Jackson's Baptism

Jackson's Baptism was last Sunday. I couldn't post any pictures from it though because I didn't have any on my camera! But here are some from Jackie's, and we've got the whole thing on our camcorder - now I just have to find the dvd burner power cord so I can burn it. It was at Prince of Peace in Hoover. Jackson was 11 1/2 weeks old at the time, and he wore a gown that has been passed down through mom's family for over 60 years! It is amazingly still in pretty good shape. Jackson was so good for the whole thing, too - he didn't cry once :-) Noel Mark and Tara are his Godfather and Godmother. Other than that, things here have been good. Jackson is sleeping through the night and has been for well over a week now! Jackie and Lance were over for the night last night so Wes and I could go to the Corey Smith concert. It was so much fun!!! We were 4th row center stage, but unfortunately we didn't bring our camera. Oh well, we had a blast anyways!



Jackson was not so sure about things...


Uncle Noel and Aunt Joey


With all the grandparents


With the Godparents

Harvey Christmas

Merry Christmas again! Today we did Christmas with my family, and Wes' parents stopped by for a bit. It has been a wonderful day. We went to church last night, and Jackson slept through the whole thing. The timing was perfect, because he woke up when we got home, had a bottle, and went to bed:-) For the most part, his sleeping habits have been great for about a week now. He's been sleeping through the night (at least 8 hours, sometimes 9!) and napping ok. Sometimes we just have to lay him down and let him cry, but usually it's not for long. It's been harder for me than for Wes, but whatever it takes to keep him sleeping through the night, I'm all for! Anyway, Jackson got up about 0630 this morning and everyone else followed in the next couple of hours. We all got way too many gifts! My favorites were the new sewing maching my mom got me that does embroidery, and the gift card Wes got me to the Spa at Ross Bridge...can't wait to go there! We just spent the day hanging out together and my brother took some pics of Jackson...those should follow in the next couple of days. We fried a turkey for supper and it was wonderful. I love fried turkey :-D Now we're winding down...Jackson's in bed and will hopefully stay there for many more hours. I've got to work tomorrow, so I won't be too far behind him. Merry Christmas to all, and to all a Good Night!




Jackson's new rocker. It was actually my mother's, then mine, and now his. It's been refurnished and recovered with boy material.




Sweet baby!
Here's a shirt Jackson got from Uncle Noel and Aunt Joey. He doesn't know what it means, but he smiled when he saw it...what does that mean? lol

Rankin Christmas

Mason is just starting to learn about opening presents :-)

I know it's been a while since I've put up new pics, so sorry, but things have been crazy busy - I'm sure everyone else is in the same boat we are!!! Saturday we did Christmas with Wes' family. We met over at Tara's house and Mike smoked chicken. It was so good! Jackson has no clue what is going on, but Thomas and Mason more than kept us entertained. Sunday was Jackson's Christening and today we did Christmas with my family, but I'll post those pics later. Hope everyone is having a very Merry Christmas - and a special "congrats" to my cousin, Lauren, who's pregnant!!! Yea!!! We are so excited for y'all! There will be many more pics to follow, I promise :-)

Anniston and Shrimp Boil

This past weekend, we went to Anniston for Friday night and then had a shrimp boil with some friends on Saturday night. This was the last time we'd make it to Anniston for the year. We took some pics of Jackson by Jackie's Christmas tree (see below). We came back to B'ham on Saturday, then went to Mary and Chris' for a shimp boil with my gang from anesthesia school. We had a blast, and so did Jackson. He must have gotten really worn out b/c he ate at 7, went to sleep and 8 and slept until 3 (so 8 hrs in b/t meals). He gobbled down 6 oz then went right back to sleep until 0630. Of course, Sunday night he got up every 3 hrs again. He does that every 4-5 nights, but most of the time, he's still sleeping about 5-6 hrs at a time. He usually gets up around 3 to eat, then goes back to sleep. We'll get there one day, but it makes getting up at 0500 and working all day tough sometimes (mainly towards the end of the week!). That's pretty much it w/ us. I'm back to work and it's great. Wes is out for the quarter and off until almost the middle of January. He's doing such a great job taking care of Jackson during the day. We are so lucky he can stay home with him and we don't have to put him in a daycare somewhere! Hope everyone else is great, and if we don't talk to y'all before then, hope everyone has a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!!!


