Rough life

Last week, the beach..... tomorrow, Hawaii..... yes, Greg and I have a rough life! :) We are going to Hawaii tomorrow morning, and leaving our precious little one behind with Nana & Pops. We are sad to leave Nate, but also excited at the chance to be a "couple" again. (If you're wondering, Greg has a conference in Waikiki for 5 days, so we decided to make it a real vacation and stay for 10!)

So, don't look for another blog posting from me until after July 6th. Until then.....

He really is a fish!

I was pleasantly surprised yesterday when Nate got in a (real) pool for the first time. No crying! We invited ourselves over to Casey's neighborhood pool, and put the boys in the baby pool. It was the perfect depth - about 1 foot - so we could sit and play with them, and they could "walk" around in their floats. (Shout out to Nana for the floatie!) I think we were in the water close to an hour, which must be a record for Nate with no fussing! At the end, I took him out of his float and just played with him some in the water. The highlight for me was trying to teach him to float....see the last picture....he was AWFUL at it - like his Dad! - but was making the funniest faces. You'd think I was trying to drown him or something! Anyways, hopefully he'll grow up to love the water as much I did when I was a kid. Swimteam, here we come!

Our Beach Week

Beach bums!

Nate had his first beach trip, to Litchfield, SC last week. The whole Gibbs clan was there. We were lucky enough to stay at the Berly's house, which is a special place since it holds so many good memories from growing up. Now, it's Nate's turn to make memories there!! For sure, it was a week of firsts.....first time in the ocean, first time trying LOTS of new table foods (his favorites were pizza crust & ice cream), and first time grinding his teeth. Yes, this is an especially annoying one because it's SO loud! And I don't know how it doesn't hurt him. But, he loves to do it. Oh, and he has four teeth now!! :) I finally got a picture of his bottom two; see picture on the left.

Here are some highlights & pictures from our week:

Friday (June 13th) - the three of us had an early morning flight (9 am) so we woke up Nate and headed to the airport. He was eyeing our biscuits on the plane, so we gave him a bite and he loved it! New food #1. He was great on the plane, climbing/moving/kicking of course, but at least no crying. Lora picked us up at the airport and we headed to ARMADILLO (yum!) for lunch before heading to the beach. It was a 4 hr drive and Nate slept for....oh...45 minutes of it. Yeah, it was not the most fun. He hates being constrained for that long in his carseat, so he was not a happy camper. Poor Greg was in the backseat with him, trying endlessly to entertain him. We finally arrived at the beach house around 5 pm, and were the last ones of course. Immediately, Nana grabbed Nate - no hugs or kisses for the rest of us - and they were off to the neighbor's house to see the chickens. Yes, I said chickens. We had pizza that night and Nate loved gnawing on the pizza crust. And he also picked out his favorite spot for the week - the front porch swing. It was great to see everybody and catch up, and we made plans for the next day and Nate's first beach adventure!

Saturday - We took Nate to the beach during both his morning & afternoon playtime and he did great! Loved playing in the water with Daddy & Aunt B and crawling on the sand. He also got to sip water from a bottlecap for the first time. It was too cute - he looked like a little bird. (And speaking of birds, the boy was obsessed! Loved both a bird clock at the house, and also the birds outside. When we were on the porch or taking a walk, he would constantly "talk" to them!) Lora, Bec, and I headed to Myrtle Beach that night to partake in our friend Erin Valenti's bachelorette festivities. So, that left Nate, Dad, Pops, and Nana to go out to dinner. Nate tried a french fry, but that was a no go. Much preferred the hush puppies. And drinking little sips of water from a straw.

