So Cute

I had a chance to put this picture up so I had to do it. He was at Grandmama's house and she has magnetic hands whenever he is around. She is the one holding him in this picture.

Good News and Bad

There is a good bit of good news so I'll give you the bad news first and instead of beating around the bush I'll come right out with it - I didn't finish my marathon. I went to the doctor on the Monday before because of some pretty bad pain in my ankle, and because I was getting sick and throwing up on all of my long runs over 10 miles regardless of what I ate. He said my ankle problem was an inflamed ligament and gave me a Cortizone shot and my sickness problem was a sinus infection that was draining into my stomach and causing me to trow up. He gave me some medicine that was supposed to take care of all of that. Needless to say, it didn't. I was 5 and a hlf minutes under a 3 hour pace at mile12, and that's where everything started to fall apart. I got sick and my ankle really started to hurt bad. At 13.1 I was at 1:28:00, still under pace, but barely. By mile 17, I was not going to make 3 hours and I was in a lot of pain. My dad was at mile 17 and with his advice I made the decision to drop out. I have already done 3 marathons so my goal was not to finish, it was to get under 3 hours. When that was not possible I figured I would save my ankle from severe injury, figure out what was wrong with it, and run another marathon. There is always another race, I can't grow another ankle. I have my sights set on a marathon in Nashville on April 24.

The good news is that the next day, Sunday night, I was ordained into the ministry. It was an exciting night and my parents and most ofmy family was able to be there.

The other good news is that Jackson is in perfect health. We had our two month check-up yesterday and it went great. He weighs 13 13, almost twice what he did when we came home from the hospital. The doctor did say that for his height his weight is exactly where it should be. Thank God for good health. Jackson is getting cuter by the day, too.

I promised pictures of him laughing and smiling because he was starting to do it more and more. It seems that if he is not eating or sleeping he is smiling. He does it nonstop and its so easy to make him smile. He is so much fun to be around. We enjoy him so much.

This one cracks me up. It's like he's holding his stomach from laughing so hard

He always has huge yawns

Loungin'

He's been trying to suck his thumb for a while now and he finally got it figured out

He Is Really Getting Cute

His smile really is starting to light up the room. He smiles so much now because he is actually figuring out how to do it. He is a great baby and we have so much fun with him. I've been calling him "cue ball" lately because that is exactly what he looks like with all that hair gone. I've been tempted to carve an "8" on the back of his head where he does have a little bit of hair. Imagine how stylish that would be.

My parents and most of my brothers and sisters are coming sown this week to see my brother Erick and I run the Richmond Marathon on Saturday - we want to get under 3 hours, which is a 6:52 pace for 26.2 miles. They are going to stay through Sunday night because I am being ordained into the ministry on Sunday evening.

He's got that great crooked smile!

It's getting easier and easier to get him to smile

Caught him awake one night just after I put him to bed. He was wide eyed because it was kinda dark in the room.

He is really a good baby. He doesn't cry a whole lot - except when he's hungry - which I guess is a whole lot.

Ask Becka!

That's the distressed look because life really is so hard at his age.
You just don't understand.

He's Looking More Like a Human Every Day!

He really is cute - he hasn't learned how to be (really) bad yet!

The little tag on his shirt says it all. I've been calling him "Cue Ball" lately and you can probably tell why. He lost every little bit of hair that he did have. He is growing some very small hairs on his head and they are very very blonde. His eyes are gettting bluer every day, too. It's kinda hard to tell by the picture.

Wearing Daddy's hat

Jackson and Daddy

Jackson and Mommy - Amazingly, he isn't eating!

The faces he makes while he is sleeping are limitless.

I woke him up right after the camera went off.

Sleeping - it was amazing that I was able to catch him asleep (Yeah right!)

This is for my dad. He always used to do this to us when we were little so I figured at least he would get a kick out of it.

This is us! Not very flattering I know. It was pretty late one night and we were just sitting there and the camera was there so we took a picture.


Jackson is changing every day - for the better. He is looking more and more like a baby instead of a newborn. It's so hard to believe how big he is getting. I forgot just how fast they grow when they are that small. He is actually starting to respond by smiling and things like that now, too. I'm assuming that the next time I put some pictures on, they will have some of him smiling because he is doing it more and more.

Bigger and Fatter vs. Smaller and Skinnier

Jackson and Dad

Mom and Jackson in a rare not-eating moment

Asleep in his crib

"Playing" on the floor

Ready to go for a ride.

Ever since we saw the first ultrasound, he has always loved to sleep with that hand up by his face. He still sleeps like that all of the time.

If he's not eating, he is tired and sleeping usually

Just look at the fat rolls

Bigger and Fatter would be the accurate way to describe this little baby. He is growing so fast. He has grown a couple inches in length, but he has really grown in weight. We go back for the one-month doctor visit on Monday, and I hope they have extra large scales for this chunk. On the other hand, I'm losing all the weight he is gaining. My marathon training is starting to wind down as we get closer to the race, but I can't keep any meat on my bones. I have been 165 pounds since 10th grade and now I'm down to about 150. I feel like a bean pole. Some pictures from the 10 miler that I ran 10 weeks ago can be seen here. They are from the official photography service for the race.

Weeks 2 and 3 - I Know - Pathetic, right?

I had another race this morning, so Jackson got to experience his first one. Of course, he slept most of the time, or in the case of the picture below, sucked his pacifier - we call it his plug (it always does the trick). I actually ran a pretty good race this morning. It was a ten miler that started and ended at the state capital in Richmond. The weather at start time was overcast, 65 degrees F, 93% humidity, wind South 3.5 mph (officially) but it really felt pretty good. Rather than bore you with details of the finish, Here is a link to the race results. I ended up with a time of 1:04:38. My goal was 1:05:00 so I was pretty pleased. I was 24th out of about 800 runners. Well under course to finish my 3 hour marathon in November.

This is Jackson at 6:30 in the morning. Count him present for the first race of his career.

The state capital in Richmond at the end of the race

This is my favorite thing to do on my lunch break.

The flash washed out a lot of the color of his face but i put this picture on so you can see how blue his eyes are becoming.

We brought him home form the hospital in this outfit and it will be the last time he wears it - and he was swiming in it when we brought him home. We just went for our two week checkup and the doctor said babies his age gain usually about 1/2 an ounce to an ounce a day. He gained 2 ounces a day and he was up to 8lbs 6oz. That was Thursday. No telling what he's up to now! Kid eats like a horse.

You can see how fat his cheeks are getting. I think its almost time to strap on a pair of running shoes and get him out there with me. I'll give a week or so to get adjusted to life in the big world - and then the training begins. :-)

He is very cute though.

A rare moment when I can capture Becka with Jackson. The only time she ever gets to hold him is when she's feeding him (which is about 23 hours a day), and I can't hardly take pictures then. This was actually right after she fed him. You can see his blonde hair pretty well here. And Becka's beautiful blue eyes!

"The plug" about to take effect. He really is a good baby, and only cries when he's hungry or dirty. He sleeps a lot, but when he is awake he just lays in his seat and looks around at everything.

It got a little cold one day so Becka HAD to try out his little snow suit.

Sitting with Daddy

Laying in his seat looking around at everybody.

Same

You learn ways to eat and take care of the baby at the same time - I think they call it multitasking?

I haven't actually been able to take any professional photos of him yet. I'm actually waiting until he really starts to look like a human being. Babies change so much in the first couple weeks that he may not even look like the same kid tomorrow. All the pictures I've been taking are on the camera my mom gave us for a baby gift. Very very handy. I just finished taking all the school pictures a couple of days ago so once I get all of them fixed it will be about the right time to take some professional pictures of him - oh, and us with him.