13 Months and Easter

March 24: Griffin turned 13 months!

So what is he up to these days?

He is still such a good baby. I feel more like a parent though these days. I have started disciplining him when needed. He recently decided to start biting me. He hasn’t shown interest in biting anyone else but me, which is a good thing I guess. I’m to blame… I play like I’m biting him when playing. He thinks it’s hilarious. Now I’m reaping the repercussions. I spank his bottom and tell him no very firmly. It hurts his feelings and just bawls. He’s pitiful.

He’s also been more clingy to us when we’re around new people. He used to go to anyone anytime. Now he is starting to act more shy. Thankfully he warms up to people very quickly and won’t cry if they just snatch him up!

He is a picky eater. He LOVES carbs!! He will eat bread all day long if I let him. Vegetables are not his favorite. However, he loves pineapple, strawberries, and bananas. Grilled cheese sandwiches, turkey sandwiches, chicken nuggets, applesauce, sweet potatoes, popsicles, puree vegetable pouches, and waffles are on his favorite foods list as well. He is drinking from his sippy like a champ still. He is probably drinking way too much milk because he loves his cup so much! It holds 9 oz, and he drinks between 3-4 cups a day.

When G wants down from his high chair, we make him say “down please.” He doesn’t say it correctly, however, he gets pretty close! We know what he means. He also says, “What is that” all the time as well as “belly button.”

He squeals when he gets tickled!

I just LOVE this kid sooooo much. I know he is going to keep me on my toes for the next several years.

This is the end of his laughing fit. He did this for like 5 minutes straight. It looks like a temper tantrum, but he was giggling.

Griffin goes to bed between 7-8 each night, and wakes up between 6-7 in the morning. He takes two naps. His first nap is from 9-10:30 and his afternoon nap is from 1-when he wakes up…. usually around 2:30-3. He drinks a glass of milk when he gets up, eats breakfast at the babysitters at 8, lunch at noon, a snack around 3:30, dinner at five, and his final glass of milk before bed. He’s on a great schedule! I love knowing exactly what he needs when.

He can now climb up on the couch by himself. He is more steady now when he walks. Bath time is still his favorite. He plays in his cozy coupe allllll the time. If there is something that has buttons, he’s pushing them. Whether it’s the remote, iPad, phone, picture frame, cable box… it doesn’t matter. If there is a button, G is pushing it!

Griffin is absolutely precious! I’m not biased or anything….

On to Easter!

Navy and orange was the color scheme this year. I wish I would’ve gotten the front of Griffin’s shirt! It was monogrammed with a little chicken on his tie. Too cute!

The play was a tremendous success this year! We had four performances, plus a dress rehearsal, and over 200 people were saved!! God is soooo good! Brandon did an amazing job as usual portraying Jesus. I stand in awe of him this time of year. The stress from the play can be overwhelming at times, but we have an amazing church family that held us up in prayer, especially Brandon, and he always handles everything with so much class and grace. I so blessed to come home to such a great guy!

Griffin made it to two of the performances. Oh. my. word. He’s still a little young to be included. He was all over the place. In fact, he yelled “Dada” during on of Brandon’s monologues. Talk about embarrassing!

You can see that I don’t have many pictures these days. Videos are so much easier.

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!

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.

Valentine’s 2013

I LOVE my man!

Valentine’s Day 2013 was pretty good. Bran has never been very good at the whole “romancing” thing. In fact, I’ve yet to receive a birthday card, let alone a gift, in the eight years we have been together. :/
I still love him though. I just remind myself it’s not about the “stuff.” I went all out for his birthday this year, and now Griffin’s birthday has my attention, so I didn’t really have any plans or expect anything for V-day. However, Brandon made reservations for us to enjoy some WONDERFUL dessert at TheCakePlace. I had a brownie with ice cream drizzled in caramel and chocolate sauce. Brandon ordered Crème Brulee. Both were so delicious. I really, really need to stop eating that crap though. My baby weight is never going to go away at the rate I’m going! It’s been a year for goodness sakes!!

