Saturday, February 27, 2010

YAY!! Daddy's home!!

My favorite part of the day:  Bringing Grayson into bed with me this morning and seeing his face light up when he realized that Dad was in the bed too!!!  soooo cute!!!

My second favorite part of the day:  Seeing the house I love again and having Brandon love it too...  We need prayers now that we can make a successful bid for the house and get the financial side of it all worked out.  

My third favorite part of the day:  Getting to go on a date with my husband knowing that our son was in very grateful, caring hands (A HUGE shoutout to Mark & Marilyn Kinkead for loving on our baby bear).  Brandon and I are participating in "The Great Date Experiment" at Sherwood Oaks Christian Church (SOCC--our church here in Bloomington).  You can check it out at http://soccfamilies.blogspot.com/2010/01/great-date-experiment.html  No matter where you live, you should do these dates!!!  We just completed the first one tonite and are super excited to do the next one...  The questions are great for stimulating non-kids/non-job related conversation!  We really had a great time.  

My one and only least-favorite part of the day:  Giving Grayson his Benadryl (he STILL has a runny nose) and then having him throw up all over me while nursing him for bed... but he smiled while doing it!  I think the Benadryl upsets his stomach, so we're going to have to find something else.  Prayers on that front would be good too!  

Good night everyone.  Want to spend some more time with my sweet husband.  Love you all!

Friday, February 26, 2010

crazy day (in pictures!)

Grayson didn't sleep well at all last night, so we unfortunately had to skip my women's Bible Study this morning.  His poor little nose is still runny and after another dose of baby Benadryl about 5 a.m., he slept until almost 10:30 a.m.  When he woke up though, this is what I saw:

 

As you can see, he was very happy to be awake!  And, just like always, he had wiggled and squirmed his way to this odd placement... a 270 degree turn with his feet up against the rails!  But hey, at least he was happy!  We proceeded to the changing table as we do every morning...

 

And still... HAPPY!!!  And might I add that I did not look this cute and happy after waking up 5 times in one night!!  Even so, I was still able to get this beautiful shot:


 
What a sweet boy we have...  :o)  After a new diaper and some new clothes, I brought him into bed with me to play for a bit and he excitedly showed me his newest trick!!
 

He's so proud of himself!  Now, in addition to losing his socks in the laundry, we'll be losing them all over the apartment!!   Yay!

We played a lot today and picked up some groceries from WalMart, where more ladies fawned over him, and then went to our new small group tonite!  We are still deciding what we want to study so tonite we just played games and more ladies fawned over Grayson (which he LOVES!).  Hopefully tonite will be a better night for him...  it's definitely going to be a better night for me because BRANDON'S COMING HOME!!!!  YAY!!!  We love you Dad and can't wait to see you in the morning!
 

Thursday, February 25, 2010

A dancing day

Today Grayson and I didn't even leave the house... and it was wonderful!  We played, did some laundry and got some new diapers in the mail!!  (Well, technically, they're 'new' to us, but they were gently used by another Mama first).  I'm washing those now and am really excited that our older diapers aren't repelling water any more.  Repelling in diapers is NOT a good thing--trust me!  I actually danced around the house this morning when I tested them! 

Grayson and I just played today and ate a lot of food.  He napped 3 different times even after sleeping 12.5 hours with only 1 wake-up.  I think he might be growing again! 

Wednesday, February 24, 2010

one more day down, two to go!

Today was a good day.  It started wonderfully...  Grayson slept from 7:30 p.m. to 7:30 a.m. with only 1 wake-up at midnight!  I actually got 7.5 hours of sleep in a row!  Yay for stage 4 sleep!!!  Then, to top that off he made my day right out of the gate...  

I love to bring him into bed with me when he wakes up just for a little play time.  As we were laying there, he was staring intently at my face, studying my eyes and playing with my mouth and nose with his chubby little fingers.  After about 2 minutes of serious-faced gazing, he broke into the biggest, sweetest, gummy smile I'd ever seen.  Melt my heart!!!  He is officially the sweetest baby ever!  I adore him.

Another great thing about today was that Alyssa and I went to see another house and we both loved it!  She's standing in for Brandon while he's traveling for work.  For me, it's a serious contender for our next home.  I'm already researching paint colors... that's how much I liked it!  (and the reason the blog is late tonite!).  We're set to see it again next week so Brandon can see what he thinks as well.  To finish off the afternoon, Alyssa and Carter came over to play and we got caught up on one of our favorite shows, 19 Kids and Counting.  (And no, neither of us want 19 kids!  Maybe 6 or 7 between us though, right Alyssa?!!)  

To top off a great day, here's the wonderful baby I spend my days with doing what he does best...  make my day infinitely enjoyable...

Tuesday, February 23, 2010

another day, another house

Grayson, Alyssa and I viewed another home today and it's new construction.  It was pretty nice--we will show it to Dad when he gets home.  We would get to pick out the carpet and would need to paint, but it was nice!  AND, it's less than 10 minutes from Alyssa & Brian's house, so we could play together any time we want!

We also went to the library to play for a while and that tuckered Grayson out!  He slept for a while when we got home and then we ate and played in the highchair...  for your enjoyment:



Good night everybody... I'm spent!

ps--sorry about the video quality; the cameraman was playing with a cute baby and wasn't paying attention!  :o)

Monday, February 22, 2010

Second day without Daddy

Grayson didn't sleep well last night--I think somehow he knows something is different.  We spent today cleaning and playing and thankfully Grayson was a good boy (just like always).  I didn't take any videos today (sorry Dad), but I'll try to take some tomorrow.  We mostly just got ready to have company--Our Sunday School teacher's wife, Marilyn, came over to visit us and stayed for dinner tonite.  Mark, her husband, is gone this week too, so we decided to bond over being alone!  heheheh  We had dinner and she held Grayson nearly the whole night "to give me a break"!  We are letting Marilyn watch him Saturday so Brandon and I can have another date (our second one since Grayson was born!).

Grayson did have another first today though--he had sweet potatoes!!  I fed him a whole container of pears/rice cereal and then he ate a whole container of sweet potatoes too!  He never ceases to amaze me with that little body!  He's such a smiley boy--I love him like crazy.  

Well, Brandon, if you're reading this, I love you and we both miss you.  

 

Sunday, February 21, 2010

Bye Bye Daddy!

Brandon has to travel for work this week, so he left at 5 a.m. (YIKES) to catch a plane to Oregon.  He'll be off to California, Florida, and back to Indiana before Saturday hits.  So, he's got a busy week and we've...  well, I'm going to be a lonely, single Mama this week!  Grayson and I went to church without Dad this morning and were a couple minutes behind, but not too bad for doing it all myself.  Alyssa's in-laws were kind enough to invite me to lunch with them, and Brian's Dad even held Gray so I could eat.  I was very thankful!  

We've just been playing this afternoon, and just for Dad, I'm going to try and post a lot of video this week...  so, if you like that sort of thing, THIS is the week to follow our blog!!  hahah  First up is one of Grayson playing with one of his toys--he just figured out that if he pushes on the hanging pedals, the music changes! 




Next up is one of our little red M&M trying to sit up using his Boppy--he can do it, but I've yet to really get it on video... this is my latest attempt!



Hope you enjoy, and Daddy, WE MISS YOU ALREADY!!

Saturday, February 20, 2010

proud as pie

This is a special morning blog, but I just had to comment on my wonderful, sweet husband (while he's not here).  Brandon wanted to come back early from the trip to KY so that he could go to the "manly man" conference at our church last night from 7-9.  Well, he came home and told me all about it and what they had done and what he learned...  And he was also the youngest guy at his table and HE was the one leading the conversation!!  He's usually so introverted and shy about that kind of thing, so I am proud beyond belief of him!!!!  He got up early this morning, even after the long day yesterday, and took care of Grayson for a while before he had to leave at 7:45 to get to the church at 8 for the rest of the conference.  I officially have the best husband ever!!  :o)  Hope you all have husbands or find husbands as great as mine!! 

