Post-Christmas Post

Hello lovlies!  How was your Christmas?  Mine was wonderful...despite the fact that Jason, Rylie and I were all sick...we had such a great time.  We had several gatherings with family and friends and then on Christmas morning everyone came over here to watch Rylie open her gifts from Santa.  I got SO many nice presents from everyone (and so did Rylie and Rowan). I must have been insanely good this year!  My most used gift so far is my new Kindle.  My husband is SO thoughtful! He even pre-loaded my Kindle with the second book in the Big Stone Gap series.  I finished the 2nd book in 4 days and immediately bought the 3rd book, straight to my Kindle.  You've got to love technology  =)  I cannot even run through the list of fantastic gifts I got, but I want for nothing! That is for sure. Here are some pictures from our Christmas festivities!

Cute little monogrammed onsies for our boys!!

 Rylie on Christmas morning!  Lovin' her toys!

Coloring with Mimi and Mamaw on Christmas morning.

My darling little nephew, Elliot's first Christmas morning.

By the time Monday was here we had all of the decorations down and in the basement.  I love Christmas but it felt SO refreshing to get this house clean!  Today I am 37 weeks 3 days pregnant.  I had Rylie at 39 weeks exactly and I'm feeling like this baby is not trying to break her record at ALL.  I've spent this week cleaning up, organizing a few areas of the house and making sure I have all of the new baby essentials I need.  My hope is that if I'm ready...he'll show up...in a timely manner  =)  I don't think that's how it works, but I can try.  Today I have my weekly NST (non-stress test) and then an ultrasound to check his weight and fluid (amniotic fluid) and then an OB visit, not with my primary doctor but with the doctor that actually delivered Rylie, so we'll see how it all goes.  Please remind me...a watched belly never contracts...is that the old saying?

I'm hoping to have time to write a New Year's post.  This has been such a busy and amazing year.  I have so many hopes and so many question marks when it comes to 2011.  There are definitely some amazing things to come!

Busy Day + It's the Simple Things!

Hi! It's Wednesday!  This week is flying by so fast.  This morning after I got Rylie to school I met up with Jessi for coffee.  I just love her because being friends with her is SO easy.  We never run out of things to talk about!  They're going to Texas for two weeks for Christmas and I'll definitely miss her!  Then Amy and Elliot showed up and we met up with Kathlyn and Caleb.  I just love making friends from the blogs I read and love and we always have SO much fun with Kathlyn!  The rest of my morning/afternoon was a blur of activity. Now Rylie is asleep and I can blog  =)   So, onto some cute pictures!

The morning after Rowan's shower I started unloading all the boxes and bags and throwing out all the tissue paper.  Rylie was in heaven!  She played with, rolled in, slid around in the tissue paper for almost an hour.  If you get her a Christmas gift, put it in a bag please?  She's addicted to tissue paper!  I love this kid!  Have a great day ya'll!

 Tissue paper is fun!

She was even sliding in it, LOL! 

Here, let's stuff it in this diaper pail! 

Ooohhhh, what's in here?

Rowan's Baby Shower!

This weekend my sweet friend Jessi threw me a wonderful baby shower for little Rowan.  I was so excited to celebrate this kid.  I looked around all everything blue and boyish and it made me so happy.  Don't get me wrong, I am a girly girl.  I love everything pink and Hello Kitty, but I'm ready to have my world also filled with rocket ships, trucks, dirt and anything else boys like  =)


Jessi planned a "Milk and Cookies" theme which I thought was totally cute. I've never thought of it before, but I'd love to another party with the same theme because it's so much fun.  We had an array of cookies to eat, a beautiful cake and a huge pitcher of milk. Delicious!

Jessi even had cute little treat bags so that the guests could bring home more cookies with them as party favors!  What a great idea!  We have definitely been enjoying some cookies the past few days, there was quite a variety!  Jessi made some butterscotch cookies that were amazing (definitely making those this week!).


