Yuck!

On Tuesday night we decided to give Frank rice cereal for the first time. He had woken up hungry two nights in a row prior to Tuesday--which he had not done in months--and the doctor told us this was a sign that he was ready to start solid foods. Frank was SO EXCITED about this latest development, and when I sent him to the store to buy rice cereal, he came back with every single Stage 1 baby food that the store carries! I laughed and told him that we can't just start feeding him all of this stuff at once, but it was cute that he is so excited. Anyway, Frank has the honor of being the first person to feed him, and as you can tell from the pictures, he pretty much hated it! We have been giving it to him for the last three nights, and he still hates it. He spits it out, turns his head away, pushes the spoon out of his mouth, and does pretty much everything he can to avoid it. And then, every now and then, he will eat a bite. It is really pretty funny (and extremely messy)! The good news is that he has not woken up hungry since we started giving it to him! Here are some pictures from Frank's first rice cereal:

Bluebonnets

We took Baby Frank out yesterday to take some pictures with the bluebonnets, which have sprung up all over Dallas in the last couple of weeks. We picked an incredibly windy day, and Frank was not too thrilled to be outside in the wind taking pictures, so we did not get many good ones of him smiling for the camera. Here are a few we managed to snap:

posing with Mommy

Bernardo bunch

hanging with Daddy

kisses from Mommy

i see a smile!

my two Franks

Gotta love this little cutie!

I took Frank to the doctor today, because he has been very congested, especially in the evenings, and he has been waking up a lot at night. Fortunately, he just has a cold or allergies, so I am glad that he is not seriously sick. However, his congestion is making him extremely uncomfortable at night, so it has been some long nights for me this week! Thank goodness tomorrow is Friday and Frank comes home!! My sister came over tonight to hang out and help me out a little bit, which was super nice of her. I can use all the help I can get!!

Just because...

I cannot resist Baby Frank's smile;
I missed him like crazy today while I was at work;
He has been congested, and I am hoping that my poor baby is not getting sick;
He was so good last night and only rolled over and woke up once in his sleep; and
the weather has been absolutely beautiful this week...

We spent a glorious night outside laughing, rolling over, and chatting with Daddy on Skype. Here are some smiley photos of my sweet little man:

First tooth

Frank is cutting his first tooth! It is on the bottom right hand side, and you can just see the top of the tooth starting to peek through his gums. It does not seem to be bothering him too much, but he is gnawing on everything in sight...his hangs, his fingers, my shoulder, his teething toys. Katy is obsessed with Sophie, and I think she has made it her life's mission to steal that toy away from Frank and destroy it.

Laughing

Here is a video we took of Baby Frank laughing in our backyard last night. We only caught the tail end of his big laugh attack, but you can get the idea. His laughter is such a beautiful sound!

I also got a couple of good pictures from last night. We were hanging out and grilling in the backyard on an absolutely beautiful weekend. I love spending time together as a family!

Four Months old

Happy Four-month birthday little Frank! These last four months have been the best months of my life, and it is all because of you. You are the sweetest, most precious gift, and I thank God every day for bringing you into my life. We are so blessed!!

On the eve of Frank's four-month birthday, Frank rolled over from back to belly for the first time. He then proceeded to roll over every five minutes or so all day long today. He has forgotten how to roll from his belly to his back, so every time he rolls onto his belly he cries and gets frustrated until we roll him back over. I really hope that he does not start doing this at night and waking himself up! Hopefully he will figure out how to flip himself back over quickly, or else the days of leaving him unattended and happy on his playmat are over!

Tonight, while I was changing his outfit, Frank had his first "laugh attack." He has been laughing for the last couple of months or so, but his laughter has always been pretty intermittent and hard to predict. Tonight, he was laughing so hard that it made me laugh really hard, and we both just laughed for a good couple of minutes. Frank could hear the commotion from downstairs, so he ran up to see what was so funny, and he got to laugh with our little buddy for a couple of minutes too. There is nothing cuter than a smiling, laughing baby!

Today was also St. Patrick's day, so of course we had to wear our green. Here are some pictures from today:

4 month stats--my chunky monkey

I took Frank to the doctor today for his four-month check up, and everything looks great! He is 15 lbs 12 oz, which is in the 75th percentile for weight, and he is 26 inches long, which is in the 90th percentile for height. Everyone always tells me how big he looks, and I guess they are right!!! He was right around the 50th percentile for both weight and height at his two-month appointment, so he has grown a lot since then!

