The Veazey Family

Jake at 2-1/2 years old

2012-01-30T20:59:00.001-06:00

I want to be able to document my boys’ milestones on this blog, so that one day – when they are 16 and aren’t interested in hanging out with their mom, I can read this and remember the days they liked to cuddle and thought I was cool! ha!

Jake turned 2-1/2 this month. He is such a ball of energy and keeps us on our toes. He weighs 34 pounds and is getting taller every day. He wears a 3T in clothes and a 3-4T pull up. He still has a head full of hair that has to be trimmed pretty often.

He is a great sleeper and goes to bed every night by 8 pm, sometimes sooner. Most days, I have to wake him around 7 or 7:15 to go to school. He transitioned to his big boy bed very easily and still loves to play his music each night before he goes to sleep. We read several books every night and I sing him 3 songs when he lays down.

His favorite foods right now are chicken, pizza, cheese and apples. He HATES corn!! He still loves his milk and, on occasion, will request juice. He is willing to try most things I put on his plate now and will agree to eat a few bites – just to please his momma!

He is learning so much and loves to show off what he knows. Currently, he loves to tell me that my name is Robin and he likes to spell his and Eli’s name for me. I taught him what red lights, green lights and yellow lights mean. I did it one morning on the way to school and NOW he screams “go, go, go” as soon as the light turns. It can be pretty alarming if you are just relaxing at the red light! Why I thought this would be good to teach him is beyond me. It has made car rides pretty stressful!!!

He knows all his letters and recognizes them very easily. He has known these for some time now, but has become very quick and accurate. He is learning “little letters” (lower case) now. He is also learning the sounds of letters. As for numbers, he can do 1-10 very easily, but after that – he doesn’t recognize the numbers as a double digit number. He just thinks it’s a “one and a two.” He is fairly accurate when he counts, but often will count things twice, because he hasn’t kept up with where he started. He also knows shapes VERY well – including octagons and diamonds!

One of the things I am most proud of is his quickness to say “please” and “thank you” when appropriate. He rarely needs to be prompted. For example, tonight he thought his room was hot, so I turned the fan up. He said, “thank you, momma. That is better.” *Melt my heart* He also says “excuse me” if he burps – which I am also proud of, because let’s face it – I will be living with 3 boys – there will be burping! ha!

Potty training is coming along. He can go #1 pretty easily and without much drama. #2, however, is a different story. Some days its something he is willing to do. Some days its not. Oh, well…

All in all, Jake is the funniest, sweetest and most precious 2-1/2 year old I know. I really do believe he is going to be a GREAT big brother (in just 7 days)! I can’t wait to see him teach Eli to play ball, throw rocks, ride a four-wheeler….all the things brothers grow up doing!

Big Day at School!

2012-01-27T21:20:00.001-06:00

Jake stayed home with me or Nana most of this week, because he had a little virus. But, he went back to school on Friday and – I’ll be honest- I was a little worried. Anytime he is out of his routine for several days, he usually has a rough time getting back in the groove. HOWEVER, he had a GREAT first day back and even got to call and tell me something big!

My phone rang around 3:00 pm. I quickly noticed it was Faith Baptist Academy calling and just assumed it was bad news. Usually, when they call its to tell me that Jake is doing something wrong and laughing about it. NOT the call a mom wants. BUT, today was different. His teacher was letting him call to tell me he had gone “poo poo in the potty!!!” This isn’t the first time he’s ever done that, but it’s the first time at school. He was so excited, and I could tell through the phone that he was beaming with pride.

When I got there to pick him up, he was so excited to tell me again. I also saw on his note today that he told his teacher all day long that he wanted to go to Zaxby’s for lunch. Ha! He dreams big!

Jake will be getting a little brother in 10 days. His little life will change – but all for the better!

Bedtime Prayers

2012-01-20T22:27:00.001-06:00

I want to write a quick post to document what Jake’s prayers are like at 2 years old. We’ve been saying bedtime prayers with Jake for a while, and he’s old enough now to decide what he wants to thank God for each night. After reading books, I ask Jake what he wants to say thank you for and most nights it is a mix of the same few things….Mommy, Daddy, Baby Eli, school, his friends (by name), his teachers, Nana, Dadoo, Nan, or Papaw.

Tonight, Jake’s prayer was the following…

“Dear God, thank you for Mommy, Daddy, Nana and Caden’s birthday party tomorrow.” My sweet boy is SO excited about his cousin’s birthday party tomorrow morning that he just needed to thank God in advance for the fun he plans to have!

I am so grateful we live in a country where we can worship how we choose and we can pray freely to our God. I hope Greg and I can raise Jake and Eli to appreciate that freedom as well!

Squeezing it all in….

2012-01-15T13:42:00.001-06:00

Hard to believe, but little Eli will be here in just 24 days. WOW! So, we’ve been busy lately trying to squeeze as much into the month of January as humanly possible! Well, maybe not that much – but a lot for our boring, little family!

My parents and grandmother came to see us the first weekend of January and brought Roxy back to Cabot. She had been in Marion since Christmas, and I am sure was a little disappointed to be back here. She gets tons of attention in Marion (and table food), so its just back to the daily grind around here for her. Jake loved having his Nan here for the day. My mom and Jake played and played, and he even convinced her to get inside of his Thomas the Train tent with him. I don’t have a picture of it, but just trust me in saying that is no easy feat. Its NOT that big of a tent and I feel certain there is no way I would fit in it right now. Nan is a real trooper!

Greg and I also got to take a quick trip to Dallas for the Cotton Bowl! We drove down on Friday morning and came back Saturday afternoon, so it was a quick get-a-way, but well worth it! The Hogs brought home a big win, and we got to see the Cowboys’ new stadium. UNBELIEVEABLE! To explain the picture below--- during the first half, the GIGANTIC screen you see in the picture on bottom captured an image of the crowd at Cowboy Stadium. Later, it was posted online and you could go in and find yourself using what must be the best “zoom” imaging ever. Because, believe me, we were just rows from the top of that monstrous stadium. I “tagged” us with the little Razorback. I am almost 35 weeks pregnant in this pic.

Work has been really busy for both of us. Greg is loving his job with Boston Scientific and will leave soon for his national sales meeting. We’re keeping our fingers crossed that Eli doesn’t pull any fast ones on us that week!! My company announced a major layoff this week that will impact about 60% of our sales force. So, we’re preparing ourselves that I will most likely be looking for a different job when maternity leave is over. We’ve turned it over to God and feel completely confident that he has a plan for our little family.

This weekend, we took Jake to the Museum of Discovery in Little Rock.They’ve been closed for almost a year renovating and this was opening weekend. I REALLY wanted to be able to take Jake before Eli came and thought the longer we put it off, the more likely we’d not get to it. Jake had a GREAT time!! I highly recommend it…hence, we bought the family year-long membership. They had a “News Set” for the kids to play with, including the real “green screen” newscasters use and a script. Jake LOVED seeing himself on TV. Radio/TV was his daddy’s major in college, so I’m sure it brought back some fond memories for Greg too! I, on the other hand, did not enjoy seeing myself 36 weeks pregnant on TV.

Jake and I also made a quick trip to The Wonder Place in late December, so not technically a January event, but I have pics to post!! We met my friend Helen and her sweet girl, Madison, there one morning. I was off of work after Christmas and wanted to take advantage of the one-on-one time with Jake. We had a great time watching the kids play, and Jake and I met Daddy afterwards for Mexican!

Helen was trying to get Madison fed before they got on the road home! What a great time for a “back of the SUV picnic!”

We’ve got a busy second half of January as well! Greg leaves next Friday for his annual pheasant hunt. Jake and I will go to his cousin’s birthday party, a couple of baby showers with friends, Greg’s National Sales Meeting in Florida and a continuation of potty training boot camp! ha!

Eli will be here before we know it!!!

Ferguson Christmas 2011

2011-12-31T23:28:00.001-06:00

I promise…last Christmas post for 2011. Like most families, we scurry around going from Christmas to Christmas, trying to see all the family. Lucky for us, the Ferguson Christmas is at our house, so we don’t have to travel anywhere. Our cousins, Amanda and Jeffrey Thornton, drive in from Louisiana with their 3 kids, so its not quite as easy for them.

This year, we had a house full of little ones! Great grandkids (from the top) Morgan –16, Madison – 14, Caden – almost 7, Gracen – 4, Jake –2, Jackson –2 , Brylie – almost 2, Gabriel – 3 months, and Jake Thronton- 1 month. WOW!! These kids had a GREAT time playing together and pulling out every toy in the house. While some might say they would never want that many running through their house, I LOVE it. I love that Jake has so many cousins his age and am so grateful he’ll have many more Christmas’ of fun ahead of him!

Christmas in Marion

2011-12-31T23:07:00.001-06:00

We drove to Marion on Christmas day to spend some time with my family Jake had a GREAT time with his cousins and was spoiled rotten for about 24 hours straight. A great end to our tour de Christmas!

Christmas Eve and Morning 2011

2011-12-27T13:29:00.001-06:00

Seems so strange that this will be our last Christmas as a family of 3! We came home from a long day in Carlisle to get ready for Santa. Jake set out cookies and eggnog (Greg bought it and no one else will drink it …hence, Santa gets stuck with it). It was really fun explaining to Jake that Santa would come down the chimney to eat the cookies; and as much as Jake enjoyed that little tale, he wasn’t quite sure why Santa got all the Oreos! So, being the sucker I am, I let him have one too! Of course, Papaw and Daddy got a piece of that action too!

After reading the 1,000 books he got earlier that day, I finally got Jake to bed. He was anxious to see if Santa was really going to eat those cookies!

All December, he has been telling everyone that Santa is going to bring him donuts and chocolate milk. Easy enough!

I was so anxious to see his sweet, little face Christmas morning! Typically, Jake is reluctant to get out of bed in the morning. He likes to lay around and play for a while. However, all it took Christmas morning was reminding him that Santa came and he was jumping over me to get out of his room! And, just as I predicted, he didn’t make it past the donuts and chocolate milk. He told everyone he needed to “eat first.” By “everyone,” I mean our sweet parents (grandparents to Jake and Eli) that came over for Christmas morning. My parents drove in the night before and Greg’s parents got up really early to be there when Jake woke up! I know it made his Christmas morning so much more special to have all that attention!

Once the donuts were half gone, he was agreeable to checking out the rest of Santa’s loot!

Christmas in Carlisle

2011-12-27T13:26:00.002-06:00

We went to Carlisle for Christmas Eve and celebrated with Greg’s family. We’ll bring the whole clan together in about a week, so this was just his immediate family. We had Craig’s BBQ, (for those of you non-locals- its some of the best BBQ around!) Perfect Christmas Eve dinner!

Jake had a great time playing with all of his cousins and to top it off – Dadoo got a ranger they could all ride in and drive. I’m certain we put 100 miles on it that day! Little Gabriel, Greg’s sister’s newest baby, was there and is already 3 months old. He is soooo cute and was a real champ that day – given the chaos, lack of quite time for him to nap and a certain wild, two year old!

Having a piece of Jesus’ birthday cake!

Madison and sweet Gabriel!

Now that is dedication to the remote!

Celebrating our Savior’s Birth

2011-12-23T19:59:00.001-06:00

We’ve been talking to Jake about the birth of Jesus and the true meaning of Christmas. It is so easy to get caught up in the “magic” of Santa and forget to spend time talking about the real reason for the season! Jake goes to a Christian school, so they also teach the kids the true Christmas story, which has been so much fun for Jake to learn!

Tonight, Jake and I made a birthday cake for baby Jesus. Jake helped me put all the ingredients together, stir and even put icing on the cake. Now, I’ll admit – it was just a box cake, but it was a lot of fun watching him help. We even sang “happy birthday to Jesus” while we baked!

We plan to eat it tomorrow at Nana and Dadoo’s house during the Veazey Family Christmas! Excuse the way I look – I was off work today and didn’t bother with make-up – YIKES!

"The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel"—which means, "God with us."

Cousin Christmas!

2011-12-23T17:03:00.001-06:00

We are so fortunate to have cousins who live in Cabot too…and the best part – they have 2 boys!

This year, we decided to have an early Christmas dinner at our house with the cousins and exchange gifts, play and let the boys run around. Jake thinks the world of Jack (5 years old) and I’m sure Eli will be just as fond of Ben (6 months).

Aside from celebrating Jesus’ birth, we also celebrated April’s birthday! I made her a strawberry cake (her favorite), but I’ll be the first to admit that I wouldn’t win any style awards for its appearance! It tasted okay though! Unfortunately, our singing scared little Ben!

‘Tis the Season

2011-12-17T21:16:00.001-06:00

We’re in fully swing, Christmas-mode around here. We’re reading The Christmas Story every night before bed, we’ve bought lots of presents, we’ve seen Santa – twice, we’ve eaten our weight in pre-Christmas goodies (candy canes, etc.) and – my personal favorite- are receiving Christmas cards in the mail from friends and family everyday!

