"Bye-Bye" First Game

Happier times before the game!
Georgia fans converted to UAB fans!
Jake trying to spot his daddy from the box
Here come the Blazers!
"Let me out of this place...I'm ready to tackle somebody!"
"It's so fun to pull Granddad's hair while he's trying to watch the game!"
Baby Blazers chillin' after the game!
Too much excitement for one little boy!

Well, yesterday didn't turn out as well as I had hoped, but we are gonna be okay. We fell 45-22 to Tulsa after leading the game 22-21 at the half. I never would have imagined after our great start that the game would have ended the way it did, but oh well....on to my cutie. Jake had a blast at his first game. My parents came up, so the four of us watched the game from the coaches' wives' box (in the AC)...well, my dad and I watched the game while my mom chased after Jake! :) He had so much fun!! He also said his first words while we were there- "Bye Bye." He can do the hand wave for "bye bye", but not at the same time as he actually says it. Now we've just got to get him to put 2 and 2 together and it will be so cute!

**You might notice my mom's black eye in the 2nd picture...no, my dad didn't beat her because we lost...she decided to take out a cement parking block...and lost!

The Countdown Continues...

How cute is this?
Mommy and Jake were so excited when Daddy got there!

1 more day until kickoff! Yes, I know...I skipped 2, but we were a little busy yesterday. Jake and I headed up to the UAB football office to meet up with some of the other wives and kids to help pass out our candy bags to the players after practice. Believe it or not, we had so much fun!! The kids got such a big thrill out of seeing who could hand out the most candy bags the fastest...it was so darn cute. I think the players really enjoyed it, too. Jake was so sweet and helped me greet all the players as they went by with a, "Good luck on Saturday!" and "Go Blazers!"

Jake was so excited about seeing his Daddy and the Blazers

that he could hardly contain himself...to the crib.

Good thing the crib isn't pushed all the way

to the wall or we'd be in trouble!

Sweet little feet!

How funny are these pictures? These were taken yesterday before we left to go to the football office. To be on time, I had to wake Jake up a little early from his nap; of course, I walked in to the room and found him just like this...feet out of the crib and all!! He cracks me up! I usually lay him horizontally, but somehow, he wiggled himself into this position. He is such a rascal these days!

Boys Will Be Boys!

Jake and Ryan playing nicely....

Ryan said, "What did you say about my mama?"
Jake said, "I said if you don't quit talking about MY MAMA, I'm going to put my hiney in your face and then sit on you."

Ryan said, "I know you didn't...I do weigh 3 more pounds than you...I could eat you like I did those carrots for lunch!"
Jake said, "What did you say?? Don't make me bite you! I do have 2 more teeth than you!"
Jake said, "LET GO OF MY ONESIE, RYAN!"

I don't know if I have ever mentioned how lucky we are to have such great neighbors, but we really are lucky. Ashley and Ryan (who is 2 weeks younger than Jake) live next door to us and Ginger and Brantley (who is 1 month younger than Jake) live 2 doors down, and we just have so much fun getting the boys together. We missed Brantley today, though, as Ashley and I let our boys play in the dirt together while Riley (Ashley's dog) did his business. The boys were a mess (literally and figuratively)!! As you can tell by the pictures, they had a lot of fun playing with the dirt, weeds, grass, etc. and getting into their first "fight." Yes, my son was the instigator as he preceded to crawl right over Ryan to get to Riley, but Ryan wasn't going to sit there and take it. It was so funny; Ashley and I just sat there (of course with my camera in hand) and just let them have it out. I even caught myself onetime saying to Jake, "You need to fight harder!" Can you believe I said that? They are only 7 months old!! Jeez!! We ended up separating them after the last picture because I was afraid if Ryan let go of Jake's onesie, Jake would have ricocheted face first in the dirt, and we just couldn't have that. It was tough seeing my son get in his first "fight", but Ashley and I were thoroughly amused! I guess we are going to have to get used to it....boys will be boys and boys play rough!

The Countdown Begins...

...with a party today with the coaches' wives to put together candy bags for the players.

Jake shows off his hurky to the girls.
Jake is prayin' a piece of candy gets dropped!

Mrs. Karen says, "So how much of the candy did Beth get in to?"

3 more days until kickoff!! That's right, UAB takes on Tulsa at home at 3 pm central on Saturday. The game isn't televised but if you go to http://uabsports.cstv.com/sports/m-footbl/sched/albr-m-footbl-sched.html you can listen to the gametracker on the righthand side. Please cheer us on...we need as many fans as possible!! Go Blazers!

