on the move at almost 6.5 months

He's not quite on-hands-and-knees-crawling . . . but he moves. He can pretty much get anywhere he wants to go with a push on his feet and some seriously strong hands. He still sits for a long period of time without moving - but as soon as he's on his back or belly . . . he's off.

I guess I can thank him for not full-on crawling quite yet to remember to make sure all small toys or objects aren't anywhere near him. But come on, bud. On-the-move at 6 months? What happened to the few months of just sitting up content-as-can-be? Okay, I'll stop comparing you to your brother who did pretty much everything late. I'm slowly learning that you're doing everything early.

Oh and while we're talking about Ryan - he cut two teeth and got over an ear infection recently! AND is maybe, just maybe, getting the hang of sleeping.

I'm loving this not-so-little boy of mine.

playing in the R A I N

Last week I got to have two of my favorite people and their cute kiddos over to swim. I served in our church in young womens with them in my old ward and they are the best.

We started swimming and it was HOT. Then all of a sudden the clouds are R O L L I N G in really fast. Then come the sprinkles. Some thunder. And then lightning. So we all got out and ate cupcakes [thanks jen] inside.

And THEN, it started POURING rain. The kind we desert folk rarely get to see. So even though the kiddos were already changed out of swimsuits and they had no other dry clothes - they ran in the rain and jumped in the mud and had a B L A S T.







Ryan was ADORED by the Rich girls.

Have I mentioned that Nate loves big kids? Especially ones like Mia, Jaidyn & Mallory that totally included the little guys in their playing. He was in heaven.

and nate said . .

I've got to start recording more of my little conversations with Nate. Here's a recent one:

While playing on the floor with Ryan in Ryan's room . . . Nate started looking through the closet and found all kinds of baby stuff that we don't use anymore.


Nate: "mom, lets throw this baby junk away." [he uses the word junk alot].

Mom: "but what if we had another baby someday? [doubtful, but I wanted to see his reaction]. We may need it again. Do you want another baby?

Nate: "sure, mom."

Mom: "would you want it to be a boy or a girl?"

Nate: "i want another ryan. I already have a girl."

Mom - a little confused: "buuttt, Ryan's a boy."

Nate - with a smile: "mom. You my girl."

wednesday afternoons at the multigen pool

For the last half of the summer - my mom was kind enough to let Ryan take his afternoon nap at her house so I could have an afternoon date with Nate at the multigen pool. [it's a fun, shallow pool with water stuff galore].

We were lucky enough to be joined by at least one of our friends from our old ward every week & ran in to lots of other friends along the way!

I never tell Nate who is going to be there since schedules change and things come up last minute. So he never knows who to expect when we get there. Last week we were driving there and I told him that I wasn't sure if any of our friends could come that Wednesday. His response:

Nate: "so mom, it could just be me and you?"

Me: "Yep".

Nate: "that's sad."

Apparently friends are preferred at a very early age. Lucky for him his buddy Jake was there and he had a blast.

Today was our last Wednesday - see ya next summer multigen pool.

no more leche

when nate was born - he was a great nurser. and then between 2-3 months he was over it. he arched his back and just cried and cried when i tried to nurse him. the boy wanted a bottle. which turned me in to a pumping mama until i dried up a few days shy of his 6 month birthday. [my theory behind him not wanting to nurse anymore was i was starting to lose milk and the boy was hungry].

after ryan was born - the exact same thing happened. Almost down to the day.

Wierd.

Which means I am no longer a nursing mama. I actually enjoyed it a little more with Ryan so while I'm kinda sad that I just dried up - I know I did all I could and now I'm thouroughly enjoying being done. [pumping all day long is alot of work, especially when you don't get much in return].

So I've got a little freedom back with a price tag of formula.

happy 7 to us

Wes & I celebrated 7 years of marriage this week. Holy smokes.

My parents took the boys this afternoon so we could go to a matinee movie and dinner. But we opted for some lounge time in the pool over a movie and it was fabulous. We sat on rafts in our own backyard and had an actual conversation. Rested in the sun. Ate popsicles. Read. It was niiiccce.

