And Baby Makes Four

I'm pretty sure unless you've been under a rock for the last few weeks, you already know the big news.  But since I've not posted anything in a while, I'll officially annouce to the blogosphere that there is a new little Greer on the way.  Max will become a big brother on or around May 16!  We're so excited!! 

I tell people a lot that I feel like I've been pregnant for 6 months already.  We started thinking about having baby #2 sometime in May.  I decided to quit taking birth control that month, even though we knew we wanted to wait until July or August to officially "try".  We really wanted Max to be able to celebrate his 2nd birthday before the baby was born, so we figured August would be a good month to start.  And August was all it took!  Apparently God was in agreement that Max needs a sibling sooner rather than later! :)

Now we're 12, almost 13 weeks along, and time seems to be dragging.  I'm hoping with the holidays coming up then having to start making room in the house for baby after Christmas, the rest of the time will go by fast.  We will definitely find out whether it's a boy or a girl - I think it will be December 16th when we have the ultrasound.  I'm feeling pretty good...I was pretty nauseus at first, but that seems to be fading.  Mostly I have a lot of food aversions, and MAJOR smell aversions.  I'm hoping those also fade pretty soon.  I think Matt is tired of having to change all the dirty diapers!!

Max is growing and changing every day.  His favorite thing to do right now is play in the leaves outside.  It's getting cold really quickly here, so I hope we get to have some fall time for him to enjoy before the super cold winter starts.  He's adding to his vocabulary every day...Ms. Wanda tells us he says a lot of words for her, but he seems to forget them when he gets home.  The video below shows some of his words.  I still feel like one day he'll just start talking in full sentences...I'm pretty sure he already believes he IS talking in full sentences...we just can't always understand them!

The last 6 weeks or so have been super busy!  Aunt Em came to visit for about 10 days at the beginning of October to keep Max while Ms. Wanda was on vacation.  She wasn't wrapped around Max's little finger AT ALL by the time she left. :)

 While Aunt Em was here, we got to go visit Mariah, Maddie, and Rivers in Louisville.  Unfortunately Mike had to work, but we were so glad to get to spend some time with the rest of them.  Max enjoyed having other little ones to play with, but we learned that he definitely will need to learn to share his toys once his little brother or sister gets here!

 We tried to get a picture of them all sitting on the couch, looking at the camera.  This was as close as we got...at least they were all looking the same way, whether or not it was at the camera!

A few weeks ago we visited the local pumpkin patch. Max had a great time picking up every pumpkin, throwing a few down, and going on a hayride to see the cows.

A couple of weeks ago we went to Vardaman for my 10-year reunion. Max got to try out his new tricycle. We're pretty sure Jiggs has had some practice on it himself.....

While we were in Vardaman, we took the opportunity to have Max's fall pictures made out at the Edmondson's cabin.  Once we get the rights to share those pictures, I'll add them here.  Here are a couple we took before the official photo session began.

 Finally, here are a couple of Max doing his favorite - playing in the leaves.  He'll be so disappointed once they've all fallen and there are no more to play in!

So that's been our fall so far!  Hope you're all having a great one as well!  Love, the Greers...all FOUR of us!





16-17 Months!

Happy Fall!  Considering my last post had pictures from 4th of July, I feel like it's probably been way too long since I've given any updates!  I'd like to say that I'll try to do better....but you all know how that goes...

Max seems to have grown and changed every day during the past 6 weeks or so.  His vocabulary is greatly improving...we now have at least 10 words that he remembers and can associate with their correct meanings....Mama, Dada (Daddy), Oma, Jiggs, Em (Ummmm), ball, car, uh-oh, night-night, hat, Nana, and yum-yum are the most common.  He still jabbers constantly...we figure one of these days that jabber will turn into complete sentences.  I'm sure it's all complete to him already!  We're trying really hard to get Gamma and Poppy, but he's still struggling with those.

Since Max has finally decided to start drinking milk again (only about a cup a day, but at least it's something), and because he pretty much eats non-stop, he is starting to pack on the pounds.  It seems like just this week his face and body have filled out more and he's starting to get too heavy to hold for a long (or even short) period of time.  Matt and I were discussing yesterday how tough he is.  He'll fall down and scrape his knees or run into or over something and it doesn't phase him at all.  He cries a lot more when his feelings are hurt than when he's physically hurt.  He is also going through a very obsessive-compulsive stage.  Everything has to be just-so, and when he can't make things work the way he thinks they should, he has little meltdowns.  They usually do not last very long, but can be interesting...I hope a lot of that will go away when he is better able to communicate what he wants/needs.

