Trip to Dallas

Even though a month has passed since our trip to Dallas, it doesn't make it any less blog-worthy. We went to visit good friends of ours for a few days, and we had a blast. Our trip started out rough (first attempt our flight was cancelled and we had to start over the next day :( ) but it ended up being ok. It was Steven's first flight, and he did better than I did.
Our Dallas friends have three boys, and Steven thoroughly enjoyed playtime with the big boys! The kids were not the only ones who had fun...Steve and Charlie went to a Rangers game and Beth and I got to play Yahtzee and watercolor (which turns out to be one of my gifts). If that's not enough, we also got to enjoy great food with our wonderful company! We left wishing that we got to see them more often. 

 Garrett (left) is about a month older than Steven (right) and these boys got along famously! It was wonderful that we could let them play and they would entertain themselves!

 Steve and Charlie(kneeling) created some sort of golfing game with the twins' toddler golf gear. They eventually caught us girls spying. :-)

 Steve at the Rangers game

 Steven loves the swings!!

 So does Garrett!!

 Best pic I had of Owen and Eli...they are two and a half year old twins, and couldn't be any cuter! By the end of the week, I felt like they were actually starting to feel comfortable with us around!

 Me and my little man!

 Beth and me and all the kids...jeesh! Funny that just a little over two years ago it was just her and I.

Steven and his daddy!

The Last 2 months...

2 MONTHS???!! Really??? I cannot believe it's been that long since my last post...but I refuse to give up! Our lives have been super crazy lately. It all started with a broken computer (baby pulled the space bar off :( ), then we were in and out of town a few times, then we had a virus (physically and on the computer), then we got a puppy. Phew. It has been a very busy two months for us! Not to mention our kid is growing and changing like a weed!

Steven is now 8 1/2 months old, and everything about him has changed. He crawls, pulls to standing, and is starting to "cruise" a little bit around the furniture. He loves solid foods and has started on some finger foods. He is happy and laid back, and so social. He loves to play with other kids, as we have begun to learn, and loves to play with toys. He is so funny, he loves to "talk" to us, and he is getting so much more expressive every day.  He is a great sleeper for us and has been mostly sleeping through the night. He had his first cold, and boy was it a doozy. He had sick symptoms for a little over 3 weeks on and off, ending up with a mild ear infection, on antibiotics, then developed a virus with a terrible fever. Ugh. Having a sick kid is definitely not fun! It puts what I do for a living into perspective, that's for sure.

Now to the major life change...the puppy. I bought him for my husband for his birthday as a surprise, and I surprised even myself a little. I have been fighting this dog thing for the last 5 years, and I figured now would be as good a time as any to bring a puppy into our home. We drove to get him from a breeder in the Poconos (5 hours each way, yikes!) and it has been a learning experience if nothing else. I cried a lot the first week, and it has been WAY harder than I ever thought was possible. This puppy training is not easy, especially when you have a crawling infant around (who has been sick and very clingy). I can say that it is finally getting better two weeks into this thing, much to my relief. Housetraining seems to be going better, and we are all learning how to live with each other. It's a good thing puppies are cute!

Sorry to throw so many in here...but here are some of the snapshots of what we've been up to!

Trouble in every corner!

First time standing at the "elmo table" as we call it. It plays music and talks and he loves this thing.

Our crazy boy!

Snapshot of our cute little crawler in his Easter outfit! Cutest kid on Easter ever!

Us on Easter...best pic of us, especially with me being sick.

And here's the little man, Gator.

Their first day together, going after the same toys!

He is not allowed to have this bed anymore, he chewed into the bottom of it already. Teething puppies are hard work.

Us going for a walk! I love that Steven loves to wear his hat and sunglasses...at least he tolerates them, anyways.

We love the swings!

The addition of the puppy meant the addition of baby gates in our house. The first few days have not gone too well...hahaha. If he's not crying at the gate, then the dog is.

Love!

He is growing so fast!

HA!!!! Cousins in the tub. They were too funny together!!