Tricks Instead of Treats

Exciting day here in Spring, Texas.  Miss Erin Grace Mize rolled over for the first time!!!  She and I were having tummy time in the living room.  Tommy was at the table on my computer.  She's been rolling up on her side for a while now.  She did it then stopped and looked like she was thinking about rolling all the way over.  Sure enough, she did it.  I got to watch the whole thing.  I hollered and Tommy came running.  Of course, she didn't want to do it again.  We put her back on her tummy and she would go up on her side, but wouldn't roll over all the way.  (Don't worry - we'll be practicing this week and I'm sure I'll have it on video before the week is up!)

Cul-de-sac Halloween party tonight.  It was cute.  We set up tables in the culdesac and all the kids trick or treat and help themselves.  We live so far back in the subdivision that we don't get much foot traffic.  There are always a couple of brave souls from further back in our section, but the turn out is never huge.  I say this but we have a ton of kids on our street, so I should say the turn out from other then our street is low.  The 5 year old next door brought Erin a trick or treat bag the other day to collect her candy.  Of course, she removed the candy that she already had in the bag before she gave it to Erin, but it's the thought that counts.

Happy Grandparents



Erin snacking on her hand instead of Halloween candy!



Trick or Treat Daddy!

She should have been a Wiggle Worm instead of a cow!

I would pay $1 million to know what she was thinking

at the exact moment this was taken!

Tomorrow is my first day back at work since July 9th!! I have mixed emotions on it. Part of me will miss being home with Erin, but part of me is looking forward to getting into a routine. I'll be working from home until after the first of the year. Pawpaw and Gram will be coming over everyday to keep Erin. I'll be upstairs working, so the transition won't be so hard. I am not cut out to be a stay at home mom. Hats off to those that can do it. I'm too lazy! Most days Erin and I don't get dressed until lunch time! Tomorrow will be a rude awakening.

Tricks Instead of Treats

Exciting day here in Spring, Texas.  Miss Erin Grace Mize rolled over for the first time!!!  She and I were having tummy time in the living room.  Tommy was at the table on my computer.  She's been rolling up on her side for a while now.  She did it then stopped and looked like she was thinking about rolling all the way over.  Sure enough, she did it.  I got to watch the whole thing.  I hollered and Tommy came running.  Of course, she didn't want to do it again.  We put her back on her tummy and she would go up on her side, but wouldn't roll over all the way.  (Don't worry - we'll be practicing this week and I'm sure I'll have it on video before the week is up!)

Cul-de-sac Halloween party tonight.  It was cute.  We set up tables in the culdesac and all the kids trick or treat and help themselves.  We live so far back in the subdivision that we don't get much foot traffic.  There are always a couple of brave souls from further back in our section, but the turn out is never huge.  I say this but we have a ton of kids on our street, so I should say the turn out from other then our street is low.  The 5 year old next door brought Erin a trick or treat bag the other day to collect her candy.  Of course, she removed the candy that she already had in the bag before she gave it to Erin, but it's the thought that counts.

Happy Grandparents



Erin snacking on her hand instead of Halloween candy!



Trick or Treat Daddy!

She should have been a Wiggle Worm instead of a cow!

I would pay $1 million to know what she was thinking

at the exact moment this was taken!

Tomorrow is my first day back at work since July 9th!! I have mixed emotions on it. Part of me will miss being home with Erin, but part of me is looking forward to getting into a routine. I'll be working from home until after the first of the year. Pawpaw and Gram will be coming over everyday to keep Erin. I'll be upstairs working, so the transition won't be so hard. I am not cut out to be a stay at home mom. Hats off to those that can do it. I'm too lazy! Most days Erin and I don't get dressed until lunch time! Tomorrow will be a rude awakening.

Tricks Are For Kids

Big discovery at the Mize house.  Erin has discovered her hands.  She's been using them and chewing on them constantly for the last month, but this weekend she figured out they were there.  (I'm going on record now to say that her punishment when she's older might be sitting on her hands.  The way she always has then in her mouth will make that punishment cruel and unusual for sure!)

Several times this weekend we would find her just staring at her hands and wiggling her fingers.  It was so cute.  I haven't snapped a picture of that yet but I'm sure I will.  It seems that every facet of her life is now on video or in pictures.

She also started laughing out loud.  For the past week she's been making noise that sounds like a laugh.  It's confirmed.  She was actually giggling in her little pink Bumbo chair yesterday.  She really does like it.  I think it's a combination of things.  She's sitting up on the kitchen table and we're right there talking to her, so she gets happy.

