Banks' first Christmas!

Here's his first Christmas via a few (of the 100 I took) pictures:

"Shut yo mouth...this Santa guy really comes down the chimney and leaves presents??? Awesome..."

We spent the week in Jackson at Gram and Grumps house and had the opportunity to get together with a few friends while we were there. Banks exchanged gifts with his two best buds Charlie and Will. Charlie is only one day older than Banks (although you wouldn't guess it) and Will is a few months older than Banks. I forget that Banks is Baby Giant until I get him around another baby his age!! It was too funny trying to get a picture of all three of them. Banks kept taking headers into the presents, Charlie just chilled and Will was all over the place.

Me and Banks, Lauren and Will, Molly and Charlie
Banks and Charlie shaking on a bet to see who can cause their momma a nervous breakdown first. Oh those cheeks...

His loot from Santa:

Santa baby...

Soooo tired after all his Christmas fun

And finally, we put together his exersaucer when we got home and he was super pumped and a little overwhelmed. After just a few minutes he had figured out how to spin the froggy around and was pretty much obsessed with the thing. Hopefully this will be his new source of entertainment so that his momma can get Christmas put up!!!

I fought the swaddle blanket and I won!

This post will be nothing short of boring for most but I sit here this morning in victory and can't wait to post about it. You see, two weeks ago when we went to Banks' four month appointment the doctor mentioned that we should start "thinking" about moving away from the swaddle blanket. My interpretation: cold turkey that thing. Man, was I mistaken. For the last two weeks (minus two random nights of sleepfulness) Banks has been waking almost every hour on the hour crying. At first I thought he'd love his new found freedom from the straight jacket but it seems that his arms are his own worst enemies. They flail around causing him to startle. He scratches his face. I mentioned to someone that it was a good thing I took his Christmas card pictures before this venture because he was starting to look like Scarface. He knocks his paci out and then gets really mad that he's done that. It's like his hands have a mind of their own and he can't control them. I even got weak and tried to go back to the swaddle blanket but it was like he knew there was another arm-free world out there and he kept busting out of the blanket. Freedom!

So, I talked to everyone and anyone that would listen. The consensus: put him to sleep on his stomach. Noooo, I thought. I can't. He'll suffocate. He's not old enough for that. And last night, when he cried out for the third time in one hour, I did it. In one fell swoop I flipped him to his stomach and didn't hear a peep from him until 5 this morning. Now, not that I actually slept much last night. I must have checked the monitor 100 times watching for his back to rise and fall just so I could make sure he was ok. And not that 5 am is when we would like to start our day (I actually just put the paci in and he slept until 7) but this is a major improvement from the hour on the hour wake up calls we've been having!

As I type, mister is sound asleep on his stomach in his crib. He fought it a little this morning; thinking that I was engaging him in some torturous tummy time activity in his crib, but eventually went on to sleep. Ahhhh...success. For now at least. I've learned you can't revel too long because just when you think you've got it figured out babies will go and change on you and the whole process begins again.

But for now, here's mister...swaddle free and proud of it!

He's a loser...

but not the winner. Saturday we had Bufords Biggest Loser Finale and all the contestants showed up. It was a fun get together for the pups. They even had a photographer taking pictures of the newly made over dogs!!! While Buford did lose 12 % of his body weight he was not the big winner. He did get a fabulous consolation prize full of healthy doggie treats, new toys and even a gift card for a spa day. He's really excited about the spa package.
Here are most of the contestants after trying to get a group photo. It was like herding cats to get everyone and their dogs together.

My VERY favorite prize Buford got was a sweat band with his name on it. He looks mighty sporty when he wears it. This picture is hysterical to me...note Bufords eye.

Four months!!!

My not so little baby is FOUR months old! It really is hard to believe. He's really so much fun and definitely runs the show at our house. All those things I said I'd never do, I do. Man, I hate eating my words. We went to the doctor yesterday for his 4 month check up and shots and here are his stats:

Weight: 16 pounds 14 ounces (90th percentlie)

Height: 25 1/2 inches (84th percentile)

Head: 44 inches (96th percentile)

He's constantly "talking" and making lots of new noises. He especially loves a high pitch squeal that might break glass one of these days. He's drooling up a storm and constantly has fingers in his mouth. He's reaching for toys and when he grabs them they go straight to the mouth. I'd swear he's teething. He gets tickled at Matt and me and does this cute little laugh. Of course we think it's adorable. He's been rolling from front to back for a while now but is SOOOOO close to rolling back to front. Here's an attempt:He loves "standing" up.

We started rice cereal last night. Not a big hit. Here's the only picture I could snap in between major meltdowns.

"Seriously, you're taking a picture now??"
Finally, we spent ALL day yesterday trying to get a picture for the Christmas card. Sheesh. I got some pretty funny bloopers that I'll post when I have more time!

Banks' Baptism!

We had Banks baptized Sunday and it was wonderful. I was really worried about him acting up in church but he was perfect! He didn't make a peep. When our preacher took him from Matt to baptize him he said "we need a forklift for this one!!" It was too funny...Banks was two months younger than the other two boys baptized that day but definitely had them beat in the size department. We had almost 20 of our family members to our house after church for lunch. It was so fun having everyone here for Banks' big day! Here are some pics from his special day.

Sweet face

Some of our friends from church also had their son, James, baptized the same day.

Matt, Banks, James, Justin

Grumps, Banks, Gram

His beautiful cake!

Banks and Mimi

Tired little boy after a long day!

Throwback

Look at how itty bitty (and tan) Banks used to be!!! I can't believe how quickly he's growing up. Matt thought Banks had a 5 o'clock shadow the other day. Seriously? He might be a bit young for that just yet but he is getting so big! I thought this picture of the two of them was too sweet...

