if you don't like hearing(reading) about poop, just skip this post

what do you wipe first?!?!?!?! 

i just went to change court's diaper before his afternoon snooze and it was FULL of you know what. so, as i'm attempting to clean up the very mushy stuff, court decides to help me by grabbing at his diaper (his new trick) completely covering his hand in..... yes - poop. so, here's the dilemma - what do you wipe first??? i first went for his hand because that is his favorite teething toy at the moment so i just knew it would be a matter of seconds before that went into his mouth. but, then his hand was going "down there" again and i wanted to clean that before he was totally covered in it. and all of this while he is flipping over onto his stomach because i'm sure he thinks i need to learn some new skills myself (a.k.a.: wrestling with a 7 month old).

so, just picture me trying to hold court still while he's squirming all over the place with poop on his hand, all over his bottom half because it's not cleaning up nicely, and wipes everywhere.

if i could have made it to the bath tub without dropping poop all over the carpet and having yet 1 more thing to clean up, i would have done it! i'm gonna go take my 2nd shower for the day right now.  i guess we'll see later tonight when we both get in our jammies if there is anything i left "behind" that didn't get cleaned up just now. uuggggghhhhh! i'm so grossed out right now! :)

i need a raise! 

can i get an AMEN from all the stay-at-home-mommies?!?!?!

and..... we're off!!

this was the starting position yesterday afternoon......

and this was about 5 minutes later.......
i heard a bunch of "grunting" in the living room while i was in the kitchen and "little mr." has decided it is time to explore. we're not crawling... just creeping all over the place! :)

good thing we've got the baby gates up already. now, we just have to finish baby proofing the cabinets.   

what happened to fall y'all????

i was SO enjoying the nice cool weather than allowed me to wear long sleeve shirts...... for all of 2 seconds!!! :) i know we live in texas, but come on, november is only 2 days away!!! :) the last 3 days i have made 2 trips to the store to get all the fixins for some yummy chili. it is a recipe from one of rhett's coworkers. it is the BEST chili i have ever had. and - if you know anything about me, you know that i HATE beans. well, this chili is FULL of beans and i LOVE it, LOVE it, LOVE it. go figure! that's how good it is! and it makes a TON of chili. when we made this last year, we had our whole small group over (about 16 people) and we still had TONS left after many had seconds, and thirds. you can't really cut the recipe in half because it has 1 can of this, 1 can of that, etc. so, this should last rhett and i all through winter! that is, if it gets below 50 ever again! 

so, rhett is in for a surprise when he comes home. i hope he has a coat in the car. i'll be bundling court up and turning the a/c down so it can feel like fall around here!  and we can enjoy our chili. :) hehehe 

7 months

all bundled up for a walk

even though we have the perfect child, this is one of his "off" moments (i really think my aunt candy was pinching him!)
sticking the tongue out at the camera 
sitting up like a champ!

as i sit and type this post, i'm listening to the most adorable sound. court is going to sleep and he is "babbling". he loves to "babble" to himself for a little while before naps & bedtime. sometimes, it gets really loud and tucker perks up his ears trying to figure out what court is saying. court has definitely "found" his voice.

 i am so thankful at this very moment for all of these precious sounds. i was looking through my pregnancy pics the other day trying to remember what life was like before court was born. i had no idea how much court would change me. i have wanted to be a mommy for as long as i can remember. i remember playing "house" with all of my girl cousins growing up and we would put balls under our dresses to make it look like we were pregnant. when i was older,  i was always known as the baby hog any time i was around babies - i just loved (and still do) to snuggle with them. i really had no idea what being a mommy felt like, i just knew that i wanted to be one SO badly.

my SIL is about a month away from having baby cade. she is anxiously preparing for his arrival, getting the nursery ready, getting all of the "things" that you need when you first bring the baby home, wondering what to pack for the hospital etc. i'm so excited for this time for her and my brother. they just have no idea what awaits them. it's something that i've tried to describe, but you just can't put it into words that give it justice.  

looking back at those pictures, all of my hopes about motherhood were just dreams of how i thought it would be. i was anxiously preparing and praying for the unknown. there were lots of sleepless nights from not being comfortable enough to sleep and umpteen trips to the bathroom. that really hasn't changed that much.....(we're teething now), but motherhood sure has changed me. each day, i feel a little more like a mommy than the day before. i pray more frequently now, i pray more honestly now, i pray more fervently now, and i pray each day that i will do this "job" well. thank you, Lord, for granting me the privilege of being court's mommy. grant me patience and wisdom in this crazy world we live in. i hope You shine through me in everything i do for him & with him.

now, for the fun stuff! 7 things i LOVE about 7 months!

