Jack's First Trip!

Jack took his first trip to Houston last week and we had so much fun!  It was his "Houston Debut" and he met lots of people, went lots of places, and he was such an angel for all the new people he met!  Jack and I spent a couple of nights with Honey and Big John and then Garrett flew in and we all spent a few nights in Katy with Gigi and Pops.  Jack spent his first Halloween in Houston (pictures and post to come), and we had a great time!   We took tons of pictures, and here are a few of our favorites...

Jack visiting Honey at the Office of George Bush.  Everyone loved seeing him!! 

Jack met his great grandparents, Big Roy and Elsa, but he had a hard time staying awake!

These are my cousins, Gray and Ryan, and they LOVED Jack.  Gray is almost three years old and he absolutely adored Jack.  We had to continuously remind him to not touch Jack's face.  We can't wait to see Gray, Ryan, and the rest of the Horlock family over Thanksgiving!  

Jack's smiling at his beautiful Aunt Jessica!

Uncle Gray loves Jack, but he's afraid of baby spit up and poop...we're just trying to prepare him for the six kids Aunt Jessica wants to have!

Jack with his other great grandfather, Tom Tom.  We loved having lunch with Tom Tom and Gran!

Jack had so much fun meeting his mommy's friend, Melissa, that he had to yawn because they wore him out with all their talking!

Jack met his great grandmother, Grandma Griffin.  He was such an angel and I think she thought he was pretty great!

Four generations of Griffins!!

Jack met the Gore family (minus Griffin), and he loved meeting them!!

Our sweet friends, Carl and Veronica Gillette, came all the way out to Katy to meet our little guy and their little girl Leigh was very curious about baby Jack!

Uncle Dallas loves his nephew, and Jack just stared at his uncle...maybe Jack will learn to play football from his uncle Dallas!

Jack had so much fun meeting all of Gigi and Pops' friends that he couldn't stay awake!  Doesn't our little baby look so big?! 

Our little family of three (except for Lucky, who had to stay in Dallas!)

Jack was pooped from all the excitement, but we had a great time!

Jack's Newest Friends

Last weekend we were so excited to finally meet our friends Daniel and Jean's little girls, Emma and Claire.  These are the most precious twin girls and they are only about six weeks older than Jack.  The Irvings were in Dallas for SMU homecoming and we were so thankful that they could come see us (and meet Jack!) on their way back to Houston.  Emma and Claire are the most laid back little girls and it was so fun to see these feminine little beauties next to our boyish little chunk! Garrett and Daniel grew up together and it's pretty amazing that the Lord would have them raising kids so close together.  Daniel was so sweet to pray for us over the phone the morning Jack was born and we are so thankful for our friendship with the Irvings.  We're hoping for many more play dates and family gatherings as our kids change and grow and as we grow as parents of these precious angels. 

 Emma and Jack laying with their heads together.  We're hoping for a love connection in the future!:)  

I see sparks already!  

 Claire, Jack, and Emma...I love this picture because Emma and Claire are looking at their mommy taking a picture and Jack is looking at his daddy taking a picture.  These babies definitely know their parents!  How sweet are they with their arms and hands on each other?! 

Little Thumb Sucker

Well, I think it is official...Jack Griffin is a thumb sucker.  Every time he gets a chance (and can find his thumb), it's in his mouth.  I was looking through pictures of the day Jack was born, and I realized that he has been a thumb sucker since day one.  See the picture below of his thumb sucking at the hospital.  Tummy time has turned into "find my thumb so I can suck it" time.  Jack was laying on his Baby Einstein play mat the other day and I was in the kitchen doing the dishes.  I could hear him cooing and making noises and then it got very quiet.  When I went to see what our little man was doing, there he was contently sucking his thumb. 

At this point, Jack can only find his thumb when he's laying on his tummy or being held against someone's chest.  It's difficult when he's sitting up because he can't get that hand close enough to his mouth...I'm sure once he figures out where his hand is, that thumb will be in the mouth.  I love that Jack can soothe himself with his thumb and we don't always have to worry about putting a pacifier back in his mouth, but is he going to be one of those kids who is still sucking away on the first day of kindergarten?!  Am I going to be one of those mothers who asks the teacher to help her child stop sucking his thumb?  Will we be putting nail polish and pepper and gross stuff on his thumb to help him break the habit when he's eight years old?  I guess that only time will tell and right now I'm celebrating the fact that I have a two month old who is able to soothe himself with his cute little thumb.  Here's the cutest little thumb sucker in action!

Here's Jack on the day he was born, sucking away in the nursery.  He figured out how to soothe himself when he was only a few hours old...

 

 

Jack's Buddy

We are so blessed to have so many friends who have babies close to Jack's age.  He will have lots of little friends to play with and lots of them are little boys!  Here's Jack with his newest buddy, Baxter Manley.  His parents are our sweet friends, Kyle and Megan, and we are so excited to have such great friends raising a little boy at the same time we are.  Baxter is six weeks younger than Jack and I'm sure they have many play dates ahead of them!  Proud daddies, Kyle and Garrett, are showing off their baby boys, and just in case we forget their names, their onesies say "Baxter" and "Jack."  Aren't they the cutest little boys in the world?!

Happy Jack!

Jack is now six and a half weeks old and he has started giving us these adorable smiles, laughs, giggles, and coos more and more every day.  He especially loves it when we sing to him!  His favorites are Jesus Loves Me, Old MacDonald, and Father Abraham.  This morning Jack couldn't stop smiling and laughing at his Daddy while he sang Father Abraham. 

My Sweet Boys

My two sweet boys surprised me today with a little mommy present.  Garrett said it was my belated "push" present (although I never pushed, Jack was "pulled" out of my tummy instead!).  Jack wanted me to know how much he loves his mommy.  This was the cute little surprise I saw when I walked into the living room this morning..I can't resist this precious little boy!!

 

Notice the little blue box by Jack...his daddy did a good job!  I feel so loved by both of my boys!  

A Few Firsts

Jack had many "firsts" last week, so here they are!

 Jack went to the Texas State Fair for the first time in his life and here he is experiencing his first Fletcher's corny dog.  He was so thrilled about the whole experience that he slept the whole time we were there!

Next, Jack met his Great Grandparents for the first time!  Here he is with Tom Tom and Gran.  He was especially thrilled to meet Tom Tom because he got his name Jackson from Tom Tom, whose name is Thomas Jackson.  We can't wait to see Tom Tom and Gran again soon!

The next night Jack got to experience his first football game!  We went to see my cousin, Matt, play in his Flower Mound High School game at SMU.  Jack loved being in the Baby Bjorn with Daddy!  

On Sunday afternoon, Jack took his first trip to the Pumpkin Patch.   We went to the Dallas Arboretum with Anna and Andrew and had so much fun enjoying the beautiful fall weather!  Jack had a hard time staying awake the whole time!