Beachin' It

John, Jack and I have been out of town this past week to Surfside Beach, SC. That's right. We live and vacation at the beach. Different beaches, however. But it's all worth our while to see our family and to actually enjoy the sand and ocean, which we do way too little of at home. My family takes an annual vacation to the Surfside/Garden City area, and I'm pretty sure this was the Gazillionth Annual Trip. Jack enjoyed himself so much. He loved eating the sand, kicking his feet in the waves, and being picked up by any family bystander at the mere sound of a whimper. John and I were able to relax, read books, play Bocce, and get something we haven't had in two years: A TAN!!!!! It's a pleasure to look down at your feet and not have your skin match the color of your toenails, which is usually an ugly shade of purple/beige.



In between swimming, eating sand, and napping, Jack took some time just to chill. We didn't think it was possible, but his hair did seem to lighten even more, and he managed to get a tad bit of sun. Don't worry, no sunburn. What kind of mother/nurse would that make me? And for those of you who have children and like to take them outdoors, Aveeno makes excellent sunscreen for babies. It's 45 spf, but it's so thick it could be 4 spf and probably still work. It doesn't quite have the beachy aroma of Coppertone, but at least we're not slowly baking out child for a good scent, right?


Jack had his first carousel ride on Friday night. He enjoyed the lights, rotation, and creepy circus-like music that are staples of any legitimate carousel. John brought up a funny remembrance of riding carousels when he was younger. He said it taught him at an early age about discontent. He remembers sitting on a carousel stallion embellished with jewels and fancy designs wondering if he'd be happier on the ostrich or lion. And heaven forbid you mistakenly choose one of the stationary animals that does not bob up and down. Boy, those kids were big dorks, huh?



We were so glad to be away last week for a refreshing getaway, but it is nice, too, to be back home in our own beds. Jack has enjoyed the familiarity of his crib so much that he slept until 9:45 this morning! I'm considering vacationing for another week just so we can return and have one morning of sleeping in again! Hope all of you are doing well! Sorry it's been so long since we've written!

"Baw"

On Sunday June 11th, 2006 at approximately 11:00am, Jack Ussery said his first word: "Ball". John and I went to Walnuts after church, and while we were waiting for our food, Jack was paying special interest to his Dora the Explorer disposable placemat. He kept putting his finger on a picture of a beach ball that's on the mat, so in an effort to teach him what he was pointing too, I started saying "ball" over and over again. Jack started staring at me, specifically at my mouth, and after about five to six times of me saying "ball", he very deliberately said it back to me. It was more of a 'baw' sound. He did not perfectly say the "L" consonant, but he DEFINITELY said ball. John and I freaked out. He has yet to say it since because I don't think he knows what happened. He simply was repeating me, but it made us so happy! And what a great first word!


"Ball" is hands down a better first word than "bail," which is exactly what it took to get jj redick out of jail this morning. A DUI! A stinkin' DUI! Just when jj was out of the duke basketball program, and I had begun training my brain that I don't have to dislike him as much anymore, he goes and does something dumb like this. So I can't like him. Again. And before certain readers who say they are UNC AND duke fans start furiously google-ing "UNC basketball alumni who have been incarcerated", I already know who they are (at least most of them:) and that they, too, have committed terrible acts. But in honor of what this blog stands for (Jack loving and duke disliking), and how previous duke-bashing actually got someone to comment, I couldn't let this mug shot go unnoticed.

Onto a more sobering topic...Jack is not well today, so pray for him. He had a high fever last night and this morning. Dr. Thomas took a peek at his ears this morning for me, but everything looked good. He's got a virus that's been going around with symptoms of high fevers and a sore throat. Poor baby! John and I hate so much that he's not feeling well, but it has been nice to cuddle with Jack without him squirming all over the place. He watched almost half of the Brazil/Croatia matchup (see appropriate soccer themed picture above) with me today, sitting in my lap the whole time. It was sweet.