Friday, February 19, 2010

homeless

Well, Brandon and I are officially homeless!  Or, shall I say, house-less!  We still have the apartment and 'home' is where we are, so we still have a "home".  For those who didn't know, we closed on the sale of our house this morning in Kentucky!  We are a little sad, but relieved to not be making two house payments any more.  And, a relief to me, the couple is not going to paint right over Grayson's moose/bear room that I hand-painted.  Turns out Mr. Hopper is an avid outdoors-man, and is filling the room with his hunting gear.  What a departure from our sweet boy's stuffed animals, but hey, at least they're not destroying all of my hard work!  Mrs. Hopper's Sister past away this week and they were actually having to drive up to Indianapolis for the funeral today, so I would ask that you all pray for them... what a sad occasion for what would otherwise be a great day for them.

Thank you to Molly and Tyler for being so hospitable to our crazy family!!  We really appreciate them allowing us to commandeer one of their bedrooms last night.  We hope Grayson didn't keep you up.  And thanks Molly for a wonderful breakfast!  I'm sad I didn't get to eat all of mine though!  I think we should have just showed up late!  hahah  It was also nice seeing a few friends for lunch.

Well, I'm spent.  I think I'm going to follow in Grayson's footsteps and pass out early tonite.  Brandon is at the "Manly Man" Conference at our church tonite, so I've had the evening to myself.  It's been nice and quiet and now I'm sleepy!  Good night everyone!

Wednesday, February 17, 2010

reading time!

Every night Brandon and end the day with "What was your favorite/least favorite thing about today".  Well, today Grayson and I's reading time was definitely my favorite thing!  He had just finished his lunch (his beloved pears, rice cereal, and a little sweet peas) and was sitting in his high chair like a good little boy and I decided to read him a story.  One of Brandon's old coworkers had generously given us a Bernstein Bears book and we hadn't read it yet... I have a feeling that it will be read a lot now!!!  Check it out: 



We also went to Barnes & Noble for story time with Alyssa and Carter and then we all had lunch here together.  Carter and Grayson are such good little eaters.  I hope and pray that they become best buddies.  I can't wait until Grayson's old enough to keep up with Carter! 

A special prayer request tonite:  the whole family has a cold and Grayson and I's seem to be getting worse, so I ask for prayer for healing.  His little nose is awfully runny and I think I have a full-blown sinus infection.  We will also be traveling back down to Kentucky tomorrow to close on the sale of our house in Kentucky.  So, we'll be praying for safe travels and for the 10 inches of snow to hold off until we can get back.  Also, a big thank you to Molly & Tyler for letting us crash their house for a night!!

That's all for tonite...  Hope you had a good one!

Tuesday, February 16, 2010

adventure

Today the snow finally ceased and we ventured out of the house to go to WalMart.  I picked up a few things we needed and then headed back to the dungeon.  Unfortunately, in trying to navigate the snowdrifts to get Grayson out of the car, I rolled my ankle a bit and fell flat of my back, Grayson and grocery bags in tow.  Thankfully, Grayson was fine and secure in his carseat and none of the groceries were damaged, but I'm a bit sore now!  heheh  silly me.  trying to get out of the dungeon wasn't such a good idea after all!

Grayson had another adventure today--he ate my homemade "Kryptonian-colored" sweet peas that I made him the other day!  And, he liked them!!  He ate the entire bowl full and then polished off some more of his beloved pears.  I'm really enjoying making his food--it smells and looks so much better/fresher than the stuff you get in the jars, and it doesn't have all the added preservatives.  It's also a wonderful satisfaction that he loves my cooking!  :o)  

We're going to look at a couple more homes tomorrow, so we'll keep you updated if we find anything we like!

Good night!

Monday, February 15, 2010

Happy Valentine's/Potty Day!

All of you invisible readers will have to cut us some slack... I missed writing yesterday.  But hey, it was Valentine's Day and we spent it just how I wanted--with each other.  We started the day off on the right foot by worshiping and thanking God for what He has blessed us with.  Then, we viewed a home that we're thinking about buying.  Finally, we spent several hours at our wonderful friends' house where Brandon helped Brian out with some snow plow/truck thing and Gray and I got to chill with Alyssa and Carter watching the Olympics and gabbing.  The day ended with Brandon, Gray and I just Spending some QUAlity Time together, or SQUATing as a friend of mine once called it!

