Ryan & his mama

My mom and Sam tell me just about every week that Ryan looks just like me when I was a baby.  And since I’ve only seen one baby picture of Wes I can’t really compare Ryan to his dad but here’s a few of me as a wee one next to Ryan.

He definitely inherited the big forehead and no hair from his mama!  I was bald for years.  I don’t have a ton of pictures of me when I was little but of the few I have – Ryan and I definitely had similar facial expressions and mannerisms. 

 

the rest are all me [if you can’t tell by the really old pictures].

 

Ryan might look like me – but I think Nate is looking more and more like Wes.

valentines day

Holidays with these two are FUN.  Nate is at a great age to celebrate holidays and Valentines Day this year was no exception.  He loved giving out his Valentines, Valentines crafts, parties, etc.  He had a blast.  And Ryan’s always willing to tag along for the ride.

 

Ryan’s surgery

Mr. Ryan is was tongue tied.

We checked in to the hospital this morning at 6am for Ryan’s surgery to have his tongue clipped.

Wes noticed that Ryan’s tongue looked really connected at the top a month or two ago. We did some research and an ENT doc recommended that we have it clipped at some point.   The option was there to wait to see if it affected his speech but we didn’t want to always wonder if his tongue was holding him back.  He couldn’t even stick it out, for heaven sakes.  So, we went for it.

We got to the hospital at 6am and they got us right in to a room where they checked his vitals and put his little hospital gown on him.  At 6:30 all of the pre-op was done and we got to sit and wait until 7:30am for the actual procedure.  I refused to let Ryan crawl on the hospital floor so Wes and I took turns walking in circles around the pre-surgery unit.  There were lots of kids there this morning with fabulous nurses helping us keep them entertained. 

7:30 finally rolls around and we met with the doc and anesthesiologist and off we went walking down the halls to the surgery room.  They wouldn’t let us even near the room so we handed Ryan off to a nurse and sat in the waiting room [and talked to family friends Jeff & Susie Bradshaw] while Ryan had surgery.  Ryan didn’t show an ounce of concern until the hand-off.  He knew something wasn’t right at that point.

The tongue-clipping went well and they came and got us out of the waiting room.  Ryan was already awake by the time we got back there and a fabulous nurse was holding him nice and close to her keeping him calm.  He burst in to tears as soon as he saw Wes and I.  I was shocked at how quickly the anesthesia wore off and he was back to his normal self.  He was hungry and thirsty and downed a full apple juice box [a surgery treat] and then another entire cup of apple juice our cute nurse got for him.  He ate rice cakes [a favorite of his] and immediately passed all of the “discharge from the hospital” tests which included eating and drinking.

I’m sooooo glad we did it at this age.  Ryan wasn’t scared at all of the hospital and doctors – in fact, he thought it was kinda fun to be somewhere new with new faces.  We definitely had it the easiest out of all of the kids there today simply because of Ryan’s age. 

The doc said it will probably take a few weeks for his brain to tell his tongue that it can now stick out but he’s already testing his new freedom.

Ryan, you were a trooper today bud!  Many thanks for the phone calls and text messages checking in on our little monkey.

[I have to say I was very impressed today with the hospital.  We had 3 nurses and they were all fabulous.  The doc was fabulous.  And the anesthesiologist was fabulous.  All around, a positive experience!]

The hardest part about the day was that I slept for one hour last night.  I set my alarm to wake up at 1am to give Ryan a bottle [it was the last possible moment he could eat or drink] and never fell back asleep.  Lets just say I’m a walking zombie and can’t wait for Nate to go to bed at 6:45pm because I am going to bed, too.

luckily, it’s just a phase.

I have a love / hate relationship with the stage of a ONE year old.  This little boy of mine is killing me.

We’ve got this Ryan:

 

He lights up your day and just makes you smile with his laugh and cuddles.

And then we’ve got this one:

Unfortunately this one has been coming out more than the other Ryan. 

. He was such a content little dude at the beginning of his short life and now he’s making up for it.

. He used to love ANY food.  Now he’s picky and would prefer to smash it in his fingers and throw it on the floor.  Look at how gross his jacket is in this picture.  He goes straight to the tub after every dinner.

. He wants to be held a lot which means he’s either in my arms or whining at my feet.

