My Baby's Blues

Of course I would have my baby in mismatched clothing when Beau decided to grab the camera yesterday while Grayson was crawling around! Beau was just really playing with the camera but I can't not post this cutie patootie...look at these eye balls!!


But first, look at that hair! When it's fixed (i.e. swept to the side), it's total business in the front/party in the back!

 Let's all say it together..."I have a BLUE-EYED BABY!" Who would've thought with my dominant brownies?!

So maybe this doesn't make sense in a blue eye blog post but pretty adorable nonetheless...

His neck roles impress me.

Next up: Pictures where I actually put forth some effort with his attire :)

Dual Purpose Lovie

One of the coolest things about having this little guy around is seeing his personality take shape. So far most of what he does is typical baby behavior (like being enamored with everything he isn't supposed to touch) but this is pretty cute....he always falls asleep with his little lovie blanket over his face. :) It's the cutest thing.


He is really good at going to sleep on his own. It's the same routine for both night time and naps: we simply put him in his crib with his pacifier and lovie blanket and he can put himself to sleep.  I watch the monitor as he rolls back and forth once or twice. Without fail, he then puts his lovie over his face and flails his arms like it's attacking him - ha! Don't worry - it's light and small enough that he can breathe just fine. We still remove it once he has calmed himself and fallen asleep. 


Maybe he needs a little black-out mask for babies!

Grayson is 7 months!

Happy 7 months old, Baby Grayson! We have lots of new developments - I'm sure I've missed some but here are most of them:

• Grayson is crawling! I've blogged about this but he gets better at it every day. Even on the hardwoods, which are pretty slippery.
• He is sitting up on his own! Finally.
• Can pull up to his knees
• In the nursery, we had to remove his mobile and we are mounting the camera from the monitor since he can pull up and his sole mission in his crib is to pull them down.
• Loving a thrill now more than ever - pretend falling in our arms, doing the wheelbarrow off the sofa, hanging upside down - I'm really seeing the crazy boy I'm going to have when he's mobile. Do I still really want to have ALL boys?!
• Loves dancing in your arms. BIG SMILES. Especially during fast turns and the dip ;-)
• Making raspberry sounds morning, noon and night! It's so cute! He is so content and doesn't even want to catch his breath between them...and just smiles while he does it. Adorbs.
• LOVES Brinkley! (see videos below)
• New foods: oatmeal, apples, pears, carrots. Next up - meats. Gross. I'm in no hurry to introduce these Pureed meat - mmmmm. :/
• Wearing 12 month clothes. Need to go to 18 months on the footed PJs
• Officially in size 4 diapers
• Regularly says DaDaDaDaDa but still doesn't realize what it means. However, Beau puffs up with pride EVERY. TIME. [rolling my eyes!]
• We have a routine! Like clockwork - sleeping 7:30pm to 7:30am, 3 naps a day, Happy Baby -  HAPPY MAMA! Now that it's set, it will no doubt change with teething
• We have graduated from the Hand Harmonica and are now interested in teething on your chin. And it hurts! But alas, still EVERYTHING goes in the mouth. Shoes, the dogs, furniture, restaurant tables...
• ALL about the pacifier. It calms him almost every time and at this rate, he can keep it until he's 18 if it still works. I no longer judge when I see 4 year olds with a pacifier in their mouth.
• We are so blessed that he is just so happy. We get stopped in public just about everywhere we go with people telling us how HAPPY he is. He smiles so big at everyone and I love every minute of it :)

Weight: 20lbs, 2oz (75%)
Height: 28.5 inches (80%)
Head: 18 inches (80%)


Here are a couple of videos we took last night that just show him loving on Brinkley, saying some Dadas and how much this little boy looks just like hid Dada ;-)





He's standing flat-footed lately. I don't know if that means anything but he has been all about the tippy-toes until the past couple of days...

Beau Knows....Me?!

Beau knows me so well. Like really well. Just when I think he doesn't at all, he totally surprises me. I've mentioned tons before that I follow this blog.....well, they just bought a new fixer-upper home and I LOVE the color they painted their master bedroom/bathroom. I like it. A. LOT (in my best Jim Carey/Dumb and Dumber voice)....so I casually showed Beau the before and after pictures:


Me: "Beau, you know that blog I follow, the one with the Do-It-Yourself couple...look at what they did with their walls...."
Beau: "It's beautiful. We're not re-painting our bathroom."
Me: "Huh? But I didn't say anything about the bathroom..." [but I was thinking it]
Beau: "We're not painting the bedroom either."
[Damn]


Here is the post in case you are curious and if I find out that anyone does this, I'm never talking to you again... ;-)


But seriously, isn't this blue sort of my color?! If Stacey were a color she would be this shade of blue with white crown molding! ;-)

Grayson's Baptism

Grayson was baptized on Sunday, January 9th - the same day of the beautiful snowfall I blogged about earlier this week. :) And what a beautiful day it was! Annie and Nick Seeman are Grayson's Godparents and we can't think of two better people to set a great example for him. We had a lunch afterward at my parents' house for the family that attended the Baptism - about 15 people. It meant the world to us that they were there for such an important moment in our lives. The snow was pretty intimidating (HUGE snowflakes I tell you!!) so it was really special to see everyone.

