July Favorites

Another month down!  Here are my top 5 favorites from July, in random order:

1. Step 2 Push Car

Every morning after we eat breakfast, Reives, Chip, and I take a walk around one of the big loops in our neighborhood.  We used to go for our walks in the afternoon around 4, but it is way too hot at that time.  I usually push Little R in his push car.  He absolutely loves it!  He bounces up and down, and his latest thing is that he is constantly trying to grab the wheels while I am pushing him.  I am trying to put a stop to this, but he is very curious.  Here is a picture of him riding in his push car.

I bought this car at a neighborhood yard sale for $1!!!  Best deal ever!!!

2. Canon PowerShot SX30IS

This is the camera that Trey gave me for my birthday.  I absolutely love it!  It takes fabulous pictures and has some really cool settings to play around with.  The zoom is incredible.  Thank you, Trey, for my fabulous birthday present!

Here is a pretty cool picture that my brother in law, Josh, took with my camera:

3. Baby Mum Mums

These rice crackers are the perfect snack for Little R.  He loves them.  The only bad thing about them is that if he drops one before he is done, Chip will snatch it up and then Little R gets upset :(

4. Bailey Boys Outlet

Last weekend, Trey, Little R, and I visited some of our friends that live on St. Simons Island for the afternoon.  Ann and I hit up the Bailey Boys Outlet.  They have a huge clearance room with last year's clothes at a huge discount.  I was able to buy Little R two outfits that both serve as two outfits in one.  So, essentially, I got him 4 outfits at a huge deal.  Here they are:

This outfit is reversible.  I love the fire truck and the deer.  I also think the deer outfit can be used around Christmas, since it is a muted red and green plaid.  Plus, the deer has a red nose....Rudolph :)

This outfit has a button on top.  It can be used as the plain, red corduroy longalls, which will be monogrammed, or the Christmas top can button on for a different outfit. 

I was pretty excited about these finds!

5. Blueberries

These have a become a favorite food in my house to everyone except me.  I like blueberries, but they are by no means my favorite fruit.  I prefer to have grapes, an apple, or a banana as a snack.  The boys in my  house, however, both LOVE blueberries.  I can never buy enough of them.  Earlier this week, Little R and I met some friends at a local blueberry patch to pick blueberries.  They are going fast, but this morning, I made blueberry and strawberry pancakes.  They were a hit with Little R.  This was his first taste of pancakes.  They have milk in them, so we'll see how he tolerates them.  So far, so good!

Somebody was pretty happy after breakfast this morning :)

Well, there you have it.  The top 5 for July!!!  Now, on to August.....

First Steps...

Well, Little R did it!  He braved the wobbly, bobbly world of walking.  He dared to let go and try on his own, and he did it!  Trey claims that he saw Little R take two steps on Saturday while we were visiting our friends, Scott and Ann, on St. Simons.  Because I was at the Bailey Boys outlet shopping for Little R and missed this, I do not count these as his first steps....Trey does, though.  Then on Sunday after church, Little R was "cruising" around in the den and took two steps on his own.  It happened so fast, I barely missed it.  It has not happened again, but I assure you, it happened!  He also climbed up to the third stair on Sunday all by himself.  We will be placing a gate at the bottom of the stairs in the near future.

All of this to say, the little guy is on the move these days.  He is also very attached to his "Mama."  It really breaks my heart :)  I know it is a phase, but I do hate that he screams and cries when I leave the room sometimes or when we drop him off in the nursery on Sunday.  Oh well, I guess they have to learn.  Here are a few pics of Little R on the move.  

 Little R LOVES this push toy that his cousins gave him.

 Finding just the right toy from the toy box

 That leaf looks interesting....

 I think I'll pick it up

 Am I really standing all by myself???

 Standing is hard work...I need to sit down

 Walking along the sofa....

 Pulling up on Daddy's leg

Attempting to climb the stairs (gate will be up ASAP)

That was hard work!!!!

Around the House

As I mentioned in the last post, my amazing hubby got me a camera for my birthday.  I have enjoyed reading the "instruction manual" and playing around with it this weekend.  I still have alot to learn because it can do so much!  It has tons of really cool settings and features.  Here are some pics Trey and I took this weekend:

 Setting that makes pictures have a "poster" or "old" effect

 Black and White w/ green accent

 Black and White

 Black and White w/ red accent

 Black and White w/ blue accent

 Just a pretty picture of our hummingbird feeder that not a single hummingbird has come to in the 2 years we have had it

 Knockout Rose

 Little R

 Vibrant Color setting

 Not sure of the setting, but I like this picture

Black and White w/ blue accent (and stick residue on face)

This was the first weekend that we have not had plans in months.  We enjoyed hanging around the house and relaxing.  Here is a recap of Little R's weekend:

 Unrolling the TP

 Playing outside

 Reading his favorite book before church

 Giving Chip his "chewy"

 Eating Chip's chewy

 Trying to play with and eat sticks

 Eating crackers

 Reading the newspaper/tearing up the newspaper

 Cruising around

 Snuggling with Mama!

What a fun weekend!!!!

28!

On Thursday, I turned 28.  I guess that means that I am well into my late twenties now.  I guess that also means that I am getting ever closer to 30....YIKES!  I had such a wonderful birthday this year.  It started bright and early at 6:15 am when Trey put my birthday card and present next to me in the bed.  My husband gets really excited about giving me gifts on special occasions...so excited that at times he almost tells me what he has bought me ahead of time.  Since Little R was born, I have been mentioning how I would love a nice camera.  You know the digital kind with the big lens that takes really great pictures.  A few weeks before my birthday, I mentioned the camera again, but I told Trey that I had not had time to research the type that I would want.  I kind of forgot all about it because I knew that a nice camera was not in the "birthday budget" this year :)  Well, my wonderful hubby researched them for me, and bought me one for my birthday.  I was so surprised and excited.  I am still learning how to use it, and I look forward to posting some pictures that I take with it soon!

Trey also invited both of our parents and siblings over for dinner that night.  He even took the afternoon off to get all of the food and clean the house!  Needless to say, I pretty much have the best husband in the world!

My birthday was also special this year because I got to celebrate it with Little R!  He even made me a birthday card, complete with a pen scribble down the middle (which I think he had some help with.)  He also decided to finally say "mama" for the first time on my birthday...the sweetest sound in the world :)

I am looking forward to 28 and all of the exciting things it has in store!!!

10 Months Old

On Monday, Little R turned 10 months old!  I cannot believe that in 2 months, he will be one already!!  It is becoming nearly impossible to get a good picture of Little R sitting still smiling at the camera.  He pretty much never stays still these days and is always on the go.  So, I did the best I could.  Here are some things going on right now with Little R:

-He eats mainly table food these days and insists on feeding himself
-Is obsessed with Cheerios
-Waves
-He is finally babbling with consonant sounds now and not just the "ahh" and "eeee" sounds...so cute
-Said "bye bye" the other day while waving (not sure if it was his true "first word" or just babbling)...I like to think it was his first word :)
-Can walk behind a push toy and is quite proud of himself while doing it
-Has "stood alone" a few times for a few seconds each time
-Still only has 4 teeth
-LOVES to dance/bounce
-Likes to play "the game" with people in restaurants
     *The game:  Little R will cock his head to one side and hold it there until someone else does it.  He usually tries to get people at other tables to do it.  I was eating at a restaurant recently and I looked behind me and a table of ladies all had their heads cocked to one side at Little R.  It was too funny!


Here are the best shots I could get of Little R for his "10 month pictures".....

 "Seriously, Mama....you want me to sit still??"

 Waving

 All cheeks

 Pushing my toy

 Looking sweet

"Really, Mama, how many pictures have you taken of me?"

July 4th

I have always loved the 4th of July!  It brings back memories of cookouts, fireworks, and Papa's homemade peach ice cream.  Maybe I always loved this holiday because it is exactly 10 days before my birthday :), or maybe I loved it because I always spent it with family and friends.  Anyways, I still love celebrating the 4th of July.  We opted not to take Little R to a fireworks show this year, but we hope to next year for sure!  Here is a recap of our weekend:

My dear cousin, Elizabeth, came in town, so Little R and I got to spend most of the day Friday with her :)

We spent Saturday at Tybee with my parents, Trey's brother and his wife, and a bunch of other family friends.  This is a picture of Little R and his buddy, Tucker Hollis, who is about 4 months older than him.  They had lots of fun playing together :)  Little R was so worn out by 11 am that I actually got him to go to sleep in my arms (rarely happens these days) and take about a 50 minute nap.  After that, he was good to go for the rest of the day and had a ball crawling around, eating sand, and splashing in the water.

This is a video that I took of Little R laughing at Chip before we loaded him into the car to head to the beach.  Little R is starting to get a little annoyed with Chip when he runs up to lick him in the face (which we try to stop).  But most of the time, they are good buddies!

Later on Saturday, we went over to have dinner with our friends, the Brookshire's.  Brad and Trey work together, and I have become good friends with Brad's wife Carrie.  Their son, Jack, is about 2 months older then Little R.  I am sad that I did not get a picture :(

We spent Sunday going to church, napping, and shopping around at Lowe's.  Little R spent some of the day practicing his "walk."

I cannot believe he is already doing this!!!!

On Monday, we got ready and headed to The Farm to spend the day with Trey's parents.  We had a great time relaxing on the front porch, playing with the 5 crazy dogs, smoking chicken, riding through the woods in the golf cart, and watching Little R explore around.  It was a very fun day!!!

Getting ready to head to "The Farm"

Happy 4th of July

 Little R and his Grandpa rocking on the front porch

Little R checking out Gauge

I hope all of you had a wonderful day, celebrating our great country!!!  Our pastor said something in his sermon on Sunday that I think is worthwhile to pass along.  He mentioned that if we spent the same amount of time praying for our President and leaders as we did criticizing them and their policies, we may actually help in doing something productive for our country.  I certainly was convicted by that!