Fun videos

Dustin and I have been huge fans of Costco for a few years now. Recently, our son has also become a fan. In the video below, you can see just how much fun trips to Costco can be. :)

And here is the requested video clip of Southern in his new swing. It's such a beautiful day, and Southern and I are both feeling better so we have spent much of the day outside today. Dracky is also out enjoying the weather. Southern loves watching our kitty. That's who he was looking at while he was swinging in this video.

Southern's First Christmas

The holiday season has passed by in a blur. Southern got so many new toys, we are already wondering what we'll do after his first birthday! Dustin asked me if I thought it would be improper to ask for money for Southern's savings account instead of toys on the invitations!! haha Little does my hubby know that it is just beginning. We are soon going to have toys in every room of the house. ;)

We started off the Christmas festivities with a small celebration at our house with Granny Ehlers, her sister Suzie, and Carly and Parker. There was too much drama this year to have our usual Ehlers Christmas at Granny E's house. Oh well, we had a good time. And Southern got to learn how to rip paper. He proceeded to practice this new skill on Daddy's magazines during the following week.

Our next Christmas was at my Granny Hahn's in Yoakum. Southern got to meet his two little cousins on that side of the family for the first time, one of which was born when Southern was 5 weeks old. It was really fun to see those two guys interact. As I've mentioned before, my grandfather there has cancer. He was given 3 months to live by his doctor. It's now been about 3-4 years, so we were very blessed to share another Christmas with him.

We then had 4 Christmases in 3 days. Christmas Eve was spent in Yoakum as well. We had lunch at Dori and Allen's house followed by supper at Grandma and Grandpa's house. Southern really enjoyed spending time with his two little boy cousins there as well. They are 4 and 3 years old. The last time he hung out with them, he was too young to play. This time, he was crawling around on the floor with them and hugging and patting on them.

Christmas Day was spent back at home. My dad came over, we had a quick lunch, and then we opened presents. He got Southern a little John Deere 4-wheeler to ride around on. (Don't worry, it's not motorized!) When Southern's able to balance himself, he can sit on it and scoot all over the house. We got him a Teddy Ruxpin that I had found for an awesome price during an after-Christmas clearance at Costco last December. We also got him a swing outside. It's shaped like a little race car. Southern absolutely loved it. His face just lit up when we put him in it for the first time and gave him a push. Since that day, I have taken him out on it only one more time (since been he's sick, I didn't want him out in the cold for too long). But he would laugh out loud as I would swing him, and he started screaming bloody murder when I pried his little frozen fingers off of the ropes to try to take him back inside. His little cries were saying, "noooo, Mommy, not yet - I want to swing longer!".

The day after Christmas, we had our last celebration as we had to cancel the one planned for Sunday. My mom, Josh, and his boys came over. Southern scored the mother load this time. I think he had more presents to open that day than all of his other Christmases combined! haha He just loved it. He was playing around in the paper, crawling all over the place, and was given lots of new playthings to keep him occupied. Dustin and I can't complain though. We got a really nice gift too. But most of all, I loved being able to get together with loved ones. We don't get around to visiting family in Yoakum as often as we used to now that little Southern takes up so much of our time. So it was really good to see everyone. :)

The winter blues

Sadly, little Southern has been under the weather these past few days. When we found out a relative was sick right before Christmas, my first instinct was to keep Southern away. I was told that it would probably be okay, just to keep him from getting too close, and besides, everyone was coming to see Southern - he was the star of the show. So we decided to take him as planned. After all, it's Christmas. I didn't want to be a Scrooge. But now he's sick. Poor little guy.

We had 7 Christmases to go to this year as usual. We ended up having to cancel the last one though. Southern just felt awful Saturday evening, and we knew he needed a break. So we called everyone to postpone the party we had planned for Sunday until New Year's Day. One family will no longer be able to make it now though. That's especially sad because they were the people we get to see the least. Oh well, maybe some other time. We've been giving Southern his medicine and trying to get him to take extra naps, and I can tell he's getting better. Unfortunately, now I'm feeling sickly. We had to cancel Dustin's hunting plans today so he could stay home to help. I'm correct in saying that right now our family has got the winter blues!

