The Boys and Me

2010-11-18T15:54:00.002-05:00

I don't even know if anybody looks at our blog anymore since I do such an awful job of updating it, but I can share big news for anybody who doesn't know! We have a lil girl on the way at the end of January! We are very excited! My pictures are backwards here but......this is Grant practicing for baby sister better known as "Cutie Pie" which he named her and has decided that will be her real name. He is practicing holding, feeding, burping, and changing the baby.

6 Months Along It has been a wonderful fall! The weather is Beautiful! I love this time of year when we get to spend lots of time with our family and friends and we are reminded to be thankful for all we have. Saying that, I am so thankful for all of you who share life with us! (even if I don't do a great job of posting about it haha) And....for my favorite moment of the week...Grant walked up to me yesterday and put his arms around me and kissed my belly and said he was giving Cutie Pie some sugar. It was too sweet! Talk about moments to be thankful for!

Funny Moment of the Day!

2010-03-03T14:48:00.003-05:00

Grant was playing with his doctor kit and was checking my eyes and ears and giving me shots and decided he needed to check my throat, so I opened my mouth and he looks in and proudly proclaims..."There's no worms in there!" Med School here we come! I haven't laughed that hard in a while!

YAY Snow Again!

2010-02-01T14:56:00.003-05:00

Can you believe it? We had snow again and this time it was 8-9 inches! It was so much fun! Mamaw and Papaw came to visit for the weekend and brought us a new sled so Grant got to go sledding(on a real sled, not the snow shovel) for the very first time! He absolutely LOVED it! The snow was deep enough that he couldn't walk in it by himself. As you can see, he sunk in it up past his knees.
Here's Grant throwing a BIG snowball at daddy! You get him buddy!

My sweet boy snuggling up, keeping mommy warm while we're sledding!

Mamaw even got in on the sledding action!

And of course we couldn't keep Papaw off of it! Him and his buddy have all kinds of adventures!

Here's our snowman! Mommy and Daddy built it while Grant kept sledding. He could have cared less about the snowman, but he did decide to name it daddy!

We talked Mamaw and Papaw into staying an extra night and we all got to enjoy a big bowl of snow cream together. Yummy! Can you tell lil man's enjoying his?

I love the snow so much! It is beautiful and gives us a good excuse to act like kids again. (although who really needs an excuse to do that, right?) We had so much fun together and were so happy that Mamaw and Papaw could be here to share it with us! Happy Sledding!

YAY SNOW!!!!

2009-12-18T20:31:00.002-05:00

Whoohooo! We have 3-4 inches of snow and before Christmas! How exciting! More to come tonight! Daddy's happy, Grant likes to shovel it for now. We'll see how long that lasts!

Busy, Busy, Busy!

2009-10-30T16:22:00.007-04:00

We have been crazy busy since last time I posted, so here is one of my famous photo updates. We finally got to go camping in our camper again and I tried to post those pics, but my technology is not cooperating here, so here's the story. It rained the entire time we were there until the day we were leaving. We still had lots of fun, but we didn't get to make smores, so that's what this picture is. We decided to come home and make smores over our lil fire pit. Any excuse to make a yummy smore works for me.
We went to the Dixie Classic Fair with our good friends, the Cooks! We got to see all kinds of fun animals, eat yummy fair food (aka deep fried snickers) MmmMmm Good, and Grant got to go to his first concert. Need to Breathe was playing. It was a really good concert and on our way out we got to see the lil piggies race for an oreo. A fun time was had by all!

A couple weeks ago we headed up to the mountains for the annual Wooly Worm race! It was freezing, windy, and snow flurrying on us, but we all bundled up and raced on! This is the first year ever that nobody in our family won a race. Our worm went backwards...oh well, there's always next year!

Last weekend we went to the pumpkin farm with Mamaw and Papaw! Grant got to see goats, pigs, horses, and cows. And of course he got to pick the perfect pumpkin!

He loaded it on his wagon and off we went!

We decided to make our Jack-O-Lantern, but Grant refused to touch the guts as Daddy likes to call them. So, being the good daddy he is, E. would scoop it out and hand Grant the spoon so he could dump it out!

Here's the finished product! We lit the candle so Grant could see what it looked like all lit up and here he is trying to blow it out!

