Overboard Grandparents

Now I know most grandparents are crazy about their grandchildren. In fact, you expect grandparents to spoil their grandchildren, have pictures handy to show anyone who asks...normal grandparent things like that aren't surprising. This, however, is just alarming! This is a picture of Grayson my mom got for my dad's office as a Christmas present this year (notice the size!!):

First Band-Aid

I was a terrible mom this morning. It breaks my heart to even tell this story. After feeding my sweet baby, I laid him down on the changing table to change his diaper and put him in his outfit for the day. As I was doing this, I noticed that his fingernails needed clipping again. These things grow soooo fast!! I feel like I just clipped them yesterday (ok last week, but still!). I held his fingers really tightly and got one successfully clipped and then started on the next one. When I clipped that one, his eyes flew open really big, his arms jolted out, and he started wailing. OH MY GOODNESS! I clipped my baby's FINGER!!! I have been dreading this ever happening but got brave after a few successful times of clipping with no incidents. Well, we had an incident today, folks!! I felt SOOOO bad. I grabbed him up and sat down in his glider with him as I rocked him and told him over and over again how sorry I was while he cried. Seeing a little blood, I panicked and grabbed a kleenex to hold pressure over his little bitty precious finger to stop the bleeding. By that point he had settled down but was still doing the haggard breathing. It took a while to stop bleeding so I face-timed my parents so I could show my mom his finger and see if she could tell me what to do...and to tell on myself about what a bad mom I had been. She told me that it happens all the time and won't be the last thing I do on accident to him (oh no! I don't think I can handle anything else!). Mom said that his finger looked fine and that I should just put a band-aid on it or something. I had some Toy Story bandaids, so I had my mom stay on the phone with me while I bandaged my baby up. It looked pitiful! The first bandaid didn't work, so I went for a second attempt. This is what a grown-up sized band-aid looks like on an itty bitty teensy weensy finger:

Pitiful right?! It didn't stay on very long and the cut isn't THAT bad, but it still makes me so sad everytime I catch a glimpse of it. I feel like he has been looking at me all day in a way that says "why did you do that to me, Mom?" So I keep apologizing. The clippers are still where they were when the "incident" happened because I can't bare to touch them right now. Everytime I change him, I see those mean clippers and remember. I can't wait for Drew to get home so he can put those clippers up and we can move on from this traggic event. Hope your day has been better than Grayson's!

The Scowl & Christmas

So, Grayson has this face that he wears quite often...a little too often! It's an expression you wouldn't normally expect to see on a baby. A grown-up maybe, but a 2 1/2 month old baby; not so much. You see, Grayson has a scowling problem. That's right...my son scowls at people. Don't worry, he doesn't discriminate. He even scowls at me and Drew!! Often times I will be out and about with my grumpulumpogus and ladies will stop, laugh, and say "He's got such a scowl!" Sometimes people try to come up with a solution because it's so uncomfortable. Like, "Maybe he's hungry?" No, lady...I just fed him 30 minutes ago! "Poor baby is just so tired." Thank you for your opinions, but nope! He just woke up from his nap. Thankfully, he makes lots and lots of cute smiley faces too these days. But, the scowl unfortunately is definitely his MO lately. Sam, my sister-in-law, told me that he reminds her of ME when he is making this face! She explained that I just use a lot of expressions and that's what reminded her of it (uh huh! I see how it is, Sam!!) and I have to admit she is right. I have been told all my life that I am full of expressions. Poor baby got it from his mama. I'm hoping he'll grow out of it soon, but for now I'll just enjoy my frowny baby!

In other news, we had a wonderful first Christmas with Grayson this year! This was our year to spend Christmas with Drew's family and it was really special for Grayson to be around his favorite (only) cousins: Nathan, Aubrey, and Lexi. Didi and Zip (Drew's parents) were super sweet and kept the grandkids a couple of times for us. One time Jared, Drew, Sam, and I went to Starbucks and even sat down there to enjoy our special treat (so rare)! Another time, Jared, Drew, Sam, and I went to Southlake Town Center to do some shopping with our Christmas money and gift cards without the kiddos. I could actually try stuff on!!! Imagine that! Drew did really well on my Christmas presents this year without me even telling him any ideas. He spoiled me with the most soft and cuddly Gap Body pajamas, a Massage Envy gift certificate, my favorite nail salon gift certificate, and a book I have been wanting! He wins!! It was especially fun watching my nephew and nieces walk in to see what Santa had brought them under the Christmas tree this year. I can't wait to see Grayson enjoy this fun tradition in years to come. Grayson LOVES his cousin Nathan! Anytime Nathan came over to Grayson to talk to him, Grayson would get this huge smile on his face and coo back at Nate. So precious! Ken and Diane spoiled us and we enjoyed our first Christmas with the newest family member, Josh who recently married Kellye! We all spent the night at Ken and Diane's (even though our house is 10 minutes away) on Christmas Eve so we could all wake up together on Christmas morning. So fun!!

