Six Months Comparisons

"Oh......my........GOSH!" is the lovely phrase my two and a half year old says from time to time when she is excited about something (which turns out to be quite often because she is pretty much always excited!)

But today would be one of those 'oh my gosh' days...my baby is SIX MONTHS OLD! What? I feel like I was just in the hospital answering all of the annoying questions doctors and nurses ask you right before they lay you out like Jesus on a cold metal table, right before they throw that ugly blue blanket thing in your face, right before they say, "lots of pressure here..." and then POOF! out comes a beautiful? baby? boy?, um...not so much...but beautiful from where I could see him!

I still think of you as this little whipper snapper who just lays there....now you're just my little whipper snapper who jumps around in your exersaucer and bounces in your bouncy seat and who really is my very own little JOHNNY JUMP UP! Now you're eating sweet potatoes, rice, peas and rice, & real bananas! You're growing up - stop it!
I love your smiles, your giggles, your kicks, your earring and hair pulls, your wanting to put everything in your mouth, your roll overs from your back to your tummy (never to return back to your...back), your little hands rubbing your eyes when you're tired, and even your spit up is okay (I've learned to wear a robe over my clothes now). And seriously....your first word being MOMMA!? That was joy to my ears. (Okay...for those of you thinking, "he's only 6 months old for goodness sake!", well...he DID say momma. I don't have proof of it, but Jason was there. It's true!)

So your daddy thinks you're the greatest. He loves to "jump" with you. And loves that you are quiet when sports come on, and he loves to tickle tickle tickle you making you laugh, showing off those TWO bottom teeth of yours!

Your sister absolutely adores you. Plays with you - even "FED" you the other day. You liked it. Nothing on the spoon. But you like it. And it was your time together. She screeched real high giggling at you and you thought that was the bomb! You laughed like I'd never heard before. Your first real real real giggle.

Your grandparents and aunts and uncles are amazed at how big you have gotten just in the last month. You have filled out, my little one. And I love it!

And me? Well - what can I say? I am just in love with you. I know one day you will break my heart and tell me no! But for now, I'm just enjoying your littleness. I want to capture every single moment with you in a bottle and remember it forever.

I pray your birthday today will bring you joy. You are such a blessing and answer to prayer for us, Johnathan Lawrence Bankhead.

Happy Six Month Birthday! Love, Momma

Here are pictures from when your sister was 6 months old in 2006 and pictures of you at 6 months old now:

Tick Tock, Tick Tock

I can't believe out of the 9 months that we've lived here, I have NEVER heard my clock tick in the living room as I sit here in TOTAL SILENCE!

Yep girls...you heard me right. It's totally silent right now. Just me. No TV. No Music. Um....NO KIDS!!! Or a husband! Silence. Webster dictionary defines silence as:

si·lence

1.	absence of any sound or noise; stillness.

2.	the state or fact of being silent; muteness.

When was the last time you were silent? Whether it be to hear the birds chirping outside or the wind chimes blowing in the wind...or to be with God in prayer...or just to hear your clock ticking in your cozy living room? It's been a long time...a very long time for me. I hate to say it that even in my "quiet times", it's usually noisy.

I'm gonna practice this more. I'm going to call it my Clock Time from now on.

Jason and kids are headed to Burkburnett for some family time. Well, actually...Julia is going to stay with her BMom and Pop until next Thursday. Jason took Johnathan with him because I have a Beth Moore conference tonight and tomorrow. Mom and I are going and then tonight I'm going back to her house to spend the night! Girls' night! We've been planning this for months and it's finally here. Yeah!

J1 and J4 (that would be Jason and Johnathan) will be back tomorrow early afternoon. We have a jammed pack day (tell you more about that later). Sooooo my advice: Stop and smell the roses and listen to your clock tick every now and then. You might just enjoy it as much as I do at this very moment!

Artsy Fartsy!

Okay so thanks to my sister-in-law-in-crime, Shannon, she has me hooked on Nesting Place! Well and now that I think of it, this is the blog that my friend Courtney has been in love with for a long time now...sorry Courtney that I'm just getting it!

Oh yeah, so I've already put her little dealy blog button thingie on the side bar of my blog because I want all of you to enjoy her too! She's simply delightful and full of ideas that all of us Dave Ramsey/trying to save money/stay at home part time moms need!

Here is something I made while the kids were taking their nap the other day. 6 12X12 styrafoam squares or 2 long pieces cut up into 12X12 squares (this is what I suggest NOT doing!) from Joann's/Hobby Lobby, black paint (free from garage), mod podge (free from other projects), and 12X12 scrapbook paper ($0.50 each from Joann's/Hobby Lobby). Sooooo cheap and sooooo easy! Don't look too close, it was my first time and things got a little crooked. But hey, it doesn't have to be perfect to be beautiful, right? Other than that, I love the look. Now those windows need a little mistreating!

"You Have a Growl in Your Bottom?"

...yep, this is what Julia said after my stomach growled this morning...sooooo confusing, this American language for a two and a half year old! For those of you who are saying, "uh-huh, SURE it was your stomach growling!"...I did NOT toot! I was really hungry!

Well, here are a few pictures from the last few weeks. Kristi and Brianna went to the water park with us last week. There are pics from mom's group at the water park too.

