Love this kid

This picture perfectly describes Paxton right now. His favorite thing to do is YELL! He loves to hear his little LOUD voice. My mom laughs when I talk to her on the phone because she can always hear little Pax in the background making some kind of noise.

This kid cracks me up every day. I love that he gives mostly everyone a blank stare and then doesnt stop smiling for me and Jon.
He got his 2nd tooth in a while back and his little toothy grin is so precious.

So he still isnt a fan of food, but he does love the get messy! He's definitely a boy!
No matter how tired or fussy this kid is, the moment he is in his car seat, he is happy and playful again. Most people take their babies for car rides to get them to take a nap. We take Pax on car rides to keep him awake
This is how Pax fell asleep the other day. I know it may seem a bit immature of me, but come on, its funny right?

Oh, and did I mention...

We moved to Memphis. Well, technically we live in Mississippi but the town is right on the border and everything we do is in Memphis. I can honestly say I loved living in Ohio and I miss it but Memphis is starting to grow on me. The bbq here is dee-licious and the down-town area is pretty fun. Its super hot and humid here so I really dont get out much because I like to keep Pax inside, but when we do, we always find something new and cool.
Has anyone ever been here or know any good places to eat or things to do? Im on a mission to discover as much of this city as possible!

A Happy Fathers Day!

Yesterday was Jon's very first Father's Day. I woke up early, well, actually I woke up kinda late. I was supposed to wake up at 6, shower and get ready for our 9am church and then get breakfast and everything ready and then wake up Jon, but I woke up at 7 and we were a tad bit late to church. Oh well, I will try again next year. Anyway, Jon's special day started out with sleeping in (that is one of the best things him and I do for each other these days). I made him an amazingly tasty sausage gravy and biscuit breakfast, put a few gifts on the table, dressed Pax in a I Love Dad outfit, put up the banner I made(its not the best looking so don't judge me. Drawing letters freehand is NOT one of my strong points) and woke him up with a kiss from both of us.
I wanted to make this day as special as possible since Jon will only have his "1st" Fathers Day once. So, I got him a #1 Dad shirt and stamped it with Paxton's footprints.
Um, mixing paint and a 6month old spells disaster, by-the-way. I was amazed at how fast paint got from the bottom of his feet to his mouth. It was a stressful couple of minutes making sure he didn't eat any of the paint, but it was well worth it. It will be fun to look at the shirt some day and remember how tiny Pax's feet were :)

Jon requested ham and funeral potatoes, one of his favorite dinners, but sadly I just wasn't feeling up to cooking. I have been dealing with the stomach flu all weekend and Jon even started getting symptoms. I was glad I had made his dessert earlier in the day though because it was to DIE FOR! Pretty easy to make, extremely hard not to eat and eat! I bought a box of ice cream sandwiches, crushed up some oreas, drizzled some fudge and put it all together. It was the tastiest ice cream cake we have ever had, and it cost under $10 dollars!
Anyway, all the food and crafty gifts in the world cant really come close to expressing my gratitude and love for my husband. He does so much for me and Paxton. He is up in the middle of the night with the baby just as much as I am, he changes the diapers whenever it needs to be done, he takes the trash out in a rain storm, he does the dishes after working all day... and all with a smile on his face. I have never met such a self-less person and I definitely never thought I would be so lucky as to marry someone so amazing. I love you Jon! I am the luckiest wife in the whole world and Paxton is the luckiest baby. You take such good care of both of us. Happy Fathers Day!

My Current Obsessions

Special K Chocolatey Delight
I seriously could eat this instead of ice cream. Try it, you'll love it!
Caffeine Free Dr Pepper
I have found this gem in two places: Payson, AZ Walmart and the Walmart down the street from me now. Thank goodness too, because I was really starting to envy Jon whenever he got a Dr Pepper.
Paxton's Baby Einstein Jumperoo
Pax LOVES this thing. He bounces in it for the longest time and it plays music. He just found out that if he yells while he's bouncing, his voice sounds funny so he does that now too :)
My ERGO baby carrier
This carrier blows the Bjorn out of the water! (for me at least) Pax seriously thinks Im holding him in this thing and the thicker waste strap means that my back and shoulders never hurt. Its a big help when Im doing things around the house and my baby wants to be held.
Mod Podge
Can a glue-type product win a Nobel Prize? Because this thing has changed my life. Soon I will post pictures of my latest projects Ive completed but for now, I give a round of applause for this wonder in a bottle.
I Heart Naptime with Chocolate Sundaes (best blog ever)
Need I say more? Im working on a project to add to one of the craft parties but for now I am really enjoying all the ideas and links to other amazing blogs.
My rice cooker
Did you know you can cook salmon in this thing? Thanks to the convenient little steamer basket it came with, I not only can cook rice but also steam veggies and fish. I recently used it to melt chocolate and maintain a perfect temp for dipping AND I cook my steel cut oats in it as well. I got this as a wedding gift, tried it once and couldnt figure it out, put it in my cupboard and havent used it until just recently. Oh my, am I glad I have this now!
Thats all for now :)

My and-a-half year old!

I cant wait until Pax can say he's 3 and-a-half years old (or whatever). Kids make such a big deal over that half year mark and seriously, they have reason to because they change SO much in such a short time. Of course where Im going with this is that my little Paxton has changed SO much :)
Paxton is 6 months old, a whole and-a-half. Can you believe that? I cant! I have a baby who sits by himself and, drum roll please...... has a tooth!

I included a close up and the original picture because I happen to think that both are cute and worth sharing :)
Lets see, what is the update on Paxton...
Well, we've continued to try various foods to see how he likes them, and he does NOT! Pax absolutely wants nothing to do with any substance in his mouth that is not breast milk. He is a milk baby through and through. We even bought one of the mesh food rings and he just wasnt having it. Dear Pax: please start liking real food soon. I promise to continue breastfeeding you, but honestly, I wouldnt mind the help :)
He still puts everything and anything he can in his mouth. Yesterday at church he somehow manage to fit his entire binkie in his mouth. He gagged so hard that half of the Relief Society turned to look at him. He was already trying to do it again.
He's doing pretty good with sitting these days. I leave the boppy by him because he tends to give out completely and fall on his head when he gets bored of sitting.

Oh and to name a few other things (for the sake of not forgetting them later on)
-he is absolutely loving being naked lately. He gets especially excited during diaper changes
-he has the WORST gas ever! Im not kidding, this kid stinks. He always has, but I dont think Ive ever noted it :)
-he giggles after he sneezes. Every time. He loves it!
-he learned how to press his lips together and vibrate/spit through them. He does it all the time.
-he learned that if he sticks his tongue out when Im giving him medicine that I cant get it in his mouth
-he loves to yell in church. Not in a sad way; its an adorable, happy LOUD yell and it makes a lot of heads turn
-he's not sleeping through the night anymore. I miss that. Teething kinda threw him off a little and Im hoping that it will get back to normal again soon.
-he has a little friend named Hudson who he absolutely adores. Hudson is a baby a little bit younger than Pax and he loves to just watch him
-he has started grabbing his feet ALL the time and even manages to get them in his mouth once in a while

Its been so much fun having this little guy around. He's been such a wonderful addition to our family. To most people, he is a chubby serious baby who loves to stare. To Jon and I, he is a heavy, happy baby who squeals and babbles at 6am rather than cry and who loves nothing more than to snuggle up with one of us. While we do get a very serious-faced baby, we very often get smiles and giggles that melt our hearts. He has such a sweet little boy!