Southern's favorite "toys"

Just like any man, Southern has a fascination with electronics. The more expensive, the better. He will pass over his real toys to get to any remote, phone, laptop, or camera. My little silver point-and-shoot Nikon is no exception...

8 Months Old

Another month down. The time is flying by. Southern is really crawling well now. For the past two or three weeks, he has been using his hands and knees instead of doing his old creeping moves. He has gotten really fast!

Our little Southern is experiencing his first holiday season. :) He enjoyed St. Nick's Day when we helped him empty his stocking. He got a First Christmas story book and a toy dump truck. He loves our Christmas tree and will try to swipe an ornament or two off of it daily. He has also discovered the presents under the tree. He likes to play with the bows. There is one large present (the perfect standing height for him) that already has its bow messed up, so he is allowed to play with that one - sorry Carly and Parker!! haha Your present won't look as pretty as it first did.



















We took Southern to see Santa at the end of November, and he did very well. I set him in Santa's arms, and he took a long look at him. Then, as Daddy and I were making our way behind the camera, he took a good long look at us. Then he looked back at Santa and prompty broke out into a big grin. :) Unfortunately, the photo guy took the picture at the first look, so we don't have that smile captured, but I don't blame him. I'm sure most kids start crying so he took it as soon as possible.

A long night/morning

We took Southern to see Santa and to get a picture with him yesterday. It was a good outing, we got a great photo, and Southern enjoyed the day. Unfortunately, I think being around all those kids got Southern sick. It all started late last night...

Our day was thrown a little off schedule due to our trip to San Antonio. We got Southern to bed around 1am. It was fairly easy to get him to sleep, and Dustin and I went to bed shortly after that. Around 2:30am, I heard crying. Southern was awake. I put him back to sleep and went back to bed. Then around 4:30am, I could hear crying again. This time it was frantic. Southern was just beside himself. I've never seen him cry so hard. He wouldn't eat and didn't want to rock. Dustin finally got up and turned on the light. He started playing with a ball in front of Southern. That calmed him down a little, but he was still sniffling and clinging to me. Not like himself at all. (Note to all of my non-mom readers. Next sentence gets graphic.) Then he started coughing and coughed up a very large gooey mucus mess. Poor baby. We then gave him Motrin and Dustin went back to bed. I stayed up and played with Southern until he calmed down enough to eat and go back to sleep.

The next thing I know, it's 7:27am, and I am woken up. Dustin leaped out of bed and started cursing. He runs into the hallway and curses more, very loudly. What's going on, I ask. Then I notice the time. Dustin has to be at work at 7:30am. Oops. One of his alarms then goes off while he's getting dressed. I turn it off only to hear Southern starting to cry. All that yelling woke him up. I go to him to rock him back to sleep. Meanwhile, I can hear Dustin pounding down the stairs and going out the front door. Southern finally falls back asleep, and I am just about to put him in his crib when I hear Dustin's other alarm go off in our bedroom. Great... It goes off for about 5 minutes straight before I am able to sit Southern down in his crib without him waking up. I run to our bedroom to turn it off then climb into bed. I'm exhausted. But then I start to think. I didn't remember hearing the alarm being armed again before Dustin left. He normally turns it back on for us. So I make my way downstairs to check. Turns out that not only is the alarm disarmed, the front door is also unlocked!

So I lock it, set the alarm, and go back to bed. I am then woken up 1.5 hours later by the phone. It was a 1-800 number so I didn't answer. But the ringing phone woke Southern up. So we go through the whole thing again, this time in my bed because I am just too tired to sit upright anymore. Southern and I get about 2 good hours of sleep in before the phone rings again. Bummer. We finally get up to start the day, and I realize that it feels really cold in our house. Dustin had said he would make sure the heat was turned on before leaving for work. I go to the thermostat to find it set to AC, and the temp was 64! No wonder it felt cold!! haha

Southern and I are both feeling under the weather now, me from lack of sleep and the cold. He seems to have a cold and is sneezing, has a runny nose, and is coughing. Let's hope we both feel better soon. And thank goodness this morning is finally over! Whew!!

