Almost six

When you ask Olivia how old she is she'll say "I'm five, almost six! My birthday is April 4th, 2003." Well, the countdown is on baby! My first born, my baby girl, my child that is more like me than I can believe will be SIX on Saturday! I can't believe it. Seriously, can I put a rock on her head and make her stop growing? She is so independent, so free willed, so out spoken, and has such a strong personality. She is such a daddy's girl but loves to tell me secrets. She is overly protective of her baby brother but refers to him as her "Little BOTHER." She has lost 4 teeth in the last few months and has *another* loose tooth. She loves school, loves to read, and can remember details that even I'd forgotten about. She absorbs EVERYTHING. She's my little sponge, my mini-me as my Mom says, and the reason my life has a purpose. I can remember how nervous Al was about having a daughter - being worried that he wouldn't know what to do with her - now he's wrapped. She gets away with murder.

I love her. We love her. Everyone who meets her loves her. I can't wait for Saturday. Can't wait to wake my baby girl up singing Happy Birthday and kissing her sweet, round face over and over again until she's laughing.

Near term babies

My mom told me about an article in the newspaper about "near term" babies - she said I should google it and read it up on it. For those of you who don't know - Cooper was born a month early due to my blood pressure being so high. That was the easy part....the hard part was the fact he had problems feeding and turned as yellow as a crayon. It's the worst feeling in the world to be sent home from the hospital WITHOUT your baby. Al and I had to do that for several days. It almost killed us. Now Cooper is a happy, healthy almost 4 year old. But man is he B-A-D!!! I thought it was just him being a boy - and maybe some of it is, but I think some of it has to do with this too. At least, I can tell myself that right? Cooper has had a time adjusting to school and for the longest time I thought it was because he was spoiled so much at daycare. After reading this article and a few others, I think it has to do a lot with the fact that he's developing at a different pace than his peers. I thought this article and a few others were very interesting - I recommend anyone who has a child born 4 weeks or more early to read up on this.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/30/health/30child.html?partner=rss&emc=rss

I love my little man - no matter how wild he is.

Olivia's Softball game

Today was Olivia's first softball game of the season and THEY WON!!!! Olivia struck out the first time she batted, but hit a DOUBLE the second time around. We are so proud of our baby girl. She didn't care too much about playing in the field - she was constantly playing in the dirt - but she really digs hitting the ball. Al has some *serious* work cut out for him. =) Cooper wasn't interested in the game at all - he wanted me to play with him and take his picture. His first game is Saturday - can't wait!

Cooper - 3 1/2 years old - I love him so much...how could you not?

Hmmmm....NOT Olivia......

Olivia and her friend Nancy Jane - check out my baby girl's smile.....and she has ANOTHER loose tooth. What are we going to do if she loses them all?????


Getting ready to bat.

Look at that form! I could eat her to pieces, she looks so darn cute!

Al the fisherman

Al, his dad, his brothers, his cousin Nelson, and Neal went fishing over the weekend in Santee. They try to do this "guys weekend" every year and always have a good time. Al caught a HUGE cat fish - his is on the left, the bigger one on the right was caught by Alton. Aren't they huge? And the funny thing is - Al doesn't fish! He does every now and then and always catches something huge. What luck. My dad secretly hates him. Seriously. =)

In other Griggs news - Cooper is signed up for t-ball! I am stoked and can't wait for him to play! He'll only be playing for about a month, but hopefully when the rec dept. starts up with t-ball, he can play then too. Olivia is already practicing for softball. She's on the team with most of the girls she played with last year which I like. She's having a ball too. So, this spring should be fun, fun, fun!

Cooper's St. Patty Day Party in 3K

Cooper's class had a St. Patty Day Party today - they made hats, ate cookies and candy and just really enjoyed themselves. Cooper would NOT wear the green shirt I picked out this morning, so I sent a green lay (yes, Hawaii thingie) when him so he wouldn't get pinched. He obviously wouldn't wear it either from the looks of the pictures! LOL Oh well! It looks like he had a ball today.

