3 Months and Counting!

On Wednesday, July 13th, John Turner turned 3 months! I can't believe it! The last few months have gone by so quickly! I am trying to cherish every minute I get to spend with him. In less than one month he will be heading to "school" and I will go back to work. Sniff, sniff....

In his Big Boy PJs! These are 6 month!

Sitting up like a Big Boy!

He had a little help from the couch! 

He found his hands a few weeks ago. Now they constantly stay  in his mouth. When he gets sleepy he starts to rub his eyes. It's so cute! Just in the last few days he has begun noticing his feet and grabbing onto them. He is becoming so observant, which is fun. But now when we are at restaurants, he wants to get out of his carseat, so that he can see everyone. He may be a little social! Mom says that he is going to be a talker! Now that he has begun cooing and talking, he doesn't quit! Speaking of Mom.... she came to visit for his 3 month birthday! 

John Turner and Cha Cha

John Turner is a happy baby the majority of the day! Which makes life so much better and enjoyable! He has a few new tricks - like sticking his tongue out. I tried to get a picture, but I wasn't fast enough! 

I finally finished smocking 2 plates for John Turner - an Auburn tiger plate, to match the twins, and some cute yellow ducklings! I have given them to my friend in my book club to put them together for me. When she returns them, I will definitely put pictures up! 

Until next time.... 

Happy Birthday America!

Aren't we blessed to live in such a wonderful country? I am so proud to live in the United States and call it my home. I feel like over the past few weeks, Gunter and I have been discussing this idea so much! It seems to just come up in conversation between us. We are blessed with a healthy child, a wonderful marriage, a nice house, a loving family, friends, a great church, jobs that we enjoy going to each day, yummy food to eat, and beach houses to vacation at! We spent the Fourth of July weekend in Panama City at Worth the Wait and Gunter's family's beach house.

Mom and Kelsey came and picked me up on Wednesday and we headed down to the beach early for a little girl time. Gunter came down on Thursday night. We dined at Old Florida Fish House, one of our favorite beach restaurants, but one that we haven't been to in quite a while. It was delicious as usual!

Then Friday morning we moved down to the Price's place. We enjoyed spending time in the sun and in the sand! The water was beautiful and the weather was perfect! It wasn't too hot! John Turner even got down on the beach a little bit, but stayed under the tent of course!

Chillin' on the beach in his bouncey seat! 

Yes, he is wearing an Auburn t-shirt that says 

"Aubie Rules! 2010 National Champions" 

I love it! 

Playing with my cousin's toys!

The Browns and the Prices got together for dinner one night at Louie Louie. If you haven't eaten there... it's a must. It's owned by the same people that own the Red Bar. The positive aspect of Louie Louie's is that they have crabcakes every day... which are my favorite! 

The Price family

The Brown family

Sunday we got to have lunch with my good friend from college, Amy, and her husband Clayton at Seagrove Market Cafe. It was yummy as well. (As you and see, all we do at the beach is eat!) I haven't seen Amy in quite awhile and it was so good to catch up and for Amy and Clayton to meet John Turner! 

Amy and I with John Turner

On Monday we celebrated America's birthday with both of our families. We spent time on the beach, ate dinner at Shades on the Loop, and then watched fireworks on the beach. It was the perfect ending to a wonderful weekend! 

The twins and John Turner! 

Happy Birthday America! 

Something Old, Something New

There is a christening gown that has been in my family for years... over 110 years to be exact. It is on my dad's side of the family. My grandmother, Barbara Brown's (we call her MeMe) grandmother made it in 1902 for her children. It was hand- made and is beautiful! We have several pictures of the children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren wearing it. It was lost for a little while... sadly when my dad was younger, but has been found again. Therefore, we have started a new tradition of taking the new grandbabies picture in it.

We do not christen at our church. The babies are dedicated to the church. But because this gown is so small, we were unsure if John Turner would fit in it when the Dedication Day rolled around. So when we were in Birmingham in May, I went ahead and took pictures of John Turner in MeMe's christening gown. It was so delicate that I was afraid to button it in the back... but you can't tell from the pictures!

My grandmother, MeMe, in the handmade christening gown. 

This picture was taken in the 1930s. 

John Turner in MeMe's christening gown. 

I love the beautiful lace that was hand stitched onto the gown! 

