The Most Wonderful Time of the Year!

What I love about Christmas:

cooler weather that slowly creeps in from the blazing Texas summer

bundling up with jackets, scarves and gloves

hot chocolate with marshmallows

winter candle scents

holiday cheer

red noses

real Christmas trees

getting décor down from the attic

giving gifts

falling leaves

twinkling lights

big red bows

jingling bells

pictures with Santa

the nativity

classic Christmas carols

wrapping gifts

festive Christmas parties

the sparkle in the eye of my baby

annual light looking

family Christmas cards

the smell of warm fires

holiday candies

Christmas books

frank sinatra holiday music

the magical feel in the air

the wishes sent up for a white Christmas

the nutcracker

holiday movies

trees engulfed in lights

ornament exchanges

thankful spirits

candle light Christmas eve services

and the list could go on…


As you think about all the things you love about Christmas, may you be reminded of the real reason we celebrate.

Thank you Lord for sending your Son.

Luke 2:4-21 So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them.


And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”


Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,


“Glory to God in the highest heaven,


and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.”


When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.”


So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told.


On the eighth day, when it was time to circumcise the child, he was named Jesus, the name the angel had given him before he was conceived.

Merry Christmas!

Giving Thanks

I’ve had an inkling for awhile that I would enjoy this Thanksgiving slightly more than last year. Although, last year was very special in its own way, since it was Grayer’s first Thanksgiving, it wasn’t quite the relaxing, fun, family-gathering that it normally is… and well, I guess this year wasn’t particularly “relaxing”, but it was a bit more fun.

Last November, we had an 8 week old who wasn’t anywhere near sleeping through the night, who was cranky in the evenings, was breastfeeding, pooped 6+ times a day, and just over-all very mommy needy… ALL the time. It was quite an exhausting time in our lives, as all new parents remember. And to make matters worse, I was definitely suffering from new-mommy-syndrome. I was petrified to let anyone else hold him, because I knew the moment I passed him over, he would scream bloody murder and then everyone would think we had a horrible baby. Which wasn’t at ALL the case.. but it definitely went through my mind (like a million times).

This year, our little bugga ate his first turkey and ALL the fixings! He loved every single thing we put in his mouth, and then some! I am so glad that he is not a picky eater and is willing to at least try most things. Thanksgiving with the Davis’ is by far my favorite meal of the year, and it was so fun to see Grayer enjoying the corn casserole, cheesy potatoes, green bean casserole, and turkey that we all love so much. I didn’t get any pictures of him eating his Thanksgiving meal, but just imagine those chubby cheeks chomping on food by the handful :)

This time of year always gets me a little nostalgic. It’s exciting, but also a little bittersweet to see how much Grayer has grown in the past year, and it’s eye opening just how different life is when you have a tiny baby vs. a toddler. Although I have thoroughly enjoyed ALL the stages that Grayer has gone through, I really, really love having a toddler. He is so much fun to play with, talk to and sing with, and it’s amazing how all of a sudden he comprehends things and is able to communicate what he wants through pointing, grunting and babbling. I can’t believe how quickly he is growing up, but his sweet temperament is still shining through, even as a 14 month old little boy. People have forever been telling me what a mess little boys are... and I know I have not even touched the tip of the iceberg yet, but it is already very evident that Grayer has a very sweet personality. He loves to roughhouse with his dad, rarely cries when he falls down or pumps his head and is the happiest when he’s got ANY kind of ball in each hand, but he also loves to cuddle with his momma and blankie, give big, slobbery, open mouth kisses, still lets me rock him any time I want (melts my heart!), and is the most obedient child I’ve ever known. He doesn’t get into things he’s not supposed, and when he is told not to do something, he doesn’t do it. We are so blessed to have such a sweet little boy, and although I know I will miss all the kisses and cuddling he gives me now, I am thoroughly looking forward to being the mother of a rambunctious, dirt covered, little stinker! :)

Grayer, here is what you are up to at 14 months:

You are on the verge of running! You have been walking for quite some time, and now when you get really excited, or see something across the room that you want, you take off! It is so cute to see the delight in your eyes when you get going really fast. My favorite running moments happen when I walk in the door from being out somewhere and you come running to me for a hug, absolutely precious!

