One Year Check Up

Graham had his one year check up today & let me just say health care up here is quite an experience... not in a bad way but it's very different. Doctors in our area work out of 1 of 2 major "clinics" that operate very much like a hospital. There was a centralized check in & one large waiting room. It's also what I would consider very "high tech". They don't use paper files. The doctors have a touch screen that's just a little smaller than my laptop. It was really kind of cool.

The doctor we saw was recommended by some friends of ours here in IL & after meeting him, I am so glad that they recommended him to us. We ALL THREE really liked him & I am very relieved to cross this off my to do list. Today Graham had three vaccines: Hepatitis A, Pneumococcal Conjugate & Chicken Pox. He hasn't had a chicken pox vaccine before so I am watching him over the next little bit to make sure there's no adverse reaction but I'm sure that he'll be fine. He has always been such a happy, healthy boy & we are so blessed.

Here's his progression so far:

birth: 7 lbs, 15 oz - 20 inches long
4 day old weight check: 7 lbs, 8 oz
2 week old check up: 8 lbs, 1 oz - 21 & 1/2 inches long
2 month check up: 12lbs, 11 oz - 23 inches long
4 month check up: 18 lbs, 1 oz - 23 1/4 inches long
6 month check up: 21 lbs, 2 oz - 23 1/2 inches long
12 month check up: 25 lbs, 1 oz - 30 1/2 inches long

Graham's 1st Birthday

I really can't believe that it has been a whole year since Graham was born. This has been the most amazing year for us. We had originally planned to have Graham's party in TX on the Saturday after Thanksgiving. Obviously, I had it planned long before we knew that we would be moving to IL. Since everything wasn't ready in our house in IL in time to host a party, we decided to have it in GA. We had the party in the church's fellowship hall & it turned out great. My mom & dad helped out A LOT with the cooking & the decorating, running back & forth to the store, cleaning up. Graham wasn't really interested in opening the presents like I thought he would be. He had a great time with his cake though. I have a video but it's kind of long so I need to figure out how to edit it so I can post it for you. There are more pictures in the photo gallery from the party but I think this one "takes the cake":

What a Way to Start the Week!

Since my little buddy decided to sleep in this morning (It's 9:30 & he's still asleep) & my brain did not (I have been up since 7), I decided to catch up on the emails & blog reading that I missed while I was traveling over the past 10 days. I am completely ignoring the mess we made while unloading the car last night & will deal with it at some point before I pack up & start traveling for Christmas. I have managed to open all Graham's birthday presents (Thanks to all of you who participated in making my living room look like a Toys R Us store!) & contain the mess to our bedroom. The only thing on the agenda for today is to sort through the pictures from Graham's birthday party during naptime.

Today is Makes my Monday over at Twinfatuation & I am going to participate this morning because

Opening Google Reader to find some wonderfully exciting news
& an awesome December Desktop makes my Monday!

Now to explain...
I love reality TV (well, most of it... still not into Flava Flav or any of the Housewives) & this morning Debi over at Who Says 8 is Enough? posted some wonderfully exciting news regarding ABC's next Bachelor. I just confirmed on the ABC website that Jake Pavelka will be the next Bachelor & the season premiers on Jan 4th. He was my favorite last season & I was really hoping that he would be the next Bachelor. I cannot wait!
Since I am new to IL, I'll be watching solo from the comfort of my couch. Maybe I'll do a live tweet or something. I think I'm gonna pass on joining the fan club but if you happen to be interested then here's the link:

JakePavelka.net

And if all this excitement isn't enough to make your heart go pitter patter, there's still more!

I love Shabby Princess & every month she does a customizable desktop. For the past 5 or 6 months I have had some of the cutest desktops for my computer. The December desktop came out early & I decided to go ahead & get it finished. I really wish that I could take credit for this but all I had to do was insert my photos. This is what I will be looking at all December long:

My Addiction is Paying Off

If you're looking for the latest pictures, scroll down to the previous post or visit our photo gallery.

I am addicted to reading other blogs... my favorites are the blogs that offer give aways & special deals/coupons. I have almost 100 blogs that I follow using Google Reader. Most days, I just glance at the titles then scroll to the next article but some times I come across one that offers a deal that I just can't pass up.

