A night at the fair

We went to the fair tonight. Andrew was really tired at first but then he woke up and couldn't figure out where to look first. He watched a tiny bit of a circus and saw some animals at the petting zoo and got scared by Daffy Duck (Daffy gave him a kiss and startled him and he started to cry :( ). He loved looking at the baby pictures in the baby pic contest (and he would have won if we had been organized enough to enter! Not that we are at all partial...) and looking at all of the plants in the Horticulture building. He also really liked the giant Pooh Bears that people had won. We told him he had a huge Pooh Bear at home to love on. :) And of course... the best part of the fair... the FOOD! Andrew got bites of a Pronto Pup (well at least of the bread part), grilled corn, his daddy's funnel cake, and (his favorite) mommy's frozen banana-on-a-stick. He cried everytime I took the banana out of his mouth and when Chad pushed Andrew a little ahead of me in his stroller he looked back and fussed at me until I caught up and gave him another bite! We didn't stay too long, but we had fun! We are already looking forward to next year! Oh, pic to come!

9 month update

We had Andrew's 9 month checkup today (a little early). He is doing great -- he weighs almost 19 pounds and is 28" long. He had fun at the doctor's playing with other kids who came in (he and a 15 month old had a whole conversation but us mommies don't know what they said!) and playing in the waiting room. It is just amazing how much he has developed since his last visit 3 months ago! He is crawling really well now and pulling up on everything. He loves to "walk" as long as he is holding someone's hands. He's starting to get into everything. It is so much fun to see him develop his own interests and see what he is interested in (other babies, people in general, ink pens, straws, kitties, and water top the list! Oh, and of course mommy and daddy and all the other grown-ups he sees on a regular basis). He is eating mostly table food except we haven't been cooking much lately between my crazy work schedule and moving so he has still been getting some baby food too. He can say "bye" and wave bye-bye (when he wants to) and say "mama" and communicate that he wants you to pick him up. He is doing great and we are all having so much fun together! :)

Heartlight 2006

Today we went to Heartlight, a fundraiser for Melody's work. It was held at Canale Farms which is about an hour from our house. We took old-time photos (which I'll have to post later), had an ice-cream social, had lots of games, watched the ponies (Andrew trried to crawl to them the second I put him down!) , listened to great music, and hung out with a lot of friends and co-workers (who are also friends! :) ). We all had fun even though it was a tiring day. Here are some pics of our day!

St. Louis Trip

We went to St. Louis this past weekend. We left early Saturday morning and Andrew slept most of the way to St. Louis so he was wide awake and ready to go by the time we got there! We met some friends of mine at the zoo and then for supper at The Spaghetti Factory . Andrew had so much fun being around other babies and little kids. He had fun looking at some animals too. We saw the elephants (including the new baby elephant!), the snakes, and the monkeys. We were going to go see the lions and tigers but Andrew fell asleep and we decided to go on to the hotel and give him a chance to sleep. Our hotel was amazing! We stayed at the Drury Plaza hotel in downtown St. Louis and everyone was so friendly. The hotel was beautiful too. We will definitely be back. On Sunday morning, we got up and went to the Arch. We went up to the top of the Arch and looked around a little bit, browsed around the Arch a little more, and started the trip back home. We stopped for lunch at Lambert's , which is a home-cookin' restaurant in Sikeston, MO with tons of food (and throwed rolls). Andrew had fun playing outside after being cooped up in his carseat and the stroller much of the weekend. He loved being at the restaurant too because there are so many people who come by the table. Andrew wanted to talk to all of them. :) We finally got home Sunday evening in time to put Andrew to bed and get ready for the work week. It was a tiring but fun weekend! More pictures to come!

On the move...

           
Life has been busy around here lately... Chad just got back from helping his Grandma move last weekend, his Aunt Nancy is moving sometime soon too... and we are moving this coming weekend! Lucky our move is just local. We bought our first house so we are excited about that. :) Andrew has been keeping us busy too. It seems like he has grown up so much since my last post from a few weeks ago. As of today, he has FIVE teeth -- three on the bottom and two on the top. That might change by tomorrow at the rate he is getting teeth in! He stopped using his pacifier (thanks, Kim!), "talks" all of the time now, wants to eat whatever we are eating for supper (even though he doesn't always get to!), is starting to eat some finger foods, and is trying to figure out how to crawl! He gets up on all fours and rocks, can't figure out what to do from there, then flops down and scoots on his stomach to get to wherever he wants to go. It is really cute! We think if it were up to him he would just skip the whole crawling stage and take off running because he'll take off running as long as we are holding his hands. I got to spend most of last weekend with him again since Chad was out of town and he was such a sweetheart (well, minus the whole "I don't wanna take a nap!" saga). He is so happy and loves life so much and gets so excited about everything. It is just amazing to watch him grow up... even though it seems like it is happening SO fast!

