Joshua, Jesse, & Josie

Phillip, Mandy, and the kids are all on vacation this week and so we've been keeping their English bull-dog, Josie. The other night, I had bathed Jesse and we were all playing in his room and Josie decided to join us. Here are some cute pics I got!

Before Josie came in the room, Jesse was showing us how
he can sit up like a big boy!

Don't you love it when you have JUST given your child a bath and then they go and sit on a shedding DOG? ha At least he had fun. :)

Haircut

I took Jesse this past weekend to get his hair cut...AGAIN. :) He must have his mama's hair because it grows like a weed. Anyways here are some pics of our 1st offical salon visit.

BEFORE:

AFTER:

With our friend & talented hair dresser, Heidi!

Weekend Wrap Up

We had a really fun weekend in the Martin house! Friday, I got my grocery shopping done early (YAY!), we worked in the yard (I get off @ noon now on Fridays) & to end the day, we had pizza and watched a movie (my fav). Ahhhhh...it was great. Then Saturday, Sharon, one of my dear friends from Charlotte, came to visit and so Jesse and I spent the day with her relaxing by the pool. I tend to work myself to death on the weekends--you know, errands, cleaning, laundry, getting ready for another work week, etc--so having Sharon here and just being able to "veg" with her was AWESOME. We had the best time and it was so much fun catching up...I'm not kidding when I say, I think we could have talked for days! This was also Sharon's first time meeting Jesse, and I was so glad they were finally able to meet after all this time. :) Come back soon, Sharon...we miss you already!

The three pool bums. :)

Jesse's 1st time in the pool!

Check out his facial expression--it NEVER changed and the water was FREEZING! So funny.

Jesse loved the water! He played and played and then fell asleep...on Sharon...in the pool. :)

Sunday, we skipped church (I know, BAD!) and went to Dollywood with Joshua's family. This was another one of Jesse's "firsts", so we took a ton of pictures and Joshua and I so enjoyed seeing his reactions to everything. We even took him on his 1st ride....he loved it! I don't know about everyone else, but I LOVE going to amusement parks--something about being there just brings out the kid in you--don't ya think? Anyways, we had the best family day....I feel like we have stayed so busy lately, that it was nice just to get away and enjoy eachother....and we did. :)

Quick stop by Cracker Barrel for breakfast...yumo!

Jesse's 1st trip to Dollywood

Jesse in his souvenier hat from Memaw & Pepaw

We went to an afternoon show -- here are my sleepy boys!

Jesse & the girls!

On his 1st ride...the ducks!

Special Day

Yesterday (7/22) was a very special day because several important people in my life had something to celebrate!!

First off, one of my best friends from growing up, Sara, had her 31st b-day. Sara and I have known eachother since 2nd grade and we've always been the best of friends. Our families used to do everything together and we have so many fun memories of sleepovers, lip syncs to oldies music, amusement parks and the most fun was playing kick the can & hide & go seek in their cul-de-sac! I laugh whenever I think back at all the fun we've had over the years. Sara, you are so precious and dear to me!! I hope you had a wonderful b-day...thanks for being such a wonderful friend/sister! I love you. :)

My matron of honor!

Here we are with our boys! There are 4 boys between the two of us and she has 3 of them!! ;)

Next off, it was my wonderful mother-in-law & father-in-law's anniversary!! I have to say, that I am so blessed to have in-laws that love me the way that Sally & Pappy do. They are awesome!! And to celebrate their anniversary, they took me, Joshua, and Jesse out to dinner. :) HELLO...how in the world did that happen? Well, we certainly had a great time celebrating & eating Chinese. :) Sally & Pap, we love you so very much and hope you had a wonderful anniversary--and we wish you MANY, MANY more!!! Here's Jesse trying to sing a happy anniversary song to Sally last night. :) Enjoy!

My BFF Turns 30 Today!

Happy B-day to this AMAZING woman, Courtney Michelle Sweet!!! I have been priviledged to call her my best friend since BIRTH, and since I don't have a sister, she has always been that sister to me. Over the years, we have laughed together, cried together, fought together :), grown together, and I wouldn't change ANY of it! I love you, Court, and could not imagine my life without you in it. Have a HAPPY, HAPPY 30th! Can't wait to party with you in a few weeks!

