Catching up....Christmas!

So sorry I have not posted pictures of Henry's first Christmas yet... we have been having a wonderful holiday with our friends and family. I tried to upload Christmas day pictures, but I think blogger had it with all of my other thousand pictures. Here are a few of the holiday photos....

Dad, me, Jess and Uncle Brent

Pops, Jess, Uncle Brent and Ganny celebrating Christmas.

Jess, Uncle Brent and Hen

Uncle Collin and Brigit showing off Brigit's new Clemson snuggie!

Hen checking out his new truck...

Uncle Collin's Tonka truck....wow!

One of Henry's first presents on Christmas Eve.

Henry and Hampton....his cousin

Henry and Betty

Henry and Ganny

Henry and Grammie playing in one of the shipping boxes...he loves boxes!

It's the most wonderful time of the year!

I, along with many others, love Christmas time! I love the hustle and bustle at every store I walk into, I love the weather...when it's cold, I love the white chocolate peppermint mocha at Starbucks, I love the stress of picking out that perfect gift for everyone, I love all of the food even though I should spare some and most of all I love the extra time spent with my family. We have been busy the past 10 days preparing for the one big even...the birthday of Jesus! Since it is Henry's first Christmas we are trying to make it special, we are beginning new traditions and spending lots of time together.

To begin, we had to go straight to the Farmers Market to pick out the oh so perfect Christmas tree...I have to say, it is a beautiful tree but after I forced the angel on the top, it leans a little. Henry has also found the tree to be pretty interesting. Actually, he does not like touching the tree so much as the ornaments and the lights...go figure!

Henry and Santa....in this picture, Henry has just realized he is sitting on someones lap. I think he is in shock, but smiling!

I love this one of Henry...he looks so happy!

Our family Christmas picture...sans the dogs this year.

Henry's first Christmas party with Ganny (Beau's mom)!

All Henry wants to do now is walk around while someone is holding his hands.

Henry with Grammie and Papa...my parents.

The contemplative look from the men.

Henry got his first double ear infection yesterday...ouch! I thought I would get a picture on the day of his diagnosis..and check out those 2 teeth on the bottom!

Henry in his Santa pajamas and hat....and upside down passy!

They say...My First Christmas...they are adorable and have a reindeer on the bottom. I tried to get a picture of him crawling from the back, but was unsuccessful!

Henry has figured out how to crawl over the bars under the dining room table...he is very happy in his Santa sweater...I will get a better picture of it later, it is adorable!

I was trying to make a bow for the front door very unsuccessfully...Henry loved the ribbon!

My Uncle Jim made these blocks for Henry and he loves them...especially to be on top of them. Unfortunately he is going to be a climber!

We have had a good time thus far. Be on the lookout for more pictures of this wonderful time of year!

Family, puppy, Clemson, baths and more

The past few weeks have been filled with fun for our family. Henry has really started developing a personality and has also discovered all of the fun he can have around the house with things that are not toys. It is pretty amusing watching him discover his surroundings. Here are a ton of pictures from the last few weeks.

He's getting some hair! I tried to spike it up to show his hair growth!

Here it is slicked down....he loves a bath!

Collin, Brigit and Henry saddened by the Tigers losing to the Gamecocks.


Nannaw and Henry on Thanksgiving.

Beau's Aunt Myra, Brenda, his mom, Jan, and cousin Meredith on Thanksgiving.

Henry is being introduced to Gracie, Aunt Brenda's new Boykin Spaniel....she loved licking Henry!

My cousins...Anna, Lori, Justin and Noah. They were able to come down to celebrate Thanksgiving with us and also play a mean game of Dominoes!

My mom (Grammie) and Henry...in his adorable camo and orange turkey shirt from The Pink Poppyseed website.

You can't see the turkey as well in this picture, but it is adorable and was made especially for Henry.

My poor Henry was sick and he was actually lying down watching cartoons on some clothes that just came out of the dryer....he is better now, but it was pitiful!

He found a baby gate we use for the dogs...he loves it!

Henry also found Sperry (our labs) bowl....it is fun to bang it on the floor over and over again!

Beau and Henry watching our favorite....Yo Gabba Gabba!

Our friend Jason trying his hand at babysitting Henry.....hilarious!

Top 15

It seems like Henry's 7th month of life was a month of learning and a month of firsts! Here are his 15 "firsts" since his 7 month birthday.

1. He learned to crawl at 6 1/2 months, but he could not go from crawling to sitting....now he can!

2. Make the mo sound.

3. Pick up food with his fingers and get it to his mouth.

4. Drink from a sippy cup.

5. Ate his first Ritz cracker.

6. Run in his "walker."

7. Eat meat...sweet potatoes mixed with chicken, chicken and rice and beef and rice

8. Learned how to fake cry to get attention.

9. Became very ticklish.

10. Learned how to put himself to sleep at nap time.

11. Can pull up and cruise around furniture.

12. Figured out how to put his passy in his mouth and leave it there.

13. Started sleeping through the night....sometimes.

14. Got a big boy car seat (still sitting facing the back, but it is much better)!

15. Has a favorite tv show....Yo Gabba Gabba (of course he would like this weird one...however, Jack Black was on it the other day and it was pretty funny seeing him in the orange Afro and jumpsuit dancing)!