Southern's First Thanksgiving

Our first Thanksgiving of the year was at Allen and Dori's house. We made it into Yoakum late that night and headed straight for their house. We also celebrated Parker's birthday as he is turning (gasp!) 27 next week. We gave him a nice Parker brand pen which turned out to be perfect since he was just at a mock trial competition and was the only one there without a nice pen. Yay!The next morning, we went over to Dustin's granny's for the big Brandl bash she throws every year. There is usually about 30-40 people there on Thanksgiving Day. Southern got to meet some of them for the first time. We said our hellos and then gathered in a circle to pray before the meal. Dustin has taken over saying the prayer there in his Paw-Paw's place. Last year was his first time, and it was hard for him. But this year was more about happily remembering the good times. We all ate until we were stuffed. Southern finished up a jar of winter squash, and then we headed outside. Southern got to crawl around in the grass. He enjoyed gathering leaves and playing with the water hose. He also had a little dog visit him to sniff around, and he would just grin and wave his arms in the air when the dog would walk by. We left her house to make our way back home, but we had two stops first.Poppy and DeDe were getting over bronchitis so they didn't have a Thanksgiving this year. We didn't want to risk Southern catching it, but I didn't want to be that close and not even see them. So I had an idea. We called and told them both to go stand in the front doorway of their house. We then drove by with the windows down honking, blowing kisses, and waving. It was kind of sad in a way, but I'm sure they would rather see us for a brief minute than not at all. We then stopped by my Hahn grandparents for a quick visit before heading back home.

We were running late (as usual), so two of our guests arrived before we did. We have a key hidden in a combination-coded box outside of our house, and giving them the instructions to get that key out was funny. I only wish we had a video camera hidden to catch Chuck standing on a dolly full of limestone reaching up to get it out! haha

We made it home shortly after that and started getting all the food out and ready. We had my mom's side of the family over, and we had a really good time. We cooked, talked, ate, watched football, and just had a nice evening. Southern had a meal of turkey for the first time! He wasn't too impressed and would rather be breastfed. (But he did finish his jar of babyfood today. I guess even babies get leftovers the day after Thanksgiving!!) Having our family over was a good ending to the day, and I'm just so excited that it's time for Christmas fun now! :)

Letter From the President

Southern received a letter from President Obama. So cool! While I was pregnant, I read as many articles in magazines and online as I possibly could about babies. I came across one that said my baby could get a letter from the President, and I was immediately excited. What a great item for the baby book! All you have to do is write to the White House when your baby is born. You send them his/her name, birth date, and address, and they'll send you a letter signed by the President and First Lady. So I did that, and almost 7 months later, we got the letter! It was addressed to Southern, and I was so anxious to open it. It says:

The White House

Washington

Welcome to the world! Your arrival is a cause for great celebration for your proud family. We wish you a long and happy life filled with chances to learn, ideas to explore, people to love, and dreams to fulfill.

Sincerely,

Barak Obama Michelle Obama

7 Months, 1 Week Old

Southern is making real progress in his Jeep. He can "walk" all over the kitchen now. I usually put him in it when I'm unloading or loading the dishwasher, and he'll drive on up and grab onto the racks inside. He also likes to admire himself in the mirror! haha

Another lifesaver for me is his Exersaucer. Southern enjoys playing with all of the different toys on it. He also loves that it has springs so he can jump in it. I love the fact that's it's a safe, secure, unmoving place for me to sit him in while we're upstairs. I usually put him in it when I'm getting ready in the mornings. It has farm animals on it, and his favorite toy is the clear cylinder of chickens (what he's playing with in the photo). Their eggs are in it, so when he spins it, you can hear them rattling around.

Southern has been practicing standing for a few weeks now. He started by pushing up on everything he could get his hands on...Then he would work himself into a kneeling position. He could stay like that for awhile. He would try to get to his feet but just couldn't figure out a good way to transition.And now he is standing!!! What a little man. He learned how to pull up on Daddy's toolbox. He would just stand there, slightly hunched over, for minutes on end. He can't always get back down from his standing position though, and will cry until I come rescue him.He absolutely loves the view from his new position and can't get enough of pulling up now. He has done it in his crib, with a laundry basket, with his toy box, and with the TV stand. Pretty soon he'll be walking around. Crazy!

