Happy Birthday, Grant!

Happy First Birthday, Baby Boy!

One year ago...

My Last Picture Pregnant...and swollen!



In the operating room...




Meeting Grant for the first time:



Our first family photo:




And, at his birthday party:

The cake (which is essentially the first cake I've ever made - white cake with buttercream frosting and fondant decorations!):



Grant sitting in his high chair, getting ready for cake! Do you see him holding the balloon? He LOVED it, and would NOT let go!




Trying cake with one finger:



Mmm - gotta use the fist for this stuff!



Getting ready for presents!



Gotta brace myself for these gifts!



Tissue paper!









It was a wonderful, wonderful birthday party with all of our family and friends. It was just so special for me to have our parents and closest friends here at our house, helping us celebrate this sweet little boy for whom we prayed for so long.

It's 1:45 in the morning...

and, I'm obviously up!

I went to bed at 11, and Grant woke me up at 11:45 - he wasn't crying, just kind of awake and talking. He started fussing, so I went in and nursed him and he ate and ate and ate and ate. He went back to sleep fairly quickly.

But, at around 12:30 (I had only been asleep about 20 minutes) he woke up crying. He wasn't really crying crying, just fussing, so I left him be. Well, by 1 I could tell he wasn't going to go to sleep, so I gave him some Tylenol and teething tablets. He FREAKED OUT when I left the room, so my only other thought was that he was still hungry (he eagerly opened his mouth for the Tylenol and wanted more!)

So, I got a sippy of milk and a yogurt, came back up stairs, and he drank about 1/2 of the sippy cup just straight down! He's NEVER done that for me before. Never. And then, I fed him the whole thing of yogurt! Him sitting in his crib, at 1:15 in the morning! He wouldn't let me take the sippy away, so I dumped the milk out, put water in it, and gave it back to him. (Is that okay for him to have a sippy of water? I figured better than milk).

so, now, he's in there playing with the sippy - shaking it, talking to it, and occasionally fussing.

It's TWO IN THE MORNING. This is nuts! Go to sleep, baby!

No More MOPS!

So, a friend of mine told me about this MOPS (Mothers of Pre-Schoolers) program at a local church around here. It's an international program that has local chapters, geared towards supporting SAHM's. Well, I've gone a handful of times, and I've just decided to not go back. I just don't like it! Part of the deal is that for some weird reason the majority of the women are like, 10 years older than I am and have elementary-aged children. I don't have any problems making friends with women not in my age or stage of life - but I cannot make friends if they're not FRIENDLY! Argh!

All the times I've literally just stood around, feeling like a dork, with no one talking to me. Then, when I sit down at the table for the "group" I'm assigned to, all of the women that know each other have sat there talking, essentially ignoring me. And, I'm a fairly outgoing person, so I tried to start a conversation with some of them. They politely answered my questions and then moved on. Not ONE person came over to say hi to me any of the times I went.

So, it's just not worth going back. I've gone to the Tuesday morning meetings, and I've heard that the Friday morning meetings are larger. I might try out the Friday morning session, but then I'm just done! :/ I just wanted to meet some other moms in our area - why is that so hard? :/

Success!

Well, it's 7:30 in the morning here, and I was only up one time last night! That's definitely a success over previous nights!

We are so tired!

Grant was up from basically 2-4 this morning, crying on and off. He'd be quiet for 10 minutes, and just when I would doze back to sleep, he'd cry. I fed him, changed him, rocked, walked, shushed, nothing was helping. At 4:15 Matt got up and took over - I was nearing my limit! (A medicine I'm taking has a side effect of insomnia, and I didn't fall asleep until 12:45!) Matt rocked him back to sleep finally (and we think the Tylenol had started to help by then), so we got 2 more hours of sleep before he woke up for the day at 6:45.

We.are.so.tired! Even when Grant was littler we had few nights like that one. Here's to hoping he sleeps better tonight!

I love My Bumper!

That's what Grant would say, if he could talk! :) The kid LOVES the bumper in his bed -loves, loves, loves! He *will not* sleep with out it! In fact, on long car rides, to get him to sleep in his carseat, we have to give him part of the bumper, with the rest of the bumper trailing off onto the seat next to him!