They're Baaaack

Jordan and Trevor arrived safely from Africa this past Wednesday. John, Jack and I had the pleasure of picking them up from the airport, and this is a shot of Trevor seeing Jack for the first time, EVER! Isn't that neat? I think Jack was a little bigger and a little more active than Trevor expected. If I recall correctly, Trevor said Jack was fat. And he is. We're okay with that. We're all so excited to have them back in the states, and especially thrilled about having them here for the summer! Welcome home!!!



Jordan and Trev were thoughtful enough to bring back a special present for Jack. Is this not the funniest thing you've ever seen? We keep referring to it as a "baja", but I'm pretty sure that's not what they're called in Africa. I'm not actually sure what they call it in Africa, but if it's not the word for "ridiculously funny", then it's a shame.



Jack went to a birthday party today for Justin, one of his buddies from StrollerFit. The little tike screaming is the birthday boy himself. All of this hoopla his parents went through just for him, and how does he repay them? By screaming! I'm sure we'll get ours at Jack's first party. No, I'm certain of it. And we'll post a picture. Just like this one. The little girl beside of Jack is Emma and the crawler behind him is Charlie. Just a few of Jack's posse.



Do you recognize these faces??? It's Tim McGraw and Faith Hill!!! I went to their concert on Tuesday with Ann Jacoby, a friend of mine from work. It was so much fun!!! I recommend seeing them if you ever get the chance or if you just ever have the urge to watch a bunch of rednecks mouth every single word "Red Ragtop" and start believing that the lyrics are their story. I actually have pictures of such folks. If it's a rainy day in the blog world, I may pull them out of the archives.

By the way, the UNC baseball team just beat Alabama 8-7. They hit a 2-run homer to win in the bottom of the 9th. Now I'm not the biggest baseball fan on the planet, but that kind of ending is awesome. GO HEELS!!!!!...and Jackets!

Collage

It's been many moons since the last blog...well...almost 1/2 a moon anyway. Here's a picture collage of what has taken place with the Usserys. Jack and I went to Greensboro two Fridays ago and stayed until this past Wednesday. Unfortunately, on my rush packing job, I forgot to take the camera charger, so...not many pictures from Greensboro. John and Scout held the fort down at home. Here are some fun pictures from the past 12 days.






























Explanations of Photos (Top->Bottom, Left->Right)

About two weeks ago, John and I were standing in our living room when we turned and there was Scout, sitting just as he is in this picture. The 'cape' you see on his back is a bathmat that he has decided to tote around the house like Linus does his blanket. We have no idea how he got the mat on his back like this. These past nine months of deferred attention have taken it's toll in the poor guy. We surely do love him though. Scout continues to be Jack's #1 play buddy.

On Friday, my Aunt Lisa, Uncle Tim, and Cousin Adam (along with Adam's friend, Tanner) stayed overnight as a pitstop on their way to Disney. John and I got a preview of what it will one day be like to have a 9 year old boy in the house. 24/7 nonstop energy! (We could use a boost of that ourselves.) Jack enjoyed watching the whirlwind of activity, but enjoyed his breakfast even more! Adam was so sweet to feed his cousin.

Papa Johnny came to see Jack on Friday after work. Jack got a kick out of the belly tickling. John and I were waiting for a post-dinner vomit disaster, but fortunately Jack inherited his mother's stomach and was able to hang on for the ride.

This picture was taken yesterday after discovering that Jack has a thing for brushing his tooth. Aunt Lisa was brushing her teeth with a battery operated toothbrush and Jack was mesmerized. Thanks for sharing your brush with Jack, Lisa! I think we got all of the formula and drool residue washed off!

Also yesterday we headed to Savannah to watch Jeffrey play baseball. Their team won 6-1 and it was great to get a taste of what next year's trips to GT will be like. Jack behaved so well at the game! He sat in Gigi's lap for most of the game (see next picture) and played with his red ball and her necklace. Necklaces seem to be a huge help when trying to entertain a child.

