Michala Says GO VANDALS!

The times they are a changin’

That’s right my friends, Michala’s officially walking! 

She has been mobile for some time now, but now she’s more independent than ever.  It’s fun and exciting to watch, and yet saddens me too to see my baby growing up.  I’m guessing that in the next week or so we will literally be running after her trying to keep up. 

Michala is also very mischievous.  She is testing her boundaries-much to our dismay.  Her favorite thing to do is bite the leather seam on the front of the couch cushions.  Right as she’s bending over to do it she turns to slyly look at you as if to say “ha ha look at me!”… and when you tell her “no”, she giggles and thinks it’s hilarious.  Good times…  While this is very frustrating I keep telling myself that this too shall pass.  Whenever we look back at one of Michala’s more trying phases we realize that they really didn’t last too long… so hopefully this one won’t either. 

In other news, Tim is still unemployed.  However, he’s been kept very busy remodeling Debbie’s kitchen.  I haven’t seen the final product, but I hear it’s beautiful.  I don’t see a job realistically popping up any time soon, but that is just fine by me.  I’m glad that Tim and Michala are getting this time together.  I know that God will provide a job at the right time. 

I am actually starting a new job tomorrow.  I’ll be doing similar work as what I do now, but will be working for Albertsons, LLC instead of SuperValu.  On pretty much all levels, this is a great thing.  The medical benefits are probably going to cost more, but that appears to be the only downfall so far.  I am super excited for this change!

We are celebrating Michala’s FIRST birthday next Sunday.  We’re just going to get the family together and let her eat cake… lots and lots of cake :)  It should be fun and I’ll do my best to post pics soon after for those of you out of town. 

The next weekend (Michala’s actual birthday weekend) we’re starting our trek to Billings to visit Jeff & LeeAnn (JeffAnn as Tim refers to them).  We can’t wait to see them and their sweet little addition Maddie Mae.  It is sure to be a crazy Thanksgiving.  One baby, one naughty toddler who is already getting into EVERYTHING, 4 dogs, 1 cat, 1 bird, and 6 adults trying to take it all in.  Good times to be had :)

Here are videos of Michala’s development of mobility over the past couple of months:

Our Sweet Girl

Michala is 10 months old now and has started “crawling” over the last few weeks.  I don’t have a good video of it yet, but I’ll post one when I do.  For now, here are some cute pics…

8,000 Firecrackers (and Michala stuff too)

We went to Saint Louis for the 4th of July and stayed at my Uncle-in-law’s house which is outside of city limits (which means all of the good stuff is legal) and thankfully my brother-in-law was in a spending mood which resulted in this lovely video of two (2) rolls of four thousand (4,000) firecrackers going off at once.  It gets a little slow in the middle but is worth watching to the end.

…and the aftermath…

Michala also had her first post-partum visit to the Zoo.

 

The next day we dumped Michala with the Grandparents and went to the Arch (no we didn’t go up in it (not enough time)).  

My hat is off to Eero Saarinen on this one, well done old chap.

That’s about it.

Tim

7 Months!

First off, Happy Father’s Day to all the wonderful dads out there!  We couldn’t make it without you!  I got Tim a Roku player so that we can watch Neflix stuff instantly on our TV instead of on our monitor… he LOVES it (and so do I :D).

That’s right ya’ll, my little girl is now 7 months old!  Where has the time gone?  She’s getting so big and is such fun to be around (usually).

Not a whole lot has changed in the Grissom house since my last post.  Michala FINALLY is breaking thru her 2 bottom front teeth.  Let me tell you she has not been a happy camper.  We should buy stock in the company that makes those teething tablets…  She loves to bounce in her jumperoo and just on anything she can in general.  She also now weighs over 17 pounds.

In other news, Tim and a few other people got laid off from their Architecture firm a few weeks ago.  It was pretty unexpected for everyone I think.  But we have been blessed so far and believe that we will continue to be throughout this process.  So, if you know anyone who needs an Intern Architect, send ‘em our way :)

We went to Vegas to see my parents for Memorial Day weekend a few weeks ago.  We had a fun and relaxing time.  Michala got to go swimming for the first time and absolutely loved it.  We’re going to visit my extended family in St. Louis for July 4th and I’m hoping we get to spend a fair amount of time in their pool so that she can really enjoy herself. 

Work for me has been going well.  Just the same ol same ol…  But very thankful to have a job :)

We went to the Emmett Cherry Festival yesterday with some friends.  The Festival itself wasn’t all that exciting, but we went to pick cherries after that and we had a great time doing that.  Michala even picked a few. 

 

Maggi had a good time eating cherries!

Jake taking pictures instead of picking cherries.

Snapfish and Picassa have been updated.  Enjoy….

We love you all and thank you for being in our lives!

Liz

Eating?

Happenings

Spring is definitely getting a move on here on Boise.  It’s been wonderful!  The temperature was in the mid 70’s today…perfect!  Michala has been enjoying going on walks and not having to wear much in the way of clothing.  She has recently discovered her toes and likes to play with them all the time. 

On a different note, Michala has also started teething.  That I must say has not been an enjoyable process for any of us.  I don’t see (or feel) any teeth in her mouth, but she is definitely having “teething” moments.  And to top off the fussiness she has discovered her lungs and her screaming voice.  For awhile she would do this screeching thing that reminded you of a Pterodactyl, which we thought was cute and entertaining.  However, that has quickly escalated into full on screaming at the top of her lungs.  Needless to say, we have been at our wit’s end a few times.  On a good note, she does seem to be understanding “no” (or at least we think she is) and that has been helping. 

