Orange Power

We had another really great weekend. Granny and Grandaddy came to visit us on Friday afternoon. Friday was Granny's birthday so we all celebrated together at my parent's house on Friday night. We ate dinner and visited and of course Nathan was the center of attention.

I really can't get over how much these two love each other

I made Granny a cherry dump cake for her birthday

Saturday morning was pretty laid back. We spent the morning visiting and playing cards. Everyone was anxiously awaiting kickoff for our big game. We played Texas A&M. We were ranked 7 and they were 8 so it was a huge game. It was also our first big test of the season, and I think everyone in our house was nervous. I was really concerned we were going to lose especially after the first half of the game.

I love my little orange family

Nathan and Granny enjoyed the game.

Daddy and Nathan were dressed alike with OSU shirts and jean shorts.

My cowboys pulled through and had an amazing comeback in the third quarter. It was such an exciting game. Our defense played incredible in the second half and were able to squeak out a victory. Nathan is trying to figure this whole football thing out. So far I think all he knows is everyone wears orange and his mom and dad scream and jump up and down a lot. We'll teach him soon. Matt was reading the game recap in the newspaper to him on Sunday.
Granny and Grandaddy headed back to Weatherford after the game was over. I'm glad they didn't give up on our pokes and leave at halftime. It was looking pretty bleak then.

Nathan had to wear his orange polo on Sunday to church to celebrate our win. He is such a handsome boy. Sunday afternoon everyone but Daddy took a good nap, then we went on a jog and went out to dinner. It was a great end to a great weekend.

Faster Than a Speeding Bullet

One of the things Matt and I have wanted to do for a couple of years was to go to Dallas for a long weekend mini vacation. We had intentions to do it awhile ago but with him working in Florida and then me being pregnant, and then having a baby, we just didn't get around to it, until last weekend that is. We didn't get to take a big vacation this year because of obvious reasons, but we did want to get away for a little bit and do something fun. My parents offered to go with us and hang out with Nathan, and that's the only way we could have gone, so we are both so thankful for their generosity.

We headed out of town Friday night and made it to our hotel about 10:30. Saturday morning we got up bright and early and made it to Six Flags just as they opened.

Headed for some fun!

My ALL time favorite amusement park ride is the Tower of Power at Six Flags. I just love it, so of course we rode it first.

I love the thrill of the drop and not knowing when it's coming, and coming out of my seat. Matt just loves to hear me scream. I would always tell him I wasn't going to scream, and then I did. The line was short so we got right back in line. Then we rode another roller coaster and came back and rode Superman again. It just never gets old.

After the Superman we rode a few other rides. We rode Mr. Freeze which turned out to be a big mistake. Apparently Matt and I aren't as young as we once were, and we both came off that ride with headaches and unsettled stomachs. We rode a few other rides and then decided we needed to take it easy and not push ourselves or we would both be miserable. We rode a few tamer rides and then met Mom, Barry and Nathan for a break. We went back to our hotel and I fed Nathan, we ate lunch and rested for a little bit.
Once we were recovered, we headed back for the rest of the afternoon. Barry joined us for the afternoon, and we headed straight to the Titan. The Titan is Matt's favorite ride at Six Flags, and one of my favorites too. Then we decided to try the new Texas Giant. They had recently redone it and we decided to give it a try. I usually hated that roller coaster it was so rickety and jerky that I came off of it with a headache, but the new ride was MUCH smoother and really fun. Props to Six Flags for redoing it.

Look at that drop. I swear it is almost a 90 degree drop.

We rode the Titan one more time, hit up a couple more rides and made sure we got one more trip in on Superman before we called it a night We were all worn out and headed back to the hotel to veg out and watch football.


We had a great day at Six Flags, but honestly it left me longing for Disney World. The thrill of the attractions is obviously way better at Six Flags, but the atmosphere, cleanliness and overall experience of Disney World just can't be beat. I think all day Matt and I kept saying, "That wouldn't have happened at Disney World" or "Wasn't that so much better at Disney World?" I kept scheming ways to make it work to make it back to Orlando next year, but I don't think it will happen. We still had a great day, and I'm sure we'll make it back to Disney World at some point.

