Professional Pictures by Natalie Wells

We have thousands of pictures of Griffin and Roman that we take ourselves, but rarely have a photographer do the work. We had professional pictures taken when Griffin turned one and I wanted newborn pictures of Roman and 2 year pictures of Griffin taken by the same photographer. I worked very hard to make sure that everything would be just PERFECT for the photo shoot. I worked on matching outfits and fun props. I was like a mad woman on the morning of the shoot getting everyone ready in the appropriate colored outfit and loading 50 wardrobe changes in the car.

We drove about an hour out to this great plantation to meet Natalie. OH MY GOODNESS! I can not even begin to explain the heat. I mean it was June in southern Louisiana, but the heat almost knocked us down when we got out of the car. In typical "Griswald" fashion nothing went the way that I had so neatly envisioned in my mind.

She did a great job considering what she had to work with! We had a screaming and hot newborn and a dripping wet 2 year old who just didn't feel like taking pictures that day! All of those perfect outfits didn't quite make the cut. Roman was so hot we took naked pictures of him. Griffin's hair was soaked with sweat and he spilled juice down the front of his shirt. I learned a very important lesson that morning. NEVER schedule professional photos past the month of April and also just relax and take life as it comes.

No more MAM!

Kenton and I have been talking about taking away the pacifier from Griffin. This is just a topic that we tossed around, but did not have an actual plan of attack on how to do it.

Monday night I was tending to Roman and Kenton went in to put Griffin to bed. About 10-15 minutes into the process Kenton came out and said I'll take Roman and you take Griffin. Oh and by the way I took away his "MAM." (for some reason Griffin calls his nu-nu "MAM.") You did WHAT?!? (side note~ Kenton is usually the planner. He needs to have a game plan and details before doing something) I went into Griffin's room and he was really sad. He walked around with his arms in a "where are you" motion and kept calling for his mam. He was searching high and low. He even crawled under his bed in his frantic search for mam. I stayed in with him for a bit and then Roman was ready to eat. MiMi then came in and I passed the baton to her. She layed with him until he finally fell asleep with his arm around her neck. Monday night he called for mam no less than 50 times.

Griff slept through the night and woke up on time Tuesday morning. Big Poppa got him out of bed. Griff made Big Poppa turn on the light still searching for mam. Tuesday night was easier than the previous night. He probably called for mam about 15 times. Last night was EVEN BETTER! He may have called for mam 4 times. Last night before bed Griffin found 2 of Roman's mams. I was afraid that he would claim them as his own, but he didn't! He immediately handed them over to me and said "Omen." Hopefully his is cured of his mam addiction!

I guess we just needed to rip it off like a band-aid! We are so proud of our little man! The next project will be to transition Griff from his baby bed to his big boy bed. I must admit that I am NOT ready for that yet. One thing at a time!!

Happy 4th of July!

Uncle Sam

New American Baby


Yummy American goodness!

Griff seems to have a drinking problem. He is hanging out with 6 capri suns.



MiMi and Romeo

Perfect view from our back patio.

Every year the parish holds an annual fireworks extravaganza on the levee. We are fortunate enough to have the best seat in the house~ our backyard! We had a few friends over to share our view of the festivities. Good times, good friends, and great fun! Looking forward to next year already!

Good Morning!

Do these 2 look like partners in crime?

We had more excitement this morning before 7am than we have had in quite some time. Apparently Big Poppa needed a Diet Coke from the fridge in the garage. He opened the door and forgot to turn off the alarm. As soon as the alarm went off he immediately punched in his code. Sure enough the house phone rang about 1 second later. The alarm company was calling for our code word to make sure that it was an accident and in fact not a robbery. Big Poppa came into our room and handed the phone to Kenton. I was still half asleep and not thinking as quickly as usual. Mind you I was jolted out of sleep by the sound of an alarm. Kenton could not think of the code word and asked me what it was. My mind went blank. I had no idea what the word was. Kenton got a little hyped up and was asking me (with the operator on the phone) "what is the word?!?" I was just sitting there totally clueless. He then looked at me like I was the wise one that held all of the answers and said, "just give me a word... any word?" I had nothing for him. I was just sitting there staring at him. A few minutes later we noticed from our bedroom window a police man in the back yard with his gun drawn. Kenton went outside with his dog and 2 year old son to explain to the nice man with the gun that it was all an accident and we are just idiots. Seriously, if you were to break into someones house would you bring along a 2 year old and a dog? We have been laughing about "give me a word" all day. Good times...

Roman 2 month update

Our little potato is now over 2 months old already! We brought him in for his 2 month well baby check up and he is weighing in at almost 15 lbs and is in the 97% for his age. Needless to say Roman is not missing too many meals. He is a bit of a Mommas boy and loves to hang out with me and eat every TWO hours. Funny thing, if he is NOT with me he will eat every 3-4 hours. Curious?!?! He is such a good baby and really just likes to be held. He is getting stronger every day and looks like such a big boy when he tries to hold up his head. Every day is getting a little easier for our family of 4. Griff now realizes that the little guy is here to stay and Roman is wise enough to keep a constant eye on his older brother.

I don't want to jinx it, but Roman slept through the night the past 2 nights. After 2+ months of interrupted sleep I can not tell you how good it feels to sleep through the night. Yes, it is all about the small victories in life!

I started work again last week. It was an easy transition considering that I was only as far away as my bedroom doing home study for a new job. We are blessed to have MiMi and Big Poppa as the "babysitters." Roman is enjoying spending a little one-on-one time with his grandparents while big brother is away at school. It is also very comforting for me to go back to work and know that my precious baby is in such good and loving hands.

Until next month,
Andrea

Swimming lessons

This year we decided that it was time for Griff to take swimming lessons. I found an instructor in the area that came highly recommended. When I spoke to her on the phone she said that with her 2 year olds she does a "Mommy and me" class. She said that at that age they are much more comfortable in the water with a parent. The lessons were 30 minutes a day for 5 days. I guess "Daddy and me" would be a more appropriate title because Kenton went in every day with Griff. Griff was not afraid at all and had a ball. He was so excited the entire time in the water and kept his mouth open. This actually caused a few problems with him swallowing water when he went under and made him throw up. Aside from this minor "glitch' the lessons were a success. He went in every day with no tears, went under the water, jumped off the side, kicked, floated on his back and stomach, and started to learn his strokes. His daddy and I are both so proud of our little fishie!