First Easter

Henry's first Easter was a lot of fun. We did the whole Easter bunny thing and Henry woke to find a trail of plastic eggs that led him to his basket full of goodies.

We didn't go overboard as we tried to keep focused on the meaning for the holiday as the resurrection of our Savior. After breakfast we headed to a wonderful Easter service at church then to Mimi and B-Paws for lunch with the family. Henry had a great time visiting with everyone and playing in the bubbles with cousin Summer.

I think he loved playing with the plastic egg most. (it's three weeks later and we still have them out to play with)

Ten Months

My sweet snuggle bunny is ten months old! I can't believe I am already thinking about planning a first birthday!! I was cleaning out his closet and drawers the other day making room for spring and summer clothes and cannot get over how big he is! I can remember them just swallowing them whole and now they are all skin tight and too short. How is it that he is getting so big right before my very own eyes! I was holding him tonight before going to bed and looked down and he is all legs and arms spilling over my lap! He used to be so tiny and fragile looking!


Not only is he growing like a weed but he is learning at lightning speed. He now says momma and da-da and recently out of the blue starting saying uh-oh and at the appropriate time. In fact he drops things on purpose just to say uh-oh. Another new favorite game is...What does a __________ say? As soon as Lee or I say that He stops and looks at us and giggles when we make whatever sound the said animal makes. Henry is the happiest baby I know! He loves "school" and doesn't cry when Lee drops him off anymore and he's so excited when I pick him up. He also loves to be outside. Now that its warmed up we try to stroll every afternoon with my friend and her little girl. Henry just kicks and babbles and hangs out. After our stroll we often sit in the front yard and watch the cars drive by as we wait for Lee to come home from work (he points with his little finger at the cars all the cars).

Henry is eating more and more table food. This Saturday he had his first taste of pancakes (minus the syrup) and he LOVED them! He's also gotten a little pickier. One day last week he ate sweet peas like they were going out of style and the next night he totally snubbed them~silly boy! He still takes a bottle four times a day and juice or water from a sippy cup.

The biggest milestone we've hit this month is walking! Yes I have a WALKING boy in the house!! He started taking a few steps and then just took off! He still falls a good bit and has that cute drunken baby walk but he's getting better and better every day. If he wants to get somewhere fast he'll crawl but for the most part he walks, falls, and gets right back up and tries again. It's so bitter sweet.

Remember her?

remember my new best friend? Well she's now my latest obsession passion! I LOVE doing appliques and embroidery! I love being creative and figuring out what I am going to make and picking out the coordinating thread and fabrics and then seeing it all come together as a finished product. These are a few of my latest....

And this...

this is my new sewing room/office/guest /catch-all room...but mostly its my sewing room. My inlaws had the desk in their basement and graciously let me use it so I have more room to spread out and work. Doesn't it look professional? I've now moved out of the closet and my sweet husband can have his closet back and doesn't have to share with Henry. Have I mentioned how much I love him? He's so supportive and just my biggest fan and cheerleader whenever I get excited about something. Not only has he given up more of his space but he's been dragged (drug?) from here to just about every fabric and craft store in Birmingham without complaining without too much complaining and has even done emergency "I'm out of stabilizer" runs while on his lunch break so that I'd have it that evening.

Im starting to take on a few applique/monogramming jobs here and there which are fun and frightening all at the same time. It's one thing to mess up on a t-shirt I am making for Henry and a whole 'nother to fear I might mess up something of someone else's. So far I've been pleased with what I've done. I told Lee if I make enough money I am going to hire a cleaning lady :) He seems to think that's a great idea since our present one is too busy crafting and raising a baby to do much cleaning around here ;0)
Here are a few things I've done for others...

NiNe MoNtHs!!

** I forgot to publish this saved post earlier this month then I was going to wait until I had pictures and doctor stats and forgot :)

My little lucky charm is nine months already! Its hard to believe I carried him for as long as he has been here! Him being here has been much more fun although I loved being pregnant. He is such a joy to have around and he makes my heart smile! He is getting to be SO much fun and his little personality is developing everyday. At nine months he loves taking baths, stroller rides, loving on our dog Sophie, playing with tupperware, snuggling when he wakes up, quiet time with his "Lamby", books, his daddy, and LOVES blowing kisses! He is SO close to walking its so funny to watch him. He now can stand up without pulling up and will just stand all on his own and when we try to get him to walk he will take a step and clap because he's used to up clapping and he gets all excited and looses his balance and falls-silly boy! He is now eating some table foods and is like a little bird when we are eating something, he'll open his mouth and grunt until we give him a taste. He ate almost an entire plate of guacamole when we ate Mexican the other night. He still has just two little "mouse teeth" as we call them on the bottom. We're trying the sippy cup more and more but he still loves a bottle. I took him to the doctor for his 9 month check up and he is 20.8lbs (40th percentile) and 30 inches tall (97th percentile!) my little string bean ;0) Dr. S said he looked great and was impressed with his ability to blow kisses, stand, and do some baby sign language. Henry was a champ and did all of his "tricks" for him. We were both happy to hear there were no shots for this visit. The bad news is that he had ANOTHER double ear infection-I didn't even know! this was his 5th infection since June so he has referred us to an ENT for a tubes consult next month.

I dont have his 9month pictures loaded yet but here are a few from the past month..Henry and Summer at their 1st sleepover (both busting out of their pjs)

SOOOO big!

 the kitchen whisk

Henry's new favorite toy

Standing all by myself!

So close to taking a step!

Happy Valentine's Day!

...a week late :)

Here are a few pictures of my sweet Valentine before we went to chuch on Valentine's day. I never thought I would/could love him as much as I do! He is wearing a shirt I appliqued for him that I am very proud of! It was the first one that I've actually let him wear (others I have messed up on and they've gone into the "practice pile").

family, trains, and fish

The day after our big blizzard dusting of snow, we packed up what seemed like enough stuff for three days for Henry and headed out to Chattanooga for the day. We met my dad, and my brother Joe, his wife Kiersten and their three kids. (You can see their family's adventures here) As soon as we pulled up Grandpa Doug had us hop on a train, can we say perfect timing?? Henry took his first train ride and he really seemed to enjoy it. I know the big cousins did! We took a quick little trip to a nearby station, turned around and came right back. When we got back, we watched the conductor turn the train on the roundabout and took a quick tour of the workshop.

Then... it was off to the aquarium! Let me just tell you the walk from the parking deck to the aquarium was cold and windy!! Before we got our tickets, we decided to grab a quick bite to eat because we knew we were going to have a big dinner a few hours later. We first stopped at a burger place but they had 30 minute wait so someone had the bright idea to go next door to the hotdog stand. The hotdog stand that was basically a window you walk up to and order and stand and wait....did I mention how COLD and WINDY it was?? Needless to say that part was the least fun of the whole trip. We scarfed down our food while we jogged in place to stay warm and then took off to the aquarium. It was a lot of fun! Henry LOVED to watch the big fish, turtles, and sea creatures/animals swim in front of him. He would get so excited and bounce and "talk" and reach out and touch the glass when something swam in front of him. The pictures don't quite capture the excitement.

After lots of walking and seeing lots of water and sea life, we went back to Joe and Kiersten's hotel for a delicious spaghetti dinner and to hang out with the family for a little bit. While Kiersten worked her magic in the kitchen, Joe took the kids to the indoor swimming pool. If you have ever seen Henry in the bath you would know that he LOVES water. I mean this kid gets excited when you turn the kitchen sink on so we couldn't miss out on the opportunity to see what he'd do in a swimming pool. To say he enjoyed himself is saying the least. That boy splashed until I thought his skinny little arms were going to fall off. He loved it. We didn't bring our swim suits to get into the water with him so I rolled up my jeans and let him sit on the first step and splash his little heart out! He was so cute! I can't wait to see how he'll do in the pool and ocean this summer!

After dinner and a little Olympic watching, we packed up and headed home. We had such a great time visiting with the family and can't wait to do it again soon!

Henry's first snow day

I heard on the news this weekend that every state in the US (except Hawaii) has snow in it somewhere....how crazy is that!? This past Friday was Henry's first snow day! We had a few inches on the ground which around here is apparently enough for them to call a "winter storm" and enough snow for them to cancel school sooo... that meant for us a day off and an early start to our weekend AND Henry's first snow day!

It snowed here earlier this winter but it was just a dusting so we didn't count that ;) Henry's first snow was actually here almost exactly a year ago but he was snug as a bug in my belly and didn't get to actually play in it :) This year was much more fun...for all three of us. Henry LOVED the snow. He was amazed by it. Before we went out in it, he stood at the door just staring at it all. When we went outside he bounced and flailed his arms in excitement. He would look up and watch it fall and then look down at the ground, it was so cute. He wanted to get down but when I put him down he wanted to be held. He could quite figure what all the white stuff was all about. Lee built us a snowman and Henry loved it! He wanted to touch it but was a little unsure about it being so cold.