Monday, January 30, 2012

First Day of Preschool

Grayson went to his first day of pre-school today at Teddy Bear Junction! This school came highly recommend to us by our neighbors and we can see why - we simply love the staff and the school itself. He's in great hands and they will teach him so many new, exciting things! 


Coincidentally, they had donut day today for all ages and their parents. It was a perfect first day for both Grayson and me - a chance to meet the other parents and children and to transition to the "drop off". In fact, it worked so well that neither of us had a chance to cry in all of the activity! 
This was his facial expression the whole time walking in. He knew it was an exciting
day but wasn't sure what to make of it so all I got was a cautious grin. :)
Want to make this kid happy? Give him donuts! I'm telling you -
it couldn't have been a better morning. :) 
Mimi went with us since Beau had to catch a flight.
Thanks for taking pictures, Mimi!
My Mom and I went for a nice, quiet breakfast at Paradise and then I spent the day running errands that just aren't that easy with a child in tow. Like "running in" to the store for 3 items, going to the bank and going to the hospital billing office to request paperwork from my appendectomy. 


I also made a promise to myself that I would spend at least one hour in bed with my laptop. Just because I could. Although I was wired from my morning coffee and buzzing around the house cleaning, I forced myself to stop and get in bed. After all, I made a promise to myself. So I HAD to keep it. 


The school called to say that he's doing amazing and it's as though he's been going there forever and fits right in. Music to a mom's ears ;)


UPDATE: When I picked up Grayson at 2pm, Miss Henrietta and Miss Jenn just raved about how well he did all day. The best part: they said he fell asleep over his lunch and Miss Jenn caught him as he was falling out of his chair. :) They laid him on his nap mat and he was out for the rest of the lunch and nap time. I love this story!


My Mom went with me to pick him up and we took him for ice cream after. 
Like any kid, he is obsessed with ice cream.
Later, we went to my parents' house for dinner and my mom caught this on her camera. Do you see that?! No, not my high waisted jeans...THAT is a cuddle, my friends! It totally counts! Get the child tired enough and he starts to cuddle!


Sunday, January 29, 2012

Nautical Room Update

We are slowly making progress on the play room/future big boy room and I thought I'd post some pictures. It's all really exciting and I can't wait to see it completed! 

First, I blogged about the striped drapes here but am happy to report that they look even cooler now! Beau couldn't wait to make tie backs that kept with the nautical theme we have going...
He sketched his pattern on 2 blocks of wood...
went to work in my parents' garage one Sunday afternoon...
And had these puppies ready by dinner time.
Finished product - should we stain them? Probably.
The big picture - sorry for so much sun but you get the point.
I'm very pleased with the way the framed picture turned out!
As I mentioned before, this is Beau lifting up G to a lit up captain's wheel in Maine.
I'm still SO excited about this find!
We had a custom wall decal made in navy and we are very pleased with it against the khaki walls!
Difficult to put up but so happy with it overall.
I remembered thatI had this media center stored in the garage! We are going to re-purpose it as a dresser, which I'm STOKED about. This way, I get my piece of white Nantucket-ish furniture w/o having to convince Beau to buy it! :)
Obviously it needs to be centered between the decal and wall. 
On my To Do List is to find some great nautical-themed classics from Half Priced Books, like The Old Man and the Sea, The Odyssey, Moby Dick to name a few. I have a list of classics I'd like to stack on the dresser.
Toys were moved to the other wall. We have a couple of things
planned for this wall. More to come on that.
Last but not least, my one thing that has nothing to do with  the theme but I had to have it.
I even tried to keep it in the color scheme. Oh well.
Andrea was in town to go to the Design District this past week and we loved having her here for a whole WEEK! She and my mom came home with some fabric for a bolster pillow for Grayson's big boy bed! It's a great stripe that will tie in the red, navy and light blue. I can't wait to see the finished product. 
I really like the stripe at the top of the picture too! 
Getting back to the bed, we have a long way to go with this since Grayson is so not ready for a big bed at all! He flips and flops in his sleep like a fish out of water! I can't even imagine converting the crib into a toddler bed right now. More on that when it happens! For now, we have a really rockin' nautical play room!

Monday, January 23, 2012

Birthday Parties!

Our family has had a lot of fun with birthday parties this month so I thought I'd recap them all in one giant post! 


