Now hiring: Night time manager

Kenton fell asleep with Griff while watching football. I took this picture before carting him off to bed. As I took this picture I thought this is really sweet.... Little did I know it was only a preview of the events to follow!

Kenton and I made a rule early on in our marriage. I believe this was before we even had children. The rule read as follows: NO kids sleeping in our bed. To date this has worked out very well for us. We love our children to pieces, but love them even more while they sleep in their own beds. I believe that this has not been an issue because we still have Griffin in his cage, I mean baby bed. To our delight and disbelief he has never taken the plunge overboard. Actually, he really likes his bed. It is the only place that he has ever really slept.... until last night.

Here is a basic break down of the events of last night.

1:09am: I heard something in the baby monitor. The monitor is in Roman's room. I heard, "Da-yee.....Daaaaaa-yeeeeeeee......DAAAAAA-YEEEEEEEE.......DIAPER. This child has learned that anytime he says the word diaper or poo-poo it sets us off in a sprint! I rushed over to his room to find Griffin in his baby bed with his jammies around his ankles with his diaper in his hand. Luckily it did not have poo-poo. I believe he just threw "diaper" in for dramatic effect. Side note~Griffin NEVER wakes up in the middle of the night. He woke up once last week because of a dream, but otherwise I can not remember the last time he woke up before that. So it is 1am and I have a naked kid what should I do? I picked him up and dropped him in our bed and ran to get a diaper. I returned to bed, changed his diaper, and realized that he was WIDE AWAKE. Okay, now what do I do? Out of pure laziness I let him stay in our bed. Don't judge~ I knew that I would be waking up again soon enough! It probably took him about an hour to get back to sleep.

2:30am: Roman wakes up to eat. Typically I take Roman back to our bed to feed him then return him to his bed once he is finished. Problem! Griffin is already in our bed. Solution~ feed Roman in the rocker and return him to his bed around 3am.

4:00am: Griff starts thrashing in his sleep and kicking the covers off of me and Kenton. As I am laying there with not much room to spare I then realize that we were onto something with that "NO kids in the bed rule."

5:00am: Kenton wakes up and is startled by the shape of another person in our bed. This was even funny to me as I was 1/2 sleeping. Serious question. How on earth did he sleep through the commotion of the night up to this point?

5:30am: Kenton brings over Roman so I could feed him. I had to get out of the bed and get in on Kenton's side because Griffin was hogging my space.

5:45am: As quietly as humanly possible I returned Roman to his bedroom.

6:00am: Griff jolts himself out of his sleep and jumps up on all fours. He has no idea where he is and tries to jump out of the bed. I quietly said his name and calmed him. I was able to get him to lay with me for 20 minutes.

6:20am: Griff is now ready to start the day all bright eyed and bushy tailed! Me.... not so much! He sat up and said, "Mommy, up?" I said, "Go find your daddy."

Thanks to MiMi Kat and Big Pop I was able to sleep a bit longer before heading out to work.

WVU~LSU Weekend A household divided

Roman

Fear the cap!

Satch in his pre-game get up. Thank goodness he changed before the game!

Tio Juan, Roman, and Big Pop

Griff and Daddy on our morning stroll through campus


Big Man on campus!

Hanging out before the game

Some of my favorite girls~ Jenni and Meredeth

Heading over to the stadium with Craig and Jenni~ yes, we owe them dinner! Time to pay up on Kenton's loss.

So happy that Mary and a friend were able to stop by for a visit. Mary and I became friends at LSU.

Game time fun! Kenton was wearing what I would consider an under cover WVU shirt. Looks mighty purple to me!!

Kenton LOVES football~ all football. In the off season I even catch him watching ESPN classic games which makes NO sense to me. Why watch a game when you already know the outcome? Yes, I digress.... Back to the point of my story. He especially LOVES West Virginia University football. WVU being his Alma matter he keeps close tabs on the Mountaineers. Last weekend WVU headed to death valley to take on LSU, which is my alma matter. This is the first time that the two teams were matched up. Kenton has been talking about this since they announced the line up about 3-4 years ago. Needless to say there was A LOT riding on this game at our house!

