Rhys is 7 weeks old!

We can't believe our little guy is 7 weeks old already! The time is flying by so fast. He is still a happy little baby, peaceful and content. He is sleeping 4 to 7 hours at night at a time but we're hoping he begins to trend more towards a 7 to 8 hours/ night soon. He gives up wide open-mouthed grins quite frequently now and coos. He especially loves "talking" to his sister. We're still not sure what his hair is doing. For the most part it has some brown highlights but the new growth is blonde. In some lights it still looks reddish though. His eyes appear to be turning blue. He has a little notch ( elf ear ) on the right side. A precious pointed chin, big hands and little feet.

One peculiar habit he has is releasing a disturbing high-pitched blood-curdling hair raising scream! One would think, oh dear is it reflux, gas, a hair around a digit. The investigation is cut short since he quickly returns to a peaceful rest with a contented smile as soon as he is picked up. Is our little guy already getting spoiled?



So serious!


I like to furrow my brow!


Oh sister you always make me laugh


I'm not going to smile!


Keep trying.. But I'm not going to do it!


Ok.. It's coming!


Well there it is.. You made me laugh!


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Merry Christmas & to all a goodnight!

We hope everyone had a wonderfully relaxing and blessed Christmas! After much contemplation, Claire finally agreed that it would be ok if Santa came to our house to deliver her presents.

Mommy: Claire, tonight Santa is coming to visit
Claire: no, I don't want Santa to come.
Mommy: really... But what of he brings you presents?
Claire: (quiet thought)... Only if he brings me presents... But if he doesn't bring presents then he can't come!

We almost had a white Christmas. Well.. As white as it will get in Austin. It snowed Christmas eve. Second time to get some flakes in December... What is going on?

We enjoyed being at our own home on Christmas Day for the first time in our marriage. Mark's parents, Grandmother & Lonzo, visited us at our house. Heather's parents, Geegy & Papa G, were able to be with Hilary (Heather's sister) and her husband, Jay for the holidays.

The kids were very happy with their presents. Rhys gave us the gift of sleep Christmas eve by sleeping 7 hours straight.

We hope that each of your holidays were blessed with the gift of family and rest as well.



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Rhys is 1 month old

Our little boy is 1 month old! I can't believe how fast the time is flying! He is such a good little boy. Claire is so helpful with him.

Rhys is giving us more and more wide-open grins with each passing day. It is so precious. It is looking like his hair is getting some reddish tones... Where did that come from? His Geegy did have red hair as a child though.





What a grown-up little man!





Our little Santa. Thanks Kelly for the cute picture idea to celebrate each month. Poor guy was getting quite tired of pictures at this point.





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Happy Birthday daddy!

Mark's birthday was Thursday, Dec 3rd. Lucky him, all he wanted was a "white birthday". He got a few flakes so he got his wish. We enjoyed getting to visit with the local family members over real Mexican food. (so yummy to be back in Texas). Friday, Dec 4th, Claire had her first tap recital. She was adorable dressed as a little jingle bell. Her class was supposed to perform at the outdoor tree lighting ceremony. However, with anticipation of freezing weather and sleet or snow around the time of the performance, it was moved indoor. We were delighted that Geegy & Papa could join us with a special appearance of Claire & Rhys' great-grandfather, Big Daddy. I will have to post some pics from claire's recital later.


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Thanksgiving

Rhys had his first road trip over the thanksgiving holidays. He did very well with the travelling & slept right through the driving. He enjoyed spending time with his grandmother & Lonzo & meeting his great grandma for the first time.

Claire and Rhys proudly supported the aggies during their strong fight against the horns. Claire was so excited when she realized she was wearing the same shirt as the boys on the field.

Rhys is growing so much. He has given us a couple of purposeful wide-mouthed grins over the last couple days. They are few and far between so haven't got them on camera yet.
Rhys is quite a noisy little guy.. grunts a lot.. apparently his father did this as well.

Rhys got to sport his own little pair of camp boots that matched daddy's "snake boots"













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Gig'em Aggies!

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Rhys -2 weeks old

Rhys had his 2 week appt today. He weighed in at a healthy 8 lbs, 8 oz. He did well with his appt and even the heelstick for the last part of his newborn screening.

So who do you think he looks like? ;)





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Our Rhys

Rhys is 2 weeks old tomorrow! I am reminded again how fast time flies! He is a pretty good baby thus far. A little awake time during the day and usually 4 hour spurts at night (although his gassiness has kept him up a little more these last two nights... Poor guy!). He loves to snuggle! He has beady little eyes that are quite curious and look all around and he often puckers his lips as he does this. Posted below is a pic of him right after he's born ( which looks a lot like his sister) and of his big hands next to his little feet.

Big sister, Claire is with her grandparents on the ranch. Will post pics of the two of them once they're back together. She is doing very well with him so far and is quite proud of her big sister role!








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The Nursery

Here's Rhys' nursery. Almost finished just missing his matching crochet blankie that mommy is making and the crochet rag rug that is about half done as well. I have a nasty habit of starting projects and not finishing them. Notice the monkey theme.











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Our Rhys is here

Rhys Hutcheson Hammonds arrived 11-11-09 at 3:53pm
Weighed 8lb and measured at 19.5 in (although he's already measuring at 20.5 in)

He has blonde hair right now and sweet little ( um I mean manly) features.

We are all doing well and are thankful for a healthy bundle of joy! Please visit our shutterfly site for more pictures on his birth. www.hammondsphamily.shutterfly.com
The password is: claire

Thanks to everyone for the prayers, well wishes and support!





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Rhys Monkey

So fresh and so clean. 2nd bath from home. Can't wait until his umbilical stump falls off. Claire is quite intrigued with it but not totally grossed out as she got the 411 on the thingies on the belly button that fall off from her older cousin, Sierra when she was on her way to the hospital to meet her brother.

Claire is very helpful with her baby brother and truly adores him and gives him kisses and hugs all the time. It should be fun to see them grow.


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Pig-free

We got our flu shots and were so brave!