A Weekend of Fun and Heart Break

We had a great weekend with the exception of one heart breaking Football loss.

Friday night, my parents came up and had a great time spoiling John Michael.

John Michael showed off his new toy....no, not his blanket. The door stop. Yep, it is exciting. I promise he has "real" toys!

On Saturday, Ben, John Michael, and I loaded up and headed to Springdale to spend the evening with Jennifer, Jason, and Riley.

John Michael had his first ever "real" babysitter! He seemed to have a great time while we went to the football game.

We meet up with Jenny and Wes and watched an emotionally draining game! We laughed the next day that Jenny & I really didn't get to talk because the boys were sitting in between us talking some major football strategy. After a VERY close game, we ending up losing. Oh it was sad! The saddest game I ever remember! Jenny and Wes packed up and left and Ben just sit there until I told him, ok, we really have to go, the janitors are going to be picking up soon!

We went back to Jennifer and Jason's and had a relaxing evening.

On Sunday, we drove back to Fort Smith and had a wonderful lunch with Ops, Nana, Jenny, Wes, and Aubri. Aubri was wearing the sweetest bow and John Michael was quite obsessed with it....well, wanting to eat it that is! I have to admit, seeing all the cute outfits Bri was changing in and out of, really made me want a little girl (one day, one day far down the road....no one get too excited!).

After lunch, we had a walk through the Carroll's home being built. It is a beauty! I only wished I had gotten pics!

To round up the evening, John Michael caught up on the current events:

Here's to another fun and relaxing weekend in the books!

Photo Shoot

When John Michael was finishing up his 6 months, we had a photo shoot!
Our favorite photographers, Emily & Jon Beaty with Beaty Photography, met up with us and we got some great shots!
It was SO humid that evening, but they were so great with John Michael and he was very interested in the camera!
Here are some of our favorites:

They did a fantastic job, don't you think?

Go Hogs!

I don't remember the last time I was so excited about Razorback Football than this coming up Saturday!

Why am I so excited......I can't put my finger on one thing...but maybe because......

* It is the first Live game I get to go to this season.

* Our family has a small rivalry....my cousin (Eric and his wife Whitney) are hard-core Bama fans and I really hope we win so that Christmas we won't get bashed the whole time!

* It is going to be a date day for Ben and I

* We get to sit with Wes, Jenny, and Wesley Adam

* My family will be there cheering with us! (My mom, dad, Jennifer, Jason, and Lance)

So hopefully the Hogs will pull through and get the Big Victory for us!

GO HOGS!

John Michael's "Ops"

Tomorrow John Michael's "Ops" is having a minor surgery.
Although minor, we are asking for prayers.

Please say a quick prayer for the surgeon, a quick recovery time for Ops, and Love & patience for his outstanding nurse, "Nana"!
John Michael loves his "Ops" very much and we want to see him back on his feet fast!

You will experience God's Peace, which exceeds anything we can understand.

Philippians 4:7

Weekend in Hot Springs

Ben, John Michael, and I headed down to Hot Springs on Friday night and here are some highlights from our trip:

* John Michael started REALLY showing out with his army crawl. We think he was just showing out for his Uncle Jason!

* Mom, Riley, John Michael, and I took a trip to the fair to see the animals. Riley's favorite were definitely the pigs! John Michael was wide eyed the entire time!

* A late night trip with Mom, Dad, Jennifer, and I to Dairy Queen. What I learned from that trip: A road trip with the four of us would be very funny & either we would love each other more at the end or someone would be dead. :) It would be cheaper to buy everyone their own gallon of ice cream than to go the Dairy Queen and get a mini blizzard!

* My parents kept John Michael in their bedroom on Saturday night without us. So it was almost like our first overnight babysitters! John Michael made it easy on them and only woke up once at 3:30, but my mom said a pacifier worked its charm! Sadly, when 7 AM rolled around, I was awake and ready to go. Guess my body is never going to let me sleep in again!

* We had a wonderful early 80th Birthday celebration with Mama Pat on Saturday night!

* Now that my brother, Lance, has discovered the game of golf....I should just plan on Ben being MIA on Saturdays!

And on Sunday the three of us packed up and drove back to Fort Smith. Somewhere between Hot Springs and Fort Smith, John Michael grew a tooth! When we arrived in Fort Smith, he officially had his first tooth! It is the bottom center tooth. Sorry no pictures of this....John Michael would not cooperate!

