Rolling Over - half way!

Well, I figured once I released John-Mark from his baby straight jacket (aka miracle blanket) he would start attempting to roll over more and such has been the case. He seems to like to do a half roll where he flips his legs over and throws his head back but doesn't fully commit his upper body and if he does get all of his body fully on to his tummy he's not too happy. He really loves this in between position as you will see from the pics below:

sleeping in his bouncy seat and attempting to roll over but his legs are buckled down

I pulled out the exersaucer this week and John-Mark seems to like it pretty well. He will only do about 5 minutes in it and then he's done but I think as he gets bigger he'll like it more - of course his big brother sure does (see below)

"oh, sorry mom, were you talking to me - the bumble bee and I were having a pretty serious discussion"

oh, and looked who just climbed his way in to the exersaucer! He knows he's not supposed to get in it but when his Papa Allen babysat the other night I forgot to tell him so when we got home he said how good James had been and how he played in the exersaucer for a good 30 minutes! That kid knows what he's doing already.
James' latest cute trick is putting his finger to his mouth and saying "shhhh" whenever he goes near John-Mark's door - guess he's seen me do that a time or two :)
Another one of our favorite's is to get him to point to his eyes, nose, teeth, ears, toes, etc. and then point to ours or Charlie's or John-Mark's. Now it's time to expand to more body parts. As I write this he is cracking me up because he is now really in to opening and shutting doors - really anything - the dishwasher, fridge, whatever. He has just walked in to his room and shut the door behind him and I hear him in there opening and closing his closet doors - let me go check on him before he pulls his blinds down!

Christmas 2008

Well, this shall be called the year of the Christmas crud! About a week before Christmas James started with a cough, then had a couple days of a fever, which led to a runny nose which led to John-Mark getting a cough... So, for the week of Christmas we pretty much did not leave the house. I was hoping to get them better before Christmas but that didn't happen. But by Christmas morning James seemed much better - he still has a little runny nose but he's not hacking through the night and he hasn't had a temp in over 5 days. John-Mark still has a bad cough but so far that is all he has gotten. I'm praying my proactive treatments of the humidifier with eucalyptus and upping his probiotics will help him not get any worse.
We had planned to follow our annual Christmas tradition of going to the last Christmas Eve service and then to our favorite Japanese restaurant for dinner but with the boys being under the weather and the weather being so crazy we decided we may have to skip it this year. My mom and her husband (aka mom mom and papa steve) offered to come to town a day early and stay with the boys so we could go to church and dinner. Usually it's a treat for Jeremy and I to get out of the house alone but we were both pretty sad not to have the boys with us - although they'll never remember missing this year, I think I will. This is a tradition that Jeremy and I started when we got married so it's really "our" family tradition so it was sad to be missing half of our family! Hopefully next year everyone will be healthy. I can't even imagine what these two boys will be like this time next year but I bet they'll be having a blast! I also have lots of new family traditions I plan to start as the boys get older. Since I didn't grow up in a Christian home the holiday was more about Santa to me than Jesus so I look forward to being able to make new traditions with my family that really focus on the true meaning of Christmas!
Christmas day was a pretty quiet day around the house. I cooked breakfast and then a nice big Christmas lunch which we snacked on the rest of the day! I think all of the adults were more excited about seeing the babies with their new toys than they were. It took James a second to realize there were new toys sitting out. We tried not to over do it as far as presents go with James but as I look around the house it seems like he got soooo much stuff! We only got him two big presents - a little learning kitchen and a car that goes with the push of a button on the steering wheel. I got the car at a consignment sale last year and have been dying to give it to him! So far he likes sitting in it and pushing all the buttons that make car noises but he hasn't really gotten the hang of how to make it really move - but I know it's only a matter of time before he's zooming through the house!
My mom and I picked back up a tradition we haven't been able to do the last several years of going to see a movie on Christmas day. It was great to be able to get out of the house for a bit and just be with my mom. We went and saw "The Curious Life of Benjamin Button" - I really liked it - it's pretty amazing how they can make the characters look so old and so young! It just made me think about how quick life really is and to cherish each moment. Ofcourse at Christmas I always think back to my Christmas memories as a little girl and of my grandparents that are no longer here and imagine what it would be like if they were - how crazy would they be over my two boys! Then I look at my mom as a grandma and how special her relationship is with my boys - all of the grandparents- and I'm so thankful to have everyone here and healthy and I pray that it will be that way for a long time! I can't believe John-Mark's first and James' second Christmas has already come and gone!
I pray you all had a wonderful Christmas as well!