My Saturday with Mommy

Chad was out of town Friday night and all day Saturday at a Promise Keepers convention, so Andrew and I had most of the weekend to ourselves. We didn't do too much... we visited with Aunt Nancy and Debbie when I went to pick him up after work on Friday and we spent the rest of the weekend playing and cleaning the house. It was nice to spend a weekend at home for a change... we are usually running around doing shopping or running errands even if we are in town. And it was extra-nice to get to spend so much one-on-one time with Andrew! And he was extra-sweet this weekend too and really happy (as you can tell from the pics!). And, yes, that is a tooth peeking out... it's been coming in for a couple of weeks but it is finally through enough you can really see it! Oh... and Andrew was really happy to see his Daddy when he woke up this morning too! :)

CHEESE!!! If you click on the picture to make it bigger you can see my tooth!

Loving my bouncer!

Take me out to the ball game...

We took Andrew to his first baseball game tonight to see the Memphis Redbirds. He had the time of his life! He was SO excited. We bought tickets to sit on the bluff but ended up sitting behind home plate (okay, we have a connection and happened to run into him!). Andrew couldn't stop looking around to see what was next. Before we even got into the stadium, he loved looking at the inflatable balloon guy who floats above the entrance to the park. Jason took us up to see where the guy stands and Andrew thought that was great (on the way he ran into the cheerleaders who thought he was a cutie!) Then he had to look at everything in the stadium. He got a hat and a ball to chew on and water from Mommy's sports bottle and a few bites of ice cream. And he got to be on the big screen during the seventh inning stretch and the camera guy put him on twice so his Mommy could take a picture of the screen. And then his Daddy caught him a shirt... except he said Mommy or Daddy can have it because he won't fit into it for another 15 years or so. Plus he entertained quite a few people and ended up with a fan club as usual (babies tend to do that!) We left the park before the fireworks started but watched them from the parking garage and left when they started getting really loud. Andrew, of course, fell fast asleep as soon as the car started moving. Chad and I swung through Starbucks for a coffee fix and then went home and Andrew got to hear a bedtime story all about his big night. We had so much fun and I am sure we will be back at another game soon. We'll have to take some more pictures that time... I accidentally deleted the one of all of us! :( So if anyone wants to go to a Redbirds game with us this summer and see Andrew in action, just let us know!

                             

Just some pics...

I just love this picture and had to share! It's on my computer at work right now and I smile every time I see it.


I'm not even sure when this is from... sometime in the past month... just a cute Daddy/baby picture!

Andrew and his buddy Brennan

Since Andrew's Gran-Gran and Antzy are visiting family in VA, Andrew has been staying with my friend Kim and her son Brennan during part of the day this week. We spent last weekend helping Kim and her family move to a new house so she is an amazing friend to be babysitting Andrew while trying to get everything set up in a new house! Andrew thinks Brennan is the greatest and he had so much fun playing with him last weekend. Kim sent me some pics of the two of them together this week and I thought I'd share!

What a week!

Andrew telling his Granny we are running late... and loving sweet potatoes!
Playing on the swings at the park...

We have had a great week here... it has been busy though! I took Monday off work for my birthday and Chad's boss sent them home at lunch for an extra-long holiday... so all of us met my friend Kim and her little boy Brennan for lunch. Then Tuesday we went over to Aunt Nancy's for a 4th of July cookout. Aunt Nancy and Debbie were nice enough to baby-sit Andrew that night and Chad and I went to see Les Mis (which was amazing!). When we got back to pick up Andrew around 11:00 pm he had woken up. He was so excited to see us and got so worked up it took a long time to get him to sleep once we got home. The work week flew by and Friday we packed up the Jeep to go visit my mom in Hendersonville. We got there about 11:00 pm (we aren't so great at getting out of the house on time...) and poor Andrew woke up again. He was so excited to see his Granny (and cousin Ashley) that he felt like he had to socialize with them before going back to bed. :) Saturday we got up and went to the park (Hendersonville has an amazing park too... I can't wait until Andrew is bigger and can really play there!) and went shopping and to get Andrew's picture taken. Sunday we went to church and over to my Aunt Jean's for lunch and back home again! Andrew slept almost all of the way home from Nashville and then slept until after 7:00 this morning... I guess our week finally caught up with him! I'll post pics soon!

We have video!

Andrew had fun playing in his pool yesterday. He had just got up from a nap so he wasn't very talkative though... and the other video is just him playing!

Carrots are yummy!

