First Haircut

On Saturday, Jamie and I took Grantham to Roger's Barber Shop for his very first haircut. I was a little nervous how everything was going to play out but he did so great! He basically just sat on Jamie's lap the whole time and was a perfect little angel :) Just wanted to share a couple of pictures with you all. Enjoy!!

What's been going on...

...A LOT!!!!!!! Our little family has had so much going on in the past month...as I'm sure you could figure out by my lack of a blog post :) The most notable things are renovations to our house, going to the mountains of NC for Thanksgiving, decorating Grantham's "big boy room" in preparation for Eli's arrival, decorating for Christmas and the fact that our beloved Cocker Spaniel who was 17 years old passed away.

It's been hectic and crazy to say the least. When we found out we were going to have another baby back in May we decided to put our house on the market to make room for our growing family. We knew the housing market was not a good place for sellers but thought we would give it a shot and decided that if it didn't sell by October 31st that we would just renovate instead. Well the house didn't sell and the renovations started the first week of November. I can't even believe how quickly everything is happening. We are adding a double car garage with a bonus room, a playroom, a deck, a half bathroom and updating the kitchen. There is a separate post below this one that has pictures of the progress.

I am ashamed that we left our camera at home over Thanksgiving so I didn't get any pictures. We went to Blowing Rock, NC with Jamie's family and Jamie, Grantham and I had a great time. It was wonderful to be able to spend Thanksgiving with family in the beautiful mountains of NC.

With Eli's arrival coming quickly, we decided we needed to get started on Grantham's big boy room. I am really excited about the way it has turned out...although it's still not completely done. I want to have him sleeping in this room for at least a month before his baby brother arrives that way maybe it won't be so traumatic to have a new baby taking over his old room. There is another separate post with pictures of his new room so you can see what it all looks like. The only thing we are waiting for is his crib and then we can officially move him in. We are borrowing a crib from a friend that he will sleep in until we make the transition to the "big boy bed." I'm certainly not in any rush for this to take place. We just decided to go ahead and set up all of his new furniture that way when we do move him to the twin bed, he will already be familiar with it. On a side note, we also purchased an identical twin bed and bedding set for Eli. The plan is for the boys to eventually share a room :)

The last thing I want to mention is that our dog Bailey passed away. This has been very hard for Jamie and I although we know that it was definitely time. His health had really gone downhill fast in the last couple of months and we had actually been discussing the need to put him down in the near future. One night Jamie was outside doing some work and Bailey was out there with him. Bailey wandered off and never came back. In 17 years, he has NEVER even attempted to leave the yard. The only time we ever put him on a leash was when we took him to the vet or the groomer because there was just no need for one. We were shocked that he left the yard and we searched and searched for him. Jamie searched for several hours 3 days in a row and we never found him. Our assumption is that he wandered off to die in peace. This was hard for us because we weren't able to say goodbye but ultimately, I think we are glad that Bailey made the decision for us rather than us having to make a decision to put him to sleep. I would not say that Bailey was a "good dog"...he was kind of a trouble maker from the beginning :) However, he was one of the sweetest and most loyal dogs I have ever been around. He will be missed!!! The picture at the top of the post was taken by my sister on November 27 which was 3 days before he died.

I apologize for the crazy long post...I told you a lot has been going on!!!! I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving and is enjoying the Christmas season so far.

**Sorry for the separate posts with the pictures of the renovations and Grantham's room...for some reason blogger wouldn't let me add all of the pics to this post.**

Renovation Pictures

Garage/Bonus Room: View from the street of the house with garage (that's the electrician's truck in the driveway :). You can see the window of the bonus room although I didn't take a picture of the interior. It is HUGE and there is a full bathroom and walk-in closet. Playroom: This was the covered porch right off of the kitchen/dining room. We are converting it to a playroom.

Updated Kitchen: The granite countertops, new appliances and new sink/faucet have been installed. The only thing left to be done is the backsplash.

Deck: There will be 2 entrances to the house from the deck. The door to the left of the picture enters the playroom and the door to the right of the picture enters the new hallway leading to the bonus room. The deck is complete sans being stained. I couldn't get Charlie to move out of the way when I was taking the picture...I guess he was feeling photogenic :)

Half Bathroom: This was a closet underneath the stairs that we are converting to a half bathroom. By the way, that's Charlie's kennel in the picture.

Grantham's Big Boy Room Pictures

Halloween Fun!

Cole and Grantham with the "Forrest Pumpkin" scarecrow.

Cole (3 years), Mollie Beth (9 1/2 months) and Grantham (14 1/2 months)

Cole and Grantham enjoying the dance party at the zoo!

The whole family at the zoo.

Cole and Grantham after a fun filled night (well actually only 30 minutes :) of trick or treating!

