And one to make you smile :)

Grayson and his girlfriends at Whitney's 2nd birthday party this past weekend.  :)

This Momma is tired!

Well, we are 15 weeks pregnant today! I am more relieved with each passing week that things are going well, and I can't wait for the next 24 weeks to pass! :) I am starting to feel Baby B move more and more consistently, although sometimes it's stronger than others. Last night, I was snuggling with Grayson, and I guess Baby B got jealous...he/shewas really kicking around in there!

Speaking of Grayson, it's been a rough couple of days. :( He has 2 front teeth that have broken through (for a total of 8 teeth!), and they have really really been hurting him. Last night was the worst yet. He fell asleep in my arms out of pure exhaustion, so I put him in his crib. He woke up about 30 minutes later and didn't stop crying for almost 2 hours. He would fall asleep in our arms, but then wake up crying again. It was so hard to watch him cry out in pain. :( Finally, after a dose of ibruprofen, a good snuggle, and probably just because he was sooooo tired, he fell asleep and didn't wake up until almost 7:00 this morning. Poor baby. But, in typical Grayson fashion, he was all smiles as soon as we walked in his bedroom...and he was already causing trouble when I dropped him off at school!  And, thankfully, he did MUCH better tonight.  He fell right to sleep!

Work has been pretty tough lately. I hate hate hate having to be the bad guy, and I feel like that's all I've had to be in the past several weeks. Thankfully, things usually get better after a couple phone calls or emails...where I have to put my foot down. :)

The Tour of Homes seemed to go well. We should get some feedback later this week from the realtors who came by. Hopefully it will be good feedback!

I guess that's about it around here. It seems like nothing exciting is happening, but there's a ton going on at the same time. As always, thanks for checking in on us! We love you all!

Random Monday thoughts

We had a great weekend...a much needed couple of days to spend together!

On Saturday, Ally came and spent the night with us. I had a baby shower to go to that afternoon for my sweet friend, Mindy, and it was so much fun! Hudson will be born sometime in September...he is definitely one loved little boy already! After the shower, we headed to Whitney's 2nd birthday party. I can't believe she is 2 already...I remember the day she was born and getting to love on her in the hospital. Now she's a beautiful little girl, and so precious. We went swimming, ate pizza and cake, and just had so much fun! Grayson even met some older girls. :)

Sunday, Ally and I went to lunch, and then to Yogurt Mountain for dessert. I love getting to spend time just me and her. She is my mini-me, my special friend, and one of my favorite people. I sure do love her! So, all-in-all, it was a wonderful weekend!

Some other randomness:
I have started feeling Baby B move pretty consistently...I forgot how much I love feeling a baby kick and squirm inside me. I remember feeling such a special bond to Grayson: learning what foods would make him kick more, when he slept, and how I could tease him and push back. :) I can't wait to learn all those things with this little one!

Our house is on the Crye-Leike Tour of Homes tomorrow. Basically, a bunch of realtors will come by, look at our house, hopefully fall in love with it, and bring back their clients to look at it. For some reason, I am freaking out about this showing more than any other we have had! I feel like there's so much I need to do to the house to get it in tip-top shape before tomorrow morning.

Jarrett is home from the hospital, and seems to be doing well. I got to see him on Saturday morning, and he was so happy and smiley. Gosh, I love that kid. I am hoping that he will continue to feel better so I can spend some quality time spoiling him! :)

David has been amazing these past couple weeks, as always. Between cooking dinner, straightening the house, lovin' on Grayson, and constantly being on the go, he has been one busy guy! I am so so so so blessed to have him as my husband...and I sure do need to tell him that more often.

Grayson is loving school. We have had to work with him a little bit on not stealing other kids' food...what can I say, the kid likes to eat...but his teachers say he is doing much better. He loves the ball room (he goes there when its too hot to go outside and play on the playground). He also loves his teachers! Today, when I dropped him off, he was all cuddled up with Ms. Dana, just giving her hugs and kisses. It made me happy, and it made having him in daycare seem a little easier. He fell down last week and busted his lip, but he's a trooper and it didn't even phase him. What a tough little guy! :)

I guess that's about it around here. We are finalizing his birthday party stuff, and just in awe that it's almost here. I'm sure I'll be a blubbery mess that day. :) As always, thanks for checking in on us. We love you all!
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

11 months old!!

Grayson is 11 months old today!  

Grayson is quite the eater!  He eats 4-5 bottles a day, plus breakfast, lunch, and 2 snacks.  He moved up into a bigger class at his daycare, so he now eats the school lunch and afternoon snack each day.  He loves it!  All the little kiddos sit at the table together, and he just adores eating with his friends.  :)  He eats such a variety of foods that he doesn't really have favorites anymore.  In fact, there really isn't a food he doesn't like!

He wakes up around 6:30am every day, takes one nap at school from 11:00am to 1:00pm, and then goes to bed around 7:30pm each night.  He is SUCH a good sleeper, sleeping the entire night.  Once he wakes up in the morning, he just hangs out in his crib until Mommy or Daddy gets him.  He definitely loves being in bed, just like his Mommy.

He wears size 4 diapers, 12-18 month clothes, size 4 or 5 shoes (depending on the brand), and a toddler size hat for his big head.  :)  When we went to the doctor a few weeks ago, he weighed almost 28lbs and was just under 30 inches long.  (He is almost the same size as some of the 2 year olds in his class at school!)

