Cool!

It's been so long since there's been a post here, I thought I'd take a few minutes to get something put up. I've been saying that for months now, but I finally forced myself to just do it...

I've been home for a little over 4 months now, and I think I can honestly say it's the happiest time of my life. The past 5 years have been full of ups and downs, but lately everything has been so good. I really enjoy my job, and I love being able to spend time with Shelley and Ryan every day. While I was overseas I tended to not dwell on that absense... and it used to make Shelley crazy. The fact of the matter is, if you spend too much time thinking about what you can't have, it'll drive you crazy. So my solution was just to do the job, and take whatever distractions I could find.

We're leaving for France in a couple of weeks. Shelley's mom is going to come and stay with Ryan, so he's going to get some good "grandma" time. We're really looking forward to the time away, and of course we're going to miss him a lot.

Shannon (Shelley's mom) is going to just be blown away by this little man. Every day he does something amazing to us, even if it's something as simple as getting up on the couch by himself. This morning's thing... the thing that prompted me to run down here and post ... was as he was getting out of the hot tub this morning. We have a bit of a routine for "mimming"; Ryan runs around inside the tub for a while (I'm in there too, of course), and when he's had enough, he goes to the stairs and starts looking for Shelley. He'll say "all done", "ma ma", and "meeeze (please)". Shelley will bring his towel, I'll take off his swim diaper, turn him around, and she'll wrap his towel around him. As she's carrying him away, he'll give me a "bye", and head for the bathroom tub. This morning, Shelley asked him if he wanted to take a shower. He said, "yeah" ... which he says to most anything that he doesn't really understand, and I said "cool". He immediately said, "coo", gave me one more "bye", and off they went into the house.

I think it's safe to say at this point that his three most favorite things are Elmo:



Swimming:



... and eating:



Gotta run, sounds like they're out of the shower!

Cool!

9 Months and GROWING!!!!

Ryan had his 9 month check up today.....22lbs 14 oz and 29 inches!! He is in between the 75th and 90th percentile for both. He is taking after Daddy for sure! As usual, the doctor said he is perfect.
Sorry I have not done much here...and if you ready Scotts BLOG, you know why! We are getting settled in the new house, little by little. I still have lots to do, but it is hard with work and the baby. So, we have located everything that we need...and all the rest gets done bit by bit when I have the time and energy. It is nice to have a place that is our own though. We have room for visitors, so we would love to have some!
We are really missing Scott. I know it was very hard for him to go back. We just got used to being a family again, and he had to leave. I hope that the next few months go by quickly.
Ryan is changing so fast. He is trying to crawl, but just can't get it all together. He does the army crawl, pulling himself along with his arms. He is cutting his 5th tooth as we speak. He can stand by himself, and rolls around to get wherever he wants to go. We are working on NO now....good luck right?? He is doing great at daycare. I am so thankful every day for CC. Ryan is really interacting with the other kids now, it is really fun to see. He is eating some real food, and needs a haircut, but I think we will wait for Daddy to come back for that one. First trip to the barber shop seems to me like a guy thing! Of course, I will be there to take pictures.
Getting ready for the holidays here. We will be going to Beckys for Thanksgiving, and it looks like we will do Christmas here, with Grandpa Cruse. Then it will be time to plan for the 1 year b-day!! Hard to believe that he is already 9 months old!
Well, that is about it from here. Love to everyone, please keep Scott in your thoughts!
Love
Shelley & Ryan

<6 month Check Up!The Grattan Family %27blog
Ryan and I went for his 6 month check up yesterday, and no surprise...the doctor said he is perfect! He weighs 20 lbs 1 oz, and is 27 inches long! I am just glad he was small when he was born..but he is making up for it now! He is doing great! Eating cereal like crazy. We will start baby food when dad gets home, figured that would be a good bonding experience for them. Speaking of that, we are counting down, a week from today Scott will be home, and needless to say, we are all very excited! Ryan can sit up by himself for a few seconds, but does really well with some support. He is sleeping pretty well, and is doing great at day care. Work is crazy for me, we are implementing a totally new data base, long story short, Colorado bought it from CA, and they aren't even using it because it doesn't work. Not sure why they thought our computer people could figure it out....anyway. Have a couple of nightmare weeks, maybe months coming up, so I will be very thankful to have Scott here for that reason, and many many more!
Love and sloppy Ryan kisses to everyone!

Guess who is 6 months old today?

Happy Birthday Ryan!!!

... see you in a couple weeks!

