Lovin the Grass

It was an absolute beautiful spring week here in Tennessee! The sun was shining, the birds were chirping, and warmth abound! I took some time to snap some cute pictures of JT in the grass. I think I captured some really cools shots of my little man. I couldn't wait to upload them to share- Enjoy!

Surgery

Our youngest managed to be the first child to undergo surgery. JT had surgery for ear tubes this morning.

He has been fighting ear infections for the past 2 months to no avail. He had had many different oral antibiotics as well as a series of 3 injection antibiotics. When the shots didn't work, the Dr. said it was time for tubes and a visit to the ENT.

Everything came together quickly last week, which I took as a sign from God that it was perfect timing and the correct thing to do for JT.

I decided a great way to prepare for the surgery would be to get JT some new jammies for the surgery. We found a cute pair of Carter's PJ's that say "Mommy's Little Monster" I thought they were really cute and he will be able to wear them as its getting warmer and we will remember this day with his monster pjs.

Once we got to the surgery center, JT has been up for almost 2 hours. We ended up waiting about another hour before we were called to the back to prepare for his surgery. Poor JT was so hungry- about 12 hours since he last ate- and tired he was getting a little cranky. He kept yawning which was so adorable and we knew he would love nothing more than a nice warm bottle. We felt bad not being able to give it to him then, but JT handled it well.

Once the nurses came to take JT to the operating room, John and I went to the waiting room. Only 15 minutes later the Dr emerged saying it was a success! JT had a lot of fluid the Dr sucked out and then placed the tubes in each ear. We had to wait about another 15 minutes before I were able to go to the recovery room. JT was pretty fussy- he was out of sorts and you could tell he wasn't sure what the heck was going on. The nurses remarked at how strong JT was because he was kind of fidgety in their arms. I got a chuckle as I have known how strong JT has been since he was a kicking machine when inside of me! I was able to hold JT in a nice recliner and feed him his much needed bottle. JT settled down quickly and slowly sucked the formula down.

Once back at home JT was pretty sleepy and took 2 great naps during the day. When he was down playing before nap #2, he seemed still a little loopy from the anesthesia and was more unsteady than normal, but to be expected from what we were told. By dinner, JT was his usual busy self cruising along furniture, making messes, and loving life :) We go back to the ENT in one week for a recheck.

While Daddy is away...

John has been in North Carolina the entire week for training at corporate HQ for Lowe's. We have all missed John/Daddy and are eager for his return tomorrow evening. However, life continues and JT is a busy boy!

We enjoyed a few days of sun here and JT had his first crawl in the grass. He liked it the first time I placed him in it, though he was a little cautious. Later that day, Lindsay placed JT in some taller grass and JT was not loving it one bit! Tears and all! So shorter grass it is for now until he becomes accustomed to this new texture.

Not for Germ Freaks

I have given you all full warning with this post title. It's not disgusting, but for those who have control issues with their kids and germs, this probably isn't a post for you :)

JT is now old enough to sit in a high chair when we dine out. Nice break for my arms and I attempt to eat while keeping JT distracted with toys, Kix, crackers, bread, or small bites from my meal. He has done quite well for the handful of times we have gone out.

However, he does have this love for chewing on kind of gross things. Like the menu and the table. JT loves tables! Looking at it from his view, it's right at his mouth and eye level, it fits perfectly in his mouth and I imagine it feels and tastes quite yummy. I have tried to get him to stop, pulled him away from the table/menu, said "No No", or "no table", and offered him snacks instead. Nothing really works until he gets his fill of table. I do wipe it down with a wipe and then again with a clean napkin, but I'm sure there are things there that are gross. I just ignore those thoughts within reason and pray God will protect him.

Though this is a gross stage JT is going through, I'm sure it is one we will be telling his future bride one day of what he used to do when he was a baby and laugh it up!

JT can do it with or without hands.....

Family Time

This past week the Apedaile6 had some good family time events. On St. Patrick's Day we all headed out to Texas Roadhouse to celebrate the little bit of Irish in our blood. Well, in everyone except me that is- its from John's side of the family.

I was cleaning out my wallet and found some gift cards and decided to call the 800# to see if any of them had some credit on them-to my great delight I discovered that I had some left on a Texas Roadhouse gift card! Nice surprise! So we thought St. Patrick's Day called for some traditional chicken, ribs, and fries- ha ha! The kids and I met John there after work and you can see some enjoyed themselves more than others.....

Then the next evening Sarah, Lindsay, and I headed to church for a mother/daughter event. It was just for Middle/High school ages that evening. Courtney has an event next month though. We enjoyed dinner, dessert, great worship, and speakers that evening with several hundred other women. It focused on being beautiful from the inside out and how not to focus on the world view of beauty. Even at that, how the media doesn't have an attainable viewpoint of what beauty is- thanks to photoshop and airbrushing! One great scripture from the night was Psalm 139:14 "I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful,I know that full well."

I am glad that we had a chance to be together for a few special family times last week as John is off to North Carolina this week for training for his job. John left Sunday afternoon and returns Friday evening. I know by the end of the week we will all be so happy for his return!

Success!

I am so excited that not only did JT jump like a mad man in his exersaucer and I captured it on video again, but blogger uploaded it!! Woo Hoo!!! Life's little victories :)

This is the gift Grandma and Granpa C. got JT when they visited last summer. This by far has been JT's overall best toy. It has stages of play-mat and part of the toys form a gym for when he was itty bitty, the traditional exersaucer as he uses it now, and then when hes a little older you can take out just the circle of toys and it forms this "S" of a stand-up play area. Pretty cool!

Check out our little jumper in these videos!

Life with a 9 month old

Life is great with our little 9 month old John Thomas. Never a dull moment or one where you can sit for very long, unless he's sleeping. I can begin to see the transition from baby hood to toddler hood starting to emerge. JT is into everything, curious about all things, tries to fit his body in the most odd places, and is "hands on/mouth on" anything we allow him to.

At his 9 month well check he weighed in just a bit under 23 pounds and is now 29 inches tall. Both of these place JT in the 75% in the growth chart and perfectly healthy.

Here are some photos to highlight what our little man is doing these days.

JT is in awe of the blue light on our computer. It just so happens to be our power button. Its like the blue calls out, "JT, come and touch me...you must play with me." Our computer has been "shut down incorrectly" a few times this month as a result of this new found love.

JT continues to be the master crawler. He is quite fast now. We have seen him crawl like this crazy no knees stance when he's in the kitchen. Pretty sure it due to the fact there is tile in there and his knees get tender crawling on them. He has progressed to cruising along the furniture and anything that can support him, but I haven't snapped any pics of that yet, sorry!

This is JT's special little cupboard in the kitchen. Something I did for all of the girls-the cupboard that is filled with the Tupperware. When I am trying to cook and JT needs to be by my side, the door is opened and its his free reign to play in. He loves it!

This shows his favorite "toy" in the bunch-a

sliver mixing bowl. He loves banging on it and slamming it down on the floor- BANG BANG BANG!!!!

Eating is a major part of JT's life.He is now getting 3 meals a day of solid food and bottles in between. He continues to improve on acquiring his taste of veggies, though he is a fruit boy through and through. I love this pic of JT opening WIDE for his next bite- a sign that he's loving his meal.

JT is also learning how to drink from a sippy cup and self feed some food to himself. Both of which involve becoming quite messy- all part of the learning fun :) The feeding is coming along a lot faster than the sippy cup.

JT is still the drool master- look at that wet shirt! Gross!! He is by far the most drooly Apedaile kid. Most of the time he wears a bib otherwise we would be changing shirts 3 times a

day. Got to love that sweet face though :)