Tidbits from T

Hi friends! Yes, I'm going to give you Matthew's 12 month stats and share part 2 of his first birthday celebration soon. But I thought I'd do a quick blog post and catch up on other areas of our life. Yes, believe it or not, there is more to our lives than Matthew! (But he's a huge part of it!) :)

***The girls started back to school this past Monday, August 1st. Matthew and I were sad to see them go and were quite lonely during the day. Yes, I made them pose for these dorky pictures.


Gib thought I was dorky for making them hold signs, so I got to be in one of the pics, too.


***Jessica tried out for volleyball at school this week, but didn't make the team. :( I think Gib and I were more sad for her than she was for herself. She wants to take gymnastics, and the class I signed her up for would have conflicted with her game schedule. It worked out for the best for now, but I hope she will pursue this again because she does have good hand/eye coordination.

I'm not sure I mentioned it before, but Jessica got braces the beginning of June. She looks great in them and has adjusted well to having them. We'll see how she does after getting them tightened for the first time on Monday.

She is growing up way too fast, but I'm so proud of the young girl she is becoming. She has started babysitting for the three children across the street, ages 3, 2 and 9 months. She is very responsible and has such a sweet spirit. I sure do love that girl!

She will probably kill me for posting this picture, but I took this picture of her sleeping the other night. I used to take sleeping pictures all the time when she was younger. I just felt like I needed a recent one. Even though she's getting big, she will always be my "baby girl".


***The school put Emma Grace on the wrong bus the first day of school. I only freaked out a little. Gib, on the other hand, my mild-mannered husband, just about flipped a lid. He was livid. Turns out there is another subdivision with a street name the same as ours, and Emma Grace and two other little girls got put on that bus. Emma Grace spoke up to her teachers several times, they checked with the office several times, but the transportation department was to blame. I know we all make mistakes, but I put our subdivision name on her form, so there should have been no confusion. The bottom line is that she made it home safely and has come home on the correct bus since. I spoke with the assistant principal and her teacher called to apologize and check on her. It's all good.

Emma Grace will take gymnastics on the same day and time as Jessica. That couldn't have worked out better! I'm excited that she is getting involved in an activity again. She really is happy just hanging out, playing with friends, Matthew, her sister and Buddy. And talking. That girl of mine talks nonstop. Wonder who she gets that from? *wink*

She has started sleeping in these eye covers. Do they crack you up as much as they do me?

This is how I find her a couple of hours after she goes to bed.


She had her first official sleepover recently. Well, I can't really say that. She has spent the night next door several times (but that's next door and in many ways like a second home to her), and she has spent the night at MeMe's house. But, another sweet friend of hers invited her to go to the American Girl store, out to dinner and to spend the night just before school started. She did great and had a GREAT time! Thanks, Reagan!

***I'm contemplating running a half marathon with Gib in October. CRAZY!!! I am so out of shape that I get winded walking up my driveway. Not sure what I'm gonna do yet, but I've got to decide SOON!

Our grocery bill is out of control, and I absolutely HATE going to the grocery store. I'm thinking about making a monthly menu, shopping for the main ingredients and only going once a week for milk, fresh fruits/veggies, lunch meat and bread. I found a blog called Grocery Shrink and she blows my mind on how she can feed her family of seven on $350 a month! And they don't eat a lot of junk or processed food. Hmmm. Makes me think for sure. It all overwhelms me but if I could feed my family for $600 a month I would be thrilled.

I'm continuing to work with Rock Goodbye Angel, a local organization that provides support for bereaved families. We are currently searching for a meeting place near the hospital where Grady was born to start a support group, and we are also praying for funding to hire me on part-time. Exciting!

What's not so exciting to me is leaving Matthew. I have never had to put any of our children in any type of childcare setting other than the church nursery. I always said, though, that if an opportunity came along for me to use Grady's life/death to impact others that I would do it part-time. I can make phone calls and work on the computer while he naps, but when we really get into the hospital, I will have to leave him to go educate providers on our services and be present for bereaved families, if the so desire. I found an awesome lady to keep him one day a week, so that makes my heart happy! He will be with three other babies right about his same age. Granted, he is behind in his development, I think it will be great for him to see what they're doing.

***Speaking of Matthew, he's army crawling everywhere and is into everything! Like this box the other day.


He blew me kisses with just his mouth yesterday morning while we were strolling around in Target...melted my heart! He loves to sit in the buggy and look around.

We are for sure going to have to take him to a race when he gets older. As I was leaving the dentist the other day, he was enthralled with the cars that were passing by on the busy street. I can only imagine how he would love the loud, fast cars at a race track.

He got a wagon for his birthday from MeMe and GranDave. It's been a huge hit, for Matthew AND the girls! What's wrong with this picture?


He is feeling much better this week. He had an ear infection, fever and a cruddy nose last week. It turned into a cough and wheezing. Thankfully, I had the nebulizer and medicine already. I hate that a cold can't just be a cold for my kids.

Matthew loves Buddy, but I'm not sure the feeling is mutual. Buddy is great with him, though, and every now and then, they "play" together.


***Grady has been on my mind more than normal lately. I think about him everyday but I've found myself really thinking about him and missing him so much. I think a lot of it is the fact that he would be old enough to start preschool this year. He would have turned three this November. It's hard to believe he's been gone almost three years!

***Gib is back at work. Thankfully he does NOT have testing again this year. People at work have commented that they've seen him smile more lately than they ever have before. We are all hoping to see him more and spend more time with him. We got spoiled having him with us so much this summer.

He is wrapping up his summer classes at UGA and only has two classes left to finish his specialist degree. He mentioned a doctorate program the other night. Please, Lord, not more school!!! In all seriousness, I'm very proud of him. I simply have no desire to go back to school. Ever. Unless I absolutely have to for some reason.

***We are looking forward to a visit from Gib's brother and his family in early September. They have not visited in four years! We loved spending time with them in the Bahamas and are looking forward to them coming for a few days. The kids have a blast together, and so do we adults! Speaking of the adults, we will be going to the UGA vs. Boise State football game at the Georgia Dome while they are here. It has been a long time since I've been to a Georgia football game. I'm looking forward to it! I just wish it was going to be in Athens to get the full effects of Georgia football!

***So much for being a "quick" blog post as I mentioned in the beginning. Now I'm realizing why I don't blog much. I started this post Friday morning...it's now Saturday morning, and I'm just finishing it!

Have a great weekend!

Love,
Tonya