A little boy and his pool

Yesterday was such a great day! It was Saturday, the weather was beautiful and we spent most of the day outside. I needed a day like yesterday.

JT has discovered the swimming pool....dun dun da.......and now it's on like donkey kong. He's now at the age where he knows what he wants and is starting to throw a fit for it....OH JOY!! We will let Copper out in the mornings and he'll start kicking his legs and reaching his arms for the back door because he wants to go outside. And when I don't go, he starts that whinny cry. Then when we put him in his walker he'll go to the back door, stare out the door and fuss. The boy just loves it outside!!

Today we had some friends over with their little boy, Benjamin, who is 2 weeks younger than JT. We decided to dip the boy's feet in the pool just to see what they would do. JT LOVED IT!! He as bending over trying to get his hands in too. Of course he was ticked when I took him out. We had a storm here last week and the rain cooled the pool temperature off to 70 degrees...burrrr. I know for those of you up north, 70 is pretty warm, considering the lakes don't get that warm even in August, but here that's just a bit chilly. Anyway, the cool water didn't even phase him, he was all over it. I guess we'll be swimming sooner that I thought.

Here some more pictures......


Out back in his walker watching daddy net the leaves
Trying to grab the camera and excited about it too (I just love this face!)
Trying so hard to make it up the slight incline so he can check out the pool

JT and Benjamin testing the waters.....so cute!

Daddy's boot camp

Last weekend I went on a Women's Retreat with some friends and left little JT and daddy home alone for 2 days and 2 nights. When I came home on Sunday I was expecting a look of relief on Travis's face and total joy from JT to see his mommy. Whatever! Those boys not only survived....they thrived!! Travis said he had a ton of fun, JT was like "hey, mom" when I came in and Travis got JT to sleep through the night while I was gone!! What!? Of course my 1st question was, "did you just let him cry?" but I guess he didn't wake up once on Friday night and Saturday night he kind of grunted around 3 am, but when Travis didn't go running in there, he just went back to sleep. Hmmm....guess mommy was the issue not JT. None the less, I'm totally enjoying getting 8 hours of sleep now, it's soooo nice.

At the retreat we watched a Beth Moore Conference..."Loving Well". If you have never seen Beth Moore I HIGHLY recommend it if given the chance or maybe reading one of her books. She has such a gift for relating to women through hilarious stories and her love for the Lord is so inspiring. This is the 2nd time I have seen her and she was even better than the 1st.

Here's some more pics......I think he is the most adorable little baby in the world!



Sitting out back while mommy cleans the pool. He's starting to scoot a little now, so hanging out back by the pool is going to be a challenge
My shirt does not lie!! I don't like to lay in the bouncy seat anymore, I like to sit up and try to launch myself.....such a boy!
LOVES LOVES LOVES my friend Bekah's baby swing, so we got him one for our house. Now just waiting for Saturday so daddy can hang it up.
Not the best picture of JT's little friend Sammy, but I thought it was a cute pic of JT. My friend Bekah lives in the cultural district of Ft Worth, where the houses are old and have HUGE front porches.....JT and I love going to Bekah's....it's like a mini-retreat for us!!
Splashing in the bath tub.....that boy can soak a bathroom floor in no time.

Wow!

That's it...WOW!! We were recently struck by the croup virus here and let me tell ya IT SUCKS!! Poor little guy, he was sick sick sick. But finally after 10 days we are doing good, now it's a struggle to get him back on his going to sleep schedule with out the help of mommy. It's hard not to spoil them when they are sick, but I think next time I'll think twice about it because getting him back has been really hard on him and twice as hard on me.

Well JT is finally 6 months old, or some days I guess I would say..wow is he already 6 months? Just depends. I was going through some clothes in his drawer that he has out grown and kind of got emotional thinking about when he was first born and how he'll never be that little again. He also has been weaning himself away from hugs and cuddles. He's just on the move. Did I mention before that he has been walking since he was about 4 1/2 months? Of course not on his own, but all you have to do is hold the little guys hands and we are off! Now that's all he wants to do and my back is killing me. Getting him to sit down in front of a toy after walking around for a bit is a chore. He stiffens up his back and legs and refuses to sit down. Smart little bugger! He also has master going up one step. For those of you that haven't been to our house we have a sunken in living room that you step down into about 4 inches and he has already learned to lift that chubby little leg up to go into the kitchen or down the hallway...so cute!