Work is going well for both of us.  It’s hard to fit everything in that we want/need to during the evening or weekend, but we’re learning.  Our housework usually is what suffers the most, but oh well… just don’t stop by unexpectedly if you don’t want to see junk all over the place :)

There’s new pics uploaded to Snapfish.  Sorry, but most of them are taken with my phone so the quality’s not that great.  I’ve also uploaded them to Picasa because I think you can download them directly from there, instead of having to order prints.

We hope all is well with you.  Have a wonderful week!

Liz

Easter

Laughing

Ok, so I started this post almost a month ago… and yes, it’s taken me this long to finish.  Life is crazy.

Our little girl is officially laughing.  It is the sweetest sound! 

 

Jeff & LeeAnn came to town for the weekend.  We just hung out and had a wonderful time catching up.  You can check out more (and better) pictures from the weekend on their blog http://coffeebeansandjetfuel.blogspot.com/2009/03/we-just-returned-from-short-trip-to.html.

Sorry

I’m sorry it’s been so long since my last post.  Life has been busy, what can I say.

We spent a wonderful time with family in Vegas a few weeks ago.  My cousin, Chase, and Michala got to meet each other.  They’re only a week apart, and it was so fun to get them together!  That same weekend Michala started “talking.”  She is such fun to be around.  For the most part, she is a very happy and content baby, for which we are so thankful.  She is still a very fussy eater, but what can you do…

Tim and I are both busy at work which is a good thing.  I wish that I got to spend more time with Michala, but there’s not much I can do about that…  We don’t really do much other than go get up, go to work, come home, and go to sleep.  The little free time we have is taken up with playing with Michala, small group, and chores.  What a life!  It’s nothing special, but I wouldn’t change it for anything…well other than the working part, oh and maybe the toilet cleaning part too :)

Here’s some updated videos.  Hope you enjoy.

Love you and miss you all!

Liz

Happy Girl

Michala smilin’ at her daddy…

What a cutie!

Life Is Good

I’m sitting here at the computer listening to my beautiful daughter kick and play in her bouncy seat behind me.  The sun is out and it actually feels warm for a change.  And most importantly, I am not at work; the weekend has started.  Life is good!

I started back to work on Monday.  It’s been nice to be in the “adult” world for a change, but boy do I miss by baby during the day.  She doesn’t seem to care that someone else is taking care of her, which of course bothers me on the one hand, but also makes me glad that she’s not a problem child on the other.  I had been worried about how she would do on her first day, but all was fine.  Michala had decided last week that she wasn’t going to take a bottle.  Now mind you, this child was solely bottle fed for at least 4 weeks of her short life… and now that I really needed her to take a bottle, she wasn’t going to do it?  Of course!  But she ended up fighting the first one on Monday, figured out she wasn’t going to eat without it, and then all was fine.  Thank goodness… like she was really going to let herself starve… Have you seen a picture of my daughter lately?  She’s certainly not one to let anything get between her and food :)

I think I’ll enjoy my job more once I get in the swing of things.  Training for a new position is never that entertaining.  Plus I currently don’t have a permanent desk, so I can’t really get settled in yet.  Oh well, I’ll get there. 

Tim’s work is going well.  His company had to cut back on hours so that no one gets laid off, so now Tim gets every other Friday off.  He’s really looking forward to hanging out with Michala on his days off.  It’ll make for good daddy/daughter time. 

Michala has really started to smile.  I must say that being a parent is so much more rewarding and fun when your kids start being interactive.  Your baby’s smile can melt all the day’s frustrations and anxieties away like nothing else.

Here are some new pics of the most beautiful baby in the world.  Hope you enjoy!

Here’s a vide of Michala’s newest habit.  It’s really funny to watch when she gets going…

Randomness

First off, I accepted a job at SuperValu in my old department.  My first official day back is February 2nd.  I’m excited to start this new venture, but am sad about having to leave Michala.  I know she’ll be fine, but it’s not the same…  I’m sure we’ll all adjust after a few weeks.  We are very thankful that God has provided for us financially!

Michala has been changing so much over the last few weeks.  Her face is very expressive and she’s beginning to take in her surroundings.  Every once in awhile she even smiles at me :)

Here’s a video of her playing in her bouncy seat.  It’s kind of long and isn’t earth-shatteringly entertaining, but we thought it was cute. 

Thank you all for your love and prayers.  We hope to see everyone soon!

Liz

2 Months!

That’s right, Michala turned 8 weeks old yesterday.  Time has really flown by.  I am so thankful that I’ve had this extra time at home to spend with her and watch her grow.  Here are some cute pictures that we’ve taken since our last post. 

This is Michala’s first experience with her Bumbo chair.  She wasn’t quite able to hold her head up yet…

 

This is one of the many snow storms we got after New Years.

Thanks to Great Grandma Bunnie for the beautiful afghan she made.  Michala sleeps with it every night!

Michala checking out her dad doing the dishes… She’s holding her head up a bit more these days but it’s still pretty floppy.

This was taken today at lunch with friend Laurel.

Here’s a short video of Michala staring at the ceiling fan.  It’s really nothing all that exciting, but at least you can see her in action…

Life has been good in the Grissom house over the last few weeks.  Michala and I have both been sick and are finally getting back into the swing of things.  Tim has been great about taking care of us :)

Sorry it’s been so long since the last post.  The time just hasn’t been available… I’ll try to be better :)

P.S. New pictures have also been uploaded to Snapfish.

Liz