Rhys' 6-Month Stats

Rhys had a great 6-month check up last week!! He took his shots and an oral vaccination very well. The only part that really bothered him was when the nurse pricked and then kept squeezing the tip of his itty-bitty finger to get blood. Poor little guy.

Doctor says he's right on track with all of his growth and developmental signs! "Thank you, Lord!!"

His 6-month stats are...

Weight - 17 lbs (up 3 lbs in 2 months!!)

Height - 25 3/4 inches (from 24 inches 2 months ago)

Head Circumference - 16 3/4 inches (from 16 inches 2 months ago)

He spends his days eating (mostly formula, but we're a week into rice cereal!!), sleeping (11-12 hours at night; 3 naps per day) and playing on his activity mat, a fun bouncer (which he almost fell asleep in this morning...so cute!! :)), his exercauser (pictured below), sometimes watching a Baby Einstein dvd, splashing in his bath tub, playing with Daddy & Mommy and, more recently, sitting in our laps, mesmerized by picture books, as we read to him.

We have so much fun with this little guy! I LOVE watching him GROW UP!!! "We love you, Rhys! We do praise God for you!! Hugs & kisses from Daddy & Mommy!!!"

He's Back!!

Russell's back from Air Assault school, and you can bet, after 12 days of missing him, that I was waiting at our front door like an excited little puppy at his estimated arrival time! In fact, I stood there for the 20 minutes leading up to the time he said he'd be home...hoping, hoping, hoping he'd get home early!!! :)

I snapped a couple of quick shots as he walked up to the door...all decked out in uniform!

Then, of course, I put the camera away so that I could give him a big ole hug!!! SOOOOOO glad to have my hubby and Rhys' daddy home!

Russell shared with me about his experience at air assault...sounds extreme & challenging, to say the least!! If you're interested, I'll share with you through pictures! Just start scrolling...

(Notice they had to plant their faces IN the sand!! Russell said they had to clean sand out of their ears!! Yuck!!)

Above, this obstacle course resembles a ladder, but the 'steps' get farther and farther apart the higher you climb...talk about brute strength! My arms and upper body go limp just looking at that! Yikes!

Above, the "weaver"...4 x 4's horizontally placed on an A-frame; the soldiers had to climb over one, then under the next, then over, then under, repeating this challenge until the next. Whew...talk about some major core strength! Again, I'd have NO desire to do this.

238 soldiers entered the 12-day course; only 158 graduated. It's not an easy course, for sure. Russell knows that the Lord carried him through those 12 days of exhaustion, including learning new materials and application. The final morning, all soldiers had to awake around midnight, after maybe two hours of sleep, in order to clean up their bunks and prepare for a 12-mile ruck march before graduation! They dressed in full uniform, boots and all, threw their 25-30lb rucks over their shoulders, and they had to march/run it within 3 hours! They started the march/run at 3am, finishing no later than 6am, in order to graduate.

Although I'm proud of Russell for setting his mind and heart to both withstanding and completing this tremendous challenge, he and I praise the LORD for carrying him through it all! WOW! I'm impressed.

Welcome home and great work, my over-achieving husband!! :)

Happy 6 Months, Rhys!!!

Happy 6 months, big man!! I can't believe you're 6 months today!!! Hooray!! I love to watch you grow and change and try new things!!! Speaking of new things, you've been a busy man this month...

You're pulling yourself up, so you'll be sitting up all by yourself soon!!

You're sitting up so great in your Bumpo seat!! You've been for your first rides in our jogging stroller!!
You're just getting so very BIG!!!! Will you still snuggle with Mommy as you get bigger???

You're rolling over so well from both sides and starting to inch yourself forward, getting ready to crawl!!

And, honestly, the BEST part about this past month is that you're SLEEPING THROUGH THE NIGHT!!!! Hallelujah!! We praise the Lord!!! Yay!!! You're sleeping from 7p to 6a, then, you just coo and talk to yourself until almost 7a. Daddy and Mommy are SO happy about this!! We are enjoying some more sleep-filled nights, now!! :)

Happy 6 months, our son!! We love you and are thankful that God has entrusted your sweet life to our care. We are enjoying you so much, and we look forward to continuing this journey of life with you!!

What We've Been Up To... (in pictures)

The last couple of weeks have just flown by for us! A couple of weekends ago, we were treated to a visit with Rhys' "adopted" Aunt Britney. :) She is so good to make us a priority each time she comes in to town, and we LOVE her like a sister!!! Besides, she and I could pass as sisters!! ;)

She's SOOOOO good with Rhys!! Very attentive to him! He enjoys when Aunt Britney pops in for some good, quality visiting. :)

Then, Mr. Ben came by last week for a quick visit, and I had to capture this moment!! Virginia, this picture is for you!! :) Sweet, huh?

Thankfully, we did not have big plans for the 4th...we just wanted to rest and just be with each other as a family. We loaded up little man in the back of the Jeep for the first time and went for a drive. Rhys seems to like it!! I wonder if he can see over that big ole tire!

He just chilled out back there {pretty much his personality, much like his daddy}!!

Rhys gets by to see his Granny {actually my Granny :)} fairly often. He's gotta get some good lovin' from one of his biggest fans!!

Rhys likes to look at his reflection, trying to figure it out. He smiles, almost bashfully, at himself...it's so cute.

He's been doin' a lot of this...beautiful SMILES, and this...rolling from both front to back and back to front, from both his right and left sides.
Russell's out of town, so I've put this post together for him, so that he can keep up with what we're up to since he's been working hard, away from home. After a great day with sweet Rhys, I got to get out for a good, long bike ride this evening with my good friend, Ashley. Rhys got to hang out with our sweet, sweet neighbors, Aryvia & Kate, and I'd say he had a great time!! :)Wouldn't ya say? :) Soooooo sweet!!!!!

Honey, this picture is for you!! We love you, and we're praying for you!! Hugs & kisses from your BIGGEST fans in this world!!!