Picnic

Saturday we went to the Eisenhower State Park in Denison and had a picnic - Hadley's very first picnic. And...guess who forgot to take the camera! So there are no pictures from the fun day at the park (sorry Nanny!). But the Burger King (mommy & daddy) and sweet potatoes and cheerios (Hadley) were very yummy, and I think Hadley had a fun time.

9 Months

Hadley Max,

Today you are 9 months old...9 months!! This age has seemed so far away and so "old", but now here we are. Daddy and I have had you to hold and cuddle and kiss for the same amount of time now as you were in my tummy. That's just crazy to think about.

This past month you, once again, learned lots of new things and seemed to grow and change so much. You are an expert crawler now, and you can get anywhere you want to go. Gone (for the most part) are the days of scooting on your tummy, because you have the hands/knees crawl down. However, you do a bit of a bear crawl sometimes on one foot - super cute! Pulling yourself up to standing is no problem for you at all, and you do it ALL the time. Sometimes it scares us because you seem to have absolutely no fear at all! We have also noticed that you are very trusting, and will lunge off of things or out of our arms trusting someone will catch you. Again - very scary for mommy and daddy!

This is mommy's view of you most of the time lately.

This past month you continued to be a really great eater, and you are now eating even more different things. We finally gave you some meat, and you gobble it up just like everything else. You have gotten' quite a few new fruits lately too. But, your favorite it still YoBaby yogurt; you just devour that stuff! You also really love "puffs" (snacks) as well. We get pretty tickled watching you eat those sometimes. Usually you still want us to put them in your mouth, and you beg like a little baby bird for them. But you did manage to get some in your mouth a couple days ago (maybe just luck - who knows!), so hopefully you will get better at that. We sure give you lots of practice! You are an expert at drinking from a sippy cup, and you always want it. Until this past week all we had given you was water, but we did give you a little watered down juice the other day and your drank it like it was the best thing you had ever tasted!

As far as teeth, you now have three. You got the two on the bottom last month, and this now you also have one on the top. You're not quite sure what to do with those little teeth yet, but I'm sure you'll figure it out soon.

You make the silliest faces sometimes, and I have tried to capture some on the camera. Sometimes you're too quick though, so I'll just have to keep trying.

The latest funny thing you are doing that absolutely cracks me and daddy up is your sudden interest in the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse on tv. Whenever you hear the music to that, or hear Mickey talking you perk up and just stare at it like it is the most amazing thing you've ever seen. I'm not sure what it is about that show, but you LOVE it! So funny!

Here you are watching Mickey!

You still love bath time and just splash, splash, splash in the tub. We tried taking you swimming in a big pool while we were in Lubbock, but you weren't too sure about that, and you wouldn't let daddy let go of you at all. We even got you a little floaty, but you didn't want anything to do with that. (You do love playing with the box it came in, though!)


I could go on and on about the things you do that make me smile, Hadley. You are the best gift daddy and I could have ever asked for, and we love you more every single day. Keep growing and learning new things. Daddy and I promise to keep teaching you things, and keep doing our best to raise you in a home full of love and laughter.

This is what you do every night when you are supposed to be going to sleep!

Love forever and ever,
Mommy

Our lives lately

Apparently I have not done the best job lately updating my blog. So I will try and give a (somewhat) brief update on each of us...

Hadley: Hadley is growing and learning new things every day, it seems. He has two teeth and another one (or maybe two) coming in. He has started pulling himself up on everything, which is fun but super scary at times! He can pull up to standing, and is trying to stand on his own without anything to pull himself up on, but just can't quite figure it out completely yet. He still crawls mostly on his tummy, especially if he's in a hurry, but he can crawl on his knees if he wants to. Last week he got to spend a few days with Nanny and Papo, and I know they all had a really fun time. It's hard to believe that he's almost 9 months old - time goes by so quickly! A few things I want to remember that he is doing right now include: always propping his feet up on something (a table, a toy, my leg, whatever); always crossing his legs (usually right over left) when he is in the car seat or just laying in my lap relaxing; his new discovery of spitting/blowing bubbles/making funny noises with his mouth; how much he loves baths; how he peeks at us through the slats in his crib; how he throws his binks out of his crib.

Eric: Eric has spent most of the summer working up at the school either getting ready to, or actually moving into the new ag shop. (There's lots more to the story on the ag shop, but I'll let you ask him about it if you're really interested!) The first part of July he spent a week in Dallas at the State FFA Convention, and then last week he took us all to Lubbock to the state Ag teachers conference. Other than work and work trips he has kept himself busy at home getting things done around the house during his "summer vacation".

Mandi: I have spent the summer working. That's it - just working. (Sounds fun, huh!) I did enjoy my vacation last week in Lubbock at the teachers conference with Eric. We got to enjoy a little time with just the two of us while Hadley was having fun with Nanny and Papo. I have been doing Weight Watchers this summer, and have lost 13.2 pounds so far, so hopefully I can keep that up.

So there you have it - a quick update on our family. And here are a couple videos to entertain you as well!