Super Post

Whew! September was super busy at the Fitzhugh household, so I apologize for the lack of updates. Since I fell so far behind, this is going to be a quick rundown of everything we've been up to the last few weeks.

First, Griff enjoyed his FIRST Baylor football game with Daddy. My boys headed to Waco on their own, where they met up with Abby, Zayde, Auntie B and future-Uncle Stephen. Of course, Aunt Heather and Uncle Blake were also there, so G got some quality cuddle time with them too. Since then we've all been to one more home game, and decided that Griffin must be our little good luck charm. Every game he's attended has been a win for the Bears...good thing we have season tickets!

We've also celebrated the birthdays of both Griffin's grandfathers and one of his aunts.....Happy Belated Birthday to Poppa, Zayde and Auntie B!!

Griffin had a chance to meet one of his great-grandfathers, PaPa, who came in town for the OU-Texas game last weekend. I don't really have any OU gear for G, so I dressed him in the only crimson-colored outfit I had....looks more like a farmer than a Sooner, but oh well.

Last but not least, Griffin, Mama, and Gigi hopped on a plane bound for sunny Florida for a wonderful visit with my former college roommate Paige and her family. Paige's parents were amazing hosts, treating us to delicious home-cooked meals and sweet fellowship. Paige is such a dear friend, and I cherish the time we're able to spend together. I hate that she lives so far away, but it makes our visits that much more special.

I think Griffin's favorite part was watching Miss Finley (Paige's little girl) talk and run and twirl and just be the adorable, sweet, loving little girl she is. She was even willing to share all her toys with the Little Man. Too cute! Gigi was a HUGE help to me...even though Griff was great on the plane, it takes a lot of energy to entertain him (read let him jump constantly on your lap) in such a confined space, and I couldn't have done it without her. I think it also helped that we flew on Southwest, which made for a longer trip (stopping in San Antonio), but the flight attendants were helpful and since everyone gets to pick their own seat, we ended up with an empty seat next to us most of the time. Weird huh? I can't imagine why anyone wouldn't voluntarily sit next to a mom traveling with her six-month-old baby :)

5 Months Old

I'm a little late with this post, but as I always say....better late than never. On Tuesday Griffin turned 5 months old - and he shared his special day with his Abby, whose birthday is also August 31st - Happy Belated Birthday Abby!

Hmmm....what does this taste like?

Yummmmm....

I really can't believe how fast the Little Man is growing...and how much he's changed this past month. He's starting to sit up now and loves playing with all kinds of toys. He's trying all kinds of new foods, with varying amounts of success...so far, we've experimented with apples, bananas, avocado, carrots, green beans, sweet potatoes, peas and yellow squash. The favorites right now are apples and sweet potatoes.

Griffin's laughing alot now, still sleeping like a champ, grabbing anything he can get his hands on (earrings, hair, noses, lips), and taking a big interest in our dog Dixie (she hasn't returned his sentiments yet). He loves to play airplane, kicking his rubber duckies in the bathtub, growling, and blowing raspberries. And we've nicknamed him "The Wingman" because of the way he throws his arms back behind him like wings all the time.

And I have to brag on him a little bit...the church nursery workers have already been telling us that he's one of their favorites. I'm sure we're the only parents hearing that, right? :) It's such a privilege to be a parent and witness his growth and development. God's handiwork is truly miraculous!

Visit with Aunt Amy and Philip....Griff looks sad because Aunt Amy is going all the way to Virginia for law school :(

We've had some fun visits with all the grandparents the past few weeks - including a trip to Poppa and Gigi's house for a dip in the pool, and we're looking forward to more family fun with the beginning of football season.

We also got to take some fun pictures at a local studio - G was a fantastic model...all smiles and patience :)

It's Been a While

So I've been a bad blogger lately, but honestly, it's not my fault. We just haven't had that much going on this month. I think it's the extreme heat we're experiencing in Texas.....how many straight days over 100 degrees can one girl handle?? Blah...I'm ready for fall!

So this month we've been keeping cool by staying indoors...but that doesn't make for very exciting blog posts. So I'll just share some of the everyday humdrum things that have been going on in our lives, peppered with a few exciting celebrations.

