Our Little Toddler Gray

Dear Graylon,

I can’t believe that you are 13 months old now, but I want you to know just how amazing you have been to watch and be around. I have enjoyed every minute of being your mommy! Every day you show me something new that you have learned. You really understand your daddy and I when we talk to you. I love how you point at everything you want to look at or get to. You are starting to eat table food better. You gave up the bottle the day before you turned 13 months. Even then it was just a night time bottle. You are curious about everything. You love to go head first off of the couch and mommy and daddy’s bed with us of course holding your feet and lowering you down to the floor. You are a tough little guy. You have bumps and bruises on your legs from all your fearless play. I love when you run over to me and put your arms around my neck for me to pick you up. You even came over and gave me a kiss for the very first time yesterday. I will always remember how great that moment was. I know you love me so much but I also love that you love your daddy just as much. You get so excited when you see him in the morning for the first time or when we meet him outside when he gets in from work. You love Ms. Pat at your daycare and you get along great with all of your friends there too. You are moving up to the next class next week. I am so nervous about it because you have to totally be on table food. I know you are going to do great and catch on very quickly. You just had your very first school pictures made. You look so grown up sitting there posing. You have eight teeth now…four on top and four on bottom. You have a few words in your vocabulary now. You can say “Thank you”, “Mama”, “Daddy”, “Stick”, “Balloon” (kind of), “Ball” and once you said “Please”. It is really cute when I ask you something and you just shake your head back and forth like you are telling me “no”. You are walking like a pro. You have just figured out how to step up into the garage and into the house, but you still want to crawl back down instead of stepping down. You love sticks and rocks. You love being outside and your favorite toy is your new car that you got for your birthday. You love to scream. You love to climb and maneuver your way around stuff. I love to hear you laugh and love to see your sweet smile. I even love hearing your fake cough. You love to do the Hokey Pokey and dance to just about any tune. You make me so proud to be your mommy! I love you Graylon and this last year for me has been the best of my life!

Love,

Mommy

Here is a short video of Gray emptying out my belt/scarf drawer. He loved every minute of it.

Mommy's 30th Birthday

Yes, I am now 30 years old and feel like it has been the best year of my life. My family threw me a party back in February to celebrate all these years that I have been alive. :) Mike, Gray, and I made the trek to Dalton, GA. We first headed to Pop Pop and Meemaw's house to spend some quality time with them. Meemaw gave Gray his first "real" haircut. I had given him a few snips back when he was about 5 or 6 months old but it was time for another. We headed to Grandma Sharon's house on Saturday morning and she hosted an all day bash. It was Gray's first time celebrating his Mommy's birthday! I truly felt special. Thanks to everyone that joined us that day. Graylon got to visit with a lot of our family and had a great day. He took NO naps and was an angel! He was so busy chasing his cousins and playing with them all day. Check out the pictures from this great birthday weekend.


Jocey wanted Gray right by her side.


Meemaw cutting Gray's hair.


"Hey guys, does my hair look okay?"


Gray in his "Gray" overalls.


Newest cousin William and Gray playing together.


Gray and Pop Pop are best buds!


Gray, Grandma Sharon, and Granny Franny are just hanging out.


Averie, William, Gray, Michaela, and Jocey all together...this is the first time that Gray has had all of his cousins together at the same time!


Uncle Brandon was bobbing for pacis and came up with Gray's.


Jocey and Gray having fun in the bathtub. I think he was about to sneeze.


Granna and Pop love making a Gray sandwich!


Uncle J and Aunt Caryn gave Gray a squeeze before they said goodbye.

Christmas Morning (more catch up)

Gray loved his first Christmas and our first Christmas together as a family was everything I had hoped it would be and more. Seeing Graylon all sleepy-eyed on on Christmas morning and trying to figure out what all the wrapped and upwrapped gifts were, was so much fun. We decided that being away from our home was okay until Gray gets a little older and we begin our own Christmas morning tradition.

We woke up at Grandma Sharon's house. Gray came out into the living room where Santa had left his gifts. He got a red Radio Flyer wagon, a stuffed puppy that sings and teaches him stuff, a swing, and a Little People train with blocks. Grandma Frances and Paul came over that morning and we had brunch. It was such a special morning.

After we left Grandma Sharon's house, we headed to Granna and Pop's house to visit with the LaBarbera family. Averie showed Gray and William how to open presents since it was both their first Christmas. We ate a wonderful dinner and spent the night with Granna and Pop.

Check out the pictures from this day below.



Mommy and Daddy showing Gray his new stuff.



Daddy teaching Gray how to build with his blocks.



Gray taking a ride with his puppy in his new wagon.



After playing with his toys, Gray had to take a break to eat breakfast.



Taking a another break after playing for soooo long.



Too cute not to put on here...who needs a diaper on Christmas Day!?!



This is an actual blanket. Gray's our little bulldog fan!



Hanging out with Granna and Aunt Caryn. This is like one of three pictures that we have from their house on our camera.

Video Catch Up

Here are a couple quick videos to show off Gray's most current dancing, walking (with his toy), and playing skills. The song I overlapped on his dancing video is his favorite song, "Pennies From Heaven" by Louis Prima. Please enjoy our 3 feature presentations.

The Return of the Blog!

To all of our loyal, wonderful, forgiving, understanding, and all around awesome blog followers, we are sorry for the gap in time between blog posts. I hope that you can all find it in your hearts to continue to read these posts. And to take a quote from the great Tiger Woods, "...to one day, believe in me (us) again."

First of all, Happy 11 month birthday Gray! Time has flown by! The blog has been out of commission and missed your 9 month and your 10 month. Sheesh! We'll have to make up for that some how, some way. We'll have to come back to that.

I am not quite sure how to get this train back on the tracks, so I think I'll opt for what you all really check the blog for...PICTURES! Since the last post came in December, and it was chronicling Thanksgiving, why not put up pictures that catch you all up on Christmas parties and Christmas Eve? I'll try and hold Heather and myself accountable and commit to rapid fire posts, so check back often. Complain often if we don't hold true. Let's try and say 2 posts a week until we are current and up to date. Now, without further ado, pictures!



Gray and Santa, aka Pop Pop


MeeMaw and a bundled up Graylon


A family pose from Granna and Pop's Christmas Party


Identical cousins...Gray, Averie, and William at the party


Gray and Grandma Sharon


Aunt Caryn lovin' her some Gray.


Averie was teaching Gray and Henry how to look out the window. She's such a good teacher.


Aunt Kelly helping get Graylon ready for bed after the party.


We put our tree up only 2 weeks before Christmas. Gray was critical in getting the tree up.


Christmas Beanie Babies helped decorate Gray's room and Christmas tree.


We found time to squeeze in a Lady Dawgs basketball game with Pop and Granna.


Steven and Sherry Beauchamp met us for dinner and a chance to get a picture with Gray.


The Stevenson's party was awesome. From left to right...Gage, Emerson, Emma, Gray, Lexi, Lila, and Abel.


Andrew took a break from law school to teach Gray a thing or two at the party.


Is there anything cuter than reindeer butt pajamas?


Gray and Pop Pop can't wait to open some Christmas presents.


Cousin Allen and Gray took a break from talking basketball to pose for a picture.


Neely and Tasia coordinated too well with Graylon's outfit to not pose for a picture.


Crazy Uncle Steve and Grandma Ophia with the man of the party.

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.