Seven Months Old

Grace has been quite busy the past month! It's hard to believe that she's already seven months old! Here's what she's been up to lately:

• She took off crawling this month and hasn't looked back...she's fast and furious!
• Around 6 1/2 months she began sitting up well on her own
• She has one tooth
• She had her first haircut
• She pulls up on furniture and whatever else she can get her hands on
• She can say "mama" but not consistently. I think she's talking about me, but she mostly says it when she's hungry which I guess would mean me :)
• Sleeping better in spurts, but we still have a ways to go! She just doesn't seem to require as much sleep as I think she needs. On good days, she sleeps 30 minutes in the morning and an hour in the afternoon. Apparently, I wasn't a good napper either as a baby so I guess I'm reaping what I sewed! She's still waking up at least once a night as well. I know I need to let her cry it out, but it's hard!
• She's become a great little traveler--this past month we've been to Ft. Worth, Marshall, Mooringsport, and Dallas and she is quite content in wherever we go. She still doesn't LOVE her car seat, but she's doing better.
• She's very social. She loves people and will smile at strangers until they smile back.
• Her favorite person is still Jake--even when he gets mad at her for stealing his toys :)
• She started going to the cradle roll class at church and loves it even though she's the only girl in her class.

Here's some of my favorite recent pictures of our little super star:

Playing with Nash in Marshall...can you tell they're both teething???

Meeting Grandma Beth for the first time

Aunt Destin took this picture of Grace looking at Tootsie and Dee Dee...she loves both dogs and I'm so glad! I was afraid she might be afraid of dogs since she hasn't grown up with one, but it turns out she's a fan!

Pulling up at the kitchen table

Sporting apparel from Mommy's alma mater...she'll be Harding class of 2032 :)

These last pictures were taken by her honorary Aunt Randi at our girl's weekend in Dallas...

Mommy and Grace

What a face!

Mother's Day Out

Jake had his first day of Mother's Day Out last Wednesday at WoodsEdge Community Church. He seemed to have a really great time and came home with a glowing report from his teachers. They said he was quiet, but very cooperative and played well with others. I've heard wonderful things about this program and think Jake will really enjoy it. While he is at school, I have Wednesdays alone with Grace. I discovered that storytime for infants is at 9:15 at the Woodlands library so I can go straight there after dropping Jake off and let Grace have some fun. Jake has never been a big fan of storytime, but Grace loved it! The librarian mostly sings songs and reads just a few stories. Grace smiled and laughed and loved interacting with the other babies. I think this will be our special outing together once a week. I'll post more pictures of Grace later this week but here are some of Jake:

His backpack is so heavy, it knocked him down! I didn't mean for him to actually carry it, but he was very insistent. He has a toddler size backpack, but it won't fit everything he's supposed to bring so I had to get him a "super-size" backpack :)

One day last week, Jake decided to dress up like Daddy so he's carrying Ty's tennis bag, his own backpack, and completing the ensemble with a baseball hat and pacifier. It also looks like he's flashing gang signs, but I promise he isn't (unless he picked that up at school!) :)

And lastly, here's Jake at his first Texans' game. Ty was given tickets from a client at work and took Jake a few Sundays ago. Ty said he did great and had fun!

Grace's first haircut

Yesterday Ty spoke at a service academy event for our congressman, Ted Poe, about the Merchant Marine Academy and was in Baytown for most of the day. I didn't want to be indoors all day, and it was raining so I took the kids shopping in the morning. Kid to Kid had advertised that their Halloween costumes were on sale so I went over there hoping to be inspired and make a decision on what Jake and Grace should be. (I'm not sure why picking out Halloween costumes is stressful to me, but it is!) After leaving Kid to Kid totally uninspired, I drove by TGF haircutters and pulled in the parking lot on a whim. I had decided that Grace's hair was driving me crazy and was in desperate need of a trim. Since she's only six months old, I've been so hesitant to get it cut, but she was beginning to look like some sort of elf with all of the hair around her ears, and she pulls out bows, ponytail holders, and headbands now. Here's the picture that pushed me over the edge:

