Happy 9 months, Henry Lee!

Look at our lil baby boy!

Seriously, the months are flying by faster and faster.  I cannot believe we are less than 3 months away from this angel's 1st birthday!  He is SO much fun.  Trey will tell you this age is the best- he's happy, feels good, sleeps well, very interactive, and not quite mobile.  Ha!  It's true though, Henry is the happiest & most laid back baby I know!  He loves to watch his big brother play and all Charlie has to do is look at him and he'll just laugh and laugh.  Melts my heart!

He's loving all of his new Christmas toys and has good concentration.. He can play and entertain himself for quite awhile.  He's also pivoting around on his tummy and starting to push with his toes.  I'm sure he'll be crawling soon :) 
We had our 1st pedi visit with no shots (yay!) and all is well! 

Weight:  21 lbs, 2 oz (73%ile)

Length:  29-1/4 in (81%ile)

Head: 17-1/2 in (31%ile) 

We couldn't be more in love with our Happy Henry! 

The Liebster Blog Award

The Liebster Blog Award is given to up and coming bloggers who have less than 200 followers.

My friend Brittany @ The McQuire Family & my friend Katie @ Life is Beautiful both honored our family blog!  Britt is a dear friend of mine who I've grown close to over the years because we were pregnant with our 1st borns at the exact same time!  Charlie & her precious daughter Campbell are only a week apart!  You can read about their blossoming love affair HERE.  I love reading Britt's updates on her blog and keeping up with her as a Mom, wife and woman of exceptional class & style!  Katie is another sweet friend I've known for years who I adore.  She is the nicest person you'll ever meet and is a stay at home mom to her son Jack.  We have a lot in common & I love the way she journals their family's life on her blog!  I was so touched for them to pass this on to me and I want to do the same for some of my favorite blogs I love to read! 

Liebster is a German word meaning 'dear, sweet, kind, nice, good, beloved, lovely, kindly, pleasant, valued, cute, endearing and welcome'.

To keep this award going (by passing along to other new deserving blogs), the recipient must now recognize five other bloggers with less than 200 followers that have really stood out in the crowd.

The rules for the Liebster Award are:

1. Thank the person who gave the award and link back to their blog.

2. Reveal your top 5 picks and let them know!

3. Copy and paste the award on your blog post.

4. Have faith that your followers will spread the love too! 

So, here are my choices to receive this award...In no particular order.

1. I just met Kelly this year, but it feels like we've been friends for years!  We met in the NICU in April and instantly bonded over the emotional ups and downs of nicu life.  Her precious son Hayes was born with an omphalocele & her blog not only provides an encouraging place for other omphalocele families to go to...but also makes you smile and giggle at the stories of Hayes' adorable personality.  He is one remarkable little boy with a fighting spirit you can't help but love!

 

 

O Baby!

2. Sommer is a friend of mine from high school & although I haven't seen her in years, I enjoy reading her blog so much!  She is an amazing woman of God, wife, and a mother of 2 sweet children.  Her blog always has a daily bible verse, devotions, fun learning activities that involve scripture with her kids including snacks!, and the typical adorable photo-rich posts that go along with having a 4 and 1 yr old! 

 

 

My Precious Family

3.  Laura & I met in the nerd Cytogenetic program at MD Anderson 7 (!!) years ago.  She left Houston to live with her Marine Hubby after their wedding and has been living the military family life since!  Her blog is a good one to read not only because I adore her & miss her terribly... not only because she has one CUTE little girl named Audrey that will melt your insides... but because it's a real example of how military families live- through the emotional ups and downs of deployment, moving from base to base, and the awesome camaraderie with other Marine families. 

