Photo Shoot

Adam and Elizabeth had a photo shoot while up north. If you see us in the coming weeks, ask for one to take home- we ordered many. A personal favorite was Elizabeth trying to be a good big sister by keeping Adam in the photo. Clearly, he didn't care for this. Adam was in motion the entire photo shoot, but we got a couple of good photos. We're still waiting for Elizabeth to get rid of her goofy smile, but I guess it's an accurate representation of her right now.

13 Months Old

13 Months old and cute as a bug!

At 13 months, here is what Adam is up to:

- Eating everything he can get his hands on (edible and nonedible)

- Running, running, running, and chasing his big sister

- Speaking gibberish and believing everyone should understand

- Saying "mama"

- Signing lots of words

- Crying if mom is too far from view

- Breaking out the dance moves

Happy 13 months little guy!

Naughty List

I'm not sure if a one year old can be on Santa's Naughty List. Adam is making a gallant effort. Elizabeth even agreed this morning that Adam was in peril of crossing over to the Naughty List.

Santa, I would like a baby who screams a little less for Christmas.

Dinnertime Mishap

Those of you who know me know that I'm an eater not a chef. Getting dinner ready every evening with two little, hungry kids running around and Josh gone for wrestling is enough to drive me crazy. I made a goal this year to not resort to our usual meal of cereal for breakfast until we passed the one month mark of wrestling.

Preparations for dinner took me less than 10 minutes tonight. In the span of those ten minutes, Adam dumped the humidifier all over his floor, which required a fast clean up and two children sliding through the puddle. Elizabeth then proceeded to put sprinkles all over our cedar chest because, "It was a little saucy." (Not sure where she was going with that statement, but she actually had no clue that decorating furniture with sprinkles was not allowed. Apparently my communication or rules have gotten a bit lax.)

Gotta love my life.

Welcome Charlie!

On December 9th, Sam's cousin Toni delivered a baby boy- Charlie Thomas. Charlie also couldn't wait to make his arrival and came almost 8 weeks early. He was 5 lbs. 2 oz. and is receiving extra help in the NICU. He is amazingly healthy for being a preemie and is expected to do just fine.

Congratulations Toni and Matt!

(As a note, as kids, Toni and I were certain that we would name our first children after each other. I'm still holding out for a Samantha when they have a little girl!)

Check-ups

Today the Grants spread a good dose of birth control at the clinic. The kids had their annual check-ups, and Josh was unable to attend due to wrestling. I realize that many moms take bunches of kids the doctor, but it felt like chaos. Within the hour appointment, both kids took a poop, Adam pulled garbage all over the floor, Adam stuck his hands in the toilet, Elizabeth removed her clothes, and 6 shots were given. Wow was I ready to leave...and the sad part is that I thought it went pretty well.

Here are the kid's stats...

Adam- 31.5 inches (91%)
23lbs 13oz (63%)

Elizabeth- 37.25 inches (48%)
32.6 lbs (65%)

3 Year Favorites

For Elizabeth's scrapbook, I want to be able to document some of her favorites. These are according to her, and I would like to protest a couple of them.

Color: yellow
Movie: Toy Story
Food: pizza
Friend: Max
Book: Little Quack Counts and Bambi
Toy: puppy
Thing to Do: play monkey games
Animal: penguin, elephant
Song: Ting-a-lay-o
Treat: M&M

Searching for the Perfect Tree

This year goes on record as the longest it has ever taken us to pick out a tree. It was hard to rush with weather around 40 degrees! The kids had a blast running around looking at the trees and getting all muddy. We finally settled on one, and Elizabeth was amazed to watch Josh cut it down. I didn't get a good picture of it, but Elizabeth wore a bumblebee costume to pick out trees- definitely an appropriate outfit!

Cael Thomas

Cael Thomas couldn't wait to enter the world and was born this morning, weighing 6 lbs. 9 oz. and 19 inches in length. Because he came 28 odd days early, he will be staying in the hospital until his lungs get stronger.

Happy 1st Birthday!

Today Adam is one year old! It has been so much fun seeing him grow and change over the last year. Looking back to his birth, it's amazing how much he has changed in such a short time.

I'm more than a little biased, but Adam is the cutest one year old on the planet. He is a bundle of energy and always has a smile for you. He is a mix of his mom and dad- when life is good, he's low key like daddy, and when he needs something, the fiery side from his mom shines through.

