Craziest Week of my Life!!

Ok...
So I know that a while back I made a post stating that we would be Okies by the end of the summer...Well, I am here again to say that WE ARE STAYING IN TEXAS!!!! I can't believe it!! Mere weeks before the movers were scheduled to come and pack all of our possessions, we make the decision to stay put.
Chris was offered an incredible new position at Southwestern Energy (another independent oil/gas company based here in Houston). Devon was unable to match the offer by Southwestern, so we made the decision to accept the new job and stay here! It was a very stressful week for us all, but Chris especially had a hard time making the decision to leave the company that he began his career with. It was not a decision that he took lightly.
Luckily, we were able to get out of all of our real estate contracts in both Texas and Oklahoma. I love our house in Kingwood dearly, so I am very happy to not be leaving it behind.
I am very happy that we will be staying here in our home surrounded by our amazing group of friends and family!!

12 Months

Dear Lilah,
12 months has come and gone! One year, 365 days... I am still in shock that my baby is officially 1 year old. It really seems like just yesterday that your Daddy and I were walking around the block at night a few days after my due date, rubbing my belly, and whispering sweet promises of fun times if you would come out to meet us. There isn't a day that goes by when I don't recall at least one moment of your birth. We were giddy with excitement when those early contractions began coming in the late evening. It was our secret, and we held onto those last moments alone with you before we had to share you with the rest of the world. Your birth forever changed me; I learned more about myself during those 24 hours than I had in the previous 24 years! Your birth helped me to discover an inner strength that I wasn't sure existed beforehand. I loved you with all of my heart before I ever even laid eyes on you. The love between your Daddy and I multiplied the night that you were born. We began the day as a husband and wife and ended the day as a father and mother to a beautiful daughter.
This month you have grown so much! You are walking everywhere!! You have learned to scale the stairs with ease (much to our dismay). You love waving and saying either "Hi!" or "Bye!" to anyone that will listen. Your favorite game is peekaboo. You have learned the wonderful art of imitation! You like to pick-up my headbands from the floor and place them on your own head and walk around the house just like me. You also enjoy stealing my sunglasses and trying to wear them like I do. You enjoy playing patty-cake on long car rides, and will do just about anything to get strangers to smile at you.
This month we spent a long Easter weekend in Oklahoma City shopping for houses (more info on this later.) We also flew to New Orleans for nearly a week so that Daddy could attend a conference. You and I spent our days walking the streets of New Orleans, eating shrimp and crawfish po-boys while listening to Jazz music. We had a blast taking you to the Audubon aquarium and then the insectarium. You are growing up to be such a beautiful little girl. I can't stop my fingers from combing through your adorable little blond curls multiple times every day. You look so cute perched in your high chair at the table with us every night while you scarf down everything in sight. You have yet to meet a food you didn't enjoy. You've started to space out your nursing sessions a little over the past month, but I'm pretty sure you are still getting in at least 6-8 nursing sessions a day still. You're still hovering around the 20 pound mark. Your weight gain has slowed dramatically since you became mobile. You don't stop moving from the second your feet hit the ground in the morning until you lay your head down at night.
Beanie, thank you for the most delightfully fulfilling year of my entire life!! You are my life's biggest accomplishment. You fill our hearts with joy and our home with laughter every day!! We love you more than you can ever imagine!
It is painful for me to believe that ever year with you will fly by as quickly as this first year has! No matter how many years may pass, you will always be our baby girl!
Love,
Mom

Where the wind comes sweepin' down the plain

Long story, short...
Chris' job is being moved to Oklahoma City, and by the end of the summer we will officially be Okies!!
More details to come shortly!!

