The Branch Baby Blog

Pregnancy Update: 9 weeks

2012-02-07T19:17:00.000-08:00

Today I went to the doctor for our 9 week check-up! I had bloodwork done, and we got another ultrasound! The baby has changed so much in just 3 weeks! It was so neat to see him/her moving around so much in there, plus the heartbeat was strong and very fast! I'm 9 weeks and 2 days today, but the baby was measuring 9 weeks and 4 days. You know how our babies like to try to get here early! Needless to say, Dr. McKenzie was very pleased! I go back March 8th for my next check-up, and we will be able to actually hear the heartbeat then! So exciting!

Jack's Big Announcement!

2012-01-30T14:01:00.000-08:00

Yes! Jack is going to be a big brother! As you can tell in the picture, he is very excited, and of course Kurt and I are too! We are thrilled! Baby #2 is due September 11th, so we are currently 8 weeks along. No, that is not my favorite day for the due date, obviously, but if this baby is anything like Jack, he/she will come way before that! :-)

The pregnancy has gone pretty smoothly, except the last couple of weeks I have been pretty sick and extremely tired. Yes, this too shall pass, but I didn't feel like this at all with Jack, so it's definitely new for me! It's also an adjustment feeling like this and already having a toddler to take care of, but Jack is so easy and entertains himself very well!

Our first appointment with my doctor was a couple of weeks ago on January 17th, and Dr. McKenzie was very excited for us and very pleased that everything seemed ok. He even did an ultrasound in the room, even though it was early, because he and I both were very eager to see the baby! The little peanut (or blur in this photo) is shown at the very bottom left. Yay! Such a sweet blur! We go back next Tuesday on the 7th for another check-up, and possibly another ultrasound! I can't wait!

Please keep us in your prayers and pray for the baby to grow and develop well and stay healthy, and for my sickness to go away sooner than later so I can function again! Please also notice the new baby ticker at the top of the blog! :-)

Family "Galbinburg" Trip

2012-01-24T17:53:00.000-08:00

Last weekend, we went with my family up to Gatlinburg, TN (or "Galibinburg" to Jack) for the long holiday weekend. We got up there late Thursday night, and it even snowed on the way up there! Papa and Sherbo also came Thursday night, so we enjoyed the cabin, just the five of us, the first night.

Friday morning, snow covered the ground and it was beautiful! We carefully drove down the mountain to the downtown Gatlinburg strip to eat breakfast at the Pancake Pantry, which of course is one of mine and Kurt's favorite pancake places. We even got a quick shot of Jack, Papa, and Sherbo in the snow, plus Jack's bear pancakes!

After breakfast, we headed to Pigeon Forge to Walmart to get groceries, then headed back to the cabin for Jack's nap, then went back out to the strip for lunch at Fannie Farkles. They have foot-long corn dogs there, and they were so delicious! Jack and I shared one, but he loved it so much he ate most of it himself!

After we ate, we let him play in the arcade there. He loved skeeball, the racing games, plus a ball popper game. He even won the jackpot on the ball popper game giving him so many tickets!

We continued down the strip towards Baskin Robbins (my favorite ice cream ever!), and on the way we saw the ball that floats on water at Ripley's Believe It or Not. Jack loved it and helped Daddy push it around. After Baskin Robbins, we headed back towards the car, stopping once to sit on the sky lift seat for a quick picture. We were ready to get back to the cabin to meet the rest of our family coming that afternoon!

Friday morning we were glad to wake up with everyone there! Sherbo cooked a delicious breakfast and we all played and lounged around for a while before getting ready to go out.

Once we got ready, we headed towards Ober Gatlinburg to go ice skating. The kids were so excited! We got to ride a bus on the way up there, and Jack's face was priceless since he got to sit in the seat with no carseat! He wasn't sure what to do! Too funny!

Here he is getting ice skates on for the first time! He looked so cute in them! All the kids were ready to get on the ice!

Uncle Jim was the first to take a tumble! At least he did it with a smile!

Jack couldn't really get the hang of it and just kept dragging his legs, so Daddy picked him up and took him around while gripping the rail. It's not easy to ice skate and help someone else,too!

Papa and Abby just watching everyone!

Jake was definitely the best one out there! He did great!

Uncle Jeff and Brooke trying to figure it out...

Jack attempting it again, but without his jacket. He and Daddy both started sweating since ice skating was a lot of work!

Here we are outside by the ski lifts and slopes! It was so beautiful out there! Jack loved stomping on the snow and making snowballs!

After leaving Ober Gatlingburg, we headed back down to the cabin for naps, then went out to dinner that night to Calhoun's on the strip for some barbecue. Kurt and I had been there with our friends Keith and Lindsey a couple years ago and remembered how good it was. They are known for their ribs, so of course that's what most of us got, and they were delicious!

I caught a glimpse of Daddy and Jack loving on each other! So sweet!

4 out of 5 grandkids on the big rocking chair!

Just Jack, and no, he's not asleep!

The next day we headed back down to the strip and had pizza for lunch! Jack ate 2 big pieces all on his own! He loves pizza as much as I do! He and Daddy looked so cute eating pizza together.

Sweet Abby asleep on her daddy! She was so good all trip, and of course so cute!

We of course found another arcade! This time we were at the Space Needle Arcade, and they had more kid-friendly games, including a small basketball goal. Jack loved it and made a lot of his shots!

On Monday we had to leave to head back home, but before we did, we headed back to downtown to walk around a little bit more and enjoy Gatlinburg for a couple more hours. Jim, Deena, Blakely, and Abby stayed with us, too, so we enjoyed spending more time with them. The kids wanted to eat at McDonald's, so we did, then got some donuts and hot chocolate at the Donut Friar in The Village, then just walked around a while. We even went back to Fannie Farkles for more games, and heard some bluegrass music. Jack and Blakely loved it and danced for everyone!

When we left Gatlinburg and got to Pigeon Forge, we decided to stop by the Tanger Outlets to see what some stores had on sale. When we got to the Gap, Jack just wanted me to take his picture in front of the shoes and some mannequins, so here is one picture! He was too cute just posing, but not smiling! So serious!

Little man finally fell asleep about an hour outside of Gatlinburg, and had a good little nap on our way home. He was exhausted from all the fun he'd had all weekend!

Here is a video of all the weekend fun!

Thanks so much to Papa and Sherbo for such a wonderful trip! We love Gatlinburg and had a great time with our family making lots of memories! We appreciate all you did to make sure we all had a lot of fun! We love y'all so much!

"Brown Bear, Brown Bear"

2012-01-10T13:46:00.000-08:00

We have read the book "Brown Bear, Brown Bear" to Jack almost everyday since he was born 2 1/2 years ago, and he's obviously been paying attention, because now he reads it himself! Here are a couple videos of him reading it. Try to see if you can hear him saying, "Ground Bear" instead of "Brown Bear." Too cute!

Family Christmas Celebrations 2011

2011-12-29T19:31:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas everyone! We had so much fun celebrating Christmas this year with all our families! We are so blessed to have so many wonderful people in our lives to fellowship with and give gifts to!

Our family Christmas celebrations started on Christmas Eve at lunch. We always go to Kurt's grandparents house for Christmas Eve, and it was such a beautiful day to play outside and be with everyone there. We had delicious food, plus a lot of fun opening gifts, especially watching Jack open his!

4 generations!

We got back home around 5:30, then started getting supper ready. It was our very first Christmas Eve night at home, so of course I couldn't wait to cook a big supper for us! I made pork tenderloin, macaroni and cheese, mashed potatoes, and crescent rolls! We even used our Christmas china plates that we rarely get to use!

After dinner, we drove around to look at Christmas lights, then headed back home to get ready for Santa and bed. Jack had some new Christmas pajamas to wear and he looked so cute in them! I loved watching Daddy put them on him, too!

