Anderson at 10 months

I don't know what else to say, you are the SWEETEST baby! You love to smile at anyone who will talk to you! This month you are standing on your own for a few seconds at a time, and even attempting to take a step when you want to be brave. You have also started talking a lot more. You can say DA-DA, and were saying Ba-Ba for Bamama when she was practicing with you daily:) You can say bye-bye and wave, which you LOVE to do! 

Your other top tooth has finally broken through, so that makes two on top and two on bottom. A few weeks ago you decided that real food wasn't so bad after all. There are times when you will gobble up anything I put in front of you, and others when you are quite picky. You've had peas, chicken, rice, grapes, etc. I do still give you baby food pouches sometimes just because they are so convenient.

Most of your summer clothes are 12 months, so that's what we're wearing these days even though they are a tad big. We just ordered you size 4 diapers tonight since the 3's are getting snug. You drink between 3-4 bottles a day and love holding your own bottle, more so than I ever remember either of the girls doing. You prefer a nap around 8:30-9:00 and 1:00. Unfortunately, your morning nap sometimes gets pushed aside, which you don't love. If we are in the car, you will still catch a snooze, but you much prefer your crib.

As mentioned previously, you LOVE the outdoors. If a door is left opened or cracked you make a mad dash to try and escape before anyone catches you. You have also developed a strong will for the toys you want to play with and love to go after phones and remote controls. You have a huge fascination with wheels, I guess it's a boy thing. Gold cart tires, wagon wheels, bicycle wheels, cooler wheels, truck wheels, stroller wheels, you don't care. You just love to spin them, and it's so fun to watch you play with them. We even bought you your first "boy toy" last week (a John Deer tractor) because we have watched your fascination so much.

I think you might just be our curly headed baby. The picture below shows that sweet curl in back. Of course the humidity definitely gives it a little help.

I really can't say it enough, you are so sweet and interactive. Your smiles brighten our days more than you will ever be able to imagine. Happy 10 months baby boy. May the next 2 go by VERY SLOWLY!

Sweet babies

We won't call it summer break, we'll call it summer fun!

Whew! This summer has not been a rest by any means, but goodness we've already had a blast. We are three weeks into summer and it has been full of non-stop fun. Back track to the end of May...our anniversary was the last week of school. To celebrate 9 years, I took Jonathan to the Reba McIntire and Geroge Strait concert in Baton Rouge. We couldn't find a room anywhere near there, so we ended up staying at the Beau Rivage in Biloxi and had such a blast! It was a very quick trip, but so much fun!

After getting back on Saturday, we headed to the lake for Memorial Day on Sunday and Monday. Fishing has become a favorite pasttime for both girls this year.

Payton started cheer camp on Tuesday and had that through Thursday. It was nice to have some time to hang out with Harper and Anderson while she was gone in the mornings.

That weekend we headed to Orange Beach for a birthday fishing trip for Pop's birthday. Saturday night we went to the Wharf for dinner and the summer lights show. The girls danced to the music, rode the ferris wheel, and had a blast!

The following week was VBS Weird Animals at AUMC. I was Payton's crew leader again, and Harper and Anderson stayed in the nursery. It worked out wonderful because they let the 3 year olds (the class Harper goes to even though she's not 3:)  go to the Sanctuary, as well as teaches the Bible points and many other activities. So as far as Harper was concerned, she was at VBS also, which was perfect because otherwise she probably would have thrown a fit everyday. We had a chance to hang out and catch up with some friends by enjoying lunch afterwards. We were reminded that no matter what, JESUS LOVES US!

This week we have enjoyed hanging out with neighborhood friends, going to lunch, going swimming with friends, and visiting the library to sign up for the summer reading incentive program. As you can see, we've been NON stop busy, but its been a fun kind of busy. Now here's to hoping the next several weeks are full of fun and friends, but hoping they pass SLOWLY!

Cheer Camp 2014

For her birthday, Nana and Pop gave Payton money for the AHS Cheer Camp! She had been looking forward to it for a while. Payton has really grown up so much lately in her social skills of meeting people and speaking to people she does know. I was really worried about her being introverted and not enjoying it because she didn't know anyone in her group. That wasn't the case at all. She ended up knowing several friends, plus she jumped right in introducing herself to new ones! I am SO proud of her for this! Back to cheer, she was super excited. I think when she found out her cheerleaders name was Peyton, that made it even better. The spend 3 days learning cheers, jumps and dances. On Thursday they invited the parents for a little showcase performance. She did excellent and we enjoyed seeing everything that she learned.