Sooo, I went in, gave Jake a sucker so he would sit quietly, and got Grace a trim. I didn't take one single picture of the event and now feel like the world's worst mother! Jake's first haircut was so documented...we had pictures from the front, from the back, before, after, really...from all angles. I did keep a lock of her hair for the baby book...maybe that redeems me a bit?? The lady really just trimmed it all around and got it off her ears and out of her eyes. Now, I'm a bit worried it looks like a boy's haircut but at least she can see! The hairstylist told me it should grow in thicker now that it's been trimmed...we'll see? Here are some pictures I took of her last night after the cut. Notice the big bow to make sure she still looks like a girl :) Also, I got this outfit for her at Kid to Kid for a $1 so I tried it on her...I love bargains!

And here she is pulling up on the fireplace, her new trick:

Last weekend my brother Ryan, his wife Crystina, and their family came to visit us. It was so great to have them here and watch our four kids interact. We cooked out, swam, watched the sad OU game, and relaxed around the house. Ty decided he wanted to teach Hendrix and Jake to play tennis so we went to the park too. Hendrix and Jake were much more interested in just running around the courts so Ty and Ryan played while Crys and I watched the girls. The girls mostly just crawled around each other...I had a really hard time getting a picture of the two of them together. Gentry is pulling up and getting fast so she wasn't much for sitting still! It was interesting that Grace seemed to be quite enthralled by Hendrix and Gentry loved Jake. It's really hard to believe that Ryan and I both have two kids. I guess we're officially grown up :) And, even though he's almost 6'4", he's still my baby brother!

Grace climbing on Hendrix...he thought that was hilarious!

The only semi-decent picture I could get of Gentry and Grace together. I put them in the chair, and they both made a run for it :)

Jake, Gentry, Grace, and Hendrix--still smiling after the sad OU loss

So much for swimming...the boys made up their own game of chase after they got tired of the pool.

Gentry just took it easy in the pool...she's a lady of leisure!

Taking a ride around the house...Hendrix looks a little scared with Jake's driving!

Twin cousins

We joke that Grace and Nash are "twin" cousins since they were born five days apart. It was really fun to be pregnant at the same time as Destin and now it's fun to watch Nash and Grace grow up together. This week the kids and I spent the week in Ft. Worth at Mark and Destin's house. Destin's babysitter was out of town so I kept Nash on Tuesday and Thursday and saw how what life would be like with twins. All three of the kids really did great. Someone was almost always sleeping, and we only had a couple of moments where both babies were crying. Jake had a blast playing with their dog Tootsie and entertaining the babies. He also discovered how to turn on and off the water hose and spent a lot of time filling up a bucket with water and then watering the tree. It's the simple things in life that make Jake happy :) Here are several pictures of Nash and Grace:

And then, here are the many faces of Jake:

This weekend my brother and his family are coming to visit! Hendrix is 9 months older than Jake and Gentry is just 3 months older than Grace so I can't wait to watch them play together...cousins, cousins, cousins!

Caddo Lake

Last weekend we stayed at Ty's brother's lake house at Caddo Lake with Destin, Mark, and Nash. It was great to finally get to travel again and take a little trip. Jake had a fabulous time and Grace got to play with her cousin Nash. Eric took us out on his boat, and Grace and Nash had their first boating experience! They both slept some, smiled some, and cried some. Ty took Jake tubing and he loved that too. Saturday night Ty's dad cooked his famous ribs, and we spent some time over at Pop's and Nonnie's house. It was a great weekend!

Nash, Jake, and Grace in the kiddie pool

Ty and Jake tubing

Uncle Eric and Jake (this is his new "smile" for pictures)

The life jacket is bigger than Grace! (It is an infant life jacket though...I promise it was safe)

Grace with her cousin Elsie Jane. Ty's brother Jason, Jolie, and Elsie Jane came out Saturday morning to hang out.