Jake’s school Christmas program was this week. His sweet little 2 year old class sang “Go tell it on the Mountain” and it was precious! His teachers have taught him so many songs this fall. He is constantly singing “Jingle Bells,” “Father Abraham,” “The Lord’s Army,” and so many others. I just love listening to him sing and tell me all the things he is learning.

Speaking of learning, he is obsessed with shapes! He loves to point out octagons, squares, rectangles, triangles, and circles EVERYWHERE!

This weekend, we went to Searcy to see my dad’s side of the family for Christmas. It was a full house, but lots of fun. I don’t get to see this side of my family very often, but most of my cousins have small kids, so its fun to get together. Jake had a great time!

We’ve finally decided to name our 2nd born – Eli Gregory. Its been so sweet to hear Jake talk about Eli and ask questions. Just tonight, I was sitting in the floor with him reading books before bed. Because I’ve been on the move all day, I was having some contractions. Well, a pretty big one hit me and took my breath away. I stopped reading and closed my eyes. Without realizing it, I had my hand on my stomach. Jake said, “Is Eli giving you a boo boo?” I said, “Mommy and Eli are fine. Mommy just has a boo boo on her belly right now.” Jake leaned over and said, “want me to kiss it?” Then, he kissed my belly! SO SWEET! He is at such a wonderful age right now and truly has a heart of gold!

30 weeks and counting

2011-12-01T22:13:00.001-06:00

We’re in the downhill slide of this second pregnancy! We’re still not settled on a name, but I guess that will happen soon. This little guy has measured big every visit, so we went for an ultrasound today to see for sure. Dr. Taylor was right – he’s a big boy! Jake’s baby brother is measuring about 3 weeks bigger and is already nearly 4 pounds. We’re set for a repeat C-section on February 7th!

Here he is sucking his thumb!

A profile shot…

Jake, on the other hand, is slimming up and looks more like a big boy everyday. He’s doing great sleeping in his new bunk bed and is saying the funniest stuff. Today, when I picked him up from school, I took him to eat at Burger King and play. Greg had to go out of state tonight unexpectedly, so we decided to go have a little fun! The playground at Burger King is definitely made for bigger kids, which – you guessed it – means Mom has to climb into the play gym and help Jake get up and down. Yea, it was a pretty sight – a 30 week pregnant woman climbing around a Burger King playground. When we were leaving, he asked to go to McDonald’s across the street and I answered—“maybe later.” Well – now, Jake’s answer to everything is “maybe later.”

Me- “Jake, can you sing me a song?” Jake – “maybe later.”

Me – “Its time for bath, Jake.” Jake – “maybe later.”

We bought a video monitor for Jake’s new room. I never had one when he was little, but decided to get it when we moved him to the big boy bed across the house. I can hook up a second camera to it for the new baby, so that will be nice too. I bought one my friend, Tabitha, suggested. It has a feature that allows you to talk to them from your monitor. This morning, Jake was in his room playing in his bed. and I spoke to him through the camera in his room. It was hilarious. He didn’t know what to do or where it came from. When I went into the room, he was laying in his bed with the covers pulled up. He said – “its talking to me!” He was pointing at the camera like it was a monster! This could get fun!!

Pre-Thanksgiving Work Week

2011-11-23T22:53:00.001-06:00

I took off the week leading up to Thanksgiving this year and it was a much needed break from work and travel. I spent the first two days decorating the house for Christmas and doing a little early Christmas shopping for family. Monday night, I brought Jake home from school and showed him the tree. His response..”What is that, momma??” I explained it was a Christmas tree and that “Ho Ho” would put his surprises under the tree during Christmas. After that – he was sold! Then, he went around to every Santa I have in the house (and I have lots thanks to Nan and Papaw) and told him that he loved him and he wanted toys. This kid has it figured out already!

We also introduced the “big boy bed” to Jake this week. He slept in his new room, all by himself on Monday night. He did GREAT! I’m so glad, because I truly thought this would be a battle. He loved his crib and his old room, so I was really worried. So, with Jake all moved into the big boy room, I’m ready to start on the nursery. I, obviously, won’t have any furniture to buy, but plan to have it painted and some new things for the walls. I also plan to re-arrange the room, so it doesn’t look like Jake’s old room. I , for some reason, believe this will make him less likely to be jealous of baby brother ---- who still doesn’t have a name!

Wednesday, Jake and I went shopping. He tolerates the shopping, because he knows I always take him to “Chick and Play” (Chikfila) afterwards. Today, he suffered through the post office, a furniture store and hobby lobby before he said, “I done shopping. Where’s Chick and Play?” I agreed- he deserved a break!

Needless to say, its been a busy few days. I’ve been running lots of errands, re-organizing the house and (I suppose) doing a little nesting. The next two days will be strictly for eating, watching football and hanging out with family!

Kids say the funniest things…

2011-11-14T20:46:00.001-06:00

Everyone keeps telling me to write down all the funny things Jake says, and I can’t think of a better place than the blog! I really do plan to have it all printed and bound into a book someday….someday….

So, let’s see… I took Jake to Holiday House with me this weekend to do a little shopping. He was a TROOPER! Well, on the way out, he saw “Ho Ho,” (or Santa to other kids) and insisted we go look. Last year was a total bust in the Santa picture-opp world, so I wasn’t even planning on trying this year. Just a few weeks ago we saw Santa at Silver Dollar City when we were driving by and Jake ducked in the car. So, needless to say, I thought there was no way he’d talk to Santa at Holiday House. Well, to my surprise, he wanted to go see him. So, we strolled on over --- still thinking he’d back out. Nope. He couldn’t get out of that stroller fast enough to go see him. Of course, I had him dressed in sweats and he had pretzels all over him. He walked right up to Santa and told him all about Elmo. As soon as Santa bent over to pick him up, Jake threw up his best “back off” hand and said “No touch, Santa, No touch.” Then, Jake went right back to reading the book with Santa. Hilarious.

Jake is also a big fan of the B-I-B-L-E song lately. Only, in Jake’s version you scream “BIBLE” at the end at the top of your lungs. Of course, for those that don’t speak toddler, it just sounds like he’s screaming “Play Ball!” Again, hilarious!

Jake also tells me “good job, mom” all the time. If I fix Elmo, he says “good job, mom.” If I give him milk, “good job, mom.” He’s so supportive!

Greg was trying to talk to Jake about going potty the other night and Jake said, “cheer up, Daddy!” Hilarious.

He is truly an amazing child, and I am so grateful everyday that God is allowing me to be his mom. Life flies by , and I am trying to just enjoy every sweet moment with Jake! Soon, he’ll be a big brother and our lives will be even crazier!

The Talking Twos

2011-10-27T22:05:00.001-05:00

So they say that its the “terrible twos” and believe me, we’ve had glimpses of that. But, for the most part – keep your fingers crossed- Jake’s been a lot of fun. He talks NON-STOP. Dinner has become a lot of fun, because he’ll tell us about his day, talk about Elmo – his hero, and tell us everything he’s learned lately. For example, this week, after dinner, Jake begins to tell us that Mrs. Deborah and Mrs. Susan told him he was in trouble. These are the administrators at his school, so I knew if they got involved it must have really been trouble. Well, turns out – it was the day before, but I guess he felt he had to come clean! (By the way, it was biting…shocker!)

He is also learning sooooo much. Just today, he told me that a stop sign is an octagon! My mouth dropped! He knows triangles, circles, squares and rectangles as well. He knows his colors, all of his ABCs and recognizes most letters in the alphabet when he sees them. He can count to 13, but has difficulty actually “counting” objects. Anything after 2 is basically 10. And for some strange reason, he hates the number 6. He’ll usually just skip it and then say – "I no like 6.”

He is coming along with the potty. Thank goodness--- we’re on a timeline here. I would love to have him using the potty on a regular basis by the time his baby brother arrives. He gets “pennies” if he goes at home. That’s Jake code for M&Ms. At school, his reward is getting to wash his hands by himself. Yea, we’re a little more fun at home!

Its been a super busy month at the Veazey house, and we’re lining out to have an even busier holiday season. I’ve got lots of travel coming up and Greg is in full swing with his new job. Baby #2 (still no name) will be here the first week of February, so we’re closing in on that event pretty quickly. We’re currently in the “Big Boy Room Makeover” mode, so there should be pictures of that soon. I bought Jake a bunk bed and its currently in 20 pieces in the floor. We’ll wait on some help from Dadoo before we tackle that project.

So in the midst of all this work, we’ve had some fun too. We took a family trip to Branson for Jake’s official first vacation. We went to Silver Dollar City and stayed in a beautiful cabin. My parents joined us for the trip, and next year we’ll get to have Greg’s parents too. They were farming this year. We had a GREAT time. Jake absolutely loved the “half-dollar hollar” section for little ones and even rode a ride or two. Someone told us that the “Fire in the Hole” ride would be great for him, so we did it. ITS NOT FOR TWO YEAR OLDS. He didn’t cry, but as soon as we got off he said – “I no like.”

We also made a pass through the Arkansas State Fair this year. We took Jake to see the animals and even had our “fair” share of deep fried food! The deep fried Oreo was YUMMY!!!

Parties, Picnics and Papaws!

2011-09-24T23:02:00.001-05:00

The last couple of weeks have been wild around here. I’ve been gone for a week and leave again tomorrow for another few days. This pregnant woman is TIRED. Greg’s been holding down the fort at home and taking care of my sweet boy!

I arrived back in Cabot around midnight Friday night, and we’ve had a full and wonderful Saturday! Jake and I met Greg at the donut shop Saturday morning. Jake LOVES donuts and chocolate milk – a special treat he rarely gets. But, given that he has used the potty several times now and was good for Daddy all week, I thought it was a cause for celebration! Jake and I had to run to Wal-Mart and then we had a birthday party at 11. His buddy, Avery, from church turned 1, so we had to celebrate with her!

This afternoon, we had a Sunday school class picnic. Jake had so much fun on the playground and running around with all his friends. We have a great class and really enjoying spending time with friends and their kids.

On another note, Greg’s parents are going to retire from farming after this year. I am sure it is bittersweet, because its definitely been a way of life for many years! But, they have worked hard and have earned the opportunity to enjoy some time to themselves. Greg decided to take Jake out to the farm one afternoon this week and get some pictures. I’ll post a few here…

The Park and new boots!

2011-09-16T21:32:00.001-05:00

Just some cute pictures of my favorite 2 year old!

And we finally went potty…

2011-09-08T20:40:00.001-05:00

We’ve been sitting Jake on the potty at night for a while now. He’ll willingly sit there, but has NEVER actually done anything…well other than pull half a roll of toilet paper off the roll and flush it.

Well, this week he has actually GONE to the potty twice at school. On Wednesday, they sent home a note that said he had stayed dry for a two hour nap and then went to the potty afterwards – and DID SOMETHING! We were so proud! Well, today – Thursday – he did the same thing! So, we’re hoping this trend continues and becomes more of a regular thing. I’m not holding my breath for a fully potty-trained boy anytime soon, but it sure feels good to have progress. THANK HEAVEN for Pre-School teachers that work with them!

Last weekend, we took Jake to All Aboard in Little Rock. It’s a new restaurant that has a train system that brings you your food. Its VERY cute and Jake looooovvved it! So, while the food wasn’t anything life-changing, Jake’s excitement was! We’ll be back for sure.

In other news (what could compare to potty breakthroughs??), the Razorbacks are playing in Little Rock this weekend, and we’re headed that way! We went to Fayetteville last week and about suffered a heat stroke, so we’re looking forward to some cooler weather this go round. I love football season – and not just the ballgames. I love the weather, the Razorback small talk with strangers and friends alike and drive-time sports!

BOYS!!!

2011-09-01T20:35:00.001-05:00

Well, we were lucky enough to find out that we’re having ANOTHER BOY! I went to the doctor on Monday for some routine lab work and the sweet lab tech asked the ultrasound nurse to sneak me in! As soon as she placed the wand on my belly, I knew!

I’m thrilled Jake is going to have a little brother. Two boys, two years apart! My prayer is that they will be best friends!

No real other news, except a few funny Jake stories I want to record for my own memory.

Jake has been sleeping in, so on the days I can – I let him sleep until about 7:45. I just get him up, change his clothes and he eats cheerios in the car. Well, I walked in this morning to wake him up and he peaked out from behind the covers and said “Get out, Mom!” This boy likes his sleep!

Jake is still really into books. He LOVES to sit and read to himself, but this love affair with literature (I use that word lightly) has extended bedtime by a good 20 minutes. We finish a few books and then he wants to go get more!! My sweet boy….(soon to be boys!)

Books, Books and More Books!

2011-08-21T21:41:00.001-05:00

Jake LOVES books. He can sit in his room and “read” aloud to himself forever. Of course, he rarely lets me video him, so I only have a few quick videos.

Every night before bed, he’ll gather up at least five books that he wants to read and brings them to me. The last couple of nights, he’s wanted to sit next to me (not letting me hold him), and he wants to “read” them to me. Its super cute, but at the same time…sad! He’s getting so big! Hopefully, he’ll enjoy reading to his little brother or sister too.

