Hot Potato

Thank heavens for good family! My 84 year old grandmother is in perfect health. She's in better shape than most people half her age. She walks daily, eats healthily, and has no health issues. At least she didn't until the day before I went back to work!

I think I shared with you previously that my grandmother is keeping Kaleb. Unfortunately this first week has not gone exactly as planned! Grandma has somehow thrown out her back. She has been to the doctor and they have assured her it is just a muscle strain... but I'm not so sure how well I like the word 'just' in that sentence! Muscle strains hurt, especially in your back... and they take a while to get over! So although all plans point to grandma keeping Kaleb at some point, for now she is out of commission!

This is very sad for grandma, because not only is her back sore, but she really wants to keep Kaleb! It's also very sad for the Griffin clan, because we are sad she's hurt and we're without childcare! I used up all of my time on maternity leave. Scott still has a few days he can take off, but we're hesitant to use too many of those if we don't have too because you never know when an emergency might come up last minute! So it's fabulous family to the rescue! Even Kaleb's cheering them on!

Scott has been wonderful! Since he works every other weekend he has 2-3 days each week off (strange schedule sucks, but can come in handy at times like these!). I have him on the weekends, of course. So that just leaves 2-3 days a week to find childcare. Momma has taken a few days, Betsy watched him today, and Amie is coming to the rescue the end of this week. Kaleb is enjoying all the attention and the different entertainment... but it will certainly be easier when we have a routine rather than bouncing around town.

Bouncing or not, we have wonderful family who has gone above and beyond to help us with this "bend" in our plans. You are all appreciated more than you know! You've preserved the bend and prevented the break!

Now to get grandma better...

SG

The best medicine...

This is Aunt Bekah again! Excuse me if this post doesn't make a lot of sense, but thanks to the wonderful world of vicodin I'm feeling well enough to post this. That, and the fact that I got the best medicine ever today! Momma came up last night, brought me flowers, cooked me dinner and spent the night. Phillip came over after work this morning and he and Momma took me in for my surgery this morning. Oh, which was wisdom teeth removal, the kind where they have to dig into your jaw bone to get them out... ugh! Anyway, this evening Sarah, Scott and little Kaleb came to visit me too. Momma and Phillip were still here, and I talked to Daddy and a lot of other family and friends on the phone a couple of times throughout the night. Sarah, Scott and Kaleb brought me flowers which were beautiful, and we have had a good visit (thanks to the vicodin, otherwise I would have been miserable!) Makes me realize how wonderful family is... I couldn't have done it without them! So look at what you have to look forward to Kaleb... a great family who will be there when you need them... even when you are high on drugs and acting silly :) But no worries, they will make fun of you about it later, Kal :)

Love you all!
Aunt Bekah

Shine

Kaleb is smiling! He's been doing it for a few weeks now... laughing even! He just usually stops when the camera comes out! Scott has caught him a few times now, however; so I thought I'd share those shots with you.

He's actually been smiling since he was born, but these are more intentional smiles. He laughs when you walk in the room, he follows with his eyes as you walk out. Such personality shining through! Cute little fella, my Kaleb.

Swap Shop

Scott makes fun of me, because I tend to leave my radio set on 680 am. During the week its good! Lots of quality programing to listen to on the way to and from work or running errands around town. On the weekends, however, they often play this swap shop show where people call in and try to sell their stuff. It's always entertaining to me, because people want to sell absolutely ridiculous stuff... and even funnier they want to trade their broken stuff for something that is in perfect condition! Scott hates it, but his impressions of the people who call in always make the whining that goes along with it worth while! "I have an old broken lawn mower... it doesn't cut grass, but it's still got a pretty good paint job if it were washed... I'd like to trade it for a new lawn mower that works because my grass needs to be cut... oh, and I'd like one I can ride on... that's always sounded like fun and this one I've got has to be pushed."

Anyways, I've been reminded of that show as I have recently returned to work. I feel like one of those ridiculous swap shop callers who is hoping to make a completely unfair trade. In my case, however, the trade took hold even though I wish it didn't have to! I've traded in a perfectly good little Griffin boy for 80 rude 9th graders that belong to other people.

