Tuesday, May 25, 2010

our trips continue!

Well folks, this will probably be the last one before we leave for our next trip--to Missouri to see my family!  Tomorrow I'm going to try to get the laundry finished up and get some old clothes over to our church for the clothing drive they're doing.  So, it'll be busy. 

I went today to a free skin cancer screening and learned that I'm doing a good job protecting myself from the sun, at least up until this point.  No questionable moles so far--I just need to make sure and keep my fair-skin in the shade and covered up in the future too.  Brandon only had 1 that needed to be removed when he went in last year, but I still thought it was amusing that he had any with his dark hair, eyes and skin.. just goes to show that EVERYONE needs to protect themselves from the sun!!!  Grayson finds himself slathered up any time we're going to be out for more than 5 minutes, even if he hates it! 

Our fair-haired little man is getting more talkative day by day, so I thought I'd post some video from a couple weeks back.  The first one is proof of my ever-talkative boy:



These next two are further proof that Grayson LOVES the camera!  He's not even phased by the awesome bubbles I'm blowing that he normally really enjoys!!





This last one is Grayson enjoying one of my crafty projects that I worked really hard on for his room before he was born.  Brandon helped me with it too, so I can't claim it as all my own though! 

Monday, May 24, 2010

my hungry boy

Grayson continues to amaze me...  today for breakfast, he ate all of his cereal and fruit (half-bowl) and almost all of a yobaby yogurt.  And he probably would have eaten all of the yogurt if I had let him.  (I know from previous experience that he will yak if I feed him all of it).  Then, for lunch, he ate an entire jar of mac&cheese and a half container of squash.  On top of that, he's already nursed 4 times today!  You'd think that he'd weigh 20 pounds by now, but I don't think he does.  He's still a skinny guy--he must have gotten Mama's metabolism! 

As for an update on his development:  Grayson can now wave like an adult (from the wrist instead of wiggling his fingers), and has been able to enunciate and babble really well (and loud!) for about a month now.  He can babble mamamama and dadadada but I'm not sure that he understands what they mean just yet.  He's still not crawling, but he can stand holding onto something.  I can't say that I'm unhappy that he can't crawl yet--because we can't baby-proof this apartment and we don't move for another month.  He can also hold a spoon, but can't quite get it to his mouth yet.  He can pick up food using the pincer grasp, but doesn't quite get that to his mouth just yet either.  He does put other things in his mouth, but I don't think he's quite grasped the idea that he can feed himself just yet.  I can't believe he'll be a 9-month-old in a few days.  *sigh*  My little man is growing up!  Brandon and I already think he's starting to look like a little boy.

Anyway, here's a few more videos for you to enjoy!

I used to be able to put him in the bouncer while I took a shower... now I just go stinky!!



Grayson and Daddy playing--Grayson trying to find the camera.... as soon as he sees it, he stops, so I'm trying to hide it!  Sorry for the sideways viewing!



I guess someone needs some new riding toys...  :o)



Grayson almost always wakes up happy and just talks to himself for a while...  turn up the volume and listen!

Friday, May 21, 2010

hold on to your hats!!

We've got some catching up to do!  Our trip to Maryland was fun, but we did have a few hitches.  We started our trip Thursday night by driving to Kentucky to split up the drive.  I had worked my butt off that day to have everything packed up and ready to go by the time Brandon got home from work.  It was no small feat with Grayson too, since he is requiring much more attention these days!  I had everything except 2 small bags packed and loaded into the car--my list-making skills paid off and we didn't forget anything!  We stopped overnight at Molly and Tyler's house; they were gracious enough to let us take over their guest bedroom for the night.  Molly also made us a wonderful breakfast Friday morning to start the day off!  They were such wonderful hosts!!  I don't know what we'd do without them!

We rolled into Maryland Friday night after driving for about 13 hours total.  We stopped about every 2 to 2.5 hours to get Grayson out of the carseat and stretch all of our legs.  He did amazingly well on the drive.  I couldn't believe it.  Brandon drove the whole way while I sat in the back and entertained him.  I had enough forethought to pack a large bag full of toys to rotate in and out to keep him occupied and it worked!  Towards the end of the trip, we did have to pull out our "Ace in the Hole" toy, Mortimer the Moose!  Surprisingly, a plastic clothespin held his attention for about 15 minutes, longer than everything but Mortimer.  I'm so glad we spend money on all of the expensive toys and yet he enjoys the simple clothespin more than any of them!  hahah  I guess that's how it goes. 

We enjoyed playing with Morgan and Collin, Lora & Jason's kiddos (that were in our wedding almost 3 years ago).  They have grown so much and are now both in school (Morgan in first grade, Collin in preschool).  We laughed about how our lives are running in parallel, with Brandon & I just being a few years behind!  Lora and I have known each other since Kindergarten and are pretty similar.  Jason and Brandon met several years back and are also surprisingly similar.  They both do similar-ish jobs and enjoy the same things.  Saturday morning we got to enjoy our first t-ball game and Grayson took his morning nap during most of the game.  We spent the afternoon playing outside and Brandon enjoyed playing freeze tag with the kids. 

Sunday morning, Lora & Jason had planned for us all to go the the annual airshow on the military base out in D.C. celebrating Air Forces Day.  It sounded like a great idea to us until we got there and realized how loud it was!  Lora had told me ahead of time that we would be going and I thought it sounded like fun--I didn't remember the fact that even the vacuum cleaner and the blender scare the bejeezes out of Grayson.  Needless to say, those jets flying over so low and fast terrified him.  Terrified isn't even a good enough word for it!!  He turned red, shook, screamed and cried violently.  It was the awfullest feeling as a Mother.  He couldn't even eat.  Brandon and I ended up taking him into a hanger where it was quieter and fed him and let him play on a blanket.  I felt bad for Lora, Jason & the kids because they had planned a special day and were enjoying themselves and we had to leave the show early.  We know now to think about these things ahead of time!  Rookie parent mistake...

Brandon had to work in Virginia Beach Monday and Tuesday, so he drove down there after the airshow Sunday.  Lora and I just followed her normal routine of taking the kids to their respective schools and enjoyed the afternoon Monday.  Tuesday Collin had a special field trip to an air museum, so Lora, Grayson and I planned to attend with his class.  Unfortunately, on Monday, we realized that they had just gotten new carpet in the house and it was made of wool.  Grayson is allergic to wool.  Very allergic.  By Monday night, he had a bright red, raised rash covering the entire back of his neck, his head, and behind his ears.  He hadn't even laid on the carpet--we had just let him sleep with a blanket that had been laying on the carpet before we realized it was new carpet.  We tried a bath, some Zyrtec and Calamine Lotion, none of which made a bit of difference and by Tuesday morning it was spreading around to the front of his neck, down his chest and down his back.  After we dropped Collin at his school to get on the bus for the trip, we ran to Walgreens to get some Benadryl and then head on our way, since Grayson seemed to be tolerating the rash alright.  Then, things got worse...  As soon as I gave him the Benadryl, he vomited ALL OVER himself and the carseat and I was not prepared to clean up that much puke!!  I was able to get his clothes off of him and we used the back-up outfit I had in the diaper bag.  I put the Udder Cover in his seat to protect his new clothes from what was left in the seat and we headed on.  We basically went into the museum and told them we were going back home.  We got home finally and Grayson's temperature was 101.  I put him down for a nap and we were contemplating going to Urgent Care if it didn't get better.  By that night, it seemed to be getting a little better, so Wednesday morning, we just headed for home (Indiana). 

The drive back to Indiana started at 7:30 a.m. and we got back here around 12:30 a.m.--yes, 17 hours in the car!!!!!  We will not ever do that again.  Grayson did great with our previous method of rotating new toys in and out about every 10 minutes.  Brandon and I took turns driving this time, which was better.  Grayson had had enough by about 10:30 p.m. and started melting down.  That last hour was horrendous.  We finally made it home and our very, very exhausted boy fell asleep almost immediately when I put him in his crib.  He slept straight through the night and the next morning and woke up about 11:30 a.m.!  It was a fun trip, but I don't think we'll do it again for a long time.  We've decided that we'll be flying from now on.  No more trips over 7-8 hours away.  It's just too much for Grayson to be in the carseat that long.  It's just not good for him to be immobile for that long--we all, not just him, run the risk of clots and varicose veins from the stationary positions.

We did have a great time seeing them and had a lot of fun, despite Grayson's troubles.  Grayson got to see his first t-ball game, he got to see the ocean (we did not get in though--still too cold), and he checked 3 more states off his list--Virginia, West Virginia and Maryland.  Even though he had a rash, a temperature and vomited, he was still a pretty happy boy considering!  We'll be discussing this wool allergy thing with the pediatrician here in a couple of weeks at his 9 month checkup for sure.  Hopefully he'll give us something to put on it that will help. 

Anyway, here are some videos to bring you a smile!

Playing with Jason Norton:


Still playing with Jason:



Story time with Morgan Norton before bed:

Thursday, May 13, 2010

mini vacation!

Thought I'd hop on here and let everyone know that we're leaving tonite to go to DC.  We won't be back until really late next Wednesday, so we won't be posting for a while.  I promise to have lots of cute pics and video when we get back to make up for the lost time!

