First trip to Santa

We went to the Ellison's Poinsettia Festival this past Sunday in order to take pictures for our Christmas cards. The poinsettias were absolutely beautiful. If you have never been, I highly suggest checking them out. They have a 6.5' poinsettia tree that is amazing! It was only $650, so we bought 3!! LOL!!! I think that we got some good pictures, including ones with Colt and MeMe. Colt even sat on Santa's lap for the first time. No crying...this year! He was amazed at the beard and hat, as you can see in the pics! Hope everyone has a fantastic Thanksgiving!

Hayride at the Maurer's

Yesterday we enjoyed our first hayride at Jamie and Wesley's house! It was so nice to see so many of our new friends....as well as new faces! The hayride was a ton of fun. We sat in the "cry" section with Adrienne, Stephen and the triplets. I don't think the little ones were enjoying it as much as the big kids were. But it was still a lot of fun.

Being somewhat new to Brenham, we were pretty excited this year to go take pictures at Christ Lutheran's Pumpkin Patch! We had heard so many good things about it and were ready to see how our little man would do! The first day we went, Colt did fantastic. The bad thing is that they had not received their shipment of 600 pumpkins, so they were few and far between at that time. Still enough to take some great pictures, though. Colt was in a great mood and loved all the new surroundings, including the hay which he tried to eat! We decided to try again the following evening once they had gotten their shipment in. Colt was fussy, hadn't had an afternoon nap and just wasn't his normal smiling self. But....we still got some good pictures in...thanks to Betty helping out! Hope everyone has a great Halloween and Thanksgiving!

Washington County Fair and more...

Ok, so I am AWFUL at keeping this blog updated!! And I am told by my aunt Betty and my cousin by marriage (thanks Jamie) all the time!! So, sorry that this is long, but I have to get updated!!!

The Washington County Fair was two weeks ago and we had a GREAT time. We took Colt out there Wednesday and Thursday night, and he was fantastic. Of course I had to buy him a new outfit for his first fair....and cowboy boots seemed appropriate! Friday and Saturday was mommy and daddy time, so thank you MeMe for watching our little man. Cross Canadian Ragweed and Pat Green were great. We hung out with family and new friends!

Last weekend we made the long trek to Port O'Conner to visit the in-laws and to go to Heather and Michael's baby shower. We had a great time visiting family and friends that we do not get to see very often. Heather is a beautiful mom to be and we cannot wait to meet little Stratton. Despite the long drive, Colt was an angel!

6 Months Already

Colt went for his 6 month check up this week - and Dr. Bryant was AMAZED at how big he has gotten! He gained 2 pounds since his last visit! My little man is going to be a chunkey monkey!!! He is doing so well developmentally, but of you all know me....I want him to do BETTER!!! He is rolling all over the place and trying so hard to crawl! He scoots his little butt up and down, but ends up moving backwards instead of forwards! And you know that just makes him SOOO mad!!! We bought him a Little Tykes playscape at a garage sale....and he already loves the swing! Doing anything outside makes him happy! Especially if he can see the dogs playing, too!

And on another happy note....Jared and I celebrated our one year anniversary last weekend. It was actually the same day that Colt turned 6 months. I know, I know...I have done the math!!!!! Things just work out the way God wants it to!!!! Anyways, Jared got me the BEST PRESENT EVER!!!! We went to the Melting Pot, and at dessert he surprised me with tickets to go see Cheap Trick, Poison and Def Leppard!! It was AMAZING! We couldn't bring cameras in, otherwise I would have posted pics of Bret Michaels all over this thing! I knew every word to every song!!! For my gift to Jared...we are going to see Jeff Dunham next Friday. Can't wait!

So, as you can see...we have had a lot going on lately. I promise to try and update this thing a little more frequently!!!!

Growing up too fast...

We had a great weekend with the family once again! Friday night we went to visit the Maurer's for Kelcie's birthday! Happy Birthday Kelcie!!!! Saturday was a fun filled day with Jimbo's family reunion, Industry Bar-B-Q and auction, back to Brenham for Hot Nights Cool Tunes and back again to Silver Wings for more dominoes! It wasquite the day! Colt got to ride on a turtle for the first time with his Aunt Megan, and he skated with Uncle Jimbo! He loved it! He didn't like getting off his "schedule" and was a real cranky butt Sunday with mom and I in College Station. Once we got

home and back to his normal environment, he was fine! A crying baby makes for a long day away from home. Monday we had a very eventful dinner! Colt was so excited to be eating his squash, that he kicked the container out of my hands and it landed upside down on my leg! Somehow it got under the table, on my face, all over my shirt and who knows where else. Oh the fun!!

Just life...

