Howdy Folks!

Wow.

That sounded very Texan.

Scary.

Anyway, I just wanted to drop by really quick to say I have a great giveaway going on over at my photography blog! You have 4 chances to enter, so hurry on over there and check it out! It ends on Wednesday!

6 Months Old!

On March 22nd, my little man turned 6 months old. It's such a milestone with kids and I can't believe that 6 months has already gone by since that wonderful day he was born! Time goes by way too quickly. My efforts to try to slow it down fail on a regular basis and it just flies by me every day. I have to say I am very much enjoying every stage that he goes through, though. He's a laughing, smiling baby who LOVES to eat and LOVES his sister to death! She can always make him smile! If he's fussing, she'll say, "Mommy, do you want me to help him?" "Yes, Brookie, thank you! "

And she'll go to him and play and take out his paci because, "He wants to smile at me!" They love each other. It's so adorable!

Joey is SO close to crawling! He's on his knees most of the time, but hasn't gotten the hand thing quite down yet. He'll also put his butt straight up in the air with his feet and hands touching the ground, so he's like a little triangle. I love it!

He eats 2-3 BIG meals a day (of baby food) plus still nursing about every 4 hours. He's not really chubby though, much smaller than the other babies his age. Just has a chubby face and cheeks that I love to squeeze and kiss!

He's been sitting a lot more lately, too. He's such a big boy when he sits!

Some of his favorite foods so far: Sweet potatoes, applesauce, carrots, bananas, peas, graham crackers (they make a huge mess but they are great for him to suck on!), toys, shoes and blankets. :)

Words: Nate claims he says "dada". Once he said "mamamama" but obviously he's not talking to us, just babbling. It's still so cute though. His voice is LOUD. That's what I get for naming him after 2 preachers!

Sleep: Sleeping from 8-6, then back to bed until 10 after I feed him, 3 hour morning nap and another 2 or so hour nap in the afternoon. I was a little scared about him not being a good napper at first, but he's gotten into a nice schedule for me!

I love you Jo Jo! You bring daddy, mommy and Sister so much joy! We love you to death!

Florida Vacation

Do I have any readers left??!

I have to admit that I've been putting off this post, even dreading it. When I came home from vacation, I downloaded my pictures on to the computer.

The first one popped up. " Saving 1 of 679."

WHAT??!!

So 679 pictures later, they were all on here and I had to sort through and delete the ones I didn't want. Which wasn't many.

I didn't want to post this because I didn't know how I would chose which pictures to post! So I'm sorry, you don't get to see the whole trip, but you do get to see a lot of my favorites and get a good idea about the wonderful time that we had together!

The day after we got there was cool and windy. It didn't stop Brookie from heading right into the kiddie pool!

Jo-Jo, Nate and I sat safely outside of the icy waters and I got some cute shots of my little man

And of my big man with my little man. I love this.

Swimming is one of our favorite things to do--especially when it involves the SUN! We have so many memories in "Gramma's Pool"!

A little taste of the gorgeous house we stayed in. I wanted to live there.

I love these next ones of my parents with my kiddos....

While we were there we were blessed (once again) to be able to go to Disney world! We went to Magic Kingdom this time so that Brookie could see Cinderella's castle and Mickey and Minne. She was super excited!

In this picture I realize how much my kids look a like!!

The day we went was St. Patrick's Day. We of course had to honor our Irish Grandpa :) and wear GREEN!

Seriously, I've been waiting for that day for YEARS. I've wanted a turkey leg since I was about 14. For some reason it never worked out. 2 years ago I had a bite of one in the pouring, freezing rain on Beale Street. This day I got to devour a whole one all by myself. :) It was worth the wait!

Nonnie with the little girls. Lydia, Nicolea and Brookie are such good friends. Hard to believe Lyd and Cola are her Aunts!

The green picture...

The little girls in Minnie Mouse's House

We made it! After lots of excitement and talk....Cinderellas Castle!

Waiting to go on the Peter Pan ride. The kids loved it! (Even Joey! :)

My Poppy and Grandma Roma got to visit for a few days while we were there. It was so nice to see them!

The beautiful view at night

Whenever we visit we do a "sing-a-long" for the people in my grandparents trailer park. It's all retired folks--snow birds for the most part. We've been going there since we were very young so they enjoy seeing us grow up--and out for some of us! We get about an hour to sing and it's so much fun!

That night also happened to be my Poppy's birthday. Here are 3 generations--sort of :)

My children LOVE the water. Which is good because living in a warm climate, we swim a lot!

With my beautiful sisters after church on Sunday

CHECKERS is a family tradition in FL. They have the best fries and awesome burgers!

We went out with my parents for a double date on Nate's last night. We ate dinner at P.F. Chang's (gotta love those lettuce wraps!) and dessert at The Cheesecake Factory.

Aren't my parents beautiful!?

So, there you have it. A little taste of my family and our time together. It was our best vacation yet, and might be the last one for a while, so we enjoyed every minute!

After we left there, we went to a family conference in MS, which I will post about sometime. I also have a great recipe to share with you and Joey's 6 month post coming soon!