How sweet is that little face? He's hard concentrating too folks! You can tell by the tongue. =)

Going broke here!

If Olivia keeps losing baby teeth at the rate she's going - the Tooth Fairy in my house is going to be BROKE! Olivia lost *another* tooth yesterday - top right. It's a nice addition to the hole she already has in her mouth! LOL And to make it better/worse....the left top one is loose too and will probably be out soon too! Ha!!! I love it! All I can say is I'm glad she already had school pictures made! =)

Flu

I think I have the flu. And it's not fun. My head is killing me, my body hurts, my KNEES ache and I feel like I can't get enough sleep. Olivia was sick earlier in the week and I think she's passed it on to me. It's ssssooo not fun having the flu - I can't remember the last time I've had it. Boo.

And it doesn't help that the kids are acting like they are on crack. Seriously.

And yes, Olivia Grace is feeling MUCH better - lucky. I haven't been able to exercise much this week - I've walked a few miles here and there but I haven't ran at all. It's going to be like starting over. Double Boo.

My Very Own Cinderella.....

Need I say more? = ) Oh wait, yes I do - she insisted on wearing this to DANCE class last night. How great is that?

DWTS

I love this show this year! I love the celebrities they chose and already have my favorite picked out. You guessed it! Naked Neighbor guy from the movie Sex in the City. I do like Chuck Wicks too, and the bad girl part of me wants to see Lil' Kim do well too! =)

Oh, and how can I forget Steve-O? And the dorky computer guy? He was so stinking cute and fun to watch. I think I found my new favorite show. I love cable! =)

Some of my favorite girls...

I have great friends - I just want to throw that out there. I feel so blessed to have so many wonderful women as my friends - my best friend probably being my Mom. =) Here's a picture of me and two of my favorite ladies....Becky and Lyn. You've seen a picture of me and Becky on here before. She and I go WAY back - like elementary school back! Lyn and I met in Junior High school and have been close friends ever since. She and I have the same type of humor so we have so much fun together.

This was taken during one of our infamous "girls night out" - Michele wouldn't pose in the picture but she's there too! =) I really need to get some fat friends though - all these skinny heifers are giving me a complex! LOL

Body Parts

Nana called me yesterday and told me about the following conversation she had with Olivia.

O: Nana, I'm having trouble swallowing.

Nana: You are? Does your throat hurt?

O: No, I just can't swallow good - I think it's my sternum.

Nana: Huh? What's your sternum got to do with it? And what do you know about a sternum?

O: We learned body parts at school yesterday.

Olivia is such a SHOW OFF! Nana said she was almost 100% positive that Olivia just wanted to use that word to impress her. How funny is this kid! LOL

Am I ready for more?

I've been "running" with Pam for about a week now. We walk 3 miles and do our running at the very end - well, we started by running from one marker to the next on the track. Not too bad - it's about 530 yards or more between the two. Doesn't sound like a lot, but trust me, when you're running it - it feels like the longest 500+ yards EVER. I am proud of myself for keeping up with it....I can't honestly say I "ENJOY" running, but I'm trying really hard to get healthy. I hate the fact that I was in decent shape before I had the kids and I've totally let myself go. LOL So anyways, yesterday Pam informs me that we'll be going to TWO markers of running. ACK!!!! AM I READY FOR MORE???? I don't know, but I'll try. After all, my goal is to run the entire track by November. At this rate of pushing myself, I might meet that goal earlier. We'll see. So, please keep the encouragement coming - I definitely need it!

Oh, and Pam and I are toying with the idea of doing the Avon Breast Cancer walk in Charlotte in October. It's a 2 day/39 mile walk. Yeap - you read that right.....39 miles! I'm waiting on some more information about it but we'd like to give it a try. I'll keep you posted on that.

Can you believe it's March already? My baby girl turns six in one month!!!! =(