Giggles

This was the best gift I could have gotten for my 30th birthday this year! Asher giggles for the first time.
My apologies for the video. I had to hold it off to the side so he wouldn't be distracted.

Super Powers

Let it be known that Grady has declared himself capable of "saving the day!"

"Mommy, you know what my super power is? Rhyming."

Yep. That's right the super-human power to rhyme.

Pumpkin Patch

Grady picked out his pumpkin today at Craven Farms, his first field trip with his preschool class.

Big Brother

Grady's First Day of Preschool

Grady started school on Sept. 14th at Cedar Cross Co-op Preschool. He loves Teacher Lesa and is meeting some new friends. We are very excited to see what this year has in store for him.

Grady-isms

Two days ago, my mom had to put her dog, Diva, to sleep.

Kevin told him that Grandma's dog was sick and died, but that she went to live with Jesus in Heaven.

Grandma came over the next day and Grady said:

"Grandma, is Diva living in your heart?"

"No, Grady, Diva is with Jesus."

"I know. Jesus lives in your heart. Is Diva there too?"

. . . . . . . . . .

My friend, Laura (whom Grady uses her full name, Laura Wolford, whenever addressing her) came to visit a couple of days ago.

Grady: "Laura Wolford, what kind of car do you drive?"

Laura: "I drive a Saturn. What kind of car do you drive?"

Grady (without hesitation): "A taxi."

Laura: "Oh. What kind of taxi?"

Grady (again, without hesitation): "An alien taxi."

Feeding Time

While visiting the grandchildren the other day, Kevin's mom was cradling new baby, Asher, in her arms. When Asher began to fuss Grady had the solution:

"Uh, Gramma. I think he's hungry. I think you should open up your shirt and let him suck on your nipples."

Welcome to the World!

Introducing Asher Daniel Milliken. Born to us on Sept. 11, 2009. Weighing in at 7 lbs., 15oz.

The story goes like this.

Began induction process at 5:45 (in the morning, ugh). They said I actually began labor at 7:04 am. Doctor broke my water at 9:00am ish. Then the really bad pain began. That's when I called in the drugs.

Let me just inject one thought here. For those of you women who have done this process naturally, I applaud you. I give you a standing "O". But, I not going to lie, I don't see why anyone would want to endure the pain if they don't have to. Let's be honest, my threshold for pain, not the highest.

So, anyway, now come the anesthesiologists to relieve me of the excruciating pain. And what do they do, put me in more pain (well, eventually). The doctor/intern messed up twice before the third one "took". That's right folks, three holes in my spine. Do you know what that means? Well, the odds of getting a spinal headache when they mess up once is 50%. Now my odds are like 100%!

Finally the epidural kicks in and I am feeling pretty good. It's now about 10:15 am. At this point the nurse says I am about 6 cm dialated and Kevin assumes he can check out for a while because our previous experience with Grady was a slow process. I hear him snoring from the other side of the room and wish that I could be doing the same thing, having only slept about 3 hours the previous night.

I start to relax and close my eyes. Then the nurse says she thinks I might be close because the baby's heart rate is dipping when I am contracting. She checks and I am 9.75 cm dialated. It's now 10:45am.

"Kev, Wake up! You're going to miss it!" I shout.

11:00am doc shows up and it's time to start pushing. Now, I will not go in to detail here, for obvious reasons, but I will just say this. The experience this time around was so much better than the first time.

11:24 am after having only pushed for 20 minutes, Asher Daniel joins our world.

The feeling was different this time. With Grady, I was overwhelmed by the volume of love I had for him because I had been literally waiting my whole life to be a mom. With Asher, I felt more relief that I was no longer pregnant. Later that day, when I was in the room alone with Asher, all of my fears that I wouldn't be able to love him as much as I love Grady had disappeared. He is this tiny little person who needs me and I need him just as much.

Now that he is here, we can't imagine life without him. Grady is the best big brother, constantly helping. He loves to give Asher kisses and tells him what he is doing all of the time. I am already amazed at how much Asher responds to Grady. Every time he hears Grady's voice he is wide eyed and looking around.

So begins our journey as a family of FOUR!!

Mario Kart

Grady has taken to playing Mario Kart (Wii) these days. A couple of weeks ago I was explaining to him the difference between "Manual" and "Automatic" when we pick our cars to race.

Tonight he said this to me:

"Mom, you don't want to be MAN-ual. You want to be GIRL-ual, because you're a girl."

Swimming

Grady is learning to swim with this awesome floaty suit this summer. He is really independent in the water now and loves to jump in by himself.

Working Men

Yesterday Grady went to work with Kevin. If you know Kevin and his job, you know there is a lot of driving involved. Grady tends to get a little restless in the car sometimes.

While driving over a bridge Grady says, "Well, this'll cheer me up."

Kevin says, "What? Why?"

Grady: "Because I am really bored."

Heat Wave

Last night when Kevin put Grady to bed he was wearing only his underpants because it was at least 80 degrees in his room. I went to check on him a couple hours later and found him fully clothed (shirt, sweat pants, and socks) with three layers of blankets on himself. I was confused thinking that Kevin had put him in bed this way on such a hot day. When I inquired about it, Kevin said he had only put him in the pull up with a sheet over him. So Grady had decided he was cold I guess.

And, again, today for nap, Grady goes to bed with only underpants on and this is how he woke up, socks and slippers.

Under Construction

We are currently undergoing some changes to our blog. Please stay tuned as it will prove to be worth your while.

February

Well, a lot and nothing is happening at the same time. We are proud to be having a new addition to the family in September. Nikki is pregnant and feeling all the effects. Lots of throwing up and sleeping. Grady is growing and exploring new things all the time. He will be celebrating his 3rd birthday in March. I am working away and looking forward to some nicer weather so I can get outdoors and do some camping and fishing.

Sorry I don't have any good new pics!

Kevin

Grady on "Being a Big Brother"