Saturday night/Sunday morning turned out to be very eventful. About 3:30 Sunday morning we awoke to the fire alarms going off. I think all of us thought it was a false alarm. We stumbled around and made it out of the building. We did see some smoke on the first floor on our way out. Poor Nathan slept through the alarm and everything and didn't wake up until we were outside at the car. Since we thought it was a false alarm, we weren't very prepared. My mom grabbed her purse but no car keys and no car seat for Nathan so we couldn't go anywhere. I had good intentions of grabbing Nathan's diaper bag, but I made it outside and realized I had grabbed Matt's bag instead of the diaper bag. Poor Nathan was stuck with a soaking wet diaper and no pacifier. He did so good though. And I will say that I discovered another benefit of nursing. I could feed him even without a diaper bag in the craziest of circumstances. He was a trooper and hardly cried at all. We ended up being let back in the building a little after 5:00. Some sort of condensing fan had melted causing a lot of smoke but no fire. We all headed back to bed, and Nathan was super good for his momma and slept in until almost 9:00. My little explorer is usually raring to go by 7:00, but he must have been worn out too. I did feed him a couple times, but we are getting pretty good at nursing lying down, so I was still able to dose and sleep good most of the morning. I would have taken pictures of all the fire trucks, but grabbing a camera was the last thing on my mind.

Sunday, Matt and I decided to go to the Six Flags water park, Hurricane Harbor. We had gone a long time ago and had a pretty terrible experience. It was the middle of July on a Saturday and it was PACKED. I know we waited in line for over 2 hours to go on one slide. This time it was totally different. The park was EMPTY. The longest we ever waited in line was six minutes. We rode everything we wanted to multiple times, and were still ready to go after only three hours. Our favorite slide was called Bonzai Boggans. We rode a mat down a steep water slide and then slid across the water. I think we rode it like six times. We also rode the black hole four times, the tornado twice and several other slides. I really enjoyed our day at the water park. The lazy river and wave pool were practically empty. The rides weren't as thrilling as Six Flags, but it was much less crowded and not as hot, since we were always in the water.

We came back to the hotel and relaxed for the afternoon. I had to get my Sunday nap in :). That evening we all went out to eat at a great steak house. The food and service were excellent.

Baby Nathan had fun playing with Grammy and Papa Joe in the hotel room for the weekend. He also went shopping, and Grammy bought him new clothes, toys, and a pacifier with his name on it. I think he had a great vacation too. He sure was spoiled.

We drove home Monday morning and managed to get to watch about half of the OSU/TU game at my parents when we got home. Since the game was delayed until after midnight, the whole game didn't record, but we got to watch some good highlights. Oh, and another funny story was that Matt was checking the game recap while we were waiting outside because of the fire. It was funny when he said Blackmon got his first touchdown of the game at three something in the morning. Crazy night for everyone.

We had a really nice time getting away and doing something fun and out of the ordinary. It was nice to spend some time with Matt and escape reality for a little while.

Weekend Recap

We had a great weekend last weekend. I was looking ahead to this Fall and our weekends are jam packed between now and Thanksgiving. We have lots of fun things planned, and last weekend felt like the beginning of our busy Fall.

We invited my parents over to play games on Friday night, and we had a great time. Saturday morning we ventured over to Stillwater to spend time with our good friends Matt and Amie. It had been almost a year since we had seen them last, so we were definitely overdue for a visit. They fixed lunch for us and we visited, played with Nathan, and taught them a new version of Settlers. They have always been one of our favorite couples to play games with. Later that afternoon we walked around campus to show Nathan his future Alma Mater. The weather was beautiful and we were out and about on campus for a couple of hours.

Nathan always enjoys walks and he seemed to enjoy all the sights of OSU. Afterwards we went out to dinner at a local Mexican place in Stillwater. Then we came back and played another game with Matt and Amie before we drove home. We're hoping to make it back to Stillwater for homecoming again this year, so we'll get to see Matt and Amie again soon.

Sunday afternoon Matt and I went to a wedding of one of my coworkers at Youth Services. It was an outdoor wedding and was a very laid back and fun wedding. They had coke in old fashioned glass bottles and caramel apples as favors. They also had baskets of outdoor games for the kids. We took advantage of those. We're big kids right? They guys had a little fun with the bean bag toss, and then the girls joined in and we all played bocce ball for awhile

Jennifer was a gorgeous bride and her wedding really reflected her personality and style. I'm so happy for her and John. She got engaged right before Nathan was born. In fact, when she visited us in the hospital was when I got all the details of her engagement. It's been fun hearing all the details of their relationship, engagement and wedding.

