The Grizzard Men

Kellan has been lucky enough to get to spend some time with his Papa Mike, his Great Papa Grizzard, and of course his daddy over the last few days.  Here are a few photos of 4 generations of Grizzard men :)  One of these days we have got to get all 4 of them in the SAME picture!!!

Here's little chub-a-lub with Michael's dad, Papa Mike!  Look at those leg rolls! :D

Papa Mike, Kellan, and Daddy

Great Papa Grizzard rocking Kellan to sleep.

He's really out!  Sprawling out all over Papa's lap :)

He wasn't going to sleep this visit!  Look at that wild man!

Such a lucky little fella to be loved by so many awesome people and have these great men in his life!

Kellan's Newest Sleeping Positions!

This is the position Kellan normally starts out in (its my personal favorite)

But lately THIS is what he's been doing during the night!

Yep he's under there...taking a nap in mommy and daddy's bed

Chubby ham hocks OUT...face and head IN!

Another new one...wedging himself in sideways!  He can't even stretch out but he does this almost every night now!

Sometimes he will even turn himself completely around and gets very upset when he wakes up if you don't come get him out IMMEDIATELY!

Then Friday morning when I looked on the monitor there was no Kellan!  When I came in his nursery there he was...wedged into the other end of his crib just as happy as can be wearing no socks!

Then there are the times when this is what I see on the video monitor when someone is supposed to be sleeping...he was being  a little too quiet and I find him peeling back the bumper to see what's out there!

What happened to my little baby that stayed in the same position all night?  Now I never know what I'm going to find when I look into that crib!

Favorite Restaurant Friday: 42nd Street Oyster Bar

This past Sunday we were in Rockingham for Mother's Day and decided to stay until Monday so that we could have a full day with my family.  We left my parents house Monday afternoon and stopped in Aberdeen/Southern Pines to have lunch at Olive Garden.  The main plan was to stop at Whole Foods on our way through Raleigh (Michael says Whole Foods is our crack) and afterwards eat dinner before we drove the rest of the way home.  At first we were thinking of having dinner at The Pit but then I suggested we eat at 42nd Street Oyster Bar.  This was another restaurant that Michael and I ate at a lot when we were dating.  My friends and I also went here several times for their happy hour from 4-6 p.m.  They used to have great specials on oysters and peel and eat shrimp if you sat in the bar area...I'm not sure if they still do that or not.

  

At 42nd Street you have to sit at the oyster bar if you want steamed oysters and we always get oysters so that's where we ended up this time.  We have eaten here lots of times but this was our first trip with Kellan.  He had to sit up on the bar overseeing our dinner and watching the guys shuck our oysters for us.   They have so many great seafood choices on the menu like shrimp and grits, crabcakes, tuna, mahi-mahi, and lobster but we almost always get the steamed shrimp and oysters.

Dinner with our own little shrimp!

Shrimp and oysters!!  And hushpuppies...oooh the hushpuppies!!  One of my favorite meals!

Tap dancing on the bar with Daddy

Snuggling with mommy...look at that face! And those toes!

 On our way from Whole Foods to the restaurant we passed a cupcake shop called Gigi's Cupcakes.  Well Michael's mom is called Gigi to Kellan so the more I thought about it we just had to get Kellan's picture taken there.  After we ate dinner we headed back to Gigi's Cupcakes.  While we were there we had to get a cupcake of course...

Michael's Strawberry Shortcake and my White Chocolate Magic

And here is Gigi's very own cupcake!!

What a great afternoon spent at our favorite grocery store and at one of our favorite restaurants!  Plus a little sweet treat before heading home!

Kellan LOVES Books!

Its no secret that I love to read!  There are few things in the world that I would rather do than read.  I love all kinds of books but I especially have a love for children's books.  I had fantastic elementary school teachers but my 4th grade reading teacher Sara Jackson stands out as one that particularly influenced me to have a wide range of reading interests.  We had a Battle of the Books team and yes this big nerd was definitely on it! 

Not only did I love to read as a child but my favorite part of the school day when I was the teacher was reading aloud to my class.  I would get just as excited as the kids when the Book Fair was at school or when our Scholastic book order came in the mail!  My favorite class in college was my Children's Literature course.  It was taught by Beth Weir and she was from New Zealand and has the MOST AMAZING accent.  Seriously she could have read anything and the entire class would hang on her every word.  She would pick fabulous children's books and read them to our college class....you could have heard a pin drop we were so enraptured.  She taught us the importance of reading aloud to all ages of children (even us, the 18-21 age group).

Having said all of this I'm sure you're not surprised that I am obsessed with Kellan's book collection.  I have a running list of books that I'm collecting for him because there are just so many books that he HAS to have!  The best gift I could ever get are Barnes and Noble or Amazon gift cards because I always have a list of books that I'm waiting to buy for me or him.  I read to Kellan on the very first day he came home from the hospital and its something we have tried to do everyday since then. 

