Brady's New Best Friend

Yes, I know that's bold, but that's what we told Brady when we were scrambling to get to the hospital last night to welcome Mr. Pierce McCord to the world! Joanna and Justin recieved news yesterday around 3:00 that Pierce needed to come that night. They were to be at the hospital at 5:00 to check in and had to have decided whether or not to have a C-Section or to Induce labor! I can't imagine the pressure of having that choice. Fortunately for Jeff and I, we weren't given a choice, so we were never faced with that decision, let alone forced to make it in an hour and a half!!!

Needless to say, they opted with a c-section, and she did great!! Last night when we left, she was just a 'bit' sore across her tummy, but other than that she said it was super easy! Jeff went and got Brady from my parents' house around 10:30 and brought him up to the hospital to meet Pierce. I think he was kind of confused because he had just been woken up!

Enjoy the pictures! Congratulations Justin and Joanna! We're are just tickled to death for you all! Brady can't wait to play!

Playing the Waiting Game

The Soon-to-Be-Aunt and Soon-to-Be-Grandma

Killing time before it's time to go in!

The New McCord

Proud Daddy

Justin was showing his nephew, Will, his new cousin Pierce. Will had been so worried about "Aunt Jo" ever since they had gotten there. It was terribly cute!

A New Friend.

So, I went to get my haircut tonight and Jeff watched the Little Bug. I sat down while I was waiting and recieved this picture on my phone! If anyone knows Georgia at all.... you know this is HER friend, Maxwell. She has slept with him EVERY night for three years. She can't go to sleep unless he's on the bed with her. Seriously.

Jeff said he was outside with Georgia and came back inside and Brady was leaning way over to the side, reaching for something... and that something was Max. It's SOOO nasty, but I'm glad he got a picture of it before he took him away! (He was apparently watching Baby Einstein too!)

The Friendly Giraffe

So after much trial and error, we ended up going with a Giraffe costume for Halloween. We were originally thinking Charlie Brown, then Jeff wanted him to be an elephant (guess what for?) and then we settled on getting a costume from Pottery Barn Kids because we had a gift certificate there and Halloween costumes can get pricey!! Especially the ones that are so darn cute!! So we're trying it with different colors of shirts on underneath every day... and today was gray. He was in a particularly good mood (a.k.a. he was putting up with me changing him into his costume) so I decided to go ahead and snap some pictures. I was going to try to save them until after Halloween, but they were too cute not to share!

**He's trying to put his foot in his mouth in this picture. It's his new thing. I think he'd ROCK at Yoga!

Sick Boy!

This weekend, we went to a friend of Brady's birthday party... Holice Pegram! He was so funny eating his cake! He neatly picked all of the icing off of it and was taking his time enjoying it! It was a beautiful day so we had a great time hanging out in the back yard with some friends!!







On Saturday night, Jeff's friend from New Orleans that he met on a Mission Trip last year came into town to meet with some ministers from Prestonwood. He runs a ministry out of New Orleans that does church planting. He and his wife just had a baby about 3 months ago and he's already 15 pounds! That's about Brady's size and he's half his age!! Apparently he was 9 pounds when he was born and his wife broke her tailbone in delivery!! Ahh!! So glad the Bug was small and I didn't have to go through anything like that! We went and ate at a BBQ place in Coppell that was pretty yummy!! The boys were stuffed!!!

Jeff and Joanna compared their feet. 

Poor Joanna... They look like they hurt SO bad!

When we were at the restaurant, Brady slept the entire time... which is so not like him. He usually is 'relaxed' when we're out at night time, but he's definitely alert and taking it all in. When we got him home, he was running a temperature. And on Sunday, he was not acting like himself all day long. He sucked on his pacifier all day and wouldn't really want to play with anything. The McCord's watched him for us last night while we went to our last parenting class and Joanna said he really didn't even want his bottle for a while and he didn't take more than 2 bites of his solid food! Poor Baby!! He looks better this morning, but we're playing it safe and staying put today. I'm definitely getting more smiles out of him today though. He's been sitting in his booster seat at the table the past few days... he looks like such a big boy! I love it!!

