No Mama, No Dada!

I am racking up quite a bit of videos of Grayson refusing to say my name :) I thought we were over this but he's at it again! But I assure you this one is the most entertaining. Maybe because you can hear in my voice that I am just tickled that he didn't want to say Dada either - digressing, for sure! But it was cute nonetheless. Also, Beau and I think it's pretty cool that he looks to where Brinkley had been laying when I say Brinkley's name. It's the little things, right? 

My Little Push Over :)

I have a sweet, sweet friend Kelly that let us borrow some walking toys recently. Grayson has really done well pushing those around without really any help at all. But this video isn't of him pushing those b/c that would be too boring. Instead, he's pushing the toy that isn't supposed to move. He also enjoys pushing around the chairs to the breakfast table. Kelly's little boy Liam is quite the furniture re-arranger and Grayson seems to be the same way. Together, they could re-do an entire house! :)

9 Months Old!

We have your 9 month appointment next week but in the meantime....

• Quickly moving into 18 months clothes - we're pretty much there.
• Still Size 4 diapers, 4 shoes (although NONE of them fit your chunky feet). I have learned about extra wide baby shoes - so we are hitting' up the store next week for those!
• We are moving to Stage 3 foods (chunky) this week. You have started cherries and blueberries. So far, you like everything and haven't refused anything! Let's keep that up. :)
• You clap your hands when we sing Patty Cake every time - SO precious that you are putting those 2 things together (video below!)
• You now take your pacifier out of your mouth when you see food coming. You didn't used to get that one had to happen before the other so it's neat to see you develop that way
• Object permanence - ick! I was LOVING that we could take something away from you, hide it, etc. and you would just move on to the next thing. Slowly, that's not working anymore. You cry when a door is shut in front of you, Mimi or Pop leaves the house or the remote is taken from your hands. I have not looked forward to this stage and I know it will only intensify!
• Waking up at least once EVERY night. Oh, except for the 1 day a week when it's your Daddy's turn to get up with you. Then, you sleep like a baby. ;)
• I've talked about the cruising recently - you continue to get better/more stable and you are getting really fast at crawling! I have to run ahead of you to close doors or pick up something!
• You walk behind "walking toys" with minimal help. Scary! But you get the biggest look of pride on your face!!

We are SO in love with you and your ever-developing personality. Here are some recent pictures followed by your patty cake video - love! :)

Your St. Patrick's Day outfit!

Handsome in pink!

Poor baby when you were sick 2 weeks ago -
you NEVER look like this so it must have been bad :(

Lunch after your baby photo shoot for Darling Deuce Designs!

Sleeping after a fun night at the neighbor's house!

The Average Night

A few months ago I blogged about what a dream Grayson was with a sleep time routine. I talked about how we put him down and he soothes himself to sleep. I may have even mentioned that he was sleeping through the night. I can't even remember those days! Ever since Grayson has been able to stand in his crib, and especially since he has started cruising in it, he has been up in the night (sometimes twice) and some mornings he's up at 5:30am. He's still learning to get back down once he stands up so I'm hoping that once he masters that, he will learn to soothe himself to sleep again. Right now, he's just "stuck" standing and crying it out isn't an option. This is what I find in the middle of the night and in the early mornings...


Two things about this video:
1) the green thing in the bottom right corner is the battery icon for the monitor so I'm not sure what he's grabbing at behind the crib :)
2) this video shouldn't be this long. you certainly don't need to watch the whole thing :) 





I just don't know how working moms do it! I have complete respect for women who can be up a couple times a night and be productive during the day. I find myself going through the motions and really psyching myself up to do basic things around the house. Hair and make-up are a distant memory. 


No doubt it gets better but then it will probably be time start thinking about #2. I may never sleep again! 

Grayson is cruising!

Have I told you that I get anxious when I have a lot to blog about but haven't actually sat down to do so? A part of it is because I know my memory is terrible and I want to remember as much of this little guy as possible. The other part is that I think it will be so special for Grayson to come back to this to see what was going on in these years that he won't remember. :)


Grayson has been loving his new freedom! He likes going from one object to the other when he isn't crawling laps around the house. He walks pretty freely (albeit slowly) between the sofas and coffee table at my parent's house. Here is a video that captures a little bit of his cruising here at home - maybe we need to bring our coffee table back so that he can move around a bit more.... :)





Just recently I have felt comfortable sitting across the room to get this on video. For a while there, I wanted to be close behind him since there was plenty of falling but now he's free to roam. Well, free until he starts to stand unassisted....then I'll start stressing all over again!

New Old Navy Friends

I'll start off by saying I WISH I had video of this b/c a story just won't do it justice. So you know these creepy-smiled mannequins at the front of Old Navy stores? They are Grayson's new best friends!

I actually snagged this photo from Google Images but you get the idea. I took my mom and Grayson shopping with me last week and my mom opted to sit up front with the baby while I shopped. I could hear him from about half way to the back of the store just LAUGHING at these mannequins! Sure enough, my mom said he got the biggest kick out of all these "people" smiling so big back at him! The customers in the looooong check out lines really enjoyed watching him. My Mom mentioned that Old Navy should pay her to keep their impatient customers happy! :)


I did get pictures of him of trying on this fedora. He's going through a "no hat" stage so I didn't buy it (notice Mimi's impressive ability to pin both arms while holding him!) OF COURSE he doesn't like them now that I've acquired several precious boat hats for Spring. Grrr. 

Picture Project

Beau worked from home yesterday to take care of Grayson and me since we were still under the weather. What a sweetheart, right?! We got a wild hair to get crafty with a 16x20 photo that we have been holding onto since our engagement photo session 3 years ago. 16x20 is pretty large and our home just doesn't welcome any poster-sized Beau-and-Stacey-kissing action (not that any house would).

Everyone knows this picture of us since I use it everywhere - our Save the Date card, FB profile pic, it's even on the mantle. Oh, and randomly framed in the bathroom...

Chopped up, it's not so In-Your-Face "OMG their heads are bigger than mine" as you walk down the hall.

You like? A few things I've noticed just by hanging these frames in the hallway...

1) Our hall lighting is so yellow-ey harsh! These walls are a creamy white color but you would never guess it! Now I think we need new hallway light fixtures...[Beau rolls his eyes]
2) wouldn't these frames be SO pretty against light blue walls?! Like these that I blogged about recently?? White is just so boring...[Beau faints from his eyes being rolled back in his head for too long]
3) My God that CHIN! Not Beau's hairy one. MINE. Why didn't anyone tell me that it sticks out past my chest?! (Not that, that would be difficult to do since childbirth robbed me of  1 1/2 cup sizes)

My inner dialogue is exhausting. I'll leave you with that!

Sick Days

Grayson has been a little under the weather the past few days and now so am I. I feel like poop. I feel like Grayson has looked the past 48 hours, which makes my heart hurt that he has been going through this. If my throat hurts or I need some water or need to blow my nose, I can do something about it. This poor little guy is 100% reliant on us for relief and we just can't really do much for him. We went to the doctor yesterday and it's just your typical cold: lots of snot, very hoarse voice (break my heart!), lots of sneezing, low grade fever, blah, blah, blah. The good news is that he is on the upswing! But I feel miserable, which stinks because we had a play date today and the weather is so pretty this week! :(

As my Mom says, Grayson is such a sweet boy even when he is sick! He still smiles and gives hugs even when he feels terrible. I just love this little boy so much :) Here are some pictures from yesterday - sweet, sweet boy!

Drool, Snot AND a Smile? Nothing cuter.

It's exhausting being sick :(

Love this baby's face in this picture!

Okay, this one too ;-)

8 Months!

Grayson - SLOW. DOWN! Both with growing up and your speedy crawling! I have "lost" you on more than one occasion around the house...you sure can move fast! And I just gave birth to you like yesterday....what's next?! Should we start touring colleges now?! Should I start packing for Parents Weekend?! Gawd. 


