PUTT, PUTT...

Boo really likes playing putt, putt.  She has her own special technique where she half hits, half drags the ball into the hole :o)   This particular game was played this past weekend; she was able to play two rounds...but I'm guessing she would have played five more if we would have let her! :o)

WHEN SISSY IS AWAY...

Brandon will play! :o)   Bailey is pretty good about sharing her toys, she's even let brother hold bear a few times!  But every once in awhile, there are things she does not like to share and on Sunday...it was the balloon.  So, while Boo was in quiet time, Brandon took his chances and grabbed the shiny, floating thing in the air and had some fun :o)

JUST HAPPY...

Bailey is just happy playing with a balloon from the dollar store.  Brandon is just happy watching Sissy play.  And when I'm with my two miracles....I'm just happy.

"Smile" Brandon :o)

He was laughing at Sissy playing :o)

She played with this balloon for an hour straight! :o)

Today at 2:30pm EST.
Brandon was in his "Sunday" shirt...note last week's post :)

ALMOST CRAWLING!...

Brandon's almost there...he's so close.  Oh, and yesterday, he actually stood himself up on my lap!  I was holding his hands and he wanted to see Sissy behind him...so he stood right up!  Little stinker, bet he's going to crawl for one day and start running the next!  Sorry my voice is so loud on the video, I'm right next to the camera but he's a few feet away because I had to try and hide it from him (or he just sat there and stared at it :o).

9 MONTHS OLD...

Today our little man is 9 months old.  He's a wonderful, soft, squishy, lots of wet kisses and crooked smiles 9 months old.  He has these wonderful fat short little hands that reach out and grab me...well, actually they grab at everything :o)  He's not hands and knees crawling but he does scooch backwards on his belly and sort of "bounce" forward if he's sitting down on his tush.  I'm taking him to the ped. on Tuesday but, if I had to guess, he's somewhere between 21-22lbs.  Right now he's wearing 9 month clothes and size 4 diapers.  I'm having to switch him from the infant carrier to a "big boy" car seat and that's killing me.  A major milestone that starts his move him away from baby and towards toddler.

Brandon's eyes are still blue and his hair still dirty blond (it seems to lighten pretty easy in the sun so if we've been out of it for a few days, it looks darker).  He goes to sleep with his bink, but is fine if it falls out.  I don't let him have when he's not sleeping.  I figure the bink alone may be a big enough habit to break; why make it worse?  He likes to play with toys and really likes it if sissy is playing next to him.  He actually misses her when she's at school...how sweet is that?!  Still loves food and can now eat puffs on his own.  Actually, if I break a cheerio into 2 or 3 pieces he does fine with that but I give him puffs because I don't have to watch him as closely (makes it much easier if we're in the car).  He will sit in his highchair have a handful in his mouth and a few in each little fat stubby hand (seriously LOVE his little hands!!) and he'll be looking at you like "yeah...need more of these please" :o)  The kid LOVES drinking from a water bottle...a sippy cut?  Not so much.

Newest "trick" is his "smile" when I try to take a picture.  If I point the camera at him and tell him to smile...he squeezes his eyes shut :o)  Examples are below.  So, here we are... 9 month's old and 9 months deeper in-love with this beautiful, wonderful little man.

No way mama...not showing you my eyes! :o)

Not sure what this face is but...you can see the teeth :o)

I think he's trying to wink here :o)

Trick was to have Tom stand behind me :o)

QUIET TIME...

Is not always that "quiet" :)   Sorry for the bouncing on the video.  Brandon was in my other arm and he was being a little wiggle worm...I think he was dancing to the music :)

HOME ON THE RANGE...

On Sunday, we got to visit some friends of ours down in Newnan.  They have my dream house...wonderful high ceilings with tons of light and (most importantly) surrounded by horse pastures.  It was great.  Bailey likes horses and every once in a while she'll ask if she can have one.  I've promised that come 11 or 12, I'll do my best.  I rode as a girl and honestly...getting up on a crisp morning, the sounds and smells of the horse, the power of the animal that you can feel while you ride....oh my gosh, next to loving my family, nothing tops it!  I'm one of those strange people who walks into a barn and takes a deep breath, rather than holding my breath from the smell.  Love it.  Which is funny if you know my mother, who is very girlie-girlie.  Somehow it's just in my blood.

We were blessed with some really great weather and Boo had a lot of fun feeding the horses.  She was a bit apprehensive about letting them eat out of her hands but, with some help she did GREAT!  Brandon was interested...until they got too close.  He reached out to touch the nose of the filly and once he realized that she wasn't a stuffed animal, the experience was pretty much over for him :o)

It was a lot of fun.  Thanks Courtney and Kevin for the invite!

KINDERGARTEN!!...

The day has come...Boo is (in my eyes) officially a "big girl".  Today is the first day of kindergarten.  Kills me.  Time goes by much too fast.  I did pretty well dropping her off at class (didn't get teary eyed until I was driving home) but I lost it yesterday at church. 

Yesterday, Boo moved up from the preschool department to what our church calls "Studio K".  It's Sunday School for the big kids (K-5th grade).  The thing is, Studio K is in a separate building from our church...right behind it, like 20 steps, but still... a separate building.  At the beginning of service, they brought the Studio K kids into service and had them up front by the stage for worship.  I was able to see Boo up there, clapping her hands to the music, looking around, looking so independent, so grown up...and it killed me.  Actually, I'm tearing up as I write this.  It's so awesome to watch her grow, but really tough that it seems to happen so fast.  It's tough when you work while being a mom, because you miss out on moments and I think it makes time go by faster. 

On her end, Bailey seemed excited for school.  She wasn't too thrilled with Studio K (they watched a video that she didn't care for), but I'm sure that will change as time goes on.  Boo is a lot like me, we're not huge on change but, we both like adventure so...we're going to look on these changes, as adventure :o)

WHO KNEW...

that cute came in two? :o)

Brandon thought Mommy was pretty silly :o)

Boo is showing her "big eyes" :o)

GREEN THUMB...

I'm not much of a gardener.  Each year, I plant a few flowers by the mailbox, the front door and in a pot or two in the back yard.  Then I pray that I don't kill them.  Sometimes I have success that is measured in a few months, most of the time the "success" is measured in a couple of weeks :)

Last Spring, Bailey's preschool class learned about how flowers/plants grow from seeds.  So of course she wanted to take what she had learned, and apply it at home (which is usually fine but one week they were learning about recycling and Boo wanted to keep every piece of trash to "reuse".  Yeah...thanks for that one Ms. Mandy :o).

On a Saturday around the beginning to middle of June, we were in Walmart and Bailey found a packet of seeds for sunflowers.  She was so excited that I could not pass up the opportunity (to fail I was pretty sure because I mean really...if I so easily kill plants that I purchase thriving and with blooms, how in the world was I going to grow something from a seed?).  We brought the seeds home and immediately planted them in a pot on our front porch where there is lots of sun.  Boo was great; she would remember to check on and water her flowers almost daily.  They actually sprouted very quickly, which thrilled both of us, but took several weeks to bloom which in the end was okay because..... we have success!!  This week we got our first bloom and Bailey was super excited.  After making sure that Daddy knew about her flower, she immediately wanted to go and grab the neighbor down the street to show him the "fruit" of her labor :o)  Way to go Boo!  Here's hoping that your thumb, is much greener than mine :o)

GOTTA WONDER...

Just what is he thinking about?  I always feed Brandon on the same corner of the couch.  I started feeding him there about 4 months ago when I noticed that he really liked to look out the window while drinking his bottle.  For about the same amount of time, after he's done eating, he'll sit up and stare out the window.  It's something so sweet to watch because you know he's soaking it all in.  Even after all these months (and oh...700-750 bottles later) it still makes me smile and ask..."just what is he thinking about?"  :o)

FAMILY DAY...

Everyday is family day in our home...some days are just a bit more crazy than others :o)  Pirate was the theme of this day and Tom's missing tooth fit in perfectly...too bad he's getting it fixed before Halloween! :o)
 

ANGEL...

Sometimes in hiding...or in costume (such as this: one of daddy's undershirts, a pair of fairy wings and a pool ring) but still there...our little angel :o)