It's Santa!

We took Jax to see Santa today. Of course Santa was at the complete other end of the mall from where we parked. Not usually a big deal, but Ivan is on crutches with a really bad sprained ankle. Jax was really good with Santa and didn't cry until after his visit was over and the picture was bought and paid for. I need to hook-up our scanner and stick that baby on here. Until then this cute picture of Jax in his Christmas outfit will have to do.

Marrington Fields Forever

Things around here have gotten pretty busy with the holidays fast approaching we seem to have run out of time for everything else. Right after Thanksgiving Jax got his first cold it was a little scary at first because he's never been sick before or felt so bad before, but he has come through it with flying colors. Right after he started to feel better we had to go back to the doctor for his 2 month check-up and his first shots. The visit itself was pretty awful and Jax was such a trooper through the whole thing, it wouldn't have been so bad had the clinic not been so over-booked and we wouldn't have had to wait for 2 hours to get everything done. Jax is now weighing in at a whopping 11 pounds 3 ounces and is 22 inches long, for those of you keeping track that's 3lbs2oz over his birth weight and an extra 2 inches. We have to go back again this week for him to get his flu shot because the clinic was all out last week. Hopefully it won't be so bad this next time around.

We have been busy getting the house ready for Christmas and getting all of our gifts in order to send off. Christmas cards are in the works, but may become New Year's cards at this rate.

Mom is doing good, she and Jax go for a small walk most days weather permitting, she goes back to the doctor soon to see if she is cleared for exercise and off of her limited duty rest. Let's all hope that she is cleared, it would be a Christmas miracle.

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Daddy is doing well in school and everyone tells him so. This weekend his class held their class held their class picnic out at marrington fields here on base. We hadn't ventured out there before but it was on the to-do list since there are some nice nature trails there. It was the picture of southern beauty with it's mossy oaks and ponds. Ivan had a good time showing off his family while we watched the different sections of the class have football, ultimate Frisbee, tug of war, golf, and eating contests.




In other news, Sarge has figured out that Jax has hands too. You can now find him rubbing up against those hands anytime we set Jax down. I don't think Jax minds very much since the kitty is soft. Fitzy doesn't really care for the baby yet, but she loves to sleep under the Christmas tree and acts like her being here is our present.



Here is a picture of Jax at the 2 month mark:

a little info

Things here are a little hectic, so the blog has been neglected lately. Ivan has about 2 tests every week, so he is super busy studying or trying to go to bed early. All of his studying is paying off though, he is currently ranked 12th in a class of 319 and moves up a little higher after every test. Nora went to her 6 week check-up the other day and is still on light duty, she did too much heavy lifting and walking too soon after Jax was born and ended up delaying the healing process. She promises that she will be good and hold still for the next month so that she can be better and be able to move around again.

And now for Jax news (that's the whole reason you're reading, right?) Our little guy has decided that now that he's a month old he needs a later bedtime, so he grumbles for about 2 or 3 hours of being put down and finally goes to sleep long about 2. We had a small victory last night and he fell asleep for good after the first time that he was put down, and it was at 1, so we are making a little headway. Also as bedtime approaches he decides that he needs to be grumpy for about an hour. It isn't colic, thank God, but it is pretty frustrating. He is just too excited to go to sleep, but too tired to stay awake without being grumpy. We found out that he loves to be held so that he is standing up, and he will hold it as long as he can before his knees give and then as soon as he can he'll shoot himself back up. He is getting pretty good at balancing himself in a stand so that he can hold himself very briefly independent of our hands. I think it's pretty funny that he can support his whole body, but he is still having trouble holding up his head. We are working on crawling and he is just really improving every time he's on his belly. He can hold his head up at a 90 degree angle for a few seconds and has figured out how to roll over onto his back if his arms are underneath him. He will move his back legs and can actually scoot just a little, he could get further if he figured out how to move his arms too. He also LOVES to dance. Anytime he gets fussy or grumpy all we have to do is put him in his bassinet and turn his mobile on and he will lay there and kick his feet and wave his arms for about 10 minutes while it runs through it's cycle. Now he has started to coo so he will make baby noises and coo and smile at his mobile too. This makes life so much easier to have a solution to a grumpy baby. He is also quite the snuggler. He loves to be held and prefers to be held at all times during the day, but will go to sleep by himself at night (whether he stays asleep is a different matter). He is focusing on faces and he will watch people walking and follow them across a room. He is starting to smile and not have it be related solely to gas and has even smiled upon seeing either one of us and will coo at us. We know we are still really lucky to have a baby who is so sweet and is only fussy for about an hour a day, that is so much better than what it could have been.

