5 Months

This big guy turned five months old yesterday.

James is such a sweet baby. He can sit up in a high chair or supported by pillows. He enjoys rice cereal more everyday, and he is looking forward to the good stuff, like smashed peas. He is getting better at sleeping through the night. When he does sleep all night, he wakes up about 5:00. I don't mind the early wake up call as long as his sister also slept through the night (which is rare). He also thinks his sister is the highest form of entertainment, and he thinks she is hilarious. I wish I could say the feeling was mutual between them, but Millie would rather take his blanket, roll him around, or squeeze his head, than leave him alone when he is content.

In honor of James's five month birthday, I want to post some pictures that I forgot to post this fall. These are from James's Sip 'n' See at my parents' house when we were there in October. These pictures were taken when he was two months old.

The doll was a sweet gift for Millie from one of my mom's friends. 

These were taken the next day. 

We love you sweet baby James. 

New Year's Goals

I never make New Year's resolutions. I'm not against the idea of them, but I just don't make them. If I don't make a resolution, I don't have to be disappointed when I fail to follow through with it. However, this year I'm reconsidering.

the boys in their stripes in Lovie's bed

I'll call these my goals for 2014.

My first goal is to read the entire Bible. As a Christian, I should read my Bible and know what it says (and I don't mean just memorizing scripture). When I read the Bible, I feel like it should always be during a quiet time so I can really concentrate on what I'm reading. Quite time is hard to find these days. Here is a great article about reading the Bible. It basically says, just do it! If I have time to read other books for fun, why can't I find time to read my Bible. Last year I read The Story by Max Lucado and Randy Frazee. This is the story of the Bible written in the form of a novel. They made the story easier to read and easier to follow. I really enjoyed it, but I'm looking forward to the real thing this year.

four month old picture, now he is 4.5 months

My next goal is to work on my wardrobe. Look over on this blog to see what she says about the capsule wardrobe. She has some great advice about clothes. Click here to find the links to all her wardrobe post. Her point is that we should be wearing 95% of our wardrobe regularly. I shouldn't have a closet full of clothes I never wear. Right now this is hard because I still don't fit in most of my clothes after giving birth. But my main goal is to have a small amount of good quality items that look good on me. In the past, I've had a lot of clothes, but they were cheap or old, and I never wanted to wear them. If I have a smaller selection of things I really like, then I should have less of 'I have nothing to wear' moments. Another point the blog above mentions is that nobody cares if you repeat an outfit within a month (or in my case, a week). With fewer items in your closet, you are bound to repeat outfits often, and that's ok.

this was the last picture I took in 2013

Next is the obvious New Year's resolution, weight loss. I'm about 10 pounds away from my pre-pregnancy weight. I believe that it is so hard to lose that last 5 to 10 pounds when you are nursing a baby. So I may have to wait for that to end before I really see results and feel better. However, I am trying to exercise more. I wasn't really exercising until recently because of exhaustion, and I am was still recovering from my c-section. I can't walk outside in the cold weather, so I've been doing a lot of exercise videos. I have a few DVDs, but I really like looking up workouts on Pinterest or YouTube. This gives me more of a variety in my workout. I've contemplated joining a gym for the exercise classes, but for now, I'm going to stick to the Internet videos.

first time I made hoppin' johns, the pioneer woman's recipe 

I recommend it, next time I'm adding sausage

My next goal is to get my bedroom decorated. At the end of February, we will have been in our house for 5 years, and my bedroom is the worst looking room in the house. I want my bedroom to look good and be comfortable. It needs new paint and some artwork. I may also need to work on the bedding. Attached to our bedroom is our bathroom. We have been talking about redoing it as well. Even if this doesn't get done by the end of 2014, I hope to at least start the process of improving the way our room looks and feels.

national championship game day

I hope your new year has gotten off to a good start. Even though our tigers didn't win the national championship, we are still happy with our team. It was a great season and a great game! We made cupcakes that day because school was cancelled (because it was so cold), and we needed something to do. I still have a lot of cupcakes, and they are not helping with my 'lose 10 pounds goal.' 

This guy in the picture below pretty much sums up our feelings about Auburn. Here is a good article about the game and Gus. Looking forward to next football season already.

Happy New Year everyone!

Christmas Day Picture Overload

We spent the week of Christmas in Mississippi. 

We went to see Nick's side of the family first.

Celebrating with my mother-in-law's sister's family

As we packed up to go to my parents' house, James laid on the floor and watched "Meet me in St. Louis" for about thirty minutes. I think it is a sign of sophistication. 

We left on Christmas Eve for my parents' house. 

My cousin's children got a seesaw. We decided to try it out. This wasn't the only toy the two of us tried out over the holiday. 

My cousin Bibba made this beautiful layered red velvet and cheesecake cake.

 Notice Aubie mixed in with the nutcrackers.

Christmas Morning

SB and I gave this toy a spin too.

 Christmas Night

Table gifts this year. Many different types of duct tape (or do you say duck tape?). Pickle duct tape was perfect for Nick. He eats pickles almost everyday for a snack.  

And of course there was a dance train to Jimmy Buffet's "Cheeseburger in Paridise."

The last ones wearing their crowns. 

I hope all of you had a Merry Christmas celebrating the birth of our Savior! 

On to 2014!