oh my

the highlight of my day yesterday ~

how cute are you?!? even when you are stuck in a bowl.

silly boy

This is NOT

a 

box.

    

( That is NOT a load of laundry needing folding in the background.)

Play time with you, silly boy, is a zillion times better than folding laundry. 

 Your cuteness in the picture is pretty good at hiding it too! 

 Love you buddy.

:)

"oh darling

  don't you ever grow up...

 don't you ever grow up...

 just stay this little... oh darling don't you ever grow, don't you ever grow up...

it could stay this simple."

no instant replay here...

hey buddy,

the other night you had your mama and daddy screaming!  out of joy of course :)  it was in our kitchen where we witnessed your very own

first  t h r e e   steps.  

yep. three!  

it's amazing how sweet and little the steps you took were.  and yet they gave us such an adrenaline rush as if we had won a million dollars.

so needless to say, we have the camera by our side all the time, just in case we can capture it when it happens again.   then we can actually watch an instant replay of your hard work.

love you buddy.

are we seeing this right...

double digits?

 sweet boy!  you are 10 months old. 

 we are not even sure what to think about this, except...

 my   oh   my 

we are only a few months short of being parents to a toddler. 

so for this month, we will continue to enjoy every bit of our 10 month old baby!  even if we have to chase after you.

we have so much to say about you at 10 months.

when you break open that smile or let out your silly giggle we see all those teeth you have been working hard on letting in.

your hair is growing like crazy. the mohawk these days is a little extreme.  we are trying to wait till you reach one year for that first hair cut. we'll see if we can make it.

you love eating all kinds of foods these days.  most especially bananas, chicken salad, crackers, you love any meat we will share with you, you are always happy to accept.

your little feet touching the footrest shows how you are growing a little taller every day.

growing so much so, when you sneak away from us we hear where you are. playing every key of the piano you can get your fingers on.

you also enjoy being able to watch daddy from the window when he's working on the yard.

you still chase mama around when i am trying to clean.

so much so you usually are hanging on my legs trying to bite me just to let me know you are there.

(how sweet is that?)

you love making sure we are well fed just like you.

your evening routines have changed a little bit.

we usually play together getting you to give us the best laughs.

then we'll do the normal nightly routine.

we enjoy rocking with you in your room. sometimes you fall asleep and sometimes you are happier to go to sleep on your own in your crib.

we couldn't ask for a better baby.

you still enjoy your sleep just like we do. all through the night and a long nap, sometimes two in the afternoon.

the crazy thing is you still sleep in your own unique way. just like you did as a newborn.

you are a trooper in the car these days.  this has always been hard work for you.

you are still our little lover...

cuddling as often as you can.

we cannot believe how fast you are moving these days.

everyone we meet says you will probably be walking soon.

we won't be surprised either, just amazed. these 10 months have gone by in a flash.  

we can't get enough of you buddy, and all the excitement you have brought us this last 10 months. 

we've never been happier to start our day.

we love you little "10 month old" man

oh the places you'll go...

Well we made it.  We took you on your first. flight. ever.  And we survived!   We  flew to Charlotte, North Carolina to visit cousins that you had never met. (Skype does not count as an official meeting.)

The flight there was so great!  You fell asleep on the first leg, and played the entire time on the other.

When we arrived at the airport we were so happy to see Chad and Mike waiting to pick us up.  Unfortunately, the luggage didn't make it with us to the Charlotte airport..  

It decided to arrive the next evening at the house instead.

You weren't to worried about that, since you were too busy enjoying playing all day in your pajamas with your cousins. . .

. . .while also meeting your other cousin, Jack the dog.

We enjoyed spending our afternoon's outside.

And our evenings were spent sharing laughs and hanging out on their beautiful back porch.

Jack, you had a date night with Mendy and all your cousins, while your mama and daddy snuck out to have dinner with Chad, Dana and Mike.

We all had our share of "Puddin." that week.  This is just one of the many.

Us girls had a little too much fun talking about decor and Mendy's overwhelming samples of paint. :)

(But hey... I did finally decide on a color for our dining room, thanks to her!)

Chad hosted a night of "Minute To Win It" games for the cousins.  This will definitely have to be played again!  It was just so much fun!

We, of course, all were able to go to Mass together, and that is always so special!

The Winland clan said goodbye before we did, and boy was that hard to watch.  I just knew our time was coming soon too!

The following day Chad and Mendy let us borrow their car so we could venture off and see a little of Virginia.  We met daddy's old college buddy, shared lunch, laughs and a little dessert. 

Overall,  it was such a wonderful visit.  Your daddy and I were so glad we made the trip.  One we will never forget!  

We know it is so important to stay as close as possible with family even when distance makes it harder.   We just hope and pray it isn't too long before we see them again!  

love you little travelin man.