On Friday morning this past week, Raydad and Mimi came into town to visit Grayson (oh and me and Drew, but we don't matter anymore!) for a late Christmas! We had a great time with them and they sure did love on Grayson! Katie and Trey came over to our house too on Saturday morning so we could exchange presents and enjoy spending time together. This is when Drew got his sweet new camera and I got all sorts of beautiful clothes, shoes, and cashola! Grayson got diapers, wipes (he was thrilled), custom made blocks with family members' pictures on them made by Mimi, cute outfits, etc. We were all very blessed this Christmas. Later that day we went over to my uncle Roger and aunt Vicki's house for our Carver Christmas (my mom's side of the family) and enjoyed a great lunch and time with family before heading home to play a mean game of Arnold Palmer miniature golf. This is a funny gift I got for my Dad and Drew. What a fun Christmas!!

Ok, here is the promised Grayson bath pictures. I will show you a series of pictures to let you all see the progression:

Poor baby.

**Also, this post was written yesterday, but posted today due to waiting on these bathtime pictures taken last night. Technically, I am still on-track with my new year's resolution! ;)**

Bath Time

Day 2 blogging...y'all are impressed already aren't you?! I know I am!! Drew's famous quote is helping me through this feat "yard by yard life is hard, inch by inch life is a cinch!" Ok, today I want to share about bath time with Grayson and maybe a few extra bonus pictures that Drew has taken lately as well.

So, my son LOVES the bath. I mean LOVES it!! I adore this about him and am thankful my baby likes to be clean and splash in the water. And splash in the water he does! He can be crying and as soon as we set him in his bath the crying miraculously stops and he gets busy kicking! He gets this really pleased with himself look on his face and kicks furiously until he gets his mama alllll wet. We sing songs; usually Jesus Loves Me and Jesus Loves the Little Children or a little diddy I make up. It is so fun UNTIL...he has to get OUT of the bath. He gets this sad lip thing going as soon as I wrap him up in his towel and by the time I have carried him to his changing table to dry him off fully and put a diaper on him he is in an all out wail! I'm talking red face, downward turned lip, yelling kind of cry that sounds sad...break your heart sad! At first, Drew thought it might be the unmanly lotion I was putting on him after his bath that was making him cry. Nope. He starts this crying thing before the lotion (although he admittedly doesn't like the lotion either, but that's not going to stop me from putting it on him because that's what makes him smooth and soft and smelling that adorable baby smell!). I don't have a picture of the wailing after his bath Grayson, but here is an old picture of him enjoying his bath. I'll show you cry-face later this week when I get Drew to help me snap a picture of him in misery.

Ok! Bonus picture time!! The first is a picture of Grayson on Christmas Day with his Christmas plaid on enjoying a good football game in his leather recliner at Didi and Zip's house. He is SO cute! I'm just sayin'!!

Those last 4 are all taken with Drew's awesome new super fancy camera he got for Christmas from my parents! I can't wait to learn how to use this bad boy myself!! I can tell such a difference in the quality of pictures it produces. Yay!

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year y'all! Want to know one of my top new year resolutions?! To be better about blogging!!! I'm serious. This, to me, is the best way to log and remember all the things I want to remember about Grayson and our life and happenings throughout the year. In addition, it's a fantastic way to share our life and my thoughts with friends and family that want to keep up with our family. I'm going to do it. I AM! Starting today I am going to start blogging everyday for 2 weeks straight to get myself in the groove of it all. After that, I will try to keep up with daily posts but might kick it back a little to only a few times a week. I don't know...we'll see. This may make me into a blog-o-maniac! Either way, I am excited to play a little catch up with Grayson-news and enjoy this hobby I started a while ago, but haven't found time for lately. I have found that I am a schedule person. If I don't have a schedule to do something, it probably won't happen. Like reading my Bible. If I don't decide what part of the day I want to always read my Bible, the day ends and I never "found time" to read the Word! Not good. So, I think my new schedule will be to read my Bible and then blog everyday after Grayson goes down for his first nap of the day. I have been thinking a lot about resolutions in the past couple of days. I am worried I may have too many! Some that I have thought of so far (that's right...I may not be done thinking of more!):

1. Read my Bible everyday-- I do this one every year and have yet to accomplish this goal...in sad attempts that never last very long. I want to HUNGER for His Word and deeply desire to read the Bible EVERY day!
2. Lose some serious weight-- Still working on getting rid of all those pregnancy pounds I packed on! I have a ways to go, but plan on accomplishing this by running/walking more. I have run a few times in the past couple of weeks and have found that I am able to pound out 3 miles, but at a MUCH slower pace than I used to be able to do in my prime. Oh my prime. Those were the days. ;)
3. Keep up with my blogging-- I already told y'all about this one. It's GOING to happen!