I'll leave you with a funny tidbit you're sure to get a laugh out of... the Tuesday night Grayson made a new "discovery" when he was in the bathtub!!!  Apparently we left him in there a bit too long and he got bored with his toys, so he started looking for other things to entertain himself!!  We thought it was funny until he started pointing it at us--then we yanked him out of the tub and got his jammies on! 

Well, gotta go--still packing!!!!  Have a great one!

Sunday, May 9, 2010

My wonderful first Mother's Day!

Wow, what a great day!  Actually, a great weekend!  We went to church this morning for our last Sunday School class (*a little sad) and enjoyed getting to see everyone one last time.  It's been fun getting to know so many new couples.  It was a wonderful blessing to us and we learned a lot!  It has no doubt made our marriage stronger.

Yesterday we got our new washer & dryer ordered (woooooo-hoooooooo!!!) and last night just spent some time together as a family.  Grayson took a 3+ hour nap (woooooo-hoooooo!!! haha) and Brandon and I enjoyed our time together.  I was a little worried that Gray would not sleep well last night, but he did!  What a great Mother's Day blessing! 

Today we just enjoyed time together as a family and played with Grayson.  It's so fun to just lay and watch him play.  It's amazing to watch him learn right in front of you...  he can actually problem-solve and he's only 8 months old.  AMAZING.  God, you are amazing to create such a splendid work.  :o)  

So, in short, I have a beautiful husband and son, who allowed me to be a Mama!  We went out to dinner, we got a new washer & dryer, I got to go shopping, and Brandon brought me flowers and an adorable Hoops &  Yo-yo card, which is a long-standing tradition with us.  He even let Grayson scribble 'his name' in it, which made that card a keepsake for sure!  It just made me cry!  I love both of my boys very, very much.  I am a blessed Mama indeed.

Happy Mother's Day everyone.

Saturday, May 8, 2010

Happy Mother's Day!!

This is a special edition that's going out to all Mamas, but we have a special message just for Gigi at the end!  We've been playing a lot this week and just trying to tie up all of the loose ends for the new house.  Today we actually bought a new washer & dryer, which I personally am THRILLED about!!!  It's a pretty rockin' awesome set--I love my husband!!  Thanks honey!  It's the Maytag MGHWE950WW (http://www.maytag.com/catalog/product.jsp?src=Washers&cat=18&prod=2290) and the matching dryer MEDE900VW (http://www.maytag.com/catalog/product.jsp?src=Dryers&cat=17&prod=1708).  We got an awesome deal on them by going to our local Best Buy and asking them to pricematch their online deal of 15% off of the pair.  AND they're going to send it to our new house after we move in, so we don't have to worry about storing it until then!  They're so pretty!  I'm actually EXCITED to do laundry! 

Hmmm... what else have we done this week?!  Alyssa and I did some shopping together because our dear husbands were kind enough to watch our boys one night, so we got to go alone, which was really fun!  It's crazy because we're the exact same size and have similar tastes, so it was nice to shop with someone else who has as hard of time as I do finding clothes that fit well.  We're going to the Gap Distribution Center in Cincy here in a couple of weeks, so hopefully we find some good deals before vacations start.

Well, I'm pretty spent, so I guess I'll just jump right to Gigi's Mother's Day gift (or part of it)... she'll have to wait until we go down in a couple of weeks to get the rest...



Happy Mother's Day to all the Mamas from my little man...

Saturday, May 1, 2010

Oh, 3-day wknds, how I love you!

This is Brandon's 3-day weekend and we've spent it well so far.  Brandon spent some quality time with Grayson Friday morning and I went to my final RoofCrashers Bible Study solo.  It was sort of nice (and a little weird) going out alone!  This morning Grayson and I went to a cloth diaper swap at our local cloth diaper store, giving Brandon some 'me' time and we actually swapped/sold a couple of diapers for ones that we wanted.  I was pretty happy with the deal!  It sort of makes me happy knowing so many people didn't think we'd last with this 'cloth diaper idea' but I actually love it and sometimes feel a bit like a 'cloth diaper snob' as my friend calls herself!  heheh  I definitely prefer cloth now and cringe a little every time we have to use a disposable.  If I can only say one thing for cloth, it's that Grayson's never had even one little spot of diaper rash--the cloth takes care of his little bum and keeps it nice and dry!

On another note, did I mention that I fell down the stairs with Grayson the other day?  I don't think I did.  Well, it wasn't as bad as you're thinking, as we only fell down 4 or 5 steps and I used my body essentially like a sled.  Grayson did bump his head a little, but mostly it just scared him silly and jarred the crap out of me.  He didn't even bruise, but I am pretty sore still.  It definitely scared me to death too and I'm definitely taking the stairs gingerly now. 

I'll leave you on a high note though... you should enjoy this:



Good night!