Roadtrip to Dallas!

Chris was scheduled to oversee an install in Dallas for work last week so Chase and I decided to tag along to visit family and friends. It's sad that because we've lived in Austin and Houston since the baby was born that many our close friends haven't had a chance to meet our little guy. So I did my best to fill our week with lunch and dinner dates to catch up.

We met our dear friends from our home church in Lewisville Mary Jo and Ronnie for dinner Wednesday night. I think Chris was a bit overwhelmed with the girl talk but of coarse enjoyed the company as well as his enchilada's :)

Thursday Chase and I drove out to Wylie for a play date with Carter, the boys are just 3 days apart. Carter's mommy, Leanne and I went to high school together and have reconnected thanks to facebook. The boys played really well together and it was fun catching up with Leanne.

Chase & Carter

Sweet Boys

My little sister is getting married this summer and I was excited to find out that the weekend we were in town was the same weekend as the Dallas Bridal show. My mom, sisters,niece, Megan's best friend and mother of the groom had a great time cruising the aisles cake testing :) We all stopped for lunch at Jason's Deli to complete our girls day.

We managed to see several friends during our trip but as always there is never enough time to see everyone. We ended up heading back a day early because Chris wasn't feeling very well and was eager to sleep in his own bed to rest up for the coming week. I don't at all regret our decision to move here, but leaving Dallas was especially hard this trip. Our friends and family in Dallas mean so much to us and as much as I love visiting with you all, it makes my heart miss you all that much more. I just wish there weren't so many miles between Dallas and Houston!

10 months old and on the move...

Chase turned 10 months old on Saturday, it amazes me that in just two months our sweet boy will be a year old! I took him to the Dr. last week to learn that we had a slight ear infection and a bit of congestion. We're on antibiotics and a decongestant which seems to be doing the trick. Despite being all stopped up and obviously not feeling well he was still our sweet little guy, just a bit more clingy than normal :)

He is super mobile for his age and has been standing on his own since about 8 months and taking 2 0r 3 steps here or there for the past month or so. He is getting really comfortable with "wall cruising", walking along the walls of our house to get to where he wants to go. In the past few days he is getting braver and walking longer distances though often finds it easier and faster to just fall to his knees to crawl.

Walking to mommy across the living room!

Wall Cruising

Chase now has 4 teeth, two top and two bottom and no signs of any others currently. He surprised me the other day by repeating me and put two words together. I was holding him while I was making his bottle and started saying baba excitedly, I asked him to say baba mama and he said it right back to me several times. He loves the nodding of the head thing and now nods no when he is told no-no.

Chris and I laugh daily and silly things he does or his facial expressions and hope our little guy brightens your day too! Children are such an incredible blessing!

Happy New Year!

5..4..3..2..1...Happy New Year! Chris and I decided somewhat on a whim Wednesday night to make the 2 hour drive to Austin to spend our second New Years Eve with our great friends Matt & Danne'. Chase hasn't been sleeping well since he is teething and we knew we wouldn't disturb them in the guest room upstairs. Last year I was 7 months pregnant and spent the evening with my feet up sipping on Shirley Temples. :) The baby was a bit off schedule thanks to a late evening nap so he was awake to bring in the New Year with Mommy and Daddy, but passed out just minutes after the ball dropped. I could not think of a better way start 2010 than sitting next to my wonderful husband with our son in our lap at the stroke of midnight.

Looking back at 2009 I would have to say it was an over all great year for the Henderson Family. Chase made his debut, Chris accepted a full time position with Bank of America and we purchased our second home together making the move from Austin to Dallas. I am humbled when I think our many blessings. I don't know if 2010 could top 2009 but I am looking forward to finding out.

Bath time with Chase!

I wanted to post a few pictures I took while daddy was bathing Chase tonight. Chris picked out a bubble maker for the bath tub one night when we where out Christmas shopping and tried it out for the first time tonight. Chase always loves his time in the bath and was pretty intrigued with the bubbles.

Chase's new thing is nodding his head yes and no. He has no idea what he is agreeing or disagreeing to but he always looks so serious as if he does.

Nine plus months

I seem to have gotten lost in the month of December and haven't written about Chase's ever changing personality. He is now nine and a half months old, which breaks my heart. This time last year I was super preggo with swollen feet and sleeping with a heating pad a night because of my aching back and this year I am a mommy to a beautiful baby boy.

Chase has been crawling and pulling up for months now and has perfected "furniture cruising". He has taken 2-3 steps in a row a hand full of times but seems to get braver and braver each day. I give it another few weeks until we have a walker on our hands.

He loves food! Over the past few weeks he has become less interested in baby food and much more interested in food he can pick up with his tiny finders and eat himself with Dr. Rose said was very normal at his last wellness check. I have yet to find a food this child doesn't care for other than spaghetti o's.

His two bottom teeth have been in for about 2 months now and the top left if very visible and the right is not far behind, you can feel it if your lucky enough to sneak your finger in his mouth.

We have truly been blessed with an amazingly happy baby. Sure he gets fussy from time to time however rarely without a reason. He smiles and talks constantly, and this mommy never gets tired of hearing mamama and even hearing him call for dadadadee from the bottom of the stairs up to Chris' office melts my heart. He high fives, claps when we say "yea", and tonight mimicked grandma's cough. I have been working on "kisses" for a while now and love it when I get an open mouthed kiss from my sweet baby or when he leans in for a kiss on the cheek from me.

We constantly heard from friends with little ones how quickly they grow and not to blink or we might miss something, but I never imagined how true it is. I have to remind myself daily to enjoy each day with him because I'll never get this day back.

Baby's 1st Christmas Continued

Christmas Eve is always spent with Chris' mom's side of the family, we eat, visit, go to church, come back to eat again and end with night with a round of white elephant. Chase is a very loved baby boy and left with lots of fun new ornaments, puzzles and stuffed animals from his great aunts and uncles. As always it is great spending a day with people you love.

For all the years Chris and I have married we have always spent Christmas Eve at either his parents or mine, but always said that once we had kids we would wake up Christmas Day in our own home. Since we were here in Houston my family came to us this year to share Chase's 1st Christmas. They drove in Thursday night only to arrive to a very dark house, the heavy winds caused our electricity to go out on Christmas Eve! We made the most of the situation and used the fireplace and candles for light until the power came back on about 2 hours after they got here. I was a bit irritated but very thankful it came back on so quickly. We spent Christmas Day exchanging gifts and watching Chase play with all of his new things and enjoyed a yummy dinner of ham, sweet potato casserole, green bean casserole, corn casserole, mashed potatoes and cranberry sauce prepared by me! Chase soaked up all the attention, hugs and kisses from Nana, Papaw, aunt Megan and Joe.

Nana enjoying some Chasey Poo Love

Figuring out his new mailbox from Aunt Megan and Joe

Chase is a cuddle bug....and loved the chase size bear from Nana & Papa

Baby's 1st Christmas!

Chris and I could have not asked for a better first Christmas for Chase. I have looked forward to celebrating Christmas with our little guy since the moment we found out we were expecting. We decided to have Christmas with the Henderson's on Wednesday so we spent the day eating and visiting at Grandma and Grandpa's. Chase being the only grandchild (until April) of course got loaded up on all sorts of fun things.

Chase checking out his new toy box

He was a bit slow opening gifts, thankfully there were lots of willing hands to help!

Chase must have been a really good boy the past 9 and a half months because Santa left lots of toys under our tree! We weren't really sure what kind of reaction to expect from him since he is still so little, but were quite surprised to see how excited he was to see his new toys.

Chase as he races to the tree

Chase in his "Big Boy"chair

Checking out his stocking