This next picture is kind of a big deal because....drum roll......Jack is crawling!!!! Like foreal crawling. Not that crazy crawl, crawl, face plant pattern anymore. He'll crawl all over the place and he seems to be picking up speed! Jack enjoys the sound and feel of the tile in our house unfortunately. He's no longer a carpet dweller.

Last picture...Jeffrey and his #1 fan at the game yesterday!

Sorry to all 3 of our blog readers for such a slack display of blogs over the past while. It's hard when you're out of town! Oh, and by the way....Trevor and Jordan are coming home this Wednesday! Pray for safe travels for them. Toodles.

Creepy Crawly

Announcement: Jack is the weird kid in our StrollerFit class. Yesterday during the floor routine where we let the little ones run/crawl free, Jack sat in the middle of the floor and made this strange sound that was similar to a growl, but had a tad bit of scary mixed in. It was so creepy! Occasionally he'd pause for a moment to crawl around and find something disgusting to put in his mouth, but then he'd resume making the scary growl noise. I could see the other mothers giving each other knowing looks, taking mental notes as to why they would never schedule a playdate with Jack Ussery. He can be creepy afterall. On the drive home I thought about how completely normal John and I are, and how strange that we would produce an abnormal child. Then I started recalling some recent snapshots from an ordinary evening in the Ussery household, and it hit me! If Jack is a goofball, it's because his parents are insane! We're nuts!






First of all, we dress Jack like an animal. See here, he's dressed like a duck. He's looking at his feet as if he's thinking, "What happened?!?!?!?!?!" Maybe his creepy growl is his interpretation of one of the animals he has been dressed as. Maybe? Secondly, I act like Scout is one of us. I have been known to kiss him on the mouth and of course I kiss Jack, so maybe something was passed on. Last, look at John. Nice form, huh? So, Jack, we're sorry buddy. You are your parent's son.

Before anyone gets angry, of course we don't think Jack is strange. We just wanted to post these funny pictures. The StrollerFit story, however, is true, and the pictures were from a pretty typical evening in our home. We surely do have fun!!!

Beach Bums

We all had a busy week, so we decided to end it with a nice, relaxing day at the beach. But really...taking a 8 month old to the beach proves to be a challenge! I got some practice earlier in the week when I took Jack to see his Mema and Deda (my grandparents-Mom's side), who were visiting for the week on Hilton Head. He got to show them all of his new tricks, and they enjoyed being with him so much. Unfortunately, I was a bad picture taker and only got pictures of Jack with a Mema or Deda arm or leg here or there in a picture. We'll be sure to get some better pictures when we see them again, which is this coming weekend! Memorial Day in Greensboro. At least for Jack and me. John's busy with work and his training. Still no pictures of the pack on his back, but he's continuing to train pretty fiercely!



So, yesterday was spent on the beach with Jack, John, Genie (Gigi) and Jeffrey. Trying to be good parents, John and I slathered (is that a word?) sunscreen all over Jack. But, he ended up getting some of it in his right eye, which set the afternoon off to a poor start. If that's ever happened to you, you know it hurts like the dickens, and we all know how badly 'the dickens' hurts. We tried putting him in the water. He cried. We tried letting him play with his stacking cups. He cried. Finally, the burn must have worn off and Jack seemed to enjoy himself. Gigi had fun with him in the water (see above pic). Jack kept making these high pitched "ahhhh" sounds. We interpreted that as positive feedback.

We've realized recently that Jack is very protective of his hands. He does not like anyone, not even his mother, touching his hands. Maybe he's a germiphobe. By the way, that is not a word. I looked it up. Hope everyone reading is doing well!

