Happy Friday!

I never thought it would get here.

Meet littleVictoria

A few months ago Manning met his second cousin, Victoria. It was so much fun seeing them play together while Victoria ran circles around him. She just turned one year old in August, so she's a little ahead of him. Now that Manning is crawling it will be even more fun the next time they get together b/c they will both be mobile!

There's a duck in the bathtub!!!

Ok, so one of the best investments we have made so far for Manning has been the $9.99 Munchkin duck inflatable bathtub. It's cute and is the perfect size for Manning to feel comfortable sitting and moving around in without needing support. The bill of the duck can even be squeezed to get some nice loud quacks. Manning gives the Munchkin duck two little thumbs up and highly recommends this product to all the moms out there.

Watch out world...

Manning is crawling! He's quick too! Manning took off crawling across the floor this past Saturday after a package of M&Ms that fell on the floor. He just started going and has been non-stop since then. He's pulling himself up on furniture and is getting into everything. Wow, how life has already changed. It's a whole new world once they are mobile.

Who do I cheer for?

7 months old...but who's counting?

Manning is 7 months old today and he is growing so quickly. I was out of town for about 3 1/2 days and it is amazing how much he has changed within that amount of time. Everyone told me how fast he would grow, but I never really believed it until now. We've had a pretty laid back day. I got home late last night so I've had a lot of catching up to do. I don't think Manning missed me too much because it seems that his daddy took excellent care of him while I was away. Doug is such a good father and has been absolutely wonderful taking on all of the household responsibilities so that I am able to focus on my mother right now. So, thank you Doug. I appreciate it and love you so much. You've been so awesome through this trying time. We spent Manning's 7 month birthday hanging out and having fun. Manning is really working on breaking those darn teeth free, crawling and even standing. One of the pictures on this page is from today while he was sitting in his "Manning-size" chair that Grandma Linda bought for him (by the way G-ma Linda, he loves the chair) and he just stood right up. He was using the chair for a little support, but was mainly standing with his one strength. It was very cool. We had a doctor appt. this week and he weighed in at 17 lbs. and 26.75 inches.

My prayer

Dear Lord,

Please watch over and be with my Grandma Sharon at this time. She is not feeling so well and I want her to get better really soon. I thank you for all the wonderful things you have given me and the wonderful family that you have delivered me to.

Amen

Take me out to the ballgame!

So, Manning was able to take in his first baseball game with his mom and dad. We went to see the KC T-bones, free tickets given to us from my friend Neuty, yes that is a nickname. The T-bones is a baseball team in an independent league. I think this was the first of many ballgames to come that Doug and Manning will experience together. It was a hot summer night, $1 ballpark hotdogs, a full crowd and the good ol' American favorite past time. Don't know who won because we didn't stay late enough to find out -it was too hot for the little guy - but it didn't really matter b/c it was fun. the T-bones game is an affordable good time and lots of fun.



Side note*** Manning does smile all of the time, but it's hard to catch the smile on camera b/c he is always more interested in trying to figure out what the camera is and why it's always in his face. Hence, why he looks so serious in the above picture.

Splish Splash, I was taking a bath

Long about a Monday morning
A rub-a-dub, just relaxin' in the tub
Thinkin' everything was alright
Well, I stepped out the tub, put my feet on the floor
I wrapped the towel around me and I
Opened the door, and then I
Splish, splash... I jumped back in the bath.
Well how was I to know there was a party going on?

They was a-splishin' and a'splashin'
Reelin' with the feelin', movin' and a'groovin'
Rockin' and a'rollin', yeah


Ok, so Manning was not splishin' and a splashin' in the bath, but rather lounging in the bathroom sink. He was fussing while I was getting ready for work and he slid down into the sink, kicked up his feet, stretched out his lil' arms and just started grinning. He thought it was his own little jacuzzi - Manning size.

1...2...3...4...5...6?

Do you remember what you were 6 months ago on January 25th? I don't know what you were doing, but I do know what I was doing.


