7 Months

Chloe, it's December 28, 2010 and you are seven months old today!

7 Months
12.28.10

You just celebrated your first Christmas! More on that later...

12.24.10

Your naps are still going well. When you are tired, you are pretty easy to get to sleep. That may seem like an obvious statement. I know there are moms out there that can relate when I say that a sleepy baby does not always mean you'll have a sleeping baby.

You are doing fantastic with solids. We have even tried a few table items like beans, french onion soup and wheat bread. I just give them to you here and there to see if you can chew, or use your pincher grip to get them in your mouth. We are also substituting formula some now. We started over the Christmas break and you seem to like it. It's hard for me to give up nursing completely. I think we both benefit from it.


Playing with Dad



You have four teeth now. You like to show off your teeth in pictures.

waiting for the ball to pop up

You sit up so well now. You won't put yourself into a sitting position but once you are in it you can maneuver around pretty well. You'll lay on your belly to grab something and then push yourself back up. You are getting so close to crawling. I hope by next month I can say you are...maybe I don't. haha.

My favorite thing recently has been my realization that you are actively imitating us. Since you were born, I've done this bobbing thingwith my head when your musical toys go off. Over Christmas, we all noticed that you were swaying your head when the music came on. You are imitating me and it is so cute. You also make a growling noise that is your version of what your Daddy and I do when we tickle you. It really drives home the notion that you are all eyes and we need to be setting a good example for you.

We love you, Miss Chloe!

1 Day until Christmas

Hope you are having as good a Christmas as my husband is...this is his
present from my brother. Mark could not be happier about it!

2 Days until Christmas

No pictures today.

Chloe is pooped and I'm busy loading the car. Chloe had a playdate with Gaél today . We went to the library for storytime and then we went to the park to swing. It made a happy mom and a tired baby. She's taking a nap before our first Christmas roadtrip!

Merry Christmas.

3 Days until Christmas

Yesterday was the single darkest day you will experience in your life due to the lunar eclipse that occurred on what was already the shortest day of the year.

And today is my favorite day of the year. Today the darkness will start to melt away and from now until the summer solstice, we will see more and more light. Spring is being ushered in, even on the first day of winter and darkest day of our lives.

Today I am reminded that our lives mirror nature.

I hope that even on our winter solstice kind of days, we can look ahead and see that inevitably things will start to brighten and spring is on its way.

People always say to live every day like it's your last. I do not believe that it's possible. We are all sucked in by the mundane; it's a part of life. But give your family an extra hug, say an extra 'I Love You!' and don't let the stress of the Holiday season take your focus away from the people and relationships you have. Some people won't have the opportunity to even take that time for granted this year.

4 Days until Christmas

My husband rocks, literally. I woke up to this present (iPod shuffle and iTunes gift card) this morning. I've been needing one for my runs since my old iPod is broken. Also, my mom came over to take me to lunch and she brought some fun goodies for me, too! But the best present was getting to see her! Happy New Year to me.

5 Days until Christmas

Saturday was one of our favorite days of the year! It was Stephanie's (Aunt Fannie) annual Christmas party. We only stayed until 10 p.m., an impressive 3 hours later than Chloe's bedtime! It was great to see everyone. Hopefully, as Chloe gets older, we can stay later.

Some great girls!

Family photo. Yes, my daughter glows!

Chloe and Maxine (a super babysitter!)

I didn't get to take pictures but I made these yummy treats and my traditional pigs in a blanket for the party. The pretzel kiss m&m's were so good! I am soooo making them again. Thanks for sharing the recipe, Ms. Emily Ann!

Also, totally ripped these photos off of Jessica via Facebook! Thanks, Jess!

6 Days until Christmas

Welcome home, Uncle Ben! The Army was nice enough to 'issue' Ben back to us for nearly two weeks over the Holidays. We picked him up from the airport this morning.

On the way to the airport, Chloe was fussing in the car. As soon as Ben got into the car, she stopped. She watched him the entire drive back to Nana and Grandpa's house. Too cute.

Ben's a lot more comfortable with her now that she's older.

Having trouble seeing him in his camo?

Aben los ojos. Por favor.
All the Granthamaniacs have trouble with it; even Chloe.

7 Days until Christmas

We officially have one week until Christmas Day!

Here are some images that made me smile...today and everyday.

Christmas cutie.

This cracks me up!

Not the Mama...remember that?

