Party Time!

This Saturday we had Griffin's first birthday party at our house! We threw a fish fry for our little whopper and about 35 adults and 13 kiddos! It was a lot of work, but totally worth it. I know Griffin won't remember this party, but we will never forget it and we'll have plenty of pics to show him! Jason's dad, Papa J, has a family recipe for fried catfish and hush puppies and it was absolutely to die for! Jason and his Dad worked so hard frying up fish for all the guests. My mom, aunt, and I made and decorated the cake and cookies. My sweet dad, Pops, was such a huge help the entire weekend. We are so thankful to all our family for pitching in and helping make this such a memorable birthday. Griffin had a blast at his party and it was such a joy to see him surrounded by people ready to celebrate such a special little guy.

The Birthday Cake

Great Aunt Annie, Momma, and Mimi decorating the cake

The boys marinating the catfish...so yummy!

Griff got this very special bike...a whole post on that coming soon!

Jason and Papa J fried 20 pounds of catfish and a ton of hush puppies...absolutely delicious!

Uncle Clayton, Mimi, Pop, Carson, and Lyndon

Loved seeing Lucas, Allison, and precious Parker

Best attempt at a family photo

Digging In!

Playing in the bounce house with Daddy

God's Gift

Dear Griffin,

Happy Birthday sweet baby boy. A year ago God blessed us with our heart's greatest desire, YOU!!! It's so hard to put into words just how awesome this experience has been. You have brought SO much JOY to our lives from your birth, becoming parents, many sleepless nights and zombie days, watching you grow and change, your first smile, bite of food, boat rides, your first tooth, and watching you army crawl, seeing you play with your friends, snuggle your lovey, and suck your precious thumb, watching you pull up and creep along the furniture, and caring for you when you were sick, singing you songs, hearing you say our names, and watching you crawl and take your first steps...I could go on and on. Being your parents has taught us so much about ourselves and each other. You are the perfect fit for our family, and we couldn't love you more. You are fearfully and wonderfully made, and we thank God for blessing our lives with you! We love you sweet Griffin Bear!

Mommy and Daddy

Happy Birthday RJ!

Griffin's best buddy RJ had his birthday party two weekends ago but I realized I never posted it. This was Griff's first actual birthday party to go to, and he had a blast. Funny story...I decided not to give Griffin a cupcake at the birthday party since his own birthday is coming up quick. Anyway, while the kids were playing and the adults were talking, Griffin snuck over to the trash can and the next thing we knew, he had a handful of cupcake and blue icing all over his face!!! I can't believe I didn't snap a picture because it was quite hilarious! We had a great time at the party! Happy birthday sweet RJ!

Playing with the gold clubs

Sweet one

Bouncie Castle was a huge hit!

Best attempt at a group pic

The "Perfect" Valentine's Breakfast

I decided to make a Valentines breakfast for my boys this morning. You know cause I always wake up extra early to cook a hot breakfast for my family. When I start cooking I always have everything planned out. I never let Griffin sit on the counter to help because that's dangerous, and I would NEVER knowingly let him stick his curious little hand in the batter. Not me...nope!

And, when he drips batter all over his pants I never just leave it. No, I make sure to clean it up and change him right away.

When I'm cooking, I would never plan to use a plastic cookie cutter in a hot metal pan to mold my pancakes, because of course I would realize before hand it would melt. Nope, it would never take me three tries to finally give up and make a new plan to make regular pancakes and use the cookie cutter to cut out the hearts.

Doing great mom!

I certainly never let my son put cooking utensils in his mouth while I'm cooking just to keep his hands occupied for 2.5 seconds while I snap a pic. Nope, not me!

My pancakes are always perfectly even and golden brown like Denny's and never have dark spots...

Finally I would never let my sweet baby have a little syrup on his pancake, because my child never gets sugar. We eat only organic , fresh fruits, meats, and veggies cause that's how we roll around here!!! Happy Valentines everyone!

Sick of Sick

I'm sick of sick. In the past week, I have been to a Dr.'s office of some type 6 times and lucky me, I'll be there again tomorrow. Griffin has been congested and coughing since last Friday. Then he started running a fever on Monday so we were back in the office. He had to go back the next day for a blood test. Turns out it's viral so there's nothing that can be done anyway. Ugh! My poor baby. However, as I was praying for my little one yesterday, I couldn't help but stop myself and realize how blessed I am that a little virus is all I'm having to deal with when there are babies with families who love them fighting for their lives. So I prayed for them as well. Anyways, on top of that, Jeter has an infection in a very nasty place (sorry) and I've had to take him to the vet twice. Ugh! I'm sick of sick. The good news is that Griffin has been fever free all day today, and seems to be much more playful and back to his old self! Jeter has to go back to the vet next week, but should be on the mend as well. So hopefully our sick days have passed us by, now if only the rain would go away so we can get out and play!

I'm posting this pic of Griffin when he was 8 days old 1. because I was looking through old pics and it just about melted my heart and 2. because I'm sick of sick and this brought a smile to my face and hope it does to yours as well :)

3 Special Steps...1,2 and 3

For those of you that have the pleasure of knowing Special Agent Oso, this title is for you! Go ahead and sing the song so it'll be stuck in your head all day! Anyways, I just had to post to say that Griffin took 3 special steps on his own today!!! He has been standing for a few seconds on his own this week, a little more each day. Then today I was trying to get him to let go of the couch and walk to me, and he did it!!! I think he caught us both by surprise! He had a HUGE smile on his face and I think he was really proud of himself. For those of you who know Griff, he really wants to walk....all the time! Hopefully he's taking a "step" in that direction!

Back to the Museum

Outta my way mom

Griffin is a little obsessed with wheels on EVERYTHING!

Loving the cars on the ramp

Hmm...how does this work?

The yummy sandbox

CHEEEEESE!

Yesterday was RJ's birthday so we went to the Houston Children's Museum! We've been twice before but this was by far the most fun time! The boys played hard for almost 2 hours. They have so many wonderful things for them to explore, climb on, and play with. They have a "sand" table but instead of sand, they filled it with oatmeal. Griffin loved playing with the shovels and toys, until he realized you could "eat" the sand. We quickly found another activity. He is at such a fun, curious, active age and we are loving it!