Our 3rd Anniversary and Maverick is 6 months!!

May 26, 2010 was a festive day in our house! First, it's mine and Robbie's 3rd wedding anniversary. It seems like our wedding was SO long ago! I was thinking about all the life that has been lived in just 3 short years, and how blessed we are. We bought our first home 5 months after our wedding, we adopted our sweet dog Belle a couple months after that, and of course the excitement of welcoming our son into the world last November. Even thinking about little things (well, not that little as it took a LOT of work) like how much our house has changed--new fence, removed a huge tree and some landscaping, wall removed, preparing a nursery, etc. I wonder what will come in the next 3 years?!

For whatever reason, I distinctly remember thinking while I was in the hospital right after having Maverick that he would be 1/2 year old on our anniversary. At the time, it seemed like years in the future! How can my sweet baby already be halfway to his first birthday?!

Here is a look at Maverick at 6 months, compared to his 4 month photos:




-I weigh 18 lb 3 oz (75%), and my height is 27.5 inches (90%)
-I wear size 2-3 diapers and 6-9 month clothes
-I'm pretty much too big for my bouncy seat as I like to roll over and try to get out of it.
-As you can see, I can sit all by myself!! I even like to grab for objects to play with while I'm sitting.




-I laugh ALL the time and I love to practice my vowel sounds, I even like to practice my volume by screaming randomly. Ha!
-My favorite toy is a plastic cup and straw from any restaraunt.
-I love to play with textures like wax paper, paper grocery bags, and crinkly plastic wrapping.




-I eat 1 to 2 helpings of veggies a day, and carrots are my favorite.
-I like sitting in my high chair because I can kick my legs against the table and slam my hands on the tray.
- I LOVE to splash during my baths. I get mommy SOAKED with water now that I know how to use my hands and feet to splash.



-I'm best friends with my dog Belle. I like to pet her and reach for her face, and she doesn't mind one bit! Belle even likes to lay next to me without me asking.
-I love just playing around with mom & dad, they make me laugh all the time!



-Happy Anniversary Mom and Dad! Love, Maverick

A Wonderful Milestone

These aren't the pictures from tonight, but I didn't have any other pics with Maverick and his new favorite thing.

Maverick LOVES plastic cups and straws.



LOVES them. A lot.



He sees them sitting on a table or counter across the room and he grunts and squeals until he can get his itty bitty hands on one.



His first Cardinals game--thoroughly distracted by my Dad's cup. Ha!



Tonight I had Mav on my lap while sipping out of my QT soda cup. (This is becoming more difficult in proximity of Mav because he grabs for it, and I end up stabbing the roof of my mouth with the straw)

I began lifting the straw up and out of the cup, through the lid hole and it made that peculiar sound (kinda sounds like a seal barking?!). And Maverick began laughing HYSTERICALLY!

This was the first time he was laughing at someTHING, not just tickle time. It was so hilarious and awesome.

I put him down, and tried it again a few minutes later...and he started belly laughing again! And after Robbie came inside after mowing the lawn, he still thought the straw noise was hilarious. These are the times I wish I had a video camera.

My kid, the lover of straws and cups! :)

I wish Sundays lasted forever!

What is it about a nap on Sundays that makes them better than a nap any other day of the week?

Maybe it's because I feel like I'm starting off the week refreshed and full. Sunday afternoons are wonderfully lazy around our house. Even Maverick seems to get the idea that Sundays are for chilling out.

Maverick and I played hooky from church this morning. Despite the fact that we were up 3 hours before church started, we accidentally overslept. How does one do that you say?!

After Mav's breakfast we played on the carpet for a while, and then I got up to start his bath. When I came back Maverick was steadfast asleep. I jiggled his arms and picked him up, but the snoring continued. So I laid down next to him and before we knew it Robbie was waking me up saying we were late. Oh well. Sometimes you just need rest. :)

Robbie got ready in a super hurry and went to church. He works the lights and stuff for the service and he walked in literally a minute before the service started. Ha!

Looks like spring is over around here. That always seems to happen here in St. Louis--one day it's a cool 65 degrees and then the brick wall of summer heat and humidity slams into you the next day and lasts for a couple months.

Have a wonderful Sunday!

Carrot Face

Maverick has really been liking his veggies. Well, the few veggies I've started him with anyways. I've been sticking with the more sweet veggies like carrots, sweet potatoes, and squash. Mav's favorite so far has been the orange squash.

This is what happens when you let Maverick feed himself carrots.



He gets so excited and hungry for the next spoonfull that he grabs the spoon with a death grip, which ends up flinging most of it everywhere except his mouth. By this point, I gave up trying to get it in his stomach and grabbed the camera. :)




Maverick's hair is pretty full & thick now, but its a lot lighter than what I was expecting before he was born. I thought he'd have darker brown hair. He must take after Robbie in that department (what's new). Robbie had pretty light hair when he was a baby.



During and after bathtime his hair is so long, he can sport a mohawk. As soon as it dries its too fine to stay sticking up. Maybe soon I will try a little hair gel. Ha ha!




Maverick has been going to the church nursery almost every Sunday now. We can usually make it through the worship music...but then he gets to be giggling and screeching too loud to stay. I know I should just leave him there, but I end up staying with him the whole time in the nursery.

