Five Months Old

Miles turned 5 months old on Saturday, the 28th, too!! He is growing up so much and even though it makes me sad, I am also thrilled at how smart, alert, healthy, and beautiful our baby boy is. Miles now weighs 18.5 pounds and is 29" long!! He is doing so much these days, including laughing out loud at the dogs! He loves is brother and sister, Roxie and Luke.

Roxie and Miles playing

Here are some of this months MILEStones:

• I have two teeth on my bottom front gums.
• I laugh all the time.
• I have slept through the night several times.
• I am eating more rice cereal at every dinner and night feeding.
• I love to stand up when people hold on to me.
• I am talking in my own language.

• I am going longer in between feedings.
• I am becoming a pro at grabbing things and picking them up.
• I notice Mommy and Daddy.
• I am still teething, even though I have two teeth.
• I am wearing 9-12 months clothes.
• I have begun rolling over to my tummy at night while I sleep.
• I take naps in my crib.
• I still love seasme street, and I have started noticing Elmo.

A 5 month to 1 month comparison

Master Mommy

After a year and a half of school....I am finally finished. I graduated with my Masters of Arts in Education from Union University on Saturday, July 28th. I am so excited about accomplishing this amazing feat. Also, I am very thankful for my friends and family who helped me along the way as well as everyone who was there to see me walk across that stage!!

While I was waiting ever so patiently to get my degree....Miles had such fun with my family and Matt's family.

Nee Nee making Miles smile

Miles loves his Mommie Cica

After all the hard work.....time away from Miles....and sacrificing weeknights....It is over!!

So happy my parents were there to see graduation number 3 for me! They've always supported me no matter what!!

Cara and I are the masters now! And our dads are silly!!

My aunt Denise and Uncle Alvin came all the way from Jessieville, AR--so happy they came!!

Papaw and Meemaw

Mimi and Papa Darrell came too....

...and so did Uncle Trey

...and the rest of the Hatch family

...and Janet, Miles' fairy godmother, rode a bus from Dallas, TX to come! I am so blessed to have such wonderful people in my life....

 But these are my two favorite guys!!




















After graduation we went to H.R.H Dumplins in Jackson for some good eats and the best strawberry cake this side of the Mississippi!

Miles has some new tricks...

Miles is growing up so fast that it is hard to keep up with all of his milestones on here....but I've been able to capture a few of them...

1) Miles has been eating rice cereal for the past week or so. He loves it and is even grabbing for the spoon to put in his mouth. (Mommie Cica would be proud!)

2) He is rolling over from back to tummy. Every time I put him down on his back to play with his toys on the floor, he rolls over to his tummy.

3) He is laughing when he thinks you are funny. Here is a video of the first time we got him to laugh out loud. (Keep in mind...this was a few weeks ago.) He does this a lot more now.

Three Years of Wedded Bliss

Wednesday, July 11th, Matt and I celebrated our 3rd wedding anniversary. This picture is one of my favorite ones from that day!! I am so thankful for a loving husband and family who supports us no matter what!

Our anniversary this year, was extra special because we had an added bonus to our usual party of 2! Trey worked for Matt so he could have the day off, which was such a blessing! We went to lunch at Coyote Blues, one of our favorite places to eat in Jackson. After that, Matt took me to Macy's where he bought me a new comforter for our bedroom.

A 24 piece set...regularly priced at $400 and we got it for $134!

After that, we went to pick up paint at Lowe's for our first pinterest project....a new headboard. Miles was a little fussy after all of the running around town, so we put him down for a nap....



His first nap in his crib!! He slept for about 2 1/2 hours!! During his nap time, Matt and I worked on our headboard. We painted and cut the doors so we could mount them on the wall in the guest bedroom.

 The new project!

















We worked so hard...we didn't realize it was almost dinner time! So....we ordered Olive Garden and ate it while we watched the Espy's. After dinner, we had wedding cake cupcakes and drank champagne out of our wedding glasses.

Overall, it was a great anniversary! I got to spend time with the two loves of my life, so, I was a pretty lucky gal!

Happy Birthday America!!

Our, healthy, happy little man celebrated his first 4th of July with some great friends and family.  We spent the morning playing Miles' favorite game...peek-a-boo!

After our fun, we went swimming with Aunt Julie, Chris, Ashton and Matt at Julie's father-in-law's house. Once again, Miles thoroughly enjoyed swimming. He never cried and just splashed around!

