Dalton Trip...Part 1(The Arrival)

Today Heather and I loaded up Mr. Gray and half our house and headed to Dalton for an extended weekend. I'm not sure how we crammed it all in, but we did. Graylon traveled solidly like always until we got to the Cassville exit. There, he woke up ready to eat, and his cry was our command. So we pulled off the road and he sucked it down fine. Then we were back on our way to taking Graylon to the town where his Mommy and Daddy grew up.

Our first stop was at Jim and Nancy Stevenson's home in Rocky Face. That was the gathering place for several of our friends to come see our boy. Their daughter April was there too. The meeting doubled as a chance for us to get to see Mr. Emerson Lee. He is the new son of our friends Steven and Ember. He is 13 days younger than Graylon, and they are already the best of friends. Also meeting us there were the Guess's, Michael and Shanna. Then a little later, one of my best friends from all the way back to sixth grade, Katie Lyon, stopped by to say hello. We took tons of pictures, and I've put them below.

We then stopped by Shaw so that Grandma Sharon could see Gray. It just happened to be quittin' time for several of her co-workers, so she got to beam with pride a little bit and show him off. We've now made it to Meemaw and Pop Pop's house on Riverbend Road here in Dalton. We are settled in for a long weekend of family, friends, and fellowship. Graylon gets to be the star, and we wouldn't have it any other way. I'll update more as the weekend progresses, but many of the blog's followers will finally be in the posts. Anyway, enjoy Gray's arrival to the Carpet Capital of the World.


Shanna and Michael were posing with Graylon. Michael held him and he was fine; Shanna took over and he got fussy...jk


Katie just needs a cartoon bubble coming out of her head saying, "Been there. Done that."


I believe Emerson said, "Pass me the ball!" Then Gray responded, "Nah, I'll just shoot it."


The Class of '99 posing with the class of '27. (Steven, Michael, and Mike with Emerson and Gray)


Nanny Christine resting with little Graylon. She has a special touch with our boy.

The Wild, Wild Weekend That Was

Sorry for the delay in posts. Trust me, I'm the proudest father in the world, and I'm pretty sure I have a justified excuse. Going into this weekend we expected to be busy. We were expecting company on Friday night and a couple more sets of guests on Saturday. Those things happened, but the events that followed added a bit more excitement to our weekend.

Friday night our friends Stephen and Sherry Beauchamp came all the way from Commerce to see Graylon. They brought his own personalized burp cloth. It was green with polka dots on it. It had also been embroidered with his name. Once they got here, they never put Graylon down. Of course they told us that we could have him back if we wanted. They are just very fond of babies and particularly fond of our son. It was great to have them visit.

On Saturday, Athens hosted its annual bicycle race downtown. It's an all day affair of food, fun, and festivities in the Classic City. This was the first year Heather and I haven't attended in close to six years. The race brought more of our friends into town who had to take advantage of the opportunity to come see our new addition. Arriving first was our friend and former Lady Bulldog, Katie Frye. She brought us lunch in the form of awesome chicken salad from Five Points Deli. She also came with a gift for Graylon. It was an all white Polo outfit that will fit Gray later this summer. She was so thoughtful, and it was good to see her. Our next visitors were the Payne's. They accompany us every Saturday in the fall for football games, and are usually with us every bike race weekend, so it was good to see them too. They also did not come without a gift. They brought us a variety of baked sweet goodness from a local bakery in town. Red velvet cake doughnuts, cheesecake squares, and pumpkin bread were among the goodies given to us. Thank you guys as well...they were delicious. Graylon was yet again a very gracious host, and showed them all what it meant to be a good boy.

Once our visitors headed downtown for the bike race our weekend received a nasty Zambranoesque curve ball. We noticed the living room felt a little warm around four o'clock or so. We just thought that since visitors had been in and out that it was because of that. We then noticed that the air coming out of our vents wasn't that cold. We chalked it up to A/C failure, but it was Saturday evening, so we were going to opt for service on Monday. As the evening wore on, however, it got hot. We popped windows and wore light clothing. Gray rocked out in just his diaper. None of these things were making it too bearable. And then it became abundantly clear that Graylon couldn't take the heat. If it were still just Heather and I, I think we would have just suffered through it, but we let Graylon tell us to take cover. So around just before midnight we thought we'd take a trip to Canton, Georgia. Our friend Jon Lane insisted we come to his house. My brother Rick, my dad, and future brother-in-law Jason were over there late so we left at 12:15 am to arrive around 2:00 am Sunday morning. Graylon got to spend his first night in a place other than home or the hospital. Thank you for your short noticed hospitality Jon and Ashley.

