Oh What Fun It Is...!

As I predicted, this Christmas was so wonderful. It's amazing how a baby can make everything so fun and new (and honestly, I don't know what we'd all sit around and talk about if Griffin weren't there to entertain us).

The holiday started with Christmas Eve lunch at my grandmother's house. We ate way too much food and opened gifts.

The stockings were hung by the chimney with care, and there was a new one up there this year for Griffin! Gingi makes a good stocking and has made many over the years.

A new cell phone from Aunt CC was quite a hit! Griffin is still enjoying it...and our phone bill is through the roof! (I kid, I kid)

We had a little accident, which is why G is bottomless in a lot of these pictures. I wasn't prepared with extras in the diaper bag this time.

This is my favorite family photo from Christmas (maybe because it's one of the very few we took!).

From Gaga's house, the three Herring's left to go to the Christmas Eve service at our church. We listened to great music and were reminded the real meaning of Christmas, which is often lost in the attempt to get everything ready and "perfect" for the big day. When we got home, Chad and I had fun getting things ready for Santa's big arrival the next morning!

Here's Griffin and Dada on Christmas morning! G had his bottle and then was ready to head downstairs to see if Santa brought him any new toys.

It was fun to see Griffin and how he reacted to his toys. We thought he would immediately gravitate to the big, green dinosaur (his "big" gift), but he was more into the dinky little cars. We basically had to "introduce" him to the dinosaur! haha.

I think G and the dino got off to a rough start, but now he LOVES it and is doing a great job walking behind it like a big boy!

Gigi, Charlie, Ramsey and Jenna came over later that morning to see what Santa brought and to exchange gifts between us before the great grandparents, aunt Cindy and Gram and Grandpa came for Christmas brunch. It was a great day with family!

Gram and Grandpa got Griffin a rocking horse!

....and, of course, Griffin enjoyed the bows and such just as much as the presents themselves. Although, he really needs to work on unwrapping his own gifts. My bet is that by next Christmas he'll be tearing into those packages all by himself.

Oh, did I mention that we had a white Christmas?! It was so cool. We actually had a few inches on the ground (nothing stuck on the roads). It was beautiful. Griffin has seen his fair share of snow since he was born, especially considering we live in Georgia.

A few days later we rounded out the Christmas celebration by heading down to Hilton Head to spend a few days with the Herrings! Natalie, Jake and baby Blake were there, and we got to see Grandma and Grandpa Herring and Uncle Tom and Aunt Sherry. Of course, Griffin got more gifts (I think he's already looking forward to next Christmas...he likes all these new toys!).

I love this picture of the cousins. I know these two will get into some real trouble together in a few years!

Nat Nat gave G a fun new activity table. He LOVES it and plays with it every morning!

This was such a special Christmas, spending it as a family of three. We can't wait to start some traditions of our own and make Christmas something that Griffin not only looks forward to each year, but something that he truly understands as a time of celebrating the birth of baby Jesus.

PS - I just have to brag for a minute here. Besides the typical baby blabber of dada and mama, we're convinced that Griffin's first word was JESUS. (no joke!) We've got a little stuffed animal nativity scene that we were playing with in Griffin's room one morning and we were talking about Mary and Joseph and the animals and baby Jesus. More than once, Griffin repeated the word Jesus. Ask Chad if you think I'm lying. Just saying....I knew we had a special boy on our hands.

Baby Blake!

It's official...Griffin has a cousin! Blake Jacob Boyd was born on November 30th! Mom, dad and baby are all doing great. Natalie is a natural at this "motherhood" thing. It seems that she has just been going with the flow, which is all you can do with a newborn! Blake is absolutely perfect and we're so happy that he's here and hope that he and Griffin will be the best of friends as they grow up.

Who is this Bearded Man?

We couldn't have asked for a better "first visit" with Santa Clause! It wasn't even planned, but we were at the mall one Sunday after church and I decided to at least check to see what the Santa looked like. (For those of you not from Atlanta, there is a huge hoop-la around seeing a certain Santa at a certain mall in town. You've got to sign up in advance and wait in a line. Needless to say, I didn't sign up in advance...I don't do much in advance these days).

Anyways, I thought this Santa looked great and there was NO LINE! (A major plus when you've got a squirmy kid in tow.) Chad and I decided to take advantage of the situation and everything turned out great.

We literally waited in line behind 2 other kids.

Just enough time to snap this perfect photo! Everyone has sincere smiles...does it get any better than that?! (It helped that Dada was tickling the little man.)

Then, Griffin got to have a good conversation with Santa. He was a little unsure, or maybe just confused at first...

Griffin is a pretty curious kid. He likes to check everything out. (I like to say he's nosy like his mama!)

I just LOVE this face. G is a little unsure about this bearded man.

....and here is the professional photo....at least it looks like he's smiling.

I know Griffin is anxious to see if Santa really brings what he asked for...now if Santa would just tell us what he asked for, we're good to go!

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!