This is how James spent most of the week - relaxing in the recliner watching cartoons or the cooking channel with me - Aunt Anne-Michelle came over on Monday and LOVED that James was being a cuddle bug! As sad as it is to see your little ones not feeling good - it is nice to have him sit with you for more than 2 seconds!John-Mark hugging his Christmas Bear from mom-mom and Papa Steve

James standing in front of his new kitchen - love the tummy!

James loves to open and close things and put things inside so he had a great time with the fridge and oven doors. This gift was my favorite! When I saw it I just had to get it for them. The faucet sounds like water is running when you turn it on; when you put the pan on the stove top it sounds like bacon sizzling; it has a light switch you can turn on and off and it sings songs - and much more. It will only be a couple of months before John-Mark is crawling around this thing too! I hope it brings them HOURS of fun!

The new ride!Playing with the wood blocks and puzzles mom-mom and papa steve got him

My dad got him this "tower of balls" - it has 150 balls! One of his favorite things at his birthday party was this big bin of balls so my dad knew he would love this. He checked with me first to make sure I would be okay with picking up balls all over the house for the next ten years! I told him that grandparents can get them anything they want - even if it's not my favorite idea but that's what grandparents do! Some of my favorite presents I had as a kid were things my parents would never have bought me but I knew I could count on grandma and grandpa!
James as the Caped Crusader! I wish I had a picture of he and Papa Steve running around the house with their green capes on! Ofcourse Papa Steve always comes up with the most fun games to play!

I HEART my big brother!

This picture melts my heart - John-Mark is looking at James who is standing right beside him - whenever James comes around this is what John-Mark does - he adores him! It's always bittersweet when your "baby" only child becomes a big brother - and you feel a little sad that all those times with just mommy are gone but when I see how much John-Mark adores his big brother and how sweet James is with him, I can't even imagine how much fun they are going to have growing up together.
I thought I would try to introduce some baby food to John-Mark to see how he did with it. We gave James babyfood about a week after Christmas last year and he loved it. As you can see from the pic above I don't think John-Mark is quite ready for it yet!

Can you believe how big he's gotten!

Well, I've finally started putting John-Mark down without his miracle blanket swaddle. I wondered how he would do and he's done surprisingly well. He is totally miracle blanket free now and sleeping through the night. I was worried he would wake up in the middle of the night and not know what to do with all his freedom but so far so good. The sight of John-Mark sleeping just cracks me up because you can totally tell he spent the first 4 months of his life sleeping with his arms pinned down to his side!

The Allen Elf's

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4 month check-up

Yesterday John-Mark went for his 4 month check-up and everything looked great. He weighed 15 pounds 10 ounces (65th percentile) and 26 inches long (86th percentile). He continues to be longer than James at this age and weigh less. At 4 months James was 16 pounds and 25 inches long - looks like John-Mark is going to be tall and skinny like his mommy - hahahaha!