Fay, Fay Go Away!

This one is for you, Ashley Madden!

"I wonder what the neighbors are doing, mom.

I sure wish Ryan could come out and play!"

I'm sad to say that I can't break away from Spongebob Squarepants long enough during the day to actually know what's going on in the world, but I hear there is a tropical storm Fay out there that is ruining mine and my child's day! Jake has just gotten to where he enjoys playing outside on the patio and in the grass, but instead, we have been couped up all day long (other than a quick trip to Tyson's office so that Jake could lay eyes on his daddy for the week) with the lovely tornado sirens going off in the background. I guess like anything, this too shall pass...I just wish it would hurry up!

He just can't sit like a normal kid!

My Little Jailbird

I love going into Jake's room after naptime because I am never quite sure what I am walking in to. For instance, on Saturday, I walked in to find Jake pulled up on the side of his crib CHEWING ON IT! He had a mouthful of black paint and was just grinning from ear to ear! And this morning, I walked in to find him like he was in the top picture...leg stuck and all!! I'm just waiting for the day I walk in and the little guy has just up and crawled out of the crib!

Now that Jake is a little more comfortable with pulling up and falling into a sitting position, the way he sits has gotten a lot more interesting. He usually prefers to sit in a split (or a hurky for my fellow cheerleaders out there), but lately he has started sitting in a "W" formation as our pediatrician called it. Apparently the "W" is a tell tale sign of being pigeon toe (I should know...I used to LOVE to sit like this as a child), and it makes Tyson cringe at the site of it. By the way, sorry for the diaper shot (my dad hates when I post pics of Jake when he isn't dressed), but we were lotioning him up and getting ready to put on his PJ's when I absolutley HAD to catch the shot. I knew my sister wouldn't believe me unless I had a picture to prove it!

UAB Fan Day 2008

Jake is Tyson's #1 Fan!
Swayze Waters (placekicker) with Jake right after he tried to sign my precious child's outfit with a sharpie!! We love you, Swayze, but not that much!
Can you tell how thrilled snappers Nick Haddad and Jeff Hamby

were to hold Jake for the picture?
You can't tell from the picture, but all Jake wanted to do was pull
Joe Henderson's dreads! I'm sure Tyson wouldn't mind if he pulled them all out!

My personal favorite- Terry Thomas! Love that kid!

Look how happy the linebackers were to see Jake!
We love Coach Callaway!
Jake's first words, "Go Blazers!"

This morning was UAB's Fan Day where you get to meet the players and coaches and get their autographs, so Jake and I headed there to get a chance to see Tyson. Of course, we totally took advantage of seeing our favorite players- the linebackers and the kickers (needless to say...Tyson's players) while we were there. We even got lucky enough to snap some pictures with some of the seniors. The boys were so funny about holding Jake for the pictures...you would have thought he had the smelliest dirty diaper by the way they were so stand-offish about holding him. I guess not everyone wants to hold my child! 1 week until kickoff! Go Blazers!

Cruisin'

"Look, mom...one hand!"

"hey howya doin'?"

Sorry for not posting in so long! I just completed 4 night shifts in a row (yay me!), and I was too tired to snap any pictures much less post to the blog. I did manage to get these two pictures one night before I left for work to commemorate Jake's first cruise! Yes, he can now cruise from this toy, to the truck, to the sofa! It won't be much longer until he is actually walking; the only trouble is, he keeps tripping on his dern toes!! Many of you mentioned this to me, so I thought I would go ahead and answer the lingering question...Jake is VERY pigeon toed!! In fact, we ended up having to go to the pediatrician this morning and I mentioned my concern about Jake's feet. You see, I was SO pigeon toed that I had to wear braces on my feet, and I was afraid Jake would have to also. Thank goodness, though, the doctor said that he "should" outgrow it and that they don't really do the braces thing anymore, so we will just watch it. He did say, though, Jake had a "double whammy"; most kids only have one bone in each leg that is overrotated...Jake had 2! He is so pigeon toed that you can turn his feet in almost all the way inward so that his toes are facing the same direction as his bottom!! Amazing, right? My cousin said he should join the circus!! Heeheehee! I also had a long discussion with the pediatrician about Jake's eczema. For some reason, his eczema is VERY flared right now, so we are going to try some new medicines again. We are also going to see a pediatric dermatologist to see if she can offer any advice since we have exhausted all other conventional methods; I am looking SO forward to this so that maybe we can get some answers. Good news, though, is that Jake gained 3 oz this week to bring his weight to 20 lbs 4.5 oz and he has another tooth coming in! We hope y'all have a great weekend!