We had a nice turn out of guests but these two kids stole the show, Rylie and Caden!  I wish they'd actually play with eachother instead of just waving and smiling at eachother, but hey...maybe that's their game, to be coy?  LOL.  Aren't these two adorable?

We had so much fun with the "How Big is her Belly" game.  Two people actually won with an exact measurement of my belly.  It was amazing how accurate their pieces of yarn fit around my belly perfectly (Julianne and Aunt Reba!).  Then we ate and opened gifts.  I got so many nice things for my boy.  I came home and immediately had to look at everything again.  Here we are playing the game and opening gifts.

It's hard to believe that all the things I opened will be used on MY little boy in a month or so.  He's not a figment of my imagination!  I feel so blessed to have a sweet friend like Jessi throw this shower for Rowan and I.  It was a fun and special day that I'll always remember.  Thanks friend!

Me, Jessi and Caden in all our BLUE  =)

Blogging Challenge on Pause

SO, as you know I've been doing a month-long blog challenge.  Each day there is a different topic to write on.  Well I got bored with that for a minute.  I'll go back to it.  I think I got stumped on the challenge yesterday because it wanted me to tell a song that described my mood.  Well my mood changes often these days, so I wasn't into it.  Today I just decided to blog about my life. Right now.  I also wanted to share some pics that I've taken this week that just make me happy.  So join me.

Today I had my usual NST and OB visit.  Turns out that little Rowan is head down now.  Yay!  I hope and pray that he stays that way.  Look at this little profile.  I'm amazed how much he has filled out in the past month (last time we saw him on 4/D).  He looks pretty squished in there but at least he appears to be headed towards the exit now  =)

 I want to squeeze him!

Would you just look at those cheeks?

I was at the doctor's office for a loooooong time today.  My doctor must have been incredibly busy today.  In fact the entire place was buzzing today.  I'm glad we got to see my sweet little boy's face though.  It made the almost 3 hour visit worth it.  

In other news, I'm looking forward to my baby shower for Rowan this weekend!  My sweet friend Jessi is throwing it for me and I just can't wait.  I'm so ready to celebrate the upcoming arrival of this little boy.  I live in the land of baby dolls and pink princess clothes right now, so switching gears to now have a boy is going to be SO different.  I'm sure I will have lots of pictures to share from Saturday. Yay!

Finally, Christmas.  I'm really trying to get in the spirit.  It's hard this year for some reason but finally my presents (that I've ordered for people) have started coming in and I'm getting excited.  I think I'm feeling down because I feel huge and have NO energy.  I want to be baking cookies and shopping until my feet fall off but I can't, my body just won't let me and I'm frustrated.  Thankfully I have the BEST husband in the world and he's helping me out so much.  Cooking dinner, doing the dishes, giving Rylie a bath every night, doing much of the housework.  I know he feels bad for me because this pregnancy has been so hard on my body lately and I just could not love and appreciate him anymore.  He is amazing.  

OK, I'm going to share some pictures from this week that just make me happy.  Enjoy.  I hope they also make you smile  =)  and I'll get back to the challenge soon.

We fully support almost-nekkid reading in this house =)

Playing with Daddy at her eye appointment. They're so cute! 

 She fell asleep on the way home from Emory, only slept 10 minutes, but still cute!

She was surrounded with her favorites, her book and her blankie!

More reading...what can I say? She loves books, she's SO cute!

Blog Challenge Day 7

Morning! We're 7 days into my blog challenge and I'm still rolling along.  I view it as a daily blog exercise, like a yoga practice, I think it will help stretch out my writing abilities and just get me in the habit of writing more often. I like it.  I have so much to do here today because we were gone ALL day yesterday to Atlanta, plus my sister is stopping by with my nephew Elliot and I can't wait! I love that baby and I can't wait to see him with Rowan, they'll be a cute pair of boys!  Rylie will be outnumbered but I doubt it will even bother her, she has no interest in tiny, squirmy babies so far  =)  Onto the challenge!


