Memorial Day Weekend!

Kissing Baby Sloan!
Mommy and her boys!
RDH loved the water!

August was fearless!
Swimming!!!

August attacking the fountain in the pool
getting ready to go swimming....hurry up mom!

The official start to summer was celebrated by the Hellers with lots of activities and fun!

Saturday we both took August for a run (RDH is still too young for running in the BOB) and then headed to San Antonio to see RDH's Godparents. They just got a new house (or should I say castle....at one point I got lost inside the house!) so we went down for a tour and to swim in their pool. August had absolutely NO fear of the water and jumped right in without floaties or anything....luckily Richard was already in the water to catch him! We have taken August swimming every year since he was 6 months old, but never has he shown such enjoyment, or should I say bravery around the water. Nothing scares this kid, he is a true thrill seeker....yikes! RDH also had his first swim and LOVED it.....his little legs were kicking like crazy in the water! After a great visit, we headed back up to Austin. I am always in awe of RDH's Godparents.....they have 4 kids, his Godmother is a Doctor and his Godfather is a CPA.....I seriously dont know how they do it!

Sunday Richard woke up at 6am to start a fire and season the 10 pound brisket he bought. He smoked brisket and sausage and we had over Grandma, Aunt Linda, Alex, Rich, Dave, Emily, and baby Sloan. Baby Sloan is so precious and August had the BEST time playing with her. August is so great around babies and he truly loves them...RDH has taught him well :-) he always lets babies play with his hats and lets them pull it off his head.....for some reason, every baby enjoys this and August loves to make babies smile! Thanks Grandma for bringing all the yummy sides and thanks Rich and Alex for the beer and Dave and Emily for the wine!

Monday we packed the boys up after our runs and took them to grandmas so that we could go and see a movie. Unfortunately all of Austin had the same idea and all of the movies at the Alamo Drafthouse were sold out. So Richard and I went to Z Tejas and enjoyed a nice dinner without kids. It was so nice to have an evening out.....what would we do without you grandma?!

RDH is 7 MONTHS OLD!

ER badge....unfortunately I have one of these from August as well.
RDH's little hospital bracelet

RDH is 7 months old now! WOW! RDH is such a wonderful baby! Here are some of his highlights at 7 months:

1. Still nursing. RDH loves nursing....I think he is going to be very hard to wean at a year. Eating one meal of solids a day.

2. Has eaten: Bananas, Pears, Apples, Mangos, Peas, Green Beans, Squash, and Brown Rice Cereal.

3. Loves to inch along the floor and jump in his jumperoo.

4. Enjoys August so much!

Sweet little RDH, we love you so much!

Happy Birthday Kolby, Rylan, Luke, and Andrew!

August LOVED playing at My Gym
RDH enjoyed it too.
Augie loved the ball pit! He would run and dive into it!
and of course the jump house!
Augie is the "blur" on the edge of the red circle. They were playing a game where they called each child out to the middle and the child "jumped" When it was August's turn, he was Sooooooo excited and ran out to the middle immediately and danced! He continued dancing all the way to the edge of the circle. He has got some MOVES!

Hanging with the big kids!
Happy Birthday Kolby and Rylan!
Onto Luke and Andrew's party.
August loved the Big Bounce House
So did RDH!
Here the party coordinator was trying to round up 20+ toddlers for a group picture. I think August is wanting the girl in pink to move so he can stand against the wall (August is in blue with the white stripe on his sleeve)
She didnt move.....so August is now running out of the picture, crying. Look how she is posing, its almost as if she is saying....hahahhaha :-)
August decided he had enough and now has thrown himself in the front and is screaming. Andrew is also screaming now......ahhhhh toddlers!
August climbing up the slide!

This weekend was so much fun with Kolby and Rylan's birthday on Saturday at My Gym and Luke and Andrew's birthday at Big Bounce on Sunday. August had a blast! Both boys also got to spend Saturday evening with Grandma and Marci while Richard and I went to UT for a dinner honoring alumni. It was a great weekend, although now poor RDH has the croup (I blame the random kid coughing at the Big Bounce house). I actually ran him to the ER last night at Dell Children's Hospital because he could not breathe. Poor RDH, it came on FAST! He was fine at 8pm, and then at 11pm, he wasn't! We were released from the hospital this morning at 5am. We are exhausted.....so I am headed to bed. RDH is doing really well now....those ER pediatricians know what they are doing!

Grandma, A Wedding, Abuela, Papa, Dylan, Caleb, and Janae!

Hugging RDH and playing with Janae!
Playing with Caleb

All three Richard Dean Hellers
Playing in the cooler with H2Orange waters. Go Texas!

Sprinkler Fun!

RDH caught the toucan and he wasnt about to let go...even to play with another toy (notice left hand still hanging on while the right hand moves on)!
Caught the Toucan!