Although it seems strange to pay someone to watch my child while the state pays me to watch other peoples children... going back to work has not been that bad. I'm very luck that I don't have to take my son to daycare. Of course I don't want to leave him, but since he's staying with people I trust it's not too bad. I'm also pretty lucky that my co-workers are so great. They have made my transition back to work very smooth! My sub left things in pretty good order, and aside from some (expected) behavior problems when returning to a class that's had a sub for 7 weeks, things have been pretty good!

Something else I've swapped... attitudes! I can still be nice to Kaleb. I have to be evil at school. At least until I reign in the crazies :)

Enjoying my weekend, sad Monday will come so soon, but grateful for the rest I've gotten today.

Sarah

Violet

They call this stuff Gentian Violet... but I swear it's purple! So purple it's almost black... there is nothing "violet" about it!

Kaleb had thrush, and we treated him with the Nystatin the pediatrician prescribed. Turns out that made his tummy hurt so bad that he spit up nearly ever ounce he ate! So we went to the drugstore and bought this violet stuff which is supposed to be a wonder cure... it's a wonder it doesn't ruin everything in your house!

Everything this stuff touches becomes died purple! The bottle actually has a warning about putting it on open ulcers... it apparently acts as a tattooing agent (I swear it says tattooing on the bottle!). So my beautiful baby has a purple mouth, purple lips, and a purple drool line down the side of his mouth. Sounds bad, but it matches nicely with the purple fingers he refuses to keep out of his mouth and the purple burp cloth and t-shirt ensemble he's got going on!

Anyways... today is my first day back at work and his first day with Grandma! The doctor cleared me yesterday! Momma is coming over to take him to Grandma's for me today so I can get to work early this morning. Hopefully all goes well (With me, not Kaleb. He'll be perfectly happy being spoiled rotten! No worries there.)

I'll return eventually...
Sarah

0-3

Kaleb is getting so big! I have officially had to retire some of his newborn clothes... he is took long for a couple of his footy sleepers. I really didn't want to put them away, but I started to feel bad about putting him in clothes that restricted his legs to the point the he couldn't straiten them out! Figured that was kinda bad. Seems like he might be tall... the sleepers still fit in every way except length. Now he's moving on to the next size... 0-3mths.

We had to go back to the doctor the end of last week because Kaleb has thrush... which from what I understand isn't really that big of a deal- you can let it go away naturally or give them medicine to speed up the process. We went for the medicine, which is a sticky, gross, and apparently disgustingly flavored mess of a medicine! He is supposed to get 2ml each time, but he spits out at least 99% of it. We have to give him a bath nearly every time he takes it! On to my point... while we were at the doctors office we had Kaleb weighed, and he is now 9lbs 1oz. That's 2lbs heaver than at his smallest!

Wednesday Kaleb will be 6 weeks old... which wouldn't be so bad if it didn't mean the end of my maternity leave :( and time for me to go back to other peoples kids. They just aren't as cute as mine! It's going to be a big change, but I'm grateful I got the time off that I did. Just say a prayer that I don't kill a freshman...

I'll be back after my appointment Wednesday... if there is anything to share. Until then-

SG

Sunday

It's Sunday morning... and I've been breaking one of my home-made rules for a few weeks now. Today I'm getting back on the wagon!

I have always been a firm believer that there is a time and place for people to have screaming babies... and 11 o'clock worship is definitely NOT one of them! It kind of falls along the lines of bringing an infant to a movie or hanging out with them on the 18th hole of the local golf course. There are just some places that are not meant for screaming children!

Then Kaleb was born... and although I am still adamantly opposed... my mother is equally opposed to putting newborns in the nursery before they've had their 2 month shots. She says it exposes them to other children, and potentially sickness.

For a few weeks I went along with it... and took Kaleb into the service. My only other option was not to go... so I sucked it up. Kaleb did great the first week... slept the whole service (He was only 2 1/2 weeks old, of course, so he slept all the time period!) The next week he started stirring about 10 minutes until 12:00 because he got hungry. Scott took him out (before he started crying, thankfully) and fed him. Last week I got up and got us ready for church, then used my last 30 minutes before time to leave to lay down and rest. It was a mistake... I rested longer than 30 minutes! We never made it to church.

