play date & hot house

After our naptime attempts, Michael got to have a play date! Britt Ericson and her mom, Katie, came over. Both the babies were in such a great mood and would just look at each other, then coo...so precious. Britt was born about 6 weeks before Michael, so they will be in the same grade. It was fun comparing mommy stories with Katie too.




Also yesterday, our electricity went off about 5:30. The whole west side of town went off. We didn't know how long it'd be off, so we decided to go eat in Hobbs and go to Home Depot. Michael did so good...he just sat there looking around at all the stuff on the walls and all the people going by. When we got home, the electricity still wasn't on, so we drove around for a while. It was funny to see that much traffic and all the people sitting out on their porches. We came back to the house about 8:00 or so and it still wasn't on. It was so hot in here. We stripped Michael down to a diaper and laid him on the floor. He was in such a great mood for being past his bedtime. We finally gave him a cool sponge bath (because we were told to ration our water and plus we couldn't see in the bathroom) and put him to bed with just a diaper on. I felt so bad for him. The electricity finally came back on about 9:30. I decided since we had the AC on that I'd go put PJ's on Michael. He never woke up! It was too cute. Anyways, we are enjoying our cool house today and him taking a pretty good nap! :) Maybe just maybe he's starting to get used to nap time in the crib...knock on wood!!

Here are a few pictures of the boy with no clothes on...




And...he has discovered his toes!!!

Crying it out

Oh lordy...this is hard. Really, how many tears can come out of this baby...I'm surprised he even has a voice left!

We tried it first on Monday. Just little 30 minute naps is all we got...and way fussy in between!

Yesterday, he stayed with Grandma while I went to a luncheon and run errands. She *says* he did good. (Really, grandmas aren't going to tell the truth!) She said he took a few naps and was happy in between for the most part. When we got home a little before 4:00, he was so sleepy again, so I gave in and put him in the swing. He slept until 6:30! He got hungry about 7:00, so we ate and got ready for bed. The boy was OUT at 7:40! Not taking good naps makes a boy so sleepy!

So here we are today. He got up at 6:30 and he and daddy had a good little chat until about 7:15. We ate and went for a good walk. At 8:00 he was sleepy again, so I tried to rock him. He didn't want to, so I just laid him in his crib and he went right to sleep. He slept for a whole hour! WOW! When he wakes up from these naps, he is not a happy camper. So, I walked, sang, looked outside, walked, sat, bounced, sang and finally he was happy again. He played a little while in the jungle gym and got sleepy again. I put him back in his crib about 10ish. Oh my...the screams! That wasn't going to happen. I finally just got him up. We had to take Kirby to get her haircut, so he was super happy in the car. We played when we got back, tried rolling over some, read a book and had a grand 'ole time. Kirby was ready to be picked up, so off in the car we go again. OUT. So I very carefully got him out of the car seat and in the crib we went about 11:45. Forty-five minutes later, up again.

Daddy was home then for lunch, so they got to play. He'll be happy for about 20-30 minutes after he gets up, then he's screaming again. I think he is so tired because he's not sleeping very long. I've refused to feed him just to calm him down like I've been doing. I know he's not hungry or I wouldn't do that!

So nap #3 is happening as we speak. He has cried for 25 minutes...we'll see how long it lasts. I think he should be taking about 3 naps a day, but this whole 30-45 minute thing is making him super grumpy and super sleepy. But heck, what do I know????

I think I just needed to vent a little...sorry.

rolling...

I caught him on video...


After his afternoon nap, snack and watering flowers with mom, he got to play with his jungle gym. I turned up our ipod while I was folding towels. I checked on him once and found this...

The next time I looked, this is what I found...I guess he played so hard that he got so sleepy!

Happy Father's Day

We love our daddy around here...and Pa and Granddaddy and Grandpa!


We had a great father's day weekend. Michael & I went to stay with Juice & Pa a few nights while Daddy went to the lake with some friends he graduated with. (We didn't want to be here in the storms by ourselves!) Friday, we went to see everyone in Dimmitt. Michael loved hanging out at Uncle Guger's airport. He got to see Jason's airplane and then he got to sit in Uncle Guger's plane with Uncle Curt. He was in heaven!