Ok...so I'm about a week late for this Halloween post but better late than never. I wanted to share all of the Halloween fun our family had this year! Technically this was not Grantham's first Halloween; however, it was the first Halloween that he was really able to participate in. I've posted pictures above of the Halloween activities that we did this year. We actually did all three of these activities last year too and looking back at the pictures it's amazing to see what a difference a year makes! A child grows and learns so much in their first year. It's hard to believe that at this time next year we will probably do the same activities only I will be chasing around two boys instead of one. I'm sure my work will be cut out for me :)

We went downtown Columbia to the Robert Mills House to see the Scarecrows on display. This is a fun (and free) activity that Megan and I have enjoyed for the past few years. The Friday night before Halloween, we went to "Boo at the Zoo" with my family and Grantham had a blast. There was a dance party with a DJ in the center courtyard and Cole and Grantham just danced and danced. Then on Halloween night, we went trick or treating with Cole around our neighborhood. Grantham definitely didn't understand the concept. He kept trying to walk into all of our neighbor's houses. It was so funny :) Enjoy the pics and I hope everyone had a Happy Halloween...on to Thanksgiving now!!!!

Pumpkin Patch

Jamie and I took Grantham to Harmon's Tree Farm to visit the Pumpkin Patch. We went on a hayride and walked around enjoying the beautiful weather. Grantham had a ball. Just thought I would share some pictures with you all! Happy Fall!!!!!

"My Big Cardboard Box"

Yesterday Grantham was playing in his room while I packed up some of his old clothes that no longer fit (**tear...every time I have to do this it makes me sad because he's growing up so fast**). I was using an old diapers box to pack the clothes up when Grantham discovered it and started to play with it. He climbed in and out, put it on his head, used the finger holes on the side of the box as "peep holes", etc. I loved watching his fascination with this box. There were toys all around but all he wanted to do was play with that big cardboard box.

The whole scenario made me think about a book that we received as a gift after Grantham was born. The title of the book is "Little Boy" by Allison McGhee and Peter H. Reynolds. If you have a little boy and don't have this book, you should really get it. It makes me cry every time I read it :) The gist of the book is that it's the simple things in life that matter to a child...they don't have the things to worry about that adults do so they can just enjoy EVERYTHING. Sometimes I watch Grantham playing (or any other child for that matter) and I find myself trying to capture some of that carefree spirit to take with me. It's so refreshing.

There are several sequences throughout the book that start with "Little boy, so much depends on..." and end with "...and, your big cardboard box." The very last sequence in the book goes like this: "Little boy, so much depends on...your starship pajamas, that story about llamas, the way you don't worry, the way you won't hurry, and...your big cardboard box. Little boy, you remind me how so much depends on days made of now."

These authors have another book called "Someday," which is appropriate for a little boy or a little girl. We also have that one and it also makes me cry! They are beautifully written and beautifully illustrated. You should check them out if you have never seen them!

Monkey Joes

This one is a little fuzzy but I wanted to post it anyway so everyone could see my big boy going down the giant slide all by himself!

Last week Grantham and I met some friends of ours, Megan and Brantley, at Monkey Joes. If you are unfamiliar with Monkey Joes, it's basically a giant playground full of jump castles. I was a little nervous about how Grantham would react because it's pretty overwhelming but he literally dove right in. We started out in the small jump castle called "Toddler Town" and were in there for about all of 3 minutes. Then we moved on to the big kid ones. Brantley was a little more nervous about it all than Grantham but she definitely warmed up by the time we left. I think that was a prime example of the difference between boys and girls because let me tell you...Grantham is all boy and Brantley is all girl :)

By the time we were headed home, Grantham was going down the giant slide by himself! I can't believe how big he and Brantley have gotten so fast. I'm so thankful that he has a little playmate who is almost exactly the same age as him (Brantley is 1 week older). Thanks for going with us and we look forward to our next playdate at Monkey Joes Megan and Brantley!

P.S. I left my camera at home so all pictures are courtesy of Megan...thanks for sharing!

Baby on the Move - Part 2

It's official...Grantham has started walking. He started taking a couple of steps when he was about 11 months old but I definitely did not consider that walking. The day before his birthday he started consistently taking between 5 and 10 steps and his confidence grew from there. It took him about a week after that to really take off and boy has he ever taken off. The only time he really crawls anymore is if he gets tripped up when walking. He will then crawl to the nearest wall or piece of furniture, stand back up and continue on his walking quest. He still doesn't have great balance so he walks like a monkey. It's absolutely hilarious...he holds his hands above his head and keeps them that way the entire time! It's actually kind of perfect because since he was born I've always referred to him as "my little monkey."

I hear parents say all the time that they don't love the walking stage because they have a hard time keeping up with their child. Jamie and I don't really find this any different because we started having a hard time keeping up with him when he began crawling!!! Needless to say, we are loving his new found independence. It's really a lot of fun!

I snapped the above pictures while he was walking across the room towards me...you can definitely see the monkey action in them :)

It's a BOY!!!!!

I thought this one was cool because he's waving at the camera. You can see his 4 fingers but we're not sure where his thumb is...maybe folded over his palm?

