Travel Travel Travel

(Ok - seriously...my brain is not what it used to be. Mom brought me down the camera cord I had left in Plano and what did I do...I left it in Houston, soooo...once I get it I will finally start posting pictures in all the blogs...and post pictures from this past weekend - cute ones from the pumpking patch). I have however, uploaded pictures to all the post that were previously void of Kegan's cute smile captured in a phote...pictures.)
He was off...once again...this past weekend. Friday evening, Kegan, Matthew and I headed to Wendy and Nolan's in Houston. (We were going to Wharton, but Grandma got sick, so we went on up to Houston.) We got in late Friday night and Karsyn had already gone to bed, so we let Kegan stretch and move some and then put him down.

Saturday morning Karsyn was the first to wake up and soon I heard Kegan moving around so I took Karsyn into the room where he was sleeping. She walked over to his pack and play and peeked in. When he saw her looking above him, he rolled over, and pulled himself up so he could peek over and say hello to his cousin. The kids ate breakfast and played in the playroom. Kegan loved all the "new to him" toys in Karsyn's playroom. He particularly loved this little house she has. It makes lots of noises and music. Whenever you push or moving something it would make some sort of noise. It even had a really big light switch he enjoyed turning on and off. Grams showed up around 10:00 and after we all said hello, Kegan, Karsyn, Grams, Matthew and I (Nolan and Wendy were getting some stuff done around their garage) headed to a pumpkin patch down the road - it was such a beautiful day to be outside! It was close to nap time, but the kids still seemed to enjoy it. We found a pumpkin that almost came up to their shoulders and while Kegan was standing up next to it, he leaned over and acted like he was trying to take a bite out of it...like you would an apple - too cute!

When we got back from the pumpkin patch Meme and Poppa were at the house. They baby's were crashed by this time, so the great grandparents just enjoyed holding the two sleeping babes!

Lunch time came and so the babies decided to wake up - much to Meme and Poppa's happiness. Kegan got his first taste of banana nut bread (the nuts were picked out) and he loved it...stuffed his face with that bread like crazy...even after already eating a full meal! I thought his little belly would pop! After lunch Matthew and I headed to the TAMU vs. Kansas game and Kegan stayed at the house. From what I heard they had a great time playing and even got to go for a ride in Karsyn's wagon! I will have to get pictures of this later from Grams and Wendy- my CD with these pictures did not get burned.
Sunday morning - up bright and early and on the road by 5:30...Kegan of course was sleeping and did until about 7:30. All he wanted was his milk and then was happy as could be. We got to church on time, went, came home, and all 3 of us crashed!
Yesterday Kegan "helped" Daddy, James, and Mommy move the furniture we had picked up at Wendy and Nolans into our room. He seemed to like all the activity going on! When I get my camera cord back I will post some cute pictures of him from Monday in his John Deere overalls!

A Weekend with his Grandparents

Matthew and I just returned last night from a trip to North Carolina, where we went to visit Cotton and Incorporated and got to see all that they are doing to further cotton in the world market. All that said, Kegan got to spend Friday night all the way till we got him back last night, with his Grandparents. I have to admit, it was hard to say good-bye Friday night. We had never been away from him for that long before, but I knew he was in good hands and would come back very happy and spoiled. We did call and check in on him Saturday night and Sunday night to hear reports that he was doing well, but seemed to be missing home. Well, of course, this just melted my heart. His aunt Stephani watch him Monday and Tuesday, during the day and called us, both days so we could say hello to Kegan and hear him squeal. She said he would smile real big when he heard our voices on the phone. Monday she took Kegan to the store in Alice so Kegan could visit his Grandma. Mrs. Setliff said that as soon as he saw the tractors he lunged forward at them, like he knew what they were and they his daddy was usually somewhere around. Alas, no daddy, but, from what I heard, Kegan entertained everybody at the store. What a charmer! Tuesday night our plane got delayed and we did not get in till 10:30. The Setliff's came and picked us up, with a sleeping baby boy. We did not get to play with him that night, but we did get to see how big he had gotten. I think it just seemed like the grew a ton because we had not been away before for more than a night. It was so GREAT to see our baby boy again. This morning though, he seemed a bit disoriented when he woke up. He knew when he had gone to sleep he had been somewhere else. After a few minutes he started to get his bearings back and was smiling and playing. It was such a JOY to get to see him and hold him!!! The trip was nice, and I know he had fun here with his grandparents and aunt, but it was so good to get back home with him! We will just have to see how today goes to see how truly spoiled he got. I was warned he might be a bit spoiled now...haha!

Some other updates:
1. He has 2 more teeth coming in, on top. They had even pushed through more...in only 4 days.
2. As of last Friday, he now faces FORWARD in his car seat and he LOVES it! I also like being able to see him better and hand him his toys and sippie more easily! We can even smile at each other in the car now!

3. He is getting VERY attached to this green blanket he has. One side is satin and the other is soft and fuzzy. Mrs. Setliff said he was just hold on to it and snuggle with it during the week and this morning I got to see how special it was to him. You could tell it was a comfort for him while he was getting everything straight this morning about his whereabouts.
4. He has discovered that if you make the toilet paper roll spin, all the paper comes spinning off, spilling on to the floor. Kegan finds great amusement in this till mommy catches him and makes him stop.

More cute pictures:
Look who can crawl under things now!

Playing with one of his favorite toys - his cymbals.

Another favorite - a blue, satin, ribbon...in his big boy pjs...ins't he cute!

Two Weeks and Two Trips

Well, two weeks and two trips later, Kegan has been a very busy young man and Matthew and I are discussing possibilities of turning his car seat facing forward very soon. After many hours in the car, when he looks up he seems to want to now look at more than the back seat and his little mirror. Yet another sign my baby boy (who is now only 1 month away from being a year old) is growing up...bitter sweet!

I seem to have lost the cord that connects my camera to the computer, so I am going to have to download the pictures from the past 3 weeks onto a CD at a picture place and then post them...and there are some VERY cute pictures to post!

Now, to catch up. Two weeks ago, we were in Plano. Matthew, Nolan, my dad, and another guy went fishing down the Brazos river, while Kegan and I...and later Karsyn and Wendy spent time in Plano.
Wednesday, Kegan and I took it pretty easy. I did take Kegan to show him off to my boss at the photography studio I worked at. He enjoyed seeing Kegan - Kegan can always bring a smile to people's faces! That night Kegan and Grams had some time together while I went to eat with some of my friends in the area.


Thursday - we spent the entire day with Grams. Kegan went with us while I got a haircut and pedicure. Shhh...don't tell his daddy, but Kegan seemed very interested in the pedicure...haha...I think it was more the bubbles and sounds. It was funny! After that we all ran some errands...shopping for little man. We went home that night, spent some time playing and then Grams put him to bed.

Wendy and Karsyn got in late Thursday, so Kegan did not get to see them till Friday morning. Once again, the babies seemed to remember each other and smiled and "talked" when they saw each other. I love to watch them interact - it is too cute!
Have you ever treid to lay two babies side by side to compare height...not very easy!

They had enough...so off they went!

Friday, we went shopping to find the babies matching close for some pictures we were taking on Saturday...and whatever other good deals we ran in to. Grams spent a lot of quality time entertaining and playing with the babies, while Wendy and I looked around.
Oooh...look at me ride, mom!

I LIKE driving!...althought I am not too sure Karsyn is too sure she likes his driving!

Friday evening we all just hung around the house and let the babies play. Karsyn is now walking and Kegan watched her so close when ever she moved around the room. It was like he was trying to study how she did it, so he could...he definitely got more daring the more he watched her. I think his walking alone is still quite a ways off, though.
Saturday, we went and had pictures taken of the kids. Kegan was ALL smiles that day so we got some very cute shots. (I just made all the photoes into a slide show - thank you Shanna - and so you are going to see the good, the not so good, the cute, and the not as cute...but none are bad...of course!)

The men came home that evening. Now, Kegan really enjoyed his time with all the girls...but he was very excited when he saw his daddy...and more men in the house than just him! Sunday morning we went to church with my parents and of course, got to show him off a little more. My dad was toting him around so proudly showing him to people! At one point in time that morning, my dad was the only one Kegan would go to. He would cry until we handed him back to his Grandpa. I guess he enjoyed being shown off...hehe!
We left Monday morning and made it to the Austin area around lunch, so we were able to stop and eat with Uncle Kyle and Aunt Lindsay (who skipped a class to come see the nephew she loves!). We had a nice lunch with them - Lindsay held Kegan and entertained him the whole time...she even volunteered to change a stinky diaper! It was short...but great to see them. It had been a while and we will not see them again till Kegan's birthday. We made another stop at a John Deere store before finally getting in pretty late Monday night.

The rest of that week was a bit crazy. I will just say that Kegan learned what a skunk smelled like. His entire house reeked of skunk after the dogs and our back porch were sprayed...ugh!
Friday finally came, though, and Kegan and I headed off to Wharton. He did pretty good on the trip...just got a little ancy towards the end. I had to go meet with my cousin when I got in, so Grandma offered to watch Kegan for the hour I was gone. She was very impressed how happy he stayed after I dropped him off. She was also impressed by how much she thought he had grown in just two weeks and asked if I was feeding him lead. No, no...just a growing boy! We spent the rest of Friday spending time with my grandparents and my Aunt Betsey, who joined us later in the day. Kegan was relishing in all the attention he was getting.
Saturday morning, after Kegan and I took a walk around the neighborhood, Grams and Karsyn showed up. He remembered both of them. Now, I may just be the mom talking, but I think he is pretty smart to remember them after gaps in seeing them. There are other things that I see him remembering real well, but I will not go into that too much...I would look like a bragging mom. Let's just say, I think he is a very smart boy! Saturday was a fun and relaxing day of spending time with the babies and family (great grandparents, Grams, and Lynne (my cousin) and her girls...who were great with the babies and the babies loved them! Kegan and Karsyn had their first sleep over Saturday night. Their pack and plays were set up beside each other in my bedroom. They did well and did not seem to bother each other.
This is the story, in one picture, of what it is like to try and take a picture of two little ones (thank you Miss Julianne for sitting and smiling through ALL of them!)

Cousins - Did I mention how good Tori and Kasey were with the kids!?!

Kasey and Kegan

Weeee....

Sunday morning Wendy and Nolan got there and we all headed up to church (as well as a lot of extended family) for a ceremony that was honoring my Pappa. Kegan cried a little going to the nursery, but the ladies said they gave him a few Cheerios and he was happy. Already and it seems that the way to his heart is through his stomach...such a man! Ha! After lunch and some visiting with the family, Kegan and I headed home!

It was a fun two weeks - lots of great memories!

A little something interesting from today - Kegan learned to drink from a straw. My sister had given Kegan this little cup that had a soft bendy straw and we worked on it tonight, and he got it. It was so cute to see him the first few times he sucked the water up. It surprised him and he would spit it out. He quickly learned to swallow while he was drinking and the spitting got a little better! I also had proof today that Kegan still really likes the blonds. We were checking out at Hobby Lobby and Kegan was smiling and showing off for the pretty, little, blond girl checking us out. Then, he proceeded to stare at her all the way out of the store...what a flirt!

Another fast week and a half

Time has flown by with little man these past few days. We have stayed busy and Kegan is still growing and learning and doing so quickly, I lose track of how long it has been.

Since the last post there already needs to be an update on "What Kegan can do now".
Good things learned:
1. Waves "hi" and "bye" more consistently now (not just at the one set of neighbors)
His wave involves the whole arm moving up and down...or course...not just a little hand movement for him. No sir, he gets in as much movement as possible in his waving!
2. Saying "momma"...well I am counting it as saying momma. He will crawl toward me/up to me and say "momma". When he really wants my attention he pulls on my legs and says it. I really don't think he knows what he is saying, but he knows it gets my attention...so I guess I can half way count it!
3. Has finally started to sort-of cruise around furniture...not a lot, but some little bitty steps.
4. He has learned how to put the rings around the center "pole" on that little toys that has 5 rings that get smaller as they go up and the kid puts the ring around the center "pole" that is sticking up.
5. Problem solving: He was playing with his cymbols the other day and dropped one and it rolled away. He picked up a nesting cup that was laying around and tried to hit the cymbol left and that together...stopped, thought about it...and dropped the cup. He then found another cup, tried it, decided it was not the correct sound either and dropped it. I, by this time, had found the cymbol placed it amongst all the cups and toys in front of him. He spotted it, picked up the cymbol, hit the cymbols together, decided that sounded right and when along merrily playing his tune. How cool! He knew what did and did not go together!
Not so good things learned:
1. Climbing. I have seen him try to climb on things that were too high, like the fireplace, but he has never been able to get that little knee up to get the rest of the leg. He also loves to crawl up me while I am holding him. However, on Friday, when we were at my grandparents, I had the pack and play, still all packed up so it makes a sturdy step, sitting in front of Grandma and Pappa's coffee table and Kegan crawled over to the pack and play climb up on that (it was low enough to hoist his knee on to) and then tried to continue and climb up to the coffee table, but was snatched up before that could happen. Little stinker! How come they need to be taught how to do so many other things in life, but climbing, he knew how to do that all on his own?
Bad habits:
1. Biting! Ouch! Again...not learned, he just figured it out. Therefore, we are trying to UNLEARN that habit quickly. Any ideas?

A quick run-through of the time passed:
Tuesday mommy and Kegan went to the doctor for a runny nose and bad cough that he had for about 3 weeks that was not going away. They weighed him and we found out he had only put on about 8 ounces (I think less than that because of what came out about 30 minutes later...gross...I apologize). He eats a lot, but he must move even more. Trust me...he moves A LOT! Kegan did ok, when the doctor came in, just crying when he had to be held still so the doctor could examine him. He got some medicine for a slight ear infection and something to take care of the cough and some wheezing (still keeping an eye out for signs of asthma) and we were on our way. That night he joined us at a farm insurance dinner/meeting (we were told we better bring him). He was quickly snatched up and taken around by one of our friends there, for a while. He did so good that night. He did not fuss or anything through the meal or meeting part. What a good baby boy!
Wednesday Kegan and I had lunch and some playtime with my friend Stacy and her little boy August. The boys mainly looked at each other and played with their toys just sitting by each other. Of course, there was the, "oooo...I like that toy because he is playing with, so I am going to go get that." Then, as soon has he got the toy "Oh, he is not playing with it anymore...it is not nearly as interesting." The boys had us laughing and they both seemed to enjoy seeing another baby!
Thursday - hung around the house till Matthew and I went to a cotton meeting that night and Kegan spent some time with his Grandma and Aunt Stephani till we got home.
Friday - Off to Wharton! We spent time with Grandma and Pappa all afternoon. Both agreed he had grown and was a big boy! That night we went to go see Tori, one of our cousins, cheer at a football game. We also got to see Lynne, Kaycie, Julianne (cousins) and my Aunt Betsy. Kegan loved the football and really seemed interested in it for part of the time (men!). Everyone said he was so cute and had the most beautiful skin coloring. Thanks - I agree!
Saturday - We spent some more time with Grandma and Pappa. That morning when we got up, Grandma said she thought it looked and felt like he had grown over night - very possible! We spent all morning and a little of the afternoon at their house. My great Uncle George came over for lunch and Julianne came over to "help" with Kegan and we got to see Lynne and Kaycie for a little bit. It was a nice time visiting with some family!
(Here are some pictures from the weekend)

Sunday - Church...and as always, a favorite in the nursery!
Monday - Packing up and getting ready to go to Plano.
Tuesday - Drive, drive, drive! He did really good in the car, actually. I was proud of him. He got a little fussy about 4 4 1/2 hours into the trip (we got out and stretched some) and was not too thrilled to be getting back in the car, but basically did ok. I eventually crawled into the back with him to feed him dinner and entertain him the remainder of the trip. I can see why people are ready to turn the car seats around at one year of age. Baby boy is ready to see more of the world...not the back of the seat or toys handed to him. He wants to be apart of things!

We are now in Plano (My dad, Nolan, and Matthew left for the canoe/fishing trip this morning) and Kegan and I are gearing up for another full and fun visit up here!

Below are some cute pics from the past week and a half.