Riley's Birthday Party

Riley Godwin's 1st Birthday/
SEC Championship Game 2009

We all had a wonderful time at Riley's 1st birthday party! Thank you Michael and Allison for such a great time! The party was during the SEC Championship Game this past Saturday. Roll Tide!
Michael got to visit with lots of sweet babies and crawled all over the place. Yes he is army crawling now!

More updated posts and pics to come!

First Halloween

Oh, how I love Halloween! Don't you remember how excited you got when it was time to dress up and go trick or treating? I do! It has always been one of my favorite days of the year, and favorite holidays. It is right around my birthday, so I always associate it with good thoughts. I always loved picking out my costume and filling up a pillowcase FULL with candy when I was little.

This year, Halloween was even more amazing because of Michael! We had so much fun dressing him up and taking him to all the Grandparent's houses.

Quack!

Hey, these wings really work!

My webbed feet were so entertaining!

Practicing my waddle.

Half Birthday

Little man turned 6 months old yesterday! Wow, time has flown by!

He had his check up and did so good. He got a wonderful report from his Doctor and got 4 shots. Poor little guy REALLY didn't enjoy that this time around! He is a trooper as always though!

What is this I feel?

Hmmm, it makes a funny noise and looks interesting...

It even tears and I can hold it! I love this stuff!

Getting ready for the shots, and sitting up by myself!

Happy 6 Month Birthday Little Man!!!!!

Pics

Here are some pics from the past few weeks-

Mommy thinks I look like I'm going to a toga party in this one

Our family at Jacob and Ryan's wedding

Helping Daddy make pizza

Bumbo Baby

Finally!!! Michael is starting to really enjoy the Bumbo seat! I have been trying him in it since he was 3 weeks old, wishing he could sit up in it, but realizing that it just wasn't going to happen so early.

3 weeks old- sitting in Bumbo with Mommy's help

I kept hearing from everyone, "don't wish he was older because pretty soon, he will be and you will miss that baby stage", but to tell you the truth, I have loved seeing him become a little more independent every day. It is a wonderful thing to see him grow and learn and become our "little man"! Don't get me wrong, I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE having him need us as parents and rely on us too! After all, he is our BABY! I am sure I will always think of him as sweet baby M

(talk to me when he turns 16 and we will see how I feel then :)

Anyway, I decided the other day to try him in the Bumbo again, seeing as it had been a while since the last try. It worked! He loved it! He was smiling and laughing! Feeding him in the Bumbo is great also due to the oh so wonderful tray that you can attach. He also loves playing in the Bumbo with his toys, or as you can see below, kitchen utensils (Mommy approved of course!)

5 months- getting stuck in Bumbo due to large thighs!

5 months old

It is amazing how different a little one is from the first week of being in the world until 5 months old. Our little man just turned 5 months old last week and we are amazed at all of his new accomplishments! He is rolling both ways, trying so hard to scoot, teething, laughing, babbling and cooing so loud that he makes himself hoarse, loving the excersaucer and johnny jump up, mesmerized by other little ones (human and furry), smiling and talking to Dora and Diego, and just being a happy baby all around. We are so blessed to have such a happy boy! Happy 5 month birthday Michael! I can't wait to see what you will do next!

Green Beans

We gave Michael his first taste of solid foods (aside from rice cereal and oatmeal that he has already been getting for a while) and the result was pretty funny. His doctor recommended we start with yellow or green veggies, so we pulled out the bag of baby food that Michael's buddy Andrew gave him and found green beans, mmmmm. This was the worst smelling, sickest looking, mushy textured baby food I have encountered. Michael wasn't too keen on them either...

First Taste

Hmmmm....

On no! That is horrible!

Practice...

Michael loves to practice walking! Here are two videos of his practice with Daddy (sorry about this first one-I thought my camera would let me video sideways, but I was mistaken :)......

Fhoto Friday!

I love Maggie and Maggie loves me!

First Church Sunday

4 months old!

Michael turned four months old on August 22nd. Where does the time go?

He is starting to really show some personality! Yesterday afternoon, after the four month check up (which consisted of 2 shots- more about that later), he was in the best mood! It was not the first time he had noticed Maggie, our Yorkie, but this time was different. I noticed him just staring and smiling at her. It was too cute. I figured I might as well see if her tricks would get him excited. So I said "Maggie, speak" and as soon as she barked he let out a giggle then back to staring. So, I tried it again "Maggie, speak", an even bigger laugh! Too much fun!!! So when Lee got home, he tried it with the same result. I wanted to get it on video to post, but we left to eat dinner at Lee's parents. We were telling Lee's parents about it and we decided to try it out on Harley, their dachshund. He just giggled and giggled. It was so cute. Video to come, I promise!

