365 Days in Texas

Since I never posted anything about our move to Texas, I thought I would do a little post in honor of being in San Antonio for 1 year. It is really hard to believe that its already been a year! And I am happy to report that this year of living in Texas has been better than I expected. We survived a summer, I loved a snow-free winter, and we enjoyed some perfect, but short-lived, spring days! I really was not looking forward to moving here, and I still don't want to live here forever, but it's a good fit for our family for now.

The morning the guys hit the road in the truck. Becca and I flew the next day. 

We have been fortunate to live in a great ward, and have made lots of great friends! I love going to play groups, girl's nights,and book club. Michael loves his job (despite the long hours) and works with some great people. Collin and I love going downtown and meeting him for lunch and his coworkers love it when the babies come visit :)
We have been able to do some exploring and sight seeing over the last year, and there is still lots that we want to do and see! We have especially loved trying many of the BBQ places. Our favorite so far is the Salt Lick. And I have been pleasantly surprised that there is more to do outdoors in Texas Hill Country than I anticipated.

And despite the distance from our families we have been fortunate to see them multiple times over the last year. And Collin and I are looking forward to our long trip to CA this summer, while Michael is busy working hard to make sure San Antonio stays within budget ;)

My first time in SA, Feb 2013, and the weekend we decided to move here

Same spot October 2013 

All in all Texas has been good to us! Its always interesting to look back over time and see where life takes you. I can honestly say that I never thought it would bring us to Texas! 

Collin @ 6 Months!

I can't believe that our little boy is already 6 months old! Michael and I were recently going through his pictures from when he was just a couple weeks old and we both commented on how hard it is for us to remember him ever being that small. He has grown so much these past 6 months and I love seeing his personality emerge and watching him figure out and discover new things!

His stats at his 6 month doctors appointment:

20 lbs (90%)
27 1/2 inches long (86%)
17 inch head circumference (68%)

Some things about Collin at 6 months:

• Bedtime is pretty consistent at 6:30-7pm. He is going down great now, hardly makes a peep and self soothes- Hallelujah! But some days he is pretty tired starting around 5, so that last little bit can be really rough! I keep thinking if only he would take a late afternoon nap it would be great, but he won't. 

• We are still working on getting a good nap schedule. I feel like we are making some progress, but they still seem to vary from day to day. It all seems to depend on when he starts the day. On a good day he sleeps through the night until 6:30-7 am then he takes a nap around 8:30-9am and then another one around 12:30-1pm. But the length can vary anywhere from 45 minutes to 2 hours.  
•  He is sitting up! I love to just see him sitting in the middle of the rug playing with his toys! Makes him look like such a big boy.
• He is finally rolling from his back to tummy. And has been rolling from his tummy to back since he was about 3 1/2 months. And now that he knows how to roll he is loving moving around the floor and never stays on his back for long. He is also moving around in his crib, and we usually find him sleeping on his tummy or side. 

He rolled over and brought the blanket with him, he thought it was hilarious! 

• Eating baby oatmeal once a day. And we just introduced him to peas. Its fun introducing him to new foods and I love to see his reactions! 
• Likes to play with his board books. Its so cute to see him "reading" his books. 

• Loves to reach for things! He will be sitting playing with toys, gets his eyes on a something he wants, and then get himself in the funniest positions trying to grab it. 

• His clothes range from 6-12 months! It just depends on if they are new, hand-me-downs, or the brand. He does have some 3-6 month onesies that still fit, and for some reason that makes me really happy. But we just bought him some 12 month Carter's onesies and they fit great. I would say mostly he's wearing 9 months, but if I get him something new I get 12 months. He is growing like a weed! 

I think he looks so handsome in this 12 month romper! 

• Is so talkative! He loves to say "mama", "dada" and sometimes "baba"
• Loves to smack his lips and spit. He thinks its hilarious, but not so much when its in your face or when you are trying to give him his reflux medicine :) 

• Still spits up quite a bit. But thankfully we are seeing some improvement from what it used to be. The downside is the more mobile he gets the messier it is and more foods he tries the weirder it is/the more it stains. I am constantly spot cleaning our rug. Crossing our fingers we are seeing major improvements by the time he is crawling- or else I'll be following him around with a spray bottle and rag! 

• He dances! And its the cutest thing ever. I have a children's Pandora station that I like to play and when the song changes he starts bouncing up and down a little. Its adorable. 
• Gives kisses...when he's in the mood. Big, wet, slobbery ones on your cheek.
• Top 3 remarks I get from people about Collin: 1) How vocal he is 2) How happy and smiley he usually is and 3) How big and long he is getting...which isn't too much of a surprise with Collin ;)

I promise he is laughing! Zoom in on his face and you will laugh too :) 

• His pediatrician told us start giving him 2 oz of water a day. So we got him some sippy cups and he loves them! He looks so cute drinking out of them. And occasionally gets the top and bottom mixed up, which is still just as adorable.

