Christmas '09

We all had a wonderful Christmas this year. Jeff got a Netbook (mini laptop) and accessories, another Wii controller, and Nerf blaster and sword. Grant got lots of toys for his first Christmas. He got into playing with one toy and then discover he had more toys to play with. We enjoyed watching them open their gifts.

We did a whole bunch of lying around and resting that day. Shane's work schedule has been hectic up until Christmas and we are glad the holidays are over.

Jeff's school year

Jeff is doing an awesome job in school this year. His overall average for the year so far is a 93 with the highest grade of a 98 in math and the lowest of 88 in science. He was selected to be on the math committee in his class. Four out of 22 students were selected to create math activities and math problems for the class to solve. They will present these to the class on PowerPoint in a few weeks.

A few weeks back he learned about inherited traits and had to complete a project explaining dominant and recessive traits and give examples of those on PowerPoint as well. Thankfully Shane knows how to use that program and was able to give him a few tips on how to create a presentation. It amazes me that kids are so computer savvy these days....we did not start using a computer until 7th grade! Jeff has been using a computer since preschool. Wow I feel old! :)

The 3rd grade field trip this year is to the UT Astronomy building. Jeff is looking forward to that. Not sure if it's looking forward to getting to leave school or to learn about astronomy but either way he will have fun.

6 months old!

It has been 6 months since our littlest angel has entered into this world. We are so blessed to have 2 wonderful boys in our lives.

Grant is able to roll completely over, scoot a little and just last week started to sit up on his own. The foods he has eaten are rice cereal, sweet potatoes, and carrots. He loves to drink water and I have to bribe the sippy cup from him so he won't fill up on that instead of food! He still wakes up for feedings at night...I hope that will end once he is weaned. He absolutely loves to take a bath. Just the mention of getting a bath makes him squeal and gets his legs to kicking. Getting to sit up during his bath has made it even more of a treat for him as he splashes and plays in the water. When the weather permits we go play at the park....the same park we took Jeff to when he was Grant's age. It's funny how certain memories of Jeff come back to me as Grant grows and experiences new things. Just today Grant started to mimic faces we make at him. He brings such joy to our lives and I can't thank God enough for both of our guys.

Halloween and trip to the Capitol

We had a great Halloween this year. We took the kids trick or treating at the mall and then Shane took Jeff around the neighborhood. Our adventure at the mall was all Grant was interested in that night. Grant dressed up as Woody from the movie Toy Story and Jeff was a ninja.

Earlier in the day we went to the Texas Book Festival that was held at the Texas State Capitol. After purchasing a book for Jeff we headed over to take a look inside the Capitol building. This was Grant's first visit there. Jeff has been several times on school trips and with us.

Pumpkin Festival

We took the kids to a local pumpkin festival last weekend. My parents, niece, and Shane's mom went with us. We had a blast! The festival is held at a Christmas tree farm...I'm sure we will go there to get our tree this year.

Baby talk

October '09

We are finally getting some much needed rain after a summer drought. Thank you, God! With the rain also comes the cooler temperatures. I love the beginning of fall but as each winter goes on I always look forward to the beginning of spring. The cooler weather also reminds me that Christmas is sneaking up again. My goal is to start shopping early this year; like it is every year but never achieved. Last year it was due to lack of time. This year's excuse may be lack of money. Maybe God is trying to remind me that Christmas is not about gifts; it's about HIM!

Grant got his first cold last weekend. Although he is much better now he still has the occasional congestion. The only approved medication on the shelves for him for any kind of congestion is Zyrtec, which is an antihistamine. It has taken the edge off but never completely cleared him up. Luckily no ear infection this time and the doctor also said his throat looked fine. Jeff has also had some seasonal allergies but nothing out of the ordinary for him. Shane and I are also battling with a cough.

Jeff is having an awesome year at school so far. He is on a 4th grade reading level (he's in 3rd grade) and still going above and beyond in math. Testing for the TAG program is later in the year and if he qualifies for it he will begin the program next year in 4th grade. It amazes me how much of a young man he is turning in to. It seems that he was Grant's age just yesterday!

More updates to come!

Misty

Grant update - 4 months old!

Today our little man is 4 months old. His current weight is 18 lbs 10 oz and he is 26 1/2 inches long (95 percentile); roughly the size of an 8 month old, according to our pediatrician. Never a small baby in this household. :-)

He can now roll over on his tummy but gets mad when he is unable to roll back over on his back. Shane calls him the reverse turtle since he gets stuck on his tummy instead of his back. He is a pro at grasping toys with both hands and of course they all go straight to his mouth. I now keep a bib on him at all times or his outfit will end up soaked with drool. Still no teeth yet. He can sit up pretty well but still needs a little help balancing. I may have mentioned in previous posts that he sucks his thumb. He doesn't suck it that often; only when he's hungry or to help himself go back to sleep. He refuses to take a pacifier.

