You are 5 months old today!!

You are rolling all over the place. Back to front. Front to back. And even off Mama's bed. You seem to be very accident prone these days, and that definitely has me nervous. Your highchair came last week, and it is your new favorite seat!!

You love to watch Mama cook, and don't seem to want to be put down; ever. We are still nursing, and lately I feel like your camelpac...if it was up to you, you would eat all day, and NIGHT long. You kept me up all night last night, and still were wide awake this morning before Daddy left for work, ready to play:)

Right now, you love apple juice, sweet potatoes, applesauce, and peaches. Can't stand the green stuff, green beans caused you to projectile vomit all over Daddy. I swear, I didn't laugh one bit. No, not me!!

You love kisses, and snuggle time. And really are not a fan of sleeping in your own bed. Lately, you and Daddy have spent a ton of time in front of the TV playing Gears of War II on the XBox, you in your bouncy chair, Daddy on a speaker. Its funny I know, but he wants to sit a foot away from the TV, and the couch is too far for him, I guess!!

You are pushing 20 pounds. And don't show any signs of holding back. In a couple of weeks, you are gonna have your next check up at the doctors, and more shots, and then we will know how long you are:) You are such a big boy.

You have mastered the art of a temper tantrum, and are the expert in throwing yourself off of whatever surface, or lap you are on. We have definitely had to step up the strong hold!! Daddy wanted me to add that you are still (for the third month according to the doctors) trying to cut your bottom two teeth...and you have a constant stream of drool coming from your mouth.

Right now you are trying your hardest to sit up, and seem very determined to do so. Daddy says that he likes this age best...so far...but he always says that. I had to stop to laugh just now because Daddy is talking to Grandpa on the phone about you. He just said you need a hair cut!! Silly Daddy-no hair cuts just yet!

Every night when Daddy gets home from work, he takes you outside to do "Man things." Not really sure what all that entails, but its Daddy's ritual, so I will let him tell you about it:)

Maybe this weekend we will hit the beach!! It seems to rain every time we try.

I love you little man, maybe you can slow down the growing for a little bit, what cha think?

Mama

Dear Jax

I wrote this letter to you well before you were even born, and I wanted to share it with you.

I am writing you days before I find out if you are a boy or a girl. I look forward to you being the biggest part of my life, for the rest of it. When I found out I was pregnant with you, I was so excited. You see, your daddy and I tried for almost 3 years to have you. I always wanted to have a baby before I was 24, like my mom did, but when you get here, I will be 26…two years wiser, I guess. Your daddy and I got pregnant with you while we lived in Turkey, daddy was in the Air Force…boy did the news of you change his life.

The doctors told us that we could never have a baby of our own, and we had pretty much given up hope. Finding out I was pregnant with you, was the best day of my life so far…I couldn’t wait to tell everyone that I knew, daddy wanted to keep it a secret. After telling daddy, I told my mom, your grandma, and then Aunt Stephanie. If you want the truth, Aunt Steph knew what I was calling her for…she was pregnant with Reyna at the same time.

Pregnancy was difficult for me. I was sick for the first 3 months, and then I started to get bad headaches, everyday though, I knew that I was one day closer to seeing you so it wasn’t anything that I couldn’t deal with. You see, I have loved you from the minute I knew you were in my tummy. It’s hard to explain how you can love something before you ever meet it, but let me tell you, no one in the entire world will ever love you more than I love you right now…daddy may take a close second…but it’s nothing compared to being able to feel you move, and grow inside of me.

Right now, I can’t get enough of Taco Bell…I am a huge fan of their taco salad, and I know that you are too, because I blame you for making me eat one a day…

We are expecting you sometime in January, and every day, I come home from work and shop online for clothes and bedding, and furniture for you. I want everything about you to be special…I want life to be great for you when you get here…I have only bought you one outfit so far, I told you, I don’t know if you are a boy or a girl…let me tell you, daddy promises you will always have more shoes and clothes than anyone your age…daddy sure loves the shoes!! I will tell you this, boy or girl, you will have more pairs of Jordan’s than any adult we know too!!

The neighbors gave us a crib for you…and I am not going to lie, we are going to have one built, but I didn’t want to make them feel bad for giving it to us. You are going to get to have Grandpa McLemore’s bedroom furniture from when he was a kid. Daddy and I used it to when we first got married, and we think that it is very important for you to have that be a part of your childhood as well. You see, baby, that is how mommy is…she always wants you to know where you came from.

Mommy came from a great family. She has 2 mommies, and 2 daddies, 3 sisters and 1 brother. You are going to be the oldest just like mommy and daddy. Both of us agree that the oldest children are the smartest, so you already have that going for you…not to mention, daddy has his bachelor’s from Michigan State University…he swears you will go there too…so be prepared.

School is very important. I graduated number 9 from my high school class, and dropped out of college, but I promise, before you get too old, I will finish that…just so you see that getting an education is one of the most important things you could ever do in life. No one can ever take that from you…and it is the one thing guaranteed to get you as far as you want to go in life.