Picnic in the Park

Today we took our lunch over to a park/playground area about a block away from our house. We spread out a blanket and had a nice picnic and enjoyed the warm sunshine. We set Jax up on his boppy pillow so that he could sit and watch everything that was going on around him. After we ate we took Jax for his first ride down a slide and he got his first turn on a swing. We tried to find a way to play with him on most of the equipment. He was a pretty good sport about everything and lasted for almost an hour before he was ready to go home and take a nap.

1 month

Jax is 1 month old today! Where is time going?

4 Weeks

Jax is now 4 weeks old. He is no longer classified as a newborn, just an infant. Here's a picture of him from today, doesn't he look so much bigger and alert than his pictures from 4 weeks ago?

Happy Halloween

Today was Jax's first Halloween. Ivan and I love Halloween so we dressed him up all day. First, he wore a sleeper that said my first Halloween with a matching hat. Then we put him in a body suit that said I love my mummy. On top of the body suit we put him in a dinosaur costume that aunt Rose and family sent. It was really a monster costume, but I think that it passes well for a dino. We sat out on the carport and handed out candy to trick-or-treaters for about an hour and a half before Jax and I had to leave daddy outside to get Jax some food. Jax was the cutest dinosaur in the neighborhood and all the kids that came by loved looking at him.

Jax went to the doctor yesterday for a weight checkup. He didn't weigh as much as the doctor wanted him to at his 10 day visit so we had to go back for a 20 day weight check. He needed to gain 10 ounces in that time, and that little chunk gained 17! That's almost twice as much as expected. So he went from 7 lbs, 15 oz to 9 lbs even. I guess we don't have to worry if I'm making enough food for him anymore!

overprotective mothering

We went for a walk the other night, just Jax and myself, and I wanted to make sure that he was okay since the weather had started to cool down. He was in a long sleeve sleeper and then I bundled him up in a swaddler that is made to fit in car seats. On top of that we had a nice warm blanket and a cute little pumpkin, or I like to call them, jax-o-lantern, cap. The temperature during our freezing walk? About 63 degrees.

It's the Great Pumpkin, Jax Davis!

We took Jax to a pumpkin patch on Sunday. He lasted for about an hour, which was great and longer than I thought he would. We just pushed him around in his stroller and made him take pictures. All and all it was a successful outing. He had his well-baby check-up yesterday and he is doing great. His belly-button is healing nicely, it fell off Sunday morning, and he is only an ounce off from where he should be. His weight dropped after he was born and the doctor wanted him back to 8 lbs yesterday, so that he would be at his birth weight (8lbs 1 oz) today at his 2 week mark. He was only 7lbs 15oz so we are pretty close. He is pretty much the best baby ever and I can't believe that he is already 2 weeks old!

dino shoes

We went to Ivan's class softball game today. Ivan wasn't on the team, he is on the racquetball team. we had to take Jax to go show him off to all of daddy's classmates. He was a hit, so were his cute little dino shoes.(Thanks Rose!) Ivan's class won and Jax was great sitting there for about an hour while the guys played. He was really well behaved and didn't care about the barking dog sitting next to us in the bleachers. We have been super blessed with such an easy going little guy. He is already 10 days old, where has the time gone?

A Little Early

It's a little early to be posting this picture, but it is just too cute to resist. Plus if you know us you know what Halloween nerds we are.

BABY TIME!!!

Our baby is finally here!!! Jax Thomas Davis born 10-7-08 at 1:36AM in Trident Hospital, Goose Creek, SC. 8lbs 1oz., 19 inches.

Lazy Saturday

Well, still no baby, and I am pretty sure Nora is ready to have this kid ASAP. I dunno, I'm not the one that has had another human being inside of them for almost 10 months, but yeah pretty sure she wants to have this kid sooner than later. Life around the house has been hectic at times especially with all the meals we have been preparing and freezing in preparation for the king's arrival. I like it though because it feels like we are coming to the end and finally getting to do everything so it is exciting. Tonight Nora and I are going to go see a movie at the free movie theater so that's cool, and we finally put the car seat into the Xterra which I've wanted to do since we got the thing so that makes me happy. Yeah, all in all I feel we are doing alright with the pregnancy coming to an end, and hopefully we are ready for what awaits us afterwards.

