JULY 2015

Such long days. Such fun days. Such full days. And...

 a family of 6 at last!

First morning in our home: July 12, 2015

Donuts and playing in the basement. We just kind of walked around and followed Grady- totally amazed at how he soaked up every new sight, smell, and object he saw. Quite overwhelming for him, and for us. 

And now...some highlights from our first week at home with Grady. It wasn't great that I got terribly sick and was down and out for about 3 days---very emotional, in a ton of pain, high fever...just rough. But our kids pulled through and Ryan was a super star. Receiving meals from people is by far the best gift of all, and to say I'm proud of Ellie, Emma, and Griff is an understatement. 

Haha---typical moment. :)

First pancake "Saturday" as a family of 6 but on Monday...

We thought an hour at a part would be a nice excursion during this time of cocooning with our fam. Not so much. 30 seconds after this picture we experienced Grady's first tantrum---explosive and sad. Had to leave the park...but this little guy is just going through so much right now. Proud of him, proud of my family right now!

July has been many many days of playing on the driveway, down in the basement, and taking very short walks with Grady in the stroller---something he is still getting used to.

Griff absolutely loves when Grady wants to be near him, chase him, or hold his hand. He loves it. 100% loves it. There is literally not another kid in this world that would be a better example and a better bigger brother than Griffin Snow. Can't wait for this relationship to grow. 

We went and played with cousins for an hour! Grady loved it, but not as much as Jack and Charlie. They didn't leave his side. Griff---missing his playmates, and frustrated with the transition...but doing so well. 

Grady's first doctor's appointment. I was so sick and had no ability to handle much. We didn't stay long, but we made it! Ellie was an amazing help.

It was so nice of Matt and Jess Harsh to invite us to her parents' pool. We discovered that Grady LOVES the water, like his big brother and sisters. What a fun discovery today, as we saw our son play in water and love every second of it.

We never knew if Hocking Hills, with the Snow/Preston/Cates families would actually happen. After being so sick and jet lag, and emotional exhaustion...we just didn't know if we could pull it together. But, we did. And, all of us were so thrilled to be with our family. Hocking Hills was hot, but beautiful. The cousins played hard and loved their days together. Grady once again proved to us how well he is adjusting to us as he did SO well over the weekend in Hocking Hills. What a gift this was to all be together.