We decided to take my parent's RV to Baton Rouge for the weekend to tail gate and get the full experience. We brought the boys and my parents with us on Friday. We thought it would be fun to include Griffin and Roman in all of the football fun. The plan was to let them hang out for a bit on Saturday and then head home with my folks. Griff is still a little young for football tailgating. Next year will probably be the perfect age to take him out.

On Saturday morning we took Griffin with us on our walk around campus. At 2.5 he was already the big man on campus in his momma's eyes. He strolled a bit and ran a bit. We were on the lookout for Mike the Tiger, but he was not out probably because it was TOO HOT. Nothing like 90+ weather as we roll into October!

Later in the afternoon we had a great time hanging out with my brother, (Tio John) some his friends, and some of our friends. Kenton was such a good sport all day. He was talking trash and loving every minute of it! Kind of crazy to me considering that he was outnumbered by about 91,999 people!

We went to the game with Jenni and Craig. Kenton kept his eye on the field and an ear on the radio. We had great seats so he didn't have to pull out his binoculars. (yes, he is that guy in the crowd) I on the other hand did my usual thing. People watch, cheer with the band, and chat it up! No surprise here~ the Tigers won! ;)

We had a great time experiencing the full game time experience with friends and family. Thank you Kenton for taking your loss with grace, and thanks to my mom and dad for letting us borrow your ride and for helping out with the boys!

Roman Wade~ 4 month update

Yes, a little heavy on the pictures. I went a little over board on our 4 month photo shoot. What can I say I was working with a perfect little subject!











I really wish that I could slow down the hands of time! Roman is already 4 month old. This has been a month of changes for the little guy. All of a sudden he went from "fat and happy" to a little roly poly! He is all about moving right now. Soon enough he will be crawling and as we all know that is when the fun really begins.

Here are the stats from his 4 month well baby check up. He is weighing in at 19 lbs. (95%) He is 26 inches. (75-90%) Did this child really grow 6 inches in 4 months?!? His head is also in the 95%. When I look at my beautiful baby I truly see the "healthiest" looking baby that I have ever seen! I believe that many will agree with me on this statement.

Roman has found his hands and thinks that they are WAY-COOL! He is grasping objects and sucking his thumb. Yes, sucking his thumb TODAY is adorable. However, still sucking his thumb at 12 is not. I'm trying my hardest to replace his thumb with a pacifier. He pretty much thinks that the "ayia" is yucky and spits it out, but I still try!

Roman is s a wonderful baby. He is very happy and loves to laugh and talk. His giggles will melt you. They are intoxicating and I can't get enough of 'em! He still loves to be held, but spends time in his bouncy seat and activity mat on the floor. We seem to be going through a "phase" (and I pray that it is a short one) with his night time sleeping. He is not sleeping as well at night as he used to. He will go nights at a time of waking up 4-6 times throughout the night. Needless to say that makes for a very sleepy mommy. I will continue to justify it by saying that he just loves me so much and wants to spend time with me 24/7. It is my world so just go with it people!

Life is still hectic and crazy. We have our good and bad days, but I would not trade a minute of it. I want to savor ever last moment of being a mommy to my little boysies!

End of an era

As I said, Griff was NOT having this "dressy" outfit!

Kenton holding up the jon-jon that never was.... (tears for mommy)

Game time decision. JV outfit was forced to move into varsity spot. Win for the men today!

Sunday marked the end of an era (or as Kenton may say error) in Griff's life. Jon-jons are now in the history books for our big boy! This was such a sad moment for me. I knew that at some point the "dressy" outfits would come to an end, but I just wanted ONE MORE hurrah! I had the cutest little outfit all lined up for him to wear to the baby dedication at church.

I knew that Griff would not like my clothing selection, but I was determined to see my little angle in white. Just in case I had a JV outfit ready to step up to the plate.

I distracted Griffin as I was getting him dressed. It was all fun and games until he looked down and realized what he was wearing. He looked up at me with horror in his eyes. I though he would just complain for a minute and then move onto something else. Boy was I WRONG! He was trying to get himself out of that monkey suit! He even went up to his daddy and Big Pop and pointed to their pants. He REALLY lost it when his cousins walked downstairs in shorts.

This ordeal went on for about 30 minutes. I begged and pleaded with him for one last time, but I could tell that he was truly embarrassed. I had flashes in my head of him hating me 20 years from now because of making him wear this outfit so I surrendered.

Luckily Roman wore his beautiful baby blue Feltman Brothers outfit with no lip. All I can say is poor Roman. There is no way that he will get off the hook nearly as easily as his big brother!

Brothers and boys

Was I kidding myself to think that we had a shot at a girl?!?

Lil Griff

Me and Romeo

Cousins and buddies

Leader of the pack


This past weekend the GA S. family came to LA for a visit. It makes my heart happy to see Kenton and his brother Kevin and the bond that they share. Both of their parents have passed away so they are they all that they have left. Kevin and his wife Marilynn also have two boys~ Steven 7 and Jason 4. The last time that Griffin was able to visit with his cousins he was 2 months old. My how time flies! Needless to say a visit was long overdue! In the time that we had together the Mommas chatted, the boys played, and the Dads were caught between the two! Getting out of the house with 4 little ones was not an easy task. We went out to lunch on Saturday and headed home shortly after due to a car seat major MELT DOWN by Griffin. After Griffin took a much needed siesta the boys headed out to the pool for a little fun in the sun. Marilynn and I stayed home to get our affairs in order for the party on Sunday. Sunday morning we rallied the troops for the baby dedication at Church. After church we had family and friends over to celebrate. Sunday evening the boys went for another dip in the pool. Monday morning we loaded up everyone to feed the ducks and play at the park. Unfortunately the ducks were not interested in our bread or company because they ran away from us. We then headed to the playground. The LA heat and humidity cut our trip short. We then headed home for lunch and to say our good-byes. We are happy that were able to open up our home to the GA family. We want nothing more for our boys to know their cousins!

Baby dedication

Our beautiful family

Sad day for a Momma. This was the beautiful linen jon jon that I had for Griff to wear. He flat out refused. He was too embarrassed to wear it and wanted to wear big boy clothes. I promised him that it would be his LAST time to wear a "dressy" outfit, but he just wouldn't go for it. :(

Yummy cake by Mommy

Griff and Nona Courtney

Nanna Pat and Griff


friends and family

Yesterday was a very special day. We dedicated both of our boys at church before family and friends. You may ask what exactly is a baby dedication? As explained it is nothing magical. It is just a commitment as parents to raise our children in a loving home with christian values. After church we headed home to enjoy good food and time with family. We are so blessed with our two beautiful boys and the love and support of so many! Thank you God for our many blessings!

Life is good...

It truly does not get any better than this. A few weeks ago Kenton and I went to Biloxi, MS for an adult only weekend. This photo was taken on the morning before we left. We were having a lazy morning all cuddling in our bed. I had such a feeling of love at this very moment. I asked Kenton to take it in because this is as good as it gets! I am so glad that a picture was taken to remind me of this precious moment in time.

Letter to Roman's namesake

Dear Mr. Harper,

You may not know me, at least not yet because I am only a baby. I just wanted to share with you the story about how I became your littlest fan…

Last football season while the Saints were doing amazing things on the field I was growing big and strong in my Mommy's belly. After the Superbowl win my Mommy just knew that I was also destined for greatness!

I was born on April 27, 2010 and tipped the scales at 9 pounds 1 ounce. That was the day that I became "Roman" Wade. They tell me that my name was a game time decision. Shhhhh, don't tell Mr. "Porter."

My Mommy and Daddy picked the name Roman because it is a strong name~ just like you. They also did a little homework and think that Harper's Hope is a pretty cool idea! Thanks for being such a positive role model for me and countless other little guys.

Who Dat,
Roman Wade