Day 7 - Your dream wedding.


I already had my dream wedding, so I'll just tell you a little about it here.  Jason and I wanted a small wedding. I am not into having 400 people that I barely know watching us in one of our most special and intimate moments of our life.  The venue we chose would only hold about 60-80 people so it was perfect.  Here is the chapel:

Nestled back in the woods it overlooks a lake.

There are beautiful stained glass windows and a stone floor (needed VERY little decoration).

The day went by in a flash but I can tell you that it was beautiful.  Jason and I picked out all the music ourselves.  My Uncle Mike (and Uncle Stan) did the ceremony for us.  My color was PINK because if you know me, you know that's my color.  Our song to leave to was a Nick Drake song, Northern Sky.  It was perfect.  The reception was at the Lodge at Callaway and it was amazing.  A huge brunch with tons of food.  We'd designed the reception tables ourselves and my Mom and Aunts arranged the flowers and our bouquets with beautiful hydrangeas and pink roses.  It all went by in such a blur and I wish I could do it again.  I do know that I would not change a thing.  I only have a few pics on this computer but just know it was a perfect day.  Simple and beautiful.  The best thing was that at the end of the day I drove off on my honeymoon married to my best friend!

Ready to get married!

Saying our vows.

Romantic  =)

Fun at the reception!

Love.

An Emory Checkup and Day 6 of the Challenge

Hi there!  Today was a LONG day.  Today Rylie had her post-op appointment with Dr. Lenhart at Emory.  We headed up around 10am, grabbed lunch at a little (pricey) diner off of Ponce de Leon and made it to the doctor's office right on time.  It was the perfect time because we were the only people there (which is SO rare). Everyone thought Rylie looked so cute in her Santa outfit and so far her eyes look great.  There is still a slight deviation on occasion to turn inward but with patching and glasses they seem confident that her alignment will stay straight.  All we can do is persist with the vision therapy.  She is doing much better with glasses and now that she's over this sinus infection we can patch again.  We just adore her doctor, it's such a blessing that she was assigned to us!  Thankfully though our next appointment is in 4 months...whew...no more long rides up for awhile.  Right now Rylie and I are chilling out to Yo Gabba Gabba and my husband is cooking Shrimp Stirfry for dinner because he is THE best husband in the world. It's true.  The folks at the pediatric opthamology reception desk even insisted he looks like George Clooney (which I won't argue with...I know my man is handsome!). Ok, now onto Day 6 of my Blog Challenge!

My cutie pie at her appointment today!

Day 6 - A photo of an animal you'd love to keep as a pet.


This is hard because we already have 3 pets if you don't include our fish...and I think we're pretty full up on pets here, but if I could choose any pet I'd choose this:

I would love love love to have a Labradoodle.  I know, weird name, but it's a Labrador and a Poodle mix and I  just think they're SO beautiful.  I my little Oliver though...but I wish he had a big clumsy playmate and I think one of these would be awesome!  At this point we'd probably adopt a pet from a local shelter though.  My favorite website is Petfinder.com . I browsed their site for 10 minutes for this challenge and had to get off of it before I ran out and added another mouth to feed here at the Griffith household.  I love our cats...but I am SUCH a dog person.  What kind of animal would you love to have?

I leave you with a picture of the dog I love most in the entire world, my Olive (Oliver Phinneas Griffith).

Blog Challenge Day 5

Yep. It's already day 5 of my blog challenge and I'm still keeping up.  I'm a little impressed with myself actually.  My sister did day 4 and 5 on her blog today and it was a great post! Check it out if you have the chance.  Today has been a great day. The baby slept in past 8am, we got some cleaning done around here and around lunchtime we headed out to Target as a family (after my husband made us awesome Tuna Melts for lunch).  Rylie was so great in Target and I even ran into a dear old friend, we made plans to catch up during Christmas break and I can't wait.  Then we drove over to Starbucks and had coffee (and a Cranberry Bliss Bar) as a little family.  I love love love our little coffee dates as a family.  The three of us sitting all snuggled up in the big leather chairs at Starbucks w/ a cup of hot coffee and a treat = pure happiness for me.  I don't know how that will change with Rowan but I think we'll come to love the 4 of us just as much as we love the 3 of us.  I love little Elliot so much I can only imagine how much I'll love my own little boy!Ok, moving onto today's challenge:


Day 5 - A photo of yourself two years ago.

