Knox's Dedication

Yesterday, January 30th, 2011, Knox was dedicated to our Lord and our church...just not in typical fashion.  See, I thought the dedication started at 5pm.  Well, turns out it started at 4, so we missed the entire thing.  After wiping a few tears for messing up his first big gig, I put my big girl panties on and we enjoyed what was left of it.  The Children's Director, Peggy, is incredible and after many attempts to get the pastor back in the building decided to just head it up herself.  She's ordained, not sure it matters, but she is and she wanted to help us out.  Have I  mentioned she's incredible? 

She prayed over our son, dedicating him to our Lord and Savior.  She loved on him and us, and we thank her for it.  Our families were all there, celebrating with us.  Our hope has always been, and will continue to be, that our son has a heart for service and a love for the Lord.  We will do our best, as his parents, to guide him along the way.  It was a beautiful day.

His bible, book of questions and certificate



Sweet Peggy loving on Knox



  

My favorite men.  And my favorite picture of them!

My parents

Stephen's parents and sister, Kelly

Knox had just woken up when we got there.  He wasn't in the "smiling" mood

Most of my family.  We missed Hayley and Matt, but they were rocking
the Houston marathon.  And H&M, you would have missed it anyway :)

The best of the cousin pictures.  And...there's another on the way in
September.   Not mine, in case you were questioning :)

One of my new favorite pics.  This is the face he will be making for a long
time to come!

We love you, Knox!

9 months

Yall, he's 9 months old.  Crazy.  We absolutely love him to pieces, but he's turning into a complete handful.  He's into everything and always on the move.  We wouldn't change a thing...except for maybe his increased volume and pterodactyl octaves.

You can see his bottom two teeth, and as of our latest pedi appt, the top 4 are on their way soon!

We spent the better part of the photo session moving the chair around.  He's so beefy.

Cheesy grin.

I was trying to get him to look at my by dangling his paci.  Fail, but cute.

Pulling moss out.

He's our pride and joy.  His latest stats:

Height: 28" (40%)

Weight: 17lbs 15 oz (14th%)

He's a lean little guy.  Our pediatrician is awesome and takes his time with the appointments so I can ask all of my ridiculous and worried questions.  He says I'm not crazy...and he has apparantly seen crazy.  That's reassuring.

Some of the things our little man loves and hates at 9 months:

Loves
All food, table and pureed.  Prefers table. 
Obsessed with Blueberry muffins.  And Graduates cheddar lil' crunchies. 
Walking around our furniture.
Crawling to the phone cords, side tables, computers, cable boxes, anything prohibited.
His lovey.
Slapping the table in protest to food, or requesting more.  Or just to be playful.
His favorite spots: the windows and the ficus tree planter.
Petting the dogs. 
Babbling:  his faves- mama, dada, baba, gaga, and aj;sidfja;sdoif (his raspberry sound).  He still has no idea, though, who he's referencing when he says mama and dada.
Sleep (though it's been spotty with the 4 teeth coming in)
Bathtime (more splashing than the actual act)

Hates
All things associated with being held if we're home and around toys, dogs or windows
Being contained in his jumparoo or exersaucer
Getting his fingernails clipped
Changing clothes
Getting his diaper changed
Sitting still (which I think all of the above require)
Having his face wiped post-meals
Milk.  I was worried, but our pedi gave us the go-ahead to give more meals and less bottles.  He just doesn't like bottles, or maybe it's the sitting still to drink one.

He's our little man, and we love him.  Happy 9 months, Knox!



His NEW favorite spot...

I hadn't posted a video of Knox in a while, so here is a recent one.  He still likes standing by the window and looking out, but pulling moss out of my fake ficus tree has taken the first place spot in his daytime routine.  He's a mess!

4 letters I love.

I have seen the framed last names and inspirational words found in nature, and I thought it might be fun to do for Knox.  Stephen plays in a tennis league on Sunday afternoons, and it's located in a very wooded neighborhood.  I took my camera, and during one of his matches set out on a little nature walk to try and capture the letters.  Here's what I found...Knox smiles at his new coat-rack every time he wakes up from a nap.  I love it, too!

Fall leaves, in January

One of the things we love about our neighborhood are the trees.  They are huge.  They give the streets this gorgeous canopy, shading most of the yards all the way to the creek.  We have two massive oaks...50-60 feet tall.  We also have a corner lot, so our yard is a bit bigger than most. 

Each Fall, the leaves start to die and fall to the grass below.  Most of our neighbors were out sweeping and raking the leaves into bags, working as they fell.  We decided to wait.  Not sure what we were waiting for, but we waited.  Then it rained.  A lot.  Then it got cold.  Really cold.

Then it was January.  And we had a lot of leaves in our yard.  26 70-gallon bags to be exact.  It was exhausting work and took us the better part of 4 hours to complete.  It's done...and next year we won't wait.

One thing was worth the wait, though...getting our little stud's pictures in one of the piles.

The only smile we got for quite some time...he had just woken up from a nap.

He didn't love it, but he didn't hate it either.

He wanted to eat them mostly.

Stephen thought he might like it if some of them fell from the sky over his head.  He flinched.  Typical.

Standing on his own.  For 2.5 seconds...

Those teeth hurt...

Sort of happy!

Now we're laughing...see the TWO teeth on the bottom??

Standing next to the culprit!

Playgroup

A few months ago I reconnected with some friends from High School.  Caroline has a daughter, Emily and Rachel has a daughter, Molly.  We met for lunch and enjoyed catching up, and they invited me to their weekly lunch-time playgroup.  Knox and I were both very excited.  I love the ability to meet weekly with other moms and talk about what's going on in the lives of our kids and families.  Knox loves it because he's the only boy :)

This week, we had playgroup at our house.  I need to be more diligent at taking pictures at the beginning of the PG, because towards the end all of the kids are ready for naps and over it.  Next time. 

Here's what I have from this week:

Knox and Emily.  They are one week apart, and I swear identical in the way they do things!  Knox loves trying to keep up with Emily!

See?  He had to stand up like her.  They are cute together.

Hate that this picture is so dark.  Sweet Molly loved the soft catepillar.

Knox and Emily are chasing Alex.  But she was way too quick for them!

Alex and Hadley (2 months old...she'll be on the ground soon though!)

Knox loves standing on the pot the ficus tree is in.

The newest addition, Mason.  Knox is thrilled to have another boy in the group.   Isn't he just a doll?  He's 7-weeks.

I'm so thankful for old friends that invited me to the group, and the new friends we're meeting!  Blessed!

*Caroline wrote a post on Knox and Emily...see it here!

Mama's Cute Boy!

I know I'm biased, but Knox is just the cutest.  He's always smiling and has the sweetest disposition.  He never gets fussy, and he loves to be around people. 

Somehow I've still found myself worrying.  Is he on schedule like the other kids?  Why is he 'behind' on some of the milestones the STUPID websites send me on a weekly basis?  I can't be alone.  However, I have to stop.  I'm robbing myself of enjoying him how he is.  Right now, talking or not. 

God is SO GOOD.  He made him just the way he is, perfect in his sight.

One of my worries was that he wasn't babbling.  He hasn't really ever used the consonants that he is "supposed to."  He loves to "talk," but it wasn't the way the websites said he should.  We read to him, and he understands us and makes his requests known...just not like the babies his age "should be."  I use quotations because I'm learning, like I think most first-time moms do, that these are averages.  Scratch that, I've always known they were averages, but when your child is behind a bit, you freak.  Well, at least I do.  I've joked and pretended to not be bothered, but in the back of my mind the what-if's were clouding my judgement. And my joy. 

But God is SO good.  In one week, Knox went from a gummy sweetheart to a TOOTH-filled (well, one) sweetheart that says "Mama."  I'm humbled.  He was just waiting for his time, to do it in his own way.  I've un-subscribed to all of those STUPID websites.  I'm trusting in HIM to provide the milestones when they should happen.  I'm going to do my best to keep the worrying at bay.  Will you help keep me in check?

In other, less ridiculous news...Knox is able to wear his adorable Baylor PJ's.  We had an impromptu photo shoot, but how could you resist?

Check out that belly!  Love it!

He'll be 9 months old next week.  Where has the time gone?

Somebody is cuttin' teeth...

Knox, like most babies, started the teething process at 3 months.  The drooling, biting everything in sight, having random restless nights while pulling at his teeth.  However, unlike most babies, he's had nothing to show for it.  Everyone, even strangers. would tell us "he's cutting teeth," or "he must be teething."  Well, 5.5 months later they are right. 

These pictures don't really reveal anything, but this morning I had this feeling to rub his gums, and sure enough a very sharp tooth had cut through on the bottom-left side.  And the best part of all, I had no reason to think he had cut a tooth.  Now if the next 19 will come in this way...

If you look closely, you can see the edge popping up on our right (his left)

Knox's first snow

Dallas has a bit of a streak going on...three years of snow in January.  We'll take it.  Hopefully it keeps up, because I think making a snowman with Knox next year sounds heavenly!

I adore his smiling reflection in this one.

In his favorite spot.  Blurry, but I love the condensation from his hot hands on the glass.

My two faves!

This squirrel was running around like crazy, bouncing in the frozen grass trying to find nuts.  I just love his footprints on the street.  And random, but isn't that a weird "snow line" in the street?  Like the snow fell harder in a random line?  Strange.

My little man...love him so much!

Looking for Gracie and Bella.

My little snow angel!

Now, we're inside and thankful for our heater :)  Did anyone else get snow?