Christmas cookies for Santa! We also attempted to leave Jack's paci for Santa, telling him that if he left his paci and slept without it from now on, Santa would bring him lots of toys since he was such a big boy! Well, we tried for about 45 minutes, but when he kept sincerely and sweetly asking for it back, we had to give in. It was Christmas after all!

Jack even ate some of Santa's cookies of course, but that's ok. I'm sure Santa didn't mind not having as many since he would be eating them all night.

Christmas morning! It was very obvious that Santa came to our house! He left so many fun things for Jack to play with! Kurt and I woke up around 7:30 to get breakfast started, plus we thought Jack would wake up early, but he didn't wake up until 8:30! That at least gave us time to make our big breakfast, which included sausage balls, breakfast casserole, ham delights, and cheese grits! We also got to have Granna, Poppy, Uncle Conner, and Aunt Ashley here with us, too! Such a fun morning!

This is when he realized Santa brought him Kit Kats in his stocking! :-)

Opening presents!

When he got so excited he got a box for Christmas!

Auburn players play with choo-choos, right?

Time for lunch, but he didn't want to take off his helmet!

Christmas night we went to Mama Becky and Daddy Mer's house for dinner and presents. The 4 oldest grandchildren serenaded us for a while before dinner on the piano and keyboard.

Then it was time for stockings! We all got so many great things! We then had a delicious dinner, and then got to open presents!

We were so glad Mimi was able to join us for Christmas!

Kurt and baby Abby!

Jake reading the Christmas story.

Jack playing his new trumpet!

Sweet cousins playing sweetly together with their new toys!

The morning of the 26th! Jack ended up in our bed in the middle of the night, and he was the last one to wake up the next morning! You can tell I didn't have a lot of room on my side!

Once we all got ready, we headed over to Papa and Sherbo's house for breakfast, presents, and lunch! She prepared a lot of great food for us, plus we all got so many wonderful presents!

We made so many wonderful memories this Christmas with all of our families, and we are so grateful for all of our wonderful gifts! We are so blessed to have such great people in our lives who love us and especially love our little boy!

We were shown God's Love and Grace every moment this Christmas season, and truly remembered the reason we celebrate. God's Blessings were all around us as they are everyday, and we thank Him everyday for all He does for us!

Here is a video capturing most of our celebrations!

Baby Cousin Brooks

2011-12-27T09:31:00.000-08:00

Brooks McAlister Branch was born on Thursday, December 22, 2011 at 7:33 am! He was 7 lbs 11 oz, and 19 1/4 inches long! He and mama are doing great! We are so excited for Clay and Emily and their new bundle of joy! We will be praying for them everyday as their little family adjusts to life with a new baby!

JB's Christmas Spectacular 2011

2011-12-19T05:10:00.000-08:00

Decorating the Tree and Visiting Santa

2011-12-12T09:53:00.001-08:00

We are all getting very excited about Christmas coming up in less than 2 weeks! Last Thursday we went to Lowe's and picked out our tree! It's been our tradition to get it there since mine and Kurt's first married Christmas together 5 years ago! Jack helped us pick it out, too, and he especially loved running up and down the rows of trees playing! :-) He also loved watching the workers clean up the bottom of the tree with the chainsaw!

We tied the tree on top of the car, then picked up a pizza (to continue our tree decorating and pizza eating tradition started last year), then headed home to get started! Jack loved putting ornaments on the tree, plus playing with the other decorations we have for the house!

Sunday we finally got to go see Santa at Bass Pro Shop. Jack had been asking for days, so we finally took him. The line was extremely long, but we knew it wouldn't take too long, plus it would be worth it. Well, 2.5 hours later, we finally saw Santa! Thank goodness for all the fun around the store to keep Jack occupied for that long! Once Jack got in his lap, he loved him! He asked him for candy for Christmas, then looked right at the camera for the picture! He didn't smile, but still looked very sweet.

When we got home it was time to make Christmas cookies!! We let Jack help stir the batter, plus cut out shapes with our new cookie cutters! Too bad something went wrong with the batter and the shapes didn't turn out right, but we still made do with regular drop cookies! We even added red and green icing and sprinkles to make them more festive!

Here is a video!

Thanksgiving and Iron Bowl 2011

2011-12-05T07:27:00.000-08:00

Thanksgiving is definitely up there with one of my favorite holidays! Christmas still trumps it, but I still love it and love all the family time and food!

This year Thanksgiving started for us on Tuesday at Mama Becky and Daddy Mer's house. We even had my cousin and his wife here from Connecticut, so that was great to see them and reminisce! Mama Becky had prepared a delicious feast, so we all had a great time eating and visiting!

Wednesday night we had dinner at Papa and Sherbo's house. We got over there a little before dark, so we enjoyed a little playtime before supper. Sherbo had cooked a feast over there, too, so we ate well again!

Fun in the wagon!

We headed on down to Auburn after dinner Wednesday since we had 2 gatherings there on Thursday. The first was lunch at Granny and Granddaddy's house. Lots of food there, too, but Jack mostly played outside with his cousin Matthew. They played golf, football, and even rode on the golf cart together!

Thursday night was dinner at Mimi's. By now you'd think we'd had enough to eat and couldn't possibly eat another bite, but somehow we managed to get full plates again and it was all delicious!

We didn't do much on Friday since we'd been so busy the few days before, plus we didn't want to get out much with all the Black Friday shoppers!

Saturday was Iron Bowl day! It was hard to believe it was already the end of the regular season, but we had a fun day of tailgating planned, plus going to the game, so we were ready.

We had lots of fun tailgating, but we really just wanted the game to start so we could take Jack to his first Iron Bowl. Yes, he's just 2 years old, but he is the biggest Auburn fan I know (after his Daddy of course), and thanks to his Mama Becky and Daddy Mer, he was able to have a ticket and go!

He loves going to the game so much and especially loves the pre-game festivities. He loves watching the band play, seeing the eagle fly, plus watching the team run out and get ready to play! We had so much fun with him at the game, and even though Auburn lost, I loved experiencing the game with him and seeing his excited expressions the whole time! I'm not sure how we can explain to him that we won't be able to go to another football game for a very long time! :-(

Tired boy asleep with Granna after the game.

Jack and his cousin Sydney at the "after party" after the game. He loved playing with her so much over the holiday!

Here are some video clips from Thanksgiving and the game:

Thanks so much to all of our mothers and grandmothers for all the food they provided for Thanksgiving. We are so blessed to have so much family and so many people we love and who love us! God is so good and we have so much to be thankful for!

Thanks also to Daddy Mer and Mama Becky for the football tickets they gave us to every home game! We had so much fun and appreciate y'all letting us use them!

First Dentist Appointment!

2011-12-05T07:08:00.000-08:00

The Tuesday before Thanksgiving, November 22nd, Jack had his first dentist appointment! We went to see Dr. Mike Anglin in Hoover since he was highly recommended by Jack's Aunt Amy and Uncle Jeff, and Jack did so well!

The hygienist Rochelle was amazing and made sure Jack felt comfortable with everything before she got started. She gave everything a fun name, like the "spit catcher" was called "Mr. Thirsty", and the tooth cleaner was "The Tooth Tickler", and she let him try out everything before the actual procedure! He got to pick out his new toothbrush (Cars), plus toothpaste (he picked cake of course), and she explained everything to him before actually doing it! I was right there the whole time in case he needed me, but he loved her and did so well! I was so proud of him!

Dr. Mike came in after the cleaning and said his teeth look great, so he was impressed! He said he could tell Jack uses a paci, but as long as we can get rid of it by 3, that is fine. I told him we are trying everyday to talk about getting rid of it, so we just hope one day soon it works! We've talked about wrapping them up in a gift for his new cousin Brooks (who is coming this month!), so maybe that will end up working! We will see!

He was such a big boy and everyone there loved him! We were in and out in 20 minutes with no problems! I definitely recommend them, too! We had such a great experience!

