the cutest valentine...

I have been waiting to post this picture of my precious little valentine! I wanted to make sure that all of Grady's family & (girl)friends got it in the mail first!:-) It was a unanimous...YES! My friend Shannon took some pictures of Grady recently for her 'Share the Love' contest and she surprised me with these for letting her use Grady's picture...what a gal!!!

I had the best valentine's day yet! It started w/ this...

Grady was a little under the weather, so Jaci (our sweet sitter) came early and I got to go to church w/ Aubrey. Afterwards, we walked out to the parking lot to get the car...only it wasn't our car! It was a gorgeous, silver porsche! ...what a fun surprise! He took me to Pappasitto's (my FAVORITE!) and then we spent the rest of the evening riding around and talking. When we were almost home, Aubrey reached in the side pocket and pulled out a little purple box. He said "I wish I could do more"...WHAT!? I'm thinking "all I got you was a homemade card and some dark chocolate m&m's!" He spoiled me w/ not 1...not 2...but 3 massages!!! Seriously the best gift ever! Thanks to both of my gorgeous valentine's...I have to be the most blessed woman alive and I don't deserve it!

~jen

A Few of My Favorite Things - Baby Edition

As Grady has grown over the past seven months I stand amazed at how rapidly he moves through various stages. Let’s take his hands for example. At first baby hands are merely another thing attached to their tiny little body. Pretty soon though they turn into somewhat of a curious anomaly and he stares at them in wonder rotating them back and forth in slow concentrated motion. Then comes the jerky, “I… can’t… seem… to… get … this… in… my… mouth” stage which is soon followed by the emergence of the little fist eating monster inside of us all. Finally he begins to work on dexterity. This is the process by which he learns to grab and hold things in his surprisingly strong baby death grip as he moves them to a slobbery collision with his baby gums. Jen loves it when he applies this technique to her hair. Fortunately, mine just comes out when he pulls on it. :)
That having been said, I have come to the realization that there are things that, potentially, Grady will never grow out of; things that will go with him as he grows. One of these transcendent treasures is in fact one of my favorite things.

Dr. Seuss’s ABC: An Amazing Alphabet Book

If you don’t know about the yawning yellow yak with Yolanda on his back and if you cannot explain how nine new neckties, nightshirt, nose fit in the same sentence, then you seriously need to run out and pick this up. I’m not sure what to think about Dr. Seuss sometimes. On some levels, he’s a kook and yet on others he is a complete creative genius. I mean, “Four fluffy feathers on a fifer feffer feff.” Holy Smokes! It’s crazy, but so much fun!
And finally, as if you needed more evidence, “Big Z little z. What begins with Z? A Zizzer Zazzer Zuzz as you can plainly see.”
~Big A little a

No More Gummies!!!

It's been a rough few weeks for our little family. First Grady had a stomach bug and he passed it along to Daddy. At the same time, our poor little guy started teething for the first time. He was in obvious pain, which was heartbreaking, lost his appetite for his favorite veggies and was excessively slobbering. For a long time, we couldn't see anything breaking throught the surface, but we could feel little bumps on his gums when he would let us check. Let's just say that Grady is not fond of Mommy and Daddy sticking their fingers in his mouth unless he is instigating it. In some ways, it felt like we had rewound about 6 months, because he was getting up at night and couldn't get back to sleep. It is amazing how quickly you forget what 3AM looks and feels like. Let me just tell you, it's not good!

Soon we began to feel the razor sharp edges of his little teef poking through. Within a couple of days, Grady had regained his appetite and the worst was over. People say that the first are the worst and I sure hope that "people" are right about this one. I don't know if we can stand nine more bouts with this kind of teething. It seems like a lot of work for one pair of pearly whites. In the days following "the breakthrough", both of us made the same rookie mistake. We allowed Grady to bite down on our finger and quickly found that his sweet little gummy gnawing had turned into a painful toothy chomp. Now we're just waiting for them to fully arrive so we can take some cute pics, but for now you will have to settle for some teething pics... sans teeth.

Painful! Poor guy!

Slobbery McSlobberykins

"I don't want to show you my teeth!"

I'm feeling much better! I'm strong to the finish cuz I eats my spinach!

Early oral hygeine training.

Feels good Mommy!

Grady and Daddy feelin much better!

~A

7 months!

