Little Sis is Engaged!!

This is how he felt about the first 8hr trip! The face says it all.


Sitting with Aunt Sarah at Dinner





Matt and Sarah before they got engaged.

A couple of weeks ago, my sister got Engaged!! We are all excited for her, excited that she has found someone that makes her happy and treats her right. The weekend she got engaged we had to do a lot of little white lies, so she wouldn't know the real reason why were heading to Chicago. Most of you probably thought somethings was up, when we decided to drive to chicago basically for a 24hr trip! But not Sarah...she had no idea. Matt her fiancee a couple weeks back emailed us and said he planned on asking Sarah to marry him, and wanted to see if we could come up because he was going to have a little party afterwords for family and friends. When we found out my initial thought was to fly, because a trip that quick with a 7 month old wasn't what we really wanted to do. But as you can imagine on such short notice tickets were high. So we decided to drive. Sarah thought we were coming to celebrate her birthday since it was just a couple weeks before. So we got up at 4:30am Saturday morning to start our adventure. Weston did ok, the bad thing is that he likes his bottles and food really warm. I purchased a bottle warmer for the car and it didn't work. So every time it was time to feed, we had to find a gas station or a McDonalds and ask for hot water. We finally made it, we thought about going to the zoo with him. But After talking it over we really didn't want to have to put him in a stroller since he had been in a seat for over 8 hrs. So he just rolled around on Sarah's floor. Until it was time to head to dinner. Usually when we head to dinner he falls asleep in the car, which is perfect for a little nap time, but the drive to dinner was 5 min or less, and so he didn't sleep. He was tired. So he was fighting it during dinner. We basically had to walk around with him, so he wouldn't disrupt the other guest. After dinner, we all piled back into the car and drove Sarah And Matt to a friends place, where Matt had told her a friend was having a party and they had to make an appearance. Little did she know that the party would be for her later that evening and he was going to ask her to marry her. So we drove back to Sarah's place and waited outside in the car for the call. Weston took a nap, which was great since he needed it. We finally headed back over to Matt's friends place and got to see them and congratulate them. We spent the rest of the evening there, and finally at midnight headed back to Sarah's place to try and sleep. The night was short, and Weston didn't sleep the greatest and neither did we. We were in the same room, which isn't the greatest for sleeping arrangements with a baby. He woke up at 4:30 I think because he was cold. Sarah's place has lots of windows and isn't the greatest when it comes to insulation. Plus we didn't know how to turn the heat on. So finally at 6:00 we decided to get up and get ready to head out. our way home Weston did a lot better. I think basically because he was tired. My parents got us toy story 1 and 3, so that was playing the whole way home. Baby Einstein wasn't going to cut it anymore. We made it home safely, but it took us a couple of days to catch up on our sleep. Now the fun part has started helping Sarah plan a wedding! LOL

6 Months

Grandma and Grandpa made a short trip down, so they got to feed Weston!


Weston is reading already! ha Holding one of his valentines day cards.

Last week Weston turned 6 months, its hard to believe it. He is growing and getting so big and independent. He had his 6 month check up yesterday and he is doing great. He is 15lbs and 11 Oz. He is in the 15th percentile for weight. He is 26 inches long which he is in the 30th percentile for that. The doctor was very impressed with his sitting ability. He has great control, he actually said that is how a 8th month old would sit. He did get three shots yesterday as well, and that didn't go over well. But I don't blame him.
He is eating food three times a day now. In the morning for breakfast he is eating a fruit, and he gets vegetables in the afternoon and evening. For those of you who don't know I am pureeing his food. Its been fun trying to find all the food for him to try and make them. The only food he hasn't liked is bananas. I mashed them up for him he didn't like them, so I tried a jar of bananas and he didn't want them either.
His hair has kind of changed color as well. He doesn't have a lot of hair, but its becoming more blonde now than dark brown. So we will have to see what color he has in a couple more months.
The past couple of weeks he has really started to notice when we leave or enter into the room. He follows you the whole way, he also follows you and tries to see if you go behind a wall or a couch. So playing peekaboo is a lot of fun.
About two weeks ago he got his first cold. We even had to take him for a sick visit. He ran a temp for a couple of days, and was really congested. We were just thankful it didn't develop into something else.
He is all smiles, he doesn't have any teeth cutting yet and I am dreading that day. I hope he is one of those kids that it doesn't bother him.
He has a lot of tickle spots! Brandon says he is just like his mom! LOL
He laughs and talks a lot. He loves watching Nala and Millie, he gets so excited when they walk by him.

