Football Frenzy

Lions, tigers, elephants, and blue devils! The football circus has started at our house! I can't believe fall and football season are already here. I love this time of year, and normally spend weeks anticipating it's arrival. This year it sort of snuck up on me. I'm still trying to fathom that my baby is already eight months old, and that a new school year has started, and now football too!

As you may know, we are a House Divided. In the past we have had fun with that: going to both teams' games, decorating, and of course throwing jabs now and then. Most of that continues, but now we have added ONE new little member to the team. A team that goes two ways, with one new member too young to decide for himself. Yep, it has created a greater divide. We are still working on how we will handle all situations. I had thought he would have an outfit for each and we would share time wearing each. That's what we had done up until now. He now also has UA pjs and a Big Al costume. At this rate my kind thought of "we'll let him decide on his own and be as unbiased as possible until he does" may not last another week. Of course, I do decide what he will wear most days, and do all the laundry ;). We have agreed that he will wear a House Divided shirt on game days. We've come up with two pretty cute ones so far.

More importantly than our rivalry, Brennan does like football! He went to his first game at Falkville Friday night. He spent most of the time staring at the loudest fans around us. Saturday we went to UNA. He really enjoyed that game. We had pictures made with Leo and Una, both the mascots and real lions. He watched everything, from the game and the band to all the fans around us.

Zoom! Zoom!

Zoom is what this month has done! Zoom is how you crawl now! Zoom is how fast you have changed! You are eight months old Brennan, and you have had an unbelievable month. You are hardly even the same baby we took on vacation a month ago. Our month started with me going back to work, and you beginning your sitter rotations. We are still settling into this new lifestyle, but you're adjusting pretty well. You and Daddy have a lot of fun on Mondays. One week you went to meet your Granddaddy Swafford, and another week you came to eat lunch with me and my class. Tuesdays and Wednesdays with Nonna and Papa are pretty exciting. You get to play with Maeleigh, visit friends and family, and get out and about a lot. You have been at home on Thursdays and Fridays with Bethany, and seem to enjoy relaxing there.

Your firsts this month have been amazing! I think you thought you needed to grow up real fast since I'm not with you every day. You have started eating finger foods and love puffs, Cheerios, banana pieces, and crackers. Your first two teeth have FINALLY come through. Your eating all kinds of vegetables now, and some meats. You began the month with waving bye-bye. Now you are waving and saying hi, saying ma ma, and da da (all the time). You are also crawling all over the place. You started with an inch worm crawl (raising up on your hands and knees then falling forward over and over). Last weekend you just took off. You have also pulled up on the ottoman and walked several steps around it. When I open the refrigerator you crawl as fast as you can to get to the door shelves. The bottom shelf is now empty :).

It doesn't seem like we have done a whole lot this month. I try to get home as soon as possible every day, and spend as much time with you as possible. It's never enough, but we play and have a lot of fun every day. We celebrated Papa's birthday this month. We also went to Brooks' first birthday party on the 13th. Today we are celebrating Joseph's first birthday at our house with a pool party, so you get a big celebration for your eight month birthday.

You are wearing twelve month clothes now, and weigh just over 20 lbs. Your hair has grown a lot, and is becoming more brown. Most people think you look like Daddy, but at school everyone thought you looked like me. I think you also look like your Granddaddy Swafford in the pictures. Your sleeping hasn't improved a whole lot. I'm ready to just get a big bed for your room, because you apparently really don't like your crib. You are using a big boy car seat in Daddy and Nonna's cars, and don't seem to mind them much. You do love getting into your infant seat in my car and playing with Giraffee, as we call him. You still love music, and often raise your hands and sing during praise and worship time at church. You also like: kids, dogs, the outdoors, going anywhere, greeting us when we get home, eating snacks (and anything else for that matter), being on the floor, and being talked to. You still don't like sleeping alone or loud noises. You are such an easygoing fellow, and smile all the time. You brighten every day! I love you to the moon and back!