Can you have a duet on one guitar? Chloe thinks so.

Dad found an audience of one. She's still captive though.
We'll see what happens when she learns to crawl.

8 Days until Christmas

A week ago, I heard this song and wanted to beat my head against the car window until my brains fell out of my ear. Now, I think it's so cute. I wanted to create a 'best of' photo montage of Chloe's Christmas photo shoot and here it is accompanied by the most wonderfully awful Christmas song EVER.

Enjoy.

9 Days until Christmas

I'm stuck next door with no internet so I appologize for the lack of
creativity but I'm sure pics of this little girl MORE than make up for
it.

10 Days until Christmas

I explained to Chloe that a fat man in a red suit would be sliding
down our chimney to leave her presents. Not sure she likes the idea.

11 Days until Christmas

What does this Sonic cup have to do with Christmas? That's easy! It IS
Christmas in a cup all year long!

When I was living in Florida, I drove to another town just to get a
Sonic fix.

12 Days until Christmas

Oh, for the good old days when people would stop Christmas shopping when they ran out of money.  ~Author Unknown

While you are busy spending the bank's money this Christmas, remember that not everyone has that luxury (or curse, depending on how you view it) and give to someone that really needs it. 

13 Days until Christmas

Two of my favorites.

Illusion not Allusion

Seriously?

You would think I was an Aggie or something.

See this post or don't even worry about it.

14 Days until Christmas

12.5.10

Please note that Santa wears cowboy boots here in Texas!

15 Days until Christmas

I would argue that friends are as much a part of the Holidays as family. Chloe's friend Kennedy came over on Sunday to visit. It's so funny because the girls are aware of each other in a way that they weren't before now. All of the poking and grabbing makes it pretty interesting. Again, Kennedy is 10 days older than Chloe. It is not an optical iillusion that Chloe is larger. My child, compared with other family members, is a giant like her parents. I regret that I didn't get many facial expressions from Chloe. It's a product of the angle in which I was filming. I have to be close to her in case she decides to be untrue to her Weeble form and actually fall down.

Enjoy!

16 Days until Christmas

My favorite Christmas carol, quite possibly my favorite song, of all time sung by one of my favorite singers (make fun if you want). I wish I could sing half as good as Celine Dion. This song gives me goose bumps EVERY time I hear it (no matter who is singing)! Merry Christmas to you all.

If You Give a Baby Candy.

I've been waiting to share this until our Christmas cards had arrived at everyone's house. I  know a few people got them yesterday so I'm going to share this now.

Remember the story 'If You Give a Mouse a Cookie?' Well, here is the granthamaniac version...

I decided it would be super cute to have my 'elf' holding a lollypop in her Christmas photo. Now, before you all start geeking out, you need to know that she didn't have the sucker very long AT ALL. She had hardly any sugar and she won't be getting any more any time soon.

But, it didn't seem to matter because here is how the photo shoot went:



At first, she didn't know what it was.




So she patted it.




And studied it.




And tried to play it like a guitar.




When that didn't work. She tried to eat it. (Like everything else.)




She decided it was yummy!




And chowed down.



So mommy had to take it away.

17 Days until Christmas

Look what Old Navy had at their store!!

18 Days until Christmas

Guess who has a front tooth popping through her gum line today? That's
right Chloe finally decided what she wants for Christmas and Santa
delivered early! Her two front teeth will be here by Christmas, if not
sooner.

19 Days until Christmas

Do you think Chloe is holding this candy cane upside down? Read on...

don't worry...the wrapper is still on the candy. No sugar highs for this kiddo.

I remember my mom telling us this story when we were little. I believe it came with a Candy Cane and a note card with the following story printed on it. I love this story because it helps remind me of the true meaning of Christmas. Every time I see a candy cane I remember this story (and I think of my mom).

A candymaker in Indiana wanted to make a candy that would remind people of the true meaning of Christmas; so he made the candy cane to incorporate several symbols for the birth, ministry, and death of Jesus Christ. He began with a stick of pure white, hard candy. White to symbolize the Virgin Birth and the sinless nature of Jesus, and hard to symbolize the Solid Rock, the foundation of the Church, and the firmness of the promises of God.


The candymaker then shaped his cane into the form of a "J" to represent the precious name of Jesus, who came to the earth as Savior. It could also represent the staff of the "Good Shepherd" with which He reaches down to to reclaim the fallen lambs who, like sheep, have gone astray.