1. TEETH!! i don't love the "process" of getting teeth, but they sure are cute once they are here! he has his bottom 2 teeth as we speak, and the doc says, his top 4 will be in by christmas! i think we're past the hard part for now b/c little mr. slept from 7:30-6:30 am w/o a peep last night. whew! that was heaven!
2. sitting up - he has mastered the art of the sitting position. he only falls when he gets a little too excited... which happens often
3. coughing/raspberry copycat game. when rhett's parents were here, court and grandad got into a little "coughing war". court would fake cough, and grandad would copy him... and this went on... and on.... and on........ now, he will start up the game with anyone. he also thinks it's funny to blow raspberries and wait for you to copy him. :)
4. he is now in the 50% in weight and height (finally!). he was in the 25% forever. he weighs 17.2 lbs, and is 27 inches long. 
5.  he loves to go on walks in his new maclaren stroller. he just squeals at the top of his lungs, and kicks his legs while we are walking with tucker & ruby.
   
6. his legs are kicking 90 mph all day long it seems, unless he's sleeping. i don't know where he gets all that energy - he must be eatin' good!
7. snuggles..... i rarely get to snuggle with my little ball of energy, but when i do, it is heaven. yesterday he actually laid his head down on my shoulder right before naptime and i just sat down in the rocking chair to savor the moment. it was so sweet to feel him so still on my shoulder breathing softly, feeling him rub my arm with his sweet fingers......... and then BAM! UP went his head and he was flipping around so he could see the light switch. he couldn't take his eyes off that thing! but, it was great while it lasted. 

my body hurts!!!

rhett and i decided it was time for us to get back in shape. so, we joined la fitness. oh my gosh! i've worked out twice this week and i think my body is in SHOCK! i haven't done any type of physical activity (besides taking court on walks, holding a baby, playing with a baby, etc) since before i was pregnant with court. in other words...... it's been TOO long! so, we are going to try to make this a habit. hopefully, in a few weeks, the shock to my muscles will wear off. my goeal is to do one of those spin classes eventually. we'll see if i ever get there! 

i'm so proud of rhett - he is getting up to go work out at 5:30 in the AM so he doesn't miss any of his court time! such a great daddy! well, i'm off to "rest" my muscles..... on the couch. and i might even have a couple of m&m's. cuz... i think i deserve that after working out for 2 whole days, right?!?! :) wish us luck!

wordless wednesday

it's just a bad tooth day around here

well, court's first tooth has made it's appearance finally and tucker & ruby had their teeth cleaned - so we have several "cranks" in the patterson house. ruby is just staring at her food because she wants to eat sooooo bad but can't, and tucker is just wiped out period. i don't think i've ever seen his eyes this bloodshot before. hopefully, tomorrow we'll all be back to normal! i must say, it is nice to have very calm dogs for once. :) maybe the dental cleaning wasn't such a bad idea. :)

it's coming........

the 1st tooth that is. the last 2 days and nights have been really rough for court and i've been trying to figure out why. he hasn't slept good during his naps, he's a little more cranky, and the last 2 nights he's woken up screaming between 2-3 AM. i've been feeling his gums and he pushes my hand away which is unusual for him. so, i just thought it'd be a matter of time. we've been taking tylenol and using hyland's teething tablets (which work instantly i might add). just now, i went to get him ready for a nap and he started screaming as soon as he started chewing on a toy. so, i felt the gums again and i felt a tiny little nub on the bottom. i still can't see it yet because i haven't figured out how to open his mouth and move his tongue so i can see it. but, i know it's there. so, i better stock up on those tablets. if you don't have them and will have a teething baby soon - get some now!!! :) i'll post a pic if i can EVER get one :)

check these out!

check out my SIL's blog. they got their maternity pics done recently and they are FABULOUS!! she is such a cute pregnant mama!! and so skinny!!! :) we are counting down the days til mr. cade makes his arrival (less than 6 weeks away)!

just go to www.karicrowe.com and choose the proofing tab at the top. the password is cade. 

manly men

we headed to lowe's yesterday, on rhett's day off. this is actually court's 2nd trip to lowe's. i didn't take a pic of the first trip, mainly because court was asleep for most of that trip.  we got some fall flowers to plant (rhett, that is - i kill everything!), we got some other yard stuff, and then headed to the tools. rhett was telling court all about the tools and everything that he was going to teach him when he gets older. court wanted to touch EVERYTHING! i don't know if that is a good sign or not! i have a feeling rhett will be taking court on many field trips to lowe's in the future!!

court and rhett are checking out a $1500 tool box! hello?!?!? why would you need a cd player and a cooler to hold your tools? rhett thought it was the greatest thing ever!:) 

pumpkin patch

we headed out to the pumpkin patch at the dallas arboretum today. we had a "mini-session" with a professional photographer to get some cute pumpkin pics of our little "pumpkin"! well, let's just say that there was WAY too much to look at for him to even look at the camera, much less smile for it. i think she got maybe 1 or 2 smiles, the rest of them he was looking all around or fussing cuz we put him on hay for the first time. :) so, as soon as we get them back, i'll post them. in the meantime, here are some that i took. we had fun with mimi & pops who joined us and helped us carry all of our "stuff". yes - i can't believe it took 4 people! :) it was REALLY hot, so most of the pics are court in his birthday suit. since the aggies aren't doing too hot this season, the first pic is court in his red raider attire! :)