Today was awesome, except for the weather!  We got another 5-7 inches today.  But, this morning Grayson had a first!!!  He pooped in the potty!!  Yes, you read that right--I noticed him giving his trademark "poop face" and promptly yanked down his pants/diaper and held him over the toilet... and he proceeded to do his business and then proudly smile at the end!  No, I haven't absolutely lost my stay-at-home-Mom mind, it's actually a phenomenon called "Elimination Communication" that's catching on in the cloth diapering world (Google it!).  A friend of ours hasn't changed a poopy diaper on her 15-mo-old for over 5 months using this method.  Now that Gray is eating solids, the fewer poopy diapers I change, the better!  Anyway, I think we might give this a whirl.

Grayson finished off the day with a jar of acorn squash and a jar of pears and will hopefully sleep good tonite.  He's such a little pig--before long he'll be eating us out house and home!

 

I took those the other day while Grayson played in the floor.  He's wearing some of his Babylegs and one of his gDiapers (cloth).  He's such an awesome baby!  :o)

Saturday, February 13, 2010

a jumping up and down day

So, I don't know how many of you knew this, but when I was working on Grayson's baby book (from maternity on), we realized that we had misplaced Grayson's 20 wk ultrasound pictures.  I know, I actually cried I was so upset.  We had scanned them and had all the images saved, but oh how I longed for those little burned images of our little man.  Well, today Brandon found them!!!!!!  Turns out, they were in the glove compartment of the Pilot... how they got there, only the Lord knows, but I don't care.  I'm just ecstatic that I have our first images of our little man back.  I was so excited in fact that I jumped up and down and ran to show them to Grayson!  :o)  Brandon, love of my life, you made me a very happy Mama today.

Grayson also had pears for the first time today and I think they rank right up there with carrots!  He loves them.  And we love him when he loves pears.  His face is so cute! 

This is gonna be a short one tonite because it's past our bedtime and we have to get up early for church tomorrow.  So goodnight dear readers... May your life be as blessed as mine was today. 

Friday, February 12, 2010

the life & brain of a stay at home Mama

Today started off with a text conversation with my friend Alyssa that went something like this:

Alyssa:  "you want to have lunch at Panera after Roofcrashers today?"  (Roofcrashers is our Friday morning Bible Study that meets every week)

Lisa:  "what?  this isn't Friday is it?!!"

Alyssa:  "I think it is"

Lisa:  (after looking at the calendar on my phone, and noticing that it's 8:40 a.m.) "ooooh no.  I haven't even showered yet and Grayson just woke up!!!  We're gonna be late!"

Alyssa:  "we'll save you a seat!"

Aww, isn't she sweet?  I apparently wouldn't even know what day it is without her!  I guess all of the hoopla surrounding my mastitis really messed up my since of time!  That, and just staying at home a lot because of the weather really makes the days run together!  Thanks to her well-timed text, we were only 15 minutes late and I really enjoyed my Bible Study this morning, even if I did look terribly unkempt.  The ladies in the childcare really love Grayson too!  And, melt my heart, Carter (Alyssa's 14-month-old) actually reached for me when I came to pick up Grayson!  :o)  smiles.

Grayson got to "eat out" for the first time today!  I brought some applesauce for him to eat if he got hungry while we were out and he ate the entire container after polishing off a 9 ounce bottle!!!  That's right--NINE.  I thought for sure he was going to throw up on me since Carter doesn't even drink that much and he's 8 months older than Gray!  The little pig didn't even spit up!  I think he's growing again because he's eating like crazy.  He also slept through the night again last night---13 hours straight!  I wish I could sleep that long!

I made some more home made baby food today--enough to last the rest of the month.  I made sweet potatoes, peas (which look like Kryptonite--hope it doesn't do a number on our Superbaby!) and pears.  He's already eating carrots, acorn squash, applesauce, baby oatmeal, and bananas.  I can't wait to see how much he weighs at our next checkup! 