I seriously can't believe that my baby boy will be 7 months old tomorrow! The past month has flown by and Grady has been busy growing and learning new skills. He started sitting up while we were in Nashville and pretty much has that mastered...w/ an occasional topple!:-) I put him in his bouncy seat the other day to watch a Baby Einstein video and when I came back a few minutes later, this is what I found...
Now that took some major ab strength!:-) He refuses to lay back now...why would he when he can sit up like a big boy!?

We actually missed little man's 6 month appt. b/c we were still in TN. When I called to reschedule, they couldn't get Grady in w/ his doc 'til April! They could get us in with his nurse practitioner, which we were fine with but we decided to take it as a chance to re-think our decision. We LOVE Dr. G but haven't been especially happy with the other staff. We were also disappointed that they charge extra for nurse's visits (i.e. delaying vacs). I didn't do very much research when looking for a pediatrician b/c so many folks recommended Centennial...and once we met Dr. G, we totally understood why!

Recently, a friend of mine was telling me about how much she loves her son's pediatrician. I e-mailed her to find out more and it turns out she has a more holistic approach and is very supportive of a delayed vac. schedule! We know that the subject of vaccinations is super controversial but after praying and researching the subject, we feel like this is what's best for our family right now. I was so nervous about switching until we got there! The appt. went great and we left knowing we had done the right thing! A much better fit, I think!

Grady had barely gained any weight since his last appt. but she wasn't worried. She said he's so active and is probably just not gonna be a big guy...shocker, I know!:-) My chunk-a-munk is now a skinny-minny...in the 25th percentile! But he's still hanging on in the 75th for his height!

In other news, my friend Shannon came over last week to get some 6 month pics of Grady and also some Valentine's shots for her website! I wasn't planning on being in the pictures (hence the ponytail & t-shirt) but I think they turned out GREAT! To see them, go to http://www.shannondphotography.com/index2.php and in the clients section, type grady!

More to come soon!

~jen

Christmas Videos

Grady-man was a hoot over the holidays! We were so excited about his first Christmas and suprisingly, so was he.

Here are some highlights from Grady's first Christmas.



Buddy Lee "Man of Action" from AUBREY MCGOWAN on Vimeo.


Wrapping Paper from AUBREY MCGOWAN on Vimeo.


Zoom Zoom from AUBREY MCGOWAN on Vimeo.


Christmas Greetings from AUBREY MCGOWAN on Vimeo.


Technique from AUBREY MCGOWAN on Vimeo.

~A

Baby's 1st Christmas...

We're back from our 2 week trip to Nashville and Grady is spoiled rotten w/ a play room that looks like Toys R Us!:-) Gigi flew in to help w/ Grady's first road trip and man was he a little trooper! 4 stops and 14 hours later we arrived in TN! We spent the first week relaxing and catching up w/ family and friends. Daddy flew in at midnight on Christmas Eve and the festivities officially commenced! Although Grady's main concern was eating all of that colorful wrapping paper...you could tell he was excited, not to mention over-stimulated!:-) We spent our 2nd week at Nana's where Grady got his first taste of real food...carrots! We've since moved on to sweet potatoes and squash and man does this kid love to eat!!!

The week before Christmas, a dear friend of ours (who also happens to be a photographer) took some pictures of Grady w/ my precious nieces as a surprise for Gigi and let me tell you...it was a huge success! She loved it and cried every time she looked at it (which was about 50 times that day!) She said it was the best present ever...a picture of all her grand babies!!! Here's the shot we gave her... (Click on Grady to see the rest of the pictures!)

Here is the red car that Santa brought Grady...

Grady hangin' w/ Nana and eating some yummy wrapping paper!

w/ Abbie & Hannah...

Happy New Year!

~jen

Tasty!

There's a new craze that's sweepin the McGowan nation. It's unorthodox I know, but still the hottest new thing! Grady, being the trendsetter that he is, has once again reached new heights. Or is it new lows? Yes folks, Grady's the name and toe-sucking is the game. I am truly counfounded by this kid's gumby-like flexibility. I mean, I won a couple of sit and reach contests in elementary school, but that's nothing! When he lays on his back, it's like a contortionist circus act. I'm not sure if it's just general curiosity or the taste, but he loves it. I actually took the liberty to taste his toes and they are pretty good. To him though, they must taste like turkish delights compared to that bland rice cereal slop he's been eating. FYI, I also tried the toe sucking thing myself, but I was unable to raise my foot quite far enough. Although, I was able to get it close enough that the smell quickly quenched my desire to continue. Warning, if you are unable at this juncture to even touch your toes, attempting to taste them could be harmful to your health. Leave the toe sucking to the kids... oh and the thumb sucking too.

~A