Graham WAVED byebye to Pops!!

Jacelyn and I rock!!! We should get an award -- we had 3 kids up, ready, and out the door(s) at 8 this morning to begin our adventure to the Louisiana Children's Museum (LCM)!! We actually met up at the church, loaded Graham and his carseat into J's car inbetween Abigail (5 weeks) and Elijah's (2) car seats and we headed out. Elijah talks a lot!!! And Abigail..well, if she's not moving then she cries. So my only child Graham was looking at me like "ok mom...what have we gotten into?" See...with 3 carseats in the backseat of a Mazda Tribute - the seat in the middle cannot be rear facing, so Graham rode forward facing (before giving me a hard time...he's 21.5 lbs) and loved it! Well he loved most of it. He wasn't so fond of the time when we were stopped in New Orleans traffic, which meant that Abigail wasn't moving....so you get where I'm going here....she was crying; not to mention it was feeding time for her. So Abigail starts crying and Elijah decides that he has to be louder than Abigail so he starts screaming, then Abigail tries to outdo Elijah, and vice versa. And then out of no where, Graham just squeals! I guess he decided that he wanted to be heard as well!!! Finally, after being convinced by J, Elijah calmed down, as did Abigail. I think Graham was on over-stim! But he handled it very well!!!!

The LCM is so nice!! We will definately take advantage of it as Graham gets older. There is a WONDERFUL toddler area, which allows the kids to play on "outdoor" style toys, without the heat!! They actually had toys that Graham was able to play with, along with new books, a large train table, and play mats. There was a maze that the older 1-2's were really enjoying! I'm looking forward to going back as he gets older. And for $7 it was totally worth it!!! Of course I enjoyed being with J, her mom and her sister. Even though the car ride was a little crazy on the way over, it was very peaceful on the way home as all 3 kids slept!! J and I were able to have some quality "adult" conversation. I just love her!! We are so blessed to have their sweet family in our lives. Since J is our associate pastor's wife, initially I was a little nervous (sorry J - I was!!) about hanging out with "the preacher's wife". But I'm the other preacher's daughter - so it's really no big deal. But all of that aside, she is totally a REAL woman!!!! hehe! I am so so blessed to have her friendship. She has been an awesome resource for me - when I've been down with the work stuff recently, her sweet spirit is enough to bring me back to "Happy Lauren"....and when I was having a hard time right after having Graham - she reminded me that it was normal to feel the way I was feeling...she reaffirmed my actions, wiped tears, and has loved me regardless of my mood. So J, if you are reading this - I love you girl!! I am so looking forward to getting to know you even more than I do already! :)

OK-moving on from sappy. Exciting story from Graham today: After the LCM, Graham and I headed over to my parents house (as we typically do in the afternoons while Jeff is teaching). He didn't eat very well at lunch, so I put him in his high chair and cut up some cheese ravioli (sp?) and mom gave him some avacado slices. He did so well with the ravioli. He still doesn't get the hang of how to get the food to his mouth. He is able to pick up the "chunks" of food and then makes a fist around the food, and puts the fist in his mouth but doesn't quite get how to open his fist to get the food in his mouth. He tried, and he did very well. My dad came into the kitchen while Graham was eating and said "Graham, I'm going to run to Darryl's for a minute but I will be right back. ok? (as dad is waving to Graham he says) Bye, Bye Graham. I'll see you in a minute." Graham picks up his arm and WAVES AT MY DAD!!! Mom and I both saw it and at the same time said "Graham just waved!!". At that point Graham stops waving. Dad didn't see him wave so he stepped out of the kitchen and then came back in and repeated what he said a few minutes prior...and Graham didn't wave. Instead he looked at us like "you big idiots - I already waved, I'm not going to do it again". So I'm hoping that he starts waving more often!!! He's so smart!!

Well, unfortunately there are no pictures from the Children's Museum because I was playing with Graham and then he fell asleep. I take that back - there is one picture of him asleep in his stroller. I'm on the laptop right now, but you can expect some more pics of Graham in tomorrow's post. I'll put some pictures up of Graham with Jeff and I, and my family.

Until tomorrow...may you feel the love of our Father as he embraces you in His Everloving Arms~
Jeff, Lauren & Graham