Cheerios are Magic

Just look at that face. This boy loves his Cheerios...and so does his momma! They are seriously like magic. The boy cries - give him a Cheerio!

When he's got a big tray full he usually just puts down a wet, slobbery hand and picks up about 10 at a time to shove in his mouth (and usually ends up choking and scaring me to death). However, when he gets down to the last few, you can see him really concentrate to get them in his hand and into his mouth. It's so cute (and he's really good at it)!

I use to think that Cheerios were a "clean," non-messy snack...........not true.

I'm often amazed at how FAST the Cheerios dissappear, but then I pick G up and see that they are just hiding.

In addition to the wonderful introduction of Cheerios in our life, a lot has been going on lately and I just haven't had the time to sit and write about it - so here goes - a few tid-bits of information for the memory books so G will know what he was up to as a wee young lad:

• As of 6 months old, you started experimenting with crawling and within the span of a week, you had MASTERED the art of crawling and pulling up. You are on the move and definitely keep mom and dad on our toes! We can't wait to see what happens this month! You seem to learn something new every week.


• You are a good eater and love sweet potatoes and apple sauce (..........and Cheerios, duh).


• You are starting to grow some hair - it sticks straight up - but it looks good! You love to feel your hair (actually, it looks like you're pulling your hair) when you're tired and do it all the time when you are eating your bottle or about to go to sleep. It's really sweet.


• You like to pick things up and drop them, just so you can bend down and pick it up again.


• You are ALWAYS on the move. If you're awake, you're moving. I'm hoping that one of these days you'll learn to just sit and relax for a few minutes (and cuddle with mom while you're at it).


• Oh! I almost forgot....YOU'VE GOT A TOOTH!! Your 1st tooth started poking through right before you turned 7 months. It's still just a little thing (hasn't fully come through yet), but it looks like you're about to get another one as well. Teething has not been very fun for you (or us)....you usually wake up crying at night, which is rare for you because you are such a good sleeper!


• You love beign outside. If you're upset, it instantly calms you. You are really starting to notice all the different sites and sounds out there....and you love to watch cars drive by.


• Your personality is just AWESOME. You're a funny and sweet little boy and everyone just loves you. You are a total flirt when we're out in public (mostly with the elderly women) and you always make strangers smile.


• No words yet, but you're definitely talking to us. Lots of sounds, giggles, grunts, etc...


• You LOVE the owl painting in your room. It makes you smile when you're crying.


• You're such a big boy that you don't have to sit in your car seat while you shop anymore! You sit in the cart just like all the other big kids!


• You're growing like a weed and growing out of your clothes like crazy. Good thing the seasons are about to change so you can move into your new wardrobe (I'm really good at buying clothes for you - I'm sure you'll appreciate that as a teenager).

That's all I can think of for now - I'm sure I'm forgetting things, but there is just so much going on around here that it'd be impossible to write it all down. So fun!

Here are some pictures of our big boy from this week:

This "no spill" cup has got nothin' on Griffin....he can find a way to make a mess!

Griffin is a good shopping buddy, however, I have now learned to NOT let him be the "list holder" anymore. I turned my head for about 20 seconds to pick out some sweet potatoes and WHAM! he has eaten my list! I had to fish it out of his mouth and make due with what was left of it.

Griffin's favorite store is Hobby Lobby. Luckily I'm such a nice mom that I make sacrifices for him and take him often. (hehe...)

A Mover and a Shaker

This video is a few weeks old, but I wanted everyone to see how great big G is doing with crawling and pulling up! Since the video was shot, he has gotten the hang of getting back down once he pulls up on something. It was so fun to watch him teach himself how to do it. I could see the the wheels in his brain just a turning. He started by trying to bend at the waist and would NOT bend at the knees (even when Chad and I tried to bend them FOR him). He has made progress each and every day and now seems pretty comfortable doing it! Sometimes he bends his knees, sometimes he doesn't....good thing he's really flexible. Now he entertains himself by stand up, dropping a toy, bending down to pick it up, and getting back up...he repeats this over and over. Makes momma nervous and proud at the same time!

You Live and You Learn

Today has been an interesting day - Griffin and I have just gotten home from the doctor where Dr. B, our favorite doctor {though I think G might be a little mad at her right now}, just removed 14 splinters from Griffin's hands, feet and knees. It was about as fun as it sounds. Poor Griffin was screaming his head off for about 10 minutes straight while Dr. B poked and prodded.

Needless to say, Chad and I learned a valuable lesson this Labor Day weekend....

If you let you kid crawl around on a wooden dock, he will get splinters...LOTS OF THEM!

Unfortunately it took about an hour of G crawling around for us to realize this! He was just having so much fun!

We spent Sunday up at Lake Lanier at Buck's lake house. It was great. They've got a really nice {splintery} dock.