Andrew had his 6 month checkup today -- he weighed 16 lbs, 10 oz and is 27 inches long. He wasn't very happy during the appointment but he was in a great mood tonight! He thinks the most exciting thing about today was that he got to eat veggies! He was hungry tonight, he had his bottle AND cereal AND a jar of carrots! He is sucha cutie! He is sitting up really well now. He LOVES the kitties and going outside and eating cereal (and carrots) and getting ready for bedtime. We've had a lot happen over the past month... I'll have to catch up and post some more pics soon!

Andrew's big weekend (part 2)

Andrew is in the middle of yet another major growth spurt (maybe traveling makes him hungry!) plus he is sooo interested in everyone's food, so we decided to let him try cereal this morning! He wasn't sure what to do with the first bite but after we gave him some of his bottle and tried again he decided he loved eating from a spoon! He already wants to grab the spoon and do it himself. :) He's such a cutie!

Andrew's big weekend (part 1)

Andrew has been so busy this weekend! He went to Nashville to see his Granny and go to his cousin Ashley's graduation from high school on Monday night. He went to Ashley's house on Saturday and got to play on the slide (of course, Mommy & Daddy held his hands the whole way down) and be with lots of people. We hung out with Chris & Nina most of today too so Andrew had plenty of opportunity to entertain his fans. He has just been in a great mood most of the time. Earlier tonight, I was calling his daddy to come see him. I told Andrew to call daaaaa and he cracked up laughing. I'd say daaa! and he'd giggle. Well, it was funny if you were there. :)

The other thing he has been giggling over all weekend is his yellow block. If you squeeze it, it quacks. He thinks it is just hilarious and starts smiling and laughing whenever we press it even if he was upset just a minute ago. We have had lots of fun spending time with him this weekend and we are excited to get to spend all day tomorrow with him too!

Babies, babies everywhere!

Andrew has been around all sorts of babies lately! First of all, he has a new baby cousin. Kyle was born on May 9th at 8:10 a.m. We haven't met him yet but we have seen his picture (Click on D and look under Crystal & Ronnie) and we hope to meet him soon! Andrew also got to go to mommy's work tonight and meet all sorts of coworkers' babies (and little kids). We were having an open house and kids and spouses showed up towards the end. It is so nice to work for a place where kids are always welcome. His daddy took him home early to go to bed... but he decided he had to wake up and play with Mommy. So right now he is loving his Exersaucer! It seems so much later than 8:00 here... but really he isn't even past his bedtime yet!

Four Month Checkup

Today Andrew had his 4 month checkup. He is still doing great -- he weighs 14 lbs, 6.5 ounces and is 25.5 inches long (so we can get a couple more weeks out of the handy infant carrier before switching to the next car seat!). He wasn't very happy at the doctor today -- he got startled while the doctor was examining him and had a hard time calming down. Then as soon as he got calmed down the nurse came in to give him his shots! After cuddle time with Mommy and some Tylenol he calmed down and went back to his Gran-Gran's where he slept until his Daddy came to pick him up after work. His doctor said he is doing great and to start on cereal sometime after five months and we will talk about fruit and veggies at his six-month appointment. I loved getting to see Andrew in the middle of the day -- even if it was to go to a doctor's appointment!

Playtime

Andrew has just started getting into playing with toys in the past couple of weeks. It is so cute to watch him hold onto his toys or play with them now! I'll have to try to get a video up. He is 4 months old today, it is just amazing how much he has changed in the past four months!

Happy Easter!

We have had a multi-day Easter celebration. Andrew dyed Easter eggs with his cousins while they were in town. Then yesterday we went to an Easter egg hunt at church where Andrew met the Easter Bunny (he wasn't really sure what to think). This morning we read the Easter story from his Bible (he likes the pictures) and then played with toys the Easter Bunny brought him (he likes to chew on them!). We are about to head out the door to church and then over to his Gran-Gran's for lunch. Happy Easter everyone -- check out our web page in a few days for Easter pics!

Family Fun

Andrew has spent the week running around town with his Auntie Heather, Aunt Andrea and Uncle Robert, and cousins Allyson, Ashley and Rachel (and of course Gran-Gran, Antzy and Debbie). He has had a lot of fun, though they report he has a tendency to fall asleep in the middle of all the activity. His cousins have been so sweet to him -- last night he was crying and Ashley and Rachel came over and starting singing songs to him. He stopped and just looked at them. He thinks they are the greatest! He is so lucky to have so much family who loves him!

I'm ready to go somewhere!

Andrew is just waiting for the day he figures out how to start moving around. He loves to stand up and push with his feet while holding on to our hands (he can sit back down when he is finished too). He has started trying to scoot or lean towards wherever he wants to go... and luckily for him he usually gets help to go there. He's such a cutie... and I promise he doesn't wear this outfit all of the time, I just realized that it is in three pictures on this page! :)