Wacky Wafts

A couple of weekends ago, Sarah and 3 friends of hers entered the Wacky Waft race in Hendersonville. They are a part of the Interact Club at Beech High School- what that stands for I can't say :) Great Mom I am, huh? I know they do a lot of community activities and work to help people and animals, so that's a good thing!

What the kids had to do was construct a raft created out of whatever they wanted, then attempt to float it in the marina part of the lake with the 4 people, and then race against 2-3 other teams in different heats. Eventually it get to the top 4 teams and they then race one final time for the Official Winners.

The night before the kids decorated the raft with various sayings,drawings, and quotes. I wasn't sure if it was going to float or not with 4 adult size "kids" inside. That along with a cold front coming in with cloudy conditions and temps around 55 sounded miserable if they happened to sink. Sarah prepared with wearing warm clothes, bathing suit underneath, and a change of clothes waiting with me on the sidelines.

So the day of the race comes and their raft is in the 1st heat! The raft is pushed into the water and so far, so good- no water! All of the kids got into the raft and again, no water! Great!! They paddle out to the start line and Bang! off they go! They stroked and stroked and 'lo and behold they won the heat!!! So they wait a bit for the other heats to finish and they got to compete in the final heat against 3 other teams. The competition was fierce- last years champion consisting of 3 strong grown men, another all men's group with a really cool raft and then another I can't remember! The final race begins and the 2 men's teams just take off- nothing like strong men against a team of 3 girls and 1 boy. Their team ended up winning 3rd place easily and they won $50! They are going to use that money for another project for the club.

Afterward and they paddled back what do they do? They begin splashing each other with the cold lake water of course! So while their raft floated beautifully, Sarah ended up drenched and very cold. We dried up and got to the van to heat her back up. Here are some pictures from the event:

Feeding in Action!

This blog has been giving me a bit of grief these past few days while I tried to add a video of JT eating his cereal. Finally I was able to get some uploaded that I took with my cell when Lindsay fed JT earlier this week. So happy to get it up here! I know its nothing life changing, but I know JT's Nanny,Grandma and Granpa C. along with Aunt Cathy, will enjoy watching this :) Time to Eat!!

Fall Pictures

It is so beautiful here in Tennessee with fall colors and leaves on the ground. The girls have been off since last Thursday on Fall Break. We have enjoyed spending time together, raking leaves, playing outside when it wasn't raining and taking some pictures. Here are a few of my favorites from the Fall Photos we took at our house.

First Food

JT has begun a new chapter- eating food! Well, not food like we know it, but oh so yummy rice cereal that is pretty thin so he can get adjusted to having something with more substance in his mouth. He gets to have this twice a day for a few weeks, then we get to introduce orange veggies one at a time.


The Dr. said that the rice cereal might help with the reflux a bit, but so far all I see is thicker spit up! LOL!!! Though I do think he's not spitting up as much, so maybe it is helping a bit. Here are a few pictures from his first feeding.

4 Months

JT is now officially 1/3 of a year old- it has gone by so fast!!! Yesterday he has his well check appointment and everything is looking great! He weighs 15 pounds, 15 ounces and is 25 inches long. This puts JT in the 70% in the growth charts for both height and weight- perfectly in proportion :)

He did get 2 shots and one oral immunization, which JT was not thrilled with. His eczema and reflux are still a battle, but the Dr said we are doing everything correctly to help and hopefully, he will outgrow them. She said the reflux tends to peak around 4 months and continually get better. We hope so because we have all had our share of being puked on-LOL! This isn't a little spit up usually, its the type where you change your shirt afterward type spit up! So gross, but just a part of who he is right now. The Dr. gave clearance to introduce rice cereal and eventually other veggies and fruits. Later this week when we have the recorder set up and camera ready it will be show time for 1st tastes of solid food!! So exciting!!!

Some of JT's latest favorites are chewing on his fingers and hands. Sometimes he sticks his fingers so deep in his mouth he gags himself. I have to pull them out because he's not aware he's the one doing it. He also loves chewing and holding on to colorful chain links for babies with different textures and they can hold plush toys for babies. JT has also started rolling over from his back to his tummy!! The little stinker has done this but only when he is alone!! I have found him in his crib on his tummy a couple of times and then another when he was playing on the floor and I went to get something. However, last night I did get to see him go from his tummy to back-yay! Since he has been starting to flip, he is enjoying sleeping on his side-so cute. JT is also talking so much-babbling to whoever will listen and talk back. I have tried recording him, but he has this great amazement with the flashing light on the camera when I'm filming that he stops talking and looks at the light! We are going to try to cover the light so it doesn't distract him when he's doing adorable things.

I hope that you are finding the many blessings that the Lord has given each and every one of us this fall season. From the cooler temperatures, the changing of colors, wonderful friends and family and most importantly the gift of life through Jesus. I am so thankful for all of these and more! Much love to you and yours....

So far so Blue

Sorry I end up doing blocks of posts all at once or close together. I'd rather do a few when I can and JT is sleeping :) than not do them at all!

Now John Thomas "JT" is 3 1/2 months old- time has really gone by fast! He is doing really well with head control when he has tummy time and he talks like he knows what he's saying! That must be something he gets from John- he he!

We are still working on the whole eczema and reflux stuff. The cream really cleared up his rash spots quickly, but once we stop- which we are supposed to- it starts to creep back up a bit after a few days. The reflux is getting a bit better, but not totally gone. I have officially switched to soy milk and I am doing my best to eliminate any other dairy products to help JT. Cheese is especially difficult because I love it so much and there aren't any good tasting alternatives :( I have cut out probably at least 50-60% if not more of cheese and eliminated everything else dairy. JT will go in about 2 weeks for his 4 month well check, so we will see what his Dr. says about these things then.

Also for the title of this post indicates that JT's eyes are still blue! Can it be blue eyes for an Apedaile kid? I know his color could still change all the way up until he is 1, but for right now it's entertaining to see if they are still blue or trying to change to brown like the girls and I. I think they will stay blue like his Daddy, but time will tell.

Here are a few pictures from a photo shoot I did with JT myself at home last week. I just love digital cameras!!!

Fun Weekend!

This past Weekend we went to John's company picnic at the Edwin Warner Park in south Nashville. We have never been here before and I think we will be returning again! Warner Parks- there are two- actually are almost 2,700 acres of recreation and nature facilities! Very large!!

At the picnic we had a great time of playing volleyball,playing Bingo, kids games, face painting, and yummy food! Sarah also won the water balloon toss! The weather has been pretty dreary here lately with storm after storm and tons of rain!! Lucky for us though it was soggy, it didn't rain the entire time we were there!

We were also near a small stream and the girls and I walked along the trail for a while, when John was mingling with co-workers with JT. There were some really pretty trees, flowers, berries and I can't imagine how beautiful this place will be within the next month or so with the leaves turning! I hope we can get out there again for some great pictures with the family.