On the go!

We have already made it halfway through November and we have not stopped going since it started. I, however, am not complaining because I like to stay busy as does Henry! On November 4th, the three of us left for the mountains with Beau's parents (Ganny and Pops). We had an excellent time and stayed in a beautiful lake house close to Clemson! We were all completely spoiled by Ganny and Pop and were depressed to come home, but we could not live there forever.....

Henry is also on the move. Since he learned how to crawl and pull up, that is all he wants to do. I cannot keep the child still to change a diaper, clothing, bathing, eating....does it get better people???? He loves to move and unfortunately we have had a few accidents along the way. Below are some pictures from our trip. Beau and Pops took Henry to Clemson to tour the school/stadium. The guys put Henry in a Clemson beanie and got lots of attention from Clemson female students. Beau's quote was..."Man, I wish I would have had Henry around when I was in college." Well, needless to say, the girls really only loved my little guy, not my big one.

All in all, it was a great weekend! Clemson played Florida State and won. Beau and I went to the game and it only took 25 minutes to get home...that was wonderful!!! We really appreciate Beau's parents taking us up for a little vacation and look forward to many more!

Henry and Ganny....standing of course!

Henry getting ready to go to Clemson!


Go Tigers (notice the rock behind Beau's head)

I think Beau was trying to explain the tiger paw to Henry....

I think that is tiger Henry is touching???

In the leaves with Ganny while Beau and I are tailgating.

Hanging with Pops.

Let me start off with reminding you of a previous post entitled My Little Walker If you watch the whole video, the end shows Henry pulling on a small table with a flower arrangement on top. Well, that is the day I should have removed the table and flowers!

SO, we get home on Sunday after our trip and are unpacking the car and getting things organized. Well, I put Henry in his walker to keep him busy. While I was messing with stuff on the dining room table, Henry proceeded to pull down the table and flowers which were in a metal urn. As soon as everything came crashing to the floor he burst into tears. It took me a few minutes to figure out what was hurt, but then I saw this.....

My poor baby has a purple thumb and it still is a little painful today! I feel horrible, but it will all be fine. The doctor checked it out and said his nail may fall off, but there was not permanent damage. Man, do I feel bad for not removing the table weeks ago!

Don't worry, my little man is on the move again...following me while I am taking pictures and as happy as can be!

7 months already!

Saturday was Henry's 7 month birthday, so I took his 7 month pictures. It was a lot easier to do this when he was stationary! He was all over the crib and I could not get a good picture without the sign being blurry...but you get the idea. Follow the progression of picture taking below!

Henry finds something new on the wall..."maybe I should play with this..."

Henry proceeds to tear it down to put in his mouth.

Oooooooh, what do I have here? You probably can't tell, but his mouth is open.

"Oh, this paper is worthless. I am going to throw it out!"

So, there is my sign...crumpled up, wet and on the floor. I wonder what will happen to my 8 month sign.

He thinks its a riot!

As of right now, Henry is on the move all day long. He loves to crawl around, but mostly wants to find a place to pull himself up and pull down anything and everything that is on a table. He still loves his walker and his jumper. It is amazing how high he jumps in his jumper. It is also funny to watch him in his walker because he has figured out how to maneuver around everything...watching him back up is hilarious.

As far as sleeping goes, he usually wakes up once at night, but I do not give him a bottle...just rock him back to sleep. I have been trying to let him cry, but it takes too long and rocking is quicker. We did not like the time change like we have in the past because it got us all out of whack and we actually got less sleep...how is that possible????

Then there is eating...we put Henry on regular Nutramigen a few weeks ago and he seems to be doing well. Hopefully by the time he is 1, he will be able to drink regular milk. He does not love to drink milk, but would rather eat baby food, which is fine, but I know he needs the nutritional stuff in the milk. His favorite foods right now are: peaches, bananas, apples, sweet potatoes, green beans and carrots. He is not a huge fan of pears, squash and peas. However, he will eat the pears and squash, but not the peas. He gags at the thought! He gets 3 full meals every day....oatmeal (because he was not digging the rice cereal) and a fruit for breakfast, a vegetable and fruit for lunch and 2 veggies for dinner. You would think with all of the playing and eating, he would want to sleep at night....who knows when that big day will happen!

Overall, Henry is a happy baby and really only gets upset when he is bored or tired. We are really enjoying him and pray that he will one day sleep.....

Happy Halloween!

Happy Belated Halloween! Beau and I were bad parents yesterday and went to Clemson to watch the game instead of dressing up our child and taking him to a Halloween carnival. However, we did dress him up in his monkey suit today and take some pictures. We hope everyone had a great time Trick-0r-treating!

Here Beau and Henry are at The Williams Boo Bash. Notice Henry's death grip on Beau's hair....ouch!