First, we've decided to refinance our house. It's hard to resist the uber-low interest rates floating around out there, plus with my job switch from attorney to stay at home mom, our cash flow situation isn't quite what it used to be. And really, who couldn't use a few hundred extra dollars a month? So, Ryan and I were frantically taming the jungle that was threatening to take over the yard (who has time for yard work with a baby in the house??) so that the appraiser would not run screaming for the hills. Hopefully, we'll get everything finalized before too long. Bring on those lower house payments!

Second....Griff had his 4 month check-up and is doing great. He was 15 lbs 2 oz (60%) and 25 inches (60%). He's also started eating solids this month (I know....try to contain your excitement). So far, we've mastered baby oatmeal, and we're moving on to veggies. After 3 days of carrots (including one sneezing incident that sent me running for a shower), he's not really a fan, but we'll give it a few more tries and then move to something else. I'm trying the whole make-your-own-baby-food thing and it seems pretty easy so far (not to mention less expensive than buying it at the store). We'll see if I can keep it up.

And finally....big praise to the Lord...Ryan celebrated 3 years of being cancer free this month! He's still going in for regular check-ups, but everything is perfectly normal. Always good news in our house. It's hard to believe that it's already been 3 years since that frightening experience. So many have prayed for healing and continued good health....we're constantly reminded of the Lord's faithfulness and love.

So there's your peek into our lives this month. Like I said, not too exciting, but I feel better now that I've added a post to the August column...it was looking very lonely over there :)

Four Months Old

Griffin is four months old today! He just gets cuter all the time...and more vocal about what he likes and doesn't like (hence the growling mentioned earlier). He's also started reaching out for things lately. In fact, we had a really sweet mother/son moment last night. I'm not sure what it is, but the last few nights Little Man has not wanted to go to bed easily. Normally, he just goes right to sleep, but the past three nights he's screamed and cried for at least 30 minutes when we put him to bed. Last night I'd had enough and went into his room to settle him down. While I was rocking him and trying to soothe him to sleep, he looked at me and reached up to touch my face....just melted my heart :) He got the sweetest little smile on his face as he touched my nose, cheek and lips. That little gesture made a difficult night so much better for both of us. After that, he was ready to sleep without further protest.

At four months, Griffin is rolling over quite a bit more, loves playing in his bouncer seat, and seems to spend more time just looking around and observing. He's discovered our dog Dixie and enjoys watching her walk around and play. He's started laughing a little and might be starting to teeth too. He gnaws on his thumb quite a bit and tries to put blankets and toys in his mouth all the time. No teeth peeking through yet, but I have a feeling they might be right around the corner. All in all, he's a happy boy and Ryan and I are really enjoying him these days.

Here are a few pictures from our recent visit at Poppa and Gigi's house. Aunt Amy will be leaving soon to start law school in Virginia, so we got together with the rest of the family for a bon voyage dinner. Unfortunately, Amy was sick, so she didn't really get to play with Griffin and I didn't get any pictures of them together that night. But Little Man had a good time showing off his new growling trick for the whole family. It was a fun night and I have a feeling we might be planning a road trip to Virginia before too long.

Waitress.....bring me another mai tai!!

Are you my hula dancer?

First Trip to Longview

This weekend we took a little trip to visit Ryan's parents in Longview. It's only 2.5 hours from Dallas, and we departed just before prime nap time, which should have meant an easy drive, but the Little Man was anything but happy on the ride out there. Napping was apparently not on his itinerary. We stopped for a diaper change, I sat in the back with him, played with the slightly annoying carseat toy, played lots of peek-a-boo, and he finally fell asleep about 20 minutes before we arrived. I finally figured out that he wanted to look at me, but not have me look at him. If he could just stare at me without me staring back, he could drift off to sleep and I guess have pleasant dreams about the beauty of Momma's chin?? After all that, I was glad to have a relaxing weekend with Griffin's Abby and Zayde.

We got to eat food from some of our favorite Longview spots (Pizza King and Bodacious BBQ), Griffin showed off his new growling skill (adorable and slightly disturbing at the same time...see video below), and he got to play in the smallest, cutest baby pool I've ever seen. Plus Ryan and I got to have a date night while the grandparents babysat. We had a great visit and happily, the ride home was much easier. Griff must have been worn out from all the fun because he slept the entire way back.

Whew! Time for a break from all that fun :)

The amazing Growling Baby...