Not so Sure About the Peas!

Little Trooper

Poor little Grady didn't have the most fun "First Thanksgiving" (and I guess neither did Mom and Dad! ha!) We went to the doctor on Friday morning and found out he had bronchitis, an ear infection in both ears, and a sinus-cold. We were so glad that it wasn't RSV or pneumonia. Still though, he was a sick little guy for a few days. He's much better, but the medicines that he still has to take make him SO keyed-up! He has gone from being a zombie the few days before Thanksgiving to being SO hyper! Josh made fun of me for taking a picture of Grady getting his breathing treatment, but I had to document his first Thanksgiving... no family feast pictures, or Fulton Family Farm pictures since we missed out on all of that, so here's a picture of what we DID do all weekend! :)

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving from the Hammer clan! It's been a strange day for us. Little Grady-man is under the weather and we celebrated the day at home. He's been congested for a few days and yesterday started running fever. It got worse overnight and so we kept him home instead of getting him out in the cold and exposing his germs to both our families. I knew he was sick when the little guy refused to eat today! Grady-man has never been one to turn down food! Guess he gets that from Josh. ha! I had just thought he was teething again and that was the cause of the fever, but it's looking more like a really bad cold that he can't seem to get over. We'll be taking a trip to the doctor's office in the morning most likely.

ANYWAY, so it has been an "out-of-the-ordinary-Thanksgiving" for us. I was kind of moping earlier because I was at home all day long and not getting to see my family OR Josh's family. So much for the little turkey outfit that Grady was supposed to wear and all the pictures that I had planned on taking with all of his family members on his first Thanksgiving... (Gosh, didn't this same thing just happen to me on Halloween!!!?? I told Josh that if somebody gets sick at Christmas, it's HIS turn because Grady and I have already taken our turns being sick on special occasions! ha! just kidding!)

I was holding my sleeping little sick one and watching the news earlier this afternoon and saw the clips from places like the Salvation Army and such, feeding homeless people Thanksgiving dinner...and then clips of the military overseas eating Thanksgiving meals. It made me feel so small for actually being sad that I didn't get a piece of pecan pie or get to taste my mom's wonderfully delicious dressing. Big deal. How much have I been blessed this past year!!?? I have so much to be thankful for and how quick I can be to forget it and take it all for granted. This year has been a year of ups and downs for Josh and me with both of our jobs and learning to be parents. Yet I am extremely thankful to have a job during such a time as this, and to have the challenge of being a new mom...because that means that I have Grady!

Okay, I know this is a really long ramble of my thoughts, but it was just on my mind. I hope that you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving and that you took some time to think about what really means the most in your lives and what you're thankful for. Sometimes it takes the unexpected to throw me for a loop and change my plans enough to make me see the most important thing. Happy Turkey Day!
Love
Julie

The Jumperoo

What a difference a week can make! When we first started putting Grady in his jumperoo a couple of weeks ago, he didn't do all that much. Now, he jumps like crazy! It is so funny to watch! Here's a sample...

Christmas Preview

I had hoped to find a small Santa hat for Grady to wear this Christmas and while out shopping with the little man on Saturday, we came across one that fit him PERFECTLY! We've already tried it on. He didn't seem to mind much at all. Here is a holiday preview for you..... the many faces of Grady the Elf!

First World Series

This is a "better-late-than-never" post! Yes, the World Series is long over, but I had been meaning to post these pictures of Grady especially for Pete to see! This year was Grady's first World Series and how perfect it was that the Yankees were playing in it and WON it! YEA! For those of you who didn't know it, my Dad raised us three girls to be sports fans (every sport!) but my particular favorite of course is baseball! Dad is a Yankees fan, so I inherited that from him. He and Mom brought Grady back this little Derek Jeter tshirt from their recent trip to NYC. Grady-man wore it as he watched the World Series...for good luck! Here's a picture of my future ball player watching Jeter bat!
Thank you for the tshirt, Pete and DeeDee! Can't wait to take the little man to Yankee Stadium one day! "Start spreading the news.... I'm leaving today..."

Big Boy in the HighChair!

Another new thing for Grady is his highchair! He has gotten so much stronger and holds his head up without it being so wobbly. I think he likes the highchair so much because he is up high and can see so much more around him! He enjoys watching me cook dinner and wash the dishes. He likes to be rolled around the kitchen in the chair, too.

We're working on him holding his own bottle, but we're not quite there yet! He'll grab it, but it's usually a bit too heavy for him to hold on his own.

AHHHHH... FINALLY someone gives me something besides milk! I am liking these baby carrots! Thanks, mom!

It only took him a few tries to get the hang of using a spoon! I'm so proud of this little man! Gosh, he is growing up so fast!

5 Months Old!

Grady turned 5 months old yesterday! Hard to believe how much time flies! He is growing like a little weed! We had to take him to the doctor last week because he had a cold that wouldn't go away. With me having had the flu, we wanted to make sure that he hadn't come down with it also. When we went to see the doctor, they weighed him and he weighed in at a whopping 17 pounds, 6 oz.! Thankfully, he didn't have the flu...just a really nasty cold!

We have been trying out all sorts of new things. One thing in particular that Grady-man LOVES is his Jumperoo. I'd been hesitant to put him in it because he still has reflux and I could just see all that bouncing around making the spit-up attacks even worse! I wasn't that thrilled with the thought of puddles of spit-up on my carpet! ha! But anyway, we decided to give it a try. We broke out some old blankets to catch the spit up that inevitably came, and Grady was happy as a lark. He LOVED it! All the lights and music kept him entertained for quite a while.