So I know that I haven't written in a while, and SEVERAL people have gotten on to me about it!! Sorry about the delay...have just been so busy at work and home! As soon as we get home from work, another routine starts. Start dinner for mom and dad, get dinner together for Colt, feed Colt, feed mom and dad, bath time, bed time for Colt...by that time we are so tired that it is usually bed time for mom and dad as well!!! When we stray from our routine, Colt definitely lets us know, and mommy gets a little anxious. Our nanny was on vacation earlier in the week, so MeMe watched Colt on Monday and Wednesday. We had just gotten back from a long weekend of travel (we were in Port O'Conner for the 4th), and Colt was obviously not used to the 3 hours in a car. He was a very fussy baby on Monday. But the rest of the week, he was the perfect angel that we have gotten used to. It is amazing how much he is changing! He now sleeps (usually) at least 8-9 hours at a time. What a difference from just a month ago!!! I will post some updated pictures soon! Just a note about Jared and I....for the past 4 weeks we have drastically changed our diet and started exercising regularly. So far, I have lost 12 pounds and Jared is down 10! We are thinking about buying the P90X workout, which we have heard is fantastic! I know this isn't the most exciting blog, but I at least wanted to update it and let everyone know what is going on in our routine filled lives!!!

Fun in the Pool

Some friends of ours were kind enough to let use their pool while they are out of town...so we took them up on the offer!! We were very excited to see how Colt would react to his first "big" pool experience. I had bought him a small pool last week, just so he could sit in it and get used to the water. He really didn't know what to think! At least he didn't cry! When we went to the pool yesterday, we were a little nervous about how he would react, especially because there were several big dogs around. But...he ended up LOVING it! As soon as he realized he could kick in the water, his legs never stopped moving. We let him hang on one of the noodles in the pool, which made him just as content as could be! When one of the dogs decided to join us, Colt started to giggle so loud. It was priceless! These are the moments I live for these days. So I guess you can say that our first experience swimming was a GREAT one!!!

Colt's Special Day

My sweet angel Colt was baptized Saturday and we couldn't have asked for a more perfect day! The weather was amazing. A little hot, but still amazing. We had so many family members and friends there to celebrate with us. I want to send a very special thank you out to Betty and Jimbo for letting us have our party at their house. You two are the BEST! We love you so much! Thank you also to everyone that showed up to share in this blessed day with us and with Colt.

The baptism itself was great! Colt slept through most of it...until the priest poured the water on his head. His eyes flew open and he was looking around trying to figure exactly what was going on. Amazingly, though, he stayed quiet! The priest made a comment about how passive he was and asked if he was always like this. Everyone in unison laughed and said...NO!!! The rest of the day was filled with good food, good conversations and lots of games! We didn't get home until 12:30! It was a long day for Colt...and mom and dad!

I wanted to say thank you also to all of Colt's God Parents. Jason, Becky, Lindsey and Christen...you all mean the world to us and to Colt. We chose you all for very special reasons and we know that you will have a wonderful influence on our son's life

Kudos!!!

First and foremost, I need to thank Shelby Colley for helping me with my blog layout! I think it turned out great and I definitely couldn't have done it without her!!! SO, THANKS SHELBY! I am so computer and HTML illiterate! You never would have thought that I was initially a computer science major in college. But then I was also a math major, was going to be a teacher and coach, thought about being a personal trainer, then changed my mind and was going to be a sports agent.......and lo and behold I FINALLY became a PA! It is crazy how things change. Computer science to the medical field.....totally different!

Just a quick update on Colt....we changed him BACK to soy formula last week and he has been doing GREAT. I say "back" to soy because me being the impatient person that I am, I think that I tried every formula on the market. He went from doing great on Enfamil AR, to crying almost all night long. So, I changed him back to soy and he has been a different baby! This morning MeMe came over and Colt laughed and laughed out loud for her! He hasn't done that in a long while. This Saturday he is getting baptized, so we will have a full weekend of fun! We can't wait to see all of our family and friends! So, until then, I hope everyone has a great weekend!

Taking a break from eating his rice cereal

Pop and Colt hanging out on the back porch on Memorial Day

Colt sitting in his Bumpy, working on his neck muscles! He loves this thing!

My First Blog

Ok, so I got this idea from Jamie Maurer...and I am sure that it will take me a LONG while to get as good as she is at this. I wanted to find a way to keep everyone updated on our lives and the craziness that sometimes surrounds it. Just a quick low down....in the past year Jared and I learned we were expecting a baby, got married (was already in the plans), interviewed for a new job, moved to Brenham, started a new job, lived with my wonderful aunt and uncle Betty and Jimbo Hafner, moved into a rent house, had a beautiful baby boy, sold our house in Victoria, bought a new house in Brenham, moved into a new house.......deep breath! Yeah, that is ALL within a year. Maybe now our lives will start slowing down......yeah right, I doubt it. Anyways, I hope that I enjoy doing this and I hope that all of you will enjoy reading it! Any advice you have for me regarding blogs...feel free to let me have it!!! I added just a few pics that will get me started. More to come!

Jared and I on Valentine's Day. Just 9 days away from us meeting Colt!

One of the first pictures of Colt...Just 4 days old!

One of my absolute favorite pictures! This was one of his first smiles...and it sure was cute!