Thankfulness Re-Cap

I wanted to post these, because I'm sure I'll have days ahead where I'm not very thankful, so I can go back and read these and remember all I'm  truly blessed with!

30 Days of Thankfulness Re-Cap
Day 1: I'm thankful to be loved by God, who's mercy, grace, love and forgiveness I receive every day, despite being so unworthy.

Day 2: So very very thankful to have spent 8+ years as Sams wife, and to know we have forever. Day in and day out, he's my most favorite person ever. We're lifers.

Day 3: Thankful for my 2 boys and growing baby girl. Thankful My heart has grown each day for these kiddos.

Day 4: Thankful for naps on Sundays!

Day 5: - (This was an exceptionally trying day, so I had to think very hard! )
Thankful for Alex's teeth....even when he's cutting two at one time and is so miserable, I know it means he's growing and healthy! Double whammy today....also thankful for our bathtub. Even when Alex falls in it, and splits his lip, I know I'm blessed by that bathtub that I can freely fill with clean water every day (sometimes twice!) to wash my babies in.

Day 6: Thankful for the right to vote! Thankful my faith is not held in the person who hold a political office, but in The One who holds the world in His hands.

Day 7: Thankful I can park my car in the garage on chilly nights!

Day 8: So Thankful for my co-workers who are selfless, hardworking and generous. I'm blessed by them daily.

Day 9: thankful for Sam's mom Teresia, who selflessly gave up her Friday night so Alex could stay with her!

Day 10: thankful to my Dr. who said caffeine in moderation was completely safe for new baby! Savoring a much needed cup of joe this morning!!

Day 11: Thankful for naps on Sundays...this will be a recurring theme.

Day 12: Thankful for the women I've met in Rejoice, and for the welcome I received! Sad that it's over, looking forward to January already!

Day 13: Thankful for the Godly Haitian visitors we were able to host this weekend in our home. Our conversations, and their prayers have blessed me immensly. God is so good, all the time!

Day 14: Thankful to Kelly Nicole Langford and how she pours into Alex when she's with him and takes such great care of him!

Day 15: Thankful for the hour my child was still enough to enjoy a Praise concert! And for carrot rice cakes, they helped!

Day 16: My heart is full of thankfulness for our oldest. I've grown and learned more from him than he could learn from me in a lifetime!

 

 

Day 17: Thankful for a great night with friends, and another UGA win. Thankful for Mark Richt, not thankful for Derek Dooley.

Day 18: Thankful Sam and Alex both take morning naps, and I can go love on some little babes at church! 

 

Day 19: Thankful and Reflecting on the tasks I was able to accomplish 1 year ago today, in unknown preparation for Alex's arrival!

 

Day 20: So Thankful for the precious gift God entrusted us with 1 year ago today! I'm already weepy reflecting on this sweet day last year. From Day 1, he has fit so perfectly into our growing family, our lives are so blessed by him!

 

 

Day 21: Thankful for the time spent with these two, so blessed Alex has such a great big brother! 

Day 22: Thankful for family and our restful week!

Day 23: (Sam's Birthday!) Thankful for my husbands parents, Teresia Barrett Griffin, Steve Riden, Tracy Troutman Riden for raising my knight in shining camo!

Day 24: Bonus...Georgia Grace is thankful for Thanksgiving dinner and leftovers!

Day 25: Naps. Best. Things. Ever!

Day 26: thankful my husband is willing to take on a last minute daddy duty, and he thinks this is a completely appropriate outfit for Lil Man, when it's 40 degrees and raining outside!

 

Day 29: Thankful tonight for the memories made in this house on the hill. Thankful for the first 11 years of my life my Nana was in the window watching me almost everytime I came to visit. Thankful for the 12 years I spent as my Grandma's shadow, and the lasting impression she has had on my life.

God's Plan, His Sense of Humor and My 3 Kids

I'm constantly in awe of God's Plan and the work he is doing in my life and the lives of those around me. This will be a long post, but the ending is so worth it!

