The Family Stone Photo Shoot!

We had a family photo shoot Sunday afternoon at Lake Lowndes with our wonderful photographer, Tracy Doyle (http://www.tdoylephotography.com/), so I thought we would share our photos with our Blogger friends! Enjoy!


(Click on the picture to go to our photo album on walmart.com)

Our baby has WHAT?!?!

Well, we had our first bout with a sick child, and my oh my, has it been challenging! The lack of sleep is catching up to me, and I'm so tired of seeing our baby sick!


It started last Tuesday when JT woke up with congestion...didn't think much about it and went about our day. Then he woke us up in the middle of the night crying. When I got him, he was burning up. His temperature was 103.1, and we went into "panic mode." We called the ER to see if we needed to bring him in, but they couldn't give me any information over the phone. So they gave me a nurse's toll-free info-line number to call...should've known they wouldn't be working at 1:00 in the morning! So, we called Nana, and she called the ER and spoke with a nurse (she has the hook-up). We took her advice and gave him Tylenol, put a cold rag on his head, and I fed him. His fever was gone in an hour! He went back to sleep, but woke up every hour. He was a sick little fella'.

Our pitiful baby boy...bless his heart!

I took John Thomas to the doctor first thing the next morning, and I just knew they were going to say, "It's nothing...stop overreacting." I mean, he was like a totally different baby by the time we got there. He was even smiling!

You'd never know he was sick by this picture!

They did a throat swab and a nose swab...RSV and flu tests were negative...strep was positive. Our poor baby has strep?!?!?! What?!?!?! So he got Amoxicillin, and that's been a lot of fun administering to him. Yuck! He HATES it! We have to put it in a little bottle of milk so he'll take it. The syringes and spoons did not work! But he did get better...no fever since that night, and he seems to feel MUCH better, but he still sounds bad. He was still very congested Monday morning, so I took him back to the doc. Another nose swab to double check RSV (it was negative again) and a chest X-ray...lungs looked icky. Terrible congestion and the start of tissue build-up were visible in his lungs, so he got a breathing treatment, and a breathing machine came home with me.

Daddy giving him a breathing treatment...poor guy :-(

JT is on the road to recovery...we are so glad it wasn't anything more serious like the flu or RSV. But since he was sick, he did not get to meet his precious new baby cousin, Keira, who was born on Friday...

Keira Elizabeth Williams

and he did not get to meet his new best bud, Harper, who was born on Sunday. 

Harper Laine Minton

Congratulations to my sister, Bianca, and her husband, Brad, on their new bundle of joy, Keira!!! And congrats to Brooke and Brad Minton (and a HUGE praise to God) for their sweet Harper. Love these baby girls already!

Going Bananas!

After talking with Mrs. Donna, (she is our nurse friend who is VERY resourceful and helpful...she was also our childbirth class instructor), we decided to start introducing REAL food to John Thomas tonight. We started with bananas because Mommy and Daddy both love bananas, so we thought he would love them too. Not so much...he didn't like it so much at first, but after a few tastes, he liked it ok. 

Daddy fighting off JT's hands to get the
spoon in his mouth.

"Uhhhh...I don't think so!"

"Ptoo!" Out goes the bananas...

"Num num...these aren't so bad!"

When we started feeding him tonight, I said to Shawn, "I cannot believe we are feeding our baby boy with a spoon now...it just doesn't seem real." And of course I got a little emotional. Haha! We will try other fruits this week...probably need to try prunes so he'll poop! ;-) We might try apples, too...we shall see. Next week we will try veggies starting out with sweet potatoes. I figured that would be a good transitional veggie. Mrs. Donna suggested we only try one thing at a time for 5-7 days, so fruit first, then veggies. He's been getting rice cereal since about 8 weeks, so we're on to the next step! I can't believe how fast he's growing!

Wednesday afternoon, John Thomas played for a long time in his Jumperoo while I was working at my desk. I had my back to him, but I turned around often to check on him and talk to him. When things got really quiet for more than a few seconds, I got a little worried. 

Before...

After...

Hahaha!!! He totally "crashed"! I guess he had too much fun for one day!

Our 4-month-old 20-pounder!

John Thomas is 4 months old today!!! I cannot believe how fast he's growing, and I'm enjoying every single minute of it. He had his 4-month check up and shots today. He's such a big boy now...he is 20.2 pounds and 25 1/2 inches long! He is grabbing and using his hands a lot nowadays, and he sure loves to "talk" a BUNCH...I don't know where he gets that from!?!?! ;-)

All smiles at the doctors' office...BEFORE shots!

JT was not a big fan of the shots...in fact, he expressed his true feelings for them quite clearly (and loudly)! Bless his heart...but he only screamed and cried for about 5 or so minutes. He's a trooper! We went to the grocery store right after that...cut right into nap time and feeding time, but he toughed it out. Love this boy!

JT is already trying to be like his Daddy. This past Sunday, he decided he wanted to dress like his Daddy for church...I couldn't tell him no!

My two handsome boys wearing the BEST color!

Later Sunday afternoon, while JT was at Nana and Papa's house, he wanted to dress like Daddy dressed when he was a little boy...Nana couldn't tell him no either! So she let him put on Daddy's circa 1979 blue jean overalls :-)

JT wearing his Daddy's old overalls that he
wore when he was 2-years-old! 

I pray that JT grows up to be just like his Daddy...a God-fearing man who loves the Lord! And a wonderful husband and father, too! He's going to make one special lady a wonderful life-long mate someday...

Valentine's Day and Baby Shower fun!

We had a fun-filled week last week with Valentine's Day and my sister's baby shower on the Coast. We'll start with Valentine's Day...let's just say our baby boy was showered with love! He got sweet cards from Nana and Papa, Maddie, Ruby, and of course Mommy and Daddy! He even got a box of candy and chocolates from sweet Georgia (JT shared the goodies with us of course)

JT's Valentine's Day loot 

It was the most wonderful Valentine's Day ever! I got to share it with my two loves. The three of us went for a stroll around the neighborhood, ate supper together, and I got to sneak in a picture with my sweet little love bug!

We both were festive and wore red :-)

Wednesday morning, JT and I loaded up and headed down to the Coast to visit my family and to help take care of my sister, Bianca, who is on strict bed rest. JT enjoyed spending time with Aunt Bianca...he took good care of her!

JT and Polly taking care of my sister on bed rest

It was really good to see my family...our oldest sister, Angie, came in from Louisiana, too, and we threw Bianca a baby shower Saturday.  

Baby shower cake...beautiful and delicious!

My visits to the Coast are never long enough to spend with my mommy, daddy, sisters, nieces, nephew, brothers-in-law, and my friends...but it sure does seem too long to be away from Shawn. He had to stay behind and work, so the trip was too long for him!

Uncle Brad sharing his AWESOME MSU beanbag with JT!

We are home now...trying to get back into the swing of things! 

Bath time is fun and relaxing after traveling!

I have to say...we are so blessed with a good baby. John Thomas slept the whole way down to the Coast and the whole way back home (about a 4 1/2 hour trip one-way). He never cried, fussed or anything! LOVE him!!!! It sure does make the trip do-able.

Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow!

I never dreamed we would have snow THREE times in one Mississippi winter...but we did! It was much prettier this time than last. There's something so peaceful about snow flakes falling from God's great big sky and blanketing our surroundings. It's like His love and forgiveness coming down, covering our sins, and making us pure and fresh like the white snow. I LOVE snow!

Front of our house...blanketed in snow!

Back of our house...blanketed in snow!

Patio furniture...blanketed in snow!

We did not go out and play in the snow this time...Daddy didn't get a snow day off from work, and JT didn't need to get out in it (plus it was verrrrrrrrry cold...too cold for the baby!) So we stayed indoors and snuggled!

He's such a good cuddle bug!

It's amazing how much John Thomas is learning, doing and trying these days. He's growing up so fast! Every day Shawn and I say something along these lines, "It won't be long before JT does..." or "It'll be no time and JT will be...". It's amazing how fast they grow! He's trying to sit up, roll over and talk more and more each day. And he can really hold his big ol head up now!

Look at him trying SO hard to sit up! He's so
smart...he's using his legs and ab muscles
to pull his upper body up!

Talking and laughing with mommy...LOVE!

Playing in his new seat! He LOVES this!
Thanks Nana!

Another thing he's getting really good at is jumping and playing in his Jumperoo. Granted, he cannot reach the floor (bless his short little fat legs!) so we have our Grey's Anatomy Trivia board game underneath him....it's wrapped with gripper cabinet liners. Ha! We had to improvise, m'kay?

More fun with Ruby!

John Thomas is really enjoying his play dates with sweet Ruby. Thursday afternoon while I went to my dentist appointment and ran a couple errands, JT got to go over to Ruby's house for a play date again! He had so much fun, and Ruby's Mommy got some really good pictures, too!

Having fun on the play mat/gym!

They played so well together :)

JT snuck in some snuggle time with a kiss on Ruby's head!

I think JT found his Valentine for Valentine's Day this year!

They had so much fun together that they had to see each other again over the weekend. So they partied together for their first Super Bowl game. Congrats to the Green Bay Packers!

We are really enjoying our son, and we are so excited about our good friends and my sister having babies all at the same time. Fun times ahead for all of us!


JT is growing so fast. I weighed him today and he's 18.4 pounds! Such a big boy. And he had a REAL laugh out loud moment today. It made ME laugh out loud! My favorite sound in the world...laughter from babies and children. :-)