Outside!

With the weather being so pretty lately we have taken every opportunity to get outside with Easton when we can. He loves to swing and play in the grass. He's actually very curious about the grass and once he's in it he stares around for awhile wondering what "grass" actually is. Very funny to watch. Trevis and I were weeding our flowerbeds yesterday and were able to snap a few pictures...

Of course wherever Easton is, his best friend Kota isn't far away

Loving being outside :)

Scrub a Dub Dub

As mentioned before Easton LOVES bath time. That hasn't changed.

His favorite toy is CLEARLY his rubber duck who he plays "bob for ducky" with and ends up just like this by the end of the bath....

Easton after one of his baths- 6 months old

Just to see... I found a picture in the exact same spot with the exact same towel. This was him on his 1 month birthday. Man has our little man grown.... 

Paw Paw Austin

Trevis is very fortunate to have both sets of his grandparents still living. On his dad's side, his Paw Paw Austin is a very healthy man who will probably outlive all of us because he is just so hard headed and too stubborn to die when he's supposed to which is a good thing in my opinion :) This man is 83 and can be found at any given time on his own roof cleaning out gutters or nailing new shingles on, etc. For hurricanes he boards up his own windows and gets offended when others try to come and help him. Needless to say he drives all his kids crazy because they all stayed worried about him "over doing it" which inevitably I'm sure he will! Alexandria who is Easton's cousin (Trevis' cousin Paige's daughter) had her 1 year old birthday party this past weekend (4/22/12) and Paw Paw Austin was there entertaining all the great grandchildren (they have 17 great grandchildren- Easton is number 15). Easton just loves him because he makes so many funny faces at him. I saw him talking to some other children while holding E and then the kids ran off so I went to check out the scene myself. Apparently Paw Paw Austin told them Easton had chewed off his fingers and swallowed it...... side note: Paw Paw Austin  already had a nub!

Good Morning!

I'd have to say that Easton's favorite time of the day is the morning. He is such a happy baby when we go and get him in the mornings. I'm glad it's Trevis' responsibility to get him ready in the mornings because it'd be so hard to go to work when I got to see this every morning...

I went in to wake E up one morning and he was playing with his alligator in his bed. When I went in and saw him he was laughing so hard and talking up a storm so I ran to get the video camera. Of course when he saw the camera he stopped being as vocal but it still shows his general "good mood" in the morning.

Family Wedding

My Uncle Eric recently got married to Mrs Donna (for you blog followers, she was Easton's first sitter). It was a great opportunity to take a "family photo" since we truly haven't done that since Easton was born!!!

 Easton did really well at the service and didn't decide to "preach" over the preacher at all like he enjoys doing Sunday's at mass! All of our family was in so Easton was passed from one set of arms to the next (which I don't think he minded at all) but when we got home he was ready to get out of his seer sucker jumper and in to some nakedness! He was very happily playing on the floor with Uncle Ben and decided to show off his new skills to everyone. (side note: the voice in all these videos is of my sister not me. She was so excited to see E's new feats)

 All was well and then Uncle Ben and Daddy decided to try a little "experiment". We were able to capture it on video after the 4th time of them teasing my little man and he was tired. I really believe that Easton went crazy to get the bottle because he LOVES to eat and anything that looks like a baby bottle, a bowl, a spoon, etc he goes crazy to get to.

 

My cousin and his fiance came over so we took the "party" outside to hang out with everyone. Before we knew it, we looked over and Easton had stopped swinging... but it didn't seem to phase him. Poor baby was exhausted after such a full day!

You think he's quiet???

Easton is a very inquisitive child so when we are places and people say "He's SO good" or "He's SO quiet", Trevis and I both laugh and say "If you could only see what he does at home". I guess since he's so comfortable at home, he just talks and talks and talks... or should I say scream. Easton only seems to know one decibel these days and that's HIGH. On any given day he will play on his mat and then get bored and roll/scoot to wherever he wishes. Once he's there, he decides to "talk" to someone/something/nothing. We have yet to decide....

6 months..... already!

I always heard the phrase that time would "fly by" once Easton was born. I never realized that they meant it would "warp speed" fly by!!!! How in the world has our baby become 1/2 a year old already?!?!?! He's done a few things now that he's a "big boy". On Sunday, (Easter) we were "practicing" scooting with him.... mistake. Easton seems to be a pretty quick learner because by Tuesday he was scooting all over the sitter's and our house. He will survey the area, find what he wants to get to, do a few rolls to get closer, and then scoot the rest of the way to be able to grab the item!! So funny to watch. And by "scoot" I mean pull himself around the house, essentially "mopping" our floors with his belly as he goes! He also decided to start sitting up by himself!!!!! He can't get himself into the sitting position but if I put him in one he'll stay and play for awhile in that position!!! Ah! How did all this happen?!?!

Good Morning birthday smiles!

E scooting for his pacifier

Sitting up!

"Mom... really... you can put the camera down. It's really not a big deal that I'm sitting up. It's called 'life' mom!" (I really feel like he thinks this way judging by his expressions!)

E's latest accessory

Easton has really "taken" to wearing new things... a hat, some baby sunglasses, and now... these. They were his dad's BY FAR most favorite thing he was looking forward to Easton wearing because you can always find Trevis wearing them himself!!!!

With the addition of the crocs, Easton enjoyed really getting a "feel" of his feet. He kept stomping on the ground and "jumping" alot more now that he had a foundation to use. It really was quite entertaining. Now if I can only convince Trevis that crocs do NOT go with every outfit for the baby!