For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Jeremiah 29:11


8 Years ago this month, I became a Mother. (or a Bonus Mom or a 2nd Mom, and possibly my favorite, His Kelly Jo) Hayden was 1 1/2 when Sam and I got married. Shortly before I met Sam, I prayed that God would send me a man that would understand and willingly accept some health issues I had and would have in the future that may make it difficult for me to conceive. In walks Sam and this 10 month old miracle of a boy that has not stopped amazing me since the day I met him. Watching Hayden grow into a Christ-loving, Christ-Like young man will forever be one of the greatest joys of my life. About 4 years ago, the three of us went to the pool one afternoon. It started raining so we ran home. The boys stayed outside and had a blast. (Side Note...I had been struggling around this time with wanting more children and how I was going to have them.) It was at this moment I realized God sent me EXACTLY what I asked for with these two.  I was at complete peace with our little family and would be happy with my blessings if we stayed a family of 3...Plus Priscilla!

Fast forward to January of 2010. My Doctor had serious reservations about me being able to carry a child to term, but agreed that I was healthy enough to try! We tried, and prayed, and we tried, and we got tested and prayed, and had blood work and got poked and prayed and tried some more for 14 months. My Doctor discovered I don't ovulate every month and it's hit or miss when I do, so we'd just have to keep trying. We did and Precious Alex was born in November of 2011. What a gift!

In April of this year, Sam and I had a conversation about extending our family. Our thought process and conversation went something like this:
Sam "Well, let's get of birth control now, knowing you probably won't get pregnant easily and in 8 or 10 months, we'll get focused and try"
Me: "Sounds Good"
Me, two weeks later: "I got Pizza for dinner, and got us a dessert. I didn't want it, but the Baby did!"
Sam points to Alex: "That Baby?"
Me: "No, New Baby"
Sam: Gives me a high five

So, I know God has a plan, but I've recently realized he has a sense of humor too! Baby Riden #3 will be here around January 28th. This little miracle is growing fast, is healthy and doing great! Two babies in 14 months! I'm taking baby-sitting applications now! :)

Update Overhaul

It's been too long! I'll try to remember everything that's happened since the last time I posted in May!

My Mom, Grandma and Grandpa came to visit for Mother's Day. It was a short visit, but so sweet!

After they left, our house turned into Operation Haiti. Sam and Hayden left for Haiti June 1. I had the job of making sure they had supplies, clothes, and goodies. Sam had to get several immunizations and perscriptions so he was safe and stayed healthy during his travel. Catherine, Hayden's Mom had the hardest job of getting Hayden's Passport, his immunizations and signing and getting countless permission slips notarized so Hayden could travel with only one parent out of the country. (As well as coming to peace about Hayden traveling out of the country with Sam to serve. I'm so grateful for her! She's AH-mazing!) The safety measures had to be taken, and I understand them, but Jeezo Fellas! You'd think they were going to be gone a year, not 8 days!

They both truly have a heart for the Haitians. I'm so blessed by these two!

While they were gone, I realized how hard it is to be a single parent. Wednesday, June 6th, I woke Alex up from a 3 hour nap and he was on FIRE! His temp was 101.8. (I realize that's not high for an infant, but it was his first fever and I freaked) I called the after hours clinic and one of my best friends Kelsey and got the advice I needed to get us through the night! Waking up every four hours to give your sweet baby medicine, and then checking on him countless times will seriously wear you out! His fever was down until Thursday evening, so I decided to take him to the Dr. Friday morning. Alex had his first ear infection, on top of cutting TWO teeth Thursday night! What a week. I was so happy when Sam came home, for so many reasons!

The next two weeks brought 4 softball games for Sam's CHURCH LEAGUE team. I love this league, and we have a great time, but there might be a chance, just maybe, that Sam and his friend Brad can take it to the next level with their intensity. Thankfully, I have my sweet Kate to tread through the Church League waters with me! They won the championship, for the first time. That night, after the game, this was Kate's facebook post:

"Brad's church league softball team just won the championship! Woohoo! This is what LeBron's wife must feel like."