You Scream, I Scream

As promised, here are some more of the great Jack pictures that Susan Jones took. These are just a few of our favorites. (Out of 300+, it's hard to narrow it down.) This profile shot gives a good look at Jack's cheeks. Believe it or not, there has been a significant decrease in their size. By the way, Jack's dinner last night included: an entire Lil' Entree, small jar of veggies, large jar of fruit, bits of a chicken breast and bread. Maybe the cheeks will be back in full bloom soon?

Mother's Day was a hit in every way. Jack had his baby dedication at church in the morning. He made us proud by being the loudest baby on stage. About two minutes into the dedication, Jack eyed the bottle that the baby girl beside of us was drinking from. It was all over from that point. Jack stretched his arms out and tried to leap from John's grasp and began to cry/moan. Even his favorite light up ducky toy could not soothe him. We had lunch at Truffles with both sets of parents and my mom's parents, Jackie and Jeffrey. The day concluded with a trip to Outside Hilton Head (Jordan, the workers asked how you were doing and were excited to hear that you would be back soon.) and dinner at the Old Oyster Factory with John's parents, Jeffrey and Grandma Catherine. We gave her a picture of Jack for Mother's Day. I don't think I've ever seen her smile so big.


Jack's latest trick is screaming on command. The command is that one of us will scream first. Then it becomes a contest. We'll scream. Then Jack screams. So on and so forth until something else catches his attention. Poor Jack doesn't have a chance when it comes to competitiveness. He's just got it. Not sure if competitive drive is a dominant or recessive trait, but we're pretty sure that John and I both passed on whatever it is. Hope all of you reading are doing well. Happy late Mother's Day!

Awesome

We took Jack to Susan Jones' house this week, and she took some awesome pictures of him! This is just a taste. I'll post more later. My parents just pulled in the driveway! Gotta run!

Wet Laundry

Doesn't Jack look like such a big boy sitting there on the lawn chair, sipping from his cup? It's amazing to John and me how quickly Jack is growing and changing. Tonight we dropped his crib bed from the high, baby position to the low, too big position. I know it sounds crazy, but changes like that make us sad! We're thrilled that Jack is growing and developing on track, but we hate to see him leave that baby phase. Same thing goes for his teeth. We think we've broken some ground (or gums) on that front. Sunday we were able to see white, calcium filled teeth tops. Today all we could see were swollen gums again! What's the deal? Can they retract like that? Anyway, back to how the appearance of teeth are sad....I was telling my Mom the other day that my crazy brain was thinking, "Once Jack gets teeth, he'll never not have teeth again". And in my 1st time mom brain, that was a real tragedy. What gives?


Jack continues to try his best to gnaw his way through the toothless state that he's currently in. He's given up on his thumb and has taken the 'more is better' method by sucking three fingers instead. You can see his Peek-a-Blocks in the background. Those are one of his favorite toys right now. The others being the ceiling fan (only for observation of course), stacking cups (he likes to knock them down), and Baby Tad (the hermaphroditic frog that sings and talks).

Now...here's a really good picture. Jack had gotten out of the pool on Sunday, and after I finished drying him off, I looked down, and there was the most pitiful butt shot I had ever seen. His rear looks like a bag of wet laundry. So what did we do? We recorded it of course! This is future rehearsal dinner ammunition. But isn't it the cutest little booty you've ever seen?

Hope you're all doing well! Happy Mother's Day to all the Mamas out there!

Kenya Come Home Soon???

FIRST PICTURE:

JACK: Hey, Mommy! Aren't Aunt Jordan and Uncle Trevor coming home soon?

MOMMY: Why, yes, son. They'll be home in June. Are you exicted to see Jordan and meet Trevor?

JACK: YEEEEE!!!! (see picture)




SECOND PICTURE:

JACK: Wait, Mommy. You said they're in KENYA?!?!?!?!?!

MOMMY: Well, yes. That's where they are now. Since you're obviously the most brilliant child in the universe, would you please place your slobber-drenched hand over Kenya so I can know that you understand what I'm telling you?

