These Are a Few of My...

"Favorite Things"

• When we go "How big is Henry?" he gets confused on whether to clap or raise his hands above his head so he does both...at the same time.
• He claps. All the time. He'll just stop whatever he's doing and start clapping and look up at you and smile so big. Like he's so proud of himself!
• He is loving his stuffed animals right now and will 'hug and luv' them so tight and smile and put his head on them. So sweet!
• When I point to the stove and go "HOTTT" and he studies it hard and will go "Ha"
• He loves to drop things on the ground just so he can go "Uh Oh"
• Henry has very own language that he speaks and we have no idea what he's saying, but he's SURE we do. It goes a little like this: "pssspspssssp datee dadoo uhhhff uhhf haa haa"
• That he hugs my neck so tight for like 2 seconds and then he wants down again and he's off!

FULL MOON

Reed's Wedding Weekend

We were in Clinton on Saturday for Reed's wedding and a good time was had by all! Brad, Henry and I stayed with the Dardens and split a babysitter for Sat. night. Henry absolutely LOVED being with the big boys and keeps up with them pretty good.

Below are some pics from the fun night! I was such a pretty wedding and so good to see so many old friends!

This is the only decent pic I got of the 3 boys playing. They were so cute playing together!

HOT and NOW!!!

I know it seems like i've only posted about FOOD lately, but it's just so much fun introducing a little person to all the MANY wonderful things to tickle the palate!

One of those tasty treats is good ol' lip smackin', sugary sweet, gain 10 lbs just by lookin', cavity inducing:

KRISPY KREME!!!

And there was no better person to introduce Henry to these sinful delights than his POPS!
"OH YEAH!!! These things are soooooo goooooood!"

SUGAR SHOCK!!!! WOO HOO!!!

Some Good "Que"

Henry got his first taste of what some Southerners may call "the nectar of the gods"

BBQ

And, yes, he LOVED it!

"This sure is some good Que Mama!"
"AAAARRRRGGGG...gimme some more of that good stuff!!!"


Also, note the small strawberry/scrape/bruise on Henry's forehead. He was attempting to climb in/over his exersaucer and he slipped and bumped his head on the side. Cried for about 1.5 seconds and was off again! Tough little noggin he has!!!

Exploring

H: "Hmmm, what can I get into in here? Looks like a lot of fun!"
H: "Oh NO! I'm stuck! What do I do now?"
H: "I'm outta here!"

JUICY

JUICY

Yep, that's what the sweet checkout lady at Costco called Henry today! We were like JUICY???

And she goes, "Oh yeah girl, he be JUICY."

So, we took it as a compliment cause he is kinda JUICY!

Update

Well, I hope I can officially say we're on the upswing now. Each night has been a little bit better than the night before and yesterday during the day Henry was pretty much his old self again. He's eating solids again with some minor whincing as he swallows, crawling around like a man on a mission, and "playing chase" with Lucy and Buster.

We have 3 solid days of antibiotics in him, so hopefully his little ear is feeling better. I think last night he would wake up and cry just to be held and not out of pain, so we're gonna have to really try hard to get him back in the habit of soothing himself back to sleep.

Wish us luck for an even better night tonight!

Sick Little Baby

My little Henry has had a rough couple of days. He came down with a fever Wednesday mid-morning so we went to see Dr. Rhodes Wednesday afternoon. His temp was 102! When we got there I noticed a rash all over his body that hadn't been there before, so I mentioned it to the Dr. and he checked further. It turns out Henry has a double whammy! An ear infection (following the green snotty nose he had last week) AND Hand, Foot, Mouth Virus. He has little ulcers all in his mouth and back of his throat and all over his little body. So painful! He won't eat b/c it hurts so bad to swallow, but he will take his bottles so I feel good about that. We've got Amoxicillin for the ear infection, but the virus will just have to run its course. The past 2 nights have been VERY LONG, but I hope the antibiotic will kick in today and give him some relief.

This is my little patient yesterday on the couch. He spent most of the day in my arms sleeping or with his head on my shoulder. That doesn't happen much these days, so I was happy just to sit there and hold him. He's home with Brad today and hopefully will be feeling better in no time!

Orlando Trip

Brad and I left for Orlando Thursday for his bi-annual Surf Expo. I tagged along on most of his appointments as he made tons of his orders for this summer. We had so much fun just being away and hanging out together. We dined at Roy's http://www.roysrestaurant.com/ on Thursday night and it was fabulous! The food was excellent, but the service made it perfect! On Friday we went to a great little tapas bar called Cafe' Tu Tu Tango www.cafetututango.com and it was awesome as well.

The best part of the whole weekend, though, was knowing that Henry was having a blast at his Mimi and Pops house. It makes it easier leaving him for a couple days knowing that he is happy, content and well taken care of! I missed his to pieces and couldn't wait to get home on Saturday!

Thanks so so so much Mimi and Pops for keeping Henry for us! We couldn't do it without you!

10 Months

Well, Henry, you have officially been in this world as long as you were in my tummy. Hard to believe, isn't it? This month you have blossomed in so many ways. You are now pulling up on anything and everything and sometimes I question your ability to decipher what's a sturdy base and what is not. We'll work on that. You are gaining more and more confidence in yourself as you navigate from couch to couch or couch to table. I'm sure you'll be walking before we know it!

You are really starting to "talk" all the time now. You babble in your own little language and it's so cute to see you trying to communicate with us. I think your official first word is doggy (dawdee). Anytime a dog comes around you point and get excited and say dawdee. You chase Lucy and Buster screaming dawdee dawdee. The other day I would say: doggy and then ruff ruff. And you would go: ughff ughff.
You're all time favorite word right now is Daddy (Datee). You say it all the time and I know you know who your Datee is cause you get so excited when he's around. If he walks out of the house you go to the door and cry until he comes back in. You say mama sometimes too, but Daddy is definitely favored. You've also said "Uh Oh" and "Ho Ho Ho".
You've also shown up that you have a little red hot temper to go along with your red hair. If we take something away (remote, cords, dog bowls) you will get so mad and scream at us. Daddy and I are really trying to just ignore these little outbursts!

We had such a busy month with Christmas, Mountain Trip, trip to Columbia, and New Years and you did so well. You love to be out in the thick of things!

You still seem to be hanging on to baby food and like for us to feed you. You are pretty sensitive to different textures, but we're working on trying new things with you. Bananas are still your FAV! You have one every morning along with your oatmeal or grits. This week I tried a whole weat waffle and you loved it, so we're making some progress. You like cheerios, zwieback toast, crackers of any kind, french fries, bread, nilla wafers, and Gerber Puffs.




Henry, you are ALL BOY already and I love it! You're into EVERYTHING and i'm constantly wiping dirt off your face or from under your fingernails. You pretty much have to have a bath every night, which you love. You like rolling your trucks back and forth across the floor or roll them along with you when you crawl.
Your Dad and I are so lucky that we were chosen to raise you and you have no idea how much joy you bring to our lives.

Henry, I love you more than you'll ever know!

Baby's Got Rythm Part II

Baby's Got Rythm

I regret even posting this without a video to go along with it, but I'll just have to do the best I can in describing it. I'll try and capture it on video later today....

So, if you know me, you know that I really can't dance and when I do it's after I've been in my cups A LOT. And then I really think I can dance better than Janet Jackson. And if you know Brad, he can't and won't dance unless he's REALLY been in his cups A WHOLE LOT! And then he thinks he can dance better than Michael Jackson.

Well, it seems that someone in our gene pool has rythm 'cause Henry has begun "breakin' it down" so to speak. There is a little toy at Mimi and Pops house that plays this little ditty and everytime we play it, it moves the little man. He will stop whatever he's doing and sort of bounce up and down to the music and smile. Brad hasn't even seen it...he just started this yesterday. We have laughed until we've cried over this. HILARIOUS!!!

New Years Day

New Years Day was cold this year, so I bundled Henry up to spend the day outside with the boys. Brad and Daniel cooked it up big time with 3 different grills going with ribs and 2 different kinds of chicken wings. I made collards (for $$$) and hoppin' john (for luck). I also made this amazing hot Corn Chowder Dip (my parents recipe) for snackin' in the afternoon.

Henry had a ball playing with all the big boys and riding in his new wagon. He seems to love being around a lot of people and today was a good day for that. We fed about 12 people and there was someone always around to entertain him.
Thanks Darden Boys for the hand-me-down vest. So cute and warm!
The Guys and the Grills
Daddy and Henry

Mountains with the Nantz's

We had so much fun at the mountain house last weekend with the Nantz's. It was so nice to be with another family with a baby and what a good little baby Conner is! It was so funny to watch Henry interact with him and him smile at Henry. We had 2 great dinners Friday and Saturday night and a fun lunch in town on Saturday.

Henry was so enthralled with Uncle Ernie. Every time he would walk by H would stick his hand out to wave and would just stare at him.
Not sure why Henry would pull on Conners ears, but he didn't seem to mind.
This is the crew at "Rockies" downtown Brevard.
Thanks so much Ernie, Jean and Conner for such a great weekend! We've tentatively planned another mini-vacation in the Spring at the lake....cannot wait!!!

Just Girls!

The Thursday before NYE Margaret and I drove to Columbia for the night to meet up with Rebecca and Christina for a little girl fun! We checked into the Hampton Inn on Gervais and then headed out for drinks at Liberty Cafe. Then out to dinner at Gervais and Vine....yum yum! We ended the night at the Flying Saucer. It was so much fun seeing Becky and having a night to sleep soundly and LATE!

Marge and Becks at Liberty
The Girls at dinner

Brad and Henry came to pick me up Friday morning before heading to the mountains for the weekend. Henry loved all the attention!

Happy New Year!!!

Happy New Year!

I can't believe it's 2008! What a year we had in '07 and I can't wait to see what's in store this year!

There are:

• 2 new babes to arrive (Little Bradley and Baby Hanna)
• 6 weddings
• 2 1st Birthday's (Henry and Conner)
• 1 Ulitmate "Christmas in July" at Litchfield
• 1 Mama turning 30

And so much more!!!

PS...my computer at home is down, so i'm not able to upload pics from our mountain weekend and New Years. I'll post on that asap!!!