About the four month check up. I was dreading taking him all day and night on Tuesday. We went in Wednesday morning and he was great in the waiting room, which was packed full (a note on the door- Flu season is upon us, we are trying to keep your appointment times, but with the amount of patients ...yada yada). I was so worried the whole time about the shots to come. I had heard from so many people that these were pretty bad. Poor baby! We went back and the nurse did some measurements- 16 lb, 3 oz. (75-90%), 26" long (75-90%). The doctor checked him all over and said all looked great. Whew! Next up, shots. Oh no. The sweet nurse came in and explained that now they only have to give 2 shots instead of 4. They just combine the shots. OK, that sounds better. Here we go...1st shot...waiting on the cry...wow, he's not really crying at all! Trooper! 2nd shot, the nurse says "this one hurts worse". Great. So, 2nd shot goes in and a small little cry and that is it. Little man is so brave! He even smiled when I put him in his car seat to leave. Such a trooper!

A visit with Nani and Papa

Michael went to visit Nani and Papa last week and had a great time! He told them all about daycare, took a nice nap with Papa, and just had a good ole time!

I heart baby pool toys!

I really think Michael needs these for next summer...;)

Fhoto Friday!

Isabella... a.k.a Elton John

Rock on!

My co-worker Laura recently re-introduced me to eBay. Oh my goodness! I searched for boys smocked outfits and fell in love with way too many. She showed me how you can watch items, and of course I have been watching about 10 outfits, envisioning little man in all of them and how cute he would look. That made me want them even more!!!

Well, I lost the first outfit. I was outbid by about 50 cents. Sad day. I lost the second outfit too. So, I was determined not to loose the cutest outfit of all the ones I was watching. It is a royal blue gingham jon jon shortall with three blue and green catepillars smocked across the chest. Super cute! I gave my highest bid, around $20, and waited anxiously for the last 5 minutes to tick down to zero. I won!!!! Whoo Hooo! And to make it even better, I won it for $14.00. Rock on!

Wet 'n Wild!

Michael is having so much fun at school! Today is "Wet 'n Wild Thursday" and all the kiddies show up in their bathing suits. The teachers have a few really large slip 'n slides for the bigger kids and Michael's class gets to play in a baby pool filled with lots of bubbles and toys! Of course, he is still too little to get in the pool, so one of his teachers, Mrs. Sayde, props him on her lap and sprays him with a squirt bottle. She calls it "holy water". It is just way too cute!

Ready for Wet 'n Wild Thursday! 7/23/09

3 months old!

Our little man is 3 months old today! Where does the time go? It seems like only yesterday that Lee and I were gearing up for the trip to the hospital. We have had such an amazing 3 months with him. Some times were trying, with such a big adjustment, but all in all it has been wonderful!

Mom said "at the 3 month mark, it will be like a light switch just turned on and he will really come to life". I already noticed that this morning when Lee handed him over to me to finish bottle time and he smiled at us with that adorable gum showing smile. We are so blessed to have him in our lives.

Michael in his ECDC chapel day tee- 3 months

Splish Splash!

One of our favorite times now is bath time. Michael LOVES taking a bath. He gives us the biggest smiles while he is in his whale tub! He has also started to splash the water and every time he does it makes him jump just a little. We have been using the bedtime bath soap and lotion and I swear by it! It makes him sleep so much better and so much longer. It smells great too! He never fails to tee tee in his tub right before I take him out! Ha Ha! It is going to be so much fun when we get him in the big bathtub and he can really splash around!

A long time ago, probably back when I was in middle or early high school, my cousins and I got a kick out of an online greeting card showing a cartoon baby in a tub. It is called "Gruntin' n Dumpin Lil' Dumplin'" and is to the tune of the song "Splish Splash". It is super silly and a little gross, but Michael loves when I sing it to him while he is in the bath and just smiles and smiles. I have a feeling that will be our bath song for a long time to come! :) Here is the link if you want a silly laugh for the day:

http://www.flowgo.com/funny/1463_gruntin-n-dumpin-lil-dumplin.html

"He did a total 180!"

Our little man is moving! Last night we put him in his crib the way we always do...after the night night bottle, we put him in his miracle blanket (love it! http://www.miracleblanket.com/) , turned on the fan and sleep sheep (another favorite item!), and laid him with his head at the end of the crib near the windows. We always lay him with his head at that end, always.

