Family Portraits

We went ahead and took advantage of Brooks' ability to sit, without crawling and had family portraits taken.  I am very happy with the way they turned out, and I am excited to try and make a collage wall in my house (if you have any helpful hints let me know).  The hard part is going to be choosing which photos get displayed, but I'd say that's a good problem to have!  Thanks to Angela Wilson Photography for a job well done!

Luckily we went ahead and took the pictures, because my little man is now on the move.  He does an army crawl at the moment and is not very interested in staying on his knees.  Whenever he can grab onto something he pulls right up to his feet.  We are at the frustrating time when he wants to move so quickly and easily, but it's still a struggle! 

He is, however, standing independently.  He can hold onto something and stand for a very long time without help.  When he isn't holding anything, he stays on his feet for about 10 seconds (long enough to realize no one is holding him up).  He loves to hold my hands and walk around the house!

Another important milestone- first word :)  He is now saying "mama," although it comes out with his tongue hanging out of his mouth.  It's the word I have worked on with him the most (of course), so I'm pretty sure that's his intention! I have it on video, but once again can't figure out why it won't upload!

Lucky Number 7

I can't believe Brooks is already 7 months old!  In my biased opinion, he's the happiest baby ever :)

   He didn't want to stay still for pictures this time!

He is so much fun and on the verge of crawling!  For weeks he has been waking himself up in the night by practicing getting on all fours!  Mommy is ready for him to give that up and do the real thing!!

I am on a baby-proofing mission this week!  Carpets are getting cleaned, outlets covered, fireplace protected, baby gates up, etc.  I just know he will be all over the place before I know it.

I am really trying to cherish the next few weeks with Brooks.  I go back to work on August 6 :(  This summer vacation has just flown by and we don't get another break until Thanksgiving!

Brooks just loves to eat!  He fusses everytime his food is gone, no matter how much he eats (making me a little worried for those teenage years, haha)!  But on the positive side, he loves everything- including those green veggies!  We will start meat this week with some chicken!!

Stay cool out there!

Beach Fun!

We just got back from a fabulous trip to Gulf Shores.  It was Brooks' first trip to the beach, and I would say he loved it!  There were 20 relatives in 1 house!  I am a bit disappointed in the amount of pictures I took on the trip, but I was busy getting used to having a baby on vacation! 

Brooks first time with his feet in the sand and the ocean! 

  He had his own little tent for playing (without all the sand)!

Tim and I had our 2nd anniversary while on vacation :)

 Family Fun

 Playing in the pool

Such a happy kid!

 All the kids on family vacation!

 Me and my Daddy

Tim's parents gave us all these great family vacation shirts!  They made great photos of everyone!

...more photos to come soon (I took them on Tim's phone and need to upload).  Thanks to Tim's parents for a fantastic beach vacation! 

Happy Half Birthday

Brooks is officially half a year old!  The last 6 months has flown by and his new developments are happening in rapid fire!

Along with 6 months comes eating solid food.  We have been having rice cereal for a few weeks, but now the fun part begins!  His first solid food was green beans.  He really liked them and was happy to eat as much as we would let him.  His second food was bananas.  We could tell these were extra sweet for him and he had his mouth open and ready just as fast as we could feed him!

Another new milestone is rolling over in his crib.  He slept without his sleep sack last night which gave him a lot more mobility.  Tim and I went up to check on him after he went to bed and he had rolled over, was laying perpendicular in his crib with a huge smile on his face... as if to say, "Look what I can do!"  We had to revisit the crib and lay him down properly 4 times before he fell asleep.  When he woke up this morning it was the same story- on his belly with a huge smile on his face! 

Brooks went on three new outings this week!  We went to Turner Field for his first Braves game.  He got a Braves hat and loved riding in the back of the car with his cousin, Collin.

He also went to the driving range to watch us hit some balls... yes a stroller at the driving range, haha!  And for Father's Day we went to the Rome Braves game.  He loved the dressed up Mascots!

The next new thing this week is using a sippy cup!! It's really just for him to practice, but I was surprised how quickly he brought it to his mouth and was able to get some water!

 Brooks is also taking a bath without his infant seat!! He loves to play and splash in the water! 

Brooks has such a sweet personality and just loves life.  He is full of smiles and warms our hearts everyday. We can't wait to watch him continue to grow and learn!