A Much Needed Day...

Nick was out of town this past week, and we planned an overnight trip to Amish Country with Tina and Lauren while he was gone...Who would have known that a boy who is normally pretty easy would wake up from an afternoon nap miserable...and it would last for the next 24 hours we were in Amish Country. I consider Grady to be pretty advanced in most areas, but 2 areas he is NOT advanced in are growing hair, and growing teeth...while his first 4 front teeth have been in for a while, the rest are just taking their sweet time...BUT, 3 more teeth decide to start cutting through at the same time, and this poor guy was in baby hell...He had a fever, and when that happens all he wants is his mom & dad...but guess what, Dad wasn't there, and his 7 months pregnant mom has a hard time holding him for long periods of time, so you can imagine the day that transpired from there. Not even the Amish, or their country, could make this boy smile. Luckily we were with Gram & Aunt Lauren, who love him even on a day that would make a grown man curl up in a corner & cry, and we got through it, and hopefully next time things will be better. Despite all that, I really think Amish Country is a beautiful place, and boy, can those folks cook! And although Grady was not himself, Tina did seem to enjoy the fact that he would curl up on her in a rocking chair, and completely pass out in her arms...

So, of course, in the never-ending world of things I learn in parenthood, I only had to travel a mere 3 miles from our house down to Creekside to enjoy an afternoon with my boy...He was all recovered from those mean, no-good, nasty teeth growing in on him (how dare they!), so we went down to Olde Gahanna to feed the ducks. It was a gorgeous day, and we did a little mother-son bonding while feeding the ducks my old bread (recycle!)...I snapped the pics above with my phone, and I think they are the best pics I've gotten of Grady in a while...

My Book Worm

I walked into the living room to see what Grady was doing after I let him loose from his high chair after breakfast and I had just finished rinsing the dishes...this is how I found him...sitting on the couch, looking at his favorite book, "Hop On Pop"...this amazed me because up to this point I didn't know he could climb onto the couch by himself, and he was smart enough to toss his book up there before hand...our "little gentleman" is becoming a boy!

What A Doll!!

Just had to share this picture of my neice Samantha...That smile literally made me laugh out loud when Lauren (sis-in-law) sent this out...It is truly infectious! She is a sweet girl who has grown up sooo much in the last couple of weeks...She looks at you like she wants to say somthing so badly...I can't wait to hear what she has to say!

Sorry For The Delay...

The blog is back! Well, technically the blog never left, but somehow Nick and I both managed to find a million other things to do in the last 11 months that we apparently thought were more important than blogging...Mainly, keeping up with this little guy in the pic! Grady is in full-blown toddler mode, and I just can't believe how much this boy has changed in the last few months...He's using more & more words everyday...so far we have "hi", "bye", "ball", "more", "book", "lola", "no", "daddy", "mama", and a few more that I've forgotten I'm sure...I think more amazing than that is his understanding of things...If I say, "go sit down & we'll put on your shoes", he knows to run to the front door, sit on the rug & wait for me to put on his shoes...it seems so silly, but I can't believe what he "gets", and how helpful it can be. He has become my little helper b/c he loves throwing things in the trash for me, pulling clothes from the dryer, and even putting away toys...I'm pretty sure this makes Nick the messiest person in the house...

Our latest news is finding out that we're having another little boy in December! I literally started to laugh when I found out it was a boy b/c it's just so fitting of a lifetime of being surrounded by Dad, Davey & Scott, to now as an adult being surrounded by Dad, Davey, Scott, Nick, Grady & baby boy...too funny! Needless to say, our house is going to be full of life! Nick is still working & traveling, which neither one of us enjoys, but we know how lucky we are that he has a solid career, which is alot considering the economy...I'm still doing the TV thing, but we're leaning toward me staying home after #2 comes along...I like my job, but I often find myself dreading the first day back to work after being home with my family, and counting the minutes till I get to go home & see them again....I have a running Word document going whenever something happens that I miss at home (such as missing a 4th of July parade, church, weddings, etc. b/c I'm at work), or when work gets on my last nerve (another day of hearing about murders, animal abuse, abductions, etc), I write down what I missed or what happened, so someday if I ever regret quitting, I can read all the things that will remind me how much I shouldn't miss it at all...

I will stop here for now, but am commiting to the world of blogging again, and hope you will keep checking in on us Hague's!!

