2 months!

My little man was 2 months old on December 4th! I cannot believe how fast he is growing and how in love I am with him. We were going to put him in the chair and have him in his white onesie to take this picture but his daddy didn't want to bother him so we just propped the sticker on his chest. Isn't he adorable??
Jude, this month you have experienced a lot! You had your first Thanksgiving and met all of you mama and daddy's family. You picked out your first Christmas Tree and started smiling all the time. You LOVE to eat and are eating about every 2 to 3 hours. You had to go to the emergency room this month because of your tummy. They put you on prevacid for acid reflux and you are much better. You weighed 10.8 pounds at your two month check up and you are growing faster than average :). You got your first set of shots at two months and I don't know who cried harder you or your mommy! I was heartbroken and wanted to hurt that nurse (even though she did a great job). I have learned what love really is and I spoil you daily. You smile at me every morning and you just stare at daddy. You still LOVE bathtime and we bathe you every night. Here are some pictures of your 2nd month.
Sitting in my Daddy's lap! How cute am I?

With my Great-Great-Grandaddy Jones! He is 93 and still brings me fresh vegetables from his garden.

My first Christmas Tree! It is 10 and 1/2 feet tall. Once Mama decorated it I LOVED the lights.

Me at Thanksgiving. I loved all the attention and my Nana loved showing me off.

Mommy and Daddy with me at my first Rhodes' Thanksgiving.

My Bogey loves me and watches over me all the time.

I was dedicated to the church this month too! Whew I was busy.

I am enjoying spending every waking moment with my little man and I have spoiled him rotten. I can't wait until Christmas!

Great and Easy recipes!

Thanks to pinterest, I have found numerous new recipes to try! So far I have cooked 3 new recipes and I LOVED 2 of them (they are added to our meal rotation). For those of you who do not know my husband, he is EXTREMELY picky when it comes to food so I can't get too crazy. Here are two recipes that we both loved.

White Chicken Enchiladas-AMAZING This is a very easy recipe and can be found here: http://joyful-mommas-kitchen.blogspot.com/2011/09/white-chicken-enchiladas.html.

And cheddar chicken!
This recipe can be made in a "skinny" version too, find it here: http://jamiecooksitup.blogspot.com/2011/10/crispy-cheddar-chicken.html

One month!

Today Jude is one month old! I am wanting to blog to him on every milestone so here it goes!
This is you at one month old! We ordered your stickers from etsy and they are precious. You are growing so fast and have quickly gone from 5 lbs 12 ounces to 7 pounds 8 ounces. You are staying awake a lot more during the day but still not sleeping much at night unless I put you in bed with me (which goes against all doctors orders). You are really starting to notice your surroundings and are making lots of noise. You are a pretty happy baby and I could not be more in love. Here you are at 3 and 1/2 weeks with your Nana. She loves you dearly and drives out here a few nights a week just to bathe you. You already have her wrapped around your little finger. She talks to you non stop and loves watching you have your "tummy time." She talks about how smart you are already! :)

This is you and Abbey Grace at 3 weeks. She loves you so much and calls you "her baby." She wants to hold you all the time and gets mad when someone else holds you. She wants to buy you all kinds of toys and presents and said she will babysit whenever I need her too (he he).

This is you at 1 and 1/2 weeks, you still have your umbilical cord stump. You LOVE the bath. We get one every night at 9 o'clock and you love it. It calms you down for bedtime. You HATE getting out of the bath and lotion time. I am hoping you will grow out of that but you are pretty funny when you are mad.

Daddy and I don't know what we did before you. We surely did not know we could love something this little so much. We eat lunch with Mama Judy and Daddy Rich everyday and they think you hung the moon. You are one loved little boy.

Jude's first pictures

I am very lucky that one of my good friends is a photographer. She came to visit Jude when he was 10 days old and took some pictures. Here are some of the pictures she took of my sweet baby boy.

He always has his hand propped by his face when he sleeps.

Oh I could just eat him up! I love him more and more every day and I am so proud to be his mommy. He is changing daily and I cannot wait to see what his little personality will be like. He will be 3 weeks old tomorrow and I started my workouts today. I am a little ashamed to admit this but I have 30 pounds left to lose!! I gained 50 pounds WOW! I am hoping that if I blog about my weight loss I will be more accountable. Though I will say every pound was worth it for this little booger. Stay tuned for more precious pictures...:)

It's a BOY!!

These are a hodgepodege of pics but I just wanted to get some up! Jude Ellis Rhodes was born on Tuesday, October 4 at 3:49 in the afternoon. He was 5 pounds and 12 ounces. I must say, there is no greater feeling in the world than being a mother. Here he is right after being born with his Daddy. Can you tell he was excited?? Hey Jude! Ain't he so cute??

Mommy and Jude.

His first day home!

More pictures to come soon!

Baby Rhodes....almost here!!

Just a quick post to let you guys know that baby Rhodes is almost here!! I was in hospital yesterday and Dr. said it could be this weekend or it could be 2 weeks. I am hoping more for this weekend because boy am I miserable. Can't wait to post sweet pictures of our little boy or girl. Say lots of prayers that it makes its appearance before Monday.

Lots of love,
One tired mommy to be!

The Best friends EVER!

