Six Months

Our little boy is sixth months old. He has been in our lives for half of a year, which feels simultaneously like a lifetime and like the blink of an eye. Our life is vastly different than it was a mere six months ago, but I can no longer imagine my world without these bright blue eyes and big gummy smile.

Aaron is a sturdy kid, clocking in at 20 pounds now. He's between 12 month and 18 month clothes -- ridiculous, right? He sleeps through the night (I'm one grateful mama), though he struggles a bit with naps. He is such a happy baby, and he's so curious about the world around him. He is generous with his smiles, he has a great belly laugh. He grabs everything within arms reach and chews on everything he can get his hands on. He's sitting now, which blows my mind. He loves to stand and gets frustrated that he can't crawl. I swear he has said "Mom" a couple of times, but, of course, no one believes me. He gives a good high five, and babbles and squeals and screeches away. He is particularly fond of riding around on his dad's shoulders and is a sucker for a good game of Peek-a-Boo. He's beginning to pet the dog and grab fist-fulls of fur -- poor Charlie. He loves to bang on the pages of his books and will help me turn the page. He has a tendency to chew on his books as well, but his book-loving mother tries her best to discourage such disrespectful behavior toward the written word. Bath time is another favorite. He chews on a rubber ducky while kicking with those chubby legs as hard as he can, splashing water all over the bathroom.

It's such a joy to watch this baby learn and grow and change. My brain cannot fathom how these months will someday turn into years, when my little boy will no longer be so little. But what a fun adventure it's going to be!

Aaron Louis

At long last, let me introduce the newest member of our family. We now have a sweet little boy named Aaron Louis, born December 14th clocking in at 8 lb 10 oz and 21.5 inches long.  

Now he's almost 12 weeks old! He's gigantic, now weighing about 15 lb 7 oz and filling up every inch of his 6 month-sized outfits. 

He's a happy, active little boy who charms everyone he meets with his big smiles and laughs. He "talks" up a storm, he loves rolling over from his tummy to his back, and he tries so hard to sit up, though he can't quite do it yet.  

He's got chubby little arms and legs, and he grabs onto toys, especially a favorite stuffed rabbit. He is enthralled by watching the airplanes dangling from the ceiling of his nursery "fly" around. 

Each day brings a new discovery and a new challenge, and I love watching him learn to be a part of the big world surrounding him. 

We've decided to keep him!

Nine Months

Before I get to the fun of introducing our new little bundle, I want to take a moment to reminisce on the nine months preceding his birth. When we learned that I was pregnant, I thought it would be an eternity until he was born. Nine months sounds like forever, doesn't it? But as cliche as it sounds, it's nonetheless true that the time absolutely flew by. I was blessed to have a fairly easy pregnancy compared to many, so the months were full of moments that are now happy memories. Sure, sleeping became pretty difficult for the last few months, my bladder became a bit cramped, and some doorways became difficult to navigate, but we still managed to have plenty of fun before welcoming our little guy into the world. So here goes!

First, no pregnancy post would be complete without a few sonograms! On the left is my very first sonogram, when our baby was just a little blob. And next to it we see what a difference a few months can make at our 20 Week appointment when we find out we're having a little boy!

We celebrated the 4th of July! In Paris we watched the Paris Municipal Band and the city fireworks at Noyes Stadium after spending the day with my family. In McKinney, we lit sparklers and watched the McKinney fireworks with our neighbors!

We had visitors! Our sweet friends Kurt and Nina visited from Arizona while Jeff and Jessica came in for a few days from South Carolina!

I threw a baby shower, along with my mom and grandmother, for my friend Alison. She's now a momma to adorable little Mason!

We traveled! We spent a lovely week meandering around Nova Scotia.

We got a porch swing (that still needs to be stained). Does it get any more southern than this? Thank goodness for a husband and father-in-law who know how to hang things.

I turned the big 3-0 and had a lovely time celebrating with family and friends!

 My husband and amazing in-laws painted the nursery! Goodbye horrid blue and tan stripes!

 We went to Frisco Rough Riders games, ate cheesy nachos, and root-root-rooted for the home team!

 We brewed lots of beer, and my husband built a kegerator that lives in our garage.

 My bump got a bit bigger, and Charlie impatiently waited to meet his little brother.

 My family came to town to celebrate Mom's birthday!

We had a blast at the Red Bull Air Races at Texas Motor Speedway. The bump continues to grow.

We drove down to Wimberley to spend a relaxing Labor Day weekend with our friends Jimmy and Laura and their family. The weekend included grilling, time in the hot tub, lazy mornings on the porch, refreshing cool-watered swimming holes like the Blue Hole, generous slices of pie from the Wimberley Pie Co, and a little beer sampling (for everyone else) at Real Ale.

 Ali and her mom and grandmother threw me a wonderful baby shower!

We spent a day in Dallas visiting the 6th Floor Museum and Lakewood Brewing (again, I got to watch other people sample great beer).

We celebrated Oktoberfest in Downtown McKinney!  I indulged in heavenly apricot strudel, bratwurst, and sauerkraut in place of beer.

My company participated in the 2015 Corporate Challenge (in support of the Special Olympics) where yours truly became a Miniature Golf champ (ok, 3rd place, but we still got a medal) and completed her very first 5K!

We celebrated our 5th Anniversary at Neighborhood Services. The bartender made me a fabulous mocktail, my husband enjoyed well-made fully leaded cocktails, and the food was some of the best we've had in Dallas. It was a lovely evening. I'm so thankful for 5 years married to this man, and I look forward to many, many more together.

My last trip out of town (before the doctor recommended we stay put "just in case") was to visit family in Austin. We saw The Martian at Alamo Drafthouse, we had dinner with friends at La Mancha Tex-Mex Tavern, and I spent some time showing the baby around some of Mom and Dad's old haunts at UT.

We hosted our first family Thanksgiving! It was a hit, in large part thanks to my husband's smoked turkey.

Sadly, we sold Clementine, my wonderfully zippy and impractical orange Mini Cooper. We replaced her with a much roomier (though decidedly less zippy) Honda CR-V.

And last but not least, there was plenty of nesting. Most notably, we put together this little air and space themed nursery, complete with rocket ships, stars, and airplanes hanging from the ceiling!  We put in the finishing touches about a week before our little guy's arrival!