Help!!!! What has my husband done to me

I really haven't been converted from city to country living. I just learned how to can.  Its all for Jaxon though.  We went to the mountains the other weekend we bought 1 1/2 bushels of apples, a box of sweet potatoes, and some pumpkins.  My mother in law came over today and we canned 14 quart jars of applesauce and bagged 10 quart freezer bags of apples for pies and stewed apples.  It really wasn't that hard just pooped by the end.  It was very messy. We had apples all over the kitchen.  I don't know if I could have done it by myself.

Cut and core the apples and cook it all (even the peel and core) with a little bit of water on the stove.

 We borrowed an attachment to our Kitchen Aid- called a sieve and grinder.  Once the apples are cooked you put it though the sieve and it strains it and it spits out the peeling and seeds.

Then you can them in a water bath canner.

Now we have a life supply of applesauce for Jaxon

Jaxon has been growing like a weed.  We can't believe he will be 6 months soon.
He is still sleeping great at night waking up anywhere from 5-8am.  

He is very active in his crib and loves to move around.  I will put him to bed on his back and not long after he will end up on his stomach.  He seems to like sleeping on his tummy now.  

He is holding his head up really good during tummy time.  

He loves to giggle especially when Brian makes funny faces or talks funny during play time

He loves to chew on his fingers and toes and thankfully his gums haven't caused him much pain

Cloth diapers are still working out great

He is wearing 9 months clothes but the pants tend to be a little long 

He doesn't seem to like cereal much, so we might have to try veggies soon.

He loves being outside and taking walks with me and most of the time he falls asleep in his stroller

He smiles all the time and is a pretty laid back happy child

We are so blessed.  He is so much fun to be around.  

Traditions and Chocolate

I love dark chocolate.  Brian has bought me some on a occasion but has to hide it from me and ration it out.  Otherwise when he gets home from work it probably would be gone, since I stay home during the day.  Its bad.  So I went to Aldis the other day to get some groceries and got a chocolate bar.  When I got home I had one piece and decided to stick it in a drawer.  I told Brian I had gotten some but didn't tell him where it was.  The next day I wanted some so I went to the drawer and I found a ransom note and this is what I found wrapped around one of the pieces of chocolate.  How mean, he took the rest of my chocolate.

Its been 10 years since I graduated from Elon University.  I feel so old.  So a friend of mine and her husband came to spend the weekend with us to celebrate our 10 year reunion at Elon.  We walked Friday night around campus to see the new and old buildings.  Both of my dorms that I had lived in had been torn down and they were building something new.  The campus didn't look the same.  Then Saturday we walked around again and visited different parts of campus and tailgated.  We watched students walk around campus and they looked so little to us.  How did 10 years go by so fast.  Friday night we left Jaxon with our wonderful neighbors.  They seemed to have fun together and Jaxon did really well.  He doesn't seem to mind when we leave him and we are so thankful that he usually does really well.  Saturday we took him with us and he had fun in his stroller.

our mascot- the fighting Phoenix

My old dorm- all torn down

the campus store- 2 floors with an escalator

We started a tradition for the past couple of years to go to the mountains along the Blue Ridge Parkway.  We like to buy lots and lots of sweet potatoes and apples as well as some cooking pumpkins.  We have the best time watching the leaves change colors and finding a trail to hike.  This year we were so excited to take Jaxon.

hiking at Stone Mountain 

Jaxon asleep in his hiking pack

5 months old

How is he 5 months old already- what a cutie.

Time with friends for Craft Day and then hitting up the consignment sales. Thanks to my friend Michelle and pinterest, we made this wreath for my sister for her birthday.  Brian said I might have to start selling them.