Jake reading his Mickey book in his room

Reading at Dr. Laura’s office

Greg and I got to take a quick adult trip this month. Our good friends, Katy and Greg, got some free tickets to the Cardinals game, so they invited us to come up and join them. We ran into the Woodard’s and their crew, so we had a lot of fun. Thankfully, grandparents jumped in and kept little man for a long weekend. We haven’t taken a vacation this year, so these little short trips have been nice. Hopefully, we’ll get a few more in during Razorback season and before #2 arrives!

Our family had a very busy Saturday this weekend. I went to Tammy’s (Greg’s sister) baby shower on Saturday morning in West Little Rock. Tammy is expecting her second son in September, so I am sure our little ones will grow up being best friends! In fact, Greg’s cousin, Amanda, is having her third shortly after, so the Veazey Christmas crowd just got larger by 3!

While I was at the shower, Greg and Jake cleaned out the garage. As soon as I got home, Jake got up from his nap and we headed back to Little Rock. We took Jake to the splash park down town. He wasn’t that thrilled with the water, but I think its partly due to the fact that there was a pretty big crowd of bigger kids there. It was also 150 degrees outside and we were all sweating to death. Afterwards, we went to Kohl’s and Chili’s to eat. Long day – but fun day!

A few new things Jake is doing…

Counting! He doesn’t always get it right, but he loves to count things now.

Singing the Seasame Street Song! Very cute!

Why teachers are special…

2011-08-05T20:50:00.001-05:00

As previously mentioned, Jake’s End of the Year party was today. He officially still has one more week of this class, but we celebrated a wonderful first year of preschool today.

Jake started to Faith Baptist Academy when he was 13 months old. The first month of so was a little rough – for both of us. But, as we grew more comfortable with FBA, things got much easier. NOW, a year later, I have to say – I love it. The teachers there are patient, kind, Christian women. They love these children deeply and they want nothing but the best for them. Jake has had Mrs. Dodi this year and she has been such a blessing. Now, when we pull up to school in the morning, he says “I want to see Dodi.” Its soooo sweet! Being a teacher is a tough job. It takes limitless energy, patience and a selfless heart. (Much like being a mother). I have lots of friends who are teachers, and I so appreciate what they do everyday.

The party today was a lot of fun. The kids all got little diplomas and even enjoyed some pizza and cake. Jake and his “girlfriend” Jolee played so hard during the party that they both crashed for naps right afterwards! Jolee has an older brother so she plays hard and is rough…which, turns out – is a good thing. Jake isn’t exactly light-handed! ha!

Here are some pictures of the big day. They are taken with my phone, so the quality isn’t that great. It was a WILD morning for us, and I just ran off and forgot the camera.

CAKE!!! The twins – Callen and Cora

A not happy Kennedy! Jake and Jolee rough housing

Mrs. Dodi, Jake and Chelsea

LONG Summer

2011-08-04T20:21:00.001-05:00

I’ve mentioned on several posts that Greg has been out of town. He left on June 17 for training and has been home on the weekends several times. Its been a LONG summer with him gone. BUT – he comes home tomorrow night – FOR GOOD!!!

I’m so thankful he found a new job that he is really excited about, so I hate to complain too much about the training. Plus, Jake has been such a great kid and, more importantly, a good sleeper!

So, while we’re wrapping up this change, Jake is staring down the barrel at another big change. He graduates to the 2 year old room in about 6 days at school. Jake LOVES his teacher, Mrs. Dodi. In fact, as soon as we pull up to the school, he starts saying “hi, Dodi!” The saving grace is that all his little buddies are going to the new room with him. We have his “End of Year” party tomorrow, so hopefully I’ll have some pictures to post. I am going to miss her as much as Jake is!

Post pics soon….

2nd Birthday Bash

2011-07-31T22:43:00.001-05:00

Jake had his 2nd birthday party this Saturday and we HAD A BLAST! It was a Mickey Mouse theme and all the mousekateers had a good time. This Mouseka-Momma is WORN OUT!

We started off the weekend on Friday afternoon when Greg got in from Omaha. Greg and I gave Jake his gift from us --- a John Deere gator! He LOVED it…as any little boy would!

About an hour later, my parents and Hunter arrived to help us celebrate. We had a little birthday celebration at home Friday night, including some pizza and cake! This was Jake’s first experience with candles, and in my Mommy mind, I thought --- we’ll practice for the big party! Well, turns out, telling Jake to get real close and blow out the candles might have been a bad idea. Somehow he got TOO CLOSE and burnt his little nose hairs. Poor guy! Here are the play-by-play pics!

The birthday celebration started around 10 am on Saturday; and once again, I was reminded of how blessed we are. So many friends and family showed up to help Jake celebrate his 2nd birthday. I tried to capture everyone on film, but just wasn’t able to get everyone. We had the party at church at the Family Life Center, and turns out – it was a great location. Plenty of room, lots of toys and happy kiddos! Thank you to all our friends, family and loved ones who spent their Saturday morning with our sweet boy! What a great feeling….

Happy 2nd Birthday, Jake! We love you more each day!

All Grown Up… sniff, sniff

2011-07-27T20:00:00.001-05:00

Jake is two! I really can’t believe it. People told me when I was pregnant with Jake that time would fly by once I had children. Honestly, that didn’t make that much sense to me, but it is OH SO TRUE! The last two years have been the most wonderful in my life. Jake is so full of energy and he discovers something new everyday. Part of having a two year old is learning to appreciate even the smallest wonders!

I wanted to do a post to talk a little bit about what he’s like right now. It will be boring to most of you, but its mainly for my record keeping!

Jake is a whopping 32 pounds of precious. He has the thickest hair of any child I’ve ever met and could stand to get his hair cut every 3 weeks. Unfortunately, haircuts have become dramatic, and I just don’t have it in me to get it cut that often. He has a mouth FULL of teeth and thankfully, he’s quit using them so often on other children!

Jake, like most two year olds, learns something new everyday. In the last few weeks, he has started singing a lot. Among his favorites – “Jesus Loves Me,” “Row, Row, Row your Boat,” “ABCs” and “The wheels on the Bus.” He knows, recognizes and points out all his letters from A-I. He could probably learn more, but we just haven’t made it that far in teaching them. We’ll be in a drive thru and he’ll tell me all the letters he recognizes on the menu. He is learning his colors and knows yellow, green, red and blue pretty well. They tell me at daycare that he also knows purple, but I haven’t seen him do that yet. He LOVES to look at books and has started “reading” them out load to himself. Its funny, because his bedtime book he has memorized, so he actually gets some of that right!

His love affair with remotes from his first birthday has now translated to a love affair with Mickey Mouse and Elmo. We limit his time with both, but he LOOOOOVVVVVVVES them both so much! He calls Elmo – “Eemo.” He’ll come to me and say, “mommy – sesame street?” Only most the time it comes out – “mommy, see-street?” And let’s be honest- who can resist that?

He adores his grandparents. He’ll say , “call papaw?” He regularly asks me where Nana and Dadoo are and will sit and stare at pictures of his Nan and Papaw all the time.

We’ve started talking “potty” with Jake and he sits on the potty each night before bath time. I honestly don’t think he is aware of the sensation of having to go yet, so its really just practice sitting on the potty! Tonight, I said – “Jake, go pee pee!” Jake says, “It won’t go. It broke.” So Cute!

Jake is a great sleeper and goes to bed every night at 7:30. (Blessing number 9,945,565 God has given me). He is a pretty picky eater – but LOVES grilled cheese, yogurt, pizza and ravioli. He enjoys being outside and playing with other kids. All in all – you’re the best kid ever! (I’m not biased at all)

Happy Birthday, sweet boy! You’re going to be the best big brother in the world!

2 weeks 2 Years

Throwback!

2011-07-20T21:17:00.001-05:00

Greg’s mom found one of his old t-shirts, and I put it on Jake this week! SOOOOO CUTE! This is a 3T shirt – so, either its been washed in hot water OR kids are much bigger now!

Next up – the BIG 2nd birthday…..

An Abundance of Blessings

2011-07-13T20:24:00.001-05:00

Greg and I have been attending First Baptist Church in Cabot for about 2-1/2 years. We love the church and now Jake does too! We were lucky enough to find a Life Group (new fancy word for Sunday School class) that we adore and couldn’t be happier. BUT, the point of this post isn’t really to be a PR person for our church or the Aldridge Life Group. The point is to share the ABUNDANCE of blessings God has given our class….all blessings that come in about a 7 pound, 6 oz size!

In the last 2-1/2 years of being in this class, 13 babies have been born! Yes, you read that right – 13 in 30 months! WOW! And that’s not the only children – several were born before we joined this class! PLUS- 3 are due in the coming year!!! Our class has been continually blessed with beautiful, healthy children from God and we couldn’t feel more blessed. Greg and I have been able to share this exciting time in our life with some of the sweetest, funniest and kindest people. A TRUE BLESSING.

…AND 3 COMING SOON!!!

“Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord, the fruit of the womb a reward.” Psalm 127:3

And Baby Makes 4!

2011-07-09T10:41:00.001-05:00

Yes! You guessed it – Jake is going to be a big brother! Greg and I found out we were expecting number 2 about 6 weeks ago. It was a surprise to both of us, but obviously – we couldn’t be more excited! I had actually gone to the doctor for a nasty cold, but Dr. Merrick wanted to do a quick pregnancy test before prescribing an antibiotic. It took me MONTHS to get pregnant with Jake, so I thought – “NO way.” Well, about 15 minutes later, he walked in and shook my hand. Wow. I came for an antibiotic and left with a baby!!! Looks like my due date is Feb 13, 2012, but I’ll have he or she a little earlier, because of it being my second c-section.

In other news, we’re busy planning Jake’s 2nd birthday party. I still can’t believe it, but he is going to be 2 in a few weeks. It really does seem like we were JUST watching him learn to walk. I remember the first time he took off across the living room. Thankfully, I was recording with my cell phone!!

Happy 4th of July!

2011-07-04T21:20:00.016-05:00

Well, we celebrated 2 things this weekend! First, and most obvious, our country's freedom. We certainly celebrate the freedoms we enjoy, but also the men and women who put their lives on the line to defend those freedoms. Since moving to Cabot, we've met many military families. ALL of which are incredible people with a heart for service...of all kinds. We're so lucky to be surrounded by people who inspire us to be better Americans, Christians and parents.

The second celebration was that GREG IS HOME! He's been gone for two weeks and got to take a break from training to come home for the holiday. Greg got home around 9 pm on Friday night and less than 12 hours later we were on the road to Hot Springs. We spent the next 3 days on the lake and enjoying the sunshine and our family. Jake is getting more comfortable with the water with each visit and this time even did a little pretend swimming. We had a great time and LOVED having Daddy home. He leaves tomorrow morning at 6:30 am for another two weeks. BOOOO...but the training is going great and he is loving his new job! And that, my friends, is worth the 7 weeks of "single-mom'n it."

Here are a few pics from this weekend...

Jake and I hanging out in the pool eating popsicles!
Momma's sweet boy!
I love this picture...look at Greg!
A little stop at Chickfila to play in the AC
This boy LOVES their playground. When we pull into the parking lot he starts screaming "PLAY!"
And they say Jake doesn't share!
He and Roxy are such great friends...well, actually, Roxy tolerates him and Jake LOVES her!
Jake and his daddy!
Jake and his Daddoo - Greg's dad

May and part of June!

2011-06-13T20:39:00.011-05:00

Its been a while since I've posted. Mainly because I just haven't had the time, but secondly - my blog was a little messed up and I had to be bailed out. :) Big thanks to "Distinctly Pink Designs" for fixing the blog and getting me all pretty!

The last few weeks have been filled with time at the lake, playing outside and new jobs! As a reminder, I took a new job as a manager and NOW Greg has a new job with Boston Scientific. Sadly, Greg leaves for training for 7 weeks, so Jake and I will have to hold down the fort here without him. I'm sure we'll spend lots of afternoons playing on the slide and with sidewalk chalk - Jake's favorites!

Jake's been a busy little guy lately- learning something new everyday. Lately, he's become a lot better at saying "please" and "thank you." Don't get me wrong - we still have to do the ole "what do you say??" parenting trick, but he's coming along. He's also ON THE MOVE all the time. He loves to run around outside, climb on his play gym and chase Roxy. He is soooo much fun and constantly amazes me at what he knows how to say and do!

He has a couple of "funny faces" that he does on a routine basis, but I can't get him to do them when I want to take a picture! I'm still working on that... He has a "flirty/bashful" look that just cracks me up. We here around the Veazey house call it "The Look." So cute!

He's turning 2 next month, and I just can't believe it. It feels like I JUST brought him home! We're still kicking around ideas for a birthday party, but I'm sure we'll come up with something fun...and of course, post pics later!

Jake's end of the year WeeCare program - he's the farmer in the middle!

One of Jake's silly faces!

Hanging out on the swing in the backyard!

Jake and his crazy Papaw!

Ravioli is definitely one of Jake's favorite foods right now! Messy, but GOOD!