I can’t tell you enough how excited that I am for you to get here. There are so many things that I want to teach you and show you, and places that I want to take you. I promise to take you camping while you grow up, some of my best memories ever, came from the Funny Farm Camp Ground…my dad took us there every weekend for years as we were growing up.

You are going to be surrounded with the most loving people as you grow up. All of your aunts and uncles and cousins can’t wait for you to get here. Your grandparent’s are counting the days until you get here, and I promise that you will get to spend as much time with them as you want growing up. They are all such great people. Grandma McLemore is a teacher, Grandma Renner is a horticulturist, ok…big word…she loves plants…Grandpa McLemore has his own business…that you will probably end up working at…he is a sound guy, and let me tell you, he gives the best advice, he can do anything, and Grandpa Renner just retired from GM after 30 years!!

You are going to have tons of aunts and uncles. Some of them you are related to, and some of them, you aren’t but you would never know the difference. I had Uncle Lou when I was growing up, and you will too, but plenty more as well. I could talk all day about Uncle Lou, but let me tell you this, if he ever asks you if you love your mommy, the answer is always “damn straight.” It is the only time I will let you get away with bad words, but for Uncle Lou it is an exception.

You are going to love eating at The Main Stop…it’s not called that anymore, but it’s still the same place…it’s definitely the place for McLemore’s, and even though you will have daddy’s last name, you will still be very much a McLemore like me. Daddy will have to teach you how to be a Shamberger, but I promise that being a McLemore, you will learn to hold your head high, to love yourself and all of the people in your life, and you will know that you can do anything that you ever put your mind to.

I have to apologize ahead of time for Christmas. I will do my best to make sure you like it a ton more than I did when I was a kid, but Christmas is crazy in our world…I was just trying to count the number of different places that we have to go during the month of December, and I quit after 6. Just look at it this way, Grandma Renner gives the best presents, and it is always the craziest there…so the better the presents the crazier the place. I personally always look forward to Coberley Christmas, the food is the best there, and everybody is super nice there…plus, something about driving down Grandpa’s road, really makes you believe it is Christmas…I promise, when you see it, you will know what I mean.

Daddy grew up in the city, and I am definitely a country girl, so that is gonna have to be the fight for you to fight. If daddy had it his way, you would never walk around barefoot, but I am completely okay with you being a kid and getting dirty, not that I did that as a kid. (Ask Grandma Renner one day about digging the well at her house.)

Gramma Domsic comes off as a big meanie, but let me tell you, she tells the best stories, and is by far the best cook in the family. She really is a great lady, and I really hope that you can have the relationship with her that I had with Gramma Lezotte. One day I will tell you all about her too. Baby, you come from a very diverse family. Everybody has such great stories; I just hope for you, that you appreciate them as much as I have growing up.

I can’t wait until you get here, and right now, I can’t wait to find out if you are a boy or a girl. I can’t wait to spend crazy amounts of money buying you clothes and all of the fun stuff that comes along with being number one. You are truly a blessing, and I hope that not a day goes by in your life that you don’t feel that. I am truly blessed by having you already.

Love,
Mommy

You are 20 weeks old-but not five months

Dear Jax-

I have been thinking about starting a blog for you for, well, 20 weeks now. But today I did it. I thought it was important for you to know the silly things you do, and the joy that you bring to the lives of your Daddy and I.

You threw a ball the other night for the first time. It was such a big deal to Daddy, he had to tell everyone about it. I was pretty impressed too...its neat to see you interact with your toys.

I am so proud of all of the things you have learned already. You roll over in every direction possible, most times if I leave you on the floor or on the bed when I come back you are in a completely different direction. I can't believe how grown up you are already.

I am hoping that with in the next week or so I can get you to reach for me. Right now you reach for your toys, or your juice, and even the other day you rolled from the center of the bed to Daddy's night stand to get your bottle from the night before. I quickly took the bottle from you, but couldn't help but to smile at how smart you are becoming.

You are such a little snuggler. I joke that I am going to make you the perfect man for your future wife. Daddy sure isn't a snuggler.

You are trying to crawl these days. You get your little bum in the air, and start grunting, trying so hard to get the rest of you going, and instead, you end up turning yourself in a circle...its quite cute, if I say so myself.

Lately, I have had to laugh because you try so hard to do things, and you get so focused, so deadset on it that you actually get frusterated...not that you getting frusterated is funny, its just that you are trying so hard to do things that maybe just a little out of your reach.

You are the greatest thing in my life. You make me smile and giggle nonstop. Lately, you have been screaming and screeching at the top of your lungs, and I can't help but to chime in. Your smile is captivating, and your eyes are as beautiful as the ocean--oh how I would love it if they would stay blue forever.

Right now, it is pratically impossible for me to do anything without you in my arms, or you will throw a temper tantrum like I have never seen before. You hate to be put in your crib for naptime, and absolutely hate it if you can't see me because I am doing something meaningless, like laundry.

You have quite the little personality, my love. And you definitely like to be the center of attention. You are quite a little entertainer, and a flirt. You bat those big blue eyes, and you have won over a room of people; especially the ladies.

Your Daddy swears that he is your favorite, but I know for sure...you are a Mama's Boy...and that is alright with me.

Love you sweet man.

Mama