We spent the Sunday visiting with everyone, watching the Chicago Bulls, eating Mexican food, and just hanging out. Cousins Averie Raye and Graylon got in some good bonding time, and Aunt Kelly and Uncle Rick were excellent Sunday night hosts. Thank you guys we really appreciated it. It was a nice impromptu getaway weekend. Today we woke up and found a repair man to meet us at the house around 4:30 and he had it fixed in under an hour. Whew! We are now all resting comfortably after a Graylon bath. We've watched a movie, ate dinner, and caught our collective breaths. I got pictures from the weekend below. Thanks for reading this novel, but I had a lot to catch you all up on. We're preparing this week for an extended weekend in Dalton coming up. We are really looking forward to showing Graylon where we grew up and seeing all our friends in family in the D-Town.


Sherry and Stephen Beauchamp were permanently glued to little man Gray.


People tell me that Gray looks a lot like me, but he sure looks a lot like his mama too. It's uncanny I think.


Graylon got so excited waiting for Saturday visitors that he spit up just a little bit.


Katie was smitten by Graylon. His mom and dad get smitten by him all the time.


Kelly and Jason are with Graylon. He's not used to being that high off that ground.


And then the air conditioning went out. Please notice the glow coming from Gray's torso.


They're cuuzzzzzzzins...identical cuuzzzzzins!


These are two cute kids. I look horrible though. I actually look like a guy with no air conditioning.


Graylon currently resting at home in perfectly working A/C and after an awesome bath.

More Visitors...Kinda

Yesterday was another lazy R & R day at the LaBarbera household. Gray did the most of the R &Ring, however. The kid took little naps in the morning, but he then power napped from like 4pm until 9pm...he then ate a bottle...and then, BAM, out like a light again until after midnight. This was a tad bit inconvenient on a couple of levels. First of all, he missed almost the entire Bulls playoff game(He may have been on to something here. The Bulls laid a gigantic egg on national television.). Secondly, we knew he wouldn't want to sleep when we did. And thirdly, we were planning on skyping with our friends Brooke and Andrew in Wisconsin.

I'm sure by now most of you know what skype is. It's a video chat site that allows you to hear and see each other over the computer. We talked with the two of them and their youngest daughter, Lila James, for a while. Of course little man Gray was the topic most often discussed. He slept in my lap as we talked so they could get a good look at him. Occasionally, I would put his mug right in front of the web cam so they could get a better look. He hardly made a peep or movement the entire time we were talking. At the very end he cracked open his eyes so they could see. Of course, right when we finished he was wide awake. Mommy had a little fun with the camera given the opportunity, and I've put the pictures below. Although the Wisconsinites weren't visiting in our living room, I have added a "visitors" label to this post. Once we got done with skype, I really had felt like we all had hung out that evening. This is an open endorsement to all of you blog followers to get skype yourself. You can visit without burning that gasonline. You know we love showing off this son of ours.

Talk to you all again real soon.


Skype, skype, skype it up!


Is there any resemblance?


Here's a little of that R & R I was referring to earlier.


Graylon has made this facial expression famous. He always seems so concerned and deep in thought. I'm hoping this is an early indication of his "grown up" personality.

Major Cutie

Since I am Graylon's Mama, I think I should at least make an appearance to the blog every now and then. Mike has done an amazing job with the blog and an even better job at being a dad...so here are my two cents. :)

Today was a beautiful day in Winterville, GA, and we had to take advantage of the great weather. After feeding Gray this morning, we dressed him up in his camouflage onesie, khaki pants, and hat and strapped him into the nice Chicco carrier that Uncle Joe and Aunt Diane gave us. This was a first for Gray and Daddy had the honor of carrying our Major Cutie. We all three headed outside for a walk through the neighborhood. Even though Graylon is a beefy 9 pounder, he still got swallowed whole in the carrier. Here are some pictures from last night and today.



