Jackson is 5 months old!

I've always been told the time flies, but hadn't experienced it to this extent yet. I can't believe our little man is already 5 months!

More pictures to come soon, but first, a comparison of the first 5 months (Lesson learned - I'm going to take his picture in our living room chair every month for a better comparison of growth month to month)!
5 months


4 months


3 months


~2 months


1 month


"Birthday"!

...Til next time, Keep Shuffling!

Shoup Shuffling to Defeat ALS

Once again this year, we will be walking in the Dallas Walk to Defeat ALS. We are sad to be walking in memory of Joey's dad this year instead of in Honor of him because that reminds us that we lost him almost a year ago, but we still hope we can help fund research and provide support for others who live with this dreadful disease. This year has been tough for many charitable causes and obviously our time and attention has not been as focused on this as we wish we could be. We haven't raised the kind of money we have the past 2 years, so if you are able to help us out by donating, we'd really appreciate it. You can do so via our team page here!
http://web.alsa.org/site/TR/Walks/NorthTexasWalk?team_id=154900&pg=team&fr_id=6015

Here's a picture of our team from 2 years ago

...and one of our team from last year

...and of course, the reason we walk, in Memory of Ken.


...Til next time, Keep Shuffling!

Last 10/17 post

There are 2 previous posts from just a little bit ago tonight so check those out first. :)

Last weekend, Granny Becky came down and we visited the Pumpkin Patch! It was actually quite chilly so the hat was necessary. We probably should have timed things a little better because Jackson was quite sleepy, but he still was great even though he wasn't really smiley and we even got some sleeping pictures at the end. Thanks again to Jamie for her amazing photo/editing skills! Shall we schedule our Christmas photo session soon? :)




Jackson's girlfriend, Camryn, couldn't help but smile at me!

One of my faves!

Fell asleep hanging out in the "BOB" with Leighton Parker.

Home and all warmed up in my jammies with Granny!

Last, but not least for today, Yes, for all you Texas fans, I realize this is probably more "Tenneessee orange", but it's the closest we have to burnt orange for Jackson to help Daddy cheer on the Longhorns today so it will do til he grows into the Texas outfit that Connor handed down to him - and that's going to be a while!
...Til next time, Keep Shuffling!

Post #2 for the night

I figured I'd break the posts up a bit, even though I'm still posting them all tonight...

As I mentioned in the checkup post, he seems to be right where he needs to be developmentally so there are a few updates there.
*First, is rolling. He actually seems quite reluctant to do this, but he's rocking himself quite a bit and has flipped from front to back a couple times, but I have yet to witness back to front. Hopefully we'll have video to share of both soon.
*He's definitely quite expressive and I need to get some video uploaded of one of his talking spurts. Seems he does a lot of it right when he wakes up in the morning. It's such a great sound to wake up to. How lucky are we to wake up to a happy talking baby instead of a crying baby!
*Thumb-sucking - I wasn't sure why he's starting this, but it's becoming evident by the amount of time his fist spends in his mouth (when he's been fed and isn't hungry) and the "suspicious bumps" along his gums that we might be starting the teething process.
*That leads to food - His pediatrician is OK with starting between 4 and 6 months and while I certainly didn't want to force it, he hasn't been sleeping as long at night and does very often seem hungry so we've tried it a few times. He is certainly not that interseted in the food so again, we're not forcing it, but we'll continue to try it once in a while and definitely be ready to incorporate it moreso in a few months. Now we've got to get working on making baby food so we're ready when it's time to add the fun stuff to the single grain cereals. Here are a few shots of him giving good old rice cereal (which tastes to me like Rice Krispies...but with a bit of an aftertaste) a try:

"No, Mom, I'd rather eat my bib!"



"Maybe I'm starting to like it"


"Maybe not"



Jackson had his first school pictures and I thought I had dressed him colorfully enough, but with the background, I wish I'd gone with a red or something, however, we still couldn't resist buying his first school picture (so this is a picture of a picture - so the coloring is off a bit as well). What a happy boy!

You may notice that Jackson doesn't wear a lot of outfits more than once. In the beginning it was just because he was growing so fast, but now it's because we're so lucky to have received a bunch of hand-me-downs from our friends the Colvert's. HUGE Thank you to Jamie, Jeremy, Connor, and Camryn! Hopefully we can repay the favor in some way, some day! :)
...Til next time, Keep Shuffling!

It's Saturday night

About once a month it seems I find myself staying up later than I probably should on a Saturday night for an update. Tonight is that night. Joey & I got up very early this morning to get the house and a big batch of chili ready for our guests. This year's party was relatively small in comparison to some years, but the weather was perfect, there was just enough chili for everyone, and aside from a few spats between Mackey's dog Traveler and the Kerns' dog Bailey, it was an all around great day, with both Texas and K-State wins! Now Joey is at a "Tacky golf" party for Meagan's birthday and I'm home with Jackson. Alas, the life of a parent does involve sacrifice so while I wish I was there helping celebrate, the fact that I'm finally going to be using an hour long Massage Envy gift card tomorrow will certainly help make up for it, If that's not enough, I always love a little quiet time to have control of the remote and do stuff around the house that I find myself not getting to when Joey is home. :)

So now a few quick updates and the best part - more pictures!