Southern's First Halloween

Southern got to celebrate his first Halloween this year. It was a bittersweet holiday since we lost Dustin's maternal grandfather last year on that day. I'm sure he's watching over us though and can see his great grandson. We miss you, Paw-Paw! http://lchahnwyatt.blogspot.com/2008_10_01_archive.html

Southern was dressed as a little western sheriff. My mom, Josh, Lane, and Cody came over to help us celebrate the day. We had a lot of fun. We started the day off by doing a little sight seeing. We stopped by the Historic Faust Street Bridge since the Faust guys had been wanting to see it. It was a gorgeous day. The girls and Southern stayed on the bridge, but of course the guys had to go exploring by the river. Dustin said he caught a crawfish and helped a fisherman by getting a huge fish off of his hook.

We then headed downtown for the festivities. We parked the cars and got out in front of The First Protestant Church. It's such a pretty church, and we learned that it was established in 1845. The actual building itself was built in 1875. New Braunfels has so many hstoric gems, and we keep discovering new ones even after living here for 3 years. Next door was the Walter Faust House. He was one of the founders of New Braunfels (That is also the name of Josh's grandfather - no relaion though). It is now owned by the church and is used for education. We walked by it to get to the Faust Hotel. That was our next stop. It's a very old building, built in 1929, and it was pretty neat inside. Due to the recent change of ownership, the brewery was not open, but soon they will resume making local beer.

Following the visit to the hotel, we stopped by the oldest operating bakery in Texas, Naeglein's. It was built in 1868. We continued our walk around downtown, but all that walking soon made us hungry. We headed to Clear Springs Cafe. Yum!

We then came back to our house where Southern got in a nap while we played horseshoes and sport toss (similar to washers but with little bean-filled sacks). We stayed outside because trick-or-treaters starting arriving. Southern enjoyed seeing all of the kids. We had princesses, super heros (my mom told one she liked his muscles, and he replyed "they're not really me"), animals, vampires, and even a box of fries. After all the kids left, we went inside to watch The Birds.

It was a great day. I can't wait for next year. By then Southern will be old enough to trick-or-treat!

Almost 7 Months Old

Now that our son is almost 7 months old, I decided it would be a good time for a little update.

Southern is really mobile now. He can scoot around very quickly - especially if he spots his sippy cup, a remote, a phone, or the kitty. He has also started to push himself up. Depending on what he's using to push himself up on, he can sometimes get into a standing position that way. Who knows, he might just skip the whole crawling phase.

He loves his water from his sippy cup - or from any cup for that matter. If you leave your cup within his reach, he'll go for it. We were visiting the Wyatt grandparents one evening. DeDe had her usual glass of wine next to her chair, and while she was holding Southern, our son almost got his first taste of alcohol! He picked up the wineglass, opened his mouth, and was about to gulp some down. Good thing being a mother has taught me to have extra fast reflexes!

Southern is a very good eater. He is still getting his milk, though I'm trying to slowly steer him more toward solids. (Any suggestions on how best to do this? Sometimes even after his solids meal, when he won't eat anymore, he'll cry until he gets breastfed.) He's up to three meals a day now. We'll usually do one 2nd stage serving of fruit for brunch, one of veggies for an early supper, and a bowl of oatmeal banana baby cereal before bed. He still doesn't like rice cereal, and he usually puts up a fight with green beans, carrots, and peaches. But he LOVES pears and peas still, along with most fruits and sweet potatoes.

He is sleeping better now. He will usually sleep for about 5-6 hours now that both of his bottom teeth are in. Thank goodness! Hopefully we'll have a nice little break before any other teeth decide to show up.

Southern's New Jeep

Southern got a Jeep walker from his grandmother this week. He absolutely loves it! It's so cute. It has side view mirrors, and he can't get enough of spinning those around. The steering wheel turns and has three buttons on it - a button for music, a horn, and one button that sounds like he's starting the ignition. He has gotten really good at going in reverse. We just need to practice going forward now!

Below is a video clip of him in the Jeep -

All I Want For Christmas...