We've got a really busy next month or so coming up - Matt is going to Destin for his yearly work trip so Oma is coming to stay this coming weekend.  Then next weekend Aunt Em is coming for a while to stay with Max while Ms. Wanda has a week off.  We hope to get to go to Louisville while Aunt Em is here to see Maddie and Rivers (and Mariah and Mike, of course).  Then back to Vardaman the weekend of Oct 23 for my 10-year reunion.  Oh, and tomorrow (Sept 20) is our 7th anniversary!  Happy Anniversary Matt!

Here are some pictures from the last 6 weeks.  I posted a big batch to the shutterfly site as well...about 130 of them!  Have a great week!

Fun on the 4-wheeler

Caitlin's 3rd birthday party.  Max had a blast in the kiddie pool (he was in there for about 45-mins straight!)

With Jiggs & Toby

Big smile!

Check out those eyebrows!  (sorry you got those from Mama, Max)

Busy July!!

Happy Monday!  Just a quick post to let you know what we've been up to this month...

The month of July has been super busy for us!  We started out with a trip to Vardaman for the 4th.  Two weeks after that, Matt and I went with Stacia & Charlie to Chicago to visit Lindsay for a long-ish weekend.  Oma and Jiggs came to keep Max for the weekend.  It was so hard leaving him for 3 nights, but we got to see him each day on Skype and he had a blast wrapping Oma and Jiggs (even more) around his little finger. 

Belle & Reagan also came in from Texas a couple of weeks ago, so Max has had a great time playing with them.  He is definitely jealous when they take up his time with his daddy....he pushes them away when they try to sit in Matt's lap.  The girls are coming to stay with us Saturday afternoon/night so I'll try to get some pictures of them then. 

Last Thursday I had a birthday - the big 28!  Thanks to all for the birthday wishes!  I am so blessed to have an amazing group of friends and family!

This past weekend was Nana Pearl's birthday and Lyndsey's wedding shower in Vardaman.  Matt decided to stay home and paint the kitchen (Fiestaware Orange to a gray-ish blue), and Max and I spent the weekend in MS.  Thanks to Jordan for bringing us back today, and we're super excited that she is spending the week with us! 

Here are a few pics for your viewing pleasure.  More are on the shutterfly site (Picture Albums link to the left).

This was taken in a glass box 108 floors above the streets of Chicago (top of the Sears tower).  So cool...those are the tops of skyscrapers you see.

Amazing friends, amazing view!  The Windy City, living up to its name!

Fun in the sun.  Note the red nose...he fell off a chair at the pool and scraped a layer of skin off his nose.  Poor baby! :(

With Aunt Em!

Nana Pearl & Oma

Nana with the granddaughters (L-R) Lauren, Me, Lyndsey, Jordan, Emily

15(ish) Months!

Tomorrow my baby will be 15 months old!  I know I say this often, but it's so hard to believe how fast time flies lately!  Everyone who sees Max lately says they just can't believe how much he's grown.  Matt and I comment all the time that it really seems like overnight he's become a little boy, no longer a baby. 

What we've been up to:

Outside time!  We try to find times on the weekends to get outside.  Because it's been so hot, this hasn't been as often as we'd like.  Usually when we do find time to play outdoors, it involves water.  This was taken after playing on Max's water mat and then a few rolls in the dirt and grass.  As we learned on vacation, it's hard to keep him in one place for one time.  He gets wet and has to run around everywhere. 

I promise this picture was not staged.  Lately three things seem to be Max's favorites:  His belly, remote controls, and "relaxing" on the couch.  This moment was priceless.

4th of July weekend we went to Vardaman and had a blast swimming in Ms. Karen's pool, feeding the fish, picking blueberries in Jiggs' garden, and chasing Toby and Gracie around the house.  This picture was taken after a long day of all of the above activities.  Sleepy baby.

Before & After haircut pictures.  MUCH NEEDED haircut!  Such a handsome little man.

Happy 4th of July!!

Somebody decided to assert his "Independence" on July 4th by pushing the wagon around the yard instead of riding in it.  This went on for about a half-hour, until we realized that the mosquitos had eaten Max alive.  Some of those bites are still visible...I guess they just love his soft baby skin.

As always, many more pictures are added to the shutterfly site (link to the left).  Hope you're all having a great summer so far! 

More Pictures

Hey everybody!  The pics from vacation are posted on the shutterfly site now.  Hope you enjoy!  There are a lot - all the way back to Mothers Day in Vardaman, so be sure to click "View Album" to see all of them.

Beach/Pool Videos and Pics

The wireless access we're on here at the beach is a little slow, so I'll have to wait till we get back home to post all of the pics on the shutterfly site.  Here are a couple of videos from the pool today and pics from the beach and pool.  We're all having a great time so far!  Max isn't quite sure of the beach yet, but absolutely loves the pool.  Enjoy! :)

Beach Bound

 Got off the phone late yesterday afternoon with my little brother and the thought I'd been trying to process all week finally popped into my head.

 You see Jen and I are soon to depart for the lovely oil-stained Gulf Coast, after two years of planning Max's First Vacation, we finally roll out Friday night.

  I think we might be getting the beginnings of an idea of what this whole 'parenthood' thing is all about. It's about lists, and strategizing, and worrying. No longer are the days of arriving home from work, throwing our luggage in the trunk, grabbing a bag of snacks and heading out.
  In the last three weeks we've filled several pages of a yellow legal pad with all we're gonna need to keep the monkey entertained for one week away from home. Also we've discussed at length what his reaction's gonna be to the sand, water, and sun. Will he fuss every time his sweaty little feet bring sand into direct contact with his hands or clothes? Will he scream at the size of the Gulf? Sure he loves the bathtub, but will a pool freak him out? I realize all of this is mostly unnecessary or overkill but we're sharing the condo with Jen's family. We don't want their one week of beach vacation destroyed by a 14 month old.

So as Adam correctly phrased, "Gone are the days of a nice relaxing week away. It's now a Family Vacation."

 Tar Balls here we come.
 Have a safe Memorial Day weekend.

Finally some videos!!

Here are finally some videos of Max walking!  Enjoy! :)

Flood

Hi everybody!  Just a quick note to let everyone know we're OK.  We had some water flooding from the creek behind our neighborhood, but it didn't make it to our house.  Minimal damage to neighbors' houses.  My work (Opryland Hotel) has completely flooded - the underground, lower, and 1st floors of every section have at least 8-10 feet of water.  Here is a video I found on youtube with our General Manager talking about the damage and some video that was taken. 



If you've ever been to our hotel, you know just how big a job we have ahead of us.  I have no idea what this will mean for my job over the next weeks and months.  Keep the entire Opryland family in your prayers, as well as people around Nashville.  So many people have lost everything, and the waters are still rising in some places.  It's going to be a long cleanup, all around the city.  Thanks everyone for checking in with us!  The Greer family are all doing great.  Hope you all have a nice week!

Oh, and I haven't forgotten to post pictures of Max walking.  For some reason, none of my usual video posting options are working right now.  I'll try to work on it this week and get some posted.  If you are on facebook or know someone who is, you can see the videos there. 

 

Video - Max's first year

Thanks so much Aunt Linny for putting together this video for Max's first birthday.  We love it!


Babykin's First Year from Lindsay Erwin on Vimeo.

Updates

Hi all!  I'm posting from work (shhhhhhh) so I don't have any pics or videos for you.  I did post Max's one-year photos to the shutterfly site on Saturday so check those out if you haven't seen them.  It's been a crazy last few weeks!  Of course last weekend was the big birthday party.  We were so glad to have everyone over to celebrate Max turning 1!  I can't believe it's been over a year!   As you've probably already seen from the pictures, we had an amazing Mickey Mouse cake made by Stacia Hamblin (Sugar Babes, opening August 2010).  Max didn't tear into the cake too much, unfortunately.  Most of what you see on his face Matt and I had to put there.  He basically put his hand in the cake and didn't move it for about 10 minutes. 

