26 Months and Christmas

It has been a busy few months for our household. We have jumped head first into the Christmas season and are enjoying all the seasonal things that come along with it. We have visited Santa, driven to look at Christmas lights, listened to countless Christmas songs, drank hot cocoa, played in the “snow” (shaving cream for those of us that live in Texas J), made reindeer feed, watched Christmas movies along with a multitude of other festive holiday fun that goes along with our “25 Days of Christmas”. It’s been so fun to see how much Grayer has grown and learned in a year. Last year, he fell asleep while looking at Christmas lights and this year he was talking a million miles a minute and as we passed one Santa, he would immediately begin asking when we would see the next one. He is in love with the jolly guy and affectionately calls him “Sanpa”.  So sweet J

We’ve been to a few Christmas parties already, one that was just for the ladies in our playgroup where we exchanged our “favorite thing” gifts. I got the most snuggly blanket that I sleep with at night (love, love, love being under a million blankets) and use while being lazy on the couch as well. We had a Toys for Tots happy hour that Justin and I both got to attend which was fun! I went to a “Mrs. Clause” baking party that a girlfriend hosted a few days ago, which allowed me to look like a good baker when I put together Christmas gifts for Grayer’s MDO teachers, haha! Luckily, he doesn’t tell J We have Justin’s work Christmas party on Thursday night, which I know he is looking forward to. We have some friends coming in from out of town for NYE, so I am really excited about that (but not looking forward to the end of the holiday season…).

Since it’s been a few months since I’ve updated about what our little bug is up to these days, I will take some time to do that now.

Grayer, here is what you are up to at 26 (almost 27!) months.

I’m pretty sure you are ready to be potty training, but for some reason your mom is being s-l-o-w about it. You will go pee-pee on the potty every single time someone asks you if you want to go, and you have gone poop once… I caught you in the act and rushed you to the potty. You did great, and have no fears of using the potty, I think it’s just going to be a consistency thing with your dad and I. I think in January I will just buckle down and just do it. You used to get 2 M&M’s when you would go potty, but you stopped asking for them, and I stopped offering and you haven’t seemed to notice, so maybe it will all be easier than I hoped! J

You are so funny and love to laugh. You can be such a goober sometimes, and just love to be tickled to death. Your laughter and squeals of delight never cease to make your dad and I laugh out loud every.single.time. You would be tickled from sun up to sun down if someone would appease you. You are most ticklish under your arms and on the bottom of your sweet, stinky (seriously- are you already 15???) feet.

You are very sociable and don’t ever really get shy. You enjoy going to Sunday school, Mother’s Day Out, and Wed morning Bible Study. You are always smiley and giddy while we are getting you checked in to all those places. You just love your friends, teachers and ALL the fun toys!

You’re not a super hyper little boy, but have a good amount of energy. You like to be on the go just like your mom, and ask quite often “where go next mama”. We spend a lot of time at the zoo, libraries, parks, arboretum, and just running errands. I so enjoy being out and about with you J

You know all of your basic colors and yellow, purple and green are your favorites. You can count to 10 (with the exclusion of 1… you will NOT say 1) just not in any particular order yet, haha!  You love to read, and love to do all your puzzles that we have in your room. Your newest craze is any type of “I spy” book where you have to find certain things in the pictures. You LOVE to find all the fun items and are so proud of yourself when you can find them all.

You still love to play with balls, and it really doesn’t matter which ones. You love soccer, football, golf, and baseball and the all of the sports equipment that has taken over our house is a testament to this. Kicking, throwing, hitting, dunking…you love it all!

You also are loving trains these days. We took you to the Trains at Northpark this weekend, and your dad and I had to tag-team keeping up with you. You were NOT content to watch the trains pass, you were sprinting to follow each one of them, and unfortunately had very little regard for anyone in your way. We were there for almost an hour, and were afraid there was going to be a meltdown when it was time to go, because you were really enjoying yourself, but thankfully you were hungry and french fries won out J

You used to be obsessed with your Poppa and Papa (which you totally still are), but now you are obsessed with your cousin. You ask me about 10 times a day “where is Elle?” It happens when I come to get you from your bed in the mornings, when I pick you up from school, any time a park is mentioned and lots of other random times in-between. You do love to play with her the very most. You love sweet baby Hadleigh (you call her Hadwee) and love to give her kisses from head to toe.

There are a million other things that you are up to these days, but I will stop with that. You are the biggest joy to all of us, and we love you so very much! xoxo

 

ps. couldn't get pictures to load, so I'll work on that :)

 

 

Midnight snuggles

Last night our  little awoke at 3:40am and cried out for his mama. Justin climbed out of our warm bed, walked across the cold hardwood floors, and brought our nugget back to bed. This has been a regular occurrence for us over the last several weeks. It's not ideal. No one is getting 12 hours of beauty sleep. There are elbows in backs and feet in faces. But against our better judgement, this is how our family is coping with nighttime wakings. 

