Nate's first Halloween party & trunk-or-treat

Here is our little monkey! On Saturday, we had two fun Halloween events. The first, was my sister Ali's Halloween Party. They throw a great Halloween Party for Kyle & Abbie. They have great games....this year was a mummy contest, eating donuts on a string, scavenger hunt, etc. and they always rent a BIG bouncy slide thing. The kids have a great time and we always look forward to going! This year was a little different because Nate was quite upset through most of the party and we had to leave early to go to our ward trunk-or-treat but we still had a great time. Great party, Thompsons! Here are a few pictures from the party....


our Alice and Wonderlands.....Abbie & Sam



Kyle getting wrapped up like a mummy

Our ward trunk-or-treat was so fun! I love seeing all of the kids dressed up. We had a great chili cook-off and yummy pies for dessert. A family in our ward even provided a "ride" of sorts. These little cars were hooked up to a 4 Wheeler and the kids got a ride around the parking lot. We had a great time. It made me really excited for next year because Nate will be able to participate a little more. Here are some of the kids in costume.....

We will have more pictures of our monkey after tonight! HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

more of the little guy

Here are some more pictures of Nate. We had a great weekend with a Halloween party and a trunk-or-treat. Halloween pictures are coming soon!

PBR

We went to the Professional Bull Riding at Mandalay Bay last night with our friends Nikki & Cody Treese. This is our third year in a row that we've been able to go! We didn't witness any major injuries this year....although a few of the bull riders had a few close calls. Wes got to wear his cowboy boots ~ I really need to get him a hat so he can look a little more like the cowboy he wishes he could be.

It was another fun evening out and it was great to see Cody & Nikki!

Happy Birthday Wes!

Wes turned 27 today….happy birthday, babe! I hope you had a great day.

Wes has been an amazing husband for the last four years and it has been so fun to see him instantly become such a great dad. He always thinks of Nate and I first which is something I truly admire and appreciate. He’s definitely a family man and for that, I am very grateful.

Probably my favorite thing about Wes is his friendliness and his ability and desire to get to know people. He LOVES talking to people and from what his mom has told me, this has always been the case. We always joke that we could put him in a room with someone who doesn’t speak English (or Spanish) and he would somehow figure out a way to get to know them. I love that he’s so outgoing and that he truly loves people.

We went to dinner tonight to celebrate not only Wes’ birthday but Tripp’s birthday (a little late since his was in September) as well. We went to one of our favorites….Metro Pizza. It was a great dinner with my family & Cassy. Abbie is always our entertainment….she’s getting so big and talkative!

Happy Birthday Wes!

a picture taking mood

I have a feeling the next few posts will be lots of pictures for the griffeth family in georgia and alabama! I go in phases with pictures....and I'm kinda in a picture taking mood.....so beware. In the next few days you may see alot of the little guy.

my little man is getting big

The first year of a baby's life is just amazing to me. It seems like he is doing something new every day! He is SUCH a smiler these days. It doesn't take much to get a grin from ear to ear. He also LOVES to hear himself make noises & he loves it even more when you make the noise back to him. He sticks out his tongue a lot & is overall, a pretty happy dude.

His latest favorite thing is a mirror. His bouncy seat has never been his favorite place but now that he found the mirror that is above his head....he loves it. He also loves the mirror on his swing. He loves mirrors so much that I had to buy one for his crib. He gets a kick out of himself.

The other night Wes was feeding him a bottle and Nate put his hands up on the bottle and held it himself! It isn't something he'll do regularly but it was pretty funny a few nights ago.

He also loves to suck on his hands and jam any fabric in his mouth, whether it be a bib, burp rag, etc. Anything he can get his hands on he likes to suck on.

A friend of mine recently had her baby and I took her dinner last night and got to hold Baby Ellie. It made me realize how BIG Nate is! She was so light and little. It's amazing how much they change & grow in a few months.

a dance festival

Wes and I are very involved with the youth in our ward. Wes is in the young men's presidency and I am the beehive advisor....both callings we really enjoy....but sometimes it gets a little crazy, now that we have Nate, when we both have to be somewhere. Our stake organized a dance festival for all of the youth and they've been practicing since July for their big performance that was on Saturday night.

This week was just one of those crazy weeks. Tuesday night I went with some of our leaders to support two of our girls at their volleyball game and then went straight to our board meeting. Wednesday night Wes and I both had to be at the dance practice. Thursday night Wes was supposed to serve dinner to the homeless with the young men. Friday night was the dress rehearsal for the dance festival, and Saturday night was the dance festival. That's a lot of church activities in one week!