Dolan's 30th!
Oh, what a night! Jennifer, Dolan's girlfriend, planned a great evening out with dinner in the wine room at Steel (sushi) and then Cigars in the private loft at Havana down in Victory Park. I just get giddy about being back in my old 'hood! The food, wine, friends, all of it was just what we needed. The checking account disagrees b/c ohmygoodness what an expensive night but worth it for one of Beau's best friends! My parents kept Grayson over night, which is a good thing, b/c our car keys were locked up in valet overnight. :( This left us calling the W at about 1am to get a room. OF COURSE they hooked us up with a free upgrade to an awesome suite since we checked out 5 hours later to let the dogs out of their kennels (sigh). See what I mean, Oh, what a night! Hangover Part 3 ended with us climbing out of a cab in our driveway as the sun came up; me in last night's itty bitty dress and heels. Stay classy, Reynolds! ;) Jury's still out on whether any neighbors saw us. 
This was just for the 2 of us! Beau and I get so out of control
with sushi...but doesn't it look delicious?!
McCrea feeding Beau....
Sarah, McCrea and me at the cigar bar. We had so much fun!
Jen (center) put together the perfect party for the impossible-to-please,
Mr. Justin Dolan ;)
McCrea's Cowboy and Indians Party
We had a babysitter come over the following night to watch Grayson while we headed BACK down to Dallas to get our car out of valet and mainly for McCrea's themed birthday party. We were very tired from watching Grayson all day after such a late night so we didn't get to stay too long but it was pretty fabulous seeing everyone dressed up! No pictures but we have plenty with him from the night before - that totally counts. :)


Cole's 3rd at Pump It Up
When did Cole grow up? Sheesh! This past Saturday morning, we went to Pump It Up for Cole's party. It was our first time to this place - it's a whole building full of inflatable slides, bounce houses and mazes. Too fun! Grayson wanted nothing to do with me at this party so I looked like the absent mom sitting on the sidelines drinking my coffee (it was fabulous!). Beau was great with him - taking him on all the fun things. Hopefully Grayson will enjoy it a bit more when he's older. ;) No pictures from the actual jumping b/c they would just be a blurry mess anyway.
Stole this from Annie - Cole is on the far right in the stripes;
Grayson is in the red shirt. They're growing up! 
G loved his cheetos during the snacks & cake portion of the party!
Emmie's 2nd at The Little Gym
Emmie's birthday was the same day but after G's mid-day nap - perfect timing! The Little Gym was another super fun place that we hadn't been to yet. Gymnastics for the itty bitty kids - so much fun! Once again, it was All-daddy/All-the-time for Grayson so I got to sit back and chat with friends. Okay that's not entirely true...I noticed a couple of times I was completely engrossed in the activities and my child and Beau were nowhere to be found. I danced, sang, answered all the instructor's questions, and played with balls and the giant parachute! 
The balance beam!
Low bar with Jett (who LOVED Beau, btw!)
Emmie's beautiful cake!
Grayson sat next to Emmie!
It appears that Grayson was eating from his fork like the other 20 kids.
(In reality, he was the only child stuffing his face with his hands looking
like an animal!)

Our new gift wrap. I had fun wrapping and re-wrapping (thanks
to Grayson) these gifts!
Last but certainly not least, my sister Andrea arrived in town last night and we celebrated her birthday (Jan 19th) with a fabulous dinner at my parents' house. They made something French-ish that I can't even pronounce and our grandmother joined us for the feast. No pictures but Andrea is in town for the WHOLE WEEK so no doubt we'll have some adventures caught on camera. 

Happy birthday everyone!!

Sunday, January 15, 2012

An average evening with Mimi and Pop

Grayson and I go over to my parents' house several times a week for dinner while Beau is out of town.  Simply put, we are beyond blessed to have them so close by. They are my sanity, my calm, my humor, my adult conversation during the week when it's just G and me. I don't know what I'd do without them! 


I followed the 3 of them around the house the other night with my iphone camera in hand and snapped away. Grayson is a happy kid but nothing compares to his delight when he is over at their house! They always have adventures whether it's cooking dinner, feeding the ducks on the golf course or, as I recently learned, turning off the lights and playing with flash lights!
Watching the ducks while playing with his tongs
Patiently awaiting Pop's next cooking project
What's taking him so long, Mimi?
Making homemade french fries!
Bath time!

