We had such a nice time last night! The weather was gorgeous, we had great food and we enjoyed good company. We brought bubbles and blew them for Lawson. It was his first time to play in them and he was fascinated!

He's just started this new quirk.... he lifts his hands up for the "so big" game. He does it all the time now. He doesn't really do it on cue, but we're working on it. Silly boy...

We got some sparklers to show off for Lawson. He wasn't real sure what to make of them. He didn't cry, but he had that worried look on his face the whole time.... We decided not to venture into town for the big fireworks show. Last year, the booming was so loud, Lawson about jumped out of my uterus - I figured he wouldn't like them much better out of the womb.... But, we wound up being able to see them from Tracie and Sean's backyard. We got the flash without the bang. Lawson loved it!!!

It's been ages since we took a picture of all three of us. Not the best, but it'll do...

Happy Fourth of July! We're heading over to Tracie and Sean's house in a bit for dinner and goodbyes. They leave for a vacation this weekend and will be back after we leave. I hate goodbyes.... I'll be sure to get pictures up.

The packing is going well - we've made a lot of progress today. I can't believe the movers will be here Tuesday!!!!! Yikes! A week from today, I fly to VA. Yikes, again! Talk to me Monday night, but so far, things seem to be running on schedule. We still have several things left to pack, but we still have a few days. Lawson continues to be fascinated by the process. Here's more of my little helper:

Warning - rant ahead.... Brad and I reached a very difficult decision this week....we're going to give up our cat, Stitch. Most of you are aware of the havoc wreaked by this cat over the last 3 years. The first two years were great, but in the spring of 2005, she started peeing in the house (outside of her litter box). She has continued this habit in our new home, ruining both carpet and hardwood floors. She's been checked by a vet and there's no medical reason for her to do this - it's all mental. She peed in (and thus destroyed) my nice luggage and has chewed through/knocked over enough of our stuff to make us totally fed up. Since Lawson has gotten mobile, Stitch has gotten worse. It's not new, it's just more. So, we decided we would try to find a place for her before we moved since we have no interest in having her ruin a third home of ours.

Trouble is, we don't want her to be euthanized. We tried a variety of places that are no-kill shelters, but their waiting lists are miles long and it would be months before they could take her. One place had 300 cats waiting... So, today we took her to the Kansas City Humane Society. Yeah, these were the rudest ladies I've come across in a long time. Let me preface this by saying - I love animals. I adore having pets and I think animals should be treated kindly. But I also believe animals are not equal to humans. When the lady behind the counter asked why I was giving her up, I decided not to go into the long history of her bad behavior (thinking she'd have a better chance to get in) and just said she wasn't getting along with our baby. The lady behind the desk said "Well, you had the cat first." Um, yes. Yes, I did. I'm sorry, would you prefer I give my baby up for adoption since the cat was in the house first? Can you believe it? She seemed genuinely perturbed when I said that given the choice, I'd pick the human. It just irritates me that she made a vicious judgement about me based on so little information. I've had this cat for 5 years - we got her from my sister-in-law and met her when her little eyes weren't even open yet. I didn't make this decision lightly.

Anyway, they wouldn't take Stitch b/c they already had too many cats. Our last option is the local animal shelter. They'll take her, but I'm sure she'll be killed within the week. It's so hard to give her up knowing that's what's going to happen to her, but we cannot afford to keep replacing all the stuff she's ruined. :(

On a lighter note, here are some pics of Lawson playing in the yard the other day. Oh, and he finally cut his 5th tooth yesterday! Yay!

We had a massive hail storm about 8:00 this morning. The sky was so dark - it seemed like it was 5am instead of 8am. It only lasted 10-15 minutes, but I've never seen/heard hail that bad - it sounded like my house was going to collapse around me! The hail was only about marble-sized, but the sheer volume was unbelievable! It was crashing into the windows and the side of the house so loudly. The velocity at which it fell from the sky caused it to bounce of the ground and ricochet up to hit even more windows. For example, hail bounced off our deck and hit Lawson's bedroom window (about 10-12 feet to the side)! Lawson was a little scared and the cats were completely flipping out. Yikes! Fortunately, we don't have any damage, it was just interesting to watch/hear. If you click on the images, you'll get an up-close view and can see the detail a bit better.