The Whitefields

4.  Katie was one of Henry's NICU nurses and we reconnected after discharge through Twitter & the Blogosphere.  She was pregnant at the time and now has a sweet baby boy named Landon.  I liked her from the beginning- it was an emotional time for us and she was very sweet & offered to make Henry a little sign with his name on it so he didn't have to be known as Baby Boy Moore.  Seems silly how a gesture so small could make you happy, but at the time it did! Katie's blog is great resource for new moms because she talks about everything:  breastfeeding, sleep scheduling, cloth diapers, making your own baby food, being a working mom.  Our mothering styles are SO similar!  She also is always participating in fun little weekly surveys and posting yummy recipes!

Chronicles of KT

5.  I (virtually) met Momma Wilson a few months ago when I decided it'd be fun for Charlie to participate in a pen pal program!  Our little boys are the same age and we were hooked up as a monthly pen pal for 3 months!  So fun.  Through this process we introduced each other via email and I stumbled across her blog.  It's awesome!  She has such a beautiful family and offers great mommy advice and support. 

The Wilson Family

Thanks again to Britt & Katie for honoring our family blog! 

(HUG)

SANTA!

We met our Dada for lunch at the Galleria and to visit Santa! 

We have been talking Santa up big time lately to Charlie... seeing as last year THIS was his attitude about Santa:

He did not want to have anything to do with him at all. 

(Looking at this picture again, I'm realizing why Charlie was freaking out.. That Santa has to be the most non-jolly Santa EVER.)

So... in the past few days we've been reading books with Santa and explaining to him that he brings toys to good boys!  He then started insisting that Santa "is going to bring my choo choo trains back!" 

I have no idea what he's talking about here- he has yet to own choo choo trains so not sure where they could have gone?

We told him that we have to go see Santa to tell him what he & Henry wants for Christmas.  He seemed to accept that so off we went!

When we got there he was excited to see him in his big chair but would NOT sit on his lap, even after Henry sat on one leg.

  Henry didn't seem to smile at anything silly that the camera man was trying to do.. but at least nobody was screaming! :)

After picking our pictures, we turned around and Charlie had warmed up to Santa a bit.  He was telling him "I want choo choo trains and Baby Henny wants my toys."  HA! 

Can't wait to see what Santa brings to our good boys! 

Henry is 8 months! (and a week..)

It's a bit late, but I didn't want to miss documenting Henry's 8 month of life! 
I have a feeling I say I can't believe he's already 8 months old or it feels like just yesterday we were bringing him home, (etc..) each time I post one of these.  So I won't say that this time.  But ya know I'm thinking it!

Our Henry Lee is just plain delightful.  The boy is so giggly and happy and loveable you just can't help but smile when you see him.  Even when he's wide awake before 6am and we are NOT- he just looks at you and does his little Henry laugh and it's impossible to be upset.

We aren't due for another pedi visit until next month, but I think he's about 19-20 pounds.  He's wearing 9mo and 12mo clothes! 

He's beginning to be more vocal- especially when his big brother is around.  He loves to watch Charlie play!  He also loves FOOD- and is enjoying finger foods and yummy things like cheese & yogurt now.  No teeth yet, although some days he tells us they are coming soon!

We still aren't close to crawling- he seems perfectly content sitting still & playing with his toys which is totally opposite of how Charlie was.  So interesting to see how different their personalities are! 

Love you Baby Boy! 

Catching Up & Thanksgiving!

Hi y'all!  This time of year is proving to be BUSY yet again.. and I've been slacking on my blogging lately.  Unfortunate because there is so much to blog about!  I absolutely do not understand where the 24 hours in our days go!  Between chasing and entertaining 2 munchkins, traveling for Thanksgiving, getting ready for Christmas and editing photo sessions.. we are flying through the end of 2011!  A full life is a blessed life though... so we are just thankful for all of our blessings!  :) 

We drove to Midland for Thanksgiving to be with our Moore/Melzer family.  We picked up Trey's sister Heidi along the way and had a great road trip! 

Trey's Uncle Steve & Aunt Sally hosted Thanksgiving dinner for us again this year.  It was fun spending the day with them, his Grandma, and the cousin's families- they have 5 little girls between them and are SO cute.  After Charlie warmed up to them he had a blast running around the golf course and playing all afternoon!