Thankful

I can't believe that it's already Thanksgiving! Time flies.

I have so much to be thankful for this year. I am healthy, my family is healthy, and this is the first year to spend the holidays with my precious baby boy. I have a job that pays the bills and a warm place to call home. My husband is so supportive and is a wonderful man of God. I have an amazing home church with spirit filled leaders. I'm so blessed and so grateful.

Eighth Month

I’m almost caught up!!



This month has been FULL of milestones!!
G is still in a size 3 diaper, but in 12 month clothes. Actually, there are some 18 month pjs he can wear. For example:

Name brand clothes always seem to run smaller.
I believe Griffin is around 21 pounds and 30ish inches. His 9 month check up is at the end of this month, so I’m excited to see his stats. I already know that he is a big guy!
Griffin has learned how to play peekaboo, blow air with his mouth, clap his hands, and today he started to cruise! Wow! I’m not ready for all of this!! He has been army crawling for a couple of months now, but he’s not up on all fours just yet. I’m just not ready for him to be cruising yet because that means he will probably be walking in a few months. He is already in to everything! He loves to play with wires. I hide them all, and he knows exactly where they are. I think he’s learning the meaning of “no” but he definitely doesn’t mind it yet!







I just die of the cuteness! My mom is getting to be an AMAZING photographer! I’m so grateful that she is catching all of the fun moments! For Griffin’s first Halloween, he dressed up as a lion! It was adorable. We didn’t go trick-or-treating though because we were at church. We did make a stop at Bran’s parents though. Maybe next year we will be able to go!

Griffin can pretty much go where ever he wants and gets into everything. This is how he uses his bouncer these days. I really need to pack it up with the rest of his baby things, but it’s nice to strap him in when we are trying to get ready in the morning. He will take his bottle while sitting there and watch Baby TV.
Griffin eats a container of baby food in the morning, afternoon, and sometimes two for dinner. He takes four to five 6 ounce bottles a day. We have started to give him more of our food. I can’t wait for the day I can stop buying baby food and formula!!
Personally, October has been much better! I’ve had a better attitude about my job and have learned how to juggle all of my different responsibilities. It’s not easy and there are a lot of things that don’t get done. But as long as Griffin is happy and taken care of and my husband feels loved and appreciated, then everything else will fall into place. My lesson plans are never written early. My house is never clean. There is always laundry to be done. But for now, that’s okay with me!
    
He’s my ray of sunshine!

Father’s Day, Project Life, and Carrots

Brandon and I have been enjoying our new normal with Griffin. Every time I think we’ve finally adjusted, something changes! Griffin is changing daily it seems. This week he has been transitioning to formula as well as solids. Oh. My. Word. I have never smelled anything more nasty than what my son passes in all three forms: solid, liquid, and gas!! GROSS! But anyways, Griffin had carrots for breakfast this morning. His face was hysterical. He wasn’t so sure about it. He ate about 1 1/2 Tbsp. I thought he did pretty good!



Pictures of babies eating baby food gross me out. I’m not sure why I’m posting these or even took them. Vomit.
Rewind two weeks…. Brandon celebrated his first Father’s Day! I loved Mother’s Day and soaked up every single second. Holidays are SO fun! Brandon however doesn’t really get into them. But since it was his first Father’s Day, Griffin and I had to make it memorable!

Brandon is now the new owner of a 42 inch flat screen! It’s so not cute right now. We need  to hang it on the wall and are in search of a new TV stand. In fact, we spent all day going to several different places in town trying to find one. It was exhausting.

Daddy’s mini-me

I’ve started scrapbooking again, but with a different approach. I love buying the cutesie paper and all the embellishments, but honesty, it was way expensive and I put way too much pressure on myself to make every single page cute and innovative. So as a result, I never did anything. Enter: Project Life. I stumbled across Project Life on Pinterest (where else of course?!?) and after some research, I ordered the kit from Amazon. It’s more of a glorified photo album, but itsn’t that what scrapbooking is anyways??