Mary, Chris and Emma
How adorable is this little hat!!!

David was on Jackson duty for at least an hour...until he cried ;-) j/k David, he loved his time w/ you!!

I love how babies this age can sleep anywhere...

Again w/ the hat - I just loved it!

Jim and Caleb gave us a break from feeding Jackson. Thanks!

I've Been Tagged

Ok, sorry Daphne that it's taken me so long to get this up. Daphne tagged me, so I'm listing 8 random things about myself...here goes:

8) Raw cotton doesn't bother me (Daph and Ali), but I hate when kids have to get their teeth pulled at work. I can watch blood and guts all day, but teeth - ugh!

7) I love all holidays, but especially Christmas. I have 10 big plastic bins of Christmas stuff - and for some reason Wes thinks that's too much!

6) I've been a pediatric nurse anesthetist for almost 2 years now - it's flown by. I love my job!

5) I had shoulder surgery when I was 21 (hurt it playing volleyball)...it still gives me problems from time to time.

4) I had to have a C-section when I had Jackson...he was breech.

3) I love sports...ok, y'all know that!

2) I also like sweets - almost any kind (I don't like things like cheesecake) but I love chocolate!

1) I have the sweetest little boy in the world, and I thank God for him multiple times a day. We have been so blessed!!!!!! I'm so glad that so many of my friend are having or have recently had little ones as well:-) We are all so lucky! And for those of you adopting - I can't wait for you to get your son - you'll be an awesome mom:-)

Now I tag Tammy, Leesa, Toni, Noel Mark, and Chris.

10 Weeks

Jackson is 10 weeks old today! He's smiling and grinning more and more; he's entertained by almost anything we do - smile and laugh, clap our hands, play peek-a-boo. It's so cute :-D Work's going well for me and Wes and Jackson are doing great here at home. He's starting to get into somewhat of a routine. He's sleeping 6 1/2 -8 hours at night, which is great. The only bad thing is most days he's waking up a little before 4, so I'm pretty much up for the day once he's up. He's also pretty much over his colicky spells too, which is wonderful. He still has fussy moments, but nothing like it was before. The shrill cries are over, and now when he fusses it's because he's tired. Wes has one more final to take and then he's done for the quarter. Hope everyone is doing well and ready for Christmas...it's almost here :-)

Elf Family

I'm sure you've seen this by now, but here's our happy little elf family :-) Jackson would definitely make a cute elf, lol. Sorry this is so short, but I'm on call this weekend. More pics to follow soon!

Smiles All Around

Well, I'm three days into being back to work and everything's going well. Wes and Jackson are doing great during the days by themselves :-) Grandma is staying a few days this week to help the transition as well. Jackson is smiling more and more each day, and Wes has managed to catch them on camera! The smiles now last more than a second and they're getting easier to capture. Little Man is sleeping right now, and we're headed on the right path in that area, too. He's going for 5-6 hr stretches routinely, then usually eating and going right back down for another 3 1/2 to 5 hr stretch. Definitely do-able. Enjoy these pictures of Jackson's smile! For those of you who didn't see me that last few weeks, you'll laugh at the last pic on this post because I'm about 36 wks pregnant and pretty big, lol. Remind me next time that horizontal stripes are not figure friendly, haha.

