11 Months

Oh my heart, you are my 11-month-old baby who is hardly my baby anymore! There are still moments that I can steal a snuggle, a head laid on my shoulder, or brief times of sleeping in my arms. All the other times you are on the move! At 11 months:

• You are a crawling machine. You are not really even close to walking-you don't need to because you can get everywhere on your knees!
• You do stand for brief periods of time and you are good at pushing your walking toys around-no independent steps yet.
• You are still a good eater. You still love the avocado/banana combo but your new likes are Spaghetti-Os, blueberries, Goldfish, pretty much anything on Mama's plate.
• You love clapping for yourself and your accomplishments.
• You LOVE music. You love the drum at Granna's house and can be found dancing and nodding/shaking your head to your favorite beats.:)
• You are figuring out toys/shapes/pieces. For instance, you can figure out how to put the triangle into the triangle hole in the shape sorter, and you know that the cookies go in Cookie Monster's mouth.
• You are loving books, especially the ones that you can touch/feel/lift the flap. You sit independently and turn the pages of books the right direction (even though the book is sometimes upside down, haha).
• You love being chased by Mama or Daddy. It's such a fun game to you.
• You have 6 teeth!! Whoa. I wouldn't say you have had a terrible teething experience, but I know you have been uncomfortable.

You are happiness and joy and fun and laughter. You have so much ahead of you and I find it hard to imagine that I will be able to love the 1, 2, or 3 year old you as much as I love the you right now-although I know I will figure it out.:) I get you up in the morning and you look out the big window in the front of our house with eyes wide open and we say "Good morning world!" Your eyes light up as if you are imagining all the day has in store for you. I would love to be able to fill those eyes up with only good things-love, kindness, peace. I pray that God keeps you in His hands always and protects you, cares for you, and comforts you. We love you, Baby Boy!

A Christmas Open House

  My earliest Christmas memories were always centered around my Grandparents. We lived with them for a time and they were practically my second parents. Christmas was always such a big deal at their house. Everyone-aunts, uncles, and cousins would pile into their house on Christmas Eve because Santa always came to Grandmother and Granddaddy's house. I have such good memories of Christmas and its preparations. Trays and containers of baked treats would start to appear not long after Thanksgiving. The wreaths and bows would come out and the handmade stockings would be hung on the mantle. The tree was the centerpiece and always had a glamorous flair-my Grandmother was a glamorous lady! I hope to keep many of those Christmas traditions with my family and I decorated this year with my family on my mind, especially my Grandmother. She knew how to make it special.

This is me, days old, underneath the Christmas tree.

 3 or 4 years old?

I would have loved to have every single one of you over to our house this Christmas so I decided to invite you to a "virtual open house". My decorations aren't expensive or necessarily impressive but they are special to me and it's much more fun to share!

Come on in!

Here is one most recent addition:

This little guy is going to have a fun first Christmas! He can be found pulling ornaments and lights off the bottom of the tree and even getting stuck behind it occasionally. Christmas is so much more fun with him!

We can't wait to make our own family's Christmas memories and I hope that our kids have such good memories of their early Christmases.

Thank you so much for stopping by our open house and indulging me in some Christmas memories.:) I hope your Christmases are wonderful and your time with family is special!

Burdened

Burdened--that is how I would describe my feelings and my heart over the weekend and today. I have turned off the news but those details and images are hard to get off my mind. I cannot even begin to imagine how a loss like that would feel. I can hardly even think of words to say. All I know is that I try to grasp onto some kind of peace in my heart that this was not the end for those children. We know that He holds the future.

Birthday Blessings

I have all the birthday gifts I need right here at home. I can't help but have other children and families on my mind and in my prayers today. Thank you all for the birthday wishes. My day was already beautiful when I woke up with my husband beside me and a cuddly baby's sweet smile!

10 Months

10 Months Old!!

This is the best I could do on the 10-month photos. Little one, you are on the move! At 10 months...

• You are a great eater. You eat pretty much everything I give you and are getting very insistent on trying everything on Mom's plate. You still love banana/avocado, macaroni and cheese is quickly becoming tops on your list. You are now half and half taking formula and nursing.
• You love to read pull all your books off your bookshelf. Mama will make a reader out of you yet!
• One of your favorite pastimes is climbing stairs. Mama and Daddy have to stay on their toes with the baby gates!
• You love to listen to music and dance.
• You are getting much better at naps, usually a couple for 1-1.5 hours a day!
• You weight about 20 lbs. At your last checkup you were pretty nearly 50th percentile in both weight and length.
• You are loud. You are not afraid to make yourself heard whether at home or at church during a prayer.
• You get so excited when you see other babies/children.
• You are tuning in to sounds outside such as airplanes, sirens, dogs barking. When we walk outside your ears perk up and you are on high alert.
• You are fascinated by the Christmas tree. The "chewable" ornaments are on the bottom of course, but the red wooden beads are definitely too tempting.
• One of your missions in life is to pull out all of the DVDs from the bottom of the TV cabinet and push them all over the house.
• Cabinets and drawers-NOT SAFE!:)

You have the sweetest grin and the best giggle and love to see your daddy when he comes home. You give gummy kisses and are a little snuggle bear. I love nothing better than being home with you at night, reading Goodnight Moon, and rocking you to sleep. I love those chubby arms and legs and could squeeze you all day. I would gladly bottle this "baby-ness" up so I can remember it in the years to come. I want to photograph every look on your face and every expression because I am so afraid I am going to forget. We love you, Baby Boy, and we know it's only going to get better.

