Cash Hearts Ashley

Cash truly loves both of his siblings. He's completely mesmerized by the both of them. Maybe it's just that Ashley is more capable with him but his awe reaches a higher level with her. Unless he's starving, he reaches for her before me in many cases. Don't worry because I LOVE IT! They're so happy together and she is a fabulous babysitter.

Mutton Bustin'!!!

This past weekend was the Stonewall Peach Jamboree (Rodeo) and Blake, Cole & Rance decided to try their hands at mutton bustin (sheep ridin'). Blake has really grown in so many ways in the last year. Besides the physical (taller, less baby face) and social (not at all as shy, listens very well) there is the mental/emotional growth. Last year, he had no interest in riding those crazy sheep. This year he stood at the end of the line and watched everyone else go before him. He saw plenty of them crash and burn and shed some tears and he still went for it! Not only did he go for it, that little sucker won!!!

Ever seen a mutton bustin' champion with a green mohawk? Didn't think so.

Here's the video.

Horn Family Reunion

Last weekend, Cash and I met, Aunt Traci, Sam, Alice, Ruby, Mimi and Grandpa Steve (Ruby has renamed him Peepaw!) in Brownwood and traveled to Weatherford for the Horn Family Reunion. My maternal grandmother was Wilma Horn. She had four sisters. Clara Ruth (Aunt Sister) was the oldest and died in 1978. Wilma was then the oldest to Aunt Ila, Aunt Mary and Aunt Reba. You may recall, 4 days before Cash was born, my grandmother passed away. She had never missed a reunion and I definitely was missing her this weekend! It was a great time for Mom and my Aunt J'Lyn to visit with all of their first cousins. They all were lucky enough to grow up fairly close together and it's neat to see the distance and years between their get-togethers just fall away. They all laugh easily together and share and equally appreciate their joint upbringings. As usual, I was able to get a few money shots of Cash when we were there. My sister and I stayed an extra night at Mom & Steve's after the reunion. I miss my family:)

Mom, J'Lyn and their Horn Family cousins

Bathtime with Mimi

Do you think he knows he's cute?

Love this picture! I'm not really sure why she got so upset...

This may be one of my all-time favorite pictures.

Saying our good-byes..A slimey kiss for Alice.

A slimey kiss for Sam.

Seven Months? Are you kidding me?

Okay, so it's seven and a half months. I'm a blogging loser these days. After this post, I think I will be completely excused. The last 6 weeks have been nothing short of a blur. Trying to communicate with this wirey, strong, climbing little ball of movement is challenging, to say the least. He's crawling. He's pulling up. He's yelling. He says "oooooohhhhhhhhhhhh". He can blow. He can say "dadadadadadadadada" (not to be confused with "Dada"). He - and has always - smiles with his whole face. If you're holding him when he's standing up and he wants to turn, he just turns so you have to be ready. He's calling the shots and it's our job to just make sure he doesn't crash and burn. He's eating now!!! What does he eat, you ask? Uh, mostly, BEANS. Much to my close family and friends sickening enjoyment, my kids favorite food is freakin' beans. In case you didn't know, I HATE beans. He doesn't just like them, he cries between bites to ready himself for the next mouthful of mushed up black, whole, pinto, baked or refried beans. The part that I do like about this is that most restaurants serve some type of beans. Most of the restaurants we patron anyway, since we eat 80% Mexican food. So I often find myself fighting a gag when I have beans ON me. Yuck. But I have to say, Cash eating until he can't eat anymore is so worth raising a bean-lover. He's also added bananas, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, cereal, Puffs (excellent time-waster when I need to eat), prunes (NECESSARY with the drastic breast-milk-only-straight-to-table-food transition), and Malt-O-Meal. We're also down to two naps a day. It mostly comes from the fact that I spend too much time dragging him all over town for work & errands. But they are good naps. He still isn't really gaining much weight. He still hovers around 17 pounds. He seems to be changing though, right in front of our eyes. However, one physical characteristic that we love that seems unchanging, as of yet, is that he has this AWESOME patch of hair that grows right over his left ear. It has grown longer and thicker each month. It is also extremely straight and tough to tuck behind his ear.
He continues to become more attached to me and a little clingy when he's tired or hungry. So strange for a baby, right? Anyway, my goal is to have him with a babysitter a couple days a week by 8 months. I just have to make the call! It will be so good for us. Both of us. But look at that face!

Announcements & Reminders

So I've posted some things out of order - well, actually, I'm keeping them in order, for history's sake - so scroll down for Cash's 6 month post. I'm going to be moving Easter into it's chronilogical location as well. Soon I hope to have his baptism and 7 month post up. Really, it's just about getting all the pictures together.

Also, Root & Beulah's had a fashion show last weekend and Ashley, Blake & Destiny were BEAUTIFUL models and you can see BEAUTIFUL pictures of them at www.portraitsbyjenn.com. Scroll to the bottom of the home page and click on "enter site". Then click on "clients" and type in "fashion show" for the password. It's best to just watch the entire slideshow the first time (it does take a while) but go ahead and click on "add to cart" anytime you see one you like so you don't have to try to find it again. Then you can edit your cart later. She usually sells the 4x6's and 5x7's for $20/each but these are on sale until next Saturday for $10/each. Cash made a few of the pics too!

Easter