Some nights there is a hint of "not again..." and a dread of being awake for the day long before the sun makes his appearance, but some nights there is a longing so strong to smell the sweet baby shampoo on the tips of his hair that I make it to his side in record time when he cries out for me in the pre dawn hours. 

Maybe we do this because we are not those parents who do everything by the book. We never have been. We make our own rules. We figure out what works for our family. We make mistakes and hopefully do some things right. But maybe we do it because we know one day too soon we are gonna miss this. 3am wakings and all. It will be over in the blink of an eye. So tonight I am thankful for the two extra elbows and feet in my bed. I am thankful for the soft breathing in my ear. And I am thankful for a sweet husband who loves the extra midnight snuggles as much as I do.

He is

faithful.

always.

even when my simple mind wavers, and my emotions take control.

it's not me, but Him, not mine, but His.

always.

He is.

after He shows me, time and time and time again, i should always trust, always believe, but I don't.

not always.

not every time.

but no matter. 

He is.

everytime.

Trick or Treat!

Trick or treating last year was a lot fun, Grayer was just walking and was an adorable little frog, but this year, my expectations were blown! It was an absolute blast! Seriously, one of the most fun things I've done as a mom thus far! I was a little nervous earlier in the day, because when I set out Grayer's costume and we started to talk about about getting dressed up, he didn't seem very happy about the idea, and kept saying "No, no, no shark!" So we talked about his costume and trick or treating throughout the day, in hopes he would warm up to the idea.

When it was time to put on his shark costume, I won't lie, there were a couple tears, and the beginning process looked like this...

But once his outfit was on and we were out the door to meet up with his cousin, he was ready to go, running around and so excited! Our first stop was to the Stavlo's elderly neighbors who always have a little something special for the kiddos. Grayer eagerly jumped out of the wagon, ran up to the door with Elle, and when they asked him what he was, he said "Rooooar... A lion!" We got quite a kick out of this! I guess I should have consulted him this year before purchasing his costume, next year I will know better :)

We spent two full hours, going house to house, eating a little candy here and there, and just having a great time as a family. Grayer was adorable! After getting some candy, he would come running down the side walk saying "Mama, oh wooooow!" haha! And thankfully his manners were good too, always a thank you and ocassionally an  "I love you" in the mix... What can I say, my boy loves candy and anyone who will give it to him ;)

What a fun time we had! Makes me so excited for all the years and memories to come!

 

I wuv eww!

I have been waiting and waiting for this moment... And my sweet boy has finally done it... He said I Love You!!!! Ahhh!! Yesterday, we were at the park with his aunt and cousin and he was happily swinging and all of a sudden it just came out... I wuv eww... What??!!?? Did he just say what I think he said?? I looked at my sister and then back to Gray and said "What did you say sweetheart?" and again, out it came ... I wuv eww!
I'm not gonna lie, he took his sweet time, but I can assure you, it made it all that much more special! I think this is one of the top moments of love and happiness I have experienced thus far as a mommy! ;)

And tonight, just for kicks, he told his daddy too before bed. Total. Bliss.

I wuv eww too my sweet baby boy!

TWO years old!

Grayer turned TWO on Saturday, September 22nd. We celebrated his birthday on the following Saturday at the Frontiers Flight Museum. I think everyone had a GREAT time, including Grayer! It was a rainy Saturday, so the play area at the musesum was the perfect indoor distraction for all the little kiddos! Justin and I made him a cake on his actual birthday, lit candles and sang to him, and from that moment he fell in LOVE with blowing out candles. Every night after dinner for the following week, when we would ask if he wanted a little cake for dessert, he would immediately start "blowing" out his pretend candles. So what we were to do? Of course, the sight was just too precious, so for an entire week, we had cake, lit candles and sang happy birthday to Grayer every evening! He loved every last minute of it! So at his birthday party, when the time came for cake and singing, he was more than a little excited! We caputured the sweet, sweet smiles, the blowing of candles, and the antimated "YAY!!!" and clapping that ensued after he was done. It was a precious memory that will stay with me forever.

Grayer- here is what you are up to at 2 years old!

You are a social butterfly! You love to play with other kids, and always seek out someone to run around and play with at the park, library, or indoor play areas that we go to. You seem to be most interested in playing with other little boys, and love to try to imitate what the older ones are doing. You say "HI" to absolutely everyone, including the mannequins at the mall, haha! You love going to the church nursery at the Village on Sunday mornings, and the nursery on Wednesday mornings for Bible Study at Watermark. Thankfully there are never any tears at drop off and you are always playing happily when I come to get you.

