The Many Interesting Habits of Baby Griffin

Griffin has got some funny habits. From the second he was born he liked to pucker up his lips quite frequently, watch out ladies! He also loves to have his hands up by his face almost all the time. They have to be over his head or resting on his cheek, I love it. I have already written about the ways his little leg will just start shaking, which is completely hilarious! Recently he has developed the lip curl which you can kind of see in the picture above. Sometimes he really curls his upper lip and I can't help but laugh and think, "Hello Elvis!" He is only 5 weeks old, I wonder what he will come up with next!

Mr Handsome!

The other day Brayden got ready for school and came in so excited.
"Mom, how do I look?" he asks. I told him he looked very handsome.
"That's what I thought," he says. "All the kids are going to think I look so awesome. They are all going to stare at me with their mouths open when I walk into the school, I just know it."
It was so cute how excited he was to wear this shirt and how dramatic he looked thinking of how everyone was sure to think he was so handsome.
After school I asked him how his day went.
"They all loved me in this shirt mom, but I hate the rain, because I had to wear my coat outside, so not everyone could see how great I looked."
He then went on to say how wonderful it was that Ella was in his class so that at least she got to see him in his fantastic shirt.
I seriously love being Brayden's mom!

Can I hold baby Griffin?

The question of every day for the last month has been "Can I hold baby Griffin?" As soon as they wake up it's, "Can I hold baby Griffin?" As soon as the kids get home from school it's again, "Can I hold baby Griffin?" It's fantastic that they love him so much. The next step is to get them not to fight over who gets to hold him. They are so funny. The second Griffin makes a peep they are all right by his side. A couple of times I have come in to see them all around his bassinet singing "I Am A Child of God." Brayden and Landon have each made up "Griffin songs." Brayden prays every night for the family to be safe, but for baby Griffin to be extra safe. I can't imagine life without my sweet little Griffin. I can't wait to see what he winds up looking like. Actually, I can wait, since I don't want him to grow up anytime soon. Cuddling with him is my favorite thing. Doug is just as bad as the kids, he can't get enough of him either. Aren't babies wonderful?

Halloween 2010

Let's just start with the newest member of our family. Cutest darn football I've ever seen.

Next we have the crazy Mad Hatter. He loved his costume and the fact that he didn't see anyone else dressed like the Mad Hatter. Can you believe I found that jacket at the D.I. for $5.00! Yeah baby!

It's a Gavin...er a Mario. Bless Gavin for choosing a costume that was 100% store bought. Although, his mustache fell off into his hot chocolate at the Hampton's house, so I did paint one on for the second half of Halloween night.


Rock on!!!! I had to post both the school picture and the Halloween picture because they were so different. They wouldn't let the kids color their hair or do face paint this year in addition to the no mask rule. She had fun anyway and was very happy with her costume! Plus she got to go trick or treat with her friends and had a great time!!!



And finally the crazy parents of these crazy kids. Yes, we always dress up too. This year what made our costumes great was our prop....er...uh...son! Faith originally suggested that I be a cheerleader when I told her Doug would be a football player and Griffin would be the football. Maybe if I hadn't just had my 5th child 3 weeks ago.....maybe!
I hope you all had as much fun as we did!

Thumper

Griffin has this funny little "habit". Every now and then his right leg will start shaking. It is the cutest thing and so funny. I decided that his nickname will be Thumper. Ironically my nickname in high school from my soccer team was "Thumper" thanks to a little pre-game dance I used to do. I had totally forgotten about it until I nicknamed my son the same thing.

I am so grateful for wonderful friends and neighbors

I truly feel blessed to live in the ward and neighborhood we live in. My baby is 12 days old now and even yesterday we were still getting things brought to our house. I have never had so many friends bring me goodies or just stop by to see how I am doing. It has really been a blessing and humbling to me, and it has really helped my recovery so much to just know that so many people care and are there to help if I need it.
This recovery has been a little harder for me. The birth of our little Griffin was very stressful both emotionally and physically for me. He was turned sideways and then my blood pressure dropped right before delivery which made his heartrate drop and scare us all. I was on oxygen and having a hard time breathing. Because our darling boy was so big that they brought in the forceps and she explained that if she didn't get a hold of him just right with them she could break his neck. Luckily they didn't use the forceps, but I did have to have a very big episiotomy and a lot of stitches. In addition to that, when my doctor broke my water they discovered that he had had a bowel movement, so they didn't want him to cry when he came out and they had the respiratory team in the delivery room and passed him off to them immediately after delivery. We also had a herd of BYU students in the room the whole time, two of which started crying, saying how beautiful it was, while I was struggling to breath. I told my husband that I would rather have a C-Section than be threatened with forceps and vacuums for my baby again.
I am sure other mom's have gone through similar things, but for me it was a stressful situation, but a great relief and wonderful feeling to see and hear that our baby was okay and healthy.
Anyway, the point I was making was that I have been exhausted up until lately and I have very much appreciated the wonderful people who have thought of me and just made me feel very loved and cared about. I promise to get Thank You cards out soon, but I have never had to write so many, but I am grateful to have to. I am so happy that the Lord led us here and has kept us here so long. We live in a wonderful place surrounded by wonderful people!

