The Westminster Graduation was such a joy to attend! Jack and I were so proud to see Jonathan, Andrew and all our other Westminster teacher friends (as well as the graduates) looking so distinguished in their caps and gowns! Westminster awarded its 100th diploma at this year's commencement excercises, as well as celebrating the first two members of the 13th year society! (Students who have attended WA from K-12th grade!) Here are three sweet friends~Jocelyn Collins (art), Mary Karen Dixon (science), and Anne Walker (math). Two more favorite people! :) Andrew and Jonny! The reception afterwards is always fun too! Here are the Smith girls looking as cute as ever!! Jonathan made a new friend at this year's reception!! He really hit it off with one of the graduates' great aunt! :) She was so sweet~and a real hoot!
We were having so much fun with our walker inside, Jack and I decided that we should slather on the sunscreen and put on our sun hat for a walking adventure outside! It was very bright out there, though....and there were TONS of sounds that distracted us! (Lawn mowers, birds, cars going by....) But even more distracting was the GRASS!! Jack kept pushing his walker and then bending down to pick some grass to keep! We didn't do too much walking!! :) (Plus, it was harder to push the walker on the grass rather than the smooth kitchen rug!!) I decided to get out the bubbles and try to amuse him with his first bubble experience. But, true to form, Jack just sat very quietly...not cracking a smile....and watched each and every bubble as closely as he could with furrowed brow....trying to figure it all out! He is so contemplative!! Jack really never did smile....but I think he had a lot on his little mind!! :)
Oooooh! Look what Uncle Andrew and Aunt Keri got for Jack!! He was a bit shaky...but he really loved pushing that walker all over the kitchen rug! This little picture was taken the same night....we realized this would be the LAST night for these pj's! Jack is surely growing....and we just love it.....but it is sad to say goodbye to such fun little outfits!! (We don't usually wear the hat...but we had to put it on for the picture!)
What a happy day!! For years this day has been extremely painful, but this year was worth the wait!! Jack was in a great mood and we had a wonderful day together! I sure do love both my boys!! :)
Jack really loves his oatmeal....but he loves his daddy even more!! There is nothing Jack loves better than letting Daddy feed him his breakfast! It certainly starts the day off right!! :)
Happy Spring!We are guessing that Jack weighs about 24 pounds now, and is about 30 inches long…based on mommy’s estimates J.Jack was very healthy during the month of April, so we have not been back to the doctor since his little fever in March!That is so great, considering all the flu going around in our area! Jack will turn 9 months old on Wednesday, May 5th, and Friday, April 7th, will mark nine months since placement! (And Saturday, May 8th will mark one year since we first met our Jessica!!A very happy anniversary indeed!)
Jack has decided to become much more mobile this month.While we still are refusing to crawl, Jack certainly is having more fun rolling, but most of all he loves to hold our hands and pull himself up off the floor to a standing position.That USED to make him content…but then he decided he would like to take a few steps, both backward and forwards.That used to make him completely happy until he realized that could help him get places…and now he prefers to be guided around the room toward objects of his choosing.He tries to pull up on things, but since he is not crawling, he doesn’t find himself ever on his knees in a good position to pull up.So, he has to rely on other people to offer their fingers for him to pull up on!When he accomplishes this, he gets a very proud look on his face, the biggest toothy grin, and several little pants…like he is revving up to do something really great now!He steps and bounces and stretches with all his little might.It is really adorable….and very time consuming.He is not nearly as happy sitting on the floor playing with his toys when mommy could be holding him up and letting him take steps around the room!J
Since I mentioned his toothy grin, I should mention that Jack has FIVE big, white teeth now.He doesn’t love it as much now when mommy brushes them…because she won’t let him bite on her finger anymore…Because it HURTS!!Cutting that 5th tooth this month was very difficult and resulted in many hard days, nights, and naps for Jack.He was evidently in some pain, and since it took so long to cut that tooth (almost 2 weeks!!), he became a bit sleep deprived!(And so did mommy!!) J
Jack’s eating habits and sleeping habits have not changed much this month.He is still taking four 8-oz bottles daily at 7 a.m., noon, 5 p.m. and 8:30ish.In addition he is eating two servings of cereal, prunes, and Cheerios everyday…along with other favorites along the way!He has become MUCH better at putting little Cheerios and Gold-Fish in his mouth.
Activity-wise, Jack is outgrowing his Baby Einstein Jumper, but he has discovered Aunt Keri’s push toy he can walk behind!He is not too good at it right now since he loses his balance trying to play with the front of the walker while he is trying to push it at the same time, but I predict that by my next report, he will be pushing that little toy all over our hard-wood floors.(I just hope there are not too many bruises!!)We worked on clapping hands, but although Jack LOVES to see someone else clap their hands, he is just not that interested in trying it himself.He has done it a couple of times (probably on accident), but we got a picture of one of those times!!
This month Jack traveled two times.We took a trip to San Antonio to visit Jessica over our Easter Break.Jonathan was not allowed to take any days off from work since he had used all his days up at the beginning of the school year when Jack was born, so we had to drive hard and fast to get down there and back during our four-day weekend!!It worked out well, we got to Dallas on Thursday night and then to San Antonio by Jessica’s lunchtime!We spent the lunch hour or so with her and her friends at her high school.Jessica was so happy as she carried Jack around to her favorite friends and teachers!Jack seemed to be just as pleased!JWe went back to our hotel and played with Jack for a while, and then we had an delicious steak dinner at TexasLand and Cattle!Mmmm!The next morning we went out for breakfast and then hung out a while at Jess’s.Jack loved the family cat!He couldn’t stop trying to find her!Jess had to be at work that afternoon, so we took her to the mall, fed Jack, bought some ice cream from her, and then headed back home.A very fun trip indeed!It is always so easy with her…she is so genuine and sincere.Her love for Jack was evident, and I hope our love for her was just as evident!She is surely such an important person in our lives, and we are looking forward to seeing her again!
Jack and I also took a trip to visit family in Kentucky!We had not seen that part of the family since Christmas, and that visit had been messed up with illnesses and Grandma’s back surgery!Then in January and February they had a terrible ice storm, and then a March visit from them was cancelled due to a pesky cold. (They were afraid they would give it to Jack!!)So…finally at the end of April, Grandma was able to hold her baby Jack again!It was fun to spend time with Aunt Jen, Uncle Al, Luke, John David, and Lucy!They were excited to see pictures and hear stories about our Jess—They love her so much too!Oh, and Jessica, Luke wanted me to tell you, “Howdy…like they say in Texas!”and to give you a big squeeze the next time we saw you.So prepare yourself!J
His mommy being from Kentucky, Jack celebrated his first DERBY DAY in style!!He picked the horse that came in third…which was way better than his mommy or his daddy!We had a big lunch complete with Hot Browns and Derby Pie…the girls wore big fancy hats, and Jack rode Sara Kate’s rocky-horse!JMommy had the den full of toy horses and red roses and carnations for the grand “Run for the Roses!”
May will be an exciting month!!Tomorrow Jack will celebrate his 9 month birthday on Cinco de Mayo, and we have a party planned for that too!!Jack will be going to the doctor on May 6th for his 9 month check-up, and Daddy only has only three weeks of school left until he is home for the summer!Uncle Al and Aunt Jen are hopefully coming for a visit, and Jack will attend his first VacationBibleSchool during the first week or so of June!What a big boy!!
Since we had lots of sombreros, we celebrated Cinco de Mayo in full costume! Ha! Jack wasn't so sure about all of this, though!
We served up huge, cheesy enchiladas, rice, beans, guacamole, chips, and had a yummy Mexican Dessert! Mmmmmm! It was my night to cook, so the Smiths got to enjoy the yumminess too!!
Two loco-yocos! :)
This senorita is so blessed to love and cook for her men!
I have become quite serious about my Derby Day celebrations....! This year, however, we were soooo busy on the Saturday, we had to TAPE the Derby and watch it on Sunday. So, we got out our plastic horses and our fine hats, cooked up the traditional Derby fare, and watched a great race!! Mmmm! Hot Browns are always a hit! And of course we had Derby Pie for dessert! Aunt Keri and the girls brought over their rocking horse for Jack to ride during the Derby! He loved the sounds that it made!! We began the afternoon by singing "My Old Kentucky Home." Since it was taped, we were able to watch each horse carefully...rewinding if necessary! We each selected a horse and cheered them on! Jack was not all that interested......... Sara Kate won the "roses" because her horse came in first among all of the ones we picked!! No one chose the winner this year, but we still had a great time!! :)
Anne Walker worked soooo hard to pull off a 40th surprise birthday party for her husband, Scott...and boy, did it work!! He was SHOCKED!! It was so fun to see him fooled!! Elizabeth Garland made the cake, of course...and did a crazy-amazing job, as usual!! Here she is with Brandy...getting ready to slice it up! So many of our great friends were there!! Here is Troy and Amy Henson! Jay and Brandy Gibson Andrew and Keri Smith Another glimpse of the fabulous cake!! Margaret and Sally (Anne and Scott's girls)! It was such a great party!! A fabulous night!!
My sweet boys (from my 6th grade class two years ago) who are now in 8th grade had their turn to spend the night! We had steaks, played Guitar Hero, and were then visited by a few renegade girls with silly string and toilet paper!! :) It was hilarious!! (A mess....but hilarious!) Cinnamon rolls in the morning make waking up a bit easier! It is always over too quickly...but we do all need naps due to lack of sleep!!
The Westminster Graduation was such a joy to attend! Jack and I were so proud to see Jonathan, Andrew and all our other Westminster teacher friends (as well as the graduates) looking so distinguished in their caps and gowns! Westminster awarded its 100th diploma at this year's commencement excercises, as well as celebrating the first two members of the 13th year society! (Students who have attended WA from K-12th grade!)
Here are three sweet friends~Jocelyn Collins (art), Mary Karen Dixon (science), and Anne Walker (math).
Jonathan made a new friend at this year's reception!! He really hit it off with one of the graduates' great aunt! :) She was so sweet~and a real hoot!