Sneaking over to the book basket in his room...he can't crawl but he sure gets to where he wants to go!

Book basket in the living room

More books in his room!  These have more words so they are for when he gets a little older.

Kellan is very lucky to have a daddy that loves to read to him!  Daddy has a special attachment to Goodnight Moon!

Is this not the CUTEST THING EVER?! He holds on to the side of the book while I'm reading...I have tried and tried to get a picture and I FINALLY got it!

This is what I caught him doing in his pack and play yesterday! I tried to sneak up on him and get a picture but the kid seriously has bat ears!!  He misses NOTHING!  OK so maybe the book is upside down but don't argue with me...he's brilliant!

 Hopefully this love of books and reading will continue as he gets older.  Its not something you can force once they are in school and decide they don't like to read so we're trying to start early!  As long as he enjoys it, its something we will do everyday!

Justin and Crystal's Wedding

We had another busy weekend that started off with Michael's cousin Justin's Wedding Rehearsal Dinner Friday night.  The rehearsal and wedding were at Clay Hill Gardens a beautiful outdoor venue with tons of plants and flowers, restored buildings and even a newly built barn constructed out of old wooden beams.  It is absolutely gorgeous inside and decorated with white twinkle lights and a rustic chandelier.  Michael was singing in the wedding so we were invited to the rehearsal too and enjoyed a fantastic (fantastic is an understatement) shrimp cocktail appetizer, filet mignon, mashed red skinned potatoes, and asparagus entree, followed with a chocolate dessert that was indescribably fabulous!  The dinner was catered by David's Restaurant in Roanoke Rapids.  We have had several people tell us that we need to eat there and after that meal we definitely will be trying it out soon!  Can you believe I did not take a single picture of our food?!  You know it must have been good!

Here we are with little Doodle before we left for the rehearsal

Kellan and Gigi, his babysitter for the night :)

Us at the rehearsal dinner

The wedding was Saturday night and it was absolutely beautiful weather for an outdoor ceremony! 

Kellan and Daddy before the wedding

Mommy and Kellan before the wedding

The happy newlyweds :)

My wild men

Congratulations Justin and Crystal!  You had a beautiful wedding and we are so glad that we could be a part of it!  Get ready for all of the "So when are you going to have a baby?" questions...you are sure to start hearing them!  Enjoy being married first but when you are ready for kids, Michael and I highly recommend it!

Kellan's New Swing

Grandma Gigi bought Kellan a swing at the end of last summer and Michael set it up at her house this past weekend.  Kellan LOVED it!  He smiled and laughed out loud the entire time!  I told Michael we had to get him one for our house so he could swing on days that the weather is nice.  Well Daddy got on it right away!  He built Kellan a swing set Saturday morning in a matter of an hour or less! 

Hmm...let me test this thing out...

"How high do you want it?"

Finished product!

Little fuzzy head had just woken up from a nap but he warmed up fast!

So much fun! Thank you Daddy! :) What a lucky little boy!  There will be lots of swinging going on in the future!

Happy Mother's Day!

I really wanted to make it home to Rockingham to see my mom for Mother's Day this weekend but I didn't think it was going to be possible.  Michael's cousin Justin was getting married and Michael was singing in the wedding.  Since its a 3 hour drive to my parent's house I was thinking it was a pretty long drive for just one day.  The more I thought about it the more I couldn't stand the thought of not being there for Mother's Day so we decided to leave after the wedding.  We didn't get to my parents' until 1 a.m. Sunday morning but I'm so glad we decided to go!  We were able to go to church with my mom and dad and to my grandma's for lunch with my dad's side of the family.  My sister Jessica, her husband Shannon, and our niece Eden and nephew Owen made it home just in time for lunch too. 

My mom and Eden, me and Kellan, Jessie and Owen on my grandma's swing

Our nephew Owen "putting out a fire"

Our niece Eden blowing a bubble...isn't she just the cutest little thing?

My sister with Kellan

Me and Kellan, Grandma and Eden, and Jessie and Owen

After Grandma's we headed back to my mom and dad's house.  It was a rare afternoon and night of having nowhere to be.  All of us decided to stay until Monday so we had a rainy day of lounging around the house talking, napping, and playing!

Sitting on Mimi and Papa's front porch listening to the rain

Eating our dinner

Uncle Michael and Owen playing horsey

Owen delivering the Mother's Day "invitations"

Mimi opening her gifts with Papa and Eden watching

 

Mimi playing with the babies

I hope all the moms out there had a fantastic day but Happy Mother's Day especially to my mom and sister!  Its still hard to believe that this year I'M a mom!  I tell everyone that if I had known being a mom would have been this much fun I would have started a long time ago (OK well maybe not THAT long ago).  Coming soon next month will be Michael's first Father's Day!