Well, I'm going to try and get some sleep.  Thank you all for reading our blog and caring about our family.  We love and appreciate you!!  :o)

ps--Uncle Doug, I give Grayson a hug 'from you' every night because you're so sweet...  thanks for being you.  :o)

Thursday, February 11, 2010

Today

Today has been a pretty good day!  I feel a lot better, thanks to my fever breaking, and am now able to be off my Ibuprofen.  I'm still on the antibiotics though, so the battle's not over.  Thanks to everyone for their prayers and well-wishes!

Today Grayson got his very first Valentine's Day card!!  My family in Georgia, the Quattlebaums, sent him a special package today.  It had the sweetest card (made me teary!) and this adorable little bear that's just the perfect size for Gray: 

 
And promptly, he did this with it:
  
(that means he loves it!)
Dad got a picture last night of him researching how his toes work (they're usually covered with socks, which he has easily evaded!)...

 

Today went well for us.  Hope yours went well too!

Wednesday, February 10, 2010

mastitis?!! really?!

So this wasn't the most fun day I've ever had.  I woke up last night with a 102 degree temperature, chills, sweating, body aches... basically I felt like I got hit by a bus.  I went to bed feeling like I was possibly getting a plugged duct, but I had no idea it could become mastitis in a period of about 3 hours!!  I did go to the doctor this morning though and he gave me antibiotics to take for 10 days and 600 mg Ibuprofen to take for the pain.  I'll be sooo glad when this is over.  I'm telling you, it really sucks.  Thankfully, I have an awesome husband who stayed home from work and helped me with Grayson today, since I can hardly pick him up right now.

Not much happening with Grayson today...  just eating his acorn squash like a big boy!  He did want to wish Gigi a Happy Birthday though!!!

Well, we hope all is well in your world tonite...  good night!

Tuesday, February 9, 2010

mooooore snow. boo.

Not too much going on here.  Too much snow.  Grayson and I didn't even leave the house today!  I am still in my PJ's, but Grayson is dressed because he spit up all over himself!  And I swear, if you nominate me for What Not to Wear, I will kill you!  

I'm sitting here right now while Brandon is having tummy time with Grayson... and Grayson is laying on his chest.  They were just doing "airplane", which Grayson LOVES and he promptly drooled all over Brandon!  sooo cute and funny!!  He only woke up once last night and then slept 8 hours straight, so he's had a good day, even if we were stuck inside.

 

Since this was a slow day, I filled out some of my online surveys while Grayson played in his exersaucer.  If you have extra time, it is a great way to make some extra pocket change!  Most of my surveys are about baby supplies/gear, but I've already made about $30 in the past 6 weeks and I've only spent a couple hours filling out stuff.  If you're interested, check out this link:  http://OpinionOutpost.com/join/7747398  I use the money to buy Grayson stuff!

Anywhoo, I have to give a shout-out to Alyssa, our first official blog follower!!!  Yay!!  Thanks chicka!!  Hope to see you, Carter & Brian soon!

Monday, February 8, 2010

and just like that...

Can you believe the Colts lost?!  We were very disappointed indeed.  But, the Saints were a stellar opponent and played very well.  Hats off to them...   And just like that--Everyone in Indiana is on a suicide watch!!

We had a couple of firsts here today!!  I made my very first homemade baby food for Grayson!!  I purchased a butternut squash at Kroger this weekend and prepared it today.  Grayson liked it too, but not as much as his beloved carrots!  And just like that--I made about a dozen servings for less than half what I would have paid for it pre-made in jars!


On an even bigger note--Grayson slept through the night!!  We put him down about 9:30 (Late I know, but he was up watching the game with his buddy Carter) and he didn't get up until 7 this morning!!!  I was beyond excited.  And just like that--he grew up a little more  :-(

Well, I hope you all had a great day...  talk to ya tomorrow!

Sunday, February 7, 2010

so this is what it's like...

Ever wondered what it's like to live in a city where the home team is in the superbowl?!  We got a taste of it today!!  These are horrible pictures taken from my poor little phone, but one doesn't expect to find something this camera-worthy at church every Sunday!!!

