Oh, Dear...

For those of you following the soap opera that is my life, things are looking up. Brad and I are working things out and life is slowly returning to normal. Fortunately, Lawson is too young to be terribly affected by all of this craziness. Or so I thought....

We spent last Sunday with my sister-in-law, Jill, celebrating her 30th birthday. Lawson loves visiting her house because there are so many toys to play with. However, since Jill has two little girls, her playthings are a little different than what Lawson has at home.

Okay, so yes, the boa was my idea, but um....he loved it. He kept it on most of the day. He also loved the black Tinkerbell purse. He put it over his head and carried that all day, too.

Oh, and yes. He did enjoy the beauty kit, too. He brushed his hair and even let Jill put rollers in his curls. And the minute I pulled out the fake lipstick, he held out his lips.

So....no damage done here..... I'm definitely keeping these pictures and pulling them out for blackmail when he's being a teenaged toot.

Korean Food

I haven't eaten Korean food since I went there in 2006. I never ate it before my trip, so my only experience with it has been in its originiating country. I hadn't done the Americanized version. Plus, I got a little worn out with it after two weeks and I swore I'd never eat kimchi again. If you haven't seen my Korea blog, there's a link on the left side of the screen - I talk a lot about food on there.

Well, two years is a long enough break and I was anxious to have some again. A new Korean restaurant opened up near my parents' house and we went there Thursday night. YUMMO! I had bulgogi, which was my favorite thing we ate on our trip, and this restaurant got it pretty close to the real deal. It's kind of like Korean fajitas - beef, grilled up with veggies, but with a really distinctive flavor. In Korea, we wrapped the meat up in a lettuce leaf, but they didn't serve it that way here. It was so wonderful, though! I did have a little kimchi just for old time's sake....

Lawson LOVED it! He was completely enraptured by the idea of chopsticks.

I also discovered a bowl of sticky rice and a pair of chopsticks will keep him busy and quiet at the table for a long time....

He scarfed down chunk after chunk of bulgogi. Despite this weird look on his face, he loved every bite.

Yesterday, Lawson and I drove up to Sherman, TX to meet with another one of my Baby Board friends. Her Marine hubby is stationed at Camp Pendleton, CA, but they're from Oklahoma - just across the border - and they were home visiting family. It was so nice finally meet Brittni and her little girl, Avy. We met up at a Cracker Barrel where we had a yummy lunch and then we let the kiddoes play on the porch with the rocking chairs. It was hard corralling both of them at once, but we got a couple of cute pictures.

Brittni bought this Jack in the Box for Avy in the store and both kids got such a kick out of it!

I wish I knew what sort of contraption this is, but Lawson liked running around it...

Lawson, the Dancing Machine

My sister, Mary Beth, is turning 29 this weekend and so my Aunt Nita sent her a card a few days early to celebrate. It's one of those music cards from Hallmark, and while we adults got many laughs out of it, Lawson is the one who truly went nuts. I've mentioned how much Lawson loves music and you've all seen videos of him dancing. Well, this one takes the cake. He's totally into it! Enjoy!


Lawson Dancing

Celebration Park

We had a little down time today, so we took Lawson over to this really amazing park in town. He rode a swing for the first time, but he didn't really like it all that much. He did love the slide, though...

The best part was this small water park right on the playground! It was a warm day, so I stripped Lawson down to his diaper and let him run around in the fountains and misters. He thought it was the greatest thing ever!

And, yes, that's my kid... running.

Flowers

My mom has a huge flower garden in the backyard and Lawson LOVES to run around outside and help his Grandma pick flowers. He usually gets one of his own and he carries it around until he destroys the poor thing. It's so fun having these fresh cut flowers in the house all the time.

More Virginia Fun

Not only did we enjoy the beautiful fall weather in Virginia, but we loved the scenery, as well. Lawson is quickly becoming an "outdoor kid" - he's just so happy when I let him roam free in the grass! He also learned about walking and running when there's elevation - those hills were a little tricky at first...

He also got a chance to spend some time with Cora Conway, born in February to two of my good friends, Tony and Amanda. Lawson and Cora don't know it yet, but we've already talked about an arranged marriage.... They seemed to like each other a lot, so hopefully they'll deal.

If things don't pan out with Cora, Jordan Osborne is waiting in the wings, as well. Eric, Iana and I are totally okay with being inlaws. Lawson ran laps around Jordan all day, so we don't have a good "playing" picture. Such is life with Lawson....

And last, but certainly not least, my dear friend, Susan, took some pictures of Lawson. She is a brilliant photographer who has recently opened her own business. Her work is truly outstanding. We've known each other for 20 years now and while our love for the New Kids on the Block and Wil Wheaton has diminished (but only slightly), we still have lots in common and have a great time together! I'm including a link to Susan's website where she posted her gorgeous pics. Check it out when you get the chance.

Susan's Blog

Hill High Farm

Fall is my favorite season, hands down. It was so much fun to take Lawson to a farm this year to pick apples and play with pumpkins. The sun was so bright and there's a nasty glare on all my pictures from our day. Grr... I've got to learn to be a better photographer!

All the cousins....

Lawson loved picking apples off the trees....

He loved eating them even more....

He really liked this International Harvester tractor...

Last Saturday was the first televised Aggie football game of the season. Miami at Kyle Field. The Ags lost pretty badly, but we looked cute in our new jerseys we bought in College Station last month.

Lawson has an Aggie football that he enjoyed throwing around the family room. He's totally into this whole thing. (yay!)

He's also developed a little strut. He's such a good walker now, sometimes he gets a little cocky and flings his arms around to show off. Too fun! Doesn't he look like a toddler? Yikes!

Lawson's Birthday Party

Lawson's party went well and we all had a good time. I spent hours and hours decorating the cake and I'm so happy with how it turned out. I am glad it's over, though. The 1 was a chocolate cake and it tasted so good! Pooh was yellow cake and judging by Lawson's expressions, it was yummy, too!

Lawson had the Pooh cake all to himself. He actually ate most of it and managed not to throw up from all the sugar. He did, however, have a major sugar buzz! He ran and ran all over the house for at least an hour after the cake. He slept good, though! lol... Oh, and my mom made his bib.

Even better than the cake was the Blue Bell Homemade Vanilla ice cream. Lawson loved it so much, he cleaned my plate when I was done.

Lawson got some books and clothes, but his big present was this Radio Flyer wagon. We're going to take some great walks in this one!

Lawson is 1!

Today is Lawson's birthday. I can't believe my baby is a year old already. Where did the time go? He's changed so much since this time last year - it makes me excited to see what the coming year will bring for him. Most of you got this via email, but in case I missed anyone, here's the link to a "year in review" slideshow I made. There's a song attached, so be sure to turn up your volume. Enjoy!

Lawson's First Year

We're having a small party for him this evening. I'll post pictures of that soon.

The coolest toys...

My dad got this nifty light stick at a trade show a while back and Lawson has appropriated it. It looks like a light saber and he wields it like Luke Skywalker himself....

Also, you may have noticed Lawson is growing quite the head of hair lately. It's officially too thick to use those soft infant brushes so we graduated to a grown-up comb this week. He loves it! He liked his brush, too, but mostly it was for gnawing on. He likes actually using the comb. He's still a little awkward with it, but he loves to comb his (and other people's) hair.

I Didn't Do It......

I was framed!

Lawson's New Tricks

Lawson's up to some new tricks these days.

1. He clicks his tongue. It's so funny - especially because he thinks it's so hilarious when we all "communicate" with him like that.

2. He's imitating all the funny noises that Grandpa makes with him. My dad growls and is particularly skilled at the Donald Duck voice. Lawson thinks it's even funnier than tongue clucking. He's trying to do it, himself, too! He's actually not too bad. Few things in life are funnier than a baby walking around talking like Donald Duck. Still waiting on English words, but whatever...

3. He does the silliest thing with his mouth. I can't totally explain it in words, so I'll just let you watch. And yes, my yelping in the video is because the little dude bit me! Be sure you turn your volume up - you'll want to hear him do his thing. I actually shot this video a couple of weeks ago, but had trouble with formatting and so didn't get it up earlier. Lawson is much steadier on his feet these days...

Lawson's Lips

4. Oh, and he cut tooth #7 today. Ouch!

Update Time

Time for another random update of Lawson's adventures. The picture below is of Lawson's very first balloon. We went to Blue Mesa for dinner the other night and the staff just fawned all over my little guy. He colored on the menu for the first time (he thought that was awesome!) and he loved his balloon.

Unfortunately, he loved his balloon too much. It popped, right next to his right ear. It was loud. The entire restaurant shut up for just a second, as I'm sure everyone thought there was a lunatic loose with a gun.... Lawson shrieked about 3 seconds later. And shrieked. And shrieked. Poor kid - it scared the hell out of him!

We couldn't get him back in the high chair for the rest of dinner. Guess it brought on PTSD flashbacks or something. Everyone took turns walking him around the restaurant and he finally ate some dinner, while sitting on laps. I think we'll hold off on balloons for a little while longer....

In other news, I just had to show off this adorable onesie I picked up at Target this week. Isn't it fun?

I'm very jealous of people who have kids who pose for pictures. I took a dozen shots just to get that one. I'm also including what most of the rest of them look like. Lawson is not a stay-put kind of kid... And yes, if you can't tell from the picture, Lawson has learned to run...

Lawson in Aggieland

We spent last weekend in College Station for Lawson's second trip to Aggieland. He and I went back in February, but he was able to appreciate what he saw this time.

We spent part of the day at Research Park with some friends. Lawson ran around like crazy and it's truly a miracle that child didn't wind up in the lake. It wasn't for lack of trying....

The next day, we took a tour of campus. Lawson thoroughly enjoyed seeing all the sights. Here he is, paying his respects to the original 12th Man, E. King Gill - his statue is just outside Kyle Field.

We stopped at my favorite store to load up on all the Aggie propaganda I could find. And we did buy a lot - thanks to Grandma and Grandpa! Outside the store is this statue of Bevo, the mascot for the University of Texas. He got his name b/c several decades ago, some rambunctous Aggies branded the score of the football game on the new UT mascot, 13-0. The Longhorns made the best of it, and converted the score into the name, Bevo. We Aggies still picture Bevo w/ his marks. No, it's not very nice, but it's tradition.... Anyway, the statue made Lawson cry. Good boy! He's got good taste - he was born to be an Aggie.

We bought a book for Lawson, called Aggie 101. He loves it and read it for a huge chunk of the drive home.

We also stopped in the small town of Wortham on the way home so Lawson could explore this tiny model oil pump. He thought it was a fun jungle gym.

Hooray for Texas road trips! This kid sure gets around!