Family Outing

So I guess daylight savings isn't all bad. The family and I were able to take advantage of a little more sunlight today when we went for a walk together. Greyson loved sightseeing at first, but the bumps of the sidewalk slowly lulled him to sleep. Meanwhile Frank and I were able to have a nice discussion about our future...housing, dreams for Greyson, jobs, etc. You know how Ceaser says that a walk a day for a dog is one of the greatest things you can do for the dog? Well, I think it is just as beneficial for the person/people walking. Good times! I look forward to more with my beautiful family.

No More Excuses!

How many times have you started a new diet or committed a New Year's resolution to losing weight and had it fall through due to excuses? Is that the story of your life? It certainly is mine. Therefore, I'm not allowing myself to create any more excuses. No longer will I be unable to walk because it's raining, snowing, too cold, too hot, etc. My husband, Frank, and I have purchased a treadmill. It sits in our bedroom as a constant reminder that it needs to be used. Frank will be doing his own share of walking in order to drop a little bit of weight, but mostly to tone up and strengthen his joints. No gym membership needed to accomplish this goal that I have set for myself. I've heard myself give excuses like, "it's too far away," "I'm tired," and "there's not enough time." No more. It's time to get it done.

If only the manufacturer remembered to include the hardware so we could assemble the treadmill I could finally get moving. Doh! So much for "no more excuses."  

Greyson is 6 Months!

Greyson is already six months old. Amazing! Pretty soon we'll be planning his 1 year birthday party. I can already see his face covered in cake. Okay, okay, I'll stop rushing things. Though it's hard not to be excited about his growth! Speaking of growth...this is one BIG baby. Don't get me wrong, he's a tough cookie. At 5 months we did an official weighing on our scale and he clocked in at 22lbs! Now it's 4 weeks later and I can't even begin to imagine how many pounds he's packed on. Doctor appointment is in a couple of weeks, so you'll have to wait for the official numbers.

Things Greyson can do at 6 months:

• Smile - he's a pro at this!
• Babble - sometimes all too often...like at 5am.
• Puts everything in his mouth. Drool included.
• Reaches for objects and grabs them. Followed by the above mentioned item.
• Stands while being supported, and likes to bend his needs and bounce. Get's lots of practice from his jumparoo.
• Eats 4-5 ounces of solid foods during lunch time. He hasn't met a food he didn't like. Thus far his food list includes: rice cereal, oatmeal, peas, green beans, acorn squash, butternut squash, carrots, sweet potato, applesauce, pears, mango, avocado, banana. Yup! Likes them all.
• Still takes good 45 minute to 1 hour naps throughout the day. Usually 3, however sometimes the afternoon nap lasts for up to 2.5 hours. 
• Sleep schedule in the evening goes something like: 10pm - 4am, 4:15am - 6:30am. One feeding in the middle of the night and roughly 2 "adjustments" without feeding (pacifier application).
• Has outgrown his infant car seat (rated to 22 lbs). So we've upgraded to a convertible rear/front car seat. He's also almost outgrown his swing! What ever will we do?!
• ALMOST sitting up unassisted. He's in limbo right now. He's quite a big boy so his weight doesn't help with learning balance. This makes things difficult. No longer can I prop him up on a grocery cart in his infant car seat, yet he's not ready to sit up on his own in the cart. Are you picking up what I'm putting down? Think about restaurants, traveling, etc.
• G now enjoys tummy time much longer than he did a couple short months ago. He picks his head up well and notices objects placed in front of him. He moves his legs from underneath him and is starting to get his butt in the air. It's really just a matter of time before he figures out the army crawl. Watch out!
• Bath time is getting interesting. He is too big for his infant bath tub, so we've been using the sink. However now that he is sitting up in the sink, he has learned (quite well) how to splash. I'm pretty sure there was more water on the kitchen floor than in the sink when all was said and done. Time to move to the big kid bathtub. Oh, and there goes Mom and Dad's back! Fun!
• His first tooth is about to cut. We've been dealing with the crying, fussing and tears from the pain of the movement of his teeth since he was 3 months old. Now the white of his first tooth is just about to break through. Here comes the toothbrush!!

Breast Cancer 3-Day Walk

It's done. Confirmed. I'm officially signed up to walk in the Breast Cancer 3-Day walk in Michigan. Come August, my Mother and I will walk 20 miles each day for 3 days as a way to celebrate the survivors, honor the lives lost, and promote awareness about early detection and research. 


You might ask yourself, "Why 60 miles? That's just crazy!" To my reply, "Yes, yes it is." I am fortunate to come from a family that does not have a long line of people who had to combat breast cancer. I have not witnessed the struggle, the pain, the loss that many have from this illness. However I am plagued by the fear of one day finding a lump in my breast. I fear for my children and their children, and my nieces and nephews. Therefore, I walk for all those that can't. I walk for you, your friends, your family members and coworkers. I walk because I know that it's the right thing to do in order to promote early detection and support research to cure this dreadful disease.

Please support my mother and I as we walk together for a common cause. All donations and sponsorships are welcome. You can donate online at: Click here to visit my personal page.


If the text above does not appear as a clickable link, you can visit the web address:
http://www.the3day.org/site/TR/2010/MichiganEvent2010?px=4551023&pg=personal&fr_id=1467&et=FlQ9FtMvnCEHGbyBGbshtA..&s_tafId=237700
Thank you!