October 24th.

Friday marked the 10th anniversary of Jeff and I's first date. (He's probably going to kill me for some of the things you're about to see!!) Ever since we've gotten married and have a "real" anniversary, we've always kind of just said, "Oh, it's our anniversary!" when October 24th rolls around, but this year, Jeff remembered it was our 10th! About a month ago, we were in the car and he looked at me and said, "Can you believe we've been together for 10 years?" I couldn't believe he put that together! Maybe I don't give him enough credit, right? :)

So, a little bit on our history... Jeff and I met probably 12-13 years ago at Youth Choir at our church, Prestonwood. We were friends and kind of ran around in the same circle at church. (I say circle because I think it proves better for the church than "cliche", anyone agree?) So anyway, he dated a few different girls while I knew him and I dated a few different guys... yes, mostly his best friends to this day. But one day, out of the blue, it just clicked. I don't know if that would be his testimony to it, but for me, it was like suddenly a light went off and I all of a sudden thought that I wanted to maybe date this guy that I had known for a while. (Hey, it hadn't worked out with the other ones, right?)

So, he went to my high school homecoming as another girl's date and I of course went with my best friend at the time, Drew. When I arrived at the dance, Jeff and I hung out all night long and kind of lost our dates. I know, that's so rude and I will always tell Brady that he needs to stay with his date at a dance, but it all worked out in this situation, right? So that night, Jeff asked me to go to his high school dance which was two weeks later... October 24th. Our first official date!

So on Friday, what did we decide to do? We went on our first date again. We drove all the way out to Frisco and ate at La Hacienda Ranch, just like we did that night 10 years ago. We skipped the dance part, but we drove straight to 7-11 to get slurpees (just like that night) and we went to the park where Jeff asked me to be his girlfriend. I know it sounds so cheesy, but we had a wonderful time reliving some of our most favorite (and least favorite) memories of the past 10 years. Everywhere we drove, we were reminded of an event, a joke, a movie, a date, a fight or a kiss. We drive by these places all the time and never think anything of it, but tonight was different. We were on a mission.

When we got back home, I had retrieved ALL of our 'junk' that we'd accumulated from each other over the past 10 years. I know that this isn't near all of it, because Jeff used to make me stuff all of the time for our 'month' anniversaries. For my 17th birthday, he recorded me a tape. This isn't just a mix tape, people. He SANG on this tape for me. (If any of you do not know, Jeff has an incredibly beautiful voice and was the lead in all of the christmas muscials back in the day. He's super modest about this now and doesn't want anyone to know... so if I can find a way to get this tape on my computer, I will!! I want to hear it again!) I think we killed a rainforest or two with all of the paper we wrote on and cards we bought! I surprised we didn't put Hallmark out of business! I can't believe how serious we were about each other. We were absolutely CRAZY in love. Jeff wrote me poems, ya'll! POEMS!! (I asked Jeff about this because it doesn't happen anymore and he told me that he thinks he probably copied them from a book or something!) Regardless, we had a wonderful time going through our old pictures, memories, etc.

We ALSO had a great time because Jeff surprised me with the very best anniversary present ever! On Friday, the partners at his law firm walked into his office and made him a job offer for when he graduates! Yay!! This has been a long time prayer request for us and we are so appreciative of everyone being so encouraging during this time! Thank you to all of our prayer warriors out there!! We are tremendously blessed, and we have learned a ton about ourselves and our marriage during our season of waiting! We almost don't know what to do now that it's over!

The night we 'hit it off' at TCA Homecoming

(with Jeff's date - Melody)

All of our "Junk" that has been accumulated.

This is a picture of a picture, so it's really glare-y, 

but I just had to show Jeff in his Zuit Suit!

Jeff's Football Button - His Junior Year

Like I said, Jeff was the star of all of the Christmas Musicals.

This one was "For Unto Ya'll" and he was Gabe. (Gabriel?)

This was the "first" picture we took together when we 

liked each other. It was the week between my Homecoming

and his dance. He was going on a date with someone else the next night

so he was coming over to make sure I was okay with it. :)

A Poem Jeff claims he copied. (I think he's just trying to

get out of writing new ones!)

