Caught on Camera!

Nantahala Getaway

Ron and I took our first roadtrip with Grant this past weekend and traveled to the North Carolina mountains on Friday. We get together with his Aunts, Uncles and cousins each year and stay in cabins on the Nantahala River. It's always a fun packed weekend and the one time we all get to see each other all year. It's been a family tradition for about 20 years and now Grant has joined in on the fun! Grant enjoyed meeting everyone for the first time including Ron's sister, her husband and his cousin, George.

Ron's cousin Mary, had baby Emily on July 26th. Grant and Emily are a month apart! It was so much fun to have two babies together and compare notes!

On Saturday, we hosted a costume contest for the kids, their were nine kids in all. Here is Grant in his first Halloween Costume, he won the award, "Cutest Little Pumpkin." Of course, all the kids won awards specific to their costumes.
Aren't they cute? So much fun...

Here's Grant and Emily again kicking away. Emily slept through the night for the first time Saturday night. I was sooo jealous.

Everyone surprised me with a birthday cake and gifts on Saturday night! My birthday is on September 29th.

Precious pic of Grant I had to include. He's wearing his Cow Jumped Over the Moon cap Jody made.

Trying unsuccessfully to get a decent picture of Grant and George for Jody's Christmas Card Picture. George will be two in December and is an absolute doll!

Love his red converse sneakers!

George loving the baby, Grant and Aunt Lesley.

Family photo. Ron and I were about to hit the open road for the eight hour track back to Alabama, what a long day that was!

We miss you all already! The time we spent with Ron's family was amazing, can't wait till next year!

Mommy-Mobile

Ron and I officially broke down this past weekend and bought a bigger car, a GMC Acadia. Ron was mainly concerned about Grant's safety in my Honda Accord and knew we would be making numerous trips back and forth to NC so now I have a car with OnStar in case something were to happen on the highway. We're enjoying our new ride!

Reflections

It's so hard to believe that Grant will be one month old this week! It seems like yesterday that we brought him home from the hospital. This month has definitely had its ups and downs. Life with a newborn is extremely challenging. It's emotionally, mentally and physically draining but well worth it. My Mom was here for the first three weeks and during her stay I was still able to get a lot of"Jena Time." I had my hair done, Ron and I went to dinner by ourselves twice and I could just hand Grant off to her in the middle of the night if I couldn't take it anymore. It was wonderful. With her gone it has allowed Grant and I to get into our own little routine and we're trying to figure out things by ourselves. Lately, Grant has been a lot more fussy than he was the first few weeks, it's hard and stressful because he still won't take a pacifier so that leaves Ron and I to do our soothing songs and dances around the house to try and quiet him down. Grant routinely becomes fussy around 8pm for about two hours and cannot be consoled. I'm hoping that this time is temperary and that eventually he'll grow out of it. He's getting bigger every day. This past weekend we started putting size one diapers on him, he's already outgrown the newborn and his newborn outfits no longer fit! He also is losing his newborn hair. Just on top, he the resemblence to his Grandpa Yaeger with this new hairdo is uncanny! Grant has blessed our lives in so many ways, these days are precious and we'll be over in a blink of an eye. Now, I must go, I have a screaming baby to attend to...

The first resemblance of a smile caught on camera

Such a big part of our day, I had to include it.
He loves his floor mat from Kelly, Melissa and Becky!

A rare moment, he's thinking very hard.

The day I had my hair done, I felt refreshed!

Storytime, Grant gives Finding Nemo Five Stars!

Keeping up with the Grandfolks!

Being so many hours away from our parents and family, Ron and I keep in touch with them via Skype's free video web chats. It's a great way for them to be able to see Grant often and feel like they're close by. If any of you have a webcam and would like to connect, let me know! Here's Ron and Grant with his Mimi and Poppy at 3 and a half weeks:

Grant catching up with the Grandparents!

Grant's Three Week Professional Photos

Ron and I had Grant's three week photos taken this past Saturday. The link to view them is below, they will be available online for viewing until this Friday, 9/18. Everything Grant wore in the photos was made by Ron's Mom including the tobogan at the end! Also, Ron and I had no idea our legs and feet would make some of the photos. These are not my favorite! Getting a newborn to cooperate during a two+ hour photo shoot was not the easiest task but I think we got some pretty great shots. Let me know which are your faves. Enjoy!

http://www.jackiedavisphotography.com/yaeger13/index.html

Nursery News

I've been asked by several friends for quite awhile to post pictures of Grant's nursery. Here it is in all of it's glory. Being in a new house I have to admit decorating this room was my first priority and I'm proud to say Grant is already enjoying it. He sleeps in his crib already. Ron and I had him sleep in a cradle in our room the first night we were home from the hospital. Needless to say neither of us slept and we were both concerned all night about him breathing. Every little move he made kept our attention and kept us awake. Now we sleep in our bedroom and I religiously check our video monitor every hour. Enjoy the pics and don't forget you can click on the photo to enlarge it!