Hope everyone has a great week!

Open my eyes that I may see wonderful things in your law.

Psalm 119:18

Twins

So....all my life I have been told that I look like my mother.
From baby pictures to teen pictures to even now that I am a mom, I look like her more than ever! My hair is even turning into a darker brown like hers is!
My mother is a beautiful lady and I couldn't pick anyone else I would rather be compared to!
But....here is proof.....we really are twins:

Growing Every Day!

No One can Deny that he is not growing every day!!

2 Days Before his Birthday:

Few minutes old.....

1 Month Old:

2 Months Old:

Three months Old:

Four months Old:

5 Months Old:

Six Months Old:

Seven months Old:

7 Month Stats

Our Little Man is 7 Months Old!

Some Fun Facts about our 7 Month Old:

* John Michael still is very much in love with food. Not too fond of vegetables, but he loves loves loves fruits and cereal!

* No teeth still! But man, they are trying to come through.....talk about some drool!

* John Michael loves to chat it up and he has the sweetest laugh!

* Favorite activity: "wrestling" (Aka rolling around) with his dad!


* Loves to be outdoors and swinging.


* Really has discovered Gravy (the dog) and thinks he is way too funny! (And Secretly, I think Gravy loves him too!)


* VERY close to crawling. When he is motivated (i.e. a phone is not in his arm length) he does an "army" crawl to get to it! We tell him that Uncle Jason will be very proud!


7 Months has been a little tougher number for Ben and I to shallow.
I mean, if you "round up" he is a year old!
Time is FLYING folks! We want to bottle up every moment!

We thank the Lord for our Sweet Blessing!

For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother's womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well. My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them.

Psalm 139:13-16

Guess who is 7 Months Old!?!?

If you guessed John Michael you are correct!
This means we are closer to a year....WOW!

More stats shortly......

Visit from Mamaw and Papaw Carroll

Mamaw and Papaw Carroll came all the way from Ashdown, AR to visit!
We were so excited to see them! Amanda, our cousin who just started at the University of Arkansas, also came down to enjoy some fun!
We had a great and relaxing weekend and John Michael really enjoyed all the attention!

Saturday, Papaw was gracious enough to help Ben put up a swing for John Michael on our back porch. John Michael CANNOT get enough of it! Ben and I are also enjoying the fact that we can all be on the porch in this great weather!
Saturday evening everyone came to our house and helped Call the Hogs to Victory!

Amanda was also a HUGE help as John Michael decided to start teething again this weekend. Saturday night she helped calm him down and put him back asleep and Ben & I didn't even know until Sunday! Thanks again Amanda!

(See below....No teeth yet! It is going to be a long couple of days!)
We cannot wait for our next visit with everyone!

Search for the Lord and His Strength; Continually Seek Him.

1 Chronicles 16:11

Labor Day Goodness

What a wonderful weekend we had! It was a fun and most relaxing weekend!

Friday night we took advantage of the amazing weather and we hung out on our porch.

Saturday morning we woke up with HOG fever!!!

The four of us (John Michael, Ben, Gravy, and Allison), packed us and drove to NW Arkansas. John Michael and Allison got to hang out with Jennifer, Riley, Nene and Poppa. We stayed in the comfort of their home and watched the game on PPV. Ben and Jason went to the game.

John Michael had such a great time with Cousin Riley!
Riley would push JM around......

He LOVED the swing! It is on our list to get one for our porch on our next shopping trip!

Game Time!

Bath Time!

Giving Good night kisses to Aunt Jennifer.....

Cousin Riley Being Silly.......

The Paci Club.....

On Saturday, after a Scumptious breakfast, we headed back to Fort Smith.

That evening, it was the VERY anticipated, VERY important, Family Fantasy Football Draft. There was a lot of trash talking....so much so that John Michael Passed out from all the excitement.......Just saying that I (Allison) have the best team....but who is bragging!?!?

On Monday we Celebrated Jenny's Birthday! 27 years young....right Jenny!??!!

Jenny and her Birthday Present.......

Monday Night we had a little fun with the Baby Scales.....According to the 1983 Baby Scales that my parents let us borrow, JM is 19.5 pounds!

To Wrap up the whole weekend:

Bottle.....

Bath....

Bed Time......

Hope everyone has a great week!

Jesus said, "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these."

Matthew 19:14