You are doing lots of babbling, and have “da-da”, “uh-oh” and “dog” down flat, but we are still working on other words like “up” when you want up on the couch, “milk” when you want something to drink and “night-night” when it’s time for bed. You do a great job of communicating through pointing and grunting though, and we almost always know what you are trying to tell us. I think you will really be talking in the next couple of months, and until then, “uh,uh, uh, uh” will just have to do! :)

On December 4th you got your very first molar! You’ve been working on it for awhile, but it finally pushed through the surface. You now have 9 whole teeth! 4 on top and 5 on the bottom. You’ve always been a big droller (sorry, but it’s true!) but I think it has lessened since one of your molars has come in, so I am hoping that once the other one comes through that we will see a considerable improvement, ha!

You new favorite activity gives everyone in the room a heart attack! You LOVE to put your blankie over your entire head and run around the room blind-folded. Why? We really have NO idea. You put your blanket around you like a cape, pull it over your head so that you can’t see and take off running. You’ve had a few minor accidents, like running into coffee tables and dining room chairs, which have resulted in some bruises on the forehead, but luckily nothing major has happened…yet! You also love to be pushed around our tiny house in this car that we bought you for your birthday. It has a long handle so we don’t have to bend down, but you are content to ride around from room to room for as long as your daddy and I will push you. We usually get tired of the seeing the same scenery after 5 minutes, but I am convinced you would ride for hours if we would let you.
You still love to watch your Baby Einstein movies, and I have recently discovered you can watch them on youtube with my iphone. This has been a lifesaver on longer car rides recently, as riding in the car is not your favorite thing to do these days. Since we don’t have a fancy car that has TV’s in the headrests, I hold up my phone so you can see the screen until my hand goes numb :) You love it and are quiet the entire time. Praying my next car has TV’s in it though, ha!

You’ve been a great sleeper for a long time, but when we took the morning bottle away at 12 months, you started to wake up very early. This has since resulted in you coming into our bed some mornings, which your daddy just loves! I think it reminds him of when you were a little baby and would nap on his chest, and he is always more than happy to go get you at 5am and cuddle with you for a couple hours in our bed. The sight of you two sleeping always melts my heart :)

We love you sweet bugga, happy 14 months!

Napa

A couple weeks ago, Chrissa, our good friend Brynlea, and I took a weekend trip to California. We had an absolute blast! I haven’t had a chance to upload any pictures from our trip, but I will try to add a few in the next week or two.
It all started in May when Justin and I took our first trip away from Grayer and went to San Francisco and Napa. We fell in love with the city of SF and loved the small town feel of Napa. When the talk of taking a girls trip came up, we decided that the perfect place for us to have a mini-retreat would be in Napa. So we booked our flights, rental car and hotel room and were set to visit the first week in November.

We arrived in SF mid-morning on Friday, and decided that it was a MUST to drive over the Golden Gate Bridge on our way out of the city, since Brynlea had never been to San Francisco before. So off we went, and I must say that the view of the city from the bridge is as breathtaking as I remember it being. We stopped to snap a few pictures at Vista Point, and decided to stop for a seafood lunch in Sausalito before heading out to the wineries. Lunch was delicious and we had a wonderful view of the marina from the porch were we ate. When we checked the weather reports before leaving Dallas, it was supposed to be pretty cold in Napa and there was a 30%-50% chance of rain all three days were to be there. However, the weather was perfect! It was bright, sunny and warm and the three of us girls were excited to be in such a gorgeous place, enjoying the company of good friends :)

After lunch we decided to take a more scenic route out to St. Helena, and ended up on a gorgeous back road, but it was also a VERY steep, windy road, and I think we were all feeling a little car sick after the drive! We stopped at Robert Mondovi winery, which had beautiful grounds and then we headed to V. Sattui winery, where we enjoyed a picnic of wine and olives at one of their tables on the lawn. The views were beautiful, and we had a great time chit chatting over some vino.
On Saturday we visited a few more wineries, but our favorite by far was Michael Mondovi. The view from the back veranda was absolutely stunning! There were vines and grapes as far as the eye could see, and it was exactly how you picture Napa to be before you’ve seen it in person. Since it is early fall, all the leaves on the vines were starting to turn from green to yellow and red, and it was a gorgeous view! We decided to grab some sandwiches from a deli nearby and sat on the back patio for a good couple of hours, just enjoying ourselves and the spectacular views. It was truly hard to pull ourselves away! Once we left, the temperatures started to drop and it started to drizzle, so we decided to go to the Napa Towne Square and have dinner, which was delicious! We watched a little bit of the Alabama/LSU game at a nearby pub, because Bryn had been very clear that it was a MUST for her to see at least some of the game (sadly Bama wasn’t able to pull out a win :(
On Sunday, we got up early, had a quick breakfast at the hotel and decided to head back into San Francisco to do a little city exploring before we headed back home. We drove through the city and enjoyed all the sights and sounds, before going down the ever popular Lombard street. It was so steep and was lined with tourists taking pictures, that I wasn’t sure we were going to make it down alive, but thankfully we did! We had fish ‘n chips and clam chowder for lunch at Fisherman’s Wharf, which was the perfect ending to a great trip!