On so many occasions I'll see him stir in his sleep, and he'll reach his arm out, feeling for the bumper, then pull himself close to it when he finds it. Some kids have blankies, Grant has a bumper!

A Day in the Life of a Baby

So, Grant was 11 months old yesterday, and it's his last month before toddlerhood! The past year has gone SO FAST! One year ago we were finalizing our decision on houses, living with all of our parents, and visiting my OB seemingly every-other-day dealing with pre-eclampsia!

Fast-forward to 11 months later, and this is what a day in our life looks like:

6:30 - 7am: Grant wakes up and nurses

7-8am: Grant plays while I make coffee!

8am: Breakfast for Grant! Usually oatmeal or fruit, or both

9 - 10:30ish: nap! I pick up the house or take a shower. Nurse when he wakes up.

11: Lunchtime for Grant! I usually do fruit and a veggie for lunch, and them some finger foods - right now he loves graham cracker sticks!!

By 12:30 he's down for his afternoon nap, and is almost always asleep before 1.

1-3ish: afternoon nap! Nurse when he wakes up from this nap

3-4: Grant plays.

4pm: Suppertime for Grant! I try to do 2 different veggies and a protein source for supper

5:00ish: Start getting ready for bed and entertain him as he gets more and more tired. Nurse one last time, if he's still hungry.

By 5:45, he's in bed! Usually asleep by 6:15 or so.

Then he sleeps straight until about 4-5am, where he wakes up and eats. Then he goes back to sleep until about 7am, and we start it all over again! :)

So, that's what my day looks like! I wish I had been writing this down once/month for his whole life - it would be interesting to look back and see what we were doing at 3 months old, etc.

Political Woes...

Will the real Republican Party please stand up?

I am so tired of? confused? frustrated? - you can fill in the blank- with the current GOP that I truly cannot understand what has been going on in the White House. I can remember in my high school gov't class learning that, in general, the Republican party equaled smaller government, lower taxes, less governmental control and fiscal responsibility.

Well, in 2001 we had a Republican president and a Republican controlled congress. They could have dealt with the social security issue. They could have worked on border security. They could have given states more educational rights.

But, they made the department of education bigger with the No-Child-Left-Behind act (which a former administrator of mine called the "No Child Left Untested" act).

What constituency are they representing, exactly, then?

The 2008 election will be the first presidential election I'll vote in, and over the past couple years (partially due to my brother challenging me to think outside the typical right-wing box) have become more and more interested in politics. So, with the upcoming primary and election, I've been trying to figure out exactly what I personally believe.

And, as I've come to conclusions on some issues and am still wrestling with other issues (just how much morality *should* the government legislate?), I don't think the current Republicans in power are aligned with their own party. Given the recent track record, I think the current government is confusing right-wing voters. What, exactly, defines the GOP? Lower taxes? Smaller government? Less spending?

If so, I'd like to see that happen in 2008 and beyond.

More to come on my current political thoughts...

Video attempt

Okay - this is my first attempt to post a video. It's not super exciting, as it's my first try even to take a video with our digital camera, but I thought I'd try! You might have to press "play", then pause the video and let it buffer, and then watch it!

One of his favorite things

This is one of Grant's favorite things to do - pull out all of the books from the bin, and just go through each one of them. He LOVES his books! He especially likes the ones that have things you can touch on each page - like furry animals or rough trucks.

Hopefully he'll be like his mommy and LOVE to read! :)

Tidbits...

1) Okay, Mom, tomorrow I'll try to blog about party news.

2) Our 2nd holiday party, which was tonight, went AWESOME. I'll totally write about it, too, tomorrow.

3) The party, however, totally wore our dog out. Wore Her OUT! The second the last person left, she was curled up in a ball in her favorite spot in the hallway. She's currently lying on her dog bed, curled up as tight as she can be, eyes already closed. The party overstimulated her, I think! :) However, to her credit, she was a fabulous dog tonight - obeyed very well, didn't go crazy, listened, sat, stayed - good dog, Lizzie! Everyone (well, all of the dog people, at least!) said how cute she was and how "well behaved" she was! I almost L'ed OL at the 'well behaved" comments. If only they would have seen her 2 years ago!