Manning is 6months old today! How do you celebrate 6 months old? Manning had a great day and had time to reflect how far he has come in 6 months. He started the day by spending some time with Grandma Sharon and Grandpa Don before they headed back home. We then got Manning dressed in his finest KU Jayhawk outfit that Grandma Linda had bought him. Manning then headed out to daycare for a day filled with fun - spending time with his cousins - Colton, Reyna, tyler and Miles plus many other daycare friends. We then finished off the day with dinner at Dad's favorite resturant, Henry t's, while hanging out with many friends. Manning is now tucked into his bed for the night completely wiped out from the day. His has been in this world for 6 months and my life has only grown richer in the past 6 months. You're half way to the one year mark Manning!





Pictures starting above -pic 1- Manning on January 25th / pic 2 - Manning on July 25th /pic 3 - Our friend Brad Romme with Manning / pic 4 - Manning showing off in his Jayhawk hat at 6 mo. / pic 5 - Manning showing off how much he has grown since the very first outfit we put him in, which he swam in and I never thought he'd grow into it - Ha, that was funny.

Good 'ol Kansas City BBQ

Wait...it actually wasn't KC, but better yet the famous Williamsburg BBQ. Williamsburg is a small town, population 351, located a good drive south of Lawrence where you can find some really good bbq at Guy and Mae's tavern. Doug was working in that area the other day and decided to give mom a night away from the pots and pans (Yeah! Cooking is not on my top ten list of fun things to do.) and brought home some DELICIOUS BBQ. I've only heard about the Williamsburg ribs, but have never made the drive to go try it out. So, I was stoked when he said he was bringing some home. It was really good grub. Ribs, baked beans, bbq sauce was all very good. Manning is going through this stage right now that whatever you are doing he thinks that he should really be doing it also. So, everytime we eat he will watch every bite and grab at it until he can get ahold of it and check it out. Dad shared some of his ribs with Manning and helped him experience his first bbq rib. He couldn't get enough of it. He is definitely ALL BOY! Thanks for dinner dad!

You talkin' 'bout me?

I don't really know what to say about this picture, except for the fact that I have no idea how his father caught this picture. He's only 5 months and is too young to have any kind of attitude and is usually always smiling. So, I'm sure how he caught him in such a serious "tough guy" moment. For whatever reason, dad had the camera out and Manning struck this pose. It's pretty funny when you look at it b/c it makes him look a lot older than he is. I could make up several scenarios for this picture like "Yeah, I got a question" or " Yep, I did it. You got a problem with that?" I'll let your own imaginations fill in the caption. Feel free to leave a comment with any creative captions you have.

Happy 4th of July!!!!

Our hats off to the men and women who have served and those who are currently doing their duty to protect our American freedoms as we celebrate the Independence holiday. We appreciate it and thank you for a job well done.

Manning had a great 1st 4th of July. His mom had an even better one b/c I didn't yet have to worry about my little guy running around begging to light and shoot off fireworks. I'm sure that time is soon to come, but I was able to enjoy this year's holiday with no worries! We had a relaxing day and really just enjoyed hanging out as a family. Manning slept most of the day sleeping, but was definitely wide awake by the evening when dad decided to go buy some fireworks. We couldn't really justify celebrating Manning's first Independence day without him having never even seen a firework. So Grandma Linda came over later in the day and we shot off our goodies. Manning was very observant of the fireworks and would watch dad light the firework and would even be able to follow it high up into the sky. He had a lot better idea of what was going on than I imagined he would. He was definitely curious to try and figure out what the bright lights and loud noises were coming from!

Making new friends every day!!!

Manning got the chance to hang out with one of his friends, Emma. Emma was born approximately 3 weeks after Manning and she is the daughter of my friend Jana Wiley. Jana and I used to work together and our desks were just a few feet away, so since Jana and I were pregnant at the same time we would often share our pregnancy woes with each other. So, from the very beginning Manning and Emma were around each other everyday while their moms sat and pondered, worried and joyed over the blessings to come.

What's summer without popsicles???

Manning enjoyed the popsicle that his daddy shared with him. Of course, he had popsicle from ear to ear, but he really enjoyed it.