The holidays are here...

The holidays are here and it's officially your first Christmas baby boy.

I remember Christmas last year. All I could think of was how Christmas would be once you were here. How we would be able to share family traditions with you. How we would put ornaments on the tree together. How much I couldn't wait to watch you tear open your gifts and eventually write your letters to Santa. There's so much to look forward to. It's such a gift.

Although we're moving and have boxes every where, mama couldn't let this Christmas go by without putting up a Christmas tree for you. You absolutely loved it. You were touching the tree branches, you loved all the glitter on the ornaments and the lights completely amazed you. They truly made you smile. It was the sweetest thing to see.

You're getting so big Jaxie. You said your first word this week and guess what it was... DA-DA! I thought it was just a sound at first but you kept saying it over and over while staring at your daddy so you made it pretty official.

I know I always say this but you're truly the sweetest baby Jax. You melt my heart EVERY SINGLE DAY! I love you so so so so much.

Moving day is almost here. I'm so excited for you to have your own room and to have the chance to experience these new surroundings. I really think you're going to love it. I think we all are.

I love you baby boy.

xo, mama

Happy Half Birthday Jaxie!

 Happy Half birthday my love!

 Wowie, I can't believe your already six months old. I feel like we just brought you home yesterday and you looked like this. A teeny baby, born at 37 weeks.

 You do so much now Jaxie. You're playing with toys while laying on your belly. You're trying to sit on your own. You're always laughing, smiling and now you're always trying to talk. It's the sweetest thing to hear. You love watching Curious George, Thomas the Train (you're watching that right now as mama types this post), Daniel Tiger and Dinosaur Train! You even love watching Basketball and Football. We've gone to see your Uncle Cameron play at his basketball games and you love watching him. You follow the kids running back and forth down the court. You're so alert and attentive.

 You love to read books. You love looking at colors, patterns and shapes. Your intrigued by everything. It's amazing. Just shows us how smart you already are and how smart you're going to be.

 Next month we're moving to North Carolina. It's a very exciting time and mama and papa are super excited that you will have your own room and even your own bathroom!! We can't wait to see you playing in your room and pretty soon crawling all around our home.

 We love you so much baby boy.

 xo, mama

Five Months...

 

 Jaxie you keep your mama VERY busy so I haven't gotten to post your five month photo but here it is! 

 You're growing so quickly. You're such a happy baby. Full of so much love and joy.

 Mama loves you.

 xo, mama

Four Months...

Better late then never!

I forgot to post my angels 4 month picture. OMG. He's getting SO big. He's almost 5 months. He starting eating solids this month! He lovessss to eat!

Ohhh I would write more but lil' Jaxie is calling for his mama.

xo, mama

My world...

My son. My heart. My everything.

This is love on a complete different level. I never thought I could love like this.

Some people have goals, passions and dreams... But I have HIM. He is the reason I strive to be a better person. He is what pushes me. He was my dream and now my beautiful reality.

xo, mama

First Immunization...

 

 My baby boy had his first immunization on Monday, August 18th. I honestly think I was more scared then he was. He didn't even cry! 

 I thought I would have a cranky baby on my hands for the rest of the day but instead I had this right here instead. Smiles! I always have smiles!!

 Jaxie you are just the sweetest baby I have ever known.

 Love you.

 xo, mama

Three Months...

I'm 3 months old today!

I'm getting so big. I'm starting to teeth and I'm trying to talk more and more everyday.

You giggled in your sleep the other night. It was absolutely adorable! I can't wait until you giggle when I tickle you!!!

Love you Jaxie!!

xo, mama

Sir Smiles A lot...

 Ohhh baby boy there isn't a day where you don't smile or make me smile for that matter. You light up a room with that gorgeous smile of yours.

 I hope you smile like this every day for years and years to come.

 Love you with all my heart boo boo! Yup mama called you boo boo. Hehehe.

 xo, mama

God Bless You...

 My angel. You were baptized on July 27, 2014.

 All of your family was there to share this special day with us. It was wonderful. Your papa and I chose Cici and Tony to be your Godparents. They're great people and beautiful hearts. We know that they will always look after you and always be there for you with open arms.

 

 God bless you always Jackie.

 xo, mama

Really?!

 I can't believe how fast time is moving.

 Here's Jax's 2 month photo and his 3 month photo is being taken next week!!! Ohhh no baby boy slow downnnn. Mama doesn't want to give up her cuddly baby just quite yet. Just look at how much you've grown from your 1 month photo to you 2 month photo!

 You're such a happy baby. Always smiling and trying to talk. It's absolutely adorable. You're such a loving baby boy too. You're always cuddling your mama at night. You actually hold my finger to fall asleep every single day. It's priceless.

 Mama and Papa love you SO much. In fact, EVERYONE loves you SO much. You're so loved and that will never change.

  xo, mama

8 weeks old...

 Slow down my love. Slow down. 

 You're growing up so quickly. I can't believe you're 8 weeks already. I feel like I just had you yesterday. 

 You make me smile every day. You are my everything. In 8 weeks you've brought a joy to our lives that we've never known. 

  Love you Jackie boy.

  xo, mama

Our blessing... Jackson Ryan

 And he's here.