3 1/2 months...almost

Mister, as we like to call him, is 3 1/2 months old. I am working feverishly to update his baby book lest I forget some major milestone that he's met in his tiny life thus far. As mentioned in the last post he's rolling over and it's tons of fun...mostly for me than for him. I'm constantly tormenting him with tummy time just to see him roll over. He's all smiles (except when the photographer was at our house getting pictures of him and I was sweating profusely trying to get him to smile to no avail...I'm convinced he knew there was money on the line). He coos up a storm and even gets tickled sometimes. Mister is a baby giant...he's weighing in as a heavy weight at 15 pounds 10.5 ounces. He's OBSESSED with his hands and it's quite comical to watch him work on getting them to his mouth:

He's found his tongue. He looks like a little froggy!

Again with the tongue:
And he got to meet a future girlfriend, June Perkins

He had a play date with June and Charlie:

Finally, for those of you who haven't forgotten about our 4-legged baby get excited! The Biggest Loser comp is coming to an end this month. There's a big celebration for all the losers (winners) at the beginning of next month. Fingers crossed Buford is the Biggest Loser! We're doing some last chance workouts before his final weigh in next week. Ugh, the pressure. Buford is really hoping for a big prize.

Daydreaming about his big winnings.

Halloween!!!

"Halloween??? Scary!!!"Ok, not really. I'd say that we had a collection of animals from the zoo rather than a scary Halloween this year. Which suits Matt just fine. He still tells the story of how he was scarred for life after seeing a KISS poster as a child. He even covered Banks' eyes when scary trick-or-treaters came to the door. Guess parents really do pass things down to their children. Banks will never be allowed to have a KISS poster in his room and that suits Matt just fine!

My little monkey!Emerson the puppy dog, Banks, and Mimi the pig

Banks and his older woman, Hadley the lady bug. He's checking her out. Banks had a great first Halloween! We had several people over to cook out and trick or treat. Sweet Anna even volunteered to take Buford trick or treating! Of course, he was all about the treats!

And Banks is all about the tricks...he rolled over!!! He's done it twice and we've been able to get it on video. It's too funny...he goes in slow motion and is then so proud of himself when he's finished! I'll try to get some pictures of him in action so I can put them on here.

Fish Tacos

So, I have to be honest...there's something about fish tacos that just grosses me out. I think it's because when I think of fish tacos it reminds me of the Fillet O Fish sandwich which then reminds me of the McRib sandwich and then I'm totally disgusted. I decided to give them a go and I think they were great! I like the spiciness of the fish combined with the coolness of the cilantro sauce. Matt and I give these an A+!!

Fish Tacos

For the fish:

2 tilapia fillets

paprika to taste

salt to taste

cayenne pepper to taste

dill to taste

juice of one lime

olive oil

You also need:

half a head of cabbage-thinly chopped

4 flour tortillas

white sauce

For the white sauce:

1 1/2 tablespoon minced cilantro

3 tablespoons mayo

1 tablespoon sour cream

1 tablespoon lime juice

Heat a couple of tablespoons of olive oil in a skillet over medium heat; season fillets with paprika, salt, cayenne, and dill and place in skillet. Cook for about 3 minutes on each side or until cooked though and flaky. While fish is cooking, squeeze lime juice over each fillet. Once cooked, flake fish to put on tacos.

To make the white sauce, mix all ingredients in a small bowl and refrigerate until needed.

To assemble tacos spread generous amount of white sauce on each tortilla, top with flaked fish and cabbage. Serve with a big margarita and enjoy!

I lied.

I'm supposed to be posting pictures of Banks in his Halloween costume but I'm not...yet. We went to Zoo Boo with Emerson Sorrells and Reese Tomlinson but I couldn't get a good picture of all three of them so you'll just have to wait to see what Banks is going as this year. I know, I know, the suspense is killing you. Instead, you get some pictures of Banks at the pumpkin patch!

Not really feeling the pumpkins...

And here's my little punkin with his first pumpkin!!

New tricks!

Banks has been working hard on some new tricks! He's getting good at holding his head up steadily.
He found his hands about 2 weeks ago and is so proud of his discovery that he keeps his fists in his mouth at most times.

And...we broke out the bumbo chair and while Banks' head is a little wobbly for this we've compensated by propping the bumbo up next to a chair so if his big o' baby head falls back it just rests on the chair. He really likes his new perspective!
SPOILER ALERT!!!!! The next post is going to have Banks in his Halloween costume!

The grove!!!

Banks made his first trip to the grove this weekend for the Ole Miss/Alabama game. I'll say that it was a very interesting experience having a baby in the grove. Once, I looked up and saw a group of people in the tent next to us jamming their keys into beers in order to shot-gun them. I also saw a boy (I am calling him that because he couldn't be a day over 18 and with me approaching 30 and being a mother I am entitled to do so) being carted off by the paramedics because he was entirely too intoxicated. This was the scene at our tent at any given moment-babies galore: Not that I wish I was being whisked away in a drunken stupor; I'm just saying that it is A LOT of work having a bambino in a wet, cold, muddy grove. Banks, however, didn't seem to mind the weather a bit. He was bundled up like a little snow bunny and was happy as could be...especially seeing as we logged almost 12 hours in the grove Saturday. He was a trooper! Banks got to meet one of my best friends, Sarah. He's mad in this picture because Sarah's baby girl, June, wasn't able to come to the grove.

And here's Banks with his buddy Will. They were just chillin on this waterproof blanket that Lauren bought. I'm going to buy one ASAP...that thing was awesome.