It was a short weekend trip, but we had an amazing time! I am so thankful to have a husband who understands and encourages me to take time for myself every now and again! I love you hubby :)

Crocodile Tears

Grayer + Photos = …well, you’ll just have a see below…

In the last seven days there have been some pretty important photos that we have tried to take either as a family or of Grayer solo that he has all but dug his feet into the sand and refused.

It all started several weeks ago when I booked a photography session with Dallas photographer, Jenny Leigh. I just couldn’t wait to finally get some family pictures taken with the three of us, since we haven’t had any professional pictures taken since Grayer’s newborn shoot when he was a wee 10 days old. I was giddy with excitement (well except for the “WHAT ON EARTH ARE WE ALL GOING TO WEAR!?!” drama) and knew exactly where I was going to put up the photos in our home. Well… Grayer had other ideas. On Sunday at dusk we loaded up in the car and drove to the a nature reserve in west Plano and began taking pictures…for about 3 minutes… and then came the water works. Grayer wanted absolutely nothing to do with getting his picture taken, and couldn’t be consoled by anyone other than his momma... literally… he wouldn’t let go of my neck. After a grueling (yes, I was sweating!!) 40 minutes of this, we finally called it a night and headed home. I am PRAYING that she got even one good family picture of us, but we haven’t gotten any proofs back yet…so we will see… I’m hoping that it’s a good sign that she hasn’t called us to reschedule another outing yet!

So it continues…

On Friday afternoon, we met up with our playgroup at the Arboretum for a picnic on the lawn and some pictures of our little ones in the pumpkin patch. Grayer had a great time playing with his friends and running around in the grass, and looking at the pretty flowers and pumpkins…but as soon as the cameras came out, he was a goner! To his credit, I think some of the frustration here could have been from the two on either side of him pulling at his shoes, but who’s to say? :)

Aren’t they all so cute though? He really loves his playgroup friends!

On Saturday, we attended a friend’s Halloween party and had a great time as well. Grayer was the *CUTEST* little frog that I’ve ever seen, and even left the head piece of this outfit on the whole time! He trotted around their house playing with all the new toys and ate goldfish and rice crispy treats for snacks, which of course he loved! All was well except for the 5 minutes of group picture taking that obviously was needed to record all of the adorable outfits, but my little guy, not so thrilled!

See: precious little froggy below :)

This week reminded me of our first Bluebonnet experience, ha! (April 2011- 6 ½ months)

Gray baby, even with all the whaling, I still think you’re the best toddler (tear!) in the whole wide world. Love you sweet boy!

A Walker on the Loose!

Yes, Grayer is officially walking!! He took his very first steps on Monday, September 26th (4 days after his 1st birthday) and we were overjoyed! He started walking more than crawling on Thursday, Oct 11th and pretty much hasn’t stopped since! He is so proud of himself and usually claps and walks at the same time. I think he picked this up since we were constantly saying “Yay Grayer!!!!” any time that he would take some steps J He is such a cutie and we are amazed at just how quickly our sweet baby is growing up! It has been such a joy to see him grow and start exploring the world on his own and we love sweet little Frankenstein walk :) I know soon he will be running, and that makes me so excited and sad at the same time. When I look back at pictures and videos of him as a baby, I can’t believe that he was so small just a few short months ago, but am amazed at how much he has grown and learned in his one year of life.

Grayer here is what you are up to at almost 13 Months:

You are doing a lot of babbling these days! You have FINALLY started saying “ma-ma” and it just melts my heart!!! I can’t get enough of it, and could listen to you talk all day and all night. We have lots of conversations, but I am not exactly sure what you are trying to convey most of the time, but it’s still so fun to listen to you babble :) You are starting to point and grunt at things that you want, which has been a nice development since I was having to try 3 or 4 different items before finding the one that you were actually wanting.

You have become a little bit of a picky eater, but usually still eat pretty well. You’ve moved from mostly cut up fruits and veggies to some bigger solids such as sandwich bites, french fries, ravioli, and rice and beans. I’ve found that you will pretty much eat anything as long as daddy or I are eating it too. If we need you to “relax” we can always count on snacks with you, because you are so content to eat anything we give you. Your favorites are goldfish, fruit puffs, and cheerios, but occasionally I will give you some animal crackers too, which you adore J You can go through an entire cupful of snacks on a car or stroller ride, but it hasn’t added to any weight gain yet, as you are still in the 20th percentile :) For now, you are a long and lean little boy.

We are in the middle of weaning from the bottle and are having a little bit of difficult time. You are OK going to bed with milk from a sippy cup, but have started waking up in the middle of the night and won’t settle without a bottle. Daddy and I have started doing some research and are trying some new techniques to help with this, but have only been somewhat successful. Everyone is a little tired in our household right now from these midnight waking, but we all know it’s just a phase and are hoping that is passes quickly. Wish us luck!

You are really starting to enjoy reading books together again, which I love! When you were really little before you could sit up and move around you would lay on your mat for a long time and let me read book after book after book to you, and just stare in awe…but once you could wiggle around, that no longer happened! Now that you can maneuver the books pages yourself you are more willing to sit and let me read to you. I am hoping that this will continue and that we will have many lazy afternoons and evenings reading books together, as it is such a joy for me and warms my heart.

Since you were itty bitty, you have LOVED watching Baby Einstein videos. Even before you could sit up, I would prop you up in your Bumbo seat on the coffee table and you would sit for a good 15 minutes watching the videos, just cooing and enjoying the music and sounds. NOW, you squeal and bounce up and down as soon as I get out the video case and don’t stop your bouncing and excitement until you see the little Baby Einstein caterpillar on the screen. Then you become absolutely entranced and will sit in your highchair for the entire 30 minute show, which has saved me many days as it allows me to get a few things done while you are completely entertained! I am looking forward to you getting a little bit older and wanting to watch some more advanced Disney movies that I grew up on like Lion King, Bambi and Pinocchio.

Now that the weather is starting to cool down, you get to wear my favorite thing… footy pajamas!! You look absolutely adorable tootling around in them, and it makes me so excited for the fall weather. We had an extremely hot summer this year, and it is so nice to be able to sleep with the windows open, enjoy a warm cup of coffee in the morning, and snuggle up with you in the evenings. I just know that you are going to love the fall and winter holidays this year as much as your mama! I am so looking forward to you being able to enjoy some of the yummy Thanksgiving foods this year, and for you to be able to “help” open some of your Christmas presents on Christmas morning! We are beyond blessed to have such a precious baby to share our lives with, and I wouldn’t trade a single moment of it! We love you so dearly little munchkin!

Loving the watertable that Mimi & Poppa got you for your 1st birthday!

After bathtime, wrapped in your monogrammed towel from Mrs. Murray!

Eating some lunch while watching the Texas Tech game! Go Tech!

Outside of Gracie's in Weston after dinner with Mimi, Nana, Papaw, Aunt Chrissa, Uncle Noah and Cousin Elle!

Birthday Boy!

Happy 1st Birthday to the sweetest little boy on earth!!!

One year already!?!

I knew from the beginning of blogging that I probably wouldn’t be great at it, but since I haven’t made a single post since Grayer was 5 months old, I am disappointed in myself that I have not been more diligent! Alas, reading back over a couple of posts have given me motivation again! I desperately want to remember IT ALL and this is one of the only ways to do it!

For this first post back, I will just give some basic stats: (Warning! I think I got carried away and there are at least half a dozen paragraphs below!)