A Pinterest Project

It's about time I did a Pinterest project! I've tried several recipes, but this is the first "craft" I've attempted. Here is the original pin:

I love the colorblocking and the colors. I wanted to change it up a little, though so here is my version of the wreath:

I wanted more neutral colors and I love the red berries. I wasn't loving the snowflake on the other either. I love how this turned out! The supplies I used:

straw wreath, Hobby Lobby $3.99

2 skeins of yarn, Hobby Lobby $3.99 each (there were cheaper options but I liked these)

berries, Hobby Lobby, $5.00 (half off)

$17.00 total for a wreath that I love that I made to my own specifications!

A Different Kind of Holiday...

for the Hughes family.

It was definitely a different kind of Thanksgiving for us, the first that we spent we neither of our families. I had to work Wednesday night and Chris, because of taking most of his leave time when Jackson was born, has to work today. Therefore, we didn't want to break our necks traveling to Middle Tennessee and back in one day...with an almost-ten-month-old. 

So what do we do? (After I sleep for about an hour) Well, we don't cook. We go out! Weird! The first time in 32 years for either of us that we don't eat our traditional country Thanksgiving dinner that can be found at either of our family gatherings. We went to Copper Cellar here in Knoxville and, my goodness, what a feast. Prime rib, ham, turkey, casseroles of every kind, soup, salad, fruit, bread, dessert, you name it! I will not mention the price -this is something we did not investigate before going- yikes- but it was amazing. 

This was our little turkey's first Thanksgiving of course. 

He has decided that macaroni and cheese is one of his favorites so he was so excited to sneak a couple of bites from Mama's plate. 

It was a different kind of day. We came home and I went to sleep again for a couple of hours to try to make it through the rest of the day. Our friends Rachel and Keith came over with leftovers from their family meal and we feasted again, this time on fried turkey!

It is amazing how your outlook on the holidays change when you have little ones. I realize the most important things in life. I also get to experience things anew as I try to see them through Jackson's eyes. Blessings beyond measure!

What I Am Loving (Wednesday Style)

Today I decided to join in with some other bloggers and create my own "loving it" list. These are some things I am currently using or things for which I am simply thankful. 

Our new chalkboard in our kitchen! I made this out of an old print from Kirkland's. I'm excited for welcoming greetings and dinner menus.

I am loving baby naps. Jackson has finally caught on (most of the time) to the concept of napping. This I love and am eternally thankful!

(I just risked a lot for this photo!)

I am loving the remaining Fall colors, as seen here in our backyard yesterday!

I am loving a day off, even though I have to work tonight. I am truly working on gratitude and being thankful in every situation.

I am loving that the holidays are coming here! I love Thanksgiving but I'm not one to mind giving a nod to Christmas a little early!

I am loving this guy:

He really worked hard and took the time to get our house ready for my mom's wedding last weekend and to help me keep it neat and tidy. He is the best daddy a little boy could ask for and Jackson and I don't know what we would do without him! (and yes, No Shave November is in full effect!)

Happy Wednesday!!

Three Sisters

I love these trees in our backyard. Last year, the one in the middle was my "burning bush". This year, all three of them lit up today in the afternoon sun. These photos weren't actually taken in the best light, but I was afraid they wouldn't be the same tomorrow. Fall is hanging on a little bit longer!

Nine Months, a Fall Festival, and Halloween!

On the 27th, Jackson turned 9 months! Mama's been working so this photo comes a few days late...

Time is going so fast! On the day he was 9 months, we had our Fall Festival at church. It was so cold!

Jackson is way too little to know what's really going on, but he LOVED watching people and seeing everything happen. On Halloween he would yelp with curiosity and joy when a kid would come to our door. We walked to a few houses in our neighborhood, collecting a few pieces of candy. He wasn't going to eat it and Mom and Dad didn't need it. I wish I had a picture, though, of Jackson double-fisting two Tootsie Roll pops! We finally let him have a taste of a sucker and it was all over!

Holidays are so much more fun with you, little dalmatian puppy. We can't wait for the next couple of months although we're still trying to figure out how to keep the Christmas tree safe! At nine months...

• you are crawling everywhere pulling up on everything, and climbing stairs! Hello baby gates!
• you are 19 pounds and 12 ounces. You are in about the 50th percentile in length and weight.
• your naps might be getting a little better. Maybe.
• you have about one half of one tooth. That's it.
• you are still nursing about 90% of the time. 
• you love Sunday School. You sit at the table and eat cheerios and sing songs. You love your teachers!
• you are eating lots of flavors. You are picking up finger foods better and getting good at that sippy cup. 
• you love Baby Bookworms at the library. You love singing the songs and listening to the stories, but mostly you like watching the other babies.
• you make lots of noises...laughs and yells and what Dad calls your "velociraptor" scream. You especially enjoy testing out your noises during church. :)
• you love reading books. I love holding you in my lap and reading your favorite stories.
• you love bubbles.

We are loving every minute, Little Man. The next three months are going to fly by and before we know it, you are going to be a year old. I can't even think about it. You are the biggest blessing to us and I don't know hardly what we did or who we were before you. We love you, Little Boy, and can't wait for the next 9 months!

I Love October

Last October...

3 months before our "little man's" arrival!

This October...

It just got a whole lot more fun! 

Fall has really got to be the best time of the year. There is no pressure or time frames associated with Christmas. The skies are blue, the air is cool, and there is football on Saturdays. I would like to slow down time and make Fall last weeks longer!

This October also marks a year without our "fur-baby". It's till difficult to talk about our puppy without some tears. We miss you Bailey-boy.