Easter 2011

2011-04-24T21:01:00.016-05:00

And he said to them, "Do not be amazed; you are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who has been crucified. He has risen; He is not here; behold, here is the place where they laid Him. Mark 16:6

We had a wonderful Easter holiday. We love our church family and all their children. ALL THEIR CHILDREN. Ha!

Greg and I had nursery duty this Sunday and had 8 two year olds. FUN!!! We actually do enjoy keeping the nursery and playing with all the kids. I'm so grateful our church has such a big children's group, because I know Jake will grow up knowing so many friends from church!

After church, we went to Carlisle to spend the Easter holiday with Greg's family. We ate well (my mother-in-law is a GREAT cook) and played outside all day. Jake has some super sweet cousins who love him dearly! All this beautiful weather makes me ready to hit the lake this summer!

Cousin Caden giving Jake a ride on the tractor!

The hunt is on!!!

Gart, Morgan and Madison

Daddy and Jake on the four-wheeler

Caden teaching Jake how to play ball!

Mommy and Jake hunting for eggs

Four girls and the Big Apple!

2011-04-15T14:39:00.007-05:00

Because I haven't taken a "girls trip" in 10 years, because I have a wonderful husband, because I love to shop and dine out, or just because I was asked.... I WENT TO NYC!

Last week, I went to New York City with three other ladies for a long weekend get-a-way. It was AWESOME. We shopped, did some sight-seeing, ate at wonderful restaurants and went to the theatre. It was wonderful.

In January, my friend Helen said she wanted to go see New York. I, of course, was happy to oblige. I have been a couple of times before, but am always up for another short trip. I don't really enjoy NYC for longer than a few days -but a quick four day trip sounded perfect. And it was.

We ate at one of my favorite restaurants- NoBu- twice!!! They have two (well, 2-1/2) locations in NYC, so we visited them all. Literally. We also did some shopping - which, well - lets face it, is always a good time. I really enjoyed the time away and spending some quality time with some pretty terrific ladies.

Meanwhile, on the homefront - Greg (aka- dad of the year) was keeping Jake happy and occupied. They played outside, went to Nana's and even went out to eat. Of course, I was soooo excited to see them both when we got home. Unfortunately, Jake got pink eye at church that morning, so my first day home was spent at Children's Hospital's afterhours clinic. Oh, well! Parenthood 101- you take one small break and you WILL PAY! ha!

Here are a few pics of the trip! We've already decided that we'll have to go back in 3-5 years! I like to plan ahead!

Helen and I at Nobu - the first night!

Alyson and Audra the first night at Nobu. It was Audra's birthday! Alyson and Helen toasting to our trip!

We saw Elmo on the street, so I took this pic and sent it to Jake back home!

Alyson, me and Helen in the Central Park Zoo!

Alyson, Audra and me at Nobu the last night in NYC!

Helen and I at dinner in Little Italy!

Wednesday Loves

2011-04-13T22:29:00.005-05:00

So, I missed a Wednesday or two. I'm going to try the "Wednesday Loves" thing again... This Wednesday, I'm loving the song "East to West' by Casting Crowns. I like several of their songs and like all types of music. But for this week, I LOVE "East to West." http://youtu.be/s6zdihmwy1M Its been a really busy week for Greg and I, and Jake gets tubes on Friday! So, hopefully, we'll get some down time this weekend and REST. Hopefully, I'll be able to post some pictures from my NYC trip last week.

Just an update...

2011-04-03T20:43:00.001-05:00

Life has been a whirlwind here at the Veazey house the past couple of weeks. I'll hit the high (and low) points... One of the lows was a couple of weekends ago. Jake had to go to the Children's Hospital Saturday clinic, because he was sickly the night before and had fever. I'm so glad I took him, because he had two ear infections - NO GOOD! But, like the little champ that he is, he stuck it out long enough to go get a long, awaited hair cut after we left the doctor. We tried the cute, little place in Little Rock called Pigtails and Crewcuts. Jake loved the play area and the little airplane he got to sit in while they trimmed him up! BUT - the part he liked best --- Getting to blow bubbles while she worked! If you read our blog reguarly, you know my son is a FOOL about bubbles! We have found out since that Jake is getting tubes put in his ears on April 15. I'm praying this will make a difference! On the way out, we ran into our cousins, Brad, April and their son, Jack. So, we had lunch with them and the boys had a great time. Jake needed a nap, so we headed on home and - to be honest- he just kind of layed around the rest of the weekend. We had to miss Max McNulty's birthday party, and that made Jake and Mom very sad. In other news, I got a promotion at work. I am now a manager with Novartis in the south Arkansas area. I'm really excited about the change, but it is definitely going to be a lot of work. I'm headed to Chicago early this week and New York on Thursday. While that makes my job sound "oh so important," I have to be honest and say the NYC trip is actually a girls vacation! :) I'll be heading to NYC with my girlfriends -Helen, Alyson and Audra. I'm sure there will be a blog post later about that!

Greg went with some guys from church this weekend to the woods. They just did guy stuff- play cards, shoot guns, eat mudbugs. Nothing really excited to report- at least not to me, since I'm the one who writes the blog! :)

My parents came into town this weekend to hang out for a few days, and Jake just LOVED all the extra attention and new toys. He and Nan played with playdough, and he wore Papaw out with all the sliding outside. Jake just loves all his grandparents, and we couldn't be more blessed for it. Below are some pics of him playing in this beautiful weather we're having this weekend.

Wednesday Loves

2011-03-30T21:17:00.005-05:00

Well, first let me say that I had every intention of doing a blog post between these two Wednesday Loves posts .... but it didn't happen! Starting this new job has kept me B.U.S.Y!! So, here's what I am loving this week. (Anyone who has talked to me about something other than work has heard me talking about this!) The Deep Covered Baker by Pampered Chef

I went to a Pampered Chef part about two months ago and decided to give this magical baker a try! You can use it in the microwave and cook just about anything in 15 minutes or less. I was skeptical at first - I mean, chicken in the microwave....gross. But, it is actually delicious. So far, I have made chicken enchiladas (sooo yummy), pork tenderloin, and a mexican cornbread dish. I used fresh ingredients and prep, cooking, eating and cleaning all took place in about an hour. CRAZY! I highly recommend the Deep Covered Baker!

But wait, there is MORE (I mean, this is already sounding like an infomerical - so why not just go all out). You can use this piece in the oven as well. Its not dishwasher safe and you can't use soap in it, but I hear the longer you have it - the better it works. Its stone on the inside, so everything you cook seasons it a bit more. Its a bit pricey at $85, but seriously - so worth it! If you do, in fact, decide to take the plunge, send me a message and I'll get you my recipes. Hopefully, I'll get off my bum and put some new Jake pictures up this weekend!

Wednesday Loves

2011-03-23T15:40:00.007-05:00

A friend of mine, who also blogs, found a great idea from a friend of hers... "Wednesday Loves." Its a quirkly little idea to blog on Wednesdays about what you "love." I have no intentions to do it every Wednesday, but thought it would be a cute idea to do every now and then!

This Wednesday Love for me...

BETH MOORE! I think her bible studies are soooo great. She is a fabulous southern woman with charm, wit and humor! I learn so much from her with every study I do and think she is just so cute! Right now, I'm doing a study called "A Woman's Heart" with my LifeGroup ladies and am really enjoying it.

If you haven't done a Beth Moore study, you should definitely check it out!

Beth Moore, Living Proof Ministries: http://www.lproof.org/

Wedding Bells for Hillary

2011-03-03T21:29:00.006-06:00

A good friend of mine from my college days got married last weekend in Missouri. Hillary's wedding was BEAUTIFUL, and she was a gorgeous bride. The icing on the cake was seeing all my other old roomies from college too. It was a reuniting of "the Big Blue House" (minus 1). "The Big Blue House" was just that....a big blue house. I, along with my four closest friends, lived in this house during college, and those days in that house are still some of my fondest memories from those days. Our "minus one" is Krystal, who now lives in Finland. For those readers unfamiliar with world geography - that's the NORTH POLE!

Anway, the wedding was so much fun and Hillary, Sarah, Katy and I got to hang out most of the day on Saturday. Fortunately, our husbands are friends too, so its always a good time when we're together.

Meanwhile, Jake was living it up with the grandparents in Marion. He loves them so much, and I am sure it has nothing to do with the fact they give into all his wants and let him eat chips and dip in the car! :)

Can you imagine the mess?

Just pictures...

2011-02-20T16:08:00.006-06:00

The weather has been wonderful, so I've been able to take lots of pictures of my little handsome devil!

A day of bubbles!

2011-02-13T14:12:00.006-06:00

Since it FINALLY warmed up a little outside, I broke out the bubbles for a little outdoor fun. Jake, in just the last week, has become a man obsessed with bubbles. He'll just walk around the house saying, "bubbles, bubbles, bubbles." So, cute! While it was snowing, or should I say - while we were under blizzard alert, I let him play with the bubbles in the guest bathtub. So, when I offered bubbles on Saturday, he immediately ran to the bathroom. Apparently, that's where the bubble action goes down. :)

He was more than pleased to come outside though, and the fresh air was good for the parents too!

These three pictures are funny to me. We had just started playing, and I ran inside to get the camera. Apparently, I was distracted in trying to catch the moment on film and missed the fact that Jake was trying to DRINK the bubbles! :)

Jake hasn't really grasped that he has to put his mouth NEXT TO THE STICK and blow.

One of Many Snow Days in 2011

2011-02-10T21:06:00.005-06:00

Snow, Snow and More Snow! We got about 8 inches in Cabot yesterday, so we HAD to get out and enjoy it today. Besides, one more day of being trapped in the house all day and all three of us would have gone nuts.

Greg, Jake and I bundled up and drove across town to Brad and April's house (our cousins). They have a handsome four year old, Jack, that my son adores! We had a blast playing in the snow and letting Uncle Brad pull us on the sled with his four-wheeler. I wasn't sure how Jake would do in the cold snow, but he loved it. No fussing at all!

Next year, we'll have another little bundle of joy to play in the snow with! April and Brad are welcoming Ben to the family this summer!

First Golf Lesson

2011-01-31T21:16:00.007-06:00

Jake got the cutest little golf set for Christmas, so we decided to have our first lesson tonight. Of course, it was too cold to go outside and test it out - so we opted for a little indoor golfing!

After we got bored with golf (about 20 seconds later), we decided to ride our truck!

"Jake, how old are you??"

"Jake, show me your belly!!"

Just another fun-filled Monday night at The Veazey's!

18 months and counting

2011-01-26T21:22:00.007-06:00

Jake will be 18 months old on Friday, so I thought I would do a quick "just for my record keeping" post!

Jake, you are a complete joy! You are learning something new every day and love, love, love to run and play. Here are a few of the cute and funny things you are doing these days...

*You call the Hogs with us all the time now and look so, super cute doing it!

*You know how to identify your head, nose, ears, mouth, belly, elbow, knees, foot and toes. I can teach you a new one in no time and you love learning!

*You love to "gallop!" Your Dadoo taught you this and you do it all the time.

*You sign "more," "please," and "all done" everyday - I need to teach you more, I just haven't gotten around to it.

*You prefer to be ON THE MOVE all the time! You are all boy in that regard. I try to sit you down to read a book,etc- and it lasts all of about five seconds.

*You LOVE to see babies and then say "Baaaby" 1,000 times! You will also say, "Bye Bye Baaaaby!"

I could go on and on, because - frankly, everything you do is precious. You're still a great sleeper and love your teachers. You're becoming a picky eater, but I guess that is the norm for toddlers.

We love you sweet baby and can't wait to see what the future holds!

Kicking off 2011

2011-01-04T20:58:00.016-06:00

Well, for us, 2011 if off and running. New Year's Day, I cooked dinner for Greg's parents and sister's family. I made homemade spaghetti and the MOST DELICIOUS BREAD! Its a Pioneer Woman recipe (so, of course, its yummy) called Olive Cheese Bread. http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2007/06/olive_cheese_br/

Obviously, the obligatory new years diet started AFTER this meal!

Greg left on Monday for the Sugar Bowl and I went back to work. Jake is back in the groove of day care and has officially given up the Paci during the day! Woo Hoo! We're still taking the paci at night and naps, but hey - baby steps, huh?

Sugar Bowl 2011 - Hogs lost to Ohio State, but I'm still excited they went!

I leave next week for Las Vegas. I have a week long meeting, and while some people think its exciting to go to Vegas for a week, I think its a terrible idea. Don't get me wrong - I wouldn't mind going for a few days with friends, but five days of Vegas with 1,000 co-workers isn't a blast. Especially since we spend 12 hours a day in a conferenc rooms. BUT - I do have a job and I'm grateful for that.

We're expecting some snow in the next few days, which will be fun. If it does snow, I hope it sticks around long enough for Jake to play in it - and possibly delay my flight to Vegas a day! :)

This part is mainly for my "record keeping" on Jake...

Jake is "talking" more and more everyday and his favorite word - BY FAR- is "uh oh." He sounds absolutely precious when he says it, but then again - I am his mother. He also sounds super cute when he says, "baby" (it actually sounds more like babieeeee) . He LOVES to play with his Mickey Mouse music books and will say EAT really loud when he is hungry. He is doing really good at daycare, but still falls apart EVERY morning when I leave. I am hoping he grows out of that pretty soon.

