We have a 1-year old! Our little man Reid turned one on Sunday and we’ve had quite a busy week leading up to his big day. The end of Griffin’s school year is near and they’ve begun to send home some school stuff including pictures and name tags so I’ve included some in this week’s post.  Griffin really does love being a big brother. He’s regularly wanting to help feed Reid, share his food with Reid, give him his bottle, pick him up (which Reid does NOT like usually), give him hugs and snuggles.  Griffin has rediscovered his Magnatiles recently and has been making all kinds of creations. He made this awesome heart for me and when he showed it to me and said he made it for me because he loves me.  Awe, love this sweet boy! The second photo is of him in his room after bedtime, yes he’s asleep, and he made all of those creations after he went to “bed”.  Mom, Dad, Jim, and Pat were again our saviors this week as they helped us by watching the kids while we were away at work. We couldn’t have made it through this period between caregivers if not for each of them! The photo of Finn on the couch asleep is from Jim and Pat – he fell asleep on his way home from pre-school in the car and they brought him in to the couch and he continued to sleep! He was wiped out as he rarely naps these days!
Kevin and I have been on the Generosity Team at church over the last year and a half. Our team led the capital campaign to raise the funds to pay off the note on the building by May of this year – which thanks to the faithful contributions of our congregation was a successful effort and the building was actually paid off early in April. Our team planned a celebration to thank our church and coupled it with a party also celebrating the 25th anniversary of the church. We had a worship team from another church come and give a concert, there were games, food trucks, and the official burning of the church “note” in the back yard fire pit. Kevin took the day off on Friday to run all of the errands to Costco, Aldi, etc., and gather the necessary food and drink items. The church provided drinks and side-items as well as “tickets” to the food trucks for each attendee. Kevin made 15 pounds of pasta salad at home (and it was delish – and we ate it for the next week as there was plenty left over!) and we had other items including a green salad, strawberries, apples, grapes, and cheese trays. On Saturday morning I went to our neighbor, Lisa’s, bridal shower downtown and then quickly headed home to change and head to church to help with the final prep and laying out the food before the official event began at 4 pm. The weather was looking dodgy and it poured rain at 3:30 but it cleared up just before our event began! Yay! It was a great time and really well attended and the food trucks were all great! After our busy Saturday we headed into an even busier Sunday – Reid’s first birthday! This picture is from Reid’s party on May 28, but I wanted to include it here as it is the best shot I have of him with a huge smile on his face 🙂 When we got Reid from his room on his birthday he was in fun spirits. He’s loving the fan and enjoys crawling all over our bed and trying to escape your reach. Sunday morning I headed with Griffin and Reid to Finn’s football bowl game to conclude his season with i-9. They played at Liberty High School’s football stadium this year. The kids had a great time and it was a nice morning to watch a game. Simultaneously Kevin was at the special church celebration service – which ended up being nearly two hours! We didn’t want to both miss the service as it was a special one which celebrated the 25th anniversary as well as the conclusion of the Generosity initiative. Whew, Kevin made it right at the end of the game and although Finn was finished playing he was there to see him get his trophy and grab a team photo. It was a fun season as Cooper, our neighbor and Finn’s buddy, was on the same team – go Ninja Bulldogs! This same day last year I was in the hospital after just having had Reid and Kevin went to Griffin’s Bowl Game with his parents! Time flies!
After the game we headed home for a short bit and then I left to meet two potential nanny’s to watch the boys this summer. I met with one at 1:30 and the next at 2:30 – both went well and since we knew we needed to act fast we ended up setting up second interviews for later that evening at 6:30 and 8!  It was such a whirlwind, but we ended up hiring Jenn (who we interviewed first) and she agreed to start the next day. Whew, basically 24 hours after interviewing her she was at our house. But I spoke with her references and reviewed her background check, got her BMV record, and feel really good about her. We’re super thankful it happened so quickly!  Just before the interviews Finn and I decorated Reid’s cake and as soon as I got home we hopped in the car and headed to Dublin to watch Greta’s Dance Recital! She did a lovely job and it was cute to see so many dancers on the stage doing different routines :).  After the recital Mom, Dad, Amy, Andy, Graham, Rowan, Greta, me, Finn, and Reid headed to Max and Erma’s for a quick dinner. Kevin headed off to meet with the two interviewees so we could get that done over the weekend rather than trying to figure out how to do it during the workdays. Reid was pretty tired by this point as you can see, lol, and Finn really enjoyed his sundae for dessert.  This poor boy – after Kevin got home from his second interview it was nearly 9 pm and it was the first time we’d all been home together where Reid was awake and our first chance to do gifts and cake. I was actually rocking him in his room thinking we would just do it the next day when Kevin arrived home and we decided to just go for it. So he doesn’t look the most spunky in these pics but here they are!