50 Free Christmas Cards

Thanks to $30 Weekly Grocery Challenge, I was able to order all of my Christmas cards for less than $10! The cards are free but you have to pay shipping. I needed more than 50 cards so I ordered 1/2 using my email & 1/2 using Ben's email to get more than what I needed. I also ordered the free address labels & just paid the shipping on them as well. If you're interested then click on the link above for more details. I think the offer expires on Nov 30 so you have to act now.

A Very Busy Week

I have finally had a chance to upload some new photos to the photo gallery. Here are some of my favorites from this set:

Dad & I took Graham back to South Dakota for Grandma Emma's 100th birthday. We have to miss her birthday party but we celebrated with her on her actual birthday this year. Here's The Birthday Crew...

This time last year, we were just bring Graham home from the hospital. This year was really his first Thanksgiving. Here was his reaction to the table of food:

We're Finally Settled Again

Wow! That's all I can really say about this past month. A lot has happened & we are finally getting things back to normal... or at least what we consider normal. Here are some of the things we've been up to lately:

• The move went smoothly & I finally have everything unpacked. It only took about 2 weeks.
  
• I mailed invitations for his first birthday party this week. I can't believe it's already here.
• I have learned more about baby proofing in the past few weeks than I ever thought I would need to know.
  
• He's starting to walk better & he's finally choosing to walk on his own instead of crawl.
  
• He's also talking more now... actually it's more like nonstop. He can say Mama, Dada, Uh-Uh, Uh-Oh, Whoa, Ooh, Aah & he will repeat some things he hears other people say.
  
• He is very curious about everything.
  
• He doesn't meet a stranger & he thinks everyone he sees should stop & play with him.
• He plays by himself really well.
• He will run up to us & hug us or kiss us then giggle & run away to get into something else. We go through this ritual many times a day. It's so much fun. He cracks me up most days!
  
• I finally got some recent pictures uploaded, so go check out our photo gallery.
• My Dad, Graham & I are getting ready for a trip to South Dakota in a few weeks then we're all headed to Georgia for Thanksgiving.

Another New Chapter

Three years ago Ben & I, as newlyweds, moved here to Texas from Georgia. It's been quite an interesting adventure & we are very blessed to have experienced the things we have & for the many people we have come to know as friends since moving here. The company that we moved out here to work for closed in May & things haven't been the same since. While we have been fortunate enough to have another job, we decided that it would be best to explore other options outside the Dallas area. About a week ago, Ben accepted a job in Champaign, Illinois & we will be leaving Texas behind on October 24. Our house is currently on the market & things are running pretty smoothly in regards to the relocation. (i.e. Movers are coming in to do all the work for me!!!) There is still a lot to be done & we have a 10 month old that keeps us pretty busy so there won't be any more updates until after things get settled in our new place & I promise that the next update will be full of pictures of our favorite little guy.

He's Eofficially Walking... I Have Proof Now!!!

Graham has been walking on & off for a few weeks now. He'll walk down the hall if you hold his hand & walk with him. He'll even take a few steps toward you but then he decides that it's faster to crawl & he gives up on walking. Anytime we tried to get out the camera, he would just crawl as fast as he could to the camera so he could try to play with it. Tonight I got sneaky & I was actually able to video it before he saw me with the camera. It's not the greatest video but here it is:

The Art of Play

Over the past week we have noticed that Graham has started to play less like a baby & more like a little boy.

• He pushes his trucks around the living room.
• He will toss a ball into a bucket.
• He laughs hysterically when you tickle him or make faces at him.
  
• He will clap & laugh while watching TV.
  
• He has learned to blow a whistle.

On top of all this he took his first steps tonight... 4 or 5 of them right in a row! I haven't been able to get him to do it while I have the video camera out but I did manage to get these two videos of him playing this week:

A Weekend with Grandmama

This past weekend my mom came to stay with us & Ben took a few days off from work so we took Graham to the Dallas Aquarium. We also took Graham to his first seafood restaurant & let him have crab legs for the first time. Check out the pictures in our photo gallery.