At 17 months old, he knows how to unlock my iPhone, click on YouTube and start a Mickey Mouse video. He can even adjust the sound. CRAZY. His deep affection for remote controls has been lost and he know has a love affair with cell phones.

As stated earlier, he is now daytime paci-free, but still takes it at night. It was actually a pretty painless transition- thank you, Mrs. Dottie (preschool teacher). I love this child with all my heart and cannot believe he is already 17 months old. Time flies!

Christmas 2010

2010-12-28T21:18:00.016-06:00

This year's Christmas was wonderful! Having Jake running around and enjoying all his toys, cousins and family made this Christmas season that much more special. We made all the rounds at my family and Greg's and had a blast doing it. Jake and I were sick most of the holiday, but we suffered through and masked our sickness with turkey and chocolate! :)

I'll let the pictures do the talking...

Christmas Eve Morning - this is when we did "our christmas" at home and Jake opened his Santa gifts! He got a really cool 4-wheeler, but all my memories of that are caught on video! Let's just say he has the "going" down-pat, but needs some work on the "steering!"

Jake's cousin, Caden, showing his skills on his guitar!

Jake's cousins, Morgan and Madison

Christmas Eve Morning, we had breakfast at Greg's parents house with his sisters and their families. Jake got the long-awaited Dance Star Mickey. I think the look on his face says it all!

Jake and Daddo waiting on the presents!

Christmas Eve night, we went to church with my parents and then opened gifts with my brother and his family, my grandmother and my Uncle Mike and his family. Jake had a great time.

Christmas Morning! We did Jake's Santa at my parent's house and turns out - his favorite thing was the Teddy Grahams! :)

We went to my brother's house for a little Christmas morning fun...apparently, too much fun for my dad!

My brother, Kevin, and nephew, Hunter

Kevin playing with Jake! That's the hat I got for my nephew for Christmas....he looks like quite the stud in it! :)

Ashton, my niece, and Jake

The Sunday after Christmas, we had Greg's extended family over at our house. As you can see, there are several cousins on this side of the family that are close to Jake's age! He had so much fun playing with them and dragging out EVERY TOY in the house!

A Louisiana Christmas

2010-12-19T15:33:00.011-06:00

Like everyone else, we do a lot of driving during the holiday season. This year, we celebrated the Spence Christmas (my father's side of the family) in Monroe, Louisiana. My cousin, Brian, and his family hosted. They have four beautiful children and, obviously, a house full of toys. SO - Jake was in heaven. The trip down there was LONG, but Jake was so happy the entire time. He only slept 20 minutes of the trip, which really suprised me.

We got to do a little shopping and went out to eat with my parents, brother and nephew. Jake spent his first night in a hotel and then we celebrated Christmas the next day. All in all, it was a great trip, and I couldn't be prouder of the way Jake behaved!

Unfortunately, it was two days in a row with no nap, so he's out of wack there. But, we had a great time and are so glad we went. Its great to get together with so much family and remember all the good times we've had. Its also crazy to see that all of the cousins, who were once the "children", now have children! We've all been very blessed to have had such wonderful, healthy year!

Here are few pictures from our trip. More pics to come after Christmas! Merry Christmas to all!!!

My cute parents!

Pappaw and Jake

My dad and his three brothers

All the kiddos!

L-R: Maggie, Johnathan, Madison, Kate, Hunter, Jake and Brody

Dale and Uncle Ronny

My brother and sweet little Maggie

The boys playing Wii

The Holiday Season is Here!

2010-12-07T20:11:00.012-06:00

No excuses! Its been FOREVER since I've updated the blog. So, I'll do my best to recap!

We had a GREAT Thanksgiving holiday and got to make all the rounds - Marion, Carlisle, & the Razorback game. Thankfully, the Razorbacks had a big win and the entire weekend ended with a bang!

Jake has been busy getting ready for all his Christmas programs! He is in a program this week at church and is one next week at daycare. CRAZY! I can't wait to see how they get him to be still and participate in a Christmas program. So cute!

Greg and I had a little weekend get-a-way in Los Angeles last weekend. Greg had to go for work, so I decided to tag along. I got to do some shopping, eat a couple of really good meals, catch a movie and even get a facial. Kinda nice, huh?!?!

We're so excited about Christmas this year and watching our little man get all his gifts, see his cousins and just enjoy the excitement of the holidays. Jake is just so much fun right now. Last night, Greg and I took him to Wal-Mart and then to eat pizza. Jake was a hoot the entire time. He belly laughs at everything and is SUCH A FLIRT! This is such a fun age.

In work related news, my company had to let go of about 1100 reps last week. I had no idea whether I would have a job on Friday or not, but turns out - I do. I guess God's plan is for me to "sell drugs" a little longer. However, lots of GREAT people got let go, and I'm still upset about that.

Here are some pics from the last few weeks.... (Lauren Lea Photography took most of them)

Jake and his cousin, Jack. I LOVE this picture and the next. These two always have so much fun together.

This is how Jake carries his sippy cup around the house! We like to pretend he's going to soon replace that sippy with a football!

CAUGHT RED-HANDED playing in Roxy's water bowl!

Museum of Discovery

2010-11-13T21:48:00.005-06:00

This morning, Greg's cousin, April, and I took our boys to The Museum of Discovery in Little Rock. Jack - April's son - is four and adores Jake. The two of them really enjoyed running all of the place and climbing on everything. We had a great time and even got to enjoy lunch at Jason's Deli on the way back home.

Greg spent the day in the deer woods trying to track down the infamous big buck I hear about every year. No luck this time, but I'm sure he'll bring us home some deer meat soon!

Hope everyone had a great week!

Pumpkin Patch Fun!

2010-10-29T22:05:00.004-05:00

We took Jake to a local pumpkin patch after work on Friday. He had so much fun playing in the dirt and choosing his pumpkin! Enjoy the pics and this cooler weather...

Jake's First Razorback Game

2010-10-23T21:34:00.006-05:00

Today, we took Jake to his first Razorback game in Fayetteville. I'll be honest; I thought it was a TERRIBLE idea. I just knew he would throw a fit to get down and walk around. I thought for sure he would pull the lady's hair out that sits in front of us. I was certain that he would scream when we made him sit in our laps the entire time. I WAS SO WRONG!

We arrived late and didn't have time to do any tailgating, but our good friends, Grant and Paula, waited on us at the tailgate before going in. We were able to leave the stroller in the car and head to the game. Jake was soooooo sleepy at this point. No morning nap. So, we got in, got seated and the Hogs had taken the field. Jake did a little lookin' around and checking things out, and by the middle of the first quarter he was OUT. I held him while he slept - which was until halftime. Then, he woke up just in time to see the band play and watch a little bit of the 3rd quarter.

The announcer notified the crowd that lightning, hail and rain were about 15 minutes out, so we took off. Greg headed to the car with Jake via shuttle, while I ran to the tailgate to get the stroller. By the time I had the stroller, the shuttles were gone. So, I had to book it on foot to the car. Sadly, I didn't make it before the bottom fell out. I was running along side of the road with a stroller in the pouring rain. SO, picture it - I'm pushing a stroller down the road in POURING RAIN by myself. YOU WOULD THINK that some descent people would stop and offer a ride to someone pushing a stroller (granted I didn't have a baby in there- but they didn't know that -the canopy was up on the stroller). I'm VERY disappointed in my fellow Razorback fans.

Regardless of the abrupt ending to our game, Jake had a great time and was a complete angel.

Go Hogs Go!

Razorbacks 38

Rebel Black Bears 24

Fall, Football and Babies

2010-10-03T22:00:00.013-05:00

So, its been a while since I posted anything and we've quickly gone from summer to fall ...and well, back to summer. We were really enjoying the cooler weather and letting Jake play outside every afternoon. He's walking/trying to run all over the place and LOVES the outdoors. He'll even go to the front door and wait on someone to let him out. Of course, our Golden - Roxy, LOVES that about Jake! But, sadly, its warmed back up and we're hitting the high 80s and low 90s during the day. I'm keeping my fingers crossed it cools off by Halloween, so Jake can enjoy his SUPER cute costume!

Greg and I have been so busy lately, so I haven't had much time to blog. We've been traveling a lot, going to Razorback games, ASU Homecoming, Family Reunions, etc. WHEW--I'm exhausted. Last weekend, we went to ASU Homecoming and had so much fun. Our good friends, Jared and Lindsey Woodard, host a great party every year and a fantastic tailgate. They put so much effort into everything, and we are so grateful. Its so great to see everyone again. This year, Katy (college roommate and still a dear friend) and I decided to go see our Sorority Suite for ole times sake! It REALLY took me back! Walking back in that dorm was a real trip...we had so much fun rehashing our old stories.

So, all this talk about ME being busy-- to be honest, I've got nothing on a few of my friends bringing home their second children this month. We have a wonderful Sunday School Class and church family. Ironically, several of the ladies at church are having babies at the same time. Congratulations to Kristin, Erika, Sabrina, Amanda, and Kari. ALL are having or had their second babies. ALL have been healthy and happy. We're so grateful to God for blessing our friends with sweet, healthy babies and are praying Erika's little one is just as healthy and just as happy! (Arriving TOMORROW!)

We've got a busy couple of months ahead of us, so I'm going to try to do better at updating the blog as things happen.... until then, here are some cute pictures of my little sweet pea and other adventures!

A few pictures from our Church Picnic...

Jake's Artwork from School...proudly displayed on our 'fridge! :)

I just think this picture is cute! Jake's wearing a little vest his Pappaw bought him!

AND....a picture of his SECOND haircut!

Jake's been walking for a while now, but this is a video of his first day on the move!

Soaking up the Sun

2010-08-22T16:51:00.009-05:00

Right after Jake's birthday, Greg and I got to go to Hawaii for a week! Greg won a trip with his company, so it was an adults only trip...sorry, Jake! We'll take you someday (when you're 16 and can handle the 8 hour flight!)

The trip - from start to finish was so nice. Well, except the first few hours! We boarded the plan in Dallas to make the 8 hour trek to Maui and realized we were sitting next to the most high maintance woman EVER. I mean, I realize I am not exactly "low maintaince," but wait until you hear this! This lady and her two daughters sat down in their seats and noticed one of them had a "damp" seat. The water bottle the flight attendant left for her as a courtesy had leaked. It was by NO means WET - only damp. He offered to get her a blanket to sit on until it dried. She freaked! She wanted an ENTIRELY new seat! I mean - they tore it down to the metal frame. SOOO...we took off 90 minutes late. Thank you, Mrs. Diva.

Other than that, the trip was WONDERFUL! We thoroughly enjoyed Maui's incredible weather and views. Probably the most adventerous thing we did was paragliding. WOW! We traveled up to the top of a mountain and tandum jumped with a "pro." We glided down to safety - all the while traveling about 200 feet above the ground. It sounds scary - but it wasn't. I'd do it again in a heartbeat and might even let the "pro" do some tricks on the trip down. This time I asked that he just take it easy! :)

View from the helicopter ride...can't get the pic to turn around! :)

Another view from the air! This was a waterfall in Maui's rainforest.

View from the hotel lobby. Again, I'm not smart enough or patient enough to get this picture to turn!

Since we've been back, we've been on the go! This weekend, we took my family to the lake for some skiing, tubing and swimming. We had a blast! I think Ashton and Hunter (my niece and nephew) had a great time.

The 30th birthday cake my brother and sister-in-law made for me. They are so talented!
Kevin, my brother, and his son, Hunter, enjoying the boat!

In other news, Jake starts WeeCare at church in a few weeks. Its hard to believe he's old enough to go to "school!" He'll be there 2 mornings a week. Its a nice break for Nana and eases him into the "school" scenario! I'm really looking forward to seeing how he develops this year! At WeeCare orientation, poor little Jake bit a child and the teacher! Then, he whopped another kid in the head. We're hoping they don't kick him out in the first week! :) I'll post more on this later!

While Jake is growing up, so is Mommy! ha! I turned 30 last week! ahhhhhh....the BIG 3-0! To celebrate the big day, we went to WeeCare orienation! ha! Things change when you're a parent I suppose...no elegant birthday dinners anymore! haha But, Greg and I did go to the lake on Saturday with some friends (Tabitha and Kelly) and enjoyed some kid-free lake time! Greg also sprang for some spa treatments for Tabitha and I. NICE!

Until next time....

Birthday Celebrations

2010-08-02T21:48:00.010-05:00

We celebrated Jake's first birthday twice - once, the day of and then the Saturday following with all the family and friends. Here are some pics! Enjoy!

My big guy playing at Wonder Place on his birthday!

AND THE BIG PARTY....

This little sign asked people to write down what they thought Jake would be when he grew up! I put all the note cards in his time capsule. The plate is a "Happy Birthday Jake" plate I had everyone sign when they came to see him in the hospital when he was born! :)

Greg calls this my shrine to Jake! I had a picture of each of his 12 months (including one from the day he was born!) He has grown so quickly - this project was a lot of fun for me!
His car he got from Mom and Dad! He LOVES it!

