Recent pictures

Seth is displaying his abilities to roll over!

Seth's newest talent - drooling all over everything (Hannah calls this his waterfall)!!
Our 4 month old!
A little smile!
This is one tired little girl. We came home from running errands the other day and while we were unloading the car, Hannah got in bed and went to sleep with her shoes on and everything!!

Hannah's new hair do!!! Hannah and Daddy were playing in the bathtub and this is how Hannah wants her hair now!!!

Seth's first cereal

Here are pictures of the little monkey with his first cereal a couple weeks ago - he LOVES it and has even tried squash and sweet potatoes (Aunt April will be glad - he likes sweet potatoes the best so far!)!!!

Trip to Dentist

Hannah had her yearly check-up with the dentist today and everything looked great! She did well up until it was time for the dentist to check her teeth - it was screaming and thrashing, but we managed to survive and all is well - we go back in one year!!!

Check-up with Dr. E

Seth had his 4 month check-up with Dr. E this morning and everything looks great! Dr. E was pleased with how alert he is and Seth proceeded to roll over for Dr. E and show off his amazing flexibility by chewing on his toes.

He got 4 shots today and received an oral vaccine as well. He did amazing with the shots - only cried long enough for Daddy to pick him up and did not cry the rest of the day!!

Weight: 12 pounds 3 ounces --- 10th percentile (actually he is a little below the 10th)
Height: 24 3/4 inches --- 50th percentile

I was a little concerned about the weight, but Dr. E showed us the growth curve and he is staying consistent on the curve - it appears that we have a skinny little monkey on our hands, so Dr. E gave us the go ahead on all foods and juices is we want to add calories, but said not to worry at all unless he stops eating. He noticed how much Seth moves and said it would be difficult to get him to gain weight because he is in constant motion. As long as he continues to gain any weight, Dr. E is happy!!!

Seth had met all the developmental milestones and we will see him again at 6 months!

Seth is 4 months old

Seth is already 4 months old - I can hardly believe it!! We have an appoinment with Dr. E on Monday and will update you on how that goes then.

Favorite things:
He loves to "talk" to anyone that will listen, he still has to be able to see someone at all times, he loves his play gym, he is rather fond of the set of plastic rings he got from a friend, he loves his monkey that he carries with him, he loves stories, and he loves his sister Hannah and all her kisses

Least favorite things:
dogs barking, anyone yelling or raising their voice (Hannah screaming), being alone for ANY amount of time, being wet or poopy - wants his diaper changed immediately, and being in his carseat - mainly because he cannot see anyone else in the car

New talents:
Seth is an accomplished roller - he can roll over and thinks it is hilarious when he does so, he is beginning to make some crawling motions forward and is able to move around his blanket or play gym with ease, he can hold his own bottle now - although he prefers someone else to do it, he can sit with minimal support, he can grasp objects with both hands and transfer objects from hand to hand, is taking baths in the big tub with a bath sponge under him and LOVES it, he makes great facial expressions, he is laughing, and he is eating cereal from a spoon!!!

Seth is such a blessing to us!! He stopped sleeping through the night about a week ago, so I put him on cereal and he is sleeping from 7:30 until 6:00!!! He has definitely developed a personality and it seems as though we have been blessed with a laid back little guy who loves to laugh and cuddle! He loves to play with his toes and put his entire foot in his mouth.

It does not feel like it has been four months already, but I cannot remember our lives without him! Hannah loves her brother and is GREAT about taking care of him. She also makes sure we bring him with us when we leave the house! I must admit I was really worried about how Hannah was going to handle not being the center of attention, but she has been amazing.

If you had asked me at the beginning if having two kids was easy, I would have said NO, but as we are settling into a routine and adjusting to life - I cannot imagine life without two kids! I love being their mom and I love being at home with them over the summer!

What a great gift we have been given to be parents of two such terrific kids!!

Swimming with the boys

We had a BLAST today with Cameron and Austin at Uncle Tom's beach!! We haven't gotten to spend much time with the boys this summer because we are all so busy that we jumped at the chance to take them swimming today! The kids had a blast and Hannah swam (more like doggy-paddled) away from the edge for the first time today!!! She was so proud of herself!!!

