Thanksgiving 2009

Our handsome little man. Who would've thought he'd be a blonde???

Our sweet boy during his photo shoot the day after Thanksgiving!

He is sporting a shirt from hisAunt Nini that says, "I'm stuffed!"

The Drake Family

The newest additions!!! All the Drake greatgrandchildren with Grandma

We had such a wonderful Thanksgiving. The three of us were able to be home together for 4 days. It was awesome. Jon flew in Thanksgiving morning, and then we went back home and met Grammi and Papa for breakfast and then drove up to Winston Salem to be with the Drake family. I don't know the exact total for how many people were at the table, but including the babies, I think there were over 20! We had great food and had fun being together.

Joey has had some very minor health concerns. He's had 2 right ear infections back to back in the past 3 weeks. He had a reaction to his meds (amoxicillon) for his first one, so now he is considered allergic to all drugs in that family. But so far, he seems to be making improvements with the new medicine.

We've had a busy few weeks here at the Drake hotel. Lots and lots of visitors!! I was so happy to have everyone come and visit. I know they all loved being with Joey and spending time with him. Thank you all for coming! It really added to our time of Thanksgiving.

Joey has one tooth officially! I think more are soon to follow. He also has mastered sitting up on his own!! And he is doing great. He has a toy, Baby Einstein, that he just loves. He gets in it for sometimes 45 minutes at a time and just plays!! The seat bounces, so all you have to say is, "Bouncy, bouncy" and he knows exactly what to do and starts bopping up and down!

Please pray for us as we are still in limbo for our location after Jonathan gradutes in mid January. He's submitted his resume to numerous places. We are praying that we know something in the next few weeks. We only have about 6 weeks until he is done. These 6 months have really flown by.

What a tremendous year the Lord has blessed our family with. We are so excited to see what God has in store for us over the next few months. We will keep you guys posted!

Love to you and MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!!

a long over due update

beautiful blue eyes and a smile

first time eating in his high chair!

i just love this picture!!!!

Sadly, this will be very short because i'm running very low on steam and there is too much to do here.

Joey has reached a new milestone. Two Thursdays ago, he started saying "da da" and now he says it constantly. he says it on the phone with his Da Da, while he looks at his picture- it is so adorable. He is trying desperately to sit up by himself. He is doing great in his 'school'. he used to be the only boy, but now he has to share the ladies with another cute little guy. I think he'll be getting his first haircut this weekend. Pretty much all of his dark hair has fallen out except for a little bit at the base of his skull!!!! It looks really funny. I will be sure to post pictures of that when we cut his hair! For halloween, he's going to dress up as a chest xray- in honor of his mother :) Next year, I'm sure he will be sporting something BMW. he is trying to cut some teeth and I can tell he's really starting to get umcomfortable. He is eating ihis cereal now 2 times a day and we've started him on veggies. So far he really likes peas, sweet potatoes and he'll be trying butternut squash soon. He wasn't a fan of the avacado but we'll try that again later.

We're having Joe dedicated at our church this Sunday morning. It will be a special day for us. He will be almost 6 months old at that point- cannot believe that!!!!

Jon is doing really well down in Orlando. Top 5 in his class. Pray for him as he starts to assemble his resume and hopefully will be able to start looking for a job and find one quickly.

I have my big exam on Saturday November 7 at 12p. Pray for me- I'm very nervous.

We will keep you posted with any new news we get. We hope to be able to post a video of Joey talking really soon!!!! But for now, you'll have to settle with some photos :)

Joe Joe in his swing

Please check out his hat- he loves it!!!!

4 Month Doctors Visit, Jon coming home, Eye Doctor....yikes :)

Joey had his 4 month peds appointment on Wednesday the 16th! He weighed 16lbs 14.5oz and they measured him at 26 inches, but I've consistently measured him at home to be just about 28 inhces. At any rate, he is in the 75-90% on the charts! His pediatrician gave us the green light to start some solids, so we started cereal this week. Pictures to come later! I was thinking to hold off for a little while longer, but he has started to wake up in the middle of the night again, so I figured it was time. He had to get more shots, but he did pretty well with them.

Jonathan came home the following Saturday morning through Monday morning. We had quite a whirlwind weekend but it was awesome to have him home. Joey acted like he never missed a beat, although I do think he was a little sad the first few days after Daddy left. We went up to Blowing Rock to meet David, Ali and Mark and long story short, we ended up driving back to TN with them for the night. We came back to Charlotte early Sunday morning for some much needed family time. Jonathan went back to Orlando early Monday morning. The next time we'll be able to see each other is October 9th. Feels like a long ways away, but I know it is right around the corner. Thank you all for being so encouraging to us- it is both wanted and needed.
Jonathan is doing great in school- he's in the top 5 of his class!

