Last Pictures of February

Here are a few of my favorites from the last few days.

True to East Tennessee, just hangin' out in his underwear and drink. Wouldn't you like to know what's in that sippy cup?? (Yes, he is in big boy underwear. He wears it when we're hanging around the house and so far he's doing great!)

Future recording artist? Well, we will have to hope he gets Popo and Aunt Kelly's singing talent because Jarred and I both have none.

Actually being sweet with Mommy this morning. Do you think he needs a haircut or do you like the shaggy look?

Just a cute face.

March is a busy month for us y'all, so you better be prepared for lots of pictures! Jarred's mom and grandmother will be here Tuesday for a week, then on Friday (the 13th) we head to Memphis to visit Graceland with my good friend, Dixie and her family. Then at the end of the month we'll travel to Nashville to help Abbott celebrate his first birthday. He is almost 1 and that is just crazy. So... stay tuned. I'll update as often as I can!

Sneaky Snake

A few weeks ago, Jack was pretending to be asleep and he was "trickin' me" so I called him a sneaky snake. Yesterday he called me a sneaky snake and it made me remember a song called Sneaky Snake that Kelly and I used to listen to at my grandparent's house. The song is by Tom T. Hall and I found the album (or at least one with all the same songs) on iTunes. I downloaded it and played it for Jack and he LOVES Sneaky Snake. See for yourself.

The Orange Hat

Jarred, Jack and I went shopping a few weekends ago and Jack found himself an orange hat. His first comment about the hat was that it was "like Abbott's". If you've seen pictures of my cute nephew, you know he wears cute little hats so I really think that's what Jack liked most about it. Of course, it didn't hurt that it had a "Tennessee" on it. Here are some pictures of Jack in his orange hat.

Not looking at me.

Still purposely not looking at me, although I think it's pretty cute.

I Love You!

Finally giving in.

We went to Target yesterday and the hat somehow got left behind. I hope we can find another one. :(

What A Fun Weekend!

Kelly and Abbott came over on Friday and spent the weekend with me and Jack. We were very excited to see them and Jack was so ready to play with Abbott. It will be great when Abbott and Jack can actually play together instead of just trying to take each other's toys away. It didn't matter who had what, the other one wanted it! Jack was still acting like his ears were bothering him late Friday night so we weren't sure how the weekend would go, but he felt better Saturday morning and has seemed pretty good since. Kelly and I had fun doing a little crafting and playing on the Wii. Last night we had chili dogs and made cookies and waited for snow, despite it being nearly 60 degrees during the day. Sure enough, we woke up to enough snow to cover the ground and very cold temps. Of course, the snow is almost gone now, but it's still cold! I think I'm ready for spring! Here are a few pictures from our weekend.

Jack was glad to see Aunt Kelly!

Abbott's trying out Jack's sit & spin, though he preferred to try to use it as a walker.

Jack and Abbott eating supper together. Abbott's in the background trying to tell Jack not to shove 50 mandarin oranges into his mouth at one time!

Abbott is getting good at feeding himself. He stays so clean!

Abbott's checking out the snow this morning.

Jack's making silly faces to make Abbott laugh. Abbott just loved everything Jack did, it was all so funny and fun to watch them!

He is just so cute!

"I don't want to leave Aunt Jami's house!!"

Come Color with Me, Daddy

I had colored enough for the day. I know, I'm horrible. Jack didn't want to color alone so he said, "Come color with me, Daddy." Jarred obliged and colored all the specifics Jack wanted. Mommy's car, Daddy's truck, a street and a grocery truck. He's much better at drawing than I am so Jack was happy.

Concentrating very hard.

Jack is helping Jarred put on the finishing touches.

Silly boys!

I Love John Deere

I pulled out a collection of pants today asking Jack which one he wanted to wear. I should have known he'd pick his John Deere pants so I asked if he wanted to wear his John Deere shirt, too- another silly question. As we were putting on his pants, he said, "Dese are my John Deere twactor pants." I said, "Do you like John Deere?" He said, "I yove John Deere twactors!" Maybe he could be their next spokesperson. I was curious just how much he loved John Deere so I tried to round up his JD gear. I'm sure I missed about half. In this picture we have, a tractor quilt, 2 tractor pillows, JD boots, JD coloring bag, numerous tractors, trucks, trailers, farmers, books, a tool belt, cell phone and keys. Of course, his outfit is all JD and it's not the only JD shirt he has. I did forget the JD pajamas and socks he has. He loves them all!

