.grayson turns one.

The moment they laid you on my chest—the very instant you were born—I was in love. All intense pain ended, and in that moment, all I could do was cry and laugh, both at the same time. Your cry was loud and masculine. You just looked and sounded like such a BOY. And you had more hair on your head than any baby boy I had ever seen! That day seemed like just last month. Yet a full year has flown by, right before my eyes.

In this quick year, I’ve learned a lot about who you are, and who you might become. Here are some things we’ve all come to love about you:

-- You are such a GOOFBALL. You do goofy things just to get us to laugh (and we do every time).

--You’re a daddy’s boy. You crawl as fast as you can to the front door every time daddy comes home, while shouting in your boyish voice, “DAHHH!!! Dadda Dadda Dadda!!!” 

--You LOVE—and I mean LOVE—AIRPLANES!! …Just like your daddy. If you hear someone just wisper the word, “airplane” softly, you immediately look upwards to find one, and point.

--You are basically a puppy. Which really cracks me up, for soooo many reasons. But I will say that, as much as Sky has been begging me for a dog for the past couple of years, it is nice that she can pretend you are her pup. :)

--You’re not shy. I just love this about you. You will look at any person and give them the biggest smile. You’ve done this since you first learned to smile, when you were 2 weeks old. Old ladies love you because of it.

--You have the bluest eyes of anyone I have ever seen.

--You love ESPN. When it’s on, you stare at the TV. I hope you are like Uncle Bud in this way.

--You are obsessed with the guitar! We leave it out, so you can strum it. When daddy picks it up and plays it for you, you laugh with excitement just in anticipation of hearing him play.

--You love to dance. And you’ve already got moves.

-- You love to go to sleep in your crib. I just put you in your crib, and you go to sleep. This is still so completely foreign but oh, so wonderful to me and to daddy but we are LOVING this about you!

 --You’re tenderhearted. You love to pat Sky, just to show her affection. You stroke her hair, instead of pulling it.

My prayer for you since the very day that we found out that you were a boy has been that you would be joyful, and that you would grow to know and love the Lord all the days of your life. Mommy and daddy both pray this every day for you. You are such a beautiful blessing to us… and we love you, Beautiful Boy. Happy First Birthday, Gray.

August 2011

Wow. It's been way. way too long since I've last posted anything on our family blog. Life has been so full lately! Let me catch up a bit, here. Below are some pictures of Gray's very first beach trip from this past August 2011!! We shared these memories with my family at Assateague.

my blue-eyed boy with his awesome beach hair

sandy hands :)

he LOVED the pool that daddy set up for him on the beach.

she would not let go of the boogie board the entire time.

baby boy taking a much-needed nap in the shade with daddy.
he's such an amazing dad.

me, my parents, and their grandbabies :)

i couldn't get enough of the many wild horses we saw there.
i think this foal would have let me pet her if i got close enough.

asdfadsfs I LOVE THIS picture... this is before his teeth came in!
you can see his wittle gummies!

lookin at sand sculptures

;)

jon. i miss you bud. | your eyes are so piercing.
if you read this, i hope you know how much i love you.
i wouldn't trade you for anything in this world. 

nap time. UGH your beach hair is killin me, little man!

bebe, you are growing up so quickly.

new hermit crabs! this was the highlight of sky's day.
i love how she was wearing her shirt backwards, and we had no idea.

<3

...what a great dad! they had so much fun out there!

auntie hannah!

my sisters. 2 peas in a pod.

ariel and summer

katie and hannah

uncle bud and gray

:)

Twenty-Eight

I don't know why I still have it in my head that my birthday should be a big deal. I remember when I was younger, I would be stunned if even a stranger did not know what very important day July 17 was. ...You mean YOU don't KNOW that it's my birthday?! Smh. 

This year we celebrated with a bit of Georgetown shopping. Originally the plan was that just Jonf and I would go, but we made the decision to bring our kids with us.

It's just simply not as fun eating delicious Georgetown Cupcakes without my girl,

or without getting snuggles from my boy.

The rest of my birthday present came in the form of a Keith Urban Concert

...which was last night. :)

The best fun I've had in a long time.

I've wanted to go to his concert for years, and this year (with some major hints from yours truly) Jonf thought it would be fun to surprise me with 2 tickets to see him. Our seats were awesome.
SO! MUCH! FUN!

...And... I touched his sweatiness.

Thanks for making this year's birthday such a special one, Bubs. I had a blast with you... and Keith. :)

Fun Messes in Gray's Room

Their current favorite place in the house is...

Gray's room.

playing and scootching

Sky loves her baby toys and hardback books that are now mostly in Grayson's room. We were playing "library" together in between pictures. :)

reaching and discovering

Gray and his little buddies. :)

Baby Shower for Alissa

The day finally came for Jess and me to throw this much-anticipated shower for our best friend. :) With Reagan Avonlea being the second girl for the Zaal's, Alissa was adamant that we not throw her a big shower... but Liss means so much to so many different people... we wouldn't have it any other way.

I couldn't have pulled this all off myself. My husband was so amazing, right there to help me with whatever petty last minute stuff I had. Judy came over the night before and did tons of crafting with me. That woman can do anything. And with all the craftiness and yummy's that Jess brought to the shower, I learned that Jess is a girl after my own heart. She helped me with half of everything needed to pull it all off.

The food was amazing. The decorations were outta control. Anne of Avonlea quotes were placed throughout the home. The gifts were perfect... everything just fell into place. But beyond all of this, Alissa had a huge smile plastered on her face the entire time. And this made everything worth it.

____________________

.family.

This needs a caption. :) Mom-Mom loves the color green; particularly this color chartreuse. So I ran upstairs and pulled my green pillows from my closet and used them to decorate with for the shower. Judy said, "I bet you Mom-Mom is going to pretend to steal your green pillows! She LOVES that color green!!!" And sure enough, at the end of the party, she pretended to walk out of the house with them. :) It made my day. I had decided ahead of time that, if she did that I would go ahead and give her one of them. :) It's always more fun to give things away then to keep them for ourselves, I think. Love you, Mom-Mom.

.sweet friends.

 .games. 

Jess came up with this terrific game for the shower! Each person drew a picture of what they thought Reagan will look like. Liss picked the winner... I think it was the top row in the middle because of her big smile. :) ((Don't you love the cat?! ha!)

.gifts.

Judy painted and crafted this beautiful purple box for Reagan's room.

.purpley decor. 

handmade poms.

water bottles rapped in brown ribbon. even the bucket was purple inside. :)

floating candles in Mason Jars. Who doesn't love Mason Jars?

Anne of Avonlea quotes were placed throughout the shower. Here they were hung in the opening. And Judy made these amazing pinwheels stuck in votives and held by sand. On the outside, of each was a letter, and they were grouped together to spell out "Reagan".

Anne of Avonlea quote. Just seemed so fitting. Especially if you've read Alissa's story on her blog.

.R. .E. .A. .G. .A. .N.

.food.

I kid you not when I say... the food was phenomenal. Or, maybe I was just really hungry by the time 10:30 came around. :)

Jess made these amazing cake pops. They were on everyone's plate.

...and aren't they just purdy?

I made these little dress napkins. So petite and dainty. I felt bad wiping my dirty mouth on them.

Judy found ALL the purple candy for the shower. So elegant, no?

*Someone* had a little too much sugar that day. :)

...yummy yummy...

Mini Pancakes, with blueberries and mint. These just made me smile. :)

Vanilla Almond Cake with Blackberry Buttercream Frosting.

The Favors. You got TWO favors for coming to this shower! The little jars read, "You are sweet as can be, precious to me, baby of mine." || And Judy made little take-out boxes filled with all kinds of personalized and purpley candies!! On the outside there was an Anne of Avonlea quote attached to each box. Fun stuff.

Liss, it was an honor for us to throw this shower for you, my sweet friend! You are my Godsend and I love you.