"WOW, Daddy airplane" -Grant

I thought I'd share some pictures that were taken of Mike yesterday while flying around the ship. He didn't say which jet he was flying, but he's in one of them. Notice that "little" ship in the distance and that runway... yep, that would be the one he lands on! You know I've always thought that my husband had a challenging job but when I see pictures like this it really hits home how tough it really is. It also makes me aware of what a great pilot he is to be able to do what he does!! He really is a talented pilot and I am very proud of him. We are ready to have him home... he's been gone a week and a half and will be gone another 2 weeks!

4 months

Sweet baby Luke is 4 months old today! I took him to the doctor yesterday for his check up and shots. He weighs 12 lb. 11 ounces, a bit small but, considering he was almost a month early, his growth has been steadily climbing up the chart and the Dr. was pleased. He's still nursing about every 3-4 hours during the day and despite my best efforts to sneak in a bottle of formula every now and then, he won't have it! The doctor said he was probably ready for some solids in a week or two so we'll be trying that soon. He's sleeping so great at night. Last night he slept from 7:45 until 6 this morning. He's the happiest little guy, full of smiles. I can already tell that he loves Grant, watching him so intently when he is nearby. Grant loves to give him hugs and kisses and can't wait to go with me to get him up from his naps. He often says, "hold him" and wants me to put Luke in his lap... so sweet. Luke has been rolling over for a couple weeks now and is getting stronger and stronger. He really enjoys his Bumbo seat and also likes his bouncy seat and swing. I'm so thankful that I can leave him for a while and he'll be happy. He doesn't like to be on his back too much, unless the fan is on. He is the best baby and I can't thank God enough for giving me such a healthy and happy little guy. I know we are blessed.

I better go clean the house.. it's getting shown 2 times today! We are praying it sells soon!

Moving!

We recently found out that we will be moving to Meridian, MS in May! Mike got orders to be an instructor, which he is really looking forward to. It's orders that he wanted, which isn't always the case, so we are thankful. We are very excited, for many reasons. Mainly because we'll be so much closer to our families... about half way between Pensacola and Memphis. The thought of jumping in the car and driving a few hours to be with family is wonderful! I also have an aunt and uncle who live in Meridian as well as a few very close friends. Mike and I met while he was in pilot training in Meridian so there is definitely some happy memories of the time we spent there together. I'm also going to love being so close to Tuscaloosa and being able to see dear friends and hopefully being able to get to enjoy some Bama games at Bryant-Denny! So, things are about to get even more busier as we are preparing to put our house on the market next week! There is so much to do and the kiddos allow us so little time to do all that needs to get done! Mike leaves for the month of February on yet another trip so the boys and I will be heading down to Pensacola while he's gone. We'll be leaving next Friday. Please pray that the plane ride will be smooth and there will be no major breakdowns and most importantly, that we are surrounded by nice, understanding people!! I'm a little nervous but hey, we'll make it down one way or the other!

Sweet smile

Luke is really starting to smile. It's precious to see and I couldn't believe that I actually got some shots! They are the very first pictures of him smiling. : )

My "new" life as a mother of 2

OK, I know what you all are thinking... I'm the mom of a new baby and I haven't posted anything about my sweet little angel! I just want you moms of ONE baby to have another one and see how good your blogging skills become! :) I really think about blogging everyday and don't even know where to begin! Luke really is a good baby. The first month he literally slept and ate. He never cried. I mean never. If he let out a cry we ran to him because something had to be terribly wrong. The only thing he'd do when he was hungry was grunt over and over. Mike and I were worried that at night he would be grunting forever before we finally heard him! When he was about a month he decided to wake up and was a tad bit fussier, mainly in the evenings and also because he was having some gassiness. He's been sleeping like a champ. For weeks and weeks he's been only waking up once a night. For about a week now he's been going 6 and sometimes 7 hour stretches! He usually nurses and goes right back to sleep. Grant has really been doing great with Luke. When he cries he tells me just what he thinks he needs... he'll either say, "Mommie's milk, paci, swing, chair." Oh, but before he says anything he says, "Baby Wook MAD." Grant really knows the routine around here. I had to laugh at him.. yesterday he took one of my breast pump shields and lifted up his shirt and put it on his chest! He is so funny. He keeps me laughing at the things he does and says daily. I didn't think I'd say this but age 2 is the best.



So, we live in the house. Going out is a MAJOR feat! For example: Yesterday I had to go to Target with both boys because Mike's out of town. You see, before now I wouldn't even tempt the trip with both boys because I would have Mike watch them, or at least one of them. I had to get a birthday gift for a party that we are going to today. I woke up dreading the trip but knowing I just had to do it. By the time I got myself ready, both boys dressed, fed and took their naps and found that perfect window of opportunity, it was 3:30! I just fed Luke thinking he would be a happy camper. Got to Target and I pulled out the gigantic double stroller, which I can barely maneuver, piled the boys in and in we went. We got to the toys section and Luke started crying. I was worried that Grant would be fussing for all the toys but thankfully he was a good boy. Luke didn't stop crying until we got to the car. Everyone was looking at us in the stroller that took up almost a whole isle and I could feel my face getting redder and redder. Then I got to the register and the lady said, "Someone is hungry." I nicely said, "I just fed him before we came" but really I wanted to say "How do you know what he wants!" Then she said, "Well, I guess he wants more." No comment. I was thinking to myself how crazy I was for attempting this and that I would never, EVER do it again! I should have just wrapped up one of Grant's toys!



