Changes to the Blog

Hello everyone!

I apologize for the absence of updates and posts for the past few months! Unfortunately, Blogger has decided that in order for me to continue using my blog, I am going to have to start paying $5 a month for more storage...indefinitely. It will no longer allow me to post pictures to my site, so basically it is now rendered useless to me. I've been trying to figure out what to do for the past month (in between packing, moving, and the general mayhem that has been these past few weeks...), and I have finally come up with a solution:

I am going to stop using this blog (jjandtravis.blogspot.com) and am in the process of setting up a new blog site. Once I get everything situated, I will link you to the site, and you will continue receiving emails (or being able to access the site) as you normally do. This may take a few days (or weeks, depending on the time I can find), but I promise you I will be back to blogging soon! The pictures, cuteness, and stories are piling up, and I can't wait to share them with you again!

So, until I can get my new blog site up and running, I will bid you adieu. Watch for an email soon!

Much love to all my readers and followers,
~JJ~

7 Months Old!!

Well, he's actually 7 months, 1 week, and 4 days old, but who's counting? :-) This little boy has been BUSY this month!! Even while traveling on his epic road trip around Texas, he still found time to grow and change!

First, our monthly monkey pics:

Somebody pulled his monkey over...

...and then, after we fixed the monkey, somebody tried to escape!!

He's starting to look awfully big these days!

Besides lots of traveling, here's what he's been up to this month:

Eating, eating, and more eating!!

This boy loves to eat! He has willingly tried everything I have given him so far, and although he will sometimes make faces, he will eat combinations of just about everything! He's eating three meals a day, and eat meal contains 3-4 ounces of foods or cereal combined. He is drinking bottles 5 times a day. He is also drinking very easily out of a straw, and he loves drinking from any glass or water bottle that Mommy is drinking from.  (I find it particularly awesome that he has figured out how to drink out of my camel bak bottle - it has a straw you have to bite and suck at the same time to get the water out!) I have just started feeding him banana, apple cinnamon, and sweet potato Puffs, but he can't pick them up yet himself. (Bless his heart - he tries so hard!!) He will slowly chew the Puffs, but I have to put them in his mouth first. He is also able to hold a whole banana and drool/gnaw on it; he can break off little pieces, which he then chews and swallows.

Here are the foods (all homemade!) he has tried so far:

Oatmeal and Wheat Cereal

Bananas

Apples

Pears (one of his favorites!)

Zucchini

Avocado

Butternut Squash

Acorn Squash

Sweet Potato

Carrots

Asparagus

Green Beans

Chicken

Plums

And, things that are upcoming on the menu:

Mango

Peas

Strawberries

Summer Squash

Kiwi

Cherries

Apricots

Broccoli

Being really inquisitive...

He's been very interested in the world around him lately, and he loves meeting new people! He really enjoys playing with his blocks and knocking over the towers that Mommy builds. He has also figured out how to use his toy gum ball machine, specifically the part where you have to put the balls back into the machine! It's pretty impressive. He studies everything, and you can see the wheels turning when he is given something new. On our road trip, he was eager to meet new people and see new places - he was constantly looking around and smiling/flirting with people everywhere! He's the same way when we go on walks - constantly looking around and enjoying the scenery!

Crawling - army style!

He has the army crawl down - he can scoot across the floor on his belly, pushing with his toes and pulling with his elbows. He will crawl to and play with almost any toy, but he is most excited about going after computers and i-phones. He is also starting to get up on his hands and knees consistently, although he can't move anywhere like that yet. He rocks back and forth on his hands and knees, and then he falls down onto his belly to move around.

Testing out his legs...

He has started putting weight on his legs and will stand when supported. He has also been trying to pull himself up on everything! It's amazing that he can bend his back the way he does, but he doesn't complain, and it's cute to watch!

Outgrowing EVERYTHING!!

He quickly outgrew his baby bathtub this month once he decided that laying down in the tub was NOT what he wanted to do anymore. He wanted to get over to the other side so he could sit up and play with his toys. So, we have moved him to the big bathtub now, and he just loves it! At 7 months, he is wearing mainly 6-9 month clothes and the occasional 3-6 month onesies that are pretty stretchy. 

Loving the bouncy...

He still plays in this thing every day for 45 minutes - 1 hour. It's a great time for me to get the dishes done or get other things cleaned up! He is a pretty aggressive jumper now, and he has figured out how to jump side to side and not just up and down.

Sucking our thumb...