Sunday - Happy Father's Day to Pops & Greg! Greg got his presents from Nate before we came - an "I love Daddy" frame for his office, a shirt, and a pair of shorts - but we brought a special card to give to his Dad at the beach. It was one of those recordable ones, and I managed to get one of his giggles recorded. Dad loved it! And Nate liked hearing himself too :) Nate showed off his skills pulling up a lot in the sunroom....on the couch, chair, entertainment center, and coffee table. This boy is ready to walk! This was also the day that we noticed his fourth tooth coming in. Like the others, it is as sharp as a razor! Again, we took Nate to the beach during the morning and he had some good playtime. Greg said it was the most fun he'd had in years at the beach. Guess all it took was a munchkin to play with and an ePod (yes, that's what he called Bec's iPod)! Pops & Greg both saw a family of "skates" (similar to stingrays but without the stinger) in the water, so Greg ran like a girl when that happened. (He says it's because he was holding Nate and didn't want him to get hurt, but I'm not sure I believe that. Truth be told though, I was scared to death myself!!) Anyways, it rained in the afternoon so our beach time was cut short.

Monday - Dad got in one last playtime with Nate on the beach this morning, because he and Aunt L were to leave around 3 pm so Dad could catch his 8: 30 pm flight at RDU. (Poor guy though - it got delayed till almost midnight and he wound up getting back to Murfreesboro after 2 am. Thank goodness me and & Nate were not with him!!!!) The Berly family - from Mt. Pleasant, SC - dropped in for a visit right before Lora & Greg left. It was nice seeing all of them for a few hours, and we thanked them over & over for letting us use the house! Once they left, we headed to the outlets for some shopping. Pops pushed Nate in the stroller while me, Nana, and Aunt B did some speed shopping! We had the most fun at Carter's, where Nate got some new outfits, as did Klug's new little girl, Hadley. Girl stuff is SO cute! So, we headed home late and Nate was way overdue for his 7:30 pm bottle. He got it around 9 pm instead, and wow, that car ride home was NOT pleasant! Poor little guy was super tired and just wanted to go to bed. I knew I was in for a long night with him....

Tuesday - And oh was I right. I got up multiple times, trying to give him his last bottle because he'd hardly eaten all day. He would fall asleep on my shoulder, and then once I placed him back in the pack 'n' play, he woke up and began crying again. So, neither one of us got much sleep that night. Aunt B had to leave that morning to head back to Charlotte, so it was just us with Nana & Pops for the rest of the week. We bought both a new umbrella plus umbrella stroller for the beach, and both worked great! Nate had fun jumping the waves with me, and doing "drip castles" in the wet sand. This was my favorite day on the beach with him, because he finally seemed to really enjoy the water & sand! My little fish! Becca dropped in for an impromptu visit for a few hours that afternoon, so the two of us caught up on the beach with a beer, while Nate napped up at the house with Nana & Pops. She stayed long enough to see Nate play and pull up on the coffee table. His hair was super dirty from the beach, so he got a mohawk!

Wednesday - All of us took an early morning walk with Nate, and he loved swinging on the hammock with Nana when we got back. While he was playing with toys after his first nap, he started to do a new move - kinda a back arch/humping motion. New dance move I guess! This was the day we noticed the teeth-grinding thing. So weird! And, he is getting very good at telling us when he is done eating...he furiously shakes his head back & forth, as if he's saying "No!" We went to the beach in the afternoon but he was super lethargic and fussy. He cried throughout his 2nd nap - which is VERY unlike him - so we knew something was wrong. We discovered that he had a slight fever in addition to a runny nose. Greg had gotten sick from someone on the plane, so we figured Nate did too and had a cold. He was super pitiful and only wanted to be held by Mom all afternoon/night. He went to bed, hardly having eaten all day, but I didn't dare wake him up for another bottle because he was so exhausted.

Thursday - Thankfully, he slept through the night (12 hours straight) and woke up much happier in the morning. And as you might imagine, he ate like a little piggy that morning. Even tried some of my banana! Didn't want a tiny piece that I had broken off for him - instead, he wanted to eat it out of the peel like Mom was doing. Too funny! He just gummed on it for a bit and then lost interest. He loves to climb on and up everyone...especially Mom. We call it climbing "Mt. Momma." He is a rascal for sure. He was much better today and took his normal two 2-hour naps, thank goodness. It was Nana & Pops' 37th anniversary, so after dinner, we headed off for a wild night out. Kidding - we went to Eagles to look for a tshirt and then to get some ice cream. Nate tried a lick or two, and after he got the first one over with, he really liked it! Imagine that.

Friday - Today Nate turned 10 months old! We had to pack up and leave around 9 am in order to get to RDU for our 2 pm flight. The four of us were packed pretty tight in Pops' Buick, but we made it safely. And although Nate only napped for 30 minutes, he was pretty good and managed to eat on-the-go pretty well. Nana bought him a stuffed animal on the way home at the Flying J - a monkey, b/c that's what we call him since he climbs so much. We barely made it to the airport on time, but managed to get home safely and pretty uneventfully. Again, he was good on the plane, if you don't count climbing all over me and banging on the windows for an hour and a half. He kicked the guy next to us about 100 times and I just kept apologizing! Nate was trying to climb over top of me and see the people behind us. As I told them, he is "hard to contain." All in all though, he was well-behaved for most of the trip. And boy were we both glad to see Dad at the airport to pick us up! Home sweet home. Now if we could just get rid of Nate's cold!

Hiatus

For all of my faithful readers (do I even have any?), I will be taking a week-long hiatus from blogging. Reason being, we'll be at the beach with my family and will not have computer access! We are headed to Litchfield, SC tomorrow morning and Nate & I will return next Friday. There are sure to be lots of stories, and of course pictures, so stay tuned!!

Thank heaven for little GIRLS!

One of my best friends and college roommates, Klug, had a baby girl early this morning!!! She & husband Bobby are both very overjoyed & surprised (although they didn't know the gender ahead of time, they both thought it was a boy. Wrong)! I am so excited for them both and am dying to meet their new little one. Look how cute her chubby cheeks are!


Here's the stats on HADLEY TATE HEUBER:
Born 4:36 am on June 12th
8 lbs 2 oz and 20 inches long

Here's the details.....Klug checked into the hospital last night because she was having strong contractions. When the nurse found out she was 2 days past her due date, they broke her water. At 1:30 am, she got an epidural (God bless epidurals!) Her family and best friend, Becca, were at the hospital with her. The doctor said it'd be awhile before the baby came, so she sent them back to her house to catch a few hours of sleep. Klug herself even settled in for a nap. Well, at 4 am, the nurse woke Klug up because she was fully dilated! Holy crap! She pushed for 20 minutes and then her beautiful baby girl arrived. Yay for a short labor! Not so sure her family was thrilled....they were still back at Klug's place sleeping. They got a call from Klug at 5:30 am saying the baby was born. Oops.

Anyways, I hear from Becca that mom & baby are doing great. (Other than being in shock and having no name picked out, that is.) And in typical Klug-fashion, she has already had a bath this morning, put on a cute dress, and is walking around the hospital like she didn't just push out an 8 lb baby! Gotta love that girl!

So, to the new parents, I wish you well. You are about to embark on the most awesome, challenging, rewarding, and entertaining journey of your life! I love you both!

Could I handle twins??

(No, I'm not pregnant. Nor will I be any time soon. Now that we have that cleared up....)

I babysat Will today, for an hour and a half while Casey had a business lunch with her old boss. I was slightly nervous about it, mostly because Nate is so high-maintenance right now and needs to constantly be watched and/or entertained. I knew Will would be the "easy" one... if all else fails, he is happy in the exersaucer (which Nate hasn't been into in weeks).