Lots has been going on. Julia is loving the summer. We pretty much go to the water park every week. It's awesome because she goes for free and I am only $2 to get in. If you are 3 and up, it's only $1.25! I think we can afford that!

Thanks everyone for posting comments about Julia and Johnathan's 5 month comparison pics. It's amazing the similarities when they are the same age.

He cut his first tooth on July 11th. And is now eating cereal, sweet potatoes and peas. Pictures of the lovely mess below. He's growing so much. And Julia is growing too. She has a mind of her own and the latest is that she always wants to dress herself. I have been trying to teach her how to match, but sometimes that doesn't go over too well! Red and white shirt with blue jeans shorts and a PURPLE bow may not pass on a fashion runway, but in Julia's world - it works!

Happy Fourth, Ten, now the Twentieth

We had our Ministry Appreciation get together at the Rough Riders game on the Fourth of July. It was Johnathan's first fireworks show and Julia LOVED them even more this year...wasn't as scared. Here are some pics from the day:

Five Month Comparisons

Johnathan turned a whoppin' 5 months on the 4th of July. My baby is growing up tooooo fast! He is now eating cereal and sweet potatoes and peas and LOVES to eat! HA! Just like his momma!

He is so laid back - is very content just hanging out. Really, the only time he cries is when he's tired, hungry or if Julia accidentally hugs him too hard. Julia is a great big sister. She loves Johnathan so much and is really sweet to him. She is always saying, "ohhh honey...you okay?" or "I need to give Bubba sugars!" or "Bubba's smilin' at me!" or "Bubba's talking to me!" She hugs and kisses him and wants to be everywhere he is.

I don't know much about "momma's boys", but I am definitely a "boy's momma"! (I made that up!)...something about a mother and her son. Now I can relate completely with my mother-in-law and her love for her sons. Thanks Sharon for...well...sharin' your son with some blonde from southeast Texas.

And of course Jason is amazing with him. He just smiles and smiles and smiles any time he hears his daddy's voice. They pal around and somehow Johnathan is silent when any kind of sports are on...like he's tuned in, taking note of all the stats!

Well, enjoy the pics. I think they look alike - you be the judge.

Julia at 5 months old in 2006 and Johnathan at 5 months old now:

Fourth Month Comparisons

June 4th: (4 months old)

The boy has gone from scrawny to buff! In fact the other day I was telling a friend how big he's gotten. I accidentally said, "Yeah, Johnathan has gotten so big, when he was younger, he was so raunchy..." They said, "Do you mean scrawny!?" Yeah...that's what I meant...! Here is Julia at four months in 2006 and Johnathan at four months old now:




























He weighed (at his 4 month appointment), 17 lbs and 26 inches long. He is right at Morgan's size....but now that he is almost 5 months, he probably weighs more like 18 or 19 lbs!

Okay, so when Jason got back, we accomplished the other two big things with Julia the first week in June and that was NO PACIES and going into her BIG GIRL BED. I made a little make-shift envelope with a bunch of babies I had cut out from magazines on the front. There were several who had pacies in their mouths, but there were FIVE who didn't (Julia had exactly five pacies to give up). We told Julia that there were five babies who needed pacies and would she be willing to give hers to them? Of course she was so excited to give the babies their pacies, but did NOT know what she was REALLY doing.

So we gathered all the pacies and put them in the mail box to "mail" to the "babies". I told her when she got up from her nap, we'd check the mail box again to see if the babies came and got them. We then went back upstairs and finished putting her big girl bed together. (We had bought two twin beds ((hand made from an old farm house)), mattresses and box springs for $70! Can you believe that?!)

Nap time...Hmmmmm, that was interesting without a pacie! Let's see, we put her down in her BIG GIRL BED with NO PACIE at 1:30...and at 4:00! (yes, THREE HOURS later!) there was finally no crying going on.....she slept for about 45 minutes. Horrible! Poor girl...can you imagine going your whole life (2 years) in the only bed you've ever known (she LOVED her crib) and always having a pacie in your mouth everytime you slept? Then to be ripped out of your crib and put into a regular bed with no pacie? I felt for the girl! Here she is asleep in her new bed:














Anyways, now it's fine. She has never asked for her pacie after that and she's only fallen out of her new bed four times (once between the wall and her bed!).

June 11th: Here the cousins are together. Shannon came over with Mallory and Morgan for a few hours when she came to visit her parents and sister. Johnathan and Morgan hung out on the couch for a bit and Mallory and Julia played dress up most of the time.













June 20-22nd: Johnathan has learned to turn over from his back to his belly over the weekend at BMom and Pop's house. Here are some pics the weekend we spent there:









































It was nice to see Brad, Shannon, Mallory and Morgan, BMom and Pop, Nanny and Tweetie and Charles.

June 26th - Here is Johnathan's first trip to the pool. Jason gave him a little, what Jason's calls, a "faux-hawk"! So cute!














June 29th - Johnathan was still in his cradle in our closet until June 29th (see here under Jason's shirts), but moved him into his "big boy crib" on June 29th (see here with his bear and NOT under any shirts anymore!)













We have Johnathan's schedule down pretty much. He eats at 8, noon, 4, and 8 and then sleeps through the night. He naps about an hour and a half after he has woken up each time and sleeps pretty much an hour to 2 and a half hours long. Soooo nice for mommy and daddy too!

That's it for June.