On the move

Nathan has figured out how to get around. I think baby proofing is just around the corner.

Train a Child

Train a child

in the way he should go

and when he is old

he will not turn from it.

It's fun having a new cowboy in the family!

Labor Day Weekend

We took advantage of the long holiday weekend and joined my parents for a quick trip to Iowa to see my sweet niece. We left Friday night after everyone got off work and drove to Kansas City and stopped for the night. We've learned that stopping part way helps a lot when traveling with a little one. Saturday morning we drove the rest of the way and met the Flamings for lunch at the mall.

We spent the rest of the afternoon cuddling with Amelia and visiting with her parents. My brother even got a little nap while we watched the baby.

Amelia and Uncle Matt meet. I think it was love at first sight :)

Nathan got some quality time with Papa Joe this weekend

Sweet babies. Amelia is almost as big as Nathan. I love that she is holding on to him

Barry cooked dinner for everyone. He brought his famous smoked chicken and we spent the evening watching college football, visiting and playing with the babies. I just have to add that my husband and I are SO excited it's finally college football season again. ESPN is on all the time at our house now :).

Sunday morning my parents treated all to a delicious brunch at one of Jeremy and Anna's favorite place. It was a buffet filled with lots of scrumptious food. After brunch we headed back to Jeremy and Anna's. It was really nice because somehow Nathan and Amelia ended up on basically the same feeding schedule. That made it easier for scheduling our meals and activities. We laughed because at one point they were even burping at the exact same time. Sweet cousins have to do everything together already.

Sunday afternoon my mom and Nathan caught a little nap. She's going to kill me for posting this picture. Lately, we've noticed that Nathan gets over stimulated when he is tired and trying to fall asleep. He always buries his head in my shoulder when he is falling asleep, so we've started putting a blanked over his head when we are holding him and he is tired. Apparently my mom thought it was a pretty good idea. While the babies slept, Jeremy, Anna, Matt and I got in a game of settlers. Barry grilled steaks for everyone too. Once again it was delicious.

I got some snuggling in with my niece while we were there. It was fun because I could usually get her to calm down when she was fussy. I think Grammy was a little jealous that Amelia would stop crying when I held her.

Precious baby cheeks. I think she looks a lot like my brother

Aunt Angela and Uncle Matt. We plan on spoiling her good!

Matt spent some time teaching Nathan how to play angry birds on my phone

Before we left Sunday night we took a few family pictures.

My parents sure love their grandbabies

Our growing family. Things have sure changed a lot in the last year

One last cuddle with that beautiful baby girl

We got back on the road Sunday night and drove back to Kansas City to spend the night. We made it back home on Monday afternoon and Matt got a little down time in before he went back to work on Tuesday. It was a great weekend. I miss that baby girl already!

4 Months Old

Sweet Nathan, life with you gets more fun every day, and your 4th month has certainly been full of wonderfully fun moments.

When I said last month that you were smiling all the time, I have no idea what I was talking about because you smile a million times more now that you are older. We used to have to coax you to smile with a toy or crazy faces. Now just seeing us smile (or anyone else) will fill your face with a huge grin. Sometimes just seeing our faces or hearing our voices will merit a sly little smile. We've also entered laughing territory. You laugh at your Grandaddy's silly faces, and your teachers at school told me about you laughing at them when I picked you up last week. We get laughs some too, but not all the time like your smiles are. You are just an easy going happy baby. If your belly is full and you are not sleepy, you hardly cry.

