Reasons that I smile

*Griffin loves to pray. Before a meal he bows his head and either does "prayer hands" or holds hands with everyone at the table. He can't wait until we get to the AMEN part of the prayer. He is the first to yell it out. It is the sweetest thing...

*Sunday Griffin accidentally pee-peed on his potty. He was sitting on the potty and it just happened. He looked down and really surprised himself. Okay so it was only about 3 drops, but it is a start!

*The other afternoon we were playing outside. Griffin walked up to the stop sign post, held on, and lifted his leg like he was pee-peeing. He sees his big brother Al-dog do it. Can you say monkey see, monkey do. He giggled as he did it and so did we!

*Last night we ate dinner outside on the patio. Griffin then decided that he wanted to picnic at his swing set. He first invited MiMi to his party. Shortly after he wanted Poppa, Momma, and Daddy to party at his "boat." (he calls his swing set his big boat)

*Griff is such a helper. He loves to help me water the flowers, clean the house, and put things away. He does not like for things to be "dirty."

*Our boy just loves to sing and dance. He is still a sucker for his oldies but goodies. Topping the tot chart: pat-a-cake, twinkle twinkle little start, and itsy bitsy spider. His more contemporary favorites are: Move like an emu, Play your guitar with Murray, and Can you stand on one foot and shake your hands.

*Griff loves to entertain a crowd. As soon as others are around he really starts to turn on the charm. It is truly a sight to see! He especially likes to entertain the female variety!

Packed and ready to go...

Will it be pink or blue? Either way we are ready!

Bags are packed

Big brother is packed, but is he ready?!?

The bags are packed and we are ready to go! We are eagerly anticipating the arrival of new little bundle of joy. We are all so ready and excited to finally meet Baby S. Now we wait....

Love and Marriage

Yesterday Kenton and I celebrated our 4th wedding anniversary. We have experienced so many life changes in 4 short years. We now have 1.95 kids and have moved to the suburbs. Actually at one point we even discussed a mini-van, but have yet to follow through with the threat. I am still as in love with Kenton as the day that we married. I am so blessed to be married to such a good and kind man. Not only is Kenton a wonderful husband, but he is also a terrific father. Griffin will back me on this statement! I love the life that we have created together. Here is to a lifetime more anniversaries with you....

All my love,
Ayia

On the road to recovery!

Our sweet little patient.

Griffin lost a long and hard fight to ear tubes! Griff has been battling ear infections for quite some time. Last summer after a bout with CHRONIC ear infections Griff was scheduled for surgery. As a last ditch effort we started bringing Griff to the chiropractor for his ears. Believe it or not his ears cleared through the summer and fall. I was feeling pretty good about Griff's ears until all of a sudden they started acting up again. Griffin went into to the Dr. for a busted eye on January 28. While he was there we asked that they take a look at his ears. Yikes~ ears were infected. He gave us no warning at all. The infection was not accompanied by cold, fever, ear tugging, NOTHING! He went through a round of antibiotics and we went on our merry way. At his 24 month check up by the grace of God his ears were clear!?! I truly thought it was a miracle! However, a week or so later he was infected again. To make a long story short an ENT appointment was scheduled and that takes us to now.

The ENT added us on to her schedule 2 days after our office visit with her. We brought him into the hospital at 6am. He was such a big boy. After the oral anesthesia to sedate him he started acting a little "drunk." This calmed him so they were able to take him away to surgery. While in surgery they put a mask on him to keep him sedated. The procedure took less than 15 minutes. They came to get us to meet him in recovery. He was a little disoriented and fussy. He was released from the hospital and we were heading home by 8am. Pretty crazy eigh?!? Apparently the anesthesia upset his stomach because he threw up in the car.

Once home he laid on the couch with a pillow and blanket and watched his favorite friends, The Wiggles. Trust me when I say that this is a FIRST! I went on to work and he hung out with MiMi and Big Pop. By lunch time he was back to normal. After a hearty lunch he settled in for a 4 1/2 hour nap. Today he was back in day care. You can tell that he feels better and we also believe that he is hearing so much better.

Thank you God for taking such good care of our baby....

Things that would make me smile if done by someone else's child...

The big "D" has struck our household. Yep, you guessed it~ DISCIPLINE. I have been put on the spot several times the past few weeks forcing me to make on the spot decisions. Life was so much easier before Griff tested his boundaries and was just this cute little bundle of joy! Here are a few of his recent antics that would be really funny if someone else's child committed these little "crimes." Considering it is my child committing these discipline infractions I am forced to deal with them as best as I know how!?!