. He hates to be told no which sends him in to quite a tantrum.

. I’m pretty sure he’s getting molars so that could explain a lot of all of the above.  Or the fact that he has a runny nose, again.

. He finds pure joy in being destructive.  And lately, if he’s happy, he ends up making quite a mess because well, at least he’s happy.

. He’s a little crazy – he is daring and has started attempting to climb on to anything and everything which means that when he’s awake he is always in my sight.

. He isn’t really happy at home.  He likes to be outside or crawling around somewhere else.

 

Don’t get me wrong – I love this kid.  But he’s killing me.

Luckily, this go around – I know it’s just a phase so I’m trying to just enjoy the good and the not-so-good!

hooray for president’s day

I love holidays.

Whether they are just for fun or are there to remind us of something – I like them.

And today – Presidents Day – is a pretty good one.  We’ve had some pretty amazing men at times lead our country.  I found this last night on the blog withTWOcats and fell in love with the saying from Abraham Lincoln. 

Uncle Tripp dropped off these fun Presidents Day shirts last night for the boys that Aunt Ali made.  I’ve got two pretty creative [and thoughtful] sisters.  Thanks Ali!  Nate thought they were pretty cool.

Nate insisted on getting a picture with his new shirt and his Valentines rat that Aunt Sam gave him.  He loves this rat.

he’s ONE.

 

happy birthday, Ryan! 

We sure do love you.

brain dump.

Random thoughts – here we go:

. I’m finally ready to commit to things in my house, decor wise.  We’ve officially been in our house for ONE entire year.  That’s craziness.  Recently, Wes painted a our family room blue.  [Have I mentioned my current LOVE for the color blue?]  Sam hung my collage wall above my couch.  Our new kitchen table is assembled and in use [now I need four cheap kitchen chairs that I can paint.  keep an eye out for me].  And I finally have curtains thanks to West Elm.

. Speaking of home decor – I am IN LOVE with West Elm at the moment.  I usually can find a thing or two in there that I like – but I could literally buy soooo many things in there right now.  I need to win the lottery to make it happen.

  

. I am also very glad I found these for Ryan.  It’s baby food in this pouch thing and instead of putting it in to a bowl, Ryan just slurps it up like there’s a straw in there – but there’s not.  He loves it and it appears as if they are pretty nutritious.  He won’t eat baby food from a spoon and we’re in that tricky “baby food to real food” transition so feeding him one of these once a day is fabulous.

. Can you tell these family room walls apart?  One is mine and one is Sam’s.  We both now have blue family rooms with a collage wall above our very similar couches and the same West Elm curtains.  Other than me suggesting the color of paint & buying my couch 5 years ago – I pretty much copied her on it all.  Luckily, she doesn’t care.

 

 

. I am in PRINT heaven . . . meaning, prints for my house.  I keep finding more and more that I want!  Most are on etsy and my new found love is a Vintage Poster.  I gave a number of Christmas gifts from there and have created quite a wish list for my house!  Thanks Les for letting me in on that secret.

. Life is a little crazy around here.  But I’m slowly learning that life as a working-stay-at-home-mom with two kids [one being a crazy one year old], a traveling husband & a busy church calling is just gonna be a little crazy.  I’m learning how to balance it all. 

. The technology out there these days is just amazing.  Wes came home with an Apple TV a few days ago and got it all hooked up last night.  I must say that it’s pretty amazing and we don’t even have very many movies loaded yet!

. Ryan turns ONE tomorrow.  I can’t believe it.

That’s all I’ve got.

Nate at the dentist.

I have to give my Naters some credit today.  He was AWESOME.

We made our first trip to the dentist this afternoon.   Nate’s been really scared and hesitant [he’s very uneasy about the unknown] but he was my little rockstar.

There was miscommunication on the appointments . . . come to find out I was having my initial exam with the new dentist [xrays, etc.] at the same time Nate was getting his teeth cleaned and checked. 

This whole time I’ve been reassuring Nate that I’d be right next to him.

SO . . . we’re walking down the hall and the girl says . . . “Lindsay, you’re in here.  Nate you’re in there.”  I looked at her like she had lost all of her marbles.  She obviously didn’t know that Nate is in a “mom phase” and there was no way that was going to fly.

