Baby Frank's baptism

On Sunday, August 28, Frankie was baptized at White's Chapel Methodist Church in Southlake. We had been going to this church for the last several months, and we really enjoy it. We met with Pastor Steven a couple of weeks ago to discuss the baptism, and we had such a great meeting with him and are very excited to become members of such a wonderful church. The ceremony was lovely, and Frankie cracked everyone up with his "stink face." This is his new favorite face to make, and he made it every single time the preacher so much as looked at him during the ceremony. It was hilarious. After the ceremony we had a lunch reception at the Four Seasons, and the staff did such an amazing job. I had been extremely busy at work the last few weeks, so I had to throw this whole baptism/lunch together at the last minute, but it ended up being wonderful. My Mom and Dad, Grandma and Grandpa, Allison, Steve, Tyler, and Frank's Mom all came to celebrate with us. Ryon, Sara, and Mason also came in from Midland to celebrate Frankie's big day. Ryon and Sara are Frankie's godparents, and we are so blessed to have them in our lives and for Frankie to have them in his life. I hardly got to see or talk to Ryon and Sara this weekend, and I was really sad about that, so hopefully we will get to make a trip to Midland soon to see them. We are so thankful to everyone who made the trip to Dallas to celebrate this special day, and we are so happy that God blessed us with our wonderful son and that he has made this important step in his spiritual journey.

Here are some pictures from his big day:

baptism ceremony

stink face!

he was soooo funny

sweet little boy

Bernardo family on Frankie's big day

with Grandma Helena

with Great Grandma and Great Grandpa

Uncle Tyler

Aunt Allison & Uncle Steve

hanging out with Nana and Grandpa

Nana, Grandpa, and Mama

proud grandparents

with Ryon, Sara, and Mason

special menu, Congratulations Frank Edward!

yummy cake from Society Bakery

lunch reception

lunch

Mason wants to play!

my handsome little boy

9 month stats

We went to the doctor yesterday for Frankie's 9-month check up, and everything looks great! He gained almost a pound and 1/2 an inch in the last week! Holy growth spurt. He is now 29 3/4 inches long (90th percentile) and 21 lbs 3 oz (just above 50th percentile). The doctor was very impressed with all of his "talking" and "walking." She couldn't believe how much he had developed since his 6-month appointment. He also got a shot at his appointment, and, for the first time, he did not shed a tear!

Last night he walked about 5-6 steps on his own. He is getting stronger and more confident every day. He is also slowly figuring out how/when to wave. He will do it about 75% of the time when he is supposed to, and then he also randomly does it when he is excited. Sometimes he waves backwards to himself, which is sooooo cute! He also has started clapping sometimes, but he doesn't quite get that either yet.

I cannot believe my little boy is 9 months old and that I have scheduled his one-year doctor's appointment already!!

Things I never thought I would do...

Since I have become a Mom, there are countless things I have done that I never thought I would do. These include going to work with spitup on my suit and not caring, changing my son's sheets and bathing him after he threw up in his sleep; contracting strep throat three times in three months; wearing a surgical mask to ensure the rest of my family did not get my various ailments; pumping my breasts like a cow; feeling strange when I am driving and there is not a baby in the carseat; and talking about my baby's poop, snot, and vomit with friends like it is normal everyday conversation. Of course, there are a million other examples of things you do when you are a parent that you never dreamed you would do before you had a child.

Today, I experienced quite possibly the most disgusting thing I never thought I would do: I pulled a dead cockroach out of my son's mouth. We were playing upstairs in the media room when I noticed that he reached down and stuffed something in his mouth. I immediately grabbed him and swept my finger in his mouth to remove the object. When I saw that it was a roach, I literally screamed hysterically and threw it on the floor. I scared Frankie and he started crying, which made me think that maybe I didn't get it all, maybe it had somehow hurt him. But then he stopped crying and was fine. I, however, was traumatized, and I have not been back in that room since the incident happened. How on earth did a dead roach get into our second-story media room? Why didn't the exterminator--or the maid--catch it and remove it? I am so disgusted. I thought that Frankie eating grass was bad, but this took things to a whole new level!

I did NOT take any pictures of the "roach incident," but I did take some pictures last night of my darling son eating grass in the backyard. Oh, the joys of being a parent!

LET ME EAT GRASS!

it is yummy

Nine months & first steps!!

I cannot believe that my little boy is already 9 months old!!! Today when I picked Frankie up from day care, i stood about two feet away from him and opened my arms and said "come here!" He took three steps toward me and then fell into my arms. He constantly surprises and amazes me with how much he is learning and changing. Tonight we decided to bust out the video camera to document his first steps, and after we captured his steps on video, we looked at some of the older videos we had taken from when Frankie was so little that he could barely even hold his head up. It is truly amazing how much things have changed in such a short amount of time. Happy Nine Month Birthday little buddy!! We love you more than anything in the world.

Frankie at nine months is...

Taking steps on his own. It will only be a matter of time before he starts walking.
Still pulling up on anything and everything.
Starting to eat more and more table food, and starting to drink less formula.
Wearing size 4 diapers and size 12-18 month clothes, although that size of pants is too big on him.
Weighs 20 lbs 9 oz and is 29.25 inches long.
Currently on his second round of antibiotics to get rid of a double ear infection.
Has one tooth, with three more on the way imminently.
Is going to get baptized (finally) next weekend!
Still loves the bath tub and the pool, although less for splashing and more for standing/cruising/falling these days.
Weaning off the acid reflux medicine. It has only been 3 days, but he seems to be doing well with half a dose a day.

Here are a couple more pictures of my little guy:

trying to get the month sign, as usual

hanging with Daddy!

LOVE you buddy!

Just a quick post to say that I love this little guy with all of my heart! And his Daddy loves him that much too. We had a great weekend spending time together as a family, which does not happen nearly often enough. I love my Franks!

Fearless & DOG

Frankie is still going full speed ahead trying to get into everything and get everywhere as fast as he can. He has mastered cruising, and he can now pull up on every piece of furniture we own and can cruise from furniture to furniture to person to toy to whatever. He also frequently stands up, lets go of what he is holding on to, and stands on his own for several seconds. He always gets so excited when he does this, and he especially loves to do it in the bathtub, which of course makes me extremely nervous! He loves to walk holding on to our hands, or pushing around his high chair, which is on wheels, that he uses as a walker. He has tried to let go and take a step on his own, but he usually ends up faceplanting when he does that. But it does not seem to phase him! We took him up to the pool again this weekend, and he absolutely loved the baby pool this time because he could stand up and cruise around the whole pool. He did this over and over. A few times he fell down, face-first in the water, and he just got right back up like nothing ever happened. I was shocked.

He also started saying "dog" this weekend! We were over at Astyn's house playing with Bennett when their dog Riley came upstairs and Frankie was trying to go mess with her. Then he started saying what sounded like "dog." I had never heard him say that before, so I thought it was probably some sort of fluke, but when we got home he continued to say "dog, dog, dog" while he was chasing Katy around the living room. So I am calling it--dog is his first word (other than mama and dada). So cute! Frank says "dog" to him all the time, so he is taking credit for teaching it to him.

Insanity

I have been pretty unhappy with my body (my stomach in particular) since I had Frankie, and I have been very inconsistent in my workout routine, so I finally decided to take the Insanity challenge and get serious about getting back into shape. Insanity is a DVD home workout program that consists of 12 DVDs with a heavy emphasis on cardio and core conditioning. It is a 9-week program with workouts 6 days a week, followed by one day off. I just completed my first week of Insanity, and WOW, I already feel great! I have more energy, and I feel so much more fit already. I am really going to try to stick with the program. Even though I lost all of the weight I gained during my pregnancy pretty quickly, I really want to regain the muscle definition that I had before I got pregnant. I think that having a set program and a set goal will really help me stick with it and see some great results. Wish me luck!

Teeth (Finally)!

After 6 months of "teething," Frankie has FINALLY gotten a tooth! One of his bottom two front teeth broke through his gums today, and his other one is hot on its heels and should break through any day now. I am going to miss his sweet toothless smile, but I am excited that he is finally getting some teeth in! Hopefully by this weekend I can take a cute picture of his new smile.