Mamaw got G. this really cute potato head witch kit, so we used his pumpkin from the pumpkin farm to make a cute lil witch! He had more fun with this one than with the carving, and his pumpkin he picked out was just the perfect size!

Today we went to the Children's Museum with G's best bud Kaylee. It's really cute! They have real life stuff like a grocery store, pizza parlor, dr's office, etc., but all kid sized for the kids to play in. It's really fun! I will have to download those pics later though b/c the computer's being moody. Anyway, that's what we've been up to. Welcome to our crazy fun life!

The Big 2!

2009-08-27T17:03:00.004-04:00

We celebrated Grant's 2nd b-day this past weekend! It was so much fun. I can't believe he's already 2. Thank you to everybody that came and celebrated with us. It wouldn't have been the same without you. Here are some of my favorite pics from the big party. This first one just makes me laugh b/c G. hasn't had any injuries recently that have left a mark, but 3 days before the party he fell in the bathroom and got a black eye that you can see pretty good in this pic, then he fell going out the front door the day before the party and and had a knot and a bruise on the side of his head that you can't really see here, then during the party he fell off of his dump truck and hit the driveway head first which you can see right at the top of his hairline. He made sure he did it up right for his birthday pics....haha!

Our theme was Sesame Street. We played stick the nose on Elmo and we tried to do pass Ernie's rubber ducky, but I don't recommend that one for 2 year olds. They don't really want to share the ducky. We had Elmo's Pizza Place and Cookie Monster's Candy Guessing Game to guess how many M&M's were in the jar. That one was for the "Big Kids." Our neighbor won that one and Grant sure was glad b/c he shared his prize(the M&M's) with him.

We had an Elmo cake and a Cookie Monster cake. Here is Grant blowing out his candles. This is the Elmo cake. Here is Cookie Monster. They were fun to make and Grant loved them. Everytime he saw this one he would say "Num Num Num."
Here is the picture proving that Grant enjoyed his cake. And yes his face was covered in it before it was all over. Happy Birthday Sweet Boy! We love you bunches!

Just Chillin!

2009-08-11T14:43:00.002-04:00

Not much exciting is going on around here right now. We have just been hanging out. E's working ALOT so we haven't been able to take any trips. Hopefully soon, but my parents and my 2 nieces came to visit last week and spoiled Grant rotten as usual. He had Britt-Britt and Nay-Nay building lego towers the whole time they were here just so he could knock them down. They're wrapped around his lil finger. We had such a great time. So glad they got to come.
Grant was mad at me because I was trying to take his picture, so I zoomed in and got those pouty lil lips and those beautiful brown eyes. I just think this is the sweetest picture.

This one's for Tam-Tam because she posted a pic of Grant on her blog playing on his sit and spin using no hand's, but what she doesn't know is that now he's learned to fly on it. haha!

We're Baaack!

2009-07-25T16:40:00.004-04:00

It has been way way waaaay too long since I have updated, and I have way too many pictures to put on here, so I decided I would do a bunch of Grant's "firsts" from the past few months. So here we go. Here is Grant's first time helping Papaw and Bubba plant the garden. The first of many to come I'm sure.

We went camping for the first time in our new pop up with our Journey Group from church. I could have posted a pic of us with the pop up, but this pic of Grant with his lil friend Kaylee is much cuter.

This is Grant's (and mommy's) first time riding in a helicopter. It was so much fun. We went on a trip to Pigeon Forge. We did this and went to Cades Cove and saw bears, turkey, and deer. We got to see a dinner show, we shopped, and we went to a really cool petting zoo where we got to feed deer, goats, zebras, reindeer, camels, etc. and Grant got to take his first pony ride. Fun was had by all!

Here is Grant's first time changing a tire with daddy. We start early around here. haha! You can tell a little in this picture, but he was covered in grease, even his face, which my mama thinks is very funny and says it's payback from when daddy used to let me get covered in grease.

Our first time playing outside in the water this spring. The water was freezing, but obviously it didn't bother lil man. He's tough!

First time grilling out with daddy this summer! It was delicious, especially the plastic hamburgers and hotdogs!(Grant's, not daddy's haha)

Grant's first time visiting daddy's jobsite. Grant was just beside himself between excavators, bull dozers, rollers, pavers, etc. He had a ball. And yes we did have his hard hat...he just refused to wear it except long enough for mommy to snap a quick pic and it was back off, but I think standing in the bucket was his favorite part of the trip.