Just SOME of the cards from our collection.

The tape that Jeff made me for my 17th Birthday. 

Verse of the Day

"Do everything without complaining or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation, in which you shine like stars in the universe as you hold out the word of life-in order that I may boast on the day of Christ that I did not run or labor for nothing." Phil 2:15-17


Thanks to my friend Missy, I searched for Jon and Kate's website last night during their new episode. (Which was totally cute, by the way). If you haven't been to their updated website, it is wonderful and it gives me goosebumps thinking about the impact that they can have for the Kingdom of God.

Anyway, I clicked under devotionals and Kate is apparently trying to post one of their favorite verses once a week for a year (Labor Day 2008- Labor Day 2009) and a devotional that she teaches the kids along with it.

Under one of the devotionals (I actually think it's the current one), it had Phillippians 2:15 "Do everything without complaining or arguing". I thought, "Wow, do I need that verse every moment of every day or what?" But what is even more interesting, is when I went to re-read it this morning in my Bible, I read the entire sentence and it struck me differently. There is a REASON we are supposed to live this way. I tend to think of this verse as more of a "nice thought" than actual scripture, but how blasphemous is that? It IS scripture. It IS God-Breathed, God-Inspired, God-Ordained.

As Jeff and I experience what seems like a long season of waiting, I would like my life to look like this. I would like our marriage to look like this. I would like our parenting to look like this... and eventually I would like Brady's life to look like this, despite seeing both of his parents continuing to fail at it.

I hope you are as inspired by this passage as I was this morning. What would the world look like if all Christians lived life this way?

The Weekend!

Not too many stories from this weekend, except that Jeff and I realized last night that we had a 'date' every night this weekend! We went to our parenting class last night, and they keep track of dates for a prize, and they count home dates which are just times you spend together after the little one goes to bed. Friday night, we went to dinner and then played games with some friends while Brady slept in their guest bedroom. (I would have won, too, if people didn't stretch answers on Scattegories). Then Saturday night we watched a lot of the football game and ate dinner together after Brady went to bed. I would love to say that's a normal thing for us, but right now we usually put Brady to bed and then either get in bed ourselves or watch separate t.v. shows. (I am in love with reality television and Jeff is in love with campaign coverage). That's another thing in itself. Anyway, we had a pretty good weekend together... and we have a big date coming up this weekend, too! And this one is a 'real' one! I'll have to post more on that later!!



Anyway, one of the days we walked to the park last week, it was definitely cool enough for the Bug to wear his cool Patagonia vest that Crazy Uncle Cam gave him when he was born. It's getting a little snug, so we wear it every chance we get! On Friday, we didn't have time for a real bath, so we did our first 'spit bath' in the sink. We tried these when we went to Destin, but they weren't so easy because he wasn't sitting up by himself. But Friday, it was SUPER easy. (I know, it's dangerous when I say things like that, but this time it really was!) He got a little distracted by all that was going on around him, but for the most part just chewed on his two bath toys I threw in there with him!




Saturday, we went to Mackenzie's birthday party. She has a ton of boy friends, but I tell Brady that he's her favorite. (Never-mind the 6 months age difference!) No offense Jack, Holice, or Collin! :) Is she not absolutely adorable in her tu-tu?! Brady loved to play, but since he was the youngest one there, he would definitely get left behind when a new toy was more interesting. :) For the most part, he loved this play center thing that Mackenzie had! We all had lots of fun and so enjoyed watching all the kids open Mackenzie's gifts!!

Days like Wednesday.

Okay, so on Wednesday afternoon after getting home from Bible Study, I decide that I'm going to be a Super Mom and make my own baby food. (You know this isn't going to end well already, don't you?) So, I decide to start with the easiest thing possible: bananas. First off, I need to mention to you that you really only need to mash the bananas. There need not be any 'processing' involved because they're so soft already. No cooking, nothing. Just simply peel and mash. Do I do this? Nope.

I decide this is a great opportunity to use the wedding presents. I open up my corner cabinet and reach WAAY into the back and pull out my shiny red kitchen aid food processor. "Beautiful!" I think to myself!

