The Reunion

This past weekend, Griffin had a reunion with his beloved Kiki! If you are a longtime reader here then you will remember cute little Kiki who Griffin used to be in class with at his old daycare. They have practically been friends since birth. And he adores her. Well they are now at different schools and do not get to see each other really. BUT that all changed Sunday! Griffin went to her 4th birthday party, and it was a glorious reunion! Ha! 

They played and played. He was so happy to spend time with her (and Jesse who was also in their class!). Yay for birthday parties bringing about reunions! Hopefully we will see her soon for his fourth bday too (ahh how is he already that old?!). Here is a look at her birthday party last year And how they have grown! 

Soak it in

A friend of mine shared  this article on Facebook today (go read it, it is great!) about "slow parenting". The idea is to slow down and really take in the current season with your kids. And that idea has been resonating with me a lot lately. 

This past week, I have found myself holding my sleeping baby in my arms in his dark nursery and just staring at him. I know I am going to blink and he will be as big as his brother. I find myself excited to see what his little personality will be, but terribly sad for his adorable babyness to slip away. I have been staring at Griffin sleeping so peacefully in the mornings before I allow myself to wake him, just taking in how cute his young boyish look is. And I cannot believe he is already as big as he is. Wasn't I laying him in a crib all swaddled up just yesterday?! 

I have gotten so annoyed with myself lately because I can hear how many times I am saying "hurry hurry hurry" to my little man. And a) it makes him slow down, not speed up, and b) it makes me miss the cute things he is doing that make him "slower" than I would like. And I just need to stop. 

We all do it, no matter what phase of life we are in. You may do this to your children, spouse, friends, parents, animals, whomever really. 

So really this is a post to remind myself and you, to slow down. Savor. Enjoy where God has you. And when you hear yourself start to hurry, nip it in the bud. Give it a try and see if going one minute slower really makes you all that late. 

I am betting it won't :-) 

Shrek!

Saturday we went to a local children's theater to see Shrek the Musical. A friend's daughter was in it, and I knew Griffin would love it. It was so cute to watch him watch in amazement as the set changed, or the lights or costumes. He says his favorite part was the dragon, while mine was definitely Donkey. Grady was great during it too and mostly watched in awe (then finally fell asleep). Gammy Becky and Uncle D came too, which made it a super fun family outing. I forgot how much I love to watch plays and musicals! We will have to make this a habit. 

Grady is 6 Months Old

Grady has turned 6 months old!! Where oh where has time gone?! I am feeling like this is my sweet spot with having two so far. He is still small enough to cuddle and be a baby, but he is also giggling and jabbering and doing fun things too. It's been a great month. 

He is 17lbs 9&1/2 oz (54th percentile) and 27" long (69th percentile)! He is getting to be a big ol boy! 

He is wearing 6 and 6-9 month clothes. KneKne helped clean and organize his closet this month, so now it's filled with summer apparel, most of which was Griffins before. I look at these clothes and can't believe I already have a second kid who can wear them! I love how it reminds me of when Griffin was little. 

Grady slept fantastic majority of this month! He continued with his 8:30ish until 5:45ish only waking once for a paci or not at all, until this past week when he started waking multiple times a night! I am hoping we are just having a growth spurt right now and it's not a new habit. He is generally taking two longer naps now and one shorter one in the evening. We are still swaddling at night bc it seems to help him a ton. 

He is sitting up pretty well, though not all by himself for long. He is big enough for the exersaucer now and likes it quite a bit. He still loves laying and kicking though. He is a big fan of his Sophie the giraffe, and his little stuffed bunny from Easter (Grandma maybe?). 

He rolled from his belly to back this month, but still no back to belly. 

He is just a joy. He is generally such a happy baby and adores his brother above all! As you can see in this video below: 

Griffin-isms

Griffin is such a ham these days. They boy is hilarious. There are a few little sayings that we don't want to forget, so it's time to get them down before I forget! 

"Cut off":

• A few months ago, we had to start limiting Griffins eating and drinking after 7:30ish. I started telling him he was cut off and it was his "last call" for eating and drinking. 
• A few days after starting this, Mr. Pate had come home later after an event at work and brought food with him. He asked us if we wanted any, and without skipping a beat Griffin looked over, shrugged his shoulders and said "I'm cut off". I wish I could have videoed the way he said it, it was hilarious! 
• He will randomly ask at night, "am I cut off?" and it just sounds so funny. 

