Happy 4th!

we kicked off the holiday wed. night with the j's on lake austin. here the boys are begging for cupcakes from kim. i love jm's enthusiasm, in particular
3wm boys with their boys

then it was off to the lake for lots of spoilage of us and jm. here he is enjoying his first lollipop

rub a dub dub, three cousins in the tub

the annual porch swing picture! one of these things is not like the other. jm didn't get the memo, obviously.

we took the boat out and discovered a pristine new beach

my 71 year old grandpa never went tubing! go grandpa h!

Baby curls

Love those baby duck wisps! Also note his first tye-die shirt, courtesy of Aunt Betsy....

found the cord! photo post

this is the sweet face i see when he wakes up from his nap
then, it's off to the bookshelf

enjoying the sprinklers at the farmers market last week

fun with blake and uncle joey at the reunion

czech out those cute baby boys

he is signing all the time! this is more... i guess all those months of doing it with no response made an impression! he started doing it a lot more when i would move his hands into the position when i said the word

Czech me out

As I write this post, I cannot find the camera cord, so I will be unable to visually show you how adorable my son is. Lucky for you, however, our internet connection is still active so I may regale you with tales of his cuteness via keyboard.

We spent the weekend with about 60 of Mike's relatives at the H. reunion outside of Dallas. Between the cabins we stayed in on the large campus and the golf carts we drove, I actually had a pretty good time. For the most part everyone stayed in brand new cabins that had a king bed, a pull out couch and a loft and we were all pretty close in proximity. It was sort of like being at camp, but with much much more alcohol. Lots of pivo was enjoyed by the family poolside and in the dark at either the R. RV area or outside our little cul de sac. t was fun talking with people that I don't get to see very often and immediate family that I do. I ordered little "Czech Me Out" t-shirts with their names on the back for Blake and JM from neighborhoodies and they came out really cute. We had the big family meal on Saturday night and didn't end up eating until close to 9pm as the uncles had some problems with the meat preparation. JM stayed up the latest he ever has since he was a baby, 9:30, and seemed to do pretty well with it. He ran around the lodge in his squeaky shoes and flirted with all the aunts and uncles who proclaimed they could tell he is a "handful." Well, if you count doing things like trying to drink out of the pool hose and not being able to sit still, a handful then I suppose he is, but he is the sweetest little handful, I must say!

It blows my mind how quickly these little ones can enter a new phase. For example, since the weekend, JM is talking a lot more than he has been. He is all about identifying things we see and then trying to repeat when I name it. The past few days he has said: Grandpa (his first 2 syllable word!- go Grandpa H!), Mimi, Bear, Teddy Bear, Bunny, Umbrella (ell-la), Hi... Water and ball continue to be his favorite words, though. I have never noticed so many spherical objects in the world since knowing John Michael! I know that I've always enjoyed him, but am particularly delighting in him lately. His little personality is so funny. He loves to learn and is very curious. He also is still hugging all the time, which I love!

JM has a new tooth on the bottom since last week and his hair is growing out into these adorable little wisp curls behind his ears. He is almost to the point where I need to give him a little at home trim, but his little downy fluff is so cute that I am having a hard time cutting it. Don't worry, I will cut it before he looks weird, like Celine Dion's son.... I can see now, how that happens, though!

AC: forgiveness

mint chocolate brownies

this is another recipe from sandra middleton, the one southern belle in our iowa neighborhood circa 1983. these were a favorite in my household growing up. the sweet and salty flavors meld well with the mint. mmmm! i am making them for our reunion this weekend.

chocolate mint brownies
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 30 minutes

Ingredients:
•1 cup sugar
•4 eggs, beaten
•1/2 teaspoon salt
•1 teaspoon vanilla
•1/2 cup butter
•1 cup flour
•1 cup Hershey's syrup (I used the whole can)
***************
•2 cups powdered sugar
•2 tablespoons milk
•1/2 cup butter
•1/2 teaspoon peppermint extract
•a few drops green food coloring
***************
•1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips, melted in a double boiler
•6 tablespoons butter

Preparation:

Brownie Layer
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Mix first seven ingredients. Bake for 30 minutes in a 9-by-13-inch greased pan.

Green Layer
Mix next five ingredients. Spread over brownies when cool and pop in the freezer for a while.

Frosting Layer
Mix remaining two ingredients together. When smooth, pour over green layer.

Store in refrigerator. Take out a half-hour before cutting. Cut in small squares to serve, as they are very rich!

weekend in pictures

boating both mornings with the cousins and aunts and uncles
the little ones take a snooze

love him!


dinner Saturday night with the other cousins

hammock time with his sexy dada for father's day

we ended the weekend with auntie lauren babysitting so we could go to the alamo ritz for their father's day/royal tenenbaums feast, which was awesome. great food, ambience and enjoyed the movie, too. what a great weekend! love my handsome boys

13 months

Not a lot of change since last month's updates....

Movement- JM is walking. Everywhere. He can even hold a sippy cup in one hand and a cup of snacks in the other whilst walking.
Eating- As previously mentioned, there really isn't much he won't eat. He eats a lot, like for example an entire peanut butter and honey sandwich. As long as he has food in front of him, he's happy. We have completely transitioned to sippy cups. He now only gets about 15 oz. of whole milk a day.
Talking- Still not saying a lot of words. He talks and sings all the time, but not too much coherent besides: mama, dada, bella, ba (ball), nana (for bunny, banana and my mom) and wa wa. He signs milk, more and eat (of course :).
Teeth- still 6.
Socializing- he is pretty independent. he loves being around other kids, but is way too curious to sit still while i try to talk to other moms, for example.

we went to to the sprinkler park the other day for the first time with the Nest ladies and it is pretty much the coolest place ever for a one year old. He loved it and showed no fear whatsoever, which left me chasing him through the falling water and getting VERY wet.

boat, book, bunny, banana

my mom's friends from high school are going out to the lake house this weekend, so mike and i spent many hours last weekend washing windows and screens, mowing the yard, dusting and doing general spring cleaning. it really felt great to me to put a dent in this project. we took a break saturday afternoon to go out to inks lake with the little guy. this was his first time out this year (when he could actually respond to what was going on) and he seemed to enjoy it. we swam on the beach and he loved "floating" back and forth between mama and dada using his cool new blue lifejacket.

this is a frequent scene in our house lately. jm trying very hard to pull his bookshelf out of the wall in an effort to get books down. he loves being read to and "reading" by himself (pretty much him pointing at pictures, reading books sometimes upside down and trying to rip the pages).


this is another common scene. this sweet little bunny has become jm's constant companion and sometimes dust rag. he will many times use bunny to dust the floor. poor bunny.

isn't he sweet? he looks so big in this picture. i really delight in him and still can't stop kissing his sweet smelling little head all the time. oh, he has a new word: nana, as in the fruit. :) i am completely in awe of how much food he is eating. we went to a farmers stand at the lake and got zucchini and yellow squash. last night and tonight, he has pretty much eaten a squash of his own, downing it like it was candy. tonight, this is on top of a gerber graduates pasta container, some salmon, blueberries AND sweet potatoes. he just keeps motioning for more and acting hungry. i've never seen a baby eat a whole squash! well, if he wants to stuff himself on squash and sweet potatoes on my watch, i am not going to stop him! seriously?! it is already hotter than hades here. we went to the pool again, today. being inside all day, even with such a sweet muffin, drives me nuts!