Growing Graham: 6 Months

Graham is halfway to his first birthday and I can't believe it. Time has gone so quickly and it's already nearly time to go through and change out his clothes from 3-6 month sizes to 6-9 month sizes.

He smiles and giggles all the time and we can't help but encourage it. His favorite time is when Bob tickles his belly with his facial hair (if he hasn't shaved). Graham will squeal with delight and crack up nonstop. He also really likes it when Bob tosses him in the air, balances him in one hand, or holds him upside down. He laughs and smiles the whole time during any of those!

He sits up but doesn't like to for very long. He would much rather be rolling around on the floor or trying to stand and walk instead of just sitting in one place.

Graham is starting to kind of like tummy time. The other day I was watching him in his crib when he couldn't see me, and he rolled from his back to his stomach, pushed up onto his hands and knees and sat like that for a while. That sneaky little boy has been teaching himself how to crawl when we're not looking! He still face plants when he tries to go anywhere, but he's getting so close! But the other day he sort of crawled. I got it on video!

He enjoys bath time much more now too. But his favorite part isn't even the water. It's when he gets out of the tub and we wrap him up in his fluffy orange hooded towel. He squeals with delight every time!

We think Graham is starting to teethe. He's been extra drooly and extra fussy lately, and when he cries he grabs his gums a lot. The poor boy!

We finally trained him to sleep for most of the night, but now he's refusing to take naps during the day, and every time we lay him down for one he screams and cries for a good hour before finally dozing for 20 or 30 minutes. Sometimes he doesn't fall asleep at all though. I think it has to do with teething.

Graham's also got ridiculously good dexterity in his hands, fingers, feet, and toes. He passes toys from one hand to the other without looking sometimes. He can even hold his own bottle perfectly.

He began eating solid foods at about 5 months. He gagged on his first bite of rice cereal. Then, on the second spoonful he grabbed the spoon to pull it into his mouth. He loved it! He basically had the same reaction to oatmeal cereal as well as applesauce and pears too.So far so good!

His hair is still bright red (although he's been pulling a lot of it out when he throws fits--I find it in his little clenched fists sometimes) and his little legs are still toned and mostly muscle, but he does finally have one little baby-chub roll on the inside of each thigh.

He's got a big personality already, complete with a huge grin and bubbly laugh. He'll talk to his toys or to himself frequently. He started growling too. He's also experimenting with his vocal cords and breathing, so sometimes he'll inhale in a really raspy way and stare at us with his huge blue eyes until we react some way, then smile. He's going to be one silly kid!

Growing Graham: 4 Months

August 6, 2012

4 months

Graham is sucking on his hands all the time now. Sometimes he'll get his fingers in too far & gag himself, but he's not doing it on purpose... Yet.

He's also discovered his feet and toes. When he lays on his back he'll pull his feet up to his hands, roll over to his side, and then let go. He does that over and over again. When he lays in his play gym, he grabs his dangling toys with both of his feet as well as both of his hands. It's too funny.

We've also discovered a little brown dot on his scalp, right on top of his head. I'm pretty sure it's a mole. It sure is cute!

He's wiggling everywhere. The other day he almost squirmed out of his swing. I guess we'll have to be sure to buckle him in from now on!

"Umm, hey Mom, I'm not sure what happened here..."

He's started pushing himself up onto his knees, but he can't quite get his hands underneath himself yet. So instead, he just starts pushing himself around with his face on the floor. We have to keep an eye on him, because if we don't he'll wind up in a completely different place than we left him.

The other Sunday at church, Graham joined in for every one of the hymns we sang. Then he didn't want to stop. So after the organ had stopped playing and everyone was closing the hymn books and preparing for the next part of the meeting, there was Graham, still "singing" away. Loudly, might I add. He loved it.

"Hey guys!!!! Guess what!!!"

He talks a lot more than ever. And he loves when people smile at him. He cheeses it up and gives the biggest, cutest toothless grin I've ever seen. 

"Well, my dear Watson..."

He's also started giggling. But it's not always consistent. He has to be in a good mood, not tired, and sometimes when tickled he'll laugh. Otherwise he'll either start crying, or he'll just hold his breath and grunt while turning bright red.

Laundry day....

We love this boy more and more every day! He's a good napper. He loves to be held by other people. And his hair is still red as ever.

Photo Shoot with Graham

I love taking pictures of Graham! 

I seriously just can't stop. 

I can probably never have too many photos of him (as long as I keep them organized).

Here's my latest photo shoot of him.

Look at those eyes!

He must get them from his daddy.

I'm such a lucky lady to have such handsome men in my life. 

Growing Graham: 3 months

July 6, 2012

3 months

Here we are for the 4th of July. It was bizarrely chilly that day.
(It's a pretty memorable occasion for us, not only for Independence Day, but also because nine months after the 4th last year, Graham showed up....)

Graham is figuring out how to move around. He's rolling over from his belly to his back. He's scooting around on his back by pressing his feet down on whatever surface he's laying on and then pushing himself around. He doesn't go very far yet, but we have to be careful about how we lay him on things now, like the couch or our bed or even on the floor--he'll end up squished into a corner if we don't keep an eye on him!

He also talks and talks and talks. He'll lay in his play gym and just babble and talk to himself the entire time. I think he finds it entertaining. While I change his diaper he babbles and coos at me nonstop. When he's nursing, he'll make sounds at me between swallows while staying latched on the whole time. When I sing to him before naptime or bedtime, he'll just stare up at me and make sounds like he's trying to sing along (which I can't help but laugh at and makes it difficult to continue singing). However, every time I get a camera out to try and get a video of any of it, he frequently stops and is intrigued by my camera or phone and just stares at it. But I did get this cute video the other morning:

He loves smiling at other people. If you talk to Graham in a sweet voice, he'll give you a huge smile and coo at you. He does this especially after waking up from a nap. He'll fuss a little bit if he feels like he's alone, but as soon as he sees me he gives me a big, gummy smile. It's the sweetest thing he does and I can't get enough of it!

When Graham first starts eating after napping, he acts like he'll have a nervous breakdown at any moment. He eats like I might remove his source of food at any second--so he desperately latches on and swallows as fast as possible. He grabs the tops of his ears and pulls on them. He grabs his hair around his ears and holds onto it until it breaks off (which subsequently has made the hair around his ears start thinning out). When I stop to burp him in the middle of eating he screams and cries like I'm causing him excruciating pain. It's not until he's finally full that he slows down and relaxes and gets all milk-drunk and happy.

He's also becoming more aware of himself as an individual now. He knows what he wants and what he doesn't want. When we set him down at the wrong moment or hold him in a way he doesn't want, he fusses and cries about it. Here's a good example:

When I wait too long to lay him down for a nap, he cries until he falls asleep, which lasts anywhere from 1 minute to 20 minutes. But if I wait the perfect amount of time to lay him down, he quietly lays there until his eyes close and he dozes off peacefully.

Just look at those perfect little lips! So adorable!

He's growing so fast! I'm so proud of him, but goodness, I wish he'd slow down a little so I could enjoy how little and snuggly he is for longer. <3

Answer to Prayer

I've found that God answers our prayers. He really does. But we have to be careful how we word those prayers and not assume that how we see fit to have those prayers answered is actually how they will be answered.

Case and point:

We've been praying about a career for Bob. He's interested in real estate and has been around that and property management his entire life. He's been considering becoming a real estate agent and then seeing how that career and knowledge can tie into property management. But he's been working this dead-end job at a plumbing supply warehouse. It was a decent job for a good company, but it was more of a means to an end for Bob, and nowhere near where he wanted to stay for the next 10 years. The problem was it takes up his entire day. And he started liking it less and less every day, so when he'd get home from work the last thing he wanted to do was work on something else. But he tried.

So Bob had been praying for this career choice. He prayed for the ability to pursue it so that he could provide enough stable income for his family in the future. He saw the answer as being able to go work all day, then come home and work on this career all evening, and then still have time to play and surf to keep his sanity plus spend time with myself and Graham.

But that answer just wasn't happening. 