Latest News
Not too much going on here....Ryan is doing great, weighing in at a whopping 19 lbs. I will have a more accurate reading when we go in for his 6 month check up on the 19th. He is just so much fun....he amazes me every day with all the smiles and laughs. No new teeth, but I think he is working on it. My favorite Aunt Karolyn was here from CA for a couple of days to get in some baby time. It was a lot of fun to see her, and our friends Phyllis and Randy from Denver, and our new friend Nancy. We had a great time today we went down to my grandmothers bench on the river trail, and then to the dinosaur museum. Ryan has been there 2 times already! =) I uploaded some pictures, so you can check them out. Scott will be home in a little under 3 weeks, and we are all getting very anxious. His mom and George have a visit planned in October, and I am working on a little weekend gambling get away with the girls while they are here. I am not sure how I will do away from the Ry man....but if I win a million, it will surely be worth it! My mom will also be here some time in September so Scott and I can get away to celebrate our big b-days this year. We will be together for both...and we have some celebrating to catch up on!
So...all is well on the Grattan home front. Day care is going great, work is insanely busy. I will have been with the County for 4 years this month...boy time sure does fly! Ryan will be 6 months on the 14th, I can't believe it!
Love to everyone, and sloppy Ryan kisses to all!

First Vacation
Ryan and I got back from our trip to the Wiens Family Reunion on Monday, both exhausted (I'll explain that more in a bit) but very glad that we were able to be there. Let me just tell you a little about that side of my family. They are just plain fun. We all truly enjoy each other, and when we get together, you can be sure that there will be lots of hugs, lots of food, lots of laughter, and maybe a little wine.
I have to say, I am so proud of Ryan. Not that I didn't know that he is the greatest kid ever before, but after the delays and waiting and being handed off to all sorts of new faces, he was still full of smiles for anyone we met. We were supposed to fly out of GJ at 5:50 last Thursday, and we finally got on the plane at about 7:30, only to be told that we had to get back off the plane, and that they were not sure if they had the part that they needed to fix it so that we could actually fly out. So, yadda yadda yadda, we came home about 8:30 and got a decent nights sleep in our own beds...the plane never took off, and they had finally cancelled it at 11:00, glad we came home and rebooked for in the morning. Ryan was truly an angel through the whole thing, didn't cry at all, even though is was well past normal bed time by the time we got here. We returned to the airport at 7:30 the next morning to a huge line, and even more delays. So...we had to rebook again. The really fun thing is that my mom and her friend Jay were waiting for us in Phoenix, and they had to keep rebooking too because of all our issues. Luckily America West was nice enough not to charge them for the changes, even though they could have. We finally left 3 hours late Fri morning, and met the rest of the crew and were able to get out of PX around 1:30, into Burbank around 3, and into the car we went. Well, it took us 4 hours to get to Santa Maria, thanks to the traffic, but I won't go there. So, we lost one whole day of our vacation, and we were both totally wiped out by this time.
Saturday we had the first family event, a picnic for 30 in the park. My cousin Scott cooked all day, he is famous for his Santa Maria style BBQ....tri-tip to die for, let me tell ya! We had games and lots of food, and great weather. It was a very good day. Ryan loved all the attention, as you can imagine. He lasted about 8 hours in the park....bless his little heart! Sunday we were able to go to the beach. The weather was great, the water was cold, but that didn't stop Rachel, Brian, Brianna (my cousin Kim's daughter) and Jon (cousin Sharry's hubby) from having a great time swimming and playing. Ryan did touch the water, but he was more happy just watching and hanging out. We have pictures of all the events up on Scotts page under latest photos. We then headed off to Kim's house for more food and fun. Another late night, and Grandma Shannon ended up missing part of the party rocking with a lightly sleeping Ryan, but I am pretty sure that she enjoyed that too!
It was great to see everyone, the people that traveled the furthest are my great aunt and uncle from KS who celebrated their 63rd wedding anniversary this year! It was awesome!
So...Monday came too quickly, and we were back in the car and on our way. Once we got to PX we found out that the gate we were supposed to get to was on the other end of the concourse, so we walked quickly, having only 45 minutes for all that we needed to do...and then they changed the gate back to close to where we landed originally......so anyway...after about 30 minutes on the tarmac...in the PX heat, we took off, never really cooled down, but none the less, made it home, and back to work and day care on Tuesday. I am still trying to catch up on sleep, Ryan is just fine....lucky kid...hehe
He is doing fantastic. He is rolling over now, he can go both ways! He ate a little cereal for the first time tonight, not too much, but we are just starting. Weather here is hot hot hot. I am going to float the river with some friends this weekend while Grandpa gets to spend his 61 b-day with munchkin. Besides that, we are at just over a month before dad comes home, so very excited about that.
Love and sloppy Ryan kisses to everyone!
Us