Anderson at 8 and 9 months

Buddy, let me start by saying that just because I am so far behind on your monthly posts doesn't mean I don't love you to pieces. As you can tell from Mommy's mad catch up on the blog, it has been quite busy around here lately. The pictures below are from around your 8 month birthday. We didn't do the official sticker and picture thing, but I have faith you will forgive me. I'll do my best to rehash your life the last two months.

You turned 8 months right around Easter. As you can see, you were sitting up really well and started crawling everywhere. At this point your crawling was not just to get to a toy, but rather room to room and into EVERYTHING. You were pulling up well on furniture and toys and beginning to cruise around things. Every time I would try to give you something besides baby food, you would completely gag and throw up, so I finally stopped because I was tired of wearing it. :)

You got a really nasty cold right at 8 months that lasted almost a week and a half. You were wheezing and pitiful. We continued your nebulizer we got from your cold around 6 months until we were out of medicine. Thankfully, we finally got our smiling happy boy back and we were so glad you were feeling better. Your top two teeth had been swollen at the top of your mouth so we know that didn't help the whole situation.

You turned 9 months May 13. As you can tell from the pictures, you have fallen in love with the outdoors during this warmer weather. Your sisters ADORE you. Harper always makes certain that your toes are nice and clean, free of any lent. Payton always makes sure that you are so happy and loves doing new things with you like taking you down the slide (just look at those precious hands holding on to their brother). One of your top teeth began to push through, but the other was just still aggravating you. I think your hair grew a lot this month and we even noticed a little curl here and there. You were standing extremely steady while holding onto something this month and moving a lot faster as you cruised around furniture. 

You wear anywhere from 6 month pajamas and 12 month clothes. Whatever we can find that all of these gracious people have passed down to us. You are still in size 3 diapers and not liking solid foods anymore than you did at 8 months. Dr. Williams says not to rush you. You will gobble up some baby food though! You also still love 4 bottles a day, about 7 ounces each time.

You are always giving everyone smiles.

I call you my wild man. Can you see why? You think you are as big as your sisters and are into everything. I love it, and obviously you do too!

We went to the dr. when you were about 9.5 months. Thankfully, there were no shots this go around. Dr. Williams told us that you look as perfect as can be, which we already knew. Harper went with us while sissy was at Cheer Camp and was such a big helper keeping you happy and telling Dr. Williams all about your tricks. You really started babbling with "ba" and "da" this month.  Your stats were:

Weight: 19lb. 11oz. 47%

Heigh: 27.7 in. 17%

Head: 18.2 in. 80%

We are just so thankful for you and all of the joy you bring to our family. It may have taken mommy 3 months to get this up, but hopefully you realize we have had lots of snuggles and playtime in that 3 months that are more important than updating a silly old blog. :) 

Payton's Dance Recital

The day after preschool graduation was Payton's dance recital. She had been looking forward to it for some time. I'm not sure if she was more excited about the costume or that I let her wear a little make up!

Our beautiful ballerina!

Harper found a way to entrain herself while we were waiting on the performance to begin. She used Grandadd's walking stick as a microphone. She also cracked us up trying to dance along with the dancers during the performances. She is ready for her turn!

When they opened the curtains, Payton was front and center! Although I know she does great in class, I was a little worried how she would do on stage. She doesn't really like people watching her and gets stage fright very easily. She did awesome! She didn't skip a beat!

Harper was ready to take her flowers and get hugs!

We couldn't have been more proud of our sweet girl! 

Harper's last day of school

Harper finished school on May 13. She has had such a wonderful year with the sweetest teachers and friends. I joked that I wasn't telling her it was the last day of school because I knew it would make her sad. She absolutely adores her teachers, Mrs. Carmello and Mrs. Matz, and thankfully she has the privilege of being in their class next year also. Just a few pics before her last day...

(Trying to hold up "2" for the 2 year old class.)

Typical morning routine, breakfast in one hand, cup in the other, and rushing out the door.

Here she is on her first day of the two year old class.

Anderson isn't officially in preschool, but I just couldn't leave him out. He has gone to CDO two days a week for the past several months and loves it!