9 Months!

Our baby boy is 9 months old! Just three months shy of 1 year old. We can't believe it!

Stats:
Height: 30 in. (approximately....it's hard to get a 9 month old to stay still long enough, lol!)
Weight: 22 lbs.

At 9 Months:

• Reed is very close to walking. He is confident when taking a step with his left foot but not so comfortable with his right foot yet. He actually took 5 steps all by himself yesterday. He is such a big boy!!
  
  
• He should, at this point, be eating table foods, but he gags if we give him anything solid other than his beloved Gerber crunchies. We will keep trying!
  
  
• When only Chris or I go in to get Reed out of bed in the morning, he usually immediately turns to the door and looks for the other one of us. It's so sweet!


• Reed loves his book Danny Duck takes a Dive. Thanks Derek, Amanda and Mekenzie for the book. He just recently discovered Danny's feathers and he basically makes a mad dash for it if he sees it. If I need him to stay still for a few minutes, this is a guaranteed entertainment option.


• He has begun splashing like crazy while in his duck bathtub. He gets the bathroom soaked. I think he is really going to love the water, which is so great.


• Reed can climb the steps all by himself. It shocked me the other day at how easy he did it. He climbs them just like he crawls, one foot and one knee at a time, lol!


• He has become very talkative the past couple of days. He is definitely saying "da-da" and "ma-ma". He is also saying a lot of other consonant sounds. We can't wait until he starts talking. There is no telling what will come out of his mouth. LOL!!

9 Months

With Tadbit

"What do you mean I shouldn't stand on Tabdit?"

With his Elephant friend.

Not sure what he is thinking here. Too cute!

"I'll let him go, don't make me do it."

Reed playing with Danny Duck.

Cutie Pie

Smiling at his Daddy.

Trying to evade the picture taking.

And, one last pic to get you through the weekend. Have a great long weekend everyone!

We are homeowners!!

As of yesterday, Chris, Reed and I are the proud owners of a home! We are so excited about the possibility of living somewhere longer than a couple of years. It is in Marietta, which makes Chris' commute just a little longer than it is now, but we think it was a great decision for us. It seems like it is going to be a great place for Reed to grow up, for at least the next five years or so! Check out the pictures below. No, the sellers didn't leave their furniture. I've included the empty house pictures, just so you can imagine it without their stuff.

A huge thanks to Patti, Karlie and Jake, who came down to hang out with Reed while we closed on our house yesterday. Reed had such a great time with them! Come back and play soon!

I should watch more comedies!

Warning: If you haven't watched all of the season finales this year, then DO NOT read any further.


*************************************************************************************


The season finales this year for the majority of my shows have been extremely depressing. We currently watch a few comedies, Modern Family and Cougar Town, but these two funny finales were no match for the depression that was caused by all of the other shows.

Desperate Housewives - Random bad guy, dead. Killed by his ex in a car with a bomb. He was a bad guy so really no trauma here, but still, it's a death.

Brothers and Sisters - Robert, the husband of Kitty, dead in a car accident. It has been rumored for a while that he would be leaving the show, so I was not surprised when the season ended with him dying.

One Tree Hill - The shocking ending of this show found Quinn (love the name for a girl!) and Clay being shot by someone who looks exactly like his dead wife. Righhhhhhhhtttttttt. We all have an identical twin walking around, lol! Regardless of the hilarity of the storyline, it was just shocking and not something I wanted to show to end with.

Gossip Girl - Chuck Bass, shot, lying on the ground bleeding to death. I don't think he is going to die. That would be crazy, but still, another shooting immediately following the finale of One Tree Hill.

Grey's Anatomy - Lots of people shot, particularly Derek Shepard, Alex, Reed (a girl on the show) and a doctor who had a crush on Reed. And, that's not even mentioning all of the people we don't know who were also shot. This was just a crazy finale. All of the killing that went on in this last episode of the season was just unreal to me. I couldn't believe what I was watching. Like my friend Billy said at dinner the other night, you expect something like that on Law & Order but not Grey's.

