Snow!

It snowed yesterday - Houston's earliest snow ever! I think we got at least a couple of inches, and it was beautiful coming down. It fell almost all day, and this morning there was even still a little left on the ground. I wish it would snow like that (or maybe a little more) every weekend from December to maybe February. Not enough to cause any problems, just enough to play in! Of course, I know it wouldn't be as exciting as it is now if it happened all the time.

Thanksgiving

We spent Thanksgiving with Matt's family. Max enjoyed Thanksgiving dinner - he ate turkey, sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes, green beans, broccoli cheese and rice casserole, and maybe a little taste of pie.

Max was having a bottle, and Caitlyn decided she should join him.

We also had fun the day after Thanksgiving spending time with Matt's grandma and aunt and uncle and their 4 year old twin girls. Max is going to have a lot of fun with all of the kids when he gets a little older. Malley is very into babies right now, so she wanted to help feed Max.

Catching Up

Way back in October, we were away for a couple weekends and I never did post about our trips. First we went to Waco for Baylor Homecoming. We had fun seeing some old college friends and enjoying the homecoming traditions. We did not have fun watching the football game, but then, we're used to that. We went to the bonfire Friday night and to the parade and game on Saturday.

On Halloween weekend, we went camping with friends at Inks Lake near Austin. It was a little chilly Friday night.



But we snuggled up and kept warm



We hung out around the campfire, hiked around the campground, and found a fun little winery down the road with free wine tastings.

Since it was Halloween, Max wore his costume.


We had fun and can't wait for another camping weekend!

10 months

Max is now 10 months old and celebrated that milestone by falling off the couch and getting his first bruise. Considering that he hit his head on the coffee table and then fell to the ground, it doesn't look bad at all - actually I tried to take a picture and it didn't even show up!

I just looked back at the 9 month post and not too much has changed. (looking back at my posts also made me realize that I haven't done as many "monthly" posts as I thought!) Still no teeth, still not crawling. He is getting more mobile, wiggling when he's on his stomach, going backwards, and scooting when he's sitting up.

Max just started to wave this week. But when Matt or I wave at him, he won't wave back - he shakes his head at us instead. It's pretty funny!

He's really starting to understand his toys. This morning he was playing with a dinosaur that has holes to put balls in. Then they roll down the dinosaurs neck or tail or come out the middle. He would put the ball in and then look for it where it was supposed to come out. The balls also got stuck a few times, and he figured out that he could reach in the hole and push them. At the bottom of one of the chutes is a door, and the balls don't always come out, so he also figured out how to lift up the door to get the balls out.

Happy 10 months Max! I can't believe you're almost 1!

Hats for kids with cancer

So because I'm slightly obsessed with blogs, I read about people who I don't know at all. This is a blog I read almost every day. I really can't even remember where I found it, but she's so funny and very real. Anyway, September was Pediatric Cancer Awareness Month, and MckMama is organizing a hat drive for kids with cancer. You can read her post here for all the details but basically she's just asking people to donate (new) hats to local children's hospitals or mail them to her, and she'll donate them to one near her. There's information in her post about Etsy sites that are donating a hat for every hat they sell as well as some stories about kids with cancer and other projects that people have started.

I just wanted to put this out there for the 5 people who read my blog. Her post really touched me, and we’re so blessed to have a healthy baby – it’s nice to be able to do something like this for those who need it.

Nine months!?!

I can't believe this baby is 9 months old already. (Am I a bad mom if I thought Friday was his 9 month birthday when actually it was Thursday?)

Max at 9 months

He has the greatest personality. He loves to smile at random people, and we get so many comments about how cute he is. He's recently started making this funny scrunched up smiley face that really makes us laugh. And he's already starting to realize that he can make us laugh!

He has strong legs. He loves to stand and can almost balance by himself. One of his favorite things to do is stand by the coffee table and hit the top of it and of course grab anything in reach. Crawling...not so much.

No teeth! But he can sure gum those Cheerios. We've starting giving him more chunky food and he loves to pick it up, very precisely between that little finger and thumb. Unless there's a lot in front of him and then it's his whole fist.

He recently started giving kisses...oh those slobbery open-mouth smooches right on the cheek...or sometimes nose.

He sleeps so well. We put him down around 7:30, leave the room, and rarely hear anything until about 7 a.m. Okay, I made that up...it's usually about 5:30, but he's good at entertaining himself until 6. My rule is no babies out of the crib before 6. We are thankful for a good sleeper!

He's a talker! Along with lots of other babbling, he says "dada", and we think he's actually starting to mean it. He also really likes to "bark" at the dogs next door when he hears them.

He loves to go outside. If he's fussy, which isn't too often, we can usually fix it by going out on the patio or walking to the mailbox.

Happy 9 Months Baby! Only 3 more and you'll be a year old!

Pumpkin Patch

Max got to hang out with his cousins this weekend. We went to Conner's t-ball game Saturday morning and then to a pumpkin patch. We've gone there with them the past few years, and I've been looking forward to taking Max. We picked out a few pumpkins (we didn't actually get to pick them this year because of the drought), went on a hay ride, and watched pig races. Max had fun looking at everything and watching Conner and Caitlyn. Caitlyn loves to give him hugs, and he's starting to hug her back. We're glad Max has cousins nearby. It was a fun fall day!

Fascinated by the pumpkin stem

It's hard to get a good picture of a 5 year old, 1 year old, and almost 9 month old!

There's a new sheriff in town