Big Prize and the Crack Store

Jack's been getting the hang of using the potty. At first he didn't want to at all, then all of a sudden it's fun to go. When we started with the potty chart, I told him if he got 10 stickers in one week, we'd go get a big prize. He got 10 exactly so we went to Target yesterday to get his big prize. He picked out a CARS racetrack where the combine chases Lightning McQueen and makes him shoot up a ramp. From what I hear from Jack, "It's a really cool toy." He has played with it nonstop and keeps thanking us for it. I guess he likes it. We decided he should shoot for 15 stickers on the next potty chart but we're at the end of day 2 and he's already got 9 so we may shoot for 20. Today he started yelling out that he was going to go tt on the potty and he'd run in the bathroom and sure enough, he'd go. I think he's getting there!

Showing off his Lightning McQueen.

He'll sit at the end and say, "On your mawt, get set, GO!" It's really cute and since we laugh, he does it more!

Silly face!

Today I wanted to get out and go to JoAnn's craft store. We got in the car and Jack asked where we were going and when I told him, he said, "We are going to the cwack sto." I guess in a sense he's right because I just keep wanting to buy more craft supplies even though I don't have any idea how to do the projects I think are cute. I've tried to make a baby sling and I'm stuck, even though I have a pattern and instructions. I keep finding cute crafts in books or magazines and I have to rush out and get the supplies. I'm addicted. Much like I would be to crack... if I used it.

Exchanges Only after 14 days for the Same Item via Priority Mail

Huh? At the post office today, Jack asked for a sticker. When I told him they didn't have stickers there, they lady said she could give him a priority mail sticker. I figure, as sticker's a sticker to a 2 year old so he took one and was happy. Later, at Office Depot, I told the story to the cashier who commented on his priority mail sticker. She said, "I can give him a 14 day return policy sticker". Again, to Jack, any sticker is cool so once again, he was happy and is still wearing both stickers proudly. I figure this means Jack can only be returned after 14 days and can only be exchanged for the same item via priority mail.

However, since he's just so darn cute, I think I'll keep him!

1000!

Congratulations to Coach Pat Summitt! Tonight, Mom, Dad, Jarred, Jack and I went to the Lady Vols game to watch Pat and the Lady Vols win game 1000. It was great. They won by 30 points and she was presented with several plaques and posters. She's won more games than any other coach, men's or women's. It was great to be there and witness this part of history!

The view from our seats. Far away, but it was still fun!

Jack's holding up one of the "1000" signs I painted while Jack was painting his own pictures.

Mom and Dad are holding theirs, too!

Maybe if we hold them up high, they will see them way up here!

Congrats Coach Summitt!

Thanking her fans.

They gave her the first star on the new riverwalk of fame!

Coach Summitt and her team. It was great to be there! Go Lady Vols!

What Happens when Mommy Doesn't Pay Attention?

Jack "helps" me cook.

Snow Day

There was still snow on the ground when we woke up this morning, so I figured we better take advantage of it. Normally, the snow is gone the same day. Jack got so excited and was ready to make a frosty the snowman. We all got bundled up and head outside. The snow was fun to play in but it had frozen on top so there was no snowman making but Jack did have fun making ice balls and throwing them around. Later, he took his rake and busted up some of the snow. We had a lot of fun and now he's been asleep for nearly 3 1/2 hours (probably has something to do with the ear infection, too.)

If you have seen a cuter face than this, let me know.

He could almost walk on top of the snow and not make footprints. It was that crunchy.

Here is his snowball.

Gathering up a snow ball. You had to stomp on the snow to break it up, then pick up the pieces. It was fun, though and Jack said, "It's fun to pway in the snow!" Just wait til we can take you to Red River, Jack!

Fun Weekend!

Well, I was finally able to make my trip to Nashville after three weeks of trying! While it was very very fun and full of things to do, it didn't come without some unexpected events!

On Friday, I met a friend from high school for lunch in Franklin. We went to the same high school in Amarillo and I found out through her blog and facebook page that she and her husband are in Nashville temporarily. Her husband is retired from the Army and found out that he had cancer while serving in Iraq. He beat it once and just had a bone marrow transplant at Vanderbilt in Nashville. He is doing better than they expected and should get to go home around the end of the month. It was great to see her and good to hear her husband is doing well. After lunch Jack and I went to Kelly and Ryan's house. Ryan was changing Abbott's diaper and showed me a rash he had on his belly and legs. You can read the ordeal at Kelly's blog but it turns out he has hives. No known reason why, but that's what they are. Fortunately he acts like he feels just fine, with a little bit of a snotty nose so that's good. We spent the evening just relaxing and laughing a lot at stuff that's not even that funny. Kelly and I tend to do that when we get together.

I just love this picture of Jack. He's so handsome!

Jack hates to get his hair washed so Kelly bought him these hats to keep the water out of his face. Kelly is very excited about it. Jack, not so much.

Due to Jack's milk allergy, Kelly was determined to make him macaroni and "cheese". This "cheese" had claims that it melts. Hmmm, we wondered what their definition of melt was.

On Saturday we went to the Adventure Science Center. Jack and Abbott could get in free and we thought Jack would have a good time. He really did have a good time but it was hard to pull him from one display to another. He could have stayed at one place the entire time we were there.

Future Engineer??

Kelly tried out the Dance Dance Revolution type game at the science center and Jack tried to mimic every move. It was very cute and they both did an awesome job. Abbott is observing from the background.

Here is Jack's favorite display. There were 2 large model trains that traveled through the town. There were interactive buttons that made different things move, like a merry go round, a trolley and a mini golf course. He could have stayed here all day. After the science center we went back to Kelly's to let the boys nap and then went to visit our cousins Jerry, Kelly, Billy, Jeff, Mary Ann and Grace. It's unusual they were all home at once, especially since Billy's at UT, and that they didn't have anything going on! It was great to see them and we had a great day. Problem is, I didn't take any pictures! They were all there together but not all around us at the same time!

Abbott is always making funny faces and he has one where he will squint and blink his eyes really fast at you. It's too cute. I tried to capture some of his many faces, but all I could get were super cute ones! We stayed at home again Saturday night and just relaxed some more. It was nice.

Kelly and Ryan say this is how they spend most evenings. Man, they are crazy!

Sunday we got up and around and went to visit our other cousins, Gib, Angie, Laura, Jenna and Chase and when we got to their house we were surprised to see our Aunt Rajeen. None of these family members had met Abbott yet so it was really nice to see them all together. Again, no pictures were taken. I'm really falling down on the job.

I decided to stay and watch the Super Bowl in Nashville and come home Monday morning. Jack had skipped his nap since we were visiting so he was pretty worn out. About 7 or so I was trying to hold and play with Abbott and a little jealousy kicked in and Jack wanted to snuggle. Then he told me that his ear hurt. We kind of thought that he was just saying that to get more attention but suddenly he started to cry. He wouldn't stop and kept saying his ear hurt. He dozed in and out most of the night just tossing and turning and crying. It was very sad. I gave him tylenol and waited until this morning. I started home only to find out the weather was bad in Knoxville and it would be best for me to wait until later in the day to go home. I called Jack's doctor and they decided he should be seen since he wasn't acting like he felt better. Kelly was able to get him an appointment with Abbott's group and it turns out he has a double ear infection. We were finally able to make it home and Jack went to bed about 7:30. I went to check on him a few minutes ago and he was in the same position as when he laid down. Poor baby is so tired and doesn't feel good! I'm hoping for a much more uneventful day tomorrow and hope that both Jack and Abbott are just about finished with all this drama! Through all that, before he really started to feel bad, he did figure out a funny trick he can do with his grapes. I will leave you with this last picture of "grape face".