Swim videos

As promised, here are the videos that I took of Mitchell swimming. We're joining the Shawnee pool for the summer, so hopefully he'll get lots of opportunities to swim!

Here is a video of Mitchell swimming with Jacob. Ignore my annoying voice - man, I didn't think my baby talk sounded that babyish. :)

Here is a video of Mitchell going underwater. He isn't quite sure what to think....but there are no tears!

FIVE months old!

We made it home from our vacation just in time to celebrate Mitchell turning FIVE months old! We really enjoyed everything about our vacation...click here if you'd like to see a slideshow of photos.

Mitchell had lots of "firsts" on the vacation (some of which you have seen on earlier posts):

• Starting sitting up all by himself
• Went swimming for the first time
• First plane ride
• First time to the beach
• First time to sit in a highchair at a restaurant (Hard Rock Cafe)
• First drink of water - he couldn't quite decide what he thought of it, but it successfully entertained him in his carseat on our longest drive

As we were flying home, I was remembering my first plane ride to Orlando for a family vacation when I was in 2nd grade. I looked out the window the ENTIRE plane ride, there were so many AMAZING things...we were ABOVE the clouds, the cars started to look more like ants, inground pools more closely resembled puddles. Then, I looked over and noticed that I didn't even have my window shade open....I was so disappointed in myself and the boring adult I've turned into! I promised myself I'd try to see things through Mitchell's eyes in the years to come! :)

Myrtle beach skyline

Jacob's platinum status has come in handy at the hotels. We've gotten upgraded to a two bedrooms suites - which works perfectly so that we can put Mitchell to sleep at his normal 7pm bedtime in one room and we can hang out in the adjacent room and watch movies, etc. The Myrtle Beach hotel had a great view too! Mitchell and I enjoyed looking out the windows.

Toes in the Sand - Myrtle Beach

We took Mitchell to Myrtle Beach - it is prettier than I thought it would be! The beach hugs the coastline as far as you can see....









It's "biker" weekend at Myrtle beach, so we're surrounded by motorcycles everywhere we go. Can't say Jacob and I are too impressed, but we've learned that Mitchell does NOT discriminate! He is SUCH a ham - smiling at EVERYONE, black, white, old, young, black leather wearing, gold tooth sporting, or just plain missing teeth, you name it, he smiles at them (and yes, we have seen all of those types on this trip). We were literally surrounded by 10 ladies while shopping yesterday - he was just looking face to face, smiling. They were eating him up - a few even asked if they could squeeze his chubby legs (they were not wearing black leather, seemed to have all of their teeth and none of them were gold, so I said yes). Of course, I usually don't tell them that he smiles at everyone...it's better to make them feel special by saying "oh, he must like you." :) Just another joy of having a baby.



Here's my attempt at some artistic beach photos....

Chubby toes in the sand

Lobster claw

(Can anyone guess where this hand filled with sand went next? Yep, directly for the mouth. No worries....it was intercepted.)

Water baby

We FINALLY took Mitchell swimming for the first time at our hotel pool in Myrtle Beach. He was smiling and laughing and kicking all around. I put my past swimming instructor skills to the test and gave him a mini-swim lesson. He passed! :) Although I was a little hesitant, I QUICKLY dunked him underwater once so that he won’t learn to fear it. As soon as he popped up out from underwater, he was a little shocked and didn’t quite know what to think, but Jacob and I acted very excited…”yeah, Mitchell”, etc so he started smiling.

We took a video of his first swim experience, but don’t have the cable to hook up to the computer, so we can’t post it until we get back….stay tuned :)

We’re off to the beach today – sure to have lots of pictures to post.

Charlotte, NC

We visited Celeste (co-worker and friend that transferred with EY to the Charlotte office), her husband, Chris and their nine month-old little boy, Casimiro (Cass for short). Isn't he adorable - he knows to start smiling when he sees the camera!

Mitchell and Cass were friends from the start. I forgot to mention in my earlier blog that Mitchell starting sitting up on his own the other day!!!

