Mover and shaker!

...just like his mama!  The day has come, we officially have a crawler.  

Next up on Payton's "honey do" list:  baby proof house!  Eli has already attacked one of our bar stools, no telling what he'll go after next...maybe a dog...

Weekend at home

Ah, a weekend at home.  Granted, it wasn't a "relaxing" weekend at home (Payton and I layed about a ton of rock in our backyard), but it still was a great weekend at home with our boy.  We did lots of new things:

We tried new sleeping positions...

And a new sleep routine...

This also included trying to rip the bumper pads off the side of the crib.

Getting closer to crawling!

He actually crawled today (Monday)!!!!!  Just a few feet.

We were so busy clapping, cheering, and laughing hysterically

that we didn't even think about taking pictures / video.

We thought about eating pancakes...

...we tried the pancakes...

Hook 'em horns!

...and we loved the pancakes!

We tried to say "uh oh"...

And choke ourselves while eating.  That's a new thing that we won't encourage!

 And we got a new ride!

  

We also continued some old things...like that silly smile!

Can't wait for him to get up tomorrow to see what the day holds, maybe more crawling...

Just a few pics...

We posted some pics of Bug in action.  Now that he is getting older, there are so many things that we can do together, like go for walks with the wagon, hang out on the back deck, and swing in the hammock.  I know I've said it before, but each day truly is more fun than the last.  His newest trick, sitting himself up from a laying down position, just a few more days until crawling, we can feel it coming!

Daddy's Boy

Trying to get him to stand up, looking a little akward.

About to rip apart the cord to Payton's laptop.

Hanging out with his cousin Sarah.

Meme and two of her 8 grandkids.

Getting ready for a ride in his little red wagon.

Yay for wagon rides.

I am so in LOVE with that little cowlick!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Look at those 4 teefs!!!!

So excited about the hammock.

This is what Payton looks like when he gets in the hammock, too!

Hammock time!

So this is his latest "smile".  He scrunches up his face and grunts.  Hope it doesn't lead to wrinkles at the bridge of his nose ;)

Yay for standing up!

So much open space to explore!

And this is his mad face, not sure what happened to provoke this...

(Lindsey, this one is for you, he's not always happy go lucky!)

Love Bug!

Life as we know it, lately...

Proof that Eli is about to go mobile and our nights (and days)  are possibly going to get more difficult (or entertaining based on the acrobatic show Eli has put on for us the past few nights).

Here he is in action

Little booger!

And eventually he puts himself to sleep, and we find this:

I have no idea how this could be comfortable,

but this is his newest sleeping position. 

(Notice the carpet/rug burns from the pre-crawl belly dance he's been doing.)

 

And I have to include this little smile from breakfast this morning:

Life is getting louder...

Eli loves banging his toys together, against the side of the bathtub, against the wall, against the floors, pretty much against anything that will produce a loud (and annoying) noise. 

But it's totally cute, so we encourage the wall/floor/bathtub/toy banging!

Things happen fast...

...in a matter of a few weeks, our next two months have completely booked up with friends and family events...

This weekend, friend's wedding shower and day trip to Fredericksburg wineries.
Next weekend, nothing, yay, maybe we'll get some home projects done, maybe not.
The next weekend, my parents and Uncle Blake are in town for the weekend, yay!

The first weekend of April, Round Top with the Sutton-McGurks, woo hoo!
The next weekend of April, Chi-town for work and to visit Cara, so excited!
The following weekend, birthday celebrations and helping to sponsor my company's team riding in the MS150, go team!
The next weekend, Easter (maybe in Dallas), yay spring and Easter!
The last weekend of April, a friend's wedding here in Austin.

So far for May, we only have a wedding in Houston (yay Lori and Dennis!).

June's going to be a doozy, can't wait to see how we handle a 6 hour drive to Louisiana to celebrate my great-grandmother's 90th birthday, followed by a few days in an RV at Garner State Park with Payton's family (lots of kiddos for Eli to play with), then ending the week  with the 4th of July weekend in Fredericksburg.

