Spring Break Part 2

I’m so very sad that my Spring Break is over…
Wednesday
Griffin and I traveled to Conway to pick up a table from Marvel’s Second Time Around. This was the first table I picked up this week for my master bedroom make-over. The redo is going to take awhile because Brandon and I are back on a pretty tight budget. After we found out we were pregnant, we got away from the envelope system. However, we are back on track now! In fact, we mapped out the next six years…. where we want to be, goals and such. It was wonderful to sit down with Brandon, figure out a debt repayment plan, and dream big for our future. This can be a whole post on it’s own, so I’ll save that for later. Back to Conway, after I picked up the table, we went to Old Navy to return a skirt I bought online, then we were off to Target. A Conway trip is not complete unless I go to Target! We ate a bite there and did a little bit of looking around. I bought a pair of nude flats that I have been wanting for a long time.
Thursday
It was cold and dreary. Griffin and I just stayed inside, did some cleaning and some laundry. I should have graded some papers, but I didn’t. It was great! Wednesday and Thursday I ran. But again, that’s another post! I’m training for a 5K! I know that’s not a lot, but for me, running 3.1 miles is huge. I’ve never been a runner, and quite frankly, I really don’t like running. But I’m trying!
Friday
Griffin and I ran a few errands, but mainly had another relaxing day at home.
Saturday
I ran again. Amazing I know. ha! Brandon, Griffin, and I ran back to Conway to pick up another table for the sweetest lady ever. We had a delicious lunch at Chilis. We tried to go look for Brandon’s Easter shirt and tie, but Griffin was exhausted, so we just went home. It’s hard to travel and do things out of the norm with a baby that needs a naptime!
Sunday
We went to church this morning. Our preacher spoke a wonderful word on this Palm Sunday. Tonight, they had a prayer meeting for the Passion Play. This is by far the craziest week of the year for Brandon. We have performances on Monday, Wednesday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. Yikes! I’m still trying to decide what to do with my sweet baby boy.
Tomorrow is Monday. Back to the daily grind. Thankfully there are only a few more weeks left of this school year! I’m ready to spend the entire summer with my little boy!

This is where we are...

Spring Break Part 1

I don’t think I’ve looked forward to a Spring Break more than this one. I needed some down time SO bad. Spending an entire week with Griffin… Well that is just heaven! He is so entertaining and fun to be around.
Thursday
So I know Thursday wasn’t really Spring Break, but we had an awesome parent night this night! My students wrote their first five paragraph essay complete with subheadings, photographs, and a bibliography. Then they completed their planet research by building models and/or making posters. We set our classroom up like a “Solar System Museum” complete with a big sun in the middle. The students stood behind their projects “asleep” and they woke up to tell about their planet when a parent pushed their button (which happened to be an interlocking cube). It was an easy and successful parent night. I will do it again next year since I’ll be in third grade again. Everyone LOVED it!
Friday
In fourth grade, we had a district wide track meet. In third grade, we have a district wide kickball game. WOW. I miss the track meet. The kickball game was fun, but eh…. track meet is where it’s at.

Saturday
Griffin got his first haircut! I was so surprised how much it changed his looks. He seriously looked like a different child.
Before:

After:
He’s a little boy now. My baby is gone.

Jason’s sweet girlfriend, Felicia, cut it. He absolutely hated the chair. We tried to get him to sit in it by himself, but there was no way. I had to sit in it and hold him. There was hair everywhere! The sucker afterwards was his favorite though.
Sunday
Sunday was low key. We just went to church. Can I just say I love our church! It’s the best. We’re gearing up for the Passion Play again.

Monday
Griffin and I had a lunch date at Chick Fil A. Can I just say again… I love, love, love my son!

He ate his little chicken nuggets and flirted with anyone and everyone that flashed him a grin. We had to go get groceries afterwards. I made spaghetti squash alfredo that night. It was… eh… ok. The spaghetti squash looks just like noodles, but the texture is way off. Bran and I ended up eating cereal for dinner.
Tuesday
Let’s just say…. I’m still in my pajamas! haha! Today has been great. I wanted to head up to Omaha to store some of Griffin’s things at my parent’s house, but sickness is still rampant up there, so we stayed home. I did a few loads of laundry, and cooked another new dinner. It was absolutely delicious. I made buffalo chicken and potato casserole. Bran gave me permission to make it again. lol My Easter dress came in that I ordered from Old Navy. I have my Easter outfit and Griffin’s, so now I just have to find Daddy something to wear.

Griffin has started to put on Bran’s hat and wears it around the house. It is way to big of course, so he ends up running into everything.

I gave him an entire box of Kleenexes today. He LOVED pulling them out one by one. He made a huge mess.

Here he is with his new sippy cup eating some animal crackers. Oh, by the way, he’s completely weaned from the bottle now. I knew I just had to find the right cup! Once I did, it has not been a problem whatsoever. He hasn’t had a bottle in over a day, and is drinking just as much milk if not more! I went and bought him two more cups at Wal-Mart.