I completely agree. Sam walked in and was on the phone talking to one of his team mates about the Fall league line up. Seriously.

Alex and I flew to Tampa June 30-July 4th to visit with my mom's side of the family. A-Man did GREAT on the plane (all 4 of them!) I was supper anxious, but he was awesome. Not awesome was the 2 teeth he cut while we were there! (Teeth count to date: 5!) It was Sunday night and he screamed for about 45 minutes. I was not anyones favorite person that night for allowing Alex to self-soothe!! After that small hicup, we had a fantastic time. Alex loved being in and eating the sand! Unfortunately, my phone didn't make it through the trip, so I have very few pictures right now. I'll post some more later, but here's what we have!

Next week Sam and I are going to Philadelphia for work, my Mom is coming to keep Alex. Hopefully we'll see Hayden the last week in July before he starts his NEW School in August! We've been blessed with a fortunate and busy summer, but I'm ready for the downtime and cooler weather that the fall will bring!

Who's that Baby?

I think Alex looks like Sam and Hayden...what do you think?

SAM

KELLY JO

HAYDEN

HAYDEN

ALEX

5 Months!

What a wild 5 Months!

I tell people God intends for us to have more children because Alex is SUCH a good baby! We're truly blessed! He sleeps from 8:30-7:30 and takes two naps and eats 3 times a day. He plays and rolls and semi-crawls. We don't have a crawler yet, but we do have a mobile baby! Last night I was in his room sorting his clothes (Pulling out the 6-9 month stuff!) and he scooted about 3 feet towards me then pulled himself up into my lap! Here are his 5 month pictures.

He usually goes back down after his 7:30 bottle for an hour or so. He was awake but playing in his crib this morning when his monitor started beeping in our room. I went in his room and he had pulled the monitor from the top of the crib rail and this is what I found!

Guess it's time to lower the crib mattress!

What's for Dinner?

Sam and I have a running joke that he eats the best when Hayden is here...sometimes that's the only time during the month/6 weeks that he eats home cooked meals!

In an effort to remedy this, I decided to start Once-a-Month Cooking! (Also, I HATE to cook in the summer time!) With OAM cooking, I can pick up fresh ingredients for sides and snackes/staples at the grocery, and stop randomly going and buying things we don't need!

I started planning Wedensday morning when the new Kroger ad. came out. I had a list of meals I wanted to cook and tailored it slightly based on the sales. I also used every coupon I could find, since I most likely won't buy some of the items again for a month or more. We had two freezers full when I started, so I had to be creative! We had lots of Free Range Chicken, Deer and Duck Smoked Sausage and Ground Deer Meat from last season, so that helps. (We still have lots of quail and bacon wrapped dove if anyone is interested!)

I boiled and shredded 2 whole chickens +  4 Chicken breasts on Wednesday. This was a time saver because I only have 2 large stock pots and needed them for several other dishes.

I shopped on Friday and put the rub on the pork shoulder to sit overnight. Here's what a month worth of meals looks like in our house! (I used everything with the exception of a few ingredients that I've not made anything with yet. )

Here's the list of Recipes I compiled from Pinterest, Google and Other Blogs. I don't want to steal anyones ideas, these are NOT my recipes! If you'd like any of them, please let me know. I'll try and go back and add links in later. Each of these were doubled, so they make at least two meals for the two of us, most of them will make more.

Lasagna Chili

Chicken and Black Bean Chili

Chicken Spaghetti

Pulled Pork BBQ

Crockpot BBQ Chicken

Baked Ziti

Cheddar and Cracker Coated Chicken

Stuffed Peppers

Chicken Tortellini Casserole

Beef Stroganoff

Olive Garden's Minestrone Soup - These are in smaller ziploc bags for lunches/single meals

Macaroni and Cheese - These are in smaller ziploc bags for lunches/single meals

Breakfast Burritos (24 Burritos)

Breakfast Muffins

Sam went to Memphis Saturday to visit his friend Brian, so I knew it's be a great time for the A-Man and I to have a work day! We started about 9 running a few errands, including one to Lowe's to pick up some things for our Patio Renovation...more on that later!