It is such a special heirloom to have in our family.

This picture was taken back in May when John Turner was 6 weeks old... 

and could still fit into the gown. 

Not sure that would be a possibility now !

Father's Day and 2 Month Check-Up

This post is a little belated, but I still wanted to share pictures from Gunter's first Father's Day. We headed to Montgomery on Thursday (June 16th) night. For Valentine's Day, I had given Gunter tickets to see the comedian Ron White. He was at the Renaissance Theatre in downtown Montgomery. He was hilarious, a little dirty, but still fun and enjoyable! We spent the night with Raleigh and Christen and they were kind enough to keep John Turner while we attended the show.

Friday morning we headed to Birmingham. My friend, Elizabeth Wyatt, got married Saturday. Check out her pictures on Hillary Gamble's website. I am obsessed. Hillary took pictures of our family a while back for my mom's Christmas gift. She is so talented! I got to see many friends from high school and my friend Elizabeth de Shazo got engaged! So I got to meet her finance and see her beautiful ring!

Sunday we celebrated Father's Day and went to Church of the Highlands with my family and lunch at Chuys afterwards. Yummy!

Gunter and John Turner celebrating Father's Day! 

John Turner completed his first art project and made his Daddy something sweet for Father's Day! I painted his feet and he stamped his footprints on a framed paper! It turned out really cute. I wish I had a picture, but Gunter rushed it off work to show it off before I could snap a pic! 

John Turner, my Dad, and Me

We headed home shortly after lunch to celebrate with Gunter's dad at the Cracker Barrel! 

4 Generations! 

Gunter's granddad, Martin, Gunter's dad, John Turner and Gunter

On June 15th, John Turner had his 2 month old appointment.... which meant shots! He had to get one oral vaccination and three shots. It was sad, but I held myself together! John Turner weighed 12 pounds 3 ounces, he was in the 60th percentile for weight. He was 24 inches long, he was in the 75th percentile for height! He is a growing boy! 

He is smiling much more and is cooing/talking to you constantly. He loves the morning time, baths (which we sometimes do multiple times a day for entertainment), and walks. He is just as sweet as can be!

His Popeye grin! 

This picture was taken on Sunday.... like Father, like son! 

Getting ready for football season! War Eagle! 

He is growing like a weed!  

5 Years and Counting!

Yesterday Gunter and I celebrated our 5th wedding anniversary. Half of a decade! We have known each other for 9 years, which is a little weird. I can't believe it! It seems like just yesterday we were saying "I Do." Now we are raising a family... Wow! Things are a little different now!

We celebrated by heading down to the beach for a few nights by ourselves! Yes, by ourselves, which means we left John Turner. Gunter's parents were gracious enough to keep him for a few nights. We ate good food, laid out and caught some rays, and slept late! It was so nice!

We were reminiscing about all that we have done since we have been married. We are so blessed to experience the things we have done! Here are just a few things from our "list."

• Started a family!
• Traveled to a different country (Jamaica on our honeymoon)
• Renovated a house
• Got a dog
• Learned   Tried to learn to ski (Gunter is a  master skier)
• Have experienced sickness and health (my kidney stones, Gunter's knee surgery) 
• Traveled to many states and interesting cities
• Followed our Auburn Tigers to the National Championship
• Grew in our walk with the Lord
• Learned more about each other... and we still love each other :)

We are looking forward to what the Lord has in store for us as a family and hope for many more anniversaries to come!

Beach Baby!

John Turner made his beach debut this Memorial Day weekend. Gunter and I headed down to "Worth the Wait" (my parent's house) on Thursday night. We were off to a great start because John Turner slept the whole car ride. He didn't make a peep until Mom pulled his out of his carseat upon arrival. John Turner decided that he was feeling so relaxed that he slept through the night! Yes, you heard me... my 6 week old child slept through the night. Six hours Thursday night, five hours Friday and Saturday, and four hours Sunday night. Maybe he was lulled to sleep by the ocean waves or the fact that he had to bundle under his covers to stay warm, because Dad cranks the air down so low! Whatever it is I would like to know. Because since returning to his humble abode... he has yet to repeat those glorious nights. In fact, last night I felt like I had brought home a newborn. He woke up every 2 hours!

Raleigh and Christen arrived Friday, so we ventured down to the Prices beach place Friday afternoon to catch up with the twins! They are so cute!

