Plan to be SURPRISED!!

So Ryan and I watched Dan in Real Life last night. If you haven't seen it we would both recommend it.....it will remind you of how funny, annoying, all up in your business, goofy, and lovable your family really is. In the movie Steve Carell is a newspaper columnist who writes about parenting and family. In his last column in the movie he is talking about making life plans, and he says, instead of asking someone what their life plans are, just tell them "plan to be surprised." I was thinking about that advice this morning and I realized how brilliant that I think it is. It seems that my life is full of plans that never exactly happen the way that I plan them, and I could name several major ones but I'll start with something small, like the fact that if I plan to leave the house at 8, SURPRISE, it is 8:30 before I am shuffling out the door hauling bags, books, just dropped the diapers, bottles........and I still have a kid to load!

With Griff, my life has never had SO many surprises. He has a lot of them up his little sleeve. I will share just a few:)!

The other day I was dead set on tackling the

laundry. Our bedroom was starting to take on the appearance of an Old Navy dressing room and I couldn't take one more night of tripping over a pair of pants or pile of sleepers on my way back from the bathroom, so it was laundry day. As I shuffled between the laundry room and the other parts of the house Griffin proudly thumped along behind me (panting-the way he breaths when anything remotely exciting is going on) all the way! I started having to go up and down the stairs and didn't want to worry about him falling so I put him in his pack and play and headed up for the next load. As I was throwing in a pile of colors it hit me that he was being awfully quiet for the pack and play. Usually he is sitting down in it, smashing his face against the netting and yelling for me. I finished tossing in the clothes and walked over to check out the situation. Peering into the pack and play almost sent me into cardiac arrest. There was a deep red something covering everything in there, including Griffin......red all over the neck of his bib.....all over the sheet......all over the toys.....all I could think is my child is bleeding and I just left him in here to fend for himself. I was about in hysterics trying to find the, what I imagined to be, gaping hole in my son that the blood was coming out of, when I noticed him chewing.....as if the kid had a piece of gum. I quickly swabbed the mouth and out came a small and mushy piece of red dog food. I laughed and sort of cried at the same time....so did Griffin. He looked at me as if to say, SURPRISE mommy.....(my 10 month old just punked me). He must have picked it up off the floor in our hall way.....because for some strange reason our precious little pooch brings her food out onto the hallway rug to eat instead of doing it at her bowl. Perhaps I should start providing some kind of posh mat for her to stand on and we could avoid this kind of thing altogether. It must have been delicious because he sure drooled all over.....and how much red dye do they add to one little piece of food?!?! Good thing it was laundry day, because that's where everything in the pack and play is headed. I'll tell you what will make you feel like mom of the year......diving for a piece of dog food in your 10 month old's mouth. But, c'est la vie! We can laugh now.....and I know it won't be the last time something not intended to be eaten, will be.....at least he likes to try new things.

He has also pulled out a few other surprises in the last few weeks here......some along the dog food line (we won't go into details) and others that just make Ryan and I melt all over the floor. He now has four top teeth and two bottom. He can stand on his own, just for a little bit. He loves to push his wagon up and down our entryway and into the kitchen....and watching him prance(don't tell Ryan I used that adjective in connection to his son) is so cute. Walking will be any day now, I know it. Yesterday morning while we were playing he just turned around, sat up and clapped. I was so excited I had to jump up and call Ryan.....and beg Griff to do it again. He is selective about showing off his new talent though apparently, but as we sat in bed this morning he showed daddy a few times. Ryan is thrilled because the clapping comes just in time to cheer on the beloved Cubbies and by the time Husker football rolls around he will be an old pro......I am already envisioning them sitting on the couch together, dressed in red, and watching the game. I am amazed at how surprising and absolutely joyful it is to watch him unfold......I know that's how all parents feel, it's just so great when it happens to you.

If there was an underlying theme to the way my life has gone the past few years......a message from God if you will......I think that plan to be surprised is it! Life in the last year for Ry and I is not at all what we had necessarily planned, BUT it is the most amazing surprise......much better than our version......even the dog food days!....and think of all the hilarious, desperate, ridiculous moments that bond us together as a family that I would have missed if things went according to "plan"! How blessed are we that in a world that seems so preplanned we still have moments of sheer randomness.....and they tend to be the best moments.....or stories for later!

P.S........I told Ryan that I wasn't going to get all "bloggy" and stoic on this blog but I think I have officially blown that out of the water. If you aren't into that.....I hope you skipped the loooooong rambling and enjoyed the photos and videos! Love you all!

Griffin's newest talent........