On the move.... kind of....

So, I have been horrible with my updates lately!! Things have been crazy: Zeb has been out of town for work a lot lately and things have not slowed down at my office, and unfortunately, my blogging (and my house upkeep) are falling by the wayside. Lets see, what fun things do we have to share....

Uncle Ben and Aunt Tasha are officially married!! On April 30th, we enjoyed a fun filled weekend of friends and family in Garden Valley. It was great to see so many folks with whom our visits are, sadly, few and far between!!

family picture

Mary came!

They're married!

Exchanging Vows

brothers.

aunt Mary.

Graycin went in for his 4 month check up on May 11th (I said I was behind!) and he is doing well!! He came in at a strong 16 lbs, 13 oz and 25 3/4 inches long! After telling the doctor that Graycin was eating a strong 50-80 oz of formula day, we got the ok to start 'solids.' We have made it through all our fruits and veggies without a hitch and am happy to say that Graycin gets at least two solid meals a day and can finish two jars of food and at least 4 oz of formula if we let him. Needless to say, we normally cut him off at one and push the fluids.

May 12th was a BIG day at the Rodes' house as Graycin rolled over for the first time! We knew it was coming, but he kindly waited till we were home in the evening to capture the event! He routinely makes it to his belly but is still learning to consistently get himself back over!

getting so close to rolling!

big, sleepy eyes!

shocked! the first time he made it over!

a smile under there for his new found ability!

daddy helping him back over.

We have had visitors! and we love it!! Memaw and Nanny were here three weeks ago, Aunt Jessie and Aunt Rissa came to see us for a couple days and Uncle Ben and Aunt Tasha were here! Whew! So many people to see!! We love having all of our family here!

On Memorial Day, we took drive through scenic Idaho. It rained, it snowed... and it was May 31st.... welcome to Idaho!

We hope this finds you all well and ready for summer!! - Jen and ./;pkiijhghbbf (Graycin)

And then there was one...

A lot has happened around here lately... as you can tell by the title of this post, we are officially down to just Graycin as the little person of the house. Noah and Christina moved to be with their new family on April 2nd. We are so excited for them and for their new family and all things that are now going to be able to happen in their lives. We continue to talk to them and their new family and loving hearing about all the things that they are getting to experience and all the people who getting to fall in love with them.

Zeb ran his first 5k this month! Zeb and our friend Kelton have been running a couple times a week to get back in to shape and took on the "Beat Coach Pete" run at BSU. Coach Pete is the head football coach for the Broncos and does this as a scholarship fundraiser for the University. The boys finished in 37 minutes which was awesome considering it was their first race and they were running with 2200 other people with strollers, bikes, dogs - you name it! Dani and I took the babies and met them at the finish line! We are so proud of Daddy!!

Graycin is 3 and a half months old. I have gone back to work and as much as I wanted for him to be able to come with me, he made it one day... with a new (and very ancient) software that I have to learn after being gone for 3 months my brain couldn't give him everything he needed and still be able to do my job effectively - so its off to day care he went. He has made friends and adjusted well. I miss him terribly during the day, but it is what is best for everyone involved. We took little man to the doctor this last week after he got a nasty cold and high fever. Our little chunk is 15 pounds, 5 oz and we have officially moved to 6 month clothes! He is getting so big and it is SO much fun to watch his personality develop!

Getting big... but still SO little next to Daddy!

Playing in the bath tub

I'm teething! I love chewing on Mommy and Daddy's hands...

Such a little man!

So stinkin' smiley!

And giggly!

Daddy and Baby G!

We have started trying out new toys!

Another new toy!

Enjoying the bumbo.

Hanging out on the boppy while playing on the play mat.

Tummy time! The one time that he is smiling and not screaming! He despises tummy time!

Playing in the bouncer... his favorite place to play and sleep!

There are just so many pictures but these are some of our favorites! He is getting so big and every day he does so many new things! We are so happy to have our little family and our precious little man!

.the.next.generation.

The third week in February Graycin and I flew to Richland to spend some time with my parents and for Graycin to meet his great grandparents. Flying with a 6 week old by myself was an adventure but we all survived and I didn't get too many dirty looks on the plane. Great Grandma Richards flew in and some of my best friends came to town to meet our little man. It is very cool to see the next generation of our families! Graycin experienced his first Bomber basketball game and got to meet many members of the Bomber family! We will be making many more trips home in the near future!

After his bath...

Showing his Grampy how well he can hold his head up.

Nanny and Graycin took a nap together.

Papaw and the little man

Great Grandma

Four generations

Graycin is 2 months old!

It has been an eventful February, early March here at the Rodes' house! Big mile stones, big events, new introductions and lots of fun!

Graycin has finally conquered strep, thrush, a yeast infection and his very first cold! Poor baby had a rough first eight weeks but we think he has finally gotten completely healthy and we are really starting to see him become a little man! He had his first (2 month) set of shots on Monday (March 7th). He took them like a champ! He weighed 13 pounds 6 0z (the 97th percentile for his age), was 23 1/4 inches long (the 90th percentile for his age.... are we seeing a trend here?) and his head is 16 inches around (between the 75th and 90th percentiles)!! He is growing like crazy! The doctor was very impressed with how well he holds his head up and how interactive he is.

He started smiling on purpose (rather than just when he has gas) on Valentines Day and hasn't stopped yet! He now finds great joy in funny faces and silly voices and has started trying to 'talk back.' He giggled for the first time on Monday at Mommy sticking her tongue out at him. He LOVES the front pack and facing outward so he can see. He has started trying to interact with his mobile and play mat toys. Before I know it he is going to ripping them all down!! He went on his very first plane ride the day before his 6th week birthday to Richland to meet more of my family. I will post again in a few days with all the details from that trip!

Hanging out with Daddy

Sleepy Baby

Waiting for bath time

Wore his tennis shoes for the first time!
Noah calls them his "cool dude shoes."

His favorite place to sleep

Getting SO big!

Trying to place with octopus on his mat

Sweet smiley boy

As for the rest of us, Zeb is working his butt off, and I'm working harder than ever and feel like I'm getting absolutely nothing accomplished. I still feel like a shower a day and more than one meal a day is a bonus. I am dreading going back to work in three weeks so much I cant even express. Noah and Christina (our two foster kiddos) have been with us almost a year now. We have come leaps and bounds. In the absolute best interest of the kids, they are being adopted!! We are so excited for them to go to their new, amazing, forever family. They have very neat 'forever' parents who will give them absolutely everything they could need or want and will have a huge extended family which, we know, is such an amazing gift! Their new parents came this last weekend to meet them and start bonding with them. They had so much fun and are so excited to be headed to their final stop in all of this! They will be greatly missed and always loved and remembered by us, but we are so excited for them to finally get what they have deserved from day one. I'm hoping that once everything is complete their forever family will allow us to post a few pictures of them so that you can all see these two munchkins that have been ours for the past year!!