Everyday Life

2011-11-16T18:57:00.000-08:00

Everyday life for Jack is very fun and busy! He is either at home with Mommy or at Mama Becky's house playing while Mommy and Daddy are at work. Wherever he is, he is constantly singing, playing, learning, and being silly! He has the cutest personality and is constantly making us laugh.

Since I recently did a post about his new phrases and sayings, and some of his favorite things, here is a video of his new favorite songs, plus a couple of activities he loves to do these days...

Jake and Brooke's Birthday Party

2011-11-16T18:11:00.000-08:00

Jack's cousins Jake and Brooke had a combined birthday party this last Saturday at Pump It Up in Pelham. Brooke turned 4 on October 19th, and Jake will turn 9 on December 24th, and they celebrated together with friends and family! Jack had only been in one "jump jump" thing last year at Blakely's 2nd birthday party, so this was his first real experience with multiple ones! He had a blast!

Just getting warmed up...

Playing ball with Jake!

Sliding down the big slide with Daddy!

The birthday boy and girl

Guess he's starting to get tired here!

Delicious cake!

Waiting patiently for cake! He looks so big here!

"Um, do I get cake, too?"

Halloween 2011

2011-11-08T12:06:00.001-08:00

Halloween was so much fun this year! It took us a few weeks to figure out what we wanted Jack to be for Halloween, but it was decided when we were in Walmart a week before. He walked down the Halloween decoration and costume aisle, picked up a pirate hat, and said, "Argh!!" It was so cute, so we found the costume to match, and that was that!

The festivities started Thursday, October 27 at Boo at the Zoo. They had so many festivities there for everyone and we all had a blast. Jack got to play ring toss, ride a roller racer, dance, trick or treat for candy, and of course ride the train!

Captain Jack Sparrow

"Trick or Treat, please!"

Watching the "Scooby Doo" show with Daddy

Big scary black cat!

"Oh, how I love Aubie!"

"Roar!"

Silly gorilla

Riding the "Eerie Express"

Halloween night! As soon as Mommy and Daddy could get home from work, we got Jack changed, fixed up our house a little bit to make it scarier, then headed around the neighborhood in search for candy!! He was so cute walking door to door and knocking asking for candy! He made sure to say, "Trick or Treat, please!" and "Thank you!" to everyone! Such a sweet and smart boy! We had so much fun this Halloween and made so many memories! We love our sweet little pirate!

Auburn vs. Ole Miss

2011-11-07T18:33:00.001-08:00

Last weekend we headed back down to Auburn for the Ole Miss game. It was a 6:00 game, so we knew that meant a very long, but fun-filled day of tailgating!

We got out to the tailgate around 10:00 and Jack started playing that minute and didn't stop until we headed to the stadium at 5:00! He played golf and football all day, and barely stopped to eat lunch! A lady who tailgates with us has a 5 year old boy who came to this tailgate and Jack loved him and begged to play with him all day! We had a great time watching how well he interacted with another boy he just met.

Jack loved all the pre-game activities as normal, but was sleepy from no nap all day, so he wasn't as into everything as he was for the Florida game. He's even learned "God Bless America" over the last few weeks (thanks to Mama Becky), so we were hoping he'd sing it when the band played it, but he only sang a few words.

After the game started, he fell asleep in my lap for the entire 1st quarter! He woke up from all the crowd noise (of course), but was fully energized and stayed until the third quarter (a new record), then went back to the tailgate with Granna and Poppy.

Thanks so much to Mama Becky and Daddy Mer for the tickets, also thanks to Granna and Poppy for keeping Jack during the second half for us! We were very proud of Auburn's big win over Ole Miss and can't wait to go back down there for Homecoming when we play Samford! War Eagle!

Old Baker Farm

2011-10-26T14:26:00.000-07:00

Sunday, October 23rd we all went to Old Baker Farm in Harpersville, AL. We'd heard about it from a co-worker of mine and she said it was lots of fun! We got there around 12:30 and stayed until after 4:30! There was so much to do and we probably could've stayed even longer than that!

When we first got there we stopped by the barn and petting zoo first. Jack loved seeing all the goats, geese, pigs, sheep, and horses! He even fed the horse several times and loved it! He wasn't scared at all!

After playing with the animals, we went on the hayride to the pumpkin patch! This was the biggest pumpkin patch I've ever seen! It had pumpkins as far as you could see! Orange ones, green ones, white ones, and even multi-colored ones! We searched around for a while to find the perfect ones, and we eventually found a small white one for Jack, a large white one for Kurt, and a white one with orange and green squigglies for me! Kurt actually found mine, but I wanted it as my own so he kept the big white one for him. Once we had our pumpkins, we got back on the hayride, and while heading back, we got stopped by a Civil War reinactment! It was cool to see, plus Jack liked all the "fireworks" (smoke from the guns and cannons)!

Once we dropped our pumpkins off, we walked over to the food area to get a snack. I got boiled peanuts and Jack and Daddy got a bag of popcorn. We listened to some banjo music, while sitting on a bail of hay eating our snacks.

After eating, we walked back over to the barn to see the animals one more time, feed the horse one more time, and finally play in the hay stacks since all the big kids weren't there anymore.

Old Baker Farm was a lot of fun and we made some great memories! Can't wait to go back next year!

Auburn vs. Florida Weekend

2011-10-19T07:16:00.001-07:00

Last weekend was the Auburn/Florida weekend, so we of course had to head back down to The Plains to be a part of everything!! Game weekends are so much fun because not only do we get to go to the actual game, we get to spend a lot of time with family and friends!

Friday night we started the weekend off by going to eat at Johnny Brusco's by the new Publix. It was still the same yummy food without the big crowd since it's a little ways from downtown Auburn with all the action.

We needed a few things at Publix for tailgating and we ran into Uncle Jim! It was great to see him, especially since he was picking up cupcakes for Blakely's party the next day! The only negative was trying to make Jack think of something else besides cupcakes for the next 12 hours! :-)

The next morning we headed to Monkey Park in Opelika for Blakely's 3rd birthday party! It's so hard to believe she's 3, but she's so sweet and smart and we are so excited for her! We had such a great time at the party and Jack and Kurt even got to ride the Rocky Brook Rocket Choo-Choo Train!! It was the cutest thing! It circles around the whole park! We even got to see and hold baby Abby at the party, too!

After the party we headed over to the tailgate. The original plan was to take Jack back to Granna's house for a nap and then head out there, but he was falling apart not being "in Auburn", so we took him and hoped for the best!

He was pretty exhausted already when we got there, so I tried strolling him around a few times to see if that would help, but it didn't. He must have been too fired up for the game. He at least kept busy playing football and golf at the tailgate, plus he met a new friend to play with. My friends Lindsey and Shelley even got to drop by and say hi, too!

The 3 of us headed to the stadium around 5 so we wouldn't miss anything. Once we got in our seats, we only had a few minutes until the eagle flew, which of course Jack loved again! Then the band came out which he loved even more, and he sang and cheered this time! It was the cutest thing and I'm so glad I got it on video. You'll have to check it out (at the bottom). He loved everytime the ball was kicked, too. Those were probably his favorite parts of the game. He lasted until midway through the 2nd quarter, which is the record so far! :-) The little girl next to us named Aubrie who is 4 helped us keep Jack entertained, so that was nice. Auburn came out with a big win beating Florida 17-6. It wasn't pretty, but we seemed to be improving, so we are happy for that. (Thanks to Granna and Poppy for helping with Jack the second half of the game.) :-)

On Sunday, Kurt and I were able to go to Atlanta to watch the Falcons play the Panthers. It was so exciting to see Cam Newton in person again, and he actually had a pretty good game. The Falcons came out on top, though, and since we like the Falcons, too, that was fine. We are just glad we got to see Cam play well! We went just the two of us, so we had a good time on an all-day date! We appreciate Granna, Poppy, Mama Becky, and Daddy Mer helping with Jack so we could go. He even got to go play golf with Poppy and Granna! :-)

Here is a video wrapping up the whole weekend...

