Happy Thanksgiving

We had a great time in Abilene for Thanksgiving this year. We were there with Tim, Dina, Bailey, Emma, and Seaver; Nanny & Papo; Mema, Poppa, & Aunt Jackie. I am so glad we were able to go for the day and spend time with family. We have so much to be thankful for!

Christmas 2009

We had a wonderful holiday season this year. We got to spend time with family and friends. And Santa was very good to all of us!

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!

8 Months

Sweet Hadley,

8 months!! It seems like I was just writing about you being 7 months old, and now here you are turning another month older. Slow down!!

This past month has been a fun one (mostly) with some new milestones for you. First, you now have 2 teeth! We knew you were probably getting at least one tooth, and one morning we woke up and there they both were, poking through your gums like little weapons. I know you were in a lot of pain for a couple weeks, but I think now you have passed the worst part. We watch every day as a little more of those cute little teeth are visible. No more sweet gummy grins, but now I think your little 2-tooth grin is even cuter! One funny thing about the teething that I don't want to forget is the silly face you have been making where you stick your bottom lip up over your top lip. Daddy and I crack up every time we see you do it!


You also experienced your first July 4th celebration this past month. We had a house full of people that day for you to entertain, including PaPa, GiGi, Aunt Karah, Doug, Mitzi and her dog Raider, Toni and her girls Ashleigh and Kayla, and of course mommy and daddy. You didn't make it for the fireworks (way past your bedtime) but you had a fun day anyway.


You got to celebrate your first Father's Day with daddy this month as well. You have the absolutel best daddy in the whole wide world, and he loves you more than you will ever know!


You got to see lots of mommy's family this month as well when we went to the Hays family reunion in Forsan. I know you enjoyed seeing Mema and Poppa and Nanny and Papo, and they all were so happy to see you as well. Uncle Tim and Aunt Dina let us stay at their house for a couple nights, and you got to play with Bailey and Emma and meet your newest cousin, Seaver.


These past eight months have been so much fun, and I can't believe how quickly you are growing and learning new things. You have totally mastered the scooting/army crawl thing and I'm sure it's only a matter of days before you figure out how to crawl on your knees. You try it all the time so we are just waiting for you to take off! I had to lower your crib mattress this month because you are starting to pull yourself up on everything! You have also mastered the laying down to sitting up thing, and you are so proud of yourself every time you do it. The steps in our house have presented you with somewhat of a challenge, but you try your hardest to climb up them. We haven't let you do it completely by yourself yet, but I'm sure you probably could if we let you. Going down in another story though! You also love bath time these days. You love to play with toys in the tub and splash, splash, splash!


Hadley, mommy and daddy love you so much. Thanks for making our lives so much fun.

Doctors, kittens, and grandmas

Doctors:

Yesterday was Hadley's 6 month visit to the doctor. Unfortunately, that meant more shots. He is very healthy, and is growing just like he should be. However, I think he remembered what happened last time we laid him down on the table with the crinkly paper, because he totally freaked out every time I laid him down on that yesterday. It was lots of fun (note the sarcasm). Here are his stats:

Weight: 16 pounds 6 ounces (about 50th percentile)

Height: 27 inches (about 50th percentile)

Head: 44.5 cm (about 75th percentile)

All of his measurements are pretty much right where they have been every time so far, so it appears as though he is growing very proportionately. And the best part of the visit...no more shots for six months!

Kittens:

This part of the post is very sad (just warning you). This morning when we were all leaving to head to work we had a little accident. When I started my car we all heard the most horrific noise (coming from my engine) so I quickly cut the engine back off. Eric was getting into his truck at the time and obviously heard the racket and came shooting around the front of his truck to see what happened. That's when he saw it and looked up at me with a pretty terrible look. One of our kittens (about 2 months old) was apparently in my engine when I started the car, resulting in the horrific noise mentioned above. At this point all we could hear was the poor kitten crying and meowing as loud as possible because she was in so much pain. Eric told me to go on because he was going to have to shoot her. I couldn't bear to watch, and he didn't want me to watch so I backed up and drove away, and as I did I heard two shots as he (mercifully) put her out of her misery. Although all of our cats are just barn cats, there to catch critters, it was still very sad to see, and I feel terrible about it. Not a good start to the day!

Grandmas:

I decided this post needed something happy to end on, so in honor of Mother's Day (yes, I know it was a week and a half ago) here's Hadley with his grandmas and great-grandmas who love him so much.

Nanny (Mandi's mom)

GiGi (Eric's mom)Mema (Mandi's grandma)
Grandma Molly (Eric's grandma)

Day 5

We spent all day today at Nanny and Papo's house playing, reading books, napping, singing, and just having a relaxing day.

Day 4

This morning we said goodbye to Uncle Tim, Aunt Dina, Bailey, and Emma and headed north to Tatum, New Mexico to see Nanny and Papo. Hadley, once again, slept most of the trip, except when he woke up hungry. Luckily, he's a really good traveler! We had a pretty uneventful afternoon and evening playing with Nanny and Papo, reading books, and taking several naps. Hadley has been kind of fussy this afternoon, which is unusual for him, so I'm hoping he's just tired from the past few days.