Wrestling with Pop - right before he put his foot on Pop's throat. :D 
Brushing his teeth is still fun 
Same teeth, different toothbrush 
I had no idea they do this! Everyone climbs in bed, lights off
and they play with flash lights. He LOVES this!
We usually do bath and PJ time at home for the sake of his routine but this was an especially fun night when we wanted to stay longer at their house. Thank you Mimi and Pop for being so good to us! You make the days that Beau is away much more bearable!

Tuesday, January 10, 2012

Resemblance? or Resemblance!

Back in the day (2009), Beau's Mom gave us these pictures from Beau's childhood to use in the slideshow at our rehearsal dinner. I love these pictures even more now since Beau and I created someone that looks just like him. 

For Christmas this year, Beau's Mom gave Grayson the cutest striped overalls that look just like the ones Beau used to have! I had to snap some photos to see if there is a resemblance like I thought there would be....

They're still a little big so the strap came undone...


I don't think he looks as much like Beau in these pictures as I have always thought he does?! We still always hear that he's a Little Beau and I know that he looks just like him but I expected to see a mirror image in these pictures but just don't see it. It doesn't help that Grayson's hair is a mess. Here are some other comparison pics - you be the judge...
Ahhh, Beau fell asleep in his spaghetti... :)
They look identical while sleeping, I think!
Baby Beauby
Baby Grayson
Aagghh, Baby Stacey makes an appearance!
There's a resemblance, people! He's a Little Stacey!
I hope all my babies look like Beau Reynolds! And since he swears we're having enough kids for our own baseball team, we should have plenty of opportunities to have Little Beaus running around :)

Monday, January 9, 2012

Our Weekend

We had a pretty eventful weekend. Nothing life-changing but pretty entertaining ;) 


Friday - My friend/former Account Executive was in town from Houston to see friends and wanted to spend the day with me and see Grayson. I felt SO cool that she set aside an entire day for her "Housewife Friend" - ha! ;) Ashley is mid-20s, uber-fabulous and you can always guarantee a fantastic time with her! Beau watched G while I drove down to Dallas to pick her up. After an adventurous drive around the metroplex with a Pomeranian (long story), we landed on the Breadwinners patio with a glass of wine for lunch. Gorgeous 71 degree, sunny weather - I miss patio time with her! We used to do it on a regular basis after work and pre-Grayson. I took her back to our house to visit with Grayson and then we headed to Razor, our old agency to visit with our co-workers from back in the day. I just LOVED seeing everyone and being back there. I miss the (good) memories of that place!
This is a Pomeranian, right? He only drew blood
on one person, which is apparently a successful day.
Friday night Beau, Grayson and I went to Lori's house for a wine night with EZ, another former Razor-ite. Beau and Allan kept the babies in the other room so that we could chat :D LOVED talking with them and only wish I could have stayed longer. Mother-duty calls though. 


Saturday and Sunday were full of running errands for the DIY drapes in the nautical room and I'm happy to report that they are complete! Only after a LOT of problem solving, many trips to various stores, 2 sewing machines for the NO SEW curtains (sigh) and 1 toddler PEEING on them! I WISH I had video. Or pictures. But alas, nothing. There was too much activity to capture it all.  


I have so much "been there, done that" advice to give regarding this project but no energy right now. I plan to document the steps (and I have much better pictures than these) just in case anyone is thinking about doing striped drapes. Creating stripes isn't your typical DIY curtains so I want to share b/c hind sight is always 20/20 and it could have been so much easier! That will happen some day that isn't today. :) In the meantime...
Shopping for material on Sat. left us empty-handed;
ALL stripes we found were too skinny and vertical
instead of horizontal like I wanted. 
The easiest and cheapest part: shopping for the rope tie-backs.
Beau talked me out of white so that it would look
more realistic. Whatevs.
Beau ended up doing 98% of the work! I really
didn't expect that to happen but glad it did b/c
they would have gone in the trash if it was up to me.
My 91 y.o. grandmother's sewing machine.
Beau reading "The Woman's Guide to Everything Sewing"
was HILARIOUS. ;)
Our new sewing machine when we realized the
60 year old machine wasn't going to work.
Complete! An iPhone picture but a sneak peak nonetheless.
Better pics to come. 
Look at those cheeks! It looks like lipstick but after
a quick inquiry determined that it was either
chapped cheeks from the cold weather (he played in the backyard
ALL day) or a food allergy from raspberries. Time will tell.
Buddies hangin' out while we made dinner.
Salmon and asparagus - Grayson can not get
enough of this dish - hope that lasts. :)