Fall Updates

2011-10-10T13:12:00.001-07:00

I know I've had several posts lately about our "happenings", but I realized I haven't been able to just blog about everything Jack is doing and saying, and how much he changes and grows everyday!

He's such a big boy, and so smart! I am his mother, so of course I think that, but other people outside our home think so, too! :-)

His favorite things lately are...

-Playing golf (still with his plastic clubs of course)

-Playing football (which entails catching, throwing, and running across the room to kick it as we say "Warrrrr Eagle! Hey!")

-Playing "shoot" (basketball)

-Playing baseball with his tee, bat, ball, and glove
-Playing outside in "Jack's car" (cozy coupe), or in his wagon, or on his "bicycle" (his 4-wheeler), or to "cut grass" (playing with his bubble lawn mower)
-Taking baths

-Playing with the iPad or iPhone (yes, you read that correctly)

-Playing the drums

-Reading books, especially his Bible

-Looking at pictures and naming everybody in them

-Playing with Elmo

-Sleeping in his bed with Froggy, Elmo, Bear, and Winnie

-Singing and dancing

-Laughing

-Watching his favorite shows and DVDs (Yo Gabba Gabba, The Fresh Beat Band, Jack's Big Music Show, The Doodlebops, The Wiggles, Baby Genius)

-Going to Auburn games and tailgating beforehand

-Playing with all his family and friends, too, of course! :-)

As you can see, he's a very active child, and has so much fun everyday! He keeps us all busy, but we love every minute!

He's also talking a lot now, and some of his new sayings include...

-"Hold you Mommy chair!" or "Hold you Daddy chair!" ("Mommy/Daddy please hold me in your chair.")

-"War Eagle! Hey!"

-"Eagle fly around in Auburn." ("The eagle flies around the stadium in Auburn.")

-"March 2, 3, 4!" (The Auburn band goes march, 2, 3, 4.")

-"Come on defense!"

-"Kick it!"

-"Play ball Weagle." ("Play ball outside with our dog Weagle.")

-"Good job Jack!"

-"Bless you!" (After we sneeze. Too cute!)

-"Thank you, Jesus!" (During our prayers at night.)

-"Play baseball."

-"Play football."

-"Play shoot."

-"Play drums."

-"Play bihtar." (Guitar)

-"Luh you Mommy Daddy" ("I love you Mommy and Daddy!")

-"Toot Monster" (When he toots he will say this, thanks to his Poppy who taught it to him!)

-"Watch babies." ("May I please watch baby videos on YouTube?")

-"No Mommy!"

-"Un Moh Time!" ("One more time!")

-"Watch it Mommy!" "Watch it Daddy!" ("Mommy/Daddy please come watch me do this!")

-"Wook." (Look)

He's such a sweet boy, and so much fun, and we are so blessed to be his parents! He always keeps life exciting! :-)

Here are some of these things that we caught on video...

Zoo Trip with Sawyer and Hunter

2011-10-04T12:55:00.000-07:00

Tuesday we went to the Zoo with Lindsey, Sawyer, Shelley, and Hunter. It was such a pretty day to be outside, so we walked around from 11-1230, then had a picnic for lunch! We had so much fun and got to see so many pretty animals!

I accidentally forgot Jack's hat at home, so Sawyer let us borrow an extra one of his! Too cute! It even matched his navy shirt he already had on!

Big turtle!

Here is the lion family with the new lion cubs! So sweet!

Roooaarr!!

Even though the real elephants were nearby, Jack liked the fake one the best since it constantly sprayed water out of its trunk!

The boys loved watching the monkeys and the gorilla!

Choo Choo ride!

Here is a video from the day!

Auburn vs. South Carolina

2011-10-04T12:18:00.001-07:00

The Auburn vs. South Carolina game was actually away at South Carolina, but we had a lot of fun just watching it here at home since Lindsey and Sawyer came over! They got here a little after the game started, and since Jack was still taking his nap, Sawyer got to play with all of Jack's toys by himself, and he especially loved the slide and rocking horse! He kept asking for Jack, too, so he was very happy when Jack finally woke up around 3:30 so they could play together.

At half time, Lindsey and I took the boys outside to play since it was such a pretty day. I think the high was just in the 60s! They looked so cute in the wagon together as we pulled them up and down the street!

We eventually came back inside to watch the 2nd half of the game, and the boys just played and played and had so much fun! The end of the game was crazy, of course, but I was glad to have the distraction of Jack and Sawyer playing so I wouldn't be so nervous! Auburn came out with another win, though, with the score 16-13, and even though we were all nervous about the ending, the boys kept wanting Kurt to hold them, so he was forced to sit and stay calm! Too funny!

After the game it was dinner time, so we headed down the road to Pancho's, our new favorite Mexican restaurant in Moody. The boys ate fast of course, and since it wasn't that crowded, we let them run around and play in the booths nearby!

We are so glad Auburn won Saturday, but we are also glad we had a chance to play with Lindsey and Sawyer! They seemed to be good luck, too! :-)

Moody City Fair

2011-10-02T13:53:00.000-07:00

This past Wednesday night we took Jack to the fair here in Moody! When we got there he could barely contain his excitement!

They had the typical food you see at a fair (corn dogs, funnel cakes, candy apples, etc), so we of course started out with a corn dog, but were too full to try anything else (yes, very disappointing!)

Jack loved all the options of rides and games to play, but just didn't know where to start! The closest thing to the food carts was the bunny pen, so he looked at those a while and even got to pet one!

After he realized he couldn't get inside the pen and chase around the bunnies, he saw the carousel, so we bought some tickets and rode that first.

Next to the carousel was the kiddie boat ride, then the kiddie motorcycle ride, so he rode both of those, twice!

Across from these rides were the games, so Jack played a game where you pick a duck out of the water (each duck has a prize listed on the bottom), and his prize was a small prize, so we picked out a train whistle for him. The other game was a fishing game, and his prize there was a balloon bat! He loved that it was a balloon AND a bat!

At the end of the game booths was a kiddie roller coaster, and even though I was sure someone his size wouldn't be able to ride it, I was wrong, and since he kept insisting to ride the "choo choo", we let him! That was a huge step for us as parents, especially since I was scared to death the whole time he was on it, but he held on like he was supposed to, and lasted longer than we thought he would! Such a big boy!

After Jack was done riding his rides, there were enough tickets for Mommy and Daddy to each ride one ride, so I chose the swings and Kurt chose the ride the Tilt-A-Whirl. We both loved it and enjoyed bringing out the kid in us! :-)

We are glad Jack's first fair experience was a fun one and can't wait to go back next year!

Here is a video montage from the night...

Jack Likes To Party Rock

2011-09-30T14:50:00.001-07:00

Auburn vs. Florida Atlantic University

2011-09-28T09:15:00.001-07:00

We had another fun-filled weekend this past weekend in Auburn! Auburn played Florida Atlantic University (FAU) at home on Saturday, so we headed down Friday afternoon to get ready for it!

When we got down there Friday, we had dinner with Granna, Poppy, and Aunt Chrissie at Cheeburger Cheeburger in downtown Auburn. I don't think I've been there since I was in college, so it was fun to go back and reminisce, plus eat some awesome food! It was so good!

Saturday morning we got up early, even though it was a 6:00 pm game, but there isn't any sleeping in when tailgating is involved! The normal crew didn't tailgate this week, so Kurt and I had to get it all set up ourselves since we still like to tailgate no matter how big or small the opposing team is! We only used about 1/2 the normal stuff, so it wasn't too bad setting it up by ourselves. We also had help from a few friends, so that was nice.

