Busy Baby

Nolan had her 9 month (can't believe it!) check up yesterday. She weighed in at 19 lb 15 oz and she's 28.5 inches long (not small).  We also found out that she'll probably need a helmet to correct her flat head.  ugh.  We haven't actually met with the helmet people yet, but the doc told us she'd probably have to wear it for 6 - 9 months. In most cases it's strictly cosmetic, but Brent doesn't want her to be all "Shrekky". I'm sure she'll thank us later. Her head shape is pretty severe and one of her ears is lower than the other.  So, if you have a new baby, learn from us - do as much tummy time as possible!  6 times per day! Because this helmet is not going to be cheap and I'm pretty sure insurance won't cover it. I hear the helmets are easy to get used to and shouldn't bother her too much. We'll see... this child hates having her face touched or her hands wiped.  I hardly know how many teeth she has now because she throws a fit if I try to pry her mouth open to have a look.  I'm pretty sure she has 4 teeth that are fully in and 2 more on their way!  She's eating new foods all the time to put those chompers to work.  She hasn't met a food she doesn't like yet (like her mom).  I'll keep trying.  :)

Here are the last few weeks in pictures.

With colder weather on its way and an almost-walking baby, we had to buy her some new shoes. She wears a 4.5W (not small).

What's this, a new toy?

 Silly contraptions on my feet

this feels funny!

Funny faces:









 Randi's birthday dinner:

 I actually made a cake that wasn't a total disaster

(I like to bake, but that doesn't mean I'm good at it.)

When it was finally bearable to be outside, Nolan made her first trip to the park. She loved the swing!  These pics don't do it justice. If you click on the link on the right it'll take you to our YouTube channel and you can see the video of her swinging.

Daddy also took her down the slide

AHS homecoming:

 with cousin Allison, who is now a senior!

 Jerri, Kenlyn, Randi and Rob

 taking in all the action!

Kick 'em Colts!

A few more that I couldn't leave out:



 proud of my culinary skills (inspiration - Lanny's)

 this was during a visit to the Culinary School of Fort Worth on alumni night

 she's learned she can find some goodies under there

 stuck under the exersaucer

 the decorative balls are usually the toy of choice

 she loves to look out the window

 good thing we plugged up the outlets!

 what are those in your hair mommy?

 Go Aggies! Brent and I went on a luxury vacation in College Station to watch the Ags beat SMU.  We look forward to watching many more beatings (from our couch)! :)

Learning the Hard Way and Adults get to Play

Nolan's only 8 months old and she already has to learn the hard way.  Since she's started crawling, she wants to go all over the place and pull up on everything, including the dog.  Brinkley is really patient, letting Nolan crawl all over her and grab her hair and paws, but that doesn't stop her from knocking Nolan over sometimes.  Nolan got her first official owie when she busted her lip trying to pull up on the shower door. There was a little blood and a few tears, but she soon forgot about it and continued on her merry way. 

 Brinkley, bracing for the worst :)

Brent's birthday was August 9th and we spent about a week celebrating.  It started with dinner at home with his parents, my parents, Lisa and Shahyan. I made french dip sandwiches, roasted fingerling potato salad, green salad with everything good, and s'more cupcakes. Yum!

 2 candles for turning 32

 helping daddy with his presents

 tasty!

On his actual birthday, the three of us went to dinner at Blue Sushi in Fort Worth and Curly's Frozen Custard for dessert.  When the weekend finally arrived we headed to Oklahoma to enjoy an adult night out at Choctaw with Lisa and Shahyan.  We had fun at the pool, a nice dinner, a lovely hotel room, great company and fun times (when we don't think about the money we lost at the blackjack table).  I don't think we'll go back for the gambling since the odds are highly stacked against us (you have to pay to play and we lost our money in no time). We also got to see some Jacob Black lookalikes (Twilight fans know who I'm talking about)!

Brent, looking like a 5 yr old smiling for a school picture, posing so I could get a pic of the Jacob lookalikes.  Soon after, casino security came by to ask me to delete all photos b/c you aren't allowed to take pics in a casino.  I managed to save this one though.

Brent and I took advantage of restaurant week last night and ate at Lanny's Alta Cocina in Fort Worth.  We had a fabulous meal and would go back if their usual prices weren't so crazy.  I'm thankful for restaurant week so we can try places like it.  We also get to try Al Biernats before restaurant week is over.



Carne Asada

It was a fun week of celebration and I look forward to the next big celebration in our family of three... Nolan's 1st birthday!  I can't believe it's less than 4 months away!  Maybe it's too early to be planning it already, but I can't help thinking about it!

More pics from the last few weeks:

 playing with her blueberries

 already obsessed with electronics (is 9 months too young for her first iPod? hehe)

 she loves drinking out of a straw and it provides much entertainment for adults

 clean baby!

 crawling through her tunnel, which she eventually tried to pull up on but it couldn't hold her weight so we had to put it away

 Brent's angry face at Brinkley for jumping over the furniture

 Nolan's impression of Brent's angry face

 not thrilled with myself in this pic, but i love it of her

 silly girl

I have to show off my new wall hanging. I wanted to do something unique with her 7 month pics so I ordered some round prints on illustration board and hung them with a plate hanger. I love how it turned out!