11 Months

What a crazy month it has been! Sorry that this letter is coming to you a few days late, but it feels like we have been going non-stop for the past few weeks. This month started with a visit from Nana and Grandpa! You were so excited to see them, and you were quick to show-off some of your newly discovered talents. This month you made two trips out to the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo with Sheri and your other Grandpa (who we are still debating over what you are going to call); the first night I wore you around on my back until you passed out from sheer exhaustion. The second night, we watched the ranch rodeo, and you had a blast; you were still wide-eyed and talking away until 11:00 that night! This month you went to another Rocket's game, but this time we got tickets to the Devon suite where you had plenty of room to run around and play. Also, this month, you had your first pseudo-camping trip. We set up the tent in the backyard, grilled hotdogs in the fire pit, and made dutch oven apple cobbler in the fire pit as well. The weather was so perfect that we took the rain fly off of the tent and stared at the night sky. It took you forever to fall asleep because you kept getting up to see the moon hovering above us. This month you went on your first big fishing trip. Uncle Bubba took us down to San Luis Pass (on the west end of Galveston island), and we fished from the beach. It was a sunny and beautiful day, and you had a great time (except for the few minutes when you cried hysterically after seeing the giant fish that Mommy had caught.) With spring here, and the weather being so nice we made several trips to parks, took many long walks on the greenbelt, and spent some lovely afternoons at the farmer's market.
This month you have discovered the magic of the kitchen cabinets! You love removing the entire contents of the cabinets onto the kitchen floor! Once you get bored with that, you usually head over to the dog's water bowl to splash around for a few minutes. We always laugh at the way you fling items over your shoulder when you are done playing with them. This month something very exciting happened...you starting walking!! One evening you took your first steps, and you haven't looked back since. You can still only take a max of about 10-15 steps before you reach a piece of furniture to grab onto or you fall over and start crawling. Daddy calls you zombie-baby when you walk because you hold your arms out in front of you just like a zombie.
This month, you have finally decided that food is for eating! You will eat pretty much anything!! You like green eggs for breakfast (egg blended with a handful of spinach then scrambled). You still enjoy sharing my smoothies with me in the morning as well. You LOVE going to our local sushi restaurant; they always make such a fuss over you! The sushi chef always brings you a tiny little roll made with nori, rice, avocado, and toasted sesame seed. I haven't weighed you in a while, but I suspect you are around the 20 pound mark now. It seems like despite all the new food adventures that you are still nursing as much as ever. If you space out your daytime nursing sessions at all, it seems like you just make up for them at night.
Lilah, this month has me preparing for your first birthday party (one of the reasons this post was late). I can't believe you are almost a year old! Daddy and I are planning a date night for when Nana comes to town for your birthday. It seems so hard to believe that even at almost a year old, we still don't feel ready to leave you (even if for only an hour or two.) I think you are more ready than we are!
We love you my dear, and we are having more fun than ever watching you grow. My house has been messier this month than ever before because I am so busy watching you play and keeping you out of trouble. I wouldn't trade it for the cleanest house in the world if it meant not having you here. You bring a smile to my face every.single.day, and I love you for that! I look forward to finishing up your birthday party preparations and celebrating this fantastic year that has passed with our friends and family. We love you Beanie Bean!
Love,
Mom

And she's off...

It is official! As of last Saturday, we now have a walker on our hands!! For the past few weeks she would take a little shuffle step here and there, but would never stream those together into actual steps. We happened to be over at Chris' parents house Saturday night and were able to capture her first real steps on video. Here are Beanie's first steps:

In the last few days, she has really taken off. She will now walk from obstacle to obstacle without us there coaching her along. It is so fun (and exhausting) to watch her learn this new skill!

10 Months

Dear Lilah,
Another month come and gone! I know I say it every month, but I seriously felt like I wrote your 9 months letter hours ago. This month we have seen you make HUGE strides in your development...literally! You are now cruising around the entire house. You can quickly crawl across the room, pull up on the couch, cruise across the couch, reach out for the wall, cruise along the wall and end up on the other side of the house in no time. A couple of weeks ago, you and Daddy surprised me when you guys called me into the living room and I see you standing in the middle of the floor (by yourself! not holding onto anything!); you were grinning at me ear-to-ear. You always get so proud of yourself when you accomplish another task; you smile and look around for us to acknowledge your success. I really feel like it will be any day now before you take your first unassisted steps. You have even started climbing up on things; you can go up small steps and will climb on top of many of your toys. (This scares Mommy..a lot!)
This month we ran the Bridgefest 5k! This is the 2nd year we have run it as a family. Last year you were still in my tummy (I was 30 weeks pregnant), but you were there. This month we made another trip out to Brenham to pick up meat, and we stopped by the Blue Bell factory for a sweet treat. The lady at the ice cream counter gave you a small cup of homemade vanilla, and when Daddy gave you a small bite, you looked horrified! Your expression said "why in the world would you want to eat something this cold?!"

Speaking of eating, you are doing a little more of that these days. You are still more interested in playing with the food, but we can usually get you to eat a few bites of things throughout the day. You LOVE cut-up pieces of pear, peas, blueberries, avocado, black beans, shredded chicken, rice and rice pasta in coconut oil. You start out a meal enthusiastically, but quickly just start playing with your sippy cup and start storing the food in your little chipmunk cheeks instead of swallowing. You are still a chunkster and are gaining weight, so we know you're not starving. You still pretty much nurse very 2-4 hours around the clock; I still love spending this time with you and don't see us giving this up any time soon. You are currently working on getting your 7th and 8th teeth in; I can see them right under the gum, but they don't seem to be bothering you too badly. This month, we all went to our first Rocket's game at the Toyota Center. You had a blast!! Me, you, Daddy, Uncle Matty, and Uncle Josh all went, and we had an entire row to ourselves so you spent the whole game walking up and down the 5 empty seats that were next to us. You were smiling at everyone who would look at you! This month you have really started responding to your name and the word "No!". You hear the latter quite often because you are going through a phase where you pick up EVERY small object from the floor and put it into your mouth. If I say "NO", it stops you for just enough time for me to get to you and remove said object. We always joke that if given the choice between the coolest toy in the world and a box full of dirty hypodermic needles, you would get up and sprint to the needles! You seem to have an affinity for anything that could potentially cause you harm. It has been a fun month Beanie! I have enjoyed watching you crawl away and play with the big kids at our playdates. I am so proud to see you becoming more independent, but also sad when I just want to snuggle you in my lap, but you squirm and grunt until I put you down so that you can play. growing fast and there is no slowing it down! We love you SO much and can't believe that you have been at home with us for nearly a year!!
Love,
Mom

