Fightin' Texas Aggie Game Day

I know my husband would say that any big event in our lives must be documented on the blog. Considering he wore a different "game day" (the term for shirt in our household during college Aggie football season) each day and insisted that his son follow suit, I would say Cody would consider the first Fightin' Texas Aggie football game more than important enough to make the blog. I must admit, this mama was super excited to finally have the dream of watching an Aggie football game with all three of my boys come true. There's just something about a daddy and his son bonding over college football that can't be replaced... aka melt my heart!! One thing I'll always want to remember about the first Aggie football game Hayes watched was the fact that he napped for most of the first half (half of the 1st quarter and all of the 2nd). Perhaps the most amusing part of this is that my normally intense, football loving husband wanted so badly to yell at the top of his lungs at the TV in both victory and frustration (more the former than the latter in this game, thankfully), but he refrained in order to allow Hayes to sleep. My, how the tides have turned (no SEC football pun intended...ha!). Needless to say, there was some major celebrating in our house after the Aggies pulled out a big win against South Carolina, and we can't wait to watch all of the excitement that is ahead for the rest of the season! Before we know it, Hayes will be holding up his gig 'em and playing his own game of football with Rio in the backyard... eeek!!

 

 The first Aggie football game just happened to fall on Hayes' school picture day. How cute is that? School pictures at 6 months old!

 

Proud daddy and his boy ready to cheer on their Aggie team

A Little August Action

Well, I'm going to totally take the easy way out with this post. Don't judge, peeps. The month of August was a bit of a blur due to my hectic work schedule, but we still managed to work in a few adventures. Between our ever faithful beach visits and getting together with family, we all managed to keep our sanity despite the whirlwind that the last few weeks have been. We started with a visit from Mom and Dad and capped the month off with a great Labor Day weekend visit from Katie and the girls, where we had the pleasure of meeting our sweet niece, Lila, for the first time. I know I didn't take nearly enough pictures during these experiences, but I want to remember them nonetheless, and am thankful to have a few snapshots to commemorate the grand finale of Hayes Man's first summer!

MiMi and Pappaw bought Hayes Man his very own swing to kick off the month of August. He loves the great outdoors and swinging has definitely become a nightly activity for us!

Sitting up on his own for the first time!

Sitting so big in the high chair while out to dinner at Port Mansfield

MiMi and Hayes on the dock at Port Mansfield

I have to say, one of my favorite experiences of the summer (and quite possibly ever) was our visit to Port Mansfield. We ate dinner at a fantastic restaurant with a few members of the Johnson clan, and wrapped up the evening becoming one with nature while feeding wild deer. I must admit that any desire I had to shoot a deer has diminished with my becoming a mother (much to my husband's dismay), and after being so close to these beautiful creatures-- I mean we even touched their antlers, people-- I really could not even fathom wanting to hurt one! OK, emotional moment is over.  I will, however, show great support when my son decides to shoot his first deer a few years down the road, as I know this experience will be a HUGE milestone for him and his daddy and I choose not to fight, but rather embrace, the inevitable. :)

Oh you know, just Dad, me and the deer

Feeding the monster

The couple that feeds deer together, stays together

We were so excited to see a few of our closest friends from college at the Island that same weekend. Hayes definitely enjoyed all the attention from the pretty ladies... what can I say? The kid's got game.

This monkey LOVES the beach!

Playing catch with Pops before bed

Just a swingin' with GG & Pops

Hayes also experienced his first round of golf this month. He was an absolute champ! We knew he would be with his great affinity for the outdoors, but he truly behaved better on the golf course than I could have ever imagined. He rode in mama's lap so well and even took a little nap around hole #4 or 5. This boy is a man's man!

And now for some of my favorite August moments...

Riding in the big boy stroller... slow down time!!


Hayes and Cody joined Katie and the girls for a quick trip to the zoo. Hayes loves his cousins!

Katie and the girls came down for Labor Day weekend, and though I really slacked in the picture taking department, I couldn't resist this precious photo op of our sweet little princess Lila. Nothing like a sleepy baby's snuggles!

Addie came with the girls to get a pedicure. She was too cute and loved her "sparkly toes"!

Sunday pool parties are the best!

Happy Half Birthday, Hayes Man!

"Oh, a camera? Well let me charm you with my best smile!"

Yes, this post is a little fashionably late. In my defense, August is always my craziest work month thanks to last minute students with dreams of going to college (who can fault them for that?), and my laptop crashed. So now that the excuses are out of the way, let's get to the good stuff- our little man's 6 month update!

