Baptism

Today Graesen was baptized!  I pray every day that my little boy will become a loving, Christ following man. Here are some pictures from the big day!

 

 

 

 

 My mom made Graesen his beautiful Christening gown:

 

 

My parents had a brunch for everyone after church.  Here is Graesen kicking back and relaxing after church:

Here are some other pictures my mom got of Graesen lately that I just love:

 

 

A Favorite Christmas Tradition

The topic for Show Us Your Life at Kelly's Korner this week was favorite family traditions, which was kind of perfect timing for me.  Tonight we had one of our favorite Christmas traditions.  Every year we do a Christmas tree decorating party at my grandparents' house.  The tree gets put up, we visit, and we eat tons of great food.  We only do appetizer-type food for this meal, so it is all the wonderful and not-so-good for you food.  I love it!
There was a kids' table this year with M&Ms, santa placemats, coloring books, crayons, and balloons for each kid.  Graesen even had a spot, although he never sat at the table :).

Here is the food table.  We ate chips and salsa, chili cheese dip (which is the best thing ever!), little smokeys, meatballs, veggies and dip, cookies, candy, potato chips, crackers with different spreads, mixed nuts, and punch.  I am still full and we ate 5 hours ago!

The tree:

Graesen enjoying his very first tree:

 

 

All worn out:

 

In his red gear for the party (this is red shirt number 1 of the day-someone likes to poop on his clothes):

Well, off to bed I go.  Graesen took FOREVER to fall asleep tonight (he's only been asleep for about 15 minutes), and we have a big morning tomorrow.  Graesen is getting baptized tomorrow!

Thanksgiving

I started out the day by doing the Turkey Trot with my sister.  Evan had to work, so my aunt watched Graesen during the run.  I don't think he minded at all :)  Here is a cute picture of Graesen all dressed and ready to go to his great aunt's house:

Here are the only two items I was in charge of bringing to dinner (I don't cook much):

Before we went to my parent's house I dressed Graesen in his Thanksgiving shirt:

He was getting impatient, because he was hungry:

The tables before everyone got started:

Sitting in a high chair (it didn't last long): 

Graesen was given some little licks a few foods.  He did not like mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, or whipped cream.  Guess what he did like!---pumkin pie and gravy!  He hasn't really started on solids.  People just kind of sneak him little tastes every now and then.  I still plan on waiting until he is six months old to really start on solids.

Cousin Addison trying to hold Graesen with some help from her mom:

She said he was heavy!

Hanging out with his great-grandma:

Apparently no one told him that you have to actually eat the turkey for it to make you sleepy :)

After Evan got off work we went to his parents house for dinner.  I didn't have room for much more or energy for pictures.  I am really tired and desperately need some sleep, but have to stay up and finish power pumping.
Overall, it was a good Thanksgiving.  I am so thankful to have my little boy this year. Last year at this time I had just found out I was pregnant.  I thank God every day for bringing this little boy into my life!

First Hair Cut

Graesen's hair was getting a bit long and crazy looking.  It is also thinning out a bit before his new "big boy" hair comes in.  I had originally planned to have Evan's aunt cut Graesen's hair, but I really wanted to have it trimmed before he is baptised on Sunday and was not sure if I would have time to meet with her before then.  (Judy, if you're reading this, I still plan on having you give Graesen his first real hair cut).  My mom helped me trim a little bit while he was sleepy.  We didn't take much off, just a little off the front and sides.

Before (the best I could get without waking him up):

During:

 

After (I think it will be a little easier to tell what it looks like now once I wash it):

 

I haven't washed it yet, but I think that this will really help his hair spike up into his cute little mohawk again :).

His old "mohawk" from when he was first born:

My parents and I also noticed tonight how chunky my little boy's legs are getting!

 

On a somewhat sad note, I got rid of our bad cat today.  I felt awful and cried a little, but that cat was so jealous of Graesen that he would pee and poop on things!  It was disgusting and I felt like I was constantly cleaning up one mess or another.  One of my friend's parents said they would take him as a "barn cat."  This is not your typical barn cat scenario.  He will sleep in their shop where they have a wood heater and leave out food for him and the other cat they have.  I also know that my friends will check up on the cat and give him a little attention.  I owe them all a big thanks.  Now we just have one cat.  I hope he doesn't get too lonely being the only cat.  This is our lonesome Walter (the cat we still have):

Busy week

This week has been kind of non-stop busy.  I taught everyday and have really enjoyed spending the last three days with kindergarteners.  Four of the five days were half days, which was really nice since Graesen is sick AGAIN.  The poor boy has been very stuffy and sleepy, and has a pretty bad cough.  I think his throat has been hurting too, because he sometimes cries when he coughs or eats.  It just breaks my heart to see him feeling bad.  I weighed him tonight and it looks like this illness has taken a toll on the boy.  He hasn't gained any weight in ten days, and may even be down a bit.  If you know Graesen, you know that this is a big deal for him.  Graesen eats like a horse and his weight gain almost always shows it.

On Saturday Graesen and I spent the day cleaning.  Then we raked leaves for three hours!  I know you are thinking that those leaves should have been raked a long time ago, and you are right.  Evan was going to do it and never got around to it.  Then I saw on the news that it was supposed to snow on Saturday night, and knew I HAD to get out there and rake.  I bundled Graesen up in his snow suit and warm sleeping bag thing, and put him in his stroller.  He slept most of the time.  I was really worried about him getting cold so I checked him about every ten minutes, but he stayed nice and toasty the whole time.  I glad he was comfortable, because I definately was not!  It was cold and the leave are all wet and gross by this time of year.  I filled 24 giant yard waste bags with leaves!  And, I didn't even finish!  It got dark and we had to go in. 

 Today I am so sore, but it was worth it when I saw this out our window this morning:

 

 After church today we all went out to buy some Christmas decorations.  We got way more than planned, but are very happy with the results.  I can't wait to get the tree up! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(I still need to iron the table cloth-I just wanted to see what it looked like on)

I have been talking to Evan about how I really did not like the way our bathroom looked.  He agreed and today told me to go out and buy all new stuff.  I LOVE this new bathroom!  I still really need to paint the bathroom, but it may take me a while to get to it:)

 

 

 

Graesen tried sitting in my old high chair at my parents house this weekend.  I gave him an empty bowl and spoon to play with.  I think he has it figured out:)

 

Here he is trying out his own high chair while I washed dishes:

Finally, here are some other random pictures of the boy from the last few days: