Henry at 11 months!

Clean cut Boy
(Shhh...his mama actually combed his hair for this picture!)

Messy Boy

Oh, what a boy I have on my hands! And I love it! I say to Russ almost everyday that we are in for it and he is going to be just like him! This little guy continues to melt my heart on a daily basis and I can't kiss and hug him enough! I think that's because there will be a day where he will look at me like I am CRAZY when I swoop in for a kiss....so right now he gets the hug and kiss buffet!

As of today, we are days away from his first birthday! Shocking, I know. Time literally passes you by when you don't even realize it and one day you wake up and BOOM it's a year later! Lately, I have been trying to picture my life a year ago and it is really hard sometimes, because my baby boy is growing up and Grace Ann has turned into a big girl overnight. Unless, I watch some video clips we have, I just can't picture them younger than what they are now.

Before I forget, here are the boy's happenings lately:

• He now has hit the "separation anxiety" stage and will at any moment freak out when a new face gets too close. I feel so bad, because he warms up to them but it takes him a while.
• He gets terrorized, on a daily basis, by big sister! Yikes, what the future holds for us!
• Moving and moving all over the place, but no walking yet.
• Standing while holding on to something.
• He has begun to get ready for Season 14 of Dancing with the Stars by practicing his groovy moves. What is about babies dancing that is so darn cute?! I just giggle and giggle at him and he loves it!
  
• Don't get me wrong he is definitely his daddy's little buddy, but this guy is a Mama's boy! (At least for right now, right?)
  
• He loves banging bowls on the floor while crawling around. It can get pretty loud around this house.
• He is also in the stage of any small particle on the floor is automatically viewed as food, so he just sticks it in his mouth! Well, 2 spiders and tons of carpet fuzz....he is ready for Fear Factor folks! (I am constantly vacuuming!)
• Thank the Lord he is still sleeping 12 hours at night and taking a long nap during the day. I am in the process of just getting him down for one nap, so he has been a little cranky getting used to it.
• New teeth coming in on top! Not a happy camper!
• He loves to be rocked before going to bed with at least three songs and books. He is particular this one and of course I love it!
  
• I started weening him from breast milk this week, so by his first birthday he will be on whole milk! Yay....goodbye breast pump...hello freedom!
• He is eating all kinds of "real food" and so far he loves: pizza, pancakes, bananas, green beans, pasta, potatoes, yogurt, tofu, cheese and avocado! So far he hasn't been disgusted by what I have given him, but I know that won't last long!
  

Next stop, Henry's 1st birthday! Stay tuned for a "Very Hungry Caterpillar" birthday party!

The Amazing Race

Racing is all I do everyday, all day. Don't worry I haven't run a hole through my running shoes, I am talking about my brain. Doesn't it seem that all we do as moms is race from point A to point B and then back to point A again? Yesterday, I had 3 very important things to do before 10:30. I had to drop GA off at school, run home to zip through last night's dishes/feed brother, and then dash to the speech therapy office to pick up my SRS form. I know that on paper that doesn't sound like too much, but after I finished those three little tasks at 10:28, I had sweat dripping from my brow, underarms and my make-up was not looking so fresh! UGHHH..... So much for looking put together!

The point is I have had myself wondering what in the world did I do when I was teaching full-time, pregnant and taking care of a 2 year old last year! And then I remembered... my dishes were always dirty, that paper was never going to get picked up on time and my amazing race was in my classroom. Days like yesterday, left me exhausted and waking up today with bricks sitting on back with yet more errands to race around and run. However, there is a silver lining!

I had to make myself stop and take a breath and say to myself, "It's okay if I don't race today." So instead of going straight to the post office after the library (to fax that SRS form) I decided we needed a trip to the park. It was a beautiful day with a slight wind and great warm weather. So I guess you can say that today I stopped and smelled the roses (metaphorically, of course) and we had a great time!

I wish everyone a wonderful Friday and a breath of fresh air!

Happy Heart Day to You!

Happy Heart Day to all! The Sebring 4 had a fun day filled with a Valentine's Day party at MDO, good naps and a pizza dinner! You can't get it better than having a sweet family on Heart Day! Above and below are Grace Ann and her Daddy playing a game of Princess dominoes complete with cowboy hats! We are an eclectic bunch! They were so cute!

Brother Bear after a good nap!

GA enjoying her Valentine cards and the party!

Look who I found!

This wild man with some crazy wild man hair! I know, I know his hair is like a lion's mane and I have no way to tame it down! It either sticks straight up or out all sides! But I feel that there just isn't enough to get cut! I took this picture the other day when GA was at school and it was just the two of us! He had managed to crawl inside of the desk and get himself stuck...but he was having all sorts of fun!

Henry at 10 months!

As you can tell, Henry is a wiggle worm! And now the camera flash seems to get his eyes at just the right the spot and he flinches, which in real life is pretty cute!

Ten months was a big month for this little guy:

• He learned how to "cruise" and "pull-up" onto furniture. So now the house is his kingdom and he is everywhere! It is so funny to see him discover our house, because to me it is the same ole' same ole' but to this guy it is "AHmazing!"
• Right when he turned 10 months he began to pick up food and put it into his mouth! Big milestone, and this makes restaurant time so much easier.
• I have stopped nursing him due to severe (and I mean severe) biting issues. I will not expand past that, but I am still pumping. And he's doing great with the bottles. So I will do that until he is a year.
  
• He eats 20-22 oz. every day, about 3-4 bottles a day and three full meals with snacks. I am slowly introducing solid foods: pancakes, eggs, pasta, avocado and tofu.
  
• He is still a great sleeper with 11-12 hours every night and 2 naps a day. I think that he is growing out of that morning nap because he does fight it more than not. So we will see about phasing that out soon, just not yet!
• He loves to be where big sister is and to see what she is up to. And for the most part she is very accomodating to him.
  
• His love at the beginning of ten months was opening and shutting doors, cabinets and anything that would swing. He was like in a trance figuring out how these things work!
• Now for the most part he loves to have a toy in hand that makes noise when he crawls around and bangs it on the floor!
  
• And he spoke his first words this last week! His first official word was "Oscar!" Of course it sounds more like "OOOs- KA" but it is definitely his name and he says it when he is trying to pet him. He can also sign "All Done." and say the beginning syllables to that, too! I am very impressed! So far he has communicated to us that he likes our dog and enjoys finishing his dinner!
  
• As far as his stats go, for his 9 month well baby appt. he was 20lbs. (30th % weight) and 29.5 inches long (85th % height). He dropped down in weight percentage but I think that is because he has had some ear infections and colds that have made him not too hungry. But I bet he will be up when we go for the 12 month well baby check!
  

As you can already guess, we are on our toes this month with little guy! No one ever told me how clumsy boys are! Henry falls almost every day and what kills me is that I am within steps, inches or seconds from him. It comes out of nowhere! Enjoy his funny faces as much as I do!

Here we are 2012!

It seems like I have had this underlying theme this month of "Oh, I'll get to that later or I'll have time to do that this afternoon while the kids are napping." Of course I say that and then you see it has been a while since I have posted any pictures on the blog. Unfortunately, the blog is low on the list of to-do's and now I am sitting down to update what we've been up to since the ball dropped!

2012 started off with a big change! Russ accepted a new position with a completely different company. We have been praying for this type of change for quite some time now and he is very excited to get to work for Premier Tank Trucking as their Safety and Operations Manager for the Eagle Ford area. Although he will be doing something very different he is still working within the Environmental/Oil Industry. I am so thrilled for him that he has this opportunity.

Grace Ann is in full swing with Mother's Day Out and playdates with friends. At times she calls her school mates her "kids." She received her first goose egg on her head and we have learned that her head is extremely hard. But I already knew that! She continues to amaze us with her imagination, especially when she begins with "Let me tell you my story..."
She has taken over the responsibility of blessing our meals and even though she invites you to begin with "your prayer" she is by all means meaning that she will start and will cut you off after your 3rd word and begin with hers. Thank you Lord for granting Russ and I patience as well as watching your work inside GA's heart. Patience is definitely the key theme that I have to work on with myself when dealing with her. Her little brain is running a mile a minute and if I am not right with her...naughtiness seems to trickle into our house like a leaky faucet. But God love her she is a hoot and I am so ever lucky to be her mommy!

Here are some pictures that I have snapped recently:

Baking Cookies for Santa!

As you can see I am still posting Christmas pictures! This picture was taken on Christmas Eve when GA and my dad were making cookies for Santa. Of course, my dad does the slice and bake version, but Grace Ann didn't care and she loved the "event" of making the cookies for Santa! I will have to say that Santa had no complaints!

Brother Bear enjoying the festivities!