8 month update!

I know it is late, but better late than never right??

Dear Mommy's Little Monkey,

You are growing faster than I could have ever imagined. You are still the sweetest little boy I know! We have had so many accomplishments this month - to include but not limited to - getting your two TOP teeth, crawling, pulling up on objects that aren't stuck to the ground, and really becoming aware of your surroundings.

On Monday, August 25 - while we were waiting for Uncle James to get home - GG stuck her finger into your mouth, and low and behold what did she find? A TOOTH! The top left toothy had just popped through and Mommy had no clue! Our only sign that you were even teething was that the drool would never stop, there haven't been any melt downs, you haven't been irratible, or showing any other signs. And I just knew that the bottom teeth were going to come in first, but nope, you like to be different - getting those top teeth first. **Still trying to get a picture of them, he won't let me get close to him with the camera right now**

Last Friday, you also started crawling. I was so excited to see you go I was rooting for you and you were so happy about your accomplishment. Now if only you could figure out to follow me when I walk into another room, once you figure that out there will be no stopping you. Once you figured out that you could move from one part of the room to the other, the glow on your face was such that I won't ever forget it. You are such a sweet boy!

Another feat that you have seemed to master this month (actually the last few days, but it still counts) is pulling up on things around the house. Things like the couch, the ottoman, and the magazine rack. We learned real quick that the magazine rack does not support 23 lbs trying to pull on it.

You hair is growing quickly!! My plan was to wait until you turned a year old to get your first haircut, but I don't know if I am going to be able to wait that long. I like a clean cut boy, and the hair over the ears thing is killing me, but I don't want to lose my baby any faster than I already am, so I guess I will wait as long as I can!

You are my sweet baby boy. If I could put a brick on your head and just take it all in for a day or two I would. I can't believe how fast things are progressing and that you are becoming so independent. People always say "they will be graduating high school before you know it," and I can totally see how fast that time is going to come and go.

Until next month, keep growing, getting sweeter, and maybe by next month you will be walking!

Love you from here to eternity!

Mommy :)

Welcome Home Uncle James!

Phew, what a weekend!

Greg, Cutter and I had plans to just hang out at the house and do nothing, but when Aunt Katie (my lil sis) called and asked if her, GG (my Mom) and Emilee could come up on Friday, I said jumped and said "yes!". Katie wanted to come up and surprise Uncle James at the DFW airport and pick him up there for his 2 week R & R, instead of having him catch his connecting flight. Boy did we have a whirl wind of a weekend. At first Uncle James was coming in Saturday at 8 AM, then it was Sunday at 6 AM, finally it was Monday at 1:30 PM. The airplane seemed to have maintenance issues in Germany and he was stuck there for 30 hours!! While we waited patiently for Uncle James we went to have some fun.

Cutter and Emilee had so much fun together. She is such a great big cousin! If she was around 24/7 I don't think Cutter would ever crawl/walk, because she brings all the toys to him. They had a great time together!

On Sunday after we heard that Uncle James still wasn't coming home, we knew we needed to get out of the house. Since Emilee had been so good, we decided to take a drive to Firewheel Mall and we found the best girly place out there - Club Libby Lu. If it is pink, High School Musical, Hannah Montana or Jonas Brothers then you can find it at Club Libby Lu.


For a modest fee little girls can get their hair done, finger nails painted, and get to choose from a number of accessories. Emilee chose a microphone headset. She looked super cute and walked around like she owned the world. She is a little shopping D-I-V-A!!




Finally the day has arrived - Daddy had to go to work, so Mommy, Aunt Katie, Emilee and GG made there way to DFW to pick Uncle James up. We thought that he was coming in at 1:30, but after waiting at the airport for a couple of hours we found out that his flight would be 3 hours late, arriving instead at 4:30 PM. We left the airport, went and got something to eat and returned a few hours later.

We waited patiently for Uncle James to arrive:

FINALLY, the time has arrived - Uncle James is home!!!