He loves to play games.  He dances, plays peek-a-boo (he hides behind the curtain and then pops out with a big smiled on his face), clap his hands, and make noises with his mouth.  His favorite toys aren't really even toys at all: he loves climbing in baskets, playing with the padding for the fireplace, and banging his pots and pans.  He also really likes to play with his laptop, and the fireplace that he can bang.

He takes a few steps here and there, but still prefers to crawl everywhere because he gets there so much faster.  He loves to open and close doors, and cracks up when he closes himself in the room.  In fact, his favorite thing to do every morning when Mommy is getting ready is to close her in the bathroom and then crack up when Mommy swings the door open.  :)  He also thinks it's fun to open the door to where the washer and dryer are and bang on the dryer.

He loves to go go go...any where and everywhere.  He loves to people-watch and smile at all the people that come up to talk to him.  And, he always waves and says, "Bye!" whenever they leave.

He can make lots of sounds, but we aren't sure if he uses them as functional words yet, or not.  He says: dada, baba, papa, bobo, yaya, byebye, yiyi, and aaaaaaaaa.  :)

Have I mentioned how much he loves his Daddy?  He is most certainly a Daddy's boy:

He is certainly not our baby anymore, and is becoming more of a little boy every day.  We have loved getting to watch him solve problems and figure things out all on his own.  He is so curious and determined....as frustrating as it can be to chase after him sometimes, it's great to watch him become more independent!!

We are right in the midst of planning his first birthday party--it's hard to believe he will be one year old in a month!  It really does seem like just last month that we were bringing him home from the hospital, and here he is starting to walk and talk.  I know every mom says it, but it is all happening way to fast!  We know that he is going to be an AMAZING big brother in just a few months!

Thank you for checking in on our little family.  We love you all!!

Another update...

Grayson took his first steps yesterday!  We were sitting on the living room floor playing, when he stood up, and walked towards me!  :)  I cried.  What a big boy!  I have tried to get a picture/video of him several times since then, but the little stinker always moves or falls on purpose.  I will keep trying, though!

In other news.....

Pregnancy Highlights

(not the best pic...sorry!)

How Far Along: 13 weeks (and 3 days)!

Total Weight Gain/Loss: I have lost 4lbs....not surprising, considering I have been miserably sick since practically the day I took the pregnancy test.

Best Moment this week: Getting to hear Baby B's heartbeat at the doctor appointment on Friday

Gender: Don't know yet!  But, we will (hopefully) find out on August 10.

Movement: Nothing yet...hopefully in the next couple weeks.

Food Craving: It really varies from day to day.  Some days, I have my heart set on something all day, and then I get it in front of me, and I lose my appetite completely.  I have been eating a lot of salads, a lot of fruit, and tomotoes (which I have never ever liked)

What I miss: Sleep!  I have not been able to get a good nights sleep lately.  And, being able to put on whatever clothes I want in the morning.  Nothing is really fitting comfortably anymore.

Maternity clothes: Not yet.  I'm in that weird in-between stage where my clothes are too small, but maternity clothes are too big.

Sleep: Eh.  

What I am looking forward to: feeling some movement andmy next doctor appointment,

Belly Button: Same ole, same ole

Symptoms: nausea, going to the bathroom all the time, exhaustion

Now that the second trimester is here, I am hoping I get more energy, and, of course, feel sick less often.  For now, we are just taking the pregnancy one day at a time, and continuing to pray that our precious gift from God will continue to grow big, strong, and heathy!

As always, thanks for checking in on us!  We love you all!

What a weekend!

We had a great weekend with this silly boy:

On Friday, we travelled to Nashville to celebrate Karen's birthday, and to spend some time with David's family.  It was so nice to be able to relax for the weekend!  We were also able to visit with the Walker family, which was sooooooo much fun.  The girls, Bonney and Mai Golden, were so excited to play with Grayson (and I had a lot of fun playing with them and their toys, too).  :)  Grayson did great on the trip--he slept in on Saturday  morning, which was wonderful.  And, he sure did fall in love with his Uncle Adam.  The two of them had so much fun together! 

On Sunday, we headed a little north of Nashville to pick up Ally.  She had spent the week with her grandma in Ohio, and David had the idea to meet them so they wouldn't have to make the rest of the trip to Mississippi.  It was great having Ally travel back with us--she is so much fun!  She spent the night with us Sunday night, and then on Monday....

We went to a 4th of July pool party at the Woodall's!  

Grayson definitely got into the holiday spirit!  :)

Overall, it was a fun weekend.  Unfortunately, weekends like these make it extra hard to go back to work!  Grayson and I didn't want to get out of bed this morning AT ALL. 

Before I go, I have to share a funny story.  Whenever Ally stays with us, she likes to go up and get Grayson in the mornings (and Grayson just ADORES seeing her first thing in the morning).  Anyway, on Monday morning, Ally went in to get him, then came running to me and said, "Uh, Aunt Esther.....he has poop all over the bed, and it's all over him, too!"  Oh my goodness, did he ever!!!  I walked into the room and it was COVERED...it was on the wall, on his sheets, on his toys, on his crib, on the floor, and all over him!!  (I'll let you draw conclusions about where else it was since it was all over his hands and face...and pacifier....)
I have never seen anything like it!  And, the little stinker just looked at me with a smile on his face.  :)

Don't worry...we immediately gave him a bath, and, as David said, "He's not the first kid to play with his poop." 

We hope you all had a blessed 4th of July with your family and friends.  Thanks for checking in on us!  We love you all!