And, here's a picture of my new glasses. I like 'em!

T Minus 1 hour 30 Minutes

Desserts Baked: Check
Coffee brewing: Check
Kitchen Clean: Check
Dishes done: Check
Bathroom clean: Check
Remaining Calm: Check

Only a little over an hour - I better get in the shower lest I greet guests in my sweats!

T Minus 5 Hours

What's Done:

Brownies
Peanut Butter Bars
Dipped Pretzels
Cupcakes with Peppermint Buttercream Frosting
Sugar Cookies

To Do:

Fruit Tray
Cheese tray
Roasted Nuts (which I did have done previously but, er, they didn't last until today. And, FTR, I don't like nuts. ;-))

T minus 6 Hours...

...until our Christmas party!! I have sugar cookies made and iced, brownies are in the oven, chocolate-covered pretzels are in the fridge, and I'm working on peppermint buttercream frosting right now for my mini cupcakes!!

I need to keep working!! T minus 6 hours!

85 pounds!

That's how much I've lost from the day before I had Grant until now. (Pre-eclampsia!!)

Well, some friends of ours from Iowa sent us some pictures from when they visited us last March. I was shocked to see myself in them! So, I thought I'd post it, along with an after picture.

Before: (about 2 months post-partum):



After: (on my birthday)

Future Football Player

Grant must have his Grandpa Hite's athletic football genes in him - look at the way he's holding the ball in this picture - can you say "future running back?"

Took the Plunge!

Matt and I took the plunge and registered for the Indianapolis Mini-Marathon! So, we're committed to training for it - I'm going to try to run as much of it as I can!! Officially registering for it will hopefully keep us committed over the 5 1/2 months. I'll keep you posted on our progress!

GladWare Steam Bags

Have you seen the commercials for these bags? I had a coupon for the, so I bought them. Just today I tried them, and the veggies turned out awesome! I don't know if I'll ever be able to do vegetables in a sauce pan again! Out of the freezer, in the bag, popped in the microwave for 5 minutes, and then perfectly steamed veggies! Of course, a little cheese on top of them helps!

What a Wonderful Husband!

Since Matt isn't, ahem, quite as *eager* as I am to watch our wedding video (for the dozenth time! ), I decided to watch it while I was on the treadmill the past couple of nights.

And, wow! I hadn't watched it in at least a year (even though we do try to view it together on our anniverary). How special it was to watch and relive that day! Watching it reminded my heart of all of the emotions, anticipation, excitement, and apprehension that went with that day, 5 1/2 years ago. I was so in love, so ready to commit my life to the man of my dreams.

While I was listening to our vows, of Matt promising to love, protect, and provide for me, my heart was overwhelmed. Looking back on the past 5 and a half years, Matt has more than remained true to those vows. He has loved, protected and provided for me more than I ever could have imagined.

He's infinitely patient with me, even when I decide for the 16th time to change the pillows on our couch. He's painted room after room for me, mowed the lawn hundreds of times, killed more spiders than I want to know about, and calmed me down after killing the said spiders. He makes me coffee and brings me home Starbucks when he's out. He gets up with Grant in the mornings to let me sleep when we've had a rough night. He spends long days traveling, with out complaint, to provide for our family. He handles church difficulties with integrity and Godliness.

I knew I loved him on May 11, 2002, but had such little grasp of the depth of character my new husband had. What a man he is, and how I love him!


And, on a lighter note, here's one of my favorite wedding-day pictures.

Parmesan-Pepper Sweet Potato Fries

I used to think I wasn't a big sweet potato fan - but then I had these fries! Matt and I wanted a good snack, but one that wouldn't blow our diets, so I found these in the Biggest Loser cookbook. They are fan-tas-ic!!

And, even better - this recipe supposedly yields one serving, but I could easily eat only 1/2 of them and still feel satisfied!