JACK: ok.


Just an ordinary day in the Ussery home. Tomorrow...quantum physics.

Back to Africa...Check out www.starfishafrica.org. Trevor and some of his college friends started the organization. Yes, we're proud!!! Can't wait to see you two!

Worthless Aside: Since the Africa geography lesson this afternoon, I've had Toto's song "Africa" playing nonstop on the radio in my head!

Elemonater

Nothing particulary exciting to divulge in this blog. We had a great weekend. Saturday, John worked and Jack and I worked out. Jack and I also went to see my friend, Marianne Dean, in Savannah. She and her husband, David, are moving to "SOUTHEAST ASIA" (some of you are laughing at that for good reason) in August. They'll be there a minimum of three years, so I don't know when we'll see one another again! She was heading through Georgia and decided to give us a call. So glad that she did. Unfortunately, we yacked the whole time and didn't stop for any pictures. Jack was in Marianne's wedding last May, in utero. We joked that he was the only bridesman.

Sunday was such a relaxing day for us. We went to church at the "late" 11am service because Jack slept until 8am! The sermon was on child-rearing and how to love your children biblically. Here are some points/pledges that we really took note of and pray that we will incorporate into our parenting:

1. I openly accept my child, giving her/him a sense of security. (Psalm 139:14-15)
2. I express appreciation to my child, giving her/him a sense of significance. (Matthew 3:17)
3. I show affection to my child, giving her/him a sense of acceptance. (1 John 4:7)
4. I make myself available to my child, giving her/him a sense of importance. (Hebrews 4:16)
5. I provide accountability for my child, giving her/him a sense of responsibility. (Ephesians 4:16)
After church, John watched "the man" while I went to a baby shower for Jamee Reed (the wife of John's ex-business partner and buddy, Rich Reed). They're having a girl, Abigail, in July! Another for Jack to choose from!!!! WHOO HOO!!! We then had small group at our house last night where we discussed marriage. So, after a day of tackling how to be a good parent and then a good spouse, we hit the hay! Jack was a trooper through the entire day. He got a little rowdy during small group, but we think that's because he enjoys a crowd. He's a showboat. Just like his Dad. :) Speaking of Papa J, he's officially started training with the backpack of weights on! No pictures yet, but maybe I can sneak one of him someday soon. John says he feels ridiculous wearing the pack in the gym. For those who don't know he's training for a climb, I'm sure he does look a little strange. Then again, there are gym attenders who bring their pet parrots while they're working out. Strange, I know, but it happens.

The posted pictures were some from the weekend. Apparently Jack enjoys lemons!!!

Big Guy

It's official. Jack is huge. I took him by the office yesterday and measured him.

Here are the stats:

Length: 29in = 95 %ile
Weight: 21lb 8 oz (with a wet diaper on) = 75-90%ile
Head circ.: 18.25% = 90%ile

So, he's a boy and it's fun that he's big, but let me tell you...it just does something to a mother's heart to pack up clothes that her baby has outgrown so quickly and have to buy new ones in bigger sizes. All mom's go through it, right? It's just my first time, and I'm bummed about it! However, the clothes are still very cute. Even in the huge sizes! The only alarming thing about his growth is that, since Jack's six month visit (2 months ago), his head measurement has jumped from the 25%ile to the 90%ile. What happened?!?!?! We're explaining it with exponential brain growth and rapid brain development. Of course:)

Sorry we haven't posted a blog in a while. Life has been busy. But busy with good things. Jack is continuing to do more things, play harder, and he's even made one little crawl movement. Usually he just rocks on his hands and knees, but two nights ago he made actual progress across the floor. Apparently the whole crawling thing proved to be slightly overrated to Jack, so he hasn't made any efforts to do it again.

