Halloween

Halloween has always been a take it or leave it kind of holiday for me. This year it climbed the charts and totally ROCKED!!!

We all got in the festive spirit this year.

Devan was an escaped convict.

I dressed the belly up as Humpty Dumpty.

And Jamis was a fire breathing Dragon

The absolute best part of the whole holiday though was trick-or-treating. It took only one house for Jamis to catch the Halloween bug. He would run from house to house, say "tric tree", dig through their bowls of candy (being sure to touch every piece), take NOTHING, and then run to the next house. He so didn't understand that the purpose wasn't to see shiny wrappers, but to eat what was inside. Luckily Devan and I snuck him some and he later quickly realized that the good stuff was on the inside of those wrappers.

If Halloween was this much fun with him this year, Christmas is going to be AMAZING!!!! I already can't wait for next year.

Oops, I got a sneak peak of our little package!

This week I went in for another ultrasound and they surprised me by doing a 4D image of our little guy. It was totally like getting to open a Christmas present early.

Just look at this little guy. Really, does it get any cuter than this???

It blows me away that technology can do this, but its even more amazing that

THIS...
(5 day old Griner Boy)

Becomes THIS...

(27 week old Griner Boy)

This kid isn't even born yet and is already a camera hog.

Tighty Whities

As soon as we returned from Washington DC, I begun the oh, so fun task of POTTY TRAINING!!! With carpet cleaner in hand, I nervously got rid of the remaining diapers and gave Jamis is first pair of "tighty whities." Jamis was super excited to get big boy undies, one look of those cool Thomas the Train and Lightening McQueen pants and he was totally on board. I was surprised at how fast he caught on, anything to be just like Daddy. By the end of the first day it clicked. The second day, no accidents. We had a little trouble the third day, but he recovered well and I actually can take him out in public without being a nervous wreck.

The biggest problem we have now is that he always wants to wear more than one pair. I caught him in his room one morning after he had put on 4 pairs all by himself. He was SO proud.

Pants have been our other big obstacle. You can't see Thomas or McQueen on your bum if you have pants on, duh!
His new "cheese mommy" smile.

Washington DC

This year is the year of Surgical Conferences for us and this month Devan had one in Washington, DC. While Devan attended classes, Jamis and I explored the city.

What a little tourist.

We went to the Natural History Museum, the National Archives, and Jamis's favorite, the Air and Space Museum. Poor kid got a sore neck from looking up so much.
Jamis was so cute at the "emple." He especially loved the visitors center with the large statue of Christ. Everyone in the building was loudly made aware that "Dedus" was there.

On afternoon Devan was done early and was able to meet us at the Zoo. It is so fun having a kid old enough to go do fun stuff with. He LOVED seeing all the animals and running around. His favorites were the snakes ("nakes") and the elephants ("efents").

Probably his favorite thing of the whole week though was riding the subway. Every time we got on the escalator to go down, he start shrieking "train, train." A couple of times we missed our exit on purpose just so we could ride a bit longer. What a kid.

Maternity Pics

One of Devan's fellow residents dabbles in photography and took these last night. It's still hard for me to believe that this is really my belly. WoW!

Somethings never change

The other day it was a little too quiet and this is what I found.
A scene that I'll never tire of.
4 months old8 months old21 months old

Big Boy Bed

Well the time has come. Jamis is almost 2 and has finally learned how to crawl IN his crib. Although he hasn't tried to get OUT by himself, I wasn't looking forward to hearing that dreaded head cracking THUMP sound, so we went ahead and upgraded to the BIG BOY BED.

Last night in his crib. Take note of the sunglasses. This kid won't take them off. Inside or outside he has his shades on (usually upside down too I might add).

Devan and I wanted to get our Car obsessed child a car bed, but couldn't believe how expensive they were. $300 new, $120 on craigslist, but I scored with this one at a garage sale for $15 in perfect condition. Jamis was SO excited. It would've been worth the $300 after all.

First night in the BIG BOY BED. Now can I just brag for a second on my wonderful child. When making the switch I was prepared for lots of crying, late nights, putting him back in bed a thousand times. Well, my sweet boy has done none of that. He is excited to get into bed, he stays there the whole night or nap time, and when he wakes up he won't get out of bed until I come in the room. The only problem we have is that he thinks the bed transforms into a trampoline during the day. Now, I doubt this will last, but WOW. He's such a good boy.
So proud of his new bed.Jamis's room slowly is transforming into a big boy's room.