Joey had is appt today with the eye specialist. He said that the tear duct that's clogged is normal (which we knew) until about 12 months of life. Anything after that, we'll have to see where it leads us. He also does not think that his eye is from a defected 7th facial nerve, but from excess skin above his eye and he will hopefully grow into it. He has been such a joy for me. Being around him reminds of the reasons we are sacrificing now.

Please continue to pray for us as we are wearyand need some pep. Fortunately I have a bunch of company coming before the end of October, so that is keeping me busy. Jonathan is studying anywhere from 4 to 6 hours a day. On the weekends he drives to his parents (only 1.5 hours away) to help with putting in the patio with his dad.

Promise to send some photos soon!

Some new photos of Joe Joe!

The Drool King "just waiting for someone to notice how cute I am over here"



Me and my buddy

my beautiful man laughing at Mommy being goofy

These pictures were taken within one week of each other. And he already looks so different!

These are two of my favorite pictures of him ever

Just chilling! So big sitting in his chair!

Sick of me taking pictures!!!

Jon's First Visit Home

Jonathan came back to Charlotte on Saturday morning. His flight got delayed; which put him back in at 2am, instead of 1. Joey was a total trooper, getting up with me and going to pick up his Daddy!!!! Got home and we all went immediately to sleep- only to wake up a few hours later (literally) for Joey's morning feeding. Joey was very attentive to his Daddy's voice and recognized him right away. One of the sweetest moments for me as a mom was listening to my son talk to his Dad. They continue to talk every night when Jonathan is off from school. And I know Jonathan loves it too. Anyway. The three of us spent all day together on Saturday. While Joey napped, Jonathan and I played some of our new Wii!!!!! That thing is so much fun! We were really able to relax and have some very much needed family time.

Sunday morning we went to our church and then up to Winston. Jonathan's brother, Adam, was being ordained and it was such a special time, since we were all there together. Mom and Dad Drake and all the boys were together. Jon's grandparents, aunts, uncles, and several cousins were able to be there. The ceremony was great- hardly a dry eye in the place. We came back to Charlotte that night, hoping for a good nights rest, but morning came too quickly. We had to get up at 3:50, in order for Jonathan to be ready for the cab to pick him up to head to the airport.

All of our friends and familly have been a great encouragement to us. Got word today that my boss is ok with me leaving 2 Fridays a month a little bit early in order for Joey and I to get down to Tampa at a decent time (we will be meeting Jonathan at his parents' house in Tampa!!). This is such a blessing. We decided that 5 weeks is just too long to go without seeing each other, so our goal is just about every other weekend! God has been blessing us left and right- my boss was able to work it out so it is feasable from a work stand point to be able to head down!

Major prayer requests for this week: I'm still trying to study to take my boards hopefully in November!!! Jon is working hard down and studying some intense info in Florida. And a praise is that Joey growing like a WEED. He is just under 17lbs!!!

My boys

my buddy

chilling with Daddy

blue eyes

playing with daddy

cool dude

Me and my boys

We are well into our new living situations for about 3 weeks now. Jonathan is knee deep in school work and is doing extremely well. He goes to classes from 1:30-8pm and studies just about all morning. Being apart has been a slow adjustment, but we are getting there. Jon is able to go to his parents' new house (it's about an 1hr 45 mins away from school) every weekend. We're thankful that he's able to see them a lot, not only for company, but for some good cooking too!! While he's there, we're able to Skype and that has been a blast. Joey loves seeing his Daddy up close. He's starting to get used to it; he's been smiling quite a bit at the computer. He is so captivated by it!

I started back to work July 31st. It was a very rough day for me, but my Mom was here to help! She watched Joey for me on Friday. It was quite a relief knowing that he was in great hands and it really helped me not to worry. That night, Evan, Joy, Sam, and Matt were on their way up to WS, and they were able to stop in for dinner and some cuddle time with Jo-Jo. Mom and I had a great time together, cooking, watching FRIENDS and relaxing together. She went with me to Joey's day care (we call it school) on Monday morning and was my moral support! I could not have done that weekend without her. She was such an encouragement to me, when I needed it most. The teachers at school have been wearing Joey OUT!!!! This kid could hardly stay awake to eat. We feel so comfortable with the school and they take such good care of him! Last week, he did his first two pieces of artwork and I can't wait to bring it home and put it on the fridge.

Both Jonathan and I are thankful that we've started into our respective roles because it is helping the time pass by more quickly. We are so excited and we are anxiously awaiting August 21st, when Jonathan will be able to come home for the weekend.