This past weekend some of my best girlfriends threw me a baby shower and it could not have been more perfect. The theme was "ice cream sundae" and it was the most adorable thing I have ever seen! I had a great turn out and this little baby is already so spoiled. Hollie Hill is going to post some pictures of the shower tomorrow and I will post later. This party was her brainchild and I can not thank her enough. I think she should become a party planner!! Thanks so much girls! I LOVE YA'LL!!

Nursery Before

I have been slacking in the blog world here lately, but with school starting I have not had time to breathe! Here are the before pictures of our nursery room....I will post after pics tomorrow! Shane was using it as his man room/junk room.

Yes this is the closet! The woolly thing hanging is shane's duck hunting suit.

I am so embarrassed.

Starting to get organized.

Stay tuned to see after pics...you won't believe it!

Beach Summer 2011

So far my summer has been full of beach trips.....not complaining about the beach only the beach body! Here we are in Madeira Beach at John's Pass. Shane is so excited about this baby. 27 week bump....or entity or whatever you want to call it! I am definitely not the cute pregnant girl that only gains in her belly, I have gained EVERYWHERE.

Me with my mother and sister, they are both so excited.

Hope this picture doesn't offend anyone. This was taken this week at Daytona Beach with Shane's family. They have a place there and have been going every year since he was a child. He took this picture so we can show the baby its first trip to Daytona. I am 30 weeks.

Side view, the water makes it look a lot smaller from the side!

Shane wanted me to put this picture up because its his proof that I am giving the baby melanoma..he is not right. He does not like for me to tan my belly because he is scared its hurting the baby, he is so cute. We are counting down the days. I have 70 days left until my sweet baby is due.

Stay tuned..I will post pictures of my newly re-done nursery tomorrow!

11 Weeks left...and still no nursery!

I finally buckled down and ordered a crib! There are so many options and such a variety of prices. I finally decided on the Graco Sarah Crib. This crib is found at target and is actually really cheap. The safety ratings and customer satisfaction reviews are wonderful so I thought....why not save something here and splurge on something else! I love the simplicity of it. Now its time to decide on paint colors for the nursery...I am thinking I like this one the best its Sherwin Williams China Doll.

But these are some I like too.....opinions please!!!

Oyster Bar

Lattice
Oyster White

The nursery will be getting new flooring, chair rail, crown moulding, and a paint job next week so any opinions on paint are greatly appreciated! If you know of any colors you like just let me know. I can't wait to post before and after pics (the nursery has been Shane's junk room). Now we are off to get our 3D/4D ultrasound!

I ordered the baby bedding!

While looking through ETSY the other day I found a shop that made baby bedding. After torturing myself and Hollie (and Wesley too) we finally decided on some fabrics. This is Joel Deweberry fabric in modern meadow. I am doing the crib skirt in fabric 1. The bumper in fabric 7, with the trim in 9, and ties in 11. The curtains will be just like fabric 5, except a green background with white cross things. One pillow will be in fabric 3 and a bolster pillow in fabric 5. Oh I can't wait to see it! If you are looking for anything custom from ETSY look at Hush Baby Co. they are awesome. And I know this is all blue and green but that is not a hint! The sex of the baby is still up in the air.....poor thing I have to call it IT!

From the field to the store.....WATERMELON SEASON!

With the 4th of July coming up I hope all of you are stocking up on your Farm-Wey Southern Sweet Watermelons (they came from our farm!). I just wanted to show you how the watermelons go from the field to your home!

Here are the stacked bins of watermelons on our floor waiting to get picked up by one of the chain stores (Whole Foods, Wal-Mart, Sams, Harris Teeter, Publix, or Kroger).
Once they are picked in the field they bring them to the packing shed and unload them on this belt.

From there, people on the line "grade" them. They determine what size they are, if they are good enough to go to stores, place stickers on them, and put them in boxes. The bad ones go bye bye here!

Once the box is full the fork lift drivers pick them up and stack them according to what size they are. You have 29's, 36's, 45's , and 60's. The smaller the number, the bigger that watermelon. 29's are seeded and the rest are seedless.

Now they wait to be picked up, delivered to the store, and taken home by YOU!

Hope you have enjoyed some sweet Georgia Watermelon this season! Happy 4th!

Why did I go to the beach with a Model??

My weekend was spent with a great friend in St. Simons. We had a blast just relaxing, eating, and catching up. Here was our view for 2 days. This is what I had to lay beside for 2 days... She has 2 kids and still has the perfect body! What was I thinking going to the beach with her at 23 weeks pregnant?

Each day we would eat breakfast and then go to Larry's Giant Subs and pick up lunch. We would pack everything up and take it to the beach. We sat on the beach ALL day and caught up. It has been a year and a half since we have seen each other so we had plenty of talking to do! The first night we went to catch 228. The second night we went to CrabDaddy's and enjoyed it so much we went back Sunday night too. We had the sauteed scallops for appetizer, their amazing bread and salad, split the shrimp and grits, and then split the bread pudding (both nights). It was amazing! This is us at dinner.

Here is a belly pic! I am 23 weeks pregnant (5 months 3 weeks). This baby is moving ALL the time and it is so awesome to feel a little human inside of you. I have gained 23 pounds....yeah I am a fatty but not much I can do about it now!! I will just be psycho mom when this baby gets here.

Hope you all have a great week!