This photo was taken at my baby shower for Rylie (one of the 3 I had) almost exactly 2 years ago.  I think this picture is one week shy of being 2 years old.  I had the most beautiful shower and there were tons of people there that I loved.  It was a wonderful joyous day for me!  It's hilarious to me that almost exactly 2 years later here I am doing this again!  I'd have told you that you were nuts if you'd told me I'd be having another baby in 2 short years but here we are.  Having Rylie has completely changed my life. As a Mama you're constantly elated, proud, full of love yet worried, frustrated and worn out. You can have a range of those emotions all in an hour!  There is nothing better in the world though.  Rylie is my joy every single day....even on the hardest days.  It helps that I am on this journey with Jason, my best friend who has grown into the most wonderful Dad.  He definitely takes care of us, his girls, and I'm sure that little Rowan will rock our world in such a good way.  I cannot wait to meet him and complete our little family (yes, I'm pretty sure we will be done after our little man).  I leave you with a picture of the girl that came only a month and 3 days after the above picture was taken...this little girl makes my heart sing  =)

"Helping" decorate the Christmas tree

Have a great Sunday and come back tomorrow for day 6 of my challenge!

Blog Challenge Day 4

Hey! How's the weekend going? I've had a pretty great weekend so far.  I woke up just before 7am because Rowan had the hiccups (that wasn't annoying at all, haha).  We had a low-key morning around the house and then I went shopping with my Mom, Rylie, Amy and baby Elliot.  We hit Toys R' Us which was INSANE. I've never been there when it's been such a madhouse.  Then we ran over to Wendy's for lunch which was just as crazy and finally Sears.  Elliot did SO well on his first shopping trip, what a trooper, he slept the entire time!  Tonight I'm hoping we can actually finish our Christmas tree and watch a Christmas special, we have about 5 different ones on DVD so we'll have our pick!  Now onto the challenge topic for today!

Day 4 - Your favorite photograph of your best friend.

Hi. These 2 are my besties on the day I got engaged.

This was easy.  I have 2 best friends, my husband and my twin sister, Amy.  I have TONS of favorite pictures of these two but I chose one each of them and then one of the 3 of us together.  


The first is of my sister and I. I chose a silly picture because we are silly.  Amy is such a great friend and sister.  She usually knows what I'm thinking, she has great advice and she's always, always always honest with me.  I learn so much from her (I hope she learns anything from me).  I feel like I am the most blessed person in the world because she's MY sister, my twin!

Next up is my handsome husband.  Growing up I was worried I'd never find a man that understood me. I'm silly, when I get angry or upset I get quiet but when you're my friend (or love) I'm totally devoted.  He absolutely gets me.  The weirdest, most bizarre thing that I find funny...he does too.  When I get quiet he forces me to talk about it so that it doesn't get bad and build up. Plus, I know he's totally devoted to me too.  I'm telling you, I still swoon when he kisses me.  He is the man for me.  Here is one of my favorite pictures of us.  This was our very first picture together taken with my phone.  We'd known eachother (in person) about 2 weeks.  It's sort of amazing how crazy I already was about him at this point.  Now I look at it and think WOW...I love this man!