1/2 pound sweet potatoes, cut into 1/4" sticks
1 tablespoon grated reduced-fat parmesan cheese
1/2 teaspoon EVOO
1/8 teaspoon garlic powder
1/8 teaspoon paprika
salt, to taste
pinch of cayenne
pinch of ground black pepper

1. Preheat oven to 450*.

2. In a medium bowl, toss the potatoes, cheese, olive oil, garlic powder, paprika, cayenne, salt and black pepper.

3. Place the potatoes in a single layer on a medium nonstick baking sheet. (I lined it with parchment paper to help the cleanup!) Bake for 8 minutes. Flip the potatoes and bake for 10-12 minutes, or until the potatoes are browned in spots.


Per Serving:

249 calories
5g protein
49 g carbs (sorry, mother!)
4g fat
8mg cholesterol
7g fiber
238 mg sodium

Operation: Time Change, Day 1

Operation: Time Change
Day 1
0600 hours zulu

In the first night of Operation Time Change, I think Grant was going for a record of just how long his Momma could be awake in the middle of the night. *yawn* I think *I* woke him up, though. :/

His crib alarm went off at 3 am, so I bolted in there to find what I suspected: Grant was sound asleep, just so far at the top of the crib and in such a deep sleep that the monitor wasn't picking him up.

I had to reset the monitor, though, and although I tried to do it as quietly as possible, I think the clicking and the soft beep when it turns on woke him up a little. I went back to bed, heard him make some noise and thought, well, I could just feed him now since I'm already awake. (He usually awakens around 5am to eat). He was almost asleep when I went back into his room at 3:30 or so, and I should have just let him be.

But, I decided to feed him, and then put him back to bed around 3:50. Well, the feeding totally woke him up, and he was *playing* in his crib until 4:45 this morning. He obviously fell dead asleep, though, because right as I was about to go back to sleep at 5 this morning, his alarm went off again. (Which, BTW, is really unusual - his alarm hasn't gone off in at least a month, and then 3 times in one night!)

So, I went back to sleep around 5:15, and he awakened at 6:20 (7:20 to his little body) for the morning.

Needless to say, we're up early and I already have coffee started! For the night I had, I'm really not that tired, thankfully!

Operation: Time Change is for sure underway. I'll let you know how the next mission (read: night) goes. :)

(And, BTW, I don't think I used "zulu" above in the right context - I've just always thought it sounded so cool on military drama shows).

The Cutest Chicken Ever!

Wanted to show off our cutie-pie in his Halloween costume.

Monday Musings

1) It's a gorgeous day here and I just have to say for the umpteenth time that I love, love, love fall. I actually like winter, too - staying bundled up, drinking hot chocolate (and the seasonal Peppermint Mocha at Starbucks! ), walking in the snow - I love it!

2) I think I met a new friend today - at Meijer! When I go grocery shopping during the week, it's almost always either retirees or SAHMs shopping, and the other moms and I usually smile or comment on the other's cute child. Well, I chatted briefly (in the pasta aisle! ) with this girl, and then she ended up being behind me at the check-out. We discovered that her son is only 3 days older than Grant! She lives in the area, so we exchanged numbers and will hopefully get together soon. She was just super nice to chat with, and it was fun to have babies so close in age. And, she had cute jeans on. I told her such, and we chatted fashion for a bit.

3) Speaking of jeans, I got this fabulous pair of jeans from the Gap a couple of weeks ago when I was shopping with my SIL. They were a tad too long, though. I noticed that my dry cleaners does alterations, so for SIX DOLLARS they're hemming my jeans! I think that's SO worth it! I can pick them up tomorrow and I'm eager to see what they look like.

4) Tomorrow is baby-food making day in this household. I bought the book Superfoods at Babies R Us the other day, and I love it! Just gives lots of fun ideas for baby and toddler foods. Grant pretty much eats what we eat now, but he still needs his own foods for when he's hungry before we eat, or if we're having non-baby-friendly food. So, I'm excited to try out some new recipes for Grant. I tried a new one last week - Baby Tex Mex - and he LOVED it. :)

5) Church was AWESOME yesterday. Just awesome. Several new families came, and all of the signs and banners Matt had done looked just great.

6) I'll close with a couple pictures of Grant's new bath tub. :)