Road Trip! - Tennessee

Our next stop was Tennessee! We stayed in Columbia the first night and went to see David's grandfather in Columbia and had church at the assistive living where he lives. It was an interesting experience, especially for the boys. I think Cooper and Mattox now hold the world record for having their cheeks pinched by the most little old ladies within an hour! It was great to see Grandaddy and he really seemed to enjoy seeing Cooper and meeting Mattox for the first time

The second night in Tennessee, we stopped in Pigeon Forge and stayed at a hotel in the parking lot of a HUGE Bass Pro Shops. To Cooper, Bass Pro Shops is the next best thing to a John Deere dealership! He LOVES it. We saw four-wheelers, boats, monster trucks, played in tents, animals, fish, waterfalls, guns...AND Santa Claus!

Cooper and PopPop playing with an RC Monster Truck.

"PopPop, is this your boat?"

The Bass Pro Santa, was probably the best Santa I have ever seen. Cooper, who is an old pro with Santa by now, knew just what to do when he got to see him, Mattox was another story. Cooper ran right up to Santa and told him all about the John Deere Tractor that he wanted for Christmas. Mattox..well he screamed. I started to take Mattox off his lap and Santa actually told me to wait and he would try to calm him down. It didn't work, but I was impressed he was willing to try!

Road Trip! - Tulsa, OK

For Christmas this year, we decided to take a family road trip. We left Lubbock with our final destination being Raleigh, NC, where David's family lives. I was a little anxious about driving 3000 miles with a 2 year old and an 8 month old, but it really went pretty well. We were blessed to be able to take my parent's SUV which had a lot more room than my little car and we made several stops along the way to see family. Our first stop was in Tulsa, OK to spend the night with Aunt Erin, Uncle Brandon and baby Anya. We were doubly excited because Aunt Lauren, Uncle Josh and Aria were there too!

Cooper and Aria posing by the Christmas tree.

We really miss Aria and were happy we got to spend some time with her. While we were loading the car to get ready for our second leg of the journey, Cooper, Aria and Aunt Erin played "Pretty pretty Princess." (Mattox watched and teethed on a water bottle. This was just the first of many signs that he was going to get 4 teeth before the trip was over.)

Cooper WON! Imagine the shock when we was declared "Princess!"

Happy 8 months Mattox!

While we were on vacation in North Carolina, Mattox turned 8 months old! His personality shines through more and more everyday! He is such a fun baby! New for this month include pulling himself to standing in his crib and 6 teeth! Yes I said 6! His four top front teeth broke through while we were traveling. He is also trying really hard to crawl. He likes to get up on all fours and rock back and forth, then launch himself forward. We love you Matty Bumps! Can't wait to see what you have in store for us next month!

Happy 7 monthaversary Mattox!

Mattox is 7 months old and more fun than ever!! He and Cooper LOVE playing together. In this picture, Mattox was "Woody" and Cooper was "Buzz". Usually Cooper says that Mattox is Dr. Porkchop. Mattox rolls everywhere and can sit up for quite awhile unsupported. He also LOVES to talk and "sing" (especially in the middle of church!)

I'm in da crib.

Cooper ended up in the crib with Mattox during "nap"time. Here's how little Mr. Spiderman pulls it off.

Mattox is 6 months old!

I'm WAY behind on posts, but I wanted to put this one in before it got too much further from the date. I can't believe it's been half a year already since Mattox came into our lives! He is such a blessing to our family and we love him so much! New for this month include sitting up unsupported and exploring and playing with everything! He loves Cooper and Cooper loves making Mattox laugh! I'm so glad my boys get along!

Enjoying a warm afternoon

We took advantage of one of the last warm days of the year and walked to the park to feed the ducks and play on the playground. I think Mattox loved actually being out of the stroller and Cooper loved showing off to his little brother all the cool things he could do.

Meet the newest Holland Baby!

Josiah David Holland was born on October 7th at 11:08pm. He weighed 8.0 lbs. He is Uncle Jonathan and Aunt Heather's first baby and we are so excited to have our first nephew! We can't wait to meet him at Christmas! We love you baby Josiah!

Yummy Carrots.....or not.

