Busy as a Bee

What a summer it has been! Here are a few highlights to keep you in the loop.
In early June, we went to the Zoo! Chattanooga has a small zoo with a few prize exhibits. Their big claim to fame is Hank the chimpanzee and some of his chimpanzee friends. I'm not sure which one this is, but he was friendly. When I knocked on the window, he tapped back. He also made faces and screeched a little bit. That was kind of scary, but Mom and Dad screeched back and made me laugh, so it was ok. This is one of the white parrots at the Chattanooga Zoo. It didn't do much, but right after Mommy took this picture, it climbed into the corner of the cage and started making some noise that sounded like it was saying "HELP". It was really funny.

Here's me and Daddy checking out a peacock. We didn't get to see it in "all it's glory" as Mom says, but there were several of them and they just wander all over the place. One climbed out of the bird area and crossed the sidewalk right in front of us. Boy, let me tell you, peacock's are LOUD! They make this long call that sounds like "CAW". In case you were wondering, I have perfected this sound and do it on command. (It's so cute I'm going to use it the next time I'm in trouble to get me out of it!)

Aunt Audi's friend Grace came for a visit from Ohio. She has three little kids, Lucy, Roxy and Barrett. We went to Chuck E. Cheese and I spent almost the entire evening on this Bob the Builder bulldozer. I could care less about Bob the Builder, but I loved his 'dozer. I pretty much love anything that is related to construction equipment. Dump trucks are my favorite!One rainy Saturday, we were headed to church for something. As we turned in the parking lot, Mom spied a turtle trying to cross the road. When she was a little girl, Granny used to perform "Turtle Rescues" She would stop and move the turtle across the road in the direction it was headed or take it to the farm to let it go. So, Mom decided to carry on the tradition and we had our first turtle rescue! Mom picked it up and held it out the window as she drove up to the church. Then we got out on the sidewalk and checked it out. Mom said it has legs that come out of it's shell, but we only saw it's head. Then we tucked it into some really tall grass on the undeveloped part of the property and when we came out, it had gone on it's merry way. Gracie, or GG as I like to call her, turned 11 in June. She broke her foot right before school was out and had to have surgery, so she was in a cast and couldn't have a big party. We had a small family get together and went to the Station House at the Chattanooga Choo Choo for dinner. There is a live band and the waiters and waitresses take turns singing. It was really cool, loud but cool. they sang a special song to GG since it was her birthday, and there was cake! I go a little restless, as I am prone to do now days, so Daddy took me outside. I loved climbing on the train and pretending to drive. Chugga Chugga Choo Choo!

Inside the train, I was the perfect little engineer. I had so much fun pushing on things and pulling on levers acting like I was driving that big ole train....it was awesome.

GG also hit another milestone this year. She graduated from St. Nicholas and is now a middle school student. Mommy and Daddy keep saying how fast time flies and that she should still be a little girl calling him Dense and holding her arms up to Mommy saying "I want to hold you". Now she's a tall, beautiful young lady who has her own style and interests and will be driving before you know it. Congratulations GG, we are proud of you and we love you!

I caught my first lightening bug this year. Dad taught me how to look for them and we caught on in a jar. We took it out on the screen porch and looked at it for a long time. Then it flew out and into the kitchen before we could catch it. Mommy told Daddy to catch it again or perform a "service". (edited by mommy to say "service" is code for funeral at our house).

This is how you look for bugs...you squat down and look from side to side. Now I do it every time I get out of the car.

My favorite hat of the summer. It's a duck hat that Mom bought me to wear back at Easter, but if you turn it around, it looks a lot like a hard hat. Either way, it's my fave, and is never far away!

Splish Splash! I love the pool. I'm a regular fish.

I'm not afraid of anything, even going down the slide. It takes a village though, Daddy helps me up, Granny or Granddaddy or Audi and Bubba spot me on the way down and Mommy catches me at the bottom. Sometimes she lets me go under, sometimes she doesn't. I'm learning that it's ok to go under...just don't try to breathe while you're down there. Cough, Cough, Choke, Snort, Whoooo.