Private Practice - I might have sobbed the most while watching this episode. Dale and Mya are in an accident on the way to the hospital to get Mya there to have her baby. They save Mya and the baby and then Dale dies. Dale died! I was devastated. Probably because Dale has a young daughter. His wife had died not too long ago and now his daughter was going to be left all along. I think the producers/writers might have thought that it was no big deal to kill him off because he wasn't a main character. But he mattered! I probably won't be watching this show next season because I was so unhappy how they handled this.

Lost - Lost wasn't depressing and no one died on the episode in any violent way. It was an expected death at the end but not one that made me upset. I was, however, extremely bummed that it was the last episode ever.

Suggestion to networks for the future....get together and work on trying to find some good in the stories that you tell. You know, maybe someone should have considered that people like me, who watch entirely too much tv, might have been overwhelmed by all the death and violence in the season finales. Anyway, that's my vent. Here's hoping that we can drop some of these dramas and pick up more happy TV next year.

Congratulations Jared!

Last night our nephew Jared graduated from Chattooga High School. He was the Salutatorian of his class! We are so incredibly proud of Jared and all of his accomplishments. We know that he is going to flourish at Georgia Tech starting in the fall. We can't wait to have him close to us! Congratulations Jared! We love you!

Jared with his family. What a good looking group!

Jared giving his speech. He did such a great job!

Jared with his brother, Jake, and sister, Karlie.

Jared, Griffin and Gavin

Jared with MikeMike and Kath

Jared and Sandy

Reed usually cries anytime Jared tries to talk to him. Thankfully, he decided that Jared wasn't so bad last night!

The Jarrett Kids

Jared with his parents, Charlie and Patti.

Jared with Nonnie and Granddaddy.

I lvoe this pic of their family. It is somewhat of an outtake but so cute!

Lovin' Bath Time!

Reed absolutely loves bath time. As soon as he hears the water running or the duck quacking, he makes a b-line for the tub. He has just recently started with the crazy splashing that absolutely soaks the bathroom. I think he is close to growing out of his duck tub, but he loves it so much. I don't know if bath time would be the same without it!

Congratulations Mr. and Mrs. Shepherd!

The best pic of the bride and groom............unfortunately, I don't get very motivated to take lots of pictures if I don't have my good camera.

Congratulations to the new Mr. and Mrs. Josh Shepherd! We were so happy that we could be there to help you two celebrate!

This past weekend, we traveled to St. Petersburg, Florida, to celebrate the marriage of our friends Jen Varas and Josh Shepherd. Josh and Jen were members of our Mobile Monkeys group in Boston. The group that likes to drink fruity drinks and play games. Fun times!

We flew down to Tampa on Friday evening and attended their rehearsal dinner and the after party. It was the first time in a while that we had stayed up so late. Unfortunately, neither of us are able to sleep much past 8 anymore, lol! We drove over to Madeira Beach to put our toes in the sand and check out the beautiful water. It made me really want to go to the beach soon and bring Reed.

Chris and I hanging out on the beach.....I am definitely out of practice, I had to try taking this pic about a million times, lol!

That evening was the wedding. It was such a beautiful ceremony and the reception was oh so fun. We are so happy for the two of them and wish them many years of happiness together!

Chris and I at the reception.

You may be wondering where Reed was during all of this. Well, he spent one night with my parents and one night with Chris' parents. We are so very thankful to have parents who love Reed as much as we do and want to spend time with him, although I don't even really think we asked, haha. Thank you so very much for keeping Reed while we went out of town! We are so very appreciative! Reed had a great time!

First Mother's Day!

Me and My Baby!

I am so lucky to be the mother of such a wonderful baby boy! He has brought so much joy to our lives and I definitely think that he makes me look like a better mother. For Mother's Day, Chris and Reed surprised me with a gift certificate for a massage and a pedicure. I can't wait to get pampered. A big thank you to my boys for being so sweet to me!

For our moms, who are oh so special to us, we decided to get them some goodies and to also treat them to a meal made by us. I woke up early on Sunday morning to make my Mom homemade strawberry and blueberry muffins. They were very yummy! And, Chris and I made dinner at his parents' house so his Mom, who is always making food for everyone else, could relax for the afternoon. We are so thankful to have you both in our lives! We love you very much! Overall, it was an extremely wonderful Mother's Day!

My Mom and I

My Dad and his Mom

Mom with her Mom

Unfortunately, we didn't even get the camera out at Chris' parents' house! We need to snap a pic of Chris with his mom very soon!

