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.

SAHM

The Davis family has news!

As of the end of August, I will be staying home full time with Grayer, yay! Although the initial news of this was somewhat unexpected, we are taking it all in stride, knowing full well that the Lord will provide. While this means we will have to tighten our belts and watch our expenses, Justin and I both know that what we are gaining far outweighs what we are giving up. While I have been longing for this day since I saw those adorably chubby cheeks for the first time, and can’t wait to spend every waking moment with my sweet little, I would be lying if I said there wasn’t a small part of me that has some anxiety about my new role and what it will look like. While a lot of people think being a SAHM (apparently there is “lingo” that I was completely unaware of until my sister informed me this is the abbreviation for stay at home mom, ha!) is all rainbows and butterflies, I know from being at home “part time” and from lengthy discussions with many friends that stay at home that it can be very, very, challenging and is completely life changing. While there was always immense sadness when we had to decline a play date, or other fun mommy-and-me activities with friends because it was taking place on a Monday-Wednesday and I had to work, there is a certain level of freedom that comes from being able to go to work and allow someone else to wrestle with the two year old tantrums that go along with having a toddler. With that said, I am so ready and feel so, so blessed to be able to take on this new role, exploring all the in’s and out’s of being a full time mommy to my Gray. I am excited to be the one who wipes every tear, hears every laugh, and even changes every diaper :) I can’t wait to see what the future holds for our family!

With this shift, comes another change as well…Grayer will no longer get to see his sweet Granna every Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, and I know that he will greatly miss this special time with her. I am so very thankful for my amazing MIL who over the past year and half has loved Grayer with a tender heart, passionately taught him about the world around him, and prayerfully lifted him up. THANK YOU from the very bottom of my heart for loving my baby like no other.

The beach and a toddler

Grayer turned 21 months while we were on our trip to Destin, FL this year. Technically, this was our family’s third year to spend a week at the Sandestin Golf and Beach Resort, since I was 27 weeks pregnant with Grayer on our first trip in 2010 (our babymoon!). We have absolutely fallen in love with this place, and hope to go back for many, many more years. The resort is the perfect balance of kid friendly and adult, and it fits us to a “t”. They have a fun, beach type entrance pool that Grayer loved. He did really well swimming with his puddle jumper on, and got pretty good at paddling around towards the end of our trip. Now that we are home, he lays on his tummy, kicks his legs, and “swims” in the bath tub, ha! He wasn’t a huge fan of the sand in-between his toes on the first day at the beach, but he warmed up to it, and loved going into the ocean with his daddy. We had such a great time, and even after a full week away, weren’t ready to come home. Already looking forward to another trip!

Here are a few pictures!

Gray, here is what you are up to at 21 months!

You are obsessed with cars, trucks, airplanes, fire trucks, school buses, motorcycles, and really, anything that makes a lot of noise! You get so excited to see any of those things, and the delight in your eyes is priceless. You saw LOTS of airplanes while we were at the beach, and you would stop what you were doing every time and shout at them, hopeful they would notice you. So cute!

Your love for stairs is still unwavering. You want to go up and down over and over, and now that you are a little taller, if there is a rail, you can go up and down all on your own. This makes you feel very proud, and it’s not uncommon to see you give a clap or two when you make it to the top or bottom :)

You are becoming much more independent and are very comfortable around almost anyone. When I take you to the play ground (mostly the indoor ones now that it’s 200 degrees outside) you socialize well with the other kids, and try to mimic what the big kids are doing. You haven’t been crying at all when we drop you off at Sunday School or other activities, and always seem to be having a great time when we come to pick you up. When we ask the teachers how you did, they always seem to have sometime funny to tell us, like you were trying to eat all the bubbles, or you wanted to give everyone in your class hugs.



Puzzles, books and cars are your favorite toys at the moment. You got a new “vehicles” puzzle in Florida, and love to put all the pieces in the right spots and make all the noises of the cars and buses. You love to “read” and usually when you’re in your room being quiet and I wonder why the house is silent, I find you sitting in your little red chair looking at books. You are also getting really good at matching the colors and shapes in your shape sorter.

You are still a fantastic sleeper! You are down to one nap in the afternoon now (our plan before our Florida trip) and usually go down between 12-1, but are very flexible with the timing. You sleep anywhere from 2-3.5 hours, and always go down easily and almost always wake up happy. You are staying up a little bit later and on some nights don’t go down until close to 8:30.



We got you a potty seat a few weeks ago, and you love to sit on it and have books read to you. You went pee-pee on your potty seat for the first time at 20 months (see pic below!), but I think it was kind of a fluke. You had just gotten out of the bath and were running around naked before getting your lotion on. You were jumping on your chair, and I looked over and you were peeing!! I took you immediately to the potty, and we read a book and you let out the rest of your pee-pee. You haven’t gone on your chair potty again, but we will keep trying. As a boy, I think you’ve got nothing but time, but it doesn’t hurt to introduce you to the potty early :)

You love to dance, and any time you hear music, you’ve got to get up and bust a move. You jump around and wave your arms all around. Precious! You also love to give high-fives, and “knuckles” to anyone who asks.



You are getting better at sitting through a meal at a restaurant, and did GREAT at all the places we went in Destin. We were thrilled with how well you sat and how well you ate new foods that you’d never tried before. We very much enjoy dining out, so here’s to hoping this just gets better and better!



You have such a sweet personality, and are very gentle and kind to others. You share very well for an almost 2 year old, and almost never take something away from another kiddo. You love animals, and are very sweet with them most of the time. You are a happy toddler, and love to give hugs and kisses to anyone and everyone. It has been so exciting and such a blessing to see your personality expand and become so unique to you alone. You make your daddy and I so very happy, and we are thankful each moment we get to be your parents. We love you sweet-tart!

18 Months!

Grayer here is what you are up to at 18 months:

You had your VERY FIRST haircut on April 6th. You did awesome! We went to see Granna’s hair lady, Barbara, and you sat in my lap while she cut your hair (and she gave you a sucker, which you loved!). Your hair had gotten a little unruly, but you had the cutest little curls in the back, so mommy was quite sad to see them go, but it was time. Everyone loves your “new do” and comments on how much older you look now. Your daddy and I are hoping that your sweet curls aren’t gone forever though.


You had your 18 month appointment with Dr. McClard last week and she couldn’t get over what a great patient you were! You sat so still and were just smiling from ear to ear while she looked you over. Everything checked out great! You weighted 24.11 lbs (30%), were 33.25” tall (75%), and your head was 18” (5%), which is how you’ve always been…tall and skinny with a small head, haha! You had your last 2 shots until you are 4 (I can’t even begin to think about that!!), and only cried for a minute. So thankful that you are such a healthy kiddo!

You went to your very first Easter egg hunt this weekend, while on a trip to Hideaway lake to see your Nana & Papaw for Easter. You were much more interested in the slide, and couldn’t have cared less about the eggs. We did a smaller egg hunt in the front yard at Nana & Papaw’s on Sunday afternoon though, and you were adorable picking up each egg with care and placing them in your basket. You wanted to share all your eggs with Elle, and didn’t seem to mind when Colton took a few too, ha! Just wish you would have let us take some family pictures of the event, but nope, not a single one! : (

Your favorite thing to do right now is to slide! You want to go over and over and over, and sometimes will start whining before you even reach the bottom on the slide, because you are angry that the ride is almost over. So we go again and again :) Climbing up the stairs and going down the slide is all you are interested in at the park, so we usually never even make it to the swings or other attractions.

You love to climb, and are happiest when you are going up and down the stairs on our back deck. You are getting pretty stable at going up and down, but have very little fear of falling, so we have to pay extra attention anytime you are near the steps, just in case you take a tumble. You also like to climb all over the couch, and the chair in your room, and have started climbing up with outside of your bed as well. Luckily, you don’t seem interested in climbing out of your bed (…yet!).

Your laugh is so funny! You have started to mimic people when they are laughing and it comes out as this deep “hah ha!”… it is precious, and makes us giggle every time you do it! You are a happy toddler, and do a pretty good job at sharing with your friends, but there are definitely times when you have your fits over a toy or wanting something your way. We are working on how to handle these situations, because we know they are probably not going anywhere any time soon…


You seem to have out-grown your love for Baby Einstein, and have moved on to real movies. Your new favorite is Despicable Me, which has a few things that I’m not fond of, but overall is a pretty cute movie. I’m still waiting for you to want to watch the Disney Classics, but so far you have no interest in Bambi or The Lion King. We do limit your tv time during the day because I think you would watch it all day long if we’ve let you.

