Willow says "of course I wasn't eating his goldfish!"

Last week was crazy and busy for all of us, but it was wonderful. Jerret was busy at work and Bruce and I had many activities going on. We had a family day on Valentine's Day. We went to Possum Kingdom Lake and explored some of the small towns that are west of us. We also went out to dinner. It was a very nice day. We would have pictures to show you of us at the lake, etc, but we forgot the camera that day, so you'll just have to take our word for it. We had a great time!

Eating lunch with cousin John


Bruce has a new thing (doesn't he always). He gets up on his toes and hands or his feet, hands, and head with his little butt up in the air. He does this literally hundreds of times a day. We aren't sure what he's doing. It looks to me like he's doing the Downward Dog yoga pose. He may be trying to stand since he readily will stand if you hold his hands when he does this. Here are some pictures of the new antics. Any explanations?

Please don't eat me - I'm too cute!




Here is the first product of my cake decorating class. It's not the best, but I really have a lot of fun.




Bruce doesn't usually crawl on hands and knees, but does the "army crawl". He can get going crazy fast if he really wants to get somewhere!

Busy, Busy, Busy

Now that we are settled in and are finding the niches where we belong, our calendar is filling up! This week and next are huge work weeks for Jerret. We are in a Bible study on Sunday and are finding ourselves very at home in our church (we never really thought of ourselves as Baptist, but I guess we are now!). I go to a Community Bible Study group on Wednesdays and a cake decorating class on Thursdays. Bruce is goes to a Christian Learning Center on Thursdays (and sometimes Tuesdays). He also goes to the CBS childrens' program when I am there on Wednesdays. Next week, we have MOPs on Friday and Bruce has a Moppets Valentine's Day Party (more for me than him, obviously) on Tuesday! Whew! It is wonderful for us to be involved, though. All of these extra-curricular activities enrich our lives so much!

"Quit taking pictures - just put me to bed!"



Why do parents think it's cute when their kids make a mess with food?

I don't know either, but it sure is!

The snowstorm that shut down north Texas

This is just a quick note to show our Colorado friends and family just what it takes to shut this whole area of Texas down. There was freezing rain yesterday and the roads were pretty icy. This causes MAJOR freakout here. Everything was closed yesterday (schools, etc.) and this morning because of it. Even Jerret got to go in late this morning. Jerret took some pictures of the rather unimpressive results of the storm. These were from this morning. It has already melted except for shady areas.

Willow says "What snow?"


Leaving for work

Our New Kitty!

Kayla, the kitty (or key-dee-dee, depending on which member of the family you ask) Jerret had before we got married has come to live with us. We didn't take her with us when we got married because she was happy living with Jerret's parents and we didn't think feisty Chloe would handle another cat maturely. Since the new kitties at Jerret's mom's were picking on her, Kayla came to live with us. Chloe isn't handling it maturely, as we expected, but it's going better than we thought. Kayla is also feisty and is holding her own. Willow, on the other hand, is confused about the hissing and whines at the cats saying "why can't we all just be friends, guys?". She loves our new addition and, although she doesn't accept Willow's offers to play, Kayla will join her on the couch for naptime.

Bruce was fussy again yesterday. But, like every time that seems to happen for no reason, a new tooth showed up this morning! There is another one about to poke through on the other side as well. That will be a total of 6 new teeth when right I2 (is it the same in people as in dogs and cats?!?!) finishes cutting. At this rate, he will have a mouthful in no time!

Bruce's New Tricks

Thank you all for the creative toys and other things you gave Bruce for Christmas! He is learning how to interact with his new toys one by one. He is a pretty focused little guy and his intrigue causes him to figure things all the way out. No shortcuts. No skipping around to other toys until one has been completely examined. He has to take them apart and learn about each and every piece before moving on to the next. He got that from Daddy. :) Here are a couple videos just to share with everyone.


He just figured this one out 2 days ago!





He's had this one figured out for a while now (closing all the doors, anyway), but we haven't been able to get it on video until now. He's a bit distracted in this one though - it's almost naptime.



I am still trying to catch his "Uh-Oh" on video but, of course, he won't say it on camera. I will post it if we can catch it.

I hope all of you are having a wonderful day and doing well!

So, yeah, it's been a long time again. We haven't just been sitting around, however! Jerret is working a lot and his job is going very well. During the week, Bruce and I go to storytime at the library, MOPs, and he will be in the nursery when I start a womens' Bible study one night a week. We are settling in and finding our niches.

Bruce is now 9 months old (did I really just type that?!?!). He is eating everything (although a couple veggies take a bit of coaxing) and now has 4 teeth! He also can say uh-oh when he drops something. Sometimes it's uh-oh and other times it's uh-uh or uh-oooh or other variations. He still tries Daddy and kitty, but the timing is off. He isn't yet crawling, but can scoot all over the place and rocks on his hands and knees. It won't be long now!

Opening presents at Grammie's


Contemplating his new toy


Playing with Great-Uncle Don


First Cheerios - the start of a love affair!


Pondering the new shape blocks (I know we have him giving this same look in a million pictures - he's a thinker!)

9 month pictures coming soon! We hope you are all doing well and had a wonderful holiday season! Happy 2009!

Bruce's First Christmas

Wow. That last update was a while ago! We don't have any pictures of us in the Christmas parade with our MOPs group because we didn't go. Something (illness? teeth?) kept Bruce up all night the night before. All of us were exhausted the day of the parade and decided that we wouldn't be that much fun so we stayed home and took lots of naps instead. Below are plenty of Christmas pictures though.

We had a wonderful and relaxing Christmas season this year. It was Bruce's first and he had a good time. We thought he would be obsessed with tearing the wrapping paper, but he wasn't into it as much as we thought. He seemed to have fun otherwise, though. Next year when he knows more what's going on, his excitement will probably make up for the lack this year. He is feeding himself now and can eat a whole meal by himself if he has the right foods. He does best with cracker-type things and stick shapes of sweet potato or cheese. He isn't yet mobile, but can stand well with support and can rock on his hands and knees. It won't be long now... His verbalizing isn't quite English yet, but is becoming more direct. He says "dad-dy", but not usually to Daddy and says "kit-dy" a lot, but only once to the kitty. If he sees or hears something he's interested in, he says "dat". He dances when music is turned on and clicks his tongue at us to get us to respond. He giggles when he's tickled or held up in the air or even sometimes for no reason. Now that he's sitting, he loves to ride in shopping carts and sit in high chairs. He sees these as extra opportunities to be the center of attention in public!

8 months old!

Although Jerret has to stay home because of work, Bruce and I will be spending some time in Colorado to visit family and friends. We will miss our valuable Daddy time, but will get a chance to celebrate belated Christmas and New Year's Eve with family and see some friends as well. We leave Wednesday this week and are praying that Bruce's first airplane flight will be a positive experience for all involved!

Riding on Daddy's shoulders


A few days before Christmas


Bruce and Chloe taking a (cat)nap


Playing on his new jungle mat


Playing with his Little People Nativity


Bruce loves his new toothbrush! He cries when we take it away.


Hey, wait - there are a bunch of toys hanging from this tree...


His new jumper


Mommy's new toy


Dad opening his presents


Don't worry - it's not in our yard



Daddy demonstrating the new toys


"Wow - I love these!"


Bruce and Grandma


Bruce's Christmas Eve dinner (avocados, brown rice, and yogurt)


The first Christmas I have worn a tank top!


Dessert on Christmas Eve (rice cracker)


Playing with Grandma


Playing with cousin John

Bruce playing with (mostly biting) tissue paper

Bruce eating a rice cracker