Sweet Innocence...

I may seem sweet an innocent in most of the pictures that mom puts on here of me, but just check out this new face that I'm doing when she tells me "No." She told me I couldn't throw my spaghetti on the floor tonight, and look at the fit I threw. I'm getting naughtier by the day.

Giggles

7.20.07 My first popsicle

Mom took me outside today to taste my first popsicle. Boy, was it good! I ate the whole thing - except for that part that fell off the stick to the ground. Mean ol' mommy wouldn't let me eat that part! I sat there very seriously and ate the whole thing. No smiles, no laughs. Just down to business. I ended up being a sticky mess, so I had to have a bath right afterwards, but it was worth it! On another note, mom and dad have been asking me where different body parts are for the last little bit. I'm trying so hard to play along. But every time they ask me where my nose is, I point to my forehead!

Memories of Italy

I have typed out my memories of Italy and have posted them here on this blog. They are dated from June 18-July 1, so if you're interested, click on June to see more pictures and read more stories about what we did.

7.16.07 Fun with Bubbles!

We took Grant outside today to play with a bubble maker that was given to him for his birthday. This is the first we've been able to play with it much, and boy, did we have a ball! I think Chris and I had more fun than Grant did!

Playground Swing Pictures

Air Mattress fun!!!

Last night my sister and brother-in-law were going to be spending the night on their way back to their place from Kansas City, so Chris blew up the air mattress for them. Grant thought it was great fun! I thought it was so funny when he landed sitting right on Chris' bottom. They couldn't have planned that if they tried!

Check out these moves!

I'm dancing now. Mom and Dad find it very funny, because I wiggle my little body all over, and every now and then I flap my arms. I'm pretty cute, alright!

Peanut Butter Party!

I had Peanut Butter for the first time today, and boy did I have fun! I made such a mess, but loved every minute of it! I'm getting to be such a big boy!

Poor Grant!

Poor little man has had a rough week. We took him to the doctor on Thursday and he had 3 shots and a toe prick. He's been so crabby from his shots. I have felt so sorry for him. Plus he still has his ear infection. This makes number 4 in 3 months. Poor kid. I've been concerned that he's on so many antibiotics. I don't like that. The doctor said once he's had 6 ear infections, we'll need to talk about putting tubes in his ears. Ugh. Poor kid. Hopefully it won't come to that. Yesterday we were getting ready for church and about 5 minutes before we were supposed to leave, I was moving a puppet so Grant wouldn't hurt it and he lunged for it. Of course the puppet couldn't support his weight, so he tumbled into the side of our rocking chair. Thud! It was a hard crash. I thought he hit his forehead because the thud was so solid, but when I picked him up, there was a cut on his eyelid. He now has a black and blue eye clear across his nose. I felt like a great mom taking him to the church nursery with a real shiner. Poor guy. He hasn't cried that hard in a long time. The little guy is also having some serious security issues right now. He cried his heart out in the nursery when we left him. And when we ride in the car, he fusses unless I put my hand back there and touch his leg. I know it's just a security thing. Chris and I have been feeling badly that we've scarred the poor kid for life! Hopefully not. Poor Grant...

Discovering my world is so much fun!!!

We have had so much fun watching Grant explore his world this last week since we've been home from Italy. Maybe we just missed him. Maybe he's at a fun stage of life. I don't know. But he's been a joy, that's for sure! Last night we took him to see fireworks in Christiansburg, VA, just down the road from where we live. We took him to a great fireworks display last year, but he was only 2 weeks old and slept through the whole thing. So this year was his first real experience with the colorful lights in the sky that make such loud booms! He did great. At the first few fireworks that went off, he clung rather close to me, but after about 4 or 5, he was really into it. We were rather close to the fireworks, so to see them well, we had to lay down on the ground and look straight up. He laid his head on his daddy's tummy, looked up at the sky and was completely enthralled. He watched the entire display without hardly moving a muscle. Then, during the finale, before anyone else had reacted to it, Grant started clapping his hands with a big smile on his face. He loved it!!! We sure enjoyed watching him experience them. Such a big boy. Today it rained. Not a lot, but enough to fill the uneven part of our driveway with a little bit of water. We were running out to do a few errands, so I put Grant's shoes on (which I feel like I'm constantly doing because he's now figured out how to take them off!!!) and we went outside. We were waiting for Chris to unlock the car, so I put Grant on the ground to let him walk around a bit. He made a bee-line to the puddle and stomped. Well he thought that was something pretty hilarious when the water splashed up his leg. Pretty soon, he was leaning against the car with both hands to keep his balance while jumping up and down with both feet in the puddle, all the while laughing hysterically. Daddy came out and jumped a little bit, too, which made it all the more fun. It was really cute as we were trying to get him to walk away. He was stomping on the sidewalk where there was no water and was so confused as to why it wasn't splashing. He wanted back in that puddle! It's funny - such a little thing like watching a child jump in a puddle...How many puddles have I jumped in in my lifetime? And yet watching my little man discover this part of the world brought me so much joy, so much laughter, so much life. You think when you have a child that you are giving life to your child, when in fact it is the other way around. Grant has brought such life to us in a new way. Watching him discover that puddle was the very favorite part of my day. Such fun. Such innocence. Such perfect childhood. And we're so priveleged to be able to watch him figure it all out.

