Abilene

Little Man and I hopped in the car last Tuesday morning 

and headed to Abilene to spend a few days with Mini and Zu and Aunt Julie!

As always, we had a wonderful time!

Sweet block-letter greeting :)

 Max LOVED looking out the windows at their house!

They have a much prettier backyard - 

and much bigger windows - than we do ;)

Rough-housing with Zu

 

Karen was so generous to take Max and let me have some time to myself!

After a little pampering on Tuesday afternoon, I stopped to get my favorite Abilene treat:

 

Our little bookworm dressed up in an outfit

his Daddy wore at his age :)

Max mostly feeds himself these days,

but we opted for the spoon route with our very juicy blueberries.

Mini was only too happy to help!

Bathtime!

Aunt Julie even got in on the fun and gave Max his bottle one night before bed.

(I just love this picture of the two of them!)

 

 On Wednesday, we went to a luncheon for Christian Homes

where we heard Anita Renfroe speak. She was absolutely hilarious!

That night I made dinner for everyone - island spiced salmon, wild rice, and sauteed squash.

Max, as you can see here, was not too crazy about the squash.

He turned out to be the pickiest one - a huge surprise!

We did end the meal on a high note 

with some of Giada's Chocolate Pizza and fresh berries. Yum!

 What a fun few days in good 'ole A-town!

Thanks so much, Mini and Zu, for hosting us!

iPhone Dump

Here are a few photos of what we've been up to lately:

Birthday party fun

Playing in Macy's water table!

Watching the otters at the zoo

Enjoying a lovely view at the Rangers game (too bad they lost)

Being silly with Aunt Rachel

Making new friends :)

And having fun with some old ones!

"Helping" Daddy vacuum

Finding our way into new little hiding spots

Watching the bulldozers drive up and down our street!

Until next time! ;)

Book of the Month: April

So... I just posted last week in lament of my tardiness with my March book of the month - 

and here I have already finished The Language of Flowers!

 
 [image via]


Obviously, I liked this book much better than the previous one. 
How could I not like a book about the meanings of flowers, a star-crossed love, and a newborn baby?


It was very a well-written story, and I loved how the story jumped back and forth between 
past and present until the two stories caught up with each other about half-way through. 
It was a heartwrenching and heartwarming story all at the same time.
(I won't say more than that as not to spoil it for you. :))
Of course, the little twist with the language of flowers was very interesting - 
I would love to do more research on the topic.  Sure would've been nice to know that a peony stands for shame before including it in my wedding bouquet!


The Language of Flowers was a pleasant respite from all my other un-fun reading,

and I definitely recommend it!

It's a Zoo Out There!

Max and I have really been enjoying this lovely spring weather, 

which means lots of time swinging in the backyard, going for walks - 

and taking trips to the Fort Worth Zoo!

Fortunately, we have had several friends join us for these outings. :)

Laura and Mr. G (Eric too!), Aunt Tara and Cousin J

Janalyn and Little Miss A

Courtney and Mr. J

Keeping our fingers crossed that this spring weather sticks around for a while!

We just love going to the zoo. :)

Ten Months

We're in the double digits, people!

Little man is ten months old - how did this happen?!!!

 Little guy loves his sock monkey. What can I say? :)

This has been another milestone month, for sure.

For starters, Max is now drinking four bottles a day of formula.

Due to some biting issues, we decided to wean early. 

I had hoped to make it to one year, but this is still pretty close.

He still sleeps a good 11 hours or so at night and takes two good naps during the day, 
despite all the construction on our street! (When he's awake, Max loves to stand at his window and watch the bulldozers and diggers driver up and down the street. :))

Max is getting better and better at feeding himself finger foods,
although he's decided there are some things he just doesn't do whole (like peas - though he'll eat them mashed. Wierd.) Because we've been focusing on eating more solid forms of foods, the only newbies to his diet this month have been celery, some breads (zucchini and apple bread, and tortillas), plain pasta and cheese. He's also getting the hang of those fun little puree pouches.

After much practice (and even then not every time), Max has started signing "more"
when he wants more food. Sometimes we think he uses it when he wants us to keep singing a song he likes - though it technically looks a lot like clapping and is hard to tell. :)

Little man wears mostly 9-12 month or 12 month clothing. (Geez kid, stop growing!)