Speaking of efforts, John and I are trying to be more of an outdoorsy/athletic family. We've both been exercising on our own, but have included evening family time mixed with something to increase the heart rate a little. Last night's activity started with a jogging stroller jog down the beach. We made it about 50 yards because the tide was in and didn't leave much room for running. Plan B was running the bike path through Port Royal. Jack was in the jogging stroller. John was pushing Jack, and I was just trying to breathe. Other than the sprinting and shorter amounts of running we do at StrollerFit, this was the first time I have actually jogged since giving birth. Holy toledo. I think when the baby is born, all of your endurance, athleticism and heart health is birthed as well. John kept looking back at me giving me the thumbs up sign, which at the time I interpreted as, "Way to go, Erin. I'm proud of you." But when we finished and I saw what I looked like and heard how loud my breathing was, I think the thumbs up was to initiate any sort of response from me because John probably thought I was dying. To be honest, there was one point during the run where I wanted to die. However, we all finished the path, Jack seemed to enjoy himself, and John was relieved to feel like he hadn't even exercised because of the great cardio shape that he's in. (Still training. Still motivated. Still proud of him!)


Jack is eating more foods than he was last week. We've successfully tried deli meats, which he loves. He's had chicken pie, real sweet potatoes, Nutra Grain bars, cheese, and pizza. He will eat anything. Including his toes, which are his new favorite sucking toy. At least they're available. Here's a photo of Jack at the Fresh Market. Jack, Gigi and I took a trip there on Monday. He loves riding in the cart. Unfortunately, the Fresh Market carts are smaller than normal grocery store carts, so half of the time was spent making sure he didn't manage to flip out of the thing! Even if he had, I'm sure his 90%ile head could have taken the spill. But we won't test that theory.

My Buddy, Carter

Jack met his buddy, Carter, for the first time this weekend. Carter is the son of Phillip and Shannon Galbreath. John grew up with Phill, so it's an awesome experience to raise our children together. It's really cool, too, that they're both boys! I imagine they'll spend lots of time together in the future...probably getting into trouble with one another. Phill, Shannon, and Carter were here for Easter. We were able to hang out with them on Saturday at the Usserys. Thanks for coming down here to meet us, Carter! What a great picture of the Galbreath and Ussery boys, huh? Lots of blue!

Here's a funny one of Jack and Carter. Jack is being rude and blowing bubbles, which is probably not the best first impression a kid can give, but....that's Jack. Carter looks like he's thinking, "Who's this crazy lady taking the picture. That's not my mom." We look forward to spending time with you all in the future (hopefully near future!).




Okay, so this picture just had to go on the blog. Aren't baby yawns the cutest things ever? This was about as out of hand as Carter was for our visit with him. What a good baby! See you soon!!!


My parents were also here for the weekend which is always a blessing. It's great for them to be able to spend time with Jack, of course, but I'd be lying if I said the two extra pairs of hands weren't a huge help! Thanks, Mimi and Pops/Grandad, for all the changed diapers, meals fed, and time you entertained Jack. We know you didn't mind. Unfortunately, I was a lazy camera taker and didn't get any pictures! What a dodo.

Jack's newest thing this week is getting on all fours and rocking back and forth. Maybe he'll crawl soon. I find myself saying, "I don't think he'll ever crawl." Not because he should be by this age or anything, but it gives me this cushion so that if he really doesn't ever crawl, I can say that I knew it. That's dumb. Maybe he will crawl. Who knows? Either way, he's WILD. This lil' man doesn't stop except for naps, even though he fights those for a while. He is constantly flipping over, scratching everything (which is how he explores with his hands), and babbling. Today I left the room for a second while he was on his changing table (STRAPPED IN). When I came back, he was on his side with his head propped up with his hand, like a model. Funniest thing I've ever seen. But apparently not as funny as his clothes are to him. That's right. Jack thinks his clothes are funny. Everytime I stand in front of his closet with him, he smiles and laughs at his clothes. At first I thought it was from the doors opening and the unusual sound that they make. I've tried it since with the doors already being open, and he still laughs. What a funny boy!

