'Tis the Season

Thursday, December 1st

Mimi came over to bring the boys each a small early Christmas gift.  This was the babies first experience with unwrapping presents.  They are in a very "grabby" stage so they actually did pull at the paper some.  Luckily, they had their big brother there to help them finish the job.

Saturday, December 3rd

Hudson couldn't sleep...which, of course, meant that I wasn't sleeping either. I decided that since I was up I might as well be productive so I started putting lights on the Christmas tree at about 3:45am. Hudson was in his exersaucer watching me, and his eyes lit up when I plugged in the first strand of lights. I had to put the lights down and run grab the camera. He was content watching me long enough for me to get the lights finished.

I spent most of the day (at least most of my "free" time between Griffin's basketball game and all of the feedings and diaper changes for the babies) putting the ornaments on the tree. When I was finished, I sat Baylor in the floor near the tree and he kept reaching out and feeling one of the low branches.  I ran to grab the camera and Griffin decided he wanted in the picture too. 

Saturday, December 10th

We made a much anticipated visit to Santa. Griffin sat on his lap first and quicky rattled off the list of cars from Cars 2 that he still "needs."  Then we sat both of the babies on Santa's lap.  In his usual way, Baylor studied Santa intently but never cracked a smile.  Hudson checked him out for a minute and then gave the photographer some smiles. 

Friday, December 16th

Griffin performed in his school's Christmas concert.  The kindergarten class performs the nativity pageant, but Griffin's class got to play the handbells this year as well as sing a couple of songs. Griffin was very focused when he was watching the cue cards and ringing his bell.

Saturday, December 17th
Mimi had given Griffin a gingerbread house kit earlier in the month.  I had to actually "construct" the house (with some help from Mimi who happened to show up at the perfect time) and do most of the icing, but Griffin had fun putting the candy decorations on.  As soon as he had put the last piece of candy on, he asked if we could eat it.  Of course, I wanted to wait and let everyone see his cute creation, but I gave in the next day since he kept asking and saying, "but it just looks so yummy!"

All December long
Aunt Lacy gave me this cute Pottery Barn Kids advent calendar last year, but not before the 1st of December nor before I'd already bought one of the advent calendars with chocolate.  I hung it up last year, but this was the first year we'd actually used it to count down to Christmas.  I put a tissue-wrapped surprise inside each pocket of the advent calendar.  I had it ready a few days early so there was a lot of anticipation for the start of December.  Normally we have to practically drag Griffin out of bed in the mornings to get ready for school, but he popped out of bed (unprompted!) almost every morning from December 1st until Christmas so that he could run and grab that day's surprise. 

Griffin also invented a new game called "Pretty Lights."  When we would be driving at night and see houses with outdoor Christmas lights, we would yell "pretty lights!"  And he really would yell it out...sometimes with such excitement that Matt and I couldn't help but laugh out loud. I love that he gets as into Christmas as I do!

Happy Halloween!

In years past, I have either chosen for him or strongly persuaded Griffin when it comes to choosing a Halloween costume. But this year I decided to let him be whatever he wanted to be...and it came as no surprise that he wanted to be Lightning McQueen. I decided to take off from work on Halloween so that I could attend the festivities at Griffin's school and finish the twins' "costume" (more on that in a minute...). Here are some pictures I took in Griffin's classroom before the costume parade and Halloween party. I tried to come up with a really cute costume idea for Baylor and Hudson. I didn't want them to wear the exact same costume, but I thought it would be cute if they were things that went together. Some of the ideas I had were milk & cookies, Elmo & Cookie Monster, and Tigger & Pooh. But in the end, I decided that instead of making them coordinate with each other I would have them coordinate with Griffin. And so this idea was born... I spent a good part of the weekend turning cardboard boxes and the double stroller into Mater the Tow Truck. Of course, he had to be "Race Team Mater" from Cars 2 so he needed flames and a 95 on the side as well as the headphones and mic. I ran out of time before I got him just the way I wanted him (no rust, no working headlight, etc), but my little Lightning McQueen was very excited about having his pal Mater with him for trick-or-treating.

Griffin really loved trick-or-treating this year. It was getting pretty late and cold, but he kept asking to go to "just a couple more houses." We covered almost all of Forest Brook and didn't get home until about 8:00. He said several times that it was a great day and "I just love Halloween!" It was past the babies' bedtime when we got home, but I wanted to get pictures of them in their Halloween outfits since they'd been bundled up in the stroller. Hudson is our smiley baby and he had this big grin in several pictures, but he looks very serious in all of the pictures I took of all three of them together.

What a week!

October 10-16th

On Monday, Griffin had an appointment with the pediatric opthamologist to see if the patching we'd been doing for a few months had helped his eye that wants to drift (unfortunately, it had not). On Tuesday, he had his 6-week follow-up appointment with the ENT to make sure everything looked good from the tonsilectomy/adenoidectomy that he had in August (luckily it did).

