Friday, July 20, 2012

I forgot I had a blog.

Well, hello there.

Did you forget I had a blog? Because I DID.

Actually, there were approximately one thousand times that I thought, "Oh, I should blog!", but then something screwy happened with my old design. I switched to one of those standard blogger templates and it was annoying to me. So I took an unintentional hiatus.

But now, I'm back with a beautiful new design by Annie, whom I actually know as Stephanie! We went on a missions trip to Poland together about 4 years ago and it was my pleasure to work with her. She was as sweet and patient as I remember, even when I made some crazy demands. If you need a new blog design, go see her! I promise you won't be disappointed.

But all in all, what's been going on since February? Mostly just real life-- that always makes me think of David After Dentist, "Is this real life?" Ha! We've been busy and Griffin has been growing, growing, growing! He is my joy. I love that child so much. He loves me, too, but his Daddy is the current center of his world. Well, Daddy and "BALL". Anything that remotely resembles a ball is G's favorite. He also says it very emphatically. He's also taken to barking at me every time I tell him "no". I think he knows how hilarious I think it is. I have been getting very good at my poker face because he can be a stinker! But all in all, he is such an angel boy. I am so thankful to be his mommy.

I really don't have a lot to say tonight other than a quick HELLO! I have really missed blogging and I'm excited to get started again. I know you've all been missing my information on things such as food and my child and food. Speaking of food, I cooked pork tenderloin tonight for the first time. It was NOT good. So dry and chewy. Any tips?

I will be back soon! I promise! I can't stay away from my pretty new blog. Thanks, Stephanie!

I will leave you all with a few iPhone pictures of my sweet boy. I can't get enough of him!


A morning at the zoo-- we love our zoo pass!


I cannot handle the sweetness of this picture. Those cheeks!


We have entered toddlerhood. Good times!


Who is this boy and what did he do with my baby?


A macaroni and cheese beard and mustache. So happy to be eating carbs (like his mom)!

Wednesday, February 1, 2012

February Photo A Day

 

I saw several people do the January photo a day challenge and loved seeing their pictures everyday! About a week or so ago, I saw a February challenge on Pinterest and decided I would do it! This should be fairly easy since I'm already doing Project 365 (which I need to post-- we have had some major sickness in our house for the last week, so I'm still catching up on life).


So, there is the challenge! Pretty simple really.  I will be posting my pictures on the Instagram app as well, so if you have an iPhone, you can follow me there! My username is rnoelhaney. You all should join me in this! It will be fun to try to find creative pictures for every day in February.

So, onto day one!

Day 1 :: Your View


Griffin plays in his crib everyday for a little while. He often likes to stand on his toys rather than play with them. Funny guy. :) 


Tuesday, January 24, 2012

Project 366: January 1-7

Since I have the goal to blog more this year, I thought it might be fun to do Project 366. In case you're not familiar with that, it's basically a goal to take a picture everyday for a year. Some people do really cute scrapbooks with their pictures, but let's be honest-- I absolutely do not have the time or the energy to do that. I made a scrapbook one time and that was for Tyler. It took me approximately 6 years, so that would mean I would be done with Project 366 sometime in 2018. That's why I have a blog; I can do this all here. 

 

I will be honest; there is a very real chance I won't keep up with this on the blog, but I sure will try. There is a handy app on my iPhone that I'm using to keep these organized, but I know that no one will see those but me. This will be a fun way for the grandparents to see pictures of Griffin since he's the subject of 90% of these pictures. I also know that the grand majority of these pictures will be from my iPhone, but as a mommy, it's definitely the most handy camera I have! 

 

So, here is my first week. Enjoy! 

 

January 1

We went to buy Griffin a new high chair and browsed some big boy carseats. He liked them!  

January 2

Griffin's Aunt Meredith knitted him the sweetest little hat for Christmas. I love how it can't contain his wild hair! It is so soft-- he just loves it!

January 3

He found a fun new place to play! He loves that he can roll his ball around as fast as he can and it won't go anywhere. He's a smart guy! 

