a new member of our family...

Don't worry, I'm not pregnant...we're getting a puppy! A sweet little chocolate lab we've named Remmy. She was born 5 weeks ago and we got to see her for the first time on Sunday.The litter has two bitches and we will get first choice on July 31st when we'll pick out Remmy. Because we have a couple more weddings in August, we've asked to pick her up on August 15th so we won't have to leave her on her own or ask anyone else to watch her when she's so little. I'm under no disillusion, I realise this will be a lot of work, especially with Jamie being so young, but we hope they will grow up together. Paul's already promised to be in charge of any middle of the night cries from Remmy. We plan on crate training her and start very early with obedience training. Wish us luck! Here are some photos from Sunday:

we're back!

So we have hundreds and hundreds of photos to sort through, so I'll be working on that in the next week or so, but we had a great time with my family in the States. We spent 2.5 weeks in St Louis, a long weekend at Sugartree (parents' place on the Gasconade river) with my mom's side of the family, and 5 days in Hilton Head, South Carolina. Jamie got to meet nearly all my family and spend tons and tons of time with his grandparents and aunts and uncle. They couldn't get enough of them. We will miss them, but I am looking forward to getting back into a routine. With all the new people, places and beds Jamie hasn't been sleeping very well, making me very very tired. I am hoping once we get some regularity back, he'll start sleeping through the night again.

Today Jamie had his overdue 3 month immunisations, hip check (follow up from 6 weeks because he had uneven fat creases in his thighs!), and a weigh in. Shots went fine. He only cried for 10 seconds or so, very brave little man! His fat creases have evened out, so no need for concern And he weighed in at 14lbs 12 oz! What a porker! He's moved from the 35th to 50th percentile in weight for boys at his age. Seems like we all put on a little too much weight while in the States. I don't need to be too worried as long as he doesn't jump up again but the doctor suggested I try giving him some water every once in a while, especially when it's hot here.

After the doc's, we caught up with our antenatal course friends, all who are getting bigger and more interactive like Jamie. It was fun seeing them all, even if it was tiring for poor jet-lagged Jamie and me. Next week we're thinking about driving to the beach for the day if it's not too hot (or cold!), so stayed tuned for that trip.

Father's day without daddy :(

A week late, but last week we celebrated Father's Day in St. Louis. Unfortunately, we were without daddy who is coincidentally arriving today (can't wait!!!). Don't worry though we celebrated before we left and Jamie gave daddy a daddy+me frame and also an iron skillet for his bbq.
So in St Louis we celebrated with Big Daddy. It was a great day, with all my siblings in town for the first father's day together in 6 years.  Here are some highlights:

First we read the paper:

The we had a little fun:

The we took Jamie for his first ever swim (complete with all the correct gear). At first he wasn't too sure:

But he seemed to take it all in:

He'll enjoy it more eventually:

After swimming, Kyle joined us and we took Jamie to his first movie, Toy Story 3. He slept through the whole thing, but Nana made sure he wouldn't forget it and bought him a Buzz Lightyear from Sam's Club when she was shopping for dinner afterwards (sorry no photos of it yet). We had a really nice dinner afterwards and my dad shared some of his favorite memories of us. It was a really special day and we all enjoyed it. Now we're counting down the hours til J's daddy arrives!!

We're in St. Louis!!

We've made to hot and humid St Louis! Jamie did brilliantly on the flights. He slept most of the way on both, and he only cried when he was hungry and for a tiny bit on the descent into Chicago, but calmed down and fell asleep with his pacifier. It's been a little overwhelming for him with this completely new environment and all these new people, so he's been more fussy than usual, but he's also been full of smiles and cuddles for everyone he meets. Here are a shots from his first few days. Courtney has been on paparazzi patrol again and isn't failing in her duties, so it'll take a while to get up all the photos. I'll also put them all on Flickr when I have time to sort through the best ones.

Meeting his great grandma, Gammy, for the first time:

Four generations:

He's got some new tricks too including holding up his head and also trying to roll over (however this rolling over is more out of anger from being on his tummy than anything else):

Nana and Grandad visit

Before we head off to the States, Nana and Grandad came up for a quick visit to see all of Jamie's new tricks:

He's found his hands and likes to see how much he can fit in at once:

His facination with his toys:

His cheeky grin:

And best of all, his smile:

Sadly, we won't be able to see them (in person) for six weeks, but I'm sure he'll have a whole new bag of tricks to show off by then.

chattering away

Over the last week Jamie has become very chatty. He is cooing and gurgling away. We even got a couple of laughs over the weekend. I think he's gearing up for our visit to the States next week.  Here is a little video I took on my iPhone a couple of mornings ago:



We'll have plenty to share in the next few weeks as Jamie gets to meet many of hid Us family and friends.

jamie and his ladyfriends

Pink is the going colour around these parts. Jamie has his pick of the ladies, particularly at church. Check out this photo we snapped at a BBQ at ours yesterday:

From L to R: Izzy- 2 years old, Olivia-4 months, Jamie-2 months, Grace-3 weeks, Maisy-2 weeks.

We've recently found out that our friends Lizzy and Ben are also expecting a girl in late September. 

Our antenatal group has a further 3 girls and thankfully 2 boys! Not that playing with dolls isn't fun, but at least there'll be a couple of boys to make mud pies and play with trucks...