I have an 11 year old - seriously?

I know it was a few days ago, but the feeling is still lingering. I can't believe that my "baby" girl is 11 years old and next year she will be going into Young Women's. Talk about scary. Thank heavens she will still have another year after that before she is in Junior High (or middle school). She had a great birthday though. We got her a bike that I could ride (which is so wierd) and a digital camera, which went great with the scrapbooking stuff from my bro and sister in law, which she loves. She was thrilled with my parents for getting her "presents that Mom and Dad would never get". Haha. Of course she had to give us all a fashion show with the new clothes she got. I think the best thing was her Daddy taking her out to play Laser Tag. She had so much fun shooting teenage boys and then a group of 10-12 year old boys! She did pretty great, but why wouldn't she, she is my daughter!!!!

There is something about a sleeping baby

I love to just sit and watch my beautiful baby sleep. It is so sweet and he just looks so peaceful. He is so beautiful and perfect and I can't get enough of him!
Brayden came in the other day and I was just sitting there watching Griffin sleep. Brayden asked me what I was doing and I said, "just watching your brother sleep." Brayden watched with me for a minute and then asked, "are you bored?" Ha ha. I guess it's a mom thing.

Soccer Season is officially over

I thouroughly enjoyed watching my kids play soccer this year. Brayden is so adorable and is just so happy to play! He loves playing sports and is a really good sport himself. Gavin had a great year, scored and played awesome as goalie! Faith has gotten so much better this season and is really getting into the games, scoring and using a lot of great skills. She can't wait to start indoor soccer.

Did I mention the kids are thrilled to have a new baby brother!!!

Griffin Michael Ward

Our beautiful stubborn baby boy was born on October 7, 2010 at 2:44 pm. He weighed 9 lbs 7 oz and was 19 1/2 inches long, making him our biggest, and yet shortest baby so far. He is a joy to have around and everyone wants to hold him all day long. His Daddy has a very hard time putting him down. It's amazing how having a baby brings the spirit so strong into your home. Everyone talks softer and can't help but smile when they are around him. We are so happy he is part of our family. I feel so very blessed to be a mother.
Yes, I am still recovering, but I appreciate all the help my husband is and the wonderful people in our ward. Thank you all.

Still Pregnant!!

Just in case you are wondering, yes I am still pregnant, and ready to not be, but still feeling okay, so I am patiently waiting.
I dread going outside because all I hear is, "Are you still pregnant?" "No, I am just didn't lose any weight when I had the baby."
or I hear, "You poor thing, you are still pregnant." or "When is that baby coming?" I wish I knew. I have been having contractions all day though!!!!
The doctor was very confident that our little son should either arrive today or tomorrow. She didn't feel that she needed to do anything to get me started or anything. So, when this baby comes, it really will be completely on his own and when he's ready. I have very stubborn children or else I make a very comfortable womb for them.

Fabulous Forts

I love making forts with my kids! A few weeks ago we made one that covered the entire family room. It went against all my nesting instincts, but once we got started we went nuts. The kids had a great time sleeping in it, even Doug slept in it, but we all know he is just a big kid himself! We kept it up for a few days. They made a kitchen inside and an office and each had their own bedroom!

Girls night at the BYU soccer game!

Faith's team decided to all go to the women's BYU soccer game a couple weeks ago. I thought that sounded great and went with her. It was really fun to go together just the two of us and hang out. The game was good, although it wound up being a tie 0-0.
I did notice in the next couple games that Faith's team had that Faith really learned from those BYU women. She uses her head whenever she can now and has been really working on controlling the ball. I am very proud of her and glad she learned something in the middle of a fun night. Of course we had to go out for slushies afterwards! What is a girls night without treats! I am very grateful for my daughter and as scary as it is, it is fun to see her growing up into a beautiful girl.

Goals and Goalies

As most of you know, soccer is a big part of the Ward Family each and every fall (and all year in Faith's case). So far in the season we have been able to watch each of our children score goals, which is wonderful and amazing for their confidence level! I have found that my kids not only like to score goals, but to save them as well. That is something they did not get from me. I never had any desire to be goalie and I always sit there watching them play goalie saying, "please don't let them score on my child." Gavin has done a great job this season being goalie and his younger brother Brayden has followed in his footsteps. Gavin had one game where he was goalie the whole game and didn't get scored on at all. He stopped at least 20 goals and made several kids flip over the ball. I was very proud of him (not just for making the kids flip over, but for not being afraid.) His season ended on Saturday and ended with him scoring a goal. Not bad at all!
Faith is just awesome and her team is doing so great this year! Her games are so much fun to watch, and I keep thinking I can't have the baby yet, I don't want to miss seeing her play. She has a real passion for the game, like her mother, and is as agressive as she needs to be. I am so proud of her, and of all of them. Landon can't wait to get into soccer and have his own team!

