New Look...

Since I think several of my readers us Google Reader I thought I would point out that I have re-done my blog design again so that you can click over and take a look if you would like because I know you can't tell from the GR screen :D.

6 Months Old

My little buddy is 6 months old today!! I CAN"T believe it!! He is half way to his 1st birthday. He doesn't have his 6 month check-up at the pediatrician until next week so I don't have his weight and height right now but I will post some of the things he is doing right now and post those other things after his appointment. I will also post 6 month pictures later as well. He is already asleep tonight and I haven't done his monthly "photoshoot" yet.

But this is what he is up to right now at 6 months...

*He is wearing 3-6 months clothes.
*He is wearing size 2 shoes.
*He is wearing size 2-3 diapers.
*He is eating 6-8 oz. of formula every 3 hours.
*He is eating baby food 1-2 times each day.
*He has tried sweet potatoes, squash, sweet peas, green beans, bananas, oatmeal, and rice cereal.
*The only thing he hasn't liked are green beans.
*He liked the bananas but they gave him horrible diaper rash.
*He is smiling and giggling up a storm.
*He can sit up by him self for the most part but still tips over every now and then.
*He rolls over from his tummy to his back but not his back to his tummy.
*He still does not enjoy tummy time.
*He LOVES watching his Praise Baby DVDs.
*He goes to bed at about 7:30 pm and sleeps about 12 hours a night.
*He cat naps during the day and has yet to get into a good routine of napping.
*He is becoming more and more interested in books and toys.
*He has added a new HIGH pitched squeal to his repertoire of noises.

That is all I can think of at the moment but I'm certain there are more things I could post. It is just so much fun to watch him grow and learn new things. He is becoming more and more active and curious about his surroundings. I know like will get more challenging as he becomes more mobile but it will also get that much more exciting!!

Pictures to come soon!! :D

Top 3 Favorite Gifts

With Christmas in the rearview mirror I thought I would share my top 3 favorite gifts. I got several fabulous things that I am so thankful for but I thought I would just pick a few to share.

3. My Cricut Die Cut Machine - I love to scrapbook and make cards so I am really excited about this. I got this bundle set from my grandparents and also got 2 cartridges from my sister. I can't wait to get home so I can get it out of the box and use it. It will be great for working on Mr. Maddox's first year scrapbook!!


2. My Tory Burch Flats - I have wanted these flats for a long time now so I am super excited that Collin's parents got them for me!! They are the type of shoes that you can wear with anything. They can be dressy for church or just for everyday outings with jeans!! I can't wait until it warms up a little so I can wear them!! They are black patent leather and I just love them!!

1. My Texas Longhorn Christmas Tree Decorations - I was kind of bummed because we didn't have a Christmas tree this year at our house. We had an issue with our old tree from Abilene and I haven't gotten a new tree yet. I am hoping to find a good deal on a nice one when we get back to Colorado next week. That's sorta beside the point though...my favorite gift I received this year came from my mom and my sister, Morgan. They made me a full ornament crate of Texas Longhorn ornaments for my Christmas tree next year!! I had mentioned something in passing at Thanksgiving about how I thought it would be cool to have one since we are such big Longhorn fans!! They made several different styles ornaments and I can't wait until next Christmas now so that I can use them!!


While I love all the things I received none of them compare to being able to spend the day with our families and to be able to celebrate Maddox's first Christmas together. I am so thankful to have that sweet boy and look forward to many more Christmases to come!!

I would love to hear about your favorite gifts that you received too so leave me a comment!! :D

Merry Christmas to All!!

"For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace." Isaiah 9:6

Blessings to you and your families as you celebrate the holidays together and remember the greatest gift ever given!!

Yay for Christmas Eve

I LOVE Christmas!! So you can imagine my excitement that its Christmas Eve!! It is so great to be here with family and it is especially great to celebrate Maddox's first Christmas. I have been a horrible photographer and haven't taken a single picture since we've gotten here but I promise I will do better :D!!

I hope you all have a fabulous holiday season and a very Merry Christmas!!

Holiday Travels

Yesterday was a loooooong day!! We got up and went to church as normal but then after church instead of heading to lunch like normal we went straight home to load up the car to come to Texas to celebrate the holidays with out families. We didn't end up getting on the road until about 1 (Colorado time) and after 12.5 hours in the car we arrived in Texas at about 2:30 am (Texas time). Maddox was a champ in the car. He slept on and off, ate and played with me until it got dark and then thankfully slept from about 7 until we got here. Unfortunately, since he did sleep so much on the way once we got here he woke up and wasn't too interested in going back to sleep, which was a bummer because Collin and I were exhausted. I finally just got him and put him in bed with us and thankfully he went to sleep and slept until about 8 this morning.

Overall, the trip went really smoothly and we are so thankful!! We are also really excited to be here with family for a couple of weeks and I know they are excited to get some time with Maddox too!!

Love it!!!

I was finally able to get a video of Maddox laughing. I could listen to that noise all day long...it is just so precious!! Hope you enjoy it!!

Dentist...BLAH!!

So, one of my least favorite places to go in the whole world is the dentist!! I avoid it at all costs!! However, while I was pregnant I had a filling break leaving a whole in one of my teeth. I put it off for as long as I could and finally made an appointment to go see the dentist last Friday. Turns out that I ended up getting a cavity under that broken filling since I waited so long to get it fixed. Unfortunately, that meant I had to get a crown on that tooth (a very expensive crown I might add).

They did all the the drilling (the worst sound in the world) at the appointment on Friday and put a temporary crown on and I went back today to have the permanent one put on. The tooth has been very sensitive since then but I am hoping now that the permanent one is on that it will get better.

A big bummer though is that I got a HUGE ulcer (canker sore) up where they gave me the numbing shots. Those things hurt so bad. I showed the dentist and he did some laser thing on it and now my whole cheek is swollen and it looks disgusting in there. Allegedly, this is supposed to help it heal faster but I'm not so sure that I would just rather have dealt with the ulcer.

Oh well, I'm just glad the broken filling is fixed. What a pain!!

Busy Bees

Starting yesterday things get kind of crazy at the Packer household!! We literally have something going on every day (and some days have multiple things) this weekend. Last night we had "Cocoa, Carols, and Santa" at church. Tonight, we have a birthday party for my friend Jennifer's daughter, Laney. Tomorrow, I have a dentist appointment in the morning (blah) and we have a "Tacky Christmas Sweater" party tomorrow night. Saturday, I have a baby shower brunch in the morning and then we have two Christmas parties that night. Sunday, we obviously have church that morning and then we have our Bible class Christmas party that night.

Now you may be asking "What are you going to do with Mr. Maddox during all those parties??" Well, we are so thankful that Collin's mom has agreed to fly out here tomorrow (Friday) and stay for the weekend to keep Maddox every night and put him to bed while we go out and be party animals...lol. I'm so glad she is able to come because all of the parties said not to bring kids so I was really struggling to find a sitter for Maddox every single night. It should be a fun weekend and we are looking forward to all of our parties!!

MERRY CHRISTMAS and HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!

FRRREEEEEZZZING

It is/has been SO ridiculously cold here for the past couple of days. I don't think it has gotten above 10 degrees and the wind chill has been in the negatives not to mention several inches of snow on the ground!! NOT my favorite. Right now it it 3 degrees with a wind chill of -7. The cold wouldn't bother me too much but the snow is not fun because I hate driving in it so since Collin has to work I am basically stuck in the house!! I will be glad when the sun finally comes out and clears the roads so that I can venture out again!!

Bananas are a NO go!!

