a Weekend Away

Earlier this year, Jeremy and I started talking about our need to leave Jones with the Pressleys for a weekend before Freddie's born. We really just wanted to get Jones used to staying over there, so that, when the baby comes, he won't flip out ... not that I think that he will, but since I'm not so sure how I'LL react to be away from HIM, time away was an important part of my prepping-for-Freddie process.

We decided a trip to Tuscaloosa for the Alabama / LSU football game was the perfect time for our trial run. This was our weekend. Because I didn't think I could do TWO nites away from my Love Bug, we dropped him off first thing Saturday morning, met my parents in Greenville, and headed to Alabama for what we'd thought would be the biggest game of the year. Little did we know that Auburn would come out of nowhere to challenge the Tide late in the season.

Anyway, I don't know what I was worried about. I hadn't fed Jones breakfast when we dropped him off, so Nan's first order of business was to fill his belly. Maybe it was just the fact that she was feeding him, but Jeremy and I left to Jones sitting in his high chair, waving and saying a very loud, "BYE!"

Don't act so sad, Son.

To be honest, I did better than I thought I would, too. We called several times to check in, but he did great, and I - not gonna lie here - thoroughly enjoyed sleeping from 9 Saturday nite until 9:30 Sunday morning. There were just a few little anecdotes Mrs. Pressley told us when we got home, though, that I wanted to always remember:

1) She taught him "patty-cake," while we were gone. How have I not done this before?! Some mama I am! It is the cutest thing ever. He'll clap his hands and say, "ca-cake" and then "roll-it-up," just like he's supposed to.

2) She said that, several times over the course of his stay, he pulled out a little photo book I made when Jeremy and I found out we were expecting Jones. It's got a picture of the two of us on the cover. Apparently, Jones would drop it on the floor and rest his face on his fists, while he stared at it. Whether he recognized Mama and Daddy, I don't know, but it sure did make my heart smile to hear this story and pretend that he did!

When we got home, he was still down for his afternoon nap. As soon as he woke up, Pop brought him into the den, and he smiled a thousand smiles to see us - again, he's a pretty smile-y kid, so there's probably no correlation between seeing us and the cheshire-cat grins, but in my mind, he was smiling with happiness that, for all the fun he had with Nan and Pop, he was happy to see his mama and daddy.

I know his mama and daddy sure were happy to see HIM!

Thomas Frederick Pressley

Here's my little Freddie Bear. 

When we saw Jones's 4-D ultrasound, I thought he looked like an old, Jewish comedian. When I saw Freddie's, I thought he looked like Jones in a Donald Duck hat.  Though there's not much common ground in those two comparisons, there's definitely a family resemblance in their two photos, I think.

Freddie's ultrasound was done at 31 weeks. He's 68th%-tile in his body size so far - Jones was 67th at this same point - but his head is in the > than 95th %-tile. We're going back on December 4th to be sure all is well in there.

Please pray that Freddie will be as perfect, healthy, and handsome as his wonderful big brother!

Wishlist

Earlier this week, my dad emailed me, asking for Jones's Christmas wishlist. My favorite one-year-old and I haven't exactly discussed it, but I'm assuming he'd like an iPhone for Christmas, because this is his response every time I take mine away from him. 

Seriously.

Every. Single. Time. 

Jones's First Birthday Festivities: Yet Another Photo Book

While I may not have taken the time to post about Jones's first trip to Disney World (in a phrase, the trip was, how shall I say it? "Ill-advised."), I HAVE taken the time to make a photo book about his first birthday festivities.

Next up on the photo-booking docket is Jones's baby book, which is very nearly done and WOULD, in fact, be done, had I not spent this whole weekend creating a book about his first birthday festivities.

Maybe later this week ...

Oh, and Jones had his one-year check-up today! He's doing great, praise the Lord. He weighs 20 lbs., 6 oz. (16th %tile), is 29 3/4" long (32nd %tile), and has a head that could choke an open-mouthed hippopotamus - 47.5 cm around (80th %tile). Let's all pray that Freddie takes it easy on his mama and has a normal-sized noggin ... at least at birth.

Click here to view this photo book larger

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Jones's First Birthday Party

Y'all, all I can say is
"Brooke Rainey."

Jones's first birthday party could not have gone any better.

Wait a minute.