Kate and Jaxon together again

The Princess Birthday Party....My niece Maddie grace turned 2 this month, so we went to her birthday party. Jaxon had so much fun with his cousins.  As a favor to all the little boy princes they got capes, crowns, and swords. The little girl princess's they got tutus, tierras, and wands.

 all dressed alike

 The whole family

Ally and her cousins

 Prince Jaxon

 Birthday Princess

 All the cousins (Jaxon, James, Cole, and Maddie Grace)

Maddie Grace loves her cousin Jaxon

I couldn't believe when we went to the doctor last month for his check up that he said we could start him on cereal and then solids.  I didn't think my boy was big enough for that.  Time has really flown by.  We decided to wait until he was 5 months old for cereal.  He has been acting like he is hungry more often and felt like he was ready for cereal whether we were ready or not.  We fed him oatmeal and he seemed to like it.  We put him in his little highchair to feed him in but then decided the bumbo was better.  He is not sitting up on his own quite yet.  The bumbo supports him a little better.  He was falling over a little in his high chair.  We try to feed him cereal once a day in between a feeding.

Pumpkin Patch with his buddy Parker.  I couldn't resist, I had to dress him up as a giraffe.

Recap of the rest of September

I'm a little behind again.  I'm trying to do better at using my time wisely especially when he's asleep and playing with him when he's awake.

He's on a pretty good schedule.  I don't remember when he started doing this.
usually wakes up to be fed between 6-7am
sleeps 2-3 more hours
feeds again after his morning nap
will feed again between 12-2pm depending on how the morning goes
nap sometime after lunch
awake and in a good mood late afternoon
bed time between 7-8pm

We've been looking at houses recently and it has been fun.  The problem is trying to find ones that meet our criteria, in our price range, and is not too far away from church and Brian's work.  We found a great house with everything we liked except the location wasn't the greatest and there were some expensive items that might need to be replaced.  So its back to the drawing board.  The great thing is we aren't in any hurry to move, but would like some more space.  We know that God has the perfect house out there for us, we just need to be patient.

I've joined MOPS where I've been able to meet lots of other women.  We are able to have some girl time while our babies are being watched in MOPPETS (nursery)  Jaxon has done great with other people whether its in nursery or the grandparents are watching him.

I am trying really hard to do some sort of exercise everyday.  Its helpful to have Jaxon around because he gets me out of the house and we go on walks, which he loves.

I feel so blessed to have some mommy friends to get together with.  Right now when we get together, the babies just lay on the floor.  Can't wait to watch them grow and are able to play together.

Jaxon and Parker 

 Parker checking out Eliana

Parker, Eliana, and Davis (Jaxon missed out on a picture with his friends, he was napping)

We said goodbye to Katy, Michael and Mikayla.  Great friends from our small group. We will miss them. They are off to start a new chapter in their life.

We met my friend Kristen for lunch one day and he loved sitting at the table with us.  I think it won't be long for him to start eating solids.  Can't wait. He's growing up to fast.

It was parents weekend for High Point University and my aunt and cousin came by for dinner.  It was so good to see them.  I've enjoyed having my cousin Ally close by.

This past weekend I was sitting in the recliner feeding Jaxon in the nursery and Brian came into the nursery.  Jaxon looked over at Brian and said what sounded like Da Da.  Brian and I both looked at each other and said, "Did he just say what we thought he just said?"
Ever since then we've been trying to get him to say it again but it hasn't happened.  When he whines or is fussy he'll say something like Ma Ma.

Random pictures....

Went to visit Grandma in the nursing home

 date night

I am thankful for grandparents who love to spend time with our little guy 

 loves Sophie the giraffe

 Enjoys his time in his frog

 

Tummy time and holding his head up

He loves to smile

Labor Day in the mountains

I totally forgot to post about our Labor Day weekend in Luray, VA
We went with Brian's family (the inlaws, Brian's brother, Jason, and his wife, Anne) We had a great time enjoying kayaking, hiking, and being together with each other. My parents live really close to where we were so they came for lunch to help celebrate my birthday.

our porch at the cabin

off on a bike ride

enjoying time with grandpa

our cabin for the weekend

My birthday cake

Jason and Anne- cooking food over the fire

his sleeping position

Aunt Anne and Uncle Jason getting some time with Jaxon

my hubby grilling yummy corn

the whole family on the porch

My parents came to visit

Me and the little man

yummy burgers and custard

kayaking on the river

sandwiched in and ready to go home