2 Years Old!

Say it ain't so!  Our little Griffin is 2 years old.  To say that time has flown by would be the understatement of the century.  I just can't even describe how fast these 2 years have gone.  It's fun and awesome and I wouldn't change anything, but if the time is already passing this quickly I can only imagine adding another kiddo into the mix and life just getting busier and busier. 

Gulp!  I must remind myself to sit back and take in all the goodness of life...often!

Anyways - Griffin had a great birthday.  We started the day off at home with a bowl of Fruit Loops and some of mom's Pop Tart.  Nothing like a sugar overload on an already exciting day, right?  Ehhh, I didn't care, I was dropping him off at school!  haha....(insert evil laugh)

Towards the end of his school day we {Dada, Boo, Papa Don and myself} went to his class to have a party with his school friends.  He was sooooooooo excited to see us!  We had fun seeing him at school with his little friends.  How his teachers get them to SIT at the table and eat, I'll never understand.  They looked at my like I had 3 eyes when I asked them what their secret was and said, "He doesn't behave like this at home?"  Um, no....in fact, he doesn't.

Saying "cheeeeese" for the camera.

 

After the kiddos enjoyed mini cupcakes, apple juice and jello blocks the teachers suggested that we read them a story before the parents started coming to pick the kids up.  I was happy to do so but Griffin was even happier.  In fact, he was down right wild!  haha...between the sugar consumption and the fact that he knew it was HIS special day, this kid couldn't contain his excitement. 

It was a happy birthday for sure!

The next day (I should probably at least mention that this was Chad's 30th birthday - happy birthday babe) we had the family over for a little party!  Griffin loved having everyone over and loved all the special attention.  We had fun opening gifts (many of which revolved around Thomas - our family is so smart), playing and eating.

Dada made sure G read the cards before he opened the gifts. 

Big boy underwear!  NO - we're not potty training yet but when we do, I know these Thomas underwear will be quite a treat!

 

Reading a Thomas book with uncle Ramsey.

Didn't quite understand how to blow out the candle...maybe next year!

Me with the two sweetest and cutest birthday boys...EVER!

To top off an already great birthday weekend, we decided to try Griffin in a big boy bed!  We weren't necessarily going to do it this soon, but it worked out that we got the bed (thanks to uncle Ramsey) and all of the bed "gear" and it was all ready to go.  I was excited to get it all set up and Griffin was excited to try it out!  He did GREAT.  The first night he cried off and on for about 15 minutes.  I think he was just a little confused as to what was going on.  After those 15 minutes we haven't had trouble since!  He never tries to get out on his own and still waits for us to come get him in the morning.  We couldn't have asked for a smoother transition.

Good morning big boy!

And just so we've got this info on record, G had another great doctor's visit for his 2 year appointment.  He was in the 60% for height - measuring 34 3/4 inches, and 20% for weight - weighing in at 25.6 lbs.  Dr. B said you're just destined to be tall and thin and gave you permission to eat all the ice cream you want!  (Though I don't plan on telling you that.)

So, Mr. Griffin, at 2 years old we can already tell that you're going to be a boy who loves life.  You are a funny little rascal and still don't like to sit still for long.  You could play with your trains ALL DAY LONG but you also love being outside.  Your favorite things to do outside are RUN (away from mama and dada - quite frustrating for your parents I must say), play on the neighborhood playground and play basketball with dada.  You are talking up a storm and can repeat pretty much anything you hear.  Some of the stuff that comes out of your mouth is pretty funny...it really shows how much you are listening and taking things in.  You love to listen to your "silly songs" CD in the car and are quite the singer - your specialties are John Jacob Jingleheimer Schmit (though you just request "john jay" for short), Happy Birthday, Apples and Bananas and Little Green Frog.  Those are your favorites, but we're quickly learning that you know the words to almost every song on that CD.  You're so smart! You talk about your baby brother Carson a lot and always include him in the conversation when we're talking about our family.  When people ask you what your brother's name is going to be you enthusiastically tell them.  We can't wait to see you as a big brother - I just know you'll be the BEST.   You love reading before bed at night and always remember to say your prayers.  You've almost got the Georgia Tech fight song down pat (since dada sings it to you every night) and you've just started saying "See you in the morning!" as we are leaving your room at night.  Warms my heart!

We love you Griffin and take so much joy in watching you grow up on a daily basis.  Can't wait to see what the next year brings!



Christmas 2011

Better late than never, right?.........

Christmas was FUN this year!  Griffin really got into opening his gifts and helping everyone else open their gifts as well.  Somehow I don't have still photos of "Christmas morning" at our house (which was really Christmas eve morning), but we had a "just the 3 of us" early Christmas at our house so we could give Griffin new pieces to his train track....the boy LOVES his trains.  We spent Christmas eve eve at Ramsey and Jenna's house with all the Knights, then headed to Gaga and Gingi's house on the real Christmas eve to celebrate with the Lovetts.  (Are you following me?  Try to keep up.)  From there we packed up the car and headed south to Bluffton, SC to wake up Christmas morning with the Herrings.  Luckily Santa was able to find us there. 

Griffin helping Gingi open his gifts.

Gag and Ging with all of their grandkids.

Now we're at Boo and Papa Don's house.  The stockings were hung by the chimney with care.

Twas the night before Christmas and not a creature was stirring. 

Santa found us!

Griff and Grandma Jenny (which he got pretty good at saying).

Loved this shirt made by Boo!  Griffin tells anyone and everyone that "I Gik kin."

It was a great Christmas....so nice to spend it with our entire family. It's fun to think that baby Carson will be with us next Christmas...bring on the fun and the chaos!

A Few Loose Ends

Before I post about Christmas and move on to 2012 I wanted to tie up a few loose ends from 2011. 

A few months ago Gigi and I took Griffin to see his first movie in a real movie theater!  It was a Thomas the Train movie and to say he loved it would be an understatement.  Now, normally I would have NO DESIRE to take Griffin to a movie because anyone who knows this kid knows that he does. not. sit. still.  BUT - this was an hour long Thomas movie during the middle of the day AND we had coupons, so I figured we'd give it a try.  Griffin is so in love with anything Thomas that I figured he'd be pretty captivated...turns out I was right.  It was a great experience and Griffin talked about going to see this movie for quite a while afterwards.

  

I think this was before the movie even started.  He was already interested in everything going on.

Poor Percy thinks his best friend Thomas doesn't have time for him anymore.  Oh the drama of Thomas and his friends.

About 45 minutes into the movie Griffin came out of his trance and realized he needed some "fruit ray rays"...this is what he calls his Welch's Fruit Snacks (a favorite around here).

After the movie we treated ourselves to McDonald's. 

Griffin has a new love for dipping things in ketchup!

This is just a picture that I snapped in the car one day of Ray Charles Griffin reading his book with his sunglasses.  He likes wearing them, but doesn't keep them on very well.  Not easy for Mama to help with the glasses while I'm trying to drive, so we don't wear them often.   

These next few photos are from this fun place we've discovered called Catch Air.  Our friend Tate invited us to check it out with him to see if it was worthy of this 2nd birthday party.  It certainly was, so - lucky us - we got to go back a few weeks later to celebrate!



Griffin called this "obstacle" the Shake, Shake Bridge - one of our thousands of Thomas references during the course of a  day.

Tate and Griffin - best buds and double trouble!!

Giddyup, Giddyup, Giddyup Let's Go!

Well, December has literally come and (almost) gone in a flash!  In fact, it's such a blur that as I sit here trying to write down what we've been up to, I'm drawing a blank! 

