Grant's Fourth Birthday

Grant was born four years ago this morning (at 5:36 am). I went into labor while Mark was with his dad in Houston, TX moving our things into an apartment near the Baylor College of Medicine, where he would be resuming his first true year of Tulane Medical School (we had already been at Tulane for the previous year as Mark worked on his MPH and was part of the ACP). Grant was a "Hurricane Katrina baby", born while we were displaced after the hurricane. Luckily, we were staying with my parents in Utah so my mom was with me for his birth and he was born at the same hospital where his father and eldest brother were born. Although it was difficult not having Mark there, Grant was born within an hour of arriving at the hospital and all went well. Mark was on the phone with me when Grant came into the world and was able to meet his newborn son late on the night of his birth.

I can hardly imagine what I would do without my Grant! He brings excitement and happiness to my life with his zest for living. He never slows down, unless he is asleep. I can hardly even tell when he is sick -- true story -- a high fever barely slows him down. He is also incredibly sweet and thoughtful. It is a privilege to be his mother. I am so grateful he was sent to me!

Today we celebrated Grant and his grand arrival into our family. His uncle Robb flew in for the occasion. Grant loves "Wobby", so having him with us to celebrate was extra special.

Grant's special birthday breakfast

Grant really wanted this new Buzz Lightyear. He was so excited that when we got it out of the box and handed it to him, he ran to let Buzz "fly" and accidentally dropped him on the floor and broke his arm off.....darn.

Grant has wanted these Lightning slippers for a long while.
He was pretty excited to get them on his feet.

A Grant birthday would not be complete without a visit to Chuck E. Cheese. Because Carston, Jackson and Peyton had to go to school, Robb and I only had three boys to chase after. Here is Uncle Robb with Luke (who is dying to get his food already).

We drove to Dearborn to go to the Chuck E. Cheese nearest Oakwood Hospital because Mark thought he might be able to slip away from the hospital to join us for lunch. He wasn't able to make it until we had already been there for over an hour and a half, so Robb and I were pretty ready to leave by the time Mark arrived, but of course, Grant was far from finished.

Grant is pretty good at air hockey, but he prefers if you play by his rules. If he wasn't able to score, he would scold me for blocking my goal. His rules specify that his opponent may not protect their goal so that he can have free shots.

Benjamin enjoyed all of the rides.

Robb played with Mr. Luke and kept him content....

while I chased Grant and Benjamin, who ran from one thing to the next, since we were the only people there!

Finally, Daddy arrived and the real fun started.
Mark gave Grant some pointers on how to race.

Luke even tried out a ride or two.

I love the smile on Grant's face in this picture!
He is so full of life.



We stopped at Toys R Us before returning home
so Grant could get his birthday balloon and crown.

We had Grant's favorite spaghetti for dinner (as shown around his mouth). For his birthday cake, we had homemade triple chocolate torte with chocolate cream filling and chocolate glaze over the top. I need to perfect how it looks, it looks like it is melting, but this cake is delicious!

Happy Birthday Grant! We love you!