Not Much New
Not much new going on around here, Ryan got his second bottom tooth last week, and is having fun playing with them. You can see a picture, don't mind the fingers in his mouth, on Scott website http://scotti.ws
We are gearing up for our trip to sunny CA for the Wiens Family Reunion. I am very excited, and I know that everyone else cannot wait to meet Ryan. We fly to PX Thursday afternoon where we will meet up with my Mom and then fly on to Burbank and then will drive to Santa Maria. It will be interesting to see how Ryan does on the plane ride, but I am hoping for the best. My dad has been a lifesaver and babysat a couple of days, and the boys have a great time together.
Scott will be home the end of August (YEAH!). I know that we are both very anxious, but the time seems to be going pretty quickly.
Nothing much more to report, we are doing well, work is insanely crazy, so I am really ready for a little break.
Love to everyone, hope all is well!
Shelley & Ryan

First Tooth!!
Ryan was a little fussy this weekend, and I just couldn't figure out what it was......
Well, he got his first tooth today! YEAH! It is very exciting. The second one doesn't seem to be too far behind either. He didn't get a fever or anything fun like that, just a little fuss and a LOT of drool! Daddy and I are very proud of the little man.
Love and lots of very sloppy kisses from Ryan!

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY!!!!!
Just a quick note for a happy day to all Dad's....but especially to Scott.
Ryan and I are both very sad that we are not going to be able to celebrate Scott's first Father's day with him, so Ryan asked me to pass this along to his dad................................................

I LOVE YOU THIS MUCH DADDY!!
HAPPY FATHER'S DAY!

243
Us

4 Months Old!
Well, the latest statistics are in, and it is official.....
Ryan will be Scotts size in no time! He is now 16lbs 5 oz, 25 1/2 inches long. Big boy however you look at it! His doctor kept commenting about how handsome he is, and what a sweet baby. After they gave him his shots, not so sweet for awhile, but overall, very good! It is only 8:30 here, so we have a long night ahead of us, but for now he is sleeping soundly, hopefully he will not experience too much discomfort.
Besides that news, not too much new to report here, my mom is coming to visit this weekend, she is very excited about seeing Ryan. I think she is actually having withdrawal!
We are both sad that we are not going to be able to spend Scotts first Fathers Day together. I am working on getting a DVD burned for him..if I can get the software to work! It is hard when you are used to having a geek in the house!
We are counting down to CA, I am very ready for a little vacation, as work has been totally insane. It is not going to be a long trip, but I am looking forward to it very much.
Hope all is well with all of you...
Much love
Ryan & Shelley

What day is it again? 'blog
Life has been a bit hectic, so you will all excuse me I am sure, for not posting for so long. Ryan is doing GREAT. We had 2 nights last week that he slept all night, from 8pm to 6am...that was wonderful! Of course, I was up checking his breathing frequently, so I am not sure that I got anymore sleep than usual....but it was good for him. But, the last 2 nights he has gotten up once to eat, so it may just have been a fluke...only time will tell!
His Nana was here from IL over Memorial Day weekend, and we had a wonderful visit. She got to spend some quality time with the munchkin, and I got a chance to get some things done around the house that I just don't have the ability to do when I am here alone. She spoiled him, of course, as G-mas are supposed to do. She was able to babysit while I was working for a day and a half, I think she really enjoyed that, I know Ryan did.
If you have looked at the latest pictures, you have seen the beach outfit she got him..it is too cute, he looks like a beach bum! Which is great, because we are going to CA to see my Favorite Auntie Karolyn and her family in July. I just got the news that my great aunt and uncle from KS will be there too, and I have not seen them since I was in college at McPherson, they used to come watch me play tennis and cheer, and they would bring me homemade cookies, it was awesome! I am very excited to see them, along with all the rest of the family out there that I miss so much!
That is about all the news from here. Ryan is just amazing, he is smiling and laughing and talking so much...he just has me in awe every day! WE go for his 4 month check up and shots on the 15th, so I will report back then how much he weighs, although I am pretty sure already it is 40 lbs...ok, maybe I am exaggerating a LITTLE bit..and how tall.
Much love to everyone...especially daddy!
Shelley & Ryan

Some new pictures!

Shelley uploaded a bunch of new pictures today, and they're all in the Latest Photos album. I'm way overdue to clean up the albums, and promise to get it better organized in the next couple of ummm ... days? Really... I'll try.

I'm working a very odd shift now, but it allows me to spend time on both night and day shifts and give our regular morning guy a break. Midnight to Noon does some strange things to your head... since I literally go to work, go to sleep, and wake up to go to work, all in the space of one day (think about it). Believe me, it rapidly makes figuring out what day it is very difficult...

So, now I've got a new background for my computer, and I need to get back to work to get some things done... More later!