 Jackson Ryan was born on May 13, 2014 at 6:35am. He was 6 pounds 7 ounces.

 It was far from an easy birth, 29 hours of labor and a c-section later BUT this incredible little boy is what came out of all those sweat and tears so it was totally worth it.

 Here are a couple of photos from Jax's newborn photo shoot courtesy of Sweet Born Photography.

 

 

 My sweet, sweet baby boy.

 I love him so much.

 xo, Tai

Our Sweet Maternity Photo shoot...

 I couldn't have asked for more beautiful photos.

 Our photographer Jennifer at Sweet Born Photography is absolutely amazing. She captured everything we had hoped for and so much more!!

 We had such a fun time capturing these moments so that Jackson can see what his mama looked like when he was growing inside of my belly. 

 Sweet moments we will forever cherish. I can't wait to see the rest of the photos.

 I can't believe I'll be 34 weeks on Sunday and only have 47 more days to go until my due date. It's so exciting. We truly cannot wait to meet our sweet baby boy.

 This has been one incredible journey. Your story of creation Jax is truly one of a kind. You're a gift from the good Lord. Our blessing. Our miracle. We love you SO much.

 xo, mama

Baby Shower Blessings...

 So we had our baby shower!

 It was a beautiful day and a very special celebration. 

 Jackson isn't even here yet and I can't explain how truly loved this little boy is. He's so blessed and so are we.

 We were so happy and grateful to have all of our family and dearest friends there to celebrate with us. 

 A very special celebration that we will always cherish.

 Thank you to EVERYONE that made it there to celebrate our miracle.

 xo, Tai

Twenty Six Weeks...

 I haven't been doing so good with keeping photos of the progress through my pregnancy. I swore I was going to take a photo every week. Boyyy was I wrong. Who has time or energy for that? I sure don't and haven't. So I'm trying my best to capture my growing belly at least for the remainder of my pregnancy.

 Here I am at 26 and a half weeks (I'm 28 weeks this Sunday 3/16).

 xo, Tai

Preparing...

 So the preparing continues...

 This weekend Eric and I went through all of Jax's clothing, blankies, bibs, etc. to get a head count of what we have and what we still actually need. I started washing all of Jax's clothes but only got half way through (he's got a wardrobe just like his papa)!

 I love getting ready for Jax's arrival. My baby shower is around the corner as well so I'm really looking forward to it. I love getting things for Jax. I want to give my lil' boy the world and I'll do everything necessary to do that.

 This weekend the prep continues. More laundry, organizing and all the fun stuff in between.

xo, Tai

Thinking about you...

 I think about you all the time Jax.

 When I wake, during the day, at night and in my dreams. 

 Papa and I just cannot wait to meet you. Last night we had some good laughs feeling you moving around in mama's belly. Your daddy was messing with yah' poking you back when you would poke him. We haven't met you yet but we feel like we already know you and your personality. 

 You're one special lil' boy and you're not even here yet. You're so strong and have been fighting your way to us since the day you were transferred to mama's womb. You're a true blessing and we love you SO much.

 xo, mama

And I'm back...

 Boy did I miss blogging. It's my creative outlet, it's my way to soul seek, live colorfully and it's a hobby I definitely need to stick with.

 So where do I start?!! Boyyyy has SO much happened in the last year but I guess I should just dive right in. 

 For those of you who don't know my story or past struggles you can read about them here. This was a blog I was writing on to talk about my journey through IVF and our struggles to have a baby. It was a super fast and extremely intense journey, one I would not recommend for the soft hearted but our IVF journey came with an incredible ending or rather a new beginning... WE'RE HAVING A BABY! The blood, sweat, tears, money and everything else we went through was beyond worth. God has been gracious and has truly blessed us.

 We're having a little boy which is what inspired my new blogs name, Loving Jax. This will be my place to write about and too my son. My place to be creative. My place to be colorful. My place to document life. There's something I love about having the ability to go back and see how far you've come. To have a place to write about it all. A place to see all you have to be grateful for, even those bad days. 

 This week I've officially kicked off my 3rd trimester. Jackson is growing healthy, strong and beautiful. He's very active and moves around in mamas belly all day long. I will admit it does hurt sometimes but I love every moment of it. It's a priceless feeling, one so difficult to use words to describe. I love to stare at my belly and watch him move. It's even better staring at his papa, seeing his reaction when he sees or feels him move. I tell you, I feel so bless. 

 We're anxiously awaiting his arrival. We still have 2 months to go but we're sooooo ready to kiss and love our lil' guy. I have my beloved glucose test on Friday. I can't wait to drink that amazing tasting liquid (yea right, yuckkkkk). We'll also be taking a look to see where my placenta is. Right now I have a condition called Placenta Previa. This is a condition where your placenta covers your cervix opening which makes natural birth pretty much impossible. Your placenta should move as the womb stretches and grows but in my case it hasn't. There are 3 different forms of placenta previa. Marginal, partial and complete. I have complete. Nearly all women with this condition need a c-section. It's definitely a scary condition to have and I'm of course very scared but I'm just taking things one day at a time and remaining VERY positive. Jax is healthy, he has past every test he's be given and he's growing just as he should. Those are ALL things to be very happy and grateful about so that's what I choose to focus on. 

 So on we go... 

 xo, Tai