It's not that I don't feel comfortable leaving him with someone else. All our nursery ladies are awesome. It's just that he is the only baby and the rest of the room is filled with toddlers who can get a bit crazy. (we go to a small church so we split our kiddos into 2 classrooms: birth-5 and school age)

Anyways, today Maverick "made" his first church craft. I put the paper hearts in his fingers and then guided his hands to where I put the glue on the paper. I know its not his official first craft...but it's probably going in the keepsake box anyways. :)

Maverick's first Cardinals game!!

This week we got to take Maverick to his first Cardinals game. I've been looking forward to this since I was pregnant! Boy or girl, our kid was gonna be raised right!


(Robbie, Me & Mav, Grandma and Grandpa in front of the Bob Gibson statue)

Cardinals baseball is such a wonderful family tradition for us. Both Robbie and I grew up with families that love baseball, and especially our Redbirds. It really is wonderful that we live in baseball heaven. I've been to New York, Chicago, and other places--and nowhere else does it like St. Louis!!

I can't even begin to write about all the awesome memories I have from Cardinals baseball. Everything from camping outside Busch stadium for playoff tickets to my "3rd inning nachos" ritual. There is just something indescribable about being a part of something so special with your family.

Before we left my dad had a gift for Maverick. He couldn't find a shirt that said "My 1st Cardinal game" so he customized this one:

This is definitely going in his keepsake box!

I took a gazillion pictures that night and I wish I could share them all. These are some of my favorites.

Daddy and Son watching the game together.



I sat on the end seat and I'm not trying to brag, but everyone that walked by had to stop and say how cute Maverick was. And the 2 ushers in that section kept saying how awesome he was doing in comparison to all the other babies they see there.

Maverick was SO good during the game. It was like he was actually watching.



I can't wait to watch him learn the sport as he grows up. Between me, Robbie and both our sets of parents--Maverick will get quite the baseball education! It will also be more fun to take him when he's old enough to enjoy the "3rd inning nachos" and a bag of cotton candy.

SUYL: Your Child's name

This is a fun topic!!

Our Son's name is Maverick William

There are 2 reactions we get when people ask what our baby's name is.

"Maverick? Hmm..that's really cool!!"

-Or-

"Maverick? Hmm..that's..um..unique." (voice gradually raising to force compliment)

The next question quick to follow is, "How did you come up with Maverick? Let me guess, Top Gun!!"

Now, we can't be too harsh when people always assume that we got his name from Top Gun. After all, it is an amazing movie. And will be for all time. However, the movie wasn't on our minds when we picked the name. And for the record, we had baby names picked out way before kids were an actual realistic thought in our mind. I think we were dating actually. (You know, in those fun conversations you have when you are still dating that begin with "If we ever...")

To put it out there--we also get alot of "is he going to be a card player?" or "are you guys huge McCain/Palin fanatics?" The answer to both questions is no. Well, I guess Mav can be a card player if he wants to.

We love the name Maverick because it means "wildly independent". It's just plain fun, and not boring. We are fans of not having to use a last initial because 5 other kids in your class have your name.

I am a little apprehensive of giving my kid such a strong first name. But I'm pretty sure even if we'd called him Jacob or Brody he would still have the genetic predisposition to be a little wild.

William is a great middle name. It's for my dad, and Robbie's papa. A very solid name that means "will or desire" or even "protector".

In other words, our son's name also means Wild Bill. Ha ha!

And now that Maverick is here, I can't imagine him being named anything else.



Happy Mother's Day!!

Future X-Games Medalist

This weekend Robbie's work hosted a BMX demo and 2 pro BMX riders came out to ride and hang with fans. We were really looking forward to this because BMX is an awesome sport, and we got to meet Lennie Westfall and Nigel Sylvester. Both are HUGE in the sport and super nice guys. They both have been on the Dew Tour and have competed in the X-games.

It was a great turnout and it was so much fun to watch all the local kids (middle and high school age) ride around with Lennie and Nigel. They were so nice to sign autographs, give tips, and just hang out.


Maverick parked by the quarter pipe and watched everyone. I know it's hard to believe a 5 month old would actually pay attention to anything, but he really was! His eyes got big when someone would shred up the quarter pipe. (In regular language, that means do a trick, ha ha!)


By the end of the day, Maverick was pretty exhausted. He was sleeping when I was about to leave, but Robbie snagged us so we could get a pic with the guys. Maverick must have known how much he would love these pics when he gets older because he briefly woke up.

Me, Maverick and Lennie Westfall


Me, Maverick and Nigel Sylvester


I got lots of pics of the guys riding, but I thought these were some of the coolest. (Lennie)




Lennie invited Maverick out to Camp Woodward in a few years. It's this really cool camp where you can learn how to do awesome tricks. I told Lennie that I'm excited for Maverick to get into the sport...but at the same time the mom comes out in me and I don't want him to break any bones. Ha!

Believe it or not, I used to ride BMX, but it was flatland BMX. So not any crazy gravity defying tricks, just learning some really cool maneuvers. It's kinda hard to describe. Your homework is to google video flatland BMX.

But then I had to sell my bike cause I was in super need of cash. It was a pretty nice ride. Sniffle sniffle. Although, I couldn't bunny hop to save my life because I wasn't strong enough to lift my 30 lb bike--which was the lightest they had at the time. Now the bikes are like a standard 20 lb or less. I think I could totally do one now!

Robbie's pretty much convinced Mav is going to be riding a 2 wheeler by this time next year. Ha! We'll see. Maybe we have a future X-games medalist on our hands.