January 4

He fell asleep completely folded in half. One minute he was sitting up, the next he was fast asleep while bent over. It didn't look very comfortable. We both laughed at this really hard.

January 5

Tyler absolutely hates it when I put Griffin's hair in a ponytail. HATES it. I just think it's hilarious. He really does need a haircut, but this is just too funny in the meantime. This picture cracks me up! I think he kind of looks like a cartoon character.

January 6

Sweet boy loves sitting in his new high chair! He loves the big tray and he will sit and play for a long time if I'm working in the kitchen. 

January 7

We finally put the Christmas decorations away today. We were out of town for a long time and we wanted to enjoy them for a bit longer. This was one of my favorite ornaments on our tree!


Wednesday, January 18, 2012

(Almost) Wordless Wednesday


This sweet boy let me rock him to sleep last night. I found myself unable to get up and we rocked and rocked for nearly an hour. It was the best part of my day. I love being a momma!


Tuesday, January 17, 2012

I'm Here!

I've said it before and I'll say it again-- I'm going to start blogging more. 

Ha! I know you're thinking, "Yeah, right. She's crazy." Maybe I am. Well, I am definitely. But I'm making it a priority this year. We're having too much fun to not document it for the future. 

 I really haven't had a good way to blog lately. We only have one computer and Ty uses it for work. However, thanks to Tyler's big business win, I now have an iPad of my very own now. I'm so proud of him and I'm very thankful! What a good man. Please bear with me as I try to figure out this blogging thing from the iPad. I'm using an app I think I like (Blogsy), but if any of y'all have suggestions, I'd love to hear them!

 I've got a lot of stuff brewing in my head. I'm guessing that basically none of it will be important to anyone besides me and maybe Tyler, although, when I have a thought, I generally share it with him no matter what, so I'm thinking that most things I write about won't be a complete surprise tI have to write Griffin's 9 and 10 month posts. I have pictures, but no posts. I can't believe he's 10 months. Didn't I just have him yesterday? I have a little bit of baby fever, but not enough to where I want to be puking for 20 weeks and then pushing out a giant baby again. No sir. I'm good for awhile. 

So, yes, I do indeed promise that I will be back soon. I love the friends I've made from the blogging and Twitter community and I don't want to let the blog slide just because I am obsessed like Twitter a little bit. 

And in other news? This guy is still darling. But I'm sure none of you are surprised by that. 

 

Happy Tuesday, my friends! I've missed you! 


Sunday, November 20, 2011

Tiny Prints Christmas Card Review


I love Christmas.

Now, I'm not one of those people who starts listening to Christmas music in September (my husband) or who wants to start decorating in October. No ma'am. But once mid-November rolls around, I start hearing the Christmas bells ringing and I get very excited.

This year, I feel like Christmas holds a whole new meaning for me. I was in Macy's at the end of October and of course, they were already decking the halls hardcore. I got on the escalator and it hit me-- I have a BABY SON this Christmas. This is our first Christmas as a family of three, my first Christmas as a mom. I don't know why it hit me so hard, but of course, I started crying right there in the middle of Macy's. I am a class act. I managed to dry my tears a few minutes later due to the shock I felt when I picked up a baby sweater that cost $79. Um, no. Not happening.

Alright, I'm back from my rabbit trail. Yes, I love Christmas. As long as I can remember, one of my favorite parts of the season is opening the mail and looking through people's Christmas cards. It's so fun to receive them as a couple and when I go home to Michigan, I love looking at my parent's cards. It is so great to see how people's families are expanding and changing.

This will be our first Christmas to put a picture of the three of us on our card and I'm so excited! Tiny Prints has a fantastic selection of Christmas cards this year. I really love Tiny Prints; I remember the first time I heard about them was when my girlfriend sent out her daughter's first birthday invites from Tiny Prints. They were darling. The quality is great and the selection is vast. There are so many; it's hard to choose just one.



I really love cards that say "Merry Christmas" and I like that this one has the word family in it and that it wishes people a happy new year! I also love that it has the year on it. It'll be a good reminder for me when I'm old and gray of what year we had this card.



The color scheme on this card is so pretty; it reminds me of our card from last year. We also will probably be using a black and white picture and I love the way it looks with this black and white one.