Here's some more fun facts... Mike is out of town and now Grant and Luke are sick with bad colds and as of this morning, me too!



So, for all you who are thinking about having 2, I suggest you wait until your first one is at least in college! :)



Here are a couple recent pictures of the boys. They really are so sweet and I am so blessed to have them.

Grant is a fan of Santa. Not an ounce of fear when he sees him and this year he was especially excited to sit in his lap. Here's Grant with Santa pictures from last year and this year.

Merry Christmas!

Here's our picture for our Christmas card this year.

I know I am WAY overdue in writing an update but I will very soon!!

I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas, full of love and joy.

Surprise!

Luke Mitchell arrived early Thursday morning!! It was certainly a surprise... he was almost a month early! Thankfully everything went smoothly and Luke was a healthy 6 lbs 13 oz. We came home from the hospital last night and Luke is doing so well. He's nursing so well and also sleeping great too. Grant has had his moments of jealousy but he's getting better and better. I'm actually starting to think he likes his baby brother "Wook." He's already tested out his paci and infant car seat! :) My mom flew in yesterday and has been a huge help and is loving every minute of her time with her 2 grandsons. Here's a couple pictures although more are sure to follow. I'm going to try and set up a Flickr account and I also need to change the name of the blog!

Growing what??

I just read the title of my blog "Growing Grant" and thought to myself that that's certainly not the only thing that's growing these days! My belly is growing by the second. Some moments I think I can really feel the skin on my stomach stretching! It's not a pretty sight and I will probably not post anymore preggo pictures... sorry. Things are certainly starting to heat up around here as my due date approaches, although I feel like I could go in to labor any day. I'm contracting a lot and every time I have a weird sharp pain I can't help but think it might be time. Mike left for Key West last Wednesday for training and will be back on Saturday. My aunt flew in from MS last night and will be staying with us until Mike gets back. I'm so glad that she's here and she's certainly giving me peace of mind should I go in to labor this week. There has been a lot of change happening around here recently and Grant has been handling everything so well... most importantly the switch to his new room and new "big boy bed." Apparently Mike and I were much more nervous about the transition than we should have been. He really loves his new bed and has actually asked on several occasions to go to sleep in it. When he wakes up he calls for me to come get him and thankfully doesn't get out until I get there. I'm so proud of him and his behavior really has me optimistic about his adjustment to the arrival of his new baby brother!

8 months

It's so hard to believe I'm 8 months pregnant. This pregnancy has flown by! I'm sure it has something to do with the fact that Grant keeps me so busy and gives me little time to focus on myself. I have a scheduled C-section date for December 6th. My due date is the 7th and I'm just hoping that the baby will wait until then. It is certainly cutting it close especially knowing that Grant came 10 days early. I was really hoping it would be scheduled sooner but I don't think there is much I can do about it now. My mom will be coming in town on December 2nd so as long as he doesn't come before the 2nd then we'll be OK! We're getting excited!

"Thank you" & "Hold you"

Well, really it's "Kank Koo." For a while now we've been teaching Grant to say "please" and "thank you." He's been saying "please" (actually "peas") for some time now but just recently has he been saying "thank you" after we give him something... usually food. Today for lunch he must have said it 10 times after every piece of food I gave him. It was very sweet and of course made me so proud that we have such a polite litte guy. Let's just hope it continues!!

Another precious thing he says is "hold you" when he wants to be held. I'm guessing that he picked that up because I've said, "Do you want mommie to hold you?" Even when I'm in the middle of making supper or busy cleaning, it melts my heart when he says, "Hold you mama, hold you" and I will usually stop and pick him up.

His vocabulary is really exploding. One day last week I started writing down all the words he's saying and I literally filled an entire page! Of course there are many words that are only understandable to Mike and I!

Spaghetti with a twist!

I thought I would share this yummy recipe that I found and made for supper tonight. It's something a little different than the ordinary spaghetti sauce and it turned out to be delicious!
I wasn't sure what Neufchatel cheese was so used regular cream cheese and I used the regular Zesty Italian dressing, what I had on hand.


Spaghetti with Zesty Bolognese (I found it on Kraftfoods.com)
Prep Time: 10 minTotal Time: 30 minMakes: 6 servings

1 small onion, chopped
1/4 cup KRAFT LIGHT DONE RIGHT! Zesty Italian Reduced Fat Dressing
1 lb. extra lean ground beef
1 can (15 oz.) tomato sauce
1 can (14 oz.) diced tomatoes, undrained
2 Tbsp. PHILADELPHIA Neufchatel Cheese, 1/3 Less Fat than Cream Cheese
12 oz. spaghetti, uncooked
1/4 cup KRAFT 100% Grated Parmesan Cheese

COOK onions in dressing in large skillet on medium heat. Increase heat to medium-high. Add meat; cook, stirring frequently, until browned. Stir in tomato sauce and tomatoes. Bring to boil. Reduce heat to medium-low; simmer 15 min. Remove from heat. Stir in cream cheese until well blended.
MEANWHILE, cook pasta as directed on package.
SPOON sauce over pasta. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese.