My Little Jumper

I mentioned this in my blog before, but Jesse's new favorite thing to do is JUMP. I think he would do it for hours upon hours if I let him, and I could probably sit and watch him for hours too, but that would make me one HORRIBLE mother. haha ;) Anyways, Sunday morning, I was in the kitchen fixing him a bottle and he was absolutely going to town in that jumper...I was dying laughing inside, but didn't want to make any noise because I knew it would distract him. I grabbed my camera for you all to enjoy this adorable moment! Here's the little man in action....check out those dancing feet! :)

4th of July Weekend

Hope you all had a wonderful & safe 4th! As usual, we stayed really busy, but we had a great weekend with our family. Both Joshua and I didn't have to work on Friday, so we slept in until 7:30 AM (funny how that is what we call sleeping in) and then Jesse and I headed to the grocery store while Joshua worked in the yard. We were expecting some really special guests, so we had to get things in tip-top shape! Around lunch time, my dad and Pam arrived and we were sooooo excited to have them here. And I know they were excited to see us, but they were SUPER excited to see Jesse. haha They hadn't seen him since February, and they couldn't believe how much he had changed since then. They ate him up!! My brother (Uncle Brad), arrived around 3 PM, and him being here just made it that much more fun! We hung around the house and talked for most of the afternoon, then we all got ready and dad took us out to eat. We ended up @ Red Robin and I'm not sure if I was just really in the mood for a burger, but boy did it taste good! We had the best dinner and it was so refresthing to be with some of my family.

Saturday, the whole gang got up early and headed to Sally & Pappy's for a huge breakfast and then a fun day out on the lake. We love our days on the lake, but they always seems to go sooooooo fast. I guess we just enjoy not having anywhere we HAVE to be or anything we HAVE to do...we can just sit back, relax, and enjoy the water. Because we stay so busy, I really cherish days like that. Anyways, we had such a good day. Some of our best friends, Jen & David and their little boy, Eli, were able to join us as well and we always love having them there to hang out with...they're awesome. :) Jesse had a fun day too--Joshua got him in the water for the 1st time and it was hilarious watching his reaction. You can probably tell from the pic below, he had NO CLUE what to think. He's definitely gonna be an active little guy, so I'm sure he'll LOVE the water oneday here really soon. To finish our day, we came home, got our showers, and then to follow Damas tradition, we had a HUGE bowl of icecream and watched a movie. Well, actually, me, Joshua, and Bradley all fell asleep, but Dad & Pam enjoyed the movie. :) Fun 4th for us!











Dad & Pam left early Sunday AM and I was so sad to see them go. It's so nice to have special visits from your family, but my dad always says that short visits are the best because when you stay too long you start to smell like an old fish. haha I don't think so, but you can't argue with dad, you know. ;) Brad ended up going to church with us and then he had to head out of town right after the service. We spent the rest of the day back @ the lake and then came home that evening, watched a movie and then got ready for a busy work week. It was such a wonderful weekend--thanks, Dad, Pam, & B for coming to see us! We loved having you here and hope we'll be able to get together again really soon. We love you guys!

Cow Appreciation Day

Chick-fil-A's 5th Annual Cow Appreciation Day is this Friday, July 10, 2009. For all of you brave souls out there, if you will dress up like a cow and take a trip to a Chick-fil-A restaurant, they will give you a FREE MEAL! I don't know about you, but I think I can handle a little embarrassment for a free meal! ;)

Happy Boy

6 Month Check-Up

Praise the Lord, we've got a healthy, growing boy on our hands! We had Jesse's 6 month well visit @ Dr. Rob's on Friday and he weighed 16 pounds 8 oz and was 25 inches long. He was in the 25th percentile for his weight & height and then his head was in the 50% percentile. He has a big head!! haha Don't worry...I'll make sure we keep him in check! ;) Seriously though, we thank the Lord for his good health and do not take it for granted!

Jesse did great during his shots--he even got camo bandaids for being so brave!

Surprise Visitors!

We had such a nice surprise last week! My Nan called last Tuesday and said that her & Jim would be driving home from Oklahoma on Saturday and that they would love to make a quick stop through Knoxville if we didn't care...and of course, I was thrilled with that idea! They ended up getting into town on Sunday after church and then we headed to Sally & Pappy's for a wonderful lunch. We had planned on going out for a nice dinner, but we were all so stuffed from lunch that we had no room left. So, instead, we decided to hang out at the house, relax & enjoy eachother's company. We had such a wonderful time with them--they told lots of old stories and we laughed alot! I'm so happy they were able to come to TN and I know they really enjoyed being able to spend some good quality time with Jesse boy. Here are a few pics from the weekend & from their visit!

We love Sunday lunches @ Mammy & Pappy's house!

Hanging out with daddy

Daddy got ahold of Jesse's hair--I think he was going for the Fonzie look. ;)

Our wonderful, Nan!

Jesse & Jim


Poor boy got his 1st bruiser this weekend...can you see it? :( He's a tough one, that Jesse Lee!

Thanks again for coming to see us, Nan & Jim! We love you both so very much.