A New Pair of Shoes!!

As some of you know, and some of you do not know, in my former life (aka college :) I was all about the fashion. Shoes, handbags, clothes, hats, jewlery... you name it, I loved it. It was one of my passions. I walked to class everyday in my stilletos, dressed for work, ready for anything; it was just a part of who I was. Well, fast forward about five years and I am a happily married, mother of one, living in the small town of Holliday. My daily routine consists of taking care of a precious little baby, getting spit up on constantly, changing diapers, doing laundry, dishes, cooking and whatever else in between. Although I absolutely LOVE what I am doing and where I am today, I occasionally long for that person I used to be, who I seem to have completely lost along the way. I always knew I was a big city girl, with big city dreams. But when I met Chris, those dreams took a different path and led me to become a small town girl who just wanted to be close to the man she loved.

Well, my sweet husband and I were discussing this not too long ago... just the people we used to be. How far we have come. How our priorities have completely changed. Somehow I mentioned the fact that I always told my friends at Mullin Hoard & Brown (the law firm I worked at in college) that I would never get married until I had purchased my very own pair of MANOLO BLAHNIKS. I LOVE these shoes. I have coffee table books with his drawings, the pictures used to be hung proudly in my room... These shoes are art for your feet!

A couple of weeks ago, Chris told me that he had a surprise for me. So when Crockett and I got home from the Dr. office yesterday, Crockett was asleep in his carseat. Chris told me that I should put him in bed. I went to his room to get it ready for him, but there was a BIG lump in his crib... I took off the blanket and laying under it was a box from Neiman Marcus! I was completely surprised and took it to the kitchen to ask him what it was all about.... I continued to open it and inside the NM box was THE box... MANOLO BLAHNIK! I was shocked... a little teary that my sweet husband would do something like that for me. They are beautiful and I can't decide if I want to wear them or just look at them :) No, I think I will wear them. My life is definately more full than it would have been if I had not found Chris. I am such a lucky girl to have a man that I love and my 1st pair of Manolos! Thanks, baby XOXO

4 MONTHS OLD!!!

I have become quite the bad blogger... since my last post, so much has happened. I will try to get it all up here at some point. We have been busy... what can I say!?!?

My baby turned 4 months old last Wednesday, but we didn't go to the Dr. until today. As of today, he weighs 16 lbs. 3 oz. and is 26 in. That puts him in the 75th percentile for weight and length! He is just growing like crazy with no end in sight! I have chosen not to start cereal until 6 months. It is not like he is not getting enough to eat! He is just getting to be SO much fun! He has found his voice and will carry on conversations with anyone who wants to talk to him. I swear the other night, he and Cade Luig had a 10 minute conversation... Crockett talked and Cade patiently listened! If only I had had my video camera :) He is not quite rolling over, but is close enough that I can no longer leave him knowing that he will not move. I am sure it is only a matter of time! He is still gnawing on his hands, occasionally sucking on his thumb... but usually, the more fingers he can fit in there the better! I have seen him gag himself several times. He has found his feet a couple of times, but is not too interested yet. Saydi has now been noticed. Crockett will just look at her and smile... it is a sweet smile, but I don't think Saydi thinks it is sweet. She should be scared... I know I am! He will follow Chris and I with his eyes if we walk out of the room and he will look for us if he hears our voices. There are so many things he is doing that I just love! He is one of the most ticklish babies... and just belly laughs at the touch of his tummy! All of the clothes that currently fill his closet are getting too small. I have started boxing some of them up, but I quit because it makes me too sad. He has only a small amount of the dark hair he was born with. It is right on his neck and beginning to get kind of long... his daddy thinks he is getting a "Kentucky waterfall" (aka a mullet!) Needless to say, the past 4 months have flown by! My sweet baby Crockett is no longer a little bitty baby, although I think he will always be one in my eyes. I think each month is such a bittersweet milestone... but I look forward to each one!

By the way, I took 62 pictures trying to just get 1 smile.... didn't get one! What a stinker :)

Three Months Old!!

I am such a bad mommy, but am just now posting Crockett's three month birthday picture!! He is almost four months at this point, but that is ok :) My sweet little boy is growing so quickly and changing daily! At three months he began belly laughing, which is my favorite sound in the whole wide world! He recognizes his mommy and daddy and greets us with a big smile. He found his fists and wants at least one in his mouth at all times.... and on June 26, while we were eating in Stephenville on the way to San Antonio, he started sucking his thumb! I wanted to cry, take pictures and call everyone all at the same time. Chris thinks I am crazy :) He loves to sit in his bumbo, just not for a very long time yet, went swimming at Grandpa's house and loved it (it was the temperature of bath water), went swimming at the lake and hated it.. too cold. Crockett loves watching tv with his daddy and just hanging out with him. Chris can't wait to take him on the tractor with him. It is hard to believe that Crockett has only been in our lives for 3+ months, but they have been the BEST months of our lives.

Crockett,
What a little blessing you are. I thank God for you each and every day. I love you and look forward to what the next month will bring!

HAPPY 1st FATHER'S DAY!!!

Our computer has been down for the past week and a half.... so, needless to say, I am WAY behind on my blogging! It has been killing me! So I will try to catch up before this weekend when I will begin adding to my list! (Braidy Spencer turns 1!!! Oh My :)

Crockett and I wanted to make this a really special Father's Day for Chris. I have celebrated with him for the past couple of years, just knowing that one day he would make a great father (and already was one to Saydi)! This year was the year, it was official... He was a real father to a real baby, not just the dog :) I got up early and made orange rolls and eggs. They turned out really yummy!! I had to get his belly nice and full because he and a couple of his friends decided they wanted to play golf. I thought this was a great since it is something he doesn't usually make time to do in his busy schedule! They had tee time at 12:30... the heat of the day. I didn't even think about his lilly-white legs. He came home with red and white circles ALL OVER his legs. They had used the spray sunscreen and not rubbed it in at all nor did they pay attention to where it went! He was pretty miserable... but when he walked in the door, Crockett and I had dinner ready! We cooked chicken-fried steak, mashed potatoes and green bean bundles for dinner and better than sex cake for dessert! It was SO good... definately can't eat like that very often! He didn't get his Father's Day gift until a few days later.... The week before, in Lubbock, Monica played photographer and took some of the most precious pictures of my sweet baby Crockett. I made a calendar for Chris with Crockett in all of his "daddy outfits". He loved it and already has it hanging in his man cave :) All in all it was a great 1st Father's Day. I hope it was special for him.

Chris, you are such a wonderful man, husband, father... Crockett is very lucky to have a daddy like you to look up to. My favorite part of the day is watching the two of you together. You have so many similarities and I absolutely love that. I look forward to many more Father's Day celebrations, but I hope you know how much we love you and appreciate you everyday!

Happy 1st Father's Day, honey, we love you! Jess, Crockett and Saydi

ARRAH ADDISON LOCKNANE

On June 13th Crockett and I met up with Brandi and Cade Luig and her mom, Teresa, and we all went down to Mansfield for a Sip N See celebrating the arrival of Arrah Addison Locknane! The date used to seem so far away.... but it snuck up on us very quickly! We all rode in one car and I sat in the back in between both of the babies. The ride there was good, however, the ride back was a little nerve-racking! Cade would start crying and then instantly, Crockett would stick out his bottom lip and begin crying... I really couldn't hear anything! Luckily, this only lasted about 15 minutes. Not too bad considering we were all in the car for about 2 hours total!

For the shower, Brandi and I made the invitations and decided we wanted a VERY, VERY girly theme since we both have sweet little boys! Everything was PINK, animal print, and more PINK! We sipped on mimosas and ate yummy (pink!) cupcakes! Celeste's whole family was able to attend and even big brother Will came! Celeste had lots of help opening up her gifts :) Addison looked precious in her special (pink!) outfit ~

It has been so much fun celebrating the arrival of each of our babies! They are so cute and are going to have such a great time growing up together. We love you sweet, little Arrah Addison!

Three Amigos

Last weekend our good friends, Grady, Celeste, Will and Addison Locknane came to Archer County for a visit! We went out to the Luig's for a night of friends, food and fun! I had not gotten to meet sweet Arrah Addison yet, so I was very excited! She is just precious and I can't wait for her Sip N See this weekend! The mommies, aka the paparazzi :), all had our cameras out to take pictures of the three babies. Cade was born on 3-18-09, Crockett followed 4 days later (3-22-09) and Addison followed 4 days later (3-26-09)! I think Crockett and Addison might have had a "thing" for each other (at least until she started hitting him in the face) and Cade pretty much just wanted to do his own thing! It was quite funny trying to get a good picture of all of them. We all decided that we could not have planned it better! It will definately be a BUSY month when it is time for birthday parties! We had such a good time and ended up sitting on the deck late into the night watching the lightening show. It was quite amazing we had still had electricity! I am so excited to get to share all these experiences with Brandi and Celeste! I don't know what I would do without their support. We have many fun times to look forward too! So do the babies :)

Take me out to the BALL GAME!!

On Saturday, Crockett went to his first baseball game! Holliday played Shallowater in Abilene, which is only about 2 hours away, so we went to support the Eagles and Dylan (Chris' cousin, #4)!! Since it was Crockett's first game, I just had to make him a cute little outfit to wear! I thought it looked really cute on him and I think Dylan liked it! He was his littlest fan, after all! When we got there it was really hot and all the Eagle fans were so loud! He did not like it at ALL. Chris and I wondered what we were thinking bringing a 2 month old baby to a baseball game. However, once it cooled off a little and Corene and Grandmaw took over, he actually seemed to enjoy it! He slept through half of it... (Grandmaw had a kleenex over his ear :) But the rest of the time he was just looking around and taking it all in. I even think he got used to the noise, although his eyes still got VERY big when everyone shook their shakers :) Needless to say, he was EXHAUSTED when we got in the car to go home. Holliday won 11-3 and will play again this weekend in the semi-finals (I think)! They are #1 in the state (2A) and I think they will go all the way! GO EAGLES!

The last picture is for Aunt Rachy. I wish you were here to see it!! And I took about 30 pictures trying to get a smile... it wasn't going to happen :) But I was smiling! Love you!