So, I posted the video of Maddox having bananas for the first time the other day and unfortunately that did not turn out too well!! He loved them going down but the next morning when I got him up and changed him he had the WORST diaper rash. Poor little guy. I could tell it was hurting him so bad but there was not much I could do except put some diaper rash cream on it. It has gotten a little better but there are a few spots that still look pretty bad. I think if it hasn't gotten better by tomorrow I will call the pediatrician to see if I need to be doing anything else because their website says to call if it stays for 3 days and tomorrow will be day 3. We will just wait until he is older to try them again.

On a happier note Maddox is getting really good at sitting up by himself. He sits on the couch with a pillow behind him really well and just falls over every now and then. When I lay him down now he tries to pull him self up to the sitting position!! It's so much fun to watch him learn new things!!

Maddox trying Bananas

So, I got a new video camera for my birthday (thank you Gregie!!) and finally decided to try it out on Mr. Maddox. I was going to just e-mail it to people I thought would like to see it but the file was too big to e-mail. So, this is really for family members that are interested in seeing silly stuff like Maddox eating...lol. Please disregard the commentary and the ridiculously close-up view of my face...Collin was being kind of goofy!! Hope you enjoy. My favorite part is his big smile at the beginning and his funny face after he first tries the bananas!!

SANTA!!!

Yesterday morning we went to the mall with my friend, Jennifer, and her kids, Laney and Kolby to have a little visit with Santa. Of course, Maddox had no idea what was going on but it was fun for the other kids. Here are some pics :D

Family Pictures

A few weeks ago we had a lady from church take our pictures for our Christmas card and I wanted to share them. I think they turned out pretty good!! (if you click on the collage it will get bigger so you can see the pics better)

Cool New Baby Gadget

I got this awesome new bottle the other day at Babies R Us and LOVE it!! It looks kind of silly but it is wonderful!! Maddox won't hold his bottle by himself yet and that can kind of be a pain sometimes when we are in the car or out and about. All it is is a bottle with a tube for a straw in the bottle and then a longer tube that comes up with a bottle nipple on the end so that I can just set the bottle in his car seat next to him and then he can eat without having to hold the bottle. It is pretty fabulous and will come in handy when we make our 12+ hour car trip to Texas in a few weeks!! So if you have a baby and are looking for a simple and functional contraption you should check out the Podee Bottle system!!

Christmas Layout

I am so excited because I got Photoshop for my b-day!! So in honor of that I thought I would make a new blog layout and since today is the 1st day of December, I thought a Christmas one would be appropriate!!

Yay for new layouts...Yay for photoshop...and Yay for Christmas!!

5 Months

I can't believe my buddy is 5 months old!! He has already grown and changed so much in what seems like such a short amount of time!!

Here is what's going on with Mr. Maddox at 5 months...

*he weighs a little over 15 lbs.
*he wears size 3-6 month clothes and size 2 shoes
*he wears size 2 diapers
*he loves his paci but doesn't depend on it to go to sleep at night
*he loves watching his Praise Babies and Baby Einstein dvd's
*he can roll over from his tummy to his back but not his back to his tummy yet
*he eats 6 oz. every 3 hours as well as a little rice cereal and some baby food
*he has eaten sweet potatoes, squash and green peas and has LOVED all of them!!
*he is still not a very good napper but sleeps well at night
*he has the sweetest giggle and I can't get enough of it

Obviously, that isn't everything but I think it's the high points. Another thing going on right now is that I have decided to stop breast feeding. I won't quit cold turkey but I have switched all day feedings to formula and will just nurse first thing in the morning and last thing before bed. My goal was to make it until 6 months so I will continue this schedule for the rest of the month and then be completely finished. I really think Maddox will be a lot happier because he will be more full and it's just easier to have other people be able to help out and feed him. It's sort of a bittersweet thing because it is such a special time between a mom and a baby but the time has come to move past this phase and it will make life a little easier for me!!

So, thats about it for Maddox right now at 5 months. We have a busy month coming up with the holidays. Lots of parties and a 2 week trip to Texas!! So look forward to hearing about those things. I will leave you with some new pics of my sweet little boy :D.

Precious little smile!!

Adorable

Look Mom, I can fit my entire hand in my mouth!! :D