5 Years!!

December 13, 2003
Me and my handsome groom

I usually only post about the boys on this blog but today I shall indulge because today is our 5 year wedding anniversary!! I honestly can't believe it's already been 5 years - although I can look around and see how much things have changed and know that it must have been! Had I known then what I know now I think I would have been even more excited (if that's possible) to marry Jeremy. I am more convinced than ever that he is my perfect mate. Ofcourse over the last five years we've had our ups and downs and good days and bad - but I can't imagine my life with anyone but him (I don't think anyone else could put up with me:)) Jeremy and I wrote our own wedding vows and we have them framed and hanging on the wall in our home and I can't tell you how often I have walked by them, read over them, and had to stop and repent because I have missed the mark on so many of my promises but thankfully Jeremy is very quick to forgive and forget. I was honestly not one of those girls that prayed diligently for my husband for years and years but the Lord was so faithful to me. He gave me such an honest, patient, hard working, generous husband who has become and amazing father to our two sweet boys. I am truly overwhelmed with how blessed I am! HAPPY ANNIVERSARY BABE!

Our wonderful wedding party

We were blessed to be counseled and married by our two most favorite Pastors - Chris & Steve

Mr. and Mrs.!
We left the church to James Taylor's "How sweet it is to be loved be you" - so fun!!!

16 and 4 months!

This week my boys will turn 16 and 4 months! I always say it but time really is flying by. We went and visited a friend with a 1 month old this past week and he was so tiny compared to my John-Mark. I can't believe he's so big! He goes for his 4 month check up on Monday and we'll see how much he weighs now!
What's new with James:
James continues to be all about playing and talking about balls. He can find a round object anywhere and has to shout to me "ba ba". Yesterday I was sitting in a chair and he was standing beside me and he started "ba" almost like a question and I looked down and he was pointing at the round tacks in the arm of the chair! He is also starting to say more words but I'm probably the only one who can understand him. He says Charlie but leaves out the L and he points outside and says "sigh, sigh". He also loves to bring me things and say "see, see" And yes, he repeats everything like this. He also knows how to say please but only does it for other people. He will not say it for Jeremy and I but if someone else has food and asks him to say please he will totally do it! When he was about 6 months old I started trying to teach him some basic sign language to help him communicate with us until he started really talking. After several months I gave up because I felt like it was a futile cause. The only sign he has ever done is the sign for all gone. Then, yesterday I noticed him following me around the kitchen touching his mouth with his hand over and over (very close to the sign for eat) and I asked if he wanted to eat and he started grinning and clapping. Then I asked if he wanted more and he did the sign for more!! I couldn't believe it! It's like he just stored away that knowledge for one day when he wanted to use it. Ofcourse he doesn't do it all the time. I joke that he is very much like a cat in that he does his tricks when he wants to, not on demand :) One of the cutest things has started doing is taking a napkin and wiping his mouth and nose and he'll even go and wipe John-Mark's mouth if I ask him too, which you know just makes John-Mark light up! He loves any attention he gets from his big brother! Over the last couple of days he has started the MOST annoying habit of grinding his teeth ALL DAY LONG!! I hope it's because he is continuing to teeth and they are hurting him and once teething is finished he will stop. You can't really explain to a 16 month old what it means to stop grinding your teeth! But it is sooo annoying!
What's new with John-Mark:
John-Mark is such a smiley baby. He loves face to face contact and will look you in the eye for minutes on end which a lot of boys don't really do. If I'm looking away I'll feel him staring at me and I'll look at him and he'll give me the biggest grinner. He loves to be held and walked around with and he really loves to stand up in your lap. He will buckle those little legs and just look all around the room until he can't hold himself up anymore. He watches James all day long and I just know he's taking it all in and he's ready to just jump up and walk if he could! Several weeks ago we moved John-Mark to a 4 hour feeding schedule and over the last week we finally dropped his 10 pm feeding so he is going from 7 to 7 at night. I feel like I did this much sooner with James but I know every baby is different. So far he is doing pretty well. It seems like every third night he wakes up between 1 and 4 and I just go in and change him and give him his paci and he's goes back to sleep. Hopefully he will drop that all together soon!
Some pics from the week:

I pulled out the Johnny Jumper for John-Mark and James had to show him all the bells and whistles!

