Eight months old

Henry turned eight months old last week! I feel like we were JUST taking those seven months pics.  He is such a sweetheart and changing so much everyday. 

 For starters he is EVERYWHERE.  If he is awake he is moving.  He has definitely mastered crawling and I feel that he is almost bored with his new talent and wants to move on.  He pulls himself on everything and is getting better with staying standing longer.  He can maneuver himself around the couch slowly and even uses his teeth to get a better grip if he is close to falling. 

His new favorite toy right now is the around-we-go activity station from Bright Stars that my parents gave him for Christmas.  He loves to run around in circles and it is the only toy that will keep him in one place for longer than five minutes.  He still is in love with his firetruck and I don't know how we are going to put it up after Christmas. For his first Christmas Henry received soo many toys-this boy is blessed.  Some of his favorites were: the alphatebet express train, pull and learn car center, thomas the train talking Henry, and fischer price go baby go poppity pop.  He got so many more and we plan to hide those until he gets bored with his current favorites.  It's like Christmas everyday;) 

Right now his favorite food is lentils and rice.  He still loves all the others, but that is the one I can't feed him fast enough.  He loves to drink out of a cup...not his sippy cup..a real cup.  He isn't a fan of his fun kid colored (pricier) kid cup..oh no..his favorite is a plastic Mamma Goldberg's cup.  Of course he can't drink out of either alone but he definitely lets you know which he prefers. He still loves bath time and when he hears the bath running he starts crawling towards the shower with a huge smile on his face.  He also loves to brush and floss his two teeth.  We've made it a sort of game and he actually smiles when he sees that toothbrush and floss coming:)

There are definitely things he doesn't like...He hates getting into his carseat.  He is not a fan of getting out of his bath and into his PJs.  He doesn't like to sit still and cuddle on the couch unless he is VERY sleepy.  Other than that Henry is pretty laid back. 

The last eight months have gone by so fast and I can't believe I have started to throw around ideas for his first birthday party! Time flies when you are having fun.

Christmas in the Smokies

This year we celebrated Christmas in the Smokies again! Last year we found a fabulous cabin for us, my parents and aunt, and Lance's parents.  It was so special when we got to cut into our gender reveal cake to tell our parents that Henry was a boy! This year was just as special, since we got to celebrate Henry's first Christmas. 

We almost didn't make it on our trip though.  I came down with something that kept me in bed for a couple of days before Christmas.  I was sad to miss out on all we had planned in Gadsden for the holiday week, but it was a rough couple of days.  And let me tell you...being sick and having busy body Henry is not an easy thing! Luckily my parents were there to help.  Lance's mom is also going through some knee issues right now and my mom, some back issues, so needless to say we weren't the healthiest group up traveling up to Tennessee for Christmas!


Despite our issues, we did manage to have a nice relaxing Christmas in the cabin and we did what we do best...eat! Henry did great during the day but night time was a whole different monster.  Henry did not enjoy sleeping in the pack-n-play and went straight back to his every two hours of waking up (something we haven't done since June 24th to be exact!)
 For Christmas Eve dinner we went to the same restaurant as last year, the Cherokee Grill and Lance and I had our favorite...prime rib.  This restaurant did not disappoint again and Henry behaved like an angel.  We did let him try a lemon...not to sure about that!

Henry got to spend some quality time with his grandparents who catered to his every need (and want). 

Henry opened most of his gifts in Gadsden before we left but we saved a couple for our trip so he could open them Christmas morning.

We had Christmas day brunch at the Apple Barn where Henry got to see Santa AGAIN!

 Getting a little to familiar with Santa, Henry decided to press his luck and pull down Santa's glasses.  Mrs Claus got a kick out of it! Hopefully that didn't put Henry on the naughty list for next year:)

With all of Henry's new toys, his favorite was this homemade wagon made of Abigail's(Lance's parent's lab) leash and a box from costco.  We took turns pulling him around and he was almost hypnotized by the ride and Savannah just followed us around.  I'm sure in the hopes to get walked by the leash herself!

Henry was in a very playful mood every evening.  And you would think that would be enough to make him sleep through the night...not so much but it was worth it!

Merry Christmas!

Six Month Photo Session

We had our six month photo session with Heather Swanner a few weeks ago.  She was amazing and Henry was a handful.  He is crawling around everywhere and I was amazed she got a single shot of him sitting still.  To top things off he bit his lower lip 90% of the time.  His teeth were acting up that day and we have all these pictures to remember.  Despite the obstacles, Heather managed to capture some great shots of our little guy.  So precious. 

Here is the link to the whole session...

http://www.heatherswannerphotography.com/juliesmith/

Merry Christmas from The Smiths

More Christmas fun in Gadsden

We have had so much Christmas fun over the last week.  Lance's mom came to visit last weekend and enjoyed relaxing and playing with Henry.  We actually got to watch a couple of movies at home which is a rare thing now-a-days.  We watched The Help and Bridesmaids...and enjoyed both!  Lance's mom is a bit under the weather right now due to a bad fall and still managed a trip down to visit us and Henry.  When we went to pick her up in Birmingham friday night she had a couple hours of delay so we got an excuse to visit Aunt Morgie and Uncle Curry for a bit.  So much fun! Henry had a major breakdown once we finally got to the airport and until we got home...he was not a fan of us interuptting his schedule. Lesson learned;)

Waiting on Grammy's plane

During the day on Saturday we hung out at home and Henry played with his newest obsession...the bell on his firetruck.  He will sit there forever ringing the bell and then head to the tree to attack the skirt. Saturday night we cooked dinner and enjoyed some much needed family time. 