I peel the bananas. There are six of them so I think I'm going to make plenty of banana baby food, right? Right! I start pulsing away. "This is SUPER easy!" After I added a bit of formula, I decided to transfer my new banana puree (that sounds fancier than baby food does) to a measuring cup so that it's easy to pour into my new ice trays. (You freeze the baby food in the ice trays and it makes perfect proportions. Seriously, super easy).

As I'm making the transfer, I'm hearing Brady begin to babble on the monitor. "I am AWESOME! This is perfect timing!" (You know I probably said this aloud, right?) I take the dirty stuff to the sink and BOOM. Everything falls on the kitchen floor. Now, this would probably be no HUGE deal to clean up, except that Georgia was right underneath me and the bananas got ALL over her. She immediately began to freak out and run around the house trying to scratch the sticky banana puree off her back. I instantly grab a dish towel and try to wipe up the excess banana from the floor. I realize, all of a sudden, that I no longer hear Georgia.... where is she?

She's ON OUR BED!!! Rubbing all over our pillows, our bedspread, our sheets... the sticky banana 'puree' is EVERYWHERE!!!!! (Meanwhile, Brady is LOUDLY crying now that he's up from his nap!) Did I mention that on Monday, Georgia got sick all over our bed, and I had JUST gotten everything back on the bed, nice and freshly washed???

Anyway... it was a disaster of an afternoon, and you'd think it would teach me not to attempt something so lofty... but it didn't. I made some more baby food yesterday (Applecado = applesauce + avocado) and some this morning... (Squash + Sweet Potatoes). You should see how colorful my freezer is!

Moral of the story: Don't take yourself too seriously, or you would never find humor in a day like this!

New Things All at Once!

First off, I must admit that I'm forcing myself to post an entry today just so that I can put Friday's entry behind me. I have gotten a lot of emails and comments from girlfriends who have shared similar experiences with me, and for that I will be forever grateful. Not only did it make me not feel as bad, I also got a good laugh out of one or two of them. In fact, we were at our small group on Sunday after church and every single mommy there had a story or two like mine. (Joanna was probably scared of all of us!) She did get a good laugh out of all of us though!

This weekend, Jeff's college roommate, Matt Link got married. So since Jeff was in the wedding, it was filled with rehearsal dinners, groomsmen breakfast, photos and receptions. I have to say that Katy definitely made everything. From the Save the Dates to the Guest sign in to the party favors. I am going to ask her how in the world she did it all when they get back from their honeymoon. In my perfect world, I may have attempted to do this, but it would have either looked horrendous or I would have gotten halfway done, gotten tired (or bored) and given up! Props to her!

Tonight when Jeff got home, he said "I think I'm going to bed early." I couldn't agree more. Today I am just beat. I feel like perhaps we're all coming down with a cold but it's probably from the busy weekend. (At least, that's what I'm telling myself). I don't really know what we did all day, but I am worn out!

Today was a day of new things for Brady, though. We had to make a trip to the grocery store to get some new items. First, it was time for us to move up a diaper size. Has anyone noticed that the size 3 diapers are not called Swaddlers? They're cruisers! But Brady's not crusing yet! I like the yellow package, not the blue one! I don't want to change yet! Lucky for me they make an 'in between' size that is perfect for our growing boy... and they are still in the yellow package, titled Swaddlers. Yay! We're now officially in "2-3" diapers.

We also tried a sippy cup for the very first time. We've started juice, and our doctor's suggestion was to start a sippy cup with that, since it's a new taste anyway. I usually give him about 4 ounces of dilluted juice and today he finished a little more than two ounces in the sippy cup. I know he's still getting used to it, so I consider that a great accomplishment for the day!

Also... did anyone else know that there are multiple sizes of Soothie Pacifiers? Kendra Hall mentioned it to me a few weeks ago and I had never noticed before. In my opinion, you can never have too many pacifiers, so at the store I decided to get some new ones, and sure enough... there they were. 3 months + Soothies. They come in pink and blue! (I hate to admit this but I had just had a 'discussion' with Jeff on which I insisted that they only came in green. Ooops). So we upgraded our pacifiers too. (Yes, I know we should probably be getting off the pacifier all together, but hey... one thing at a time, people).