I'm 4/4 so far on the challenge. Whoohoo. What will tomorrow's challenge be? You'll have to stay tuned to find out =)  Have a great Saturday ya'll~

Blog Challenge: Day 3

Morning! It's Friday, so TGIF!  We have nothing major planned for this weekend besides actually decorating our tree.  Yesterday I couldn't find the lights...so here it still sits.  A nekkid tree....pretty sad.  I'll probably get more Christmas shopping done and possibly wrap a few gifts. Yay! I love Christmas.  So, moving on to Day 3 of my month-long Blog Challenge.  I've thought and thought about this one, here is the topic: Day 3 - Your idea of the perfect first date.
Don't laugh, and don't ask questions...just go with it, but I only had one first date.  I married the man I went on that first date with, so with this question I can only describe how wonderful that night was  =)


Jason and I had known eachother a week or two and hung out a few times casually before he asked me out on an official date.  It was a Friday night and I remember obsessing over which shirt to wear with my new jean skirt.  I finally decided as he pulled in the driveway to pick me up.  I'm pretty sure I introduced him to my Dad (yes, Mama, you were out of town...heck out of STATE when this happened).  He opened my car door and we were off to dinner at Sushiko.  This is one of those places that they cook the food in front of you.  I think it's good first date material because you can talk but you're still entertained (in case of any awkwardness).  We had a great meal and I do remember him giving me his jacket because I was cold (even though it was June).  We debated icecream afterwards but decided on coffee (a mutual love of ours) and went to Books-a-Million. This particular location later became a very frequent spot for us.  We had coffee and chatted and looked at books until the placed closed down (or until my curfew was almost up...yes, even in my mid-20's I had an early curfew).  He drove me home and the rest is history.  

This was a few weeks after our first date.  It was taken at one of

our favorite places, Books-a-Million, the place where we ended our

first date. 

I can say that Jason has always been the most considerate dater.  He never picked me up late, he always (and still does) opened the car door for me and he never took me on awkward dates.  Boys and girls, chivalry is NOT dead.  I think a first date should be old school, no matter what age you are.  Chivalrous, the boy should pay, something light and fun.  Even now, when we get date nights I treasure them.  Any little moment I can steal away with the man I'm crazy about is very special to me...even if it's just a coffee date.  I look back on that first date and still get butterflies because it was really the beginning of our little love story and I thank God for sending me someone that I'm SO excited to spend the rest of my life with.  Thanks for reading my sappy ( and possibly boring) take on dates.  If you're single, enjoy them and have fun!  If you're married (with kids) do the same but treasure them...they're SO important!

Day 2: Blog Challenge!

So it's day 2 of my December blog challenge and I'm still here! The challenge of the day you ask?  Here it is:

Day 2 - A photo of something you ate today.

This morning I woke up craving oatmeal.  We got up early...well Jason did (5:45am) and as I drank my coffee I started googling things like healthy breakfast cookies or loaded oatmeal.  I ended up at one of my favorite websites Kath Eats Real Food.  Kath is a registered dietitian and one of my favorite healthy living bloggers.  I knew she'd come through when it came to a good oatmeal recipe.  This is the recipe I decided on: Baked Banana Oatmeal.  I cut her recipe in half (hers serves 4) and added about a teaspoon of natural peanut butter to my wet ingredients.  This turned out to be filling, good for me and a hit with Rylie!  I ate around 7:45am and it's nearly 1pm...and I'm still pretty full.  The middle is yummy and oaty (yep. I'm saying that's a word) and the outside is chewy an delicious.  The bananas caramelize and and it's a little bit of heaven. Great way to start a day.


Come back tomorrow to find out what day 3 of the challenge has in store for me.  I can honestly say that I haven't even read challenge #3, so it'll be a surprise to us all!  Now I'm off to get some lunch and finally put some lights on my little Christmas tree.  It's about time!  Have a great day  =)

5 Things I'm Obsessed with Now

Morning!  It's finally hump-day! I hope you're having a fantastic week.  After yesterday's dreary day of rain rain rain all day I thought I'd post something happy.  5 things I'm totally obsessed with now.  What are you obsessed with right now?