We got out there around 9:30 that morning, and tailgated straight until 5:30 when we left for the stadium! Jack had so much fun playing out there as he normally does, and all of our friends (plus new friends we met) loved his "tricks" and how much he loves and knows about Auburn! He would tell them all about the eagle ("The eagle fly around in Auburn!"), and the band ("The marching band, 2, 3, 4.."), and Coach Chizik, etc..., plus he would of course play "Set.. go!" repeatedly until he needed a break for some water or a CapriSun! :-)

Leading up to the game itself was a little sad, since Jack wasn't going to this one, but we tried to distract him enough so he wouldn't realize it, but he eventually did when Granna, Poppy, and Chrissie took him away to go back to their house. He really needed to nap, plus no one would be available to get him early from the game when he wanted to leave, so we just figured it would be better for him to watch it at Granna and Poppy's house.

Kurt and I had a pretty good time at the game, it just wasn't the most exciting game we've ever been to, but at least Auburn came out with another win (30-14), making them 3-1 for the first 4 games. The only loss was to Clemson from the week before, but their team looked awesome and even beat a very good Florida State team this past weekend, so that makes us Auburn fans feel a little better about the loss!

Sunday we were able to go see Pops, Granny, and Grandaddy before heading home. They are always so glad to see us and love seeing how much Jack loves to play and how he's growing so much! We even got a cute video of him there saying, "Cool dude!" after his Pops taught him to say that while wearing his sunglasses, but too bad we don't have it anymore because Jack accidentally deleted it from my phone! :-( Hopefully we can get him saying it again soon!

Here are the pictures from the weekend!

On our way down, Jack was still sleepy after his nap and loved on Froggy and Winnie. He kept saying, "Awww..."!

After dinner at Cheeburger Cheeburger, we needed to go by the grocery store for tailgating food, and look who we saw there... Daddy Mer!

Jack loved playing in front of the fan at the tailgate, especially since it was so hot!

Our friends Brooks and Lauren were able to come help us with the tailgate (we really appreciate that so much), and Jack loves them and loves to sit with his "Uncle Brooks" and watch football.

Cool dude!

Our friends Keith and Lindsey and their little boy Sawyer were tailgating nearby, so we got a chance to go see them for a few minutes. It was Sawyer's naptime so he's snuggling with his daddy.

When he had enough snuggling, he got back to his "monkey boy" ways and started climbing chairs!

War Eagle!

Jack loves to play with the trucks at Granny and Granddaddy's house

Watching football before heading home!

Thanks so much to Mama Becky and Daddy Mer for our football tickets, and thanks to Granna and Poppy for helping keep Jack Saturday for us so we could enjoy the game! :-)

Auburn vs. Mississippi State

2011-09-12T10:42:00.000-07:00

Auburn had another early 11:00 am game this past weekend, so we weren't thrilled about that, but it ended up being a fun day and another win for Auburn!

We started the day off at the tailgate around 8:30, let Jack play a while, ate some breakfast, then headed towards the stadium around 10. Jack had been saying, "Auburn! Auburn!" again and we knew he was ready to go to the game, so we went a little earlier than normal, even in the heat, but that's what parents do, right? :-)

We saw the players warm up, the eagle fly (even into the suite windows!), and the band play, and Jack loved everything so much! Jack didn't understand to be quiet during the playing of "Taps", or during the moment of silence for the victims of September 11, 2001, but I'm sure everyone around us understood since no one gave us dirty looks. We didn't know "Taps" would be played, but good thing we all had sunglasses on because I don't think there could have been a dry eye in the stadium! It was so moving and just what we all needed to remember what happened 10 years ago and pray for all those involved.

Last week, just as the 1st quarter ended, Jack asked to go "Bye Bye." This week, he asked to go "Bye Bye" just as the game started with the opening kickoff! We didn't want him to leave just yet, so we tried to get him excited about the players and the game, plus look for Aubie, but he was ready to go. Once we got down to the concourse, though, he kept getting upset saying, "Auburn football! Auburn football!", so we tried to take him back in, but that's not what he wanted. He screamed his head off when I handed him to Poppy and Granna at the gate (not because of them of course, just that he didn't want to leave), so that broke my heart, but they said he was fine within seconds.

The game was full of excitement, intensity, and heat! The sun was beating down so hard I felt like I was cooking! I'm glad I had sunscreen on, but I still felt miserable and drained by the time the clock hit 0:00. The ending was amazing, though, and of course we were thrilled, but I was just ready for it to be over with so I could go underneath and get out of the sun! Our Auburn boys played their hearts out and we are very proud of their win and proud of how they came together to pull out a victory over a good Mississippi State team!

After we got back to the tailgate and refreshed ourselves with several bottles of water, we got Jack and strolled him up to Toomer's to celebrate the win! He was little more tired this time, so he didn't get out, but we just looked around and watched other people roll it! He eventually fell asleep after walking around to see Pops then back to the tailgate. He was a tired tiger!

Thanks again to Granna and Poppy for watching Jack during the game! He loves playing at the tailgate so much!

Here are some cute pictures and video of Jack from the day. I might add he is the cutest Auburn fan ever! :-)

Sound asleep early Saturday morning, and taking up the whole crib! Big boy!

Playing at the tailgate.

Heading to the stadium with Daddy.

Toomer's! We won!

Sleepy boy!

Resting with Daddy after a long day!

Auburn vs. Utah State

2011-09-07T11:15:00.000-07:00

This past weekend we headed down to Auburn for the first game of the 2011 season against Utah State. We all thought this game would be a good "practice" game for our team to get acquainted and get used to playing a real game, but nope, it was a very real game, and one in which we almost lost!! It was hot and nerve-wracking, but in the end, Auburn pulled out another win to make 16 consecutive wins! What a way to stay the "heart attack team", Auburn! Whew!

Well, even with the way the game played out, we still had a good time tailgating and going to the game. Since it was an 11:00 am game, we got to the tailgate between 8:30-9:00, and Jack had a good time playing football, tailgate golf, plus playing with his golf clubs there. Around 10:15, we decided to head towards the stadium, and since Daddy Mer had an extra ticket, we got to take Jack, too! He had been saying, "Auburn! Auburn!" ever since we got into town two days before, so we knew he had to get into the stadium and see the eagle, the band, Aubie, and the team.

He rode on Daddy's shoulders until we got to the ticket entrance, and it was the cutest thing just to see them excited together and bonding over something they both love! :-) Jack's love doesn't run as deep as Daddy's just yet, but you still know he loves his team!

Once we got inside, we only had a couple of minutes to spare before the eagle flew, so we were glad Jack didn't miss that. He's seen so many pictures of the eagle, plus countless videos, so it was exciting for him to see it live again (since the last time was a year ago and of course he doesn't remember that!) After that, he got to see the band, then Aubie, then of course the team! He saw them on the jumbotron and kept saying, "Coach Chizik! Coach Chizik!" :-)

Once the game started, he didn't know much about what was going on, especially when he yelled, "Go, Cam, Go!"(he is 2), but he always knew where Aubie was! At the end of the 1st quarter he looked up at me and said, "Bye Bye, Mommy. Bye Bye, Mommy", so we took him to the gate to meet up with Granna and Poppy who were ready to take him back to the tailgate to play for the rest of the game. We really appreciate them offering to watch him so Kurt and I could stay and watch the remainder of the game.

Auburn surely gave us a scare this past week, but they are a brand new team, and very young, and just have some kinks to work out. We can only hope they get it together soon!

Here are some pictures and video from the day:

Jack still sleeping the morning of the game. We had to wake the poor boy up!

Playing football and saying, "Set.. Go!"

Playing tailgate golf with Daddy!

Daddy won! :-(

Headed to the stadium!

Sitting in our seats watching the pre-game!

Toomer's after the game! War Eagle!

Exhausted after a long, but very fun Auburn day! :-)

Thanks Daddy Mer and Mama Becky for the tickets to the game, and thanks again to Granna and Poppy for watching him during the game! :-)

5th Anniversary Cruise!

