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.

First-Born Sons

John Thomas' first full week home was a learning/adjusting period for all of us. I learned that having help from family and friends is one of the greatest gifts in the world. My mom stayed with us this week after Jason went back to work. Thank goodness, because I totally took for granted taking a shower, drying my hair, putting on make-up, checking the mail...
Saturday, Jason's parents (Grandma Molly and Grandpa Danny) came in to meet their new grand boy. They both fell in love at first sight. An interesting aside is that Jason's dad is the first-born son, Jason was a first-born son and John Thomas is a first-born son.

You may notice not one, not two, but THREE wet spots on Jason's shirt. That's right, John Thomas squirted dad three separate times during the course of bath time on Saturday. I'd say it's only the beginning of the body fluids we'll be covered in over the next several years.

Here is our little cutie taking his maiden voyage in the swing (thanks Mimi, Jen, Katie, Cara and Mere). He loves it!

Molly (Jason's mom) is going to stay with us the rest of this week. I am already thankful. We got to go to Home Depot today and buy some flowers. She also made a mean chicken casserole for dinner tonight. I don't know what I'm going to do when all my help goes home.

I think Chester is trying to find other ways to occupy his time, since his mom has been so busy. However, when John Thomas starts crying, Chester starts bringing him toys in an attempt to pacify him. The record so far is three toys (frisbee, bone and squirrel). I hate to think of a 5 toy fit.

Hello World!

As most of you have undoubtedly heard, John Thomas came screaming into the world thirteen days early, on April 14th at 10:40 p.m. He weighed 6 lbs. 10 oz. and was 21.5 inches long. It was easily the most wonderful day of our life!

I realize this is a face only a parent could love, but he truly is the cutest thing I've ever seen. I know I'm overly emotional/hormonal but I've written him a letter I'd like to share.

Dear John Thomas,

I loved you before you were born. The day I saw the "+" sign, I was positively enamored. The first time I heard your heartbeat was music to my ears. What a joy to watch you grow from a lentil to a lemon and feel all the nudges and kicks along the way. I was counting down the days before we'd meet, but like your mother, you must have grown impatient. You made your grand entrance in record time. How blessed we are to have such a precious gift. You are our love. I can think of no greater proof of God than your sweet face. Welcome to the family son.

All my love,

Mom

Jason has been truly AMAZING. He has changed almost every diaper, he helps me feed, runs errands and is the most supporting and loving father and husband I could ever wish for. John Thomas is surely a lucky little boy. These last four days have such an adventure and I can't wait to watch our family grow and make all sorts of new memories.

I'm pretty sure this is the best I've looked in the past four days. We've had some visitors and company and I hope they don't mind the "all natural" look of no make-up, pj's and unkempt hair. Hopefully I'll be able to pull it all together before too many days, because I'd hate to scare the baby. Thank you to everyone who came by, brought food and held our sweet baby boy.

Mom got to come to the hospital on Wednesday night. I'm pretty sure he's already got her in the palm of his oh-so tiny and cute hand. Not only is he their first grandson, he was born only days before her 60th birthday. I know she was happy with her gift from us this year. Happy 60th Birthday Grandma!

Chester is still trying to figure out how he is going to fit into the picture (so to speak). I think it'll take a little time for our first stinker (Chester) to adjust to having to share Mom and Dad's love with the new cutie on the block. As long Chester can still lay on the couch and gets a little love here and there, he's going to be just fine.