Jackson's 4 month appointment went very well! He gained almost 5 lbs and grew 3 inches since his 2 month appointment and based on the "Ages & Stages" Questionnaire, they had us complete beforehand, he's doing just fine in terms of motor skills, communication, etc. I should say that most of the appointment went well - he did have to have shots, but I just keep reminding myself of the ER/hospital stay back in July and a few quick shots is a piece of cake. Jackson might not agree because he was flirting with the nurse and then gave me a "What happened? I thought we were having a good time" look when she stuck the first shot in his leg and proceeded to do what most kiddos do - WAIL! No worries though - by the time we left the office, he had calmed back down. This is defintely pre-shots and pre-scream!

I had promised my coworkers that I would bring Jackson in after his appointment since it had been a while since everyone had seen him. He does not lack for attention, but those days are definitely a treat!

Amy is a natural!

Robin makes her family jealous because they all want to meet Jackson, but it just hasn't worked out quite yet! I love when it looks like he's having a conversation with people!

This shot really shows a lot about Shirley's personality - she is so content to just listen to Jackson and let him know that she believes every "word" he says.

Just hanging out for a little bit on his activity mat between visitors.

I've been trying to get pictures of everyone with him, but haven't quite yet. I did get one of Babs loving on Jackson though. Her grandson, "Baby Jay" (Jayson) was born less than a week after Jackson.

In addition to that office visit, Jackson's daycare was closed on Columbus Day for staff training so I brought him in again. I will say that I don't feel I got as much work done as a normal day, but again, it's good for everyone to have his smiling face there.

Hanging out in his bouncer. I really should take a picture of everything I've taken up with me. It's almost comical watching me carry it all up and down the elevator.

Even though she's really busy, Pat snuck in a quick bit of holding Jackson.

Bryan even volunteered to babysit...Might have to take him up on that one of these weekends!

Jackson tried to show Megan how much he likes her by spitting up, but luckily, he missed her and just got it on himself.

...Til next time, Keep Shuffling!

One update at a time

Some updates may be a bit out of order as I get to them, but I figured I'd do at least one quick one while I still have some energy and am up past my bedtime this evening. :)

A Huge Congratulations to Bryan and Meagan Baker! We had a great time at the wedding, although Joey and I tend not to end up spending a lot of time together at such social gatherings, we did grab this one shot together! I didn't get any decent ones of Bryan and Meagan (I really need to go back to my tradition of trying to get at least 1 picture of Joey and I and the bride and groom at weddings), but their blog is linked to mine so feel free to wander over and check them out!


It's too bad we were running around so much that weekend that I didn't even manage to take any pictures of Jackson & Grandma Shoup! We'll have to make up for that when we travel to Vicksburg, Mississippi for a little family reunion on Halloween weekend.
...Til next time, Keep Shuffling!

Playing catch up

I always knew things would be different and busier once a little one came along, but coupled with changes at my work, it seems I can barely find time to keep up with blogging as much as I want. I have so many pictures and stories to share, but for now I'm just going to share a few since I need to head to bed. Tomorrow is my turn to host our Friday morning staff meeting at work so I'm in charge of breakfast and an activity (which thankfully I came up with last week) which means I need to get an earlier start than I have been...PLUS Granny Becky is heading down here in the morning so I want to make sure I leave myself time to run a few errands I keep running out of time for to make her quick weekend trip more enjoyable!

Below are a few pictures to tide you all over until I have time for a proper update to include:
*Jackson's 4 month appointment (I changed the stats on the side with his new weight/height, but haven't updated more than that)
*Jackson's recent (and upcoming) visit to my office
*food, rolling, talking, thumb-sucking
*upcoming travel plans
*new clothes
*Rolling and "Talking"
*school pictures
*Bryan & Meagan's wedding
*Upcoming ALS Walk

Further evidence Jackson is going to be so confused as to which team is his favorite. We had some friends over Labor Day weekend/Opening weekend of college football. "Aunt Sara" was sporting Georgia, "Uncle Ryan" stayed true to Texas, and I, of course, had Jackson ready for a Wildcat Victory!


Jackson sporting his "My Grandma Rides a Harley" gear. It's been hot so I didn't keep the hat on him, but I want to go out and buy him more hats now that I've seen how cute he looks and since he doesn't really seem to mind it!


Jackson & Daddy at Jackson's first high school football game! Vert's Sachse Mustangs even came back to win after we left (we were quite surprised but glad for him because they were not doing so well when we left in the 3rd quarter).


I call this, "Why we usually wear onesies". The shirt fits (or is at least just getting a little small) as evidenced by the first picture, but if he's wearing a shirt instead of a onesie, it tends to ride up a lot so for now I'm thinking we'll keep him in onesies until he fills out shirts a little more!



I wouldn't encourage baby smoking, but put a cigar in his hand, make the robe red, and we'd have our own little "Heff"!


Even when he's sleeping he's happy (I noticed that if I laugh after he's fallen asleep on me while I'm sitting on the couch watching TV, when I laugh, he smiles. I'm not sure if he feels me laughing and likes the vibrations or just knows mommy is happy and it makes him happy...or if he's just coincidentally having a happy dream).


...Til next time, Keep Shuffling!