2011-09-07T10:43:00.000-07:00

Kurt and I celebrated our 5th anniversary together a couple of weeks ago. It's hard to believe we've been married for 5 years already, but they've been the best years of my life! We decided a few months ago we wanted to celebrate in a really big way, so we booked a 5 night cruise to Mexico out of Mobile. We left on Saturday, August 27th and came back Thursday, September 1st.

Needless to say, we had a GREAT time! Yes, we really missed Jack, but he had a blast with his grandparents while we were gone. We did get a couple of chances to Skype with him, so that was nice.

We had so many options of things to do on the cruise, but our main focus was just to relax and enjoy time together since we hadn't had the chance to since Jack was born. We laid out by the pool, played putt-putt, played ping pong, saw shows and comedians, played in the casino, and of course ate! Food was everywhere and it was so good, so even if we weren't hungry, we'd still eat! :-)

We stopped at 2 ports, Progresso and Cozumel. We just shopped at the port at Progresso, but we took an excursion in Cozumel on a catamaran to Passion Island. It's the beach where the Corona commercials are filmed, and it was just as beautiful as shown on tv! We were there for 3 hours and had unlimited food, plus they had fun ocean floats and toys, so we had a blast!

We really did have a great time and realized how lucky we are to have each other, plus to have Jack in our lives now! We were so glad to get back to him Thursday afternoon, and he didn't seem too mad at us for leaving him for so long! :-)

Thanks so much to Granna, Poppy, Mama Becky, and Daddy Mer for keeping him while we were gone! We appreciate y'all letting us get away together just the two of us!

Here are pictures and video from our trip! :-)

Family Trip to Lake Martin 2011

2011-08-24T08:56:00.001-07:00

This past weekend we got to go to Lake Martin with my family! We stayed at a beautiful condo in Stillwaters called Stoneview (same exact condo we stayed in last year), and it was still as beautiful as I'd remembered! It also had a large, gorgeous pool with a slide, plus a walk-in shallow area that was a perfect place for Jack to play. Daddy Mer and Mama Becky had also rented a pontoon boat, plus bought floats to pull behind the boat, so that made the trip even more fun!

We got there Thursday afternoon, got unpacked, then waited on Jim, Deena, Blakely, and Abby to get there. They got there just in time to go to supper at Niffer's on the Lake, so we all piled up in 2 cars and headed that way. I hadn't seen Abby since she was born 5 weeks prior, so I really enjoyed getting to see her and hold her so she could really get to know her aunt Meg better! She's so gorgeous and so sweet! Jack especially loved her, too! Here are a few pictures I was able to get of her throughout the weekend:

We definitely enjoyed our dinner at Niffer's, then Jack had a little more fun outside the restaurant in the play area.

Back at the condo after dinner and before getting ready for bed, Jack had some silly time with hats from Daddy Mer and Mama Becky!

Daddy was finally able to make it to the condo just before putting Jack down for bed, so we got to read a bedtime book as a family.

Friday came and it was time to take the boat out! It was a beautiful day and we all couldn't wait to go for a ride! Jack did much better wearing his lifejacket this year than he did last year! We were so glad for that, too, because last year he hated it and cried most of the time he rode on the boat!

Daddy was brave enough to try out the float first. He seemed to have a pretty good time!

After the little ones went down for a nap, we were waiting for Jeff, Amy, Jake, and Brooke to finally get there. Jake had school Friday, and Jeff needed to work a half day, but when they finally got there, we all went out to the pool for some fun.

Friday night everyone requested to go out to eat at Oskar's. It is such a delicious seafood restaurant very close to where we were staying (just a couple minutes down the road from Stillwaters), so we got cleaned up and got ready to head out. Since it doesn't take Jack very long to get ready, he passed the time by coloring, eating an appetizer of chips, and helping take care of Brooke's baby Lacey.

We finally made it to the restaurant, and since there were 13 of us, we had to wait a little bit. The 4 oldest cousins didn't seem to mind and just played and reassured us how much they love each other!

Everyone enjoyed Oskar's so much! It's always so delicious whenever we go there. My favorite by far has to be the fried pickles and their delicious ranch to dip them in! Jack even loved them, too! He must get that from me! :-)

When we got back to the condo it was bedtime, but just before books and brushing teeth, we caught a glimpse of the 2 boy cousins just hanging out! Too sweet!

Saturday morning! Yes, the kiddos were up bright and early, but no time is too early to start being silly! They loved playing out on the balcony together and laughing!

After getting dressed and getting on the boat, we all headed over to Chuck's Marina for lunch! They have such delicious pizza and we all loved it so much last year that we had to come back! We had a great time even though it was so hot, and the kids even cooled off after lunch with orange push pops!

After lunch we headed back to the condo for nap time. After everyone (even the adults) got some rest, we of course had to head back out on the boat! Daddy and Jake wanted to ride the float behind the boat, and after they got the hang of it again, they let Jack ride with them! He loved every minute of it, especially the big bumps! :-)

After a long ride, we headed back to the condo to get cleaned up for supper. While riding on the boat, Jack loved just walking around and playing with his cousins, and he especially loved helping drive the boat!

Sunday was our last full day there, so we made sure to do as much as possible! We went to the pool that morning since Jack loved it so much. He did so well with his floaties/swimmies, and we loved teaching him how to kick and swim and float on his own! He especially loved going down the slide with Daddy, playing football, plus playing with his water Elmo!

After we'd had enough time in the pool for right then, we decided to go for one last boat ride! We even stopped at one point to all get in the lake to go swimming! Even though I can't stand to swim in murky lake water (yuck!), Jack loved it so I did it out of love for him! :-)

After nap time, we decided we had a little time before dinner, so we went back out to the pool.

For dinner that night, Daddy Mer grilled hamburgers and they were so good! We had a great time just staying in and visiting, plus it's sometimes easier to do that with 5 kids! Daddy Mer also bought cupcakes and ice cream for everyone!

After dinner we all got dressed up in our white, purple, and khaki and headed out by the lake for family pictures! We waited until right after the sun went down so we could get the perfect lighting. I think they turned out great and we all looked so nice!

Here is a video with highlights from the trip:

Thanks so much to Daddy Mer and Mama Becky for such a fun trip to the lake! We had so much fun just being with our family, plus we appreciate the nice condo, boat, and all the meals you provided! We are so grateful to y'all for all you do for us and we love you very much!

Rockin' Out to "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star"

2011-08-24T06:50:00.000-07:00

Jack loves playing his drums, and he loves singing, so yesterday it was the cutest thing when he sang "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star" while playing the drums! I'm so glad I got it on video! :-)

Mamapalooza 2011

2011-08-16T14:58:00.000-07:00

Over the last few days, Jack and I were both lucky enough to go to Lake Martin for some fun in the sun! Our friend Lindsey invited us to to her in-laws' lake house along with our friend Shelley and her son Hunter. Since it was just us moms and our boys, Lindsey felt it necessary to call it Mamapalooza 2011! :-)

After we got there Sunday night and put the boys down, we stayed up until 2 am just talking and catching up! We can't even remember the last time we did that, but we were just girls being girls!

All day Monday we played outside in the lake and in the boat. Lindsey's parents Larry and Bobbie Jones came in their boat to take us out for the afternoon, and we had a blast! We took a picnic lunch to eat out at Chimney Rock, then got in the water for a while to cool off and play.

We let the boys nap when we got back to the house, then Lindsey cooked us a delicious dinner. We then ended up going to bed pretty early to make up for lost sleep the night before!

We left the house around lunch today, stopped by Oskar's for lunch, then all headed home! Thanks so much, Lindsey, for a great trip! :-)

Video of our time in the lake and boat!

Super Fun Weekend

2011-08-11T07:19:00.000-07:00

We had such a super fun weekend this past weekend! It was packed full of fun and exciting adventures, including another trip to Chuck E. Cheese and the Zoo!