Guess I'll start with the most exciting news we've gotten this month....baby Herring #2 is a BOY!  Honestly I thought I'd be just a smidge disappointed that we weren't having a girl, but the second I saw that male genitalia on the screen (I spotted "it" before the nurse told us), I was elated!  All thoughts of pink and ruffles have gone away and now I'm just ready for some rambunctious fun around here!  (As if we didn't have enough already.)  Oh, you want to know if we've got a name yet?  Why yes, thanks for asking...we can't wait to welcome Carson Clark to the family!!!  Carson is just a name that Chad and I have always liked and Clark is a family name on Chad's side...it's his mom's mom's maiden name.  Follow that?  It's also Aunt Nat Nat's middle name and our cousin Harrison's middle name!

In other news Griffin went to visit Santa a few weeks ago and did a great job!  We were worried that there would be a lot of tears, but Griffin was so excited to tell him what he wanted for Christmas (Thomas, Spencer and track) that he forgot to be afraid of the big, bearded stranger.  Yay!  Griffin even went as far as to give Santa (or "Clause" as he was calling him at the time) a big hug and blew him a kiss.  Of course the on-duty "photographer" at the Santa booth that hour wasn't able to capture any of that....kept saying that he was waiting to see if G would smile....just SNAP, SNAP, SNAP away mister!  Anywho...here are a few of the shots we paid for.

And just so we can see the difference a year makes...here's G and Clause from last year.  (Not the same Santa.  I'm a little disappointed.)



The rest of December has been filled with shopping, wrapping, playing (with choo-choos primarily), baking and eating.  Though the shopping and wrapping are almost finished, I'm sure the playing and eating will continue in full force for the next week or so.  We're looking forward to lots of family gatherings in the next few days and some time down in Hilton Head as well.

If I don't make it back here before Christmas (and we all know what the likelihood of that is), allow me to wish you and yours a very Merry Christmas!!

Let Me Get You Up to Speed...

Okay folks, I know it has been a WHILE since my last post, so I'm going to attempt to catch you up on the last few months through a few pictures.  Here goes nothing....

We have been to visit Papa Don and Boo twice since the last post!  We always have fun there, especially since they have this awesome Thomas toy.  Griffin is slightly in love with Thomas the train and everything associated with it!  (Public Service Announcement for family...if you need an idea of what to get G for Christmas...anything - and I mean anything - dealing with Thomas and his Friends!)

Griffin and I went with my mom and dad to visit Griff's great grandmother, Nanny!  Nanny is my dad's mom and is in a nursing home up in Nashville.  She LOVED meeting Griffin and kept commenting on his shoes (she is a shoe lover by nature) and how smart he is!  I'm so glad they finally were able to meet one another. 

Griffin attended his first (and only) Tech game of the season.  You can see here that he was NOT crazy about seeing Buzz up close, however he loved watching him from afar.  He did great at the tailgate, but not so great at the game.  Guess we can't expect an almost 2 year old to sit still through a football game just yet!! 

We had a great weekend at Lake Oconee with great friends!  Griffin, Jack and Leah are a force to be reckoned with.  I remember a point in my life where lake weekends were relaxing....not so much anymore!

The three of us had a great time at Cagles Dairy Farm.  We went on a hayride, fed cows and goats and looked at pumpkins!  Great family fun.

Chad and I had the pleasure of trick-or-treating with the CUTEST spider in the world!

Griffin was so fun this Halloween.  He really seemed to get the hang of the whole thing and, in fact, still says "trick-or-treat!" to me when he wants a treat.  Too funny!  He also loved pulling around this "choo-choo" (as he calls it), that my grandfather made for him to pull around.  Quite the hit!

Contrary to popular belief (after my last post about how rough our first day of school was), Griffin is STILL IN SCHOOL and absolutely LOVING IT!  After many weeks of tears at drop off and pick up, we've finally turned a corner and Griffin walks right into his classroom with a smile on his face and a hug for his teachers!!  This is him and his buddy Tate at "farm day" last week.  When I picked him up today his teachers told me that he is such a good listener (say what?!) and he's always the first to start cleaning up when they ask the kids to clean.  THAT'S OUR BOY!

