Thanksgiving...Yeah, Yeah, I Know it's December

There are no excuses. I've been a slacker. I was the only parent of Gray's to be with him on Thanksgiving, thus, I am the only parent able to blog about it. So here it is...a few weeks late. Sorry.

It all started on Wednesday. I needed to go through my mailbox at the Dalton office, so Gray didn't go to daycare. Instead, we headed for Meemaw's house. She watched Graylon while I got a little work done. Once I was finished we waited on Granna, Pop, Aunt Caryn, and Uncle J to come up from White. We met them on the interstate and headed to Kentucky to see Gran Gran and Grandpaw and the rest of the Kentucky crew. Gray hadn't been to Kentucky in 4 months, so he was fired up!

We got in late, but Gran Gran was still up waiting on us. The festivities had just begun. The next day, there was plenty of food (turkey, dressing, broccoli casserole, and vidalia onion cobbler, just to name a few), plenty of football, plenty of Wii, and plenty of photos. Of course a game of dominoes broke out, and Gray's second cousins were cute as could be. We headed back out Friday late, and Gray handled the 4 and a half hour car ride like a champ. He is such a good boy, and I was honored to show him what our family's Thanksgiving traditions are all about. Enjoy the pictures below.


Grandpaw was giving Gray some pearls of wisdom.


Abby with Kyleigh and Gray. Second cousins born just two days apart.


Gray and Gran Gran having "a moment."


Kyleigh, Brev, and Gray taking time out of their busy schedule to pose for a pic.

Birthday Party and Winterville Community Christmas and Santa

I know that we haven't posted any pictures or talked about Thanksgiving yet, but since I wasn't with Mike or Gray in Kentucky, I will let Mike blog about Thanksgiving.

The Sunday after Thanksgiving was a fun filled day, not to mention a very anticipated day. When I got back from my trip from Hattiesburg, MS with the team on Sunday morning at 4 a.m., I immediately got in my car and drove to White, GA to see my two favorite people, Mike and Gray. It was the longest time I had ever been away from my baby boy and it was no easy task. I will never forget how happy I was to have Graylon in my arms again.

Once Graylon got up that morning from a nap, we all headed to Dalton for a 75th surprise birthday party for my Grandma Frances. She was so surprised! We got to visit with a lot of our family and friends. Graylon got to meet several people for the first time too. This day was also my Grandma Ophia's 71st birthday and we got to visit with her as well. Here are some photos from that day.


The birthday girl and her great grandson...Happy 75th birthday Granny Franny!


Jolie, Jordan, Gray, Jocey, Michaela, Grandma Frances, and Paul all hanging out on the couch.


This doesn't happen too often. Grandma Sharon is lovin' being with all three of her grandbabies.


Jocey watches Gray with his first balloon experience.


Anna Kate Swiney, Gray, and Jocey...how cute!?!


The other birthday girl and two of her grandkids...Happy 71st birthday Grandma Ophia!


Uncle Brandon cracks Gray up all the time.


Jocey is so attached to Baby Gray and she likes to help out whenever she can.


Granna was in the middle of telling Gray something important.


Gray loves his big cousin Michaela. She is so good with him.


The Crew (Jocey's expression is priceless!)


I couldn't resist this picture. Where does Jocey get her smile you ask? She gets it from her mama!


Gray and cousin Jocey playing together in Grandma Sharon's toy box.

This past Friday, we heard that Winterville was having a Christmas gathering in "downtown" with free food, train rides, and a visit with Santa Claus. We thought we would get bundled up and go see what all the hype was about. There was defintely hype. When we got there, everyone else had already arrived. I bet there was about 1000 people there and for the little town of Winterville, this was a lot. We got in line to see Santa but quickly realized that the line was barely moving and Gray would only last until about 8:30 or 9, so we took some pictures and took in the atmosphere and then headed back home. It was a great evening and it really got us in the Christmas spirit. Below are some pictures from that evening.


Gray was bundled up tight.


My sweet baby boy and I love the color green.


Gray was taking in all the Winterville festivities.