I went with it and told Nate I’d be sitting in this chair and he’d be in the room next door.

That’s when a darling dentist assistant came and charmed him right in to watching Monsters Inc while she looked at his teeth.  He didn’t even hesitate and went right with her & sat in the chair like he’d done it a thousand times.  There wasn’t the scared look back at mom like I’m so used to seeing.

Hooray for a cute girl who eased his fears instantly. I could hear her asking him questions . . . telling him to swish the water around . . . etc.  It was pretty funny to hear his reactions.

And then Dr. Sean came in, finished up the exam, and we were out the door.  Nate not only wasn’t scared but he loved going to the dentist.  [I should throw in a disclaimer that Dr. Sean lives two doors down from me and Nate absolutely loves his son, Travis.  But still.  He was my superstar.]

Nate got a toy out of the bin and a sticker and off we went to pick up Ryan from Aunt Ali’s.

And then I got a cute, quiet knock at the door at 8:30pm tonight.  It was Travis with the toothbrush pack that Nate left in his chair.  It pays to have the dentist next door!

Nate is 3 [and a half]

Sam [my little sister] and I both have June birthdays less than 2 weeks apart.  Which means our half-birthdays are in very close in December.  We always made sure that everyone knew it was our half-birthday and we celebrated together.

So last Sunday, I made sure Nate knew it was his half-birthday.  We made blueberry muffins to celebrate the occasion.  Well, okay – Wes made them.  The half-birthday seemed to confuse the little lad because he now thinks he’s 4-and-a-half.  He just wants to be five like his big cousin Abbie.

NATE @ 3.5 years old:

. He is a bit of an extremist - he rarely does things in the middle.  He’s either really happy or really not.  He’s either a joy to be around making everyone laugh or he’s mean and naughty.  He loves things or hates things.  He’s very obedient or doesn’t listen to a word you have to say.  Which can be great when you get the extremely happy/nice/obedient Nate!

. He has a passion for life.  He loves to explore and learn. 

. He is a _______ big brother.  The word that fills in that blank changes constantly.  He absolutely loves Ryan and a lot of times will do just about anything to make Ryan happy.  But he’s also a typical big brother who gets frustrated with Ryan.  Especially now that Ryan likes to hit and bulldoze Nate!  It’s been interesting to watch Nate because the minute anyone else is involved other than our little family – he goes right in to “big-brother-protector” mode and won’t let anyone harm his little brother.

. He loves his friends & family.  I hear many times a day, “i love my whole fam-ily”. 

. He’s a lot like Wes when Wes was little.  Apparently Wes was Mr. Social, wanting to talk to everyone everywhere they went.  Nate is always asking about people we see as we’re out and about – he wants to know their names and what they’re up to.  But then when Nate’s non-social side kicks in he wants nothing to do with anyone!

. He says some of the funniest stuff.  It’s hilarious.  I love this stage. 

. We always call Ryan our tank.  The other day, Nate says . . “If Ryan is a tank, what am I?”  We sat for a minute and Nate says, “I think I’m more like a carrot.”  VERY true, my friend.  Nate is our string bean.

. He’s a great eater.  He will try just about anything once and 99% of the time he likes it.  At least one meal a day he says, “this is the best dinner ever!”

. He usually sleeps from 6:30/7:00pm to 6:30/7:00am.  We’ve survived six months without Nate sleeping for even a minute during the day!

. He loves to create.  We are constantly painting pictures and making things.  He almost always has a pen and notepad in his hand walking around the house.  He writes notes, makes lists, or draws pictures constantly. 

. He’s developing such a great imagination.  I love watching him create things out of just about anything.  Kids’ minds are just amazing.

. His favorites?  Moses the dog, his blanky, George, Batman, puppy, Piggy Iggy, monster pillow, all books but especially the Bernstein Bears, candy & treats, apple juice, Handy Manny [& just about anything on the Disney Channel or PBS Kids], being outside, the bathtub, fishing, digging in the dirt, bikes, scooters, all sports, & his friends & family.

. I love that he will tell me that he snuck a piece of candy or did something he shouldn’t have. 

. We’re currently struggling with his behavior.  I think a lot of it is pretty normal for a 3-year old boy & we’re working on it but it’s been a hard stage.  It seems like he’s constantly testing boundaries & has started being disrespectful so we’re working on it with our fingers crossed.

