The Texas Giffords

Funny Pictures of Max in the bath

2011-02-25T14:09:00.000-06:00

Max loves to take baths and I have been wanting to get some good pictures of his teeth so what better place than the bath were he is all smiles.

We have a walker!!

2011-02-09T14:01:00.000-06:00

Max started walking on a snow day February 9th 2011. He is 13 months old. We could not be more excited or proud. He just woke up and decided he was going to start walking. Greg happened to be working from home that day so he got to see everything. It was so awesome. He has taken off and has not looked back.

Blogging again…

2011-01-18T19:54:00.001-06:00

I have decided that once I get caught up I am going to do a blog post a week. I really enjoy doing it. I have just been lazy and I hate when my husband (as wonderful as he is) goes back through and fixes all of my errors. If I wanted them fixed I would have done it the first time around…Right :)

Anyway I am horribly behind on the Gifford’s adventures and I figured Id better get it into gear. I hope you all enjoy!!

Max is 1 year old!!!

2011-01-08T13:57:00.000-06:00

January 8th 2010- Max is 1

I cant believe our baby is 1. We have been anticipating this day but at the same time it doesn't feel real. I feel like I just brought this little person home from the hospital. The time and flown by and we are truly blessed with an intelligent, funny, strong willed, amazing little guy.

Milestones achieved this month have been:

He is a cruising man. He loves to walk holding on to things. He is trying to feed himself with spoons and forks. We are no longer using bottles just sippy cups and he is now drinking whole milk. He loves to climb on anything and everything that he can.

At his 1 year well baby appointment he weighed 22 pounds and is 30 3/4 inches long. That is the 30% for weight and the 80% for height. He also received a few more vaccinations, which means we are done until he is two. We also did his vision test which was perfectly fine. They also did a blood draw which was a easier than we thought.

Max’s First Birthday Pictures

2010-12-31T14:20:00.000-06:00

All though he is not quite one yet we wanted to get some pictures done to celebrate this huge milestone. We had so much fun at this shoot and the photographer at the Picture people where awesome. Here are some of my favorite ones.

Christmas

2010-12-25T14:07:00.000-06:00

We had such a great time at Christmas this year. It was Max’s first Christmas so we where even more excited to celebrate this year. We started the day off at our house and we opened a lot of fun presents.

Cookies and Milk for Santa and Broccoli for the Reindeers (we were out of carrots)

Gifts from Santa

After we were all done at our house we went to Greg’s parents house for breakfast and to open some more presents.

Box Boys

2010-12-22T14:12:00.000-06:00

The New York Gifford's sent our Christmas gifts in a big box this year. Jordin and Max had more fun with that box. They both loved it. They played with it for about a week straight.

Thanks New York Gifts for the awesome box :)

Christmas Break

2010-12-21T13:58:00.000-06:00

Jordin is on Christmas break so we have really been enjoying our time together. Max really likes having him home too. Jordin and I had a night out together to go watch an Allen Americans hockey game. We had a really good time. They won too :)

We have also been busy decorating the house. Jordin got an elf on the shelf this year and his name is Flynn. He has been moving all over the house and Jordin looks forward to finding him every morning. We also did our first gingerbread house as a family this year. It was a pain in the butt, but it turned out really cute. All Jordin wanted to do was eat the candy.

Max is 11 months old

2010-12-08T13:51:00.000-06:00

December 8th 2010-Max is 10 Months old

Milestones achieved this month have been:

He is crawling on his hands and knees. He looks so cute doing it. Army crawling is a thing of the past. He is also starting to cruise. He loves to play with his brother. They have a lot of fun together. Max has recently gotten some teeth. His top and bottom two pretty much at the same time. He has figured out how to use them too. He has tested them out a few times on Jordin. He is picking people out of pictures when we ask him to. Its pretty fun to watch. He is also up to about 7 different signs in sign language now. He can tell us what he wants most of the time. He has recently started pointing at things and signing more. It makes it a lot easier on us.

We didn't have a Dr. appointment this month so we will not have stats until his 12 month appointment.

He has officially given up nursing. I am totally bummed but after three days of offering him the breast and him rejecting it every time we decided that maybe it was time to stop. He hasn't looked back to say the least. I made it almost the full year which was my goal. He is still a really good eater and we have not found one thing that he doesn't like. I hope it stays that way.

Thanksgiving

2010-11-25T13:29:00.000-06:00

It was great this year because we had a new addition. It was Max’s first thanksgiving and he loved all of the new food. We celebrated at Greg’s parents house. We ate way to much and really enjoyed each others company. Here are a few pics.

Max is 10 Months old

2010-11-08T13:38:00.000-06:00

November 8th 2010-Max is 10 Months old

Milestones achieved this month have been:

He is still army crawling but has finally began to pull up on things. He also is crawling up the stairs, supervised of course. He loves to be on the move. We are involved in a gymboree play and learn class he really enjoys. He can crawl up thing and through things and he interacts well with other kids.

We didn't have a Dr. appointment this month so we will not have stats until his 12 month appointment.

He is still nursing and we have introduced another bottle a day so we are up to two. He is still eating well and loves to eat what we do. He is a good eater.

Halloween Fun

2010-10-31T21:34:00.000-05:00

We started off by shopping for Halloween costumes a few weeks before. I found Max’s at babies r us for 17$ on sale. Which is not bad considering it was originally 40$. It was easier than I thought. Jordin on the other hand is a lot more difficult. He went straight to the costumes that where 50$ with an “awesome” plastic mask and an even cooler fake set of muscles. I am unfortunately for my children kind of cheap when it comes to this stuff. I quickly started to steer him in a different direction. After about 30 minutes in the aisle and several calls to daddy we finally decided on a ninja. Which was great for me because it was 9$ WOOT WOOT!! Greg went and bought some swords and daggers so in all between Max’s costume and Jordin’s I spent 32$. Not to bad

We also carved pumpkins a few days before Halloween. I ended up doing all of the work while Greg took pictures. Max helped by trying to eat the pumpkin seed and tearing up paper. Jordin was grossed out by the “guts” of the pumpkin and started to dry heave. I swear I am the only mom to a 6 year old boy who doesn't like to tear apart a pumpkin.

