Father's Day, The Fourth, & Fun with Annabelle

We spent Father's Day with Tim's side of the family. Here are the proud Great Grandparents of three- the fourth is due in September!
Here is Sam's 3 Month picture...he is sitting on a non-slip grippy kitchen pad so he won't tumble over. Oh so handsome!

I was laughing so hard when I first saw this, I just had to get a picture!! This is one of Gretta's favorite dolls, taken such good care of.

An afternoon at Grandma GiGi's house with Gretta and Sam...it took a few tries to get everyone to look in the same direction.

Gretta is starting to really dig her little brother. She will lay next to him...point out his toes, fingers, and nose, and even help out with pacifier placement- Sam seems to think the world of her by the look on his face when she is around and helping out.

Gretta prying Sams mouth open with the nook, making sure it will fit.

We took the kids, a 150 pound newf, and a borrowed camper to Florence Wisconsin over the fourth of July and spent some time on the water, took a few walks in the woods, played lots of cribbage, and even stopped for icecream on the way out. Below is Grets sporting her new shades. I think she thinks we can't see her when she has them on. When she's wearing them, she walks around with her hands extended as if she will run into something that is actually not close enough to run into.

Sam and Grandpa on the boat. I bet he can't wait to fish like his Grandpa!

Sam and Grandma Gremore cuddling.

After a few days at the cabin, we went to Uncle Rick's cottage. Gretta is more interested in feeding this duck than riding on it.

Gretta being goofy in the car ride home. Sam and Gretta both slept almost the whole way back.

Gretta and Sam getting ready for Annabelle to come over.

We are watching 13 month old Annabelle for a week while her parents enjoy a trip to Austria with her dad's work. She will be a big sister this October. We are enjoying her joyful spirit; she is an easy baby to take care of!
The whole crew going for a walk this fine evening.

The sweet tune of early June

Sam has his 2 month check up tomorrow. Not looking forward to shots, but curious to see how much he weighs...
Gretta at Grandpa Jer's birthday party... she climbed into the stroller all by herself.

Gretta has never turned down a tractor ride from Grandpa.

Great Grandma and Samuel basking in the sun
Gretta would live outside if she could. She would also probably live in a zoo considering her admiration towards animals. I am not looking forward to the day she sees me swat a fly or crunch a spider under my foot. She is normally crawling all over Diggs when he is around, but apparently the camera got her attention first.

Gretta soaking up the attention from the neighbor girls. They take such good care of her (stroller rides, building castles with blocks & playing in the hammock are a few favorites).

Samuel Lewis with sockies on his hands so we won't scratch his face. I noticed one store that sells special hand covers for that kind of thing. Personally, I think the socks are kind of cute.

This is usually what happens when Gretta and Sam are within arms length of each other. Tim and I had to try hard to hide our smirks...

Graduation and Other Things

My "little" brother Phil graduated from Freedom High School the Saturday of Memorial Day weekend. So many memories with this guy...so little space. One of his claim-to-fames is hooking up Tim and I (at least that is his version of the story. Im sure he would share the details if you ask him). A super guy with a super big heart yet competitive to the core...he's off to Point this fall...goooooooooooo Pointers!
My only picture from the grad ceremony that turned out...I think I need to go digital. j/k

Though this may appear to be a graduation cap, it is actually a cake!! Thank you Marianne for a fabulous job...withstanding a 30 minute drive the cake made it to the party in one piece; but not for long...yummy!

This was really funny...Tim the instigator collaborated with Phil's cronies to get Phil near the pond...he thinks he is there to tell them about the tadpoles....

only to be drenched seconds later...

At least he is not the only one drenched...


Here is our beautiful daughter with her friend Kaden building sand castles (notice the tadpoles).
Uncle Larry and Granny by the pondMy cousin Beth (Larry's daughter) with her daughter Johannah


Lisa (Larry's daughter... Beth's sister...) with her boyfriend

Twins? Nope. Third Cousins? Yep! Luke and Sam...11 days apart.
Now unto the "other things"...I recently hosted a Lia Sophia party....most of my guests were Aunts! These are the Aunts on my Dad's side showing off their bling.

Here are my Aunts from Tim's side (plus Mom and Great Grandma) minus Aunt Reena (we missed you Aunt Reena!)

Grandma Nelessen above and Grandma Rezash below with their newest great grandson Samuel
We asked Grandma and Grandpa Nelessen for some advice on gardening. What did we get? Hands on how-to's far better than any online tutorial. After planting the seeds, we enjoyed ribs on the grill, cribbage, and visits from our parents.
A sweet end to a sweet weekend...

The Story

Sam is snuggled in his car seat by my side, and Grets is, you guessed it, content as can be with blankie in hand surrounded by stacks of books that never seem to get old. I thought I'd take a few minutes to share about Sam's birth story. I will spare you all the details, though my journal has probably 10 pages of thoughts on the day. I asked Tim to retell how Sam's birth-day went, for sentimental reasons, I suppose. He managed to describe the events in a paragraph, no more, no less. That's why I like him. Back to the story. I woke up around 1am with cramping, so I went into the living room. I had read in one of the um-teen pregnancy books that used to grace our shelves (apologies to anyone else in the world who was trying to check out a book on labor and delivery from the SouthWest library branch in the past 9 months) that often a female animals behavior is to find a dark cozy place and curl up in a ball when it was almost time for having the baby (or babies). I guess that came to mind as I was curled up on the couch. Now it all made sense (sort of). Around 2am (though Tim thought it was 3...lets go with halfsies...at around 2:30...) I went back into our room to get a heating pad, and woke Tim up, sort of by accident. He asked if I was ok, in a tone a bit more concerned than when he would ask any other time. Up until now, I have been trying to tell myself these were just minor contractions, hardly noteworthy. Before Gretta was born, we got to the hospital only to be sent home a few hours later because it wasnt time. Tim knew this time was it and called the hospital to let them know we were on our way. He also called my mom to come and watch Gretta. Contractions were a steady 1-2 minutes apart according to Tim's Motorola phone clock. I packed the remaining essentials in between contractions, and Tim loaded the dishwasher. Mom arrived around 4, and we ended up at the hospital around 4:45. We left the car at the entrance (running), trying to get to our room AFAP. Our doctor showed up in the nick of time (a great relief to our poor nurse who did not try to hide the fact that she did not want to be the one to deliver this baby). After just a few pushes, Samuel was born into this world at 5:30 am. So much for the cd of hand picked soothing songs, birth ball, prego pops and pages of verses printed out. They all remained nicely packed in the car; maybe for another time. Now we are slowly adjusting to another little person living with us... more diapers to change, more sleepless nights, and more laundry; more snuggles, more patience, and more grace from the Lord who has richly blessed us with a beautiful son.

It's a BOY!

Samuel Lewis Gremore

Born on March 30th 2008
8 pounds 8 ounces 21 1/4 inches

Gretta and Sam meet...Gretta's a bit shy at first

but gets closer....

and closer!

our little boy

Baffled

The day Favre announced his retirement Gretta and I watched the press conference, but not without snacks, of course! Last Sunday Gretta broke out in hives, just in certain areas, like under her armpits and on the back of her neck. I tried to walk through the day and previous night in my head, asking, "what did I giver her that she hasn't had before?" and could think of nothing unusual. Since it was Sunday, our doctor wasn't around, so we decided to give her Benedryl and bring her in the next morning. It turns out she had an ear infection and strep! The doctor was baffled because she didn't even have a fever. Now that she is on the up and up, she is much more joyful and her appetite is back. Before the doctor visit, I accounted the lessening appetite and fussies to teething. Now I know better (at least this time!).