Celeste took us to the one of the biggest tourist attractions in Charlotte - NASCAR! We're not huge NASCAR fans...but "when in Rome..." Here's a pic by the track. It makes KC's track look it should be used for hotwheels :)

Greenville, South Carolina

What a BEAUTIFUL city! I came here for work a few years ago and just fell in love with it. I never thought I'd get a chance to return - but here we are! We spent most of our time walking around the cute little downtown and through the parks. Mitchell loves to ride around in his little backpack. Can't you tell from this picture. :)

My happy men - on our way out of the hotel on yet another walk

Family photo in front of the waterfalls

Cheek to cheek in the South Carolina sun

In front of the suspension bridge which is one of Greenville's hallmarks

The ATL

Here is a picture of Mitchell on his very first plane ride. The check-in ladies were nice enough to give us a row with a middle seat unoccupied, so Mitchell had his own seat. Yes, he was his normal loud self. I think everyone on the plane was aware that we were travelling with an infant. Most of the time it was just his screamy noices rather than crying. Oh, well - we survived and so did our neighbors.

Yes - I got my haircut off! I have been wanting to donate it again, but you have to be willing to cut off atleast 8 inches...so it was finally long enough! Should be much less maintenance!

First stop....Atlanta! We had a wonderful time visiting Jason & Kari Knoblauch and their adorable little girl, Kate. Here are some pictures we took of them swinging at the park. Kate will turn 1 next month - look at that smile.

Now it's Mitchell's turn...he was trying his hardest to play it "cool" and impress Kate. Since he can't talk, pick-up lines are kinda hard. :)

He got a little more excited when we actually started swinging him.

What a cute pair :)

We also decided to take a hike up to the top of Stone Mountain (click on it for more information. David - I think you'd like to read about the carving.) It's about a little over a mile hike to the top. Jacob wasn't feeling too well (convenient, huh?), so I hiked up with Mitchell in the backpack. I've now hiked twice with Mitchell...the first time was the Grand Canyon trip when I was only 10 weeks pregnant. He weighs nearly 2o pounds now....but I'd still say the Grand Canyon trip was tougher! We had wonderful views of Atlanta from the top. Jason, originally from Wichita, said he thinks he thinks you can see more trees from the top of Stone Mountain than there are in the entire state of Kansas. He might be right!

Overall, we had a great time in Atlanta....primarily due to the hospitality of the Knoblauch family!

Tour o' the South

We are leaving tonight for our FIRST vacation with Mitchell. We are both a little worried about how he'll act on the plane, so we contemplated just packing him in our large suitcase. See - he fits, with room to spare! Unfortunately, the airline doesn't permit checking children....just kidding!!! I'm sure he'll be a perfect angel anyway (spoken with a hint of sarcasm!)

Here's a rundown of our vacation:

May 16 - May 18 Atlanta - visiting Jason, Kari and Kate Knoblauch

May 18 - May 20 Greenville, South Carolina

May 20 -May 21 Charlotte, North Carolina - visiting Chris, Celeste & Cass Garcia

May 21 - May 23 Myrtle Beach, South Carolina

May 23 - May 26 Charleston, South Carolina - renting a beach house with Jill, Andy & Addison Griebenow and Chris, Celeste and Cass

We'll try to blog along the way, but in case we don't, we'll have lots of pictures to post upon our return!

Mitchell's favorite activities

Here are some pictures of a few of Mitchell's favorite activities...

1st picture - Mitchell still LOVES going on walks. Jacob bought a leash for Tex that he wears around his waist, so that he can easily push Mitchell and control Tex at the same time. I have not yet mastered the skill - but that's why I have Jacob, right? Jacob and I have been jogging probably 3 or 4 times a week. He even ran in a 5k race last Saturday morning!

2nd picture - Mitchell still loves his bathtime. We are still bathing him in his little tub in our kitchen sink, but we now have to clear everything from within his reaching distance, because his arms go a swingin'! As soon as our bathroom tile is done, we'll start bathing him in our jacuzzi tub (Yes, we're STILL working on the dang tile!) I'm thinking he'll be pretty excited about all of the extra room to play around.

3rd picture - Mitchell loves to be held up in the air. Jacob even tosses and catches him a little now - but I'm still too much of a worry wart :) You're almost guarenteed to get a smile and a little giggle out of him, especially if you bring him down towards your face and give him a little kiss before pushing him back up. With all of this kind of work-out, you'd think my arms would be a little more toned!!!

4th picture - As you can see, we're still working making him like his tummy time :( Although you can't tell in this picture, he truly is liking it more and more, probably because it's getting easier and easier for him. But he has to already be in a good mood before we even begin. If he's already fussy - it's game over.

