Vertical Stripes, Please!

Chunky, soooo big, like a six-month-old, hasn't missed a meal, thunder thighs. Those are just a few of the words I've heard that are used to describe me. If the joy of eating is hereditary, then it was definitely inherited! I think people's judgments aren't fair, though. How is a little boy supposed to look his long, lean self if little boy onesies are only made with horizontal stripes. Haven't they heard that vertical stripes are more flattering?! The clothes make the mann, so I'll take some vertical stripes, please!

Jim-Jim

MY POOR BABY!

You may not know this, but my Jeep is one of my prized possessions. My truck and I have been through a lot together, and it's pretty high on my "love scale". Even so, yesterday's wreck was an amazing display of God's protection over us. The fact that a) Jim-Jim wasn't with us, b) nobody was hurt, and c) we were able to keep from hitting anyone else proves to me that God was watching over us!

Poor Justine. She did a wonderful job protecting us yesterday. I hope and pray that she comes out of this OK. She's been so good to me!


Update: Justine wasn't totalled! She's in the shop now, and we should get her back in about ten days or so. In the meantime, I've been given a behemoth Jeep Commander. I can't wait to get my girl home!

Rush Hour

I'm not talking about the movie, I'm talking about our lives. Jim and I were driving home from work during rush hour when a delivery truck to the left of us didn't see the cars in front of him slam on their brakes. The driver finally realized what was going on, and his course of action was to swerve into our lane. Unfortunately, we both didn't fit in the lane at the same time. He hit us on the driver's side and nearly spun us around.

Thanks to Jim's quick thinking and manuvering, he was able to pull us out of it. Let me tell you, there were about 5 moments after the truck hit us that I thought we were certainly going to flip over or end up in another lane that was full of cars! If any decision was made differently, this story would NOT have the same ending. If Jim had turned the wheel left instead of right, we undoubtedly would have flipped and taken a bunch of cars down with us. God had his angels watching over us and the other drivers on the road! Jim and I were talking about it after the adrenaline had finally simmered down, and we decided that the truck hitting us was probably the best thing that could have happened. At 60 mph, if the truck had slammed into the cars in front of him that had stopped, it would have caused a multiple car pile-up and many more serious injuries. Minus a little soreness, we're fine. When thinking about it that way, we don't mind taking one for the team!

The car was "drivable", and we made it home in time to get our other car and go pick up Jim-Jim from daycare. We are so thankful Jim-Jim wasn't with us when it happened as the truck hit his side of the vehicle. You no longer need to read the blog to keep up with the Manns, just watch the 5 o'clock news!

Things that make you go, "Hmmmm...."

The mind of an infant is pretty simple. Feed him, change him, love him...it's not complicated. Satisfy their basic needs, and they're content. The older Jim-Jim gets, the more complicated he has become, though. As he's grown, he's become more complex and is expressing a wider array of emotions. He's recognizing when we're not in the room, and he lets us in on his displeasure. He's also expressing excitement about things that are about to happen. I take Jim-Jim in the bathroom while Jim prepares the bath water, and the boy gets so excited I can barely contain him! He has recognized that running bath water means he gets to kick, kick, kick.

Jim-Jim is also developing better motor control, and this is leading to actions I just don't comprehend. We set Jim-Jim in his bouncy seat, and he constantly lifts his right leg in the air. Never his left, always his right! Is he working out his abs, needing to ask a question but didn't get the memo that you raise your HAND, requesting a pair of socks, or lifting his butt cheek so he can fart inconspicuously? Your guess is as good as mine! Maybe babies aren't that simple after all!

The sight of him...

Jim-Jim and I watched our first A&M game together on Saturday. I got a little overzealous and dressed my 3 month old son in a 12 month A&M outfit. I think Jim-Jim looks great in maroon, but his daddy has a differing opinion!

Jim: "It's just not right when the sight of my son makes me want to puke!"

There's a little history behind those words. He grew up in a world where LSU and A&M were rivals, so it goes against every fiber of his being to see his son with an A&M emblem on his chest. I think he looks great as an Aggie! You be the judge...
Jim-Jim didn't quite make it until the end of the game to see the Aggies win.

Nine

Our little motor boat loves nothing more than to kick, kick, kick! Bath time is one of our favorite times. It's something Jim-Jim and daddy do together that they both thoroughly enjoy. Jim-Jim is such a nut about playing in the water! He vacillates between being uber serious (as he is in the video) and cracking himself up while he's kicking. Watch out Michael Phelps!

Thank you Jim for your amazing editing skills! Jim-Jim thanks you as well for not displaying his man-parts for the world to see! You are absolutely brilliant, and I am extremely lucky to be married to a tech geek....I mean nerd...I mean geek:)

Kara

Oh, no he didn't!

Anthropomorphism is attributing human characteristics to an animal or inanimate objects. Jim-Jim isn't an animal nor is he inanimate, but he's not very adept at verbalizing his feelings and I sometimes find myself imagining what he's thinking. When I saw this scenario playing out, I heard Jim-Jim's voice (or what I imagine his voice would sound like:) saying, "Oh, no he didn't!"
And Lydia with the save...