We didn't have big plans for the 4th, we got to go to two different fireworks, and they scared me a little. I decided it was ok as long as I was with Daddy or Granddaddy. This was just before the first round started and I had no idea what was coming. It was exciting!

During the week of the fourth, we spent a lot of time at Nanny's house. She got a new roof and that opened up several smaller projects that needed to be done. So, Granddaddy, Granny, Gingle and Steve spent countless hours at her house painting and doing general repair type stuff. Of course, I was needed to supervise, and just like any good supervisor I took my recreational equipment. Heaven knows I wasn't going to work. From this vantage point in the front yard, I could easily oversee all the projects going on in the carport.

I did take a break from lounging to clean up my truck. You have no idea what serious business it is to clean a dump truck. I gave it all I had!

Check out that belly! It is FULL of water. I usually have a very svelte figure...my pants won't stay up without a belt. I do love to drink out of the water hose! Sometimes, though, it squirts up over my head and just about drowns me. I don't know why my Mommy thinks it is so funny to see me blinking and snorting, but she gets a real kick out of it.

And then there's the story of the lizard. See it in my jar? Well, settle in for a knee slapper. One night, Mommy and Daddy and I were outside on the screen porch playing on my climbing house. Daddy was moving some things around and picking up the pillows I had thrown on the floor so he could open the door onto the deck. All of a sudden, something ran out from under the cushion on the chaise lounge. It was too big to be a bug! Mommy didn't scream, but she sure did scoop me up and take me inside. Well, she told Granny about it and the next day, when Granny came to get me, we went out there to look for the critter. Turns out there was a lizard enjoying Mom's chaise lounge. It ran up on the arm of the chaise and Granny told me to watch it. I stood right there so it didn't get away while Granny got a jar. She chased it down, pinned it with the broom and caught it in this jar. It was kind of green with a blue tail. I was terribly excited, and shook it really good in that jar so that I could see it from every angle. Granny and Mommy decided it didn't like being shaken because it just laid there on it's back not moving. So we took it out into the shady part of the yard and dumped it out. Then off we went on another adventure.

*edited by Mommy to say that services were performed that evening for said lizard. In the future, the lid on the jar will have holes and shaking will be kept to a minimum. Who knew lizards were so dainty?

I think that's all for now. As soon as Mommy gets the pictures off her camera, I will tell you all about our trip to the Creative Discovery Museum. There is a Curious George exhibit here for the summer and I love me some Curious George. I'm debating now....A Curious George birthday party or an Elmo birthday party. Big decisions ahead. I'll keep you posted.

Love ya!

Jax

Happy Birthday America!

Hi Everyone!

Just wanted to pop in and say Happy 4th of July!! I am working on a killer post that will get you up to date on all of the major fun things that have happened in the last couple of months. There's been birthdays, a trip to the zoo, swimming, going down the slide at the pool, a visit from Pops, Mother's Day, Father's Day, G.G.'s graduation, fireflies, lizards, feeding myself, dressing myself, time at Nanny's house...whoooo, I need a nap from just reminiscing!

Last night, July 2nd, we went to Collegedale for the fireworks. Now let me just say that Mom, whom I now call Mommy, has made me try to say "Happy Birthday America" at least 5647 times in the last week. I still can't say it. She has dressed me in red white and blue for four days straight and talked about these "fireworks" until I was ready to explode! (pun intended). So, last night we packed up Dad's (whom I now call Daddy) truck with chairs, my fire truck, some juice boxes and the camera and off we went. When we got there, Granny and Granddaddy had a great spot picked out for us and Granny had brought a flag just my size for me to wave.