Well here's some more pictures. Have a good week!

More pics!

Pictures from when we went up north to visit family!!

Papa Mike-n-me watching the Outdoor channel, he's teaching me about Caribou hunting!!

My cousin Sarah loving on me
I'm excited to be up this morning!!
Getting dressed. Papa Mike took on the rigorious task...I sure hate my clothes!
My cousin Sarah really really loves me....c-a-n'-t b-r-e-a-t-h

I'm in shock...I didn't know a bath tub could be so big!
What the heck is this stuff falling? Can I eat it?
My oldest cousin, Trent. I LOVE him, he's so cool and he carries me every where he goes!
Papa Ed playing with me, he seems to really like me
I'm a pro at this plane traveling thing!

oh, er, a-l-m-o-s-t....ahhh there, I GOT IT!!
Ok folks, this is how you hold your bottle
The babe holding me is one of my favs, Kari. She's the mom of my soon-to-be-born Bro!
I love lots of blankies to cuddle with
Just relaxin on the couch.

Pictures!!

Daddy taught me how to hold my own bottle!
Getting ready to go swimming!

1st step in......oh so warm, just like my bath except bigger
It was only 1' deep so walking was a breeze, only my knees kept floating up with each step :-)

Just floating
The next morning sitting in the big bed while mommy packed
Watchin Elmo's World.....it's my fav!!
The view of the atrium from our hotel room. I LOVED watching all the people walking around in the lobby below.

So bummed

I FORGOT THE CAMERA CORD...AUGH!!! Why oh why. I know that when I get back I'll get busy and forget to post the pics and they are so cute!! I took JT swimming yesterday afternoon and he was all business. No smiles, just serious look on his face checking it all out, but then after dinner we all 3 went and he was LOVING swimming with daddy. I think it's because it was something new when I took him not because he likes daddy more....that's my story and I'm sticking to it!

I know one thing is for sure, I sure could get used to these swanky hotels. But how could you not, the staff bends over backwards to please you and they treat you like your a famous rock star. Of course I think I'm getting extra special treatment because I tote around an adorable baby, but none-the-less, I think I could move in. But reality is setting in as I pack us up this morning to get ready to leave this afternoon. I told Travis how much I loved it and his response...."gee, JT is sure doesn't take mommy very long to get used to things that are expensive...too bad daddy is cheap." In other words, if XTO wasn't paying for this we'd be at the Holiday Inn. Oh I still love him.

Well need to finish packing it up, cause we are headed to the Galleria and the Cheesecake Factory.....YUM!!

Have a good weekend!

Houston, we have a problem

Well not really, but we are in Houston. JT and I came with Travis to Houston last night for a little mini-vacation. Travis has a class here today and tomorrow, so we thought we would tag along for some fun! We're staying in uptown Houston (west of downtown) at the Mariott. JT and I plan to go swimming today at the indoor pool and hot tub, I can't wait to see how he takes to the water. I'll try and get some pics, but if not, Travis said that he wants to go swim with him tonight after his class...so maybe I'll snap a few then.

I can say that I'm not a fan of Houston because it is s- o-o-o-o BIG (sometimes Ft Worth is too big for me) but the area we are in is pretty nice. Tomorrow we are going to the Galleria to see what the big deal is about that place. I know we have one close to us in Dallas, but as Travis and I like to say, "life is too short to go to Dallas", so I'll just check this one out in Houston. Besides they have a Cheesecake Factory there, so that alone is worth the trip. If you've ever ate at a Cheesecake Factory you would understand.

I'll post some pics tomorrow morning, while JT naps. By the way I am just full of praise to God for answering my prayer last night...JT not only did GREAT riding in the car seat for 4 hours but he also did wonderful falling asleep last night and staying asleep in the hotel. I thought for sure it would be a chore, but nope, he did really well! Yea!!!

And just to rub it in for all of you freezing up north, here's the weather forecast for Houston today from NOAA.......
Today: Mostly sunny, with a high near 70. South wind between 10 and 20 mph, with gusts as high as 25 mph.
Of course wind like that would be considered "breezy" in Wyoming. HA! HA!