when the weather is nice and it stays lighter longer is to walk down to the playground and play. Hunter loves it and I know Blake will too.
Off we go down the street.

Hunter wanted to slide down the climing wall and Chris stood guard at the bottom in case he did.

Blake and I taking a breather from playing.

Sweet Blake having a great time riding in the stroller.

This is me holding Blake on the slide at 4 months....

... and this is me helping Hunter do the same thing when he was about 6 months.

A blast from the past... Hunter and I on the swings back in the summer of 2006.

One year ago today...

... I found out I was expecting Baby Jones #2. I was so thrilled and kept it a secret until late afternoon. Chris had gone golfing and I scurried around to find blue and pink balloons to cover our bed. I put a diaper on the bed and wrote on the outside of it, "Ready for #2 ?!" Then, to top it off, I had Hunter wearing a Big Brother t-shirt. Chris came in and it took him a couple of seconds to realize what all of that meant.

Chris turning the corner into our bedroom. I tried to capture it as he realized what the blue and pink balloons must mean.

Hunter in his new Big Brother t-shirt. He wasn't quite sure what all the excitement was about.

The bed covered in the balloons was my attempt at being creative.

Chris and Hunter celebrating and trying to soak in the new news!

4 month appt.

Blake went in today for his 4 month appt. with the pediatrician. He is a picture of health- thank the Lord. He weighs 15 lbs 4 oz and is 25 inches long. That puts him in the 60th percentile for weight and 50th for height. He is hitting all of his milestones as expected and for that we are thankful. It's a blessing to have a healthy baby boy.

He got 4 shots in his fat little legs. The first two went right by him- thanks to all that chub! The next two seemed to hurt a little and he cried for about 5 seconds. He slept the next 2 hours straight and when we picked Hunter up from school, Blake graciously gave him a sucker he had picked up at the doctor's office. Hunter was very impressed!

On another note... Hunter went all morning at school with only underwear on. For those of you who don't know... it is my crown of thorns these days to try and motiviate, encourage, bribe, or whatever to get Hunter to do his business on the potty. Apparently he will do for his teachers what he won't do for me. Oh well- however it has to happen!

A New Look...

How do you like the new look? I think I like it!!

4 Months Old!!

Blake Taylor Jones is 4 months old today!

Here he is November 17, 2008- brand new to the world!


All dressed up with nowhere to go... December 17, 2008. (1 month old)


2 months old- weighed in at 13 lbs 3 ounces... he's no lightweight!


3 months old... February 17, 2009 All I can say is chubba bubba!!


4 months old! Not the best picture, but it's what I had.


I cannot believe how fast those 4 months have flown by. He gets more and more fun each day. Here are some of the things he is up to...
*He smiles the greatest smiles when you look at him. He truly has a twinkle in his eyes. He gets that from his daddy and his Mimi.
*He has the sweetest little chuckle when you get him to laugh.
*His little thighs are the fattest, most roly-poly thighs you have ever seen.
*He loves to stand up on your lap and look around.
*He "talks" to you all the time. His coos and little sounds are precious.
*He can be carried on your hip now- he's not so little bitty anymore.
*He's very strong and has been for awhile now.
*Enjoys the Exersaucer now for about 10 minutes at a time.
*We've recently added the doorway jumper into our assortment of activities- he's starting to get the hang of it.
*He loves bathtime and loves to have his diaper changed. He's practically giddy when you are changing him.
*He's very predictable- every 3 hours in the day he eats, then he plays and then he naps. It's very routine and yet he can easily go with the flow.
*He's a champ when we are out and about. He ends up going everywhere we do and does great keeping up with the unexpected.
*He still enjoys the swing and the bouncy seat. I have a feeling those are both slowly becoming things of the past though.
*The activity mat is more and more entertaining now that he is reaching for toys.
*He can roll from his tummy to his back. He's trying to go from back to tummy, but that's typically the harder way to go.
*Loves to be read to. Will look at pictures and watch my face when I am reading to him.
*Absolutely adores Hunter. He woke up crying the other day, and was quickly quiet again. I walked in to find Hunter in his crib with him just talking to him. Blake thinks his big brother is the best!
*Seems to be a Mama's boy- nobody can make him as happy as his mama!!
*Waking up to eat once in the night. Often wakes up at least one other time for the pacifier. Oh no!
*Has traveled more in 4 months than I could have imagined. Has been to Waco 6 or 7 times- I lost count, the lake 2 times, Fort Worth by airplane once, and Austin once. He does great with it all.
*Loves riding in my double jogging stroller.
*Starting to blow rasberries and cough for attention. I love this age!!

Blake really is the sweetest, happiest baby. I am so incredibly blessed!

Weekend at the Lake

This is the new room at the lake. We absolutely lived in it this weekend.

Hunter played pirate and looked for "ships" out the window.

He was mesmorized by a fishing show in TV and was watching with big eyes as the guy pulled in a shark.

Me and the boys in our grubs.

Funny story... this is Blake sleeping in Cooper's dog bed. It's more like a platform that we call his "place" but it served as a great sleeping place for Blake this weekend. The Andersons forgot their pack-n-play, so we let them have the one at the lake and sent Blake to the dog bed. It worked out great! Don't worry... it was clean and perfectly fine for him to sleep on.

Argh! It's a pirate's life for me...

Or a cowboy's life...

Or a camo, Star Wars and boots wearing kinda guy's life...

Or perhaps a golfer's life...


The BEST thing about being 3, is you don't have to choose!!

Are you kidding me?

Pictures are worth far more than words...

Quick Trip

Last Saturday I made the quick trip to Fort Worth and back in a matter of 10 hours... with a 3 month old... and it was great! Blake and I caught a flight out of SA at 12 Saturday, were picked up by Summer and the boys and went straight to see Dana. She was doing great on Saturday and was able to spend quite a bit of time visiting and enjoying Blake. I was so impressed by her stamina and strength that has increased so much since she has been in Fort Worth. She was even able to hold Blake twice while we were there. He flashed his big smiles and cooed and talked to her a lot. I know that meant the world to her.

We were able to visit until about 4 and then Blake and I came back after 6 to have dinner with her and Scott. After that, Scott drove us back to DFW and we arrived in SA at 10:30. It was a really whirlwind kind of day- I felt like I had been gone for more than 10 hours since so much was packed into such a short amount of time.

Blake was an angel flying and really easy to travel with. I carried him without the infant carrier the entire time on the flight and through the airport. It was a little overwhelming to be on my own going through security with all of our "stuff" and a baby. It's always so stressful to be taking off shoes, putting your purse and carry on in the bin, pull out your baggies of small liquid items, etc... Try that with a baby in one arm and your boarding pass and ID in the other. I looked like I was in an I Love Lucy episode. But, we made it and are here to tell about it.

We are planning tentatively to travel to Waco tomorrow in hopes that the plan to move Dana to Waco tomorrow stands. Hunter is ready to see his Mimi too! It's been since October when he was with her the weekend of our anniversary. He's excited to tell her what he's been up to.