He is about to out-grow his bathtub just because he is SO long! He's not ready for the next "stage" of the tub until he can sit up on his own. So I'm not sure what we'll do until then! His poor little feet are already about to hang off the edge of the tub! I guess the poor little fellow had no choice but to have extremely long legs! Needless to say though, he LOVES getting a bath. His new thing is to kick those big feet of his as hard as he can in the water and see what a big splash he can make!
Here is a video of the little motor-mouth and a shot of his two teeth which are REALLY starting to break through!

One Sick Mama!

Despite getting a flu shot, being a germ-o-fanatic, and constantly washing my hands and using germ-x, SOMEHOW, Julie managed to get the flu! Yep, the flu! I have never had the flu in my entire life. Of all the times in my life for me to come down with this yucky virus...of course Josh blames it on all the stress in my life, which is a possibility. When you're stressed, your immune system is down, I guess. Anyway, so little Grady-man has gone to Yazoo to stay until I can get well. I am one sick and very sad mama! I miss my little boy so much! It's weird to be in this house all alone without Grady. When Josh was at work yesterday and Mom had left with him, I looked around and realized how quiet it was and that it was the first time I have been alone in my house since Grady was born. So weird! I cried all day long yesterday, especially upset that I will miss my baby's first Halloween! I was so looking forward to taking him trick-or-treating in his little scarecrow suit. But he doesn't need to be around the flu germs, so it's best that he's not here.
Last night was a sad night at our house. Josh and I are so pathetic... We looked at pictures of Grady and talked about how much we missed the little man! I called Mom and Dad 3 times! Of course Grady was fine and dandy. He and Pete watched their first Yankees game together and they are probably spoiling him rotten. I'm just keeping my fingers crossed that he doesn't come down with the flu in the next few days! The doctor said that if he is going to show symptoms of it, then they should appear in the next 2 to 3 days.
Here are some sweet pictures that I took last week. Jenny brought Grady this little Baby Einstein Piano and he absolutely LOVES the thing! He will sit and stare at it forever and even push the keys on the piano, himself! Josh was in the floor playing with him and I thought these pictures were just too cute! We miss you, little man!

Grady LOVES the Cat-in-the-Hat for some reason... I guess the black-and-white contrast...

All that playing left us zapped!

Little Scarecrow Boy

I SO miss teaching Kindergarten! This time of year, I always did a unit on SCARECROWS! I guess I just love them...maybe it has something to do with me loving The Wizard of Oz, or maybe just all the memories of little kids in my class stuffing a real scarecrow every year! such fun! Anyway, one of my favorite books to read to my Kindergarten class was always The Little Scarecrow Boy... Well, Josh and I argued over Halloween costumes for Grady and finally found ONE that we agreed on... of course, a SCARECROW! Here is my very own "little scarecrow boy!" He was so well behaved for the photo session! I am keeping my fingers crossed that he will behave on Saturday night as well!

Ok, Let's get this show on the road, Mom! I don't know about this hat!

So are you going to give me a piece of candy, or do I have to keep chewing on my fingers?

Seriously, Mom...why am I wearing this get-up, again?

Are we done yet?

...Pleeeease?????

Here's a scarecrow smile for you!

Last picture for real? Can I have that candy now?

Two Little Monsters!

Our big man was doing SO well, starting to sleep through the night! We were estatic to say the least! Then we had two little intruders! Out of the blue and with no warning, two little teeth popped up in Grady's mouth! He'd been drooling and chewing on anything and everything he could get his little hands on lately, but hadn't been fussy at all. So we weren't expecting teeth to be on the way this soon! Following the appearance of these two little monsters, we had some fussy days and nights along with a little fever. I think he is getting back into his routine. I don't know how long that will last though...we feel some little bumps below the gum line where his eye teeth will come in. Of course if these come in during this upcoming week, I can just send back the Halloween costume that I ordered and he can be a vampire instead! ha! (You may have to click on the picture to see it in larger form and get a shot of the little teeth!)

Aunt Jenny in Town!

Susan has been bugging me to post new pictures...ha! imagine that! These are a little overdue... Jenny was in Mississippi for a long visit...not long ENOUGH in my opinion! :) It was so great to see her. My whole family was in Yazoo to visit with her and we so enjoyed hanging out with everybody!

I miss you already, Aunt Jenny! Come back soon because I am growing really fast!

Grady and Papaw, having a little chat!

Meeting my cousin, Elizabeth, for the first time! This girl cracks me up!!!! I am all smiles!

BIG NEWS!!!

Grady-man slept through the night THREE NIGHTS IN A ROW!!!! In saying that, I am afraid that I may jinx the situation and we'll be right back to where we started... But we are definitely keeping our fingers crossed that we are finally crossing a bridge and getting somewhere in the "sleep" category! Who would have ever thought that I could get so excited about sleeping from midnight until 7 a.m. on a Saturday??? That's about the longest I've slept in about five months! Oh the joy of being new parents! ha!

Happy HOWL-O-WEEN!

Josh's mom sent me this video she made and it cracked me up SO much! I had to share it! It stars Josh, me, Grady, David, and Faye! Grady is Dracula and he is hilarious! You have to check it out! Click on the link below:

The Monster Mash!

Happy Halloween!
(Thanks for the laugh, Faye!)

Little Bulldog

We are praying that the weather will cooperate this coming weekend so we can make Grady's first trip to Starkville. He and I have skipped all of the games thus far. We both dress in our maroon each Saturday and watch the game on TV. Grady was practicing with his football during the Georgia Tech game this weekend.

Dee Dee and Pete brought this cowbell for our little bulldog! It is just the right size! I've just got to paint his name and he is ready to ring it (well, almost... we still need a bit more practice!)

GO STATE!