This is Grant's first time seeing fireworks. The first few booms scared him a lil, but then he loved it. We got milkshakes and went to see the K-ville fireworks with Grandaddy. It was lotsa fun.
So, that's pretty much our life for the past few months. We feel like everybody else....summer is flying by and our lil guy's 2nd b-day is coming up way too fast. Where does the time go?? Hopefully, I will start staying on top of things a lil better again and start posting more so everybody doesn't forget about us! That's it for now!

Good News!

2009-05-19T17:08:00.002-04:00

We went on a trip to Pigeon Forge this past weekend, and while we were there we got a call from Eric's brother telling us that he's getting married. We are so excited for the 2 of them and so happy that Nina is going to be a part of our family! We love you guys! Congratulations!

Happy Easter!

2009-04-22T14:01:00.006-04:00

We went to visit my family for Easter and had such a great time. We spent almost the entire day outside playing except when we were inside stuffing our tummies with waaayyy too much yummy food. God blessed us with a beautiful day to remind us of the wonderful thing that we were celebrating. His Son dying and being raised again to free us from our sins. It doesn't get any better than that. Here are some pics of all the fun we had.

Grant woke up to find his Easter basket and of course he liked the grass in the bottom of the basket more than anything else that was in it. But true to his nature he picked every last piece up and put it back in the basket when he was done. Only our sweet Grant.

It was such a beautiful day we decided to take our family picture outside. Of course as soon as the picture was taken, lil man was off and running.

Grant and Papaw sporting their matching camo booney hats! Can't tell they're buddies huh?

Hanging with Bubba(his other buddy)! Now there's trouble times 2!!

Now that's one tough wagon. Grant and Papaw took daddy for a ride in the wagon. I'm not sure who's having the most fun. Boys will be boys!

We did get pics of Grant hunting Easter eggs, just not on my camera. I was trying to video him, so I'll have to get those from Mom and post them later.

Good Day!

2009-03-27T13:58:00.002-04:00

Don't you just love when you have a good day. I don't know what it is. It's kind of dreary outside, it's been raining for a couple days, and nothing particularly exciting has happened today, but it's been a good day. Grant has been so good today. He's been laughing and cuddling and playing. Not that he doesn't usually do that, but it's just one of those days that I've really paid attention to it and it makes me smile! There's a quote that I love. I'm not sure who it's by, but I thought of it today. "Enjoy the little things in life...for one day you'll look back and realize they were the big things." This is so true, and today was just one of those days that I've been paying attention to all of the little things that I usually overlook. I think we all need days like this to remind us of how many "little" blessings we are given each day. I hope all of you are having a good day too!

Just Hangin' Out!

2009-03-16T14:30:00.006-04:00

We haven't had too much going on lately. We took a trip a couple weekends ago down to see my family. Everybody came over Sat. morning and we had a BIG pancake breakfast. Yummy! Other than that we've just been hangin' out, but here are some cute pictures I've taken of lil man recently.

My mom's cousin gave her this cute Thomas play tent recently and Grant had a ball playing in it. He's got his conductor outfit on and everything. Choochoo!

We got to play outside the whole weekend because it was so nice and warm. Here's Grant chasing and popping bubbles from the bubble machine.

I decided to wash the car one day because it was so nice and Grant decided to be mommy's helper and a great one he was. He dumped the bucket out for me(just as I started washing), He kept attempting to figure out how to spray the hose(which he never did, thankfully), and he tried to wash the car with the scrub brush for the tires(I stopped him just in time). Mommy's lil helper all wet and covered in bubbles.

Thanks to Mamaw, we now have paint in our house. No, really they are these cute lil round smileyface balls filled with paint that comes out when you push them on the paper, so here is our lil artist hard at work making a masterpiece.

Not nearly as bad as I expected for the first time playing with paint. Of course mommy's hands looked at least this bad from "helping"(aka trying to keep paint off the floor, out of the mouth, and out of the hair)! haha! He absolutely loved it though!