So it's Sunday morning again... Kaleb is 5 1/2 weeks old now. He is getting so much more playful and is awake a lot more often. He is making lots of little baby noises, which is cute when you're not in a church service... but kinda makes me cringe to think about during church. So we are working under the assumption this morning that if Kaleb can handle shopping in a public area (which he has clearly proven he can!) then he can handle an hour in the nursery. Where do you think there are more germs... Walmart or the Church nursery??? I'm playing the odds... and quite possibly warning the other children not to touch the baby!

SG

Trends

I went back looking at old blogs tonight, and was (for some unknown reason) surprised when I went back and looked at our 19 week ultrasounds. We didn't know at the time, but apparently he was going to have his hand by his head ALL the time... and you can even see it in those early pictures! We had ultrasounds taken 4 times during the course of my pregnancy with Kaleb; the first 2 looked like a bean, but the later two both showed him with his hand to his face. Apparently this has become a trend for him! For goodness sakes he was born with his hand by his head (literally). Wonder how this trend will manifest itself as he gets older?

Grandpa

I have to tell a funny story on my dad:

Scott and I went to my parents for dinner Sunday night. Afterwards, Scott Momma and I had some errands to run. Scott left to meet David, and Momma and I went to Walmart. None of us were gone very long... and we left Kaleb with Daddy.

Daddy loves to watch Kaleb, so he didn't mind volunteering... but as Momma and I were getting into the car to come home, Mommas cell phone rang. Daddy was calling to say that we had better start heading home because he was pretty sure Kaleb had a dirty diaper!

Momma keeps telling Daddy he'll have to change a dirty diaper eventually, but I'm pretty sure he'll find someone else around to do it as often as possible! I guess the beauty of being a grandparent is you can always hand the kid over when something comes up you don't want to handle!

I was reminded of this tonight when at 4am I changed Kaleb's diaper, and before I could get him back into his crib... guess what? That's right... time to change it again! Whoever invented pampers must be one rich fella... cause you sure go through those things! To all those pregnant people out there... STOCK UP!

SG

Cousins

Kaleb, Nana and I went to visit the Pierce family tonight. It was SO cute, because (with No planning) Kaleb and Ashton were wearing the same outfit! We got lots of cute pictures of the two of them. Looking at them together made me realize how much Kaleb had grown though, Kaleb was 1 lb. smaller than Ashton at his smallest point, about 7 lbs. Now look how big! He's closing in on 9 lbs! Ashton and his mommy are doing well... Ashley is a good mommy! Can't wait to visit them again!

Aunt Sarah

Ashton

Kaleb has a new little cousin! Ashley gave birth to a beautiful baby boy at 12:54 am Saturday October 3rd. Ashton Kole Pierce was born 8 lbs. 3 oz. and is 1 month and 1 day younger than Kaleb. We are going to have tons of fun with two little boys running around together! Congratulations Ashley and Aron... he is precious!

1 Month

As unbelievable as it is, Kaleb will be 1 month old tomorrow! Our lives have been so engrossed in Kaleb of late, it seems in many ways that it's been ages since I was awaiting his arrival... but thinking about in terms of his age, it feels like time is flying by already! I can't believe I've been a mommy for a month now!

In the last week Kaleb has changed so much! He is becoming much more active! So active, in fact, that he is officially not allowed to sleep in the bassinet anymore, as he has started to untie the bows holding the cover on. Since I'd prefer he not strangle himself... it's the crib from now on! He is following us with his eyes now, and stays awake a lot more often during the day. He's also getting much more playful... at least as playful as you can expect a 1 month old to be. Also... good news... his umbilical cord finally fell off today! I'm so glad I can finally give him a good bath. It has not been easy to bathe him without getting that cord wet!

In sad news, he is also getting awfully close to outgrowing his newborn clothes :( and weighs 8 lbs. 14 oz. as of today! I went through his clothes yesterday and pulled out the 0-3 month clothes so I'd have them ready! I forgot how cute they are... such a well dressed little man thanks to all the gifts and hand me downs! We have certainly been very blessed with help from all of our friends and family! THANK YOU!!!

Monday Grandma kept him for a few hours... preparing for the time coming WAY too soon when I go back to work. I can already tell he is going to be one spoiled little man... I think she rocked him the whole time! She spoiled me when I was little though, so I guess he deserves that too!

Less than 2 weeks now until I go back to work, and I'm a little depressed about it! I'm awful spoiled staying home... still waiting on Ed McMann, but alas, no luck as of yet!

I hear a baby crying for his dinner...

SG