Charlie & Sophie's Thanksgiving Date!

Charlie & Sophie playing Cookie Doodle.

 Steve & Sally live on the golf course so all of the kids LOVE trading off riding in the golf cart! 

Trey, Charlie, Heidi & Sophie

Sweet Henry slept most of Thanksgiving afternoon, but woke up in time to play outside & get cuddled by the girls!

Our little man turned 8 months!

Henry with his pretty cousin Maggie

Cousins: Ellie, Henry, Maggie & Taylor (Charlie was too cool to stop & sit)

The next evening we all met again for Mexican food- what a fun table! Henry tried his hardest to stay awake through dinner, but he is pretty set on his 7pm bedtime! 

Henry & me with Heidi & Lindsey



Charlie with his Grandpa & Bebe!

Scott, Taylor, Maggie & Ellie

Debbie, Sophie, Mike, Uncle Steve, Grandma/GG

Lindsey, Aunt Sally, Audrey

The whole gang!

Love having these 4 generations of Melzers together!  So special. 

Charlie giving his GG (Trey's Grandma) a kiss!

The rest of our Thanksgiving in Midland was spent hanging around at Grandpa & Bebe's house.   We had a nice, relaxing visit.  Charlie & Henry ate up all the extra attention!

 Charlie & Heidi being SILLY!

 We spent the entire weekend trying to get a Christmas card photo, so by the end Charlie was d-o-n-e with the picture taking.  Henry was willing to sit and get one with his Bebe & Grandpa though! 

Now that we are home, we are in full Christmas mode...Bring on the baking, shopping, decorating and FAMILY TIME! 

(Another) Fun Day at the Houston Zoo!

It seems like I just blogged about our fun trip to Zoo Boo, and yet here's another Zoo post.  But hey... that's what we do.  This family loves a day at the zoo, and we go often!  This time was FUN because we went on a beautiful day with our good friends Kelly & Hayes!  Best buds Henry & Hayes were thrilled to be reunited again.. it's hilarious how every time they see each other their faces light up and their little arms reach for each other.  :)

Charlie was excited to be the big boy and let Hayes take his spot in the stroller.  He ran his short legs off! 



Look at our lil monkey... Cute as can be!

We skipped the Children's Zoo this time and just went for the main attractions: Elephants, Giraffes, Lions, etc.

And we never miss a photo op with the Rhino cutout!

Where's Hayes?

The giraffes will always be my favorite.  Such amazing animals!

It's not every day that I get a photo WITH my boys!  

I love how Henry is smiling at his big brother!

My Littlest Love!

Kelly with Hayes!

Charlie happy as can be.  This is his element, for sure!

We decided to walk past the lake on the way to the car and see the ducks pigeons.

 Look at these two!  Beyond adorable!

I am so thankful as a mother to be able to spend days like this with my boys and our sweet friends!  Thank you to my Hubby... our Dada... for working so hard to make it possible for our us to turn an ordinary Thursday morning into a special playdate. 

And thank you Kelly & Hayes for being such special friends! 



Halloween!

We aren't big on Halloween, but do love dressing up the boys in their costumes!  Charlie was actually excited to wear his turtle again and go Trick or Treating for CANDY! 

I was hoping to get some good photos of them in their costumes since the Zoo Boo was too exciting to stop and pose for pictures.  It lasted for about 2 minutes before Charlie was ready for candy. 

 

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And we were off! 

 Our little lion was happy as can be tagging along in the stroller!

After trick or treating we came back to the house to pass out candy.
Last year (can see Here) Charlie the Monkey was adorable sitting in our doorway with his basket of candy.  In fact, this year we had some people say, "Was he the monkey last year? He has gotten so big!" 



Halloween 2010- Charlie's 1st time to pass out candy.

Sweet Brothers!





We had all Treats at our house this year.  What a fun tradition/holiday this is turning out to be!