Our Trip to Waco

Hunter and I decided last week that we and our friends Garrett and Jen needed to go visit our Waco friends, Becky and Coralyn. We packed up and headed out on Friday. We had a great trip down. Hunter (10 months) and Garrett (5 1/2 months) traveled so well! We stopped and dropped off Garrett's big brother, Preston with his Lolly and Hoss and kept on heading to Waco. Somehow, Jen missed a turn off and we ended up in Dublin Dr. Pepper, TX. I always wanted to see that city so it was a nice little detour! The guys were sleeping soundly in their car seats while the mommies navigated our way to Waco.

(Jen frustrated after realizing we missed a turn and no we didn't stop and get a DP.)

We got to Becky's house about 11 with 2 very sleepy baby boys. After the guys got to bed, the mommies stayed up waaaay too late chatting and catching up. It had been too long since we had seen Becky and Coralyn. We were so glad we decided to make the trip.

Saturday, we got up and took our time getting ready. We took the kids to a little pumpkin patch to take some fall time pictures. Of course, Mr. Hunter would not look at the camera so I didn't get any good pictures of his precious face. Jen, our favorite amateur photographer got some great pictures of Coralyn though.

Hunter was very curious. He picked up and "threw" several pumpkins. "Throwing" consists of picking a ball up over his head and throwing it down. Strong man! It was fun watching him explore the hay (of course, he had to taste it too) and pumpkins. I took a ton of pictures, some were not great, some are beautiful of my kid! What fun!

We spent the weekend playing, taking pictures, and just being friends. We are so blessed to have such good friends, near and far. Jen and Becky, thanks for a fun, memorable weekend. We can't wait so long to do it again!

Have I Mentioned . . .

I love these guys. They are my pride and joy.
There is nothing more special than seeing the two of them playing together.
No one can make Mr. H laugh like his daddy.

Sundays have always been nap days in my world. I function better throughout the week with my Sunday afternoon nap. I am so blessed to have a husband who lets me have my Sunday nap uninterrupted. Jimmy goes in when Hunter wakes up from his nap and they play until Momma wakes up. He won't even let me turn on the monitor in the bedroom so I don't hear Hunter when he wakes up. This is such a huge blessing!!

I love to sneak in when the two of them are playing or rocking and just watch my two guys hanging out, spending time together. Jimmy is just crazy mad in love with this kid. We both are! It's a little ridiculous.

Thank you Jimmy for being such an amazing husband and daddy. I love you.

Just a Little Funny!

I got this email at school today from our T-1 Teacher. This is a true story! I thought it was so cute I couldn't help but pass it on!

From a Transitional First Grade class:

Today in Computer, the teacher was reviewing parts of the computer, etc. “Boys and girls, what is the arrow called on your screen?” The kids in unison screamed, “The cursor!” “That’s right and what do you call it when you click and drag the cursor?” All was quiet for one brief moment… then one student responded, “Cursing!”

Here's a little sixth grade funny. First let me give you a little background and prayer request. Jimmy's dad is having bypass surgery on Tuesday. As I am telling my homeroom class and asking for their prayers, one of the kids asked, "What's his last name?". Duh! All of the other kids looked at him like he was crazy! The funny thing is that question was asked twice that day by two different students.

I love the things kids say! I can't wait to hear some of the things that will come out of Hunter's mouth when he starts to talk!

It's Fair Time

One of our favorite things about fall is the fair. We almost always go to the South Plains Fair and the Texas State Fair. We took Hunter to his first fair on Tuesday. What a fun experience! I love being with Hunter watching his expressions and interest in new things. He was very content throughout the evening.

I am slightly embarrassed to admit how much Jimmy and I ate in a short amount of time, but, man, was it delicious! Corn dogs, an apricot fried pie (the reason I go to the fair), Jimmy had roasted corn, we both had the best lemonade in the world (Jimmy's was strawberry lemonade), we split a funnel cake, and candied/carmel apples. I even got another fried pie for breakfast the next day! Yes, we were sick when we left but it was totally worth it. No worries though, our sweet boy had green beans (not fried, of course) while we ate away at the fried food.


There were these robot guys walking around dancing with music blaring. Hunter was quite interested in these strange beings. The face he is making in this picture was a common one throughout the evening as he saw new and exciting things. He wasn't quite sure what to think! He had an awfully comfortable ride though! This is Momma and Hunter standing in front of the Midway. I can just imagine him begging to ride some of the rides in a few years. How fun will that be?! The sun was still up while we were there so Mr. H didn't get to see the night lights of all of the rides.

One of my favorite things was taking Hunter into the petting zoo. Although there just a handful of animals in there, we thought it might be fun for our guy to experience it. He spends his day with 5 dogs so he learned to pet gently at an early age. Hunter got to pet a baby duck and a goat. The emu didn't care to have anything to do with us. As you can tell, Hunter wasn't terribly impressed with the baby duck. Maybe Momma and Daddy were more interested than the kiddo!
As we were getting ready to head out, realizing we had seen all we came to see and eaten all our stomachs could handle, we saw that many of the people walking past us were looking at the stroller and grinning. As we assumed, Mr. H had sacked out. Enough excitement for one night! (Here is proof that we try to be good parents, please note the green beans left on the tray!)I couldn't resist taking a picture of the beautiful West Texas sunset. We have had so many pretty nights lately. These are my wonderful guys and a great sunset. Who could ask for more? What a great night. We are so blessed. I love being with Hunter to experience all of his firsts. I just can't wait for him to be able to experience the wonderful fair food too! Ha! Of course, that will have to wait quite awhile.

Some Fun Random Pictures

Poppa and Hunter at the horse races in Ruidoso. Mr. H didn't really care too much!

This has to be one of my favorite pictures of my boys ever! Amazing!

I set him down for a second while I went to the bathroom. This is how I found him. Such a sleepy head!

Again, he's sleeping. After church at Lujan's with our friends. He fell dead asleep in his high chair. That was a first for our normally super busy kiddo!

No real explanation for this one. Poppa put him in the back of his truck. I just think it's funny!

Hope you enjoyed my random pics as much as I have. I just thought I would share and catch you up on my sweet boy's 8th month of life.

I can't believe he will be 9 months tomorrow! Where has the time gone?!

Thank you for your concern and prayers for our little guy. He is feeling much better.

What a Big Boy

Hunter has promoted from baby to a big boy over night! Today was Mr. H's first day of "school" (PDO). He gets to go to school every Wednesday with Momma and play with his new friends all day long! He did well today. His note said that he was happy. I tried not to sneak downstairs and check on him too much. I did take snacks for the teachers. I'm not above bribing them to love my kiddo! :) I loved being able to go downstairs at lunch, grab him up, feed him, then show him off to my friends. I love any time I get to show my kid off!

Daddy met us at school for Hunter's first day of school. He went straight to his teacher and didn't look back. He had an easier time than Momma! I have to admit that I cried a little bit after dropping him off. This is such a big thing in my little guys life. I am so thankful that God has put me in a place that I can have my sunshine in the same building and I can see him during the day. I am also so thankful that Hunter's Granna loves keeping him the rest of the week. We really couldn't ask for a better situation! Blessed all around.

I went in at lunch and Mr. H was sitting on the floor with Miss Amber while the other babies were sleeping. He woke up a little early for his nap. I like to think he was just so excited to see me he couldn't sleep! Ha! After school, he came to me and grabbed my face and gave me big old slobber kisses (my favorite kind!) What a welcome. Hunter was pooped! He fell asleep on the way home from school and went to bed very easily. I would say our first day at school was a success!

Hunter and Miss Amber playing.
(I didn't want to come in and get a closer shot in case he got upset!)

A Long Hard Night

First, I am thankful for long weekends, mountain rains, and time with my family.

That being said, the Holloways had a little bit of a rough weekend. Saturday morning, Mr. H woke up about 3am feeling a little warm. We were in Ruidoso having a really nice long weekend, but sleeping in a pack n' play is not nearly like sleeping in a nice crib. Momma crawled in the bed in Hunter's room and we "slept" until about 7 with Mr. H on Momma's chest. Hunter had a bit of a fever. We all figured he was teething so we called the pediatrician and started medicating the poor baby. He did pretty good until Saturday night. About bed time, Hunt's fever went back up. When we took his temperature (the fun way) we realized that 103.5 is not teething. He was way more cuddly than usual. Okay, maybe cuddly isn't the word to describe it. He was just lethargic. He is normally such a busy busy boy. All he wanted to do was lay on Daddy's chest. Not normal in any way shape or form! Momma went into worry-mode. We called our good friend Dr. Happel and woke him up (Thank you Chris!). Momma, Daddy, Hunter, and Granna took a trip to the Ruidoso emergency room. We were the only ones there but it still took way too long to get back. The nurse was very sweet with Hunter (once they realized we were there and waiting). The doctor (from Great Britain and not real easy to understand at midnight!) came in immediately and checked my sick boy. Diagnosis: double ear infection, sore throat, and teething. Not fun for my little guy! He got a big dose of tylenol, followed by a wait. Then a big dose of motrin, followed by another wait. Then he got another big dose of amoxicilan. We then had to wait for his fever to break before they would release us. I got the sweet boy to go to sleep and finally, the sweat came. We left the ER about 2:00am Texas time. What a night!

Thankfully, Hunter is starting to feel better. His fever went back up a little today, but we were in the car driving home. He slept most of the way home and is now sleeping soundly in his bed like a big boy. His temperature is 99.3. Praise the Lord! That number was a big relief for Momma and Daddy. We are glad to be home, safe and sound, with a sweet baby boy on the mend.

There is nothing worse for a Momma's heart than a sick baby.