Our July in I Phone Pictures

Mr. Bo and I don't currently own a good camera for taking pictures, therefore most of our photos are taken using our phones. Thanks to a little thing called Photo Stream, I have easy access to these pictures, and can easily upload them to my blog or Facebook. We've done a lot this past month, but at no point have I really felt like sitting down and typing out individual posts for each event. Thanks to my good friend over at Our Fishy Family, I got the idea to use some of our random I Phones pics from throughout the month to give you a quick snap-shot list of our July. 

A few weeks ago Mr. Bo and I went with some friends to see The Dave Matthews Band for the fourth time in the six years we have been together. We definitely broke the bank paying for the tickets, but it was well worth it... 

He opened with "Don't Drink the Water"

The official set list

 This was the first time Mr. Bo and I had both been away over night, leaving BB at home. My mom stayed with him at our house, and I think they had a pretty good time...

He loves his CC

We missed him, so we sent my mom this picture to show BB at bed time

 Later that week I ran my first 5K..

Mr. Bo did not run, but he joined in on the festivites

There were DJ's and dancers along the way, and at the start/finish line

Starting line

The race was two hours away in the town where Mr.Bo's sister lives. Since it was at night, we left BB for the second time over night, this time with Mr. Bo's parents...

Playing with Grandpa

It has been so hot outside lately. There were a few days last week when the temperature dropped just enough that we were able to take advantage and enjoy the "cool" weather...

Can you sense the excitement?

Gettin' outdoors-y

Must be bed time!

This past weekend we took another two hour trip (this time with BB) to visit my aunt. We relaxed, ate yummy food, and played in the pool...

Lovin' on aunt Car-num

Playing by the pool

Me, catching up on an old hobby; doing nothing!

We also got to visit some friends who live not too far from my aunt, and who have a one-year-old...

New friends

On Sunday morning we hurried back home for a birthday lunch at my grandma's house for my dad. We got to spend time with family, including my sister.

Chillin' with Aunt K

July was a busy month, and August is gearing up to be the same way! Get excited folks!

A Little Bo History

You can admit, it's ok....It is a little bit annoying that I always use the name "Bo" when referring to my family members in each and every entry. Believe me, I am aware. There is however meaning behind it, so I have decided to give you all a quick history lesson in hopes that you can better understand the true significance of the name.
Mr. Bo has always had a somewhat difficult last name to pronounce. It was back when he was 12 and playing for a little league all-star team that a game announcer mispronounced the first syllable of his last name as "bo" instead of the correct pronunciation of "bow" (like a dog says "bow-wow!") While I am not going to tell you what our actual last name is, I will tell you that this mispronunciation for some reason stuck, and from that point on his friends began referring to him simply as "Bo." The name followed Mr. Bo the rest of the way through junior high, high school, into college, and then into his first job after graduation. It was at this point that I met him, and I, just like so many others to meet him post-HS, never knew that "Bo" wasn't his real name. Now as a 30 something adult he has two groups of friends...those who met him in his" HS through immediately after college" days and still call him "Bo", and those people who he has met in more recent years and who are probably completely unaware that he even has a nick-name. Well I get a kick out of the name, and since we now share the same last name, I feel that makes me an honorary Bo.
When trying to decide on a name for my blog, I happened to remember the old song "Mr. Bojangles" by the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band and decided to run with it. Since this is a public blog (meaning anyone and everyone all over the world has access to read it), in order to "protect the innocent" I never use any of our real names (nor do I mention too many specific locations, towns, etc. when writing about our lives), and therefore refer to each member of the family as a respective "Bo." 


...Aaaaannd mystery solved. Any more question? :)

Volg Week: Day 5

My week of vlogs didn't quite work out the way I had planned. I wanted to post more videos than I actually had an opportunity to, and the ones I did have an opportunity to upload took a very long time to do so. I was also informed that Mac users were sometimes unable to view the videos. Then I began noticing that I was getting an unusually large amount of hits on my original vlog week post, and that I was not getting many on the subsequent entries. At first I thought maybe there really just weren't that many people interested in seeing my videos, but I still thought it was strange so many people kept linking to the original post (I am not able to see who specifically is reading my blog, but I am able to see how may hits each entry gets, and when). Then I thought of something: Maybe some of you are unsure how to read each new post without simply clicking the link on my Facebook page. If you are clicking the links I post on Facebook, you will only be directed to that specific post, and no other entry's will be visible on that page. However, I do have a blog archive located on the right side of my blog. The archive allows you to link to other posts throughout my blog, and dates all the way back to when I first started writing, over a year and a half ago! The easiest way to read my latest posts without having to link through Facebook is just to simply type the blog's web address, www.mallorybojangles.blogspot.com  into your address bar. This will give you a list view of each entry in the order they were written, and you will also still have access to the archive at the right of the screen.
All of that being said, this last video of my grandpa entertaining BB with a teddy bear will conclude my week of vlogs. I'm also going to tack on a few pictures just for fun. :)

With his friend Emily at the disc golf course

Happy!

Listening to music at the park

My two favorite people

Vlog Week Day 4

While we try to keep BB from grabbing at or trying to play with our dog Bosley, we have no reservations about letting him play with Dinah. As I have mentioned in the past, and you may have noticed in previously posted pictures, Dinah is almost always wherever I am. This means that if I am on the floor playing with BB, so is she. The two have become fast friends...

...or maybe frienemies? 

I probably should have warned you about Mr. Bo's creepy duck feet making an appearance in this video. I apologize for any mental anguish that it may have caused. Over the years I have learned to look past them and love him anyway...from the ankles up. 

