While we were in Arlington over the holidays, we headed to Dallas to see some good friends who recently moved to the area from SA.  Riley and Carter were in the same class last year, and his mom, Kristina, and I quickly hit it off and became fast friends.  Her daughter, Mattie, is only three weeks younger than Braden.

These two picked up where they left off, being silly together as usual.

We miss them dearly and hope to get together again soon.

Three months already?  How did this happen?  These last three months have been filled with so much joy since this newest addition to our family made his arrival.

Braden, at three months you:

• are starting to focus on objects in front of you

• enjoy putting your chubby little fist in your mouth!

• love to snuggle (and mommy loves this too!)
• want to sit up when being held.  You have been trying so hard in the last couple of weeks to sit up on your own and we don’t think it’ll be long before you master this trick.
• have the strongest little legs and love showing off your strength.
• are growing bigger by the day.  You weighed in at 14 lbs, 9 oz when Mommy took you to the doctor just a couple of days before you reached 3 months.
• smile all the time!  You are happiest in the morning and have been cooing more and more each day.
• wear size 2 diapers and 6 month clothes.
• sleep very sporadically.  About a week into your third month you were getting into a great sleep schedule, waking only once between 3 and 4.  That all changed when you got sick and now we are back to every three hours.  Even though I am exhausted and missing my sleep, I secretly like that I get to spend that extra quiet time with you at night (since I’ve gone back to work I miss all our time together).  I don’t think this will last long as you have been eating ferociously the last couple of days and are breathing better!

Our baby is officially 3 months old today!  Unfortunately, he is not in the birthday spirit…poor baby is fighting off RSV and an ear infection. 

A more detailed post will follow soon (I’m typing this one-handed because this baby does not want to be put down!). 

In the meantime, here’s a picture from this morning.

All I want for Christmas is “a pink car”…

Even though I am challenging my mom more and more these days…

(can’t you just see the sass in her eyes?!)

I promise I am a good girl!

Please put me on the “nice” list!

Love, Riley

*note to self: do not take children to Bass Pro Shop to see Santa because they will end up asking Santa for the pink car and Papa for the large, overly priced all terrain vehicle for Christmas!

While in Arlington last weekend, we headed to Fort Worth for a day!  It was great for us to be back there (even though it’s so close to Arlington, we rarely go there b/c we’re always so busy).  It’s amazing how much that city has changed (for the better!).

While on the way to one of our favorite eateries (Joe T. Garcia’s), we pulled over to enjoy some speed racing fun!  Josh has been wanting to take Riley on a go cart forever, so we finally had the chance!

After lunch and afternoon fun at the children’s museum, we watched the Christmas Parade in downtown Ft. Worth.  Riley’s favorite part of the parade was the last float…Santa!  Can you tell how excited she was?

I’ve got lots of blogging to catch up on, but we’ve been busy getting into the spirit of Christmas around here! 

More posts coming soon.

We celebrated Dalton’s 3rd birthday at Mini Town today! 

What?  Doesn’t everyone do their grocery shopping in a princess dress??

Nobody could resist enjoying the delicious desserts by Patty!

I think there might be a little bit of drool dripping from Dalton’s chin!

Braden got into the festivities…

but didn’t last long.

We have so much to be thankful for this year.  This time last year was a little rough for us, so I feel even more thankful than usual for my family this year.

We spent the long weekend in Arlington and had a great time with family (even though it took us 8 hours to get there!).  Riley adores her older cousins and it’s so nice now that she’s old enough to really be able to play with them.  She has talked non-stop about Travis & Trey since we left last weekend.

Trey especially loved his new baby cousin Braden!  He was always anxious to help take care of him, and wanted to hold him whenever he had a chance.  Poor baby broke his collarbone a couple of weeks ago, but thankfully is healing up nicely.

Thanksgiving Day we headed to Josh’s grandparent’s house for lots of fun on the farm.  The kids fished for catfish out of the pond, and Riley loved getting rides on the farm truck!

Braden was spoiled and carried around most of the day…

After the sun went down, we headed outside for yummy smores!

Just a quick post about Braden’s two-month check-up earlier this week. 

Weight (are you ready for this?) – 13 lbs, 12 oz (95th percentile)

Length – 22.5 in (75th percentile)

Wow!  Our little man is growing so fast!!  His appointment went well (even though 5 shots were involved!); he’s right on track with all the milestones. 

2 month comparison picture of my two babies:

(not the best picture of Riley – I don’t have all my 2006 pics on this computer)