You are eating really well, and are willing to try most of the things we offer. Some things you like and some you don’t, but at least you give everything a fair chance. I am hoping that within the next few weeks, you will be solely eating what your dad and I are eating, but for now we don’t mind making you a few sides of your own. Right now you like: chicken, avocado, pineapple, cheese, black beans, oatmeal, eggs, pancakes, bananas, yogurt, macaroni and cheese, rice, tamales, French fries, and any kind of dessert :) You don’t care for: broccoli, spaghetti, ham, pinto beans, or toast.

You are still jabbering all the time, and are starting to repeat things back to us, but your word list is still quite small. Your daily use words are: mama, uh-oh, dog, ball, toe, bubble, uh huh (yes), uh uh (no). Your sometimes words are : papa, up, clock, bird, plane, nana, Hogan, cat, and da-da (this was your first word, but it’s disappeared recently).


You went to the driving range with your daddy recently and were so cute swinging your golf club around and hitting the balls. You were in heaven! I was afraid that you would be loud and disturb the other golfers (who were surely there to enjoy some peace and quiet!!), but you did great and were surprisingly quiet! You loved watching your daddy swing and hit the ball, and enjoyed some “golfing” of your own, as well as some fun running around on the grass. We’ve decided that this should become a regular family outing for us, as we all had a wonderful time.

You are a great sleeper, and almost never put up a fight at naptime or bedtime. Usually after your bath, brushing your teeth, books and a song, you stretch towards your bed to be put in, because you are ready to snuggle with your blankies (you still have 2- a blue one and a green one) and go to sleep. You are waking up around 7-7:30 in the morning, and are going down around 7:30-8. You are still on 2 naps, but sometimes only “rest” for your afternoon nap.

Balls are still your favorite toy, and you are getting so good at making baskets with your basketball goal that Granna & Papa got you for Christmas. You also love to play with your kitchen and grill, and are so cute bringing everyone coffee and stirring in the creamer. You also have recently started playing with your cars and love setting up the tracks and pushing the cars down the ramps. You have a crazy love for books, and will sit for 5-10 minutes (an eternity in toddler time!) reading to yourself in your room. You also love to crawl up in my lap with a book so that we can read together, so sweet!

We love you sweet-tart! Happy 18 months!

Amarillo by morning!

I love traditions! And one my favorites is the girls weekend tradition where some of my college roommates and I meet up to catch up. Since we graduated, Chrissa, Jen (Jutte) Stanhope, Jen (Leonhart) Silhan and I have made it a point to have a girls weekend every year or two. This allows us to catch up on the parts of life that we miss by living several hundred miles apart. Our meet ups don’t always promise an extravagant hotel stay or a day of bliss at the spa, but they always ensure a fabulous, non-stop gab fest that always leaves me feeling rejuvenated and beyond blessed to have such wonderful women in my life! Love you girls!

We're baaaack!

Yep, happy bath time is back!! Somehow his daddy got him to sit on his bum and he loved splashing around and playing with all his bath toys again! We’ve had wonderful, fun, WET baths  ever since. Thank you Lord! J

compass needed

A few days ago, a friend posted a picture of her 17 mos old laying on the floor, face down, with arms above her head. The caption read “My 17 month old is so talented, she can throw a fit like a 2 year old!”. I thought this post was funny, and chuckled to myself, as this is our life right now too. It seems like overnight, my cooperative toddler suddenly has an opinion.  And when he wants something, he lets you know. His two obsessions these days… baby einstein and toothbrushes! When he sees the remote in our room, he starts pointing at the tv and whining until you turn it on. If you don’t, he will have a meltdown. When you go into the bathroom, he follows you, and willl point at the cabinet and whine until you give him a toothbrush. If you don’t, he will have a meltdown. You get the picture. In the two short weeks that this has been happening, I already find myself in a panic sometimes. As the mother of a baby, sure, there are lots of things to worry over, like  “Is he getting enough milk?”, “Will his belly button ever fall off?”, “Is he getting enough tummy time?”, “Will he ever sleep through the night?”, but when the toddler stage suddenly has the word DISCIPLINE ringing in my ears, it feels like I have stepped into a whole other arena. I desperately want to do discipline “right”, but I know that this is a tall order. So for now, I am thankful for those mommies who have gone through the trenches before me, and share their wisdom and knowledge with honesty and love. And for the Christ loving authors who pen books for first time moms like me to read.

So, these days you may find my toddler watching baby einstein while chewing on a toothbrush… or you may not ! ; )