Oh my word, I LOVE this one! I love the Christmas colors and the square shape. And how cute are those little girls? I love every single thing about this card.



The message on this card perfectly describes the reason that we celebrate Christmas. I love the color scheme and the wording. This might be the one!

If you're still looking for a Christmas card, you really need to check out the holiday card selection at Tiny Prints. I promise you won't be disappointed-- it will be hard to choose!

I'm really excited to pick a card and get it sent out! No matter what, I know Griffin will be the star of the card. 

--Tiny Prints provided me with 50 free Christmas cards for writing this post, but I promise you that even if they didn't, I would still be using them for my holiday cards this year. The quality is fantastic and you can't beat the selection of cards that they offer.

Wednesday, November 9, 2011

Griffin :: 4-8 Months


I have really slacked on these Monthly Updates. I have this stuff written down but I really need to get better about recording stuff on the blog. It's such an easy way to go back and see things. I really enjoy blogging but I honestly just forget. Hopefully I'll get better, but no promises!

Griffin, you are 8 months old!
November 6, 2011




But since your mommy is a blog slacker, here is how you got there...

Four months old
July 6, 2011

Five months old
August 6, 2011

Six Months Old
September 6, 2011

Seven months old
October 6, 2011

What were you up to from 3 months to 7 months?

--You wore 0-3 month clothing until you were about 4.5 months old. At that point, we switched you to 3-6 months. You could have continued to wear 0-3 month clothing for your weight, but you're entirely too long and your pants all were too short. You were still very thin and very long.

--You were in a Size 2 diaper (both Pampers and Target brand) from 4-7 months. Skinny boy!

--Your hair really started to grow thicker. It is something that people always comment on! They also call you a girl a lot. Grammy says it is because you are such a pretty baby. 

--You sprouted your first two bottom teeth about a week before you turned 6 months! It really messed up your sleep schedule and you were fussy for the first time in your life. Luckily, the fussiness only lasted about a week, but I felt so bad for you since I knew you were in pain! They are the two cutest bottom teeth I have ever seen! When those teeth started coming in, you started putting EVERYTHING in your mouth. That hasn't changed since then!

--You still nurse and take a bottle for every feeding. Up until 6 months, you were eating 5-6 times per day. You would nurse in the morning and have a 4 oz bottle and then nurse at night and have an 8 oz bottle. During the day, you would nurse and get a 6 oz bottle.

--We started giving you rice cereal at about 5.5 months, but you didn't love it so we didn't push it. When you hit 6.5 months, we revamped your schedule. You wake up at 6:15 and nurse, have a 6 oz bottle and eat oatmeal. You go back down for a 2 hour nap around 8:15. At 10:15, you nurse, have a 6 oz bottle and eat a fruit or veggie. You go back down for another 2 hour nap at 12:15. You nurse, have a 6 oz bottle and eat a fruit or veggie at 2:15. You play and hang out with Mommy and Daddy when he's done with work until bath time and feeding starting around 5:15-5:30. You nurse and take an 8 oz bottle and are in bed by 6:15-6:30.  

--You're still an excellent traveler! It really helps since both of your sets of grandparents live far away.

-- You had several babysitters other than Grammy! Miss Emily, Miss Mary, Miss Libby and Mr. Zach and Aunt Lisa all watched you at different times. You were good as gold for them!

--You still love your monkey pacifier; we call him your Wubbie. At 4 months old, you learned how to find him in your crib at night and pop him back in your mouth. It is so sweet when you do it while you're awake. It's definitely one of your "I'm tired" signs.

--You still sleep 12 to 13 hours solid at night. After a big battle of the wills and a lot of help from Miss Le, you became a great napper. You now nap around 4 hours a day. It has been great for both you and Mommy. You sleep soundly but you move around like no one I've ever seen. It is crazy. You go from one end of your crib to the other and back again in one night. At 5 months, you began to be a (mostly) tummy sleeper. I always put you down on your back, but you always roll to your side or your tummy. I never worried about it because I know you're strong enough to flip yourself back over. However, when you're mad and crying in your crib, you lay on your back and flail around like a baby T-rex. It's sad but also kind of funny.

--You love being around other children. You watch and observe and are very, very curious. If you're eating while anyone is around, you would rather be nosey than finish your food. You also love the church nursery and they love you; they always get excited to see you coming!

--You are a roly poly! You started rolling well around 4 months. You roll and you roll FAST. It is your only way of getting from one place to another. You started sitting between month 6 and 7. By the time you turned 7 months old, you were a sitting champ.

--It is still so easy to get you to smile and laugh! You are the happiest baby I have ever met. I can make you laugh but your daddy can always get you to just crack up. I love watching the two of you together! You are lucky to have the best daddy in the world.

--You and I are still the best of friends. You love playing with me on the floor and listening to me read you books. You also love to play in your exersaucer in the kitchen while I cook or sit in your seat and bang spoons and Tupperware. You love your mommy and she sure does love you!


Now, you are 8 months old!



What were you up to this month?

--You are in some 3-6 month clothes and some 6-9 month clothes. It just depends on the brand.

--You wear a size 2 diaper during the day (Pampers and Target brand) and a size 3 (Pampers) at night. Mommy may have cried a little bit when she had to put you in a size 3 at night. It just means you're growing up!

--Your top 2 center teeth are through the gum as of this month! The teeth on either side are now popping through as well.

--You are still on your 6:15- 6:15 schedule and it works very well for us. You're a great napper and sleep even better at night!

--You don't love to eat. You actually couldn't care less about eating solids. You love to nurse and drink your bottles, but solid food just isn't thrilling for you. You are not like your mommy when it comes to your food-- much more like your daddy. :) I still make all of your baby food and I love doing it! Your favorites are apples and pears.

--I'm pretty convinced that you said your first word-- Mama. I promise I'm not just saying this! He will mumble "mamamamamamama" over and over and sometimes when he's crying, he will cry "mamamama". It breaks my heart.

-- You are now reaching for us when you want us to pick you up. It absolutely melts my heart and I pick you up pretty much anytime you reach for me. :)

--You are still a strong sitter and you can roll to the ground from a sitting position without any problem. You try to crawl, but you still just rock back and forth on all fours. I know that once you do crawl, life will change drastically, so I'm not rushing you! You also love to stand and hold onto our hands. You've always loved to straighten your legs, even when you were a tiny baby!

--Your most desired toys are my cell phone and any sort of remote control. Your favorite toys that you're actually allowed to play with are your Sophie, an empty water bottle that has corn kernels in it, spoons, Tupperware, a little blue dog with crinkly ears from Grammy and a light up Baby Einstein singing toy. You like to play in your exersaucer and you LOVE your jumperoo! You get going so fast and you just can't stop. It makes me laugh so, so hard because you are so serious about your jumping! You jump so quickly and you have the most deadpan look on your face. Hilarious!

--You like to play Peek-a-Boo in your crib. We sit you in your crib and crouch down next to it. You scootch over and pull yourself up on the edge so you can see us and you die laughing when we pop up and say boo! We had to lower your crib because you're starting to get big enough to be able to pull yourself up on the side of the crib-- not to stand, yet, but it's safer to have your crib in the lower setting.  

--You now take baths in the big bathtub. It is so sweet to see your tiny baby self in the big tub looking like such a big boy!

--You still travel very well, but you are a bit more opinionated when you want out of your carseat! Thankfully, the Baby Einstein iPad app has come in handy a few times.

--You are a Momma and Daddy's boy equally. You love being with me, but you absolutely light up when your daddy comes in the room.

--I have tons of nicknames for you-- it's a little embarrassing. Mostly, I call you Griffy, Griffles, Tiny Mouse, Baby Angel and Boogles. Your daddy calls you Rascal.

--I would guess that you are currently around 20 pounds and 28 inches, but you don't have a doctors appointment until next month. You have really filled out!

--You are still the most wonderful and darling little boy in the world! Daddy and I feel like the most blessed parents in the world. We absolutely adore you.

Happy four, five, six, seven and eight month birthday, beautiful boy!