Jake with Morgan and Will. They were our neighbors for the last year, but have moved. We're hoping they come back very soon!

Brylie - Jake's cousin!

Aunt Angie (Aunt G), Morgan and Brylie

One Year Old Already!!!

2010-07-28T22:22:00.004-05:00

Well, Jake is ONE! This year has been the best of my life and the fastest of my life. Time has flown by. I woke up early this morning and laid in bed thinking about last year at this time. We got up REALLY early and were at the hospital for my c-section at 5 am. Greg was excited and nervous. All I kept thinking was - GET HIM OUT! :)

All joking aside, this has been a wonderful year. Jake is precious and a great baby. We are so blessed!

So, Jake - what are you like at 12 months old?

Well, you are 25 pounds, have a head full of hair and a very sincere smile. You are cruising along furniture, walls and anything else that keeps you steady, but you haven't ventured out yet on your own to truly "walk." But, you crawl so fast that you can be out of my site in an instant.

You have a real love affair with remote controls and cell phones. We've tried to buy you play remotes and phones, but you can sniff out a fake immediately. You grab remotes and look around the room for the TV. Once you've spotted it, you hold the remote up and start pushing buttons. If it doesn't change the channel - you push harder and grunt! :)

We're working on weaning you from the bottle and switching to whole milk. You, however, are protesting the idea of having milk (not water) in your sippy cup. Its going to be a battle.

You are finally allowing us to just lay you down in the crib awake at night - which, ironically, I'm sad about. I miss rocking you to sleep, but I know this is best in the long run. I can only imagine how people would talk if I were rocking you to sleep when you're 12. :)

You laugh all the time and love to have yelling matches with Mommy. We have the best time in the car together - you squeel, I squeel. You laugh. I laugh. You grunt. I grunt. It goes on the entire drive home.

Your favorite food is probably grilled cheese sandwiches - especially the ones from Sonic. This works out nicely for Mommy, since I have a slight addiction to Sonic Diet Dr. Peppers. :)

Jake, we love you dearly. You are the best thing that has ever happened to us, and I can't wait to watch you grow up. I pray daily that God will help me learn to be the kind of Mommy He wants me to be and that you are someday proud of me.

Pictures of the big 1st birthday party to come!

First Birthday Present

2010-07-25T21:08:00.007-05:00

Jake's first birthday is in three days! Wow! Time has flown by!! Greg and I decided to buy him a swing set for his birthday...I know...isn't that a big much for a 1 year old? Yes, it is. But, we really wanted Jake to have an infant swing, so we just decided to go all out. Haven't you ever heard that first time parents always over-do it? :)

We bought this swing set MONTHS ago, but we've been way to busy to put it together. So, Greg spent almost every night last week working with his dad on this swing set and had his dad and Jon (buddy from church) over Saturday morning to finish it up. It looks GREAT!

Tonight after church, we showed it to Jake. He had fun swinging and trying out the slide with Mommy's help!

Sweet Potatoes!

2010-07-24T21:21:00.003-05:00

Jake had some really good sweet potatoes tonight at Copeland's in Little Rock. However, the restaurant is pretty dark and we didn't realize he was COVERED in them until we got to the car. This picture really doesn't do it justice. He had them caked in his hair, all over his clothes and even on his toes!

Being grateful!

2010-07-15T21:32:00.011-05:00

The last few weeks have been kind of crazy around here. I'll start with a few weeks ago. I was in Searcy working and was hit by a car!! I was walking in a parking lot and someone backed over me. The crazy part - they just drove off! Thankfully, I was fine - well, I was pretty mad, but not hurt. I also had an MRI done on my head the same day and found out I have a cyst in my sinus cavity. You might initially think this is bad news, but considering we thought it was a tumor or aneurysm, I was pretty pleased with the cyst.

Jake got to see his cousin Jackson a few weeks ago too. Jackson is a little younger than Jake and lives in Louisiana, so they don't get to see each other much. Here are a few cute pics Jackon's mom, Amanda, took during their play date!

We had a great 4th of July at Lake Hamilton. More importantly, Jake slept through the fireworks - yeah!!! He seems to be in love with the boat, but not so keen on the water. We're working on that!

We spent the Monday we were off working around the house. In fact, I got up extra early and did some landscaping work. All was going well, until I cut into a wasp nest and was stung on the stomach. Seems I am pretty allergic to wasp stings seeing as my stomach immediated swelled up and turned red. I spent the next week looking like I was 3 months pregnant. :)

My nephew, Hunter, celebrated his 10th birthday at Autozone Park in Memphis at a Redbirds game. We drove in for the party and had a great time. It was super hot and past Jake's bedtime, but he was a real trooper!

This week, the craziness continued. I was driving home from Searcy on Monday and had a terrible car accident. I won't go into all the details, but I will say - God is GOOD! I could have easily been paralyzed or killed. BUT, I walked away unharmed. Either the impact of the crash or the airbag knocked me unconscious. The first thing I remember was a man saying, "Mam, are you alive? Are you awake? Can you hear me?" I looked over and an older man with long, gray hair in a pony tail was trying to pull my window back. He was able to pull me out of the vehicle. Shortly after, it caught fire. This man sat by my side and held my hand until the EMTs arrived. Then, he told me goodbye and left. I know guardian angels do exist, and I believe I met mine on Monday. God truly saved my life and allowed Jake to have a mommy! I am sooooo grateful to a Lord who saves!

Big Boy Haircut

2010-07-02T21:36:00.014-05:00

Despite my desire to keep Jake's baby curls forever, it was time to get a trim! Jake had been called a "cute little girl" on more than one occassion, and it was starting to wear on Greg! So we took him for his first hair cut this afternoon. Jake did GREAT! He was smiling ear to ear for most of the hair cut and LOVED all the women in the salon flirting with him.

BEFORE THE CUT....

FIRST HAIRCUT...

Wonder Place

2010-06-19T21:19:00.012-05:00

Greg and I decided to skip the lake this weekend and just hang out around the house. So, we planned to go to Little Rock on Saturday and do a little shopping. Well, first - Jake slept until 9:50 am! (we woke him up -- no telling how long he would have slept!)

At the last minute, we decided to check out The Wonder Place. My friend, Tabitha, had given it rave reviews. Well - Jake LOVED it! He was climbing on everything and making new friends. Of course, as I have mentioned in other blog entries, Jake is socially agressive! He likes to just crawl right up and put his hands all over other babies--mostly their faces! I have to stick pretty close so that I can pry him off them when they start screaming! :)

Here are a few pics of our little guy having a blast at his new favorite spot! The first few are of Jake playing with a new friend. When we first arrived there were three ladies there with their kids. One was a little girl 2 months older than Jake -- but you can see here, Jake is twice her size! She was a little, petite asian baby!

Here is their first meeting. This is before Jake squeeled with delight and scared her to death!

Here's Jake flirting with all the women....he LOVES being the center of attention!

She's warming up to him here...but at a safe distance! :)

So, these pictures are in reverse order...but you'll see they show him climbing through a little hole in the play area. He was so proud of himself for getting through it!

Right before we left, Jake made another friend. This little boy is just days younger than Jake! They hit it off pretty good....see below!

We had a wonderful Saturday....hope you did too!

Oh, the blessings He brings!

2010-06-14T20:55:00.002-05:00

Last year at this time, right before I gave birth to Jake, I felt so blessed. I knew motherhood would be wonderful. Now, a year later, I realize just how blessed I am! Jake makes everyday better than the last! God has truly blessed us beyond measure! Praise Him!

Memorial Day Lake Fun!

2010-05-30T21:54:00.005-05:00

Hopefully everyone enjoyed the long weekend as much as we did! Friday night, we had a cookout at home with our neighbors. Greg grilled up some good burgers and my neighbor, Stephanie, made an awesome dessert! Saturday morning, Greg and I took Jake to Riverfest to see his nieces, Morgan and Madison, dance. These girls are incredible dancers and always impress me! After Riverfest, we went to Hot Springs and hit the lake!

Jake slept for a while on the boat and spent about 15 minutes in the water. He liked it okay, but definitely wasn't crazy about it! Sunday, we spent most the day at the pool. Jake was still a little hesitant, but by the end of the day he was loving it! I'll admit - I had about 18 layers of sunscreen on the little guy!

We left in a hurry Sunday around 6 p.m. We were trying to get home in time to get Jake in the bath and bed. So, as usual, when you're in a hurry - things always go wrong! About 30 minutes into our drive home, Jake had a MAJOR diaper blowout. #2 covered his carseat, clothes and legs! UGH! So, Greg and I had too pull over on the interstate and clean him off. We were OUT of baby wipes! So, we made do with beach towel, antibacterial wipes and bibs! The funny thing is...Greg and I were both stressed and grossed out - Jake, on the other hand, was laughing the entire time! I'm sure the cars passing by got a nice little chuckle out of the situation.

AHHH...home now and waching a movie! Fun, but very busy, few days!

Vacation, crawling and new teeth!

2010-05-25T22:06:00.024-05:00

Its been a while since I've posted anything new, so this will just be a "catch-all" post. First, Jake is crawling! He started crawling a few weeks ago, but I was too busy chasing him to blog about it! He's also started pulling up and even tried to stand from the crawling position a few times. CRAZY! I know its so wonderful that he's reaching these milestones, but its so sad too. He's growing up very quickly.

Speaking of growing up.... we had his 9 month check up (actually did it at 10 months). He was 23 pounds, 8 ounces and 30 inches long (tall?). He is in the 90th percentile for height and weight. I'm guessing this assures his spot on the 2027 Razorback football team! :)

Jake also has a few new teeth! He now has both his front two top teeth, his two front bottom teeth and one eye tooth. He is quite the biter now!! Ouch!

Jake and his Pappaw Spence

In other news, Greg and I just got back from a wonderful trip to the Bahamas. We went with our good friends, Jared and Lindsey Woodard. It was so nice to just lay around and relax for a few days...but I missed Jake so badly! BUT - contrary to what I believed, he loved it and survived just fine. He got to spend some much needed quality time with both sets of grandparents and my brother and his family. We're so lucky to have such loving family close by to watch him when we need help or a break.

Our friends, Jared and Lindsey

First night on vacation

Eating at Twin Brothers in Nasseau. This is a place the locals call "The Fish Fry." Great food and local atmosphere! We had a blast!
Atlantis! We didn't stay here, but we visited for a day. This place is incredible! A casino, aquarium, water park, restaurants, dolphins, etc...all located at the resort! Wow!
Us enjoying our "Anniversary Dinner.' Both couples were celebrating an anniversary - us 5 years and the Woodards 2. So, Sandals prepared steak and lobster and a special anniversary cake! Greg and Jared set it all up as a suprise for Lindsey and I!

The view from our room - WOW!

This is me touching a starfish at the Atlantis aquarium.

So, for those of you who don't know Lindsey - she is a rock star by night and ad exec by day!

Since my last post, I also got to see an old college friend, Krystal, and her husband and son. I haven't seen Christian since he was born last year (a week before Jake), because Krystal and her family live in Finland...yes- the North Pole! Krystal was in the states for a few weeks visiting her family, so we got to meet up in Little Rock and let the little guys play!

Not the best quality picture (iPhone), but you can see Krystal and I with our sweet boys!

Wedding bells have also been ringing - our friends Alyson and Stuart got married last weekend. Greg went to high school with Stuart and was his fraternity brother in college. Alyson is a friend of mine from my early days in Little Rock. They have been together since Greg and I started dating, so this wedding was a long time coming! :) All joking aside- they are such a sweet couple and perfect for each other. It was a beautiful outdoor wedding right on the river in Memphis. We had a great time ....heat and all!

Alsyon and Stuart's engagement picture - done by Sarah Bussey. GREAT picture!

Greg, Jake and I are headed to the lake this weekend. Jake's first Memorial Day lake vacation! I'm sure the lake will be packed and crazy, but we're going to take the little guy out for a little while anyway! I'll post pics of that when I return.

Mother's Day

2010-05-09T18:02:00.006-05:00

Happy Mother's Day to all my friends and family! I hope everyone enjoyed the day and loved on their little ones!

Greg made breakfast for me this morning, and Jake and I ate in bed. So, our day started out GREAT. Then, we went to Sunday School (late because Jake thought he needed to eat us out of house and home before we left) and went to church with Greg's parents in Carlisle. We spent the afternoon in Carlisle and then headed to the Zoo. It was Jake's first Zoo outing. I can't tell if he had fun or not - he was really more interested in the people watching while we were there! :)

Happy Mother's Day!

What would a trip to the zoo be without a picture of a giant gorilla?

"Dad, what are those crazy monkeys doing??"

Sweet little boy

Playing with his cousin, Maddie

Morgan, Jake and Madison

So much to say...

2010-05-06T22:37:00.009-05:00

There is so much to say and catch up on, but there is NO time to say it all. So, here are the highlights.... Jake is 9 months old, happy, health and wonderful. He is such a little sweetie pie and is growing by leaps and bounds. He is such a little flirt and loves smiling at the ladies! (He obviously gets that from his daddy!)

