She fits right in..

The other day, Alex and I were goofing off with the camera on my phone. We were trying to get a picture of the 3 of us where everyone was looking. After several unsuccessful attempts, Alex wanted to take a silly picture. We took a few, had our fun and tried again for a nice group shot.

As we were looking through them, we came across this one. HILARIOUS!!! We knew that we were making faces but didn't know that Ellasyn decided to get in on the action.

She fits right in! I will definitely be enlarging this and framing it!

Katriana

Smiley Pot

Ellasyn is such an amazing, laid back baby who smiles all the time. Some say it is gas. I say no way should something so gross get the credit for causing something so beautiful. She must be talking with her angel friends & letting them know she loves it here. That has to be it...right? :)
Katriana

Finally...

Finally, a blog post, lol!

Finally, our baby girl made her much anticipated arrival.

Ellasyn Claire

Dec 21st @ 12:42 pm

weighing 6.13 & 20.5" in length

To say that we are completely in love is a total understatement! She is wonderful & such a blessing to our family.

We are so incredibly blessed!

This is where I will ramble & record some details I don't want to forget;

6:00 am: checked into the hospital at .1

7:30 am: water broken & pitocin started at a 2

8:30 am: epidural administered at a 3

8:45-11:00 pm: nap on and off, measured at a 4

12:00 pm: woke up to extreme pressure. Nurse Robin checked my dilation & I went from a 4 to a 10 in an hour. She begins to prep the bed & room and calls Dr. Yancey.

12:15 pm: Robin has me do a practice push. As I am pushing, she has Tripp take a "look" as the baby is crowning. She asks me to stop pushing so that Dr. Yancey can get there.

12:25: Dr. Yancey arrives and we start pushing. Tripp counts for me, a little too fast at first, lol.

12:42: After six rounds of pushing, Ellasyn was born. One. Of. Our. Greatest. Moments. Ever!!

Tripp & I were the only ones in the room as she was born. My friend Tami was there in the beginning and afterward & captured some amazing pictures for me. My brother Jay, his wife Amy & there two children brought Alex to the hospital and were in the waiting room as the baby was being born. My mom made it right after she was born.

Scratch that..

Our baby girls name will be

Ellasyn Clair

{{So excited that Tripp decided to go with the 'y' in her name. Thank you babe!}}

Miss Ellason Claire

I am so in love with my baby girl already that it is just about indescribable.

We got to see her sweet face again this past weekend and she officially confirmed that
She is still a She.
No doubt about it.
Thank you Jesus!

The sono tech (incredibly sweet lady, I highly recommend Sono-Care in Tyler) said that it was amazing how much her bone and facial structure looked so much like Alex's. He thinks it is pretty cool that she looks like him. Awe!

After the sono, we headed over to a bow shop that I have been wanting to shop at for a long time and got her a few goodies. Those suckers are expensive! Good thing I can learn how to make them myself. :)

I am 17 weeks today. My nausea has just about dissapeared. I am still taking the zophran as a precautionary but I don't think that will be necessary much longer. My appetite is BACK! Like, crazy back! I lost 15 pounds during my first trimester so now I need to get myself under control for a while. (that way I can enjoy pigging out later, lol!)
I am really starting to enjoy this pregnancy. I have been happy about it all along, even while being so sick, but it is nice to be to this point.

Ellason has been practicing her ninja skills a lot lately. I am so excited for Tripp & Alex to get to feel her move. That should happen before too much longer I guess.
I am incredibly blessed! Incredibly!
Katriana

Two Funny Alex Stories..

...for the memory bank :)

Funny Story #1: " Mom, open your mouth really big." I ask why so he asks me again really nicely. I give in and open my mouth as big as I can. Alex them proceeds to get in my face as close as he can and yell the following into my open pie hole, "I love you Ellason Claire! I can't wait to meet you!"

