Future basketball star!

So, this is one of my better purchases that I've made for Griffin. This Fisher Price basketball hoop, equipped with it's own cheer squad, came from my first ever kiddie consignment sale shopping experience! I think I paid $3 for this toy and Griffin LOVES it!

Splish! Splash!

Bri taught Fin how to splash! And I also managed to get him saying "Bye" on video...one of his new words!

Playing with Albert!

We love our Gators :-)

Happy Birthday To You!

This video was taken on the morning of Griffin's actual birthday. We decorated the outside of his door with streamers and a balloon and woke him up by singing Happy Birthday! The tradition will be to have a balloon for each year of his birthday :-)

To My Sweet ONE Year Old Boy...

Dear Baby Griffin,

Baby...people are telling me you aren't a baby anymore...you're a toddler! Mommy isn't ready for that yet. In fact, I feel a little foolish because Grandma B. says that since the day you were born, I've been "wishing your life away" because I kept saying, "I can't wait for him to do this." "I can't wait for him to do that." But really, I was just excited to watch you grow and learn new things. But as Mom's always are, your Grandma was right. This year went by way too fast. I still remember the day we found out I was pregnant with you and as soon as it was confirmed I jumped up and down about 5 times into your Daddy's arms and typical of your Daddy, always worrying, told me to stop jumping up and down, that I was going to hurt you :-) Once you were born, it took Mommy about 3 weeks to really get into the swing of Mommyhood. But you were gentle, and loving, and easy going. My favorite times were when we would sleep on that old green leather couch, covered in a sheet, because it was SO dang hot in our tiny apartment, especially with you laying on top of me. Sweaty or not....those moments are what I waited 9 months for. Every day since then has been an adventure. Learning how to roll over, sit up, stand up, crawl, and taking your first steps. Each new milestone is more exciting than the last. You love to be loved on. Even though you are on the move, you are perfectly content with someone holding you....all the time :-) You are brave, but cautious...just like your Daddy. This is one characteristic I hope you never lose. It will allow you the chance to do great things in life. You demand attention...like your Mommy :-) You're funny. You really are! And at such a young age...it's a very promising thing. If you can make a girl laugh, you're set for life buddy :-) After all, your Daddy didn't win me over with his good looks ;-) (Just kidding, Bri) Your Daddy always says, I wish we could just get a glimpse of what kind of person he's going to be, what path he's going to choose in life. I have an endless amount of hopes and wishes for you, little man. I want you to be strong and brave, but sensitive. I want you to be passionate about something. I don't care if it's football or music or dancing. I just want you to do what you love in life, regardless of what other people think or how much it pays. I want you to be happy and I want you to make others happy just by being you. Have your own opinions but respect other peoples. Believe in God. Bad things happen, especially to good people, so....just believe in God. Mama and Daddy will protect you from most of the world's harm, but there is going to come a time when it's your turn to find out what this world has to offer. Be aware that there are consequences to every action you take. Find someone to love. A good person, deserving of your love. Someone who will laugh at your jokes, even if they aren't funny. Someone who can take care of you when your sick. Someone YOU can take care of too. The world is a lonely place and there is no greater feeling than being in love. Love your life, regardless of its hardships. Always remember that you are loved. Whether you are near or far, you have a home filled with love, just for you, to come home to.

Happy FIRST Birthday, to you, Little Man!!

Love Always,

Mama

Mickey Mouse Clubhouse Bash!

It is an understatement when I say that Griffin LOVES Mickey Mouse. Every time Mickey comes on TV he points and looks at me or Brian...or whoever else is in the room. He dances to all the music and it is so cute. So, there was no question as to what the theme to his party was going to be! So I started planning....in November :-) Yup...crazy, right?! I just knew that I wanted it to be super special...even though I knew he wouldn't remember 15 years from now. So with the help of Etsy, Party City, and some close and VERY talented friends...the party was a success! Thank you to all of our friends and family that came to celebrate our little man!

Proud Mama and Daddy :-)

Fin's AWESOME cake and smashcake. Made by "Too Cute Cake Designs"

Griffin's Birthday Banner (Ordered from Swankk Events and Design on Etsy)
A little favor for our guests! Tags made by Mandi Donovan :-)

It's cake time!

He loved every minute of it!!

Sharing with Mama <3A family shot!

Griffin is 11 Months Old!