Temptation:

• This one goes along with being cut off. We were coming back from somewhere a few weeks ago and it was after Griffin had been cut off for the night. He has his waterbottle in the cup holder of his car seat. He tells us that his waterbottle is still back there and we need to take it because he may drink it and not be able to help it. Again, it was the tone in which he said it that made it so funny, but I am recording it so hopefully we can remember. It was hilarious- he really was trying to flee temptation. Haha! 
• We explained to him what temptation was, and now if we are in the car late at night he gives us his drink and snack so he won't be tempted. 

Softball Cheering:

• At the first game, when Mr.Pate went up to bat Griffin yelled out "Go daddy, make momma proud!" Haha! I have no idea where he heard that one. 
• He yells for our teammates and gives them nicknames! He yelled for Jennofer last night and said "good job Jen Jen". Haha. 

Preaching:

• A few weeks ago, Griffin got the setup below out and started "preaching" to us and the Broadys. 
• He was asking us questions about Jesus and when his birthday was and when he died on the cross. It was soooo precious. 

Slip n slide: 

• We went over to Lilli's to play on her slip n slide last week. Poor griffin just couldn't quite get how to slide on his belly. He keep actually jumping then landing on his knees. It looked hilarious. 

Love this little man and how unique and fun his personality is! 

Testing testing

Testing out a new posting app, bc my beloved Blogpress is being all wonky.... 

Body Safety and a Free Printable!

A few weeks ago, I saw this article come across my Facebook feed. I had been talking to friends recently about how difficult I was finding it to teach Griffin about "good touch vs bad touch". So often you hear that the people who end up sexually abusing children are people who are in your close circle, that you never would have suspected. Of course, I cannot imagine any of our families or friends being predators, but I am sure parents of victims all thought that. So it has been hard for me to figure out how to teach Griffin the difference between it being ok for someone to bath him, help him in the restroom etc, and a bad touch. This article and the list of body safety rules makes it so much clearer I think! So I decided to make it look a little nicer before hanging it up, and thought some of you might want it too!

Mr. Pate and I did discuss the no secrets part and decided we didn't feel the need to go to this lady's extreme for that (but to each his own), so I altered that one a bit.

This is my first "printable" to offer on my blog, so let me know if there are any issues with getting the pdf. Otherwise, enjoy and good luck equipping your kiddos to stay safe and ward off some of the awfulness in this fallen world. Ultimately I am praying that we (and you) will not be in this predicament to begin with.

Click Here for the Free Printable PDF

Easter 2015

We had a great Easter weekend this year. Mr.Pate and I decided to do an Easter Basket for Griffin for the first time (we have just skipped it the past few years bc he was too young to get it, and we skipped Grady this year😉).

We decided to give the "unEaster Basket" idea a try. (You can go here to read more about it: http://ohamanda.com/2013/03/25/meaningful-easter-basket-gifts-for-christian-resurrection-day/) So while Daddy practiced softball Saturday, I had griffin hunt for big rocks for a surprise. He actually got soo into it and it kept him entertained for a long time. Woo hoo!



When we got home, we got the rocks and talked about our sins and what we struggle with. It was slow at first but then he started to get it. Then after we had discussed several sins and how we needed a Savior, we covered the baskets up with a red blanket. This is where reality with a 3 year old set in, so Griffin started throwing a fit because he just knew we were taking his rocks away and never giving them back. Geez! So when we finally calmed him down from a fit, we just had him close his eyes while we switched stuff out. Just keeping it real how the best plans really don't always turn out perfectly. We switched the rocks out for his real Easter basket to show that Jesus takes our sins and gives us the gift of Eternal Life instead when we choose to believe in Him. We got him a new bible/devo book, a veggie tales movie, a "What's in the Bible" episode about Jesus life and death, and a few small stickers etc.

Easter Sunday we went to church of course, then headed to Uncle D's for lunch. Mr.Pate's family came down for church and lunch. Then the boys got to open their Easter baskets- and they got way too much ;-) then we hung out and relaxed. It was a great weekend filled with some fabulous quality time. Yay!





























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