Miles and Matt at the pool



When we finished swimming, we ventured over to Mimi and Papa Darrell's house for some burgers with friends. After dinner, we headed home to watch fireworks on tv because every where around Jackson was on a burn ban!

Miles sitting in his favortie seat watching the big fireworks. He didn't seem scared of them like I used to be. We shall see in the coming years!!



Miles' First Vacation

Miles went on his first vacation at the end of June....We traveled to Hot Springs, AR to see Mommie Cica, Uncle Todd, NeNe, and Uncle Alvin.  Miles did great from Jackson to West Memphis (which is about 1hr and 15 min.) and from West Memphis to Little Rock (which is almost 2 hours), but the trek from Little Rock to Hot Springs was interesting. Luckily, I had put water into a bottle so I just mixed him one up and fed him until he went to sleep again. Overall, though, I was so proud of him for being good on his first official road trip.

Once we got there, NeNe and Uncle Alvin had grilled out hamburgers and we ate...and Miles had his first taste of squash. He actually swallowed it!!

The next day we went to look at Mommie Cica and Uncle Todd's new house. It is such a cute first house! That night we had steaks for dinner.

On Saturday...we were pretty busy. Miles had his first swim in NeNe's swimming pool.  He was so calm, cool, and collected when we put him in the water.  He didn't scream...instead he just kind of sat there and chilled.

Miles floating in the pool for the first time!

After swimming and lunch, we all ventured over to Big Red Realty for an auction to benefit the Boys and Girls Club (my Uncle Alvin is the director). Matt, of course, wanted to bid on some things, and all of you who know him...know he had to make it funny. Do any of you watch Storage Wars on A&E? Well, if you do or don't, there is a guy on there who says, "Yeah-uuuuup" everytime he wants to bid on something. NeNe wanted an umbrella stand for her outside umbrella and told Matt to bid on it for her...of course Matt did the "Yeah-uuuuuuppp" and everyone was rolling!! He is such a ham! Matt also bid on some tools and some mats for me to use in my theater class.

Matt holding up his tools he got at the auction.

That night, NeNe and Uncle Alvin kept Miles while the younger adults went out for dinner. We went to this restaurant in Hot Springs called Fisherman's Warf. It is right on Lake Hamilton and had yummy seafood. Defintiely a place to go if you are ever in Hot Springs!

This was the view from our table at dinner.

We left on Sunday around noon to head back to Tennessee. After we got through Little Rock, we took a detour on Highway 70 because there is construction on I-40. When we got back on the interstate, heading east bound this is what we saw on the other side....

Needless to say...if you are traveling to or from Little Rock...I strongly suggest for you to take a detour on Highway 70. It might seem like it takes longer, but at least you won't be stuck in this traffic!

We had a great time on our first vacation and loved staying with the Huff's and Smith's!!

 

4 Months and Counting

Sorry it has been such a long time since my last post. I've been very busy working on my 40 page Capstone research paper for my master's degree on top of  taking my last class and trying to keep up with my very active and amazing 4 month old.

We have reached 4 months now! I cannot even begin to tell you how awesome these past 4 months have been. Matt and I are extremely blessed each and every day. We have had the time of our lives watching our little booger bear grow and develop! Miles is 17.5 pounds and 28 1/4" long. This measurement probably isn't up to date because a week after he turned 4 months, we went for his shots and he weighed 17.12....and by the feel of carrying him in his carseat...I think he is now 18 pounds for sure!

So....what is he doing nowadays? Well, a whole lot, to tell you the truth.

4 month MILEStones:

• I have found my feet and I love to put them in my mouth.
• I still enjoy watching Sesame Street.
• I love to play in my activity seat.
• I can laugh, especially when Mommy and Daddy play peek-a-boo with me.
• I can roll over from my tummy to my back.
• I love to eat rice cereal.
• I am so strong.
• I am still teething, but no teeth just yet.
• I have mastered picking up things or toys and putting them in my mouth.
• I talk all the time.
• I still hate taking pictures and videos.
• I have a new found love for my johnny jump up seat.
• I enjoy the swimming pool.
• I like to stand up in Mommy or Daddy's laps while they hold on to me.
• I am becoming more independent, but still love for someone to hold me.
• I love it when people talk to me.

Miles loves to watch and listen to his Daddy! He just grins whenever Matt is around him. I love my two guys to pieces!!