Happy Halloween

I am so proud that it has only been 5 days since Halloween and I am working on posting the pics from Halloween. Hopefully this is the start of a new trend! Halloween started early for the Gerwatowski, Rashwan and Herdoiza households. The kick off was Maureen's awesome party! We all got together a few weeks ago to see all of the kids dressed up for Halloween. These are the best pics from that day. Mo got some great pics, I'll have to get copies from her soon.

A big bad wolf and little red riding hood

A lobster and a pirate

Mom and dad, or, I mean, Dracula and his witch...

Little Emmersyn and her cute witch's costume.

I was inspired to do the next set of pictures because this was done to me when I was an infant. It took me 3 trips to find a pumpkin which I knew would be big enough. I believe the one we finally got was 30 lbs. I even took a hayride with my friend Sarah in an attempt to find the perfect pumpkin. I did feel a little like a creepy old lady, as we were the only people on the hayride without a child. But it was all worth it for these pictures. Luckily, Ty was such a good sport!

Of course we carved the pumpkin. Brad's creation was so cool.

You can see his artistic juices are flowing...

It's hard to tell, but it is a bat flying out of a cave....

I on the other hand, did not do so well. I was unable to complete my masterpiece because I broke ALL of the carving knives, that I had just bought this year. So I had to draw in my eyebrows...

Next are some pictures of the Lara, Jenna and Tyler. Lara and Jenna came over the night before Halloween so we were able to see the neices in their Halloween costumes...Adorable.

Jenna loves Elmo, as it was told to me, the first time she got to wear it she was running around the house yelling "Elmo, Elmo, Elmo!" for over a half an hour. She doesn't look so happy here, I think she may have been overheating in the heavy costume.


Lara dressed up as Jesse from Toy Story 3.

This cute pose took a few tries but we got a good one...eventually!

Tyler is the cutest Yoda ever!

An attempt at getting all the cousins together...








On our way out to trick or treat...

Ok so this took ALL night and I started writing this on Friday...I hope you enjoyed. Hugs to all.

Fun with Food

Gotta love this face!




Fun with food. These are pictures of the first attempt at food. He actually did quite well, he just likes to sneeze at the exact moment the spoon reaches his mouth. We started him on solids after his 4-month doctor's check up. So far, I think the only food that hasn't been a hit was sweet peas.

This picture cracks me up but requires an explanation. We were upstairs in the den, printing pictures of Tyler to send to some relatives and he starts rolling around the room. Next thing I realize he is rolling out the door. I thought it was pretty funny. He has become proficient at his unique method of transportation.

It has been a long time since I've blogged. I'm not even sure I'll be able to post all that I want in 1 blog. So last post was about Ty's baptism, and so much has happened since then. The main reason I have been scarce, is because I took the national counselor's exam on October 16, which is the licensure test for my future profession. It was the most poorly written test I've ever taken. I fully anticipate having to take it again in April. Even the 700+ page study guide didn't seem to help, Ugh! I'll get the results in 6 to 8 weeks and just go from there.

I finally got the internship mess smoothed out. I was originally supposed to be an intern at St. Joe's Hospital in the Behavioral Sciences Unit, awesome right? Well, Wayne State didn't think so and I had to find a new placement 3 weeks after the semester had begun. So, I am now at 2 sites, 3 days per week and on target to finish in December! Woo Hoo!

The first site I am at is The New Hope Center for Grief Support and I work with all different types of loss. It challenges me every day, but I know that it is meaningful work. The other site is called Kid's Talk which is an independent agency where kids ages 3 to 17 go to disclose allegations of abuse for the police an child protective services to investigate. It is so heartbreaking, I know that this work is meaningful too, but unfortunately I don't have to opportunity to work with the clients beyond the first meeting.

I am still working 1 day a week at Sephora which is really fun. We already have our Christmas decorations up, which is WAY too early in my opinion. But besides that I get to play with makeup for a few hours and then go home to my loving family. Speaking of which...

Brad is still working an insane amount of hours, which is challenging for the whole family. I think he has been averaging 10-12 hours a day for the past 3 to 4 months. Tyler's personality is really starting to come out. He is such a happy baby boy, we have so much fun! He spends 3 days per week at Grammy and Grampy's house.

I know everyone wants to see Halloween pics, I will post those within the week! Hope all is well. Tons of more pics to come!

Baptism

Pre-baptism festivities with the proud parents...

...Aunt Jan...

...Aunt Sarah...

This beautiful cake was made by Aunt Nicole. Not only was it beautiful, but if was delicious! Thank you so much!




Brad enjoying a non-alcoholic degestif!

I love this picture of Uncle Mike and Jenna. What a great moment to capture.

Aunt Holly and Tyler

Tyler is such the ladies man, pictured here with Justin's girlfriend, Crystal

Cute Pictures of Bubby courtesy of Mom. These pictures were taken before the baptism but I think they are too cute to keep to myself!

So far, Mom gets the award for best picture with this cute photo!

I think I am finally getting the hang of all of this blog-ness. I realized tonight I have been making it more complicated than necessary. I have captured some great moments from the baptism ceremony, however, I dropped the ball at the after-party. I always think of great photo-ops after the fact, just for example, I never got any pictures of Nicole with her tasty masterpiece. So Frustrating!

The baptism was wonderful. Tyler behaved beautifully. While all the other babies were fussing he's just sitting there chilling out watching all of the activities. He is such a sweet boy, so full of peace and joy. I love to make him laugh. He wants to crawl so badly that he gets frustrated after long practice sessions...He'll get it soon enough and then his mom and dad will have to watch out! He gets around well enough without crawling...he is still rolling around. He also seems to like to "talk" more.

3 Months Today

Well as you may have figured by the title, I started this page a few weeks ago. Ty is now 3-1/2 months and the days keep racing by. He is such a joy. He is rolling over now and has been for 2 weeks now. He is my little rollie pollie man.

Most of you know that my dad is really ill right now. To keep a long story short, he was hospitalized a few weeks ago for what we thought was a stomach virus. It turns out that his blood sugar was so out of whack that at the time of admission it read 780. What we later learned was that this has all been caused by "unknown inflammation in the body". We've spent the past few weeks visiting many doctors and undergoing several procedures trying to find the inflammation to no avail. Tomorrow dad has an appointment with a hemotologist/onocologist to explore another avenue. All prayers are welcome.

These pictures were taken on Bubby's 3 month birthday! He is so cute!







This a great picture of "the Griffin side of the family"! My cousin Tim (Between Holly and I) works as a fire-fighter in Iraq and was home for a 10-day leave. I really enjoy his visits. The only thing that would have made this picture better would have been the grandkids.



Uncle Justin holding Tyler.


Aunt Holly and the Bubs!


Just a great picture that I took for my first day back to work at Sephora. I just love that smile! What a happy baby!!!


This is my silly neice Lara. She hates getting her photo taken, even with her favorite Auntie Roro!





I will continue to post as I have time. I hope all is well with everyone out there!