Well, around 5:30 am I heard some faint little grunts and cries (if you can call them that) and went in with a bottle. He had turned his body a full 180 degrees! It was almost a shock to peer over the edge of the crib and see the outline of feet in the miracle blanket where I expected his little face!

So, he drank the bottle and I changed him and wrapped him back up. When I put him in the crib to go back down for another hour or so, I got some adorable smiles and then he was out. Lee woke me up around 7 am and said he had turned 180 again!

My co worker Laura wants me to try an experiment and lay him the other way tonight and see what happens! :)

Stay tuned.....

She's starting to come around....

So the first time little man met his cuz Izzy B was pretty interesting. She wasn't quite sure what to think about Mommy (Tiffany) holding another baby. She stared for quite a while and then realized she didn't like it much. After one of the funniest mad faces I have ever seen, Michael was passed to Ya Ya and Missy prissy sort of forgot he was around. She played and ate Moe's, which was a funny site, and then slowly started to eye Michael again. Previously, she had been Ya Ya's only baby to hold. She made her way around the coffee table to the sofa and grabbed Ya Ya's hand off of Michael and put it on hers. It was hilarious! She just couldn't understand it at all.

The second time they were together was even better! Isabella came to town and was over at Ya Ya and Pop Pop's house, so we went to visit. While she was eating, we layed down a blanket like we always did for her on the den floor and put Michael on it. As soon as she saw him on her blanket, she stopped cold in her tracks, spit her paci a mile, and cried crocodile tears! All we could do was laugh because it was so dramatic and funny! She was fine after just a second and joined him on the blanket for some Noggin watching (Noggin is our favorite channel these days!).

Since then, we have had a few more encounters, and she is starting to come around. She rubs his hair and leans in to kiss him, but hasn't quite made contact yet. We are hoping for a full kiss tonight at Nani and Papa's house!!!

Your Favorites (19 photos), by Laura Hassell

I'd like to share my Snapfish photos with you. Once you have checked out my photos you can order prints and upload your own photos to share.
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11 weeks old and growing!

This is quite late (which is nothing new for my blog!) but I am finally able to update! Baby Michael joined the world April 22nd at 1:45 pm. He was 8 lbs, 3 oz. and 21 inches long. Quite a big boy! We had a long night of no sleep and a morning of labor (which was not that bad to tell you the truth, especially after the oh so wonderful epidural) and then the sweetest little bundle of love arrived.



We are so blessed to have a happy and healthy baby boy. Lee and I cannot thank everyone enough for the prayers, dinners, gifts, and visits! We have such wonderful family and friends and we love you all so much!



Little man, as I like to call him, is 11 weeks old! I cannot believe it! Lee cannot believe it! He is growing so fast and getting super big! He eats like a piglet (another name I like to call him) and wets diapers like a champ! He started day care this week at First United Methodist in a program called ECDC. That stands for Early Childhood Development Center. We love, love, love it! They are so sweet and teach the children starting at 6 weeks! Today is his first Friday and I cannot wait to pick him up and spend the whole weekend with him!



Hope everyone is doing great and hope you all get to meet Michael soon if you haven't already!

Above is a link to some of my favorite pics from the hospital and ride home!

This is the week!

Oh my goodness- I can't believe this week has finally come! We go in this Tuesday night to the hospital and I get induced on Wednesday morning! We are so excited (and to tell you I am ready is an understatement! I am swollen and not sleeping well and just ready!).

I have been so bad at posting lately, so here is what we have been up to. We had a fun night out with friends and family on April 3rd. We listened to some live music at Number 16 and stayed out until 1:00!!! I don't know where my energy came from, maybe the pinapple/oj I was drinking :) but I had some that night for sure. We even hit up Waffle House before going home. It was so much fun and probably one of the last times we will do that for a while! Here are some pics...

It was nice to see Will, Hunt and Tiff. Not to mention Isabella!!!! She is just the sweetest little thing! It is great to see her personality evolving and boy does she have one! Playing hide and seek with Pop Pop...

Reading the Elmo book...

Getting sleepy...

The next trip was to Birmingham for Isabella's first birthday party. We had a great time and she looked adorable. Tiffany and Hunter did a great job getting the party perfect. We were pretty sleepy before the party and took a morning nap...Then Izzy got all dressed up for the party...and enjoyed her cake...

Well, I plan on taking it pretty easy for the next two days. Hopefully we will be very rested for the week ahead. We love you all and will keep you posted on Michael's arrival!

Love, La