9 Months

Dear Lilah,
Forgive me if I leave anything out in this letter; I am writing it from the comfort of our bed because I am sick with strep throat! Your daddy stayed home today so that he could play with you while I rested. I can see you two outside talking to the painters working on the house. The two of you are such a great pair these days; you are definitely his little girl. You smile like there is no tomorrow when he is around! It makes my heart happy to see the two of you together. This month has felt like the fastest month so far; I felt like I just posted your 8 month letter. I had several different blog post ideas in my head that I have been meaning to write, but the month just flew by before I had a chance to get around to them. At the beginning of the month, you starting cruising around on the furniture. It started out as you pulling yourself up to standing against various items, but it wasn't long before you started making laps around the coffee table in the living room. Since you have begun this cruising adventure, you pretty much abandoned all crawling efforts. You would much rather roll to your destination then pull yourself up and walk around. You have started to get more and more brave lately; you oftentimes will let go of the coffee table with both hands and use your chin to balance yourself. You can also bend down to pick up toys while standing against the furniture.

This month we visited the Museum of Fine Art in Houston where you were quite vocal, especially in the quiet exhibit halls. We find that you like to vocalize loudly in places where you can hear your voice echo. This month you went on a boat ride for the first time. We went out on Gigi and Grump's boat on Lake Conroe with Travis and Heather who came in from San Antonio to visit us. Last week you unfortunately experienced your first bout of illness. You were running fever for about two days and you were quite cranky for a few days, but you were such a trooper! You were fine as long as either Daddy or I was snuggling you while you rested. This month you had two "date nights" with Daddy while I attended quilting class. The classes were two hours long, and it was the longest I had ever been away from you. I never would have imagined it still being so hard to leave you (even for short periods of time) at 9 months old! It makes me realize how lucky I am to be able to stay at home with you everyday.
This month you didn't gain a whole lot of weight, but we're not worried about it. Dr. Injac said that this is totally normal once babies start moving around. You are starting to have more fun playing with different foods; you are putting your 5 little teeth to use! This month you started taking sips of my green smoothie that I drink every morning. You can sip through the straw like an old pro! We sit here together in the morning passing the cup back and forth, each taking our turn to sip.
This month you mastered the wave and "bye bye"; however you are still a little unsure about when to use it and many times I wake up in the morning to you waving your little hand and saying "bye bye" to me.

Lilah, your giggles have become even more infectious! I am convinced that we could end all of the violence and hatred in the world if we could just bottle-up your dorky little laughs. You are growing up too fast for this momma, and I try to remind myself to soak up every little ounce of your "babyness" because it is so fleeting. We love you Bean, and we can't wait to see what you will accomplish next!
Love,
Mom

8 Months

Dear Lilah,
Another month has come and gone as quick as a blink of the eye! This month we have enjoyed my most favorite time of the season…the weeks following Thanksgiving and leading up to Christmas! At the beginning of this month, we picked out and decorated your very first Christmas tree, a beautiful 12-foot tall Noble Fir. You loved staring at the lights and sparkly ornaments day after day. You did an excellent job supervising Daddy as he decorated the outside of the house. This month you enjoyed seeing the Christmas lights on the houses around our neighborhood. This month ended on such a special note…your very first Christmas!! You awoke at 8:45 Christmas morning, and we met your Nana and Grandpa, your Aunt Ashlyn and Uncle Garrett and Aunt Sarah all in the living room where we opened presents. You laughed and played with the toy that Nana gave you for such a long time. You took quite a nap after the mornings festivities. After you were recharged, we headed over to GiGi and Grump’s house where you got to see your other 3 Uncles and Aunt Lauren. You had just as much fun during round two of Christmas.
This month you have become increasingly mobile! You can easily maneuver your way across the living room floor. You also pulled yourself up to standing for the first time this month. You reached over to grab the edge of the toy bin and pulled yourself right up. This month you learned that Daddy will clap for you if you bang your toys on the side of the tub during bath time, so now you do it all.the.time!
I haven’t weighed you in a while, but I believe you are around 18.5 pounds. You are still only eating about a tablespoon of food a day. Some days you eat no solid food; it just depends on where we are and what is available to eat. This month we picked satsumas with Grandpa in Alvin, and you really love these. If Daddy or I hold onto a segment, you will suck all of the pulp out of the skin. You also like blueberries, avocado, banana, and green beans. You nurse around the clock still (every 2-3 hours), but I wouldn’t have it any other way. I love having this special time with you. At Christmas, when you got tired of being passed from person to person, a quick nursing session would perk you back up again. I knew that you weren’t nursing because you were hungry, but you were able to block out the noise and bustle of the gatherings by cuddling in close and locking eyes with me.
Lilah, we are still amazed that our hearts are even able to continue to grow with love for you everyday! I am happy that you enjoyed your first Christmas, and I know that you will have even more fun in the years to come. Thank you for making 2009 the best year of our lives!! I can’t wait to ring in the New Year with you and make 2010 an even better year!
Love,
Mom