Weight: 18 lbs, 7 oz
Height: 26 1/4 in (clearly my 5 month estimate was off by a few inches)

Loves:This boy can't get enough of his Jumperoo. He could literally go for hours if we'd let him. Which leads me to my next point... Hayes Man does not like to sit still. He is busy, busy 24/7, with the exception of sleeping. He loves to sit on his own in the floor or on Mommy and Daddy's bed and play with his toys. Speaking of sitting, he did that for the first time, too! He is so precious sitting like a big boy and just gets a little frustrated that he can't move yet. Something tells me he'll be crawling before we know it...

Hayes also loves to be held in a standing position, where he insists on working those thighs with rapid, bouncing squat movements (aka "jumping"). Let me tell ya, if we all squatted like this kid, we'd have some killer thighs and buns of steel! With this little man being so busy, holding him doesn't happen nearly as often, but he does still love to snuggle with his mama when he's sleepy. He is quite the momma's boy these days and has developed a slight case of stranger danger. I try to encourage him to go to other people, but I'd be lying if I tried to say that I don't love those sweet moments -- I know they won't last much longer! Hayes Man also LOVES his puppy brother. When he hears the jingle of Rio's tags he starts bouncing, grunting and smiling with excitement. It is so fun to watch them interact, and Cody and I laugh that when we walk to the back door with both of them, they get equally excited to go outside. (Hayes pumps his legs and grunts and Rio bounces until the door opens!) It warms my heart to know that our children love each other so. :)

Sleep: We always knew Hayes was a good sleeper, but this month he has truly become a CHAMP in this department. Much to mommy's dismay, the doctor approved us to start "Cry it out" at his 6 month checkup. Daddy was pumped, and Mommy was devastated. Fortunately for all of us, however, Hayes has made it super easy, and in the first week of Cry it out we only had about 30 minutes where he fussed heavily enough that I almost jumped out of bed to come to his rescue. Thankfully, Drill Sergeant Daddy (as I have affectionately dubbed my amazing husband for the past week) kept me from running into little man's room, and he successfully put himself back to sleep. He is now sleeping through the night, from about 9pm until 7:00 or 7:30 the next morning. Most mornings we have to wake him up for school, as a matter of fact! This experience went so much smoother than I could have ever imagined, and we are SO thankful for a precious, compliant baby and a God who answers prayers!

Food: In the last month, Hayes has expanded his palate quite a bit. He has started eating 2 oz of fruit and oatmeal every morning, and loves apples and pears. He is still eating 2 oz of a veggie at lunch and has taken a liking to green peas, which thrills his mommy! He has decided he's not the biggest fan of avocado anymore, which kind of breaks my heart, but I suppose you win some and lose some and as long as he's less picky than his daddy we are good!

Personality: I simply can't put into words enough to describe Hayes Man's fantastic personality. He is becoming super animated and often displays his feelings toward situations with a good raspberry (you know, the tongue thing) or a HUGE smile that radiates from his eyes the way his daddy's does. Hayes is also very sensitive, and will look deep into your eyes as you talk as if he is truly pondering every word that you say. He is incredibly observant and aware of everything surrounding him, and has become incredibly curious. He can be a bit ornery, as evidenced by his destruction of the exam room table in the doctor's office (he had that paper completely shredded in about 2 minutes), but for the most part he is the sweetest boy and continues to learn new things everyday. He is a HUGE flirt and definitely makes the ladies swoon when he bats his eyes and shows that sweet little smile. Mommy is in BIG trouble, peeps!

Dislikes: We still aren't the biggest fan of shirts going over our head, especially when we're tired. We also could do without our nails being trimmed, and often kick and flail until the process is over. If little man is upset, it's almost guaranteed that Mommy's rendition of "Itsy Bitsy Spider" or "If all the raindrops were lemon drops and gum drops..." will cheer him up. He's also taken quite a liking to "You Are My Sunshine". I suppose these should really be under the "loves" section, but considering there isn't too much Hayes dislikes at the moment, might as well make this a longer paragraph if we can! Hayes Man has been dealing with a bit of baby eczema on his chest and cheeks for the last few weeks, and the doctor says he should outgrow it before his first birthday, but it still breaks my heart to see those little red patches on his sweet skin. Poor baby has his mommy's super sensitive skin!

 

We are having so much fun with our little man and can't believe he's been in our lives for half a year. Time is definitely flying and we are so thankful for the light he has brought into our lives! He loves to go, go, go just like we do and he's fitting into our lifestyle just perfectly. We love you, Hayes William!