O Christmas Tree

Decorator, I am not.  I still need something for the top of our tree so the best you are going to get is a close up of my favorite ornaments.  My mom always did a big red velvet bow and I'm thinking the same thing. I bought some wide red ribbon with wire in it, but haven't found the time to try and make a bow big enough to be a tree topper.  I fell in love with a burlap and red ribbon bow on etsy... Maybe next year.

This is the first year in a long time we put up a tree. The first year we were in Dallas, one of the dogs ate a ton of my in laws ornaments (glass!). At the time I think we blamed Moses because he was still a puppy, but now that we know better, I'm betting it was Pepper. So the next year I thought, no big deal, I'll do a tree without ornaments and just lights! That's what counts from the window anyway. Guess what, a dog(s? Pepper?) ate the lights!!! So I don't think we've put up a tree since.

Since this is Grant's first Christmas, of course we had to have a tree - always real! And this year we wised up and thanks to our generous neighbor's hand me down play yard, our tree is dog AND baby proofed!

Chris and I started collecting ornaments whenever we travel. Since we haven't put up a tree in so long, a lot of these have never been hung! Some were in the original wrapping from the store. The only one I can't find is Hawaii. I swear we bought one there but it wasn't in my Christmas bins. It was so fun opening each box to find a surprise ornament and remember the fun times we had at that place. I can't wait to continue this tradition with Grant.

(Sorry these are blurry, they were taken one handed with my phone.  Now that I think about it - I'm not a great writer, my pics are terrible... good thing my baby's cute!  He's the only thing keeping this blog going!)

Grant's Handprint (blurry!) - 2012

St. Thomas, USVI - 2004

Hispanic Santa!  2012

Yellowstone - 2010

Dia De Los Muertos Skull - Puerto Vallarta, Mexico - 2007

Playa Mujeres, Mexico - 2011

2008

New Orleans, LA - 2011

Jackson Hole, WY -  2010

My FAVORITE!!!  Baby's First Christmas - 2012

New Mexico - 2006 (love the little ristra!)

Darth Vader - 2012

Boston, MA - 2010

It's been a long week

TGIF!  This is what 6 pm on Friday night looked like at our house.

Going...

Going...

 

 

 

 

 

Gone!

Special Delivery!

I LOVE coming home to Amazon packages on the doorstep. Even if nothing in the box is for me. Yay, Christmas!

Thanksgiving

Better late than never!  Here are some pictures from Grant's First Thanksgiving.  I forgot my camera, so these were all from my sister in law.

10 Month picture outtakes

Love this crazy kid!

Tippy toes

Look at this cute boy in his Albert Einstein diaper standing on his tippy toes. So curious!

10 Months

Ten! Wow!

Earlier this month Grant got his third tooth with #4 and #5 this week. He also chomps or grinds his teeth. It sounds like he is chewing on rocks and freaks me out!

Grant celebrated his first Halloween as a skeleton and helped me pass out candy.

He's had his second cold and I can't wait 'til his nose clears up. I was hoping he'd get better more quickly last week while hone from daycare, but the funk has lingered in all of us. As of today, he's much much better.

We celebrated my in-law's Anniversary at the Gaylord Texan. We watched football, ate dinner, looked at all the Christmas decorations and went to see ICE! I'd never been before and Grant was a little too young to really enjoy it, but he seemed to like it. It was 9 degrees in there and it made me so thankful that we live in Texas! The theme this year was Merry Madagascar with other Kung Fu Panda and Shrek attractions at the hotel.

We also had a great Thanksgiving at my in laws. Grant's schedule was off so he ended up napping during the meal which worked our great. We are so very thankful for our health, our family and for little Grant Manuel.

Grant also got to meet his Arizona friend, Ginger! Ginger is about a month younger than Grant and her mom Lindsay and I have been friends since 5th grade. It was fun being pregnant at the same time and now have babies the same age. Just wish they lived closer!

Grant is a very fast crawler. It's so fun to come home from work and hear his little hands slapping the floor to get to me. Highlight of my day for sure!

Sleep: this month Grant woke up a lot. I blame the congestion and teeth. This week he has returned to sleeping through the night and I am so grateful!

Food: during the week he nurses twice (morning and night), takes two bottles at daycare and eats about 5 stage three (still some stage 2) purée jars/pouches or cereal. His iron was a little low at his last appointment so we're giving him fortified cereal more often. (I realize no one cares about Grant's PO intake. Some of these items are just for me to remember what was going on!)

Clothes: 12 months. As always, we are so grateful for his older cousin Tyler's hand me downs! They are about 13 months apart so size/seasons is perfect. All the Holiday clothes are the right size at the right time.

Diapers: Still size 3 and still using cloth at home on the weekends.

Grant turned 10 months old on Chris' 33rd birthday. We have several 29 birthdays in the family! We went to a concert so I haven't done his 10 month photo with Ducko. Hopefully tomorrow.

December - So excited for Grant's First Christmas next month!

Sorry this post is so scattered. I try to write things on my phone when I think of what he's up to but I'm going to try to blog more often with shorter posts. We'll see!

40 weeks, 4 days

Today Grant is 40 weeks and 4 days old.  The same amount of time I was pregnant! 

This last pregnant picture of me was technically 40 weeks and 3 days (Saturday 1/28) and Grant was born early in the morning at 40 weeks and 4 days (Sunday 1/29). 

I was huge! Chris and I both had labor flashbacks just looking at that picture. It's been a wild... 81 weeks!

Nine Months Old

So I'm basically blogging once per month. Between Facebook and Instagram, there is not a Grant shortage on the Internet. And honestly not much else is going on in our lives besides Grant!

I always review what we did each month based on my iphone pictures.  Looks like we spent some time with friends watching the Longhorns lose to Oklahoma, Grant went to the fair, cousin Tyler came over to play a couple times, we went to the park and got to swing on the new playground, tried on hats at the store, watched Chris play flag football, went to the pumpkin patch with cousin Tyler and also celebrated Aunt Tania's birthday with the family.

This past month Grant has really sped up the crawling. He's fast! And goes straight to the dog food, plants or dryer. This seems to be a common obsession with kids (Shout out, Tyler & Jonathan!) but Grant loves watching us do laundry and loves banging on the dryer.

He's also gotten fast in his little car walker. It fits perfectly through a doorway so he goes into the laundry room a lot. That little sucker hurts when he bumps into you or runs over your bare feet.

Getting to be a really good eater and working towards more finger foods. Loved eating the grass and hay at the pumpkin patch. (Shout out, Porter.  Fiber!)

We lowered the crib because I know pulling up is just around the corner. Right now he can pull up to his knees but hasn't figured out how to get a foot out yet. He can also stand when propped up leaning on the couch or his play table.
UPDATE:  I wrote this Friday and over the weekend he DID pull up!  First in his crib while he was supposed to be napping and then later on his little play table (over and over again when he would take a tumble.) 

Still in size 3 diapers and mostly 9 month clothes.  No new teeth.

His infant carrier is so heavy and I can't wait to retire that thing.

Height: 29 inches. (47%)
Weight: 19# 7.2 oz. (77%)
Head circumference: 18.31 inches. (87%)

I'm in serious denial that he's already 9 months old.  Almost time to start planning his birthday party!