Home Sweet Home

Chris finding his own Italian Style in Milan - the fashion capital of the world Leaning Tower of Pisa Saint Marks' Square in Venice Well, after 2 glorious weeks in Italy, we are home. Chris and I had a wonderful time. It certainly was a second honeymoon for us, even with my family around! If you have never been to Italy, you definitely have to go. It was incredible. Everywhere I turned, my mouth was dropping open in sheer amazement. It was incredible to see how the new cities are completely built around the ruins of the ancient world. It was breathtaking to see the Sistine Chapel and Michelangelo's David. You absolutely cannot fathom their beauty from the pictures you have seen in textbooks. To see them in person lets you capture the life from these amazing works of art. David truly looked alive. The Sistine Chapel was so full of history and beauty, that it brought tears to my eyes as I was standing there. To know that I was in a place that had so much history and influence for the church was very moving to me. Speaking of influence in the church, we got to see the Pope! What a fun experience. Since it was so hot (110 degrees!!!) he gave his audience inside Saint Peter's Basillica instead of outside like he usually does. Chris and I got pretty close, although our pictures were terrible. Everyone else wanted a picture too, so there are thousands of cameras sticking up in the air blocking our view of the Pope. But we saw him. And we heard him sing. Very cool. Venice was my favorite city at night time. Romance was in the air. Saint Mark's square is something to behold. It's all lit up, 3 orchestras are playing in different areas of the square and people spontaneously dance all over. It was lovely. We had a private water taxi take us to Saint Mark's Square where we had dinner and were serenaded. All the drinks were included. We asked for Coke and the waiters and our tour guide all laughed at us that we were drinking the "American Wine" instead of the good stuff. I couldn't help it that the "good stuff" made me gag. I'll take Coke any day! :-) Drinks were extremely expensive. The first night we were in Rome, we ordered cokes to go with our Italian pizzas which were out of this world and were shocked when we got our bills. Each 12 ounce can of coke was 5 euro, or about $7.00. Yikes! So between my entire family, we spent over 40 euro just on cokes for one meal!! Ouch! We learned our lesson fast. Florence was incredible, too. The Duomo there takes your breath away. And Ponte Vecchio, the famous bridge there, was so much fun. We hiked up to the highest point in Florence one night and took some pictures. Beautiful. Everywhere you looked. Stunning. I have many more memories such as police using my very tall brother to block them from view from a criminal as they made a surprise attack to make an arrest in Venice. I just thought I'd share a brief overview of our trip. Getting home was wonderful. I missed Grant so very much. When Chris came up the escalator at the airport, Grant saw him, his mouth dropped open and he froze completely still. He was shocked to see him. Everytime he would look at us for the next couple of days, he would smile, gasp and wave at us. I think he was glad to see us. He's cuddling a bit more now that we're home. Boy, did I miss him. He's my sweetheart, that's for sure. More memories to follow...check back if you're interested.

July 1, 2007 – Homeward Bound!

We were supposed to be down in the lobby by 7:30 to leave for the airport since our flight left at 10:30. We ate breakfast with mom and dad and were on our bus to the airport at 7:30 sharp. This airport was crazy! I have never been so confused. Nothing was well marked. We were in the wrong line about 5 times. People were upset with us because they said we were cutting, when we had no intention of that to begin with. We were so confused. We finally got through security and sat at our gate waiting to board. Five minutes before we were supposed to board, they announced a gate change, so we all rushed to the new gate to board our plane there, which began boarding immediately. Our plane had many open spaces in First Class and Chris was already cramped and we hadn’t taken off yet, so he asked one of the flight attendants if we could move up there. They said we could, if we paid the difference. Chris asked what that might be and the flight attendant got really irritated and said, “I don’t know – like 2,000 Euro per person!” Well, they obviously were not interested in Chris moving up. So he came and sat down with me again. That wasn’t a big surprise, but he figured it was worth a shot. Our flight was delayed over an hour, which made us really nervous because we didn’t have much time to switch flights and go through customs in Ontario. Come to find out, we were all on the plane and just sitting there for an hour because we were waiting on 2 people. It was rather irritating. We were just hopeful our flight in Ontario would be so kind as to wait for us. We finally got to Ontario and raced to US customs, only to wait and wait for our bags so we could go through customs. Our bags still hadn’t come and we only had 15 minutes to make our flight. I spoke with a lady and she said we would have to wait in Ontario until our bags came. I asked what would happen if they didn’t come for days and she said we still had to wait. She sent me to her supervisor and he told me he would stamp our tickets so that we didn’t have to wait and we could go through customs and catch our flight. So we ran. We got to our gate just as they began boarding. But without our bags. We made it to Raleigh- Durham right on time. I had to fill out a missing baggage claim so while I was doing that, Chris found Grant. Bummer. When Chris reached the top of the escalator, Grant, who had been playing, froze completely in his tracks. He didn’t even move. Chris brought him down to see me and I took him to give him a hug, but he wanted Chris again. I think he was punishing me. The little stinker! I finished filling out our baggage claim and we were on our merry way. It was like midnight in Italy and we had been up since 6:00 am Italy time. We were tired. And I had a pounding headache, so much so that it was making me nauseous. We ate at Moe’s Mexican Steakhouse. Actually, they ate. I didn’t. My head hurt too badly. Grant was so cute. Every time he would look at Chris or me, he would gasp, smile really big and wave. He was evidently so happy to see us. He did that for days after our return. We finally pulled in to our driveway around 11:30, 5:30 am Italy time. I was never so happy to have our own bed! Ahhhh! Welcome home!