Sorry it's been a while, blog readers. I left my camera at the Usserys since Saturday, and have been lost without it. Hopefully, my new camera is being fixed at the Canon shop. It was supposed to be here today, but...no camera! Oh, the agony! Bye, everyone!

First Loss

We lost the Easter bonnet contest by one vote. DAGUMMIT! But it was hilarious to see the kids in their hats. The winner (Max) had a really unique bonnet covered entirely with Easter basket grass, and unlike Jack, he wore the hat the whole time without fussing. Jack's hat lasted about 10 seconds, and that's being generous. As we were leaving StrollerFit, I gave Jack the "your product is only as good as its promotion" talk and taught him a little lesson. Simply put, Jack did not work it, but isn't this picture SO FUNNY? This was taken at StrollerFit. The other picture was the trial run last night in his high chair. I may be wrong, but I think he hated it both times.




Jack is getting to be a little prankster these days. Last night while I was cooking supper, he kept fake coughing and pretending that he was choking. Whenever I would look at him, he'd grin and laugh. It is pretty funny when he does it, but I can't get used to his jokes and quit checking on him. He may be really choking one day!!! He's very close to crawling, I think. Jack will get his butt up in the air and kind of rock on his knees. His latest discovery is that he can pull the bumper pad off of his crib and chew on it.

John is continuing to train for Mont Blanc. He's up to 5 days a week of cardio instead of 4 days. He's working hard selling real estate as always. Check out their website: www.usseryrealestategroup.com. The newest community is Hampton Lake. (www.hamptonlake.com) Make sure you check it out cause it's going to be incredible. Maybe it will get more visitors to come down and see us???? Speaking of which, as the weather gets warmer and more beautiful, wouldn't you like to come see it for yourself? Just want you all, family and friends, to know you're welcome to come for a visit anytime! We'd love to see you!

Too Cool for School

Here is the latest form of child abuse: Baby Bandz. Jack received his pair in the mail today. What was supposed to be an online purchase of a stroller bug net turned into an additional purchase of sunglasses. Isn't he STYLIN?!?!?! Surprisingly, Jack seemed to get used to them on his head and didn't mess with them. We'll see how long that lasts. We also put the bug net to use tonight on our evening family stroll. Seeing him in the stroller with the cage netting reminded John and me of that John Travolta movie where he had some immunodeficiency that forced him to live in a germ-free bubble. But when Jack started screaming about five minutes into our walk only to continue screaming throughout the entire walk, we realized that maybe his netting should be sound proof as well. By the way, teething is not fun. At least tending to babies who are teething is not fun. Pray for Jack's gums. They're killing him.

Jack had his first kiss today. That's right. Seven and a half months, and he's already flirting and being flirted with. Kim Reed and I took Jack and Shelby to lunch today and out of nowhere Shelby leaned over, grabbed Jack's hand, and kissed it. Cutest scene ever. But for once in my life, or Jack's life, rather, I didn't have the camera. So, you'll just have to picture it in your mind. Oh, and Shelby also said "Jack." It came out like "Jaaa", but we knew what she meant.

Hope you're all doing well! Tune in soon for more pictures of Jack. He's entering his first contest tomorrow: "Best Baby Bonnet" with our StrollerFit group. We're having the regular class and then an Easter party afterwards. Cross your fingers that he'll win!

Peeps and Hobos

Happy Sunday everyone! Hope you are all doing well and are gearing up for Easter. Not in the Peeps candy and Easter basket sort of way, but in the way that Christ died and rose from His death! Indeed, Peeps are yummy and Easter candy is by far the best of all seasonal candies, but I think overcoming death takes the win. Especially when it was for us. Unfortunately, Jesus dolls are hard to come by, so here is Jack with his bunny that Mema and Deda gave to him. I'm not sure if you've seen the Hallmark commercials with these bunnies on them, but they're so cute. There's a little chick that pops out of the egg and sings a song. Thank you, Mema and Deda, for the bunny! Jack LOVES it! (This paragraph is showing up in blue and underlined. Not sure why and I can't seem to change it!)



John, Jack, Scout and I took a long walk this evening, which was part fun and part disaster. The fun part was that it was 6 o'clock PM and still light outside. I think the springing forward idea is swell. The Ussery family believes that God inspired whoever makes that decision to do so just for us because He knows we freak out whenever we get to be outside together. Another fun part was just being together as a family! Here comes the disaster part. (I'm being dramatic when I say disaster.) See Scout in this picture? He's lying down. In the road. Halfway through our walk. That's because he still hasn't learned what a choke collar is and how it works. John held Scout on about 6 inches of leash thinking after a couple of miles that he would catch on. Nope! He panted the entire way, and also never completely got used to the stroller being with us. He's scared of the stroller like he is of every other piece of machinery, equipment, living, non-living, and movable thing. So here we are trying to include Scout in our evening stroll, but to him it was a 2 mile death march on a trail of horrors. By the way, pray for Scout. We think he's depressed. We're afraid that the 7 months of diverted attention to Jack have finally caught up with him and he's sad.



After the stroll, I thought it would be a good time to bathe Jack. Not because of the bugspray from our walk, but because of the rice cereal, carrot and blueberry food build-up on his face. Jack is already to the age where he HATES getting his face wiped off. So, after several wipes and many screams, I usually give up and say, "That's good enough." But the remnants that don't get caught in those semi-wipes eventually add up until Jack looks like a hobo. Today was a hobo kind of day. So he got some bath time and loved it!

Gators and Ice Water

Remember the "Bracket" blog where I wrote something obscure about Florida winning the championship? Well...there you have it. But...the irony of it all, is that I didn't even have Florida winning. I just thought I did. Transposed the tiebraker score on ESPN and had Texas beating FL by 4. In my heart, I thought it was FL all the way and told everyone embarrassingly that I chose them to win, so that's what counts, right???? Unfortunately not. I even stayed up to watch the game, cheering my heart out for the Gators....all to see this morning online that I had TX winning. GEEZ!!!!!

Today was a busy one for the Usserys. John worked out this morning and worked hard all day at his job. (Workout update: Five days a week of 45 min cardio and wt. training.) Jack and I had StrollerFit this morning. The class was close to my work, so I swung by to see how much Jack weighs. He's about 21 pounds (with clothes on and a wet diaper) and he's 27 3/4 in long! What a big'n! We went to lunch with Kim and Shelby, and most of the time we were there, Jack stared at Shelby like he was amazed by her beauty. He also ate her food. (See picture).

This afternoon, John and I took Jack to Berkeley Hall to take some pictures. We noticed how beautiful the flowers were while driving through the other day and thought we'd take advantage of the backdrop. To our dismay, they dug all the flowers up to replace them! Wouldn't you know it? And we couldn't figure out why, because the flowers were perfect. Almost Giada perfect. So, we carried Jack out to the lawn in front of the big pond along with props and different wardrobe options. However, after 78 pictures, we only got a handful of him smiling and about 100 bug bites to boot. The picture at the top is one of the cute ones from this afternoon.

Then.....we went to dinner. Out to dinner because someone conveniently forgot to put supper in the oven. Oopsie. Picture a young family with a cute, little baby sitting happily in his high chair. Then picture the helpful dad reaching over to clean the baby's face and instead, knocking a large cup of ice water all over the baby. Hear the baby screaming so loudly everyone turns and gives dirty stares. Guess what family that was tonight? The Usserys!!!! John felt so badly about it, but the upside was that we had the wardrobe changes that never got used at the dug-up flower garden photo shoot. After the ice water mishap and a dry change of clothes, Jack was all smiles. The picture is too bright, but check out his crazy face! That's our boy!