Texas-OU Weekend

We took a spur of the moment trip to Dallas last weekend to see family, celebrate with friends at a wedding shower, and to watch the Texas-OU game. Here is a photo recap of our fun times:


Britton playing with his Aunt Danica.


Britton with his Cousin Will. Yes, Britton is too big for the bouncer but he loved playing with those toys. Will was kind enough to give him a bounce or two!


Britton & the Tate-ster busy at play. Tate is the child of my college friends, Jenny & Rob.


Britton and his Grandpa watching the Texas-OU game. We figured out this weekend that Britton had two great-grandfathers who attended the University of Texas, and two great-grandfathers who went to the University of Oklahoma. I'm afraid, though, that he has no choice but to be a Texas fan!


Hook 'Em Horns!


My sister-in-law, Danica & me (so ... everyone dressed for the game but me).


We got to see my family, too. Here is Britton with my Aunt Peggy, Uncle Lee and Cousin David who came to watch the game with us.


Britton & his Great Uncle Lee.


Britton riding on Danny's old rocking horse. In case you're wondering, he is wearing the bottom of his Halloween costume. We dressed the boys up and took some cute pictures that I'll post closer to the big day.


Will is 6 months older than Britton. It is fun to see them together and to see the similarities in their expressions.


My how times have changed! We realized this weekend that we can't be as on-the-go as we used to be before babies. Here we are loading up the boys -- it only took 30 minutes to get the car seats installed in the back seat. Alas, the boys are strapped in and off we were!


Danny & I with the soon-to-be Ziafats at their wedding shower! We can't wait for the big day. Danny & I were in Dallas four years ago this weekend for our wedding shower, and we spent the day at the Texas-OU game with these guys before our shower.

And what would Texas-OU weekend be without a trip to the Texas State Fair?



So, these are only a couple of the things we consumed ... The entire roster included corn dogs, tamales (oh my, they were good!), fried oreos, fried cheese, corn on the cob, fried okra, grilled pork chop, frito pie, belgian waffles with strawberries and whipped cream, and homemade root beer. There were 6 of us sharing all of this, but we each had our fill of the fair goodness ... and, later, stomachaches!

From Piper With Love

We are in Dallas for the weekend while Piper is holding down the fort at our house. Woke up this morning and found this picture waiting for us. So smart, that dog! Figured out photo texting.

Britton is 9 Months Old!

(you can click on the collage to make it bigger)

I glanced at the clock at 7:43 this morning ... exactly when Britton turned 9 months old. I am having a hard time believing my little boy is 9 months old today ... three-quarters of a year ... well on his way to his first birthday! Time has f-l-o-w-n by. He is such a little boy lately, as you can tell in the pictures. He has really grown some hair which makes him look less like a baby.

So, what's he doing lately?
He has been making lots of new sounds and combination of sounds. He is rolling around to get places, but hasn't started crawling yet. He is starting on finger foods like puffs and chunks of bananas and carrots and is holding his own there. He still loves to gnaw on a cracker for awhile. And he is now great with his sippy cup. He is serious about playing with his toys. He loves to jump in his jumper (or your lap ... everything is a jumper to him) and will hold up his feet so he can "swing" back and forth. He continues to be very social ... loves to look at people dead in the eyes and give them great big smiles. And occasionally he'll lean in to bump noggins. He's a fun little guy with lots of energy and personality! We are blessed to have him in our lives.

Britton Got His Grove On

We had a fun time on Saturday at Ole Miss' Homecoming game in Oxford. Well, Britton didn't really go to the game. But he did Grove (appropriately used as a verb here), and that's a big part of the Ole Miss gameday experience. The Ole Miss slogan, "We may not win every game, but we've never lost a party" certainly rang true on Saturday. Ahhh well, there's always next week. For more on the tradition of the Grove, click here.

Here are some snapshots of the day...

Britton and Uncle Jon at our Grove tent.

The fam. (Yes, over the course of the day Britton wore two different outfits. Teething is hard on a little one ... and his clothes.)

Lots of food at our Grove tent. Not all for us, though! There were lots of tentmates.


Jon, Britton & Danny sporting their new Ole Miss hats right before the game.


I miss seeing this sight on a regular basis.

Britton & GrandMarna. They hung out in the Grove while we went to the game.

Me & my sister, Elizabeth.

Elizabeth, me, Jonathan & Britton. Family resemblance?

Britton & Jon

A sad little Rebel.

Jon & his mini-me.

Britton & Uncle Jon

Britton's Uncle Jonathan came to town last weekend and we had a great time catching up. Jon was able to tear himself away from all of the fun adventures he has in Colorado to spend a little time in the Southland. We spent the first night he was here in Birmingham. Then we headed over to Oxford for Ole Miss' Homecoming early the next morning. We spent all day out in the Grove and at the game. Despite a loss to South Carolina (boo), it was a fun, fun weekend.







This video totally cracks me up! Jon was a bit excited about the Ole Miss game the following day and was sharing with Britton Elvis' rendition of "American Trilogy" (Dixie/Battle Hymn of the Republic). Britton doesn't seem to be too much of a fan! Oh, the wounded look ...

A Day in the Life of an 8-Month Old

7:30 a.m. Rise & shine, sleepy boy!



Look at my bed head!

8:30 a.m. After a breakfast of bananas and cereal, he is dressed and ready for the day.


9:00 a.m. Britton watches a PraiseBaby DVD and takes a quick nap in the swing while mama gets ready. Yes, we all love PraiseBaby!


10:00 a.m. We go to Early Bird Storytime at the Library with Miss Brandi.

Britton really loves storytime. Today, the babies heard about farm animals.

11:00 a.m. We make a trip to Whole Foods to pick out our Fall mums & pumpkins.



They had lots and lots of pumpkins (gray ones, white ones, orange ones, barnacled ones) on display, so we had an impromptu photo shoot.


That's me next to an $80 pumpkin!


Don't I look like a big boy?




Where's Britton? (Okay, readers, I know it looks like all these pumpkins could topple at any moment and bury our little boy, but trust me, I was not a reckless parent ... the pumpkins were very secure and he was not in danger.)

11:30 a.m. We meet Daddy for a quick lunch. By this time, little man is starving.


12:30 p.m. We're back home, and Britton quickly crashes. It's been a full morning.


2:30 p.m. He's back up and ready to go! He had slobbered all over his sheet (I should have checked for a tooth then!). So, I had to change the crib sheet, which is no easy task.



Playing in his crib. He thinks it's the coolest thing to sit up in the crib.

2:45 p.m. Snack time. Britton is working on finger foods and is eating toast and bananas today. This is when I discovered he had cut his first tooth!


3:30 p.m. Playtime on the floor in the nursery. Britton could play here all day. He never gets tired of his toys.



Drinking water like a big boy. He loves his cup and he loves to drink water!

5:30 p.m. Britton has Daddy-time while Mama goes to the gym.


6:45 p.m. Dinner time. Tonight, Britton is having cauliflower & tomatoes, pureed garbanzo beans, and cinnamon apples.


7:30 p.m. We begin Britton's night-time routine -- the 4 Bs...
Bath.


Book.

Reading...


Chewing... what else is a teething babe to do?

Bottle.


Bed.


8:30 p.m. All tucked in.

Night-night, buddy!