I LOVE Me Some Freebies!

We had a GREAT time at the Four Seasons this weekend. It started off with a VERY nice surprise and just got better from there. We were planning to spend the day Saturday at the spa and then eat at Cafe on the Green in the hotel and then spend the night. So Jason calls the Four Seasons early Saturday morning to ask for an early check in. The conversation went something like this:

Jason: Hello, this is Jason Safran. My wife and I have reservations for tonight and we'd like to see if we can check in early.

Reservation lady: Yes, Mr. Safran, we've been expecting your call. I'm afraid I have some disappointing news.

Jason: (Thinking, Oh NO!)

Reservation lady: I see you are celebrating your 5 year anniversary with us and wanted to stay in the same villa you stayed in on your wedding night.

Jason: Yes....

Reservation lady: I'm afraid that villa is being wired for wireless internet and is unavailable this weekend. So we had hoped you would accept a complimentary upgrade to our Payne Stewart Suite?

Jason: What's the Payne Stewart Suite?

Reservation lady: Well, it's one of our largest suites (2100 sq. feet) and goes for $3,700 per night.

Jason: I think we'll be able to manage that. When can we come?

Reservation lady: It's all set up for you, Mr. Safran. You may check in whenever you like.

(Jason comes in to tell me the news.) My reaction:

ARE YOU KIDDING ME???!!! Get Grant packed up and let's get the heck over there!

It was FABULOUS! To put it in perspective, our home is 2400 sq. feet. I have never in my life stayed in such a beautiful room. We had a GREAT time! We did spend most of the day Saturday at the spa and got a couple's massage (thank you Aunt Janice). Never done that before but we thoroughly enjoyed it. I made good use of the whirlpool and sauna and then met Jason a couple of hours later to head back to our oh-so-fabulous room. We decided to forgo dinner at Cafe on the Green and order room service instead.






I think it's safe to say we literally spent most of our weekend wearing our soft, plush robes and slippers. We sipped champagne (sent to our room courtesy of Mom and Dad Safran) and enjoyed our "Happy Anniversary" desserts that were brought over from the restaurant as another apology for our original villa reservation being unavailable. Are you kidding me? We could have cared less about staying in the same villa if they were going to put us up in this place!




We were very sad to leave Sunday afternoon, but oh what a great time! Mom and Dad came over to see the room and brought Grant and afterwards we all had brunch at Cafe on the Green where, if you remember, we went back in June to find out if we were having a boy or a girl. Good memories at the Four Seasons.






So, here's to FABU freebies! This was definitely one of the better freebies we've gotten and we sure enjoyed and appreciated it. :)

5 Years of Wedded Bliss

Yes, that's right, 5 years ago today at exactly 5pm I was headed down the aisle of Highland Park Presbyterian Church with many of you there as witnesses to the blessed event. :) I distinctly remember thinking I had never been so sure of something and it's complete "right-ness" as I was in marrying Jason. And five years later I am even more sure of God's perfect timing in our relationship. We are celebrating locally this year at the Four Seasons Resort where we spent our wedding night. I am going to enjoy every minute with my handsome man while my other little man is with his Gigi and Gippy! :)




Wow, we look so young! Can 5 years really age you that much?! YIKES!

Prayers for Sandy

We're asking for prayer over Jason's Auntie Sandy and family. Sandy has been in the hospital for almost 2 weeks now, I believe, for viral meningitis. She is very, very ill and although they did discharge her home several days ago, she didn't even make it 24 hours before she had to be re-admitted. We are concerned and praying and ask you to pray as well for her quick recovery. Thanks bunches for adding Sandy to your prayer requests! We love you Sandy, Bob, Alex, Rebecca, Luke, and Ryan and we're praying for all of you!

Sandy is the one in the middle (Jason's dad is on the far right with all of his siblings)

Blue Suede Shoes

I can't remember who gave us the super cute blue suede booties, but we LOVE them! I think they're so adorable and SO snuggly warm. The inside is so soft and fuzzy I want me a pair! Dakota is thinking she needs a cute pair of booties too as you can see she is checking them out. :)

Flirting with Kelli

Kelli came over after work on Wednesday to visit us and Grant thought she was B-E-A-utiful (and she is)! He flirted and smiled and cooed.....it was funny! Thanks for coming to visit, Kelli! We love you!

All Dressed Up

Grant put on his spiffy duds to go to church on Sunday. We think he is going to be like his Uncle Craig and refuse to wear collared shirts, though, given the face in the second picture. :)

Hail to the Chief

No, I am not going to get political, but we have been watching all the inaugural festivities (well, Grant has napped through most of it), and as I watched the Bush's fly off in Marine One I was struck with the feeling that so many of the media and people watching the now former President and First Lady leave Washington were glad to see them go. I don't agree with all that's happened in the last 8 years or all of the decisions that have been made, but I felt sad that this man and his wife endured so much ill-will during their stay in the White House. In fact, I listened to Charles Gibson say into the camera last week as he was discussing what the President would say in his farewell address that President Bush would likely discuss some of what he (meaning Bush) felt were successes during his term as president intimating that the rest of us (or at least he, Charles Gibson) don't think there were any successes. It made me sad that the "unbiased" news media makes such comments frequently. I hope the Bush's enjoy their private life in Dallas and God bless you for your service to this country.