Welcome Caleb Paul Flynn Hodsdon!

My sister, Kim, gave birth to a beautiful baby boy on March 5th. Caleb was born at 8:09am weighing in at 8 lbs 15 oz, and 21" long. We are so excited for the Hodsdon/Cicerone family and can't wait to meet the little guy. Frank, Greyson and I will be traveling up to Michigan on March 18 and staying with Kim, Rich, Julia and Caleb in order to help out. I expect many cute pictures with these two boy cousins!

After we've spent some time with the Hosdson's we'll travel over to the Cowden/Busse side of town so Greyson can get some time in with his grandparents. Especially his Lola, Fe, who has not met him yet! We're looking forward to seeing everyone!

Greyson is 4 Months!

Time is really flying by now! Happy 2010 everyone! We hope that your holiday season was filled with lots of joy and happiness. We certainly are enjoying lots of smiles from Greyson these days. Just a tiny touch to his cheek and you've got yourself a grinning baby boy. And Frank and I will do just about anything to keep him smiling. My personal repertoire of songs has increased as I've dug up music from my choir days. And both Frank and I are quick to bring out our silly side.

Greyson is also showing a lot of personality these days too. He is curious about loud noises and different things that we show him. You can tell he is studying everything! As he gets older I can see more and more of his daddy's looks in him. His hair is growing thicker (though just on the top) and his eye brows are now visible! :o)

Other things Greyson can do at 4 months:

• Drinks 6-7 ounces of formula per feeding
• Has started solid foods! *pictures to come*
• Takes 3 - 1 hour naps during the day
• Typically sleeps from 6pm - 9pm, 10pm - 4am, and wakes at 7am
• Is becoming increasingly vocal - mostly "ah-goo"
• Loves to blow bubbles and razzes
• Mouth is hurting a lot so teeth are on their way!
• loves to be pulled up to a sitting position and then to standing.
• Moves legs back and forth while on his tummy...army crawl is coming soon.
• Loves to splash during bath time (good thing he typically gets his Dad soaked)
• Holds his grip on just about anything...hair, jewelry, fingers, rattles, blankets and more.

Christmas 2009

Merry Christmas!!
While we were sad to not see our families in Michigan this Christmas, we did have a wonderful and relaxing holiday this year. Greyson received lots of clothes and books - exactly what he wanted!!!

Greyson in his Bumbo seat -

Head of the table for Christmas dinner

Greyson and Mom Christmas morning

Greyson's holiday photo

Dad showing Greyson his new bath toys.

Thanks to the Blackaby's for these gifts!

Most of the family received some video of us opening gifts. Here we are opening Greyson's gift from Belgium:



More video to come of the gifts we opened from the Cowden family! Happy Holidays!

Greyson is 3 Months!

I wish I could report how wonderful the last month has been watching Greyson grow. The truth is that he is simply wearing us out!! My prediction is that he has begun teething (although nothing has cut through the surface yet). He shows all the symptoms including drooling, chomping on his fingers, and being fussy with his bottle. His milestones have not changed much from a month ago. However, he is definitely growing! Since we don't have a doctor's visit this month, Frank did an unofficial weighing of Greyson on the bathroom scale. He's at 16 pounds! Which means Greyson will graduate to the next size diapers (now on size 2-3). He is filling in his size 6 clothes which means we'll need sizes 6-9 and 9 very soon!

We're looking forward to our first Chrismas together and unfortunately will not be heading up to Michigan to see everyone. Maternity leave stripped me of all the vacation and sick time I had accumulated, leaving me with zero time off for the holidays.

While we're at it, a big Happy Birthday goes out to Nonna (12/14)!

New Parents Dinner Party

We've made some great friends with having a new baby on board. We were all in the same hospital class prior to delivering our newborns, though some of us had other connections. Sarah and I took Prenatal Yoga together, and Daniel and I met at UNCG during an alumni event on campus. Now we make sure to get together once a month for dinner and adult time. Call it an adult play date if you wish! And just to boast about how great all these new daddy's are, see the picture below...

That's right...while all the ladies of the group were sipping wine in the kitchen, all our men were taking care of the kids. What's not to love about these parties?!? Frank and I hosted the December party and Brian and Sarah hosted November. Stephanie and Chris have January and I'm pretty sure we're all looking forward to it.

We just want some sleep!

It's a darn thing Greyson is so cute!

I've officially returned to work and it's been difficult adjusting to the change. Going from seeing my little one all day long to only a couple hours a day has tried my emotions. While I pound the pavement in a challenging sales job, my thoughts often stray to Greyson and his big smiles. I know he is in good hands with our nanny, Anita, and consider ourselves very fortunate to be able to keep Greyson home in these early months. But my heart yearns to be with him more often. I now know how Frank felt after returning to work only a few short days after Greyson was born.

Also with my return to work comes the challenge of getting through the day with minimal sleep. Frank and I are still taking turns waking up and feeding Greyson, who just hasn't seemed to grasp sleeping through the night yet. He is keeping to eating every 4 hours during the night which puts wake up times around 11pm, 3am and 7am. Oy!

Our bodies are adjusting to the sleep deprivation, but hopefully we'll get more than a few hours at a time soon. I'll get a picture up of Anita with Greyson soon. I can't believe he is almost 3 months old!