Griffin and I both had Fall Break on Thursday and Friday, and we were excited about getting away for a night with our friends, Sarah and Bo, and their two kids. Unfortunately, the beautiful fall weather we'd been having earlier in the week didn't last and we had a dreary day. While there was a break in the rain, we all took a walk to the nearby creek. Sarah snapped this picture of me, Griffin, and Hudson on the way to the creek. I had originally told Griffin not to go far enough to get his pants wet, but that quickly went out the window. He was quickly soaked and had boots completely full of water (which he didn't want to empty before walking back because he liked the sloshing sound). I'm glad I let him just have fun being a boy and getting messy because that ended up being the highlight of the whole trip.

Back at the cabin, Baylor was napping and I was in the kitchen holding Hudson while the big kids were playing in another room. We heard one of them crying and Matt went to check on them. A minute later he was yelling my name and carrying Griffin into the kitchen with the back of his shirt covered in blood. Brody had accidentally hit Griffin in the back of the head with a candle snuffer. Matt and I left the babies with Sarah and Bo and rushed Griffin to the Blount Memorial ER. He ended up getting 3 staples in the back of his head, but he was amazingly tough during the ordeal.

The next day was the babies half birthday. It's amazing how quickly 6 months has gone! I had wanted to make cupcakes with Griffin and have a little birthday party for the babies, but we didn't get back from the mountains until that evening and we were all wiped out. But I did at least get a few pictures of them together before they went to bed. 

 And the babies did get a little 6-month gift--when we got home from the mountains, we found that the new double stroller we'd ordered had been delivered. It took Matt a little while to get it put together so it was Saturday before we were able to take it for a test drive. It's definitely easier to push than the double snap 'n go that we'd been using and the babies seem to like their new ride. Baylor was asleep just a few minutes into our walk and Hudson smiled the whole way. I love that I can have both babies facing me, both facing out at the world, or facing each other like they are here.

On Saturday, we went to get Griffin's glasses. He really didn't want to wear them and was self-conscious about people seeing him in them. Matt took him to Mr. Gatti's on Sunday as a treat for having a rough few days. He won some prizes playing games, and I was able to take this picture of him in his glasses when he got home (the teeth really worked in my favor since he likes to make silly faces all the time now when I try to take his picture).

Four years old!

Griffin has been so excited about turning four! He has been talking about it for months, and has said so many funny things with regards to his birthday. He has told us that he'll start trying lots of things (like soup, mac & cheese, corn, and more) when he turns four. When he was sick a few weeks earlier, he said he hoped he wouldn't be sick for his birthday because he wouldn't get to have a party and then he'd be three forever!

The big day finally arrived on Thursday and he was ready! Griffin spent the first half of his special day at VBS. We had lunch at home and I had a cupcake for him so he could make his first birthday wish.

He had a swim lesson later that afternoon (only his fifth lesson). Now that he was four years old, he decided he'd be very brave jumping in, putting his face in the water, and even dog paddling a little. After his lesson, we picked up Daddy and the babies and went to dinner at Pero's on the Hill. Griffin had been begging all afternoon to open a present. We took one small present with us and let him open it while we waited for our food. After splitting a pizza, we went to Sweet CeCe's for frozen yogurt. Then it was back home to open his other presents. On Saturday afternoon, we had a pirate-themed party at The Little Gym. The kids had fun jumping on the airmat, playing Disappearing Islands, searching for treasure, playing Hide & Seek, and more. All of the kids were on the move so much that it was hard to get many cute pictures!

Griffin didn't open presents at The Little Gym so we invited our families over for a pizza party and present opening that evening. Griffin also got to make one last birthday wish.

Little Ballplayer

Griffin has been playing on a "wee ball" team this spring. He's #20 on the Orioles. I'm probably a little biased, but I think he's a pretty good ballplayer for a 3 year old! These pictures were taken at his very first game. Look at that hit! And what good running form!
There are no outs and they don't keep score in wee ball. They play two innings, and each team goes through its entire roster during each inning. Despite the fact that the focus is on fun instead of competition, Griffin already takes it pretty seriously. Here he is waiting for the next batter.
He is very hard on himself when he doesn't catch every ball that comes his way...but he gets very excited when he does get to the ball first. Here he is snagging a ground ball and throwing it back to the coach.

Home Sweet Home

We finally got to bring Hudson home on Friday, May 6th--the babies were 3 weeks and 1 day old. Matt, Baylor, and I spent several hours at Children's waiting for the official discharge orders. By the time we actually left, it was about 3:30 in the afternoon. We decided to go straight to Griffin's school to pick him up. Matt went in to get him while I waited in the car with the babies (and took this picture of them loaded in the car together).The look on Griffin's face was priceless when he came out and found both of his brothers there to ride home with him. I missed the ear-to-ear grin but I did get this picture of him peering over the seats to see his brothers. Once we got home, we put the babies in one of the cribs together. This was the first time they'd been together since coming into the world. Griffin had a bit of a hard time when Matt or I would be gone in the afternoons and especially at bedtime because we were visiting Hudson at the hospital. On the night we got Hudson home, he said, "Now no one has to go to the hospital...we can all be home together...happily ever after!"