Tripp and I laugh hysterically! We asked him why he did that and he said he wanted to make sure his baby sister could hear him. He thought it would be better to talk through my mouth than through my belly hole. The kid cracks me up so much! It was incredibly smart of him to even think of talking to his sister that way. Now, honestly, it's not quite as funny anymore. Him getting super close to my face & yelling has lost a bit of its charm, to say the least. :)

Funny Story #2: Alex was buckled in his carseat in my car this morning. I forgot my phone on the counter so I ran in to get it. I get back in the car and he says, "Mom, you don't know you are beautiful." I start laughing and he says, "Don't laugh, it's never crossed your mind." I continue to laugh and he says, "You are not that kind."
It finally dawns on me that the tail end of Sammy Kershaw's song is playing on the radio. Then Alex starts to sing the song to me as opposed to saying the phrases. He is so stinking funny!!!

It's hot!

Like you didn't already know that! Ha!

I have been struggling in this heat...big time! It has zapped my energy completely, there is no mas. It has been incredibly hard to explain this to Alex but I think he is starting to get used to the idea that Mommy is just not going to go outside for a while.

I have to share a funny story. Slightly uncouth but funny all the same.

Last night we let Alex sleep with us. (who am I kidding, the kid sleeps with us every night, lol!) He 'accidentally' passed a wee bit of gas. When I asked him if he needed to excuse himself, this is what he said:

"Mom, you may not know this but when girls are pregnant, it makes them hot and stinky. Maybe you need to excuse yourself."

Tripp and I laughed hysterically! He said it with that mischievous grin on his face knowing that he was about to say something funny. Such a character!

Gross topic but I want to record my babe's funny personality.

Hope everyone is having a good day! Oh yeah, did you know it was hot outside! UGH!!! :)

Bleh...

I'm feeling pretty bleh these days.

While I am incredibly thrilled to be pregnant, this first trimester is kicking my tail! Kicking it! It is a struggle to drink water, eat food, go outside, you name it, I'm struggling with it. No bueno. I can tell that it is starting to lighten up slightly so that is the positive side to this depressing post.

I don't think the heat is helping much either. We took Alex to the movies, Fresh & the Zoo yesterday and I think I could have overdone it since it was so warm out as I am completely wiped out today. It will be nice to have some energy back in my next trimester, that's for sure.

Alex loves Fresh. I took him back in the early spring and he has been asking to go back over and over again. It was Tripp's first time to go and he was very impressed. Alex had a great time pushing & adding things to his cart. It was pretty cute!

Then on to the zoo. Tripp didn't get to go with us, sadly. It was a members only event and Tripp is not on our membership. We decided early on to share a membership with my mom since Tripp's availability would not allow him to go as often as hers would. That mentality backfired on us yesterday as it would have been really nice if Tripp could have gone with us. All of the animals were so active last night! It was amazing! They were all playing and goofing off, very cool to see!

Yesterday was fun but honestly, Alex had quite the attitude for a good bit of the day. Very frustrating! Tripp and I felt like we went out of our way to do some really fun things for him but he was just stuck on being cranky and full of complaints. We did have our highlights of the day though so again, there is the positive side of the negative, lol. There were several times of sweetness between Alex and I that overshadowed his cranky attitude. That all went south though when a bee flew into his snocone. It all went straight to heck after that. Boo...

After the meltdown, we decided quickly to head straight for home. Do not pass go. Straight home! Alex went straight to bed and Tripp and I watched a movie. A horrible movie by the way! We do not recommend Black Swan. Way too strange for us...but to each their own.

Ok, that wraps up my thoughts for the moment. I am about to take a much anticipated nap with the squirt. He is not going to be happy about it...my joy should be enough for the two of us, hahhahahah!

Changes....

Things sure have been changing around here a lot lately.

Summer is coming.

Alex is growing up.

I have a new job.

Tripp is traveling quite a bit.

Nosmo, well, he is still Nosmo...

While we are trying to acclimate ourselves to the hotter temps, embrace Alex growing up, adjust to my new full time work hours and deal with Tripp being on the road a bit more, we also get adjust to this...

Whooooooo Hooooooooo! We are so excited!

I am currently about 6 1/2 weeks pregnant and due around the first of January. It is so amazing how God works. After trying for about 8 months to conceive, Tripp and I decided (or started trying to convince ourselves rather) that it was ok that we were not pregnant yet. We would just wait until the fall and start trying again. Our goal was for a spring or summer baby. I had myself convinced that it was ok that I wasn't pregnant yet as of February because now we would avoid the super sick season with a newborn and the cold weather. God's timing is always perfect even when His plan differs from ours! From the looks of it, we conceived the latter part of March...when we weren't even trying, lol! Guess what 'they' say is right, once you quit worrying about it and quit trying to micromanage, it happens. At least it did this time anyway.

We were really hoping that this pregnancy would go smoothly and I would not have near the issues I had with Alex. So far, not the case. I have been super sick, not just nausea. No fun. I am on zofran again which seems to do the trick without knocking me out like the pfenergren did.

I want to sleep all the time. Seriously all the time. That is not as easy as it was when it was just Tripp and I. While Alex is incredibly thrilled to be a big brother soon, he doesn't quite understand why I have no energy or why I am so sick. Hopefully this first trimester will zoom by and the sickness will be over soon. That is our prayer.

I am scheduled for my "first" appointment June 3 for a sonogram & a visit with Dr. Yancey. We had a small bump in the road yesterday though that sent me in for an emergency appointment. I have had a stomach bug for the last few days that was accompanied by a lot of cramping. I didn't pay too much attention to the cramps until I started spotting yesterday. I tried really hard not to freak out too bad...but honestly, I freaked. Having had a miscarriage before Alex and spotting while pregnant with Alex, I am a bit gun shy to say the least.

I definitely calmed down once I saw the little babe's heartbeat. I am not far enough along to hear the heartbeat, but seeing it was enough. The baby measured at 6 weeks, though I thought we were closer to 8weeks along. The sono tech did notice that I have a small sub cortical (sp) rupture behind my uterus that is causing the bleeding. They are not too terribly concerned with it now because it is so small but they will continue to monitor it. I was told to take it easy over the weekend, read I get to sleep a lot, whoooo hooo!

This post has rattled on. If you are still reading, you are a trooper! This is mainly for memory sake so that I can remember the details. I need to post about how we told Alex. I definitely want to remember that for forever! :)

We haven't announced that I am pregnant on facebook because honestly, I don't want to deal with the fallout should something happen. I will probably do that after I go to the doctor in June. If I didn't have the history that I do, I would be screaming it from the roof tops! I'm posting about it here for a few reasons. One, mainly family and friends who can be discreet read this and two, I want to record the happenings while they are fresh on my brain. I know that not many people read this so I am thinking it is pretty safe. Lol!

I'm going to have another baby!!!!! Whooo hoooo! I didn't think we would get to experience this again. I am so grateful to God for this miracle in my belly! Sick and All!

We have got ourselves a T-Baller!

Check out our little t-baller, Alex. Today was opening day for Sabine and boy, was it a full opening day! We had a our first double header as well as our first game. Not the greatest of combinations to be honest with you! The kids did great though. Alex played catcher during the first game and did not enjoy it at all. I wish I had a nickel for each time he said he was bored as the catcher. Drove me crazy!! :)

He shook it off though and ended the first game with a pretty decent attitude. He did AMAZING in the second game! They all did! We are so proud of them because we were expecting complete and total meltdowns for the second game! Alex played second base and loved it! He got right in there, chased the ball, fielded it and seemed to really enjoy himself.

There is still much to learn and plenty of time to do so. For the most part, the kids enjoyed themselves and are eager to play again. That is a definite plus in the parents' book, lol!

I love this picture of my two favorite Rangers. I really appreciate Tripp for coaching. It is hard to try to teach your own child a sport, no less be the coach, but my guys are handling it very well. I love the extra time they get with each other and to see Tripp encourage Alex in something they both really like. This could be the beginning of a family love for all of us so we are excited!

Texas Rangers, Spring 2011, Sabine League

Allergies get TWO THUMBS DOWN!

Ok, so not that anyone out there actually likes allergies or anything, but here at the Griffin house.....we reeeeeaaaaaaallly don't like them! My poor baby is struggling to put it mildly. I feel so bad for him because it is incredibly obvious that he is miserable. Yet he manages to be so sweet in spite of it. Alex has always had allergies but this year is by far the worst. I am attributing it to his trampoline of all things. He just got it for his birthday and loves it. Like every thing else in East Texas, it is covered in pollen just about every day. We usually let him bounce on it later in the evening and I'm guessing it is what has triggered this 'Allergy Attack' if you will.

Here is a pic of him from yesterday about an hour before his eyes were completely swollen shut. You can barely see the rashes starting to appear beside his mouth and nose. I had some eye drops called in yesterday that seem to have helped a bit but this is still the outcome after 3 doses of Benedryl.


And here is a shot from this morning. After what has to have been the WORST night of sleep ever, he still woke up smiling. His lips are starting to crack from being so swollen. Poor thing!

He has a doctor's appointment this afternoon with his pediatrician so hopefully he will be on the mend soon. I am currently listening to him try to breath through his nose. I laid him down for a nap at 1:25 and he still hasn't been able to fall asleep (1.5 hours later). Prayerfully, his appt will go good, he will get some relief, and we will ALL get to sleep good tonight. Though this sounds like a lot of complaining, we are super excited for spring time!

Allergies just get two thumbs down! Actually...that would be 6 thumbs down for the Griffin fam...or 10 if you include Nosmo's...hehe!

Katriana

Amazing..

Because every post needs a pic..here is a random pic of Big Daddy tasting Alex's butternut squash at Christmas. SO sweet!

Amazing that in all of my "free time" I have neglected to blog.

Amazing that my little man is now 5 years old.

Amazing that I am quickly approaching my 10 year anniversary with my awesome hubby.

Amazing that I finally feel like I am getting my focus back.

Amazing that I have never felt more alone & still be ok with it like I feel now.

Amazing that I feel like my relationship with God is getting stronger and stronger.

Amazing that I am allowed breath each day and able to be amazed.

Alex is getting so big and saying the funnies stuff lately.

For example, he was singing this song the other day in the backseat of the car, "For he makes really good jello, for he makes really good jello, for he makes really good jello, which nobody can deny!"

He randomly sang out the following while playing with his daddy tonight: "We are Farmers, dum da dum da dum dum dum!"

For Valentines he got me diamonds from Walmart because they are a girls best friend. They cost him $5 dollars and he quickly told me that he could have gotten a footlong but decided to get me a best friend instead..haha!

He is obsessed with the zoo and all things museum related. The Legend of the Guardians and MegaMind are his two favorite shows right now and he quotes them frequently.

Tripp and I are taking a money class by Dave Ramsey at church. BIGGEST BLESSING EVER! We love it and I have really gotten on board..which makes Tripp one happy man! We are also participating in a bible study with some other young couples at church. AMAZING! We are learning so much and finally realizing why we believe what we believe. It's so awesome to have our ideals and thoughts actually line up with the principles God wants us to follow. Awesome!

Ok, let me think of what other randomness I can throw in here since the odds of me posting again soon are rather slim... :)

I'm working less...dislike...painting more.....like, getting to spend a ton of time with Alex....AWESOME...and really getting to focus on my family. I am one blessed lady!

Toodles!

Alex's Prayer

Alex's bedtime prayers tonight:

Dear God & Jesus,

I love you so much. I heard that you guys have power. You guys made the trees and us. That is pretty powerful. I love y'all! I believe that y'all have power and everything else. Jesus & God, I love y'all both. Y'all are so cool. I don't know anything else to say. Good night and Amen.

Love, Alex

~~He melts my heart! Thank you Lord for a child that loves you and loves to learn about you. Please give me the wisdom to guide him to glorify You. Amen~

CopyKat

I'm trying something new tonight and I think I just might like it! I noticed that Tyne posted an entry using her iPhone and figured I'd give it a try.

This should be a quick and easy way to blog without being tied to the computer. Let me see how easy it is to add a pic...