At Uncle Tom's Beach
Seth hanging out in this really cool tent I found that is UVA protected and helps keep him cool!!

Hannah having a BLAST!!!
The whole gang - Cam, Austin, Daddy and Hannah
Look at Hannah swimming all by herself!!!!

Way to go Hannah - we are so proud of our tadpole!!!

This is what happens when.....

This is what happens when you let a three year old help you clean the back porch...... Hannah was helping mommy sweep and came across a small rock (I would call it a tiny rock - bigger than a pebble but not big enough to be called a rock) and she was helping mommy by tossing it into the yard - guess what??? She missed and hit the table instead - shattering the entire table. It was really no big deal since we were getting rid of the table, but it did scare her to death and make for a much LONGER clean-up!!!

Seth has a nickname

Nicknames are kinda of a big thing with Chris, so when Hannah was born he started calling her tadpole (because his nickname growing up was toad). So, Seth finally earned his nickname......

MONKEY

is going to be his nickname because his favorite thing to sleep with is a monkey AND he has VERY long toes that he uses to pick things up with - I will get a picture to post very soon. Below is Seth with his baby monkey (he has slept with this since he was in the hospital)!!!

Little Diva

Hannah is such a little DIVA!! She LOVES dress up and has a thing about her outfit matching. She wears scarves around her neck with sunglasses and loves to wear high heels (hers and mine)! She has a couple of costumes and will dress up all day long if you let her - which we do... Here are some recent pics of the DIVA herself!!!

Little Man on the Move

Seth has begun to scoot around on his back and is beginning to figure out how to scoot forward on his stomach. He is rolling from back to front and can roll from his back to his side - almost to his stomach. While doing laundry yesterday, I put him on his stomach on the play gym with some toys and this is where I found him a few minutes later.

I guess it is time to start thinking about the childproof aspect of our house again - how you do that with a 3 year old who loves Barbie dolls and jewelry is beyond me at this point!!!

Bumbo Time

Aunt April passed along her Bumbo chair for Seth to use (amazing that this was not around 3 years ago with Hannah - or if it was, I was completely oblivious to it)! Seth is doing extremely well with head control and sitting. He so wants to be able to be on the move and will be crawling before long. Here are some pics of us trying out the Bumbo - he loves it because he is upright and can see what is going on around him!!!

Hannah hanging out with Seth in the bumbo

Enough with the pictures mom - I want out!!!!!

Hannah quotes

Hannah is really starting to come into her own and has the most amazing vocabulary and thought processes. I decided I would start sharing them with you all as they come up - here are a two of my favorites from the last couple of weeks...

1. While in Tyler, Chris was driving on the loop in Tyler and had to turn left in front of oncoming traffic - as Chris turned, Hannah saw the car coming and said (this is a word for word quote) " I did NOT see that coming!" - we laughed so hard!!!

2. Last Sunday when we got back home from Ninny and Paco's, Hannah had fallen asleep in the back seat. I stopped to grab some lunch at Sonic and she woke up looked around and said, "We are back in Hannah's world!" It was the cutest thing ever!!

I will add more Hannahisms as they occur and hope you enjoy them as much as we do!!

Summer 2008 at Ninny and Paco's

We decided not to venture too far from home with Seth, so we went to spend a couple of weeks with Ninny and Paco for our summer vacation. It was great not having to rush around and feeling so tired after the vacation was over. The kiddos and I headed out on Sunday the 22nd for a fun two hour drive to East Texas. Let's just say that Seth's limit in the car is 90 minutes and so the last 30 minutes of the drive were tons of fun. Chris and the dog joined us on Tuesday the 24th.

The first day we were there, Hannah and Paco had a lot of fun at the park and Seth just chilled out as usual.

On Wednesday the 25th, Hannah decided it was time to pick blueberries. She has a Dora video that talks about picking blueberries for a pie and so we decided it was time to go. She had a BLAST. I was really surprised and expected the picking to last about 10 minutes. She picked blueberries for an hour and was not ready to leave. It was a lot of fun!!