So pretty much we think he is adorable and the best thing that has happened to our family! 

Easter

We enjoyed such a wonderful Easter this year!

Collin got his first Easter basket. The Easter Bunny brought him a touch and feel puppy dog book. He loves to sit and feel all the pages. And of course there were some eggs in it too. He loved to try to hold them and suck on them and we loved the contents. Mommy and Daddy even got baskets too! Mom finally got the nail polish she had her eyes on for the past couple of months, but just couldn't justify spending 8 bucks on. And the Easter Bunny has incredibly good taste and picked out a new polo for Daddy. He put it on as soon as we got home from church so I'd say it was a success!

That evening we hosted a yummy Easter feast with our friends, the Bird's and the Swindler's. We enjoyed so many of the traditional Easter dishes, and loved spending the meal together since none of us have family near by. And we all agreed that it was so nice to just have to make a couple dishes, instead of trying to make a whole traditional meal on our own! :)

I decided to try my hand at decorating my store-bought carrot cake mix cupcakes with store-bought frosting. I think my little carrots came out pretty cute! But next time I'm taking the time to make it from scratch, much better tasting! 

And I took probably 75 or so pictures of Collin in his Easter outfit. I just thought he looked so handsome! But of course half of them didn't turn out, but we got some cute ones.

I loved the trend this year of filling social media sites with #becauseofhim. It really helped me reflect on the true meaning and purpose of Easter and not get so consumed with the eggs, and baskets and candy. Michael and I are still trying to think of some sort of tradition(s) to start to help our family focus on the Savior while enjoying all the fun festivities. We would love to hear about your family's traditions and how you turn your focus toward the Savior and his Resurrection!

Happy Campers

Collin went on his first camping trip over Easter Weekend (the 18th-19th). It was just for one night but the perfect opportunity to see how Collin would handle it. And he was a pretty happy little camper! We went with a huge group from our ward- there were about 60 people. And camped at the Kerrville Schreiner Park along the Guadalupe River about an hour north of the city.

We got there mid-afternoon Friday, set up camp and then headed over to the river. We enjoyed the sunshine by the river for a couple of hours, went for a little kayak ride, saw a whole bunch of turtles, and introduced Collin to a body of water other than his bath tub. He liked it and splashed around for a few minutes. But it was a little chilly so we didn't keep him in for long and then we warmed up snuggling together in the chair.

After a long week of late nights at work, Collin was loving all the time he got with Daddy! 

One family brought some kayaks. Michael and I took one out to see the turtles everyone was talking about- there were even some cute baby ones! 

Notice the spit up...Becca caught it at the perfect time! 

We headed back to camp, cooked up our yummy tin foil dinners (we like this recipe) and got Collin ready for bed. He didn't go to bed as easily as he does at home, but he wasn't terrible, so we can't complain. He went down around 7, but probably didn't fall asleep until 8:30 when it started getting dark. I had to go in a couple times to comfort him, but he finally put himself to sleep. 

After Collin was asleep with played a game with our friends and camping neighbors, the McLemore's, sat around the campfire, ate some yummy dutch oven peach cobbler and enjoyed the beautiful evening with friends. Seriously the weather was perfect for being outside! 

Our peach cobbler 

I can't say I slept very well that night. But that's usually the case with camping. We probably didn't actually climb into our sleeping bags till almost midnight, and then I couldn't fall asleep. And then Collin started crying around 5. I eventually pulled him into bed with me around 5:30, warmed up his poor little hands (they were so cold even with his little mittens), nursed him, and then we both fell asleep again from about 6:30-7:30. Honestly that last hour of sleep was probably the best sleep I got all night. And I of course loved falling asleep with his little head snuggled close to mine!

That morning we enjoyed a big group breakfast. With pancakes, fruit and dutch oven dishes. Of course Michael and I had to make a dutch oven dish. We tried this recipe, and it was delicious! Word had gotten around that Michael and I had taken a dutch oven cooking class at BYU so everyone was excited to try the "expert's" dish. I wouldn't call us experts, but we certainly love to take advantage of any opportunity we have to use our dutch ovens! There was talk of next year doing a dutch oven potluck dinner! I say we make it a dutch oven cook off.

The stroller was perfect for keeping Collin contained, off the ground, and happy! 

By noon we had packed up camp (I just have to mention that Collin was such a great baby and took an almost 2 hour nap in the car- with the windows all open, of course!- while we were taking down camp) and were headed to the river again. The weather wasn't quite as warm as the day before so we didn't put on swim suits again, but we enjoyed sitting along the river, talking with friends, eating our picnic lunch and watching the kids who were braving the cold water! 

 

Collin is a grab-anything-he-can-get-his-hands-on phase! 

It was such a fun little getaway and it felt so nice to get out of the city for awhile. Collin was such a happy camper that there will definitely be more family camping trips in our future! Plus, we have a nice new (rather large) tent to enjoy! 

Collin's First Taste of Solids!

