Thanksgiving

Enjoying the beautiful morning with Daddy.


Where do I even begin? To live a life and to have so much to be thankful for! Here is a shortened list that I thank God for everyday: the best husband, the joy that Griffin brings to us everyday, the upcoming arrival of our new baby, the unconditional love and support of our family, good health, and a job that provides.

Today we enjoyed Thanksgiving lunch with our little expanding family along with MiMi Kat, Big Poppa, and Tio John. The food was fabulous and it is always special to share a meal with those that you love. After lunch we attempted to take pictures for our Christmas card. Griffin was on the go so hopefully we have something that we can use. After a nice little nap we decorated the house for Christmas. Wow~ what a production! I love to have the house all decked out in its Christmas finest, but it is a lot of work! Thanks to MiMi Kat for helping out. The house looks beautiful. Griffin seems to enjoying the Christmas tree a little too much! Hopefully the newness wears off so we will actually have a few ornaments left on it by the time Santa arrives...

Po-boy Preservation Festival

Folks, I don't make this stuff up there was actually a Po-boy preservation festival today. Kenton and I thought why not give it a go because who isn't up for trying a few different po-boys!?! The weather was not ideal, but we took Griffin out for a little bit. We both really enjoyed roast beef, a crawfish pie, a Hubig's lemon pie, and a little white chocolate bread pudding. After sampling a few varieties of the ever popular delicious treats we worked our way back home. New Orleans.... proud to call it home!

Storyland minus the fairytale ending...

This morning we took 3 boys under 2 years of age to Storyland at the park. It is such a cute little place for kids to hang and a great place for pictures! Of course all of the boys loved running around and playing with all of the different fairytale props. Each boy has such a different little personality and enjoyed different things. Ryan enjoyed hanging out in the tower of Old King Cole's castle. Paul really enjoyed the big slides. Griffin could not get enough of real firetruck. He kept pointing and saying "Truck! Truck!" He got into the drivers seat and was shifting gears. Dana and I let the boys play for about an hour or so. Towards the end as the story goes Griffin started to turn into a pumpkin. All good things must eventually come to an end.

Triple the fun!

Mommy, can Santa bring this over? Pretty please...

In my final effort to make every minute count before going back to work I took Griffin over to play this afternoon with the twins, Ryan and Paul. The boys are only 1 month apart in age. It is always fun to watch the trio play independently yet together. Ryan and Paul are very advanced in many areas including their speech. I think it is important for Griffin to socialize with peers so they can all learn a little bit from each other. The weather is too nice to play indoors so we took it outside. Why is it always the case that someone else's toys are so much more fun? Griff has several bikes at home, but really enjoyed playing on the bicycle. Once we went inside for a quick diaper change we had a little people dance party in the living room! These boys all have moves! Thanks Dana for entertaining us!

My favorite little helper

I mentioned the other day in a previous post about Griffin's desire to help with household chores. Just thought I would share a picture of him vacuuming for me. Gotta love him!

Mommy and me...

Highlights of our favorite animals of the day





Griffin getting a hug from a new friend, Charlie


I dedicated this morning to Mommy and me time with my favorite little guy. I had a few ideas of where to go, but didn't have a firm plan until we got into the car. It was a little chaotic because we first had to drop off Al for a visit to the vet. I had the car door open and went inside for a second to get something for Al. When I returned to the garage Griffin managed to climb into the Tahoe and was sitting in the front seat. Let's just say that the following chain of events was NOT pretty. I do not believe in labeling, but let's just say that Griffin has recently entered "the 2 year era." Because the morning started out on the wrong foot I was a little nervous that this would set the tone of the day for us. Once I finally got him kicking and screaming into his car seat I let Al into the front seat. Griffin's tears soon turned into uncontrollable giggles. This was truly the funniest thing that Griffin had ever seen in his life. Imagine~ his DOG in the CAR? Thankfully this turned around our day.

We decided to spend a little time at the zoo and we had a ball. Griffin really enjoyed the elephants as he pointed and cooed at their size. The weather was perfect for a morning stroll with my little boyzie! We strolled through the entire zoo and he was on his best behavior. After we finished looking at the animals I took him over to the play area so he could run off a little energy. He ran around and made some new friends. The cherry on top of our morning was meeting Daddy for a quick lunch. Life is good!

Just me and my Dad...

Put me in Coach!

What an arm!

Got it!



Griffin rouding out third base with his "Coach" and biggest fan!

Griffin's first run!

Right now Griffin is all about his Daddy. You just know that he loves him with all of his heart by the way that he adoringly looks at him. He follows him around and loves to laugh at his jokes. Witnessing this truly makes me proud. On Sunday afternoon we took Griffin to the park for a little outdoor fun in the sun. The weather is too pretty not to take full advantage of. Griffin had a ball playing on the playset that was just his size! He tried out the balance beam and monkey with his Daddy. Once he grew tired of the playset he moved on to the baseball field. He and Kenton had so much fun playing catch and running the bases. I am confident in saying that this was the FIRST of MANY trips that we will take to the ball park!