Little man has finally started saying "mama"! 
Granted, it's not directed at me, but it's definitely a step in the right direction. :)

I've mentioned it before, but Max is now taking his baths in the tub without his little chair.
This little guy loves to splash!

And good thing he likes baths because he also likes getting dirty. ;)

Some of Max's recent quirks:

He likes to put his belly on the floor and peer under furniture like he's looking for something. 
(I think he's seen me retrieve the balls that always roll underneath our bookcases.)

Max still LOVES to clap and will bounce to music when he hears it playing.

He has discovered his tongue and will stick it out all the time - even when he's trying to babble.

He's also started clicking his tongue.

He has started pointing to things, like when I turn on the ceiling fan or the light or if he wants me to get him his sock monkey from the shelf. Sometimes I can even get him to point to my nose!

It is amazing to see how much more independent this little guy has become.

In some ways, it makes me sad because it means he needs me less - 

but I am also excited to see him continue to grow and do things on his own!

Book of the Month: March

I'm a little behind the times here, people - I know it's almost halfway through April.

But technically I started this book in March, so we're counting it! ;)

My latest read:

[image via]

I found out about this book through Pinterest (of course) and was intrigued by the title. 

It went along with several other studies I am doing, so soon this little paperback was on its way 

from the Amazon warehouse to my front door.

For some reason I was thinking that this book would include some magical time-saving tips
for my chore routine or the best homemade stain remover or some other tidbit that would totally
change my life - but it didn't. What it did include was a lot of real life examples of how it's just impossible to measure up to the Proverbs 31 wife. (Her long list of attributes makes my head hurt!)


Although this book wasn't exactly what I expected, there were still some great little nuggets of wisdom to take away (like that knitting is harder than it looks and cake decorating isn't for sissies). And this book was indeed a nice complement to the other studies I am currently doing.

But even though I didn't much care for the writing style (it was almost like you were reading out of her diary and not very polished) and many of her domestic "experiments" seemed contrived to me (though I guess you don't exactly do experiments by accident), I came away from this book with a greater understanding of what it means to be a Godly wife.

Being more like the Proverbs 31 woman is not something we can do on our own -
we must rely on God's strength to tackle our daily to-dos and do so cheerfully!

 What a great reminder for this June Cleaver wannabe. :)

My Easter 'Bonnet

Sorry to disappoint, friends, but this post does NOT involve any festive Easter headgear.

It does, however, include one dapper baby boy!

We actually went to church on Saturday (our usual church night)

so we snapped these pics in our backyard after coming home 

from a wonderful worship and celebration of our risen Savior!

 

As usual, Max was more interested in the grass than anything else. Typical boy. :)

Sunday morning we gave little man his Easter basket and a little package from Mini and Zu.

Our next-door neighbor was even so sweet as to bring over some goodies for Max too!

He loved his little treats, especially the Cheerios he found inside his three Easter eggs. :)

Then we decided to go out in search of some bluebonnets.

We had heard rumor of a big field of them in Grapevine and went in search

but the only patch we could find was on the side of the highway on our way back home.

Lesson learned for next year: take bluebonnet pictures earlier!

Though we did get some cute ones. :)

 

 

Love my little cutie. :)

The rest of the day was spent relaxing - napping and watching the Masters.

(Betcha can't guess who did what!)

We hope you and yours had a "hoppy" Easter!

Weekly Wows

Life has been a whirlwind the past few weeks in the Rich household.
I don't know what it is about spring that says, "Get busy!"
but apparently we got the memo!

Doc came to visit last weekend, and it was wonderful!
Saturday we took a picnic lunch to the Botanic Gardens (along with the rest of Fort Worth).
The weather could not have been any more perfect. :)

And, of course, we had to squeeze in a few games of Ticket to Ride!

Doc also helped Clay hang Max's new backyard swing!

(In case you can't tell, he loves it. ;))

On Sunday afternoon, I went to see the Hunger Games movie with my friend Katie.

 [image via]
I was pleasantly surprised at how true to the book that it was
(though there were still a few changes, and the books are definitely better).
Thanks, Katie, for going with me!

Also, Max has graduated from his bath chair to the big tub!

A big thanks to Mr. Bubble for helping overcome the initial tub anxiety. :)

And, wow - how is it already April?!!

Photo A Day Challenge: March

Here's how the March Photo A Day Challenge turned out:

It has been so much fun to take these pictures each day!

I am excited to make a book at the end of the year, maybe using a site like this one.

It's not too late to join the fun for April!