God really has blessed us with a happy baby.  We are so thankful.  Not that we would love her any less if she wasn't, but it's just so fun that she is!  We've been blessed with a relationship full of laughter and smiles so it seems so fitting to have a smiley baby.

Even Rox has been smiling this weekend.  Tommy cooked ribs in the backyard and Roxie has been working "clean up".  She is more than happy to help him scour the backyard for drippings.  (She doesn't want another grass fire!)

Tricks Are For Kids

Big discovery at the Mize house.  Erin has discovered her hands.  She's been using them and chewing on them constantly for the last month, but this weekend she figured out they were there.  (I'm going on record now to say that her punishment when she's older might be sitting on her hands.  The way she always has then in her mouth will make that punishment cruel and unusual for sure!)

Several times this weekend we would find her just staring at her hands and wiggling her fingers.  It was so cute.  I haven't snapped a picture of that yet but I'm sure I will.  It seems that every facet of her life is now on video or in pictures.

She also started laughing out loud.  For the past week she's been making noise that sounds like a laugh.  It's confirmed.  She was actually giggling in her little pink Bumbo chair yesterday.  She really does like it.  I think it's a combination of things.  She's sitting up on the kitchen table and we're right there talking to her, so she gets happy.

God really has blessed us with a happy baby.  We are so thankful.  Not that we would love her any less if she wasn't, but it's just so fun that she is!  We've been blessed with a relationship full of laughter and smiles so it seems so fitting to have a smiley baby.

Even Rox has been smiling this weekend.  Tommy cooked ribs in the backyard and Roxie has been working "clean up".  She is more than happy to help him scour the backyard for drippings.  (She doesn't want another grass fire!)

Big Girl!

Erin has slowly graduated to her Bumbo chair.  Her neck works well enough now to sit in it without help.  She loves it. 

Here's a picture and a video.  The video isn't too much to look at.  It's literally just her sitting the the chair smiling, but it made me smile anyway!

Check out her bib.  Tommy bought a pack of bibs and this was in there.  We just laughed and she wears it anyway.  Technically, she is Roxie's little sister!

Big Girl!

Erin has slowly graduated to her Bumbo chair.  Her neck works well enough now to sit in it without help.  She loves it. 

Here's a picture and a video.  The video isn't too much to look at.  It's literally just her sitting the the chair smiling, but it made me smile anyway!

Check out her bib.  Tommy bought a pack of bibs and this was in there.  We just laughed and she wears it anyway.  Technically, she is Roxie's little sister!

Bring It On

The Mizes are soon to be ready for WWIII.  We bought a huge upright deep freezer.  I also bought Tommy a vacuum sealer.  I'm fairly certain we could hold a herd of cattle and a year's supply of breast milk in our garage now.

It all started with me...

We have a small chest deep freezer now.  We have deer sausage, all kinds of "fundraiser" cookies, and a couple months supply of breast milk.  My plan is to have enough milk on hand for my parents to use when I go back to work.  The freezer we have got too small. 

So, we asked Pawpaw for help.  We asked him to keep an eye out for a scratch and dent upright freezer since he's in Lowe's about 10 times a day.  One week later, we have a huge deep freezer in the garage that we got for half off and got free delivery!!  They actually ended up fixing the small dent that was in the door before delivery.  Now we have a completely repaired scratch and dent freezer that we got for half price!

The worst part of the deal is now we have to "sort and clean out" the old freezer.  Tommy is a man possessed!  He loves to clean and organize things.  (Can you say OCD???)  He's all excited to take on the new project and Erin and I are busy looking for a good excuse to sit this one out!

He actually asked me if I have given any thought to what food I want to keep in the house freezer as opposed to the outside freezer.  Yeah, right!

Udderly Scary Halloween

For those of you not on Facebook, here are the pics from Erin's Halloween photoshoot.  She's dressing up as a cow in honor of Granny and Grandpa's herd.

She was not thrilled to be involved in this project.  What I didn't end up buying was the one of her really pitching a fit.  She got so upset about being on her tummy in a cow costume that she lost it.  She managed to get herself rolled onto her side while she screamed bloody murder.  She clinched her fists and eyes shut, went straight as a board, and was mid-scream when the lady took the picture.  It really was funny looking, but I don't need to pay for a screaming baby picture when I can get it for free at home :)

Iron Claw

Okay, growing up with just a sister I never learned much about wrestling.  We were tomboys but never into wrestling.  Tommy on the other hand had a brother to practice on, and he's a HUGE WWE fan.  (It's okay to laugh - I married him anyway!) 