White (Almost) Christmas!

I can't believe I am writing another post about real snowfall in Houston! Almost a year ago to the day, I was sitting in the car at IAH airport, waiting for Chris' plane to arrive from Oklahoma City, rubbing my blossoming belly, and wishing that our baby could have been here to see the snow really falling in Houston. Well, little did I know, that a short year later, we would see it again, and this time our little munchkin is here to see it for herself. Chris was home today, so we were all able to hang out and enjoy the exciting events together! Lilah made good use of the insulated camouflage suit that Uncle Bubba bought for her! She stayed nice and snuggly warm as the temperatures dropped to the very low 30's. We watched Chris build a little snow man in the backyard, but none of us could stay out too long; it was so dang cold!!! Tonight we are all cuddled-up in front of the fire sipping on hot chocolate and eating homemade cookies! Life is good :)

7 Months

Dear Lilah,
Today is special for two reasons; first off, you are 7 months old today! I can't believe I am even saying that!! Second, you are celebrating your first Thanksgiving today. Your daddy and I are so thankful that we are able to share each and every day with you. We prayed for you for such a long time, and now that you are here we are beyond thankful! You ate small pieces of turkey and sweet potatoes; you played with everyone at the house and then passed out for a 2-hour nap. I am watching you and your daddy now sitting on the couch watching the A&M vs. tu game. You are completely decked out in an Aggies sweatsuit that Mikey gave you before you were born.
Other than celebrating your 1st Thanksgiving, you had a pretty exciting month! This month you dressed up as an adorable bumble bee for Halloween and watched the big kids trick-or-treat around the neighborhood; Daddy and I dressed as beekeepers and Daddy pulled us around the block in the big yellow garden cart. Some first visits included a trip to the museum, and a weekend trip to San Antonio to visit Travis and Heather where we went to the air show at the Air Force base. You wore your first pair of ear muffs to protect your ears from the loud jets. This month we went down to Grandpa's a few times so that Daddy could help to build some cow pens. You had fun watching them work on the tractor. Daddy rode you around on the 4-wheeler and took you to see the cows in the back pasture. You also went to the feed store to buy some chickens and stopped on the way home to visit your favorite little ponies.
This month you starting eating your first bites of food. We have a steady supply of local, organic, yummy produce from a farm in Brenham. We give you pieces of food and have been letting you feed yourself; at this point we offer you a few bites once every day or two depending on what we are eating. Your hand-eye coordination has improved tremendously because of this. You have yet to meet a spoon! You have tried sweet potatoes, butternut squash, corn, avocado, bell pepper, cucumber, peas, carrots, black beans, and most recently turkey! A few months ago we took you down to visit the farm that raised the turkey we enjoyed on Thanksgiving day! To help you out with that food, you got your first two teeth in this month. The first was the week of Halloween and the second followed the first by just a few days. You were such a trooper; we were really surprised to see actual teeth in your mouth! You are still nursing as much as ever, every 2-3 hours during the day and a few times at night.
You enjoy sitting on the floor playing with your toys. Your favorite new trick is to flip backward over the boppy pillow and roll/army crawl a few feet from your toys. You are talking non-stop now! You talk to anyone that will listen. Going to the store has become quite the ordeal now; we have to constantly stop because people are fascinated by your big goofy grin and your wide blue eyes! Beanie, we have had another wonderful month together!! We are so thankful to have the opportunity to be your parents. You are becoming such a cool kiddo, and I am really embracing this time with you. The coming month encompasses my absolute most favorite time of the year, and I can't wait to share all of our family traditions with you. We love you more every day!!
Love,
Mom