Happy Birthday, Daddy!

WARNING: The following blog contains a GINORMOUS amount of pictures!! For Jeremy's 30th birthday (Happy b-day, Love!!) he decided he wanted to celebrate with our first ever family camping trip. What follows are just a few of the over 800 pics we took. : ) Jeremy just got a new camera through a grant, so we just had to try it out! These were actually taken in our yard before we left:

On our way to Dallas first to meet Jonah's newest cousin:

Hangin' out with Uncle Jarid. Jonah was a bit distracted by the dogs.

Reading with Aunt Christy and Cousin Morgan.

Getting kisses from his cousin while new baby Owen supervises.

Headed to the cabin at Lake Brownwood State Park. Jonah just had a MONSTER dirty diaper which Mommy somehow managed to change without puking. (May be partly the cause for Daddy's huge smile)

His eye color is one of the only features he seems to have inherited from Mommy. All else is his Dad!

Jonah REALLY wanted some of Daddy's yummy burgers! This was in front of our cabin. It was really nice, actually.

When we went to Wal-Mart to buy our food, Jeremy and Jonah set off to grab marshmallows for s'mores (a camping must). He came back with a bag of mallows so big, I think one ate Jonah.

Jonah wanted to get in on the action

They were WAY big on the graham crackers. The package said to use a whole cracker and a whole chocolate bar but we kind of liked the gooeyness.

We had fun playing in front of the cabin.

We went for walks pretty much every morning, afternoon, and evening. It was really cool in the mornings and it was so peaceful. We took a TON of pics on these walks, but isn't that what happens when you have such a cute little baby?

I think my favorite sound in the world is the laughter of our son. It's addictive finding new ways to make him giggle! There were some really cool trails in the park:

He makes the cutest faces!

The camera had a cool panorama feature that we played with:

We found a few things in bloom

Jonah LOVED playing on the rocks

"Growling" at Mommy

He loves his Daddy!

Future geologist?

Or supermodel?

The lake was really pretty

We saw a real armadillo! I think I've only seen them on the side of the road before and they're not as fun to look at then... One of Daddy's favorite hobbies:

We LOVE this kid!

While walking one of the trails, we were startled by a loud "whooshing" sound. Once we regained our footing (and our breath) we found out it was a large hawk about four feet away. SO cool!

Celebrating Daddy's birthday with some nature:

Jonah tried to grab everything! Don't worry- he couldn't reach the needles... I don't think, anyway. : )

On our last full day, we had a picnic on the shore of the lake. Jonah loved playing with Mommy's sunglasses, splashing in the water, and watching Daddy freeze in the cold water!

Jonah celebrated our last evening with a messy snack of banana. I believe at the time of this picture my words were, "Not the hair!!" So excited!

So in all, we had a wonderful trip. Everyone always asks us how Jonah is when we travel. Honestly, he's a great traveller. He mostly enjoys his car seat and I don't think we could ask for a happier baby on the road. He's a champ. : )

Since You've Been Gone

I'm doing my best to keep the blog updated but ironically enough, the very person on whom this blog is based is often demanding of my time. :)
Since the last post, here are some memories that have been made:
Jonah learned how to "eat" avocado. Really more like "play with" but hey, whatever keeps him entertained while we eat!

Jonah also created a mystery for Mommy. I went in to get him one morning and found him looking like this:

I racked my brain trying to figure out what the black smudges were on his face. Mascara? Diaper contents? I was stumped until further investigation of the crib revealed that he had just decided to try out his chompers.

Our son's favorite game these days is peek-a-boo. This was Mommy's way of playing it with Jonah in the jumper. He LOVED having the blanket over his head!

My dad (Papa for Jonah) recently acquired a new camera and has been using it nonstop. There have been no complaints from us, however, as it has helped us to record so much of our son's cuteness!

Here he is with his sweet cousin:

More with his cousin and his Nana:

This one is Jeremy's favorite:

And our little Mozart!

As you can see, he's been awfully busy!

Lucky 7

Since Jonah was born on July 30th, he will turn 7 months sometime at the end of February. I can't believe his first year is going by so quickly!
He is constantly learning new tricks and methods of making us laugh. One of his most recent ways of cracking up Mommy was discovered this past weekend. I set him down on a blanket on the floor so he could roll around (no blanket is big enough to contain him now!!). He grabbed a corner of the blanket and rolled with it about three times, creating a Jonah burrito:

He then peeked his little smiling face out. I laughed so hard!!!

Another new trick he's learning is how to sit up. He can now sit by himself for almost a minute at a time. It helps if Mommy or Daddy is next to him but he's really starting to get it!!

Our little man is growing so fast!!

On the Road Again

Jeremy had a convention in Austin this past week and after much debating, Jonah and I decided to accompany him. Truth is, we couldn't picture being without him for that long! We had a great time and overall, Jonah was an excellent traveller. Here are some highlights:

Ready to hit the road!

"Eating" at Mikeska's BBQ. Yum!

Have I mentioned that he LOVES to try to drink from our cups?

Mr. Bear, meet Jonah Bear. Mikeska's has stuffed animals all over the place, so our son was entertained the whole time.

Jonah was ready to drive after a nursing break. I did regret parking under a tree, however, as it proved much more interesting than eating. Six month olds are SO easily distracted!

We're having so much fun introducing new foods. Jonah still eats baby foods but now and then we get to give him the "real stuff."

He is fascinated by electronics! Daddy was preparing for his iPod session at the convention and Jonah had to help. : )

It was so cold in Austin! One day the high was 32 degrees and it was reached about 4 a.m.

Playing around at 26 Doors shopping center in Austin.

We had gelato and hot drinks at Teo. Yum!

Outside Teo

One of the women from the conference has a son who works at the Capitol as a Representative, so we got to be a part of a tour. Jeremy had never been so it was a lot of fun!

We got to go "behind the ropes" and sit in the chairs.

Jonah was excited : ) He talked the entire time!

Some people from West Texas bring rattlesnakes every year to a session at the Capitol. They keep them in a lower-level courtyard. I think they were one of the perks of having an inside connection. Scary, but cool!

The ceiling at the Capitol. Beautiful!

Entertaining everyone at Dairy Queen on our way to Belton to visit some friends.

Our friend's 2 year old couldn't get enough of Jonah!

Her 3-week-old baby brother. I can't believe Jonah was even smaller than that!

Time for a quick photo op before saying goodbye and heading to Bryan.

Uncle Trent invited us to come see him and let Jonah see his first horse. He had a blast.

He was ready to take the reins!

He also enjoyed playing in the hay.

Seeing Uncle Trent was okay, too. : ) It was a great end to a fun trip.