Griffin wouldn't keep his hat on, so we had to put sunscreen on his head. He wasn't a fan of us putting sunscreen all over him, however he WAS a fan of the cool mohawk we gave him!

Griffin had a blast in his frog float once again...that float has turned out to be one of the best Wal-Mart purchases we've made!

So....a really fun day led to a not so fun day for the G man...you live and you learn!

...And if I Had a Son Sir, I Tell You What He'd Do...

...he would yell, "to hell {heck?} with GEORGIA, like his daddy use to do {still does}!"


Saturday was a big day for the Herring family...Chad in particular...he got to take his son to his first Georgia Tech game. Chad has been looking forward to this day since we found out we were having a boy. It's something that I know he will enjoy sharing with Griffin for years and years to come!!


The morning of the game Griffin woke up at his usual 7:00am. Chad went to get him and feed him while I stayed in bed for just a bit longer. When I walked into Griffin's room, Chad had already put Griff into his game day jersey. {This jersey is made for a 2 year old, but we bought it before we even knew if we were having a boy or a girl...either way, Chad was going to put our child in it as soon as the right occasion arose!}


Here's our boy...all ready to go tailgate for a few hours before the big game! I think he looks like such a BIG BOY in the jersey and the tennis shoes! This was the first time he has ever worn tennis shoes and he had no clue what those big things on his feet were. hahah...very cute.



Griffin made lots of new friends at our tailgate, and took a particular liking to Elizabeth. {Already a fan of pretty girls.}


Cottingham is already trying to corrupt our child...we'll have to keep an eye on uncle John. {Griffin was very interested in that bottle.}

The Sineway's were there with thier new addition as well. I think Griffin and Leah totally have a "thing" for each other already. What boy wouldn't like a girl in a precious yellow tu-tu!?

The band came over to play the fight song right in front of our tailgate. I wasn't sure how Griffin would react to this because he gets startled by loud noises sometimes {his dad's sneezes scare him to death}, but he LOVED the band! He danced right along to the music.

This is Griffin and Mommy doing the "Budwiser" song....up, down, up, down....

Griffin's buddy Jack was there too! We always have fun with him...it's fun to see the boys together, and with Griffin getting bigger and bigger, they are actually starting to interact a bit more. Boy, it will be a great time when they are both running around with each other {and I'm sure Leah will be right there in the mix too!}

The dad's with their babies...my, my how the crowd at the tailgates has changed in the last few years. I just love this picture. We're so lucky to have great friends who are going through this parenthood thing with us!

Tailgating makes everyone tired. Griffin had to rest up before the big game!!

Chad swore that he would never wear this Baby Bjorn....we all see how that turned out.

....and here we are! Griffin is in Bobby Dodd stadium for the first of many times!!

Chad is singing the fight song to Griffin after Tech's first score. Griffin was singing along since he already knows all the words, his dad sings that song to him every night before putting him to bed.

After he was sure Tech was going to win, G decided to take a little nap. The heat was making him sleepy.

Griffin made it all the way to the 4th quarter before we decided to call it a day. Everyone was hot and tired and ready to head home. He did a GREAT job at his first game!

We're so proud that Griffin is such a trooper and seems to do just fine anywhere we take him. He just goes with the flow and we love him for it! We are so glad that we will be able to enjoy going to games as a family for years to come. Way to go big boy!!

A Little Slice of Heaven

Last weekend we had an amazing trip to Lake Burton. The Whaley's have a place there and are kind enough to entertain Chad and I (and now Griffin) about once a summer for the last few years. We always have SOOO much fun with them and the weekend is always action packed, as Chad and Steve are probably the most competitive people I know....and they love competing against each other. Apparently this started long, long ago when Chad was a wee young lad.

To add to the fun of the weekend, the Herring's met us there as well. Although everyone was excited for a weekend at the lake, the main attraction was, of course, Griffin! The Whaley's hadn't met him yet and Gram and Grandpa just couldn't wait to get their hands on him!

The weekend consisted of oooh-ing and ahhhh-ing over Griffin's new crawling skills and how much he has grown and changed in the last month or so; shopping for the girls; golf for the boys; wake boarding for Chad and me; and tennis (young Herrings vs. the Whaleys). Griffin went on his 1st (and 2nd) boat ride and seemed to enjoy it alright. He at least tolerated it...and there was no screaming bloody murder when we put him life jacket on (unlike the first time we tried it in Hilton Head a few months ago).

As with most fun and busy weekends, it went by way too fast, but at least it was well documented so we will never forget a second of it! Below is a mere glimpse at the hundreds (probably closer to thousands) of pictures we took that weekend.

Even though Chad and I were feeling the pain of our action packed weekend for many days after, we had such a great time and enjoyed being with the Herrings and the Whaleys so much. Lake Burton is probably one of the most beautiful places in Georgia (a little slice of heaven if you ask me) and we feel luky to get to spend some time there every so often....Thanks for a great weekend Steve and Anna!