Hudson came home two days before Mother's Day--that was the perfect Mother's Day gift. I hate that I didn't get someone to take a picture of me holding both babies on Mother's Day, but we did get this picture of Griffin holding a baby (Baylor) for the first time. This is one of my all-time favorite pictures now.

Boys, boys, boys

I was scheduled for a c-section on May 2nd, so Matt and I were caught completely off-guard when my water broke late at night on April 13th. My mom came over to stay with Griffin while we went to the hospital. During the commotion of us trying to scramble to get some essentials thrown into a bag, Griffin woke up and called for me. I told him that Daddy and I were going to the doctor to check on the babies but that Mimi could snuggle with him. Baylor was born at 3:47am on April 14th, and Hudson followed just two minutes behind at 3:49am. Baylor was 4 pounds 15 ounces and 17.5 inches. His "little" brother Hudson was 5 pounds 7 ounces and 18.25 inches. Matt was able to hold Baylor for a few minutes, but he only got to hold Hudson for 30 seconds because he was having breathing issues. They laid Baylor on my chest briefly while they stitched me back up. Little did I know that it would be 12 hours later before I would see Baylor again and almost 18 hours later before I would see Hudson. Hudson had already been taken to Children's Hospital, and Baylor was in the nursery at Fort Sanders under the warmer. I couldn't go to the nursery since I wasn't allowed out of bed yet, but everyone else could see Baylor and take pictures to bring back and show me. Matt was able to take one visitor with him to Children's to see Hudson. In this picture, he has the nasal cpap, but it had already been removed by the time I was able to visit him.After getting the call that the babies had arrived early, Aunt Holly dropped off a Big Brother shirt for Griffin to wear to school. He was so excited to share the news that he ran down the hall to his classroom and ripped open his jacket to proudly show his shirt to his teachers. Matt picked him up early from school and brought him to the hospital. Baylor was still in the nursery under the warmer so Griffin was only able to see him through the nursery windows that first day. He could remember Hudson's name since Doc Hudson is a character in Disney's Cars, Griffin's favorite movie, but he was having trouble remembering Baylor's name. If you listen carefully to the video, you'll hear him ask more than once, "What's his name again?"
Unfortunately, Griffin came down with a fever the next day so he wasn't able to visit the hospital. For the next 5 days, I had three boys in three different places. Griffin was finally better by Wednesday and was able to meet one of his brothers.

Since Hudson was free of his IV and feeding tube, we were able to take Griffin to see him through the NICU window. Griffin was very excited about getting to see his other brother for the very first time. He was standing on his tip-toes watching and waiting for the nurse to bring Hudson over. But since Griffin could only look at him through the glass, the excitement didn't last long and he was ready to get a treat from the hospital cafeteria as promised. The next day, Baylor and I went home. It was good to get home to Griffin, but it was bittersweet since I still didn't have all of my boys together.

Merry Christmas!

On December 11th, we took Griffin to see Santa at a local photography studio. We had been talking about it for a couple of weeks and Griffin was so excited to sit on Santa's lap. However, when we got into the room with Santa, Griffin acted very shy and wouldn't say a word. Luckily, we did get a couple of really cute pictures despite it all. Once we were back in the parking lot, Griffin told me what he wanted Santa to bring him. We went to a Cookies with Santa party on the 16th at Ms. Sherri's house. It was the same Santa we had seen a few days earlier, and this time he was Griffin's best friend! Griffin sat on Santa's lap several times and told him all sorts of things.

On December 21st, Griffin sang in his school's Nativity Pageant. He didn't have any stage fright, and he did a great job of singing, tapping his sticks, and waving his angel and star in the air.
Griffin was my little helper this year. When I was wrapping presents, he would pull the tape off the dispenser and then stick it on the gift where I showed him. He also helped me decorate Christmas cookies. Of course, all of his had to have blue icing...and he had to have several tastes while decorating! On Christmas Eve, we went to church with all of my family. We stopped at Mimi and Papaw Al's house first for pictures. Griffin's patience is pretty short when it comes to sitting and posing for pictures so Mimi bribed him with the promise of getting to open a couple of presents before going to church. After church, we went to Lacy's house for dinner with Matt's family. When we got home, we had to put out milk and cookies for Santa. Griffin thought Santa would like to have chocolate milk so that's what he got!On Christmas morning, Griffin was up by 5:30 despite not getting to bed until about 11:30 the night before. He checked out everything Santa had left him, and then he opened his gifts from Momma and Daddy. Mimi, Papaw Al, Aunt Heidi, Weezy, Holly, Jason, Harper & Hollins all came over for breakfast. Griffin and Harper snuck away, and I found them hanging out in Griffin's new big boy room.

After breakfast, we moved the celebration to Mimi and Papaw Al's house for gift giving. We had a little break in the afternoon, but Griffin was too excited about all of his new toys to even think about taking a nap! That evening, Weezy came over to exchange gifts and then Lacy and Bebe joined us for dinner. It was a long day, but it's so nice that we have everyone in town and don't have to travel or "take turns" with holidays.