full of thanksgiving...

The past couple of weekends, we have been so fortunate to spend some awesome time with both sides of the family.

Weekend before last was with my family. It was a little bitter sweet (but mostly sweet). This was our last weekend with my aunt and her sweet family before they move off to the North Pole...I mean Idaho. We finally got to meet baby Pax. Let me just say, he's one of the four most sweetest boys you'll ever meet. We also got to hang out with Pax's big brothers, Jett and Kai. Michael loved hanging out with his cousins. He watched as they'd zoom by pushing the trucks, watch as they played in piles of leaves and watch them fly the airplanes.


Of course, Michael really enjoyed hanging out with Juice and Pa too...


We love you 5 giraffes...safe travels and warm wishes of a new adventure. (Is it March yet!?!?)

This past weekend, Michael got to spend some time with his Uncle Ryan and Aunt Maggie in Dallas. Texas Tech played Baylor at the new Cowboys stadium, so we made the trip with Granddaddy & Grandma to watch the Red Raiders. Michael was such a trooper the entire weekend. Being in a car that long, missing naps for football games, being passed around can wear a boy out, but he did awesome.




And yes, the Cowboys stadium is ginormous, unbelievable, totally cool, and super big! And the Red Raiders won! :)

We are so very thankful for all of our family. Michael is so blessed to have all of you in his life!

that's not yours...

If you didn't know by now, Michael is crawling everywhere! Steps don't slow him down, nothing slows him down now. I look up and he's across the room. This is where I saw him tonight after I looked away for a second...

the chase is on

Michael will go all the way across the room, over his toys, and try to get one of Kirby's toys when she's not looking (or even when she is looking).

i'm thankful for...

We are thankful for a beautiful, healthy (besides a little ear ache going on), vibrant, sweet baby boy! We are thankful for great families and fun friends. There is so many things we could list on this beautiful Thanksgiving Day. God has blessed our lives in so many ways...we are truly thankful to Him.

We spent today with Grandma, Granddaddy, Uncle Marcus, Aunt Marsha and Little Jo. We had a great meal thanks to Grandma! Uncle Marcus & Aunt Marsha came all the way from Port A to spend Thanksgiving with us. It was great to see them again.




We had another trip to the ER last night. Michael was super fussy yesterday, all day. We had planned to have a babysitter come over so momma and daddy could go to a funeral and then do a little Christmas photo shoot later in the day, but we canceled it all. I hated to leave Michael crying like he was and I knew he wouldn't take good pictures. We both thought he was teething. He had some fever and tylenol was not helping. After his late afternoon nap, he woke up with a lot of gunk coming out of his right ear. That's when we knew it was an ear infection. We had a good doctor in the ER this time. Michael was a trooper once again. He slept good last night and had a much better day today. I say it's pretty good that it's been almost 9 months before his first ear infection. Hopefully this isn't the start of something though.

We have a super fun weekend planned...more on that later! Happy Thanksgiving to all....

decorating

No, it's not December and yes, Thanksgiving is just today....but the tree and snowmen have found their way out of storage at our house! We did the tree one afternoon while Michael was napping and he was soooo excited when he woke up! So far, he hasn't tried to crawl to it.

it's fall around here...

first trip to the ER

Michael had his first trip to the ER this morning.

It all started yesterday. After his late afternoon nap (yes, he still likes his 5:00 nap), he had a few bumps on face...nothing big though. We put a little Cortizone on them and after a while they went away. Then when we undressed him for his bath, he had more under his arm and on his back. It concerned us a little more, but we put more Cortizone on them since the first ones went away. I was still nervous. He slept good even with us going in to check on him a thousand times.