Welcome Home Uncle James! We hope you enjoy your time home! See you this weekend!!

What was I thinking?

Who knows, but he looks pretty cute though! It is not his fault I put him in the burnt orange jumpsuit!!

A New Ride!

Mommy and Cutter have been spending lots of time together lately. For the past 2 weeks Cutter has had a little bit of separation anxiety. When I return home from a trip, he won't let me put him down to even change my clothes and when I go to walk out of the room, you would have thought I had taken his favorite toy away from him. So when Daddy volunteered to take the little man out for a walk this afternoon I took full advantage of my time - to take some pictures!! It wouldn't be right to let him take a ride in his very first car without pictures, right?

Apparently, Daddy had tried to take him once before and couldn't figure out how to make the strap shorter and didn't want him to fall out, so when I suggested taking his new car this time Daddy was more than happy to - once I fixed the strap. No accidents on his watch, so he says!!



I would be lying if I said he liked it, he absolutely LOVED it! I could hear the laughter and squeals as they were coming around the corner.







Cutter is perfecting his old man face, and he looks cuter and cuter every time he does it!

My OshKosh Kid!

So before Greg's Mom and Dad moved out of the house below I took my boys out there for a photoshoot. These are the shots I got:




**Disclaimer:I love his smile, not the finger :)**





But this is my all-time favorite:

Goodbye house, Hello Condo by the lake!

Daddy has been hard at work moving Granma and Papa out of their house and into a condo by the lake. They built this house in 1985 and it is the house that Daddy grew up in, got in trouble in and loved in. There were so many memories made in the house, it is sad that there will be no more memories made in it. Cutter won't remember it, so I was insistant that we take another drive out there before the new family moved in.

Old House:
New view from the Condo by the lake:

This is "THE" Rocking Chair!

At our recent visit to my hometown, we took some pictures of Cutter is the famous rocking chair. This rocking chair has had many of bottoms sitting in it. I remember sitting in it, there were also many fights over who got to sit in "the chair". At some age you get to big to sit in it, so you have to choose another seat, but I had my fair share of rocking. The chair is still up and working for the great grands to sit in. It has a long history, it has been around longer than my mom and uncles. It was made by my great grandfather for my grandpa and his twin brother, so there are two of them around. We have so much fun handing things down like this. I hope that it is still around for my grands to take pictures in, for now it is staying at Grandma's house for everyone to enjoy!

Cousins!

The two boys in this picture are cousins, they are 3 months apart! Can you tell??

Cooper out weighs Cutter by 1 pound and is taller by an inch!

Loss of a friend!

Tomorrow (Monday) we will be heading to my hometown for the funeral of my friends mom. It will be a sad visit, one I wish I didn't have to make.

They are a family that laughed together, had fun together and cried together. She will surely be missed by all that knew her. Karen was loving, kind and such a giver. She never missed an opportunity to be at a wedding, shower, or birthday party. She had a smile that would brighten up a room. I always loved to sit and chat with her. She spent a year over in Iraq, by choice, to help soldiers. She always had her "lips" on, never a day without that red or pink lipstick on. I will forever miss that contagious smile!

Thanks Karen for always making me smile or laugh when I was in your presence! You've made me realize that life is too short and to make the best of what I have!

Mindy and her Mom, Karen

Her favorite saying:
DANCE LIKE NO ONE IS WATCHING
SING LIKE NO ONE IS LISTENING
LOVE LIKE YOU HAVE NEVER BEEN HURT BEFORE
LIVE LIKE EACH DAY IS YOUR LAST

IMAGINiT Baby!

So Daddy was home with Cutter one night by himself and decided to do a photoshoot for the background on his laptop. It was to cute not to post! IMAGINiT is the company that Daddy works for, they sent us this onesie and a bib when Cutter was born. He is just now able to fit in it, so Daddy thought this was the perfect opportunity. It looks great with his pretty blues!