It looks like Southern is getting an early Christmas present. His two front teeth are coming in! I felt one tooth starting to emerge last Friday when we were at the bank opening up his first savings account. It was his left front tooth. And now today as I was laying him down for his nap, he had a big yawn, and I could see a little bit of his right front tooth coming out as well.

He has been a little extra fussy this week because of it. I have tried teething tablets, and those usually work well for a little while. I have also tried giving him Motrin right before bed but that doesn't seem to help him sleep any longer. He will sleep for about 2-3 hours, then will go back down for about 3-4 hours, and then he'll usually wake up every hour after that. So we still aren't getting much rest. Hopefully after these two teeth are in, we'll have a little break!

Our little jumping bean

My mom had bought Southern one of those Johnny Jump-Up's that goes in the doorway for babies to bouce around in about a month and a half ago. We thought Southern would love it for sure since he enjoys jumping up and down so much in my arms. We put him in it, and he would just sit there. So we'd go ahead and bounce him to get him going. Well, he loved us bouncing him and would just laugh and laugh, but he would never jump on his own.

Over the past month, I started putting him in the jumper for a few minutes every day while I did the laundry or the dishes, and he would stand there watching me. I figured he would eventually get the hang of it. And sure enough, this past Saturday, he started jumping! My mom was over, and she put him in it and was encouranging him to jump. And there he went! Just bouncing around on his own! So I decided to catch a little video clip of him in action this week. He's having so much fun!

6 Months Old

Can you believe it? Where has the time gone? Southern is now a toddler... crazy!

We had Southern's 6-month check-up today. He weighed 20 pounds and was 27 1/2 inches long. That put him in the 90th percentile for weight and 87th percentile for height. The doctor gave us some tips on how to get Southern on a sleeping schedule. He also gave us some children's Moltrin since he said that Southern's lower gums are enflamed. He thinks that the pain Southern is feeling from teething may be why he's not sleeping well. We'll try that tonight to see how it goes.

Southern got his 6-month shots as well as the first round of flu shots for his age group. We will have to go back for the second round after at least 30 days. He did well with the shots. He had a good 30 minute nap when we got home and is now scooting around on the floor again.

Another beach trip

Southern had an excellent weekend at the beach. He loved hanging out with all of his family who he hasn't seen in awhile. He was good with everyone and only cried once - when my Grandpa talked to him in Spanish. haha! He loves Dora the Explorer and Go Diego Go on TV... go figure.

We started out our trip with a short detour through Yoakum. We got to see my grandfather, dad, and Dustin's granny for a little bit. When we made it to the island, we headed straight to the beach. Dustin, Southern, and I got to walk up and down the shoreline as the sun set. We then unloaded the car and made our way up to our condo. We hosted supper that night in our condo so everyone came over and got to see Southern. He had a meal of pears that evening. He loves pears and will eat them with no problem. (He still doesn't care for rice cereal though but he does enjoy peas. His first meal of those was on Monday.)

The next day was spent sleeping, playing, souvenir shopping in town (my mom bought Southern a really cute Port Aransas onesie), and eating. Dustin spent time fishing. Then, right before sunset again, we took Southern out to the beach. This time to get dirty. Dustin walked him out into the ocean and let him get his legs wet. Then I held him in the shallow water so that he could bury his feet in the sand. He enjoyed wiggling his toes and making a mess. I then held him in the water so that he could feel the waves slap up against his back. You could tell he didn't really care for that part, but he didn't dislike it either. So we walked around some more then headed inside to get cleaned up for supper.

We had supper at my grandparents' condo this night followed by our annual poker game. I was the only girl playing this year and am quite proud to say that I ended up winning $4.40 (after I paid Dustin back for my starting money). Not too shabby considering the entire amount we played with was around 30 bucks. Southern slept during most of the game.

The next morning as we were getting dressed and packing up to leave, my mom was going to change Southern's diaper. She had him sitting up on the bed and asked if he would stay like that if she took her hands away for a bit to reach the diaper. I said no as she was doing it, but low and behold my son was sitting on his own! Albeit in a saggy bed that probably helped prop him up a bit, but sitting none the less!! Since then I have had him sit on his own once at home for a little while. Another new skill! Yay, Southern!!

