Daddy Daycare

I went out of town last week for work. It was my first trip away from Will and was very hard. It was a lot of fun getting to see everyone from work and they definitely helped make the time pass quickly. Chris took Wednesday off and spent the day with Will. Here is a picture of how daddy daycare works. Check out who is in the bouncy seat on the right...




Yes, the black blob is Abby! I think the dogs are sad I'm back!

Food Fun!

Will started eating solid food this past week. Well, mind you while I mean solid it is the most pureed thing you've ever seen. I guess he actually started eating rice cereal and oatmeal cereal about a month ago. We started apple sauce on Friday and carrots on Tuesday. I think the apples went over better than the carrots, but I'm determined to make him a vegetable man!

I decided to try making baby food after I heard from several people how easy it is and how it really is much more affordable. I love to cook, so I figured why not! It is really easy, just cook and blend. I hear you don't even have to cook some things! I've made apple sauce, carrots, and sweet potatoes. They are all in frozen little cubes in the freezer. We'll see how long I keep it up, but it has been fun so far and he seems to like it! Well, you judge by the pictures.

Applesauce before freezing. Don't worry, I didn't feed him the entire bowl at once!

First bite of applesauce. He didn't seem to be all that excited, but he did get more excited as we continued!
"Yum! Carrots and rice cereal! Give me more!"

"Wow! That is a lot of food, Mom!"

"Something strange is on my tongue! Please get it off!

"I can't eat one more bite!"

1st Half-Birthday!

Will is 6 months old! Where does the time go? And what did I do before he was here? I really can't recall. We've had a pretty exciting month. I went back to work a couple weeks ago. That has been the biggest change this month (for me at least!). I am working part time and go into the office 2 days a week. Chris's mom has graciously agreed to watch Will on those two days and Will is loving his time with Grandma Halpin. Will is eating lots of cereal these days and is ready for baby food. We will start it soon - I hear the diapers will only get better with fruit and veggies! :)

We went to our 6 month check-up today. Will now weighs 16lbs, 6 oz. and is 27 1/4 inches long. That means he has tripled his birth weight, which the doctor says is great. He is in the 40th% for weight now and the 70th% for height- so he is continuing to play catch up from being a month early. He is sleeping great at night (which we know is such a blessing). He continues to not really like nap time.

Here are some pictures of our big boy. He is truly the best thing we've ever done and it is so fun watching him grow. He is interacting with everyone so much these days and is mesmerized by his hands and feet. He could stare at them all day, I think!

"No photo's please. Can't you see I'm trying to eat!"

Mr. Blue Eyes (ignore the drool). The doctor seems to think they are going to "stick". Surprising since mine are brown and Chris's are hazel.

In deep conversation with the star. They talk a lot. Our little peanut playing on the floor.

Will and Daddy before bedtime. Yes, those are Red Sox pj's (against my better judgement).

Will and Mommy hanging out and talking about how cool those feet really are!

Friday with Great-Grandma and Grandma!

We took Will to see Granny Bobbye - his Great Grandmother - on Friday. Here are a couple pictures from the day. He had a wonderful time! He saw the lake for the first time, met all of Granny and Papa's dogs, and got to visit for a while! :)

Granny Bobbye and Will talking!

The dogs wonder why this little guy is in their house!

Will with Grandma

Granny, thanks for letting us come visit! We had a wonderful time and love you very much!

Videos of Will at 5 Months

I finally uploaded some of Will's 5 month videos! Thanks to Katherine for the idea of using One True Media. It is very easy! Hope you all enjoy!

http://www.onetruemedia.com/my_shared?z=28f085062305c660083bc7&utm_source=otm&utm_medium=text_url

Happy Easter!

We hope everyone had a Happy Easter! Will had a very exciting 1st Easter! We went to my Aunt Carol and Uncle Jim's house for an Easter Egg Hunt and visited with family. My cousin Kimberly, her husband David and their kids - Catherine and Peyton - were in town. It was nice to catch up with them and for them to meet Will. Peyton gave Will some cool toys AND his #41 Mavs jersey! I can't wait for Will to wear it!

It was a great day and we were so glad the rain held off, even though it was a little chilly. Will did get a few eggs in the hunt and one had a $1 bill in it! His first official money. We'll start his checking account tomorrow. :)

The Easter bunny also visited our house, along with Grandma's house. Will got all kinds of good stuff - including 3 bunnies, a Jumperoo, more clothes, and a book of Bible stories. Yes, he is super spoiled already. But hey, isn't that what we are supposed to do?

Mom, who left all this in my crib?

Hmmm...tastes like chicken....

The Easter bunny came to Grandma's too!

Will in his Easter's best before the egg hunt! He did not want his picture taken!

Us at the Egg Hunt! This is how a 5 month old hunts eggs - strapped to mom. Dad had the basket (and camera).

We hope your Easter was a great one!

God Bless,

The Halpins

Fun at Five Months!