Things at work have been going fine for Bob, aside from his slow and steady decline of satisfaction in his current occupation. His supervisor liked him fine, as well as most of the guys he was working with. He was just getting a new gas card for the truck he was driving. And then last Friday at lunch the HR person called him into the office and told him his "services aren't needed anymore" for the company.

What the what?

He came home 30 minutes later and went straight to the shower, partially to clean himself up because doing what he did at work makes him sweaty and dirty, but mostly to settle down and cool off because he was really upset over losing this job.

All weekend we talked about it here and there. We mostly tried to have fun, relax a little, and figure out what to do this week.

Once getting past the anger over the whole thing, we've realized that now Bob has plenty of time to go after this real estate thing. He has plenty of time to do that as well as surf and spend time with his family.

Oh, Heavenly Father... Thank you for answering our prayers in a not-so-expected and yet oh-so efficient way.

We haven't figured out this whole how-to-earn-money thing without that job, because we do still have bills to pay. But we have some plans. I have some ideas of what I'll do and Bob has some ideas of what he can do. Hopefully it will earn us enough to make it for a little while. Something will work out, because Heavenly Father answered Bob's prayers about finding the time and a way to pursue this career. He will surely answer our prayers about how to make ends meet and stay afloat at this turning point in our lives.

Here's to exercising a bit of faith and having the humility to continue accepting how God sees fit to answer our prayers to Him.

Growing Graham: 2 months!

June 6th, 2012

2 months old

I can't believe Graham's been a part of our family for two entire months already! The days don't slow down, unfortunately. So I'm doing the best I can to keep up with my responsibilities to friends, family, home, and church while soaking up every moment I can with my sweet baby boy.

A few of my favorite things he does now:

• Coos, giggles, and smiles--especially while having his diaper changed, that silly boy.

• Pulls his knees up under him during tummy time.
• Holds himself up and looks around like he owns the place when he's on anyone's shoulder.
• Plays and is entertained in his play-gym.
• Kicks his legs nonstop when he's laying on his back anywhere.

A few of my least favorite things he does now:

• Cries at naptime.
• Cries and squirms when being burped during mealtime (to the point that it's almost impossible to hold him!).
• Starting to grab everything with his hands--my necklace, my shirt collar (and pulls it down so anyone around me can see my bra), himself or his diaper while being changed, his pacifier (and pulls it out of his mouth, then screams about it), etc.

And here are a couple of my favorite pictures of him at this age:

My favorite part of this church  outfit: those plaid pants! I love them!

He is so cute! And he looks way more mature than a 2-month-old.

Growing Graham: 6 Weeks

[I know, this is late... I'm playing catch-up again!]

May 18th, 2012

6 Weeks Old

"Got tickets to this gun show?"

• He's getting so much more interactive. He's starting to smile now!

• At church recently Bob was holding him because he was getting fussy. During the Sacrament, while everyone was quiet and being reverent, Graham decided to fill up his diaper in a really loud way. It must have been a huge relief, because immediately after that, he looked up and gave Bob the sweetest toothless half-grin I've ever seen.

• He's been making good use of tummy time every day, because he's now wiggling around more. He holds his head and chest up nearly the whole time and looks at everything around him. He also pulls his legs up and pushes his backside up in the air, which makes me think he may start crawling sooner than later, which, as proud as I am of him, I'm really not looking forward to following him around for the first day or two and baby-proofing everything.

• He loves to stand up. With help, of course. But he likes to stand, and he looks so tall when he does!

• He also took his first airplane ride! 