Southern is mobile!

Over the past few days, Southern has been perfecting his scooting skills...



You can't turn your back on him for a second now!

(you must be on my blog to view the video)

Southern's First Solids

We started Southern on solids this week! He had his first taste of rice cereal this past Sunday. I mixed a little bit into a bowl of breastmilk, making it really liquid in the hopes that he would take it well. He hated it!! He spit more out than he swallowed. I don't know if it's the taste or texture or a combinnation of both, but he is definately not a fan... you can tell by the expression on his face! haha
My mom came over to help out because Southern and I were both sick this week. She fed him his second meal of rice cereal on Thursday. He didn't take it much better. He acted like it was just awful! Pooy baby!! lol

We'll keep trying with the cereal and in a few weeks can introduce fruits and vegetables.

Rolling Over

Southern has mastered the art of rolling over this week! For the past two or three weeks, he has been trying to roll over and had succeeded by slowly making it to his tummy from his back after nearly 30 minutes of hard work. But now he is a pro at it! He can go from his back to his tummy in mere seconds. Check it out!

4 Months Old

Southern had his 4 month check-up with his doctor today. I love going there - there is hardly any wait time at all and the people are so nice and genuine. We first got his height and weight. He is now 26.8 inches long (which puts him in the 95th percentile) and weighs 17 lbs, 13.6 oz (89th percentile). Big boy! The nurse then took his temperature and asked us some questions to add to his chart. Southern was so good during all this, just gurgling and playing with his little bird toy.

Then the doctor came in, and I think Southern remembered him from last time! He couldn't stop staring at him. And our doctor is so good and sweet with Southern. He gave him a salute when he walked in, and Southern just got a kick out of that! :) He went over a normal 4 month old's development and what to expect in the next couple of months. He said Southern is developing just fine.

He asked if I was still breastfeeding and if we had introduced solids yet. We told him yes on the breastfeeding and no solids yet. He was excited and gave me a high five! lol I asked if he thought we should start solids, and he said that from 4-7 months is a good age to start but that in Southern's case he recommended we put it off for another month or two. He said he knew we might be "chomping at the bit" to start solids as it is another big step in Southern's life, but that Southern just doesn't need the extra calories yet. So it looks like we'll go at least another month with just breastmilk.

Then the doctor checked Southern's arms and legs, hips and head, and eyes, ears and mouth. He said he can see two of Southern's teeth trying to surface. He said they could come out any day now or might just hang out there for awhile. You never can tell. Southern was just fine during all of this and only protested at the very end when the doctor was checking out his teeth.

The nurse came back in with the shots. I don't like that part at all and again didn't want to look. Southern didn't mind the oral immunization, he just made a funny face when he tasted it. But he started crying with the first shot on his right leg and then screamed bloody murder with the second shot on the other leg. That made me look, and I got to see a bright red trail of blood running down his leg. My poor baby!!! :( She handed him to me as soon as she got the bandaids on, and I think I was upset longer than he was. He seemed to be just fine after a few minutes in my arms. We had given him some Tylenol just before the appointment so hopefully that helped. He's been really good since then and only mildly fussy, which is better than I expected. He's currently napping so we'll give him another dose of Tylenol when he wakes up. What a trooper!

Southern's 2nd Beach Trip

We went to Port Aransas again this week. We had such a fun time with Carly and Parker earlier this summer that we all decided we should do it again before school started. Southern had a blast. Here he is posing in front of a souvenir shop in town. We stopped there on our way home to get him something to remember his trip. We ended up buying him a cute little beach-themed counting book, a shipwrecked treasure coin, and a little shark figurine for his bookcase.

This is us on Tuesday night right before we headed out to the pool - Southern's first dip in the pool!! We were all so excited, but I thought for sure he would cry as soon as we got him in the water. He proved me wrong though, he loved it. He was just quiet and looked around when we got him in. He was very calm, and after awhile he even started kicking like he was trying to swim. Dustin's already started talking about swimming lessons!

We had to wash that chlorine off of him!

