Leather Jackets

This is my new favorite picture of Boo. Melba took it a few days ago.

Boo Plays Chicken

Melba was sick and went to bed as soon as I got home. So I taught Boo how to play chicken. Phoebe didn't have as much fun as Boo and I did.

Boo's Walking!!

Boo has been taking 2-3 steps here and there for a few days now, but today he took a bunch! We officially declared it as the day he started walking. Wow! Watch out world...

Boo also has a new favorite game, called "King of the Couch." He gets up on the couch and throws all of the cushions off. He really gets into it! He's breathing hard and grunting and usually has rosy cheeks by the time he's done. If one of us is sitting on the couch, he'll throw us off too. He'll get behind us and push as hard as he can until we roll onto the floor. It's pretty funny how determined he is. When I told my Mom how stubborn he is, she reminded me that when my sister Eliza was a toddler, she was playing with a ball that rolled under a car, so she tried to push the car out of the way. Go Wyse! Once Boo has all the cushions off the couch, he rolls or head dives onto them. It's all fun and games until he head dives where there are no cushions...

Boo's First Birthday

Weekend Getaway and Other Crazy Adventures with Boo

Grandma Dewey to the Rescue

Yes, your Honor. I understand that I am the lamest blogger in the history of blogging and that I am a serious letdown to my son's fans.

I started teaching again, just one class, but WHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOSH! Suddenly life is in fast forward! Boo's sleeping less and requiring more supervision when he's awake so every moment I have for myself is spent prepping for class.

But, once again, Sammie's mom saves the day with her superstar blogging skills. Here are some pictures she posted of Boo. Enjoy! More from me soon... I hope.

Boo and Food

Boo is feeding himself! This is his first self feeding and he's obviously VERY proud of himself! He's also made a huge mess of himself.

This is the 2nd feeding, later that day, with daddy supervising. Notice the change of clothes. Yep, we go through lots of outfits these days. And a bath every night.

I made the mistake of setting a bowl of something in front of Boo and thinking he would actually grab the spoon and feed himself. Hah! This is where the bowl ended up.

Boo tries to clean up my leftovers at Chipotle. We're teaching him early. In this family, he'll eat at Chipotle a lot!

I've wised up a little with feeding. He's really good at finger foods--cheerios, pieces of bread and fruit, etc. If I want to feed him mush, I keep the bowl WELL away from him and operate the spoon myself.

Boo LOVES fruit! Bananas, strawberries, peaches, apples, and watermelon, especially. In fact, he loves watermelon so much that he'll stuff it in his mouth faster than he can swallow it.

This day, he had so much watermelon stuffed in his mouth that it totally changed the shape of his face. And he stores the watermelon in those cheeks indefinitely. Often after I've cleaned him off and am bathing him or changing him, random pieces of watermelon will drop out of his mouth. He's very... very... silly.

Officially a Family

You Bradley fans have been very patient with my lack of posting and your patience is soon to be rewarded. We've had a busy month, but that means lots of blogging to show what we've been doing!

So here goes.

On Thur. July 29, we finalized the adoption and were sealed to Brad! In the morning we went to the Williamson County Courthouse in Georgetown, Texas. We ended up being the first case of the day. The judge sat down at the bench and said, "We're going to start this day off right with an adoption!" Sammie and I stood in front of him and gave testimony that everything thus far had been done legally and according to correct procedures. We also testified that we loved him and that we understand the adoption was forever and that we would always do our best to take care of him. Sammie was tearful during his testimony. I held up okay until I walked out of the courtroom, then I cried hard. The judge pronounced the adoption final and the baby's official name (they hadn't referred to him by name yet) as Bradley Samuel Markham. The whole courtroom cheered!

The judge, our amazingly wonderfully awesome lawyer, and the happy family!

In front of the courthouse with Mom and Jennie Boyer

We went home to put the now-officially-named-Brad to bed. Sammie realized on the way home that we wouldn't make it to San Antonio that evening on our tires so he went to Sears and got new tires. We dropped the "A" word ("we have be in San Antonio this evening because we Adopted our son today...") and got some pretty quick service.
Mom and Dad Markham, plus Sammie's brothers Dave and Jeff and sister-in-law Carolyn met us in San Antonio. My brother Joe was also there. He flew in with Mom and Jennie the day before, but wasn't at the courthouse. The sealing ceremony in the San Antonio temple went quickly. Boo was perfect--he even had the hiccups! I barely had time to soak it all in and focus on what was happening. Afterwards, we took some pictures outside.