Michael's Uncle Ryan & Aunt Maggie got to come this weekend too. They haven't seen Michael since he was a week old...they said he'd grown a little since then!

We ate with them, Grandma, Granddaddy & Little Jo on Saturday night. Michael enjoyed hanging out by the pool and with his Little Jo...



Sunday, Michael woke up about 7:45, so he and daddy went to hang out and let mom get 30 more minutes of sleep! WONDERFUL! :)


Father's Day lunch was at our house. Juice, Pa, Uncle Curt, Uncle Bruce, Grandpa, Meme, Granddaddy, Grandma, Uncle Ryan & Aunt Maggie all came. It was wonderful to have everyone in our home. Michael enjoyed everyone being here. After lunch, we all went to Grandma & Granddaddy's pool to enjoy the sunshine.


We decided to start early with the swimming lessons...kick kick kick!


Swimming makes a boy so sleepy, so thank you to Meme and Grandpa for letting Michael take a little nap in the shade!


Uncle Curt needed a hat rack...


And some exciting news...you know we've been practicing rolling over. After everyone left (of course!) he decided to roll over! He finally got frustrated enough. I was filming him with the video camera and as soon as I turned it off and sat it down, over he went. I'm sure I'll get more opportunities to capture it on video for you.

Happy Father's Day to all the great dads out there!

happy birthday daddy

Yesterday was Michael's daddy's birthday! (He says he was 29 years old...but we don't believe him! His birth certificate says 1972, so you do the math!) We love him anyway!

Michael made daddy a happy birthday baseball card complete with his hand on the inside! Daddy loved it.

One last hug before Daddy had to go to work.


Daddy got to come home early from work. We were super excited. This is us watching daddy mow the grass...yes, he wanted to get the grass mowed on his birthday!


I ended up cooking chicken fried steak, gravy, mac & cheese, biscuits and salad for us and Derek's parents. Just let me say that chicken fried steak is the grossest thing to eat (in my opinion) and I HATE touching raw meat! But I did it just for him! He better love me! :) And, to my knowledge, no one got sick, so that's always good!

Anyways, Happy 37th Birthday Daddy!! We love you!

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Don't forget to email me if you want to keep up with our simple but crazy life. I'll be making the blog private sometime this next week! katielray@gmail.com

privacy

I've been doing a lot of thinking and I have decided to make this blog private. If you want to be able to read about Michael, then let me know. Email me: katielray@gmail.com

As for now...I'll leave you with this cutie...

date weekend for momma & daddy

Since this last week was our anniversary, Juice finally said yes to babysitting...it took a lot of begging! haha! Riiiiiiight!

For some reason, Michael has been taking little 30 minute naps during the day...even in his swing! Oh no! But Friday, when we were trying to get all packed up and ready to head to Juice & Pa's, the boy slept and slept! This is how he slept for a while...


He finally woke up and we got on the road. Needless to say, after a good nap, he wasn't in the mood to get in the car and go back to sleep. He doesn't quite get the idea of just riding yet. So, I ended up in the back seat with him and we had a little chit-chat....

He is really starting to talk a ton now. While we were at Juice & Pa's, he would wake up in the middle of the night ready to eat and just talk to himself for a few minutes before he'd get really hungry. It was too cute. And as a matter of fact, today, he giggled at his momma's singing! :)

Saturday, Michael got to stay with Juice all afternoon while his momma & daddy got to go on a date. It was wonderful! It was actually a little weird not having him. We got to go to the Parade of Homes and out to eat. Thank you Juice & Pa for letting us have that time. And thank you Grandma & Granddaddy for the gift card to eat!
Of course, Juice can get him to take good naps at her house! She let him sleep on his tummy on the couch! She assured me that she and Kirby were right there watching him the whole time. At least the boy got some good naps! And it looks like she let him suck his thumb too...bad Juice!


I think he was waving to the camera in this one! I really don't think that he missed his momma or daddy! We sure did miss him though.


