Where has the time gone?!?!

We are long overdue for an update! We have settled into life in Cowtown, it sure is a nice change of pace from the hustle and bustle of Big D. I am loving my job and slowly getting used to working 5 days per week. Tommy loves his new school and has lots of new friends! Here's my attempt to catch up on the last 5 months: 10 months: Ten months old on St Patricks Day (what a good little Irish boy!). Still pulling up and starting to cruise along the couch and ottoman. He had his first trip to Ol' South Pancake House, a diner that mom used to go to as a kid after church, he LOVES the pancakes there. Starting to eat more solid foods and his bottles are close to meal times. Napping about 2-3 times per day, still having a hard time napping at school though. 11 Months: Went to his first outdoor concert at the Craft Beer Festival on W 7th with his cousin Zoe. He loved listening to the music and even clapped for the performers (first time clapping!)! Meals are all table foods, no more baby food, bottles only at meal times in an attempt to start weaning the bottle in a month or so. Tommy's faborite thing to do is push any kind of push toy around and his working up the courage to take a few steps on his own. We also celebrated Tommy's first Easter with mass at St Patricks and then brunch at Grandma and Roland's with Uncle Ryan, Nana, Grandaddy, Caroline, Hailey, Maddy, Adam and their new baby! Mommy and daddy also took a trip to Playa del Carmen to celebrate their 5 year anniversary, Tommy stayed with nana and Grandaddy half the time and with Grandma and Roland the other half. Mommy and daddy missed Tommy tons but were able to scuba dive and relax on the beach. Uncle Travis and Aunt Laura joined them for a few days too! Mommy hoped she wouldn't miss his first steps and she didn't!!! 12 Months: What a birthday party we had! We had about 40 guests who enjoyed a delicious BBQ in the backyard. Tommy had his first piece of cake that was more worn on his face than eaten! Tommy is walking when you hold his hands. He no longer takes a bottle and drinks all whole milk! Sure is nice not cleaning bottles or making formula!!

Almost 9 months...

Wow!  So much is going on in our family right now, where do I start?  I just accepted a new position at Texas Health Harris Methodist Fort Worth as the Nurse Manager of the Neonatal ICU and I start Monday!  I truly feel like this job is meant to be, so many things have just fallen into place.  We've decided to move to Fort Worth March 1, (can you hear my mom screaming with joy?!) and are renting the cutest little house in the Arlington Heights neighborhood.  Matt has been so supportive of me in this new job and has taken on the burden of the commute to downtown Dallas from downtown Fort Worth for me - what a husband!  Matt also was just promoted at work, his new title is "Business Planning and Analysis Manager."  So happy for him - he's worked very hard for this!  Tommy was able to transfer to Kid's Place, a day care that is for the employees of my hospital and Cook's Childrens Hospital and it is rumored to be excellent according to my reliable sources!  The only downside to the new job is working 5 days/week now (Monday thru Friday), so Tommy will be at Kid's Place 5 days/week, but he loves his day care so much now - the poor kid won't sleep while he's there because he's afraid of missing all the action! - I'm confident he will love the new one just as much.  Miss Chandra was not thrilled her little poopoo is leaving her and I know T will miss her too. 

So enough about me, onto Tommy Boy - he now has 2 teeth, bottom middle.  And has had his first illness, a couple weeks ago he developed a nasty cough and runny nose, right when G Aunt Susan and G Aunt Debbie were in town for a visit, then came down with a fever and had an ear infection in both ears - poor baby.  He did not feel good, lots of cuddle time was in store.  But then, just as I thought we were on the mend, another runny nose/cough started and then spiked a fever and had ANOTHER ear infection.  So he's finishing up round 2 of antibiotics now and is acting like he feels much much better.  Overall though, he's been a pretty healthy kiddo considering me working in a hospital and him going to day care, I'm just praying we are clear for a while now.  I hate to see him sick, it just breaks my heart. 

He's also started pulling up, first on the toy basket and then on the ottoman, I'm bracing myself for cruising next!!  We go to the pedi Friday for his 9 month check up so I'll post his stats soon, I don't feel like he's grown much this time, but we'll see!

7 1/2 Months

I know, I know, it's a little late, not to mention being combined with a 1/2 month but hey - I'm a working mom!  The holiday season has come and gone but what a fun time we had! Tommy also reached some big milestones this past month...

He's sitting up on his own

Tommy's saying "dada" (not mama yet, but hopefully soon!)



And he's crawling!!  The first he crawled was December 30 and he hasn't looked back...

We've ditched the little tub now and are taking baths like a big boy!  He loves bath time!!

Tommy's also transitioned to feeding every 4 hours now and eats all kinds of fruits and veggies, I think his favorite is sweet potatoes and his least favorite is avocado - but I'll give it another try soon!

We visited Santa at Northpark mall - I was ready for a crying fiasco, but he was too curious about Santa's beard to cry!

Our first Christmas was so wonderful! Santa came early on Christmas Eve because I was scheduled to work in the NICU on Christmas day. We opened presents and played with our new toys all day until it was time to go to Grandma's for Christmas Eve Mass at St Patricks and then dinner and more presents at Grandma's.

Christmas morning I got a wonderful surprise - the day off of work!!  So we all went to Sherman to see the Sherman clan and then stopped off at Liz and Pat's on the way home.  It was a great day and I was so grateful to be able to spend my baby's first Christmas with him.  





New Year's weekend was spent with nana and granddaddy.  Matt and I spent the night at the Hilton in Fort Worth on Friday and then NY Eve we opened more gifts and then went to dinner together.  Tommy didn't stay up to see the ball drop, but neither did mommy!  Nana and grandad bought a swing set for their house for the grandkids' Christmas gift - Tommy loved the swing - the higher the better for this little daredevil!

Happy New Year to you and your family...I am so grateful to look forward to another year and so blessed as I look back on last year, what a year!