Greg and I have been so busy. Greg closed out his fiscal year with Medtronic very strong. I'm so proud of how good he is at his job and how hard he works. I have been out of town alot, but he manages to be a great husband, daddy and salesman....all at the same time! I finished my management development program in March - a program I've been working on for 2-1/2 years! So, I was very excited! As soon as I finished, my Managing Director asked me to help manage a team in Shreveport, LA. Its a temporary gig and one that is giving me a GREAT experience. But, you can only imagine how hard it is to be gone so often and driving so much! YIKES!

We've been doing a little traveling in the middle of all of this, including a trip to Fayetteville for Jake's first Razorback baseball game. Its been wild here and keeps getting more and more interesting! BUT, we love it!

Here are some pics of the last month!

Jake with his Nan (my mom). He was one tired little boy this day!

Jake and his Pappaw in Marion.

LOVE this pic! 3 of my FAVORITE guys!

Jake's first Razorback game. He was such a trooper! He slept through an inning or two and cheered on the Hogs with us the rest of the game. Unfortunately, our cheers weren't enough to pull out a win against Auburn! :(

OHHH...I love this face!

Jake's First Easter

2010-04-04T20:46:00.006-05:00

Jake had a great first Easter! We went to Marion to celebrate with my family. Jake was spoiled rotten all weekend long! He got all kinds of gifts and goodies!! And I have to say -- he looked ADORABLE in his little Easter outfit!

Jake with my parents (his Nan and Pappaw)

My sweet, happy little boy!

Big boy with his sippy cup!

I hope everyone had a great Easter holiday and rejoiced in His resurrection!

Roxy's new friend

2010-03-21T13:40:00.005-05:00

Roxy, our golden, had a friend over this weekend! We kept Erika and Frank's golden (friends from church) this weekend and the two of them quickly became friends....so cute! Jake just loved watching them chase each other and play. Funny thing is...we knew Roxy was small and looks especially small when we have her shaved. BUT - we had no idea just how small. Lady is 90 pounds and dwarfs Roxy! BUT - size didn't matter to either dog - they played like they were a perfect match!

This was the best I could do...Roxy HATES cameras!

He was laughing like this because the dogs were chasing each other in his room!

Watching every move those two make!

Oh, now he reallly thinks they are funny!!! :)

Bananas

2010-03-17T20:52:00.007-05:00

We've been giving Jake baby food bananas for some time now...he loves them! Well, I went to Marion for a weekend to see my family and Jake got to try banana pudding! WOW - he LOVED IT! Seems his favorite dessert is also his pappaw's and his daddy's! :)

Here's a video of him eating his grown-up dessert! Notice how he reaches for the spoon and his mouth is already open!

Well, when we got back to Cabot, I decided I would buy him some real bananas. I thought--surely he'll love them! I have NEVER seen him look so disgusted. I guess its a texture thing. It was the worst face ever! ha!

In other news, I went to New Jersey last week for work. When I returned home, my husband had a black eye!! I wish I could tell you that he saved an old woman from being mugged, but it is just a basketball injury.

Jake with his Pappaw (my dad)

Hope you are enjoying this beautiful weather as much as we are! Have a great week!

Play Hard!!

2010-03-03T20:46:00.003-06:00

Just thought this was cute enough to share!

Social Butterfly

2010-02-27T21:24:00.000-06:00

Wow! Jake had a BIG day! Jake was invited to several birthday parties this weekend, but we were only able to make two of them. Jake had a blast! First, we went to Max McNulty's 2nd birthday party. Max's mom, Tabitha, is a friend of mine from Marion. She did an AWESOME job with her airplane theme.... airline tickets for invites, clouds hanging from the ceiling, airplane wings on Max's booster seat, airplane muffins...I mean...everything AIRPLANE! It was so cute. Jake was such a good little guy during the party, and the cutest part- everytime another kid got close to him, he squeeled with delight! Jake LOVES kids! He even gave Harper a kiss....so sweet! (see video at the end)

Max the birthday boy!

Jake and dad watching the kids play at Max's party.

After Max's party, we went to the mall to get Jake some new jeans. (Poor guy has outgrown EVERYTHING!) We also got him some swim trunks for this summer. We plan to spend LOTS of time on the lake! We hung out at the mall long enough to do a little shopping, feed jake lunch and eat some chick-fil-a! (my fav!)

Then, we headed to Cabot for Jack's birthday party. Jack is Jake's cousin. Greg and Jack's dad, Brad, are cousins. Jack had his party at the Cabot Fun Factory, which turns out...is a GREAT place for kid's birthday parties. They had a cute little play area for babies, so we- of course- let Jake check it out. All the bigger kids (big being 4) were enjoying the blow up jumpers, so I climbed up to the top of one with Jake and let him slide down with Mommy. I'm sure it looked ridiculous...a grown woman with a baby in tow climbing up with a bunch of 4 year olds. (see video at the bottom)

Playing hard in the baby section!

Jake and Jack

We finished the day off with a visit to our neighbors. Nathan and Stephanie got a new puppy - Cash. So, we took Jake over to check it out. Jake wasn't too impressed with the puppy, but he sure does love Nathan and Stephanie!

Hope everyone had a great weekend...we sure did!

7 months and counting

2010-02-17T22:03:00.000-06:00

I can hardly believe my "new baby" is now almost 7 months old! Jake is changing so much every day. The Friday before Valentine's Day, Jake started clapping. He isn't doing it all the time, but he likes to show out from time to time. He is still saying "Heeeyyyy," and it is so stinking cute!

As for all the other baby stats people ask...

*Jake sleeps through the night almost every night. He goes to bed at 7:30 and sleeps until about 7:00 a.m. We're LOVING THIS!

*He takes four bottles a day and eats baby food twice. We're trying new things all the time, but to be honest- he doesn't care for any of it! He'll eat whatever, but not much excites him! You'd think being the 20 pounder that he is, he'd love to eat. :)

*He sits up great and rolls around when he's on the floor playing. He has shown some interest in crawling. His little legs get going, but he just can't get up enough to get on the move. Trust me..I'm not rushing it! :)

*He favorite toy - the DJ Walker. Its a walker that looks like a DJ booth. He scoots all around the kitchen "jammin out!"

*Jake takes short naps in the morning and usually one long one in the afternon. I'm sure Nana loves that afternoon nap--- I do!

*Jake's temperment is WONDERFUL! Everyone who keeps him brags that he's such a good baby. I, on the other hand, wonder.... does this mean he will be a WILD 2 year old? :)

*Still sitting pretty with two teeth. He acts like he's getting more, but I dont' see any white poking through just yet.

*Bath time=FUN TIME! Jake loves to splash in the water and play with his ducks. I think he's going to be a great water baby!

Jake has his first social outing next weekend. We're invited to not one, not two, but THREE birthday parties on the same day! We are so excited about the parties and this new era in our lives. Jake loves being around other kids, and I know he's going to have so much fun next weekend!

Greg and I are both doing good. We're working alot and staying really busy. Greg's playing basketball at church and a, soon to start, city league. I'm looking forward to the city games, so Jake and I can go cheer Daddy on! Church ballgames start at 8 p.m., and well....we're in bed.

I'm going to New Jersey in March, so I'll be leaving the little guy again. NOT FUN. But, Greg is a great daddy and is in complete control. I'm a lucky gal!

Wild hair! Greg decided to put a little hair paste in Jake's hair! It was hillarious!

Bathtime!

2010-02-08T19:48:00.000-06:00

I left the house around 9 this morning and headed to Searcy. By the time I left Searcy -- around 12:30, all of central Arkansas was covered in snow! I slid my way back down 167 to Cabot and nearly ran off the road walking distance from my house. Two nice men, whom I do not know, got behind my car and pushed me back on my way! Needless to say...we stayed put the rest of the day! By 5 p.m, we had 8 inches of snow and are expected to get more.

I was scheduled to fly out to New Jersey tomorrow for work, but that doesn't look likely at this point. So, I enjoyed my snow afternoon and hung out with my two favorite guys!

Jake and I took a long nap on the couch, watched two movies, played in the floor, talked to Nan and Pappaw on the webcam and took a long bath! I've never posted any bathtime pics, so there are a few below!

Look at all that hair!!!

"Heeeyyyyy"

2010-02-05T17:21:00.000-06:00

So, I am saying that Jake has said his first word... its "heeyyyyy." When we say "Hey," he repeats it back. Now, he doesn't do it all the time, but he does it about 40% of the time. SO, I'm claiming it! :) Of course, when he says "momma," I might change my mind and say that was his first word!

He also knows his name! You can say, "Larry, Mike, Tom" and he doesn't look. You say, "Jake" and he looks right at you! He's a genius baby, I know! :)

Jake had his 6 month check up today and is doing great. He's 19.5 pounds and 26.75 inches long. Big guy!! He's happy and health, and we're feeling pretty dang lucky! His shots today were, of course, no fun. But, Jake was a trooper! He cried while she was giving them, but was smiling seconds later.

He has two teeth now and is completely facinated with them. He'll rub his tongue over them and play with his mouth constantly. I'm not sure, but I think he might be getting number 3 right now. He'll have a mouth full before we know it. He's also sitting up on his own. We still put pillows around him, just in case, but he does really well by himself.

He also LOVES Roxy, our golden retriever. Everytime she comes in the room, 100% of his attention is focused on her. She's a great dog and lets him pull on her when he wants. He chases her down when he's in his walker...its pretty adorable.

Here are a few pics of Jake from the last few weeks...

TWO TEETH!

Dressed for Church!

Hanging out with Dad

Tired of the photo shoot! :)

6 months already!

2010-01-22T17:47:00.000-06:00

As of January 28, Jake will be six months old. Time has flown by!!! It feels like he should still be itty bitty! Jake has been a busy little guy these last couple of weeks. He has mastered sitting up by himself and can do it for about 5-8 minutes at a time. He is also cutting his first tooth! He loves to put his hands straight out to his side when he's excited...kinda like he's prepping for something major! Gettin' his balance! :)

We've been so busy around here that the weeks are really flying by now! I'm heading to New Orleans next week from Tuesday until Friday night. I'm so nervous about being away from Jake so long, so please say a prayer for me....and Greg! :)

I thought it would be fun to put some 1 week pictures and some 6 month pictures to compare his size! He's now 19 pounds (as of Wednesday). Greg and I are madly in love with our little guy and you can see why in that second picture! Who wouldn't love that smile!

Jake at one week!

And Six months later...

No time for posts

2010-01-15T22:08:00.000-06:00

Wow! So, I have been back at work for two weeks now and realize I have NO TIME FOR THE BLOG! Ha! So, I'm going to update you now...on a Friday night at 10:00 as my husband and baby sleep! Yea, times have definitely changed. No more fun Friday night out!

I started back the first week of January and what a week to start back! It didn't get over 25 degrees all week. This week has been much nicer. I'm adjusting to work and Jake is adjusting to Nana's. I'm pretty sure he has a much easier adjustment! This first few months are going to be rough. I'm traveling a lot and am going to be away from Jake for four days at the end of the month. I'm pretty sure that is going to be brutal. :(

So, what's Jake up to? He's 5-1/2 months old now. He weighs about 19 pounds (big boy) and smiles alot. He cut his first tooth TODAY! He sits up all by himself for about 2-3 minutes and then he topples over. He loves his bumbo seat and anything he can fit in his mouth. He reaches for EVERYTHING now and is very interested in our food. We're feeding him one meal a day of baby food, but soon plan to move up to two and then three. He takes four bottles a day- 8, 12, 4, and 7:30. He sleeps through the night - still swaddled. (yes, I know...I should stop swaddling, but he LOVES it!) And best of all....he is a WONDERFUL baby! He's happy most of the time and rarely gets fussy. He's my little prince charming!

That's all I got for now! I'll try to post again soon, but no promises!

Jake "driving" in Little Rock. (Actually, this is Daddy and Jake waiting in the car while Mommy shops!)

Jake hanging out in his favorite spot (bumbo) and playing with his Nan's rattle from when she was a baby!
My happy little guy playing in his horse jumper! It makes noises like a horse when he bounces....so cute!

A Thankful Heart

2009-12-25T21:00:00.000-06:00

I don't even know where to begin! Jake's first Christmas was wonderful. We spent so much time with both sides of our family, and Jake was loved on endlessly by all! Christmas is one of my favorite times of year and now...with Jake...its even better! Of course, he didn't really understand what was going on, but he loved seeing everyone and showing off! He was also a GREAT baby! I really thought he'd come unglued by the end of the day Christmas Eve! He'd been up since 8 am and had been held non-stop all day long! By 7:30 that night, I figured he'd be a cranky lil dude, but he was all smiles! I could tell he was super tired, but not cranky at all!

Our family COMPLETELY spoiled him this year. SO MANY GIFTS!! We're so thankful and grateful to have such wonderful family. I'm putting this post up on Christmas night, and we still have the Veazey Family Christmas at our house tomorrow. So, I'm posting the pics I have so far. More to come....

