Big Brother

The moment we brought Griffin home, I swear Layton grew 5 inches.  All I needed was a new baby at home to realize how much my first baby has grown up!  Layton loves being a big brother and is extremely helpful.  He always wants to be doing exactly what his mom or dad are doing.  Here's a glimpse of what he's been up to.

Layton doesn't really enjoy baths anymore.  One of the ways we talk him into taking one is by telling him he can take one with Griffin. 

I had Griffin in the carrier, and Layton wanted to carry his baby too. 

He's got his tool belt on, no pants, and a little bit of mommy's lipstick on his face too.

 

*I tried potty training twice-Christmas break and Spring break.  Both were failed attempts.  A week of letting him run around without pants on this summer and he did it all himself!  Hooray for undies! 

He loves to hold Griffin and pet his head.

 

 

We made some zucchini bread with our over abundance of zucchinis.  Layton liked dipping his fingers in the sugar.

Griffin at 2 months

 

This kid...

 

makes me smile.

 

 

Griffin is a pretty happy guy.  He eats, sleeps, and smiles.  At 2 months, Griffin follows objects (read: watches his crazy brother run around the house), smiles and coos/laughs, holds his head up a lot, rolled over at 6 weeks and does so every now and then on accident, and likes to sleep on his belly.  He's kind of a late night kind of kid and likes to keep his parents up until about 11pm (see why I'm scared for school?!) but then sleeps until about 4:30am. 

Layton loves Griffin, continuously giving him kisses and stating "I love Griffin".  In fact, we all love Griffin!



Putting it out there.

I came here to write about sweet Griffin at two months, but before I do, I must get something off my chest.  The past few weeks have been filled with anxiety for me; the calm before the storm.  School is starting up again soon and I AM SCARED.  My nights that have been filled with chasing littles around, giving baths, reading stories, giving night time kisses, and rocking a sweet baby to sleep, will soon be filled with reading textbooks and attending classes.  It seems this school thing will never end and I hate that it comes in between me and what I really enjoy-my family.  I can see the end to this long journey that I've fought so hard for, but at this moment, it feels just out of reach.  I'm going to struggle with this family, work, and school gig but as I tend to sweet baby Griffin every night, I look at the lovely Bob Marley quote up on his wall and I know...

Back Again

I took a moment to look back through my old blog posts and relished in all the sweet memories I've recorded of our family.  Now we have a new addition and I feel I must continue the chronicles of our life!  So, let's start by welcoming our sweet boy Griffin Lee!  Born June 7th, 2013  8lbs 2ounces.

Griffin's birth story-

As our doctor suggested, Chris and I decided that an induction would be in our plans.  I was very fearful of this choice, but at the same time, my body was telling me I just wanted this child out!  The induction was scheduled for Griffin's due date, 7 am.  I couldn't sleep at all the night before, as I was full of excitement and fear of the pain that was ahead of me.  I must have gotten a little sleep because the next thing I know, I wake up, look at the clock and it's 7 am.  I wake Chris and we both start to panic.  How is it possible that we sleep in on induction day?!  I call the nurse and she assures me it is ok and to come in as soon as we can.

We arrive at the hospital at 8:10am and after a few jokes about waking up late, we begin the process of having a baby.  It is so laid back and completely different than my labor with Layton.  The doctor gives me Cytotec at 8:45 to begin the process.  I slowly begin to have regular contractions which I can barely feel.  Up to this point I have no pain and can't believe how easy this labor is!  At 12:30 the doctor comes in and breaks my water.  She tells me I should get my epidural now.  I hadn't asked for it yet since I wasn't in pain.  There are 2 patients in line before me requesting epidurals.  A half an hour later, the pain is coming on strong and the epidural can't come soon enough!  At 1:30 the epidural process is started and doesn't take into effect until about 2:15.  At this point, the pain is pretty unbearable.  I can feel everything, including baby Griffin trying to make his entrance.  With four contractions/pushes, baby Griffin was born at 2:27pm.  I can't believe how easy that labor and delivery was!  The induction process, luckily, ended up being a wonderful experience for me.

When Griffin was born, he never really cried.  The whole time he was poked and prodded by the nurses, I kept commenting on how quiet he was.  The nurses were in awe at how long he was (22 1/2 inches) and hadn't seen a baby so eager to get back to his mom!

Griffin is the perfect addition to our family and we have all fallen in love.  Even big brother Layton can't get enough of this sweet baby.

(A few belly shots to start with)

 

21 weeks

 

 



 28 weeks

 

 

 

33 weeks 

36 weeks 

39 weeks 

Life at Two

  I'd say life at two is pretty great.  You have personal assistants all around you, ready to jump at your every need.  You're extremely cute, so who wouldn't want to drop everything to grab you a snack because you're "hungy".  You can sleep with a binky and a blanket and no one will look at you funny.  And lets face it, you can melt anyone's heart with your little "I lub you".

Doing some work, hauling pumpkins. 

 Riding a bike with the required hat.

Getting the "Bad guy! Bad guy!" with a sweet new hair style.

 

Wishing that "knock knock" happened more than once a year.

Happy Birthday Layton!

Wouldn't you know it, we have a two year old in the house!  We just love our little monster to pieces and find a birthday is a special day to spoil our little fella to no end!

Friday we went up to Pasco, Washington to visit Chris' dad (he is currently farming up there) and to celebrate Layton's birthday.  We got to see what Pasco was all about (ie-Mexican Flea Markets, Griggs Hardware, Pasco Farmers Market, a Harvest Festival) and best of all Chucky Cheese!  We were so busy having fun that picture taking wasn't our top priority.  I hope you'll settle for the few I took.

We came home Sunday and celebrated some more with a silly birthday hat, a little singing, and some cake too.

A Close to Summer

The summer is dwindling down and we are trying to squeeze every last ounce from it.  Although school and work are back in full swing we have been taking full advantage of the weekends and the warm weather is a plus too.

Layton has started to become more interested in riding his bike and four-wheeler.  Of course he is a friendly little guy and wants someone to join him whether it be a bike riding companion or us jumping on behind him on the four-wheeler (picture that!).

(Check out the video at the bottom of this post.)

 

A few weeks ago Chris took me on my first overnight backpacking trip.  We decided to leave Layton behind to play with Grandpa and Grandma Kasel for the weekend.

We ventured to Box Lake, right out of McCall.  It was a lot of work hiking in with a 3 mile climb right off the bat but well worth it.  I hope to do more trips like these next year!

Cheers to a fun summer 2012 and we welcome a warm and cozy fall!