We went out to Allen to Greg’s parents house to trick or treat this year. We have some friends who live in the neighborhood who also met up with us. It was a fun event. It was Max’s first Halloween so we had a good time with him. Jordin got a lot of candy and was excited to show Max how trick or treating is done :) My friends daughter Mia and Jordin sang Trick or Treat smell my feet pretty much the entire time we where out. It would have gotten annoying but they kept getting the words wrong. So instead of saying If you don't I don't care Ill pull down your underwear, they kept saying if you don't I don't care I see you underpants :) It was pretty amusing.

Here are a few pictures.

I am not sure what was so funny.

Max is 9 Months Old!!

2010-10-08T21:20:00.000-05:00

October 8th 2010- Max is 9 months old

Milestones achieved this month have been:

He is still army crawling but getting faster and faster everyday. He is still trying to pull up but hasn't mastered that yet. He is waving hi and bye bye. He is also saying mama and dada. He rarely says mama but says dada often. He lights up when Greg walks in the room.

At his 9 month check up he weighed in at 19 pounds and 2 ounces and 28 3/4 inches long. The 30% percentile for weight and the 70% for height. The only shot we got this time around was the flu shot. He looked at the nurse like she had just broken his heart. He cried for a few seconds and was fine as soon as I picked him up.

He is still eating and nursing like a champ. He eats just about everything that we do. He loves cheese, yogurt and turkey. He has still liked just about everything that we have given him. We have started to give him one bottle a day of breast milk to get ready for the weaning process. I'm not at all looking forward to it.

Akela

2010-09-24T09:40:00.002-05:00

We unfortunately had to say goodbye to one of our beloved dogs this summer. She was almost ten years old and she was a big part of our family. Greg had her since she was 6 weeks old. He said that she was a horrible chewing puppy but she turned out to be one of the best dogs.

She was losing all function of her back legs and we thought that it was time to let her go to a better place. It was hard because mentally she was still there, but her body was giving out. It was a very sad day in our house. She is very missed and we think about her often.

Max is 8 Months old!!!

2010-09-08T08:10:00.000-05:00

September 8th 2010- Max is 8 months old

Milestones achieved so far this month have been:

CRAWLING!!! Yes he is crawling. It is not hands and knees crawling it is army crawling. He has gotten fast and definitely goes for what he wants. He is trying to pull up on things but he is just not there yet. I think that he is going to walk early. All he wants to do is stand and jump :) It’s amazing to me how fast he grows...

We are up to three meals a day. Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner. He also has 2 snacks a day. He loves mum mums and puffs. I am still making his food at home fresh and organic. He has not showed dislike to anything and has not had any bad reactions to anything. We are grateful we have a good eater. Breastfeeding is still his main source of nourishment and will be until he is a year old.

We do not have his latest stats because he does not go to the Dr. until his 9 month. I will update everyone then.

Jordin starts 1st Grade!!!

2010-08-23T11:06:00.000-05:00

Jordin started first grade today. He was so excited to get to school and see all of his friends. His kindergarten teacher moved to the first grade and is Jordin’s teacher again. We were excited about that because Jordin is comfortable with her. It was a little easier this year letting him go. I didn't cry like a baby like I did last year. Here are a few pictures of the first day.

Max is 7 months old!!!

2010-08-08T10:46:00.000-05:00

August 8th 2010- Max is 7 months old

Milestones achieved so far this month have been:

Rolling to get from one place to another. He has showed no interest in crawling. He watches all of his other baby friends crawl. He is content with sitting and rolling. He like to sit and play with his toys. His favorite toy right now is Jordin's woody doll. He laughs every time he sees him. He can pick up small little yogurt bites and puffs and put them in his mouth.

He has started eating turkey, tofu, yogurt and a variety of fruits and vegetables. His main diet is still breast milk but we are now up to two feedings a day. Breakfast and dinner.

We are still going strong on the cloth diapering. I enjoy it more and I am sure Max likes the feel of the super soft cloth over a disposable diaper :)

Hanging out with Mommy.

Max Loves his blanket.

First time in a swing.

Max trying to feed himself.

This is the the face that Max made when Daddy walked away. Max sitting up playing with his toys.

Max in his big boy car seat.

Cloth Diapering

2010-07-15T16:19:00.001-05:00

We have made the decision in our home to start cloth diapering Max. We are really looking forward to the process and are excited to get started. The reasons we decided to do this is because it is so easy, economical, good for the environment and good for Max. We have done a lot of research on all of the different types and we finally settled on one. It is a one size, pocket diaper. The diaper grows with Max from newborn to potty training years. It is easy to wash and the best thing is we never have to buy disposable diapers again.

If you would like more information on cloth diapering here is a link that has great information and products.

http://www.bumgenius.com/index.php

Here is a picture of Max in his new bumgenius!!

Max is 6 months old!!

2010-07-08T16:02:00.000-05:00

July 8th 2010 -Max is 6 months old!!

Milestones achieved so far this month have been:

Sitting without assistance, eating teething mum mums on his own, he laughs socially, he can pass an object from one hand to another.

At Max’s 6 month check up he was 17 pounds 7 ounces and 27 1/4 inches long. He was in the 50 percentile for weight and 78 percentile for height. He had to get his third round of shots again:( he cried for a few seconds and was over it. We were told to go ahead and baby proof the house and to lower the crib mattress to the lowest level.

He is still eating solids and we are still having so much fun feeding him. He is really starting to show preference over some more than others. He really like bananas and avocado. At his 6 month check up we got the go ahead to introduce more stuff. We are going to start with protein next week. I’m looking forward to tofu but I am not so sure about pureeing chicken and turkey. We will soon increase one feeding a day to three a day. Breakfast, lunch and dinner. I will keep everyone posted on how he does with the meat.

Let them eat cake!!

2010-06-15T13:42:00.000-05:00

Jordin and I were grocery shopping and decided we wanted to make cupcakes so that is what we did!

Max is 5 Months!!

2010-06-08T13:15:00.001-05:00

Max is 5 months already!! The time has flown by. I do not have stats for the 5th month because we only see the Dr. every two moths. At 6 months I will have the latest stats.

Milestones achieved so far this month have been:

Sitting unassisted at times. Rolling from back to front and front to back. Grasping objects and putting them in his mouth and eating cereal…You heard correct - eating!!

We have had so much fun with this learning process. We were going to wait until 6 months, but he was showing way too much interest in food not to try a little early. We had great success with the rice and oatmeal; we are now introducing veggies. Every 4 days we will introduce a new veggie, and in a few weeks we will add in my favorite, the fruit!

I have really gotten into the baby food making process so much that I make all of Max’s food fresh at home. I have had a lot of fun doing this and look forward to making new things for him to try.