I'm finding it harder and harder to find the time to update Griffin's blog! I think about it often, think about the things he's accomplished in the past few weeks that I want to share and write down...but alas!! The very "thing" I want to write about is the little booger that steals all my time away! Haha! Let me preface this post by saying..."I love my son, I love my son, I love my son." But HOLY COW!!!!!! He is 100% attached to my leg. At. All. TIMES! I know what you all are thinking, "enjoy this time...it doesn't last forever." Good! I'm glad it doesn't last forever! B/c my sweet, independent little soul of a son is NOWHERE to be found. As you all saw on FB, he took a few steps a couple of weeks ago. That's about the extent of it. I think, secretly, he knows how to walk. In fact, when we aren't looking I'm 99.9% sure that he hops onto his feet and struts around like a model on a catwalk (kiddie style). But if Bri and I are around, it's like his legs are made of cherry jello. (I say cherry, b/c they are so very edible in all of their chubby goodness). But he talks, well jib-jabs...but he can clearly say, "Mama, Dada, Gator, and Turtle." Not in that order, of course, but who's the one typing here ;-) So I am in full party planning mode. One years old in 2 weeks! I can't tell if I'm just using the "he only turns one once" excuse to justify the intense amount of stuff I have purchased for this party or if I just am channeling my energy as a diversion of my extreme sadness that the first year of his life has gone by! My mother was right (typical) when she said all those times, "stop wishing his life away!!" When I would tell her, "I just wish he would hold his head up, I just wish he would sit up on his own, etc." Well...now I wish I was sitting in Sharp Mary Birch's hospital room over looking some San Diego mountains holding my newborn. I am looking forward to his party next weekend! I'll be SHOCKED if I make it the day without shedding a tear. But Mom will be there, so fat chance that's going to happen! Be prepared...my "Griffin is ONE" post will probably be a giant "I remember when post" where I'll have a box of tissues next to the computer while I type. I finally get my Mother's waterworks!

Drumming! Just like my Daddy!

Griffin is 10 Months Old!

Griffin turned 10 Months Old on January 30th!! I'm a little late on this post and there is SO much to update on! We have quite the mover on our hands. He is everywhere and into everything! We have been practicing everyday and gearing up for the day he takes his 1st steps....which have not happened yet. But that's okay. I'm sure I'll regret wishing that he was a walker if I say it out loud! Haha! His favorite thing to do is touch everything that he's not supposed to touch! He also loves to get into things he's not supposed to and when we notice that he's into something, we say his name loud and he likes to crawl away from us as fast as he possibly can....which is faster than one would think. He started whole milk about 2 weeks ago. We've been weaning and today is the 1st official day that he hasn't had any formula. He was becoming really disinterested in formula, so we talked to his Pediatirician about it and she gave us the go ahead to start weaning. Now we have to work whole milk into our new schedule! Something I'm still trying to figure out! Everyday is something new! He's pretty much off of all baby food. He's loving Boca burgers, which is something I never thought a baby would like! He's a pro at pointing things out. He can point to Mama, Dada, Mickey Mouse, Gator....and HE'S FINALLY SAYING MAMA!! It's the worlds greatest sound :-) I'm going to try to be better about videos, even though I post a few here and there on Facebook. Hope this finds you and your family well!!

Finding the Gator Ball

So I posted in his 9 month post about finding the Gator ball amongst all the other ones! Well, we got it on video today. Of course, we think he's the smartest 9 month around ;-)

Griffin Andrew is 9 Months Old!

How is it that in LESS than 3 months We will have a ONE year old?! I always begin my monthly blog posts with how fast time is flying and it just keeps going faster and faster. I still remember the 1st 2-3 weeks of him first being home like it was yesterday. The amount of love we feel for this little guy grows and grows everyday! This month, I am happy to report that we have NO new teeth!! Haha. He has 6, we can work with that for now. I just feel so bad when they have teeth popping thru...he's been going at the teeth thing since July, he deserves a break. He's still eating everything under the sun. Except for strawberries and blueberries. I thought since he's been doing so great at breaking food down in his mouth that strawberries and blueberries would be a HUGE hit. Not so much. He had the one-eyed, sour-lipped, look on his face as soon as I popped them in his mouth. For Bri and I, it was about the funniest face we'd seen him make. Of course, by the time I got the flip video out he was gagging, and from there on out it just wasn't pretty! So...a little longer on those fruits. It is UH-MAZING how quickly he is picking up on things. He had a Mickey Mouse stuffed animal, dressed as Santa, under the tree all Christmas. He was sitting on my lap on the couch and I said, "Griffin, where is Mickey?" He turned, pointed to Mickey, I put him down and he crawled over to him and pulled him out from under the tree. I was like, "Oh MY!!!" Also, he's a huge fan of the Gator head. But, just the Gator head. B/c he has a full Albert on his shelf and doesn't quite get that it's a Gator. But he can point out the Gator heads on our clothes, drinking cups, and his Build-A-Bear doggie that is wearing a t-shirt with a Gator head on it. And he points and says "Derrrr." He has a HUGE bin of all different size balls and one of the smallest balls has a Gator head on it and I can say, "Griffin, find the Gator ball," and he will sift thru them all and pull it out!! I mean, pretty smart right? While most parents work on ears, mouth, teeth, belly button, nose (which he knows)...we decided to start with the important things in life....like our favorite college football team. I mean, Hey, if a portion of our money goes to paying off Daddy's education from that school every month, Griffin should grow up to appreciate it!! Haha!! Along with his love for Gator heads we also can ask him how big he is and he throws up his arms with a big smile...SO cute! He also imitates us snapping our fingers....and best of all??? He DANCES!! Whether he's in his car seat, high chair, sitting on the floor, or standing, our boy has rhythm!!! It's funny and cute and as soon as I can get a video, I will :-) But that's all for now friends and family!! We hope the New Year is treating you well!!

