{Our Trip Home to Texas} Part 1

We had a great visit back home in Texas!  We got to see lots of family, friends, and Texas warmth :)  Our flight home was on October 23rd and Parker did great.  We had a connecting flight in Memphis and that worried me a little, but the plane really helps put him to sleep and he took a nap on both flights...whewww.  We met up with Mark and Sherry at the Houston airport. Their flight landed about an hour after ours and we all headed back home to La Grange.  Kimberly and Mom were anxiously awaiting and met up with us in La Grange to bring us home to Hallettsville.  We got to see the Hebert's new hot tub and barn...they were awesome...can't wait to use them over Christmas!  Kimberly finally got to play with Parker...it was a long 5 months!

We made a trip to see Great Grandma Freytag in Schulenburg.  She loves Parker!

Cutest video of the two!!!  Makes me smile :)

Wednesday we headed to Katy to spend time with the cousins.  It was a mad house :)  The three of them got along great and I hate that they don't get to play more.  Auntie Rebecca also came by to have a few more hours with Parker :)  Thursday morning Parker and I got to go to the Halloween party at Aubrey and Luke's school...all of the little kids were soooo cute dressed up.

We love our Aunt Kristin!

Man time with Uncle Christopher

Thursday afternoon the Knights arrived in Texas!!!  It was so good to see them...I felt like it had been forever.  Olivia and Cooper were so grown up and are becoming such beautiul/handsome young adults. 

Waiting for the Knights on Nana and Pop's new pier!

Parker finally got to meet his Great Aunt Ali :)

Friday was the start of the annual Czhilispiel...chili cooking festival.  This year was a little different for the crew.  We weren't able to stay at Grandma's house so everyone crashed out at Hackberry.  A bunch of dentists all under one roof...makes for some interesting conversations :)

Saturday Parker and I woke early to head to College Station for the Aggie game and Parker's first Hullabaloo Tailgate, instead of heading to Flatonia for the chili cookoff.  We got to see Beth, Tiffany, and Kari...love me some college buddies!!! 

Continued in Part II......

Eight Months

Dear Parker,

you are EIGHT months old!!!

You are wearing mostly size 6-9 months.

You wear a size 3 diaper.

This month has been full of milestones!!!  It has been fun! You are ON THE GO!!!  You are crawling everywhere - you chase after Sully's bones all day and love his water bowl!  I can't just leave you in the room by yourself anymore without quickly coming back to check on you.  You move so fast and have cute little carpet burns on your knees...ouchy.

You want to be down now when we hold you so church is becoming more of a challenge.  You love to stand and bounce all the time too.  So anything you can hold on to by yourself like the couch, our foot stool, a box...you just love to pull yourself up and stand and see the world.

You take two good naps, sometimes three, a day.  One in the morning still for about an hour and one in the afternoon for about 1.5 to 2 hours.  Lately you have been taking a snoozer nap around 5 or 6-ish, which is a hard time to get your dinner in.

You are still getting up at night.  Most of the time you will quickly fall back asleep and I only have to get you around 3 or 4 am.  However, that is not always the case :)

Some people say you look exactly like your Mommy and some say you look exactly like your Daddy.  Your personality is always cheery, full of smiles, and you still never get too fussy ever. You have the sweetest little spirit and I love when you smile really big, your eyes sparkle, and you show off your dimples!

You have two teeth - the ones on the bottom.  No associated words yet...only babbling :) Although you do make the sounds for momma and dadda.

 

You are still pretty easy to take places.  You are really good when we are out and about as long as you are feed and not sleepy!

You are a fairly good eater! You eat two to three meals a day of baby food and you LOVE puffs.  Your favorite is still sweet potatoes...we now like yogurt and love carrots too.  We are still working on the greens...must have got that from your Daddy.  You seem to have pretty good fine motor skills - you are very good at feeding yourself puffs!

I love you SO much! You are my sweet baby boy! We all love you and are so thankful for you!
Love, Mommy


Milestones:
Crawling
Crawling to sitting
Pulling up
Standing by self

Our First Snow!

The weather man finally predicted right and we got our first snow on Saturday!!!  We got about 1-2 inches and unlike Texas, it is still on the ground :)  It was a beautiful sight to see however, winter is here and it's cold.  We were in Mankato, about an hour away, celebrating Lance's 30th Birthday when the snow started to fall and I had to drive home for the first time in snow.  It was a little nerve racking to say the least!  Any time a slid just a little I kinda freaked out.  Give me a few weeks and I will be a pro :)

Our House...before we added a few more lights.