He still wakes for 1 or 2 feedings at night on average. We did have 2 nights in a row that he slept 7-8 hours without a feeding. Of course I didn't sleep the whole time because I kept waking up to check on him. I have not started him on solids yet. I don't feel that his little digestive system is ready for it just yet; maybe in a few weeks. He loves to drink water...no complaints here. Just a few sips a day and he's happy.

Labor Day weekend

We had an overnight stay in San Antonio this past weekend. We took the boys to the zoo and ate at our favorite restaurant, Tomatillos. Their food is to die for! You must go there next time you are in San Antonio.

This was Grant's first trip to San Antonio. He loved the animals! The only time he fussed was when it was time to eat. Jeff also had a great time. He got a chance to feed the pelicans.

First day of 3rd grade

This summer just flew by! Today is Jeff's first day of 3rd grade. We met his teacher and dropped off his school supplies yesterday. She knows Jeff from Kindergarten when she helped his teacher that year and Jeff really likes her. I think we will have a great year.

New experience...more milestones

Today was a new experience for all of us as we attended church for the first time since the arrival of Grant. Both Shane and I were a bit skeptical about him being apart from both of us as he stayed in the nursery. He has had either Shane or myself in his sight since day one. But the little guy pulled through (and so did Mom and Dad!) and I was only paged once during Bible study because he was hungry. After that he took a short nap and visited with the caretakers and other babies while we attended the Worship service. It was a wonderful experience for all of us and it certainly felt great to be back in the House of the Lord.

We have experienced more milestones in these last few days. The first is that Grant is sleeping in his own bed! It's not that I didn't enjoy snuggling him every night but it is good to be able to change sleeping positions without worrying about waking him. Grant seemed to be ready for that transition so I went for it. It's funny how we are not going 'by the book' during this go around. Jeff was our 'by the book' child; when the book told us to do it we did it with most issues.

And the other milestone that happened today is that Grant is giggling and laughing. During bath time Shane was squeezing the wash cloth over Grant's chest and letting the water drip on him. Grant thought that was so funny. And like his big brother Grant gets the hiccups when he laughs. I don't know if all children do that but both of ours do. Jeff still does to this day.

Jeff continues to be a great big brother and is interacting more with Grant every day. He has asked to hold Grant several times but changes his mind after a few seconds. He even tried to pick Grant up out of his crib when Grant was crying but said that he was too heavy. I'm sure Jeff will start holding him more when Grant learns to sit up. Jeff will be in the 3rd grade this year. Wow! I can't believe how fast these years are flying by. He will be in middle school before we know it.

We are finally finished with all of our school shopping and have just one more week of summer vacation.

Thanks for reading!

Misty

Summer fun continued

The summer is coming to an end; only 2 more weeks until school starts again. We have most of the school supplies bought but still need to get some more clothes for Jeff. He is not that excited about going back and I hate to admit it but I'm sort of glad that it is starting soon. Is that a horrible thing to say?

I can't begin to explain how fast Grant is growing. He will be 12 weeks old this week and is wearing size 12 MONTH clothing!!!! I'm sure he is well over 15 lbs by now. He is able to roll from back to front (if he really wants to) although he hasn't figured out how to get his arm out from under him yet. We are also working on sitting up by himself and he can hold his head up really well. We do tummy time but he's not very patient with that. He is also learning how to use his hands and loves to hold and chew anything made of a cloth material. He has been drooling like crazy for at least a month but no signs of any teeth yet. I have a feeling we will be teething early. I know this sounds crazy but he is attempting to say words. I don't think he understands what the words mean of course but he tries to mimic words that we say to him. His word for Mama is 'ama' and the funniest thing he tried to say today was 'poo poo'. Yes it may be disgusting but he tried to say it! He seems to be trying out the 'p' sound. He tries to say that during his diaper change.

His sleep time is getting better too...well for us anyway. Jeff didn't sleep through the night until he was 3 years old so I don't expect good sleep patterns from Grant either. He sleeps 4-5 hours when I first put him to bed and then wakes up every 2 1/2 - 3 hours after that. But unlike his older brother he loves to snuggle at night. I have really enjoyed that. That may be the difference between a bottle fed and breastfed baby.

Grant's nickname is Go Boy. He loves to go...anywhere! Again, the complete opposite of his big brother. Jeff is a home body. And Grant loves to be outside. We go outside every morning to water the plants.

Although we haven't had much of a vacation this summer we have been sure to take time out for Jeff. Shane took him to a local water park and to the swimming pool several times. His grandparents have also taken him swimming and last week his aunt took him to Sea World. He loves to swim and to be around animals. Sea World has always been the perfect place for him. He is an animal lover! Both Shane and I are too so he comes by that honestly.

Hope everyone is doing well. Will post again soon!