Here are a few new pictures of Max eating cereal for the first time.

Here are a few of Max at 5 months!!

We have a Graduate in the house!

2010-06-01T13:14:00.000-05:00

Jordin has officially graduated Kindergarten. It feels like yesterday I was walking him into class on his first day of school. I could not be more proud of him. He made all 3’s on his final report card which in kinder means all A’s!! He made great strides and lots of progress this year.

They had a little ceremony for the kids to come on stage and receive their diplomas. It was very cute and Jordin was very proud.

Sorry the pictures are a little blurry…I was trying to hold Max in one hand and take pics with the other.

Here is an official Graduation picture.

Congrats Buddy!!

Pretty and Handsome pancakes!!

2010-05-25T13:37:00.000-05:00

Jordin and I have been trying to find fun things to do lately. I like to cook and bake so we have been having a lot of fun with that.

We made pretty and handsome pancakes for breakfast one morning. They are pretty for girls and handsome for boys…say Jordin.

The finished product!! We had so much fun!!

Scarborough Faire

2010-05-23T13:02:00.000-05:00

We also got to check out the Scarborough Faire and have a few get together while the Boston Giffs were here.

The Scarborough Faire was a lot of fun. The first stop was face painting.

Cole and Jordin got to go on an Elephant ride…I was not so sure about this but we escaped without injury.

We then watched a jousting show. The boys thought this was pretty awesome,

We walked around a little after that and found a ride that the kids wanted to go on.

We saw a very pretty fairy…She gave them all little fairy rocks.

shortly after this the Boston Gifford’s had to leave. Alli got way overheated. They are not used to this Texas heat. We stayed and had lunch and left after that. It was a great day but very hot!

Jordin eating his ice cream snack after lunch.

Family Zoo and Birthday day!!

2010-05-21T12:41:00.000-05:00

The Boston Gifford's made it into town this summer again for a two week visit before heading to New York. We had so much fun with them. We really enjoyed watching the kids play and interact with Max. Alli and Avery thought he was so cute. We got to go on a few outings with them while they were here and enjoyed every minute of it.The first thing we did with everyone was head to the Dallas Zoo…Here are a few pictures.

Max was less than thrilled with the crocodile.

PeePaw and the Boys

Feeding the birds is always a favorite.

All the kids feeding the birds.

After the zoo we headed to Mimi’s( Natalie’s mom) house to play on the slip and slide and to celebrate Avery’s 2nd birthday.

Go Cole!!

Way to go Alli!!

Woo Hoo Jordin!!

Avery did not go down the slip and slide but she did love the pool :)

We finished the day by having cake and ice cream with Avery for her birthday. Grandmother made an awesome Minnie mouse cake.

Silly face picture

Happy Birthday sweet Avery

Two Rows get together

2010-05-17T13:06:00.000-05:00

We had a little get together with a lot of good friends in celebration of the Boston Gifford’s being here. We love getting everyone together.

Zoo Trip

2010-05-10T12:53:00.001-05:00

We had our first zoo trip of the season a couple of weekends ago. It was also Max’s very first zoo trip. We had a great time. The weather was beautiful and we all felt great.

Jordin looking for penguins.

Max enjoyed his first zoo trip!

Jordin showing off his new hat.

He was a little nervous to touch the snake.

Jordin loved the camel ride.

Max was curious about everything.

We got to see Boudreaux the albino alligator again.

This was my favorite animal picture of the day.

We are returning to the zoo in a few weeks with the Boston Gifford's and are looking forward to getting some great pictures and spending some time together.

Max is Four months old!!

2010-05-10T12:20:00.002-05:00

May 8th 2010 – Max is Four months old!!

Milestones achieved so far this month have been:

Max loves to stand, he will stand all day if you let him. He smiles at us when he sees us coming. He jabbers and oohhs a lot. He can completely hold his head up on his own and sits up with little assistance. He reaches out for anything you put in front of him and if he gets it it goes straight to the mouth.

At his four month check up, he was 15 pds 2.2 oz and was 25 and 3/8 inches long. He was in the 50 percentile for weight and 65 percentile for height. He unfortunately had to have shots again. He was not too thrilled with this. He kept looking at Greg like, "what the heck, dad?" (because he was the one that had to hold him down) We got the go-ahead to introduce rice cereal at 5 months and veggies 2 weeks later. We will definitely let everyone know how that goes.

SNOW!!

2010-03-18T14:39:00.002-05:00

Yes, that is SNOW... IN TEXAS!!! I can't believe how much we got, 8 inches!!! Weird huh?! ?! Usually we get an inch at the most and it barely sticks, drying up before morning. Not this time though! It snowed for three days - off and on - and we actually got some accumulation! Enough to even build a REAL snowman! I did not get to partake in the snowman building because I had to stay inside with Max. It was way too cold to take him out. The guys had an awesome time though.

The eyes were Oreos and the nose and mouth were a fruit roll up!!

Jordin loves to hug things.

Jordin's 6 year check up

2010-03-18T14:29:00.003-05:00

Jordin had his 6 year check up the same day as Max’s 2 month check up. We killed two birds with one stone :) He hated the idea of Max having to get shot and plugged his ears when he started crying. He had to have a hearing and vision screen, which he passed with flying colors. He also had to have blood drawn to check glucose and cholesterol. He was not happy about it, but he was very brave.

His stats are 45 pds and 44 3/4 inches. Almost 4 feet!

He is learning to read and getting pretty good at it. He loves to count, do activity books, put together Legos and make his little brother laugh!!

Grandma came to visit

2010-03-18T13:59:00.002-05:00

My Grandma, who is Jordin's and Max’s great grandma (Gigi), came to visit after I had Max and to help out around the house for three whole weeks. It was amazing!!

Aunt B, Gigi and Max!!

During my grandmas time here she got to spend a lot of time with our family. We enjoyed having her here and hated to see her go :(

Max is Two months old!!

2010-03-08T14:20:00.000-06:00

March 8th, 2010 - Max is now 2 months old!!

Milestones achieved so far this month have been:

smiling more often, laughing out loud, batting at objects, grasping a few objects, putting weight on his legs, following objects by moving his head and almost having complete control of his head.

At his 2 month check up, he was 12 pds 13 oz and 24 inches long. He is in the 80% percentile for weight and the 75 percentile for length. He unfortunately had to have shots on this day. It was a rough day for us all.