Here's my deck, covered in hail stones:

The stones came flying down the rain gutters, causing some nice pile-ups:

Yay! Brad is home! He got in Saturday night and has already been such a big help with packing and taking care of Lawson. It's nice to have him back.

Last night was our going away party with his colleagues. Tracie and Sean hosted and we had a great time! It ran way past Lawson's bedtime, so he got a little cranky (plus their dog continues to scare the crap outta him!). But, the weather was gorgeous and it was so much fun.

And the "Parents of the Year" award goes to.....:

****Disclaimer - the bottle was empty.....

Here's Lawson with Daddy:

It's a tradition in the military history department that when someone leaves, they get an antique weapon as a gift. Most of these guys are big collectors and can find cool stuff. So, Brad's parting gift was a Cold-War era Soviet Naval cutlass. Pretty cool... Here's Brad with his Aggie boss, Jim.

Awwww...... my baby boy snores! Lawson is such a good sleeper, I usually just put him down and leave the room - no problems. Well, tonight, he woke up about an hour after I put him down, screaming his head off. It's really unusual, so I went in and picked him up for some cuddles. After rocking in the chair for a bit, he let out a pretty good burp, so I guess that's what it was - he fell right to sleep and I didn't have the heart to put him back in his bed just yet. It's been a long time since he's fallen asleep that deeply in my arms. Yep, that kid can saw some logs! ha ha! I had to try very hard not to laugh and wake him up!

We have a moving date.... July 8. Yikes - just 12 days away. Thank goodness I have a "helper"....

Lawson had his 9 month appointment today. He is 28.5 inches tall and weighs 19.2 pounds. That puts him in the 55th percentile for height and the 30th for weight. He's a skinny little dude! The doctor didn't seem worried, so I won't be (yeah, right!). We are starting to wean to more formula here because he's just not getting enough milk. He's getting plenty of other food, though.

He had his first bites of pizza last night and you would have thought I gave him the nectar of the gods. My camera was no where near me and I'm kicking myself - his expression was priceless! He flipped open the lid to the pizza box on the coffee table and was just in awe of what laid inside. I tore off some small pieces of dough with sauce and he gobbled them right down. He got a taste of pepperoni and some black olives, but he really loved the green peppers. He ate so many! He loved every bite and threw a fit when I closed the lid and put the box away. I felt bad, but I didn't want to give him heartburn or anything.... My little Lawson loves pizza! That's my boy!

My little boy is getting to be such a big boy! He'll be 9 months old tomorrow!

He's getting so good at eating cut up "table food" - he really likes it. He loves to feed himself, too. Last night's dinner was carrots, corn, string cheese and bologna. He really likes the cheese. He takes after his mommy on that one...

But, I still have a lot of the strained baby food in the pantry that I hate to waste, so he's still getting some of that. Now that he's so good at feeding himself, though, he's getting impatient with being literally spoon fed. He keep grabbing for the food, wanting to do it himself. Yesterday morning, I let him grab his bananas with mixed berries. Yep, hands in the puree, and then he put his hands in his mouth. Oh, did we have a mess! Little Mr. Independent. I wonder where he gets that? :)

He's also getting to be a champ on the stairs. We don't have gates up because we're leaving soon, so he's learning to crawl up them. He can do it really fast now! Fortunately with our split level house, there are only 7 stairs per staircase so he doesn't have far to go. He's not allowed to go down, but he may learn that soon.

We had such a fun day today. Katie and Jack came over again and we put the boys in the pool. I love this pool - it was just an inexpensive little thing I got at Wal-Mart, but it's so cool! Just the right size for two little boys. They had a great time playing in the water.

Lawson gets so excited about things..... I love this "wow!" face that he makes!

They were also very curious about the grass outside of the pool, so we got some great shots of them just playing around.

My favorite picture this week is of Lawson crawling toward me on the lawn. Cute, huh? :)

Oh, Katie and I had popcicles and decided to share with the boys. They weren't too sure they liked it....