Still using his thumb, but it's a pretty rare sight these days. He uses it mainly when he's tired or about to go to bed. Occasionally, he will suck his thumb when he's trying to roll over - apparently it helps with his momentum. :)

And, speaking of sleeping, he's still maintaining a pretty consistent schedule (as long as we are at home - he had a little trouble sleeping at strange houses, but he adjusted well!). Generally, he will go to bed between 7pm and 8pm and will wake up around 7am. When daylight savings happened, he was a little thrown off, and it took a few weeks for him to adjust! The only major change that resulted from this, though, was a slightly later bedtime and earlier wake-up time. He is taking two naps a day now, one around 10:30am and another around 2 or 3pm; those naps are lasting 1.5-2 hours on a regular basis. 

And LOVING his puppies!

Rio is eager to play with Barrett and will come lay down next to him, allowing him to pull on her ears and fur without any complaints. She loves to lick his head and hands, and Barrett just giggles and laughs when she does - they are so cute! When she has her squeaky with her, Barrett will take it away. Most of the time, she will grab it from him before he can take it, but sometimes Barrett wins. In the picture above, she had actually dropped the squeaky in his lap, and then he wouldn't let go! She sat patiently (and obsessively) waiting for him to let it go. The day that Barrett figures out how to throw the ball for Rio will be a great day indeed... :)

Barrett squeals with delight every time he sees Percy, leading me to believe that Percy is his favorite. Percy keeps his distance, but curiosity sometimes gets the better of him. He doesn't appreciate the fur pulling as much as Rio does, so he will just walk away when Barrett gets too excited.

Most of this month's pictures were taken on the road trip, but here are a few other choice photos from this month:

He loves playing with his ladybug from great-grandma! He will crawl over to it, pull up on it, and play with its eyes, antennae, and the crinkly blue lining by the handles.

Hanging out with Mommy!

Modeling his spring outfit...

Hanging out in a diaper box...

We also had the pleasure of having Diane visit us at the beginning of the month. We took a walk to the park and ended up with several amazing pictures:

Hanging out on the slides...

Flying baby!

Finally, a cute picture of us together!!

And, a couple of family pics :)

Happy 7 months, Barrett!! :)

Stop #7 - San Antonio

On our way home to Del Rio, we made a quick stop in San Antonio to visit the Alamo. This stop was really important to me, especially since our inspiration for Barrett's name came from one of the men who fought at the Alamo! I know Barrett won't remember any of this experience, but at least we have the pictures to show him later. :-) My dad joined us on the trip home so I could make the 7 hour drive in one day. I had originally planned to break it up over two days, since 7 hours in the car is just too long for a baby, but we were ready to get home after extending our stay in Montgomery!

We made it to San Antonio and found the memorial with the names of all the people who died at the Alamo. We found "William Barret Travis" and pointed it out to Barrett. The spelling is slightly different (we liked the version with two Ts better), but this was still the inspiration for his name. We liked the connection to Texas, as well as the connection to his daddy's name.

For those who are interested, here's a link to a little more history about William Barret Travis

Pointing out his name on the wall...

Standing under the statue of William Barret Travis...

...and appreciating the memorial!

I really hope we can come back one day when he is older!!

Baby Barrett at the Alamo

(It's official...he's been there!!)

Learning about the history of his name

What a cool Texas cactus!!

After our quick tour of the Alamo, we walked over to the Riverwalk for some pictures and a quick lunch.

Barrett and Grandpa on the Riverwalk

(Barrett was very distracted by the boat that was going by!)

We loaded into the car again and headed west. We made it back to Del Rio by 5pm, and at 5:10pm, after a quick unloading of the baby and the backseat, I was racing out of the driveway again to get to the dogs before their kennels closed at 5:30pm. I picked up two VERY excited puppy dogs and then raced to the vet to get the cat before they closed at 6pm. (It's a good thing we live in a small town!!) All three of them were very happy to be home after being boarded for almost two weeks!

I know Barrett won't remember any of this trip, but now I at least have pictures that prove he was in Texas for part of his life. And, I don't know the next time I will have a chance to travel Texas like this, so I had a wonderful time touring around and seeing all my friends and family again.  Barrett was such a great kid to travel with, too! After living almost 30 years in Texas, I felt like I owed it to the state to say goodbye in a dramatic way. I guess I can check "say goodbye to Texas" off the list of things to do now! :)

So, after almost three weeks on the road, we have returned to Del Rio to enjoy the last six weeks we have to live in Texas. Well, hopefully there will time to "enjoy" the next month and a half! We have a lot that needs to happen before we leave for Arkansas at the end of May. And, I'm in single mom mode since Travis left for training in Alabama and won't be back until five days before we move, so my list now includes things like "mow the lawn" and "touch up the paint on the walls". Luckily, I have some great friends and family who are happy to help out! :-)

Thanks again to everyone who let us stay at your homes while we traveled! I would call this trip a huge success. Texas will always be home, and I will miss it dearly.