Joey of course is awesome, and changing a lot and quickly. He is so very close to rolling over, but maybe's he's holding out until Daddy comes home!!!! He's smiling a ton and starting to chat now. He's very responsive when you say his name or smile at him. He doesn't have any doctor's visits this month, so I'm not sure how much he weighs, but we're thinking about 14-15 lbs. And he is so LONG!!! About 28 inches already. He is beautiful and such a joy to have around. Pray for his eye- he has a clogged tear duct. He keeps rubbing it a lot and I'm not sure if it's hurting him or if he's just finding his hands. He also keeps rubbing his hair, which I think is hysterical!!!

A few praises/answers to prayer requests. My boss was able to help out with my hours 3 days a week, allowing me more time with Joey at night! We were able to pay off one of our cars, which is allowing either Jon or Joey and I to fly to see each other almost every other week! And Joey and I are able to fly to Florida for Labor Day! We are very excited, and I'm terrified of flying with a baby.

Here are some new photos of our little man. Please continue to pray for all three of us as we're each making huge adjustments in our every day lives.

Me and Joey right before I left for work my first day back

Joey and Mom

Joey discovered his fist...waiting for it to become magical

Me and my buddy

These pictures were taken at the beach. Joey and I went back this past Monday and returned Thursday night. We had a great time. Ali was there with Mark and that was so much fun watching Mark trying to interact with Joey!!!! Mark just celebrated his first birthday and is sooo big.

Joey rolled up on his side twice on Wednesday. It was so exciting. I love to watch him grow and discover new things; it is such a joy. He started sleeping through the night about 2 weeks ago. That has been such a relief, seeing as I'm going back to work next week. Jon and I had just been talking about we would need Joey to sleep through the night and it was either that night or the next night that he did! He's been going ever since. He usually sleeps from 9ish to about 6. Pray that he continues to do this! This has also helped him to nap better during the day. He is growing so quickly. He's laughing and smiling and cooing. We made a trip up to Winston Salem last Friday so Jonathan could say good bye to everyone. It was the first time his grandparents had seen Joey since he was about 4 weeks old. It was quite a change.

We're having techinical difficulties with the computer that we usually use. It's not connecting to the internet, so I'm having to be very creative on how I get the pictures online. Since we just got back last night, I have not attempted to upload any that I took. The above photos were emailed to me. So be patient! I will get some more new photos on here soon.

Jonathan had his orientation in Orlando on Wednesday. It didn't last as long as he thought it would, so that was nice. He had to do some work on his computer that BMW supplied in order for it to be functional for school. Just like his school here in Charlotte, the classes begin every 3 weeks. His 3 roommates have started the BMW school 6 weeks ago, so they've been able to give him some pointers and study material already. Always a hard worker, Jon is already starting to study diligently. As soon as I get his mailing address I will post it. I'm sure he'd love an encouraging note or food:) The first few days we were apart were very hard, but as of now we're settling in. It will be disrupted again next Friday and the week after as I try to adjust going back to work and taking Joe Joe to daycare. Pray for me to be calm so I don't upset Joey at all and for my own sanity. We have about a month until we see Jon again and we can't wait! We're already couting down the days.

Much love to you

J, L, & J

Emerald Isle

On the dock

Joey cooperating, before he realizes whats happening


Right after Joey had his feet put in the water....he was not happy

What a cutie!

2 Month Check Up and Jon's Graduation

Playing on his toy from Aunt Nini


Jon and I at his graduation!!!!



Our beautiful boy



Joey had his two month check up on Wednesday. He got a great report all around! He weighed 12lbs 12.5 oz. They measured him at the same length as last time (22.5inches) which I knew wasn't right. So they measured him again and said he was 23.5 inches. But I measured him when we got home and got close to 25 inches. He is growing wonderfully the pediatrician said. He is getting very interactive, smiling when we talk to him. His Aunt Nini gave him his floor play mat and he LOVES it. We'll put him on it and he'll entertain himself on it for 30 minutes at a time. He is sleeping pretty well. Most of the time in 7 hours stretches at night. He still is stubborn and doesn't want to miss anything during the day. But, we're trying to make progress. He is holding his head up for quite a while. He is so strong!!!!!


Joey was well behaved for his Daddy's graduation on Friday. He graduated from the Nascar Technical Insitutue. He had lots of honors, including Excellent attendance, Director's List, Alpha Beta Kappy National Honor's Society, Student of the Course 5 times, Ford Specialist, and is going to BMW academy next week. He is leaving for Orlando Monday July 20th. Pray for all of us as we're going to be apart for a while. The school is 6 months total, but we're hoping to see each other once a month. Thank God for webcams where we'll be able to talk live to each other and he'll be able to see Joey.

We're having a great summer. Can't believe my 12 weeks is almost up. Fastest 3 months ever!

one of the few naps he took at the beach


sleeping on his Grandma on the beach

Jo Jo and Grandma

Joey trying to smile :)

In honor of Papa Waters

in his special outfit he wore when he arrived at the beach