We started out at Chuck E. Cheese for lunch on Saturday and Jack loved it as much as he did the last time when we went! We don't have as many pictures this time, but lots of video, so check that out at the end of the post.

Airplane game with Daddy

Photo sketch booth

Sunday we went to the Zoo with Granna, Poppy, and Uncle Trevor who came up to see us for the day. Daddy and I already knew how smart Jack was with the animals there, but it was fun to show that to Granna, Poppy, and Trevor who were amazed at how much he loved the animals and knew what they were! :-)

Breakfast banana on the way there! (Practicing being a monkey, I guess) :-)

Turtles and lizards

Seal

The kangaroo exhibit

Flamingos

Sleeping gorilla

Elephant

Rhinos

Jack being a gorilla :-)

Riding the choo choo!

Tiger

Goats

Carousel ride

Leaving the Zoo after 3 hours!

After the Zoo we went to eat at Newk's Cafe on 280 since Granna, Poppy, and Trevor had never been. Of course they loved it, and Uncle Clay was even able to come meet us, too!

Video montage of the whole weekend

(PS: Be sure to listen out for my new favorite sentence of his when we are at the tiger exhibit at the zoo, right after I ask him where the water is.) :-)

Thanks so much to Granna and Poppy for such a fun day at the Zoo, plus lunch at Newk's. We are always glad when they can come up and visit!

Lunch in Montgomery

2011-08-06T15:15:00.000-07:00

On Thursday, Jack and I went down to Montgomery with Papa, aunt Amy, and cousins Brooke and Jake to see my grandmother, my aunt Vicki, and cousins Lacey and Courtney! We went to Martin's and the food was delicious! Jack even had his very first fried chicken leg and he loved it!

My cousin Brooke (not to be confused with Jack's cousin Brooke) couldn't make it, but aunt Vicki was able to bring her little boy Camp who is almost 15 months old and too cute!

I'm so glad he liked me!

Family photo!

Camp showing off his walking skills!

Jack and froggy were very silly on the ride home!

Thanks to Papa for such a fun trip to Montgomery to have lunch with family that we don't get to see as often as we'd like! We love you!

The McWane Center

2011-08-04T13:28:00.001-07:00

Yesterday we had the chance to go to the McWane Center for the first time! I knew Jack would love everything they had there, we just hadn't had a chance to go until now. Our friends Lindsey and Sawyer came, too, and the two boys had a great time playing together.

Here is the mechanical ball drop and spin thing (no, not its official name but I don't know it!), and Jack loved it! He probably could've stood there all day just to watch that!

Jack meeting Mr. Mini Vulcan!

The first floor of three we visited had this imaginary playground where you could build your own forts and slides and Jack loved it! It even had balls around it to play with.

Here is the large foot piano! Jack wasn't heavy enough to make the notes play, but Mommy helped him, plus he decided just to sit down on it and play!

The Water Table! We made it down to the 2nd floor to play in the preschool area, and Jack and Sawyer loved the water table! They also looked so cute in their little aprons! :-)

The even had a good time in the playground area

These pictures were taken through a window, so I'm sorry they are blurry!

Snack time with yogurt melts!

Bubbles!

After eating lunch in the food court, we headed down to the last floor where the World of Water was. They had a shark and sting ray tank where you could actually touch them! Lindsey made a go for it, but I wouldn't let Jack and me. It's Shark Week, are you kidding me? No thanks!!

Jack playing around and inside the giant fish!

Turtle!

Too much playing! Need something to drink please!

We made one last trip to the big kid area, more for science and learning, and Jack loved the seat where you pull yourself up! He needed help from Mommy and Lindsey, though, because we realized we'd put him in the hardest one! Oops!

Sweet Sawyer getting sleepy and begging to leave and take a nap!

Finally, the water and ball table. Yes, the universe is complete now that they have combined water and balls for Jack! He loved it!

He loved it so much he got soaked!

Here is a video from the day!

The Jack Branch Show

2011-08-03T12:27:00.000-07:00

Last night Jack was talking to his Granna on speakerphone when he all of a sudden decided that she needed a concert. Thank goodness we got this on video because it was too cute! The video is a little dark, but it's still great. Ladies and Gentlemen, here is the Jack Branch Show:

Braves vs. Marlins

2011-08-01T08:50:00.001-07:00

This past weekend Papa took us to Atlanta to watch the Braves play the Marlins! We left Saturday afternoon and got there a couple hours before the first pitch, so that gave us time to walk around and have fun just taking in everything! We even saw coaches Gonzalez and McDowell pass us in a golf cart!

We finally made it to our seats and they were so close! We sat 20 rows up from home plate and looked right down the first base line! We even had people come and take our order for food, then bring the food right to us!

Jack finally fell asleep about halfway back home. He was such a trooper all day and finally crashed!

Here's a video with some highlights of the trip

Thanks so much to Papa for taking us all to the game. We had a great time and were so glad Jeff and Jake could join us, too! Braves won 5-1 and even hit 2 home runs! Such an exciting and fun game!

Another Trip to the Irondale Cafe

2011-07-26T07:29:00.002-07:00

After church this past Sunday we headed back to the Irondale Cafe for lunch with Sherbo and Papa. The food there is so great, but Jack's favorite part has to be the "choo choos" out front! We got to see 3 trains go by while we were there and Jack loved it. He even sang his "ABCs" for one train as it went by! :-)

Not sure what he's doing or saying here, but I thought the picture was hilarious! :-)

2 Year Check-up

2011-07-25T12:43:00.000-07:00

Jack had his 2 year check-up last week, and everything went well! The doctor was very impressed with his height, weight, speech, and other developments, and no shots were needed! Yay! We won't need to get shots again until 4 years old (except for flu), thank goodness!

His weight was 32 lbs, height was 35.5 inches, and head circumference was 20.5 inches. He is in the 75th percentile for weight and 90th percentile for height. In comparison with his birth and 1 year check-up, at birth he weighed 7 lbs 12 oz, 19 3/4 inches long, and his head circumference was 14 inches. At his 1 year check-up, he weighed 24 lbs 3 oz, was 31 inches long, and his head circumference was 19 1/4 inches. He's a growing boy!

Here are a few pictures to show how much he's grown and changed in just 2 years! I don't have one at the doctor for this last check-up, but I found a cute one that will work! :-)

We are so proud of our growing boy and he impresses us with new words and actions everyday! I feel there is way too much to type out, but he's talking so much and saying sentences, and getting smarter everyday! I am his mother, so I feel he's the smartest boy ever, but I really am impressed with how well he learns and how much he loves to learn! He loves reading, doing puzzles, but most of all he loves playing! He definitely has gotten so much use out of every toy, especially his sports and musical ones. He loves anything that has a ball and anything that plays music! He's already so well-rounded and we have so much fun with him everyday.

I've been so blessed to be at home with him most everyday and watch him play and see how much he loves life! :-) He gets to wake up everyday and play with everything he loves! We are so glad to see how happy he is, and we are more and more proud of him everyday! More updates to come in the near future!

Baby Abby!

2011-07-21T09:26:00.000-07:00

Jack's new cousin Abigail Lucille Parrish was born last Thursday, July 14th at 8:30 am! She weighed 7 lbs, 2 oz and was perfect! She and mama are both doing great, too! We were so glad we could be there for her birth! She was so tiny and so beautiful and we were so glad to finally meet her! She is the brand new daughter of Uncle Jim and Aunt Deena, and the sweet baby sister of Blakely!

Brooke, Jake, and Jack killing time Thursday morning waiting on Abby to be born!

Giving Blakely her big sister gifts before meeting Abby.

There she is!

Blakely got to come play and spend the night with us Friday night and she and Jack had the best time!