Rain Gutter Regatta

On the 15th of September the cub scouts had the Rain Gutter Regatta. Gavin made his boat and was very excited to see how his first Regatta experience would go. He did great! He took 4th place, although Doug gave him some pointers on a different way to blow his boat before the last race, and he didn't do as well. So, in my opinion he could have taken third if it wasn't for his father. Of course without a little guidance from his father the boat wouldn't have raced near as well I am sure. Anyway, it was a lot of fun and as a bonus Gavin recieved his wolf badge along with a gold arrow and two silver arrows. He really loves scouts and I am grateful for the way it teaches the boys to set and achieve goals in life along with the sense of accomplishment they feel as they make things like pinewood derby cars and regatta boats.

Ella the beauty!

Well, it's finally happened! Brayden has found the girl he is going to marry.
About a week into the new school year Brayden came home to tell me a story of how he saved the lunchboxes for the class and rescued Ella the Beauty. I asked him who Ella was and what made her a beauty. His reply was that Ella sat next to him in his school class and that she was such a beauty because of the nice things she does for him. In his words, "It's like she wakes up and thinks what can I do for Brayden today." I was glad to know that it wasn't only her looks that made her beautiful to him. Then he told me how they do nice things for each other all day long. Last Friday he was sick and couldn't go to school. He was so mad at me for making him stay home, and finally I asked him if he wanted to get Ella sick. He said "no" and then was okay about staying home. Then Sunday I had him start a journal that I told him I thought we should update once a week. He wrote all about Ella the Beauty. My little Brayden makes me smile!

First Day of School 2010

I am so grateful for the priesthood. The first day of school was wonderful, but just a few days before both Gavin and Faith were feeling a little nervous. Scratch that, Gavin was really nervous, but thanks to Father's blessings I sent three happy and excited kids off to school. Then I had one that I packed a lunch for who was crushed to find out that he had to leave the kids at school and return home with just Mommy to play with all day long.
Gavin has been thrilled with his teacher and says that she is the best teacher ever. I am so thankful for that, especially after last year. He also has a lot of wonderful friends from the ward in his class which I am so very happy about. Brayden couldn't wait to go to school and even though he didn't know anyone in his class he was thrilled at the prospect of making new friends. I really admire that kid's attitude. He had an incident at recess with a boy following him around pushing him. His big sister and older friend came to the rescue by talking/threatening the boy. There haven't been any problems since. Faith of course loves her teacher and is busy making new friends anywhere she goes.
I was so pleased to see big smiles on all three kids faces when we picked them up! After school we had a neighborhood swim party in the backyard completely unplanned, but lots of fun!

August camping adventures!

How grateful I am to have such wonderful friends in my life. We really have a lot of wonderful people around us. This summer, just as last summer, we went camping with our good friends the Hardy's. Landon was so funny last week, he saw them at church and pointed them out. "Look, there are the Hardy's. Nate is my Hardy, Alex is Brayden's Hardy and Shilo is your Hardy mommy." It is really nice to have them here. They have 5 kids, which we almost do too, all the same ages (or close) as our kids, which is great. Anyway, we love them and are grateful for the great friends they are and the opportunity we had to share an adventure in the great outdoors with them.
Of course what is a camping trip where everything is perfect. Now, I am not the kind of person to take an airmattress with me camping (that just isn't really camping), however being 8 months pregnant I thought it was a good idea to bring one. It was a good idea in theory, but it would have been better to bring one without a hole in it. I got on it and it went down a little, then of course Doug got on too and I have never fallen down so fast, it was like a ride at an amusement park. I laughed hysterically as I tried to get comfortable in the mess, but really I wound up on the ground with a rock in my back. The kids all slept soundly though. They had a great time exploring and making secret clubhouses. They got lost once, but said a prayer and everything was fine. They freaked me out a little by telling me that Brayden went off on his own, but luckily they got the direction he went wrong and Brayden knew right where he was going to get back to camp. It was a good learning experience for them all. Gavin was able to remain calm, he has a good sense of direction (obviously Brayden does too.)
The kids swam in the lake and tried to fish (poor Gavin caught one but didnt realize he was using the left handed reel that his mother got by mistake, so it got away.) Really I think it is the Hardy's bad luck, we always catch fish except when they are there, which is fine, although their daughter really wanted to catch one, so that would have been fun.
Anyway it was nice being up there with friends and I always enjoy the outdoors. There was a meteor shower the first night we were there and that was amazing to see.