8 Months Old

I'm little behind on my monthly post, but better late than never!  On August 29th, Macie was 8 months old.  She is such a sweet, content baby!  She is getting so big and learning a lot.  It is just so fun to watch her grow!

At 8 months old, Macie:
-is eating really well and likes a lot of different foods.  She mostly likes fruits and oatmeal, but she also likes carrots and sweet potatoes.  She loves to feed herself puffs.  She has also eaten banana rolled in puffs (just to make them easier for her to pick up).  We will probably start branching out and trying other table foods soon.
-sleeps great for the most part!  She ranges from 8 to 11 hour stretches.  When she does wake up, she goes right back to sleep.  She does not fall alseep while I'm feeding her very often though so it's a good thing she falls asleep in her bed well!
-is all over the place!  She can slowly crawl on her hands and knees but prefers to low-crawl because she's a lot faster.  She can go from laying down to sitting up on her own and is also attempting to pull up but has only gotten to her knees so far.  (Not sure I'm ready for all this!)
-is such a smiley baby and scrunches up her face a lot to make the cutest, funniest face.
-loves to clap!  Anytime I say "Yay!" she starts clapping.
-is still light as a feather!  I'm curious to take her to the doctor next month to see how much weight she's gained because she definitely eats well.  She nurses 5 times a day and eats baby food 3 times a day.  I feel like I'm feeding her most of the day.  Maybe because I am!
-had her tear ducts probed a couple of weeks ago to help with the blockage.  Her eyes were constantly watery and gunky so we were happy to get the procedure done, although I was not looking forward to that day.  It went really well and I think her eyes are completely better so we are thankful to not have to do a more invasive surgery closer to her 1st birthday.
-will definitely let me know when Big Sister is doing something she doesn't like with a big squeal!  For some reason (maybe because she's 2), Callie finds it amusing to poke, push, and bug Macie.  We are trying to change that, but for now, Macie squeals in protest.

The bow looks extra big in this picture! :)

Our Beautiful Girl

Sister needed to get in on the action.

This is what I have to work with!

Macie is such a joy in our lives!  We are so in love with her!

Cornelius' Come to Town

At the end of August, Carrie and Alex came to Texas for a visit.  We were so excited to see them and happy that we got to have them at our house for 2 nights!  Before they came to our house they spent some time in The Woodlands so we went to spend Saturday there.  We swam, ate yummy food and celebrated Alex's birthday that was the next week.  Callie and Alex had so much fun playing together.  I wish they could see each other more often!

The pictures got out of order but here they are:

Macie sunbathed on the float with Paw Paw by her side.  It was a spur of the moment dip in the pool so we didn't even put her cute bathing suit on. :(  She liked it though!

Callie had a blast swimming and was very confident in the water with her "puddle jumper!"

Alex had fun opening his, mostly Spiderman, presents!

Alex dug into his Spiderman cupcake!

So did Callie!

Macie had fun hanging out in the shade under the fan while the kids and the men swam.
(This was the Saturday before her tear duct probing.  Her eyes had gotten pretty bad so we were glad we had scheduled the appointment.  I am happy to say that I think they are healed!  Thank you, Jesus!)

Uncle Tom, Charlie, Mike

I attempted to make Alex some Spiderman cupcakes.  I tried a new cream cheese icing recipe that had whipping cream.  It was delicious but not good for piping!  The cupcakes were special, but Alex liked them so that's all that mattered!

Alex "claimed" all of these cupcakes while blowing out the candles, if you know what I mean!

Soakin' Up the Sun

That's my man!

Alex was helping Callie onto the raft. 
"Here, Callie, let me help you."
Such sweet cousins!

Macie loves her puffs!

While Carrie and Alex were at our house, Virginia came over to see us!

We had a wonderful time and are excited we only have to wait til Thanksgiving to see them again!

The Holmes in Waco

A couple of Mondays ago the girls and I were able to meet up with my college friend, Lauren, and her family in Waco.  Lauren was visiting her family in Fort Worth for her brother's wedding.  We haven't been this close in distance in over 5 years so we just had to figure out a way to meet! 

Lauren was a wonderful friend all throughout college and still is!  We met before our freshman year even began at the freshman Christian camp, Impact.  We discovered that we were living in the same dorm, 1 floor apart, had the same major and 3 of 4 classes together.  We were destined to be great friends! :)  Since graduation, she has lived on the east coast and in England.  Of course, right before we moved to Virginia is when she moved to England, and we were already in California when she moved back to Maryland.  We have had 5 little girls between the 2 of us since we've seen each other!!  Needless to say, it was great getting to see her and to spend time with her sweet family.  I wish we could have spent more time, but I'm just glad we finally got to see her again!