He got some good time with Pa too. (He's wearing the shirt that we gave Pa last July for his birthday. It says "Spoiled Rotten by Grandpa." That's how we told them that we were expecting.)


Finally!!!! He finally got to meet his Shelley! His Uncle Curt had been telling him about this pretty girl for a while now and Michael finally got to hold her. He loves his Shelley!

NO UNCLE CURT--YOU CAN'T HAVE HER BACK...SHE'S MINE!!!!


It was a great weekend. We really appreciate the the time we got to spend together and the time we got to spend with Juice, Pa, Curt & Shelley. We can't wait to see ya'll again!

3 years

Three years ago on this very day, I married my bestest friend.


Today, he's the most amazing daddy of my next bestest friend!


This year seems a lot more special because we got to share our anniversary with our son. We are so blessed to have our little family.

It was a rather relaxing day...Michael and I did our normal daily routine of eating and playing and sleeping. He even let me take a good afternoon nap! Then daddy took us out to eat. It was great to have a little family dinner. Michael was so good during it. He wanted to be up and looking around at everyone.

Happy Anniversary Derek! I love ya more than chocolate! I love you more today than I did 3 years ago! Thank you for all the wonderful memories and our wonderful son!

our day...

Michael decided to hang out with Brown Bear today...



Some of Michael's friends that are his age are rolling over already...so we've decided that we need to practice! I don't think that his friends get high-centered on a belly!

Kirby thinks that if Michael is in the floor, he's there to play with her. He is so alert now and just watches her run around. Sometimes he sits in the bumbo while I play fetch with her. He loves to watch her. Of course, she doesn't mind showing off for him either!


I leave my baby for the first time all day tomorrow. I'm a little nervous...not about who's keeping him (grandma in the morning and daddy in the afternoon)...but just nervous about leaving him and him having enough to eat. I'm making myself a nervous wreck about that. I know he has enough for tomorrow and I'll just be at school and can leave anytime, but still. I think he's going through a growth spurt because he is eating every 2.5-3 hours. He is going to have so much fun and probably won't even know I'm gone!!

I have a feeling that when I get back...this might be what I find...

first airplane ride, first trip to the mountains

Michael has been looking forward to this past week for a while now. (me too!) He got to go on his first airplane ride to zoooooom across the sky to beautiful Colorado!

Luckily, his Juice & Meemaw went with us (actually, we invited ourselves to go with them). We went to see Aunt Amy, Uncle Jameson, Jett and Kai. We had so much fun and Michael did so good on both the flights! Here are some pictures of our fun week...

Juice & Michael checking out the cool helicopter in the Amarillo airport...waiting to get on the plane.


And we are finally on the plane to zooooom across the sky to Colorado!!! Thank you Juice & Meemaw!


This flying thing is fun mom!


Michael was so excited to see Jett & Kai and to find out that they have swings in Colorado!!!


Jett had soccer practice while we were there and he is dang good!!!


Kai got in on the practice too...and he is dang good too!!!


Go Blue Team!!!


Michael loved to cuddle with Juice & Jett...


This is in Boulder...Michael was the lucky fella that got to go shopping with the girls! He didn't mind it as long as Juice had him...good naps on Juice!


Jett loves his Aunt Amy & Uncle Jameson!


Kai always wanted to know where Michael was and he wanted to hold him so bad! This makes me tear up a bit because Kai isn't supposed to be that big! He is going to be a great big brother!


I think the boy is in love with his Juice...


I am in love with the boy!


Michael looking for fish in the pond while Jett & Kai play....


photo shoot in the park...(photography by Jameson)


On the plane home...so sleepy....(after a huge blow out that required a change of outfits!)


Finally back in daddy's arms! I'm not sure which one missed who the most!


We had so much fun in Colorado! Thank you to Aunt Amy, Uncle Jameson, Jett & Kai for getting out all the cool toys for Michael (especially the swing)! And thank you to Meemaw for the diapers and shopping money! And to Juice for all the rocking and help on the plane! We love you all and can't wait to see you again!!