Collin had his first taste of food on Saturday, March 22nd! Lucky boy got to try baby oatmeal...yum! ;) He wasn't the biggest fan of his first tasting. The 2nd day was a little better. And now you can't give it to him fast enough! And of course we are the over zealous 1st time parents and have documented it like crazy! Enjoy :)

(I had a video too, but Blogger is not letting me upload it. Hopefully it will work another time. Any suggestions for getting it to work are appreciated!) 

Daddy got the honors of giving the first bite 

Mommy's turn to give it a try- he didn't like it any better

Happier just playing with the spoon
And let's just take a moment to check out his adorable rolls! 

Cute, messy boy! 

AND ABOUT ONE WEEK LATER...

He wouldn't let go of my hand so I could get him another spoonful

He recently started making this face and smacking his lips.
I think its hilarious...especially with his big eyes! 

We were trying to hold him out until 6 months to start solids, but he was showing signs of being ready- reaching for our food, opening his mouth if we put anything near him, sitting up on his own, and not sleeping quite as long at night. For now since he is still not quite 6 months he is just getting it once a day. But when he has his 6 month appointment in a couple weeks we'll talk to his pediatrician and decide where to go from here. I can't wait to see how he reacts to other foods, and I am excited to try my hand at making some homemade baby food! But I will admit I am also a little sad knowing that I am no longer his only source of food. Nursing has gone really well for us (well except for when he refused to nurse that first week) and I have really enjoyed that special bonding time with him. I know this is the natural course of things, but it is sad to know he is growing up. Can't he be my little baby forever?!

A Happy Sunny Weekend

We had such a fun weekend as a family! The weather was perfect...I think that's what really made it so enjoyable. Nothing like some perfectly gorgeous days to put you in a good mood! I am really loving this Texas spring weather- its just too bad it only lasts for a couple months before getting crazy hot.

It started on Friday when Collin and I went downtown with our new friends Alyssa and Ada and met our husbands for lunch. We ate outside in the plaza and just enjoyed the sunshine for almost an hour. Collin loved sitting on his Daddy's lap, tried to steal Michael's lunch and was just in the happiest mood!

His smiles make me melt! And he really is (for the most part) such a happy baby! And that makes me grateful :) 

That night we decided to brave keeping Collin up past his bedtime and went to a BYU Alumni SA Chapter activity. We got to see some friends and meet some fellow alum. Our friend Becca was one of the photographers for the photo booth. She got these fun pictures of our family. Collin did great, slept for a little bit and then woke up. He was pretty content in our arms and was even a little snuggly! I loved it! (And secretly wouldn't mind keeping him out later just for the snuggles. Although the 5am wake up call the next morning was a different story! Thank goodness it was Saturday!) And to top it all of we won the raffle for a BYU football helmet magnet for the car! With our BYU Alumni license plate frames and now our magnet there is no doubt who we cheer for!

Future Cougar!
I was sad his BYU onesie doesn't fit anymore. Someday when he isn't growing so fast we'll get him another shirt. 

Saturday we went tent shopping. We are taking Collin on his first camping trip in a few weeks. Its just an over nighter but we are really excited and crossing our fingers that he is a good little boy! We still haven't decided what tent to get yet. Costco has a 10 person one for an awesome deal right now. Is it silly to get such a big tent right now? We want it to be able to grow with our family. If we don't get that one then we will still probably get an 8 person so that someday it will be able to fit a few kids, us and our gear.

After shopping we sat out on our front lawn for awhile. Michael and I played Monopoly Deal while Collin sat next to us and played with his toys, tried to reach for our cards, and watched the cars go by. It was so cute to watch his head turn to follow the cars. This was probably my favorite moment from the weekend!

Love how he squints! And he looked so handsome in this little outfit. Daddy dressed him, and I think he did a pretty good job! 

Watching the cars go by

We couldn't stay out for too long though because I had to get ready for the General Women's meeting. I was able to go with some friends in the ward. It was so nice to get out for a while baby free, chat with friends, and be spiritually fed. It was a wonderful meeting and I loved all the music and videos that were incorporated into the meeting. I especially loved this video- brought me to tears!

And Sunday ended up actually being a pretty good day. Not going to lie, messing with Collin's naps and having to teach a huge Sunbeam class has made me dread church a little bit. Sunday is supposed to be a day of rest, but lately its been the most exhausting day of the week! But this Sunday went so smoothly- Collin didn't fight his nap before church, we were early to church (not just on time!), our sunbeams were very well behaved (probably helped that there were only 8), and we found out that our sunbeam class is going to be split. I probably shouldn't be as excited as I am, but some weeks we have 12 kids! And that many 3/4 year olds together can get a little crazy, especially when most of them are such good friends. They are cute kids though and it will be sad not to teach some of them anymore. But it really will be best for them, they get much more out of the lesson when its a smaller class and we aren't so exhausted after church :) Oh and Michael and I realized that with General Conference and Stake Conference we only have to teach 2 lessons in April....Happy Day!

Sunday after Church