7 Months

Happy 7 months Brennan! You are becoming such a big boy. You weigh about 20 lbs. and are about 27 inches long. You are moving into 12 month clothes now. You are a very happy little fellow, with a smile that lights up your whole face and our whole world.

It has been a fun month. We celebrated Independence Day with a swim party on the
3rd, and with friends and fireworks on the 4th. You woke up for the fireworks and watched like you saw them all the time. We celebrated Granny's birthday with cake and ice cream at their house on the 9th. You attended your first wedding, for Brandon and Emily, on July 17th. We hosted a supper club that night, and your friend Connor came to play. A big event this month was our trip to Gulf Shores. It was our first family vacation, and your first stay away from home. You are such an easygoing little guy, and traveled very well. We left at 5 a.m., so I just got you out of bed and put you in the car. You slept for the first 3 1/2 hours of the drive. When you woke up we stopped for gas, and to feed and change you. I found a surprise when I took you out of the carseat. You had one of the most messy diapers yet! I thought with the five bags that were packed for you that I had prepared for everything. I wasn't quite prepared for this one though. Luckily it did not get on your carseat, but I ended up throwing those p.js away. The rest of the trip was much less messy. The first time you touched the sand and felt the water you squealed and laughed. You loved holding the sand in your hands and tried to eat a little. Because of the large oil spill in the Gulf, the beaches were not crowded. We did not see any oil, but did see teams cleaning it up in different places. The pool had water shooting up at different places, and you loved to splash in it. You would soak your whole self, face and all, then just laugh. It was a great trip for us all.

You have tried more foods this month, and there is nothing you don't like so far. You love to eat! You sit up very well and are trying to crawl. So far you can go from sitting to a crawling position, and then scoot backwards. You also sit and turn in circles. Sometimes you scoot while sitting too. Mostly you prefer someone there to move you, but with a little fussing you will go on your own. You love to be held up to walk also. You still love to sing songs including: Itsy Bitsy Spider, Old McDonald, ABC, Wheels On the Bus, and Lover, Lover (since our country music on vacation). Playing on the floor is one of your favorite activities. You love to look at books, play ball, knock down stacks of blocks, and chew on everything. You've been trying over half your life now, but you still don't have a tooth.

There aren't many things you don't like these days. You don't like the sound of the food processor/ blender, and will cry if you're in the room. The only other thing you don't like is sleeping in your bed. You wake up repeatedly, and it takes awhile to get you back to sleep. You would prefer to just sleep with Mommy and Daddy, and that does happen. You are doing a little better in your bed now that I put you on your side. You'll sleep there until sometime in the middle of the night. I'm hoping this gets better quickly.

We go for a walk everyday. You sit back, kick your feet up, and relax in your stroller. Our routine has stayed pretty much the same so far. You nap around 11 a.m. most days, and then again around 2 p.m. You eat four times a day. You have a bottle at each feeding, one fruit a day, one veggie, and cereal twice. I think this is going to increase soon though. Our whole routine is about to change as well. We are about to have to start sharing each other everyday. I start back to work next week, and you'll start your rotations with Daddy, Nonna, and Miss Bethany. I've known for seven months that I would struggle with this change. I'm hoping you will take it in stride though. I'm going to miss our days together so much, but I will be so excited to see you every afternoon.

You are an amazing little boy Brennan Abbott! We love you so!

Down By the Sea Shore

There's nothing like a day at the beach to wash your cares away! We decided to support Alabama tourism this year, and go to Gulf Shores for a little vacation. I had not been there since junior high school I don't think. It turned out to be the perfect first family vacation for us. The drive was relatively short, and we were able to enjoy a few care free days together. Our condo was gorgeous, and had a great pool with it. The beach seemed fine, but double red flags were flying warning that there was oil present. We didn't spend as much time on the beach as I would normally want to, but we did manage to capture plenty of pictures while we were out there. Brennan loved it all, including the sand he tried to eat! After he blessed us with a super messy diaper only a few hours from home, and by the way those clothes went in the trash, he was the perfect travel companion the rest of the time.