I had my ultrasound last week and we found out that we are having another little boy. Jamie and I are absolutely thrilled. A girl would have been awesome, but we were both hoping for a boy. Since the age difference will be so close, we thought it would be great for Grantham to have a "little buddy." Everything looked great and baby boy is perfectly healthy...praise the Lord!

I've included some of the ultrasound pictures. I know that the 4-D one where you can see his face is a little bit creepy because he's still kind of in the "alien looking" stage :) Nonetheless, I thought I would include it anyway.

Happy Birthday Grantham!

My sister, Megan, and I made the cake...it was a train!

Homemade decorations...pictures of Grantham from 1 to 12 months that looked like a train :)

Well, last Saturday was Grantham's 1st birthday! It really was such a bitter sweet day for me. I can't believe how fast the past year has gone. I have such vivid memories of the day he was born. I know it's a cliche thing to say but it seems like it was yesterday. As I was reflecting back over the past year I was trying to decide if I enjoyed it as much as I should have. I definitely had my moments of frustration but overall I really do think I enjoyed every minute. I decided that I'm not going to waste my time being sad that the past year is gone...instead I'm going to look forward to the future with my little man and enjoy the next year just as much as I enjoyed the last year.

We had an absolutely perfect day! We had a birthday party for him with close friends and family and it was so much fun. I was a little bit nervous how Grantham would react to all of those people in his house. I think he loved every minute...even when 30 people were singing him happy birthday and then watching him eat his cake which, by the way, he LOVED! He's never had sugar except the natural sugar in fruit and I think he immediately realized what he had been missing. He dug right into that cake and didn't stop until we took it away from him.

Thanks to all of our friends and family for celebrating with us! We couldn't have asked for a better 1st birthday for our little boy :)

All Done

We've had a big breakthrough this week...Grantham has started to sign "all done." I started working with him on some simple sign language when he was about 7 months old. I read not to expect results until about 11 or 12 months and lo and behold, a week before he turns a year old he gets it :) He is now an "all done" signing fool. He signs "all done" when he finishes his bottle and when he doesn't want any more food. It's so satisfying for him to catch on to something in the form of communication. It certainly takes a lot of the guess work out of how much to feed him because he lets me know when he's had enough. Hopefully now that he's gotten "all done" some of the other signs will start to click too.

On a side note, I took this picture this morning after breakfast. Actually, he had just signed "all done" when I took it. Check out all those teeth up top! All four have broken through and now he has 2 more on the bottom making their way up :)

Big News...

If you can't read what his shirt says (because I couldn't get him to sit still long enough to take his picture :), let me clarify for you...it says "Big Brother". It's true...Grantham is going to be a big brother!!!! The Martin family will go from 3 to 4 sometime around the end of January. I am 13 weeks along and my due date is January 28th. So far, things have been awesome with this pregnancy. I really couldn't ask for an easier first trimester. I honestly haven't felt any different than normal which is such a blessing considering I'm chasing after an almost 1 year old all day every day :) Obviously, Grantham has no idea what it means when we say "you're gonna be a big brother." Hopefully, he'll have a better grasp on the subject by the time the baby comes. We would appreciate everyone's prayers as we prepare over the next 6 months to add to our family.

Crazy 2 Weeks!

I apologize that it has been so long between posts. We have had a really, really crazy 2 weeks around here. The week before last, Megan (my sister) and I went to Georgia/Florida to visit family. We were gone for an entire week with all three kids, Mollie (6 months), Cole (2 and 1/2 years) and Grantham (11 months). It was a 6 hour drive. I really don't know what we were thinking when we decided to tackle that, but nonetheless we did. We ended up having an awesome time and the kids adjusted really well...much better than we expected. They all did great on the car ride down and back and seemed to have a good time while we were there. It was so much fun to get to spend time with family and I'm really glad we went :)

We got back around 3:00 PM last Monday and around 5:00 I noticed that Grantham felt warm. I checked his temperature and sure enough he had a fever...a 102.2 degree fever to be exact. He also started having diarrhea on average every hour. We went to see the doctor the next morning and determined that he had a virus that unfortunately was just going to have to run it's course...not what I wanted to hear. I wanted to hear "we'll give you an antibiotic and he'll be feeling better tomorrow." The fever and diarrhea continuted for the next 3 days and the fever peaked at 103.8 degrees...yikes! Since he was having diarrhea so frequently, he had the worst diaper rash I've ever seen and he also developed a rash on his lower back. I took him back to the doctor on Friday morning and found out that the rash on his back was a staph infection. As if my poor baby could feel any worse we also noticed that day that he was cutting FOUR new teeth. The doctor gave us an antibiotic for the staph and some medicated paste for his diaper rash.

I think we are finally on the mend. The staph is almost completely gone and the diaper rash is getting better. The virus is also gone but the teeth are still coming through :) This was the first time Grantham has been really sick. He's had a few colds but nothing like this before. I think it was the worst experience I've had as a parent so far. It is such a terrible feeling for your child to be so sick and for you to not be able to help. I'm so glad he's feeling better and things are getting back to normal :)