Happy Holidays from The Hague's!!!

Merry Christmas Everyone!! We are so excited to celebrate our first xmas with Grady...even though he won't remember a thing, we will!! I kept my shopping for gifts down to a limited 3 gifts for him, but I think he will love them...he is getting a car he can push for now, and eventually ride on, a Build-A-Bear stuffed cat, and a bouncy house! The bouncy house is a huge blow-up castle that is for the back yard, and you fill it with plastic balls (apparently it's a great gimmick for bday parties)...he won't use it for a while, but I got a steal on it, so I caved. Grady's stocking is stuffed with a Cookie Monster stuffed animal, a book, and some plastic toys to play with...I am always happy with every stage Grady goes through, but standing in line with the older kids with their lists to tell Santa about is something I am looking forward to...Nick says he already knows where he is going to hide the gifts in the house someday too...It makes me feel the excitement of the holiday just like a kid again...what a blessing! I tried to read Grady the Christmas story, but he just wants to rip the pages apart...so far now, we will just stick with singing Happy Birthday Jesus...

Sorry For the Delay!

It's been a bit since I've posted anything, but I thought the best way to wrap up summer is to post a picture of Grady at the beach! It has been a busy time in our household with work, family & friends to fill up the calendar fast...As much as I love summer, it's fun thinking about what the next season will bring to our family...I'm looking forward to Grady in a Halloween costume, and him crawling around on Christmas morning. It is mind-blowing how babies grow & develop right before your eyes...although Grady has not managed to develop any hair...

I'm looking forward to my oldest friend, Tami, having her baby (boy? girl?) in January, and cannot wait to see her as a mom & swap stories...I'm also rounding the corner & knocking on the door of entering into my 30's next month!! Holy Moly! Part of me feels like I just left high school, and part of me feels like I have lived many, many lives...I am mostly looking forward to all the things that God will lay in front of me that I'm not even aware of yet...The unknown is very scary for a creature of habit like me, but it also tends to challenge me in ways I could never expect...

Post-vacation * Nick entry *

So vacation went really well. We all had a nice time. Grady was an absolute trooper for the car ride there and back. It took us about 11-hours to get home and he only had about 15-minutes of fussy-ness the whole time. He's a good boy. We had nice weather (except one-day which we spent shopping at the local outlet mall), our house was nice and we were able to visit some of Mandy's family. Her Uncle Rob and Aunt Lori spent a few nights at a hotel a half mile from our house while Mandy's cousin Christine drove 2-1/2 hours from Charleston, spent about three hours visiting, and then turned around and drove home so she could be at work the next day. As Mandy said, she definitely earned the "Cousin-of-the-month" award! We also got to visit with Mandy's cousin Paul and his wife Jennifer as well as their 5-month old son Ethan Robert. Oddly enough, had Grady been born a few years earlier we likely would've named him Ethan Robert ourselves. They live in Fort Mill, SC so it was right on our way to Hilton Head.

Things are back to normal around the house. Dad took care of letting Frank in and out while we were gone while Mandy's dad watched Lola for us. Since he's retired he's gotten in the habit of walking 3-miles in the morning and 1-1/2 at night...so Lola came back to us nice and worn out. Still, she had a great time especially since Dave has a six-month old puppy that Lola got to boss around for a week.

Grady continues to grow every day. It's kind of heartbreaking but really exciting at the same time. Hearing him laugh is really, really funny. He's knows that a bottle is on sight and will reach for it and hold it up himself. It makes us really happy to see him developing so well so early. He's now sleeping 7 - 10 hours straight at night. We've started the letting-him-cry-it-out thing if he wakes up in the middle of the night. Honestly, it's harder on me than it is on Mandy. I know it's good for him and that we have to do it, bla bla bla...but I just want to go in there and pick him up. He didn't wake up for good until 8:02AM the past Sunday which scared the bejezzus out of me. Usually he's woke up at least once during the night and is up for good sometime between 6:30 and 7:00. It's amazing how fast I've gotten used to waking up early and sleeping weird hours. This kid is totally worth it. I'm really excited to see what our subsequent children will be like. Grady is a total homerun. Hopefully Mandy will post some pictures of him soon.

College football is almost upon us. All is right in the universe. Ohio State is going to be sick-good this year.