The doctor told us that we could start Frank on solid foods at any time within the next two months, but that there is no rush, especially because he is consistently sleeping 11+ hours every night without waking up. I think we will wait a couple of more weeks and then try out some rice cereal and see how he likes it.

Frank took the shots today like a champ--he did not cry at all with the first one, but he cried a little bit with the second one. He has been a little bit extra fussy tonight, but hopefully he will be back to normal tomorrow morning. He was such a good boy at the doctor's office, being sweet, smiley, and chatty. His ear infection from a couple of weeks ago has cleared up too.

I can't believe that he is almost 4 months old already!! This time is flying by so quickly.

Such a ham!

My good friend Katie came over to my parents' house on Sunday while we were in Houston to take some pictures of Baby Frank. He was such a ham in front of the camera! Katie said I have trained him well from all of the pictures I take of him all the time. These are a few pictures from the photo shoot. I absolutely love them!!!

Weekend at the gramps

We just got back from a fun, relaxing weekend with my parents down in Houston. Frank, Katy, and I drove down to Houston on Friday morning, and it was a lot of work to pack up the car and get everyone loaded by myself. We made it almost all the way to my parents' house before Frank started crying. We were so close--about 20 minutes away--that I did not want to stop, but it was really hard on me to listen to him crying for those last 20 minutes of the drive. I was going as fast as I could to get to my parents' house. I felt so helpless with him crying back there and not being able to help him. But of course, he was perfectly fine. We had a great weekend hanging out with Nana and Grandpa, Uncle Tyler, and the great grandparents. Everyone loved seeing Frank, and he was his usual smiley, happy, noisy, squirmy self. He slept in the pack-n-play at my parents' house, and he slept just as good as he does at home. We are so lucky that he is such a good sleeper! I got a couple of hours both days to go out without the baby, which was nice. On Saturday, my dad watched Frank while my mom and I went to the mall and to get manicures and pedicures, and on Sunday, my parents watched Frank while I went to brunch with a bunch of my girlfriends. Katie and Brooke came over to my parents' house after brunch to play with Frank, and Katie took some pictures of him. We left Houston shortly after that, and we stopped by Tyler's townhouse on the way out of town. It is gorgeous--way too nice for three single guys.

Frank comes home from China tomorrow, and we are very excited to have him home! We have missed him a lot while he has been gone. Baby Frank is going to be four months old this week, and we are going to his four-month doctor's appointment on Tuesday. I am excited to talk to the pediatrician about when we are going to start him on solid foods! I cannot believe that it is almost time for that. We also think that Frank may be teething soon, as he is putting anything and everything in his mouth and gnawing on it.

Here are some pictures from this weekend in Houston:

Hanging out with Miss Katie

love these sleepsacks

with the Great Grandparents

mommy & me

Tyler, Dad, and Frankie

hanging with Grandpa

love to eat my hands

super baby!

whoa!

Happy Anniversary!

Four years ago today....

I married my best friend. My love for Frank grows more and more each day. I am more in love with Frank today that I ever have been.

I walked down the aisle with my father. My bond with my Dad has always been so strong, but never more than on that day. Now that I am a mother, I appreciate our relationship more than ever.
I got to pretend that I was getting ready for the academy awards and have my movie star moment.

I surprised my husband with a gorgeous Texas A&M groom's cake to celebrate the place that we met and fell in love.

We danced to all of our favorite country music songs.

Frank was the center of attention, as usual!

There were lots of smooches!

I was surrounded and supported by some of my very best friends.

I got to celebrate with my wonderful family.

At the time, it was the best day of my life. Now I would have to say it was the second best day, following the day Baby Frank was born. But it was a very close second.

We were absolutely, completely in love with each other.

I was so happy that my entire family was there to celebrate with us.

We loved being surrounded by wonderful family and friends.

Our wedding and reception was absolutely perfect. We would not have changed a thing about that day.

Cheers to the next 10, 20, 50+ wonderful years of marriage! I am so excited to spend the rest of my life with my wonderful husband.

Happy Anniversary Frank!!! I love you so much, and I am so happy that we found each other and chose to spend the rest of our lives together. It was the best decision I have ever made, and I am so excited for the future for our family. You have made my life better from the moment you were in it, and you constantly push me to be a better person, wife, mother, and friend. I am so proud of you, and I love you more and more every day.