1. Agadir Argon Oil and Conditioner

My hair is curly and unbelievably dry.  No matter what time of year.  I describe my hair as feeling like a horses tail...but it can be pretty.  What keeps it in place is hair mousse and that makes it crunchy and dry...which I hate. My sister-in-law actually suggested I try this stuff when I was up for a visit in October and low and behold when I came home my Mama had some.  I've been using it for a month or so and my hair is SO soft and healthy!  I wash with regular (cheap) shampoo and then use this conditioner and a tiny bit of the oil before I use mousse and a diffuser (on my blow dryer).  It also smells SO good!  I'm obsessed with it!  You can find it online or at hair salons.


2. Yankee Candle's Peppermint Swirl Jar Candle

It's no secret that I love all things Christmas (music, decorations, food, ect.) so it's no surprise that at this time of year Jason and I would fill our house with Christmas smells.  He loves candles as much as I do...we have at least one burning nearly all day at our house.  We usually each pick a holiday "flavor" we like and then also buy a pine-scented candle because we have a fake tree and want at least the idea that our house really smells like pine.  This year I chose the Peppermint Swirl candle.  Peppermint and vanilla swirled together for a perfect balance of Christmas cheer.  Smells like a candy cane and sugar cookies all in one.  I'm loving it!

3. Online Christmas Shopping

 (original image found here)

Yep, some people thinks it takes the joy out of Christmas but not me! I get even more joy by scouring the websites for cute things, looking up coupon codes or plucking items off of someone's Amazon wishlist (a link to mine, haha). It's so exciting to see the packages start trickling in everyday.  I don't do ALL my Christmas shopping online but I can tell you that the vast majority of my Christmas shopping will be delivered to my door.  My tired and pregnant body is very happy about this!  Here are some of the sites I love best!  Which sites do you love for shopping?

Amazon

Etsy

Personalization Mall

Uncommon Goods

Think Geek

4. Celestial Seasonings Candy Cane Lane Tea

Confession: I want to be a tea drinker...but I'm really not.  I do like the occasional cup but I am SO much more of a coffee drinker.  Every year they have this tea available in our local supermarkets and every year I squeal with delight because this is a tea (a green tea at that) that I actually love.  It tastes like peppermint vanilla (haha...sort of like I'm drinking the candle I talked about earlier).  Try a cup of it and I'm pretty sure you'll be a fan.  You can buy it here or almost anywhere (I got mine at Walmart), but do it soon because it's only a seasonal tea!

5. A 30-Day Blog Challenge

My beautiful cousin blogged over on her website at Ciao Bella about a 30-day blog challenge and I'm all over it!  I love a challenge, especially when it comes to my blog.  Click on the link to her website if you want to read each days challenge.  I thought it would be a perfect time to start today since it's December 1st.  Hopefully I won't miss any days...that'll be the biggest challenge.  In 30-days we'll see just how well I did.  Here is challenge numero uno.

Day 1 - A photo of yourself and a description of how your day was.

The pic is posted above.  It wasn't taken today but that's because it's only 7am here.  It is one of my favorite recent pictures (it was taken about a month ago while waiting on surgery for Rylie's eyes).  I can only tell you my plans for the day so far.  They are ambitious as usual...especially when I feel like I'm lugging around a bowling ball strapped to my belly all day.  Rylie has school this morning so it'll be a mad rush to get a shower, get her dressed and fed (she won't eat much in the morning), get her to school and hopefully no tears today.  Then I'm off to pick up Amy and I some Starbucks and meet our friend Jessi at Amy's house for some girl time, gossip and good coffee.  Amy really can't take Elliot out in public yet so we decided to bring girl time to her.  I'm sure we'll jabber away and kiss all over my precious nephew...he is SO yummy.  Then I have to run a few errands before I pick Rylie up.  I'll let her watch her favorite show (Yo Gabba Gabba) put her down for a nap and try and get my little Christmas tree up (we'll see if that happens).  Then I'll probably spend the rest of my evening cooking dinner, playing with my girl and spending time with my handsome husband...you know...the usual good stuff.  Join me back tomorrow for day 2 of my challenge or join in with me!  Are you up for the challenge?