Dog Days of Winter

Well, the "lazy" dog days of winter are over for me. I go back to work tomorrow. I'm glad to be getting back to work, but I know I'll miss Jackson so much! But, like Toni said, it will just make coming home that much better :-D We took these pics yesterday morning. Jackson is his sweetest and smiles the most then. But I'm having a hard time catching the smiles on camera - it's like when the flash goes off, he quits smiling. Oh well, I'm sure sooner or later we'll get them. I love this little sleeper sack - it got dog ears and is sooo cute. Alas, he is about to outgrow it as well. He can still wear NB/0-3 onesies and tops, but the pants are too short for him. I'm taking this as a good sign that he's taking after his grandfathers for height and not after me and Wes, lol. Yesterday I took Jackson to the Galleria and met my parents...I remember now why I don't go shopping on Saturdays, especially in December. I hardly got any shopping done, but Jackson was great and slept most of the time. Then we all came back here and watched football. The best games were late last night. I had to stay up and watch all of them - the last 2 were great!!! It'll be interesting to see what happens with the polls and Bowl Selection Sunday today. It just confirms that the BCS doesn't work the way it should...something needs to change people, haha. Looks like AU will be headed to the Chick-fil-a Bowl. At least it's close by:-) War Eagle!

8 Weeks

Today Jackson is 8 weeks old! Time is flying by! Speaking of time, I can't believe Christmas is just around the corner. We got down the Christmas stuff last night, and Wes made fun of me because of how much I have (really how much WE have, but I don't think he sees it that way, lol ;-) ). I finally got to my hair stylist today - finally. Any of you who have had children and had 6 inch roots know exactly what I'm talking about, haha. I'm taking a poll of who people think Jackson looks like. Most people say Wes, but some say it's a mix. Don't get me wrong, I'd rather him look like Wes, but I just don't see it! Let me know what y'all think either here on the blog or email me. Anyway, here's a few pics from today celebrating Jackson's 8 week old anniversary. Speaking of anniversaries - Happy Anniversary Mom and Dad!!! You're a great role model :-) Hope we make it as long as y'all!!!!


This is his play mat. He stayed on it and played by himself for about 15 minutes today. May not sound like much to some, but you're able to get a lot done in 15 minutes - bottles and a load of laundry :-) If the turtle is blurry, it's because Jackson likes to hit him and watch him swing.

And, of course, after all that play, you need a nap!!!

Getting sleepy again...

Thanksgiving and Iron Bowl

WAR EAGLE!!!! 6 in a row!!! We had a great Thanksgiving week, and truly have a lot to be thankful for this year :-) Tuesday we headed down to Mandeville to visit with Uncle Noel and Aunt Joanna after Jackson's doctors appointment. He now weighs 10 1/2 pounds! He's starting to outgrow some of his newborn outfits and it makes me so sad :-( Jackson did great on the 5 hour ride down to LA. He slept about 4 hours of the ride. We spent Thanksgiving day with Joanna's family and had a great time. Early Friday morning, we left Mandeville to head to Auburn. Again, Jackson did great in the car for another 5 hour ride. What a weekend! Friday we did Thanksgiving with Wes' family, then we tailgated all day Saturday leading up to the game. Jackson and I stayed at the trailer and watched it on tv, while everyone else went to the game. It was so much fun, especially because of the win! This is my last week at home before I go back to work, so I'm enjoying it while it lasts...

All bundled up outside by the fire...this lasted for about 10 minutes :-)

Pops overlooking the big shrimp boil we did on gameday

Granddad can't believe how much I've grown!

Daddy Time

This was a busy weekend for me, leaving Wes at home with Jackson for most of it. We had a birthday party for someone from work on Friday, so I was gone then, and Saturday morning I left about 7 to go to our Board of Directors Retreat. For those of you who don't know, I was elected to the BOD for our state association, ALANA. I know some of you have asked me about it, so I've included a link to it on the side. Go to the "about us" section and you'll get to a picture of me:-) I will be serving a 2 year term. So anyway, I was gone overnight Saturday at the retreat. Wes' parents came in town to stay with him and Jackson while I was gone. There's a few pics of them below. We are getting ready to travel to see my brother for Thanksgiving. We have even more to be thankful for this year!!! After that it will be off to AUBURN. Yea!!! WDE!! Btw, for my Bama friends, can we get the scouting report on La Monroe for our game against them next year - haha. Anyone who's gonna be down there, give us a call and maybe we can meet up. Jackson and I aren't going to the game, only tailgating. Hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving :-)

Nonnie and Jackson, with a baby smile on his face.

Catching a catnap in Pops' arms