But, let's be honest: I think we are going to enjoy the white sandy beaches and blue water in Florida much more than the muddy waters of Galveston! :-)

Stop #6 - Montgomery/Woodlands

My parents just moved into a beautiful new house on Lake Conroe, and Barrett and I were very excited to go and see it for the first time on this trip! We ended up staying longer than planned for many reasons - my car was in the shop for some body work, Barrett had a little case of the sniffles and needed to rest, and some serious unpacking needed to happen at the house! So, we helped unpack box after box, cleaning, organizing, and putting everything away. The house is really looking good! We also had some fun swimming in the pool and daydreaming about playing on the lake this summer. I can't wait to bring the dogs back to swim in a few months! My parents gave us a tour of the subdivision and the town where they are living now, and it looks like they are really going to enjoy living there. I was excited that Barrett and I could help them out with the unpacking and getting them that much closer to enjoying their new home. :-)

I would have taken more pictures of the house, but every room was either empty or full of boxes, so I will just wait until they get more moved in. Above is the kitchen as we were unpacking it - quite a mess, but things were slowly getting done!!

Barrett enjoying some breakfast

Getting a bath in the laundry room sink

He won't be small enough for this for long!!

We are fortunate that Barrett's grandparents live so close together! After a few days at Grandma's house, we headed down to the Woodlands to visit Gran-D for the day:

Playing with a giant Nemo fish

Barrett and Gran-D

Another big event that happened on this trip was Barrett's first swimming pool experience. He's played in the water in the bathtub, but never in a whole pool of water. He seemed to love the water and was so laid back and chill the entire time! The only time he got upset was when the sun got into his eyes. Other than that, he was happy to play and kick and splash in the water. It was a lot of fun!

Barrett and Mommy

Barrett with Grandma and Grandpa in the hot tub overlooking Lake Conroe

I love his new bathing suit!!

Hanging out with the wooden pelican and getting ready to go in the water

The view from the pool is just stunning!

Barrett loved playing in the little waterfall off the rocks!

Swimming, swimming...

...in the swimming pool...

...when days are hot, when days are cold...

...in the swimming pool...

...breaststroke, sidestroke, fancy diving too...

...I bet you wish you never had anything else to do but swimming!!!

Barrett had a blast in the pool, and I can't wait to take him more often this summer!

 Sadly, after our fun time in Montgomery, it was time to head back to Del Rio. So we packed up the car one final time and headed out to our last stop: San Antonio!

Stop #5 - Wylie

We were excited to see Barrett's cousins and Aunt Kelly and Uncle Shane! Barrett loved hanging out with his cousins and watching them run around and play - they were highly entertaining! (I hope Barrett took lots of notes about potty training...the twins really seem to have it figured out!) And, Carson and Avery loved seeing Barrett too - it was really fun to watch them all interact. I really wish we could see them more often, so I am so grateful we got to spend as much time with them as we did!

Barrett got all set up to eat some lunch, and the twins wanted to play too!! They ran over, got their trays, and then sat down to join him! :-) (Please notice Carson's awesome "cheese" face...I love it!)

Cheese!!

Carson was nice enough to share his sister's swing with Barrett. :-)

Look how big and grown up he looks!

We took a walk to the lake with Uncle Shane, Carson, and Avery to feed the ducks.

Uncle Shane threw some bread in front of us so that the ducks would come over and see Barrett. He loved watching them!

Hanging out with Avery, eating some grass...

On Monday, we took a trip the Arboretum to see the flowers. This is the only picture I got where the twins weren't accidentally choking Barrett - they were a little eager to put their arms around his neck!

Cousin Avery and Barrett hanging out in the tulips!

SO cute!!

Such pretty flowers :)

No one was thrilled about this picture, but I still think it's pretty cute...

By this point, the only happy kid was Avery. (It was our fault, really, since it took us longer to get three carseats into one car than we thought it would, so we were late in leaving the house that morning...) Barrett was hot and tired, and Carson did not want to sit still any more. We packed two crying, unhappy boys into the stroller to leave. Once in the car, Barrett fell asleep immediately, and Carson calmed down once he had his paci. Then, it was Avery's turn for an epic meltdown. (I have a lot to learn from Kelly - she has great techniques and amazing patience!!) Needless to say, it was NAPTIME when we got home!! 

Cousins in the bluebonnets!

Kelly knew a FANTASTIC place to go and take pictures in the bluebonnets. It was a huge field on a quiet road, and it was absolutely perfect! We made a trip out there on Tuesday after the twins got out of school.  We went to my favorite yogurt place for a quick snack and then headed out to the bluebonnets. It was so beautiful! Barrett mainly tried to eat the flowers the whole time, though. He didn't quite grasp the whole concept of what we were doing... :)

This is one of my favorites!

Barrett is now a true Texas kid. He has pictures in the bluebonnets. :-)

After several fun days at Shane and Kelly's house, we packed up and headed south to visit my parents' new house in Montgomery!