You started going to MDO on Tues and Thurs in September and you enjoy it! Your teachers, Ms. Carrie and Ms. LaRae love you so much, and are always telling mommy how happy you are, how easy going you are, and how well you follow instructions. We are so proud of you!

You love playing with trucks, cars, trains, puzzles, looking at books, dancing to music, helping mommy in the kitchen, blowing bubbles and being outside. You love to imitate the sounds of all your toys, so needless to say, we hear lots of "ZOOM-ZOOM", "Choo-Choo" and siren noises. It's precious!

You love playing sports, and are really good at throwing your baseballs, basketballs and kicking your soccer ball. You got a soccer goal and t-ball set for your birthday, but we haven't gotten a chance to set them up yet, but I am betting once we do, you will be quite entranced. You love to play ball with your dad in the front yard, and have fun running around and being silly. You "golf" with your left hand, and your daddy is quite concerned about this, since the little clubs we got for you are only right handed. We will see how this pans out!

You have a very tender heart, and don't like to see others upset. You like to try and console those who are sad or crying. You still do really well with sharing with your cousin and friends, but ocassionally get your feelings hurt if someone takes something from you. You have the funniest little pout/frown face that comes out multiple times a day. Even though you've done this for months, your daddy and I still get a kick out of it!

 You are very affetionate. You love to give hugs and kisses to anyone who asks, and are always up for a quick "snuggle" with mommy. Your open mouth kisses finally subsided into puckered lip kisses, which I was secretly sad to see go, even though I don't miss being slobbered on, it was a kiss very unique to you alone :)

You like playing hide-and seek and are funny when you find daddy and I, as you get a little scared sometimes, hehe! You love pretending that your sock monkey's are jumping on the bed and say "no, no, no, no monkey" while waving your little finger. You also like the book "The wheels on the bus" and do the motions of the wheels turning. You like to dance to any and all music, and have the cutest little dance moves! You like to play with your dr. kit and give everyone shots. You listen to our hearts and say "boom, boom", but your favorite patient is Hogan :)

You are talking up a storm! Your vocabulary has really increased in the last couple of months, and you are constantly talking about something. You still ask "what is that?" about EVERYTHING, but have also hit the 2 year old "why" stage, and always want to know the reasons behind something. You love your daddy so much, and any time you see a car that looks like his white tahoe, you start asking "where is daddy?" or "where did daddy go?", which usually leads into you asking about your papa/poppa (you have 2- Papa Glenn and Poppa Dan) and we talk about all the things they are doing at work. One of your favorite things to say is "I did it!" after you do something you think is praise worthy :) You also like to ask "where's the ball" or "where did it go" while scrunching your hands up by your face, so cute! When we go outside you like looking for bugs, and say "it's a bug... yuck!!" I wonder how long you will think bugs are gross? You also like when your daddy throws you in the air, and you will say "I go higher" until he is too tired to throw you anymore.

Your eating is so-so these days... there used to be a handful of things that you would eat any time, any place such as cheese, chicken nuggets, bananas, strawberries, beans etc, and now, even these items can be hit or miss, as with most other foods. We are working on finding some new favorites.
You are still sleeping good, and usually don't wake up in the night, although there are still a few occurrances of this. You are down to one nap, and usually go down around noon and sleep 1.5-3 hours. You sleep really well at MDO too, which I am so thankful for!

Any time you hear a siren, you shout "FIRE!!" I always ask you if you think it's a police car, an ambulence or a fire truck, and you are always certain it's a fire truck. I think the idea that a siren doesn't always mean fire is still beyond you :) If your love of fire trucks sticks around, I definitely want to do your 3 year old party at a fire station!

I think I could write about you for hours and hours and hours and never get tired...

You are a pure JOY to your daddy and me! We love you so, so much little boo-buns!

 

 

ps- If you can't tell from these pics- you LOVE to be naked ;)

 

xoxo

MDO

Grayer had his first day of Mother's Day Out today and it went perfectly! He seems to be a social butterfly at the age of 23 months, and the crying we experienced during drop off's at a younger age is a distant memory. He was so excited to go to school and walked right into class and started playing with all the new toys. I wondered how pick up would go, but thankfully it went just as smoothly. He was so sweet saying bye to one of the little girls in his class... He's a little charmer :) His teachers, Ms. Carrie & Ms. LaRea said he was happy and is very obedient (yay, Gray!). His report card mentioned that he was happy most of the time, but got sad during some of the transitions, which I take to mean he was probably sad to have to leave the playground... He's still obsessed with the slides! It's always a little sad to see your sweet baby growing up and experiencing independence, but we are so excited that he loves his new school, and are looking forward to all the new things he will learn.