Then I guess he decided he was pooped so if John-Mark was sitting he would just lay down under him!Then after John-Mark had gone down for his nap and I took the Johnny Jumper down, this is where I found James:I've started giving the boys baths together which has been sooo sweet! I love to watch them interact with each other. As you can see, John-Mark is loving being in the tub with his big brother! He loves to "talk" to him!And moving John-Mark into the big tub meant his sink bath tub was no longer being used so James decided it was a great seat for him - I know, he's too old for a bottle but it's really hard to not give him one with he sees John-Mark getting one. He's pretty much down to just one in the a.m. so we're getting there! (Don't ya' love those Santa pj's!)Tummy Time!Just hangin' out!

Here Comes Santa Clause

Yesterday I took the boys to see Santa for the first time. As you can see from the picture above that James wasn't too happy about it. At first when I sat him in Santa's lap he kind of lost it but once I put John-Mark in his lap as well he kind of pulled it together a little bit. Sweet boys! The Bass Pro Shop has a great looking Santa and they do the pic for free which is nice. I don't guess people really know about this because when we got there we were the only ones and Santa was actually sitting down at the kids table with two little girls coloring! I had hoped if James was able to go up and talk to him kind of casually he would be okay with it but it was still too much for him. He's usually not too afraid of strangers and will go to most people but not the big man in red! Ofcourse John-Mark was clueless and happy as a peach. Next year Santa will have his hands full with these two! Hope everyone is enjoying this Holiday Season!! We love you all!

ROLL TIDE!!!!

Iron Bowl 2008
36 - 0

Happy Thanksgiving!

Hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving! We split the day between my mom's and jeremy's dad's. The boys had lots of fun with their cousin Mallory. I can't believe that this time last year James pretty much slept through Thanksgiving and this year he and Mallory were running around and this time next year John-Mark will be running around too! I am so thankful for my wonderful family and can't imagine my life without a single one of them! While we have so enjoyed every minute of our new sweet baby boy John-Mark we jokingly said that we don't plan on bringing a newborn to Thanksgiving three years in a row!! It was this time last year that I found out I was expecting him, and while we were quite surprised, I can't imaging it any other way now!
Blessings to all of you!!

This is Thanksgiving last year

What a difference a year makes!!James and Papa Steve stealing some turkey!

Mallory & James on the swing - Mallory is such a big girl - she was helping us get a good shot of James!

James was pretty pooped after having only a short nap in the car - he must have been to be laying in this wagon! You know he won't sit in our lap for more than 30 seconds!

John-Mark doing what he does best - being a cutie-pa-tootie!

Burrrrr...

The last week it has gotten pretty cold around here. I am constantly fighting with James to keep his socks or slippers on his feet since most of our house is hard woods and your tootsies can get pretty cold. I've had to make sure the boys are bundled up nice and warm when we go outside which has made for some pretty cute pics!
This past week we had a friend come over and take some pictures of John-Mark for his 3 month pics and also tried to get some family shots for a Christmas card which was not easy but I think we got a couple that will do :) John-Mark continues to have this cold stare when he sees the camera. It seems the only way we can get a good pic of him smiling is when he's looking at one of us and the other is holding the camera so we don't have very many of him giving a big grinner for the camera!
In the past couple of weeks James has now become obsessed with saying "BA" for ball. I think he says it 500 times a day! From the moment he wakes up he points to his baseball piggy bank and says "BA" and continues until he goes to bed. Anything remotely round is a ball - rocks, tangerines, etc. I'm thinking maybe he wants to perfect each word of the english language before he moves on to another one. I can't wait to see what he fixes on next! Here are some fun pictures from the week -

The faces of John-Mark:

Something really got him cracked up!"are you serious!"

His soap opera eye - or The Rock!

My sweet boys - James kissing is baby brother :)One of the many attempts to get a family pic - I'm trying to get a good smile out of James by tickling him but this was a bit too much-

John-Mark with mommy all bundled up!

James all bundled up - guess how long these mittens stayed on his hands!?!

Pooped!