Brad's Birthday Dinner

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Cajun Rubbed Veal Chops

Horseradish Mashed Potatoes

Green Beans with buttered almonds

Iceberg Wedge Salad w/ Blue Cheese

Banana Pudding

Brad's Amazing Birthday Dinner

I love to set my table with my fancy china and crystal for the holidays and tonight was the perfect occasion to go ahead and do just that. Food just seems to taste better on your "finery", don't you think?

Happy Birthday Brad!!!

Happy 28th Birthday Brad!

You are an amazing father and husband and I love you more than you will ever know! You're my best friend and I hope your next 28 are as great as your first!

WE LOVE YOU,

Shelby and Henry

He's Baaaaack

After several days of general crabbiness and fussiness from little Hen, he is back and FULL OF BEANS! Yesterday when I picked him up from Ms Brenda's he was in THE BEST MOOD! I'm talking squeeling, laughing, growling, grunting, and talking up a storm. Brad and I took him for a long walk and he was screaming at the leaves and in such awe of the big trees. You can just see him taking in the world around him and learning so much.

When we got home we were all sitting in the living room and Henry woud take off and full on CHASE Lucy and Buster around as fast as his fat little legs would take him. He would laugh and squeal at them and they were looking at him like "What in the world is this little creature?" He especially loves Buster, mostly because he'll just sit there and let him pull on his ears and try and pull up on him. Lucy runs away from him as soon as he gets too close.

I am amazed at how much he is learning and changing every day. He is VERY close to pulling up and I imagine he'll be there in a matter of days. He can get up on his knees and one foot, but just can't seem to figure out how to get up on the other.

Maybe he was just preparing for this big milestone and that could explain his sleep interuptions and crankiness. Who knows! But I do know that he is such a fun little baby and i'm overcome sometimes with how much love I have for him!

Cousins

Jean and Conner came home on Friday and we had so much fun playing with both babies. We had a nice walk up to the Grey Goose so Nana and Papa could "outfit" their grandsons.

Jean and sweet Conner
The babies modeling their new outfits!
Papa giving Henry a bath!

Nana and Papa,

Thank you so so so much for such a nice and relaxing time at home! We all had so much fun and appreciate all you do for us! We love you so much!

Brad, Shelby, and Henry

Henry and Papa's Feeding Frenzy

I don't know if it's a common thing for grandfathers to LOVE/OBSESS over feeding their grandsons, but my DAD absolutely cannot get enough of feeding and watching Henry eat! It is hilarious to watch the two of them in their feeding frenzy! Papa made Henry his very first hamburger on the grill on Wed night and even though Henry wasn't sure about the texture, I know this will soon be one of his favorite foods.

This is Henry's first Hamburger all 'mashed' up with ketchup and avocado
This is his face after the first bite!
Papa feeding Henry his first Thanksgiving Meal

(This is supposed to be a video of the action, but I can't figure out how to upload it)

Thanksgiving in G'ville

This year we have so much to be thankful for and spending the holiday at home couldn't have been more perfect! As usual, the food was wonderful and the conversation even better. We got to Greenville Wednesday afternoon and Henry got in some good quality grandparent spoiling! Brad and Nana "the great"
Sarah, Brad, and Brad E.
Uncle Brad and Henry
TOO MUCH TURKEY
Nana lovin' on Henry

Love Me Some Aunt Hanna

Aunt Hanna came in town on Saturday and helped me chase Henry for the weekend! We had so much fun catching up and Henry loved all the extra attention!
Thanks for coming down to play. We can't wait to see you again!

Love you!

Still Thinks I'm Cute

"Hey, who really needs teeth anyway?"
"I'll just eat baby food for the rest of my life!!!"

Your guess is as good as mine, but cute little Mr. has been cute little Mr. Cranky Pants this weekend and I think it's gotta be his poor little teeth! But he's still the cutest thing on this planet, even when he's "crank city."

Cause My Mama Thinks I'm Cute...

Happy 30th Rebecca

Happy BELATED 30th Birthday Becs! I am so so so SORRY I missed it! I have no excuses!!! Hope you had a fabulous day!

Love you,

Shelby, Brad and Henry

Sick Little Hen

Sickness abounds in our house right now. Poor little Henry started getting a runny nose on Friday and by Friday night was wheezing terribly. So we decided to take him to Doctors Care at the advice our our pediatritian's answering service. NOT good advice! They gave him some kind of steriod and we were really leary to give it to him b/c the Dr. wasn't a ped. So I called and took him in to see Dr. Goedeke at Parkwood yesterday. She diagnosed him with "Bronchiolitis". Basically a chest cold and we are doing dreadful breathing treatments 3 times a day until Tuesday. H is acting fine and sleeping great, just a little under the weather. Brad seems to be getting a cold too and i've got lots of 'funk' in my chest.

