6 Months 10-29

October 29
6 Months!
Bear is now one half of a year old. He is progressing as he should be and he is so much fun. He gets excited to see us, smiles at everyone and he even laughs at my jokes (I know that won't last long). He really is a good baby. He sleeps through the night - usually 11 or 12 hours. In case anyone was ever worried that he wasn't getting enough to eat, I'll have you know that he is over 28 inches long and over 18 pounds (95th and 75th percentiles, respectively)! And that's all from milk and an occasional bowl of rice cereal (he started eating cereal within the last month). He just started eating vegetables yesterday - you'll see how much he likes peas by the picture. He is sitting up and scooting all over the place. We had a mother/son weekend when Sweet Pea went to the Aggie game with Daddy. N and I both enjoyed the one on one time with our little munchkins. (Sweet Pea had a blast with Aunt K and cousin DD) Oh, and Sweet Pea had M&M's, Popcorn and goldfish for dinner, she didn't take a bath or brush her teeth, and she wore her PJ's home from College Station. Just another fun weekend with Daddy!

And I have to mention that Sweet Pea is growing up, too. She seems to learn a million new things a day. She has a very sweet heart and I know she tries to be good :-). I wish I had her energy! And she is still loving on her "liddle brodder" and he loves every minute of it.

Trip to Michigan/Auntie and Uncle's 50th Anniversary Party 10-26

We just spent a week in the UP of Michigan with my mom's sister. We made the trip for my Auntie and Uncle's 50th Wedding Anniversary party. Their six daughters planned the party and I have to say it was amazing! They really know how to party up there! Our last trip was two years ago when Sweet Pea was just an infant. I can't even tell you how special it was to go up there now that she can interact and play with everyone. It was so fun to see her playing with her cousins (six of my cousins were there, sixteen of their kids and six of thier kids' kids) - she loved to tell me "That's my cousin" in her southern draw. There are so many kids up there, I was thinking it might be a little overwhelming. But they are all so loving and fun that Sweet Pea warmed up to them right away. She was in the middle of the action most of the time (which is unlike me as a child, apparently I was always hiding behind my mother's skirt). She was on the dance floor all night! Seriously from the time the band started until they stopped 3 or so hours later. And there was always someone there to love on her. She met my mom's other sister and brother for the first time. It was very special to see her with my mom's side of the family. I could tell she really loved my Aunties. One special memory I have of the trip was at the party, Sweet Pea was getting really tired and she started asking for "Gramma" (which is what she calls my Auntie). She finally found her and climbed up in her lap and just snuggled up to her. It gave me a slight glimpse of how she would've have been with my mom.

I guess I should add that Bear had his share of attention, too. It was so nice to have someone there who wanted to hold him all of the time.

Anyways, I have posted pictures from the trip. One of the pictures is Sweet Pea standing in front of the house my mom grew up in. I was very excited about that picture.

Pumpkin Patch 10-24-07

Two weeks ago we visited the local Pumpkin Patch to pick out our family pumpkin. Sweet Pea had fun running around the maze of hay bales and she loved the mini pumkpkins. I have posted pictures in an album to the right.

Fire Fighter Day at School 10-10

Here are a couple of pictures of Sweet Pea from Tuesday. She runs around the house with her hat on saying, "I'm Fire Fighter Sweet Pea". Oh, and when I was talking to her about Fire Fighters and how they come to protect you, she said, "But, you protect me, Mommy". Another one of those great mommy moments.

The Whirlwind has calmed... 10-06

While I am sad that all of the action is over, it's kinda nice to sit and be still for a minute(and I mean a minute, I have a group project due tomorrow). Since I have a brief moment, I thought I would try to catch up on the kids' latest adventures. Last Thursday my old friend (by old, I mean we've been friends since 8th grade, she's not actually old), Rachel came to town for a quick visit. We ventured to First Monday with Sweet Pea on Friday, but couldn't stay long because we had to get back for Bear's Dr appt (he had a mean cough but the dr says he just has allergies - that darn Texas ragweed). We didn't even buy much, but it was fun to spend time with Rachel - you know what they say - "Old friends are the best friends".

That night MeMe and her friend came over and we all had dinner and played with the kiddos until bedtime. Then, Nyles and I were up past midnight packing for our FL vacation which was to begin the next day. Of course, we couldn't just wake up and go to the airport, that would be too easy. Instead, we woke up before dawn and all of us girls went to Grapevine and walked in the DFW Walk for the Whisper. It's an annual 5K fun run benefitting the National Ovarian Cancer Coalition. I have participated in it since the first one, which happened to be in 2002, the September after my mom went to heaven (after battling Ovarian Cancer). It's become a special tradition. Anyways, team Joggin' for Ginger had 25 people this year and over $1300 in donations. It turned out to be a beautiful day for the walk. I'll post pictures soon.

As soon as we crossed the finish line, we took a few pictures and then we dashed off to the airport. We made it just in time for our flight - Thanks Rachel, I couldn't have done it without you! The vacation was wonderful - I'll post pics soon, I think they'll speak for themselves. The only challenge was controlling our feisty 2 year-old. All of sudden she turned into a crazy girl. I almost forgot about the sweet little angel I had known for the previous 2 and half years. Luckily I talked to my sister on the way home and she commented on how sweet and well behaved Sweet Pea is - Thanks Sis, I really needed to hear that! Don't get me wrong, she (we all) had a fabulous time, but she was definitely testing us. It was Bear's first airplane ride and he did great. He had fun at the beach, too. But, I think he took advantage of the fact that we didn't bring any "sitting" toys. He had to be held a majority of the time. Of course, I never complain about snuggle time with my Bear.