Here are some other updates (sans drama):

• 23.6lbs (weighed today at the ped office)
• Officially in 12-18 month clothes
• Size 3 shoes, moving into size 4
• Size 4 diapers
• Haven't met a food you didn't like
• Refuses to sit (on the floor), moves immediately into a crawl and even faster into a full-on stand
• You aren't falling as much when you stand these days, which makes me happier!
• You are fighting naps like crazy! You just stand in your crib forever. And then cry until we come get you (which we shouldn't do)
• You put one foot right in front of the other for as long as we will "walk" with you (i.e. you hold our fingers) - you can't wait to walk!
• It's so easy to make you laugh! We LOVE your laugh - there is nothing better!
• You are sleeping through the night for the most part - still a rough night every once in a while
• You are eating more mixed veggies and fruits and Stage 2 meats (I just can't bring myself to puree meat)
• Dadadadadas and Babababas all the time. Can I get a Mamamama?! No. The answer is no apparently.
• You recognize people and smile so big when you see someone you know, which lights up their world!
• The Church Nursery ladies RAVE about how pleasant you are. We are so lucky!
• I think you have Bieber Fever. Your Daddy disagrees.
• Your pacifier is like crack. For me too. We are both so dependent on it that I'm already dreading weening you off of it....

Especially b/c it matches your eyes :)

You love the park!

Your 12 month PJs don't fit anymore :)

I love watching you sleep :) xoxo

We Don't Celebrate Valentine's Day

I've said this before. But I woke up seeing red! In a good way, of course. So I found 1 of 2 things in Grayson's closet that is remotely red and then pulled out some old magazines for some good old fashion cutting and pasting. It felt good getting back to my 2nd grade self!

Later, I celebrated V-Day like anyone would, with a trip to the dentist. My overly-convinced this-is-a-stupid-holiday self scheduled this appointment on 2/14 b/c it's just like any other day after all. However, my spirited-V-day-morning self was kicking, well, myself. So there I was pouting that I was in a dentist chair on a romantic holiday that we "don't celebrate" laid out with that paper strapped around my neck and a dentist and hygienist camped out in my mouth when...wait for it....Beau walks in! WITH A NEW iPHONE4! My handsome hubby left his office to bring me the phone that I have wanted FOREVER. Cue an office full of women SWOONING. Best dentist visit EVA! 


That morning, with my new V-day spirit, I planned a homemade dinner that Beau didn't know about...nothing fancy by any means. In fact, I didn't even have to go to the store. Impressed?! ;-)

 Heart-shaped sweet potatoes. I'd like to just say that they were amazing....and a heart-shaped chicken breast - total coincidence...but I will always cut into chicken to make sure it's cooked. Lest we forget that silly little food poisoning episode.

And heart-shaped brownies. :) 

After dinner, we headed off to a new church group that is coming together. We were THRILLED when we arrived to see the two couples that were at our table in the Starting Point class (Church membership class)...we all got along so well and are all really looking forward to taking this journey together. More on our church goings-on at a later time...


And there you have it, a holiday we "don't celebrate", which is starting to look like one full of deceiving each other!  We just agreed to begin celebrating it instead of resisting. After all, it was easy to be against it when it was just the 2 of us and every evening could be a romantic dinner out with wine. Nowadays, notsomuch.


Bye bye!

Ice Storm Entertainment

This is the last post about our crazy ice storm week....especially, since I'm so OVER this cold weather. But how cute were these two guys while we were stuck indoors for days on end?!

Auntie A&A Lovies!

Grayson's Aunts Amanda and Andrea sent him some treats that arrived today! The PJs will fit now (thank Goodness - I can't keep up with this child's growth!) but I really can't WAIT for him to be able to eat on this plate and placemat! Like really want to start using them NOW. Maybe I'll serve Beau's dinner on them this evening :D

Aren't these girls just SO creative? Two of my favorite people in the world and I'm really looking forward to some alone time with them at the end of February! Just them, me, the Omni Hotel spa (and a cool suite) and 6 of Amanda's friends....oh, and some fine dining....and a great bar....sorry, I'm back now. Can you tell I'm looking forward to our girls' weekend in Fort Worth?!