Our attempt at a "grandkids" pic! 

Poor John Turner... he'll be able to hold his head up soon! 

Maralee, Adeline (who kept trying to crawl off the front of the couch) and John Turner

The Price Family

Our little family... minus Heath

Playing in the water! 

Wednesday (before Memorial Day) John Turner woke up not acting like himself. He was really congested, sneezing, coughing, etc. I took him to the pediatrician just to be safe. It turned out it was just a cold. While we were there, I mentioned that his bellybutton had gooey stuff coming out of it. So Dr. Strassberg closed it back up again! That is why it looks black. I scrubbed and scrubbed, but couldn't get it off. Oh well, it will be memories for John Turner's first beach trip! One week later he is all clean. 

Hanging out with the twins! 

John Turner is wearing the bathing suit Aunt Christen gave him! 

Chillin' on the beach! 

With Aunt Kelsey

With the Brown family, minus Mom. She wouldn't get in the picture! 

John Turner came home with his new love... a bouncey seat! 

Thanks Cha Cha (my mom) and Dad (he hasn't decided on a name yet)

I came home with the stomach virus! It was terrible. We are so thankful for grandparents in town who came to our rescue. They came and got John Turner and let him spend the night with them until I was in the clear and our house was Lysoled and clean! 

We are all anxious to get back down the beach. Hopefully it will be sooner than later! 

SMILE!

Sweet John Turner started really smiling last week! Before then he would smile a little off and on. But starting last week he turned into a different child! Last Wednesday he had a cold, so I took him to see Dr. Strassberg. It turned out that nothing was really wrong with him... he was just prescribed some nose drops. I guess that was the new mom in me freaking out a little. But because we were heading to the beach for Memorial Day, I hated to get down there and then he get an ear infection or his cold worse. While we were there, I mentioned that he was still really fussy after he ate. He would cry a lot and sometimes cry while he was eating and spitting up a little. The doctor also prescribed some acid reflux medicine for John Turner to try. He is so much happier and now doesn't cry after he eats!

I tried to capture some good smiles this morning, but these are the best I could get!

John Turner loves to wake up about 6:30 and lay on the couch and move his arms and legs in a "swimming" motion and coo and smile! He a growing up so fast! When we were at the doctor last week, he weighed 11 pounds! He goes for his 2 month old shots in 2 weeks! I can't believe it!

Sometimes you have those days where you just have to smile and laugh at yourself. Today was one of those days. John Turner was probably smiling in all those pictures because he had just pooped and pee-peed all over the couch. When we change him on the couch we put down a little disposable changing pad. Well it was in place this morning. I was pulling the old diaper away and getting the new one in place. As I did he pooped all over the changing pad. So I had to pull that away so the outside of the diaper didn't get messed up. I had gotten the diaper in place and John Turner had an explosion! He was pooping and peeing at the same time! I hadn't gotten the velcro of the diaper fastened yet, so I thought "Oh good! I will just block everything with the diaper." Well there was so much of it, it just went everywhere! All over the sofa cushion!

But the adventures of today don't end there! We went for a walk this morning. When we returned I noticed he was a little warm. I took his temperature - 99.7. It has to be 100.5 for it be considered a fever. We continued on with our day. We went and had lunch with Alicia and Kinley at the Basketcase. When we returned, John Turner still felt a little warm. I took his temperature again - 100.7. But this was just with the ear thermometer. The doctor said I need to use a "not fun thermometer."

So after John Turner finished eating, I decided I must do it to get a true reading of his temp. But my number 1 fear was that he would poop on me. So I got everything ready, and the first few seconds were great... no problems... the thermometer was in place and the temp was rising... all of the sudden I hear a rumble down-under and there was an explosion! Poop was all over me! the changing table! John Turner's leg! Thank goodness his towel from his bath this morning was still in his room. I used that to clean up and laid it over the dirty spot on his changing table. I stuck a new diaper underneath him, but when I velcroed it down, I accidently velcroed the old diaper to the new one! I didn't notice until I laid him on the bed! Now poop was all over his bed! Finally I got everything cleaned up and it's all in the washing machine now! In these types of circumstances all you can do is smile and laugh at yourself!

PS- John Turner's temp taken the not fun way was 99.7. So we are waiting to call the doctor!

Pictures of the beach bum coming soon!