At 21 months old, he is quite the little rascal (though we already knew this).  He gets into anything he can, and since he's getting taller, that means he's getting into just about everything!  As I recall, he did NOT help me clean up this mess that he created.  Maybe I need to find out what the secret is from his teachers at school.

In exciting family news...I'm going to be an aunt again!  Ramsey and Jenna are expecting a sweet baby boy...due date is March 3rd!!  We all can't WAIT to meet him.  Obviously he's already taking after his daddy and is hamming it up for the camera. 

More exciting family news...GRIFFIN IS GOING TO BE A BIG BROTHER!!  Baby Herring #2 is due just about 2 months after his/her cousin...how fun will that be?!  May 2nd is our due date and we are beyond excited.  We should find out if we're having a boy or a girl in early December.  We've told Griffin about the baby but he really has no clue what's going on.  He knows that we tell him to "kiss the baby" in Mama's stomach - which he does - then he points to the baby in his stomach and in Dada's stomach.  Haha! 

As you can see, life has been busy and exciting and we have nothing to complain about!  God is good!

First Day of PreSchool

Griffin has started school!  His first day of preschool was on Tuesday and in the words of the preschool director, Mrs. Cindi, he had a "rough" day.  haha.... 

Let's back up to the night before...

This mama was nervous and wanted to make sure I had everything prepared for the next day.  Here's everything that needed to go in his bag.

The Griffster is sleeping away...no clue what awaits him in the morning (though we have been talking about school a lot to try to get him use to the idea).

We started our day with a healthy breakfast and some light reading.  Luckily Griffin couldn't see the big boo-boo square on his forehead.  I'm sure he would have been embarrassed if he could.  Hopefully this isn't foreshadowing of a big ole' zit on the first day of high school or something.  ;)

All ready to go, but we had to take pictures first with our new bag!

He liked carrying it himself .  It's almost as big as he is!

Here we are!  He actually started running towards the door all by himself.  I was thinking that this would be easier than expected!  But - when he made it to the door I said, "you ready to go in?"  He quickly responded with a sweet, "Nooo!" and turned to run the other way.  haha.

We waited for our friend Tate to get there so we could walk in with him (hoping it would make things easier).  I love the look on Griffin's face here...mom?

Griffin and Tate....I realize I should have left at this point but I was still holding all of Griffin's things, so I wasn't sure what to do!  (I'll have to work on a quick exit next time.)

He has now realized that I've left.  Doesn't that face just break your heart?!

So, once I left I was fine.  I wasn't sure whether I'd be emotional or not, but luckily I was with a friend and, frankly, was so excited about some alone time to get too teary about things.  I figured Griffin would calm down and have a great time.  Apparently that wasn't really the case....

Pick up was at 1:00, so Chad and I decided to meet for lunch and go pick him up together, anxious to hear how great he did.  We were waiting in the lobby of the church for them to open the doors.  There were a lot of parents waiting and then out comes the preschool director.  We made eye contact and she asked whose mom I was.  I said, "Griffin Herring."  She said, "Ohhh, he's had a rough day."  WHAT?!

Apparently he just cried off and on all day.  He was fine when they were playing outside (duh), but just kept missing us!  It sounds like he got a lot of personal attention - evident by the smell of women's perfume all over him.  I think he was well taken care of, which makes me feel good.  When they opened the doors to let parents go to the rooms, Chad and I headed in that direction.  We could hear Griffin crying before we even made it to his door.  We peaked in the room and the rest of the class appeared to be resting or sleeping, laying on their nap mats.  Our kid was sitting up (on his nap mat - aka a folded over blanket from home) with a teacher reading a book to him, trying to keep him from disturbing all the other kids I'm sure.

Oh well, so much for a good first day of school.  We'll just have to take it one day at a time and hopfully it will get better and better each day.

Here's his "report card" from the first day.  I'm not sure how reliable this is seeing as how the teacher has circled "quiet" and "sleep" in the "end of the day" column.  Sleepy?  Probably.  But I know he wasn't quiet!

We're heading back tomorrow for day two.  I'll be sure to let you know how it goes!