Merry Christmas, Little Buddy!

Ho Ho Ho, Bentley!

It is Christmas Eve!  And although you do not understand anything that is going on, you sure are enjoying the lights, bells, paper and boxes everywhere! 
This year is my first year to not make a huge fuss about everything.  I usually have the tree up by October 31 (which your daddy doesn't enjoy) and the stockings hung neatly with perfect symmetry, and the gifts are wrapped neatly and topped with beautiful bows.  But this year I am distracted by this happy, smiley, adventurous little bald guy crawling around.  So the tree is up, stockings are hanging, and gifts are under the tree.  And by no means is it a picture perfect scene.  Each stocking has fallen down twice and at this point they are just thrown up on the wall hanging on for dear life.  The tree is leaning slightly and the gifts are mostly stuck in gift sacks and pre-decorated boxes taped shut.  I laugh at my half-attempt to do up Christmas this year. 

See, this year I have a whole new mind set.  I love that Christmas brings along with it the excitement to celebrate with the ones you love and give gifts that you picked out with them in mind.  So that has taken over my care to have a picture perfect home.  Since you came along I have just been relaxing and enjoying this season watching the magical little moments that make me take a snapshot for my memory bank.  And this year there have been several of these moments. 

Next year I will be teaching you about the true meaning of Christmas and how to spend the Holidays giving to others from your heart.  And we will be making many more memories from now until then. 

Merry Christmas, Little Buddy!

Love,

Mommy

Your First Step

So, Little Buddy,
Here I was just sitting on the couch, stuffing envelopes with our Christmas cards with you playing at my feet.   You crawled over to the couch to pull yourself up.  Then you moved over to my pant legs to balance yourself and faced away from me.  Next thing I know you let go and were standing on your own.  I was just about to applaud when... you took a step forward!  You stood there for one second, dropped to your knees and crawled away. 

I shouted, "He took his first step!!!"

Your daddy was sitting right there and missed it.  It happened so fast!

I'm going to be chasing you all over this house pretty soon!

I love you so much!

Love,
Mommy

9 Months Old!

Dear Bentley,

I have known you for almost 18 months now.  Your father and I were planning you for a very long time.  When we found out we were pregnant with you, we loved you immediately.  I remember giving you a personality while you were still in my womb.  It wasn't hard though.  From the first ultrasound we saw you waving and dancing, letting us know you were happy and healthy!  All the following ultrasounds you were showing off by kicking, turning, moving, and being so very active.  And the first flutters I felt left me breathless.  Feeling you kick inside me always reassured me that you were okay.  I never grew tired of the kicking.

And now here you are.  Nine months old!  You have spent half your life here with us already.  It has gone by so quickly.  I love the person you are.  I love the person I see shining in all your little acts.  You have the personality I imagined you having.  And you take on such grown-up-like characteristics at times that it is hard to imagine that you are just a little infant.  But you are still so tiny.  And so, so adorable. 

You are standing on your own now!  You only do it occasionally but it is only a matter of days before you are walking!  You mimic sounds and motions that you see us doing.  You learn things so fast!  Your grandma made a clicking sound with her mouth and you copied the same noise with your mouth.  So we are trying to teach you to copy other cute things like blowing kisses, saying "bye bye!" or "uh-oh!", or waving.   You even picked up my cell phone and started jabbering into it yesterday! 

So we hit another big milestone.  I am still excited about this holiday season we are in!  Soon Christmas will be here.  As usual at this time of year the weather is growing colder each week.  I see a lot of excitement in our future: getting bundled up in our warm clothes, Christmas shopping, singing Christmas carols, and maybe even our first snow will be here soon!  We get to celebrate in our new home with our new baby boy.  This is by far going to be the best Christmas we have ever had!!

I love you, Little Buddy!!!

Love,
Mommy

Happy Thanksgiving!

Dear Bentley,

Today is your very first Thanksgiving!  I have been looking forward to the Holidays as a mommy for a very long time!
We went down to Wayne to your Grandma and Grandpa's house.  We had a houseful of our friends and family.  Aside from the three of us, there was your Grandma and Grandpa, Uncle Dan and Aunt Lindy, your Great Grandma and Great Grandpa McGee from Dallas, your Uncle Robin, Ryan Goodrich and his parents, and your "Uncle" Jim (Mijjy) Varner.  We had such a wonderful time.  We were laughing, celebrating, eating, eating, and more eating, watching football, talking and playing with YOU all day!