Nicola, we received your package on Max's actual birthday!  We absolutely love the rolling ant - everybody who comes over thinks it's so cool!  I'm sorry I haven't emailed you before now - when I changed jobs, I lost all of my saved email addresses.  Send me an email at jgreer@gaylordhotels.com so I'll have it.  Thanks so much!! :)

My little toddler is toddling quite a bit these days.  I can't fully say he is walking, but he definitely can take 5-6 steps at a time and then fall down.  He has to be completely focused on walking to do it.  Most of the time he's just lazy and sits down to crawl or scoot.  He chatters all the time, but doesn't really say anything.  We hear "na-na" a lot (sounds like mama, but with an n).  We couldn't figure out what he was saying for the longest time, but finally realized that Bella (his daycare friend) has been saying "Na-na" for Ms. Wanda.  He's picked it up and says it all the time now.  I get a little jealous sometimes, but at least it sort of sounds like Mama. :)  We've given up on him saying Daddy.  Sometimes we get a "der-der", but that's about it.

At his one year appointment, Max weighed 23 lbs 10 oz and was 31.25 inches tall.  He was in the 62nd percentile for weight and 89th for height.  I can't remember his head circumference, but he was in the 93rd percentile again.  My baby has a big head (trust me!). :)  We got the go-ahead from the doctor to start whole milk instead of formula, so we've been working on that.  He actually has no problem taking the milk, but refuses to drink it from a sippy cup.  So we're slowly trying to transition him into the sippy.  I've heard it can take months, so we're going to be patient with it. 

Matt is taking a boys trip to Dallas this weekend to see Zack, Misty, and the girls.  Oma and Nana Pearl are coming to hang out with Max and me, so we look forward to a fun weekend.  Hope you're all having a great week! 

Birthday Weekend

Jen just posted seven thousand new pictures from Max's party today. Click and enjoy.

Videos

Max has a new dance move...or maybe it's his way of telling us no. Either way, it's stinking adorable. :)



Aunt Em got Max this new monkey for Easter/Birthday. He loves wrestling with it and loving on it!

Yay for Spring!!

So we have finally had a week of warm weather and it has been glorious!  So excited to be able to spend time outside with Max and not worry about him getting too chilly.  He actually has gotten to wear shorts and short-sleeved shirts this week, and I think he loves it (since he's a little oven like his daddy...I swear they have an internal temp about 2 degrees higher than the rest of us).  Oma came last week while Matt was out of town, and Aunt Emmy is here this weekend.  Max loves having more people to pay attention to him! :)

I can't officially say he has started walking, but he did take a few steps the other night...we had to trick him into it.  Usually he's too wary (or lazy) to do it.  But Oma and Jiggs were on Skype and Aunt Emmy was here to see it.  Since then we've tried getting it on video to post with no luck.  We'll keep trying to have one to post.

I started my new job this week.  It has been fabulous so far.  I'm in another building outside the hotel, so I feel much more removed from the fast-paced world over there.  I actually have an office, so I've been looking for fun things to decorate it with.  I'm learning a lot and I feel like this is something I can enjoy doing for a really long time.  The best, and most important, part of the job is that it has set hours, no weekends, and no blackberry.  I have to say I've felt a little cut off this week from the rest of the world as I knew it, because I had facebook and instant messager on my blackberry.  I'm sure I'll get used to it though....

I've spent some time this weekend thinking back to this time last year.  Easter is a week earlier this year, but about this time I was so ready to meet my little man (and just as ready to have him OUT).  I actually went into labor at 10pm on Easter day last year (we're halfway convinced it had to do with the 10 or so deviled eggs I ate that day). :)  I cannot believe Max will have his first birthday in 10 days!!!  My baby isn't so much a baby anymore!  We're excited to share this special day with family & friends next Sunday.  And Max is super excited to have his first cake - I'm not as excited to deal with the sugar high that is sure to follow. :)

Here are some pictures from this weekend including a visit to the Easter Bunny.  More are on the shutterfly site.  We'll get his 1-year pics made soon and hopefully have a lot to post.

Happy Easter everybody!!

Playing with the new stuffed monkey from Aunt Emmy!  Shake it!

My sweet man!

Easter Bunny!  The sun was so bright!

Shoe shopping

Hello all! Just a quick post to say Hi and give you a couple of videos and pictures. More pics are on the shutterfly site. We had a great time in Vardaman last weekend! Can't wait for Max's first birthday coming up in a few weeks. Hope you're all having a great week!

Max & Aunt Em - she taught him to stick out his tongue. Bad Aunt Em!

New wagon! Thanks Oma & Jiggs!

Bathtime! Look at those lashes! Eat your heart out, Brooke Shields!

