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!

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.

Family Pictures

My sweet friend, Robin, took some amazing pictures of Hadley and our family a couple weeks ago. I am so lucky to have such a talented friend. Thanks, Robin!

I tried to just pick my favorites, but ended up putting quite a few on here - couldn't decided on just a couple!

Update in pictures

I'm a little behind on here, so I thought pictures would be the best way to update (since that's what you all really want to see anyway!)

My brave little crawler...we find him in new spots every day!

Totally asleep - like a limp rag-doll

Pool time with daddy

Kisses from Murph (gross!)

Nap time (this is a typical position - face pressed up against the bumper)

Bath time in the big bathtub!

Cute little floating head!

Surprise!

So cute in Daddy's hat

Hi - Happy 4th of July!

All this holiday fun (and picture taking) has worn me out!