. Naters, you may be one crazy little boy but we sure do love you and are so happy you’re ours!

When I asked Nate a few questions – here’s how he responded: 

favorite color?  blue, orange & green.    favorite book?  Book of Mormon.     favorite song?  I am a Child of God.      favorite place to go: Children's Museum.    favorite food?  icecream, donuts & marshmallows. [he’s my kid, for sure].   favorite movie?  Move it. Move it. [Madagascar 2]. 

After 10 minutes of taking pictures, he was done smiling. 

 

BOYS.

Boys really are a breed of their own. These boys in particular LOVE being boys together. They are wild and crazy and they love it. While there are many, many times where I want to pull my hair out over my two crazy boys - I'm really liking having boys. And I love their crazy little friends, too.

dinner table conversation

Nate has been really funny lately with the questions he comes up with to ask or the comments he says.  He’s getting pretty creative and it seems as if he is actually thinking about certain things.

For instance, for the last week or two, every night at the dinner table he says:

Nate: “mom / dad – I have a question.”

Mom/Dad: “what’s your question, Nate?”

Nate: “do _______ sleep?”

The blank has included:

     “do cheetos sleep?”

     “ do lions sleep?”

     “do cups sleep?”

     “do straws sleep?”

     “do tables sleep?”

     “do pineapples sleep?”

 

It’s been pretty funny – he’s pretty serious about these questions.

things are looking up in the griffeth house.

We're doing a little better here, thank goodness.

Nate? Pretty much over it. He's still got an asthma condition going on so he'll be on breathing treatments daily until May . . . but he's healthy. He's still not outside [it's freezing here, anyway] running around but he's healthy.

Ryan? Doing much better. "They say" that RSV is viral and that an antibiotic won't do anything. Well, luckily Ryan had an ear infection so I got some medicine and as soon as he started taking it we noticed a difference. Slowly, but surely, he's getting better. I can actually see his bright blue eyes again! He's still not 100% there but the nose suctioning and wiping is over.

Ryan even decided that he needed to pull his weight and do a little vacuuming around here, today.



On Tuesday, when Ryan was just starting to improve, my mom offered to let him take a nap at her house so I could get Nate out of ours. We had a tiny window to be gone [Moses had to go to the doctor] but we took it and had a great time at the Children's Museum. Nate's been begging to go to the museum for quite a while now so I'm sure we'll head back as soon as Ryan is all better.



It was still rather cold today but I let the boys outside for a few minutes. Our neighbors, the Gublers, happened to be playing outside so Nate and Travis soon began digging in Travis' backyard. They are putting in a pool so their entire backyard is dirt - heaven for two boys. Travis even got Nate up on the big tractor. Nate really looks up to Travis and thinks it's so cool that a 6 year old likes to play with him so he was stoked. I have to say that Travis is fabulous with Nate. He always makes sure he's doing okay!



Today, while Nate was at preschool, I had had enough of Ryan screaming in the car. He hates the car. So I turned his carseat around 15 days early. He still arched his back and kicked and screamed while I was putting him in the seat, but as soon as he realized he could see out the front window, he clapped and babbled all the way home.



We like being healthy, that's for sure. We're almost there. I think we can actually see our friends next week!

cleaning inspiration

I read this on my friend Kristen’s blog a few weeks ago and have referred to it a few times and decided to start “The 30 Day Schedule” on February 1st – TODAY!  I thought it was helpful so I literally hit copy and paste from Kristen’s blog to mine to share with any of you who it might help!

Having a “cleaning day” once a week just doesn’t work for me with an almost-1-year old so when I saw the 30 day schedule I decided to give it a whirl.  PLUS, Ali introduced me to a fabulous new way to clean last week.  It was love-at-first-sight for me so I’m doing a cleaning party on February 23rd for all of you Vegas peeps who are interested in learning all about it.  Seriously, you just may fall in love with a mop and a rag like I did.  I’m excited to clean!

So anyway,  here you go – from Kristen’s blog to mine:

 

From Apartment Therapy. Click here for full article.

