Where do they come up with this stuff?

Jackson just told me, and I quote...

"Mama, I just brought some dinosaurs up in my treehouse and they were very heavy!"

Allrighty then.

6 Months...

Here we are again, another month later, and once again, I can't believe it. My baby girl is...

6 months old today!!!

She is growing like a weed, and just gets sweeter by the day. She loves to smile and laugh and play. She is rolling over from back to front and sitting on her own briefly. She still is not the best napper, but as sweet as she is, I absolutely cannot complain. She loves her paci, finally, and has just about perfected putting herself to sleep. She loves to take baths and loves eating!

We love this girl and all that she has added to our already blessed lives!

look at those cute little teeth!

is she not the cutest thing ever?!

being silly!

with her favorite big brother!

and just being her sweet, silly self!

I can't believe that 1/2 a year is gone already... we'll be celebrating her 1st birthday before we know it! I can't even imagine it!!!

Mr. Potato Head

So, you already know from a previous post about my real life Mr. Wonderful, but did you also know that I now have one of these... I even have proof thanks to discounted Valentine's candy at Target

My very own Mr. Potato Head

Those lips are actually a sucker... the sucker part is in his mouth... I thought it was so funny!

Not Too Small Anymore!

Caroline is a small baby. Born very small, and although she has gotten pretty chunky, she is still small, especially when compared to the HUGENESS that Jackson always was. The fact that she is petite had never worried me...

When we went in for her 4 month check -up, which acually took place when she was 5 months old, her height and weight were both about 50th percentile (which to me is still so small considering that Jackson was typically over 100th for weight and 95th or so for height)but her head was about 23rd percentile. This concerned the doctor because it was small in comparison to the rest of her body. The doctor also said that her soft spot was closing up way too quickly and that that could be why her head was small, not letting her head grow, in turn not lettin gher brain grow. The doctor was concerned about developmental problems and told me that we would need to come back in a month for a CT scan which would then lead to surgery to correct the problem. When we left the office, She told me not to worry and she would see us in a month...

Not worry, yeah right! I became obsessive about measuring her head, making sure that she was hitting the developmental milestones that she should be... she always has, but I became so worried. It was so hard, because to me, she is so beautiful and so perfect, I couldn't imagine that there could be something REALLY wrong!

Well, her appointment was this past Thursday, and I was a nervous wreck!!!! I was almost in tears by the time the doctor came in, but everything was fine, fine, fine! Her head and grown 1 1/2 centimeters in a month, making the growth not only consistent with what it had been, but even more so. She jumped slightly from 23rd percentile to 25th. The doctor said that since it is growing there is nothing more to be concerned about. The only cause for concern would be if her percentile number had dropped showing that her head wasn't growing at all

So, she may be small, but she is beautiful and perfect, and I am so thankful that my life has been blessed with this precious girl!

Bath-time Fun!!!

Kids are always so cute in the tub that I took the opportunity to take some pictures. It halped that Jackson loves to take baths so he was very happy and more than willing to smile for the camera! That is always a bonus!

Before you look at them... I am not trying to drown my child... she loves getting as deep down into the water as she possibly can, and I constatntly have to scoot her up in her little bath seat to keep her from drowning!

when I pulled her out she had a bubble goatee

she loves the tub as much as Jackson

See?!

Thats 4 & 0 for Hansbrough and the UNC senior class...

Too bad he doesn't have any talent, huh Cameron?

Thanks for the picture, dad!

Let the Battle of the Blues begin...

Can you feel it?!

The excitement and anticipation of Carolina and Duke's first meeting of the year?

It is great fun... and, if you're not from here, you just wouldn't understand!

We started the festivities early today with a pre-party at Cade and Brittany's house where Cameron is always the ONLY Duke fan in attendance.

I'll be fast so we can all get back to the game...

Me and the kids in our CAROLINA blue headed out to the party

Just because she's smiley ad cute... her shirt says TARdevil... Brittany made it for Jackson

The CAROLINA blue cupcakes I made for the party...

even Caroline thought they were yummy!

Hey, did y'all know that Gerald Henderson and Wayne Ellington played highschool ball together? :) Apparently there are still people out there who didn't know that! :)

My dad and I were talking the other night and he said that after tonight they were going to re-name Cameron Indoor Stadium to Hansbrough Indoor Stadium because he will have never lost there. Well, we're 10 minutes into the game and its looking pretty good. We'll see!!!

TARHEELS, TARHEELS!!!

Editor's note... for all you Carolina fans out there... read Heather and Jared's blog... a very clever post about the Carolina/Duke rivalry

Genius

Every movie that any toddler falls in love with, must be watched over and over and over again.

We used to watch Cars about 4 or 5 times today. Then it was Ratatouille. Then it was the Polar Express. The most recent has been episodes of Thomas the Tank Engine that we DVR'd off PBS. We watch the episodes again and again.

Last week, one of Cameron's co-workers let us borrow some Thomas movies that his son watched over and over, and while starting the first one, we discovered something...



You mean I can choose to play it continuously?! I don't even have to re-start it. Whoever came up with this is a genius, and obviously had a toddler!

Just Further Proof

that I have the happiest, cutest girl EVER!

Doesn't that just make you want to smile?

This is after no nap... atleast she's happy!!!

Mama's got a brand new...

VAN!!!

That's right, its official... I am a mini-van mom! And, I couldn't be happier about it!!!

We got a 2006 Chrysler Town and Country Touring Edition! I love it!!! It is loaded... certainly not what we expected to walk off the lot when we started the car-buying process on Saturday morning. We got way more our trade than we should have, and they met us on everything. We ended up paying almost $5000 less for it than they were asking... on a used car. With the deal we got (that we would never get again), we couldn't say no!

Did I mention that I LOVE it!!!

Jackson LOVES it too!

This thing is sooooo nice. Leather seats, power EVERYTHING, seat warmers, stow and go seats, and Jackson's favorite (which means I love it too!)...

The DVD player with wireless headphones!

Truly, I feel blessed that we were able to find this van and get the deal that we did... certaily not what we were expecting, and certainly not what we would ever have been able to afford otherwise. What a great day!!!

First Born

Here you go mommies - a different kind of survey for a change - it's all about your first born!Let's see how much you remember!

1. WAS YOUR FIRST PREGNANCY PLANNED? yes

2. WERE YOU MARRIED AT THE TIME? yes

3. WHAT WERE YOUR REACTIONS? I was SUPER excited!!!

4. WAS ABORTION AN OPTION FOR YOU? No way.

5. HOW OLD WERE YOU? I was 23

6. HOW DID YOU FIND OUT YOU WERE PREGNANT? I took a pregnancy test… I had taken one a couple days before and it was negative. I took another one and it came out positive… I started freaking out!

7. WHO DID YOU TELL FIRST? Well, it depends. My neighbor probably heard me, but the first person I actually told was Cameron, of course.

8. DID YOU WANT TO FIND OUT THE SEX? Of course

9. DUE DATE? 3/23/06

10. DID YOU HAVE MORNING SICKNESS? I had all day sickness for about 7 months

11. WHAT DID YOU CRAVE? In the beginning I craved egg rolls, and at the end I ate cereal and cold milk constantly

12. WHO/WHAT IRRITATED YOU THE MOST? Feeling yucky all day and having to deal with all the stupid people I had to talk to on the phone at work

13. WHAT WAS YOUR FIRST CHILD'S SEX? boy

14. DID YOU WISH YOU HAD THE OPPOSITE SEX OF WHAT YOU WERE GETTING? Before I found out I was having a boy I really wanted a girl… but when I found out it was a boy I was soooo excited. Little boys are the best!

15. HOW MANY POUNDS DID YOU GAIN THROUGHOUT THE PREGNANCY? 30 or so

16. DID YOU HAVE A BABY SHOWER? Yes, it was wonderful

17. WAS IT A SURPRISE OR DID YOU KNOW? I knew

18. DID YOU HAVE ANY COMPLICATIONS DURING YOUR PREGNANCY? No

19. WHERE DID YOU GIVE BIRTH? At Women’s Hospital in Greensboro… the best place to have a baby

20. HOW MANY HOURS WERE YOU IN LABOR? About 6

21. WHO DROVE YOU TO THE HOSPITAL? Cameron

22. WHO WATCHED YOU GIVE BIRTH? Cameron, my mom, the doctor, and the nurse

23. WAS IT NATURAL OR C-SECTION? natural

24. DID YOU TAKE MEDICINE TO EASE THE PAIN? Epidural, baby!!!

25. HOW MUCH DID YOUR CHILD WEIGH? 8 lbs. 7 oz.

26. WHEN WAS YOUR CHILD ACTUALLY BORN ? I was induced 6 days after my due date... on March 29, 2006

27. WHAT DID YOU NAME HIM/HER? Jackson Caley Howard

I tag anyone who has a first-born and wants to play