Greg's sister's family-The Pitts. (L-R) Morgan, Gart, Madison and Angie.

Daddy and Jake- I love this picture!

Jake with Pappaw Ferguson - Greg's grandpa
My Uncle Mike and sister-in-law, Tonya, on Christmas Eve at my mom and dad's house.
This is the rocking horse my parents gave Jake for Christmas. It was mine when I was a little girl and is currently "under construction." My parents are fixin' er up! I can not wait to Jake on this horse!!!
Okay, so he was technically on the horse, but not really "rocking."
Jake and I unwrapping his ga-zillion gifts at my parents house. He is wearing the hat my brother's family got him and is actually more into the tissue paper than anything else! Go figure!
Okay, this is Jake opening his Jack-n-the-box from my grandmother. I just know he is going to love this!

This is actually the day before Christmas Eve. Jake is wearing a little polyester number of Greg's when he was a little guy. He looked so cute in it!

I just thought this was funny! No- its not a picture of the Octo-mom's mantle...its the mantle at my mom's house. We have a stocking for everyone and their dog....literally!

Jake unwrapping his present from his cousin, Ashton. Ashton ran out of tape and decided to just use blue painter's tape. Jake thought it tasted nice!

Jake and Sarah. Sarah is my cousin on my mom's side. She's going to be a great babysitter!

My niece, Ashton, opening presents.

My grandmother with her new walker/buggy! She's stylin'!

I hope everyone had a very merry Christmas! Our family is certainly thankful for all we have and the best gift of all....Jesus Christ!

The festivities begin!

2009-12-20T19:44:00.001-06:00

This has been a really long week for Jake and I. We went to Marion last weekend for my friend Anna's wedding. (Had a great time!) Then, back to Cabot to see Daddy who had been hunting all weekend. On Wednesday, Greg left for St. Louis for a few days. Jake and I loaded BACK up for Marion. My nephew, Hunter, had a lead in the church children's Christmas play, so I had to see it! Hunter did GREAT! The next day, we went to visit Sarah and Drew and drove back to Cabot that afternoon.

Two days later, Greg, Jake and I headed BACK to the delta for the Spence Family Christmas. We rotate the host location every year, and this year was my brother's turn. We had a great time catching up with my dad's family, who we don't see enough! Jake was such a trooper. There are a lot of little ones on this side of the family, which equals LOTS OF NOISE! Two words....drum set. Yes, my nephew has one, so we got to hear a constant melody of drums all night long. Nice. And I use the word "melody" lightly.

My nephew, Hunter, with two of his cousins- Johnathan and Brody.

Miss Kate with her grandpa - my Uncle Johnny.

Jake and Daddy

Jake in his Christmas outfit from Nan. Greg thinks it makes him look like a girl, but we think it makes him look like a little Christmas Angel!

So, simply put, we have been burning I-40 up! We're going back to Marion on Christmas Eve. I sound as if I'm complaining, but I love getting to see my family. Jake loves his Nan and Pappaw, so its worth the miles and miles and miles! :)

We'll post more after Christmas! I hope everyone has a great Christmas this year!!!

More peas, please!

2009-12-18T18:21:00.000-06:00

This week, we started trying to feed Jake with a spoon. We're not doing it everyday yet, but just letting him practice. We tried rice cereal first, but he cried everytime it hit his mouth. I guess he's not going to be a cereal fan...at least not for now! So, we tried a little peas tonight. He made the funniest face...as if we'd just given him some terrible medicine! But, after a little while, he got used to it and finished his plate! :)
Here's a short clip. Enjoy!!

Jake and Santa

2009-12-09T20:45:00.000-06:00

Jake got to sit on Santa's lap for the first time tonight! Greg and I took him to a restaurant in North Little Rock that was hosting Santa for kids. There were so many cute babies there!!

I'm pretty sure Jake was telling Santa that he wanted that hat OFF for Christmas! :)

The Big D

2009-12-08T13:00:00.000-06:00

Greg and I took a little weekend get-a-way last weekend to Dallas. Greg had to be there for work, so I went along to do a little shopping and get some much needed rest! I missed Jake so much while we were there, but it was a good weekend for us both. Jake stayed with Greg's parents and had a great time!

While we were in Dallas, we stayed at The Gaylord Hotel. What a place! They had so much family stuff going on....Christmas trees everywhere, breakfast with Santa, a life-size gingerbread house, lunch with The Grinch, displays EVERYWHERE to take family photos...I could go on and on. They also had The Grinch Ice Exhibit. It was created by the chinese and brought here. Its an entire "village" made of ice to replicate the Grinch movie. It was amazing, but COLD. We had to wear parkas into the exhibit!

The Christmas Tree at The Gaylor Hotel...well, at least one of them!

The Ice Exhibit. Literally, all ice! Amazing!

This is ALL ICE!!

Its going to be a whirlwind December for us...like most of you! Traveling, Christmas parties, shopping, etc. Then, in January, I go back to work. Boy, that will be a change! I haven't done 8-5 since July!!! But, I'm looking forward to returning and getting back to a daily routine. Let's hope Jake adjusts easily!

Just a cute pic of Jake!

Thanksgiving and Shots...but not at the same time!

2009-12-02T13:50:00.000-06:00

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving this year. We certainly did. The holidays are always full of family and DRIVING! We hit up Greg's family in Carlisle Thanksgiving day and headed to Marion that weekend for some time with my fam. Jake was so good the entire time...even with his cold. He's been a little sick this past week, and its really thrown his schedule for a loop. Oh well! He's getting better every day, but now I have it. The cold actually started with Daddy, then Jake and now Mom. "Welcome to parenthood," I'm told.

This picture was taken while Angie, Greg's sister, was talking to Jake. You can tell he's very interested in what she's saying!

The Veazey women

Jake and his Veazey cousins, Morgan, Caden and Madison. All three show Jake so much attention and love! He's a very, lucky little guy!

Jake with his Aunt Peggy. They were doing a little catching up!

Dadoo, Greg's dad, feeding Jake.

Uncle Kevin, my brother, taking a little nap with Jake.

After naptime, it was playtime!

Granny, my grandmother, and Jake

Jake turned four months old on the 28th. He's getting so big and is such a good, little guy. He has a very relaxed personality and loves to smile and talk to anyone! He will just stare at people and watch them talk....so sweet. We had our four month check up today...so...SHOTS! Ugh. At the two month check up, he didn't fuss much, but today was a whole different story! I have NEVER heard him scream like that! He screamed for about 2 minutes and then he was fine. While two minutes doesn't seem long, it seemed like an eternity to these new parents. I HATE HATE HATE shots!!!

Jake weighed 16 pounds, 12 oz. (90th percentile)

He is 25 1/4 inches long. (75th percentile)

His head is 16 3/4 inches. (25th percentile)

So, I knew today would be rough...with shots and all. But, I had no idea how rough! Jake really gave me a run for my money this morning! First, he awoke at 4 a.m. laughing and cutting up. He ended up getting upset when no one wanted to join him for his little play time at four am. So, I got up and went in to get him back to bed. I discovered he had busted out of his swaddle and had quite the look of pride on his face! So, I rocked him for a little while and that was getting nowhere fast! So, I decided, in a moment of weakness, to feed him. Finally, he was back to sleep. He slept until 8:15. Greg got him out of bed, only to find he had leaked out of his diaper and he, the bed and his jammies were soaked. So, I ran him a bath...I couldn't take him to his 9:30 doctor appointment smelling like tee-tee! Well, at this point, we need to leave the house in 30 minutes! I had a wet head and Greg was already dressed in his suit. So, I get Jake undressed and quickly set him down in his bouncey while I got the bath water ready. In a matter of SECONDS, he has pee'd all over the bathroom and pooped himself! So, Dad cleans that up while I put him in the bathtub. I'm halfway done bathing him when I noticed MORE POOP floating in the tub! GROSS!!! So, I grab him up and start screaming for Greg! I start screaming, so Jake starts screaming. I'm in my robe, a towel around my hair, holding a naked, screaming baby above a poopy bathtub! Ugh. Now--we have 15 minutes before we need to leave.

So, we take Jake to the kitchen to finish the bath in the sink. Greg gets him dressed, while I rush to finish getting ready. WE MADE IT TO THE DOCTOR ON TIME! Of course, she was 40 minutes late, but that's ok! We love her anyway!

ughhhh.......now he's down for a nap and I'm exhausted! :)

Thankful Pre-Thursday

2009-11-25T09:01:00.001-06:00

So, I've been trying to do a Thankful Thursday section on my blog. In light of this Thursday being Thanksgiving, I doubt I'll have time to write and post. So, here's my pre-Thursday thankfulness...

I've already mentioned I'm thankful for Jake and my family, so today I'll share how thankful I am for my country! Most of us take for granted our incredible freedom and spend time complaining about small inconviences. But, in reality, we have very little to complain about. We have the freedom to worship our God freely. We have clean water to drink. We have the right to choose our leaders and when one is chosen we don't agree with, we get to vote someone new in four years later. Women have the right to do, say and be anything they please. Our poor have access to free healthcare. I could go on and on.....

In addition to being thankful for my country, I'm also very thankful for our soilders who fight so fearlessly for it. Regardless of your opinion on the war, we should all be thankful there are men and women (most of a very young age) that are willing to part from their families and protect our country and those weaker than themselves.

I hope everyone enjoys this Thanksgiving and remembers to tell those they appreciate the most how thankful they are for them!

Just a few pics of the little guy....

2009-11-23T20:28:00.001-06:00

Always on his belly now! He loves to practice his "half roll!"
This is just hillarious to me! Caught him in the middle of trying to flip back over!

Awww....sweet smile!

Didn't have anything to really blog about, but felt like posting a few pictures of my little angel!

Happy Thanksgiving!!!!

Where did the year go?

2009-11-19T08:37:00.000-06:00

I just can't believe we're in full holiday season mode for 2009! It seems like it was just Christmas 2008. Is anyone else this blown away by how fast the years go by? Older folks have always told me that time flies by even quicker when you get older, and especially fast when you have children. I always thought...that's stupid, a year is a year. But seriously, I see what they mean!

I was thinking back to my college days and how it seemed I was in Jonesboro forever. I never felt like time was flying past me. But now, looking back- it seems like I was just there and its been years!

It also seems like I was just finding out I was pregnant. We told our families around this time last year that we were expecting, and I turn around twice and Jake is four months old! Wow.

I guess I'll get off my old, wooden rocking chair now! :)

I have 46 days until I go back to work, so I'm going to soak up every minute at home with Jake. He's getting to be so much fun! Last night, Greg and I were laying in the floor with him, and he was cracking us up! He has mastered the art of rolling from back to tummy, but he can't get back over. So, he'll laugh and grin for a little bit--- very proud of himself for getting there, but will break out into tears when he discovers he can't roll back! What was even funnier...as soon as we'd flip him back, he'd do it again! Boys will be boys!

Jake trying to flip back! Pardon the footage- its not easy crawling on the floor while shooting video with an iPhone!

Have a great weekend! We're going to the game, so I'll post pics then!

The Veazey Family

Jake at 2-1/2 years old

Big Day at School!

Bedtime Prayers

Squeezing it all in….

Ferguson Christmas 2011

Christmas in Marion

Christmas Eve and Morning 2011

Christmas in Carlisle

Celebrating our Savior’s Birth

Cousin Christmas!

‘Tis the Season

30 weeks and counting

Pre-Thanksgiving Work Week

Kids say the funniest things…

The Talking Twos

Parties, Picnics and Papaws!

The Park and new boots!

And we finally went potty…

BOYS!!!

Books, Books and More Books!

Why teachers are special…

LONG Summer

2nd Birthday Bash

All Grown Up… *sniff, sniff*

Throwback!

An Abundance of Blessings

And Baby Makes 4!

Happy 4th of July!

May and part of June!

Easter 2011

Four girls and the Big Apple!

Wednesday Loves

Just an update...

Wednesday Loves

Wednesday Loves

Wedding Bells for Hillary

Just pictures...

A day of bubbles!

One of Many Snow Days in 2011

First Golf Lesson

18 months and counting

Kicking off 2011

Christmas 2010

A Louisiana Christmas

The Holiday Season is Here!

Museum of Discovery

Pumpkin Patch Fun!

Jake's First Razorback Game

Fall, Football and Babies

Soaking up the Sun

Birthday Celebrations

One Year Old Already!!!

First Birthday Present

Sweet Potatoes!

Being grateful!

Big Boy Haircut

Wonder Place

Oh, the blessings He brings!

Memorial Day Lake Fun!

Vacation, crawling and new teeth!

Mother's Day

So much to say...

Jake's First Easter

Roxy's new friend

Bananas

Play Hard!!

Social Butterfly

7 months and counting

Bathtime!

"Heeeyyyyy"

6 months already!

No time for posts

A Thankful Heart

The festivities begin!

More peas, please!

Jake and Santa

The Big D

Thanksgiving and Shots...but not at the same time!

Thankful Pre-Thursday

All Grown Up… sniff, sniff