Misty

More summer fun

Milestones

Another week gone by and more milestones for our family. A big milestone to celebrate is that I am now an official stay at home mom. Praise God that we were given this opportunity. I don't know how we are able to do it financially but through God all things are possible. Faith is what we are living on. I stayed home with Jeffrey during his first 5 months of life and went back to work up until Grant was born, so it has been at least 7 years in between that period of time. Wow...what an adjustment. Let's just say that I have so much respect for SAHM's (Stay At Home Moms). It is a 24/7 job but the rewards are way better than anything earned at a job outside the home. :)



Only about a month left of summer break and school will start again. I don't think either Jeff or myself is ready for it to start. It will be a challenge to get Jeff up for school while at the same time taking care of Grant. Luckily Jeff is old enough to get himself dressed but it takes some effort to get him out of bed. We'll see how that goes. Grant will be 3 months old so maybe it will be easier by then.



Grant's personality is really starting to come out during these last few weeks. He is such a sweety. Yesterday he giggled for the first time...while he was awake. He has been giggling in his sleep for a while (so cute!). And he sure knows who Mom is. If anybody else is holding him for a while and he finally sees me his bottom lip will pucker and he starts crying. Oh...makes me feel terrible. Our nights are not very restful right now. He wakes up every hour to eat! I hope it will pass soon! He now weighs a whopping 14 lbs; 95 percentile in weight. Pretty common with our kids. Jeff has been such an awesome big brother and a great helper to me. He and Grant like to 'talk' and Jeff is always commenting on how cute Grant is. Jeff isn't interested in holding him but he will sit and play with Grant.

I have some recent pictures to post and will try to get them on the blog when I have more time.

Misty

Summer family fun

Just wanted to share some summer pics. We are all having a blast seeing Grant do something new every day. Just this morning he looked right at me and smiled when he noticed I was looking at him. Made my heart melt.

We seem to have the reflux under control although it likes to show up even more at night. And who could have thought that a baby on mommy's milk could have colic? Jeffrey had a milk allergy and was on a special (and very expensive!) formula and we wanted to avoid that route with Grant. Sure enough he is also allergic to milk and soy and also has trouble with mommy's milk too. Not the milk itself but the speed at which it comes out. Here we are 7 weeks later and I'm still learning new techniques to get past this problem. I am ready for solid foods but at the same time I don't want my baby to grow up so quickly.

The boys and I stayed at Nana and Papa's house for a few days earlier in the week and we had a good time. It made me appreciate Shane and his help with taking care of the boys even more. Mom has back problems and cannot hold Grant for very long.

So far this summer Jeff has gone to a summer day camp that was offered to our neighborhood. It was an all day camp (8-5 pm) for 5 days. They had all kinds of activities from board games to swimming. He was exhausted by the end of the day and got the much needed exercise. He also started going to VBS at our church right after school was out for the summer but ended up getting sick after the first day. He was disappointed about not getting to go. I plan on getting him into swim lessons before the summer is over...he loves to swim. I think we may have found the one sport that he enjoys. Luckily the schools around here have swim teams and I hope that he continues to like the sport.

Here are some pics:

I forgot to turn the flash on in this pic but it is the first 'smiling' pic I have of him:

Hope every one's summer is going well.

Blessings,

Misty

Enjoying my family

It's hard to believe that Grant is going on 6 weeks old!...I want him to stay a baby forever since he will be our last one unless God has other plans for us, of course. At 4 weeks we found that he has reflux and has been taking Prevacid to treat it. Poor baby; he's been a real trooper through it and the medicine has helped tremendously. We don't have the luxury of feeding him and putting him right to bed. He has to sit up for about 20 minutes after eating. He is able to hold his head up for a while longer each week and has already started smiling. Talk about making your heart melt! I love those smiles!!!!

Jeffrey has been a great big brother to him. At first he didn't know how to react towards Grant but as Grant is getting older Jeff has warmed up to him a bit. Especially since Grant is more aware of his surroundings.

We've made a few trips to Nana and Papa's house which is about 2 hours away. The road to their house has many twists and turns and he seems to get a bit car sick and does not like the car seat that well. What baby does like a car seat, right? But each trip over there seems to get easier.

More to come!

4 weeks old

Grant will be 4 weeks old this Thursday! Where has the time gone? It amazes me how such a tiny little person can bring such dramatic changes to a household...but I wouldn't have it any other way. :)
At 2 weeks Grant weighed 9 lbs 3 oz and was 21 1/2 inches long which means he gained 11 oz and grew 1 1/2 inches since leaving the hospital. Here are some pics.





After his first bath

2 weeks

Grant Ryan Richardson

We are pleased to announce that Grant Ryan Richardson was born on May 21st at 2:26 pm, 8 lbs 11 oz 20 inches. He decided to come a day before the scheduled induction. We had a little scare with wet lung, which is a complication where too much amniotic fluid is present in the lungs. After 7 hours of being monitored in the nursery we finally got to meet our little angel. He is a healthy baby boy and has already grown 1/2 inch since birth. Right now we have our days and nights mixed up but hopefully that will change soon. Here are some pics: