He's 6 Months Old Already!!!

Our little boy just passed his 6 month mark! Where does the time go?? Parenthood has been such a pleasant surprise to Jason and I both! I always feared having my own kids because of cost, the responsibility, having another human being that depends completely on me to take care of him, many things that can make being a parent terrifying...but I have to admit I love every minute of it! For those of you that know me well know I am extremely sarcastic and rarely get sentimental but here it goes ha-ha! Justin brings so much happiness and entertainment to our lives I just never imagined being a Mom would be this much fun! He is such a happy and fun baby it's impossible not to love that chubby little face! As Mother's Day is nearing it's made me think a lot about it and our life we have with Justin. It is the most rewarding thing I've ever done and it is the coolest thing watching him and grow and develop. It's amazing how fast they learn and pick up on things. He is a gift. Ok...I'm done! :) Justin went to the Dr. yesterday for his 6 month check up and he weighed in at 21 lbs. 11 oz. and is 27 in long! Yes, he is a little on the big side for his age but he is healthy! His Dr. said now that he is getting more active he will start to even out and slow down on the weight gain. Here are some pictures of Justin over the last month or so! We love you "Bubba!"

Last Friday 8 of my nieces and nephews slept over so here are just a few pictures of them having a play date in Justin's room! It was a mad house but all of the kids had a blast!


Here is Jaxon, "Lainer", and Justin

All of the kids loved Justin's rocking horse!

Emily...she's so cute!

Here is Justin with his other partner in crime Jaxon!

Snap shot of me and my sister Jana we took in between getting our family pictures done.

Justin and a bunch of his cousins went to Bear Park by my Mom's house one afternoon and here is just a few pictures of that!

Justin had a great time! He liked the slides and the swings!

I love this picture of these two, they're so sweet!

Here is Justin with his cousin Stephie...I think he got caught by some wind ha-ha!

I took this picture one morning, I was getting ready for the day and I could hear Justin just talking away so I peaked in our room to see what he was doing and he had rolled over and was kissing/drooling all over Jason's face trying to wake him up, it was so cute!

A couple Sunday's ago we went for a walk through Murray Park, Justin is so curious of everything he loves being outside...he's usually wide eyed the whole time checking everything out. He loves color and noise so the outdoors is a great place for him!

I put my nephew Dylan's cowboy hat on him and surprisingly he doesn't mind hats! I took his picture in this hat when he was just a couple months old...ya his head fills out a lot more of it now! :) So cute!

My nephew Marcus started soccer a couple weeks ago and he has games every Saturday morning for like 8 weeks...it's been freezing the last 2 games so we're hoping for sunshine this week! The kids are between 3 and 5 years old and it is so entertaining watching them! Most of them have no idea what they're doing and just run with the group. Cute kids!

Go # 3!!!

Happy Easter!

We had a great Easter this year! We got up at 7am to see what the Easter Bunny brought for Justin. It's amazing the difference in the interaction we got from him between this and Christmas. He's so alert and was curious about everything!

After this we headed to my mother and father-in-laws for brunch with the family and then out to see Grandma Hopkins. After that we went up to my brother's house for an Easter Egg hunt with Justin's cousins and dinner. It was a very fun day and Justin was yet again spoiled by his Grandma's and the Easter Bunny. :)

I hope everyone had a Happy Easter!!!

Justin with the Easter Bunny at Southtowne Mall, when he first sat down with him he just stared at him and started pulling on his face like he was a giant stuffed animal.

His presents from the Easter Bunny


Justin has been doing so good sitting up! He started sitting up at about 4 1/2 months and gets better everyday! I sat him next to his basket to see what he would do...and of course he went straight for the candy. :)

He kept pulling different candies out trying to eat them...I made the mistake of letting him suck on a piece of chocolate a couple weeks ago and he LOVED it! So I think he was hoping if he tried enough of them one of them would taste like chocolate.

A new toy from Grandma!

Easter Egg hunt with the cousins!

Walking around the yard...he's getting too big too fast!

Stephie and Lauryn...always ready to pose for the camera! So cute!

He was exhausted by the end of the day! At least we had fun! :)

Here's just a few random pictures of Justin and his cousin Elaina...they are so cute together! Justin has 2 cousins that are really close to his age, Elaina is exactly 2 months older than Justin and his other cousin Jaxon is 2 1/2 weeks older than him. It's impossible to get a picture of all 3 of them together it seems like...I will keep trying and post some soon!

She's so beautiful, she makes Justin look bald. :) Justin has hair...she just has a freakish amount of hair ha-ha!

Our Trip to Hawaii!

We're back! Here's a recap of our week in Kauai! Jason's parents took us all out there for a family trip and we had a blast! It's one of the most beautiful places I've ever seen...and yes there are alot of pictures...the scenery is definitely worth the time to look at. These pictures just don't do it justice either. It was so much fun to see Justin experience so many things for the first time. He loves colors so he was mesmorized with all the vibrant colors of the island! He's gotten so much more interactive the last month or so and is a lot more interested in what is going on around him. He's a riot! Thank you Jeff & Sherrie for taking us all on this trip...it was awesome and something we'll never forget!

Getting ready to go!

Here is Justin 5 minutes in to the flight. :)

And we're off to Hawaii!


We were so lucky....Justin did great on the plane! He slept a lot of the time but if he was awake he either wanted to eat or play. He only got fussy when he was hungry....but that's normal! :) He did great so we were really happy about that...made life easy for us and all the people around us!

I don't remember the name of this waterfall but it was just off the side of the road, very pretty!

I thought the seals were so cute, the wildlife people would come and put ropes around them when they would come on land to try and keep people away...this little one above was born November 8th...just 6 days younger than Justin!

This is us getting ready to go snorkeling...it was my first time doing that. I had a blast! I'm glad nobody got pictures of me trying to put the flippers on in the water...I'm sure that was a sight to behold!

Jason went on our first date without Justin since he was born...our night was perfect! The restaurant we went to was right on the beach next to Marriott Kauai, the beach that is there is public but a little more secluded so there wasn't very many people. We walked along the beach before dinner and once we got to the opposite side of where the restaurant was it started pouring rain! So we made a run for these little huts they had set up on the beach, we waited until it died down enough to run to the resaurant. They had a covered deck all around the resaurant and our table had a front view of the ocean...it was incredible. After dinner we walked through the gardens at the Marriott Hotel...so pretty! Unforgettable night, and it was a very much needed date!

Date night!

Playing in the sand...he was having a great time!

I think the sound of the ocean really relaxed him, everytime we went to the beach he would sleep for at least 2 hours while we were there.

Jason and Ashley playing in the waves

Justin's first swing ride...he had a ball!

This is my favorite picture of Jason and Justin together, I love the expression on their faces!

We went to the Smith Family Luau, it was a blast! The family owned 30acres of botanical gardens that we walked throught before dinner. Absolutely beautiful! They had a lot of animals as well. They started it by the Emu ceremony and then they had dinner with lots of yummy food and then they had the entertainment portion which was awesome! There was different kinds of Hawaiian dancing and fire dancing...I loved it!

There were peacocks, chickens, and roosters everywhere. The peacock's colors were so vibrant and pretty!

Ok..I'll admit it...I thought the smoked pig was going to come out on a platter with an apple in its mouth...but that's not exactly how it went...this is what it looked like when they unburied it. I didn't know they buried it to cook it either! Pretty cool and it was tasty!

My sister-in-law Ashley and her friend Chelsea. Anyone else find the mustache creepy?

He's getting so big!

Everyone wanted to go kayaking but Justin is a little young for that, so my mother-in-law took us on a ferry ride to see the Fern Gratto. It was a lot of fun and had beautiful scenery!

The view from the boat!

Look next to the flower...

Justin slept through the whole boat ride and when we walked up to see the cave here he is with Grandma just snoozing away!

This is the Fern Gratto - all of those ferns grow out of that rock cave...very pretty...the guide said that about 3 years ago it rained for 42 days straight and flooded this area and wiped out the ferns, so this is just what has grown back since then. My mother-in-law said there used to be about 5 times as many ferns...but still very pretty to look and it has great surroundings!

They told us that over 20 couples got married here on Valentine's day, they sang a really pretty sone that they sing at all the weddings...I wish I would have recorded it.

I don't know what flower this is but I thought it was pretty!

Sunset in PoiPu

It was so weird these pictures were taken with 2 minutes of eachother, one is the sunset and the other you can't tell...just depended on the angle you were at!

Birds of Paradise flower...one of my favorites!

I'm such a pretty mermaid!

Justin loved the sand! I can't wait for summer when we can take him outside everyday!

The beaches in Hanalei....I loved this city...the scenery was gorgeous! One of my favorite places we visited. I wish we could have spent more time there...on the next trip! :) If you look closely you can see to ladies walking on the beach...one in a blue swimsuit and one in a black swim suit...they made me laugh the one lady was the color of snow and the other was really tan...odd pair!

I liked this picture, you can see the sun rays coming through the clouds.

Justin dipping his toes in the water...he loved it! They are so cute together!

He's still trying to figure out what he thinks of the water in this picture...it took him by surprise but he was all smiles after a minute.

He was so funny when the waves would push the sand over his feet, he looked so confused like "hey where did they go?"

Here is the Kiliwea Lighthouse...amazing sight!

Can you see the lizard?

Here was the sunset we saw from our condo we stayed in.

So beautiful!

Jason's dad won this bear in one of those claw machines, as you can see Justin LOVED it!

Justin fought falling asleep the whole trip because there was so many new things and so much going on all the time. By the time he would finally give in he'd fall asleep just about anywhere. What a sweetie!

Here is Poipu Beach where we attempted to take family pictures on...the wind wasn't cooperating with us! I promise I did do my hair that day! Beautiful view though!

Justin with Grandma & Grandpa Hopkins

Look closely...it's a sea turtle, he's poking his head out of the water. They were so cute!

This was one of the waterfalls by a near by shopping center...so I viewed it as a photo oppurtunity! Nope...I sure couldn't hide the fact that I'm a tourist...haha I had my camera ready everywhere we went!

Jason and his "mini me"