Vlog Week: Day 3

BB almost always wakes up happy. A little over a week ago Mr. Bo took this video when we went to get BB up from an afternoon nap.

Vlog Week: Day 2

In my eight month update I mentioned how much BB loves his walker. These two sweet vids' were taken a couple weeks ago when he was just starting to get good. His driving has improved greatly since, but these make me laugh. Enjoy!

(I apologize for the next video as it was taken with my phone from which all videos upload sideways)...

Perhaps a more appropriate title for this entry would have been "If These Walls Could Talk, They Would Say 'Ouch!'"

Vlog Week

Like most new parents, Mr. Bo and I take an excessive amount of pictures and videos of our baby. Everything he does seems to warrant some sort of preservation. I know I have lots of friends and family who would enjoy seeing some of our videos (I am also aware that there are plenty of people who couldn't care less). For this reason I have decided that this week I will be posting a series of vlogs, or video blogs, featuring BB. Technically I guess they won't actually count as "vlogs" in the traditional sense of the word where, instead of me rambling on in front of a camera and posting that, I will simply be sharing some of our favorite BB home videos. That being said, I know I have quite a few readers who aren't subscribers, but who link to my blog through Facebook. This week, in an effort to keep from clogging people's Newsfeeds with my post links, I will only be linking this post to my wall. If you are not a subscriber but are interested in seeing some super cute videos of my awesome kid, be sure to check back throughout the week for updates.

For my first vlog, I will be sharing a short video that was taken last week. You may recall in my last post that I mentioned how BB likes to give kisses. Mr. Bo took this video on the first night he started doing this. I was on my way to take him upstairs to get ready for bed and this is what happened...

....It's all fun and games until someone spits up in their mouth. 

I may have forgotten to mention that this was also one of my notorious "no shower" days. Therefore, yes, it was 8 o'clock and night, and yes, I was still in my pajamas, and from the looks of it was still rockin' bed-head from that morning.

I have no shame.

The Adventures of Baby Bo: 8 Months

Friday BB turned eight months old. Usually I am struggling with these monthly posts trying to think of new and interesting things to write that are different than the month before, but not this month! He has changed a lot over the past month!

I'll start with the biggest change: BB is crawling! Well, army crawling anyway. While it may not seem to be very efficient, dragging himself across the floor like a slithering snake is all it takes for BB to get exactly where he wants to go fast.  Literally within a week he went from wallering around on the floor, not being  able to get around without help, to becoming a completely independent mover. We have seen him get up on his knees a few times but he hasn't quite seemed to figure out how to become mobile that way. Also, he is able to get from sitting to down own his tummy on his own, but cannot yet get from his tummy back to sitting on his own. However, if he finds himself next to a piece of furniture (or maybe somebody's leg), he will try very hard to pull himself up. We have also seen him pull himself from sitting to standing a few times now. The funniest thing we see him do though, is  when he is sitting in his little pool in the back yard. He loves leaning over the edge of the pool and pulling at grass, and somehow he is able to lean over the edge and push his butt up in the air with his feet, in to full bear crawl position. Did I mention he is usually naked while in his pool? Hilarious. 

BB also has two teeth now! The first one started to pop through not long after he turned 7 months, and the second one started poking through about a week later. Both bottom front teeth have completley broken through now, and we were surprised to find that BB never seemed to notice. I was preparing myself for some miserable days and sleepless nights, but so far so good. I'm not getting my hopes up that this is how it will be for every tooth, but I'm glad the first two have gone so smoothly. 

I know using walkers these days is a bit taboo, but in all honesty, getting a walker was one of the best purchases we have made. BB loves walking around, and some of our favorite videos as of late are of him in it. We don't use it upstairs so there is no risk of taking a tumble, and while not convenient for us, we pretty much just follow him around the house while he is in it to make sure he isn't getting into anything he shouldn't. It is for this reason that I find it a little silly that walkers are so controversial; If you are keeping an eye on your baby, there shouldn't be a  problem. You have to watch them when they start crawling and walking on their own anyway, right? I know some old school walkers had a tendency to tip over, but the base of ours is much too wide for that to happen. ANYWAY, my point is BB loves his walker, and so do we. Side note: I think any baby who figures out how to make a three point turn in a walker must be some sort of a genius. Oh, by the way, BB can make a three point turn in his walker. 

He can also give kisses. Yes, that's right, my baby gives kisses! I love BB kisses. Especially when they are initiated by him, which usually involves him grabbing my face and pulling me in for a big, open mouthed, slobbery kiss. But don't try to make him give you a kiss if he doesn't want to, because he will physically push your face away, usually leaving a nice big scratch on your cornea in the process. I love how interactive (and flirty!) he is becoming. He is growing into such a little man. 

Mr. Bo, BB, and I have all had a lot of fun together this summer. We had a great fourth of July, and even though we missed the big fireworks downtown this year (due to it being well passed BB's bed time) we were able to enjoy a lot of the family friendly activities downtown during the day. BB loved all the live music, and people watching. We go swimming, spend time with family and friends, and try to keep a nice balance between staying busy and just relaxing while neither of us are working. It has been such a blessing to be able to spend so much time together as a family this summer. I am less than anxious for Mr. Bo and I to return to work in the fall. 

Best Buds

Fun with flags @ a church picnic

July 4th festivities

Hanging out with his friend Reese

Swimming!

They love each other
(Don't worry, they don't sleep together)