When I first heard about the dance festival, I have to admit that I wasn't thrilled with the idea. However, I was very impressed last night at their performance. The theme was "dancing through the decades" and they had a different dance from the 1920's until now. The kids did a fabulous job and it was neat to see how much fun they had. It reminded me of the road shows I used to be in when I was a teenager. It was cool to see such a large group of kids just having good, clean fun on the dance floor. I'm glad it was a success but I'm also glad it's over!

a very bloody toe

Last night Wes & I had our first "what do we do" moment with Nate. I was at a Young Womens Board Meeting and Wes was being a good dad....cutting Nate's toenails. As he got to his big toe, he BARELY clipped part of his skin and blood started squirting out. After about a half hour of not being able to get it to stop with a crying baby, Wes called me a few times. The one time I accidently leave my phone in the car is the one time he needs me.

I finally got home & we were able to get Nate to calm down. He wasn't crying because of his toe....he was absolutely exhausted but Wes couldn't put him to sleep with his bleeding toe. It ended up bleeding ALOT for over two hours. Everytime we'd take the towel off to see if it was done it would squirt out even more. Wes held Nate & we kept his little foot elevated and eventually it stopped. Poor little guy. All he wanted to do was go to bed.

Here's a picture of a few of the rags. I never thought a baby's toe would bleed that much.

never underestimate a baby's strength

As with most babies, every time Nate goes to sleep he has to be swaddled. He doesn't really like it but lately he has been better about not fighting us as we swaddle him. He still does everything he can to get out. A few nights ago, he succeeded with a leg. Usually it's an arm but this time it was his leg.

He's a pretty strong dude so we usually swaddle him twice. He gets the swaddle me blanket and then another blanket wrapped around him. On Saturday night at 3am, I heard him crying so I went in and this is what I found. I had to run downstairs to get the camera. He not only got the top blanket off but he got his leg out, too! He starts at one end of the bed and ends up at the other. He throws these little "tantrums" when he wakes up swaddled and does everything he can to get out. It's pretty funny. I'm always amazed at how strong he is.

i thought i bought pants....not capris

Nate's 0-3 month clothes are all SO SHORT. They fit his

little body but they aren't long enough. They just aren't working for us anymore. He has floods. I didn't care as much when it was really hot out but now his little legs get cold because half of them are sticking out. I ended up buying a pair of actual pants since they seem to fit OK.

The sad thing is most of our 3-6 month outfits are one piece outfits. I'm sure they'll fit at first and then we'll have the same capri problem.

I wonder if they'll ever make a size "tall" for babies. :)

BYU Football Game.....and a few other fun things

We went to the BYU vs. UNLV football game last night. My dad was given four box seat tickets so he offered them to me and Wes since we're big BYU football fans. I asked Sam to come with us and Wes asked a single guy at his office to come, too. We thought we might be able to play matchmaker. While everyone had a good time, we aren't very hopeful that anything will happen with them. It was our first real evening out without Nate. My parents were nice enough to come over and watch Nate! By the time we got home, he had been in bed for over an hour which was nice. It was a nice evening out!

BYU beat UNLV 24-14. Sorry UNLV fans....better luck against the Cougars next year.

Wes & I had a fun week last week. We went to Lucille's BBQ with Ryan & Leslie for Leslie's birthday. Ryan & Leslie are two friends that we met in our ward right when we moved in and we've been great friends with them ever since. Unfortunately, they are moving back to Utah when Ryan graduates from law school in April but we enjoy their company while we can! Last Saturday, I went with my mom to Art in the Park in Boulder City. It's an arts and crafts show that we've been going to ever since I can remember. It was a beautiful day outside which made it a great morning out. Wes went to a fight last weekend at Mandalay Bay. It was his first live fight and he had a good time. On Sunday we watched conference at my parent's house & then our entire family was there for a yummy brunch. That night we had Ryan & Leslie over for yummy pork salads for dinner. My friend Julie invited us over for a DELICIOUS dinner on Monday night. I also had book club last week where we discussed Pride & Prejudice and Jane Austen. I always enjoy an hour or two chatting with the girls. Wes was able to play golf yesterday & we had dinner again tonight with Ryan and Leslie. As you can see, we were both out and about a lot last week which was fun! This week is JAM packed with church stuff every night!

bath time

Nate has always loved a bath. Some kids splash around. But not Nate. He just lays back and relaxes while mom and dad keep him warm in the water. He sometimes pushes off the bottom of his tub with his legs ~ he likes to stick his feet so they are immersed in water.