But here's the BEST thing: Jeff heard Brady say "Da-Da" yesterday! (During the disaster that was the Cowboys game, I might add). He was feeding him his juice and afterward Brady was sitting on Jeff's lap and I said, "Are you sitting with Daddy?" and he intently looked at me and said loudly... "Da-Da".... Jeff's eyes got so big, it was priceless! Now he can't stop trying to get him to say it again! (I bet he believes me now, huh?)

So that, in a nutshell, has been our life the past few days. We're over the bumps and bruises that were developed last week, and we're onto new things this week! Yay!

(Below are pictures of us at the rehearsal dinner on Friday! Thanks to the Justin, Joanna and Becky for keeping the Bug for us this weekend!)

Brady's SECOND Horrible, Terrible, No Good, Very Bad Day.

I am SO glad today is Friday. Aren't you? More than I am glad today is Friday, I am glad yesterday has come and gone. And what a LO-ONG one it was. Mommy or no mommy, these days DO come... please tell me you identify! I kind of get, um... annoyed (or maybe it's jealous) when people act like parenthood (or life in general, for that matter) is just all roses and that they never come across a bad day. (If you indeed don't have 'bad' days, or even long ones, please tell me your secret!) Please keep in mind that in the grand scheme of things, yes, life at the Leach household is pretty easy going, but we are normal people, just like the next person and I like to share my horrors of being a mom just as much as my joys so that no one feels like the odd one out when they have a day like I am about to describe here. :)

Part One - Dropping the Bug off with Papa Ron

On Tuesdays, my mom watches Brady while I work for my dad at the office, and on Thursdays Brady's Mimi's and Papa Ron watch him for a few hours in the morning as well. It's nice for me to kind of get out of the house and do my 'own thing' at my dad's office and have some adult interaction, but now that he's more active, it can be a little daunting getting out of the house by 8:30 in the morning. I've come to realization that no matter what I do, we will not be on time any more. Even when we leave on time, we end up not being on time... anywhere. This bugs me to pieces because I used to be SUCH a stickler for being on time. (This is the ONLY time that I ever tell Jeff to speed up - when we're late for church!)

Anyway, that's not really part of the story. When I got to the office (where Ron meets us), I saw that my dad was there so I wanted to take Brady in to say Hi to his Big Daddy. When I got him out of the car, I could smell his diaper, if you know what I mean. Ron said, "Oh don't worry about it, we'll change him when we get home." So we went in to say hi, chatted for a bit and then back out to the car it was for the transfer. As I was putting Brady back into his carseat, I pulled my hand from behind him and it was COVERED with you-know-what. It was all over the car seat. (In fact, I think it was more than I even realized). Panic mode set in.

"Um, Ron, I think we might have a situation here".

He comes around and looks.

"I think I'm going to take him back in and try to clean him up...."

"No, we can clean him up when we get him home... it's not a big deal".

Well, apparently Brady thought it was a big deal because he cried the whole way home from his messiness. I know he's a boy, but I guess he doesn't want to be THAT dirty, right? Who does? Looking back on it, I can't believe I let him ride home like that. It's one of those moments that you have two options and both of them aren't good... so you just pick one. I think I would have rather made a mess of my dad's new carpet though. So sorry Brady. Horrible Mommy... part one.

Part Two - Dr. Gates's Office

After I picked Brady back up after the messiness... I took him to the doctor's office for his check up. I was really looking forward to this appointment! And in fact, I had just told Darlene how great Brady did with his shots last time and I wasn't worried too much about it at all this time. Little did I know that the shots would be the least of my worries.

After the nurse checked his pulse, weighed him, measured him, inspected him, we were waiting for Dr. Gates to come in. So, what else do you do but sit on the table with toys, right? Brady's gotten SUPER good at sitting up. I'm talking, he never falls anymore, in fact he cries when he wants down because he can't figure out how to get out of sitting up. So he was sitting up on the table. I was actually thinking that was better than laying there because he would roll over before anything else happened. (You can tell where I'm going with this, can't you?)