My two little fisherman... so cute. Dustin can't wait until Southern's old enough to go out to the fishing pier with him.

It was a good trip. We'll be headed back in September with my mom's side of the family for our annual Port A trip. Can't wait!

Aidan's 2nd Birthday

We went to my friend's son's 2nd birthday party this past weekend.

Southern loved it. He couldn't get enough of all those crazy kids. He loved watching them and was trying to figure out what they were doing when they played the Wii. Aidan also had a good time. He's been around Southern a few times now and is getting more used to him.

He loves to "pet the baby".

Videos

Here are two cute little video clips of Southern in action. He loves to talk... make sure you have the sound turned up on your computer!

(For those of you who get this via email, you'll have to go to my blog's website to see the videos.)

15 Weeks Old

Southern turned 15 weeks old yesterday. Time sure is flying by! Fortunately, we'll be able to slow down and enjoy the summer more after this week. Dustin's last day of teaching summer school is this Thursday. Yay - we're excited to have Daddy home!

Here is a photo of Dustin and Southern during one of our late night grading marathon sessions. I definitely won't miss it!

15 lbs 11 oz

Southern has tipped the scales at 15 lbs, 11 oz. He's already almost 3 and a half months old and is growing fast. We went in for a free weight check at the hospital yesterday, and our lactation consultant was amazed. It's a good thing Dustin was with us because she didn't recognize me or Southern! The last time she saw us was when he was 4 days old. She was amazed... and so uplifting. She makes me tear up every time we see her! She's just so positive and complimentary. She kept telling me how much of an amazng gift I am giving to our son, how much weight I had lost, how good I looked, etc. I want to go visit her every day!!! haha

We had Dustin's granny visit us that day as well. We made a trip to Target with her to get some diapers and printer ink then came home so Dustin could print some pictures of Southern with his printer for her. She got to hang out with Southern and do "floor exercises" on him! haha She would lay him down and tell him to push her hand with his feet. It was so sweet watching them. I wish we lived a little closer to Yoakum so we could see family more often, but there's just no way Dustin could make as much money, we could live in as big of a house, etc. Well luckily we're not so far away to make day trips a pain. Maybe one day we'll move back - when we win the lottery!! haha Oops, guess that means we need to start buying lottery tickets!

3 Months Old

My little man is getting so big! I can hardly believe how quickly he is growing. He's already in size 3 diapers. What's next? Getting his driver's license?!? :(

Southern's been a little more drooly and fussy lately so I think teething is on the horizon. He hasn't been sucking well on his bottle lately either. He won't eat much from it. He's still eating like crazy when I breastfeed though. Now we only give a bottle when we have company or are out of the house. So maybe he just got used to breastfeeding (the milk comes out faster that way)? Or maybe teething has something to do with it? I recently bought the next size nipple so we'll try that and see how it goes.

Uh oh... I hear him waking up. I'll make this short - here's a few pics from the past couple weeks.

Southern and Mommy laying in bed.





Southern loves when his daddy gives him a bath.


He's thinking, "Alright, enough pictures already!!"

Dustin's First Father's Day

Yay! Happy Father's Day to first-time dad Dustin!!

What a happy day! We had my dad over and all went out to eat and did a little shopping. Dustin also got the gift he had been hinting at Southern to get him for months - a TaylorMade Burner driver. But the best part of the day - Dustin got to sleep in late, and around 11am I got Southern and took him to our bed. I laid him down right by Dustin's head, and he started squirming and goo-ing which woke Dustin up. He was so happy and started 'talking' and smiling at Dustin right away. After a few minutes of that, Dracky decided to get in the action too. So kitty jumped up on the bed and climbed up on Dustin and laid down. We had the whole family in the bed :) What a great start to the day!

Southern's First Trip to Port A

I've finally gotten a chance to upload the pics from Port A a few weeks ago. Dustin, Southern, and I had a really fun time spending a weekend at the beach with Carly and Parker. Can't wait to do it again!Uncle Parker and Southern really got a chance to bond during this trip :)Dustin took Southern out into the waves and stuck his feet in the water. Southern didn't like it very much at first but got used to it after a little while.Southern was able to stand in the sand for the first time as well.

