wes turned 30

Wes turned 30 a week ago on October 25th.  Wes was adamant that no party was to be thrown or anything elaborate for him on his birthday.  I respected those wishes but tried to make it a special birthday in other ways.  I do love birthdays!

 

His birthday weekend consisted of the PBR on Friday night [his favorite outing of the year] & a work dinner on Sunday night at Joes Stone Crab at Caesars Palace -a really yummy free meal that we always enjoy with pretty good company. 

On his actual birthday, he had a long day in meetings at the Bellagio but when he came home he was greeted with party hats, birthday cake, cupcakes & presents.  Nate was sooooo excited it was his dad’s birthday.  He wore his birthday hat all afternoon & drew picture after picture for his dad!  I made him his all-time favorite cake that his grandma Griffeth and dad always made for his birthday.  It’s a chocolate-chip applesauce cake made from scratch.  I am more of a boxed cake maker so he knew we did something special when he saw that on the table.  That night I had a babysitter come over and I took him to his all-time favorite restaurant: The Pasta Shop.  We hadn’t been there in almost a year so it was a special treat for us to go!

 

His big surprise is something he’s wanted for a while but didn’t think he’d actually get: an ipad.  I certainly wasn’t ready to buy a gift that big on my own and since Wes’ family is pretty awesome I knew they’d want to go in on it with me since it’s such a practical gift for him with all of his traveling.  They were all super excited so I was able to get it for him with the help of the entire Griffeth clan and my parents.  Lets just say he’s in love.

His final birthday celebration was tonight.  We went over to my parents house early for some soup and my mom surprised Wes with a few mini nothing-bundt-cakes to celebrate.   

 

Wes seemed to have a great week as he entered a new decade of life.  Thanks to all who called, dropped stuff off & remembered his special day! 

Happy Birthday, Weston R.

ryan is [8] months old

we have the happy ryan that we still see . . .

but then he quickly changes to the not-so-happy-ryan.  mostly when he can’t do everything his big brother is doing.

Wes and I are reminded hourly of how different our boys are.  Nate didn’t start crawling until well into his 9th month of life so to have Ryan start crawling at 6 months was a shock for us and now that he’s ABSOLUTELY EVERYWHERE, on and in to everything, . . . we’re still adjusting.  I thought Ryan was going to be super laid back after he was so content in my belly and such a mellow baby during the day – boy were we wrong.  This boy wants action and he figures out a way to make it happen all day long!

A little bit about Ryan at 8 months old:

. Like I said, he’s absolutely everywhere.  He is starting to get better at the “traditional” crawl on his hands and knees but always reverts back to his army crawl.  It’s currently the faster way to get around.

. He is a CLIMBER.  Nate was not.  So once again, Mr. Ryan is throwing something new at us!   He can already scale just about anything and make his way to where he wants to go.  Because of this – he almost always has a goose-egg on his head somewhere from crashing.  His latest is when he crawled all the way in to our big master-bathroom bathtub . . . he pretty much tumbled in after he climbed to the top!  He pulls himself up on absolutely everything.  He’s getting used to the falling/crashing because a lot of the time he doesn’t burst in to tears . . . just gets up and tries it again.

. loves all food: baby food, snacks, crackers, big-people food.  If he sees you chewing something – he will attack you to try to get it out of your mouth.

. speaking of eating – he absolutely loves to eat dirt, leaves, grass, rocks, etc.  He LOVES to be outside just so he can crawl around and eat nature.

. He is a CRAPPY napper.  Most days he sleeps about 1.5-2.5 hours PER DAY.  Which isn’t very much for an 8 month old.  A few days a month he sleeps longer than that but that’s about it.  Hence his 6:30 [sometimes 6pm] bedtime.  A big reason is that he is still a napping pooper and it wakes him up.

. He is still up once a night.  The “crying it out” will begin soon.

. He’s a mama’s boy.  If I’m around – he always knows where I am and wants me.  But if I’m out of sight he seems to be fine.

. As crazy as he is – he still likes to be held.

. He still only has 2 teeth.

. He really likes being in his stroller as long as we are moving.  He’s a pretty good shopper in the stroller or the cart as long as he’s out of his car seat.

. He loves it when you whisper in his ear.  He will hold his head really still and after a few minutes he will pull it away and then come back for more.

. He responds to music.

. My friend Jamie was holding him at church on Sunday and she swears he reached out his hands for me and said, “mama”.  He does say mama and dada but never in context.  He makes a lot of baby babble.

. He has a great laugh & smile.

. He loves to play. 

. When his big brother is nice to him – he absolutely loves his company.  Luckily, most of the time, Nate adores the little guy and wants him around. 

[this is ryan’s new favorite toy.  of course nate has to join him just about every time].

[ryan loves going down the slide with nate!]

[watching a little mickey mouse together]

I loves this little 8 month old boy of mine.  He makes me smile [and pull my hair out] daily!

Dear Dad -

happy 30th birthday!



we hope you have a great day FULL of meetings at work! We can't wait for you to get home. We love you and are soooo glad you're our dad!

Love,
Nathan & Ryan

a trip [or two] to the pumpkin patch

We were able to go on two group outings at the pumpkin patch this year.  One was for our weekly playgroup with friends from our old ward and one was organized by a friend in our new ward.  It’s pretty much just your group for an entire hour in the pumpkin patch and they rotate you through the big blow-up slides, a few rides & a little petting zoo.  Nate loves not only the rides but being with his friends & cousins!