On Saturday, we headed to Georgia Square Mall bright and early hoping to beat the crowd to see Santa Claus. We did. We only had to wait a few minutes, and Graylon did so great with Santa. He kept looking up at him trying to figure him out. It was so cute. Gray also had his first shopping experience at Toys 'R Us. I had to take his and Mike's picture outside of the store. It is below as well as the picture of Gray and Santa.


That's Gray in the stroller.


He looks so big and so proud.

Gray's Slide Show

All of our Thanksgiving pictures were accidentally unloaded on Grandma Sharon's computer. There will be pictures as soon as we can get them. In the meantime, enjoy this slideshow. Some of you may have already seen it on facebook, but it deserves a spot on the blog as well. Enjoy.

Henry turned 1!

Last Saturday, Graylon got to experience his very first 1 year old birthday party. Our great friends Jon and Ashley threw their son Henry one of the coolest parties filled with all kinds of jungle animals, balloons, great food, and fun. We not only got to visit with the Lane's but also with Granna, Pop, Aunt Caryn, Uncle J, Aunt Kelly, Uncle Rick, and cousins Averie and William. That's right...we stopped by and hung out with the newest member of the LaBarbera family...William Anthony. I did not get any pictures which I was pretty bummed about but just getting to see him and Averie was so much fun. Graylon got a first class tour from Averie of her play area. I think he was a little overwhelmed with all the toys and puzzles and stuffed animals and baby dolls.

On Sunday, Gray, Mike, and Grandma Sharon made their way to the Lady Dogs home game against Rutgers. Before the game, Teresa Edwards, a five time Olympian and former Lady Dog was honored for her induction into the Olympic Hall of Fame and also the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame. We also unveiled a display case of just her things in the training facility. During this ceremony and later the reception, Graylon got to meet lots of people even Teresa herself. He loved her. The Lady Dogs beat the Scarlet Knights by 1 point and Gray's record went to 2-0.

As Monday was a furlough day for me at work, Grandma Sharon, Gray, and I spent the day shopping in Commerce. It was a enjoyable day and Gray did great. Grandma Sharon bought him his first pair of Stride Rite shoes. They are adorable on him.

I am getting ready to go with the team to Hattiesburg, MS for a Thanksgiving tournament. We leave tomorrow after a home game against Alabama State. Gray and Mike will be in Dalton tomorrow and then heading to Kentucky to visit family. I will be reunited with my two boys on Sunday when we head to Dalton for a special day. Stay tuned to see pictures and hear details from the rest of this week.

Enjoy some pictures below...


Graylon got to meet two VIP in the women's basketball program...Hunter and Melvin.


Gray and Uncle Rick hanging out at the party in their stripes.


The birthday boy, Henry, and his Mama posing for a pic.


Gray chillin out at about 6 ft. 7 in. right before he had cake and ice cream.


So we are trying to get Gray interested in drinking out of a sippy cup. He is getting better.


It was cold on Monday for our shopping spree. We had to bundle Gray up.


This is one of several Christmas sleepers that Gray has. Too cute!


Gray can't get enough of this play wall.


"Hello?"


Daddy and Gray have sooo much fun together.

Happy 8 Month Birthday

Gray,

Wow, you're eight month birthday really sneaked up on me this morning. I was talking to you and said, "...and you're almost 8 months old!" Your Mama then corrected me. I can't believe how grown you look and act. Even dressing you tonight after your bath I marveled at how long you looked from head to toe. Your personality is really starting to take shape. You definitely know who your Mommy and Daddy are at first sight. You seem to always greet me with a smile...either when I'm coming into your room when you're waking up in the morning, or when I get to pick you up from daycare after being out of town for 3 days. I love how much you love both of us. I can't wait for you to be able to voice your feelings and show your emotions with even greater detail. This month you have mastered crawling. I've witnessed aggressive crawling, u-turn crawling, carpet crawling along with kitchen tile crawling, crib crawling, and even couch crawling. You don't seem to be afraid of too much. It's not enough for you to just pull up anymore. If you can pull up higher or further, you try to. You've accumulated a handful of bumps and bruises, but yet, you aren't phased. I admire that about you, and even at eight months old, I'm envying your character traits. I can't wait to see all that you will teach me. I've always loved to teach or train others. I hope you have that same love and continue to teach me all that you can. Because you better believe that I will teach you every single thing that I know. You will learn each mistake I've made in an effort to help you avoid them. I'll share with you my proudest moments too, so that you'll be more likely to emulate the same moments in your own life. For the rest of both our lives we are a team. If we really put our heads together, I know we'll both be better because of it. But for now, you keep being fearless, and I'll keep being the sponge. I have soaked you up and soaked you up for eight months. I can't wait to see what you teach me next.