Whoops!

Sorry... I gave the wrong web address for the Julian family in my last post...

http://julian-family.blogspot.com

Baby Max

My heart is so heavy today for my close friend, Kelly. I won't go in to detail in this blog but please read this blog... http://jullian-family.blogspot.com and keep the family and baby Max in your prayers as they are all going through this difficult time. Please pass along this link so Max can have many, many prayers being lifted up for him.

Grant new fascination is with airplanes. He calls them "maymaaaaines" and points to the sky. They are all over the sky where we live so he sees them a lot. We go to base every week to meet Mike for lunch and go swimming and once we start getting close he's constantly saying "maymaaaine" and "daddy." I know he can't understand that his daddy is a pilot but he's definitely associating his daddy to airplanes. There is an outdoor airplane park on base and I love watching his face light up when we pass it. I guess it must in his blood with both his daddy and grandpa as pilots. Of course all this thrills Mike to death!

This is Mike and his 3 best friends from the squadron in front of his "maymaaaine."

New word

Well, I knew it was only a matter of time! Not that I'm proud about this one but Grant's new word of the week is "no." He's not really saying it in the right context, although he knows that it gets my attention. I'm trying to not respond when he says it but I know it won't be long and he'll get it right and I'll be hearing "no" for everything. Oh the fun of raising a toddler!!

Watching the rain.... how sweet is that.

Last Saturday was my 27th birthday. Mike and I went out to dinner earlier in the week so on the day of my birthday I celebrated with some close girlfriends for lunch at the Cheesecake Factory. It was a real treat because we rarely are able to get together without the kiddos! Mike baked me a birthday cake on Saturday morning... just like he's done every other year. I guess I'm boring but my favorite birthday cake for years has been a yellow cake with chocolate icing. Oh, but it has to be Duncan Hines brand. It was a special day spent with my dear friends and family.




Mike was off on Monday so we decided to drive over to Richmond to see Mike's cousin Stacy and
her family. Most importantly, the NEW addition to the family. Ruby Elizabeth was born last Tuesday, July 25th. She came 10 days late! She is absolutely precious and it got me excited about having a newborn again. Her brothers and sister can't get enough of their new baby sister. It's very sweet to see them with her. Grant was very interested in her... as long as I stayed away from her!










After we left their house we headed over to an awesome outdoor shopping meca. I wanted to take a look in the Pottery Barn kids hoping to find some fun bedding (on sale) for Grant's soon to be new room. The key words were on sale and unfortunately I didn't find anything. Grant had fun playing around in the store. He especially liked this cute little duck chair.







Also while we were there Grant was able to take his first train ride. There was this cute little train that went all around the outdoor shopping complex. Needless to say he LOVED every minute of it. He calls trains "mains" and he said the word over and over. I just love watching him experience new things. I think that's one of the greatest joys of parenthood. It's just as exciting to me as it is to him!








Recently Grant "helped" Mike wash the car. Of course you can all imagine how that turned out. He had so much fun playing with his Daddy and the water hose. Actually, I don't think that any car washing was done at all!

Praise God!

Last night was our 21 wk ultrasound and we are so blessed to say that everything looks just perfect! We'll meet with the doctor next week to go over the results but from what the tech said, she sees no problems at all. It's truly amazing what they can detect from these ultrasounds. At my 20 wk ultrasound with Grant they detected that he had enlarged kidney's. During the rest of my pregnancy they gave me many more ultrasounds, monitoring him closely. It was scary and there was a possibility of a surgery after he was born. Thankfully nothing has had to done and his body is just growing into his kidney's. Also, I think I watch too much Discovery Health channel and see too many sweet babies who are born with problems.

The baby has been kicking a lot these days~ I love that feeling. I've been telling Grant that mommie has a baby in her tummy. I'm sure he doesn't understand, although he's become quite the mamma's boy these days. He wakes up in the morning saying, "mamma, mamma." Poor Mike is getting his feelings hurt a little. I wonder is he senses something is different. He also will NOT sit beside me. He has to be sitting in my lap or he will start crying. I know it's only going to get more uncomfortable with my growing belly! I think this new baby is really going to be a tough adjustment for him. It's hard to imagine what life is really going to be like. I guess I'm expecting the worst but hoping for the best. Only 4 months and we'll soon find out! I know it will be here so soon. There's still so much to do around here! My biggest concern is when I should move Grant out of his crib and in to the other room. I want to do it before the baby comes but I just hope that he'll be ready for it. I'll gladly take any suggestions from you mom's with experience!

Bathroom fun

This is his new favorite hang out spot while waiting on mom to finish getting ready.

And when he's not sitting in there he's pulling everything out! Thank goodness he's learned how to put

it all back too!