Congratulations!

My sister-in-law got engaged this week! Congratulations Blair and Stephen!! Looking forward to a beautiful wedding.

Nursery Pics

I've been meaning to put up pictures of Griff's nursery for quite a while. So here you go....

I bought this glider from Wal-Mart, of all places. Great price and soooo comfy! Of course, we had to have some animal heads on the wall, just like Daddy :)

Elephant pictures I painted to match the nursery.

I also got a little crafty and knitted a blanket to match the bedding.

Ryan's mom made this adorable name hanger with extra bedding fabric!

How is that possible??

Yesterday was one of those days in Mommyland when I found myself asking, "How is it even possible for one little boy to produce so much ickiness?" As a first time mom, I knew there would be the occasional need for a wardrobe change with the little guy. Sure, fine, no problem. But yesterday was unprecedented. We went through not two, not three, but FOUR outfits before the day was done, not including the pajamas he woke up in and the other pajamas he went to sleep in (yes, we are the parents who only let their child wear pajamas one time before being washed).

The first casualty of the day was a onesie, lost to a major spit-up incident around 11:30 a.m. Then my mom dropped by for a quick visit, and while she was giving Griff his 3:30 p.m. bottle, he had a poop explosion....sorry GiGi! That must be a sign of love, because he did the same thing to Ryan's mom a few weeks ago. So there went outfit #2. By the way, I don't know how you people who are into the cloth diaper thing do it - but kudos to you for being willing to clean that stuff up all the time :)

Then during a short nap around 5:00 p.m., outfit #3 went down to magical, gravity-defying pee. So, by the time Ryan got home from work, we were on clothing choice #4 (which luckily survived until bedtime). We do have lots of cute clothes in Griff's closet, but really, do we have to wear ALL of them in one day?!

3 Months Old

Griffin is three months old today! It's amazing how much he's changed already, and I just love seeing how he's developing every day. At this point, he's sleeping all night, starting to enjoy tummy time (finally!), rolling over from belly to back, smiling all the time, babbling up a storm, and presiding as the current King of Bubbletown. He's also decided to grow a whole new head of hair (looks blonde so far) and is sporting an interesting half-bald look these days.

Needless to say, we're having a blast with our Little Man...hard to remember what life was like before him! Griff - you're the best part of our lives....we can't believe how fast you're growing up!!

Father's Day/Mother's Day Recap

Father's Day:

We had a great Father's Day at our house, celebrating Ryan and what a wonderful father he is already. We started early with breakfast in bed for Daddy and the "sentimental" gift Griffin and Momma made. We picked up a kit to make an imprint of Little Man's hands...seemed like a fun way to commemorate Ryan's first Father's Day. It may look simple, but let me tell you, it is no easy task to get a 2-month-old to uncurl his fists on command. But I was very happy with the results, and Ryan seemed to really like it.

Then Ryan spent the rest of the morning smoking a pork shoulder I'd picked up for him at the Lewisville Meat Market. Delish!! That guy LOVES to cook with his smoker....and we love eating everything he makes! The rest of the day Ryan had full control of the remote and got to do whatever he wanted....which pretty much consisted of watching World Cup games, surfing the internet, and hanging out with us. He's pretty easy to please :) Our "fun" gift for Dad was the new iPhone 4 (which isn't actually available yet, but it's been pre-ordered). I have a feeling I'm going to want my own once it gets here!

Finally, we went out to dinner, but soon realized that we're probably past Griffin's sleep-anywhere days. The poor little guy was exhausted and ready for bed half way through the salads. Oh well....it was fun while it lasted :)

I love you honey. You've always been a wonderful friend and husband to me, and I love getting to see you step into this new role as dad. I can only hope that our little guy grows up to be just like his daddy.

Mother's Day:

While I was writing this post, I realized that I never wrote about Mother's Day, so here's a brief recap. First, I was spoiled with donuts and coffee that morning, and then I was surprised when I walked into Griffin's nursery to see a little note and gift from him and Daddy. My sweet boys! They had commissioned the creation of a beautiful necklace featuring Griffin's birthstone for me. I just LOVE it!!

Then we got to spend the afternoon celebrating all the moms in our lives. It's been our tradition to invite both of our moms and families to our house for a Mother's Day luncheon, and this year was no different...except that I was suddenly one of the "moms" this time. So fun! We made it a pot luck this year, so I wouldn't have to cook all morning, and the entire lunch was delicious. I love getting our families together. And I'm truly honored to have two great moms to learn from as I begin this exciting/challenging journey of motherhood.

Griff, I know I won't always get it right, but with the Lord's help, I'll grow to be the mom you need and deserve. You're a beautiful reminder of God's love for each of His children, and I'll do my best to echo that love to you each day. I'll love you forever and always.

Ready for my close-up

Our amazing photographer at Studio ThreeSixteen Photography just put these pictures up on Facebook. Even though they're already a little outdated (G-money was 11 days old in the pictures and now he's 11 WEEKS old!!), I just had to put them up here. I know I'm biased, but I think he's just the CUTEST kid ever :) Thank you Amber (and thanks Aunt Heather for giving us the baby photo package!)

I was about 8 months pregnant in the photo below, but it feels like just yesterday. Griff, if you're ever reading this, I hope you know that we love you immensely son...you've brought unspeakable joy and love into our lives.

Silent Nights

Praise the Lord! Griffin has been sleeping through the night for the last two weeks and I'm thrilled!! There were days I thought this point might never come....even though I realize sleeping all night at 9 weeks is great for a new baby, those weeks of minimal sleep for Momma sometimes felt like forever! I'm so grateful for a healthy, well-rested little man.

Of course, now our dog Dixie has decided to start waking up in the middle of the night for a water break or bathroom run....but at least she's a little easier to deal with. One down, one to go!