 The Cupcakery created the crosses to look like the one on the invitation - so pretty!

 Four generations - we loved having Ma here for Grayson's Baptism!

Dave Ramsey in my ear

My Mom and I have listened to Dave Ramsey for years, have traveled to see him speak and have even watched as our friends and family have adopted the Dave Ramsey mentality - getting themselves out of debt and saving for their future. If you haven't heard me talk about Dave Ramsey or don't know about him or his message, take the time to check him out and his own personal story here - SO interesting.

We have some close friends who recently paid off a new car in record timing and are still on track to be debt free in an unthinkable timeframe. And when I say debt free, I mean EVERYTHING. Student loans, cars, credit cards and NO MORTGAGE. That's right - we are SO proud of them! Also, Beau's mentor/old boss/new boss also lives like this. In fact, he has recommended a financial planner to Beau who is sponsored by Dave Ramsey. Beau's boss has a success story even through the economic downturn - it's so reassuring to us.

I'm proud of Beau and me too although we have a way to go. We made great strides in 2010 and hope to keep up the momentum in 2011. Granted that has slowed a bit going down to one income but we have some ideas to keep us on track (I shared some of them in my 2011 Goals post). I hear Dave Ramsey in my ear all the time:

"Live like no one else so that later you can live like no one else."

However, we are human and slip up from time to time (yes, like with Pottery Barn sheets - but they were on SALE! ;)) and that camera we really, really, really want (but it's an investment in our family memories! ;)), but I hear Dave loud and clear! I even recommended to Beau that we sell the truck & go to one car for a while (sacrifices are worth it in the end!) but he didn't bite :)

I will leave you with some of my other favorite Dave quotes. He's so funny sometimes...

"Normal is Broke. Be Weird in 2011."

"A goal is just a dream if you don't have a plan."

"If you are inside of a restaurant and in debt then it better be because you are working there!"

"If you keep doing what you are doing, you will keep getting what you are getting."

"Sell everything, make the kids think they're next!"

If you follow Dave Ramsey, let's talk soon! Annie and my Mom know I could talk about this forever :D

Will work for TV remote

I am loving this video because it sums up everything cute about Grayson right now: army crawling, his interest in all things electronic and how everything ends up in his mouth. Notice that he passes up two of his toys (one that lights up and sings to him) for the TV remote. Story of our lives right now. And yes, the video camera ends up in his mouth. You're welcome for saving you from that. :)

White Sales

The white sales are here! I've only been waiting like 5 months for January to roll around to get new sheets on sale! And why not personalize them?! I am probably the last person on earth to get these from Pottery Barn but for anyone who has yet to get these, do it now! Personalized and shipped for like $80. Not bad at all!


Don't think of this picture as a crappy one taken with my phone at night in poor lighting but as a calculated, moody shot to set the tone...

Is there anything better than new sheets? Or new personalized items? Or really anything that UPS delivers to your doorstep?

First Snowfall of 2011

It began snowing during Grayson's Baptism yesterday and it was so beautiful and special! The snowflakes were gigantic! Probably some of the largest I've seen. I will blog more about the Baptism at another time but I wanted to capture some of our snow pictures. 


Beau took Brinkley over to my parents' house yesterday since they had free reign of the golf course and lake. They had a BLAST! And yes, Brinkley got in the water. Crazy dog. I stayed inside with my Mom and Ma by the fire and enjoyed a skinny margarita. And a champagne cocktail.

Beau's office resumed regular business hours this morning while much of the metroplex observed delayed hours or closed altogether. This is how the rest of the fam is enjoying the snow day....

Anyone surprised that Brinkley is the ONLY one that wants to be out in this frigid weather? Not me.

Grayson is getting into....

his own stuff?! No complaints here - I'm a happy Mama!

Eyelash Update

I'm still jealous....in case you were wondering. :)

My Mother would just die...

if she knew about this.

And if she saw what happened right after I took this.

Poor Brinkley just lays there. He has moved spots about 37 times but this now-crawling baby keeps following him :)