Time off for Tom

Tom had some time off last week.

It was super nice to have him home.

On Monday, we took the kids to the zoo. We got to visit the new Museum of Living Art building. It was really nice... well, the exhibit was very nice, but to be honest, big snakes and other reptiles give me the heebie jeebies.

Margaret showing off her new affection for her fingers.

Alice came with us, too.
Fun, fun!





It was pretty weather, so Tom spent his mornings reading the paper outside and Henry got his morning exercise.

We also got to take the Warminskis dinner and hang out with Baby Audrey.

The McAdams' joined us, too.

We had to get a group shot of the girls- Luke and Henry move too fast for a boy pic.

When I noticed that my kids coordinated, I tried to get a good pic of them... ha- didn't happen.

Fortunately, Tom having time off means time off for me. He was very helpful around the house. And he took over Henry diaper duty.... it's the simple things that mean so much!

At the end of the week, we went to Shreveport... but that's another post.

Bridges Bonding

A few weekends ago, I took the kids to go see my grandparents, the Bridges. My mom was in town for a visit so it was good to see her, too.

We're always trying to figure out who Margaret looks like, and I think I've decided that she looks like my Papaw... crazy, I know.

My grandparents gave Henry this old schoolhouse bank... with lots of coins to put in it. It keeps him busy, which I like.


Margaret showing Princess Sophie to my mom.

"Ride a little horsie down to town...."

My Papaw was the best at doing this and my mom's trying to carry on the tradition.

(It is kinda annoying when Henry is trying to get me to do this while I'm feeding Margaret)

4 generations

Instead of putting great-grandkid pictures in picture frames, my Papaw likes to mount them on various wall hangings. He said he likes to talk to them while he's having his morning cup of coffee. It means a lot that he cares so much about them.

4 months

It's been such a fun month with Miss Margaret!

She'll "talk" to you.

Loves to smile- wakes up happy in the morning.

Naps about 3 times a day... also gets a little catnap around dinner time.

Goes 9-10 hours between feeding at night- waking up around 4-5 to feed and goes right back to sleep, until 7-8.

Now sleeps with no swaddle and no paci.

Showing her drool- it has come in full force this month!

Has found her fingers and loves to suck on them.

She squeals when she gets real excited!

Love how she threw her hands down and kicked out her feet- such a happy baby!

(well, most of the time)

Margaret kept staring at the pillow... it was like she just noticed that it was there.

She's reaching for and holding her toys... likes to put them to her mouth.

She's really good at letting me know when she is done with the pictures.



Showing you how she tries to roll over.


She's rolled over several times from back to front (just last night she rolled over in bed and slept like that) and a few times from front to back... I can't complain- doing better than Henry who was 7 months before he rolled over!


We went to Margaret's 4 month check up-

Little Sister isn't so little!

15 lbs 11 ounces (95th %)

26 inches (off the charts!!)

Ha!

My new favorite picture

I found this picture of my great grandmother, Margaret Gray Rollins, and me. (wow, I had a huge forehead) My expression in my eyes remind me of an expression Margaret makes.

I'll leave you with a video of Margaret laughing....

I came home the other day and Tom had Henry jumping on the bed to get Margaret to laugh. It's a funny little chuckle.

Baby Blues

Crazy how blue Margaret's eyes are!

Love this silly face!

Fun at the Zoo

Last week, after BSF, the kids and I met our friends at the zoo.

It was a mad house. So many people and kids on field trips.

Reminded me of the time I "misplaced" a kid on a field trip... we found him.

The highlight of the trip- we got to see the lion roar.

Henry keeps saying "Lion roar big!"

Looking at the giraffes

The best pic we could get of the kiddos sans Brinley and Margaret.

Henry at 2 years of age

I've been wanting to do a post giving facts about Henry now that he's 2.

I've been putting if off because I've wanted to take an "amazing photo" of this sweet child of mine for this post.

What was I thinking?

Did I actually think that there would be a magical moment where Henry would think "Oh, my mom wants to take a picture of me. I'm going to stop and smile for her"?

So I've given up on the picture.

And that's good thing.

The "amazing photo" would not accurately depict Henry at this stage of his life.

Here are some snapshots of my dear, dear son from this month along with some tidbits of what's going on with him.

Henry really enjoys playing hide and go seek.

He's not the best hider.

When we're playing in the backyard, he just runs to the back fence and asks "Where's Henry?"

Still loves books.

Its fun to catch him "reading"... He'll tell what's happening on certain pages.

Makes the 1st grade teacher in me very proud.

Favorite meal of the day- Breakfast.

Loves all breakfast food.

Lucky for me, enjoys cold cereal as much as he likes pancakes.

In this picture, he is eating left over CoCo Puffs from his birthday party, but usually eats Life, Wheat Chex, or Grape Nuts (he calls it "peanuts"). Henry likes a little "dirt" (brown sugar) on his cereal.

Loves it when Daddy comes home. (who doesn't??) Eating popcorn on the back porch has become a favorite past time of theirs. He also loves working out in the yard, playing basketball, throwing a ball, and reading with Tom.

Other random facts:

31 pounds; 37 3/4 inches tall

Runs fast, jumps high

Loves to look at pictures of family members and friends

Favorite fruit- apple

Favorite vegetable- broccoli (I catch Tom giving Henry his) and also likes green bell pepper (which might be a fruit)

Knows his colors and can identify most letters

Hates to brush his teeth and have his hair washed

Asks to watch Elmo 20 times a day; only watches it about 4 times a week.

Loves all modes of transportation

Does his fair share of whining/crying

Goes to bed between 7:15 and 8, wakes up between 7 and 8.