On another note, what a great thing for our country and especially black Americans that our new President has broken the race barrier and made it to the top of the heap. Good for him. I hope it changes the lives of many young black Americans and brings some sense of retribution to those who remember the awfulness of segregation and slavery. We are praying for you, Mr. President, praying for wisdom, health, and safety as you lead our nation for the next 4 years. God bless you.

I Heart Your Blog Award

So my friend Mandy passed along the above titled award to me therefore I feel obligated to answer the questions that apparently accompany this prestigious award. :) I have to answer in 1 word, right Mandy? I feel like this might be harder than it looks. But I'm going to try......

1. Where is your cell phone? purse
2. Where is your significant other? Bible study
3. Your hair color? blonde
4. Your mother? giving
5. Your father? patient
6. Your favorite thing? family
7. Your dream last night? no clue
8. Your goal? purpose
9. The room you are in? living room
10. Your hobby? what????? no time
11. Your fear? failure
12. Where do you want to be in six years? healthy
13. Where were you last night? home
14. What you are not? tall :)
15. One of your wish list items? curtains
16. Where you grew up? Austin/Coppell
17. The last thing you did? eat
18. What you are wearing? t-shirt/jeans
19. Your TV? big
20. Your pet? goldendoodle
21. Your computer? mac
22. Your mood? tired
23. Missing someone? yes
24. Your car? dirty
25. Something you are not wearing? hat
26. Favorite story? lots
27. Your Summer? pregnant
28. Love someone? family
29. Your favorite color? pink
30. When was the last time you laughed? at Grant
31. Last time you cried? surprisingly little

So I couldn't answer all of them in just one word but I did give it my best shot! Thanks for reading, Mandy. I heart your blog, too!

3 Months

Has it really been 3 months??!! It feels like 3 years! :) Grant did turn 3 months old on Friday and so far his crowning accomplishment is sleeping 8 hours at night consistently. We are very appreciative. It has been a hard road for all of us up to this point but I think you all were right in saying that 3 months is a turning point. We seem to have some improvement with the new reflux medicine and Grant has been a pretty contented baby for the last 3 days. I woke up with another case of mastitis yesterday and so, despite the beautiful weather here, spent most of the day on the couch with fever. YUCK! Things are looking up today though as the medicine kicks in pretty fast. Here are a few pictures from the last couple of days. Enjoy!

Working 9 to 5......or 9 to 1

So I went back to work today for a whopping 4 hours but it was GLORIOUS! I have to work once every 3 months to stay on the payroll at the hospital and since Grant will be 3 months old TOMORROW, that meant I had to work today. It was so nice to put on my scrubs, see all of my awesome co-workers, and go to a job I love. It felt great! I'm holding off on going back regularly until we get Grant's feeding issues somewhat solved and under control but my wonderful, blog-reading, boss has graciously allowed me to come in and work one day a week when I'm ready. I think it will be a great thing for me and for Grant (who will be with his Gigi while I'm working). I am so blessed by these wonderful people I work with! You all made my day today! And thanks, mom, for keeping Grant and making all of this possible. :)

More Doctors

Our pedi sent us to a GI specialist today and we LOVED her! She spent over an hour with us and went through everything we've been dealing with during and after Grant's feedings. She has given us a lot of hope and has helped me figure out a plan to see if we can continue nursing or if that's part of the problem in which case we'd need to switch over to formula. At this point, whatever makes a happy baby is what we'll do. She and I are both very motivated to get this problem solved so we don't develop any kind of feeding aversion later on.

On another note.....Ms. Mary drove all the way from Pilot Point today to bring me and Jason dinner and to visit Mr. G. We LOVED having her and hearing all about the King family! We can't wait to take Grant and Dakota to Pilot Point for a visit when the weather warms up! :)

The Keys

Hooray for more friends! Randy and Lindsay came to meet Grant today and bring mommy and daddy lunch. Isn't it great that just because you have a baby everyone brings you food?! We LOVE it! :) Come back soon....food or no food!

Is That a Smile?!