YAY! RDH!!!!
RDH and Mommy at the wedding. RDH is VERY attached to Mommy!
August and Daddy at the wedding. August's hair is wet because he kept going up the baptismal font, dipping his hand in and doing the sign of the cross. :-)
Best friends! They LOVE each other! Each day they get closer and closer. August very much loves his brother and RDH smiles bigger for August than he does for anyone!
Matching outfits :-) I had to do it :-)


The family!
I love my boys! We are so blessed!
Friday; Daddy went camping, so Grandma came and played! She even made us dinner! Thank you Grandma!

Saturday; we all went to Dan and Abby's wedding. Mommy went home with both boys and Daddy headed out to the reception. Both boys were perfect angels during the wedding, even RDH who had to nurse midway through the mass. Thankfully they were married at St Thomas More, so I am very familiar with the area and could find a descrete place to nurse RDH - since now he HATES have the cover over his head. After the wedding, RDH and I went to visit Grandpa while Richard loaded up August. We saw a flower wedged by his name from grandma just the day before. May 13th was their 39th anniversary. RDH liked tracing the letters on his name.

Sunday; Abuela, Papa, and Dylan came to play and so did my friends Caleb and Janae. It was a gorgeous day, so we got lots of outside time!

August goes Potty!

About a month ago, Mrs Gina talked to me about starting to potty train August. She said she thought he was ready and the other parents of the 2 year old boys that are with her were wanting to start. I was lukewarm to this idea.....as I was not even thinking about starting potty training until 3 years. She went over her strategy on training with me (and gave me tons of research to read on potty training) and since it was a very slow approach/no pressure, I conceded and said she could start training August when the other boys started in May. Well, apparently August LOVES peeing in the toilet! He is not able to completely control himself yet, but he is consistantly going everyday after nap (and has been for 2 weeks) in the toilet. He comes home everyday with a sticker and is VERY proud to tell me that he went pee pee. I know we have a long way to go before we get to underwear, but he is doing so much better than I would have thought at this age! Of course, it helps tremedously that we have Mrs. Gina! Ill post pictures of his daily sheets to show his "accomplishment" later :-)
Gina even took a picture of all 3 little boys "peeing" on their respective toilets for the first time (she was so excited!). It is hilarious, however, that one will not be going on the internet.

Happy Mothers Day! AND RDH's 6 Month Stats

RDH!

Baby Carly!
August chasing Luke and Andrew

August, realizing I baked cookies. Nothing gets past this kid anymore!
Eating our Mothers Day Breakfast. GEEEEZ looking back on the pictures from the last 6 months, I realized I am ALWAYS in a nursing top! I promise I have like 10 of these gray ones.......its not always the same shirt!

We had a great Mothers Day weekend and I hope all the Mommies out there got to enjoy their special day/weekend!

Friday Richard and I went to Cool River for dinner....and since it is located right next to grandma, we dropped the kiddos off there and had a nice quiet dinner (not sure kids would have even been allowed anyway). Thank you Grandma!

Saturday we all went over to Connie and Chucks to visit baby Carly (ADORABLE!) and to bring the Collins dinner. August had a blast playing with Luke and Andrew, who graciously shared their trains and RDH had fun watching the crazy boys. Carly is so sweet and had the cutest little dress on for our visit. Connie looked fabulous and I am so jealous that she has pretty much lost all her baby weight and Carly is only 3 weeks old!

Sunday Richard took August and picked up Rudy's breaskfast tacos (August LOVED errands with Daddy!), washed and waxed my car, did the weekly grocery shopping, and made steak, salmon, and shrimp for dinner! He even bought a special desert for me. Grandma also came over to enjoy Mothers Day with us :-) Richard then bathed Augie and put him to bed. I will say, I was quite spoiled on Mothers Day :-)

Monday, RDH had his 6 month well visit with Dr H. He was declared a very healthy little boy. He had fun rolling all around the exam table...that is...until the shots! Richard asked Dr H what color RDH's eyes will be and she said blue/gray. To me they have some green in them, regardless, they are beautiful!

RDH is still only breastfed with 1 meal of solids a day, so Dr H prescribed him a vitamin D with fluoride......this is new to me because August was breastfed too, and all I ever had him on was Vitamin D.....have any other Mothers used this prescription Vitamin D plus fluoride? I asked the pharmacist at Peoples and she was in favor of Vitamin D only......but I dont know.......confusing! Dr H also said that recommended "first foods" for exclusively breastfed babies have changed to meats.....this is also different from when August was 6 months. She said they need extra zinc and iron. So the appointment was full of new information. In my opinion, breastmilk is really all they need, but I will try and incorporate some of these new suggestions.

Here are RDH's 6 month stats (and for those of you who are wondering.....baby boys and baby girls have different growth charts):

Head Circumference: 17.25 inches - 50th percentile

Weight: 17.7 pounds - 50th percentile

Height: 26.5 inches - 50th percentile.

So RDH is still trending where he has always been!

The last thing Dr H left us with is that we should start sleep training and RDH should not get to nurse at 2am. This is going to be hard for both mommy and RDH.....so I think it will take a few weeks before that is incorporated.