Overdue...

My mom is visiting Shelley this weekend, so we'll give her a little slack. I'm sure she'll have a bunch of pictures next week, and I'll have her post something then...

In the meantime, I wanted to share with you all my new favorite picture:



That's all I've for for now! Looking forward to some new pictures!

3 Month Birthday!!!
Believe it or not (I am going to go with NOT myself..) Ryan is 3 months old today! He is huge...not exactly sure how huge, as it has been a month since he weighed in at 13 1, and I am really not wanting to venture a guess. I know he is heavy, and he has gotten a lot taller, he cannot stretch out on my lap anymore, he is too long! He is laughing a lot, and smiling most of the time....he is so much fun!
Ryan is doing great at daycare. I really love the provider we have, she is so sweet, and amazingly organized. Ryan is the only infant there, so he gets a lot of attention, which was a very important criteria for us. I know that he is well taken care of, and that she is smothering him with hugs and kisses, as she can barely wait for me to get him out of his carrier in the morning to get her morning hug. We are truly blessed, we have a great doctor, and a great day care provider, 2 of the most important people in his life, besides me and dad, and the grandparents (I knew you would all be mad if I forgot that one!)
Work is going well for me, it is nice to be around some adult conversation every day....I still do the baby talk thing a lot, but luckily they all understand, and forgive me for it! I am waiting to get slammed with a lot of new cases, which I know will be happening soon, so it is just the calm before the storm.
Summer is here in good ole GJ, temps in the 80's, except for the last 3 days because of a spring storm. Still waiting for the prop managers to get the swamp cooler done, and let me tell ya, with all the windows in this house, I am not exaggerating when I tell you that there were a few days last week when we got home and it was 90 degrees upstairs....YUCK!
My first mothers day was very nice. Went to Beckys house for a BBQ, always good food and company there. Then to my dads for his famous meatloaf...yummy! Scott sent me some beautiful roses, my friend Lisa gave me a charm bracelet, and Ryan's day care provider made me this really cute button with his picture on it.
Scott and I spent our second anniversary apart....just like the first one, except at least last year we were on the same continent. He sent me 2 beautiful roses for our 2 years...time does fly! We are both amazed that we have been together for 5 years, him more than me. He is just surprised that I have been able to put up with him for 5 years! (His words, not mine)
So...all is well here...counting down till Scott comes home of course. We miss him terribly, and don't get to talk to him as much as we would like...Hint hint if you are reading this!!
Love and sloppy Ryan kisses to everyone!

The Grattan Family WebLog
Well, the reality is setting in, that I will be returning to work on Monday morning. According to my co-workers, they are all excited for me to come back. I think they are just tired of doing my work for me, and who can blame them, I have been so fortunate as to be able to spend the last 2 1/2 months enjoying the company first of my wonderful husband...for a couple of days, and then of our amazing son. He is truly our greatest accomplishment, something that we are both very proud of, and amazed by for sure!
I would be putting up pictures, but I am not sure how to do that yet...so stories will have to suffice for now, and you can see all the pictures you want on Scotts website I guess! I will let you all know next week how Ryan's first days of day care go....fine for him I am sure, it is me I am worried about!
Love to all!
Shelley & Ryan

Ok folks, I have figured it out I guess....so I will TRY to keep you updated, when I have a chance to! Things are going well here with the munchkin. Let me just tell you, I love him more than I ever could have imagined! As Scott said, he has more than doubled his weight in the first 2 months, so I am going to have to get a second job soon to pay for food and clothes for another guy Scott's size it looks like! He is quite a handsome devil, and has a great temperament....he is just perfect, even his doctor says so every time she sees him! Loving life as a mom...dreading going back to work in a week! And, of course, missing dad like crazy!
Love to all!
Shelley & Ryan

While Shelley is trying to figure out how to post, I'll tell you something she called to tell me earlier today. She took Ryan to the doctor for his checkup, and shots. He weighs over 12 pounds... typically it takes a child six months to double their birth weight... He managed it in 2. That's my BOY! hehe

BTW, Happy Two Month Birthday kiddo!

For now, this 'blog will mostly be a place that Shelley can tell you (and me too, since I'm currently 8000 miles away) what's happening at the Grattan homestead. The latest news, of course, is the addition of Geoffrey Ryan Grattan:



Needless to say, we're pretty fond of him, and will have a lot more pictures and stories of him in the future. In the meantime, feel free to email him and welcome him in to the world. Of course, Shelley will be reading the emails to him, but you might as well put him in your address book now. You know I'll have him sending emails shortly after he learns the alphabet (should be any day now...).

Thanks for visiting!

Just the beginning...

Scott
Shelley
Ryan