Oh yeppers...I like it a lot!!
(Alex played outside this evening & had to have the proper gear: his goggles, snorkel & his bald head hat...hahahahhaha!)

Okey doke, good evening folks!

Where has the summer gone??

This summer has flown by!! It has also been incredibly hot!!!

Like FOR REALZ hot!! I am so ready for fall to hurry up and get here.

Alex has been a hilarious mess this summer. While he makes our heart explode with joy, he also drives us bonkers! We stayed at the house all day today and he was literally bouncing off of the walls. Tripp asked me at one point if it was normal for a kid not to slow down & relax all day. Yeppers it is, but it can make one go crazy for sure!

We got a new computer this weekend. A Mac to be exact. Guess who has fallen in love?? That would be me! I fought it in the beginning because I thought the transition from a PC at the office to a Mac at home would be too difficult but I think I am going to manage just fine. I like it a lot more than I thought I would!!! So far, we have watched 4 movies on it & logged several hours surfing the web and exploring it. Fun times!

Ok, who knows when we will post again. Hopefully sooner rather than later because this is supposed to be where we store our memories and funny stories...

9 Whole YeArS!

Tripp & I have been married for a whopping 9 years!

Hip Hip Hooray!

While our marriage has not always been the best, I am so blessed to have a husband who continues to be dedicated to our marriage.

I love you Tripp! Even though you overcook my grits sometimes, I am still delighted to have you as my partner in life! Muah!

Words to live by..

Can anyone guess how much I dislike painting words?

Let me tell ya….. a whole lot!

I did however, really enjoy this order once it was done. After several attempts to try to free hand the lettering, I decided to use my noggin. I had a friend who owns a sign company cut vinyl stencils in the exact measurements that I needed to cover the entire canvas. Once that was applied, piece of cake.

My customer loved them as did I. I am even looking forward to making a set of these for myself. :)

Fire truck canvas

Inspired by Pottery Barns fire truck canvas set, I painted this  for  a customer in Dallas. I am thrilled with how it turned out. Each canvas is 20x16 but pieced together it measures 20x48.

For boy stuff, this was fun. *Girl stuff is way more fun though! :)*

Blonde Begone!

Before
After

Yesterday I got my hair done and I feel instantly smarter! Just kidding! I had my blonde highlights covered and went closer to my natural color.

I loooooooooooove it!

I have been trying to grow my hair out for some time now. I was a little sad that we had to cut off almost an inch last night…but it was worth it. My hair feels so incredibly soft now. Yippee!

He loves me....

And I love him too!

Because I am such a slacker…

Alex’s birthday party was originally scheduled for a date almost 2 months ago. We ended up finally having it a little over a month ago. Why then has it taken me so long to update ol’ blog-o with pictures?

Because I am such a slacker! :) I have had plenty of opportunities to do so and just didn’t. There have been weekends lately where I have not done one single productive thing. I guess that is how one truly obtains this awesome slacker status that I have achieved. Awesome!

That said, Alex’s party was super fun! The kids all had a great time and Alex is still talking about it to this day! I count that as a success!

Spring is in the air! Finally!!!

We are beyond ready for spring to be upon us! I am even looking forward to spring cleaning if that tells you anything! {pretty sad if you ask me}

A lovely water puddle has decided to take up residence in our front yard. Come to find out, we don’t mind so much.

     

Spring, we miss you & love you more than you know! Hurry on up!!

‘Totally surprising’ outcome…

What happens when you mix an adorable newly turned four year old little boy and a b-b gun?

Give up?

Here is what you get:

A lovely shattered window. Awesome.

Bet you didn’t see that coming right? Guess who for sure didn’t see it coming: Tripp!!! He let Alex go outside with the bbgun from his childhood. What he neglected to do was instruct Alex not to point the gun towards the house. He passed out all of the other much needed instructions in regards to not pointing it at people, Nosmo, etc. but just left the house out.

The best part of it all: that’s a brand new window. It has maybe been installed right at a month. Yeah…nice

Needless to say, Alex didn’t get into near as much trouble as Tripp did! Lol!