Our baby is 5 months old today. I realized as I sat on the couch holding him and he tried to wiggle his way out of my arms, very soon he will be crawling away from me. My time of quietly holding him for as long as I want will soon end and that makes me a little sad. I will say that watching him grow and develop every day is so fun! I love watching him as he sees things for the first time, makes a noise he has never made, or suprises himself my grabbing a toy or getting his entire hand in his mouth! He is absorbing so much of the world around him!

Will's Top Ten Favorite Things

10. His mobile. He can lay in his crib for up to 30 minutes when he wakes up and just talk to the mobile.

9. Shopping with mom. He is very good at the mall.

8. Standing up with mom and dad's help.

7. Smiling! He smiles at everything and it is really funny to catch him watching the TV and smiling or riding in the car and smiling.

6. Grandmas and Grandpas! They are the best - well except for mom and dad of course!

5. The Bottle! We are in the process to switching to formula and every time he sees a bottle he gets very excited and VERY impatient!

4. Abby and Murray - they sure do bark alot but they are pretty funny to watch.

3. His hands! They are in his mouth constantly and anything he can get in his hands also goes in his mouth!

2. Lights! The other night Chris was sitting on the back porch with Will and the sun was almost down. Chris caught him staring at it! He loves anything bright! The sun does often make him sneeze, though he doesn't seem to care.

1. The ceiling fan! It is the one constant since day one. He does not discriminate either, any fan (espeically with a light) will do! He loves them!

A few pictures from the past month. Will has been very busy!

Helping Grandpa work. He has the computer programing down already!

Trying rice cereal for the first time. Will thought it was delicious on day one and hated it the next two days. We'll try again next week! :)
Playtime!

"Kissing" his Abby dog toy.

Hanging with his buddy, Preston. Poor guys - they are going to love that we dressed them alike when they are older!

Giggling with Mom after Stephanie and Michael's couples shower. Yes, he was much happier once he had a nice long nap on the car ride home. Thanks to all who listened to him scream at the party! Sorry about that! Congratulations to Mr. and Mrs. Cook! Welcome to the family, Steph!

Thats all for now folks! More to come...as always! I've been trying to upload a video, but it isn't working. If I have success, I'll post later. Have a wonderful week!

Happy Birthday and Happy St. Patty's Day!!!

St. Patty's Day is always a big celebration in our house! There are many reason...1) The Halpins are Irish, after all. 2) Chris's birthday is today! AND 3) Abby's birthday is today! So, as you can see we have many reasons to celebrate!

We kicked off the St. Patty's Day festivities with a trip to Greenville on Saturday (adults only, of course). We had a great time! Thanks Mom and Dad for watching Will. He had a great time also! We then spent Sunday with Chris's parents and celebrated his b-day and his dad's b-day. We had a lot of fun hanging out and catching up with everyone! We will celebrate again tonight and later this week as well! Like I said, we really like this day!

Will wearing one of his many St. Patty's Day outfits to wish his daddy a GREAT birthday! Yes, Chris turned 29 AGAIN this year!

And our princess working hard on her birthday - doing what she does best, laying on clean laundry on our bed. Abby is 8 this year. It is so hard to believe!

And Will wishing everyone a VERY HAPPY St. Patty's day!
We hope you have a wonderful St. Patty's!

And a shout out to Uncle Josh who turns another year older tomorrow! We hope you have a VERY HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

Snow Day!

In typical Texas fashion, it snowed twice this week.!It seems we always have to wait until March or April, when we are ready for sunshine and warm weather, to get some snow. We were of course excited to see it and Will was excited for his first snow. The pups are excited that it will melt by noon and they'll have their yard back. Abby reminded Murray that she spent 3 years walking in a lot more snow and did not have any grass for the bathroom. Kinda like the stories our grandparents told us about walking uphill in the snow with holes in their shoes. Here is Will's first snow picture and the pups with Will once we came back inside to warm up. Happy Winter!

OKLAHOMA....

where the wind comes sweepin' down the plains!

No, we didn't go see the musical, but for some reason every time we drive into the state I have to sing that song! We took Will on his first road trip this past weekend to see my sister and Josh in Oklahoma City. It was a very eventful weekend for Will. His first time to sleep in the pack n play and away from home overnight, his first 3.5 hour car ride, and most importantly his first Aggie sporting event - the A&M/OU Basketball game. I can't say that he really enjoyed the game - I think it was a little loud for him and the Aggies were not playing their best. He was pretty vocal about his distaste for both, but eventually fell asleep in the Baby Bjorn. We had a great time visiting with Carrie and Josh, seeing their new apartment, and just catching up. Thank you Carrie and Josh for being such wonderful hosts and for allowing us to use you and your home as ginny pigs our first family trip! We'll be back again soon!

Will has promised to attend more A&M sporting events, but wants to sit in the Aggie section next time,so there are not really loud people cheering for the wrong team behind him! He also asks that they Aggies play a little bit better when he is in attendance. We'll keep our fingers crossed.