We have actually had a happy or at least a calmer baby this weekend. Is it the new meds? Maybe. Is it the new tricks from "The Happiest Baby on the Block" (thank you, Sara!)? Maybe. Whatever it is we're just happy to finally see the little man enjoying himself some and I am relieved that it doesn't appear to be any kind of lactose intolerance or allergy so I can continue nursing. And the most exciting part....I finally caught a smile on camera! :)



Mom and Dad kept Grant for us on Friday night to give us a little time off. We went out to dinner and then fell asleep early and slept late. (Except for a 3:00am incident with a beeping carbon monoxide detector running low on batteries!) Today we went to Kincaid's for burgers and then to the movie. It was such a nice retreat and we were ready to pick up the big guy after our time away. Thanks Mom and Dad!

What A Day!

So we left the house at 1:30pm to head to the doctor in Grapevine and ended up at Children's Medical Center in Dallas. Grant is fine but we did not get home until 8:00pm tonight. Thankfully my mom happened to have the afternoon free and spent her day with us which was a BIG help.

Our pedi witnessed one of Grant's "usual" episodes while at the office and was concerned enough to send us over to Children's for an abdominal x-ray and sonogram with a possible barium swallow. Apparently Children's was the only place that could get all that done in one afternoon. Well, turns out we only got to the x-ray and a brief catheterization (VERY not fun for the little mister) to check for a UTI....which he did not have. We ended up leaving with a prescription for a medicine that doctors hesitate to recommend until more serious problems are ruled out. The x-ray was enough to rule out anything of major significance so our hope now is that this new med combined with the reflux meds Grant has been on will bring some relief.

When looking back, this has been going on for about 8 weeks and just continues to worsen. The poor little man is so miserable most of the day. He takes one 30-45 minute nap a day and cries the rest of the time. It's so sad. :( Thankfully, though, we don't think it's anything that is a serious health issue. Grant has not gained any weight in the last 2 weeks so we're supposed to be watching that carefully as well, but I seemed more concerned about that than any of the MDs.

So, that was our day. I don't know about Grant, but his mommy is quite worn out but hopeful that this new medicine will make all we endured today worth it! Thanks for praying for us.

Aunt Jenn

My cousin, Grant's Aunt Jenn, came over yesterday. She was so sweet and brought mommy lunch and some beautiful tulips, and then entertained Grant for a few hours. We're so glad she came to spend her day off with us. I am so bad about remembering to take millions of pictures every day like all you good mommies out there so there are no cute pics of Grant with his Aunt Jenn but here's a look at the pretty flowers she brought us.



For the last 3-4 weeks Grant has been especially fussy when he's awake. He does great at night sleeping 6-7 hours at a stretch but his days have been hard. We can tell he's uncomfortable much of the time. 2 weeks ago we started him on some reflux medicine but that hasn't seemed to do the trick. The only thing that seems to bring him any comfort is the stroller. So in good weather we stroll outside and in bad weather we stroll inside. I bet we've walked miles and miles around our house over the last couple of weeks.



We're going back to the doctor today and have an x-ray done (which I can't imagine will tell us anything) and then I suspect our pedi is going to want us to see a GI specialist. We'll see. We don't think anything is terribly wrong as Grant continues to gain weight and is still nursing well, but the poor little guy just seems so unhappy much of his waking hours and especially after feedings. :( We are praying we can find a solution to ease his discomfort.

Game Night and More Visitors

We were able to attend the annual game night with the Carpenter/O'Neal family on Friday night. This night of guys v. girls Trivial Pursuit game has been going on longer than I've known Rachel, but the years I've been it's always a fun night. The guys won this year's game but watch out next year boys!



Grant napping quite comfortably with Lyndee (she's a natural with these little ones)


Before we left for game night, we got a nice visit from Gene and Sheils (Emily's parents and Brooks' Grammie and Opa G) who were on their way to a wedding here in Grapevine and were nice enough to think of us and stop by. Opa G had not met Grant yet so we were so glad for the two to make their introductions. They both seemed rather fond of one another!




And last night we were lucky enough to have a visit from William and Anna who were so nice to take us out to dinner. Grant was quite at home napping in William's arms. :) Thanks so much for coming to see us guys!

Happy 2009!

As I'm sure you've already noticed I've tried to "spruce up" the blog with a little new background to keep you all interested. :) We had a very good time ringing in the new year and were blown away as we reflected on all the changes in our life this year! We spent New Year's Eve at a party with friends and actually made it up until midnight although we did leave the party early and head home to feed and put the little Mr. to bed. Thanks for hosting such a fun night, Mechsners!







Mom and Dad hosted our annual New Year's Day lunch complete with black eyed peas and cabbage one of which is supposed to bring good luck and one money?? I never eat either one so I guess I'm destined to be poor and unlucky although I think the events of 2008 proved very lucky for us. :) The lunch was wonderful and we had such a good time celebrating the new year with everyone!!

Hanging out with Uncle Craig who we've decided can only hold Grant if he's wearing a UT shirt (all our pictures of Craig and Grant have Craig in burnt orange)


Mom had such a cute idea for the table using 2009 calendar pages and gluing tinsel around them to make them more festive