6-4-09 Another Milestone

For the first time, Southern has made music play on his own. He has an activity gym that has two toys hanging down for him to swat and play with. He has never been able to hit the toys until tonight. And he figured out one of the toys makes music when you spin the ball. Way to go, Southern! He was "working out" in his gym for almost 20 mins tonight.

2 Month Check-up

Southern had his 2 month check-up on Monday. He weighed 14 lbs 2 oz (with a full diaper) which made him in the 93rd percentile. He measured 24 inches long (85 percentile), and his head circumference was 15 3/4 inches (50 percentile). The doctor said yes, he's a big baby but he was born big so not to worry. He said that Southern's body was very proportionate and not too chunky like some babies he sees.

We asked the doctor about giving Southern some cereal in his milk at night since everyone we talk to has done that with their babies after they are a month or so old. Dr. Statler said that he definitely recommends not doing that. He said that babies don't need anything more than breast milk until they start teething. He said God has the perfect plan, and we should take our cues from Him. When He thinks Southern needs to start on solids, He'll give him teeth. Makes sense, huh? ;)

I absolutely love our doctor. He's so nice and smart, and I've noticed that he brought up God in every conversation we've ever had with him. Pretty cool, especially in our PC concerned world nowadays. So he said not to change anything we're doing - Southern is growing big and healthy with my breast milk. We still give him a little formula (about 1 bottle every two or three days) to use up the amount we still have in the pantry but won't need to buy any more once that runs out.

Southern was a little trouper with the shots. (I couldn't watch!) They gave him three, two in one leg and one in the other. He didn't make a sound with the first one, started fussing with the second, and started crying with the third. But the nurse gave him to me as soon as she was through, and he calmed down right away. Poor baby! He was fussy that night but we gave him some infant Tylenol and he was able to sleep well - so well that he slept 8.5 hours!! (It was awesome!!!) But he got back at me by only sleeping 3.5 hours last night... that tricky boy!

8 Weeks Old

Southern will be 8 weeks old tomorrow. Can you believe it? We have done so much in the past few weeks...

On May 9th, Southern was baptized at the Queen of Peace Catholic Church in Sweet Home. Father Sonnier is such a sweet, wise man. We were blessed to have him perform the baptism. He gave us many words of wisdom. I may be biased. but it was pretty much the best baptism I've ever been to! ;) Godparents are Carly and Parker, Southern's aunt and uncle.

Southern is bleesed to have the majority of his great-grandparents still alive. (We miss you, Paw-Paw!) Here we are pictured with the ones able to make the service. (My Hahn grandparents couldn't make it. As I mentioned before, my grandfather has cancer, and it is now progressed to where he can't move easily on his own. My grandmother has been wearing herself out taking care of him and just recently fractured two vertebrae in her back. She is now bed-ridden as well. Please pray for them and for my dad who is now trying to juggle working and taking care of the both of them!)

After the baptism, everyone gathered at Werner's in Shiner to celebrate with a meal and cake. I love my family! :)

The very next day was my first Mother's Day! Southern and Dustin took me out to eat at Mamacita's for a late lunch. This photo was of us right before we left for the resturant. Southern had just eaten and was passed out.

Southern loves his tummy time. He's getting so strong and loves to lift his head high. He's tries to crawl but those little arms just don't cooperate yet.

Southern got to see his very first ball game as he watched my cousin Keleigh's softball payoff game from my aunt Tricia's arms. They played Blanco and kicked booty!! The score was so high in their favor, they called the game after the 4th inning. The Lady Brahamas are still in the playoffs right now... Go Kel!

Southern's first trip to Clear Springs was after the game. That's us with the champ, Keleigh. Watching her run those bases really made him tired.


Dustin and I were able to enjoy an evening out to ourselves thanks to Aunt Carly. We went to Crocodile Gap and played putt-putt. We're posing in front of the 4th hole. We both made a hole-in-one there!! :)

Southern and Mommy in the dressing room at Kohl's. Another first for Southern.

Southern and Daddy sitting on the front porch enjoying the rain. What a lovely day!

Southern with his grandmother. He loves it when she babysits... and I do too!! lol Thanks, Mom!