This week I attended my second book club party...or as I like to call it ... wine club.  It was great to catch up with old friends and make new ones too.  This month we had a dirty santa book exchange and filled a christmas jar full of coins to go to someone in need.  Catherine had a wonderful nomination and we all can't wait for the money to go to such a deserving person.  We also discussed the book of the month..Redeeming Love.  It is a great book and if you haven't had the chance to enjoy it..definitely do!

Thursday night, Lance, Henry and I joined my parents for the Gadsden Regional Hospital party at Noccalula Falls.  They went all out with delicous food, cookie decorating, smores, train rides, and pictures with Santa and Mrs. Claus.  Henry was an angel but didn't quite understand the night time train ride through the park.  Lance and I enjoyed it much more! He did however enjoy smearing green icing everywhere while decorating a cookie with Mrs. Claus ;)

Cookie decorating with Mrs. Claus

Henry has started to pull himself up on EVERYTHING! You name it and he is crawling up it...the tree, the sofa, your leg, Savannah...He is getting into everything too...electrical chords, Sav's food, any cup in his view, drawers, cabinets..the list goes on!  You definitely can not take your eyes off him for a second!

Enjoy his gift (the wrapping paper) from Gigi and Grandad Richard

Sav's not too sure of her new reindeer

Henry's favorite new hangout..his truck and the tree!

There goes the skirt...

Friday night, we attended Santa Claus Society at the Country Club.  We had so much fun catching up with our friends and seeing everyone in their Santa suits.  Though we are members this year we missed the summer deadline to order Lance's santa suit...Henry and I can not wait to see Lance all dressed up next year!!

Today we visited the First Methodist Church in Gadsden and it was wonderful.  We saw so many friends there and the choir was fabulous! After church, we joined my parents for brunch with Santa at the Country Club.  It was delcious and they had a great Santa for Henry to take pictures with...Henry has met Santa so many times this year! We also took Savannah and Henry for a stroll around Martin Wildlife Refuge.  Savannah was thrilled to get out of the house.  So much fun!!! A busy holiday week in Gadsden ahead then off to the mountains for Henry's first Christmas in the Smokies!

Brunch at the Club

Have I been naughty or nice?!

Getting into the holiday spirit

The last couple of days has been filled with businessy and not so businessy things to do.  In between meetings and paperwork, Lance and I found some to time to get into the holiday spirit.  We took Henry to First Friday in downtown Gadsden.  First Friday occurs the first friday of every month when they shutdown Broad Street and the shops in the area stay open late.  The street is lined with food and craft vendors and Gadsdonians can come enjoy old cars, live music, and visit with neighbors.  All the downtown stores are decorated for the holidays and Lance and I had a great time.  We even enjoyed a not so healthy but delicious treat of fried oreos and fried banana moon pies...OMG..sinful!



We also attended this year's Tour of Homes.  My mother has been a part of this event sponsored by the Woman's Club for many years.  Lance and I enjoyed touring all the beautiful homes decorated perfectly for Christmas.  Of course, I came home with so many ideas and Lance came home with a longer to do list;)

Henry also took his six month pictures at Heather Swanner's in Birmingham.  Henry behaved great but his teeth were definitely bothering him and most of our session was spent trying to distract him from biting his bottom lip.  Hopefully we will get a couple of shots without all that mess:)  Heather is so talented and I can't wait to see what she came up with! And hopefully some of the Christmas pics will be good to use on our Christmas cards!

This week we also cooked out to celebrate my mom's birthday.  Lance made his delicious burgers on the egg and we made some homemade sweet pototo fries..yummy! Of course, my mom got to do her favorite thing in the world...love on Henry.  Happy Birthday Grandma!

Monday night, we took Henry to see the christmas parade downtown after dinner at my parents.  It was so much fun to see him get excited when the local highschool band played.  We barely missed the rain and made it home in time to put Henry to bed.  We slept til eight in the morning...must have been too much excitement! 

Seven Months

Look who is seven months old!! Baby Henry is changing everyday.  For starters..he is crawling! Look out Christmas tree..here he comes!! He has two teeth and they are beautiful if I do say so:)

He puts EVERYTHING in his mouth! He loves to tear up magazines and will crawl to our stack of foodie ones and leave a trail of slobbery torn recipes behind him! He has recently discovered how cool a fireplace is and we have to distract him in any way possible so he doesn't crawl there.  

He hates being changed on his changing table which has made more of a wrestling match to get a new diaper on this little man.  He loves to squeal at Savannah.

He is sleeping from about 7 pm to 6:30pm with an occasional wake up call around 3am.  He also takes two naps a day.  He is eating three food jar meals and loves apples and sweet potatoes best. His newest trick is pulling himself up to standing in his crib to try and pull down Aunt Shelley's painting..what have we gotten ourselves into;) He also likes to open the bottom drawer in his dresser so that he can use it to prop himself up.   

My most favorite thing he has started to do is reach out for you to hold him when he sees you! I can't wait to see what tricks he will come up with at eight months!! Happy Tuesday:)