Mike and Gray took a nap last night on the couch and I couldn't resist snapping this photo opportunity.



Need I say anything more?



He's strapped in and ready to go!



Graylon, please don't let us disturb your nap time.



We came back inside and Gray was worn out. He had to chill for a little while.

Happy One Month Birthgray!

Graylon was born one month ago today. Everyone pick your jaw back up...we couldn't believe it either. We have already forgotten what life was like without the little guy. As you all already know, he changes so much. I think the constant changing contributes to the days passing with such quickness. We are so thankful to chronicle these moments on this blog. I hope you all enjoy reading and watching as much as we do writing and posting.

Today Gray got to celebrate his big day with a trip to the doctor. No shots were given just yet, but he did get to weigh in. Two weeks ago he had weighed in at 8 lbs 1 oz. Heather had guessed 8 lbs 10 oz before we went to the doctor. I jokingly said 10 lbs. Well, once we got him on the scale we were amazed at his chunky butt weighing 9 lbs 6 oz! Dr. Aldridge seemed pretty surprised too but very pleased. We asked a few questions about our trip to the beach next month and his eye crusting up after naps sometimes. We left the doctor's office informed and satisfied with the health of our boy.

Then it was on to Bishop Park for Graylon's first stroller ride. It was a beautiful day for a walk in the park, and Graylon did great. He might have been half asleep, but we really enjoyed ourselves. I finally got some action for the video camera. I've posted a clip below. We also took a couple of pictures. Gray seems to be the outdoorsy type.

We made one last stop before we went home. Right before Graylon was born, Heather and I fell in love with this alternative Mexican restaurant named Taqueria del Sol. It has outdoor seating and plenty of room. We had fish tacos and barbeque brisket tacos and sweet tea. The UGA baseball coaches were eating there. Heather used to work on the same floor as them, so they were all eager to get a peak at him. I think Coach Perno wanted to make a scholarship offer on the spot, but I told him he was too young. We enjoyed our lunch and made it home.

What a wonderful day! We had a lot of fun together as a family. It's been fun reflecting back on Graylon's first month, and we are excited to see what he'll do next. We really enjoyed our walk, so we'll probably attack our neighborhood tomorrow. I'll catch up with some more pictures again later. Until then, enjoy the video and pictures below.

Happy Birthday Gray!



Graylon laying with a casual yet charming lean.

4 Week Old Birthday Bash!

Can you believe it? Little boy Gray is 4 weeks old! Well he had an action packed weekend to celebrate. He started with an awesome bath on Saturday night before Granna and Pop arrived. Then he slept like a champ Saturday night. Going to bed with Mom and Dad around 1:00 am and only waking up at 3:45 and and 8:30 to eat. He then welcomed Grandma Sharon, Granny Franny, Paul and Gary Sunday afternoon. He posed for pictures, tried on new outfits, and did a masterful job of being held by everyone. No family member came without a gift. Granna and Pop brought Graylon a new Chicago Cubs shirt and a new book. Grandma Sharon brought us a monogrammed outfit as well as a monogrammed stuffed elephant. The elephant was originally given to us by Uncle Rick and Aunt Kelly. It had huge ears, and Grandma Sharon had Graylon's birth stats sewn on it. She also brought Graylon one of Mommy and Daddy's favorite toys...Beanie Babies! Granny Franny bought us two sleepers and a Christmas outfit. They all overdid as usual, but we are very thankful nonetheless. The Dalton foursome headed out later on that evening. A few minutes later the Mobley family stopped by to get their first peak at Graylon. They also didn't come empty handed bringing 3 more outfits for Gray to wear in a few months and an awesome sports book. Again, thank you so much for the gifts. We really appreciate it. Currently the Grayster is sleeping off his birthday-blow-out-bash. Please enjoy the pictures, and I'll update you all again soon.



Granna, Gray, and Pop posing like pros.


Gary, Grandma Sharon, Granny Franny, Graylon, and Paul cheesin' for the camera.


I wonder who put that bib on Gray?


Believe it or not, this kind lady tried to steal this baby from us on her way home.