I think what we were looking forward to most was feeding you your Thanksgiving dinner.  I have been planning what to make you since you first started eating foods.  I made you sweet potatoes with cinnamon, butternut squash, and mixed berries.  I sat you between me and your Grandpa.  He has been excited about feeding you a little off his plate.  You were the perfect age for Thanksgiving in the fact that you can start eating mashed "big people" food!  So dad (your Grandpa) fed you some stuffing, some potatoes, and a little greenbean casserole. 

Today was so wonderful.  I am so thankful to have such a wonderful family, a loving place to call home, and most of all, a beautiful, healthy baby boy.  I love you, Bentley!

Love,
Mommy

Moving!

Hey Buddy!

We are moving!  We just got a townhouse!  It is in a wonderful part of town.  So close to everything.  It is 3 bedrooms and 2 full bathrooms!!  We are so excited.  We have been living in such a small house that only has two bedrooms and one small, small bathroom.  And now we will have so much more room!  It is also going to be so much safer for you now that you are mobile.  And not just mobile...you are everywhere getting into everything!  I am so happy and I just cannot wait to move!

Your father and I are celebrating our 2 year anniversary this weekend.  You are here with us in Dallas.  I am so glad you came.  I would miss you so much if we left you with your grandparents!!  I am enjoying watching you explore this hotel room.  You have traveled all over it, investigating everything.  You were immediately fascinated with the baby you found in the full size mirror.  You made a friend.  A very cute friend, I might add.  You kept giving him kisses and smiling and laughing at him.  I grabbed my camera and started video taping.  You are adorable.

I love you!  I love that I am married to your father.  I love that we have had such a precious little baby.  And I am looking forward to our new home as a family! 

Love,
Mommy

My Little 8 Month Old

Dear Sweet Bentley,

You turned 8 months old yesterday.  I must catch you up-to-date on your recent accomplishments!

To start, you have started saying, "Dada!"  The first time we heard it was on our way to Gran's house for a family dinner last weekend (Oct 21, 2011, to be exact).  You daddy and I were in the front seat and you were in the back seat jibbering and jabbering.  Then you said it. We both stopped and broke into cheers!  You said it over and over that night for the family.  Everyone was proud of you.  You were passed all around that evening from family member to family member.  You are such a loved little boy. 

Next--You can stand on your own!!  You have been practicing and practicing up to this point.  And you have learned to let go and balance for up to ten seconds at a time.  We all get so excited watching you do this.  It entertains us like a sports game.  We sit on the edge of our seat, counting the time until you plop on your little bottom, and then we all break into applause and excited laughter and watch you smile as you eagerly try again.  I love these moments.  And like I wrote before numerous times, you make us so proud.

Tonight was a big night for us as well.  We dressed you up in your first Halloween costume and took you to the Zoo for Trick-or-Treating.  I put a lot of thought into your costume.  I have pretty much been thinking about it since last year when I was pregnant with you.  I knew it had to be perfect.  And I came up with it last week.  Your daddy dressed up in his OKC Thunder jersey and I bought you a homemade basketball onesie and basketball knit hat.  It was creative, unique, and you got a lot of attention!! 

Well, my adorable basketball, I love you more than you will ever know.  I look forward to more of this weekend with you.  Tomorrow is a big day at church and then Monday is Halloween.  Then the Holidays are in full swing.  I'm looking so forward to spending them with you!

Kisses,
Mommy

XOXO

Dear Bentley,

I asked you, "Can I have some kisses?"  And you leaned in and gave Mommy kisses.  The sweetest kisses I have ever received. 

Your Grandma Nancy and Aunt Sookie asked for kisses from you today to see if it would work.   You leaned in and gave them kisses.  What a precious little boy you are!  Where do you learn these things?  I am so happy right now.  I have the cutest, sweetest baby. 

I love you, Buddy!!

Kisses!
Mommy