So, I was standing right by him, I had my hand on his leg while he was playing all nicely with his chains and everything. Dr. Gates came in and was admiring how great he was at sitting up.

"How long has he been sitting up like that? He's looks really comfortable sitting!"

"About two weeks, Dr. Gates. He's such a big...."

All of a sudden he wasn't there anymore. I'm talking a split second. I had my hand on his leg and I was on one side of the table. Dr. Gates was at the end of the table. The other side of the table was almost against the wall. But he wasn't there. He had reached for the cords on the wall that come off of the eye and ear thingy and fallen between the table and the wall. (The table is angled so it's not like he was stuck or anything...I just can't believe this happened). I think I froze. It felt like MINUTES went by before either Dr. Gates or I moved. Then FINALLY I ran around the other side and picked him up. (Um, is it weird that I was proud of him that he was in a 'crawling' position though? With his knees up under him and his arms pushed up?). He didn't make a peep for a bit, but it was probably because the air was knocked out of him and he was doing that terrible silent cry thing. That's how you know he's REALLY angry.

But the silence didn't last for too long. Then came tears. Crocodile tears. Lots of screaming and looking at me like, "WHO ARE YOU??? WHY WOULD YOU LET THIS HAPPEN?" I was crying. Dr. Gates handed me a tissue. (Isn't it great when you have an audience when something like this happens?) He proceeded to tell me stories of when his girls were little and one busted her chin open on the sidewalk when she was learning how to walk in the front yard on the grass, but he looked away for a second and she was face first on the concrete. Then about lifting one of his girls over his head, and she was cracking up, and then all of a sudden, she flipped her legs over and flew out of his hands and he thought she was paralized. (She's totally fine, by the way, not a broken bone or anything). He promised me that these things happen to everyone and that Brady would never remember this. (Although I think this morning he woke up and thought to himself, "Why does my head hurt? Oh, it's because my mommy didn't hold onto me and I fell off of the table at the doctor's office").

Dr. Gates then ran to get the nurses and told them to give him his shots before he calmed down, so he got it done all at once. I wouldn't have thought about that, but I thought it was probably a very wise decision. I stayed for about an hour, trying to feed him and get him to calm down. Dr. Gates came in to check on me several times (what a little muffin), and he told me that if it were going to happen anywhere, I should be glad it happened there. It saved me a visit to the doctor! He told me what to watch for the next time something like this happens. I said, "next time?" and he looked at me with a sad face and said, "He's a boy... you will have lots of next times in some shape or fashion."

When I left, I called my mom and said, "Please tell me this stuff happened to you!" I hope she doesn't mind me sharing this (because she was a fabulous mom!) but she told me that she knows we all were dropped, fell, electrocuted (that's another story) or something similar, multiple times. She told me Cam rolled down the stairs at least twice. (I am cracking up while I'm writing this by the way). She then called me back later and left me a message and this is what it said... almost word for word:

"Becky. I just remembered that when Katie (my sister) was about two years old, we were leaving the grocery store and she fell out of the grocery cart onto the pavement in the parking lot. I hope that makes you feel better. Love you!" (Katie, if you're reading this... surprise!)

What are moms for? To share their own horror stories and make you feel better? Exactly.

Now, I know there are a few moms out there (who shall remain nameless) who have had moments like this, and I so appreciate you sharing those with me! This morning, I'm absolutely exhausted (from the emotional wreck that was yesterday), but the B-Man is doing great, he's happy and he's taking a great nap for me already. Dr. Gates called Jeff twice last night while he was in class and didn't leave a message... I'm thinking it was to check on me, not Brady. He said that Brady's fine, but I was the one that he was worried about. It definitely shook me up.

Ahhhh.... the joys and fears of mommyhood. Gotta Love It.

Happy Friday everyone!

(Here are pictures from yesterday afternoon when we got home. He would play and then cry, play and then cry. See the scrape on his face? That's from me!!!!!!!! I guess I've just got to realize that there is no way to protect him from absolutely everything, and he's definitely tougher than I give him credit for!)