He also loves what follows his bath. We lotion him up and then put him in his jammies. You can tell he knows what's going on and he's just calm and smiley the whole time. These pictures are a few weeks old!

That's my boy ~ a water lover.

a self-soother?

I know I'm probably speaking WAY too soon....but could Nate really turn in to a self-soother on his own? You have to understand that prior to this last weekend, Nate didn't fall asleep ANYWHERE on his own. The movement in the car would put him to sleep but he never just fell asleep on my bed....or in his vibrating seat....or anywhere! We always had to spend a LONG time soothing him and getting him to sleep. He's just not a sleeper.

However, lately, he hasn't been falling asleep as we do our "soothing routine" and if he does, he wakes up when we put him in his crib. After a few times of that we just put him in his crib and walk out. He has been putting himself to sleep! He did it twice today for his naps already! What a wonderful thing. Lets hope it stays and that I don't jinx myself.

One of my future goals for Nate was for me to be able to put him in his crib awake, but ready to sleep, and be able to kiss him goodnight and walk out of the room. Could he really be doing this on his own without crying? Keep your fingers crossed for me.

back to work

Today is my first day back to work. Most of my work can be done at home but we have a client from a law firm in Arizona in town today and we are presenting ads for a new office they are opening so I needed to be in the office today, without Nate.

I'm slowly going to take on more work so I can figure out how all of this is going to work. Now that Nate is napping well outside of my arms, it shouldn't be too difficult. Although, prior to Nate, I didn't really think about his napping schedule and how going to work could potentially screw that up. So, I've been at my mom's since 9am so he could take his morning nap here & then she's going to watch him while i go to the office. i love having family around!

My older sister, who works at home for Marz and Company, is going on maternity leave in November so I have to be up to speed to be able to cover for Ali. I'm actually kind of excited to start working so we'll see how this goes!

2 months old

Nate is two months old today which is just crazy to me. It seems like time is just FLYING by. I never understood the statement..." I can't remember what life was like before him" but I really can't. All I know is it included many more hours of sleep! It’s amazing the changes they make each month…

* He smiles. Pretty much anyone can get a smile out of him these days….but he really responds to me, Wes & my mom….the people he sees the most!
* He coos. When he’s playing (laying down moving his arms and legs as fast as he can), he makes some great noises. I think he just loves to see what noises he can make.
* He still loves being outside. Now that it’s a little cooler, we’ve gone on a few walks which he really enjoys.
* He’s got a strong head and loves to move it around.
* He is not a fan of tummy time. And neither am I since he pukes every time.
* He loves to kick his legs and move his arms really fast. Sometimes when he’s really happy he will sit in his crib for 10-20 minutes and move non-stop just making noise. I tried to capture it on the video but of course he stopped moving really fast as soon as he saw the camera.

* He is so aware of what is going on around him. Last night we took him out to eat with us and he just sat and stared for a good 30 minutes at everyone walking around. He's very alert and loves the world around him.
*He has started spitting up, sometimes what looks like his entire meal, so we’re monitoring that.
* He’s growing like a weed. I have a feeling he’s going to be one of those kids who doesn’t fit in clothes very easily. His 0-3 month onesies are hard to snap b/c he’s so long but they aren’t tight on his skinny body so 3-6 month clothes just drown him. Sorry bud. You must have got the “hard to find clothes” problem from me.

We had a little photo shoot this morning so there are a number of pictures and they all kinda look the same! I tried to get his cute smile but missed it every time. I also included a video.

Enjoy!

i love fall & halloween

i am always ready for each new season as it arrives. i am especially ready for fall each year for two reasons: 1). it means cooler weather is coming 2). i love decorating for the fall & halloween (and thanksgiving....and christmas...).

nate was SOOO nice to me today (he's being naughty tonight) ~ he took two long naps during the day! my mom brought lunch over and helped me get out all of my fall decorations and get the house decorated and cleaned up. she has a great eye for home decor so i always appreciate her coming over. plus, with nate, i never know how much time i have so it was nice to have help. here's a few pictures of my re-decorated house!

i even managed to make dinner for wes. look at me....decorating the house and making dinner? i'm slowly turning in to a stay-at-home mom!