I shed a few tears the day before Jax’s birthday, but thankfully I was able to get that out of my system so I could enjoy the big day on Thursday and his party on Saturday. I took off part of the afternoon, so after opening a few gifts from his daycare teachers we went to Sweet CeCe’s for frozen yogurt and blueberries (his favorite!). For dinner we got carryout from Blue Coast Burrito, which was the first restaurant we ever took him to when he was a baby. Now that he’s a big boy he loves when I share my chicken quesadillas with him : )

Later on that night we gave him his first drum and then celebrated with his Grandmommy & Granddaddy. We wanted to wait for his party to give him a cake to tear into so we let him have a brownie and part of a twinkie (thanks to his Granddaddy). I’m pretty sure he enjoyed all of his yummy treats!!

Jax’s daycare room

I can feed myself

little drummer boy

he went to town on his brownie

We decided to have a dog-themed party since he is dog crazy. On most days, it’s the first word he says when he wakes up. The menu included pupcakes, puppy chow, dog bone cookies & wiener dogs. Of course he won’t remember any of it, but hopefully he can enjoy the pictures one day!

he climbed right in to his big boy chair

the set up

pupcakes : )

he loved all of the attention of everyone singing to him

icing? yes, please!

our little family

Grandmommy & Granddaddy

Nan & Pops

family picture with the tired birthday boy

We’re so thankful to all of our wonderful family & friends who have been such a huge support over the last year. It was so much fun celebrating the first year of Jax’s life and we pray that there are many, many, many more years to come. Life is good!!

Happy birthday to our sweet baby boy! I am in complete shock that this day has come so quickly. It seems like just yesterday that we were planning on going into the hospital for Jax’s induction. We spent the last fews days re-living what we were doing “at this time last year…..” and even though the delivery was not a fun process, it was SO worth it!!

Here are some new things about Jax:
- while I was out of town, Dave taught Jax to climb to the top of the stairs. we’re in trouble now!
- his vocabulary is growing: momma, dada, dog, cow, car, more & ball
- he loves his nan & pops, grandmommy & granddaddy and all of his aunts & uncles. he’s a lucky little boy to have such a wonderful family that loves him so much : )
- if he makes his way into the bathroom, he immediately pulls the toilet paper out of the basket
- Jax loves riding in boxes. I think he’s going to be a thrill seeker.
- he has started pointing at things
- has cut two of his bottom molars
- Jax is very unsure about the grass, but we think he’ll come to love it this summer
- he has started not to like carrots and green beans unless we hide them in mashed potatoes. for the most part he’s still a great eater!
- 24.5 lbs – 75%
- 31 inches – 95%

Jax, you bring so much joy to our lives and we are so proud to be your parents. We love watching you grow and learn and we can’t wait for the months and years to come. We love you!!

Thanks to everyone that is still out there and checking in on us! I can’t promise that my updates will be any more frequent, but I will try and continue to keep the blog alive. Keep your comments coming : )

It’s crazy how quickly each month passes by. This 11 month mark has probably been the most emotional on me because I have realized he’s not a baby anymore. Jax is turning into such a big boy and learning so many things. They moved him from the infant room to the first steps room last week. I know it is a great move for him & much needed, but I wasn’t quite ready for all of the changes. He now goes from two naps a day to one, he’s taking his naps on a floor mat instead of a crib, he’s transitioning from the bottle to sippy cups and the list goes one and on. He’s really adjusting well to all of the changes.

Jax started walking 3 weeks ago and is on a roll. They said being around the other kids at daycare that are already walking will really help speed up the process. Just this weekend he walked all the way across the room on his own. Now we just have to make sure the house is baby-proofed ; )

Here are some new things about Jax:
- He’s got 8 teeth – 4 on the top and 4 on the bottom
- Based on our scale at home he weighs 24 lbs
- Started trying to climb our stairs. Guess we need to buy a gate!
- From the moment he wakes up he’s quite the chater box. Some of his newest sounds are bugga, durka & moo.
- Loves to see pictures and videos of himself
- Jax took his first steps on January 21st at my birthday celebration. What a wonderful present!!
- He’s started opening our cabinet doors so we’ve had to do some baby-proofing
- He has a new facial expression where it looks like he’s whistling
- Sometimes in the mornings we bring him into our bedroom. He loves to stand up and bang on our headboard.
- This boy will eat absolutely anything. His new favorite food is blueberries!

It’s so bittersweet, but I’m really going to treasure all of these new milestones!!

Does anyone even follow blogs these days or does everyone just rely on Facebook for life updates? I’m thinking about hanging up the blog but wanted to see if there was anyone still checking in on us before I give it up forever.

I promise I have good intentions of updating our blog more frequently than I do. I even had some time off around the holidays but Jax kept me so busy that I hardly had a free moment to spare. I was exhausted at the end of the week, but I loved every minute of it! I thought I would go ahead and post Jax’s 10 month update and I’ll try and get to the holidays soon.

he’s got the best smile

Here are some new things about Jax:
- Jax has 2 new bottom teeth and 1 more coming through on the top (he’s got 6 total)
- he got his first ear infection. thankfully that was the first time he’s really been sick. unfortunately, it was terrible timing because i had to go out of town. Dave did a great job taking care of him!!
- his feet are ticklish
- he waves hi and by at anyone and everything
- Jax would rather play with anything but his toys (socks, coaster, boxes, etc.)
- he is trying so hard to talk. so far he can say dada, momma, bye bye and ga which means dog
- Jax LOVES, LOVES Marley and Grizzly and all of his puppy dog stuffed animals
- he is walking with his push toy and can stand on his own for a few seconds
- scrunches his nose when he smiles
- he is finally drinking from a sippy cup
- he eats everything. we haven’t found anything that he won’t eat. even things that he makes funny faces with (pickles, tomatoes, kiwi) he still eats. i hope it stays this way.