With Alex in his johnny jump up, I got started around 10:45. I started with the Chicken Spaghetti and Lasagna Chili and just progressed. I didn't clean as I went unless it was neccessary because I ran out of pot/spoons/bowls, etc. Here's a photo mid-way through. I'm a good cook, just not a clean one!Don't Judge!

I cooked until about 7:30, feeding an playing with the baby in between. It was work! But at 8 last night when Sam got home, It felt food to see all the progress I hadn't taken time to look at all day! I froze everything I could flat in gallon ziploc bags. The baked Ziti, Chicken Spaghetti and Chicken Tortellini Casseroles were in pans. I laid plastic wrap in the pans first, then flash froze them. I took them out, wrapped in foil and put them in ziploc bags with labels. When we cook those, I'll just unwrap them and pop them back in the pans! This is what the freezer looked like at about 5. I can't tell you how happy I am to be done for the month! To top it off our sweet neighbors were smoking food all day long, and they called us to comeover about 8:30 last night and gave us a smoked pork shoulder, which we ate for dinner. It was delicious! Alex was some kind of trooper! He played in his johnny jump up or his other bouncy seat in the kitchen when he was awake.

I'll post his 5 Month pictures and what I found this morning when I went to get him up later! We've got to get ready for church!

What a Week!

This week was GREAT!

Saturday morning Alex, Hayden and I went to Another Broken Egg Cafe for
breakfast to let Sam rest. They didn't get home until 2 am Saturday morning!

We came home and went down to the reservoir to fish. Hayden caught a 4 lb. Catfish! And, Priscilla chased a Canadian goose, and almost ended up in the water! Alex and I played on the quilt for awhile, then walked home and let the boys finish up. We had crock pot Pork Roast for dinner. It was fantastic! I took the roast, 1 pack of Ranch dressing, 1 can of Cream of Chicken Soup and one can of Water and let the crock work it's magic! (I served it over rice. The recipe is on my Pinterest!)

Sunday was Alex's first trip to the Nursery. They said he was great and wanted him back! So far, he's not gotten sick...yet! The afternoon brought more fishing for Sam and Hayden. They went to a friends house and caught several bass. They cleaned the fish Sunday night and we fried them up Monday. Hayden was super excited about eating something he just caught!

Monday we started our Landscaping renovations...its great to have a strong child willing to help! :) (And cheap labor too! I paid him $.50 per plant and he went to work!) We got 12 shrubs in the ground before the flood gates opened and we got a horrible storm! The front yard is starting to look really good. I'll post pictures soon!

Tuesday afternoon Hayden went Turkey hunting for the first time! They didn't see anything, but he perfected his turkey call.

Wednesday we prepared for The Garners visit. Hayden's mom Catherine, his brothers Gavin (4) and Lawton (2) and Sister London (6) came over for the first time. They all had so much fun. It was great for the kids to see where Hayden stayed and what he did while he's here. He had to adjust to sharing his space here! Thursday we took all the kids to get their pictures made during Alex's 4 month session. I cannot wait to see the photos, Amy (Amy Johnson Photography) is so patient and kind, I highly recommend her for kid's and family pictures!

Thursday afternoon, Sam took Hayden, London and Gavin to the pool, and sent Catherine and I to get our nails done! (Em kept Alex and Lawton) He's a keeper for sure! They were all worn out and took naps while I got dinner ready. Teresia, Greg and Mamo came over for dinner Thursday night and the kids had movie night.

Friday they left for home and we got the house in order and started stripping beds/doing laundry. This weekend We were able to visit with our great friends Kimberly and Lex! It's always great to see them.

Church this morning was great, Pastor Rob did a fantastic job as always, feeding us the truth. We went to Sam's aunt Liz's this afternoon for too much food and a great family visit. The weather has been so good this weekend we've spent alot of time outside.

Here are some recent random shots. Alex loves his jumpy. The best part about it is the mirror, which is also his favorite snack!