So, I got to call poison control last night for the first time. Okay, so we don't have our house fully babyproofed since we're moving - I usually just keep a really close eye on him. Well, last night he got into the spare bathroom cabinet. I saw him and didn't worry b/c I thought it was just a bunch of towels under there. Then I heard a crash and a spray and came running. There was a bottle of Scrubbing Bubbles w/o a lid - he'd pulled it out and the nozzle hit the floor right under him at just the right angle, spraying chemicals EVERYWHERE!

Fortunately, I was only about 3 steps away when it happend and I scooped him up and washed his hands and face in the sink. If he actually ingested anything, I don't think it was much, but I still called poison control. The lady couldn't find that particular cleaner on their list, but she gave me some things to look for and none of them happened. I gave him a good, scrubbing bath and made sure to rinse out his eyes and give him plenty of water to drink.

He's okay, but I worried about him all night. He was perfectly fine when he woke up this morning. Ahhhhh!!!!! Mommyhood is stressful! My sister-in-law, Jill, jokes she was on a first name basis with poison control when her girls were younger.... I know I have more of these moments coming.

*Sniff* Our little man is a budding historian. Look at the way he's devouring Robert V. Remini's biography of Andrew Jackson!

Or maybe he just likes paper.....

On Wednesday, Jack came over for another play date and the boys had so much fun. Now that they're both mobile, it's seriously double trouble! Boy, do they love stairs....

These guys are definitely boys. They crawled all over this box for a Tonka truck. They couldn't get enough of it!

But they do attempt a well-rounded childhood experience with a smattering of the arts.... Here's a short video clip of the boys playing with a music table I bought. Lawson loves to dance along with the music - check out his Elvis hips! Jack joined in, too!

Lawson and Jack Dancing

This is my latest favorite picture of Lawson. This, ladies and gentlemen, is pure joy.

Man, was this a crazy week! Thursday night, my #@*^! cat jumped on the table and knocked a vase of flowers down, spilling water all over Brad's laptop. I took it to a repair shop and it's fried. They were able to save the hard drive, so we have the files, but the machine is kaput. Grrrr...... So, I made a quick run to Costco Friday night to buy another one because Brad left for Virginia Saturday morning.

He's doing his annual reserve training for the Marines - fortunately it's at Quantico - so he'll be able to househunt in the evenings. We decided Lawson and I wouldn't fly out (too much going on), so Brad will take photos, upload them to his laptop and send them to me at night. Sounded like a perfect plan - taking advantage of modern technology to save me the headache of another cross-country trip with a baby. When the computer got ruined, we HAD to replace it right away so that we can do this thing. Ugh. But, it's done. Brad's got a new fancy laptop, he's safely in Virginia, and he meets with the Realtor on Tuesday. How thrilling yet stressful all at the same time!

Lawson finally got his second top tooth last night. Poor kid has been teething for the last 6 weeks getting his top ones in. At least we'll all have a little break before the next ones start their descent.

So, I think I've managed to get the word out to just about everyone regarding our move to Virginia this summer. If you haven't heard the details yet, I'm sorry - shoot me an email and I'll fill you in. It's exciting, but boy will it be a lot of stress to get done!

One of the few things I'll miss here is my house. We've got a great house and I love my gardens. Who knew I could grow things? My flowers look lovely this year - I think my roses are on steroids. Aren't they pretty?

Oh, and it's time for Lawson's latest trick....he's pulling himself up in his crib. I need to get those plastic rail protectors so he doesn't chew the wood.

Jackpot! I got the pics from my mom's camera and there were some more cute shots from the trip. The lighting is touch and go, but I was pleased to find fun shots I'd forgotten we took.

There was a banana tree right outside the door to the hotel. I've never seen one up close, so I was just as thrilled as Lawson was.

Mom and I wound up being "matchy-patchy", as my niece, Alyvia, would say....

We spent Memorial Day at my Aunt and Uncle's house. Here we are with sister, Mary Beth, and cousin, Susan.

Here's cousin Jenni:

We stopped off at a place that used to be called "Orange Blossom". I forget the new name. We always went there when I was a kid and watched them sort the fresh-picked oranges. The sell the best orange juice and marmalade as well as serve orange ice cream. They've recently expanded their flavors and I enjoyed a key lime and coconut twist cone. OMG - it was amazing! I bought key lime juice there and made a fabulous pie this weekend.