We finished off our few hours kid-free with an early dinner at Bahama Breeze with salad, pasta, onion rings and a pina colada. It was tasty.



To back up a bit - we're used to celebrating our anniversary early with a trip to Hawaii [courtesy of Wes' work] but they didn't go this year so we missed our kid free week on the beach! So even though today was only a few hours . . . and our backyard is nothing like Hawaii . . . and driving on the 215 in our car is not the same as the coastline in a convertible . . . we had time for US and it was nice. Thanks mom & dad.

What were the boys up to? Well . . .



My dad took Nate to see Despicable Me in 3d. Nate LOVED it. And they were twins when we showed up. Same shirt. Same glasses. Same hat.



They also went swimming where my dad got Nate to dive down and pick up rings from the bottom of the shallow end. I'm pretty sure the Thompsons joined them in the pool.

And this little guy about drove his grandma nuts for a few hours. He's teething.



It was a fun day had by all of the Griffeths.

we have a nurse in the family & we call her SAM.

Sam is officially a nurse & we got to celebrate with her yesterday at her pinning ceremony.



Sam has been in the 1 year accelerated nursing program at Nevada State College. Talk about an intense program that alot of people couldn't pull off. They jam 2 years worth of material in to 1 year which explains why we haven't seen her much since she started. But, she's DONE. And we're proud of her.

Lucky for Sam - she's a genius [she really is one of the smartest people i know], she's got a photographic memory [which helps her be a genius] and a total math/science brain which is why nursing is perfect for her. She's ready to learn and to dive in to the medical world.

Yesterday at the pinning ceremony - we probably had at least 4 people comment on the fact that we look so much alike. Even got called twins. We don't see it but apparently her nursing friends do.

What is Sam doing to celebrate, you ask? She leaves tomorrow for Budapest, Prague, Vienna and our favorite city London. I'm just a teeny-tiny-bit jealous she's going to London without me - but she totally deserves it.

Sam: now that you're done - I hope we see you more. Maybe a craft night is in our near future?

[ryan] is 6 months old

Ryan turns 6 months old this week which is absolutely crazy to me. I no longer have a little baby content to stare at the world. This kid is ready to play. Overall, he's got a great demeanor about him. That is - as long as we meet a few requirements of his. A few of which are that he has to feel like he's a part of whatever is going on, he wants people surrounding him always, and if he's being held he would prefer you to be standing up. This month he wanted to be held much more than usual.

This little boy changed alot just in the last few weeks. Here's a bit of what he's been up to:

. We are in the middle of sleep training part 1: learning to sleep without being swaddled. We slowly got him out of the big wrap - one limb at at time. He has a good nap here and there but he's mostly still struggling. But then again, sleeping is not his forte. It's like we're back at square one with him re-learning how to fall asleep on his own.

. Because he isn't swaddled anymore - he's ALL OVER his crib. He rolls around constantly.

. I love a baby in jammies. Because it's so dang hot - I've been swaddling him naked. So I'm loving having him in jammies.

. He prefers to sleep on his side or on his tummy.

. He's been spotted on all fours.

. He rarely lays on his back. He immediately flips himself right over to his belly and then reaches as far as he possibly can to get to the nearest toy. He somehow moves that body of his around pretty well.

. Speaking of toys - he gets really mad if you take one away. But stops crying immediately if you give him a new one.

. Loves it when we play games or sing songs to him. He's got a great giggle.

. He can sit up on his own pretty well. Still topples over occasionally but can sit for quite a while. I love this stage!

. There isn't a food this kid doesn't like.

. Everything he touches goes in to his mouth.

. As soon as he sees a bottle full of milk - his arms go out and he will do just about anything to get it in to his mouth. He's getting pretty good at holding his own bottle. Nate never did that!

. I thought he was going to be my laid back, relaxed child. Which I still see glimpses of but this kid is ready to go.

. This kid gives me the biggest smile every time he sees me. I love it.

. He's starting to really like his big brother.

. He loves being outside and has recently taken a real liking to going on walks.

