Happy Birthday Carrigan

Well I tried and tried to get a good picture of Hampton telling Carrigan, "Happy Birthday." He was much more interested in crinkling and eating the paper. Sorry we're late sweet girl!!! Know that we thought about you and sang Happy Birthday several times yesterday.

Enough of this...see ya later.

9 MONTHS

Don't they say it took you 9 months to gain your baby weight, so it should take you 9 months to lose it? OOPS!

I truly can't believe that Hampton is already 9 months old. He is such a joy to our lives. He is crawling everywhere and is into anything he can get his hands on. He loves to play, but usually chooses to play with things that aren't really toys. He loves to bang on the window to get Sydney to come look at him. He gets so excited when he sees animals, and his favorite books are the ones where Mommy and Daddy make the noises that the animals make. He loves to hear the tiger roar :). We have taught him to give us a "linebacker" (head bump), but he can be a little moody about giving them freely. He is still so quick to smile even at most strangers. He definitely "flirts" with attractive people and sometimes cries when the "not-so-attractive" talk to him. We went to the doctor today for his 9 month exam. He loves the sweet nurse, but cried immediately when the doctor came in. Last time we were there, she had to dig in his ear to remove wax and he HATED it. I guess he remembered her. He is almost 29" tall and 19.5 pounds. That puts him in the 90th percentile in height and the 45th in weight. He still has a small head though...yipee. Most of his growth was UP in the last few months and all that crawling slimmed him down a bit. Overall he is pretty healthy, but we can't seem to get rid of the runny nose and cough which means yes...another ear infection. Poor kid, he's been sick since November. They put him on his 4th round of antibiotics and an antihistamine to help clear up the congestion and runny nose. She said that should also help prevent the ear infections. He is still a happy boy and seems to feel fine. He is a little stuffy in the mornings, but that usually goes away by midmorning. He is sleeping pretty well, and the past few mornings has played or slept until 8:30 or 8:45. Mommy loves that. I have started giving him meat, but he doesn't like it unless it's blended up with something else...no finger food protein. He loves to play with his sippy cup, but isn't too interested in drinking from it. He loves his push toy and is taking a few steps behind it. Poppy says he will be taking his first steps in the next month or so. I'm not sure I'm ready for that. He loves his daddy and gets so excited when he comes in the room. It warms my heart to see their bond and such an early age. Not all babies love their daddy's like Hampton does.

GG gave him this super cute outfit for Christmas. Thank you, GG!

I love my push toy.

Polly, Hank, Meg and Charles gave it to him for Christmas. Thank you Nobels.

This past weekend, we went to Abilene for Sing Song. My sweet friend Courtney and her husband Skye kept Hampton while Ben, Rosie, Kelly and I went to the show. It was so good to catch up with Courtney and a blessing to know that Hampton was with such a precious friend. I must say, Sing Song was much more fun to be in than to watch. The Kojies were a bit disappointing and the Moonies didn't even do the Galaxy Star...what happened to tradition ;)? We didn't get to spend much time with Johnny, Rosie or Kelly because they were in meetings most of the time. But it was fun to see them for a little bit!!! Hampton went to his first baseball game and watched the Wildcats dominate the Tigers.

My first ACU baseball game. GO CATS!!! Thank you Gran and Poppy for my Wildcats outfit.

I love my Gran and Poppy!!!

First trip to ACU

Yesterday, one of the little boys from our play group came over while his mom had a meeting. They played together so well! They really played TOGETHER...wherever one went, the other quickly followed. It was fun to hear them "talk" to each other. I am so thankful for the sweet girls in my play group. They have been a source of strength over the past 10 months.

Josh and Hampton "talking" to Sydney

What precious boys

Playing together so well

Being Hampton's mommy is the greatest blessing. I am grateful that the Lord has trusted me with his precious life.

Learning so fast...

Look what I discovered...

Did you know these things open?

Kelly

Kelly, Hampton offered to help you with your blog!

Uh Oh

Hampton has become a lot more mobile in the past few days. He is cruising around furniture and from one piece to another. He has figured out how to climb onto the bottom shelf of our coffee table to "play" with whatever paper is there. He has also discovered that he can pull all the DVD's off the shelf. Ready or not, he is into everything!

Wednesday, January 31, 2007
For some reason I can't get my video to load correctly. You can view it by clicking on the picture above. SORRY!

M-I-C-K-E-Y M-O-U-S-E

We just returned from Hampton's first trip to Disney World. We met our family there and "brought Disney to it's knees" 4 days in a row. There were 20 of us...10 adults and 10 kids under the age of 7. We started our days early and went hard until the parks closed. Needless to say they were long days. Hampton did awesome. He enjoyed the rides that weren't loud and dark. The loud rides were a little scary...he would grab our necks tightly and burry his head on our shoulders. I think he napped better in his stroller than he does at home. We really enjoyed all the cousins. They are all unique and absolutely precious. My only regret is that I didn't get more one-on-one time with each of them. Disney World is always a blast and we look forward to our next trip, but it can be pretty exhausting.

Carrigan and Hampton playing at Animal Kingdom. Carrigan is 2 1/2 months older than Hampton.

The older cousins checkin' out the fish at Animal Kingdom.

Johnny and Rosie helped us get these shirts for all the cousins. They have their name and their number (in the order they were born) on the back. We got lots of compliments on them. The kids also got coordinating Disney shirts and goodie bags. Hampton got a red Mickey Mouse shirt...super cute.

Carrigan and Hampton napping at Magic Kingdom. When it was naptime, we would put a huge beach towel over Hampton's stroller so that he wasn't so distracted. He usually went to sleep within minutes. This particular nap lasted well over 2 hours. That never happens at home.

When he woke up from his naps, he would peek out the side between the towel and stroller to see what was happening. He never woke up crying. He napped like a pro!

Hampton and Daddy

David, Elizabeth and Kelly on Thunder Mountain.

Elizabeth is a little dare devil. She rode everything and most things more than once. She usually wanted to ride with me, but on this ride we talked her into riding with her parents. The only ride she didn't like was Tower of Terror. She cried :(

Hampton did enjoy getting out of the stroller every now and then. At the end of the day, all he wanted to do was crawl around the condo. Freedom!!

Family photo opp. at Cinderella's Castle.

Finding Nemo at Epcot.

Dinoland with Gran and Carrigan.

This ride went around in circles and up and down. They both liked the ride, but Carrigan hated the loud music. Hampton loved it because it was outside and he could feel the wind.

Gran and Hampton on our last day

Look Mommy, the cars look like ants.

Such good little travelers!

Well, this is going to sound like a terrible excuse, but we do not have the internet at home right now. I am sitting in a parking lot using Ben's computer and wireless internet. I can't post any pictures, but wanted to let you know what Hampton is up to now. He had a great Christmas and loved seeing his cousins. We were in OKC for about a week and really enjoyed a relaxing time at my parents'. Hampton was running a fever on Christmas Eve and Christmas day. When we got home we took him to the doctor to find out that he had a double ear infection. Poor kid. He seems to be feeling much better now though.
Since Christmas he has started:

• playing peek-a-boo
• blowing bubbles when he should be eating
• clapping
• fake coughing when you ask him if he is sick
• shaking his head no when he doesn't want anymore food or doesn't like what you are giving him (he usually ends up eating it anyway)
• crawling
• standing up in his crib
• and writing his name!!!

It is amazing how much and how fast he is learning. He is still a great eater and sleeper. He definitely loves his mommy and daddy, and is not a fan of being left alone. He is precious to us!!! Can't wait to see how much he loves Disney World with his cousins.

Just a little perspective

He is growing up WAY TOO FAST.

One the way home from the hospital

6 months old

Make that 2 new teeth. Hampton is 7 months now and I can feel/see both of his bottom teeth coming! He seems a little more fussy and harder to comfort...I hope this is a quick process :) I'll try to post pictures soon.

All I Want for Christmas...

I can feel Hampton's very first tooth barely poking through his lower gums. Looks like we may have at least one of his two front teeth for Christmas.

A Quick Catch Up

It has been forever since my last post, and Hampton is growing and changing so fast. I've let myself down over the last month in my blogging efforts. Let's see...We went to TN for Thanksgiving. We had such a great time. Hampton did great. He slept and ate well, which is always a concern when we travel. He is sitting up like a champ and rarely looses his balance. Just after we returned from TN, he started rolling from his back to his tummy in his crib. Ben and I would put him to bed and then watch him intently on the monitor hoping to see him roll over. I wondered why he wouldn't roll during the day. We finally saw it and he was using the side for the crib to flip (he "walked" up the side until he could turn his hips). I think his strong desire to chase his binky led to the new trick. Now he is rolling at will and covering more ground than ever. He has started giving "kisses" which result in 2 really wet faces, yours and his. He is not crawling yet, but can get himself up on his hands and knees and rock. Hampton has developed a pretty strong attachment to Mommy, and is very aware when I leave him alone. On occasion he will cry as soon as I am out of sight and smile and even laugh when I come back...even when he's in Daddy's lap :( I feel bad for Ben, but I know it's only a matter of time before his whole world is DADDY...so I'm lapping it up right now. I am continually amazed at his content nature and sweet smile, which he is quick to flash at just about anyone. He is quickly learning how to pick up cheerios and actually put them in his mouth and loves his sippy cup...more as a chew toy than as a cup. He likes his highchair (thanks Campions) and will let me work while he plays in it, as long as I'm close enough to retrieve the frequently dropped toy. Like Ben said yesterday, "This is such a fun age!!!"
He is such a rich blessing to our lives!

Poppy, Daddy, Papa and Hampton

The Trunk that Papa made for Hampton

Hampton with some of his sweet cousins

Eatin' some cheerios

6 MONTHS

I almost forgot...Hampton has his first ear infection :( He had a cold for over 2 weeks, so I finally took him to the doctor. I felt terrible when I found out that he had an ear infection. He never ran a fever and only pulled at his ear once or twice. Poor little thing. He is doing much better though...still sleeping until 9 or 10 for me. Mommy loves her sleep!!!

Rubber Ducky

Check me out in my big boy bath seat! Bet you wish you could take your bath in one too, huh?

LOOK AT ME

It's official, he can now sit up all by himself.

He is getting bigger by the minute. He continues to be a super happy boy who squeals and "talks" nonstop. He is still sticking to the vowel sounds, but studies my mouth when I try to get him to mimic dadadada, babababa or mamamama. He responds well to his name and wants to make sure he can always see you. You can pretty much count on him being ready for a nap 2 hours after he eats. You can't, however, predict how long he will sleep...for example, today he slept a TOTAL of 1 hour and 15 minutes. Needless to say I didn't get much done today and he is going to bed early tonight! Hampton is now eating green beans in addition to his rice cereal and peas. I think we will try avocado this week. YUMMY! Work has been really busy for Ben and he has been traveling more than normal. It is such a blessing to see Hampton light up when his Daddy comes home. He really likes to try to steal Ben's blackberry while he is sending emails and gets truly excited to sit with Daddy while they watch football (not really anything else...just football). Hampton starts to squeal, so Ben turns up the TV...Hampton squeals louder, so Ben turns up the TV more...before you know it the living room is really loud :).

I'm excited for you all to see him soon. He has changed so much. I was just telling my mom, Hampton is more fun by the day and I don't know how I could love anything anymore than I love him! He continues to be the joy of our lives.




Hampton playing while Ben cleaned the garage.

Peas Please

On Hampton's 23 week birthday, he tried peas for the first time. Candice inspired me to try making my own baby food. So far, so good. The video shows his reaction to the first few bites, but by the end he was loving it.

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