You are on a pretty consistent schedule eating about every 3 hours during the day. Depending on the day and what we have going on sometimes you eat a little more often. We had some sleeping issues this month and as of now, you are no longer sleeping through the night. You hit your three month growth spurt and afterward never made it back to sleeping all night. We also have been working on moving you to your own room, and we’ve entered the world of teething and have left the world of swaddling. So I’m thinking the combination of all those things have led to you wanting to be with Mommy in the middle of the night. You usually go down about 10:00, wake up to eat between 3:30 and 4:30 and then are up for the day at about 7:00. You’ve been consistently eating 6-7 times during the day and usually once in the middle of the night.
You still nap after every feeding and still are sleeping about 30-45 minutes per nap. Sometimes we’ll get a longer nap out of you , 1.5-2 hours, but that’s not happening consistently. I laugh when I see your paper from school that talks about your day and I see that you only slept for 30 minute stretches there too. I tried to cut out one of your naps this month in order to see if that would increase the length of your other naps, but you weren’t having it. You are apparently a baby who needs several cat naps instead of 2-3 long naps.

You are learning to make new sounds all the time. Your newest sound is sort of like a growl. We laugh at you when you practice it. It’s fun to watch you learn to do new things. You coo and babble all the time. We love hearing you talk to us. Daddy swore you said “dadie” this month, but Mommy is convinced your first word will be momma.

You made another long car trip to Iowa this month to visit your Auntie Anna, Uncle Jeremy, and cousin Amelia. You had fun spending time with them, and your auntie is convinced you are going to be a sweet little role model to your cousin. It seems you’ve taught her new things already including holding her ears, and sucking on her arm. Once again, you were an angel in the car, only fussing when it was time to eat, or you needed a diaper change.

We had to stop swaddling you this month. One night I swaddled you and put you to bed. A few minutes later, I heard you fussing and went to check on you, and you were on your tummy still swaddled. So for safety reasons, all your swaddling blankets are washed and put away. Mommy was sad that we can no longer swaddle you. It’s just another sign of how quickly you are growing up. It will be a long time before we have swaddling blankets in our house again.

You are still a little bitty guy. You are wearing 0-3 month and 3 month clothes. I’ve put you in a few 3-6 month onesies and outfits but they are still a little big for you. We’re still in size one diapers and not sure when you’ll be ready for size twos.

You got two new friends this month. We are so excited for you to meet baby Carter and baby Wyatt! We hope you will be great friends. You’ll get to meet both of them next month, and Mommy and Daddy are really looking forward to meeting your new friends and seeing their parents too.

You started school this month and are thriving. You are always happy when I pick you up and I never get a bad report from the teachers. They always say you are happy and sweet. Mommy misses having you with me all the time, but I’ve been able to get a lot accomplished while you are at school, so I can spend more quality time with you when we are together.

Your hand eye coordination is improving daily. You grasp at things and are able to pull them to your mouth. Everything goes into your mouth these days. Sometimes you are a little off and end up with your hand in your mouth instead of your paci or your toy, but it’s cute to watch your motor skills improving. You like to grab onto our fingers and pull them to your mouth and chew on them. Since you've started teething, we’ve noticed more chewing and biting on our hands and your toys and pacifiers. You haven’t cut any teeth yet, but you have two little white bumps on your bottom gum.Your newest trick this month is standing up. We help you into a sitting position, and you hold on to our fingers and you pull yourself up to a standing position all by yourself. You blow me away with your leg strength. You are such a strong little guy.

You still haven’t quite mastered rolling over from your back to your tummy. You seem to have plenty of leg strength and abdominal strength, but struggle a little bit with your upper body. Your little arm seems to get in the way. We’ve often seen you roll over almost all the way, and you end up lying on your arm so you flip back to your back. Apparently when you are swaddled your arm doesn’t get in the way because you rolled all the way over in your swaddling blanket.

When you start to get upset, you stick your little bottom lip out and give us the most terrible face. You can be pretty dramatic at times.

We’ve noticed lately that you seem more interested in Rhapsody. You’ll stare at her and watch her a lot. She’s also more interested in you and will come up and sniff you and sometimes lick your nose. She’s also pretty interested in some of your toys, so we have to be careful not to leave them on the floor. Thankfully you aren’t interested in any of her toys yet. Let’s keep it that way :).

You like to try and stick your entire fist into your mouth, and actually you can almost get the whole thing in there. It’s funny to watch you try and even funnier when you try and talk with it in your mouth. You sure know how to keep us laughing these days.


I’m convinced that you are just the sweetest baby boy in the whole world. Some of the most precious moments in my life come from rocking you at night. We turn on your lullabies, turn down the lights and just stare at each other, and I thank God for bringing you to our family.