And last, but not least, mother Priscilla! She used to lay in front of Hayden's door if Sam wasn't home and he in his room sleeping. With both boys here, she got confused about where to lay, so she lays on the rug in the living room so she can look at the hallway to both their rooms!

Schedules

Life on a schedule is good...really good! And Necessary! Good and Necessary!

This week? Not so much! Since Alex started sleeping from 8ish -6 last Thursday night, I figured to try my luck and start transitioning baby into 3 feedings a day. I know...I'm a horrible mom right? I don't think so, and when I tell you how much he eats, you might not either! :)

Monday night we went to eat and celebrate Mamo (Sam's Grandmother) 82nd birthday at Logan's. I was talking through how to change schedules to Sam and his solution was to give Alex a small bottle at 6, his normal dinner time, and then feed him his full meal at 7:30, his new dinner time. This worked great! He slept well...until 5 am. He rolled over and started yelling. Not crying or fussing, but full on yelling. This is our new normal. A baby who yells. I turned him back over and we both survived until 7. He laid back down until 8 and started yelling again! He took a great morning nap and I was able to make his first homemade baby food. I made over 100 servings of food
in 4 hours...I'm just sayin! More on that later.

I woke him up at 1:00 for his lunch, which he ate in less than 30 minutes. Afternoon brought a short nap and he was down for the night at 8. Success! Not so much.

At one in the morning, he rolled himself over and started yelling again. I really thought he may wake up the neighbors, it was that loud. He slept until 7 and day two of our new schedule started. Aparently Wednesday is opposite day. His morning nap only lasted about 45 minutes, but that was long enough for me to bag all of his new food and organize the freezer for the new addition. He had a good afternoon nap and slept really well Wednesday night. He didn't sleep good for Emily Thursday morning, but took a good afternoon nap and I thought he went to sleep right after I put him down at 8.

I was outside bringing everything back into the garage after it was sealed today. When I was finished and came inside, I went to give him a little love and this is what I found. I'll tell myself that he stayed asleep after he rolled over, but given the decimals our house has operated on the past two days, that's unlikely. He most likely yelled himlf to sleep!

On to the food...at 15lbs 10 oz., Alex isnt starving. Trust me, I'm not neclecting him!
7:30 am- 8oz. Bottle with 2 T. Rice cereal
1:00 pm - 3T. Rice Cereal, 3 T. Vegetables, 3 T. Fruit, 1T. Formula and 1/2 banana mixed together and microwaved. After he eats, he takes a 6-8oz. Bottle.
7:00 pm - Repeat 1:00 Feeding.

This morning we had his 4 month check up and his first set of shots. He's developing great and the doctor was so pleased! He's in the 70th percentile for weight and height and 50th percentile for head circumference. He dr. couldn't believe how much he ate, and that I didn't give him a bottle more than 3 times per day or any 'small meals', but she couldn't have been happer with him. She's been so supportive of our 'Alternative to Modern Parenting' practices! (Our method doesn't work for everyone, but it's worked for 20 children I know, 9 I've met and know personally, not including Alex!)
The shots were traumatic momentarily, but he calmed down when I picked him up and stayed calm in the car on the way home. He's sleeping now!

Sam's gone to get Hayden, he has Karate practice at 6:00 which Sam should arrive just in time for! He'll be here until Friday. There's lots of boy activities in the works!

This was an interesting week to say the least!

Monday, my computer froze at the office so I called Dell Support. I WAS ON THE PHONE WITH THEM FOR 3 1/2 HOURS! Luckily the person I spoke to was very nice, but he determined that my Windows operating system was bad and needed reinstalled. He told me to buy an external hard drive so I didn't loose all my data and we'd resume tomorrow...more on that later.

We managed to make it to Sam's basketball game Monday night, but we had just missed the opponents fans getting a technical foul! This is church league mind you! We won and Alex liked all the movement, but he didn't like the buzzer signaling the end of the game! We got the pouty face!