Tonight we were eating dinner and Erin was sitting in her chair at the edge of the kitchen like she always does.  She was fussing and wiggling and then all of a sudden got completely quiet.  We both looked over at her and Tommy said, "ever Iron Claw yourself?"  She was sound asleep and had put a wrestling move on herself!  For those of you who don't know, Iron Claw is a wrestling move.  Since marrying a WWE freak, I've had many wrestling moves thrown on me.  Iron Claw is not one of my favorites! 

I'm sure Roxie is really looking forward to the day Erin learns more of the "classics" like body slamming and the Half Nelson.

Lights, Camera, Action...

Daddy went to the Texans game today and we stayed home to have Erin's pictures made.  I tried to time it at her smiliest time.  She napped and ate right before they got here (the photographers come to the house).  I put her outfit on and she was smiling at them the whole time they were setting everything up. 

It was lights, camera, action time - no smile!  Erin decided to keep all her smiles to herself from that point on.  She didn't fuss and cry, she just didn't feel like smiling.  They would put the camera down to change the background or setting and she would smile.  It was a total cat and mouse game and she won!!!

I think in the end we did get some cute ones.  They should be posted soon on the Magek website.  I'll let you know as soon as they're up so we can all preview them.

As soon as the photographers left, she ate and passed out.  I hear her waking up now.  I'm sure she'll want to know if the Texans won.  She was very worried about it...

Country Time

We went to Centerville this week so Little E could spend a little time with Grandpa and Granny.  We had a great visit.  Erin's retinas are still burning from the Paparazzi like photo session with Granny.  She got some good ones and they were up on facebook before we even made it out of the driveway.  Erin wasn't quite as smiley as she usually is, but she still managed to turn on the charm. 

I think her routine was a little off.  She didn't nap much while we were there.  She takes after her Momma - she didn't want to nap and take a chance on missing something.  So, she was nosey and stayed awake most of the day.  Needless to say, she crashed hard last night.  She went down at her regular time and I had to wake her up at 9:30 this morning to eat!!  She would probably still be snoozing.  I'm not sure, but I don't think many people with 3 month olds say they have to wake them up to feed them - crazy!

Here are a couple of good pictures.  Her bib says "Grandma never says no".  How appropriate!

I'm sure that Grandpa, Granny and Yella all slept really well last night too.  I don't think they're used to all the noise and disruption Erin brings!  Yella offered to start the car for us when Erin started crying again.

I snapped this picture on the way out.  It's the neighbor's donkey.  He is always at the fence begging.  Jimmie feeds him every evening when they make their "corning" route.  He just cracks me up.  We can't leave their house without him checking us out.  I wish I knew what his name was. 

12 Weeks Old

Erin will be 12 weeks old tomorrow.  It's crazy.  The time just seems to have flown by.  It seems like just yesterday we were in the hospital, and at the same time, feels like it was so long ago.

Here's what Momma has learned so far...

Erin hates:
     -Tummy time
     -Being hot
     -Sitting in a tinkle diaper
     -Not being the center of attention 24/7
     -Bright sunlight in her eyes
     -When Roxie shakes her collar and wakes her up
     -Dressing up in a cow costume and having her picture taken

Erin Loves:
     -Smiling at her Daddy
     -Being naked
     -Bath time
     -Her vibrating rocker chair
     -Sitting in Pawpaw's lap and staring at the picture in the living room
     -Her swing, the hairdryer and the sound of running water
     -Being swaddled at bedtime
     -Watching ceiling fans
   
For those of you who have not gotten to meet Erin, we think she's a doll.  For the most part, she's a happy smiley baby.  So far she is comfortable being held by everyone.  She coos and chews on her hands constantly.  She loves to hear her Daddy come home in the afternoons.  She smiles and giggles when she sees him.  It's very cute to watch them together.

Erin loves to shop at Target and really digs Sunday night dinners out with Mommy and Daddy.  Thankfully, she sleeps like a rock most of the time.  At night when she's out, she's out.  During the day the naps are a little lighter.  I'm not sure how she does it, but she sleeps thru Roxie's barking.  That's impressive, because Roxie goes nuts everyday when the neighborhood kids get home from school and start playing outside.