This is everything I ordered. Page Protectors, a binder, the Core Kit, and some matching paper. The page protectors have different sized slots for inserting pictures or journaling cards. So instead of spending an hour on a layout, I get one done in about 10 minutes or less. The entire album will be color-coordinated and will be a sort of yearbook for our family. I do one layout a week to document the events from that week. Since I started late in the year, I’ve had to backtrack a little, so a lot of pages have what I like to call “Flashbacks.” Becky HIggins, the creator, is coming out with a Baby edition later the year. I cannot wait to see it!!! I haven’t decided if I will backtrack and do one for Griffin, or wait for our next baby.

Here are the first two layouts in the album. I am in love with this product. Quick, easy, and to the point. Just the way I like it!

So behind!

I have so much to catch up on… my first Mother’s Day, Griffin’s dedication, my week back at work, and a first for baby G!
So first, three weeks ago was a very special day for me… my first Mother’s Day. I was SO excited to be able to celebrate this special holiday with my boys and family. The day before, Brandon gave me the best gift to date (besides Griffin of course)! Just to give some background, Bran does not have a stellar gift-giving track record. In fact, we’ve been together for seven years and I have yet to receive a birthday gift. Gah! But he pulled through and gave me something I’ve been wanting for awhile… an iPad!

As you can see, I’m way too “connected” these days!!
We drove up on Sunday to celebrate with my mom and her side of the family. She made a delicious lunch and strawberry pie for dessert. It was awesome. I hope I can be half the mom and woman that she is. My mom is truly the best!

Let’s see…. That week Griffin got his three month pictures taken by a sweet photographer here in town. He was so serious the entire time and would NOT smile, but she managed to get some cute pictures. My school celebrated their 25th year. Zach Hocker, the Razorback kicker, made an appearance since that was his former elementary school. He is our local celebrity! That Saturday, Griffin went to his first “friend’s” birthday party. Our youth pastor’s son celebrated his first birthday. It was outside and so HOT, so we couldn’t stay too long. Instead, we went to Shoe Carnival and Hibbetts. I got a new pair of sandals and some work out clothes, while Bran bought a new pair of Nike Shocks. Way too expensive if you ask me!!
Sunday, the 20th, was another special day for my family. Griffin was dedicated at church. Pastor Morris said many kind and inspiring words, and Griffin did wonderful on stage. He was tired and fussy right before we went up, so I thought he would have a melt down, but he was a champ.






The best Nana and Papa!
We were supposed to go to Bran’s parent’s house for lunch afterwards, but his grandpa got sick and had to go to the ER that morning. My parents ended up taking us out to eat at McAlisters. I love that place!!!
The next day was super sad… It was Griffin’s first day at the babysitters. I had 12 amazing weeks off with my baby, but I had to go back to work the last week of school. It is going to be so hard and exhausting being a working mom come August. Griffin has a wonderful babysitter. I feel so fortunate to have found her, but I’m still sad that I will miss so much. He went to the sitters Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, but I smuggled him in to school with me on Thursday and Friday. And thank goodness I did!!! Because on Friday (May 25), he rolled over for the first time!

He’s been working on this for at least a month! He finally made it all the way over. I’m so proud!
Wednesday, our fourth graders were promoted to fifth grade, so a lot of kids didn’t come back to school on Thursday and Friday. Promotion is always bittersweet. I will miss this group of kids so much. They were an awesome class! Next year, I will be in third and will loop with my class. That promotion will be extra hard after spending two years with those babies!
Last night, we went to the Gotcher’s house to celebrate the end of another successful school year. Griffin got a lot of extra loving. I feel so blessed to be surrounded by so many people that love him and are willing to help me with him. Being away from my mom and family can be hard, but having such a great support system eases the pain.
I am leaving out so many details over the past three weeks. So much has happened. I can write at least five different posts that I’ve crammed into this one. I must do better!! I’ll leave you with some pictures.

Even Griffin has his moments. Ha!

Funny story about my homemade Moby wrap.
I must remember to tell that later…

New picture wall

Just hanging out with Momma!

My Project Life kit came in! Must post about this too!

Just a few of my favorites.

3 month post coming up….