Happy Birthday Gray, and I love you,

Daddy

First Haircut and Playtime

Yesterday started out great. I had the day off from work and was looking forward to spending it with Gray. We played, played, and then played a little bit more. When Mike got back from work, we also fit in a haircut for Gray. I was so nervous but ended up just doing the best I could. I swear he looks three years old now. He looks like a different kid. You can judge it for yourself. Keep in mind that Gray has two cowlicks in the very front of his hair so it does look a little uneven.

Mike, Gray, and I then headed over to my office so that I could get a few things done and then we went and got something to eat. During dinner, Gray just wasn't himself. He was fussy and would not eat anything. I thought maybe he was just tired, but when we got home, we figured out what was wrong. Gray was so hot and when we took his temperature, he was at 103! We called our doc and was worried for the rest of the night. I took him to the doctor today and he has an ear infection and the flu (swine and regular) was ruled out. He has felt better today and his fever finally broke around 5 p.m. today. He got some meds and is ready to get better. Mommy and Daddy are ready too.

I have to go out of town tomorrow. The Lady Dogs play UTC on Thursday night so I will miss my sweet husband's 29th birthday tomorrow. We will have to celebrate as a family on Friday.

Enjoy the pictures...


Before the haircut...


After the haircut!


Gray would rather play with a computer cord than just about anything.


He played with it for like 10 minutes...too funny!


He also likes this play wall thing which is compliments of cousin Averie.


Peek a boo!


Our living room doubles as Graylon's play room.


Gray looks tiny compared to Mike's large feet.


Happy Birthday Daddy!

PS - I don't think we have blogged about Gray's teeth. He has four now...two on top and two on bottom. It looks like he will have two more on top very soon.

Not Only Does He Crawl, But He Tailgates Too

So Gray has still been busy crawling. He's covering more ground. He's moving faster. And he's pulling up constantly. His diet has added more baby food and eliminated one bottle per day. I can't believe that my son is already nearing his 8 month birthday! I love watching him grow.

Graylon begged and pleaded all week to let us take him to the Georgia/Auburn game this past Saturday. We compromised and told him he could come to the tailgate as long as he was on his best behavior. Well he was. He posed for pictures, ate a hot dog, and threw football. We have proof of the picture posing, but he did all the rest off camera. We had a wonderful time. The Dawgs won too. Gray was pumped!

Not pictured in this post, but also a monumental event...Gray attended his very first UGA Lady Dogs basketball game. He sat in my lap the entire game while Mommy sat on the bench. He would sit still until the crowd would get excited for a big play. Georgia won, so there were plenty of great plays. He was such a good boy, and I thought he seemed very comfortable inside a basketball gym and watching the sport of basketball for the first time. That's a very good sign don't ya think? Anyways, enjoy the pictures of the weekend below. For your viewing pleasure, there is also a video at the end of Graylon pulling up and doing a little crawling. Enjoy!


When I said he pulls up on everything, I mean it.


He had JUST finished his hot dog.


Gray learned every player's jersey number from Pop and the program.


Gray seemed very comfortable sitting with Kelly.


Graylon zonked right out when Aunt Caryn got a hold of him.


I think Jon's glasses look better on Gray than they do on Jon.


Chip and Elizabeth got their Gray time in too. He had just finished throwing football.


There's nothing like play time on Sunday.