Then July is Eli's 1st birthday, and before we know it, the year will be over, then Eli will be potty trained, off to school, then driving, then married, then we'll be retiring, then we'll have grandkids...goodness gracious...must stop and enjoy every second of this time in our lives, no matter how much we have going on.  It's hard, but I know it is so important, or we WILL wake up one day and wonder what happened to our lives.  Stop and smell the roses, right?  Or maybe just the poopy diapers for now.

Weekend in Fredericksburg

We had one of those "wish it would never end" weekends this past weekend.  It started out on Friday night when Payton and I celebrated my new position (Human Resources Manager, woo hoo!) with a bottle of champagne in the newest section of our backyard.

Payton pointed out that when I have a new area of the house to decorate (inside or out), I don't slow down until it's finished.  What started out as an empty space is now decorated with outdoor furniture, a fire pit, a lantern, and lots of lights.  All accomplished with a little moving around of our current furniture, a quick trip to Target while Payton was getting Eli ready for bed, and wa la, a great area for us to celebrate in.  We enjoyed the fire with glasses of champagne and talked for a long time about our future plans including staying in our current house a little longer, having another baby (don't get too excited, it's not happening any time soon), summer trips, and work.

We headed out to Fredericksburg first thing Saturday morning.  Payton's dad, step-mom, and aunt and uncle live out there and we love that we have the opportunity to go visit that beautiful part of Texas to see family.  We ate lots of good food and had a great time catching up with family.  The weather turned out to be absolutely perfect on Saturday and Sunday, sunny and in the 70's.

Eli had a great time being outside.  He has always loved the outside, but in Fredericksburg, he gets to see goats, donkeys, and lots more.  He even got to pretend ride on a tractor and motorcycle.  He's also not lacking for attention when we get around all of the family and he just eats it up!

Watching mommy paint the bird house.  

Bubbles!  And I just love that little hand on my knee!

More bird house fun!

Checking out the donkeys.

We found a tractor, and he loved it!

Dumping out all of the leaves.

See you guys later!  This picture of Eli reminds me of 

my great grandfather Huckaby.  Bald head, ears, those cheeks!

Uncle Ray and Eli checking out the whirly wheel.

Uh oh, slot machines already?!?!  Darlene and Ray said 

that about five minutes after they finished at the slot 

machine, they found loads of coins in Eli's fists.

Look at that little boy, he looks like a little cowboy 

standing on the fence!  I love those jeans and that little butt!

Checking out the goats and Toby.

I took this picture in the car at the gas station as we were 

heading out of town, he was just giggling at himself in the mirror.

Love this kid!

Eli has his very first ear infection, but you wouldn't know it by looking at him! 

He has had a runny nose on and off for the past couple of months but I just thought it was a little cold, typical of the weather, and also from his major teething (4 teeth in two months).  He developed a little cough yesterday morning.  It wasn't his typical "hey, look at me" cough that he does for attention sometimes (imagine that, my child trying to get attention).  This time you could tell he had some drainage in his throat. 

I took him into the doctor yesterday afternoon, and he patiently waited, and ate puffs, and played with the paper on the table, and tried to break mommy's necklace, and ate puffs, and climbed all over mommy, and shook his head "no" when mommy tried to wipe his nose, until the doctor finally came in.  Just a few more minutes and he would have destroyed that room!  She looked in his ear and immediately knew it was infected.  Poor Bug, aside from the runny nose and recent cough, I never would have known he was sick, he's taken it like a champ, never once even tugged on his ear in pain.  He's on amoxicillin for 10 days, then we'll go for another check up.  He also got his 2nd flu shot, which he didn't seem to notice.

He weighed in at 23lbs and 14oz.  Phew!

Payton has his first ear infection too, and I'll admit (I LOVE YOU HONEY), Eli is the better patient!

Headed to Fredericksburg this weekend to visit family.  Can't wait!