I also have a video here of Lawson enjoying a lemon wedge at our favorite crab leg restaurant. I gave him one just to keep him busy and he loved it so much - he completely sucked it dry! I gave him another. And another. By about the 4th one, we got out the video camera. He finally had a reaction to the tartness. It was so funny! Enjoy!

Lawson and the Lemon

Oooh! I forgot this one. Lawson also got to go swimming in a pool for the first time. Our hotel had an outdoor pool and we had a fun morning splashing around. Again, not a lot of great pics but it was a good time.

So, we went to Florida for a long Memorial Day weekend and had so much fun! Brad had to work so he couldn't come, but my parents and sister were able to. My cousin, Sharon, got married and we figured it was a good excuse to see everyone and take Lawson to the beach for the first time. The wedding was lovely and we had a good time at the reception. Here's Lawson and me jamming with my cousins to "We Are Family". Good times!

Here we are with my cousin's wife, Michelle, and their baby, Adam. Brian is attending the Army school, so they're here in town with us this year. Oh, and getting Lawson to look at a camera this weekend was nearly impossible....

We took Lawson to the beach, which was so much fun. Unfortunately, the sun was so bright and the sand was so interesting that we couldn't get him to look up. We bought him sunglasses, but he kept taking them off! So we have tons and tons of pictures of Lawson staring down. Oh well. We'll just keep those "pictures" of how cute he looked on the beach in our minds' eyes.

Just by accident, we discovered that Lawson and my dad had similar outfits, just in reverse. Had to snap a photo.....

We returned to the hotel after a long day at the beach to find fresh baked cookies at the desk. I let Lawson have his first taste of cookie. Um, yeah.... he liked it.

Holy moly! So, in my last post I mentioned what a big week Lawson has had for milestones. Well, he just upped the ante. Yesterday afternoon, he pulled himself up on the coffee table! He's been pulling himself up to his knees, but yesterday, he got his feet under him. Boy was he happy! Brad and clapped and cheered. Then, horror of horrors (for his unprepared parents), he started cruising!!! For the uninitiated, that means he started walking around the table while holding on. What the heck! I feel like I'm in the twilight zone here - so much is happening this week!

Here's a play by play of the action. I tried to take some video, but it didn't turn out. I'll try again later today.

I'm DONE!!!! Final exams are taken, graded, and entered into the gradebook. Final marks are figured. Extra paper is in the recyling bin and my messenger bag is resting in the "summer" position, otherwise known as the closet. Now I can focus on all the stuff I've been ignoring for the last few weeks....

Backtracking a bit, here's a cute pic of my sweet boy on my very first Mother's Day. Lawson held cards from both him and Daddy for me to enjoy. My boys then took me for a nice trip to Lawrence, KS (home to Kansas University) - it's a great little college town. Fun shops and tasty, exotic restaurants abound. We had dinner at a yummy Greek restaurant and enjoyed walking in the beautiful weather.

Oh, and Lawson learned two new tricks this week! He's officially crawling, for one! He's been pretty good at the "army" crawl for a few weeks now, but this week he's been doing the real deal. It's still faster to army crawl, so he'll revert back to that after a few steps. He's also figured out how to sit up on his own. He's been sitting up since February, as long as I place him in that position. Now, he can get from his belly to a sitting position all by himself. What a big boy! Oh, and his top front teeth should be here any day now! I can see them under the gums and he's awfully cranky, so it'll be soon. Lots going on here!

Hello again..... I (again) apologize for falling off the face of the earth for a while. Just been a few stressful weeks.... I've got a lot of pictures to post to make up for my absence. Dad is doing much better - every day he's a little stronger. I got to go visit him a couple of weeks ago and Lawson was such a good dose of medicine for Dad. The little guy really cheered him up. We spent a week in Dallas just hanging out and enjoying each other's company. The weather was nice so we took a lot of walks in the neighborhood so Dad could get some exercise. Lawson's getting to be such a cool, relaxed little dude. He spends most of our walks with either one or both feet up. This is the life....

Here are some fun pics I was going to post a while back from early April when my mom was here visiting.

Gig 'Em Aggies:

Grandma taught Lawson a great new trick. She's probably going to buy him a drum set when he's 13..... oiy....