364 days...

enjoy your last hours of being no years old, little buddy.

2 week countdown

Yup, 2 weeks from now, Griffin will have been 1 year old for 2 days and we'll be off on his first plane ride to Florida for a week's vacation, hopefully it will be sunny in FL as we're all really sick of the cold, snow, and rain. I'll take any weather that allows me slip my piglets into a pair of flip flops. In other Griffin-tastic news, he is walking like a champ (when he wants to), has moved into the "toddler room" at school, waves goodbye, gives kisses, and can eat his brother under the table any day of the week. I bet you're all very surprised about the last statement given Griffin's petite presence, ha ha ha.
Riley is really excited that Griffin is acting more like a "big boy" like him every day, which is cute. Last week, while I was driving, Riley was cracking him up in the backseat and it was absolutely adorable. Hopefully, Riley will still enjoy his "big little brother" when he realizes he has to start sharing his toys and tv time.

Here's a few pics (emphasis on the few) of the last couple of weeks including Abram's 2nd bday party and a visit with Aidan and Sierra.

Happy 11 monther Doodles!

Yup, the little butterball is 11 months old today and the nickname "Doodles" still sticks..poor little guy is going to have a tough time in high school if we keep it up. Griffin is still holding strong at 25 lbs, but he's been thinning out quite a bit (well, he's still a chubster) since he's becoming more and more active every day. He's getting more adventurous with his cruising and can stand up now on his own and he gets so excited about it, that he usually snorts and then falls on his keister. He loves to jump and of course, his favorite part of the day is mealtime. He will pretty much eat anything and wants to eat anything we are eating- when we don't give him a tastes of something, he gets mighty aggravated, but nothing a few "puffs" or Cheerios can't fix.
We can't believe it has been 11 months since Griffin was born and even more scary is that he'll be hitting the 1 year mark next month! Eeek! Two days after Griffin turns one, we will be hitting the airways on a trip to Florida to visit Grandma and Mickey Mouse! Woot! Riley is, of course, beside himself about everything entailed...the plane rise, Grandma's pool, how the Easter bunny will find us in Fl, which princesses he will meet in Disney (hee hee), the zoo by Grandma's house, etc. Jim and I are simply excited about seeing some sun as the Jerz has had a pretty oppressive winter season, even as I type this I home for the umpteenth day because of the snow. We are all dying for some Spring weather, so let's hope we are rain-free for our week in Florida.

SNOW!





Random Winter-time Pics..including Griffin's first pudding free-for-all

Spaghetti Boys...

The crew enjoying their spaghetti and turkey meatballs this evening... (psketti and meatbulbs)

Seriously? 10 months has gone by that fast?

Jim and I constantly say that we can't believe Griffin is going to be 1 year old in a couple of months- absolute craziness. He's been on a milestone tear this past month and although he hasn't mastered crawling yet (still army crawls with half of his body looking paralyzed), he has learned he can sit from a laying down position, call us Mama and Dada, stand up, creep, and has also stood for a little bit of time without any support. He's still up a bunch at night but he goes back to sleep quickly...one day we will have a baby that sleeps through the night, I hope.
Riley is well, he's Riley...sweet, crazy, athletic, artistic, and a total sassy pottymouth! Well, not really, but the last few weeks Jim and I have been battling the "toot", "heiny", "poopy" talk. In fact, as I type, Riley has lost the privilege to play with both his Bat cave and his Duplo blocks because he thinks it's hilarious to say the word poopy over and over. To be honest, it IS usually funny, but we have to be parents, right? Riley is loving school and is a master letter tracer...and all we hear is "X" is for Xander, who is one of his buddies at school, whenever he sees the letter X. ha ha.
This month brings us a new challenge as Jim had arm surgery this past week and is pretty much incapacitated for most of the daily ongoings of the boys and the house since it is his right arm. However, once he gets the bandages/stitches out next Friday, I think he'll feel a bit more human again. He should be good to go to hold the boys in a month (eek!)...as his one major restriction is not picking up anything over 15 lbs.

First Swing (Griffin was wholly unimpressed)and Riley (yes, he is THAT kid at the park)



Laundry Basket Boys

Cheesey Monkey Face (he LOVES Ginger)

The Holidays are over...how soon is summer?

Yup, another holiday season bites the dust. It's 2010- wooo! Christmas was great- Riley really had a great time opening gifts (he was extremely patient and loved everything (even the clothes)!) and Griffin just enjoyed all the hub bub of the holidays (well, and gnawing on wrapping paper and bows too). The Monday after Xmas, we took the boys into the city to the Museum of Natural History with Poppy! Both boys were well very well behaved and aside from a poo-'splosion in the parking deck of the Museum from Griffin...it was a perfect day! No traffic, no meltdowns, a sleeping Griffin during an awesome Mexican feast post-Museum and it was pretty neat to see Riley get excited about all of the dinosaurs.
The rest of our winter vacation has included lots of playdates with friends and running around town as the weather has been nice and the boys have been raring to go- every morning, Riley tells us that it is not a school day and then asks what are we doing today? ha ha. He's in for a rude awakening come January 4th (as are we, I suppose) when we all go back to work and school.

Some pics...Pre-Xmas and Xmas Day















Natural History Museum






NYE at the Stoudts' shore house!