Fall Scrimmage

"Go Blazers!"
"So where is my daddy?..on the sideline?"
This is too cute to me. Tyson thought Jake was asleep, but he was wide awake the whole time just loving on his daddy.

Yesterday, Jake and I went to UAB's 2nd scrimmage for the fall, and I got a little taste of what football games are going to be like with a 7 month old. He did great for the first 45 minutes and just sat and watched the game and played in my lap. However, naptime hit and Jake was not having it falling asleep on my shoulder. In his defense, I was a sweaty mess and so was he, so put us together and we were one big hot mess...literally. After making several laps around the stadium, Jake fell asleep with 8 minutes left in the 4th. Those were the longest 8 minutes of my life (or so it seemed)...I was completely drenched with sweat and my back was killing me from toting my 20+ lb son and his 10 lb diaper bag and not being able to sit down. Needless to say, as soon as the guys got done, I rushed to field and handed Jake off to Tyson; I had never been more excited to see Tyson in my life (or at least I thought so at the time). Anyways, I can't report much on the scrimmage because I got to watch maybe 2 plays. 2 more weeks til kickoff! Go Blazers!

Picture Day!

Jake's grandmothers having been begging me for pictures of him (other than those taken for the blog), but I have yet to take him to a photographer. I know...bad mama. I just take so many pictures of him that it is so hard for me to imagine spending a ridiculous amount of money to pay SOMEONE ELSE to take pictures of him. Plus, I can't make an appointment for him because I don't know what his eczema will be like that day. So...I decided to go to Portrait Innovations, which is right down the road, and try it out because they are very inexpensive and very flexible. Jake did very well for his first photo session except when the picture guy stood him against this prop that ending up sliding out from underneath him and causing him to hit his head...the pictures ended there needless to say. Anyways, I am pleased with how the pictures turned out and I hope the grandmothers will be, too. Enjoy!

We Miss You Daddy!

"Can you tell how excited I am to see my daddy?"
"I miss you so much, Daddy!"

"Daddy, you are so much more fun than my mommy!"
Already studying the play book...too bad it's upside down!

"Is it time to go ALREADY?"

Tyson has only been back to work "full time" for a little less than a month, and we are still more than 2 weeks away from the first game, but I have already had my first breakdown. The past two seasons, the breakdown at least waited until about midway through the season, but this one came a little sooner than I expected. For those of you who have no idea what I'm talking about, college football coaches work ABSURD hours. I would love to tell you a typical week's schedule for us, but for my safety (against all the crazy blog stalkers), I won't go there. Just trust me, though, his hours are worse than almost ANY other profession (other than our brave men and women who are deployed)...but, we love it and wouldn't trade it for anything in the world. I am allowed a few moments of tears, though. I just miss Tyson so much, and I know Jake does, too. Luckily, Tyson does a REALLY good job of making the most of his time with us, so I can't complain too much. For instance, we go to the football office a couple times a week to spend Tyson's lunch break with him (as pictures above). Can y'all believe I actually let my child get on that dirty floor just so he can play with his daddy? Sometimes you just have to make sacrifices! Anyways, you will probably be seeing a lot more posts than usual from me in the upcoming months; hopefully, this way, Tyson can get a glimpse of what's going on with Jake. We miss you, Daddy!! Thank you for working so hard so that mommy can stay home with Jake!

The Rest

Granddaddy, Pat-Pat, Jake, and MaMa are all smiles

after a nice meal at the Chinese restaurant!

"MaMa cracks me up!"
I don't think I have ever seen a bigger smile on Jake's face before...Pat-Pat sure knows how to get him tickled!
Jake loved Ansley! He couldn't stop smiling at her!

Here are the last of the pictures from our trip to Thomaston. I can't thank my parents enough for putting up with us for a whole week and a half and catering to our every need. My mom was the biggest sport, though, and rode half-way across Georgia with us just to visit our friends and family. She also got up in the mornings with Jake so I could sleep, took him walking with her friends almost every morning, took him on her errands, and just helped me SO much! Thanks mom!! The rest of these pictures include a stop in Cochran, a stop in McRae, a visit with Ansley (my friend Jill's little girl who I "practiced" on when she was a baby), a visit with my grandparents, and some other miscellaneous ones. As you can tell, we had such a great time seeing everyone. Jake's personality is really starting to blossom, and I am glad he could give everyone we love so many sweet smiles. We miss you guys already!!