 He did so well! Bob was with me for the flight there, so that was a breeze. Plus it was early in the morning, when he's usually in his best mood anyway. The flight home was trickier because I was by myself and he's in his least pleasant mood in the evenings, but even then he was still pretty good. The first leg of the flight was fine, but as we landed for the layover, he started getting hungry. By the time I made it off the airplane and got the car seat and the stroller and secured Graham in there and got my checked carry-on suitcase and the diaper bag all situated, I had to use the bathroom SO bad and he was in all-out crying mode. There were no big handicapped stalls in that airport bathroom. The handicapped stalls were maybe 5 inches wider than the regular stalls. So I took a deep breath, pushed the stroller in, sideways stepped in next to it, wedged my suitcase in with what space there was left, and barely managed to close the stall door. The stroller was pushed all the way up against the toilet and there was nowhere else for it to go, so using the bathroom in that scenario gave me a greater appreciation for actual handicapped stalls that are the size of two regular bathroom stalls. I finally stumbled out of the stall, washed my hands, and tried to find the baby changing table because it had been nearly three hours since I had a chance to change his diaper (between driving for an hour and a half, returning the rental car, taking the shuttle to the airport, printing my boarding passes, going through security, getting to my oh-so distant gate and barely boarding my plane in time plus the turbulence on that flight, I didn't have a chance to give the poor kid a fresh diaper until then). I saw door with a sign on it saying "Nursery." I open it, and it's a room no bigger than the bathroom stall I was just in, with a counter and a changing table. What's the point of having a counter in such a tiny room if there's a changing table built in next to it?? Anyway, I finally made it out of the bathroom, all the while Graham was wailing as loud as he could. I made it to my gate, found a seat, and fed Graham. I looked at my ticket and remembered that it said my seat would be assigned at the gate. They would be boarding any second and having a lap-baby requires specific seating on as small of a plane as this was. Halfway through feeding Graham I stopped, put myself back together, and once again situated all of my carry-on items so I could take them all with me to the desk by the gate to get my seat assigned. I ended up being last on the plane because they had overbooked it and were scrambling to find me a seat. By the time I got on, Graham was beside himself because he was so hungry, and I could just feel the tension from the people sitting around me because nobody likes a crying baby, especially on an airplane. I quickly sat down and got to settling him down so he would eat. He was fine the rest of the way, and I was so glad to see Bob. I don't think I'll fly solo with a kid again if I can help it.

Such a handsome baby boy!

My dad finally got to see him! Also, Graham is making a really cute face here.

Tired mommy, wide-awake baby.

Overdue Garden Update

It's been a long time since I wrote about my garden. A lot has (and hasn't) happened with it.

Having a baby sure does have a way of putting other things on the back burner...

My zucchini plants started growing well, and then died. 

The bean seeds barely sprouted, then died.

3 out of 5 sunflowers sprouted and survived. 

The only herb that sprouted was the sage. 

I finally planted everything in my raised bed garden about three weeks later than I should have. 

My yellow squash made it just fine. 

The tomatoes are surviving wonderfully. 

My father-in-law was out doing yard work and stepped on one of my sunflowers, which stunted it and now it's stopped growing while the other two are fine. It looks like we're down to 2 out of 5 sunflowers.

I had to start over with the beans and zucchini. 

Only one of the two more zucchini seeds that I planted survived, and it has completely caught up with the other squash plants. You'd almost never know that I planted it weeks later than the others.

The beans sprouted really quickly, but within a couple of days something had eaten nearly all of the leaves off of every little stalk. I planted some more seeds and investigated the problem. Some creatures live down inside the cinder blocks that make up the walls of the raised bed. I've seen lizards in there, but lizards wouldn't eat those plants. Then I saw a big snail inside one block... And another... And another... And a couple of slugs....

I learned how to hate snails and slugs from my Grandpa. When we would visit him and my Grandma in Utah during my childhood, I would inevitably end up out in the dirt helping him tend to his plants and trees. The snails there were terrible. He would hand me a container of salt and I'd follow him out early in the morning and pour a little bit of salt on every slug or snail I would find. It would make them bubble and dissolve, which, as gross as it sounds, was very effective in getting rid of them. So after discovering those slimy critters lurking around my garden, I took a canister of salt and poured some on every snail and slug I could find, and then I poured a line of salt around one edge of the cinder block walls. Take that! Just try getting into my garden now and see what happens.

Miracle of miracles--one little stalk had no leaves on it (dumb snails), but it was still green, so I kept watering it along with planting a few more seeds (yet again). Every day it just stayed the same, looking sad, leafless, and small. However, on Friday when I went out to water the garden it had a tiny little cluster of leaves on it!

It made me so happy!!

My beans are thriving now that I've replanted them 3 times. 