Kitchen Remodeling Pics

2010-02-28T17:26:00.001-06:00

So, finally, we have before and after pics of the new kitchen. Check ‘em out – the old kitchen is on the left and the new one is on the right… (you can click them for larger versions)

notice the horrible white tile floor and the idiotic tile countertop (that whoever lived here before did themselves, so it was crooked and had the wrong kind of grout)

now we’ve got a sweet travertine floor, custom-built maple cabinets, and black granite countertops

(this is looking to the right as you walk in) and for some reason, there were no lower cabinets on the right when you walked into the kitchen – and the ONLY upper cabinets we had were these two

now with lower cabinets, DRAWERS!!!, and upper cabinets.. also an awesome diagonal tile backsplash with mini black tile accent stripe…

before we had an ugly white sink and super awesome painted plywood lower cabinet doors… notice the cabinet on the left of the sink – it was half the normal depth so there was horrible storage space inside…

now, we’ve got a corner double sink… with detachable spray spout… and sweet custom-built angled doors underneath… you can see one of our sweet stainless steel light switch covers that match the appliances…

you can really see the half-deep cabinet, when compared to the stove… the burner pans were horrible and there was a burn on the back by the dials…

now we’ve got a sweet stainless model with a flat-top cook surface… it’s also a convection oven… and we’ve got the new wall-mounted microwave with a vent

so here you can see the awesome plywood cabinet doors… and why not make the shallow cabinet even suckier with three shelves instead of the standard two??

now, we have another DRAWER!!! and a cool James Bond pull-out hidden trash can…

before: super small smelly refrigerator

after: super awesome oversized stainless version

and one of our favorite new features – by the back door, our dog leashes have dog butt hangers!

Max is one month old!!

2010-02-08T14:07:00.000-06:00

February 8th, 2010 - Max is one month old.

His milestones he has achieved are:

smiling , cooing, turning toward sounds, and turning away from bright lights.

At his one month check up he was 10 pds 14 oz and 22 1/4 inches. He is a growing boy!! He is in the 75 percentile for all three categories.

He is a very chill baby and hardly ever cries. He is still sleeping a lot, which Jordin thinks is kind of boring. We all love him very much!!

Max’s first Bath

2010-01-28T14:24:00.000-06:00

We were so excited to give Max his first bath!!

Needless to say, he was less than thrilled!

Jordin thought it was pretty funny though!!

Maxwell Dean Gifford

2010-01-20T13:39:00.000-06:00

I know this is a long time coming but we have been very busy!!

We welcomed Max on January 8th 2010 at 9:44pm. He was 8pds 5 oz and 21 inches. He was perfect. He has red hair and looks just like his dad.

The labor and delivery process was pretty uneventful. I went in on Thursday night at 9 pm to have Cervadil placed. Cervadil helps the cervix thin.

At 6 am, they took me up to labor and delivery and started the IV and Pitocin. At this point, I still had it in my head that I was going to go as natural as possible.

I worked through my contractions for 6 hours until they broke my water at 12:30. At about 1:30, I asked for an epidural. It was awful pain. Greg was an amazing coach though - rubbing my back and making sure I had what I needed. When they broke my water, they noticed that there was a little meconium in the amniotic fluid. For those of you who do not know what meconium is… the easiest way to explain is that Max has his first stool in utero. Dr. Richards told us that they would have the NICU staff on hand in the room and they would have to hand him over ASAP to suck out any fluid. He did not want to take the chance of him aspirating any fluid and getting sick.

At about 9 pm, Dr. Richards came in and let me know that it was time. I was incredibly excited and ready to go. I was ready to work, in my head I was expecting a 9 pound plus baby, so I was very determined to get him out.

I pushed for about 20 minutes and he was here. Like they said before, they whisked him off to the NICU set up and sucked out any fluid.

Everything turned out to be perfect and he was handed over to me and daddy!!

We were absolutely, unequivocally, head over heels in love with this little guy. We spent the next few days recovering and soaking up the idea of having Max here.

We had a little set back on the day we were supposed to go home. Max had a little jaundice and unfortunately, we had to stay another day.

We finally got to go home on Monday. Jordin got to meet Max that same day.

That is the seal of approval from big brother Jordin.

We are finally home :)

Christmas

2009-12-25T19:37:00.002-06:00

We had three great Christmases this year. We had one with my family the weekend before Christmas. It was more for the kids than the adults. Jordin and Cyah had so much fun. Naomi and I bought the unborn babies gifts too. I of course had to shop for the girls. I love little girl clothes. I think its opposite for what you have, because Naomi loves to shop for boy clothes for me.

Cyah loved opening her presents.

There is a big mess in the house because it was right in the middle of the kitchen renovation.

Our second Christmas was with Greg’s family. It was really nice this year because Gramps and Uncle David were there to celebrate with us. I know that we all enjoyed having them.

Jordin was raising his hand letting PeePaw know that it was his turn to open a present.

This is a letter from Santa to Jordin…Here is what it said.

Jordin got bunk beds from Santa this year so Grandmother and Peepaw bought his sheets and blankets for him.

The third was with Myself, Greg and Jordin…

These are the gifts that Santa brought Jordin this year :)

We had a wonderful, blessed Christmas.

SMU Homecoming – Jordin’s first SMU game

2009-11-08T12:56:00.001-06:00

Yesterday was SMU homecoming, so I took Jordin with me so he could see his first Mustangs football game. He was so excited to wear his new SMU shirt and go to the “party” before the game…

of course, we had to hit the bounce house…

when we helped my friend lower his canopy when it was game time, Jordin thought it was awesome that we made it kid sized…

he thought it was “wicked” that the band spelled out SMU on the field

Jordin wanted a souvenier, so we got him a clapper

Jordin took a picture of me and my friend Jason, who I’ve known since high school

This was the first place float in the parade, and on the way out, the sorority girls were taking pics with it – and Jordin asked if he could get a picture on it

Jordin doing his best Doak Walker impression…

Field Trip Awesomeness

2009-11-08T12:47:00.001-06:00

Jordin’s kindergarten class took a field trip to Owens Country Farm in Richardson on Friday, and I got to go along as one of the chaperones. The kids had a blast and didn’t want to leave when it was over.

