Bowline Knot - The Ultimate Knot

We recently bought Hampton a kid's swing for the tree in our front yard. Ben went out to hang it one night and came in after only a few short minutes. "I need you to look up how to tie a bowline knot," he said. "Papa taught us how to tie one with one hand and our eyes closed when we were little, but I can't figure it out." We found a great knot-tying website and practiced a few times before we climbed up the ladder. It was a little different trying to tie it around a tree. After lots of laughs we hung the swing, and it's even level! Papa would be so proud and Hampton is LOVING his swing. He bangs on the front door wanting to go outside and if he hears a door open he kicks it into high gear to make it out before it closes. The weather has been beautiful and we have truly enjoyed being outside.

Check out those bubbles he's blowing :)

We have a blue bird nest in our backyard. The parents always attack Sydney when she goes near it. The other day, Ben called us into the office to look at one of the babies. This was Hampton's first experience with a wild animal...and this one was WILD. He was very interested, but probably would not have been very gentle. I love that he is so interested in animals!!! He's like his mommy.

Spring

Over the past few weeks we have had some fun outings. The weather has been pretty so the park and the Dallas Arboretum have been calling our names. Here are a few pictures from our spring fever.

Getting some exercise with Caleb

The Dallas Arboretum

Such a big boy standing up

Fresh cut grass...yummy!

Any tips on using photo shop to get rid of those orange cones?

He loved the soft green grass (unlike at home)

Look at me!!!

All that fun wore him out

He is CRAZY about his Daddy!

Playing tough with Caleb

1st baseball hat...

"Get this nasty OU thing off my head"

I've put this off long enough!

I would like to blame my blogging absence on our super crazy busy life, but the truth is...I just haven't had the desire. It has been a long time since I posted about our family, so I'm sure this will be a long one.

In March, we went to South Carolina with Gran and Poppy. Hampton and I flew out on a Wednesday evening. Our flight was quite a challenge since we were crammed into a 6 inch seat next to a man who was trying to sleep. Hampton did not want to follow his example and squirmed the ENTIRE time. Needless to say, we spent most of our flight "playing" in the isle and in the front by the cockpit. Hampton and I got to spend 4 full days at The Cliffs outside of Greenville. The Cliffs is a golfing community with great restaurants and wellness centers. The first night we had a wonderful dinner with white table cloths and everything. This was Hampton's first fancy dinner. I was a little nervous about how he would behave since we had been traveling all day and he hadn't napped well. His behavior was great, but he threw up all over Gran and the fancy white table cloth. We managed to catch most of it, but it was still an embarrassing mess. The next day, Gran and I got massages while Poppy watched Hampton. Just before we left, I put Hampton down for a nap and told Poppy that we would probably be back before he woke up, so it should be pretty easy. He assured me that Hampton would have a dirty diaper while we were gone and he would end up changing it. Sure enough...before he fell asleep he had a dirty diaper and cried until Poppy cleaned up. He never naps with dirty britches. Ben joined us Thursday night after his meetings. All 5 of us played golf on Friday morning. It was overcast and cold, but Hampton was a trooper. Gran and I played alternate ball for the first 9 holes. Let's just say I didn't contribute much to our journey to the hole :). Hampton and I spent the afternoon resting while everyone else finished the round. Saturday the boys played golf while Gran, Hampton and I went to a small town for a "funsie" lunch. We strolled along main street and ducked into a few little shops, but ended up spending our money on treats from a bakery and a few toys for H. Gran bought him a wooden shapes puzzle and magnets that spell his name. He loves the magnets!!! When he is in the kitchen he always plays with them. His new found trick on the trip was waving. We have been trying to get him to wave for awhile, but for some reason he loved waving at Gran...and eventually everyone else.
Hampton was a trooper!!! We went to some fancy restaurants and he was perfect. On more than one occasion we were at the dinner table for more than 2 hours and he remained content. We have been blessed with such a precious boy...I'm a little nervous about his future siblings ;). He has spoiled me!
Before Hampton and I flew home on Sunday, we went for a nature walk. The weather was perfect and we enjoyed the scenery. We all talked about how much fun it will be when our WHOLE family gets to go to The Cliffs. Hampton and I flew home Sunday evening and it went much better than our flight out. We had 2 seats to ourselves on the front row with lots of room to play on the floor.

Thank you Gran and Poppy for such a great trip!

Downtown Greenville

Sweet Poppy

Golf Course with Gran

Not a Huge Fan of the Prickly Grass

The Boys

The Waterfall on Our Nature Walk

Our Sweet Family of Three

His Newest Trick...Waving

Ridin' on Daddy's Shoulders

Playing Like a Big Boy on the Plane

At Home, Playing with His Magnets

Baby Jayde went home to Jesus early this morning. Kanyon is doing well. Please, continue your faithful prayers.

PLEASE PRAY!!!

Many of you will not know these people or ever meet them. But all of you can affect their life dramatically through your diligent prayers.

Some friends of mine from ACU, Jaymie (Spencer) and Kory Phillips were expecting twins. At just 25 weeks the babies were born on Monday. Doctors tried to stop the process, but ended up delivering the babies. They are in NICU in Longview, TX and are battling the first crucial days of their lives. The babies are Jayde and Kanyon. Jayde weighed 1lb 12oz and Kanyon weighed 1 lb 9 oz. Please lift this sweet family up in your prayers as often as you are amazed by the blessings in your life. You can read updates on the family at http://thephillipsphamily.blogspot.com. Thank you so much!!

Well, it's official. As of Tuesday March 20, Hampton can stand all by himself. He can't get to the standing position on his own yet. But if we stand him up he can balance until he wants down. He can even squat to pick something up and then stand again. I must admit that I am proud...he's the only baby in our little group who can stand alone. But as proud as I am, I'm a little sad because my baby boy is growing up too fast. I know his first steps are rapidly approaching. I'm not sure I'm ready :).

He is my treasure!

New Things

Today, I felt one of Hampton's top teeth coming in. It has already broken through and I didn't even know it. Now he has 3 on the bottom and 1 on the top. He's such a big boy.
Tonight when I was feeding Hampton I asked him if he was "all done" and signed it to him. He answered by shaking his head no and when I asked if he wanted more, he grunted. After I gave him some more Cheerios I asked him again if he was finished. This time, he signed "all done". I was so excited and cheered for him. He smiled really big and kept signing "all done, all done". PRECIOUS BOY! I realize that this was probably a total fluke, but I would like to think he is super smart! A fluke or not, I am one proud mommy!!!

Story Time

Hampton has started to love his books...expecially the ones with parts he can touch and move. Reading to him is about the only way to get him to sit still. Ben really likes reading to him. He is amazed that Hampton will sit still while he reads him book after book. I love these pictures...my precious boys!

Hampton was not himself last week. He ran a fever most of the week and wanted to cuddle all the time. His Motrin made him feel much better :)! He was cutting another tooth...on the bottom. He is working on his 3rd tooth on the bottom and doesn't have any on top. He is feeling much better this week and is back on his regular sleeping schedule. Today was the first time he woke up during his nap and put himself back to sleep after fussing for about 15 minutes. He is becoming a big boy.

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?