An Extra Special Thanksgiving!

Though it's a close race with Christmas, I think Thanksgiving is my favorite Holiday. No pressure to pick out the perfect gift, just time with family to eat and reflect on the many blessings God has given me. This year the family gathered at my parent's house for some yummy food and fellowship...always a good time!

....and, of course, this was our first Thanksgiving with our little man, Griffin! Talk about being thankful!! We love him so much and are really enjoying all of these "first" holidays with him.

This picture isn't from Thanksgiving day, but I think it's so sweet...and I am very thankful that G is a good sleeper (most of the time).

The Saturday after Thanksgiving, we headed up to Rock Spring, GA to see Chad's family. (This is a photo of G sleeping in the car on the way up there...I tell you, there is nothing sweeter than a sleeping baby.)

There was a big group of "Herrings" up there, all anticipating the birth of baby Blake and secretly hoping (or not so secretly) that Natalie would go into labor ahead of schedule! We got to visit with cousins that we hadn't seen in a long time (and some I had never even met before). I know Chad really enjoyed catching up with them!

Though I'll only be hitting the tip of the iceberg, here a few things I am especially thankful for this year:

• Family - I think our little family of three is just perfect, but then you add in add in all of our parents, grandparents, siblings, aunts, uncles, etc....we're so blessed!
• Health - we're all alive and kickin' and I couldn't ask for anything more!
• Chad - I am so thankful that I'm married to a great man, who has become such a great dad. Also, words cannot express how thankful I am that Chad works his butt off so I can be at home with Griffin during this special time of life when he seems to be changing daily.
• Griffin - I'm sure every parent feels the same about their child, but I sincerely feel like Chad and I have the perfect son. He makes our lives feel so fulfilled and we love him dearly.

Thank you Lord for all you have given me and my family!

"In everything give thanks; for this is God's will for you in Jesus Christ." 1 Thessalonians 5:18

Little Man Needed a Vacation

Griffin leads such a stressful life, we figured he needed a little vacation!

Just kidding. But, he did go on vacation to spend 5 days with his grandparents in Hilton Head! (Technically, Bluffton, but HH sounds more exciting.) I know grandparents covet that "alone time" with their grandchildren, so Chad and I wanted to give Gram and Grandpa some special time with Griffin without us (mainly me) looking over their shoulder thinking (not saying), "Oh, that's not how I do it..." Also, G's cousin Blake was due to arrive very soon, so we wanted to make the most of G's time as the ONLY GRANDCHILD!

So, to make the hand-off, my mom rode with G and I in the car to Macon. There, we met the Herrings and had a nice lunch a Cracker Barrel before we went in our separate directions. (Yes, I teared up a little bit leaving my boy, but I knew he was going to have the BEST time, so I wasn't too terribly sad.)

As soon as they arrived at Gram and Grandpa's house, G started exploring! They've got lots of fun toys there and lots of windows to look out of (and leave finger prints on)...one of G's favorite things to do!


...and before bedtime, G got to go on a golf cart ride to watch some night golf going on in the neighborhood!

After a long day of traveling and playing, I'm sure everyone was tired and ready for bed.

From what I understand, Griffin was up bright and early every morning!

Luckily, Gram and Grandpa had lots of activities planed! They went for walks on the golf course, ate lots of puffs, played at the play ground, washed some dishes, went swimming in the hot tub (a highlight for sure!), and even ran a few errands around town.

I just LOVE these pictures in the hot tub. You can tell that both Griffin and Grandpa are just having the BEST time!

G got some cute, new Christmas pj's too! They attempted a photo shoot, but G was not in the mood to cooperate. (Sitting still is NOT his strong suit.)

On his last day there, Grandpa too Griff to downtown Bluffton to buy some oysters at the May River. It looked like a fun field trip!

I just loved this picture of Gram and Griffin...I like to joke that Griffin doesn't give hugs and kisses, but instead, head butts! It's so cute when he just charges towards you and nuzzles (trying to make it sound sweet here) his head up against yours. Sometimes painful, yes, but I honestly think it's a sign of affection.

Obviously Griffin had a blast with his grandparents and I think they were thoroughly worn out by the end of his stay! We're so lucky that G has wonderful grandparents (and great grandparents) in his life...he doesn't know what a lucky boy he is!

Thanks Gram and Grandpa for spending a fun-filled 5 days with Griffin. More importantly, thanks for documenting the trip with tons of pictures! I didn't miss him as much I as would have had I not received daily photo updates! Y'all are wonderful!

I Promise I'll Catch Up...

Seeing as how it has been almost a month since I've blogged, I've got a lot of catching up to do! So much has happened that the thought of blogging about everything feels like a daunting task, but I MUST do it to preserve these precious memories!

I'm setting a goal for myself to get these exciting events down in writing...

• Griffin spent 5 days with Gram and Grandpa!
• G's first Thanksgiving
• Our visit with Santa
• BABY BLAKE!!

Stay tuned!