I take that back. I guess it COULD have been better, if Jones hadn't woken up Saturday morning with a teething-fever. It'd also have helped if his pregnant mother didn't look like she's carrying sextuplets, three of which are gestating in the large pockets of her massive cheeks.

Other than that, though, things could not have gone better.

Because of our upcoming trip to Disney (6 more days!), I'd been planning to do a vintage Mouseketeer theme for the party. I lived with the idea for several months and never felt any inspiration whatsoever, so about a month ago, when the time came to pick a date and start the actual planning, Jeremy and I decided on a "Boy of Fall" theme, which both encapsulated one of the nicknames we've used for Jones, since finding out his autumnal due date, and allowed us to incorporate watching football into the party.  Right or wrong, we only get twelve good weeks of it every year, so we're pretty unwilling to give up any of them (thus the fact that we consulted the SEC schedule before planning our wedding and had a big screen TV at our reception).

Once the theme was chosen, I found Jones's party outfit on Etsy. It ended up being the centerpiece of the entire "look" of the party. I then made the most important call of the planning period - the one to Brooke Rainey, whose many talents do not end with photography. Among many other things, that girl knows her way around Photo Shop. She's designed our wedding invites, as well as Jones's birth announcements. It only seemed right that she'd do his birthday party invitations, too.  I absolutely love what she came up with, all based on the Etsy outfit.  That same outfit also inspired 13 year-old Miss Maggie Shook in the design she came up with for Jones's cakes, and though they had absolutely nothing to do with football, my 10 year-old niece Lizzie Gray made some of her famous brownies. They were devoured before I could even get one, which is okay, given the number I'd sampled on the day before, a contributing factor, no doubt, to my looking like I do.

The chili-for-dinner decision was an easy one, too. Jones loves my mom's chili. For his party, Jeremy made the chili, because Mom was out of town, and though it almost caused a divorce (suffice it to say, I am NOT sweet at 2:30 a.m.), it was absolutely delicious and a HUGE hit. He also made both cinnamon and vanilla ice cream, because he's the best husband in the world. My contribution to the food portion of the party was buying four gallons of Chick-fil-A sweet tea and putting pre-sliced cheese on an SEC platter.

We make a great team.

I joke about the late nite chili-cooking session, but I honestly cannot say enough how helpful Jeremy was in putting this party together. If I said it once, I said it a thousand times over the past weekend, "Sweetheart, I don't know any other daddies who are so helpful with their baby's birthday parties." His mama sure did raise him right, and I tell you this (as I say all the time): he's too good for me.

I just hope I do half the job with my sons that my mother-in-law did with hers.

Speaking of "my sons," like I said, Jones woke up with a low-grade fever on the day of his party. He had no symptoms, other than a brand new tooth that had popped through, so we assumed the two were related. Regardless, he was sweet as could be all day long, though he sucked the good off of his thumb all through the party, and by the end of it, all he wanted to do was lay, lifeless, on his mother's bountiful chest. I, of course, loved this.

Here are two of the more memorable moments from the party:

1) When he opened the Peek-a-Boo Monkey from cousin Amy's family, he just laughed and laughed. It was adorable.
2) When we gave him his cake, he had no clue what to do but stare back at the crowd in front of him and suck his thumb for security's sake.

See what I mean?


The next morning, Jones woke up, and he still had a little fever, so we stayed home from church. Though we hated to miss, it ended up being a good chance for him to check out his new loot from the day before. We were so grateful for those who came - many of whom made the drive down from Canton. Our lives are saturated with the love of our families and friends, and we are so blessed far beyond what we deserve.

"I give you thanks, O Lord, with my whole heart;

before the gods, I sing Your praise;

I bow down toward Your holy temple and give thanks

² 

to Your name for Your steadfast love and your faithfulness..."

- Psalm 138:1-3

I posted a big bunch of pictures on Facebook. There's a few more below.

Just pretend I don't look like I swallowed the backside of a razorback.

Jones's Television Debut

Just before his first birthday party, Jones racked up another first - his first time on TV! Click on the link below to see our sweet boy and his new friend.

Jamie Deen Makes a Stop in the Upstate - Scene on 7 - WSPA

Best Video Yet?

I think so, too.

Typically, it's Jeremy who plays Peek-a-Boo with Jones, but today, Mama did ... just after his morning nap.