Pop was giving me tips on how to discipline poor little Graylon. Don't worry, I won't take this piece of advice.


Graylon had just told the funniest knock-knock joke of all time!


Graylon was expressing his true feelings for Heather.


These are the first shoes that Gray actually put on his feet. He then ran a 5k in 22 minutes flat...a world record for his age group.


The Mobley family visiting little Graylon...Caroline, Sally, Mike, and Kevin.


Caroline was a natural! Gray never looked so comfortable.

Visitors Galore

Thursday has been a day of visitors of all ages. Some time before noon, our friend Katie Collins
and her 4 month old, Mack, came by to visit. They brought us lunch in the form of Chik-Fil-A. They also brought a large box of diapers. It was great to see them. Little Mack has a great smile, and Katie was an excellent source of tips and advice.

After they left, Heather headed out for her doctor's appointment. She had received an excellent report from Dr. Thompson, and after going to that office so often over the past nine months, Heather's next appointment is not for another year. We were so blessed that Heather carried Graylon for nine months, delivered him, and recovered with such success. I am so proud of how well she did. I know she'll be an excellent mother, and I can't wait to be proud of the things she'll do in the future.

Once she arrived home, we welcomed Polly and Ishan into our house. They were our next-door neighbors when we lived at Brighton Park Apartments. They now live in Lawerenceville. Polly's husband and Ishan's dad, Rick, was unable make the trip because of work. They also brought gifts. Books, toys, onesies, and a blanket were all in a big goody bag. Ishan has grown so much. He talks like a grown up. He asked insightful questions, and he seemed genuinely interested in little Gray. He turns 5 next month.

I'll be getting in the tub with Graylon tonight. We hope for a solid night's rest afterward. I say hope because he seems to be in a full-out growth spurt. Two nights ago he woke and ate at 12:30, 2:00, 4:00, and then 7:30. This time in between jobs for me has been such a blessing. What was once such a scare, is still a concern, but in the same respect is such a wonderful comfort. We are both so involved. Every day is Saturday to us, and we are so thankful to be able to live the way we do. We are well aware that these days won't last forever, but we are overjoyed at the opportunity to live these days while we can. Please keep my job search in your prayers while I continue to pursue a new job. I still have the luxury of being picky,(although I really haven't had the opportunity to do so) but I am eager to find a job that I'll be truly happy in.

One of these days I'll film again. We expect more visitors this weekend, so I'm sure I'll film a little bit then. Until then, enjoy a few more pictures. Talk to you all again real soon.


I'm starting to figure out that these hands are mine...all mine!



Heather, is he asleep yet?



This post brought you by Nike...Just Do It.



"You got the right one baby!"

The Latest Adventures of Graylon Michael

Sorry for the lack of blogging lately. I went two days without a post for the first time in Gray's life. The reason is that we simply haven't done much in the last two days. Graylon is getting closer and closer to a routine. He's growing like a little weed. He eats larger bottles. And, he's laying with his legs stretched out more and more which makes him look a lot bigger. I think he officially has grown out of one onesie. He also seems to be more knowledgeable about what his hands are doing. So all in all Gray is blowing our minds on an almost hourly basis. Heather and I are both astonished that he is so awesome and that he is ours!

We took a new angle on bath time last night. Graylon got in our tub with his Mommy and sat in his bath chair partially submerged under water. He seemed really content, and we got it done much quicker. We all had a good night's rest due to the wonderful purple lotion, and Gray seemed really happy. He even had play time with me on the love seat and the bed afterward. He squeezed my hand and followed my every movement. I really enjoy his alert time, but I also enjoy his drowsy-fall-asleep-on-my-chest time too. This time we all get to spend together has been awesome. I'm sure we'll always look back on these days with great fondness. We are so thankful for this time.

We have been snapping plenty of pictures so enjoy the ones below.



Extreme close up....Wooooaaaaaaaahhhhhhh!!!!(Wayne's World)



It's play time! Graylon and I were playing Paper, Rock, Scissors.



The big boy bath feels so good.



Hey ladies. How YOU doin?



I like to push up with my legs and get completely off my sleep positioner pad. Yeah, I'm pretty strong.