Where we are

I went to the doctor this afternoon for my 38 week check-up, (I'm currently 38 and a half). I didn't think that I was going to get checked for dilation and effacement; I have been going for weekly visits for the past 3 weeks and they never check me when I ask, instead the doctors say that it is too early since it is my first pregnancy. Today they asked me about contractions, and no I didn't think that I had been having any, so I thought that they were going to pass me over again, but I guess since I was full term they would go ahead and check me. Turns out I am 2 cm dilated and 70% effaced, so yay! I know that it means that I could still go past my due date before T.K. is here, but I am being optimistic that he's coming earlier than that. I can't wait to meet him and see what he looks like. I'm pretty sure he's just going to be a little clone of Ivan, but maybe he'll have a little of me in him.
As excited as I am about having him here soon, I am kind of hoping that he takes just a little more time while I finish up some projects. Tomorrow I have a BIG grocery list that I need to shop for. I have written out a menu for the first half of the month and I want to buy all the supplies for that. There's the menu stuff and then I am also buying groceries to make a ton of cassaroles or one pot meals, my plan is to get home from the store tomorrow and cook them and freeze them. Those are for after the baby is born and neither Ivan nor myself will want to cook. Until the kid is here we are going to try to stick to the menu for the meals, my mom is going to be visiting for a little while to help out with the baby so I know that she's going to be helping to cook stuff too. I just don't want to come home from the hospital and eat fast food for the next 2 months. So there's that food stuff and then there's these workshops that I have been going to on base for spouses and new parents. They aren't really that exciting, but they get me out of the house and meeting people and I look forward to them. I have one coming up that I would like to go to. Then we were planning on going to the movie theater this Friday to see baby momma. I know that it has been out for a while and is going to be released onto DVD soon. The movie theater on base gets movies about a week before they are sold on DVD and shows them for free. It is a good waste of time and it's close enough to our house that we walk there. Seeing as how that might be my last movie for a while I want to go see it. If we don't make it I'll just rent it later.
I think that the king will be here soon. Ivan has a test on Friday and another one of Wednesday, I am almost certain that I will go into labor during one of those tests, instead of over the weekend like I would like. I would like to keep Ivan from missing as much school as possible. With that being said I would like to include a gentle reminder that sleep is a very important commodity at our house, and will be even more so after the king is here. I know that people are getting excited about the baby coming but please, please don't call us after 10:00. Ivan goes to bed a few minutes before and really needs his sleep, also the odds are that I am at least in bed too, and I don't want to keep him awake by talking on the phone.
Ivan is doing really well in school right now, his grades are high enough where he doesn't have mandatory study hours, but he still usually puts in about 4 to 5 hours a day. He is really excited about the baby and has already picked out clothes for him to wear, trust me, you'll know them when you see them.

Well, I'm totally ready for this baby and to be a Dad. Power School is taking up a ton of time, for those of you who don't know what that is send me a line and I will help to educate you on it, but I feel that while the baby is going to be a huge adjustment to our family dynamic it is going to be a positive one. Living in South Carolina isn't so bad I guess, if by bad I mean if anything has moisture on it it is instantly consumed by mildew and in the summer it is about 100% humidity all day and night, than yes not so bad is a good term for it here. Also, when the bronaugh's came down to visit last time we saw an alligator in the river right near the restaurant we were at leads me to feel good about the choice of keeping our cats indoors here. I can only imagine Sarge v. Alligator...yeah I know alligators have small brains, but they would have the upper hand brain wise on Sarge I am pretty sure. Anyway, like I said I'm excited to see "The King" aka Hellcat Ace, and I am pretty sure Nora is ready for her Baby-ectomy to come asap, but whatever, I can wait a little longer, heck I've waited this long to meet our son, couple more days cannot hurt.

Briefing

I know that I said that I would try to post once a week and I fully intend to keep my word, but right now I am waiting on a dual effort blog to be written between the two of us. I have added a link to the George family post which is Rose and William's blog about their family. There is also a link to our flickr photo page so that you can go and view our albums that we are creating. Right now all I have is one filled with pictures that cover the span of the pregnancy. Hopefully we can add a few pictures of us and some of our cats being silly before all of our pictures are dominated by the king. Keep an eye out for a new blog in the next few days!

First Entry

We thought that it was time to copy others and create a public blog for friends and family to keep track of us. We will use it to let people know about the things that are going on in our lives and most importantly, once our son is here, it will have little updates and stories about what is happening with him.
Here's where we are right now:
Although her due date is not until October 10th, Nora has decided to will herself into labor between October 2nd through the 8th. She is trying to stay busy between now and then, and to focus on projects that will keep her occupied. Throughout pregnancy she has knitted 4 full size blankets and is about to start number 5. At her last doctor's appointment the baby, nicknamed The King (T.K.), had a nice strong heartbeat and was measuring to be an average size baby.
Ivan is currently in his middle session of training school and is doing well. He applied and was picked to be assistant section leader for part of his class. There were only 2 open spots and 6 very qualified applicants. He also had his wisdom teeth removed about a month ago and has made a full recovery. Ivan is anxiously awaiting the arrival of his mini-me.
We will be 37 weeks along this Friday!