New Sitter

Easton moved to a new sitter a few weeks ago and he's LOVING it. There is a little girl there named Stella who is a month younger than he is and I'm pretty sure it's love at first sight for him. They "talk" to each other back and forth and whenever I pick Easton up to leave, Stella does NOT like it. Easton also has a little boy there named Laine that is a year old that he really seems to "follow". I "snuck up" on him one day this week as him and Laine were having playtime outside. It really warms my heart to pick him up and have him enjoying time with his "friends".

*side note: Yes, Laine dumped out half of his snack in the grass and Yes, he's a boy and tried to eat the grass ALONG with the snack but Dorian (the sitter) was right behind me picking up the spilled snack to feed the birds :)

Ducros Easter Egg Hunt

Each year we go to the annual Ducros Easter Egg Hunt. Ducros is a plantation home between Houma and Thibodaux that some of our very close family friends bought in 1994. They have redone it and continued to keep its historical significance. Each year they host 2 large events at the home: a huge Easter egg hunt for kids and adults of all ages and a Halloween party with the plantation turning "haunted". For Easter, everyone packs a picnic lunch, camps out under the big oak trees surrounding the home and plays games from sack races, egg spoon races, Easter bonnet competition, and OF COURSE the huge egg hunt!!! The grounds are so big that each age group has a section with the section behind the huge home being the "team hunt" where adults and kids hunt together in groups of 3. In each hunt there are 3 hidden carrots (that the Easter bunny himself hides the night before the picnic), a hidden golden egg, and DOZENS of hidden eggs. I have been SOOO excited that this year would be Easton's first year to hunt in the 0-3 yr old age group. Each child in this group gets to hunt with one "chaperone" for help :)

"I'm ready for this Mom!! Let's go!!"

Mom and E standing under the American flag on the front porch of Ducros

Our little Easter Egg :)

He was actually very comfortable in the basket doing this. Several ladies stopped and asked if they could take pictures of him in there. Guess we should have charged!

Mr. Richard (with the megaphone) and Mrs. Angela (with the blue hat)

They are the owners of this beautiful house!

Half of the participants for the 0-3 yr olds lining up to start the hunt! Time to go get Easton!!.....

Wait WHAT?!?!?! NO!!!! How is he sleeping?!?! This is the moment I've been waiting for!!! And the subtle breeze and the rocker on the front porch put him to sleep!!! AHHHH!!!

So mommy did the hunt herself for E and got him a prize :)

As soon as I got back to him he was awake! He looked at his prize in amazement at first....

Then of COURSE it went directly in his mouth :) I'm sure that's safe and all....

Hanging out with my Pa in his seer sucker too :) I truly believe Easton could have rocked on the front porch all day. This is one Southern baby!!!

Dog days

I've written before about Easton's love for all things animal related especially for very LARGE dogs. He is very drawn toward my in laws lab, MoJo, and Ne-Ne's 97 lb golden retriever, Bubba, but his FAVORITE has to be his own puppy- Kota. Trevis and I are both pretty sure that the reason Easton will crawl and/or walk will be to get to his puppy.

After this video, Kota started army crawling towards Easton til he was "just far enough away" from him. Just you wait Kota... E is coming for you.

Daddy's Spring Party

On March 27th, Trevis had his annual work party that the employees bring their children to. Trevis was VERY excited that he'd get to have his son (said in a deep man voice) there to show everyone. They do crafts for the kids, an easter egg hunt, and picnic lunch/dinner for the adults and kids. It's really a lovely event and the kids REALLY enjoy it. The secretaries put together little Easter goody bags for all the kids too... Easton got some rubber duckies for the bathtub and he's been chewing all over them :)

Trevis LOVED that Easton was wearing his hat. They matched and it really was kinda cute to see them looking at each others hats.

This is Easton's "Aunt Brenda". Mrs. Brenda was my Aunt Deb's best friend and is such a big part of our hearts. This day also happened to mark the 4 yr anniversary of her death so it was very comforting to get to spend the day with Mrs. Brenda, remembering Aunt Deb and talking about her :) We tried several picture attempts but Easton was only interested in chewing on the plastic part of his pacifier....

Ne-Ne's 83rd Birthday!

Anyone that knows me knows that my grandmother (Ne-Ne) is my best friend in the whole world :) I tell her daily that she's never allowed to die until I die because my life wouldn't be right without her. I know that sounds morbid but this woman is truly the matriarch of our family and such a bright spot in all of our hearts.

A few weekends ago (March 24th), we were able to celebrate her bday with her! The woman LOVES boiled seafood so we had everyone over at our house to celebrate her big day!

Swinging with Ne Ne and giving her birthday love

Easton's cousin Finley came over with Trevis' cousin Lindsey. He was OBSESSED with Fin- as evidenced by his firm grasp on her dress. He laughed and smiled at her the whole time but wanted to pull her close to him so he could put his mouth on her.... I tried explaining to him that while all things are currently going in his mouth, this does not make it right to "taste" people.

Easton LOVED the crawfish flapping around in the pot before the boil. He would just stare and stare at them and laugh when they flicked their tails. He tried to put his hand in the washer bucket so we moved over to the boiling pot so he'd be "safer".

After he found the crawfish, he noticed the handle moved.... became another favorite toy of his.

He's got my vote!!!

Just in case this upcoming presidential election has your head spinning for a good candidate.... look no further