So, your bulletin will look like this:
Your speakers/announcers will look like this:

 
And your stage will look like this:


Notice there are uprights (2 sets actually!), and what you can't quite make out are the set of markers and a scoreboard, and even a mini Goodyear blimp!!  Oh, and it was pretty much a sea of blue and white.  The choir looked like fans in the bleachers!  There were more Colts jerseys than in Footlocker!  I'm pretty sure that if we had shown up wearing black & gold (the Saints' colors), we would have been asked to leave... church.  hahahah  Thankfully, we were smart enough to wear blue.  The message was about defeating your enemy: David & Goliath style.  All I can say is that these people also bleed blue--but not for UK!!

Grayson might be experiencing another "first"--his first cold.  Daddy brought home a cold last week and is now passing it on to Mommy (yay) and Gray has a runny nose.  Pray that that's all we experience!

I gotta run--the game is starting soon and Heaven forbid we don't see the kickoff!!  Here's a cute pic of Grayson playing with Mortimer sitting up all by himself on the couch!

Saturday, February 6, 2010

Previously on Gray(son)'s Anatomy...

So I figured today was a perfect day to catch you all up on the happenings in Grayson's life thus far...  previous seasons, shall we say?!  And, I figured the best way to do that was to flood you with adorable pictures for you to enjoy!  So.... Enjoy!!   (note:  if you can't read the captions, you can click on the photo to see details)

Series Premier: August Arrivals

 


 

  


Episode 2:  September Snoozes




Episode 3:  Oodles of October



Episode 4: Nice November

 


Episode 5:  Delightful December

 


Episode 6:  Joyful January




our little genius reading his first book! (notice his favorite toy, Mortimer the Moose is not far away!)


Well, we hope you've enjoyed catching up with us!  If you want copies of any of these pictures, just post it below and I'll send them to you.  






Friday, February 5, 2010

going bananas!

So today started out terribly... poor Grayson woke up wet TWICE last night and I had to change his clothes, sheets and the whole shebang.  Up until this point, I've loved cloth diapering, but if we don't get this leaking thing fixed soon, I'm throwing in the towel!  Thankfully, my Bible study got canceled this morning due to the snow (that didn't come this morning) so we were able to sleep in a little.  By the grace of God the day got better and we got some errands done while Grayson slept peacefully in his carseat.  Then, the snow came!  Have I told you that I'm tired of winter already?!  (Uncle Doug, if you're reading this, I don't want to hear a word about how you're wearing shorts in your sunny backyard ;o)

Tonite, Grayson reprieved us with some full on banana action!  Tonite he got to try them for the first time (hand squished by yours truly!) and he ate half a banana before I cut him off...  I'm afraid of what tomorrow's diapers are going to be like!!!  

I hope you all enjoy the pictures...

(That last one is carrots from yesterday!!  I just had to add it because it was cute!)

Good night all!!

Thursday, February 4, 2010

Our journey begins...

Today I was inspired by a little angel-baby named Jane to start recording our crazy life... I don't want to take a single moment for granted, so I've decided to start blogging about our crazy life with our baby boy, Grayson. He's now 5 months and 2 weeks old, so I'm already behind! He can already smile, laugh, roll over and is cooing up a storm! He's also developed quite the flirtatious streak!

Yesterday was a milestone--he sat up by himself for about 10 seconds when we were at the library for his Bouncing Babies class. He grew up a little right before my eyes. I have to admit that I was a little bit teary. Yet another girl captured his eye then too--her name is Sadie and I must say that he has good taste! She is absolutely adorable!

Today was a good day. We went to MomBuilders at church and then my friend Alyssa and her son Carter (Grayson's BFF) came over to play. We did have a first though today--Grayson's first baby food poo... Ya, I know how glad you are that you can't smell a blog!!!! It was terrible. And unfortunately it's not going to get any better!! Grayson just started eating solids a couple weeks ago and Monday we discovered his love for carrots. Boy do they stink up the house though!

Well, that's a pretty good start for this journey... we're gonna get settled in for the night before the snow hits.