Friday evening Patrick and I celebrated our anniversary.  We had a wonderful date at the sushi place in town...and yes, I finally got Patrick to try and order sushi.  He loved it!

Saturday night we had a surprise bday party for Lance.  He had a grand time! He is a Tennessee fan and Jen decorated everything in orange.

And Sunday, we went to mass, hung a few more Christmas lights, and attempted to take a picture for our Christmas cards using the Gorillapod.  Unfortunately the Gorillapod doesn't make funny noises or jump up and down to make Parker laugh...oh well :)

I love my hubby!

Four years ago I married my sweet hubby...how time flies!  I've enjoyed every minute of it and can't wait for many, many more years.  Thank you schmoopie for always being yourself and always being there for me.  I love you always!

On the Move...videos!!!

Parker is now mobile!!!!!  Last week he went from rocking back and forth to crawling from one end of the room to the other.  Our little boy is growing up...and is into everything now.  Check out the videos...

Initial attempts at crawling...November 5-8...more of an army crawl.

Now there is no stopping him...November 9-13!  He loves to try and get Sully's bone from him...he will chase him around the room....it's hilarious :)  I need to get a better video of it.

He is starting to pull up on things and stand....go Parker!

Going from crawling to sitting and back to crawling...

Gramma and Grampa's Visit to MN

I am a little behind on my posts because we have been super busy travelers!  So hopefully I will catch everyone up soon.  First off, Gramma and Grampa's visit to Minnesota...

It was jam packed and loads of fun!

Parker and I picked them up from the airport Thursday morning, October 20th and we decided to hang out in St. Paul and explore a little.  We headed straight for the Cathedral of St. Paul!  Another trip for me which I love and I knew they would appreciate the beautiful architecture and history.

Cathedral made out of Legos!!!

From there we headed to downtown St. Paul which I had not been to yet.  There were lots of neat buildings, the weather was nice a crisp, and we ate a great lunch at the Great Waters Brewing Co.  Mark and Sherry enjoyed trying their different beers out :) Before heading back south we stopped at the Raspberry Island.  It is an island in the middle of the Mississippi River!  I didn't get any pics because Parker was taking his nap.  The Minnehaha Falls were next on the agenda.  Since Parker was sleeping the last time we went, I finally got to see them!  And they were pretty awesome...nature is just amazing.

We had plans to stop by the Mall of America, but we were all pretty tired and ready to head back to Owatonna.  Friday Patrick worked a half day and we all just lounged around the house and relaxed until he came home.  We then headed to another apple orchard, Trump's, in Faribault.  We got a few pumpkin pictures as well :)

 I know how the Hebert's love their wine...so we headed to the Indian Island Winery that afternoon in Waseca.  We tasted our wines and grabbed a bottle to sit by the campfire and drink!

We ended the day eating dinner at the Boat House Grill in Waseca.  It was right on a huge lake and the view was fabulous!

Saturday we woke bright and early for the A&M vs Iowa State game!  We drove about 2.5 hours to Iowa, pulled up the pickup in a grassy field, set up or chairs and washers, hung our Aggie flag, and had an awesome tailgate before the 2 pm game.  The tailgating atmosphere was great...Patrick cooked chili for us to eat for lunch and it was delicious.

Parker's First Tailgating Experience and Aggie Game!!!

Parker got to meet the yell leaders for the first time and got a pic with them.

Headed into the stadium...game time!

Parker looks so tiny...Maybe someday :)

2nd Quarter Snooze on Daddy

The Aggies won, the weather was perfect, and Parker did great during the whole game!  After the game we headed back the the truck and had another bowl of chili before making the drive back home.

Sunday Parker and I had our flight back to Texas two hours before Gramma and Grampa headed back, so they dropped us off at the airport and they went to mass at the Basilica of St. Mary's in downtown Minneapolis.  They said it was a beautiful mass and the church was very pretty.  By the time it was over they headed back to the airport for their flight.  Parker and I met up with Gramma and Grampa in Houston once we all landed and we headed to LG!  What a weekend...good times and good memories :)  Too many pics for the blog so click on the smilebox to see more.

Another slideshow by Smilebox

First of November

Here is my monthly backyard picture post!  It has definitely changed since the first of October...no more leaves on the trees and of course it is colder, although you can't tell that from the pics.  Right now it is in the low 50's during the day and high 20's/low 30's at night.  No snow yet...yeah!!!  I'm excited for it, but I don't mind it waiting a few more weeks :)

First of October...

 Mid-October...

First of November...Our last two green trees our now bright yellow!

Can't wait for the first of December pics...should be all white!!!  I may have to do a mid-November post if we have snow by then!