Thinking that the candy was somewhat plain, the candymaker stained it with red stripes. He used three small stripes to show the stripes of the scourging Jesus received. The large red stripe was for the blood shed by Christ on the cross so that we could have the promise of eternal life.

source

20 Days until Christmas

Dear, Santa...
...Love, Chloe

We are off to go get pictures with Santa! They are sure to be cute since I'm wearing this jumper that Shorty made me.

21 Days until Christmas

Mark's coaching all day at a lacrosse tournament. Chloe and I went to visit! We got there right as the game was over because Chloe was taking too long to get ready. Typical girl. She wanted to look nice for Dad.

Dad giving Chloe her first pep talk.

22 Days until Christmas

Well, again my plans were thwarted by destiny. My original post was going to be on the Candy Cane. Maybe I'll do that one later...

Who needs Snow? We make our own!

A box from Personal Creations arrived at my door around noon. That wonderful box made my day! More on them in a moment. This is the second of two packages that I've received from that company and they LOVE to send packing peanuts. We don't get much snow in Austin (twice since I've moved here and it's too warm to stick). So upon seeing all these Styrofoam peanuts, I thought to myself that Chloe would have a white Christmas after all!

Now more on Personal Creations...they are affiliated with Proflowers which is where I ordered my wedding flowers. That's right! My wedding flowers were mailed to my door by a catalog/Internet company and they were amazing! Totally recommend them and Personal Creations, both. No, they are not paying me to say this...I just think you should check them out. I found a few good things from Personal Creations for Christmas gifts and it's also where I found my awesome Christmas stockings.

New stockings...hung by the chimney with care...

23 Days until Christmas

You get two pictures today! The feature is our Christmas tree. The past two years we have chosen to go with a real tree. I think next year we will move to fake. I will miss the smell but I will not miss stringing lights.

One tradition we keep in our house is the eclectic tree 'theme.' We all get a new ornament each year that represents us in a unique way. For example, I got a car ornament when I was 16 and I had a runner ornament in 2000. Mark and I chose to hold on to that concept/tradition rather than buy matchy theme ornaments. It's fun to reminisce when you are hanging up the old ornaments.

This year Chloe got her 'Baby's First Christmas' ornament. I bought Mark a lacrosse player ornament and we all got our initials for the tree, including a 'G' for the family ornament. The Texas Tech ornament in the middle is old, but it's where Mark and I met so I featured it. The picture ornaments are a new tradition that Mark and I started when we married. Every year we buy a frame ornament and put a picture from that year in it. In 20 years, we'll have a tree full of pictures! I'm sure you've noticed that this year's frame still has the 'hallmark' family in it. I'll change it soon.

24 Days until Christmas

I'll confess right now that this is not my idea. See here. I think this is a FANTASTIC idea. (For those of you unwilling to see what I'm talking about, I'll give a quick synopsis. It's a Christmas countdown. I'm not sure where this will lead or what I'm going to do but I'll figure it out as I go...like I do everything else.)

24 Days to Christmas!

This isn't really how I wanted to start this calendar. But, then I thought why not? It's the truth; it's how we started our December. Chloe got her 6 month shots today. It breaks my heart, but it keeps her well. What better Christmas gift to have than a healthy child? I'm saying prayers for her to stay that way and my cousin's poor kiddos to feel better, too.

Gobble Gobble

We have so many reasons to be thankful. I want to share how we spent our Thanksgiving. We woke up to drive to Duncan, Ok at 4:30 a.m. on Thursday. Chloe did fantastic and traffic, or lack thereof, was great. We packed it up Saturday around 5:15 a.m. and were back in Austin to pick out a Christmas tree by 12:30 p.m. It was a good trip!

Aunt Ellen and Chloe

Cousin Ryan and Chloe

Chloe and Riggs playing with Aunt Ellen

Nancy, Suzy (Chloe's Nana) and Chloe

Bogart (Ellen's dog)

Chloe helping Granddad with his crossword.

Granthamania at the BBQ joint
...and my family thought getting 10 together at a restaurant was difficult!

On our way back, we had to get a picture of...

This GIANT rocking chair.



Granthamania
(standing left to right: Me, Mark, Chloe, Don, Nancy, Mike, Abby, Ryan, Debbie, Jimmy, Ellen, Sally, JJ, Riggs)
(sitting left to right: Suzy, Granddad, Granny)