On Thursday the 26th, Ninny went to visit with Baby John and Aunt April, so the rest of us loaded up and headed to Tiger Creek Rescue center and Tyler State Park for a picnic lunch. Seth and I missed the tour at Tiger Creek, because as we arrived, Seth decided to spit up all over himself and me. (Needless to say, I own a lovely Tyler State Park t-shirt now:)) After Tiger Creek, we went to the State Park and had a picnic lunch and fed the ducks!!!

The tigers pictured below are very rare tigers - they are golden striped tigers - more rare than white tigers. There are only about 100 in the US and this rescue has 3 tigers about the same age that are not related, so they will be breeding these tigers.

Seth was having a GREAT time being outdoors and under the trees in East Texas!

Hannah thought a picnic was the greatest thing ever - she was so excited - below feeding the ducks was an adventure - we gave her a bagel to feed the ducks thinking she would tear it up like Daddy was, but she threw the entire bagel at the ducks - luckily no duck was injured:) On Friday, Ninny joined us and we all went to Discovery Science Place. It is an AWESOME hands-on kids museum in Tyler. Hannah had a blast and did not want to leave. There was so much to see and do - we will definitely go back there soon.

Below - taking care of all the babies

Being a waitress at the diner was a BIG hit!!!Driving Daddy in the fire truck was important to Hannah!!

Seth LOVED watching the fish in the tank!!

On Sunday the 29th, my brother and his family came over so we could celebrate Matt's 8th birthday! The kids had so much fun playing together and Seth got to meet my brother, his wife and 3 of his cousins! I missed getting pictures of Janie and Matt with Seth - next time....

Sydney and Seth

Tiffany and Seth - above

Uncle Paul and Seth - below

Happy Birthday Matt!!!

Monday we took the kids to the Caldwell Zoo and had a good time looking at all the animals - Hannah would spend everyday at a zoo somewhere - she LOVES animals!! Tuesday we stayed home and went fishing and swimming - which we did a lot of...

Mommy, Seth and Daddy made prints in the sand - Hannah was not interested in participating.....

Daddy's big catch - Daddy and Paco cleaned the fish and we ate it for dinner that night - it was really good!! Wednesday we were off to the East Texas Oil Museum , Rangerette Showcase at Kilgore college and Great Ninny's house. Hannah loved the Rangerette Museum that she refers to as the ballerina store because she thought the Rangerette's looked like ballerina's with their skirts.

Hannah began to call my Nanny - Great Ninny and so that is what we will call her from now on. We went there for lunch and met my Aunt Margie there with her 3 grandchildren. It was a GREAT time and Hannah has talked about going back to feed to goats!

Below - Seth was blowing bubbles and I thought it was the funniest face ever!!

Great Ninny with Seth Above - this is Great Ninny holding Seth on the left and my cousin Michelle's little boy Mark. Mark is 25 days older than Seth, but looks like a giant next to him. No one believes they are that close in age!!! Mark is big for his age and poor Seth is still in Newborn clothes at 3 1/2 months old!!

Below is Great Ninny with 5 of her 10 great grandkids - Tyler, Hannah, Seth, Mark, and Samantha. The other 5 great grandkids at this point are Candace, Tiffany, Sydney, Matt, and John - with Rory (the 11th great grandchild) on the way!!

Here is proof where Seth's ears came from - this is his Great Aunt Margie!!!

Thursday we stayed at the house for some down time and helped with the gardening with Paco. Hannah loved picking tomatoes and watering the garden.

Friday we headed to Canton for some shopping and fun! It was really hot, but the kids did GREAT and I found some really cute things for both kiddos!!

Saturday was when HAWL held all of their Fourth of July activities. Hannah, Daddy and Paco headed down for the boat parade and played at the park for a little while. They came home and ate dinner and Hannah had her first smore's - she loved the chocolate but was not a fan of the marshmellow or cracker. After dinner, Ninny stayed with Seth at the house and the rest of us headed down to the lake for the fireworks! It was a GREAT show - Hannah did okay, but kept asking to go home! IT was REALLY loud!!

Sunday we packed up and headed home - it was WONDERFUL time and we were sad that is was over! Thank you Ninny and Paco for a fabulous time!! We love you!!!