My 1st Mother's Day

So how long do you think it took me to see "Mitchell's" cute little blog.....answer - about 3 hours. What a surprise! My only request for Mother's Day was to get to sleep in. So after Mitchell's "breakfast", I went back to bed and let Jacob and Mitchell play. I didn't get up until 8:30 - when I was spoiled with breakfast in bed! They bought me some new photography equipment, which I put to good use to take the attached pictures. I also got a little shopping spree at the mall and a pedicure. Yes, I was successfully VERY spoiled by my boys! Honestly though, having such a wonderful husband and son is reward enough. Sorry if my sappiness just caused anyone to gag :) I guess I ought to start planning for Father's Day!

Happy Mother's Day from Mitchell

Hi World,

This is my first post ever, I have actually been using the computer for a few months now, but I wanted to wait until Mother's day to show off to mom (Daddy is helping me with spelling and grammar). I just wanted to thank my mom so much for all her hard work taking care of me and in keeping everyone up to date on this blog. She is the greatest mom in the world and I am so lucky to have her. From the feeding, to the bath time to changing the diapers, to the feeding, to all the unconditional love, to the feeding, she is the BEST. Mom, I love you!!! Happy Mothers Day!

Ernst & Young staff in training

This one is for our co-workers. We got this cute little onesie as a present from our HR gal at work - you can't read the green too well, but it says "Ernst & Young - Staff in training" We thought it'd be funny to add his potential Ernst & Young user name. Our user names are referred to as our "5 and 2's". It's the combination of the first five letter of our last name, followed by the first two initals of our first name (lose you yet?!?!). So Jacob's user name is
"folksja" and mine is "folksma"....so Mitchell's shirt says "folksmi". Yes, the dorky accounting side of us surfaces more than we'd like to admit :)

(The punch bowl behind him was borrowed for our Kentucky Derby party to serve our Mint Juleps. I hate bourbon, but decided to have a taste this year - they actually aren't too bad!)

Like mother like son.....

....we both like our manicures :) Jacob would probably get mad that I called this nail cutting session a manicure - too girly for his manly son. I know I'm a little picture crazy, but Mitchell was being super smiley and I wanted to have a picture session, but Jacob refused to quit cutting his nails...so we just combined the two. I think the camera distracted Mitchell enough that he didn't mind the manicure.

I found my thumb.....and my foot.

Yet another post-bathtime picture. You'd think that's all we do :) Mitchell took his 2nd ever THREE hour nap today! I worked from home today because Jacob had lunch plans, so I was on Mitchell duty over the lunch hour. Mitchell went down for a nap at 11am and didn't make a peep until 2pm (of course, Jacob was back from his lunch by then, so my job was VERY easy!) We're hoping this becomes a trend. A BIG nap is much more attractive than 3 or 4 small naps! Maybe Mitchell knows we're going on vacation next week and is trying to make things easier on us.....yeah, right! :)

Mitchell has been sucking on his hands and any toy he can get his hands on for ages now...but recently he started favoring his thumb.

We were fairly certain that he'd never be able to get his foot in his mouth due to his oversized belly - apparently we were wrong. Yes, his foot is still connected to his hip in the following picture. Doesn't it look like it is disconnected?

Race for the Roses

We had our Kentucky Derby party again this year. We had a great time catching up with our friends! We even invited our new "frat boy" neighbors (has anyone ever noticed that frat and fart have the same letters? I mistyped the first time I wrote it and called them "fart boys", ha!) The weather threatened not to cooperate, but it ended up being a very nice day. We had about 30ish people cheering on the "Run for the Roses". There was a three way tie for first place - Amy Carter, Lisa Sutterby (for the SECOND time) and Paul Baxley. They each raked in $25. As you can see above, Mitchell was more interested in the roses than the horses. :)

One size fits all

My dad's 62nd birthday was on April 30th. He came over to celebrate with Mitchell and I, and brought his new "one size fits all" Eddie Bauer hat. Apparently they don't think 4 month olds count. :)

Mitchell is still a big fan of his exersaucer. It plays this little song when he plays were certain things. I caught Jacob humming the tune in the kitchen the other day when Mitchell wasn't even in it. Ha!

Grandma and Grandpa Bays visit

My mom and stepdad (David) visited us for the last 6 days. It was so nice to have them! David and Jacob worked on the basement again - they are making pretty good progress. Bet you can't guess what was the focal point of Mom and I's time? Ha! Yep - Mitchell. They brought their black lab, Baylee, so even Tex had a friend :) It wasn't too hard to see them off yesterday, because they'll be back down in about a month for Mitchell's baptism on June 7th.