Ouch!

Last week was a week of firsts for Reed.

Food Firsts: Since Reed has pretty much tried every baby food ever made we have started to get a little brave with what we let him try. We are probably way behind due to my paranoia with him choking but we are getting there. On Sunday, we went to grab lunch after church and Reed had his first taste of a pickle. He is definitely my child because he didn't make the first facial expression that it was bitter or sour. He makes worse faces with his first taste of squash, lol! On Monday, we met Chris for lunch and Reed had another little taste of pickle and then a lick of chocolate ice cream. He sure did smack his lips over that. Another indication that he is my child. At dinner on Saturday night with my parents and brother, Reed took a lick of a lemon. Again, no bitter, sour face from him. He just wanted more! He also had a few licks of a cherry chewy sweet tart, yummy!

Movement Firsts: On Monday evening when Chris and I were sitting on opposite ends of the couch, Reed decided that walking might just be better than crawling between us. He started cruising for the first time that night while holding on to the couch. Needless to say, he is becoming more confident each day with his walking abilities. Just today, his Aunt Elizabeth stood him up by himself and he actually took a small step. Wow, this kid has got to slow down!

Ouchie First....and hopefully last: The absolute worst possible first of the week......Reed got stung by a wasp on Friday night while we were at our nephew's baseball game. OUCH!!!! The wasp was flying around us and as we were trying to swat it away and it lit on Reed's arm. I guess that wasp decided to show us. We swatted it away and I was hoping and praying that it didn't sting him but then the wailing began. Poor baby! I know it had to hurt so bad. I can't even recall if I have ever been stung by a wasp. Thankfully, there was a nurse at the baseball game who reassured us that any allergic reaction would take place within the first five minutes, so we were in the clear by the time we talked to her. Phew, relief! Cousin Barbara got Reed some water to drink and to pour on his arm and he was back to his happy self in no time, probably sooner than Chris and I were back to ourselves. It was just terrible to see our baby in so much pain. We never thought that anything could top his surgery, but this was pretty traumatic. Hopefully, it will never happen again.

Look at that boo boo! Stupid wasp!

Reed and Nonnie, thanks for helping take care of me after my sting!

Reed playing with Karlie and Jake.

Mmmmm, this is good!

All of Reed's new pics....slideshow!

Click on "Reed's Slideshow" below to check out all the great pics from Karen Baker. There is one that is so wonderful of him. He looks like a porcelain doll...you won't miss it! It seems that while trying to make a 7.5 month old smile, I took some not so good pictures. The good thing is that there are a few good ones of me. Chris and Reed are pros and didn't take a single bad picture!!

Reed's Slideshow

Don't miss Karlie's "happy birthday" post below!

Happy Birthday Karlie Ruth!

Our favorite niece turns 15 today! Whoa, cannot believe that she will be behind the wheel of a car soon. We love you very much and hope you have a great day! Love, Reed, Brooke and Chris

I hope this pic is okay Karlie....I couldn't find another one that I thought you might approve of!

A fun and busy weekend!

Saturday, we headed up to Summerville to visit with our families and to also have dinner with Karlie Ruth for her birthday. Can't believe she will be 15 tomorrow!

We made it to my parents' house around noon and played outside with Nana and Granddaddy and then Jo and PawPaw showed up with a treat for Reed. After sweating more than I expected, we had his new prize put together and he loved it. His little red wagon is just too cute! He loved being pulled around in it. Thanks Jo and PawPaw!!!

He was loving the wind blowing in his face!

"This is fun!"

Standing up is fun too, lol!

"Shouldn't we be moving?"

We went to dinner at Provino's for Karlie's birthay in the evening. It was very yummy! And, Reed was such a good boy at dinner. Thank goodness he was, since they sat a few other people in the room with our big party.

Reed with the birthday girl! Happy Birthday Karlie!

Reed sitting in Gavin's lap with Gavin behind them. Reed wasn't a big fan of the camera flash!

The whole group minus Sandy. I love this pic because no one was ready, except maybe a few of us, lol!

Sunday was spent going to church, having lunch in the historic part of Roswell and then hanging out with one of Chris' coworkers and his family in the evening. Busy weekend, but so much fun!