Ahhhh....KIDDIE CRUD!!!

Charlestown Landing

Brad was off Friday, so we decided to head over to Charlestown Landing for a picnic and a walk through the Animal Kingdom. CL has recently been renovated and is so nice. We must have gone at the right time b/c all the animals were out for full viewing. Henry enjoyed the stroll, but i'm not too sure he really "saw" the animals.

Love this pic!
PUMA
BLACK BEAR
TURKEY
BISON
I can see lots of trips to Charlestown Landing in our future. It is only $5 for adults and free for babies and it's only 2 miles from our house.

8 Months

ACTIVE! That's the best way to describe this little baby boy! This age is so much fun right now. I wish I could bottle it up! Henry is crawling like a champ and can clear a room in no time flat! There is no more sitting him in one place now and relaxing. In fact, there is no relaxing anymore. We are always on go and the more active we are the happier Henry is. He LOVES to be around people! Especially other children. Little girls aged 2-5 are his FAV! We have been around several this month and they seem to make him belly laugh the most. His laughs are contagious and he's doing it more and more now. He is babbling constantly and mostly says da da da da, but occassionaly ma ma ma ma.

People always comment on his hair, or lack there of. But, it is coming in slowly and in most lighting it looks reddish. In the above photo you can see he has a mini mohawk. Rock Star BABY!!!
This has been a big month of traveling and meeting new people. Henry met his new cousin Conner, visited his great grandparents and aunts and uncles in Lexington, and went the mountains in Brevard. He travels pretty well and we're looking foward to lots of it during the holidays.
The TEETH COUNT now is: 7 and he has tolerated it pretty well considering. He has 4 on top and 3 on bottom.

Eating is still one of his favorite pass times. Every food is his favorite food! I hope his 'non-pickiness' (for lack of a better word) continues into toddlerhood. Brad and I are not picky eaters at all, so hopefully he'll take after us. Henry's Dad is his FAVORITE person right now! Brad can make him laugh and smile more than anyone else and the look H gives him when he comes home at night can melt your heart! I can tell these two will be thick as theives!

We love you more than you can imagine Henry and are enjoying every single minute chasing you around!

Happy Birthday Uncle Brad

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BRAD! WE HOPE YOU HAD A GREAT DAY AND CAN'T WAIT TO SEE YOU AT THANKSGIVING!

LOTS OF LOVE,

SHELBY, BRAD, AND HENRY

Happy 30th Margaret

Happy 30th Birthday Marge! We love you!

Brad, Shelby, and Henry

Weekend Fun

We had a busy and fun weekend! Rebecca was in town for a quick trip and got a chance to play with Henry a few times. Henry stayed with Mimi and Pops Saturday night while Brad and I and all our buddies headed out to WSP at the coliseum! We had so much fun!

Henry loves Rebecca!
This is me, Rebecca, Marge, and Rebecca's friend Sarah before the show.

The time change has been quite challenging so far! Up at 5:00am both days! They say he'll adjust w/in a week....HOPE SO!!!! We'll see!

Glass Bottles

There has been some talk in the news lately about the harmful effects of the chemical BPA that is found in clear plastic baby bottles and toys. This chemical is said to be linked to prostate and mammary gland problems, cancer, etc. While there is A LOT of "junk" in the news lately to clog a young mother's mind, this one may be worth looking in to. Nana called the other day and said that "Nana the Great" had seen a big show in PBS and wanted to mention it to Jean and I. Well, we both went out and bought the EvenFlo Glass Bottles (the same one's our moms used when we were babies).


I feel good about this decision and even though it may be less convenient, it's worth it if it involves my child! I mean we just don't know what all is causing this influx of autism diagnoses and every day they're recalling plastic children's toys due to lead paint. Isn't it our job as parents to do everything we can to protect these little people from our environment, etc. Now, i'm not all crazy "GREEN", but am trying to become more environmentally responsible for my family. And yes, I've bought the Publix GREENBAGs for my grocery's and we recycle everything in our house.


However, when I tried to feed Henry his bottle last night he wanted nothing to do with that weird thick, beige silicone nipple. So I changed it out for one of his Dr. Brown's nipples and he did fine. I hope he'll adjust to this new feeding system with ease.