5 Months

Wow can't believe its been 5 months since Weston came into the world. We have enjoyed every moment we have with him. He brings us so much joy, and some worry (that he is growing and eating enough!).
About a week ago we decided to start solid food. I said I wouldn't start until he was 5 months old, but every time we eat he would watch us and sometimes smack his lips. I started to feel bad. So we started with Rice cereal. He wasn't a huge fan of it. Probably because it doesn't taste good, so a couple of nights ago we started with Avocado. He seemed to like it a little better.
Also a week ago he has started to really notice our girls (dogs) Millie and Nala. He gets so excited when they walk by him, he starts kicking his legs and he gets a big grin on his face. We need to try and capture that on video its so cute. He even try's to pet them, by sticking his hand out.
He is doing better when it comes to sleeping at night. Sometimes he sleeps all night, sometimes he wakes up at 4:30, or 6:00 to eat and sleep a couple more hours. His wake up time in the morning seems to be around 7:30 or 8.
This past week we made it to the gym, he goes with me and goes to the childcare center. The ladies there are so great, this thursday when I went to pick him up. The works told me he is such a happy, and easy baby! I just love hearing that. He is so happy all the time, except when he starts to get sleepy.

Christmas with the Potters!

We left the Hoop's house christmas afternoon, to arrive at the Potter's house. Weston did very well on his travel, he slept most of the way. Once we got there, it was time to celebrate Christmas again. Again Weston got a ton of toys and clothes, and we had a nice time celebrating that evening.
The next day we headed to my mom's side for our annual get together, where we play the game and enjoy each other company for a couple of hours. After that we went to see my Grandma Potter for a couple of hours, and my Aunt Debbie and cousin Jackie came to see Weston as well. He did very well, I think he slept most of the time. He was over tired, by this point so he needed the rest.
The next couple of days we just rested, and did some last minute exchanges. Once again we loaded up our vehicle and headed on our long journey home. And I mean long. What usually takes 8.5 hours ended up taking 11 hours. And it had nothing to do with Weston, we ran into accidents and backups. It was very frustrating. Poor Brandon he had to drive the whole way. The reason being because I have to feed Weston. We only ended up stopping once on our 11 hour trip home. The girls did great, they just slept the whole time.

Christmas with the Hoops

So this year for Christmas we were gone a whole week, and Weston did alright for being gone from his environment. We started our Christmas vacation in Ohio. We were there a couple days before Christmas, and left Christmas afternoon. We decided to celebrate Christmas on Christmas Eve, which turned out wonderful for all of us. Ali got to play with her presents, and we got to take our time. We also went to a Christmas Eve service at the Wesleyan church. It was a very good service, and towards the end of the service the Pastor called us up on stage. He ended up saying a prayer of dedication for us and Weston. It was a wonderful experience. Since this is a small church, I told Brandon when we left we will never get that anywhere else because we got to such a large church. It was nice of him to do that and it was nice because all of our family was there as well.
We purchased Ali some princess dresses, and they were a huge hit! You can see she is such a model:-)
Weston of course had a great first Christmas. He was spoiled on both sides, he got lots a new toys and it will be fun to watch him grow into them. He also got a ton of clothes. We were all very blessed. We left with a pretty full SUV, and came back with an overload SUV.

Snow Day!

Last night we got 4 to 5 inches of snow. They said it was suppose to start at 6pm but when I went to bed, there was no snow. However when I woke up with Weston at 12:30 I looked out and the ground was already covered. I wanted it to snow, because Weston got this cute snow outfit and we wanted to get a picture of him in it.
So this morning we got bundled up and went out for a few seconds to get some pictures of Weston in his first snow.



Weston all excited about heading out into the snow.


Once out in the snow, he wasn't to excited about the whole idea.







Nala in her usual spot in front of the heater!


Millie watching the kids playing in the snow, and wishing she could go out and join them.

Mash potatoes and peer pressure.....:-)

This past week we had our first small group since before Christmas. The ladies in the group new that Weston wasn't gaining weight and usually after 4 months you can give rice cereal. I mention that our pediatrician didn't think Weston was ready for it. That night for small group we had chicken, mash potatoes and rolls. Kristin walked by Weston and he was observing her plate of food. Which he has been doing lately. I told them he watches us eat and I am sure he is thinking "what is that mom...I want some of that" Well he watched her eat those mash potatoes and he started smacking his lips. We all started laughing. They said he is ready for some rice cereal. I don't know about that, but we tried mash potatoes. He seemed to like them, I am not convinced though he is ready for rice cereal, we will have to wait a couple more weeks.