Alex’s 4th Birthday Cake

I totally LOVE how Alex’s cake turned out this year! It was soo much fun to make. Best part: Alex’s face! He is beyond ready to eat it and chomp down on his ‘scrumptous cake’…his words not mine!!

****Thank you Aunt Brenda for baking the cakes and making the icing for me!!! YOU are a life saver & very much appreciated!!!!!****

Talking to Jesus with Chickens

Scene: Tripp, Alex & I all piled up in Alex’s bed wrapping up a bedtime story. The book of choice for the night was ‘Big Chickens’, a book about a group of chickens who were afraid of everything until they decide to be brave.

Me: Ok, babe. Let’s say our prayers & talk to Jesus.

Alex: Can I talk to Jesus with my chickens? (He was holding his book at this time)

Me: Sure you can. Come on, let’s talk to Jesus.

Alex (bows his head & closes his eyes): Dear Jesus, bock, bock, bock bock bock bock. Bock bock bock. Bock Bock. Amen!

Me & Tripp: LAUGH HYSTERICALLY!!!!

The ways that Alex melts my heart cannot be measured!! I *had* to document this story so that I could treasure it for all of time.  Love my boy!!!

Windows Live Writer is AWESOME!

Tyne over at The White House recommended Windows Live Writer a few days ago & I just HAD to try it. Basically, if Tyne says it is awesome you can just go ahead and hang your hat on the fact that it is as she says!

Tyne is a precious mother of 4 and does a remarkable job at mothering her gifts from above. She is such an encourager and motivator for me. I am very grateful that she and her amazing family have settled in our part of the woods! Feel free to jump over to Tyne’s blog for some sweet pics, good recipes & insightful wisdom and direction for following the Lord.

Check  out Live Writer when you can! It is free and ridiculously easy to use. Trust me, I am using it with no problems & that says a lot! Lol! You can go here to download it for free.

Happy weekend to all!

Well Checks & Growth Curves

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Alex had his 4 year well check yesterday with Dr. Hudson. He had to get 3 different shots, poor baby, but  did really well despite the owies.

Our boy weighs in at a whopping 33.4 lbs which puts him in the 20% for his weight. He is 34” tall and falls in the 45% for height. Skinny! He totally gets that from his daddy! Lol!

Alex also had to have his hearing & vision tested. He passed with flying colors!

Alex said that his favorite part of the doctors visit was when Dr. Hudson found tatertots in his ears and when he beat on him with a hammer. (checking reflexes…he wasn’t literally hammering him!)

Dr. Hudson said that everything looks good with Alex and that he is growing as he should be. He is still within normal for his personal growth curve so

WHOOOOO HOOO! Like we didn’t already know he was perfect! Ha!

Happy 4th Birthday Alex!

Oh my goodness! My baby is four! 4! For some reason, I am really having a hard time with this birthday. He is no longer a toddler but now a preschooler. Seriously, where did the time go? I still remember our first Easter together and the outfit he wore with the sweet bear face on the hiney. I still remember the teradactial noises he used to make and I will never forget how precious our time was together at 2 in the morning.

Alex made me a Mommy and for that I am forever grateful.

I am amazed as to how much my life has changed these last four years. Things seem to be far more beautiful to me. For example, never before would I have thought that Tripp's old work boots were amazingly gorgeous. I do now!

I have never been a fan of sports....but I am now! Well...to the extent that I enjoy watching Tripp and Alex play sports together. Honestly, that is about as far as it goes! Lol!

Even mud is more appealing to me than ever before!

Alex's sense of humor has been hilarious from the beginning it seems. I used to say that he must have enjoyed how it felt to him when I laughed while he was still in my belly because it seemed like he was always doing something to encourage it. It literally felt like he was tickling the inside of my belly at times! His mean face can always draw out the laughter...
You know what they say, a family that practices their mean face together stays together! Ok..."they" don't really say that but it is funny none the less!

Happy birthday Alex! Thank you for making these last 4 years beyond wonderful!!!

We love you Squirtamas Pertimas Apple Pie! Your so cute, we'll kiss your eye!!