As I'm ending this, Erin woke up as if on queue.  I have no doubt it was because Rox went in there and shook her collar.  I didn't hear/see it happen, but I just know these things. 
    

Holy Cow!!

Erin had a great day today.  Granny came in from Centerville and spent the day with us.  We had lunch and then went to Sears to have Halloween pictures done.

I wanted to start a Halloween tradition and have her picture made every year in her costume.  I didn't want to spend a lot of money on it, so Sears was a good choice.  We changed and fed her and then got started.  She was doing good until the lady had me put her on her tummy.  She got super ticked.  Once she started crying there was no stopping her.  We did those poses and then flipped back to her back.  It was all over.  I threw in the towel and told the lady we would just use what pictures we had already taken.  I think they turned out super cute, even with the limited number of poses/pictures.

Granny and I kept laughing at her.  The costume has a little tail on it.  It's hard to see in the pictures because of the black drape, but it's super cute.  There she was in the middle of Sears screaming her lungs out in a cow costume and Granny and Mommy were laughing about it.  Just one more reason to hate me when those teenage years come rolling around.

Here's the link.  You'll need to use our session number and password to view them.

http://www.searsphotos.com/

Session #: 126041
Password: JNSWY

Roxie is just glad they didn't sell a matching doggie costume.  She heard the words "costume" and "pictures" and got really, really worried.  Now that I think about it, that does sound like a darn cute picture!

Another Week Older...Parents No Wiser

Erin is 10 weeks old today!  Yay!  We've made it this far and no one has checked into the looney bin yet. 

Erin and I went to lunch with some of our co-workers.  I picked them up at the office and we had a nice visit.  I miss adult conversation with people besides my husband and parents!  (No offense Tommy, Gram and Pawpaw!)  Afterwards, we took them back to the office and Erin and I went upstairs to visit the others. 

It was the first time most of my friends up there had seen her in person.  Erin was on her best behavior and was an absolute angel.  She smiled and cooed and really turned on the charm.  It was very sweet.  Everybody fussed over her and the consensus is that she looks like a true combination of her Mommy and Daddy.  People say they can see both of us in her.  Personally, I think she was looking and acting like her Mommy today with all that sweetness and good behavior pouring out. :)

At the sake of jinxing it all, we're settling into a nice little routine.  I have a few more weeks at home before I go back to work so we're going to relax and enjoy them.  I think we'll try to set up a firmer schedule once I'm back to work.  Brace yourselves, but I think I'm actually okay with not having a rigid structured plan in place.  This has to be a first.

Roxie report:  The Rock Star is doing well.  She's a little embarrassed about going out in public right now.  One of her legs was shaved for the IV and the hair hasn't grown back.  She looks a little lopsided.  She's still on antibiotics and will be eating the soft food for a few more days.  Her and her Daddy have a routine for giving the medicine.  She takes it very well and we think it's because Tommy is very generous with the treats when it's over.  She sees him coming with the syringe thing and just drops her head.  She doesn't try to run, but you can just tell by her face and demeanor that she knows what's coming and does not look forward to it.

Saturday Night Live

Can you believe it takes all this for a visit to Gram and Pawpaw's house? 

Last night Gram and Pawpaw babysat Erin while we went to the movies and dinner.  I was getting all the stuff together and had to laugh at the pile we had.  Not included is the stroller we left with them so they could make the rounds in the neighborhood.  Pawpaw said he's had to tell all his neighbors how cute their kids/grandkids are, and he wanted to brag on his own grandchild!  He said he was going to push her around so all his neighbors had to brag on her.  I think they would have made the rounds in that stroller if it had been snowing with blizzard conditions.

Tommy and I went and saw "The Social Network".  It's the movie about Facebook.  I really liked it.  Tommy said he dozed off about 5 times and caught himself.  I didn't even notice.  I was totally into the movie.  It's fast paced in a weird way.  It wasn't an action/thriller, but it had a lot of dialogue and you had to pay attention.

We went to eat as well.  I love fish tacos (I know, it sounds gross but they are sooooo goooood!)  We tried a new place in town that specializes in fish tacos - Wahoo Fish Tacos.  I was not impressed.  The best part of that place was that they had Diet Dr. Pepper in the fountain machine!! 

Roxie also went to Gram and Pawpaw's.  She loves to go "bye-bye".  It doesn't matter where we go, she just wants to tag along.  I don't think it hurts that Gram and Pawpaw shower her with attention and lots of treats!