The lettuce patch had the same problem as the beans. All of the tiny little leaves were eaten completely off. Oh, it was infuriating! But I continued watering it, and it made a beautiful comeback.

So now my garden is doing well, after enclosing it in chicken wire and lining the cinder blocks with salt and replanting seeds up to three times.

Grandma Tweedie

My last living grandparent passed away on May 6th. At first I couldn't decide if I would go to her funeral or not. I was, then I wasn't, and after finding out that my dad and brother, Cam, were going, I had to go to see them as well.

I used all of my frequent flyer miles on tickets for both Bob and myself with Graham as a lap-baby. The plan was to fly to LAX and then to Vegas, rent a car, and drive to St. George by 1pm to attend the funeral and then the interment. We made it to LA on time, but our flight to Vegas was delayed by an hour. We finally made it to Vegas, and by the time we made the hour and a half drive to St. George, the funeral was 5 minutes from over. (Thank goodness Aunt Rosemary wrote a long eulogy.) Bob and I quickly ran to the bathroom and changed, then stood in the hall for the last two minutes of the Bishop's talk. I slipped into the back of the chapel with Graham asleep in his stroller as the closing prayer was said. Then Grandma's casket was wheeled out. I teared up, frustrated that I missed the viewing and the entire funeral. That was the main point of me traveling there! Cam looked back and saw me, walked back to where I was standing, and gave me a meaningful hug. He was misty-eyed, and that didn't help me to contain myself much. Russ and Ben, my two other brothers, saw me and walked back to greet me as well. Their silly nature kept me from crying though.

Bob and I left a little before everyone else to get something to eat, since the last time Bob had anything was around 5am and it was after 2pm. We drove to the cemetery in Hurricane, Utah and joined everyone around Grandma's casket. The funeral director said a few words, and then announced that it was over. Really? After thirty seconds of you saying something about a woman you probably didn't even know, you're saying it's over?? I got three hours of sleep, bought airline tickets and rented a car, sped up here for this special time, missed everything except this, and after some generic words you're done??? I was upset. I needed some time to get the closure I so desperately wanted. I tried not to let my irritation show. I didn't need to make a scene or draw any attention to myself, but I was really upset.

Lots of our family and relatives fawned over Graham as we all lingered at the cemetery. He is a really cute baby--I can't blame them.

Finally, as everyone said goodbye and left for a lunch provided by church members back at the chapel, I was the last one there. Bob had taken Graham back to the car because he was getting fussy. I sat in one of the chairs facing the casket, in the green grass and under the shade of the canopy that was set up. It was breezy, hot, and dry, just the way I remember Hurricane. Memories from my childhood flooded my mind--Grandma and Grandpa's yellow stucco house on the corner a couple of miles away, the peach trees and garden and grapevines that Grandpa loved to tend to, Grandma's kitchen and us kids sitting at the bar as she made breakfast for us when we'd visit, her soft skin and gentle hugs, her sense of humor and her sweet laugh... Every time I'd tell her some funny thing that happened to me she'd grab my arm and ask, "Did you write that down?" She was so adamant about family and personal histories. She loved company, especially after Grandpa passed away a couple of years ago. While we lived in Utah, Bob and I tried to make it down to visit her a couple of times a month. And she loved Bob because his jokes and wit reminded her so much of Grandpa...

I hadn't really given myself the time to let it sink in since she passed, and I knew I needed it. So there I sat, by myself crying. I thanked her for what she taught me. I thanked her for her strong faith and testimony, because without hers I wouldn't have mine. I wept because I already missed her so, and her generation within my direct family was now gone. I'd never be able to go to Grandma and Grandpa's house again. We knew she had cancer and that she wouldn't last much longer. She went peacefully, in her sleep, but I still don't know that I was entirely ready for her to go.

I also wept because I was so happy for her. She missed Grandpa dearly, and I can only imagine the joy she felt as she saw him and her other beloved family members again. She was free from her old, frail body. Her sight, hip, and old age would never bother her again. I know her spirit is finally at rest for now. I'll see her again, and I know she's a part of my family forever, but for now I just miss her.

<3

[Her obituary.]

Grandma & Grandpa Tweedie on their wedding day

The last time we saw Grandma.