Tuesday I resumed my computer repair and was on the phone with the second person at dell for another 3 hours. What a way to be productive! Thank goodness I have a headset for our home phone! I'm 70% operational now, the rest has to be done by our IT guy Monday.

Thursday I had a filling, and after the vallium and nitrous gas I managed to send Sam a text that said "better than an epidural" which was true until I sucked the bag dry! :)

Thursday was a big day for Alex! He's four months, so I've stopped his 10:00 feeding. Sam was out of town, so I thought it would be a good night to try it out. If he woke up, I could feed him, but he'd only wake up one parent! He went down about 7:30...and slept until 6:00! I'm so excited! At 6:02 I had turned off my alarm and the house alarm and started into the kitchen when he woke up and let me know just how hungry he was with a LOUD cry! Last night was another succesful night!

Alex has a fascination with his mirror. I put on every toy he has. He'll stare at it and just laugh!
Hayden's mom and I talked this week about when Hayden was little. Hayden used to suck on the same two fingers Alex does (pointer and middle) and He didn't like the car seat until they turned it around. Alex doesn't like the car at all!

Sam and I are going to The Hunger Games tonight...can't wait!

Update!

It's been awhile...like I said, I don't have time to blog, but I wanted to update this, because I'd like to stick with it!

It's been a busy few weeks! Last Monday Emily called and said the water company hit a gas line and the fire department told her to leave the house. I rushed home only to be told by the cop at the end of our street I couldn't get to my house to give her the car seat! Talk about my 'Mama Bear' reflex kicking in! Needless to say I made it to the house without getting arrested! :)

Emily and Alex went to Teresias for the day and all cleared up so they came back around 3:30.

Maybe the biggest recent news of all....Alex rolled over last Thursday! He rolled from his stomach to his back! He did it again twice this morning, but he gets frusterated because he can't get back!

This Monday, Sam and I headed Back to Missouri, it was a longer trip than last time though! We left about 1:00 Monday and got home last night at 12:30. Alex stayed with Sam's Mom Teresia - they had a great time! Alex slept great, which I was worried about because it was his first night away from home in his Pack N Play!

Alex also picked a Lovie today! It's a soft blue one with a raccoon. We have an identical one that has an elephant as well...I've been told it's good to have a backup! Here are some recent pictures of our big guy!

New Bouncy Seat! He loves it, especially the zebra!

Surprise Daddy! Mommy said I don't have to go to UT. ;)

Happy Baby with his Lovie

Change of Plans!

Things took a sharp turn Monday and we had to change plans! Sam told me at 3:30 on Monday we needed to go see a client in Missouri. We left at 6:00 Monday night!

THANK GOODNESS FOR MY MOM!

She was able to keep Alex, so he didn't have to ride in the car, which he hates, and I was able to go with Sam.

We were gone for 26 1/2 hours...not that I was counting! :) Alex did great, the dogs gave my mom more trouble than he did!

She had to leave Wednesday, but it was good to spend some time with her, and we know she'll be back in a month or so! :)

Sam got a bad case of food poisoning last night, so he's been out of commission, but has kept water down since about 12:00. Hopefully he'll be able to keep A-Man this evening so I can go to my bible study with K2!

So I decided to start a blog...not that I have time, but I thought if I can find time to read them, I can find time to write them! I also think it will be the easiest way to keep everyone updated on the latest happeneings in our life!

This was a busy week for A-man...he started Rice Cereal and Bananas on Sunday! He loved it!

(So did his chair, bib, hands, my shirt!) It's gotten better each day though. He eats cereal and bananas at 10, 2, and 6, and takes a bottle at 6am and 10pm...Here are some pictures of his first cereal adventure!

Today was a treat! He slept until 7:30! He didn't nap well yesterday, so when I put him down at 10:30 last night, he was asleep before I could walk into our bedroom!

This was also his first Valentines day! My friend Nicole sent a sweet onesie for him to wear and his GG and Bompa sent a stuffed bear for him to love on. He did!

My mom is coming for a visit Sunday...It's time for a little spring cleaning, so it will be great to have her help!