Grayer is 2 days away from TURNING ONE!!! I can’t believe how quickly this year has flown by, and I get emotional just thinking about my sweet little baby turning a year old. We had your first birthday party on Saturday, September 17th, and it was so much fun! It was an “Under the Sea” theme, and I had a blast planning for it. You had lots of friends over, and our tiny house was filled to the brim with people! You were a little scared when everyone showed up, and there were a few tears, but you did warm up to everyone and had fun playing with all the beach balls and balloons on the floor! You were a fan of all the “junk” at your party, and ate loads of goldfish and cookies :) You got a little frightened while opening gifts and eating your cake, but I think it’s just because you are going through a shy phase and don’t like all the attention on you :)

Here is who attended:

Family: Mimi, Poppa, Aunt Chrissa, Uncle Noah, Cousin Elle, Nana & Papaw, Aunt Susan, and Uncle Steve, Cousin Ashley, Josh and Cousin Colton, Granna, Papa, Aunt Krystal, Maw-Maw, Grandma Davis, Grandpa Davis
Friends: Emily Paul, Katie and Robert DiCicco, Libby, Chris, and Lilly Friday, Lisa Marie, Myles and Cameron McCormack, Jodi, Zach and Cooper Faqua

Grayer, here is what you’re up to at ONE YEAR:

You have been crawling since 8 ½ months, and started pulling up on furniture shortly after. You get around great and can pretty much get anywhere you want (including under the dining room table- one of your favorite places to throw your balls and chase after them). We are still waiting on you to take your first steps, which I am certain will be soon. You tend to be a little bit on the cautious side, and are not a daredevil when it comes to taking risks (I think this is why we haven’t seen any steps yet!), but you get around so quickly crawling that sometimes I am convinced you just think crawling is certainly faster than walking could ever be! It will be one exciting day when you decide to take that first step though!

You are ALL boy, and all of our family and friends that are used to being around Elle or have a little girl of their own think the way you go goo-goo over any balls, bats or drums is so funny! You could throw and chase balls around the house all day long and be completely content. I still haven’t figured out why we buy any other toys since those are pretty much all you want to play with. You are pretty good at swinging your bats, and your daddy thinks you are either going to be a baseball player or a drummer :)

You have just recently starting going through separation anxiety, and always want to be held. Sometimes you don’t even like to be left in a room alone. Usually I don’t mind though, because I know this phase will not last forever, and for now it means I get lots of snuggle time with you. When you are feeling timid, or hear something that scares you, you make this super funny face! You purse your lips together and form an “O” that I think surely must mean “Oh no mommy! Please save me!!!” So funny and so cute! I will remember this face forever :)

Ever since you were little you have LOVED the water, and still get so excited every night when it is bath time. Even though you splash everything and soak the bathroom, this has become a calming nightly routine of ours, and I think I look forward to bath time as much as you do. We turn on soft baby music and spend some time catching up on the day together, which I just love! You babble and splash and I can usually can get through a book or two before you try and grab it from me and throw it in the water. (Pic below 8 mos.)

You are an A-mazing eater! You are not picky in the slightest and will pretty much eat anything that is put in your mouth. For now, most meals consist of fruits such as strawberries, bananas, kiwi, blueberries, and usually some beans or corn for your veggie (you even like lima beans!!), but you’ve tried cheese, yogurt, sliced chicken, avocados, tomatoes, and french fries (I know, I know!). When you get a little fussy while we are out, or in the car, all we have to do is give you something to munch on and you are perfectly content! Your first birthday is right around the corner and soon you will be off the bottle completely (I am more than worried about how we are going to give this up though…) and will get to try a much larger variety of foods. I am hoping that you will continue to be such a good eater, because I know it will make my life easier :)

You are usually very obedient, and listen well when you are told not to do something. You do have a very sensitive side though, and will sometimes burst into tears at the very mention of the word “no” (even if we weren’t talking to you!). When you are told not to do something you stick your little lip out and your eyes immediately well up with tears… it usually just breaks my heart and I scoop you up and give you kisses, even if you have just thrown a fist full of food on the floor. You are just too cute to stay mad at!

You babble all the time, and it seems as though you are obsessed with your daddy, because you pretty much only say different variances of the word “da-da”. You can say hi and yeah, but not on demand yet :) You do say something that sounds like “maaaa maaaa”, but this pretty much only comes out when you are upset. I have a feeling that “ball” will be one of your next words. I look forward to you talking more and more!

You have started waving hi and bye-bye and can also give high-fives, which is so cute! I can’t believe how big you are getting, and how much more you are able to do now than even a couple of months ago. You are obsessed with your blankies and love to put them over your head and crawl around the house. You sometimes put your blankies on the floor and lay your head down on them for about 4 seconds, before it pops up again and you are off on another adventure!

Sweet baby boy, your daddy and I love you more than words can say! You have brought so much happiness and joy into our lives, and I can’t imagine spending a day without you! You have such a sweet personality and are such a happy baby, and we are beyond blessed to call you ours! Happy 1st Birthday Grayer Knox!