Our little crawler!

I feel like this happened OVER NIGHT!! I mean, he never went thru the phase where he just sat up by himself. The sitting up, crawling, and pulling up all happened in one day. Which is great....I guess :-/ Of course, this was about 3 weeks ago, so he is SUPER speedy now....and into EVERYTHING! I vaguely remember asking for this to "please happen soon" awhile ago. I think I was crazy :-)

Bath fun over Thanksgiving!

Griffin was getting a bath when his cousin Joshua popped in and thought it would be fun to use his rubber duckies to squirt him! Griffin, of course, thought Josh was SO funny. I love cousin time! Excuse the nudity...and the fact that he almost flipped himself over while I was taping! Haha.

Griffin's Baptism

FINALLY! About 8 months late (or so us Catholics think!) Griffin's Baptism was finally here! We would have had him baptized earlier, but we weren't HUGE fans of our church in San Diego. Plus, it would have been hard to have family all travel to us. Alas, we decided to wait. So, he was baptized on New Year's Eve!! It was the perfect day for our family and friends. He was baptized by Father Murphy at Holy Trinity Catholic Church in Peachtree City. Griffin is such a blessing and his baptism couldn't have been more perfect!

Christmas Day MADNESS!

Christmas morning was SO much fun! I know Griffin had NO idea what was going on but it still seemed so special :-) There had to be hundreds of presents under the tree since there were 11 of us!! It felt like it took AGES to open presents. And since Griffin didn't quite understand Christmas, it was more about being in the moment with a whole lotta family! Here are a few pictures from the morning madness!

Merry Christmas Eve!

We had A LOT of people at our house for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. 11 people, including us, to be exact! Good thing we don't live in our 800 sq. ft. San Diego apartment anymore! We managed to get everyone to 4pm mass (where only I got to sit...yay for being the Mom of the youngest). We also got everyone to sit around the dinner table for a BIG yummy dinner! Merry Christmas Eve everyone!

Griffin Andrew is 8 Months Old!

November was such a crazy month! I felt like we were gone every weekend and before we knew it Thanksgiving was over and the Christmas season was upon us! Griffin now has 6 teeth!! So we are pretty much eating everything under the sun, except for peanut butter, eggs, and shellfish (doctors orders). I remember talking to a few people about this annoying phase that Griffin was in b/c he was able to sit up, but couldn't get into the sitting position without my help. So he would flop over and then just fuss until someone helped him up. My sister said, "The best is when they can sit up on their own, but aren't mobile yet." Well....Griffin is a little stinker b/c he was crawling before he could sit up!! It happened within 2 days of each other....but oh boy, it's SO exciting! I know, I'm crazy, right?? Only a few days after his crawling started did he discover being able to pull up on things on his own. This is just a whole new phase of worry! So now he has a few more bumps and bruises along his legs...I guess I can't protect him from EVERYTHING!!

Christmas Card Pictures

Since we chose a Christmas card that only used one picture we had a hard time narrowing it down to just ONE! So here are some of our other favorites from our very unprofessional photo shoot! Ha!

Merry Christmas from the Bouska's, Copithorne's, Hurley's, & Walshes!

Tennessee Thanksgiving!

The very reason I was SO excited to move back to the East Coast.... BIG family Holidays! We had 16 people at Mom and Dad's new home in TN for Thanksgiving and it was pure chaos but amazing! All of the little cousins from my side of the family were together and we had so much fun :-) Griffin enjoyed his 1st Thanksgiving meal of mashed and sweet potatoes, turkey, ham, and stuffing!! Here are a few pictures from the weekend! Happy 1st Thanksgiving Griffin!

Brian & Billy's Foot Race!

Brian and Billy took this foot race pretty seriously. It's been talked about since the Fall of 2010. Brian should just know better than to race Billy....

Visiting The Latsko's!!

Ok, so I know it has been awhile since I've caught up on the blog...but I need to start where I left off! In the beginning of November we drove to Gainesville for a long weekend to visit our friends Billy, Amanda, and Cameron. We were SOOO excited to see them and let the kids meet each other. The last time we saw Cam was when she was 8 weeks old when her and Amanda came to visit us in San Diego. Well...came to visit Billy, really...we were just a bonus! She is as sweet as can be and Griffin just LOVED her!!