No one said you had to do everything at once and even when time seems short, if you can manage one task a day, things should start to work themselves out. Adjust this list as your family's needs require (those with more or less children might require doing certain activities more or less). If it's easier, take a blank calendar and fill it in accordingly so easier tasks are on days where your day is go, go, go and reserve the more difficult ones for days when things are a little lighter. Here are five tips to help make this 30 days a success:

1) Dealing With What Comes Through The Door Set up a small area by the front door to act as a "landing strip" for incoming items into your home. If you're a long time reader this is nothing new to you. If this is the first time you've heard this phrase outside of reference to personal grooming habits, then make sure to check out Maxwell's latest Home Cure video on the topic.

2) Do Your Dishes After Every Meal This will help you stay on top of your kitchen instead of having it turn into a monster! No one really wants to do them (after all, you probably cooked dinner to boot). But waiting for another meal or until you have enough to fill the dishwasher just makes things feel overwhelming and easier to put off. The same goes for take out trash as well. If you need to take the trash out, place it by the front door to go out in the morning or dispose of it that night so it's over and done with.

3) Laundry If you have a washer and dryer at home, do a little bit each day. Spread things out so you don't feel bogged down by 200 towels and stinky socks. If you take things to a laundromat, sort clothes as you go so things are easier to load up into machines when you get there. Fold them before you come home so you aren't dumping baskets out on your sofa or bed and they can go straight into drawers and closets.

4) Whistle While You Work: Those who are happiest when cleaning are few and far between. Singing, humming, whistling or turning up the stereo are all great options to keep the beat in your feet and have fun while working. Here's a few past posts on killer cleaning soundtracks.

5) Set a Timer: Most items on the list below should take no more than 20 minutes total. It's easy to rationalize 20 minutes, but it's also easy to get distracted by phone calls, emails, children and other projects that call your name as you tackle each chore. Set a timer for 5 or 10 minutes (which ever works best for you) and that way when it sounds you know exactly how much time you have left. If you find yourself off task it's easy to get back on track.

1. Surface clean living room and kitchen (pick up stray items, dust, sweep, vacuum)

2. Clean bathrooms (toilets, showers, floors, walls, mirrors)

3. Surface clean bedrooms (put away toys, clothes, dust)

4. Surface clean "extra" rooms (basement, office, play room)

5. Surface clean living room and kitchen

6. Clean bathrooms

7. Clean all interior windows (white vinegar and newspaper works great and is cheap!)

8. Sweep and vacuum all floors in the house (don't forget stairs)

9. Surface clean bedrooms

10. Deep clean living room (mirrors, baseboards, dust artwork)

11. Clean bathrooms

12. Clean out closets (hang up clothes, mittens, jackets, hats)

13. Surface clean "extra" rooms

14. Deep clean bedrooms (organize drawers, check under bed, tidy closet, dust artwork, fans, lights, mop)

15. Surface clean living room and kitchen

16. Deep clean bathrooms (clean inside drawers, inside of trash cans, tops of mirrors, tile, mop)

17. Clean all door knobs, phones, entertainment equipment (remote controls), switch plates, banisters and other things that are repeatedly touched.

18. Clean out the refrigerator, take stock of food, organize pantry

19. Clean entryway, sweep porch (if you have one), clean out car (because they're often our home away from home)

20. Surface clean living room and kitchen

21. Surface clean bathrooms

22. Surface clean bedrooms

23. Sweep and vacuum all floors in the house

24. Clean linen closet, straighten towels, sheets or regular closet if not applicable

25. Surface clean living room and kitchen

26. Deep clean kitchen (scrub appliances, wash trash cans, base boards, wipe down and straighten cabinets)

27. Surface clean bathrooms

28. Surfaces clean bedrooms

29. Clean one item you've been meaning to get to and haven't (deep clean your stove, wipe down all light fixtures, tackle a particularly unruly area)

30. Sweep and vacuum all floors in the house

To this list you can also add chores that are to be done monthly or quarterly. It's easier to plan for larger tasks like steam cleaning a sofa or heavy traffic hallway, then it feels like part of the routine instead of that thing you keep putting off and dreading.

Habits are formed by doing and one of the best ways to change a bad habit is to replace it with another action. So if the time spent right when you come home from work is usually filled with email reading and a small nap, try switching it out with your cleaning instead. Making the 20 minute time slot routine will build good habits and help you stay on top of the game without feeling like it's a real chore.