Happy Fourth of July AND 5 Months!!

We celebrated the fourth of July early this year because I have to work a night shift (6 pm - 3 am) on the night of the Fourth :(

We grilled out burgers and ate potato salad, deviled eggs and corn casserole (only once I was making those things did I realize they are all the same color- oops) Jackson also got to join in dinner with us- he had rice cereal for the first time and really seemed to like it :)

Bath time after rice cereal....

The Fourth was also J's 5 month birthday so I got some cute shots of him out in the yard.
5 month stats: 18 lbs, 27 inches long

He promptly had a blowout while in the Bumbo after the above shot. This is the 3rd time he has had a blowout in this outfit and he has only worn it 4 times! Note poop stain in below shot :/

We also had pooltime this weekend...not very successfully at first as the water was way too cold (as you can see, in my pictures he never actually is IN the water)! But today (no pictures since I was by myself) the water got warmed up and he sat and splashed.

Como Zoo

Jackson had his first trip to the zoo today. We went up to St. Paul and went to the Como Zoo. I had heard great reviews about it and it's free so we thought we would try it out first. I LOVE zoos!


We went to Punch Pizza first which was delicious!



Then we headed over to the zoo and after at least 30 minutes of circling we were able to find parking. By the end of our walk to the zoo, this is how J looked:


And when I uncovered his face....


This guy was watching everybody that was watching him with what looked like a smile on his face



Como Zoo also has a conservatory which was gorgeous!





The Japanese Garden was beautiful!


J woke up halfway through our walk through the garden




On our walk back to our parking space, we stopped for ice cream and cold drinks at a cute little cafe called Java Train. Daddy enjoyed tickling J's toes and J attempted to eat his Daddy's fingers

June Fun!

The weather has been so beautiful here that we took a trip up the the park in our neighborhood and put J in the swing for the first time :)

He was a little small for the seat but held on tight!

J has a had a bit of a diaper rash lately so we have been doing naked naptime to get a little air around his tush. Obviously since he's a boy, we have to protect his surroundings ;)

Mommy made this for me and then made me wear it!

I found my feet!

My Baby Einstein floor gym wears me out!

Vacation to Tennessee

We had a great trip home during the last week of May. We got to spend a lot more time with family and church friends, have J dedicated at our home church (previous post) and have family pictures done (can be seen here: http://jennifercrookphotography.com/blog/)

Here are some of our shots though:

You have to be prepared for anything when going on a walk around the farm :)
(especially when you inherit your mommy's complexion)

Baby calves like to lick baby toes

Visiting Aunt Rachael at work

Aunt Rachael has a hand up on favorite aunt since she rides a tractor!

Uncle Mack is pretty cool too

Naps with Queenie

Visiting Great-Great Aunt Mary!

Uncle Chuck's uniform was absolutely fascinating- so shiny!

Playing with Great Aunt Linda

Hanging out with Memaw

June brought 2 weeks with Aunt Beenie (yea!!) while Del was away and a new gift from Queenie- a jumperoo!

First time in the jumperoo- little unsure

Mommy's textbooks put to good use :)

Sorry for the gap in blogging....my computer had to go to Wisconsin with Del when he had orientation and returned a lot slower than it left :(

Anyway. Friday we had a retreat with my classmates at the Eagle Bluff Environmental Center. We were supposed to have done this as interns together but I am so glad that we got to do it now since we know each other so much more and got to really enjoy hanging out together.

My friends Molly and Angie recreating a photo from intern year

Me on the high ropes course (hardest thing I have ever done since I have a fear of heights)

The PGY2 (almost 3!) class with 3 faculty members and chief resident)

Later that night Del and I took J to his first baseball game (Rochester Honkers) with the Mayo Fellows Association

Del and J at the game

J with the mascot, Slider (pretty much more interested in his feet being that close to his face)

Molly, Paul, Del and J at the game