20 month update

Wanna ride?



Handsome little man.

Out of gas.

Griffin is at such a fun age! So many changes occur on a DAILY basis. I would say the overall theme from the past month was Mommy's little helper. Griffin's overeager desire to help is the cutest thing to witness. A few of his favorite chores around the house are loading the clothes in the washer and dryer, helping to pick up his toys, throwing diapers (preferably dirty, but sometimes new) in the trash, feeding Al, and putting up Al's gate when we leave the house.

His vocabulary is increasing and he springs new words on us often. He amazes me with his comprehension. He is such a sponge and watches our every single move. He enjoys hanging out with others and is in awe of the "big kids." He still runs 90-nothing every waking hour of the day. All I can say is thank goodness for naps! He still loves shoes and always goes for his FAVORITE crocs! He doesn't even seem to mind that they are too big for him. He is becoming a bit of a challenge to dress. He is really starting to flex his independent muscles! Oh such the delicate line of discipline without breaking the spirit. I truly cherish all of the time that I have been spending with the Little Guy! It is such a blessing to love so deeply....

One final cute little story. Griffin and I always read his Old McDonald book and review all of the animals and the sounds that they make. However he has only ever met a dog in real life. The other day he had his first encounter with a cat. He was initially frightened by the fuzzy creature and was yelling STOP COW! STOP! CCCOOOWWWW!!! He was yelling this as he was climbing up my neck. Too cute...

Shhh.... don't tell Daddy

Cruising in the girls new jeep!

All up in the action!

Thanks for my present Griffin!

Birthday girls with their Momma.

Hello Ladies~ The Griff is here!











This morning I told Kenton that I was taking Griffin to a birthday party. I just "forgot" to give him the details. Well.... Meredith celebrated her 5th birthday while Meghan celebrated her 2nd and had a TEA PARTY. Griffin was the only little boy at the party. Call it what you will, I think it was a pretty clever move on his part. He was offered boy dress up clothes and a spot in the fashion show which we politely declined. He was really funny today. While the fashion show was taking place and the "audience" was clapping as the divas strutted down the catwalk Griffin was clapping hysterically! He also kept going up to the mirror and was making silly faces at himself and cracking himself up! Needless to say he was a wild man and we cut the party a little short. He ran around and was into everything! Thanks Girls for such a fun morning!

Where y'at?

Okay so some of you may be wondering where in the world has Andrea gone with her frequent blog updates and barrage of pictures? Well, this past month has been a month of many changes. First of all I am pregnant folks and my creative juices just have not been flowing. I guess the baby is just sucking my creativity right out of me! I made a commitment to this blog so that Griffin will have some fun records of his childhood and I will always promise to give it my all!

A few weeks ago I was laid off from my very nice and wonderful part time pharmaceutical job. My company was bought out by a mega company and they simply did away with part time reps. I had a great ride while it lasted. I was laid off once before when Griffin was about two weeks old. At that time my company created a part time position in my area. It was truly a dream job for a brand new mother. I was able to work 2 days a week and devote the rest of my time to my family. I have done a little soul searching while trying to find my "purpose" over the past few weeks. Considering that I am pregnant, the economy, and we are entering the holiday season I never imagined that I would find another job in the near future. I had a few fun creative home business ideas that I was planning to do "in the meantime." Only by the grace of God I have already landed another pharmaceutical job. This past week I received several phone calls of possible job opportunities. I went on 2 different interviews with 2 different companies. I am so proud to say that one of the interviews resulted in a BRAND NEW JOB with so many possibilities. This is such great news for my expanding family!

This job also comes with quite a bit of Mommy guilt. I am already having guilty feelings of my second child not being offered the same opportunites as Griffin had. Griffin the majority of my time while this little peanut will have to share his precious life with my full time job. I know that I was offered this job because it was God's will and I fully trust that it is the right thing to do!

Yaba-daba-DO and a few Yaba-daba-DON'TS!!

Trick-r-Treat~can I come in?


Hayride with MiMi

Thanks for the candy Mommy!


We started out Halloween this year on a hayride to trick-r-treat around the neighborhood. Griff was not a huge fan of the ride. It is all fun and games as long as he is doing exactly what he wants to do! He enjoyed getting off of the trailer to run up to the houses with his goodie bag. He just couldn't understand why he couldn't go inside the house? We stayed on the hayride for about 1/2 of the neighborhood and then decided to walk to the party at the clubhouse. Griffin totally redeemed himself at the party. He was so much fun to watch. He really enjoys hanging out with the big kids. He stands back and watches everything that they do and tries to mimic their actions. He stayed up way past his bedtime enjoying crackers and candy with his neighborhood buddies! MiMi and Big Pop eventually took Griff home for sweet dreams while Kenton and I stayed at the party for a bit longer!