Happy Half Birthday, Brady!

Today marks half of a year since Brady was born. Jeff and I were talking last night about how he can't believe it's already been a year and I can't believe it's only been a year. I feel like he's been with us forever! He's brought such joy and life into our world (and yes, sometimes strife). It's amazing that JUST 6 months and a day ago he wasn't here. We were looking at pictures last night from when I was pregnant and it's so weird to think he was a little person in my belly! I can't believe how much he's grown. I look at him and yes, know that he's grown, but when I look back at his newborn pictures, I feel like he doesn't even look like the same person!

His personality is coming out more and more every day. I can definitely tell that he can manipulate us now. Screaming through an entire nap and when you go in there he just smiles really big at you. Yep, nothing was wrong... he's just got it down now, huh? He likes to rock when he sits up... is that normal? That's a new thing in the last week or so. He rolls over in his crib onto his belly and then he cries because he's forgotten how to get back over to the other side!

He LOVES his cereal. We're learning to hold his little hands while he eats, trying to teach him to not grab the spoon (or bowl, for that matter). He LOVES to spit. I think it's because of all of the drool in his mouth. He blows bubbles all the time now. Yes, he said Da-Da on Friday, and I've heard him say "da" since then, and I can see him moving his mouth in that new 'consonant' way. He's just exploring something new every day now. Whether it be a new toy, picking up a 'puff' or trying to 'help' me put him in his car seat. (He's not really helping me as much as he is fighting me).

We're going to the doctor on Thursday - YAY! I think that he's around 17 pounds now (according to our scientific way of weighing him on our scale at home). We'll see, though... we're already in the 9 month clothes, so I have to think he's growing length wise, anyway!

Oh My Gosh!

So, this morning I had coffee with my friend Becky while Jeff watched Brady for me. (This isn't unusual, he does it almost every Friday for me... thank you, Honey!) On my way home I stopped by Walgreen's to get some formula and I decided to pick up a little card for Jeff too. (Because I AM such a great wifey and everything, right?) But now to the GREAT part... I had put the card on Jeff's car so that he would get it when he left (just like we did when we were dating) and I was kind of watching him through the window... it's just been one of those weeks where I could tell he needed a little pick-me-up. He came back inside and thanked me and gave me and Brady a big hug... gotta love him! So when he went back out to the car, I looked at Brady and said, "We just made Daddy really happy, didn't we?" And he looked up at me and sweetly said, "Da-Da?" My jaw DROPPED. I am not kidding. I think I froze. But there's no doubt about it, that's what he said! I ran back outside and stopped Jeff and told him. Of course, the Bug did not want to say it again so Jeff did not believe me, but he totally did. I swear it. I've read that they can say it at this age, but not necessarily mean it... which is perhaps what happened... but it DID happen!

AND... a new development from yesterday... Brady can put his paci in his mouth (correctly) by himself!! I sat him down on his blanket last night after our walk while I was getting his dinner ready and I came back in and somehow he had reached for his pacifier and put it in his mouth, all by himself. I didn't even know there was one on the blanket!! Then this morning, I went to check on him before I left and he had it in his mouth and I knew he didn't sleep with it in his mouth the entire night! Our little boy isn't as little as he used to be!! I just love these new developments!

Splish Splash!

Last night we took our first "Big Boy Bath". The Bug does NOT like to lay on his back... the second you put him on his back, he rolls straight to his belly. This goes for the bath tub too! Sooo... being the problem solver that I am, I decided he sits up good enough to switch to the "Big Boy" side of the bath. He did great! However, he did learn a new trick... SPLASHING!

I remember telling someone a while back that I really wanted him to learn how to splash in the water... especially in the pool. Well, be careful what you wish for, huh? He didn't really stop splashing the whole bath! I was soaking wet by the end, but I loved every minute of it. We'll learn 'no' next time... but for this time, we just enjoyed splashing and then laughing. He even tried to eat the plastic divider thing that helps him sit up better! What's with EVERYTHING going in the mouth?

Enjoy!