Discovering the Dog Bowl

Garrett crossed the border into the kitchen today and something shiny caught his eye right away. Lucy's food bowl! The pictures and video speak for themselves so I won't write anything else. I love our son...


Looking for trouble....


...and finding it!!

Happy Birthday Russ!!

Only one day late. :-)

We had a really low-key but enjoyable birthday celebration at our house last night. I made a couple of new recipes out of a Best of Texas cookbook. Russ opened his presents and cards from everyone. Then Garrett and I sang Happy Birthday to him and he blew out the candles on his Reeses Peanut Butter cake. Mmmmm. Garrett loved sitting with his Daddy while he blew out the candles and he also loved the boxes and wrapping paper. Side note: even though he's cutting his first tooth, Garrett has been a happy guy....during the day. :-) Night-time is a whole other ball game I'm afraid. Anywho, we're still celebrating Russ Week so his birthday isn't really over yet. We love you honey!

Seven Months Old!

Yes, our baby boy is 7 months old today! He's full of energy and ready to go pretty much 24/7. (He does sleep at night, but not for the nice long 6-7 hours that he used to. We're back to about 4 hours of sleep at a time. I blame a growth spurt and solid foods.) He's sitting up completely unassisted and would love to be standing on his own if he could. Thankfully, he can't. Not yet. He's around 16 1/2 lbs and I have no idea how tall he is. He was 27 1/2 inches at his 6 month appointment. Anways, here are some pics of Garrett at 7 months old. Garrett has also requested a shout-out to his Grandpa Koch, who turns 50ish today. We love you Grandpa!!



PS: The hair was all my (Deanna's) doing. I just wet down the hairbrush and spiked it up and it stayed like this all day long! Naps and all!

PPS: It's becoming harder and harder to get him to sit still next to the Airborne Bear. As you can tell from the photos. Don't worry...he was never in danger of falling off the rocker despite his squirminess. :-)

Here he is!


With the Airborne Bear.

Finding the Bear's boots.

Apparently, the Bear did not follow SOP for packing his parachute and Garrett is fixing it for him. SOP = Standard Operating Procedures (in case you were wondering!)

The beginning of the climb...


...climbing...

...climbing...

...climbing...

...done!

He has no idea just how close to the edge of the chair he is. Good thing Mommy was on the job!

He Loves Lucy

Garrett really does love his puppy dog. He decided to try and get into her crate yesterday and when he couldn't do it entirely on his own, I helped him out. :-) He had a blast!

Inside Looking Out

Garrett's newest obsession...the sliding glass door that leads to the backyard. It's not so much that he wants to be outside, but I think he likes the challenge of the door. "How do I get through this invisible wall?" is what I personally think he's thinking. Because he's smart like that. :-)

Movin and Groovin

Garrett is still so so close to crawling, but until then, he has figured out how to get around quickly. He scoots, rolls and sits up to reach whatever he wants. Here's a little video that I took today of Garrett in the living room playing with a pillow. Note: Ignore the slightly runny nose that is still lingering from his first cold.

Reading the Newspaper

We bought the Sunday paper for the first time this week. Not too long after I had sorted through the ads and piled everything neatly on the floor, Garrett discovers how crinkly and exciting the paper can be. He, of course, went for the sports section first. He is definitely a boy after his daddy's heart.

Smiley boy!

What?? I'm not doing anything...

Hmm...what are they saying about the Cowboys this week?

All done with my reading.

And they're fun to shake too!!

Daddy's First Day of Classes!!

This morning we kissed Russ goodbye for his first day of seminary classes. He's been busy getting ready for this ever since we moved in (and before!). Congratulations on officially being a student again, Honey!! There are some extra pictures underneath that I couldn't resist adding as well.


Daddy and Garrett (notice the coffee mug!)


A close-up...can you tell that Garrett is TIRED? Poor little guy has a cold and didn't sleep well.



Garrett somehow managed to crawl/scoot/roll his way into Lucy's dog bed. :-)


Garrett has figured out how to grab for Lucy's ears, tail, and tags. Lucky dog!

Garrett is great at moving around the room but every once in awhile gets stuck somewhere.

Visiting the Caddens

Better late than never, right? We went to Austin to visit Russ's Granny and Grandpa a couple of weeks ago. We had a great time full of playing Chickenfoot, playing with the baby and getting pedicures (for Granny and me anyway!). Garrett had fun meeting his great-grandparents and spending a bit more time with his cousin Kaylie. One of the funniest parts of the trip for me was seeing Lucy and Kaylie together. Lucy LOVED chasing Kaylie and Kaylie LOVED being chased by Lucy. It gives me hope that Garrett and Lucy really will be best buds once he's big enough to defend himself from her constant licking. :-) Here are some pics!!


Yummy prunes! Messy but he actually opens his mouth for them.


Garrett and Kaylie sharing a chair. It's impossible to get them both looking at the camera at the same time. But you get the picture.


Kaylie was sharing her goldfish crackers and cheerios. When Garrett wouldn't take them from her she dumped them in his seat. So cute!!


Kaylie meeting Lucy. I wish I had caught the game of tag when it was going on.


Granny, Grandpa, Russ, me, and Garrett




This is what the men did while we got pedicures.


Garrett playing chickenfoot with Aunt Chris.

Russ, Jason (his cousin), the grandparents, and the grandkids

PS: If any of you are linked to Corrie's blog, sorry for the similar pictures/post. But her pics are better 99% of the time. :-) Don't deny it, Corrie, it's true!!

Baby in a Box

I realized yesterday that we never posted pics of our unpacking craziness. So here are a few of Garrett "helping" with the boxes. How'd we end up with such a cute baby???

Almost crawling...

Garrett is so so so so close to crawling, as you'll see in this video. He can scoot himself backwards across the entire room and then roll his way back. It won't be long now before he'll be giving Lucy a run for her money. We've got the outlet covers ready! Go Garrett Go!!!

6 Months!!

Our little man is 6 months old today. Half of a year! I decided that we needed to take his picture in the morning so that we'd be sure to get them online sooner rather than later. :-) Garrett has his 6 month checkup and immunizations on Friday so we'll post his stats then.

Here's a list of his latest tricks and talents:

**Grabbing for EVERYTHING

**Pulling hair

**Moving ALL the time unless he's asleep

**Sitting up without support (with some wobbles of course!)

**Pulling himself up to sitting when you give him your fingers to hold

**Pushing up on all fours and rocking back and forth

**Pushing up onto his hands and feet like the bear crawl

**Pushing himself backwards across the room

**Grabbing Lucy's ears

**Rolling over and over and over

**Drooling a lot

**Babbling when he wants to

**Giggling

**Blowing bubbles

**Spitting out his green beans

Russ and I are both amazed at how much he's changed in the last few months and yet how he's stayed the same sweet boy. We are very blessed. Happy 6-Month Birthday Garrett Michael!!!