At one, here's what Adam is up to:

- Walking with fewer and fewer tumbles.
- Eating like a pig. Loves bananas, meat, apples, peaches, and anything sweet. Those seven teeth are working!
- Speaking gibberish. Everyone he loves is "mama"- including both mom and dad.
- Signing many words- eat, nap, more, diaper, puppy.
- Aspiring to climb on top of anything.
- Loves puppies, books with real pictures, and driving his cars.
- Incredibly entertained by his big sister.

Happy Birthday Adam. We love you!

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving. We celebrated with the GUS family and had a great time. Elizabeth was in love with the meatballs and Adam loved the stuffing. We are very thankful for our little cuties. Below is a video of Adam making turkey noises. We really don't think turkeys sound quite like that, but it was too cute. Check back to our Thanksgiving 2008 to see Elizabeth's impersonation.

Birthday Party

Family Grant photo. Getting Elizabeth to smile is impossible, so I guess we'll be able to document this year as the one where she looked like a dork in all pictures. We were able to get her to smile in her Snow White costume. Elizabeth got a tub filled with costumes from her Uncle John and Aunt Courtney. Each time she put on a costume we would say, "Hello mermaid Elizabeth," at which point she would say, "I am not a mermaid, I'm a mom" and proceed to wash the dishes. (I can assure you that I never wash dishes dressed like a mermaid.)


The coveted dump truck- the most fought over toy.


On Saturday we had a joint birthday party for Adam and Elizabeth. A great time was had by all, and we are still cleaning blue frosting out of Adam's nose. Honestly, could that first birthday photo get any cuter?!

Buttons

Adam is home sick with pneumonia. Last night was a long one with a 2 hour trip to the urgent care and three visits to the pharmacy. By 11:30, Josh and I were exhausted. Thankfully Adam slept through the night and is doing really well.

Clearly tired getting Elizabeth ready for bed, I told her to stop pushing my buttons. She looked at me and said, "Buttons? What buttons? Don't you mean boundaries?"

You can definitely tell that she has heard about pushing boundaries more than a couple of times!

3 Years Old!

Happy 3rd birthday Elizabeth!

It's been so much fun celebrating Elizabeth's 3rd birthday now that she really knows how to get into the festivities. On Friday she had a pj birthday party at daycare. We made cute cupcakes with elephants on them, and Elizabeth was so proud of her decorating job. I think we used a whole bottle of sprinkles for 12 cupcakes!

For her birthday today, she wanted to have pizza lunch, so we went out to eat. She has also opened presents today and is getting ready for her family party next weekend.

It's going to be two weeks of birthday celebrations for the Grants.

Cowgirl Elizabeth

Future Gym Teacher?

Happy Halloween!

The kids have had two Halloween parties and a night of trick-or-treating in the last three days. Here are a couple of photos. Adam sampled his first candy, and Elizabeth will surely wake up tomorrow asking for more treats. More pictures to come...

He's Walking!

Adam started walking on Friday night. He can string 5-6 steps together if he's concentrating. It's so cute to see him trying. We'll post a video soon.

11 Months Old

Today Adam is 11 months old. It's pretty unbelievable that he is within one month of his first birthday. Watching you grow over the past 11 months has been so much fun. You are a driven little guy who makes sure that everyone knows how you're feeling. When times are good, you're the happiest person, but watch out when you're crabby!

At 11 months, this is what you're up to:

- Taking one or two steps and then falling down
- Eating only table food (you need to feed yourself)
- Love taking baths and crawling/rolling on blankets
- Hate putting your socks on in the morning and getting into the car (seriously everyone in the neighborhood knows that you hate this!)
- Think your big sister is the best- and you love to pull her hair (especially when she's waking up)
- Crawling up and down the stairs and would do it all day
- Signing "puppy", "milk", "more"
- Speaking Russian. You are sure that you're saying something that we should understand.

Happy 11 months old!

Name Change

On Sunday, Elizabeth developed a split personality. Her name is Heather and she is quite shy, can get on and off the potty without help, and sometimes does naughty things. She is a mom to baby Howeepy (Adam).

We have to laugh at our almost 3 year old who is never short on creativity. She now wakes up in the morning asking, "Mom, do you remember what my name is?" Yes, it's Heather, sweetie. (Heather does not like to be called sweetie.) Josh just rolls his eyes, wondering when this will be over.

This is the stage of development that I love!

Fall hike at Nerstrand Big Woods State Park

This afternoon was hot for October - approaching 90 degrees or maybe more in some spots. We were able to take advantage of this warm weather by taking a hike to Nerstrand Big Woods State Park. Everyone enjoyed the fall colors on a 3.5 mile loop before cooling off by playing in the Prairie Creek just above Hidden Falls. Plus Elizabeth experienced her first "water break" in the woods!

