11 months old

I cannot believe that in just one more month my little man will be turning 1 year old!!! He has truly stolen my heart in a way I never imagined. Zachary is the happiest boy and smiles all the time. He is loads of fun right now and I would not trade these past 11 months for anything, including those not-so-fun first couple months of crying. He is very social and curious, not wanting to miss a single thing. But he will also come snuggle up next to you and loves being held. He is basically eating all table food now, and let me say that this boy can eat!! I was reading about serving sizes for toddlers and he blows that out of the water. He'll eat almost a whole waffle or an entire piece of toast...plus some fruit for breakfast. So far he likes just about everything. Zachary got his 8th tooth this month. And he has started sleeping from 7:15-6:30 (we are slowly getting away from that 5:00 hour). His favorite word is Da-Da, and he tries to say "hi", but does not technically have any real words...although he does the baby jabbering nonstop all day long. He loves for you to hold his hands so can run. And he gets around the furniture very fast now. I suspect he'll be taking some steps on his own very soon. He also learned how to do "soooo big" this month.

     

I am thankful for this blessing of a son!

SNOW much fun!!!

It was a Christmas miracle...SNOW in Houston :-) The past few times it has snowed here we have been out of town and missed it. This time we were here and it was awesome!!!

Zachary taking it all in from the warmth of the house.

He much preferred to be indoors!

But tasting it was okay.

Carly had a blast playing on her swingset in the snow.

And making a snowman with Daddy.

Here are some views of our front and back yard. It was so pretty!

This morning we went to the mall for the annual picture with Santa. You can get them for free at Bass Pro Shops...what a great deal! I am not at all surprised at Zachary's picture :-)

And I had to pick up his very 1st Christmas ornament!

Please keep Zachary in your prayers. He had his eyes dilated almost 2 weeks ago, and one of them is still not back to normal. It is slowly getting better, but it is not the same. He has already been back to the eye doctor once, and I will need to take him back on Monday if it is not better. This is very strange and almost unheard of to have one dilated pupil after all this time, and I am trying not to worry too much...but it is hard as a mother! Thank you.

O Christmas Tree, O Christmas Tree

I have always had an artificial Christmas tree. Growing up we had one, and then once I got my own tree it was artificial as well. Call me crazy, but I just don't like the smell of pine. After Brandon and I were married we continued to use my old tree. But last year it was only half lit and it was time to go. Brandon really wanted to get a live tree this year and start a tradition of going to cut down our own Chrtstmas tree. So the day after Thanksgiving we headed to Dewberry Farm!

The weather was chilly enough to get you in the mood for some tree shopping. Right when we arrived, we went straight to the hay ride. This took us out to all of the Christmas trees.

They have 4 different types of trees. We picked a Leyland Cypress, which is a sterile hybrid...meaning, it is does not pollinate, cause allergies, or leave needles in the carpet. Here we are in front of our tree.

Brandon was so excited to cut it down! I'm thinking this "tradition" is really for him :-)

My parents out in the forest. It was so nice having them here for a few days!

After we cut down our tree, we headed back to the main part of the farm to play while they got

the tree all ready to go for us. It was a great system and a very fun day.

Even Santa was there! This picture cracks me up because it is a classic Carly expression

when she is not too sure of someone.

Next we took the tree home and got to decorating. I LOVE this time of year!!!

My nativity set.

The kids' set...which they are really enjoying.

Carly's contribution. She had a blast putting these on the window.

And of course, our stockings...hung by the chimney with care.

Merry Christmas! Let's remember the true meaning of this time of year.

Gobble, Gobble

We had a fantastic Thanksgiving! My parents came in town on Wednesday evening, and then yesterday we all headed down to Pasadena to Mawma's house for some delicious Thanksgiving food. It was nice having both of our families together and we had a great time. My kids would not cooperate with the pictures, but here are the best I have from our day.

My sweet family! I am so blessed.

Carly enjoying her feast (although she did not eat very much).

Zachary's 1st Thanksgiving :-)

Zachary loves to walk, so my parents brought him a walker.

Thank you Haylie for letting Zachary borrow your lion. He absolutely LOVES it!!!

Hope your Thanksgiving was fantastic!

Forty Days

Brandon has been telling Carly the story of Noah. This was our conversation on the way home from Target tonight...

Carly: Carly loves her little brother! I want to keep him forever and ever and ever.
Me: Oh, how sweet. Forever and ever!
Carly: No Mommy. Forever and ever and ever and ever and ever. And then when Carly turns sixteen, I will throw him in the trash for 40 days. And then Mommy can get him out.
Me: laughing too hard to say anything at this point

Oh boy! At least she loves him :-) Zachary sure is keeping us busy around the house these days. You just never know where he will end up.

Bye Bye!!!

C is for Carly...and D is for everything else

Oh, my sweet Carly. She is just a mess these days. Age 2 was a breeze and not terrible at all. But, age 3 has proven to be a challenge. She has certainly become much more headstrong about her ways, much more argumentative, and much more independent. She wants to do everything herself, and she wants to be "bigger". I often hear, "When I get bigger I can..." Her favorite one is when she gets 16 she can drive :-) That is NOT her daddy's favorite. None of them are. He wants to keep her small forever. I just want her to get past this not-so-fun stage of daily battles. I have learned to pick those battles though, and one I often relinquish is her attire. Does it really matter that her hairpiece doesn't match her outfit? Or that she goes to check the mail looking like this...

Seriously! This girl loves to pick out her clothes. And shoes. She wants to wear shoes all the time, including during her nap. Don't worry, if we are going somewhere decent then I give her 2 acceptable choice of what to wear. I figure she can have some freedom most other times though.

Carly has been going through some testing for her speech. My little girl loves the letter D and that sound is very common in her speech. For examply, really fast is "dilly das" and swimming is "dimming". She was tested with the school district and also privately. We feel the best choice for her is to go the private route. Thank you Michelle for referring Shelli to us! I am excited that Carly will be getting the help she needs.

Here are just a few recent pictures of my girl. This one is with my dad when he came to stay with us last week. She is Pa's girl!

And these are from her cousin Matthew's birthday party. She had a blast!

Enjoy the nice cool weather this week! We plan to.

Puppy Love

Zachary LOVES this puppy.

The past couple of days he has been dragging it all over with him. It is so cute!

And bring on the cake and ice cream :-) We have 7 birthday parties coming up in the next 5 weekends. They kick off tomorrow with my nephew's party up in College Station. I can't beleive he is turning 4 already!!! He was/is a wild little boy and I think Zachary is following in his cousin's footsteps. I've got a crazy one all of a sudden...