FIRST BIRTHDAY!

It just doesn't seem possible that Andrew is 1! This past year has gone by so quickly and has been jam packed with a move, new jobs, family, and weddings. It's been a great one and we've loved every minute watching Andrew grow.

We had a nice party this past weekend for Andrew and James since they both hit milestone birthdays this year...1 and 30! Andrew loved everyone singing Happy Birthday to him and loved his cupcake even more. Lots of family and friends were around to share the special occasion, and there was even a little hula hooping (long story.) Thanks to everyone for their well wishes and celebrating with us! We are truly blessed.

Oh and did I mention James had his first pinata? It was a hit (no pun intended).
Andrew taking the first swing



Mmmm...cupcake!

New Year, New House!

Well, looks like we'll be moving into a new house this year. We're under contract for a house and assuming all goes according to plan (please God!) we'll be moving in mid-March. Let's just say this 'house hunt' was waaaay better than I could have imagined. This house was 'For Sale by Owner' in the neighborhood we have loved since we moved here. It was the first house we saw and after seeing some other ones, we loved it even more. We never dreamed that we'd find a house we both loved and have a contract in less than a week! We're looking forward to having our own place and hopefully not moving for at least a few years, but as always, we'll just have to see. We'll have more space in this new house so we're always accepting visitors!

We'll keep you posted...

Christmas 2008

We spent Christmas in Tyler this year with my family. Here's the breakdown, 7 adults + 4 boys (under the age of 8) + 5 dogs = mayhem. Actually it was a lot of fun, but Christmas morning was a blur. Andrew seemed to enjoy his first Christmas although he seemed more interested in trying to get to the mugs of coffee than any gifts. We finally got him to be somewhat interested in opening presents but it didn't last very long. He got a lot of great gifts and yet his favorite toy for a while was a plastic storage bin...go figure!

Boys on Christmas Morning

Ho, ho, ho!

Precious!

Doomsday

Andrew decided to start walking just days before he turned 11 months. It was amazing, he just all of a sudden took a few steps and hasn't looked back since. We were expecting him to stand on his own first and then work up to taking steps, but he took steps first. This child never ceases to amaze us! Needless to say, our lives are about to get much more interesting with Andrew being mobile so stay tuned...

Time Flies

I can't believe it's been over a month since my last entry...apologies to those of you that still read this thing!

Well Andrew is 10 1/2 months old now...in 6 weeks, my baby will be 1 year old, how time flies! He's been so textbook on his milestones and when he hits them. He so badly wants to walk. He's very quick to grab your fingers and take off to wherever it is he decides to go. He is saying 'daddy' a lot even though I'm not 100% convinced he knows what he's saying. I think I heard 'mama' yesterday, but I'll wait for confirmation on that one before I get too excited! Our little guy is quite keen on music. He will stand in front of the iPod speakers and just bop or sway depending on the tunes. He just loves it all!

We had a lovely Thanksgiving in Nashville and Andrew got some QT with his aunts and grandparents. Thanks Anne & Jim for your hospitality! Andrew got to 'play' Granma's piano a little too...thankfully we don't have one of those at home! =) Here are some pics of our time in Nashvegas...
Thanksgiving Day Walk
9th Plane Ride
Hey, what's over there?
Grandpa's Groupie
Gimme that camera!

Happy Halloween Ya'll!!

We went to a Halloween party hosted by a partner from James' group on Saturday. This family is serious about Halloween and spent quite some time decorating the house and planning/preparing the cuisine. We decided to keep it simple and not try to outdo our 'Bun in the Oven and Baker' costume from last year.

Last Year's Costume (6 months pregnant)

So James and I went as Cowboy/girl and Andrew went as our Steer! My parents brought some cowboy hats, boots and a belt for us to borrow and we went to Cavender's Boot City for James to pick up the rest of his costume. Now that place is serious for Cowboys...everything you could need from belts to boots to cell phone holders. It amazed me that people actually wear a lot of that stuff in there as their everyday fashion and not just for a Halloween costume! James transforms nicely into a cowboy...definitely looks the TX part. Andrew's costume was a little trickier...buying a costume for an infant is not easy. There are so many cute options but it's easy to get carried away. I decided to go for the cow because we were going to be cowboys, but also his favorite book is called "Millie Cow" so he dressed up in honor of Millie. I bought a 12 month size thinking that should work, but of course, Andrew was too tall. So you can't return costumes once purchased, so we had to cut holes in the feet for him to be able to stretch out. It's a little ghetto I know, but we didn't have any other choice. He was a great sport and looked so super cute. Take a look for yourself!

Nine Month Stats

We had Andrew's 9 month checkup this past week and here are his new stats...

Height: 30" 90th percentile
Weight: 22.6 lbs 80th percentile
Head circumference: Let's just say he's in the 95th percentile and leave it at that!

So needless to say our little butterball is starting to thin out a little. It could have something to do with the fact that he just does not sit still, other than when he sleeps, which many of you know he doesn't do all that often! He's pretty textbook as far as all the milestones he's hitting and when he hits them. He is cutting his 5th tooth and I'm sure more are on their way. He pulls up on just about anything he can get his hands on and seems to think he can walk at times since he'll pull himself up, see something he wants to get and proceeds to let go to get to where he wants to go! He's babbling quite a bit and unfortunately is saying 'Da da' and I have yet to hear 'ma ma'. Not sure he's made the connection as to who/what 'Da da' means, but he likes to hear himself say it over and over and over...

Doing Work on his Laptop

Mommy's Makeup Helper