On Monday, I took my lunch break at work to run pick up Nate and take him to the pumpkin patch.  On Thursday, Kiley & I took Harrison [our friend Alex’ little boy . . Alex just got home from hospital from having Baby Henry so we took her toddler off her hands for a while] back to the pumpkin patch and lets just say it was a little crazier with Ryan and Harrison there, on our watch, but still very fun.

  

 

[After a few visits to Pump it Up, Nate is finally not scared of these big slides.  Now he LOVES them!]

We are enjoying all of the festivities that October has to offer.  Now we just need Mother Nature to catch on and give us some cooler temperatures!

the carnival

Right up the street from our house – there was a carnival this weekend.  Nate’s been eyeing the rides for about a week as they set everything up.  So while Wes was out of town, Ryan took an afternoon snooze at my parent’s and Nate and I ventured off on a little carnival date.

It was a HOT day.  Way too hot for October which made for a very sweaty afternoon.  Mainly because the parking situation was horrendous.  We walked a really long way to get to the entrance and then back to the other side of the carnival for the little guy rides.  I have to say that Nate was a TROOPER and walked a good part of the way.  The rest of the time was spent on my back or shoulders. 

We met up with Harrison and his dad [Harrison’s mom, Alex almost went in to full-blown labor that morning] and the boys had a blast.  They rode ride after ride after ride.  We would have stayed all day but Ryan couldn’t stay at my parents for very long [they hosted their ENTIRE ward in their backyard for dinner that night] so after an hour or two we got a slushie and a candy necklace and made the 2 mile trek back to the car.

We’re hoping this carnival comes back next year . . . and that dad is in town . . . and we’ll plan on spending the day there eating funnel cakes & drinking lemonade.

 

 

 

i guess it pays to have an 80 year old ironing lady.

confession: we have an ironing lady.  She’s super cheap and it’s well worth the .50 to have her iron Wes’ long sleeve button downs that he regularly wears to work.  And yes, she’s around 80 years old but she loves ironing.

The other day I was there picking up some shirts and she showed me this slide thingy in her backyard that her grandson never uses.  It’s pretty much brand new – other than a little fading from the sun.  She wanted it to go to a nice home with kids who’d use it so she sent it home with Wes a few days later.  The slide retails for about $300 so you can imagine my excitement.  In this picture, Nate is playing pirates.  He was often heard yelling, “pirates ahoy!”

 

She was obviously in “clear out my house mode” because she got rid of this pretty-much BRAND NEW train/car table, too.  It will get put to good use in a house with two boys.

It was like Christmas in October at the Griffeth house.

a little lindsay time & a little wes time

wes and i each had some time recently flying solo:

     lindsay: girls weekend to salt lake city

     wes: trip to georgia for chris’ wedding

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LINDSAY

last weekend i ventured to salt lake with my good friend Kiley.  We had multiple purposes: 1). ikea  2). some much-needed girl-time without the kiddos  3). two of our favorite friends live in salt lake city [leslie and nancee] and we wanted to see them.

so, off we went and we had a great time.  a little about the trip:

. we finally got our eyebrows waxed by nancee!  she truly is the best and was willing to pull out the ol’ wax at 10pm as we were driving in to town.

. we had some quality time with nancee and leslie – we love and miss them!

. we ate yummy food and were actually able to hold a conversation with each other.

. we spent almost 5 hours at ikea.  this was the original purpose of our little adventure – kiley and i both had spaces to fill in our house so we had FUN!  We had ALOT of stuff at the end.  I’ve been collecting Ikea gift cards for years so it was fun to finally use them ALL!  Pictures of the purchases coming soon.

. we saw a chick flick: Life as we Know It.  Fun movie!

. we stayed at the Andrus Hotel.  It was great to see you Ryan, Les, Millie & Tyler!  Thanks for your hospitality [again].  The Griffeth hotel is awaiting your arrival this winter.

. We had a wonderful weekend away!  I’m ready for our next one. 

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WES

this weekend, Wes took a little adventure to Georgia for his highschool buddy Chris’ wedding.  It was fun for Wes to see Chris and the many, many people from his years growing up in Georgia. 

He also got to spend Saturday with his parents which he truly enjoyed – he rarely, if ever, gets time with just them anymore.  And he got to see his sister and her cute family for a brief moment on Sunday morning before he flew home.

- - - - - - -

Wes and I both appreciated some time to get away and do something fun and different without the kiddos.  And we also were both reminded of how nice it is to have each other around at home!  I’m used to being a single-mom during the week but the weekend was a lot harder without our daily routines and with church to deal with!

ryan’s new love: the swings

 

Ryan HEARTS the swings.  He laughs and laughs and laughs.  He especially loves it when his big brother pushes him. 

Today at the park, Nate [a swing lover, himself] didn’t even want a turn in the swings.  He just wanted to push Ryan and watch him laugh.  He loved it.  They both loved it.

Have I mentioned that they are forming such a cute friendship?  When Nate wakes up in the morning or comes out from quiet time – the first thing he asks for is Ryan (who is usually asleep at those times).  He begs me to wake him up {which isn’t going to happen}.  He just wants his little buddy around.  It’s fun to watch.

side note: Mr. Ryan has been seriously teething for a week now.  He had a fever for 4.5 days.  He’s grouchy.  Irritable.  NOT my happy boy.  Last night he about killed Wes and I.  I feel bad for the dude – we are ALL hoping he’s out of pain, soon! Anybody have any good teething tips?

we are not fair-weather fans.

Jeeze Louise - could BYU football be any worse this year? Sheesh.

But we keep watching. And while we're slightly embarassed - we're still Cougar fans.