We played a few minutes and then this great orchestra started playing really great music. Then, BOOM! What was that? BOOM! There it was again! BOOM! I'm not so sure about all this! BOOM! Daddy, Mommy, Granny, Granddaddy?!?! BOOM! Everytime there's a BOOM, the sky lights up! BOOM! It's kind of pretty though. BOOM!! Look at that one. BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! Whoa...cool! BOOM! Where's my firetruck? BOOM! I think I'd rather play in the gravel. BOOM!! BOOM!! BOOM!! I'm getting sleepy, it's way past my bed time. BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! It's the Grande Finale!! Mommy's face is lit up like the sky! She really loves this kind of stuff!

Suddenly, it was all over! Daddy scooped me up and buckled me in my seat as fast as lightening. Granny and Granddaddy threw the chairs in the back of the truck and didn't tie 'em down. Mommy yanked up my firetruck and tossed it in the backseat and jumped in the front. By the time Daddy got in, Mommy was buckled and Granddaddy's truck was on the roll with us right behind him. Boy! It was a loud evening that ended in a whirlwind, but all the way home, Mommy and Daddy kept talking about how great it was that it only took 15 minutes to get out of traffic. It's not like they learned to walk or get a fork from their plate to their mouth with food still on it!

Mommy has already added the pictures from this great American adventure in a slide show on the right of this post. She also has a list of where there are going to be more fireworks before the weekend is over, so be warned. Apparently, getting there early is not such a big deal, and there is no rush to get through the fireworks, but as soon as that Grande Finale goes off, LOOKOUT! The Fitches and Hatmakers don't waste time sittin' in traffic! I gotta scoot for now, Mommy will be suspicious that I have been quiet for so long, so I best go put her mind at ease by getting all of her tupperware bowls out of the cabinet and spreading them all over the kitchen.

Enjoy your 4th and your families!

Love,
Jax

Happy Father's Day

Happy Father's Day to my Daddy, Granddaddy and Pops! Hope ya'll have a great day!

Love you!!

Jax

Summer is Here

It's official! Summer begins this weekend and I am no longer a baby! I have experienced one of the rights of passage that every Southern baby must pass to become a Southern Boy. I have eaten my first BROWN COW! I would like to thank Mr. Scottie Mayfield of Mayfield Dairy and all the cows who contributed to this wonderful delicacy! Now you're craving one aren't ya? Go get a box or two and settle in for a long hot southern summer!

A Hunting We Will Go!

Mom apologizes for this being posted so late. For some reason, the blog site didn't want to upload my pictures, so she's just waited until it all worked!

I got to hunt eggs for the first time this year, and it was great! We went to Gingle's (Aunt Nelda's) house and had a great time!

We were celebrating Nanny's 88th Birthday, and Easter at the same time. The big kids had their own area of the yard for hunting eggs and I got to hunt in a smaller part of the yard all by myself. I found TWO eggs with $1.00 in them, and lots more that were all over the place. The Easter Bunny must have taken a long time to hide them all because there was certainly a basket full!

Hunting Eggs Is Hard Work!!

We skipped the big egg hunt at church this year because it was cold and damp. I wanted to go, but you know how Mom's are...it's too cold, it's too damp, you'll get a cold...blah blah blah. It really worked out well that we planned not to go though because we had a terrible storm the night before and it blew two trees down in our yard. Granddaddy and Daddy got them all cleaned up. Mom and Granny decided that the three of us had a date with the Eater Bunny at the mall, so off we went to have my picture made. When we got back, the power was still out and we got to go eat Mexican and spend the night at Granny and Granddaddy's house. So the morning of the egg hunt at church, we slept in and headed home loooooonnngggg after the egg hunt was over. Mom ran some errands (edited by Mom to say I had to help the Easter Bunny!). Then, we dyed eggs! It was so fun, and I got to play in the cups of color, then I got to take a bath! I love to take a bath! Mom took lots more pictures after my bath of me with my newly dyed eggs. The only bad thing about them is if you bang them around on the kitchen island, they break! Mom said, no big deal! We are not going to cry over cracked eggs!

WOW!

Amazing !!!!!!

I did that??

Mommy's Little Bunny

Cool Bunny!

Easter morning was a whirlwind. I was snoozing snuggly in my beddyby when Mom came in and woke me up! Off to church for the early service, then to the Mountain City Club for a fantastic Easter Buffet. There was french toast sticks, scrambled eggs, bacon, cheese grits, fried chicken, prime rib, turkey, ham, salmon, lamb, meatloaf, mac n cheese, mashed potatoes, green beans, broccoli casserole, and some other things I've forgotten. It all looked so good, and looked even better on me! I wouldn't eat a bite, but I did manage to have a bite of Mom's chocolate cake and some other goodies out of my diaper bag stash!

Aunt Audi, Uncle Bubba and Me!...keeping my eyes on that giant rabbit!

Family, and a Giant White Rabbit....not sure about that!

When we got home, the Easter Bunny had COME TO MY HOUSE!!!! He left me a basket full of things, a soft bunny to snuggle, some books, a tractor plate and cup and CANDY!

By the way, Daddy, where are my Jelly Beans? The only trouble I had was getting the grass from my basket off my feet. It just stuck like glue and wouldn't come off. Of course, a little guy couldn't get any help, just Mom and Dad laughing at me and taking pictures!

It was really neat, but I was really tired, so we loaded into Daddy's truck and went on a little road trip to a nursery to get some Spring plants. Mom's a blooming idiot...I mean Mom's an idiot over things that bloom. (Edited by Mom to say...I resemble that remark!). After we got home, I got into my Jammies and we headed to the farm for more Easter treats. There were these ginormous eggs in Granny's front yard...more than Daddy could carry! And, guess what....the Easter Bunny had been to Granny's house too! There was a water globe that plays music....but everytime I picked it up, Mama jumped up and followed me all over the place with her hands under it. There were three bunnies, two that played music, and one whose ears jumped and twitched! Candy of course, but I've been getting bits of chocolate for a couple of weeks now..yummy chocolate!! Whew, what a weekend! I had lot of fun and can't wait for the next holiday!

Do you ever wonder....

Do you ever wonder what I do to keep busy while Mom is doing things that have to be done around the house...you know, loading the dishwasher, starting a load of laundry, cleaning up leftovers from dinner? Well, tonight, she didn't do all of that, she only had a few dishes to load and then she was done. It was only about three bowls and a couple of spoons and one glass...not a whole load of dishes, not everything used to cook a gourmet meal, only a few things. So, she left me in the highchair right behind her with ONE girl scout Samoa cookie (my favorite in case anyone has a box or two they would like to donate). ONE cookie and this is what she turned around to find....
Needless to say, I got a BIG bath and clean jammies. I always figure out a way to get to play in water! Can't wait for summer so I can swim!!

Prayer Request

Hi Everyone. It's Mom again. I have posted a couple of buttons on Jax's blog for a couple of very sick little boys.

Jonah was born three weeks ago with a skin condition that causes him to have raw skin and blisters.

Stellan was born last summer, perfectly healthy after his parents were told he was suffering from a fatal heart condition and would not live outside the womb. Last week he got a cold and was having lots of trouble breathing. His parents took him to the emergency room and they gave him a couple of nebulizer treatments. He had a terrible reaction and his little heart is now back in SVT, the same condition he had inutero.

You can read all of their story by clicking on their respective buttons if you would like to know more about them and their families and their conditions. Both of these children have Godly parents who are trusting God with the life of their child.

I would ask you to pray for these boys. As a mom of a boy, I am convicted to pray as unceasingly as possible for my son and the other young men of his generation. These precious infant and toddler boys are the future leaders of our nation, our churches and our families. We desperately need boys who are raised to be God fearing and God loving men. Pray not only for the health of these boys, but for the strength, energy and faith of their parents. I CANNOT fathom, and pray I never have to, making the decisions these parents are facing in the midst of watching my precious boy suffering.

I am reminded, moment by moment, smile by toothy little smile how precious this time with Jax is, and what a gift he is! We are so blessed, even when it feels as if the rest of our "world" is crumbling around us. Please keep these boys in your prayers (and feel free to pray for my little guy too!)

Love you all!
Carie