I thought Cooper was my picky child when it comes to food, but I'm about to change my mind. We tried rice cereal and Mattox didn't really like it at all, so this week we decided to try carrots. He didn't hate it, but he'll only tolerate it for about 10 bites then I have to trick him into eating. I think he would be happy nursing and just skipping solid food all together.

Morning at the Corn Maize

This morning we took the boys to the Corn Maize. I love this time of year because there are so many things we can do as a family and they are all free or relatively inexpensive. Cooper is finally getting to the age where he really enjoys things like this. He liked seeing the animals and especially riding the cow train and tractor!

I guess I'm a sucker for silly photo ops. I love Mattox's face is this one!

The Cow Train. Cooper saw this as we were walking in the parking lot!

Mattox and I waiting for the cow train to return. Enjoying the nice weather and experiencing new things!

Enjoying the pumpkins and playing in the hay!

Cooper in the kiddie maze! I think he was more interested in flirting with the girls.

From the bridge looking over the maze.

I think this is how we all felt afterwards, but it was fun!

Mattox is 5 months old!

I can't believe it. Mattox is already 5 months old. It's going by WAY too quickly! My little guy has such a HUGE personality. He makes me smile all the time. Here are a few things about Mattox this month.:

• Since he was born, Cooper has called Mattox, "Matty" and it just kinda stuck. We have also been calling him "Matty Bumpo", "Matty Bumps" and just "Bump".
• He has started rolling over from his tummy to his back. Mattox HATES being on his tummy so I'm glad we've finally reached this milestone.
• Mattox loves people, especially his brother, Cooper. He stares at Cooper all the time and thinks everything he does is funny.
• He loves looking at people's faces and touching faces!
• Mattox is a night owl! He will happily stay up till 11:30 or midnight, then sleep until 10:00am. (I haven't decided if I like this yet or not.)
• Mattox doesn't really like rice cereal at all, which is so different from Cooper.
• I think Mattox looks a lot like me and has a lot of my personality traits, where Cooper favors David. We'll see if this continues as he gets older.

Happy Birthday Poppop!

Today is Poppop's birthday! Even though he lives far away in NC, we talk about him all the time! We wanted to wish you a happy birthday! We can't wait to see you in a few weeks! Enjoy the video!

My John Deere Boy

If you know Cooper at all, you know that he LOVES tractors! No wait, that is an understatement. He is OBSESSED with tractors (and cars, trucks, emergency and construction vehicles.) Pretty much anything with wheels attracts him. Last weekend we drove out to Post, TX to visit our friends Ty and Hayley. Ty farms cotton in Post and has been wanting to show Cooper his tractor for a while now.

The drive to Post was narrated by Cooper naming all the cars, "That's a Toyota! That's a Chevrolet! That's a Lexus!" and the construction vehicles, "It's a CRANE! Do you see the bulldozer? I see a grader!" and of course the tractors and other farm vehicles. He knows them all, tractors, planters, seed drills, combines, cotton stripper, plow, cultivator, you name it he can identify it.

When we got to the farm, the first thing he saw was Ty's tractor! Not only did he have a tractor outside, he had a house full of tractor toys and decorations! When we thought it couldn't get any better, Ty offered to take Cooper on a ride in the Tractor AND the Cotton Stripper! Needless to say, Cooper was in tractor HEAVEN!

Cooper and Ty talking about Tractors.

Ty explaining how it works

Start your engines!

If you notice, Ty isn't holding the steering wheel.

This thing was HUGE!

The cotton stripper was even BIGGER!

Very pleased with himself. I think Ty enjoyed it too!

Needless to say, we had a great time! Oh and Ty and Hayley are doing great. They just had a sweet precious baby, Ayden, who we got to love on some too!

Rice Cereal time!

We decided to go ahead and try Mattox on rice cereal this week. Over the past few days, he has been trying to lift himself into a seated position, can sit for a long period of time with support AND has been eyeing our food during every meal. He has even tried grabbing our utensils. So, we tried rice cereal. As with all first attempts at food, he wasn't too impressed, but after a while got the hang of it and I think actually started to enjoy it.


The "before" picture.


Big bite!



"Mom, what WAS that stuff?"


Not too bad. Kinda content face.