August 21, 2014

Farm, Home, and a Christening

At 15 months, Henry is really into cars, trucks, and tractors. He has a few books that show pictures of them, and currently, these are his favorite ones to read. When we pass a car, truck or tractor, he says "caaar", "ruck", or "racta" and sometimes makes the "vrmmm vrmmm" noise. 
It makes me so proud to hear him remembering words, trying to pronounce them, and making the noises! 
Of course, I think he's the smartest baby ever. ;) 
With all of this car, truck, and tractor action, it seemed like a trip to the farm was in store soon. So, the last time we visited the grandparents, we had an afternoon full of tractors. 
It was cute to see his eyes so wide at the tractors in "real life"! 

He even got to ride one with Coot. Made. Henry's. Day! 





There was a lot of action at the farm that day...pivots were on, they were picking corn, the combines were working, and we fed the fish. Not to mention it was a gorgeous afternoon to ride in the truck! 






Back at my parents' home, the hay had recently been baled. 
This seemed like the perfect photo op to me. 


Henry, not so much.


He seemed to enjoy it at first....


...but changed his mind pretty quickly. I had to do the "crazy mommy dance" to try to get him to smile. 


And even got up there with him.

It didn't work.

:/



While at home, we celebrated Grayson's Christening with a service at church and lunch at Vicky's. It was all wonderful! 




August 19, 2014

Henry Starts School

Earlier in the summer, we let Henry participate in a short May/June semester of Mother's Morning Out. It was a nice way for him to be acclimated for the fall, and I think at Open House he felt more comfortable kinda knowing the little school a bit already. At least it made this mommy feel better. :)
He's attending the Children of Grace preschool at Grace Episcopal here in Gainesville. Its a great program and many of our friends' children attend Grace too. 

Henry's in the toddler class with about 6 other babies. He's going Tuesdays and Thursdays from 9am to 1pm. Before school began, we attended Open House. Henry was happy to see his friend Trap! 




This morning, we got up bright and early to get Henry's bag packed for school and to have breakfast. He had his usual - a waffle and blueberries. 
Then, we took a few pics to mark the big day! 



Henry had a great first day! He seemed very comfortable there, and likes his teacher, Suzanne. He went right for the trucks and was fine when we left. Of course, I love how excited he gets when I pick him up too! 

Coody Cousin Weekend

A few weeks ago, we held the First Annual Coody Cousin Weekend at my and David's house. A little Byrd, an honorary Coody, joined the group too...totaling 13. :) 
Henry spent the weekend with his grandparents, and we spent the weekend laughing, sporting our tanks that my awesome sister Abbye planned for us, and enjoying the glorious day on the water. 
All 4 Coodys and all 4 Childers (husbands/wives/fiances/girlfriends plus one Byrd) were together! 

David, our awesome captain, scooted us around the lake. We had a fabo picnic of chicken salad, guacamole, dips and chips galore. 

We literally stayed on the water all day long. It was wonderful! 

Floating time! 



Dock jumping time! 





Afternoon crusin'






Awesome weekend! Can't wait for CCW year 2! 

Super fun weekend! 

July 17, 2014

Its been a {beachy} summer


Our summer beach time has been incredible! 
Luckily, Henry is a beach baby...and that makes this mama so happy! 

Both our Griffin beach time and Hardin beach time are an annual trip, now spanning 5 generations.  
Here's our trip from last year, just for fun. (2013)

And the year before that. :)   (2012)

And the one before that. (2011)
More here
It's so fun to see how everyone has changed from year to year! 


Back to the present.

In late June, we headed to Mexico Beach for the annual Griffin Beach Week. It was so nice and Henry had a ball playing with his older cousins! 
He is enamored with our nephew Ben, and Ben is so sweet to Henry. 

Here they are playing with the outdoor shower and faucet. Henry LOVES water. He could play with a water hose for hours. 




We spent some fun afternoons on the beach with everyone. The older kiddos loved fishing in the surf. 


And this little man loved running on the hard sand. 




Kacie is only a few months younger than Henry so they'll be playmates as they grow older. She's such a little love! 


Here are all the cousins together! That's Wyatt on the end, then Rodney, Lizzy holding her cousin Kacie, and Ben holding Henry. 


How sweet is this?!?!



Henry and Daddy...so precious! 







She was really checking him out! 




Henry likes to be in the shade (like me!) but has fun playing with the sand.







After a few days at home post-Mexico Beach, we headed back to Florida for my family's vacation. 
The resort has added a kiddo splash area, and Henry wasn't quite sure what to think. He liked it ok, but I think he'll really enjoy it next year. 





Henry's not crazy about the pool, so other than our little splash area visit, we stuck to the beach. We were blessed with lovely weather all week! 

Henry had a ball spending time with everyone! 
He sat in Brince-O's lap....


 and climbed on the beach chairs with Mommy.





Henry loved exploring around the chairs...



playing in his pool....


and taking naps under the umbrella!


He even spent a little time in the buff! 


He loved playing with his Aunt Bren...


and with his cousins Hugh and Ivy.


More playing...


and more napping.



Lots of happy memories spent under these umbrellas! 
Jamie, Bren, Bengie, and Mom




With such a big family, there was lots of coming and going during the week. But we managed to get a pretty large majority of the group together for dinner at Boondocks one night. 
Tana, Katie, Gracie, Mollie, Ivy, Chandler, Hugh, Jamie, Bren, Abbye, Jill, Mama, Beng, Gongaman, Me and Henry


Gongaman with his two daughters! 


Me and my sissy! 


Henry loved playing on the boat! 


More beach time on the last day! 



Priceless moments with his Gongaman!



Hope you all have had a nice summer, with family and friends!