. He hates getting dressed.

. He's got some seriously chubby thighs.

. He eats his toes alot.

. He sucks his right thumb. We're working on that.

We love you, Ryan & we're so glad you're in our family.

a 3rd birthday part-ay

Oh, man. What a difference a year makes when it comes to a birthday party. Three year olds are a little crazy but they sure know how to have a good time. The three little girls were a little out-numbered with rambunctious boys!



Nate requested a Lightning McQueen birthday party. I love all of the Radiator Springs folks so it was kinda fun to plan. I kept it pretty simple with a few decorations, some games, food & the summer birthday classic: the swimming pool.





Nate & Hadley doing a little pre-party dancing to the Lightning McQueen song.




We played a tire toss game, pin route-66 on Lightning McQueen, and a Radiator Springs version of a cake walk.








We ate pizza, fruit & veggies.

We ate chocolate cupcakes. Nate's favorite.

This smile says it all. He was so excited it was finally his birthday. I gathered the kids in to the kitchen to sing happy birthday and he looked at me and said, "we're singing happy birthday to ME?!?!". He was thrilled.





And finally - some time in the pool. Luckily the weather has been nice this week but the water was a little chilly! Don't worry Noah - it will be warm next time you come swimming.








Nate was sooo excited after every present he opened. He has been in heaven today. He has some pretty cool friends and cousins.




And apparently you only really need 2 things at a party:

1 - a plastic slide



2 - party blowers

The kids played with these for FOREVER.

Once again - I couldn't have pulled this party off without my family. Seriously. Between helping set up, making sure pictures were taken, and clean-up. They were fabulous. Thanks guys.

Nate had a blast. He loved having all of his buddies around him all at once.

Happy birthday, big brother. Glad you had a fun party!

ryan hearts nate

Nate can finally get a good laugh out of Ryan.

Apparently all it takes is spitting out water in the bathtub.

Seeing my boys interact is pretty fun.

a proud mama of this little boy.

I'm a proud of Nate for two reasons:

[1]

For two months now we've been pull-up free during naps and bedtime with no accidents. He wakes up with alot of liquid in that little bladder of his but he manages to keep it inside all night.

[2]

He got rid of his own binky. I know, a little pathetic we couldn't get rid of it until now [he's only had it at night since he was 18 months] but for months we've been telling Nate two things:

a). 3 year olds don't have binkys.

b). you can finally play with Woody who has been sitting up high on a shelf AND you can pick a toy when you throw it away.

He talked of throwing away his binky . . . but then followed it up with going to buy another one at the store. I didn't really believe he'd get rid of it on his own.

But then - he did.

A few days before he turned 3 he walked downstairs one morning and told Wes it was in the garbage can. The garbage man was coming that morning so Wes went and emptied the garbage can and they said a final goodbye to the blue binky.

And he hasn't asked for it since.

I guess he was ready to be a big boy.

someone turned 3 yesterday.

Our Naters is [3]. Holy moly.

It's crazy to think 3 years ago we were snuggling with this little thing.



[1]


[2]


[3]


Nate woke up on his 3rd birthday to a few presents from mom and dad. One of which is a little thing called a Wiggler. My Aunt Tina and cousin Jen introduced them to him while we were in Utah and he loved them so we picked up a few while we were there. Since our house is full of tile I let him ride it around inside yesterday and the kid is in absolute heaven. And it made for an easy day on my end, too!

Nate's birthday party is next week so I asked him what he wanted to do on his birthday and he decided on Chuckee Cheese. He's only been there once but apparently it was cool enough to pick to do again.

So off we went to Chuckee Cheese with Aunt Sam and a few friends. He had a great birthday morning there playing endless games and riding little rides. And Sam and I even got to re-live our Pistol Pete's days with a little skeeball. Luckily Aunt Sam was there to win us lots of tickets. We finished off the morning with a little In-n-Out.







He finished off the day swimming with dad.

He had a great [3rd] birthday. Thanks for all of the phone calls - even if he didn't talk to you he had a big smile on his face when yet another person thought of him on his birthday!