We spent our days lounging by the pool, eating great food, shopping, and enjoying the roar of the waves. On our way into town, we stopped to eat at Lambert's. It was a new experience for me, pretty cool but way too much food. We walked that off at the outlets, and snagged a few good deals while we were there. LuLu's was our next fun stop on our second day. The food was great, and I loved all the bright colored furniture, etc. We went for lunch so we didn't get the whole experience I don't think, but it was pretty neat to see. That night we just wanted a little something, and we wandered into The Hangout. I don't remember hearing about it from anyone before, but it turned out to be so much fun. It is open air dining, with a sand dune outside for the kids to play on and live music for the adults. As soon as we sat down they started a game that everyone in the restaurant could participate in, then there was participation music and dancing. At one point people were running and dancing around the restaurant to the song Shout, while tossing paper napkins everywhere. Pretty funny to watch! We also visited The Original Oyster House, Mellow Mushroom, and several souvenir shops throughout our stay. Our last food stop was Sweetie Pies. Um, Um, Yum! We had their breakfast sandwich and a slice of chocolate pecan pie. Needless to say, we were stuffed the whole trip. It was a fantastic start to what we hope will be a great family tradition.

This Old House :\

As my summer days quickly wind down, I've been trying to finish up a few house projects. Two of our bathrooms did not get painted last summer, and they needed a splash of color. One also sported a lovely medicine cabinet and hollywood light.


The other still enjoys a brass fixture and shutters.

As some of you know, every project in this house has brought a surprise, and these did not disappoint. They are painted, and I think the colors are an improvement. Unfortunately, they are still not complete. I had not planned to finish the shutters and brass fixture quite yet. That will come soon. But, I had thought the other bath would be complete. It is currently our master bathroom while we stay at B's end of the house. It will eventually be a guest bath. I had a new light fixture, mirror, and window shade ready to go. Our first surprise came when Mike took down the old medicine cabinet. There was a nice big whole behind it.



Apparently an old medicine cabinet had been in the wall, and this meant my mirror would not work. Surprise #2 came when he tried to install the light. It had been centered over the old, old medicine cabinet which was not over the current sink. That means my current light will not work, unless I want it a foot away from the sink. Next he tried to put up the window shade, just a simple matchstick shade. Simple if the hardware is included in the box, and it was not. If we weren't ready for vacation before now, this did it. We'll tackle these surprises another day! For now, we'll continue to have a house full of half finished baths.

Happy Birthday America!

We've had a great weekend celebrating our independence with friends and family. The weather has been perfect for outdoor festivities, and that seems rare for Alabama summers. Saturday we hosted our annual 4th of July party with friends and family. (and I forgot to take any pictures.) Today started with the singing of patriotic songs as a family. Yes, for real. Mike's new phone has several on it, and he shared with B and I before we got out of bed. We had friends over for lunch and swimming, then went to my grandparents for ice cream. We ended our night at Point Mallard with friends watching the fireworks. I have a wide awake baby in my arms at almost midnight, but that's ok. He enjoyed his first 4th of July.

Picture Day!

All teachers, and a lot of parents I'm sure, know how picture day at school can be. You might think the circus was coming to town the kids get so excited! Yesterday was baby B's second picture day, and I think his mommy was just that excited. The last time he had pictures taken he looked like this:


So tiny! He was only 5 weeks old, and I was so nervous of how it would go. Tonya did a wonderful job of calming my nerves, and capturing his precious little expressions.

Yesterday felt completely different. B is such a happy little guy right now, and he can't go anywhere yet, so I couldn't wait to see what Leslie would capture. He wore a pair of overalls that had been mine, and we went out to my parents' farm. He did great, and it was a lot of fun. I think Leslie also did a great job of capturing him. Here are a few of what we've seen so far: