And....GO!

Every year Terri has been inviting the family over after the Christmas Day festivities. She has a buffet dinner prepared and it's very causual. We love going to see everyone and the food is really good too. Ryan and Shelly's twins are so cute. We lined th boys up and it looks like they're getting ready to crawl. Except for Michael, who looks like he's taking a nap. Which one do you think will crawl first?

(Actually everyone is betting on Matthew. He really looks like he is ready to go now.)

Making Breakfast

 Once upon a time, I could make some amazing meals and goodies. Sometimes I could even impress myself. I didn't burn things, I didn't forget to make parts of the meal, it was great.
Then I had kids and this is what happens.
I was trying to juggle making waffles for Luke (because suddenly he doesn't like pancakes), eggs (protein to make me feel better about the meal), occupy Grant (because I don't like to leave him in other rooms by himself) and get some bacon going. I guess I'm not super mom (but I try).

All of the sudden Grant was really quiet and this is why. He had his hands in the waffle batter. I think Grant has Go-Go-Gadget arms, either that or I forget to make sure things aren't too close to him. If there is anything remotely close to him, he will reach for it and play with it. He loves to explore everything around him and is constantly putting everything in his mouth. Nothing is safe when Grant is around, which can be good and bad.

More Grant

The first thing a lot of people say when they see Grant is, "Look at his eyes - they're so big!" He really does have great eyes. We just think he is so cute. We definitely love having him in our family.

He's started playing more with toys and with his hat.

Halloween Howls

In our unending quest to do every Halloween activity possible, the boys an I went to Murray library to attend the "Halloween Howls" party. Scary stories, spooky treats and ghoulish crafts were fun for Luke and, as always, Grant was content just to watch.
The boys were cute as ever and Grant received either the best or worst compliment ever, depending on who you ask. A lady asked if he was a boy or girl. "A boy", I replied. "He's so cute, he could be a girl!" was her response. Um, thanks. I guess.

5 month old Grant

 Grant is starting to do more and more. He loves sitting in this activity center and Luke loves playing with him. Luke piled all these blocks on Grant and Grant was loving the attention from Luke!

Chillin'

We got a Roller!

Unfortunately Grant doesn't stay put anymore but we are excited that he is on track developmentally. Too bad his mom let him fall off the ottoman though. She felt really bad about it. Luckily she caught him before he fell off the couch (the first time anyway). He's not allowed on furniture by himself anymore.
Grant is rolling from front to back and from back to front. His physical therapist says he is doing great and that tummy time is really helping him.
Good job Grant!

Grant is 3 months old

Grant is 3 months old!

Isn't that the cutest smile?

We have so much fun with Grant, we are so glad he is a part of our family.

Grant's Blessing Day

Grant Harrison Bowers was blessed by his father on July 3, 2011.


The priesthood holders who blessed Grant: Poppy, Jay Pierce, Grandpa Pop-Pop, Steve Wagstaff, Jerry Wagstaff, Nathan White, and Andy Nash

After sacrament, we invited everyone to our house for dinner. We had sandwiches on the back patio while the kids played on the play set. Lucas loves having kids to play with so he was in heaven.

Our Family

The White's and the Bowers with Grandma B.

Poppy and Grammy with Grant

Uncle Jay and Uncle Joey with Grant

The Pierce/Bowers Family

Aunt Jessica and Andrew holding Grant

Grandpa Pop-Pop and Grandma Bear-Bear holding Grant

Grandma B. holding Grant

Physical Therapy

When we took Grant to the pediatrician, he told us that Grant has torticollis. Grant pretty much always has his head turned in one direction and is always leaning to his left. So we have started physical therapy. Basically we go the their office and they stretch his neck out. On our first visit, she measured his range of motion and even measured his head. His head is starting to become flat in the back and because of that, his forehead bulges in the front on the right side. It's not noticeable yet but it can become worse over time. We have appointments every week so we can help Grant stretch out those neck muscles and get stronger.

Gettin' some Sun

Grant is totally a momma's boy - which is totally fine with the mom. But there are sometime when she can't hold him and Daddy has to. We have found that Grant will calm down a lot when he is outside or in his bouncy seat.

Dustin ended trying both this morning and we all ended up spending over an hour outside under our tree in the front yard. We even ate lunch outside. Grant slept the entire time, it was so nice outside. Unfortunately we discovered a little later that he had a slight sunburn. The sun shifted and he wasn't completely in the shade. Poor baby. We forget that his skin is super sensitive since he is only 3 weeks old!

First Bath

Finally! Grant is 3 weeks old and he is getting his first bath! It seemed to take forever for his umbilical cord and circumcision ring to fall off so we could finally submerge him in water.

It seems that Grant does not care to be naked and wet and cold BUT he does like having warm water sprayed on him. After we covered him with a wash rag and sprayed him with the warm water, he calmed down and seemed to enjoy his bath. He especially likes having water poured on his head which is a complete opposite of Lucas. Hopefully it will be easier to wash Grant's hair.

Going Home

It was finally time to go home. Grant had to stay an extra day to make sure he didn't have an infection. Dustin and I stayed an extra day on a hotel stay. I guess for the price we paid, it wasn't bad but honestly, we've stayed at better hotels!

Now we have two car seats in thee back and I had to squish in between both of them. Good thing we have a bigger car now!

Grant is so tiny in his car seat!

Surprises

I went to work as usual and I had a list of things I wanted to get done that weekend in preparation for the baby. Dustin was going to go to Pleasant Grove and measure a job and Lucas was going to spend the day at the Miller's playing with Alaina and Lydia.

But I was sitting at my desk eating breakfast when I felt a pop, a cramp and a gush of water. It was only 8:00 AM and I hadn't done anything on my list yet.

I rushed home because I hadn't packed my bag yet. Luckily Dustin and Lucas were still at home. Grammy rushed over to get Lucas and we went to the hospital.

We arrived at the hospital at 9:10 AM. Dustin was so excited to drive to the hospital because he thought he could drive fast but I told him to not hit any bumps (because I was in PAIN!) and so he drove slower just for me. He did park the car in the horseshoe and left it there for over an hour while I got settled. And he got me a wheelchair to sit in while we waited for them to tell us what room to go to.

We had the nicest nurse. Her name was Wendy and she was with us the ENTIRE day since she had just started her shift when we arrived. I immediately asked for an epidural and then spent the rest of the day in labor.

Grant Harrison Bowers was born at 10:36 PM. He was 6 pounds and 13 ounces and 21 1/2 inches long.

I was only able to see him for a minute before they took him away to clean him and do some tests. He had pooped while in utero and so they had to immediately suck his mouth and nose. Also, while I was in labor, I had a fever and they were worried that he had an infection. So he spent the first 2 1/2 hours in NICU getting an IV and running some tests.

His first bath was actually done in our room at 3 AM. He wasn't exactly thrilled about it but it was soon over and we were able to get some sleep. We're glad Grant is safely here!