Turkey, Hunting and 6 months!

Thanksgiving:

First of all, I hope everyone had a marvelous Turkey Day! This was a big one for us. It was Braden's first, and he also turned 6 months old on Thanksgiving day! YAY! We had a very nice Thanksgiving. We went to Jeff's parents house and spent the day with them, my parents and Stacey and her new boyfriend, Oscar. The food was delicious, as always. My father-in-law smoked a turkey and it turned out great! Good job, Gene-o! Everything was delicious. We watched football, of course....lots of football! The Cowboys AND Longhorns won so it was a good day. Braden had some sweet potatoes (baby food) and he liked them. Although he is not a picky eater (yet). He hasn't come across anything he doesn't like.

The next day, Jeff, Braden and I headed to Quitman, TX. Jeff's family has a ranch there where the boys like to hunt. It's about a 4 hour drive northeast of us, for those of you, like me, who have never heard of Quitman. We got there about 2:00 on Friday afternoon, and by 6:00, Jeff had called and said he shot a buck! He hasn't had much luck even seeing anything the last couple trips, so he was very excited. We will have some deer meat here in the next few weeks! YAY! (I included some pictures, so if you don't like that stuff, I warned you).

On Staurday, our good friends Andy and Sarah and their little boy, Owen came to stay with us. Sarah and I went shopping with the little boys while the big boys went hunting. We had a great time, as we always do, but I don't know that I would suggest the mall in Tyler (in case you are in that direction). It's comparable to Highland Mall here in Austin. It really wasn't THAT bad, but we almost got into an "altercation" in the parking lot with some not so friendly people. But then again, it may have had something to do with the holiday madness. Anyways...it was a fun trip and I can't wait for Braden to be able to hunt with Daddy. There will be many great memories made there. :)

Is that not the cutest little hat?

Owen was being a little shy in front of the camera, but that's him waaaaay in the back there. Ha ha.

6 months old:

WOW...can you believe Braden is 6 months old already? Well, maybe you can, but I can't! He is doing very well. We had his 6 month appointment Dec. 1st and he is healthy as can be. He weighed in at 18 lbs 10 oz and measured in at 26.75 inches. 75th % in weight and 70th in height. He had to get more shots, but he actually did great. I always hate that part, but I think he is tougher than I am. He cried when they first gave him the shots, but he had quit before I even picked him up. He's a trooper. I am in the process of making an appointment at a pediatric ophthamologist to have his eye checked out. He has a blocked tear duct in his right eye we need to get fixed. Apparently it is very common and an easy procedure, but they do have to put him under since they will be messing with his eye. That makes me very nervous, but I'm going to ask all kinds of questions before we decide to do that.

He is sitting up all by himself now. He has been for a couple weeks, but he just now is at the point where he will sit up for as long as he wants. Before, he could only sit for a couple minutes before he would topple over. He is waving to himself. It is so cute and he loves to flick his bottom lip to make funny sounds. He is babbling away all kinds of nonsense. He does say mama and dada and Grandma has heard "Grandma", Grammy has heard "Grammy" and Grandpa has heard "Grandpa". Ha ha. But he really does say "mama"! ;) If you want to make him smile, all you have to do is say, "poop in the pants!" Not sure what's up with that, but he thinks it's hilarious. All boy for ya and I'm sure you can guess who figured that one out. He loves to give hugs and kisses and oh my, you better watch out when he comes at you for a kiss. It gets a little messy. LOL. Grandma LOVES it. :) We just started 3 meals a day. This boy can eat! We are working on the sippy cup with diluted apple juice, but so far, he just likes to lick it. Ha ha. He is such a blessing and we can't wait to see what he has to show us next.