Works of Art

Aren't those the nicest H's you've ever seen?!

Adam's first finger painting. The fact that Jackie paints with a 10 month old elevates her to sainthood.

10 Months Old

Today Adam is 10 months old. It's amazing to think that Adam now has spent more time in the world than he did inside my body- a true testament to how long pregnancy lasts!

At 10 months, Adam is busy exploring his world. He loves pushing his walker around the house but shows no interest in trying to walk on his own. Crawling is much more efficient, and he has gotten to the point that he can cover some serious ground in pursuit of his big sister.

Adam's voice is starting to be heard. If Elizabeth steals a toy for him, everyone within a mile can hear his screech. He has some serious emotional highs and lows, but he's having more periods of happiness with the freedom of moving around on his own. He has the most adorable smile and has become quite the little charmer- especially if it can get him out of being told "no". He holds a special place in his heart for his mom and whimpers if she is too far away.

Happy 10 months old little guy!

Apple Orchard

Last weekend we took our annual trip to the apple orchard. Emily, Eric, and Kylie joined us for the second year, and the girls had a blast picking apples, running around the pumpkins, and looking at the animals. Adam thought eating apples was the best and refused to smile for any pictures- he was too busy eating. Both Josh and I got bit trying to take chunks of apples from his mouth.




Every year, we take a picture to see how the kids are growing next to the measuring tape and apple. Elizabeth is getting bigger! Going to the orchard is a sign that fall is officially here.

Four Letter Words

Raising kids is hard work. For you parents who can make it through the day without dropping an f-bomb, I give you kudos. Unfortunately, I am not that good of a mother, so consequently my toddler's extensive vocabulary includes a sampling of four letter words.

Yesterday Elizabeth was breastfeeding Dumbo on my bed. Adam and I came into the room, and she was clearly annoyed. As I put Adam on the bed, she sternly looked at me and said, "For fucking sake, don't put Adam on the bed. I'm feeding Dumbo."

I'm still laughing about it today.

First Day of School

Today Josh started his fourth year of teaching. It is customary in our house to take the first day of school picture. It's fun to see how our family changes throughout the years. This year Elizabeth slept through the before school picture, but Adam was ready to rock for his debut. We tried our best to get a family shot at the end of the day, but Elizabeth was too excited to focus at looking at the camera. I guess the photo shows a bit of the personality of our kids.

And I'd like to comment that Mr. Grant looks just as good at the end of the day as he did at the beginning. Looks like another successful start to the year.

Elizabeth's First Camping Trip

This past weekend, Elizabeth and I enjoyed what I hope to be the first of many camping trips and other outdoor excursions together.

Friday night we drove the 7 miles to Olmsted County's Chesterwoods Park. She was excited all week, and the buzz didn't stop until 11:00 that night. We got there, unpacked a bit, and had roasted sweet corn courtesy of the Gupta family we were camping with in adjacent sites. You can see Adam enjoyed it as well.
After the customary smores for dessert, it was time to get settled in. Inside the tent, Elizabeth walked in circles as she explored the tent, sleeping bags, sleeping pads, headlamps, etc. The first major test of Elizabeth's compatibility with camping was if she could safely stay out of the fire and all of its attendant dangers. After round 1, so far so good. The second major test now began inside the tent: Could Elizabeth actually get to sleep and sleep well enough to warrant another camping trip? I am happy to report that Elizabeth got to sleep and slept through the night. In the morning, I opened my eyes to find her perpendicular to me, lying on her stomach and looking at me with a big smile. Immediately she said "Good morning Daddy!" Yes, Elizabeth was pumped to be a camper.

Saturday morning found the group at the lake fishing and stopping at the playground before lunch. After the kids napped, Sam and Adam rejoined us for time at the beach and supper. All the while, Elizabeth had fun playing with Angie and Ash's two kids, Milan and Amani. Sunday morning would ultimately bring Sam the opportunity to save both Amani, who is not quite 2, and Adam from the lake. Amani simply lost his balance on the dock, and Adam flipped his beach toy while attempting to lunge out. While both were in about 2 feet of water, neither were in it more than a second or two. Clearly these back-to-back encounters reinforce the necessity to supervise children around water.

Overall, Elizabeth had a great time with her first camping experience, and is eager to go again. And I can't wait to take her.

Ash with Elizabeth and Adam