We met at the Mayborn Museum Discovery Center in Waco, and it was amazing!  The girls had so much fun, and Lauren and I got to catch up a little between watching the girls.  Lauren's husband, Brad, came too and got to hang out with all 7 of us girls!  He was a trooper! :)  We were there for over 3 hours and were entertained the entire time.  We will definitely be making another trip to Waco.

Lauren and I

Us with 3 of our 5 Girls

Brad, Anna, Jillian, Faith and Callie were watching the penny go down the funnel.

Macie was such a good girl!  She just watched all the girls from her stroller.

Bus driver Callie gave Anna a ride.

They had live animals and insects!

Jillian was gardening with help from her Mom.

Callie took a break from all the fun to stuff Macie's mouth with some puffs.

Friends already!

This is weather girls, Jillian and Callie, giving us the forecast.

It was a wonderful day and hope it's not another 5 years before we can do it again!

Five.



February 2003





Engagement 2005




Wedding Day 2006



Anniversary Date 2011

I can't believe it has been five years!  We have had many wonderful adventures during our relatively short marriage.  From living in 3 states to having 2 babies, I am so glad that I got to share them with my best friend and love of my life!  I can't wait to see what the next 60 years bring!

Harlingen in July

We were able to spend 3 weeks in Harlingen in July while Charlie was at a training course in San Diego.  I have to say the one bad thing about living in Texas is that we do a lot of quick weekend trips to see family instead of extended trips that we had when we lived in California (well, and the weather) so it was nice to spend a good amount of time down there. 
I was so excited to have compnay on my trip down there!  My mom flew up with Maddie Grace the day before after watching her for a week so we met Kristi in Hempstead to pick Mom up for the trip to Harlingen.

We made it to Harlingen with one stop to Dairy Queen.
The girls were both amazing!

The first week Callie got to have a lot of cousin time with Shelby, Tyler, Cooper, and Claire.  I would say this was the first time she really played with them instead of playing alone next to them.  She's growin' up! ;)

These precious cousins played so well together!

All the kids piled in the pool with Uncle Ross and Grandma in the backyard.

The girls getting primped.

Love her little pigtails!

This is the life! :)

We also were there for Cooper's 4th Birthday and pirate party.  Sarah did a great job with the cake and games, and the kids and the men also swam.  Callie had fun with Grandpa in the pool!

Callie, Grandpa & the Birthday Boy

Sarah planned a treasure hunt for all the little pirates!
Callie wore the patch for about three seconds, but at least I got a cute picture!

Callie got her second haircut from Grandma.  The mullet is no longer!  I had Grandma cut it pretty short to make sure it was totally gone. :)

Callie did well and stayed still,...

but we gave her Teddy Grahams to make sure!

She still has her curls!!

The second week our big project was to to sew Callie's "big girl" room.  I can proudly say that I sewed a lot of it, of course with major guidance from my mom.  She did the tough stuff that I was scared of though! :)  Even though it is very tedious and meticulous, I really enjoyed doing it, especially with Mom!  I'm excited to put it all together in Callie's room, but not so excited that I'm ready for her to be out of her crib so it will wait.  The curtains are up and I rigged the bedskirt to fit the crib.  I'll take pictures soon, once I get the rest of the room together.  Unfortunately, we didn't take any pictures of the process.

The girls had a lot of down time while we were sewing.  Grandma watched the girls mostly while I tried to keep getting things accomplished.  We sewed curtain panels and valance, a bedskirt, a king size and decorative pillow, and a duvet for the end of the bed.  Here's what the girls were up to:

Callie didn't seem to be too bothered by this.

Sweet Smile

Just a little sisterly love!

Great Expressions

Strong little girl.

Grandma & Some of her Girls

Silly Goose

"Helping" Grandma water the yard...

and with dinner.

Macie had a lot of "spa" baths while at Grandma's.

Relax, girl!

I could just eat her up, especially right after a bath!

We also got to play with Grandpa when he wasn't picking cotton.  It is his busiest time of the year, but he got as soon as he could to see us (I threw myself in with the "us", but I know how it is! JK, Dad!)

We got to spend lots of time with Tyler, Cooper and Claire, too!

Grandpa & Grandma with only half of the grandkids!

We had to get a picture of the beautiful cotton on their land.

These monkeys always have a "barrow" of fun with Grandpa! (Sorry, I am a sucker for cheesy jokes!)

We also got to celebrate my mom's 60th birthday the night before we came home.

My beautiful mom on her 60th birthday!