After the bath...so adorable! :)

11 Months...almost!

Hi everybody (esp Ms Karen...this is for you)! :)

I realize it's been way too long since my last blog. I have to say it's been a crazy last few weeks. This week is especially crazy for me at work, but I figured I better do it now or it may never happen. The most fantastic news is that I accepted a new job last week! I won't start until the 29th of this month, but it will be much more regular hours and less stress overall. I can't wait!!! I'm so excited to spend some time with my little man.

Max is growing like a weed. He feels like he's gained 5 pounds to me in the last few weeks since he got over the chicken pox. He eats everything in sight! He's not walking yet...he can stand on his own for 5-10 seconds at a time, but he can't stand up and steady himself without holding on to something. I can't really say he's saying anything consistently. Every once in a while you can hear "mama" in a string of other "words". We're working hard on "daddy." He's so much fun to be around right now! Can't wait to bring him to Vardaman next weekend to see everybody!

Here are some pictures from the last couple of days. I've been just as bad about taking pictures as I have about blogging. Enjoy! :)

This is one of my favorites!

So serious...

Daddy! Get off the phone and play with me!!

Chicken Pox!

Hey everybody! A couple of weeks ago, Matt found out he had shingles. He suffered with it for a long 10 days, and we've just been waiting for Max to show signs of chicken pox. Apparently the virus for shingles is the same as chicken pox, and since Max hasn't had them or the vaccine for it, he was most likely going to get them. Yesterday we started seeing the first spots, and now there's no doubt that's what he's got! So far he's been in a great mood...we hope it stays that way. Next couple of weeks will be hard - he's contagious for 2 weeks, so he can't go to Ms. Wanda's until his 2 weeks are over. He's looking forward to staying with Gamma for a few days and for Oma and Jiggs to come visit next weekend. Keep us in your thoughts, could be a rough couple of weeks.

Like I said, so far it's not bothering him...here is a video from this morning of his Daddy making him laugh. I challenge you not to giggle along with him...it's pretty adorable. :)

In jail...Jiggs put up our baby gate a few weeks ago. For the most part he doesn't mind!

Had to show this picture so you can see the back of his outfit from Oma. He has a tail! :)

Smiley baby!

Max had a great time hanging out with Aunt Em last weekend. Come back soon!!

Mama loves her monkey :)

First Snow! (Well, mostly)

Today Max got to play in the snow for the first time! We're about 10 hours into a projected 36-hour snowstorm. Here are a couple of pics (more are on the shutterfly site) and a video. Enjoy! :)

Thank Heaven for Busted Pipes in Jackson, MS...

Happy New Year everybody! I've taken far too long to post something since we got home from Christmas/New Year's in Vardaman a few weeks ago. It's been a crazy couple of weeks. We had such an amazing time seeing everyone. So glad the families were able to get together. Oma and Jiggs bought a Wii and we had a blast playing it...and watching others play it. Highlights were Jordan's kickboxing, Uncle Jeff and Jiggs' cow race, and Matt flapping his arms to make the big bird fly. :) I'm so upset we don't have video of that...you seriously had to be there to appreciate it.

Max started actually crawling while we were in Vardaman, finally getting up on all fours instead of the army crawling he's done since September. Now he's pulling up on everything like it's nothing at all and crawling all over the house. Definitely time to get that baby gate up....

This week has been a rough one. Max has an ear infection, a bad cold, and is cutting 3 of his top teeth. I've been sick too since last weekend. Because Matt and I both had stuff we couldn't miss at work this week, Oma had to come and stay with Max during the day since he couldn't go to Ms. Wanda's. Oma actually started out the week in Jackson, MS for work and should have been there until Friday. Unluckily for the city of Jackson, but so happily for us, there were some big water main breaks due to the weather and they sent everybody home. If that hadn't happened and she wasn't able to come up, I'm not sure what we would have done! Max is starting to feel a lot better and I hope now that I have a couple of days off I'll start feeling better too.

Here are some pictures and a video of late. A few more have been posted to the shutterfly site as well. Happy New Year!! :)

Max and Nana Pearl

Granne, Mamps, Max, Madeline, and Rivers

Madeline, Max, and Rivers

The whole Hamilton clan.

Mariah, Rivers, Jen, and Max

Max helping Jiggs put together one of his toys.

Max and Daddy in the "snow"

Standing up playing.

Looking out the window at the "snow"

Video from Max's First Christmas Morning