So, as I thought, Will was a dream....he rolled around on the blanket, played with both his and Nate's toys, and did not cry at all. He loved trying out Nate's "sound stage," as well as trying to stand up while holding onto our coffee table. Nate, on the other hand, was not on his best behavior. He still has not mastered "sharing," and that goes for his toys, as well as his Mom. I've found at his age that distraction is the best method to hold off fussiness, but that can only last so long! He started to have a meltdown at 1:30 pm, and Casey was slated to return at 1:45 pm. So, it could have been worse, and I was glad he made it at least that long before starting to fuss.

As a result of this experiment (aka watching two kids that are around the same age), I decided I could not handle twins! :) I could handle it for an hour and a half, but every day would kill me! Hope Nate doesn't want a little brother or sister any time soon, because it is NOT happening....

See pics below....the "fighting" sequence is hilarious...

Babysitting Will

Popping up like weeds!

Nate has tooth #3 coming in already! I knew something was up when he woke up crying at 2:45 am. He hasn't done that in awhile. Anyways, I felt around in his mouth this morning, and there it was, another little jagged tooth coming through. It's on the top this time. Guess I need to go out and get a baby toothbrush; these things are coming in fast! Hopefully it won't mess up his appetite - he has been eating & drinking so good these days, I have been loving it! (P.S. I am still trying to get a picture, but the teeth are hard to see, since only a tiny bit has broken through the gums. Stay tuned!)

My little fish

Well, Nate's not exactly a fish yet, but we're getting closer! His 2nd attempt at playing in the pool went much more smoothly. Not sure if he's getting more used to it, or if having his buddy Will there made the difference. Either way, it was fun to watch! I put the pool in the front yard this time, as well as in the shade, so we wouldn't have to worry about sunscreen/hats/sunglasses. So much fuss! Will took to the toys right away - especially the turtles - while Nate was his usual self and tried to climb out. He was more interested in leaning over the side and feeling the grass for the first few minutes. Then, he slowly got into it and even splashed some! It was fun to watch the boys play together and start to get more interested in one another. Now, if I could just teach Nate to "share".....

Pool party

Happy Anniversary to us!

On this day, 4 years ago, Greg and I said "I do." Hard to believe 4 years have already flown by! And oh, what a year this last one has been. Our little one was born, and we have grown so much closer as a result. We are some of the lucky ones!

To my amazing husband - I love you and I am SO grateful to have you in my life! I have so many memories of June 5, 2004....from the flower disaster and the idiotic wedding director (!), to having so much fun and dancing the night away with our friends & families. And for once, you surprised me AND were super romantic by giving not one, but two beautiful bouquets to me before the ceremony. Such a treat! But the best moment of all was walking down the aisle and seeing you standing there. And don't lie, you got teary-eyed! :) I will never forget that day as long as I live. Thank you for being such a wonderful husband and dad!

Above is a picture of us walking into our reception, being called "Mr. & Mrs. Greg Givens" for the first time. We were overjoyed, and ready to party!!! And oh, what a party it was. I have never been so happy & so exhausted at the same time. And then, on the following Monday, we headed off to Costa Rica to enjoy some fun in the sun. Seven wonderful days to get away and enjoy being husband & wife! Hopefully we'll make it back to Costa Rica someday; that place is amazing! (Check out the below picture - my short hair & Greg's beard. Glad those days are over!!)

And although today is our actual anniversary, we celebrated last night. (Greg teaches summer school on Tuesday & Thursday nights.) We had a wonderful date night at Ruth's Chris in Nashville. It was so nice to get away together and take our time enjoying a delicious meal & bottle of wine. We love our little one, but he sure makes for a hectic mealtime - fusses a lot and throws Puffs all over the place. So, a big shout-out to Aunt Gena the Awesome for Nate-sitting! :)

Adventures in Feeding

Nate just started this a few days ago, but it took awhile to capture a picture! Apparently, he thinks it's hilarious to turn his head sideways while we are trying to feed him baby food. (Which, he is right, it is pretty hilarious. Especially because he will still open his mouth and want a bite, so I just shove it on there it, sideways.) This boy is a nut!