Griffin has been so giggly. He is testing his boundaries for sure. I can just look at him when he is inching towards something he knows he cannot touch, and busts out laughing. Seriously, one look and he is grinning and giggling. It’s the cutest thing.
He also loves to be chased. He will run and squeal if you even act like you’re coming for him.
He’s learning so much so fast. He stands on the tips of his toes and goes around the end of the hallway trying to open each and every door. He hates to be left alone in a room. He will play by himself just fine, but he doesn’t want to be the only one in the room. He likes when someone watches him play. His newest thing is putting on him sunglasses, taking them off, and saying “boo.” It comes out with a very thick, country accent. So cute.

He’s also walking more. He made almost all the way across the living room today.
So basically, he’s weaned, he’s walking, and he’s the cutest thing alive. The end.

And I wish I could stay with him all the time! The end. For real.

Griffin and Daddy

Look what they left me! Love those two more than I can express!

Weaning

When Griffin was 11.5  months old, it was time to wean him off his formula to whole milk. I shuddered just thinking about it. The week spent transitioning him from breast milk to formula was AWFUL! But he did it and survived, so I knew that we could make it through this transition as well.
The switch actually wasn’t too terrible. We quickly figured out that he wanted his milk at least room temp and not freezing cold. After we started nuking his six ounce bottles for about 20 seconds, all was well.
Now, I am facing the weaning battle. I’ve tried this for a few weeks now, but lacked consistency which is a prescription for failure. Now that I’m on Spring Break though, I am confident that I will prevail! haha!
I’ve come to find out that finding the right sippy cup is essential for getting rid of Griffin’s beloved bottle. We have tried no less than eight different cups to no avail. But yesterday, God was directing me to TJ Maxx where I found THE cup!

Behold! The Munchkin Straw Cup!
Words cannot begin to describe how much G and I love this cup!!! First, I paid only $8 for three, adorable cups. Second, it’s super easy to clean and assemble. That’s a huge plus! And finally, Griffin loves drinking out of it. He doesn’t have to suck so hard to get his milk to come out, and it doesn’t leak. That is an amazing sippy cup! I’ll let you know at the end of my week how the weaning is going. I have high hopes.

Monthly Videos

First Birthday Party! Russellville Edition

WOW! This past few months have been so crazy busy. But I’m on Spring Break now, so let the catching up begin!
Griffin’s party in Russellville was on his actual birthday! It was at 5pm on Sunday night. It was so wonderful to see all of Brandon’s family and a few of our close friends come together to celebrate Griffin’s first birthday.

We used the same décor. No way I was decorating two different ways! Ain’t nobody got time for that!!


Daddy got to help G open presents this time. Griffin was much more interested than he was in Omaha. I was SO happy because all he got were clothes and a few books! He basically received his entire summer wardrobe that night. woohoo!

Love these girls! I was super excited to see Amber!

Nannie and Papa bought a plain, white cake since we discovered he was allergic to his monster cake. :/ He LOVED the singing!

He did not love the cake though. He did not want to touch it at all.

Griffin and his buddy Ethan. Love love love these two boys!

Some of my co-workers and greatest friends!

And final attempts at trying to get a decent family photo. Let’s just say we were ALL ready to go to bed. It was an exhausting weekend!

First Birthday Party! Omaha Edition

I still can’t believe my sweet little boy is one!
We had his party on the 23rd in Omaha. It was a beautiful Saturday afternoon. My AMAZING mom put so much work in to making his birthday so special. We started the party at noon due to Griffin’s naptime at 2ish. However, he was still incredibly cranky.

Aren’t these monsters SO cute?? I made them using the mini monster cricut cartridge.
So anyways, the theme was monsters obviously.

My mom made delicious sandwiches and vegetable beef soup for lunch. She also made brownies for dessert.

I made all the decorations. The cricut made is super easy. I loved how the table turned out too! It was just a simple plastic table cloth with a roll of wrapping paper on top. The cake shop in Harrison made his cake, and I LOVED how it turned out. It was adorable. Only bad thing about the cake… Griffin had some sort of allergic reaction to the dye in the cake. He broke out in a rash on his face, back, and stomach. Aunt Shonna said his tongue looked swollen as well. :/ After some Benadryl, all was well and he took a great nap!
So basically, that’s the layout. Now to all the fun pictures!

What a fun day! After everyone ate lunch, Griffin and I sat down to open presents. Well… he could have cared less! he wanted to nothing else but play on Nana’s stairs. Luckily, Drew and Emmalyn were there to open all of the gifts! ha! They were pros. Griffin got some money and some toys. I am going to open a savings account for him soon. His favorite gift by far was his Cozy Coupe from Nana and Papa. He loved it from the beginning and has loved it ever since!

Seriously! I have the sweetest little one year old EVA!