This morning he had a few more bumps, but nothing big. The longer he was awake, the worse it got. Derek had to go to work a little early, so I was getting Michael ready before Anna got here. When I started showing her, it was way worse. I freaked out. It was more like hives than bumps. It would be white and red around the spots. I called his doctor, but of course, you just have to leave a message for them to call back. By the time I got off the phone, it was all over his back, arms, face, everywhere. I called Jo Lynn and she came to help me get him to the ER. Anna packed up his bag, made him a bottle and locked everything up for us. Daddy met us there.

These pictures don't do it justice. It was the worst around his diaper and on his back. They gave him Benadryl and watched him for a while. By the time the (not so great, don't ever go to him) doctor got there, the hives were gone and the boy was so sleepy. He never really acted like the hives bothered him and he didn't ever breathe funny (thank the Lord!).


the Benadryl was kicking in at this point...


The only thing that we can think of that we did different yesterday was give him real bananas. We cut them up into small bite sized pieces for him to eat with his new teeth. I don't know if he just had too much or what, but we are going to lay off the bananas for a while. A special thank you goes out to the sweet nurses who answered all of our questions and didn't look at us like we stupid first time parents, Anna for helping get us packed up and to Grandma for helping get us to the ER.

where you going?

happy 8 months!

Oh my goodness, it just keeps getting better and better with this boy!!

Happy 8 Month Birthday Michael Lance!

Michael is growing and changing and doing new things every day it seems. He is really getting a personality and a voice! He loves to talk and babble all the time (I think he is his daddy's son).

He is taking some formula now and loves it. He drinks it like he knows no different. I usually feed him at night time and in the middle of the night (if he wakes up). During the day, it's all formula. I'm so thankful that he takes it and it doesn't upset his tummy. And he is now eating 3 meals a day of food. He loves his breakfast oatmeal and fruit. But he does NOT like avocado!


His first tooth came in! Yea!!! It happened on October 25th. This one was the bottom front right. And he got his 2nd tooth in on November 1st! It was his top front left one. Really, *knock on wood* teething hasn't been that bad. I know, I just jinxed it! He has been a little fussy, but not bad. I haven't gotten a good picture of them yet because they are barely in. Breaking news...another bottom tooth came in today!

He is really scooting around and trying his hardest to crawl. If I put the phone or remote on the floor, then he has no problems scooting to it.




He pulled up in the crib for the first time last weekend. Now, he is pulling up on everything! And since he has the new found freedom of scooting around where he wants to, he is into whatever he can get his hands on! Needless to say, we have lowered his crib to prevent the boy from trying to escape out of it! :)



Bath time is such a fun play time for him now. He kicks and splashes and turns around and gets his face wet...smiling and talking the whole time.



We ordered his next size car seat this week too. I can't believe it's time to get him out of the 'baby' car seat.


Thank you so much for making our lives the best it's ever been! We love you Michael Lance!

the monkey is on the loose...

Michael had a spooktacular first halloween. This cute little monkey first got on the loose Thursday night. He stopped by to see the cutest little cupcake that he'd ever seen before! She thought he was pretty cute too.

Then the monkey tried to escape again, but Miss Cupcake Kamryn made sure he didn't go anywhere!

After visiting the Cupcake, the Monkey made his way over to his favorite Little Jo's house, where another cute monkey was waiting for him.

Little Jo couldn't quite see the Monkey's eyes....

so he lost his ears.

That darn little monkey is on the loose again...

but luckily, Grandma & Granddaddy caught him!

After visiting a few more friends, the Monkey found his way back to the zoo and called it a night.

Friday, he decided he'd like to go see Juice & Pa for the weekend. They surprised him with a cool new ride...oh great...now he can really escape!

Pa, is this where I should park it?

Saturday, the Monkey escaped again! This time, he found some more of his favorite people...
Momma and the Monkey...

Granbob, Meemaw & the Monkey...

Bubble Bee Anna, the Monkey and Lady Bug Audrey...

Grandpa and the Monkey...


Overall, this little Monkey had a spooktacular first halloween. Over the weekend, he cut another tooth and stood up in his crib for the first time. Happy Halloween!