Hayden Grant

7 Years ago today Hayden Grant came into this world. He was born at 10:15 a.m after only 4 hours of labor. We didn't find out what we were having and I was just sure it was another girl. So I was kinda in shock the first couple days of Grant's life. I didn't even name him until the 2nd day. Out of my 2 babies he was definitely the best baby. Eat and sleep was literally all he did the first year of his life. And by eating I mean he would drink 64 ounces of milk a day(2 bottles at a time!) You would never know that by looking at him now or by his eating habits now. I literally have to force feed him now. At the age of 6 months he was 26 pounds!! At the age of 7 he is 50 pounds. I worried that he was too much of a momma's boy before he was 1. He soon squashed that fear and has been full throttle, all out, fearless, 100% boy. He has made me question motherhood many times and in the same way made me feel more loved than anyone. He has a sweet and tender heart and an inquisitive brain. He will always tell you he loves God first and foremost. He is my extroverted child. He never meets a stranger. Grant plays with girls and boys, he doesn't care as long as he has someone to play with. His favorite things to do these days are ride his go-cart, go fishing with daddy, swimming and taking his toys apart. Happy Birthday Grant!!!!

Antibodies

Last night I decided to build a fire in the patio fire thingy. As we were sitting around it roasting marshmallows, Grant kept sticking his stick in and catching it on fire. He would pull it out and want us to sing Happy Birthday to him and he would blow it out like a candle. I started telling him that 7 years ago I was this big and that he was inside my belly. I asked him did he remember being in there. Here is our conversation:

Me: Grant do you remember being inside my belly?
Grant: Yea
Me: Well what did you do inside there?
Grant: I played with the antibodies and we killed germs.

Me: Well I didn't know what to say after that so I just shut up!!!

Busy-Busy-Busy

It has been a busy week for us. With all the things we have planned it's going to be June 1st before we will slow down. Last weekend was Mother's Day so Cary and I took our Mothers and Fathers and my Grandmother to Chaffin's Dinner Theater in Nashville. Cary was out of town again Monday and Tuesday. Madison had a school program Monday that I had to rush to get to. Then Grant had his program Wednesday.

Tuesday will be Grant's birthday so we will be celebrating it this weekend with a pool party. Madison has been wanting to have a pool party for her class so since Grant's party is Saturday I figured I would just get both done on the same day. So on Saturday from 12-3 I will have a pool full of 5-7 year olds and then from 3-6 a pool full of 9-11 year olds. This is the first time Grant has had a real party. His other parties have just been with family. So I'm kinda nervous about having several 5-7 year old boys at one time. Especially if they are anything like Grant!!!!

Cary and his Mom Me, Mom, and Gran-Gran

I took this picture yesterday of Madison and her 4th grade teacher(who was also my teacher). Yesterday was their last full day and they only have to go back Friday to pick up report cards. They didn't have to go to school today and Madison has already called me to let me know she is bored!! This is only the first day of summer vacation so we might have a long summer.

The bottom pictures are of Grant and his KDG teacher Mrs. Carolyn, who was also my KDG and 1st grade teacher. Back then we were so smart she could teach 2 grades!!! Mrs. Carolyn is married to my 2nd cousin and her son, my third cousin, went to school K-12 together. In the picture on the right is Lauren who is Mrs. Carolyn's granddaughter, my 3rd cousin's daughter. Now they will more than likely go K-12 together. And the cycle continues.....

Take Me Out To The Ballgame......

Yesterday the 2nd-5th grade at Madison's school took a field trip to watch the Nashville Sounds. Cary and I along with my Dad(Pa) went along. I was assigned 4 kids to watch over and spent most of my taking them to the bathroom, standing in line for Dippin Dots, or chasing down the $5 icee guy. I only saw in total 5 mins of the game. The rest of the time that I wasn't helping or getting the kids something was spent people watching(which I really love to do!) It was a beautiful day and it actually got quite warm. As you can see by this picture of Madison:

Of course Pa isn't going to let her suffer so he bought her a $10 fan/water mister. She instantly perked up after getting her $10 souvenir.

In the bottom photo is part of the 4th grade class and their teacher. Actually she was my teacher too, I just don't remember what grade she taught when I was in school but I'm thinking it was 4th.

Madison Independent??

Could it be that Madison is finding her independence after 10 1/2 years?? Madison has always been satisfied just being at home. She rarely spends nights away from us(unless it's family). The first trip we ever took her on to Florida, she spent the entire time telling us she wanted "Her brick house in Brush Creek, TN!!!!" She was 3 and she just didn't understand why I couldn't just drive back to our house. I thought maybe she thought that the hotel was going to be where we where going to live forever. And she didn't like it.

But as she has grown older, she still prefers to be at home. So when she came home about a month ago and said she wanted to go to 4H camp I was a little concerned. Madison is super smart but I wondered if she knew what camp really was?? Did she know that she would have to go BY HERSELF to a camp miles from home with kids she didn't know? As we talked about it I told her to try church camp. Her response was "OK!". So we have the application, I filled it out, and again last night I talked to her again. I'm not trying to discourage her, I just want to make sure she knows she will be gone for a week. I asked her had she talked to Claire about it(thinking that maybe Claire had talked her into going). She said no. I told her that she would have to take a shower by herself every night(not that that's a big deal but I do still wash her hair for her). Her response was "can't I take a bath?" Nope just showers. She said she just wouldn't shower. Sorry sister that's not an option. I told her it would be fine and all the girls would have to do the same. She seems totally fine with it.

Most days I walk at the park on my lunch break and usually pray during that time. One of the things I have been praying for is for God to guide Madison (& Grant) and to help me to raise them to love God. I think he's listening. I'm so excited for her and I know she will have so much fun. And even if she doesn't stay the entire week(of course I'm not even mentioning that I could come and get her if she didn't like it) I'm just happy that she would even consider going.