*Anytime that I correct Griffin for his behavior he turns it around on me. Yes, oh so clever for a TWO year old!
Here is an example:
Griffin pulls my hair
Mommy: "Griffin, NO, we do not pull hair."
Griffin: "Not NICE Mommy!" (while wagging his finger at me)

Seriously, he is correcting me for correcting him. I try my hardest to keep my game face one. I can not let him break me!

example:
Alex growls at Griffin
Griffin: "Not NICE Al!" (still wagging his finger)

example:
Griffin continues to touch something that is off limits
Mommy: I stare at him with my serious face
Griffin: Stares back at me and will not break the stare with such a look of determination and defiance in his eye.

example:
Potty training:
Two weeks ago Griffin's friends Ryan and Paul came over to play. While the twins were here they pee-peed outside. Griffin thought that was the coolest thing EVER! Not only did they pee-pee outside, but Ryan almost pooped on the potty. We of course all ran into the bathroom to check out the excitement. Since then Griff believes that he has mastered the potty. He will come and get either MiMi or myself and drag us to the potty. Once there we take off his diaper and he wants to take off all of his clothes. He then sits on the potty, gets toilet paper, wipes, stands, puts down the lid, flushes, and claps at his accomplishment! He is so proud of himself and loves to celebrate! He has absolutely no idea, that once on the potty you must actually do something.

Easter Morning and the outfit that never was...

Griff doing his homework on new Wiggles book.

Griff, MiMi, and me

The outfit that never was..... Notice the wrinkles from it being kicked on the ground.

Griffin woke up before his usual internal alarm clock this morning. Typically without fail I hear him at 7:06. Today I heard my little bunny at 6:47. Kenton went to his room to get him and brought him back to our room. *side note- Griff sleeps in his room every night in his baby bed* Because Griff slept on his own since birth he doesn't know how to lay with us. This is a really good thing, but on occasion it would nice to snuggle for a bit. This morning for the first time ever Griff cuddled with us and watched cartoons for about 30 minutes. What a way to start Easter Sunday!

Once out of bed I ran off to grab the camera. Griff was very excited about what the Easter bunny left behind. He skimmed over his basket and went straight to his new Wiggles book. He sat with me and studied the pics of his favorite rock band. He also loved his new set of pots. He brought them over to his kitchen and cooked up the biggest and best make-believe breakfast ever! All the while dipping his spoon in the pot to taste. Griff also received a new bowling set and Elmo doll. Experiencing the holidays through a child's eyes.... there is nothing better!

After an early morning of play it was time to get dressed for church. I set out Griff's clothes and got into the shower. Kenton and I were both in the bathroom getting dressed while MiMi was getting Griff dressed. All of a sudden Griff frantically threw open the double doors to our bathroom. Apparently he was not very happy with the outfit that I had selected for him. He was trying his hardest to pull off the precious little outfit all the while saying, "OFF, OFF, OFF!" Once he managed to wrangle his get-up to the floor he then proceeded to kick it while it was on the ground. I thought that I would have ONE more chance to dress up my baby in a cute little outfit, but my 2 year old put his foot down on that one. Score for the men in the house this morning. Kenton was so proud of his little guy taking a stand again those "dressy" outfits that Mommy oh so loves.... Good thing I will have a new baby doll to dress in the next few weeks.

Cajun Cowboy

The Griff picked out this outfit all by himself. He was so proud he had to take it out to the streets!




The Cajun Cowboy~ walking off into the sunset with his MiMi

36 week belly pics

My babies....

Yesterday Kenton took a few belly pics. I was a little nervous to do this because the last time I had belly pics taken my water broke and I was off to the hospital. I felt a little pressure and was having pains so I figured better take the pics before it is too late. No such luck this time. 24 hours later I am still sitting her with my ever expanding belly...

A Good Friday it was...

Griff with Phoebe and Eli




Hello my little "friend"



Relaxing with MiMi~ his favorite playmate.

Yesterday we celebrated Good Friday at home. The Georgia Guidry's stopped over on their way home for a quick visit. While they were here I put out a few eggs so Griff could sharpen his "hunting skills" with his cousin Phoebe.

Once Kenton returned home from work we boiled a sack of crawfish. At first Griff was a little skiddish of the crazy looking mud bugs, but it didn't take him long to make a "friend." MiMi removed the claws and Griff carried that little guy around with him. He even brought his friend into his playroom to watch an episode of the Wiggles. Later in the evening Tio John came over along with Manuel to enjoy the crawfish. A good day was had by all.....

Griff~ The Easter Egg Hunter

This is as close as Griff would get to the scary bunny.

Just like an experienced egg hunter he even finds the high ones.


Griff inspecting his loot.

Walking with MiMi

Griff had his Easter party at school this week. I don't know if it was because he had a practice run last weekend or what, but the boy was like a mad man! As soon as they opened the door he was running around with his basket collecting as many eggs as possible. I had to check the baskets of his classmates to make sure that they were able to get a few eggs. Griff's basket was overflowing! As soon as he collected all of the eggs he sat down to inspect his loot. He had a ball!