Naps are between 2-3 hours

Is no where close to being potty trained

Is currently in love with this Laurie Berkner CD that PatPat gave him. Whenever he's in a "mood", it will calm him down. Sometimes he's up, dancing with the music, sometimes he just sits at the kitchen table and listens.

Loves BSF Bible Study. He asks to go to it everyday. He's walked up to random strangers and said "Bible Study" to them. He carries around an old Peter Pan movie case, claiming it as his Bible, and tells us "ByeBye. Bible Study."

Can make a huge mess. Loves to dump out toys and keep moving. He's getting better at picking up.

The best time to get Henry on video is while in the bath.

Does pretty well counting 1-12... gets a little foggy after that :)

I look forward to what this next year holds!

To Swaddle or Not to Swaddle

We've been having sleeping issues.

From birth, Margaret enjoyed being swaddled.

As of the last few months, she's learned how to get out... a pretty strong little thing.

She'd wake up (1-2x each night), I'd go reswaddle, that would comfort her and she would fall back asleep.

This started to get old... because in my mind, there was no reason for me to get up- she was going 9-10 hours between feedings.

So I tried putting one arm out.

That didn't work either.

Next, we tried a double swaddle. Tom's sister, Kate, is the queen of swaddling, and she came over and showed me how to double swaddle. That night Margaret slept through the night.

(I'm sure you're thinking at this point- why don't you just stop swaddling?? I know, I know- it's me being dependent on that silly thing- I swaddled Henry until he was 6 months and he was the poster child for sleeping.. I was determined it was going to work)

Nope, that didn't work either.

Soon (like the next night) Margaret figured how to get out of that.

I'm too much of a chicken to let her sleep on her tummy at night... even though I've had success letting her do it for naps.

Now we've moved onto a new plan. No swaddle. Sometimes a paci. A lovey.

Margaret's lovey of choice.

The first night was a disaster.

She had a real hard time staying asleep.

We would go in there, quiet her down, and give her a paci.

Margaret would go back to sleep, only to wake up again, and again... and again.

Last night was a different story.

I put her down at 7:30

She woke up at 3:45. Tom went to go quiet her down.

She woke up at 5:15. I fed her.

She woke up at 8:30.

I consider this a success.

We'll see if it continues.




And here is the sweet girl napping right now.

A Cool Thursday

For Tom's Birthday, I got tickets to the Dallas Arboretum's Cool Thursday... there was a Beatles cover band playing. Liz and Colin joined us.

Liz got these cupcakes for Tom
As much as we love the Beatles, I don't think we listened to the band much... talked the entire time.

Henry got left behind at PatPat and PawPaws (thanks!), but Margaret Gray got to come dance to the music.

Rockin'

Margaret loved being so close to her future friend, Charlie.

It was a great evening!

Happy Birthday, T-Diddy!

We are Family

(sorry if the tune is stuck in your head... I don't even like that song)

This month, Henry and Margaret saw 14 out of 18 aunts and uncles and 11 out of 13 cousins. It was a very busy, but fun time seeing so many family members!

Henry gets so excited around his cousins... we've started calling it "cousin crack".

At the beginning of the month, the kids and I met Sarah and Liam at a Cracker Barrel in Waco.

The kids were so cute that an elderly man paid for our lunch!

Gotta love Cracker Barrel rocking chairs.

That week we also got to see my sister, Elizabeth, and Chris and Madeline.
They drove in to fly out of DFW to go skiing. We met them for dinner... no pics, but in order for them to be represented, I added this adorable Easter pic of Madeline and Sarah Grace :)

Ross came with Gabe, Arden, and Isabelle for Opening Day and Easter.

Next, Jack and Leigh and Jim and Alex came in town.

Jack was in town from Paris to be in a friend's wedding.

Jim and Alex came to see Jack and Leigh.

We celebrated Jack and Leigh's engagement over at the Louis'.

All of Henry's normal toys had been put away for the party so he resorted to playing with Grandmother Herndon's walker.


We are super excited for their upcoming wedding in October! Leigh is going to be a great addition to the family!



The next night we celebrated Alice's 1st birthday.
Such a happy 1 year old!!
It's been fun watching her grow this year.

Henry loves his Alice!


Alex and Jim supervised the kids jumping on the trampoline at the party.
( Alex and Jim announced their engagement when they came in town from Charlotte.
We all loved Jim and are thrilled to welcome him to the family in June!)


I think this is how Henry got a bruised eye


Margaret did her share of jumping, also.
Well, not exactly. Her feet didn't touch the floor.



The next morning, before Alex and Jim's flight, we met for breakfast.
(Oh, I forgot to mention that the Whitesides made it into town in time for Alice's party)

Evie helping Henry say "Hmmmm". These two were super cute together.

I know, Alice. Margaret's cheeks are pretty irresistible!

Evie and Alice sharing a moment.




The last installment of family was this week with Walter, Megan, and Baby Jackson (from Charlotte).

Jackson got to experience his first sink bath at PatPat and PawPaw's.
He is such a sweet little boy!

Tuesday night we celebrated Tom and Megan's birthdays.

PatPat also got her final birthday present. (We had been celebrating her birthday all month)

On the phone with her sister who lives in Oregon... PawPaw is sending her up there for a vacation.

"Hey Guys, could someone come get me?"

Kate had given me another tutorial in swaddling (I'll post those issues later) and we left Margaret there for quite some time.

Henry has become obsessed with showing his "bee-bo".

The next night we had a little photo shoot with Margaret and her new friend, Jackson

It started off well...

Then Jackson discovered Margaret's cheeks.

He had a hard time letting go.

That didn't stop the smiles.

So silly!

I can't wait to watch these two become friends.

Tom and Walter with their babies.

We have been blessed with a large family and are very thankful we got to see so many of our loved ones this month!