The guys REALLY didn’t like the smell downwind from the animals…

They got to take a hayride around the little farm pond…

and everyone LOVED the scarecrow on the tall chair

every kid got one cup of “Oats for the Goats”

the longhorn was a huge hit

a nice class portrait…

and a funny one…

all the kids got to go into the pumpkin patch and pick a pumpkin

there were tons of pumpkin stems on the ground… i couldn’t resist…

all the kids wanted a picture by the “hay spider”

all the boys were being strong and lifting their pumpkins up…

Protecting the Bakugans with a death grip…

2009-11-08T12:23:00.001-06:00

So Jordin fell asleep on the way home the other night, and we snapped a picture cause it was awesome how he still had a death grip on his Bakugan case…

Halloween Party at RJ’s

2009-11-08T12:19:00.001-06:00

Jordin was at his dad’s this Halloween, so Ash and I were just going to stay home and watch movies… but then we got invited to RJ’s party, and since he’s always got great food at his parties, I convinced Ash we should stop by…

And cause I didn’t want to break my streak of awesome Halloween costumes, I rushed over to Walmart and threw together a costume… I know all of my ese’s and vato’s in the barrio would have been muy impressed with my cholo costume…

And even after a long break, I was still able to school come homeys in beer pong…

Cause it’s hard to avoid a big wall…

2009-11-08T12:10:00.001-06:00

For those of you who didn’t see the posts we made on Facebook – on Halloween night, some lady in our condo complex got a little intoxicated and lost control of her car…

Obviously, she wasn’t following the posted speed limit…

Luckily, no one was hurt – she scared the poop out of the poor old couple who lived here though… When they came outside to see what happened, she stumbled out of the car and said “the car had a mind of its own” – and when the cops got here, she said she only had 2 glasses of wine… The old lady who lived there told me that she was so drunk she could barely stand up – but since it happened on private property, the cops couldn’t arrest her…

They sent out 5 different tow trucks before finally sending out a flatbed tow truck AND a crane… they ended up having to lift the front and shove the flatbed under the back to get it off the wall…

Pumpkin Carving Awesomeness

2009-11-08T12:00:00.001-06:00

So we slacked for a few weekends again – so here’s the first of several posts catching you up on what’s been going on…

Before she left, Nana got Jordin a pumpkin to carve, so Jordin and I took it out on the front porch and carved it into a scary jack-o-lantern…

And after taking that, Jordin wanted to take a picture of us making funny faces…

Our Niece Came to Visit

2009-10-25T11:49:00.001-05:00

This weekend Ashley’s mom and sister came to visit for the weekend, so we got to see our beautiful little niece Cyah – she got some new Spongebob pj’s yesterday on our shopping trip for Ash’s Mom’s birthday, and when I went to take a picture this morning, she put her hands on her hips and gave me a cute little diva post…

Then she wanted to give everyone kisses, starting with the “pup-pup”

Red Ribbon Week

2009-10-25T11:44:00.001-05:00

So this last week was Red Ribbon week at Jordin’s school – a big anti-drug campaign. On Monday, he got a bright red plasic bracelet with a monkey on it that says “Don’t Monkey With Drugs” – he told us when he came home that they talked about how you don’t talk to strangers or take candy from them cause drugs are bad and “drugs are for losers”

So throughout the week, I’d randomly say, “Hey munchkin – I’ve got some drugs, ya want some?” – to which he’d reply, “no way! drugs are for losers! and you’re a winner daddy greg!”

So for each day of Red Ribbon week, there was a theme for the kids to dress up to:

Monday was “tie up drugs” – all the kids were supposed to wear a fun tie to school

Tuesday was “Don’t get mixed up in drugs” – the kids were supposed to mix and match outfits

Wednesday was “put a lid on drugs” – the kids were supposed to wear a hat to school (but Jordin was grumpy on Wednesday and didn’t let us take a picture)

Thursday was something to do with cowboys or the west or something – the kids were supposed to wear western wear… so we skipped that day…

And Friday had something to do with showing spirit (sorry, don’t remember the tagline) – the kids got to wear either their school spirit t-shirt or a shirt for their favorite sports team

Ga-Ga’s 90th Birthday

2009-10-25T11:32:00.001-05:00

A few weekends ago we ventured over to Ft. Worth for Greg’s Grandmother’s 90th birthday -

click on this to enlarge and check out the date – pretty amazing to think of all the things she’s seen in her life…

Jordin had fun playing with Greg’s uncle David

Ga-ga and her children

Jordin kept pretending he was a giant monster that was attacking the buildings (it was a model of their retirement facility)

Greg and his grandma…

And finally – Jordin showing off his awesome dance moves, accompanied by Uncle David on the piano:

I’ll NEVER do this again…

2009-10-25T11:14:00.001-05:00

So for those of you who haven’t been to our place before, the carpet was in pretty bad condition – it was already in pretty bad shape when we moved in, but with a kiddo and 3 dogs, it got even worse. Needless to say, it really wasn’t the ideal baby-friendly surface.

So we decided to put in hardwoods… easier to clean, much better for the baby, and also a nice boost to value when we move in a few years… We checked around and found out it was pretty darned expensive to get installed… So i talked to Dad and we figured we could do it ourselves…

It ended up taking 3 weeks to finish up… it was a MUCH more difficult project that either of us anticipated… but now that it’s done, it’s amazing. It actually makes the downstairs look a lot bigger…

here’s where we started pulling up the carpet…

and with all the padding gone and glue scraped up (still day one, but already with a giant blister on my thumb)

we put the tv and electronics in Jordin’s room, and the rest of the furniture on the patio – which wasn’t very well thought through, cause that’s also where we cut the boards, so everything was COVERED in sawdust…

close to the end of day one – a good portion already laid

the doorway from h-e-double-hockey-sticks… overall, we probably spent about 5 or 6 hours just on that little doorway area – between crooked walls and messed up doorjambs, it took forever to get it right…

But after weeks of laying floor planks and putting in new baseboards and installing carpet-to-floor transition pieces… and getting new bookshelves and a new dining room table… we’ve got a much better looking (and more baby friendly) downstairs…

We’re Baaaaa-aaacck….

2009-10-25T10:53:00.001-05:00

Ok, so we’ve been horrible blog posters and haven’t updated in almost 2 months… between Jordin in Kindergarten and homework and soccer and work and prepping for the arrival of Max, we haven’t had much time to update our little corner of the blogosphere…

So this one is a bit of a catch-up post, and we’ll follow it up with some pics…

We’re really gearing up for the arrival of baby Max. We’ve installed hardwoods downstairs, along with bookshelves in the dining area – that allowed us to get rid of the big shelf system in our room. We also broke down the big computer desk and just kept one small size. That’ll allow us to scoot our stuff over to one side and have plenty of room for the nursery. We’re going to start the repainting this week.