Jack's even an expert on taking care of the baby doll now! Maybe it will be good practice for him for when he's a big brother one day! :-)

We are so happy for the Parrish family and their new bundle of joy! God is so good! :-)

4th of July Beach Trip!

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

Another beach trip for the Branch family! We were lucky enough to go back to the beach this past weekend for the 4th of July with Kurt's family! We stayed at the Phoenix West again in Orange Beach and we were there for 5 nights! We had gorgeous weather each day and enjoyed watching Jack fall in love all over again with the ocean, pool, slide, and lazy river! :-)

The first day we started out at the beach and watched Jack build "castles" with his shovel and buckets, then of course he played some football with the boys, then went in the ocean to watch the waves go "boosh!"

Wading in the water with Uncle Trevor

Boosh! Boosh!

Chillin' with his ice cold water next to Cousin Josh and Uncle Con Con

Taking time out of his playing to love on Uncle Clay and Uncle Con Con

When Jack had gotten bored of the ocean and sand, we headed up to the pool area. They have a huge pool with a walk-in entrance, plus a baby pool, and once Jack realized the baby pool was there, he wanted to go there the most! He could stand up in it so I guess he just felt more in control. His water Elmo had fun swimming in it, too!

He also took a lap or two around the lazy river with Poppy and Con Con!

Back in the condo having fun with Ashley and Clay!

We went out to dinner Friday night to celebrate Granna's birthday! We ate at Island Thyme near the Zeke's Marina and it was very good! Before we left we got a couple pictures of our family, plus sweet Jack, including one of him posing! He started this new thing of lying on the floor posing for everyone! Too funny!

Saturday morning Jack woke up asking for "Con Con, Ashley", so we got them to come in our room so they could all play together! Too bad Con Con and Jack were still tired and wanted to go back "night night"!

Time to go back outside and enjoy the beach! That morning there happened to be a huge puddle near our chairs, so Jack and Poppy enjoyed sitting in it and playing. After it dried up, Jack built castles then begged Daddy to go back "boosh!" It was so funny to hear him keep asking for that!

Back to the lazy river and slide!

Sweet boy asleep Saturday night! He looked so sweet with his knees up and his feet crossed that I had to take a picture!

On Sunday we started out at the pool instead of the beach. Jack and mommy played a while in the big pool with buckets and our water Elmo, then other kids joined in on the fun, too!

Sunday night was the night for family pictures in our khaki and white! This was the first time for the Bass/Branch clan to attempt family pictures, and I'd say it was a success! I didn't get a picture of the whole family, but hopefully we can get one from Auntie Em soon to add to the post later.

Em monogrammed hats for all us girls! So cute!

Happy 4th of July! Jack enjoyed his Independence Day breakfast in the chair in the living room by himself that morning. He seemed pretty content so we let him! :-)

Frisbee with Daddy and Con Con

Chillin on the balcony with Daddy reflecting on the day...

Putt-Putt! We took Jack to his first Putt-Putt experience and he loved it! He finally got a chance to use his golf skills he's worked on at home for over a year!

Here we are at Hazel's after eating their awesome breakfast buffet on our way back home! Jack still felt patriotic so he grabbed a flag out front and waved it for a while! :-) He then took a little nap on the way home. I guess being a beach bum is hard work! Thanks so much to Granna and Poppy for the awesome beach trip! We had a great time and really appreciate them taking us! We love y'all!

Jack turns 2!

2011-06-28T12:06:00.001-07:00

Jack's 2nd Birthday!!!! We had so much fun from start to finish! :-) We started off with a yummy breakfast, then played, then went to a very fun lunch at Chuck E. Cheese! Jack had never been and was a little overwhelmed at first, but overall had a great time! After coming back home and napping, we later went to Red Robin for supper to wrap up the day! We all had a great day of celebration and are so grateful for our sweet little man!

Here is a video from his birthday!

Jack's 2nd Birthday Party!

2011-06-27T06:50:00.000-07:00

We had so much fun the past few days celebrating Jack's 2nd Birthday! He's such a big boy now and we can't believe he's already 2! Where has time gone? It definitely flies by since the little man stays busy and keeps us on our toes, literally! :-)

The fun started Saturday morning with his birthday party! We had it at Leeds Memorial Park with lots of family and close friends, and it was a blast!

The park had so many fun slides and swings, so of course the kids got right into playing on them, and did so for the first hour of the party!

Time for cake!

So many presents, so little time! :)

Blakely is comforting Jack during this overwhelming time! :)

Jack's new 4-wheeler!

We are so thankful for all the family and friends who could be there!

Jack saying "Bye Bye" to the giant Elmo who came to the party!

Here is a video with highlights from the party...

Thanks to everyone who was able to come and help us celebrate! We are so grateful for all our family and friends who love Jack and wanted to be there for his special day! We also appreciate all the help from our parents for all they did to help make the party a success! :)

Another Year in Review

2011-06-26T06:54:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday to our sweet little Jack! It's so hard to believe he's 2 years old today, but we are so proud of the sweet and smart big boy he's become! Here is another year in review in pictures, including some big events that happened in his life...

13 Months

14 Months

15 Months

16 Months

17 Months

18 Months

19 Months

20 Months (This shows the day he busted his head open)

21 Months (This shows the day of his tubes/adenoids surgery)

22 Months

23 Months

24 Months

Meeting Zoey

2011-06-23T21:17:00.001-07:00

We finally got to meet Baby Zoey today! Our friends Lauren and Eric Bush just returned home last weekend from Korea where they got to meet and bring home their new baby girl! She is so precious and I'm so glad Mama Becky, Jack, and I got to go see her and Lauren today!

Afternoon at the Lake

2011-06-21T18:48:00.000-07:00

Thanks to Kurt's uncle Keith, aunt Phoebe, and cousins Mallory, Meredith, and Madeline, we were all able to go to the lake for the afternoon this past Saturday! They rented a house for a whole month on Lake Martin and invited us to come play and ride the boat! It was such a cute place, and we had a blast, even though we didn't have our swimsuits with us (seems to be a pattern with us lately!). Jack was fine in just his diaper and shorts and had a lot of fun! Keith and Phoebe even got him his own life jacket to wear! So sweet! Jack's aunt Ashley and uncle Conner were also there, and we appreciate them getting in the water to play with Jack since they actually had their swimsuits with them! :-)

Aunt Ashley got a kick out of Jack's "I'm being swallowed up by this lifejacket" look! :-)

Swimming with Ashley and cousin Madeline

Riding on the boat! Cousin Mallory helped keep him calm while he still got used to his lifejacket.

Captains Keith and Jack!

Mr. Cool

Uncle Conner dipped him in and out of the lake several times and he loved it! He kept saying, "Again! Again!"

Back on the boat for a second ride! Jack stood up most of this ride after he figured out that was more comfortable for him in the lifejacket! :-)

Captains Conner and Jack!

Video of the afternoon...

Thanks so much to Keith and Phoebe and their girls for inviting us and helping us have a great afternoon! We love the lake so much and enjoy any chance we can get to go there! We love y'all and appreciate you thinking of us! :-)

Baby Pool Fun

2011-06-20T19:52:00.000-07:00

Jack has had a lot of fun in this heat staying cool in his baby pool! We had this pool at his 1st birthday party last year, but he was too little to use it then, so we've definitely gotten a lot of use out of it now! Here are some pictures and video of him enjoying himself in it! :-)

Chicken Pox

2011-06-14T13:10:00.000-07:00

For the last week and a half, Jack has had chicken pox! Poor baby started getting bumps two Wednesdays ago, on June 1, and when they got a lot worse and more widespread the next day, so I took him in to see his pediatrician. His case was not as severe or as full-blown since he had the vaccine at 12 months old, so that was a blessing. He's been acting much better lately, but got a new bump Sunday, so we still have until this coming Sunday before he's not contagious anymore. It's been hard for us to not be able to do much, but we are looking forward to when he will be well and this will all be behind us!