Pilot Mountain

2009-03-04T17:08:00.002-05:00

A couple of weeks ago we went hiking at Pilot Mountain and I wanted to share some of the pictures because we got some really good ones. It was a beautiful day...back when it was warm...we got to have a picnic and Grant got to play with ladybugs and watch falcons land on the rocks right over our heads. He already loves the outdoors just like his daddy and mommy. It was so much fun! We have learned to cherish days like this when we get to spend time just relaxing and having fun together.

Snow Much Fun!

2009-03-04T16:36:00.002-05:00

Like almost everybody else, we had so much fun playing in the snow. I don't remember the last time we had this much at one time. I love it. Eric got to stay home with us and we spent the entire morning outside playing. Here are pictures of our adventures in the snow.

This is our lil neighbor who had been waiting all night to come over to ring our doorbell so Grant could go out and play in the snow with him. They are buddies. His big brother went in and brought out every flavor they had to make snowcones and of course Grant got the first one. Here he is enjoying his snowcone in the 30 degree weather. It was yummy though.

This is Grant's first snowman. I would say he did a good job huh?? Ok, so maybe mommy and daddy built the snowman and as you can see...as soon as we let Grant near it, he broke off it's arm. He did give it a hug afterwards though, so that makes it all better!

Our poor child! When it started snowing we realized that we don't even own a sled, so this one's for you Grandma. Daddy went and got out the snow shovel and pulled Grant around on it. Who needs a silly 'ol sled anyway. All you need is a lil creativity. Look at that smile. Grandma gave us the snow shovel years ago and we never got to use it, but it was well worth the money today!!

This is Grant learning how to throw snowballs. Since daddy's not here to defend himself, we'll say that he started it. We had so much fun playing in the snow and enjoying the day as a family. Just another one of God's little miracles that he gives us to enjoy!

Our Lil Snow Baby!

2009-02-05T16:09:00.002-05:00

Grant was just amazed watching the snow come down. We haven't had snow since last winter when he was really too small to be interested, so it was really fun watching him go from window to window to get a better look at the snow falling down.I took Grant out when it first started coming down, but as you can see I didn't put much snow gear on him thinking the snow would stop any minute, so he was ready to go inside pretty quickly.

I'm dancing in the snow, just dancing in the snow, what a glorious feeling.......

Time for a break in the rocker. Look at those cute lil rosey cheeks and those adorable lil snow covered boots. I could just eat'm up.

Daddy taught Grant how yummy it is to eat the snow so they ate all of the snow off of the porch railing. Here they are sharing a big clump. My two cuties.

We had so much fun playing in the snow together. Our neighbors came out and played with us after we threw snowballs at their window. Good times. The wonder in a child's eyes seeing their first snow is just something you can't explain.

SNOW!!!!

2009-02-04T16:23:00.004-05:00

Whoohooo!!! We finally got snow. I didn't think we would ever get to use these cute lil boots and if you think these are cute, wait til you see our lil guy in them playing in the snow. More pictures to come soon!

Merry Christmas!!! What, Christmas is over??

2009-01-12T14:24:00.002-05:00

Yeah, so I know Christmas is long gone! I've been very naughty not posting pictures before now, so here they are. We had such a great Christmas. We spent part of it with my family, part with Eric's family, and some here at home by ourselves. It was so much fun experiencing Christmas with a one year old. Grant was so funny opening presents and one of his new favorite sounds over Christmas was "Oooooooo." He would do it everytime he opened something he liked. It was so funny. Eric had off the entire week of Christmas which we were so thankful for. We were so blessed to be able to spend all of that time with family and friends.

Well, I'm not sure if my computer is the problem or the blog site, but either way I can't download any pics right now, so stay tuned for....OUR CHRISTMAS PICTURES!!!

Ok, I finally got them on here, so here we go!!

This year we spent Christmas Eve with Eric's family. Grant had such a great time opening presents from Grandaddy, Grandma, Granny, Uncle Jas, and Uncle Ty.

Here is Grant's big boy 4-wheeler that he got from Grandaddy and Grandma for Christmas. As you can see he is already trying to do tricks on it. He loves it.

This picture is Grant finding everything that Santa brought him. This is the first year we have been home on Christmas morning for Santa to come to our house. It was so exciting. At first Grant didn't want to come downstairs. He wanted to play in his room. He started to pitch a typical one year old fit and I told him he would be sorry. As soon as we came down the stairs and he saw all of his gifts under the tree, his eyes got huge and he got a huge smile on his face. It was priceless.

We spent Christmas night with my family. Mamaw put all of Grants gifts in one huge bag so he could just dig for them. The funny thing was that there was a Big Bird that vibrates when you squeeze his tummy and Grant grabbed it just right and made it shake and he got this terrified look on his face and threw it behind him as fast as he could. It didn't take him long to get over the shock and dig right in head first again. However, it did take a couple days to get him to play with Big Bird again.

Saturday after Christmas, my sister and her family all came over in the morning. She and I made chocolate chip pancakes for everybody. (That used to be a Sunday tradition in our house) After a yummy breakfast they hooked up the Wii and started a Mario Cart Challenge. It was so much fun!

Eric had off the Monday after Christmas also, so we went to Old Salem and walked around. It was a beautiful day and we had a good time. I just think this picture is priceless. Grant loved walking around on the cobblestone sidewalks. We weren't sure how he would do walking around in the historical buildings and listening to the tour guides, but he was such a trooper as always. So, that's our adventures from Christmas. Hope everybody else enjoyed their Christmas as much as we did. For the first time in a while, I think we really slowed down long enough to remember how much God has blessed us. And that is A LOT!!

Wow, So Much Going On!

2008-12-20T15:46:00.004-05:00

I've got so much to post it's not even funny, so I'll at least get started and we'll see how far I get. We celebrated Thanksgiving with my family and here are a few of my favorite pics.

The boys ate so much food they had to lay down on the ground, so Grant decided to race around them and use them as bumpers.

Here's our lil Bob the Builder. Aunt Tammy and Uncle Roby gave him the toolbelt and hard hat. He loves pretending he's daddy.

My two favorite boys with full bellies and their cute twinner shirts.

Grant's first year being able to "help" with the tree. By help, I mean sit under it and flip the lights off and on, off and on...and pull all of the ornaments off. Notice we have all of the soft, child safe ornaments on the bottom.

Grant got to go to his buddy Bo's first birthday party. They had such a good time. I just love this picture. They're destined to be best buds.

Daddy celebrated his birthday with some family and friends.

We celebrated Christmas with all of my family this past weekend. You're always guaranteed to have a good time with this crazy bunch.

Last, but not least, Grant visited Santa for the first time. His face is a demonstration of what all we went through just for him to be able to see Santa, but at last the long awaited display of enthusiasm that you expect to come from your baby when you throw him in the lap of a complete stranger, with a big beard and funny clothes. Don't worry though...the minute we took him off of Santa's lap and Santa gave him a candy cane, he was all smiles again. And no, Uncle Bubba, I'm sorry to tell you, he didn't ask Santa for a red rider bb gun.

I think this gets us all up to date. I can't wait to post pics of all the fun we have with lil man this Christmas. We hope you all have a very MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

Eric's B-day!

2008-12-10T16:53:00.003-05:00

I can't believe it has been almost a month since I have updated on here. You can tell it's holiday time. We had a great Thanksgiving. I will have to post some pics soon. But I just wanted to get on here and say happy birthday to my precious husband. We just celebrated his b-day on Monday. I am so thankful for this day to celebrate you, my best friend. You are my rock. You are the best daddy and hubby that Grant and I could ask for. We are so blessed that God has given you to us. Through all the chaos of life you keep a smile on your face and you keep loving us with all you've got. We love you so much! Happy Birthday! Sorry you didn't get sloppy joes or a cool cake....maybe next year! Haha!

We'll Miss You George!

2008-11-14T14:31:00.004-05:00

I wanted to write this in memory of my Uncle Baxter "George" who passed away on November 3. He was one of the sweetest men you could ever meet. He was always up to something. He was one of those people who always had something up his sleeve and who always kept us laughing. You never saw him without a smile on his face. Now he is laughing and smiling with his Heavenly Father. I can't even imagine the joy he must be feeling. We love you George and we'll miss you very much, but we have joy in the fact that we will see you again someday!

Finally, Halloween Pictures!

2008-11-14T11:51:00.003-05:00

Here are the long awaited halloween pictures. Slowly, but surely as usual.

Grant finally got to see the finished product since he slept through most of the actual carving. Of course he wanted to poke and prod at it because that's much more fun than using it to decorate.

Mom is always saying that I need to be in some of the pictures that I post so here ya go Mama! Posing with my sweet lil bumble bee on his first trick-or-treating trip.

Look at that sweet smile! Such a flirt!

When we went to see Granddaddy, Grandma, and Granny, Grant took every piece of candy out of their basket and put them in his bucket, only smooshing a few in the process because he likes to hear the wrappers crinkle.

Some friends and I took the kids to an assisted living center to give out candy! I just think this picture is priceless. We all had a great time!

Grant's friend Rylan went the first day. Isn't he the cutest gorilla you've ever seen.

The second day it was Grant, Kaylee, Braden, and Kimberly. It was so sweet watching them interact with the people there and seeing the smiles on their faces. Needless to say, we had a busy and fun time the entire week leading up to halloween. Grant was such a cutie in his costume and he never fussed one time out of the 5 different times we put it on him.

Carvin' Our Punkin!

2008-10-29T10:57:00.007-04:00

Grant got to help carve his first pumpkin this year. I think he had more fun sitting on the table spinning the lazy susan around and around, but that's ok.

We cheated and used a pattern for our pumpkin because it was just too cute!

Daddy took out all of the yucky guts for us! He's a good daddy like that!

Of course Grant had to get in on the action. He wouldn't allow daddy to get messy without him!

We all know that daddy isn't so great at reading instructions so Grant decided to help him out a little.

Here's the final product! I know you're thinking...."hmmm, he was born in August so didn't he do his first pumpkin last year?" That is true, but we waited until the last minute to get our pumpkin last year and didn't actually have time to carve it, so we just put a funny face tatoo on it. So, that said, here is Grant's first official Jack-O-Lantern. Of course, he went night night before it was finished so we have to get his picture with it today. I'll post it soon!

Waaayyy Behind!

2008-10-29T10:21:00.003-04:00

I am such a slacker, so I've got lots of catching up to do! We went to the mountains a couple of weekends ago for the Woolly Worm Festival. It's something we go to every year with my family. You race woolly worms and the winner at the end of the day predicts the weather for the season. I know, it sounds a lil silly, but it lots of fun, and pretty entertaining to watch grown adults cheering on those little worms. Anyway, here are some pictures from the weekend.

We got there Thursday and the 3 of us went to Blowing Rock to play in the park, walk around town, and just relax. We had lunch at a lil place called Sonny's Grill. We got to sit at one of the old style bars on bar stools and drink from the old glass coke bottles. It was lots of fun. We took this picture in honor of my dad. Don't worry daddy, they don't serve bar-b-q as good as yours.

Grant got to have his first taste of Kilwin's Ice Cream! It was so yummy! We couldn't get it in his mouth fast enough.

This is at the Woolly Worm Festival. It was FREEZING, but it didn't even faze our lil guy. He is such a trooper. We bundled him up and off he went. Mom's got pictures of us racing and of Grant with his worm that I hope to get so I can post them. It was too funny!

Here are my two handsome boys having a blast together.

Grant also had a great time playing in all the leaves that had already fallen up there. My parents, aunt and uncle, and my sister's family all came up and a great time was had by all! Can't wait til next year!

Lions and Tigers and Bears Oh My!

2008-10-01T16:57:00.002-04:00

Ok, so maybe it was more like Squirrels and Dogs and Cats Oh My! Either way Grant put on his camo and went huntin' today. He chased that squirrel down the road with all his might, but it ran up a tree and outsmarted him. He only made it home with 2 leaves and a rock. Better luck next time. Here he is with what he could actually catch! Eat your heart out Uncle Ronnie!

Latest on Jordan!

2008-10-01T11:21:00.004-04:00

I haven't posted anything on Jordan in a while, but this is the week that he finds out everything. He has his MRI today at 4, so please be in prayer for him and his family. Pray for him to be healed, that there will be nothing to see. He should know results right after the MRI. If there is something he will have the biopsy on Fri. Pray, Pray, Pray!!

Go Tigers!

2008-09-29T11:42:00.006-04:00

Hey there! I know it's been a while, but you know how it goes when life happens. Anyway, we went to Clemson this weekend to watch the game and to visit some family! We got to see Eric's cousin Craig, his wife Erica, and their 2 kids Hope and Hunter. This was the first time that Grant has met all of them so we were very excited. Sorry that we didn't get to see you Todd. We were a lil bummed about that, but hopefully next time. We had a great trip. Grant did much better than expected for so much traveling in one day. I don't know why we expected any less. He's the best! So, here are some pictures from our trip.

Grant was so excited about going to the game that he refused to sleep the whole way there, so this is how much he enjoyed almost the entire first half.

Now this is a little better. Second half he came alive, unlike the Tigers. He smiled and cheered and made friends with everybody around us.

Here's Grandaddy and his lil Tiger after the game! Thanks for letting us go Grandaddy. We had a great time!

Here we all are, the boys in their Clemson gear and me in my orange. They haven't convinced me to get a Clemson shirt yet! I love you boys!

Grant finally got to meet his cousins Hope and Hunter. He had such a great time playing with them. We had a great time getting them to pose like this.

The boys are playing hard and enjoying their Clemson cookies! Hunter is exactly 3 months older than Grant. They are too cute together!

Hope decided to read to Grant before we left. This picture was too sweet to pass up! We had such a great time with you guys. Hopefully it won't be so long until we see you again!

Jordan!

2008-09-15T16:34:00.003-04:00

I know that I have given the latest info. that I have about Jordan's condition, but he has created a CaringBridge account that will probably do a better job of keeping you updated than I will. I'm going to put a link to it on here so you can go there and see what's going on with him. I do want to ask that everybody keep praying for him and for his family. They could definitely use a miracle! Here is the website: http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/jordanbanks

Labor Day

2008-09-10T11:42:00.004-04:00

We got to go to the mountains for Labor Day and we had such a great time! The weather was beautiful and Grant got to do all kinds of new things. Here are pictures of some of his adventures.

Here's Grant and Daddy feeding the ducks. He didn't mind the little ones too much, but he wasn't such a big fan of the big geese getting close to him.

He got to climb through a cool tunnel!

He got to go down a big boy slide and he LOVED it!

The last thing he did was play in the creek! It was sooo cute! It was also freezing, but it didn't faze him. He splashed and played like crazy. He got so wet that we had to take him home in his diaper. He screamed when we took him out to go home. I think we've already got another Mountaineer on our hands!

Another Update

2008-09-04T20:49:00.002-04:00

Ok, so this is a little long, but it is a great explanation of what is happening with Jordan. The latest is that he will have an MRI on Oct. 1 and the biopsy on Oct. 3. So, we can all be praying for the miracle of healing that only God could give to Jordan between now and then.

This is from Jordan's mom, written like a true nurse. So neatly organized:)
Dear Friends and Family,Jordan's consultation happened yesterday: The tumor they found is more than likely malignant. He will have a definitive answer after biopsy. Fortunately, Jordan's neurosurgeon is the best in the southeast, but unfortunately he is involved in speaking for a national convention over the next two weeks and won't be available to do the biopsy until the end of the month. Because the tumor is low grade (slow-growing) and Jordan's seizures are under control we opted to wait for Dr. Ashton instead of having another doctor do the biopsy.Treatment after biopsy: chemo and possible radiation without surgery as this glioma's growth has finger-like elements that are growing into the brain tissue. The location of the tumor is in the part of the brain that is responsible for movement on one side of the body. Surgical excision is probably too risky.What this means: At this point, Jordan cannot be left alone, he cannot drive and he cannot continue working his current job as it requires him to drive and cannot have anyone drive him d/t the confidential nature of his job. Jordan is my athlete and fitness/sports/and physical activity have always been a huge part of his life (his plans are to coach track and basketball as well as teach history). He cannot do anything right now that will cause him to overheat or jar this tumor. He can continue to attend school at least until the biopsy (he has one semester left). Jessica needs to continue to work, so I need to stay and help out probably for the next three months. I will need to find temporary employment (night shift) here in Charlotte to help them pay rent and continue to pay my bills.What to pray for: As an experienced cancer nurse, I know how important it is to keep a possitive attitude. So pray for courage and lots of happy moments full of laughter. Pray that Jordan's frustration with this new sedentary lifestyle will be kept in check. We can still pray that the tumor is benign despite the probability that it is malignant. Jordan will need an adjustment in his work arrangement so he can continue to work as much as possible. I need to find work and need to keep my job in Denver so I can return to it when I am no longer needed here. Pray that Dr. Ashton will be on top of his game when the biopsy is performed. Pray that treatment will be tolerated well. Pray that we have the optimum outcome after treatment. Pray that God will continue to keep Jordan safe and that treatment will be tolerable. Continue to pray that Jordan and Jessica and our entire family will experience the presence of God during this time and we will find meaning in this trial.

Update!

2008-08-28T18:42:00.002-04:00

Lindsay said that Jordan is home. They sent him home because his brain needs to rest before they do the biopsy. He has an appointment on Tues. and from there they will schedule his biopsy. For now he and Jessica are doing well. Thanks for all the prayers!

Update

2008-08-27T16:18:00.002-04:00

My friend Lindsay sent an update saying that Jordan's school insurance is going to pay for all of his medical care. What a blessing!!!! Thanks for praying...and just keep asking for God's love and power to move through them as they deal with this tough situation!

Please Pray!

2008-08-27T10:38:00.003-04:00

My friend Lindsay has asked us to pray for her cousin Jessica and Jess's husband Jordan. Jordan passed out while home alone the other day, then he had a seizure. After doing tests they found out that he has a tumor growing between the hemispheres of his brain. He is only 24 years old and they don't have health insurance. They are supposed to biopsy the tumor soon. Please be in prayer for the two of them and for their families. Pray that God will wrap His arms around them and that through it all they will know how much He loves them.

We Love You Uncle Ty!

2008-08-21T22:02:00.003-04:00

We just want to say a special we love you to Uncle Ty! He was at a camp in Indiana for the whole summer, and now he's about to leave to go back to college. We got to see him tonight before he leaves tomorrow. Needless to say, Grant was very happy to see his Uncle Ty. We love you and we'll miss you bunches! Go App!!!

Boxes

2008-08-21T21:58:00.002-04:00

Grant loves getting presents because that means he gets more boxes to play with. He spent the whole day pushing this one all around the house.

The Big 1!!!

2008-08-20T16:23:00.004-04:00

So, we had the big 1st birthday party this weekend! Grant had such a great time eating cake and ripping into presents. We are so blessed to have such wonderful family and friends who would come all this way to be a part of his special day!

Grant started out by trying to pick the polka dots off of his cake!

We finally got him to take a lil taste and this is the result! The cake was almost as big as he is so even with the slight damage that he did to it, we still have plenty of cake left over to eat!

He got a "Big Boy" four wheeler that we can't get him off of!

Here he is checking out his new slide!

Exciting!

2008-08-09T15:38:00.005-04:00

Grant took his first steps last Fri. night. We were very excited. He decided to walk back and forth between his Mamaw and Papaw. We got it on video, but I'm not good enough to post that yet. Maybe one day. He has also learned to climb up the steps and thinks he can do it whenever he wants. You better watch out when he decides he wants to play in his room because he's on his way. He's getting very good at listening to "No, not without mommy" and I'm getting VERY GOOD at saying it over and over and over. Here he is on one of his treks up to his room.

Lotsa New Stuff!!

2008-08-04T16:08:00.005-04:00

Mamaw and Papaw came to visit. They just got back from Alaska and brought Grant all kinds of goodies. Here's a picture of him with all of his loot.

The Great Toilet Paper Mystery! I walked in the bathroom the other day and a mysterious pile of toilet paper was laying on the floor. Come to find out, Eric was supposed to be watching Grant, and well, obviously he wasn't watching very close because this is what happened.

Grant has just learned to point at stuff. It is so cute watching him point his lil finger at things that he sees and wants.

Let's Go Putt-Putt

2008-07-29T21:33:00.003-04:00

Last week Grant and his buddies took their first trip to Celebration Station to play putt-putt. They had a great time until a storm rolled in on the sixth hole. Sooooo, they decided we should go get milkshakes instead. We've taught them well already!!

Here We Go!

2008-07-21T16:31:00.003-04:00

So, here's our lil guy! He is 11 months old now and is full of energy and mischief. He keeps us on our toes! He is too much fun!

Hello World!

2008-07-19T22:59:00.002-04:00

We've finally decided to try to join everyone else who has already discovered the joy of the technology age. We'll see how it goes. Wish us luck!