Never Say Never

All along I've vowed to not spoil our son. I will tell you that our little, soon to be seven week old, boy has figured out how to train me (and the rest of the family). He has spent the better part of this last week in someone's arms and I don't mind a bit!
I think he loved the super cushy lap that grandpa had to offer. Dad said it used to be one of my favorite seats too.

John Thomas loves the Baby Bjorn. He gets in it and gets to hang around with mom while I cook dinner or fold laundry (boy, I'm really starting to sound like a stay at home mom).

He now weighs ten pounds and growing like a weed. He's even starting to get the fat rolls on the legs that I love so much.

His new favorite playtime activity is this little gym. He coos while it plays music and lights up. He's also tries to reach out and grab the toys, usually in vain.

Chester has had the best week since we brought JT home because he got to hang out with Ozzie over at grandma and grandpa's. He better enjoy it while he can because they are moving to Wisconsin at the end of June.

Ahead Of The Curve

John Thomas had a big time this week. He'll be six weeks old on Wednesday and he's already experienced his first girls' night out with mom. Friday we (Sarah, Charlotte, Angelina, Kim and Kinsley) grilled out at Kim's new home. It's a gorgeous house and a great place to start a new family. As you can see in the picture, John Thomas was not the life of the party. Hopefully he will continue to be this disinterested in girls for about 18 more years.
You may not be able to tell, but this was JT's first trip in the car where he actually stayed awake from point A to point B. Don't worry, I was at a stop sign when I took this picture with my phone.

Mom and Dad, this picture is for you. Jason and I cooked lamb chops, baked potato and braised spinach for dinner on Saturday night. Who needs a date night out when we can eat like this at home?

We also ventured out into public on Sunday. It was our first time at church as a family. He stayed awake for nearly the whole service. Although we were about two minutes late, I would consider the outing a success.

John Thomas started his "tummy time" this week. You won't believe this, but he rolled over today! He may be small for his age, but he's a strong little guy. See for yourself.

Maybe it was Chester's ability to model "tummy time" that helped John Thomas work extra hard to roll over. Either way, I'll take all the help I can get.

Baby Baths and Basketball Banquets

After three weeks of dousing his belly button with alcohol, his tag finally fell off. It has made a world of difference in how much we all enjoy bath time. Now he can actually get in the water--and he LOVES it. He even seems to sleep better after bath time, so we LOVE it too!
We had his one month check up this week and he now weighs 8 lbs. 1 oz. He is growing so fast! On a side note, I cannot imagine birthing a baby as big as he is, so kudos to all the moms out there in the over seven pound club.

This might be my favorite picture yet! Everyone says that John Thomas looks like Jason and I hope so because he'll be a handsome little fella for sure! However, I do wish people would say John Thomas has at least one of my traits. For example, "wow, he totally has your eyelashes or elbows." Just a thought.

We have learned that he prefers to be mostly naked (I'm not saying who he got that from) and that he loves to be outside. We have also learned that he doesn't like to be strapped in to his car seat, which makes leaving the house just a little more exciting.

All the rain has helped the garden come in. As you can tell, we're still weeks away from having any produce. Can anyone guess what these will produce?

Sunday afternoon Jason got to babysit while I went to the basketball banquet. They gave me a plaque with this picture on it. Can you tell how intense I am and how much they don't seem to care? I haven't seen any of the girls since April 14th, so it was nice to see them. I also informed them that I'm not coaching next year. Miraculously, I was able to refrain from crying, which is a milestone all by itself. I think everyone understands that it would be virtually impossible for me to be gone from our sweet boy that much.

I'm not sure if Chester is trying to snuggle up to his new little buddy or share part of his cozy pillow. Either way, they seem to be getting along just fine.

My Very First Mother's Day

I think Mother's Day is my new favorite holiday. I've never been a gigantic fan of "Hallmark Holidays," but I love the fact there is one day set aside every year to say "thank you" and "I love you" to moms. Jason, ever the supportive husband and father, prepared a lovely lunch for my mom and I. He also brought home some flowers, a card and a gift certificate for a spa day. Thank you honey!
We didn't intentionally color coordinate, but I guess great minds think alike.

I think mom is lobbying to change the name of the holiday to Grandmother's Day! We have to check her bags and purse every time she leaves to make sure she's not trying to smuggle John Thomas out the door. It is one of our greatest joys to provide our parents with a little grand boy to love on.

I guess since he spent most of his life there,John Thomas feels really comfortable snuggled up on my belly. It's so hard for me to believe it's already been three weeks since he was born.

He also loves it when we read to him. No kidding, he actually looks at the pages and seems like he's paying attention. I'm not trying to suggest that he's a prodigy or he'll be reading within the next few weeks, I just think it's cool that he seems to enjoy it.

Although Chester got to go to the park almost everyday this week, he is going to great lengths to lobby for our attention at home. Hopefully this week we'll get into some sort of routine that everyone can be happy about.

One Happy Family

We're finally getting settled in a bit here at the Kirkpatrick homefront. Translation: My body has started adjusting to the hormone overload and the interrupted sleep cycles, Jason has learned to dodge John Thomas' attempts to saturate his shirt and use his "inside voice" after eight p.m., and Chester has begun to ignore the cries instead of barking in unison (which I'm quite thankful for).

These pictures are courtesy of our friend from Nashville, Sarah Gilliam. She and her husband wanted to give us a baby gift we would cherish forever. She drove in to take his picture on Monday morning. These are just a few of our extremely cute little boy. You can see some others at http://sarahbgilliamphotography.blogspot.com/ .

One of the things I miss the most about work is my daily walk with Sarah. However, she has been able to come by every week to get her quality time in with John Thomas. As evidenced by the picture, he loves his Auntie Sarah. She has a little less than three months to get some more practice in before Charlotte gets here!

How sweet is this? Chester and JT napping together. Now if I could just figure out how to squeeze in an afternoon nap, we'd all be well rested.