Jordin is doing great in Kindergarten. He has tons of friends and is really popular – every day when I pick him up a bunch of different kids always tell him goodbye, and when I ask who they are, he always says “I don’t know them” – his teacher adores him and he’s really loving homework – most of the time we do all of his homework for the week in one day…

Ashley is doing really well – getting bigger by the day. Little Max is really active, except for when I touch her belly. It’s pretty funny actually – he’ll be kicking away, but as soon as I put my hand on her tummy to feel, he stops – then as soon as I take my hand away, he goes to town again.

We’re three weeks in to our Bradley Method classes… for those of you who don’t know (which is probably everyone, as it’s not that well known), it’s a natural childbirth method. We’ve decided that we are going to try for a completely natural child birth (yep, no epidural). The classes are teaching us relaxation methods and different ways to handle the labor without drug intervention. We’re also hoping to have a water birth, as we feel that it’s one of the best ways to bring little Max into this world.

Greg’s doing well with his job – he’s really enjoying his new position as Director of Media and Marketing. His company is really flexible on the hours he works, allowing him to come in at 6:30 am and leave at 2:30 – so he still gets his 40 hours in, but he gets to pick Jordin up from school every day.

That’s about it for the broad-view catch up post – next up, some fun pics…

Countdown to Max

2009-10-08T17:38:00.001-05:00

Since I am going into my third trimester very soon I thought I would add a fun little countdown. We are very excited and anticipating the arrival of Maxwell Dean Gifford. We are just now beginning to shop and look for baby stuff. I have been putting it off and realized the way time is flying I better get on the ball. I hope you all enjoy the countdown.

Our little munchkin is all grown up…

2009-08-24T21:25:00.001-05:00

So today was the big day – Jordin started Kindergarten!

Here he is, right before we left – with his “sweet” new backpack and “awesome” Transformers lunch bag. He told us that all his new buddies at school will think his lunch bag is totally awesome…
so cute…

Here he is at his seat in his classroom – hugging Mommy goodbye…
He was so excited to start Kindergarten that he just wanted us to leave… Mommy and I were pretty choked up and trying to stay
dry-eyed… but we made it out without any tears…

When I picked him up, his teacher told me that he had a great day and really enjoyed it. When I asked him how his first day was, he broke out into a super happy grin and said, ‘it was SWEEEEEET!”.
He especially liked the fact that they got to eat lunch in the cafeteria.

Baby Update

2009-08-24T21:13:00.001-05:00

So we haven’t blogged in quite a while, cause life’s been pretty crazy – between the last half of the Boston Giffords’ trip to Dallas and the end of summer craziness, we just haven’t had the chance to post any updates…

So for those of you who haven’t heard yet… we’re having a boy!

Here are the most recent pics of little Max…

he’s sucking his thumb in this one…

and if you look closely on the right, little Max is tossin’ out a peace sign…

Hail and Water Parks Don’t Mix…

2009-07-19T18:20:00.001-05:00

So our trip to the Hawaiian Falls water park with the Boston Giffords didn’t really go as planned today… Luckily (number one), we got in about 2 good hours of fun times before the weather blew in. Luckily (number two), we got free passes to come back another time… Luckily (number three), we were almost at the gate when it started to hail, so we were able to crowd under the cover to miss the worst of it.

We still had a blast there, it just sucks that the bad weather blew in and cut the day short…

Avery gave us a “Why me?” face when she had to get strapped in to her life jacket.

Ash and Jordin had fun with her new underwater digital camera

A Proud Day as a Parent…

2009-07-19T17:19:00.001-05:00

Jordin got his first GI Joe toy this week. My little muchkin’s gettin’ all growns up…

The Boston Giffords are in town!

2009-07-19T17:16:00.001-05:00

We’ve had a great last week, cause the Boston Giffords are in town! Jordin has had a blast playing with his cousins again.

Last Saturday, we went out to the Splash Park in Allen for some play time, and the kids went crazy…

Unfortunately, according to the warning sign, I wasn’t able to participate in the fun with the kids…

After we left the splash park, we went back to Grandmother and PeePaw’s house and played outside in the blow up pools.

We’ve got Legomania!

2009-07-06T21:05:00.001-05:00

So we’ve been waiting anxiously for several months now for the Lego store to open at Northpark mall… (ok, so I was probably more psyched than anyone else, but still… Ash and Munchkin were pretty pumped too) – And on the way to the movies yesterday, we saw that it was finally open.

So of course, as soon as I got home from work, we jumped in the car and jetted over to the mall to check it out. Of course, I didn’t think to take any pictures while we were there, so if you’ve never been to one, suffice it to say that you HAVE to check it out – absolutely amazing. They’ve got sets that have like 5000 pieces and cost $300! And the best thing is that the regular size sets are a lot cheaper than they are at other stores…

Jordin was in complete mental overload. We told him he could get one set, but he just couldn’t decide. Luckily, Ashley was there, cause I was pretty much in the same situation. There is WAY to much awesomeness in that store for such a small area. It’s gotta be bad for your brainwaves or something…

So, after about fifteen minutes of drooling and eye-popping, we told him he had to choose between 3 things, and he picked the Indiana Jones Chinese car chase set.

We rushed home, super excited to put the set together – Jordin helped me find whatever pieces the instructions called for, and I put it together. The cars turned out, as Jordin said, “SWEET!” (and I think I might quit my job and try to become the guy at the Lego factory that designs this stuff – what a rad job!)

5 dollars and a new Dress

2009-06-29T14:40:00.004-05:00

On Sunday Greg and Jordin went to run some errands and I stayed home to rest up after a long weekend. Before they left Jordin saw 5$ on my night stand and asked if he could see it. I gave it to him and told him that he could have it to buy mommy something :) I always like to get presents.

He and Greg went to Old Navy to get some new flip flops, and Greg asked him what he wanted to buy. He told Jordin that he could buy whatever he wanted, and that he didn't actually have to buy something for mommy... but Jordin said "I wanna buy mommy a pretty dress"

They looked at all the dresses, but there was nothing Jordin liked, so they left and went up the street to Destination Maternity. When they walked in, the girl up front asked them what they wanted, and Jordin pulled out his $5 and said "I wanna buy a dress for mommy!"

The girl thought it was adorable and gave Jordin an orange juice to drink while he was shopping. Jordin picked out a SUPER cute summer dress, then walked up to the counter and pulled out his $5 bill. He carefully smoothed it out and then slapped it down. The checkout girl thought it was absolutely adorable.

Jordin was so proud to buy mommy a dress, and is super happy because it's my favorite dress!

Our munchkin is a dancin’ machine

2009-06-21T23:14:00.001-05:00

So Jordin was gone for the weekend, staying at his Dad’s house, so when he got dropped of tonight, we decided to let him stay up past his bedtime so we could all cuddle in bed and watch Paul Blart: Mall Cop (he’s been dying to watch it for weeks).

There’s a karaoke scene in the movie, and all the sudden Jordin jumps up and starts going to town – Ash and I were laughing so hard that we had to rewind and give him more dancin’ music… and of course we pulled out the camera to get a little video of it…

Today I felt like Brian Fellows…

2009-06-14T22:01:00.003-05:00

(that’s an old-school SNL joke, for those of you cool enough to get it)

Today we took a trip out to Fossil Rim – the wildlife preserve in Glen Rose, Texas. Jordin’s Nana and Aunt Na-Na and cousin Cyah were in town for the weekend, and the original plan was to hit the Dallas Zoo for the day… But then we decided that a hot day in the sun wouldn’t be much fun for Mama G with the little eggo in her toaster…

So instead, we took the drive down to Fossil Rim and spent a few hours driving around and checking out the amazing wildlife…

I’m not sure what we were expecting, but it was absolutely amazing… animals eating from our hands, sticking their heads in the car, utter craziness! Nana even got her arm nibbled on by a baby zebra!

So, without a bunch more jabbering, here are some of the amazing pics we took today:
(you can click them for larger versions)

the horns on these little dudes were super cool – banded and twisty

these guys had CRAZY long necks…

my beautiful wife checkin’ out the view…

these guys blocked the road…

and then came right up to the windows – really gentle and friendly

we got pretty swarmed at the same stop…
tons of deer coming up for food…

another one with some cool twisty horns…

a couple of cute deer hanging in the shade…

really cool antlers and markings on this one…

these guys totally had a system down…
instead of swarming the car like the other animals, these guys would post up on the side of the road and just wait for cars – at this point, there was one of these white guys about every 50 yards…

at the top of the hill looking back down at Fossil Rim

unfortunately, by the time we got up to the giraffes, they weren’t eating from the people in the cars anymore…

but we still got to see them up close

by far, probably the coolest animals of the day…

this guy was REALLY pretty and he said “hello” to us a few times

this emu was at the kids’s petting zoo, but we were too afraid to get close…

Jordin thought the goats were cute

these guys were SUPER gentle and really cool looking

and they had really cool shaggy hair on their chests

the zebras were pretty amazing

this one kept sticking his head in the window to get food

REALLY far into the window…

Ash finally got up the nerve to feed one by hand…

these guys had HUGE antlers – check out the sunroof to see how tall!

we were bummed that the rhinos weren’t closer to the road today

on the way out, Jordin rode a dinosaur

and then a family photo by the mama dino…

and here’s a video of a REALLY young zebra running around playfully

Bedroom Camping

2009-06-06T21:09:00.001-05:00

After a fun day of tee ball, movies, playing, and going to see UP in 3D, we came home and decided to put a tent over Jordin’s bed. We hung up a rope from his wall to his desk and hung a sheet over it… Then we crawled in with a flashlight and read several books in the dark. He was (for once), super excited to go to bed and sleep in the tent…

On a side note, if you haven’t yet, you should definitely see UP – especially in 3D – as always, Pixar did an amazing job, and the 3D was amazing. The opening montage (which is 100% dialogue free) has more emotion that most movies with real actors… definitely a must-see.

Making the most of her prison cell…

2009-06-03T22:53:00.001-05:00

So our poor girl Lola is about 3 1/2 weeks into her heartworm treatment… We have to keep her locked in her kennel at all times – any increase in heart rate can be fatal…

We tried to make her kennel as comfy as possible… we put a pillow in there, and a blanket to snuggle under… but today she figured out how to make herself even more comfortable… she noses under the edge of the pillowcase so she can snuggle up inside the pillow case… We had to post a picture cause it was so cute (and kinda sad at the same time)

Our little man is growing up…

2009-05-31T11:44:00.001-05:00

So I was putting Jordin to bed this week, and he looks up at me and says “Daddy Greg, I don’t want to use my DeeDee anymore – I want to save it for my baby brother” (that’s what he calls his blanket).

I asked him if he was sure, and he said yes – he handed it over to me and instructed me to fold it and put it up on a shelf in his closet to save it.

I told him that he should go up and tell Mommy about it, so he jumps up and runs upstairs. He tells Ashley that he doesn’t want to use his DeeDee anymore and that we folded it up and put it in the closet to save it – then he says “wait, I want to ask God something”

He folds his hand, bows his head, and closes his eyes, and softly says “God, please bring me a baby brother” – Ash and I both got a little teary-eyed as she gave him a hug goodnight.

There’s a bun in the oven…

2009-05-31T11:36:00.001-05:00

So for everyone who hasn’t heard yet, there’s a baby Gifford on the way!

Our due date is January 11, 2010 – and we couldn’t be more excited!

Ash has been feeling pretty sick lately – it’s more of an “all the time sickness” than “morning sickness”, so we’re eagerly awaiting the end of the first trimester.

Jordin is SUPER excited, and has told us that we have to have a baby brother, and that we have to name him “Spiderman”… When we told him that Spiderman probably isn’t a good name for a baby brother, he told us the only other option was Joaquin (he’s got a friend at school named Joaquin and thinks it’s a cool name). Joaquin Gifford… hmmm… probably not gonna happen…

Our little munchkin is a sports superstar

2009-05-31T11:29:00.001-05:00

Ok, we’re back again, and hopefully on a more regular schedule for posting…

So yesterday’s tee ball game was a huge one… Jordin single-handedly won the game for the whole team! It was the team’s first win (most games end in a 15-15 tie), and it was all thanks to our munchkin…

In the 3rd inning, Jordin was playing pitcher, so he was closest to the batter. He got 3 outs in a row by catching the ball and running to home plate to get the runner on 3rd out.

The crowd went wild, and the look on his face was absolutely priceless. He gave a big victory fist pump on one of the outs and flashed Mommy a thumbs up on another. It was quite the exciting day!

Because they’re totally everyday things to be afraid of…

2009-05-06T17:33:00.002-05:00

So, on my way to drop Jordin off at school this morning, I look back and notice his hands are folded… Of course I ask him why, and he replies “I’m praying to God, Daddy Greg”

I ask him why, and he calmly & matter-of-factly answers “to help me not be scared”

Of course, my automatic reply is “scared of what?”

To which he answers “zombies… and aliens… and bad dogs”

Which makes perfect sense, right?

Easter Smokehouse Turkey

2009-05-04T21:41:00.000-05:00

Still catching up on posts here… So on Easter Sunday, we were supposed to pick up Jordin from his Dad’s house after church so that we could head over to Mom and Dad’s for Easter Dinner. I got up early and got the Easter stuff together so that I could go and set up an Easter Egg hunt for Jordin. We figured that we’d just show up at Mom and Dad’s and act all surprised that the Easter Bunny had left Jordin eggs and a basket.

So I drove up to Allen around 10 am… As I got up to the door, I noticed that the security alarm was going off, and thought to myself “hm, self… whaddya think it is? Mayhap someone left the garage door open…” I unlocked the door and pushed it open, only to be assaulted by billowing smoke! I could barely see through to the back of the house from all the smoke.

All I remember at that point was that I knew I had to get their dog out of the house. I ran in, trying not to breathe… scanning around quickly to see if i saw any flames… Poor Coco was huddled down in her crate, so I reached in and grabbed her and ran out the back door. I whipped out my phone and called Dad and said something about him needing to leave church cause the house was full of smoke and most likely burning down… Then I called 911…The fire truck got there pretty fast… I told them what had happened and they opened the front door –- as soon as they saw all the smoke, they stopped and put on all their breathing gear…
After spending about half an hour searching through the whole house (including the attic), they figured out that Mom had left the giblets cooking – the liquid had all burned out and the turkey neck caught on fire, filling the whole house with smoke – luckily I showed up when I did, or who knows… maybe the whole house would have gone up in flames…
Luckily the turkey wasn’t harmed, so we still got to have Easter Dinner (sans giblet gravy). Mom and Dad ended up having to get a cleaning service do some smoke treatment to the house to get rid of the smoke smell…

Interesting side note – even though I was almost coughing out my left lung when the firemen showed up from my amazingly brave canine rescue heroics, not a single one asked me if I was ok…

At least the studly pictures of me in my “kid from the Christmas Story” days were completely unharmed (ugh)…

Seeing your kid’s skull doesn’t make for a fun night…

2009-05-03T21:58:00.002-05:00

Again, we’re way behind on posts, so you’re gonna spend the next few getting filled in on the happenings of the past month or two… Almost a month ago, Jordin was playing in his room with his cousin Justin when he bounced awkwardly off the bed and smacked his forehead on his bedside table… He laid it open all the way to the bone…

Sitting in the emergency room waiting to see a doctor…

“don’t take pictures of me right now, Daddy Greg!”

After being wrapped up like a burrito for the stitches and yelling
“i wanna get up… I wanna get up… I wanna get up” constantly,
our big boy made it through with five stitches

And by the time he got home, he was super excited about sleeping in his hospital gown

OK, so it’s been a while since we’ve posted…

2009-05-03T21:00:00.002-05:00

So we’ve flaked out a bit on the blog thing… but we just downloaded an offline blog editor so it’ll be easier to update, and we’re making a concerted effort to post something at least once a week… We’ve got lots of updates and pics to show, so here’s a quick update to follow up on the last post…

Jordin’s birthday party was a big success – Pump It Up was definitely a better location that Chuck E. Cheese (I’m still having nightmares about last year… ugh…).

Jordin loved the “kid sized” door into the bounce room…

Having a blast on the big slide…

Landen and Maddie from Jordin’s school

Maddie kept getting “stuck” and had to get Jordin to pull her out

Group photo just before cake and presents

It broke my heart to have to cut the Birthday Cake of Awesomeness…

Jordin loves his new bike…

…and his giant Nerf gun…

Check back soon, more updates to come soon (including pics from the scary night o’ stitches!)

Our first post, or Things Not To Do The Night Before Your Child's Birthday Party

2009-03-15T17:29:00.011-05:00

S0, we're jumping on the blogging bandwagon and startin' ourselves a family blog. We really liked what the Boston Giffs were doing with theirs, and we figured it would not only be fun, but would be a great way to keep our widely dispersed family members up-to-date on the goings on of our lives...

So here's our first post... Check back soon, as I'm sure we'll be uploading more recent pics of our family, as well as most likely changing the layout/design of the blog (you know Greg, he's gotta be "artistic" and make it way more difficult and involved than it needs to be...)

And speaking of being way more difficult and involved than is necessary, we move on to the secondary title of today's post - "Things Not To Do The Night Before Your Child's Birthday" - This year, Ashley saw some awesome cakes online, and came up with the idea of making our own cake for Jordin's pirate birthday party... And, like he always does, Greg went WAY overboard with it (pirate pun intended). Since we knew we were starting the blog this weekend, we took some photos of the process so you could see what we went through to come up with our culinary masterpiece...

The Adventure of the Overcomplicated Cake started when Ashley got off of work on Friday night. Greg was already home, thanks to a mild bout of food poisoning. We jumped in the car and headed out to Allen to drop the munchkin off with Grandmother and Peepaw, then set out to get his bike and cake supplies. Unfortunately, the trip lasted longer than we anticipated, so we didn't even get home to start on the cake until around 9:30... and by then, Ash decided that she was too tired and didn't want to help with the cake... Luckily Aunt Toni was totally willing to step in and assist Master Chef Gifford...

So we started off with 3 cakes - one square one for the back of the ship and two football ones for the main "body"

Ash didn't want to use chocolate icing, so we tried to use food coloring to make brown... didn't work so well for us...

So around midnight, I popped over to Kroger and picked up some chocolate icing...

We put a layer of icing between the football cakes to hold them together, then shaved off the top to make it flat... then started with the brown icing...

The square cake pieces kept sliding off, so we used around 20 wooden skewers to hold the back in place... needless to say, we only cut from the front of the cake... we added on the ice cream cone for the front of the ship...

and after another 2am trip to Walmart to buy MORE chocolate icing, i finished the main part of the ship and stopped for the night after getting the railing done on the front...

the next morning, i got up at 9 and started again - had to go to Walmart to get more of the little choco-sticks for railing and then to Toys-r-Us for pirate guys... then i finished up the railing and ladder...

...and added in the windows and detailing... here i'm stacking malted milk ball cannonballs...

and we'll finish up with detail shots of the finished masterpiece...