Those are the main ones I have thought of but am still tossing around some in my head about being a good mom, good wife, servant to others, etc. I would really like to be more selfless in 2012.

Ok, enough seriousness. I HAVE to tell you about the most embarrassing ever that has happened to me as a mom to date! It happened yesterday, January 1, 2012 at church. My parents were with us since they were still here from our late family Christmas (since we spent real Christmas with Drew's family this year) and Carver Christmas. My mom was holding sweet Grayson during church so she could soak up the last few minutes loving on and looking at him before they left to go back home after church. He had been slowly drifting off to sleep during worship and then came communion. Communion! You know where this is going don't you? So, the bread is passed. Then comes the juice...and it's during THIS silent quiet time that Grayson lets out the BIGGEST LOUDEST FART everrrrrrrrrrrr!!!!!!!!!! My mom looked surprised, my dad's shoulders were bouncing from laughing, Drew turned bright red, and I was looking around thinking...did that REALLY just happen?!? Chuckles were heard all around us, because people heard...there is no doubt that lots of people heard! Just to make SURE that everyone knew it was my baby that let out that horrendous sound and not me or my adult family members, I quickly grabbed his diaper bag and him and got up to go change his diaper and feed him. How embarrassing! But, you gotta hand it to the boy--he has timing! Have I been initiated into the new mom club yet?!

I'll leave you with a few sweet photos of the little "toot" Grayson from the photo shoot we did in College Station with Jenny Livingston back in November:

Stationery card

A sneak preview of our birth announcement (finally!) ...

Modern Script Boy Birth Announcement

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View the entire collection of cards.

Grayson David Branch

We are VERY happy to announce (extremely late I know) the birth of our precious son, Grayson David Branch! He was born October 20th at 5:43pm. Our little chunker came into the world at 10 pounds 9 ounces and 21 3/4 inches long! We have been SO blessed by this little man for a month now...a month! I still can't believe he is already a month old. I feel a little a lot overwhelmed by how much blogging I have missed out on in this month time period and know I have a lot of catching up to do--did I mention I have a newborn son these days?! I had no idea how little I would be getting around to once he came into our lives! I'm lucky if I can get a load of laundry done or even take a shower for that matter!! So, I promise to tell his birth story as well as some other major events we have been up to as a family in the past month such as my sister-in-law Kellye and Josh's wedding, my cousin Chase and Jessica's wedding, sweet milestones Grayson has already achieved, etc., but it may be that those stories will come here and there as I can get to them. For now, I will leave you with a few birth pictures as well as my letter to Grayson on his one-month-birthday, Nov. 20th (Drew will be writing next month's letter- I'm so excited already!).

Sweet Grayson,

Happy 1 month birthday today! I can’t believe it has been a month since we were blessed beyond our wildest dreams in getting to meet you for the first time and getting to call you our son. You were such a surprise on that day, heavy boy! You weighed 10 pounds 9 ounces!! I was so proud to have birthed such a beautiful and healthy baby. Your Daddy has been wild about you from the start as well. I could tell when he looked at you during those first moments after you were born that he loved you so much and would do anything for you. 

Grayson, we want you to know that we give all credit to our Lord for bringing you safely into this world on that day and we have not stopped giving thanks to Him for you ever since then. From that moment when I got to gaze into your beautiful eyes and kiss on those sweet cheeks of yours to now, you have been doing a lot of growing! We think you now weigh 12 pounds, but will find out your new weight at your one month appointment in about a week. 

You go through more diapers in a day than we ever imagined was possible! You used to cry when we changed your diaper, but after that first week you are a lot more relaxed. We think you have realized that we are doing something that will make you feel better when we change your diaper and have stopped crying because of that. You are a hungry boy too! You nurse about every 3 hours during the day and every 4-5 hours during the night. Those are some of my favorite moments when it is just you and me. I get to be selfish with you during that time and it’s somehow acceptable and even encouraged! J  I love looking at your precious face, touching your soft skin, and sometimes kissing you when I am feeding you. 

We put you in your crib to sleep for the first time last night and you slept like a champ! Before that you had been sleeping in our room in a bassinet. You sleep best when we swaddle you in a blanket so your spastic arm movements don’t wake you up from your sleep. You used to hate those first few baths where we had to sponge bathe you due to your cord stump still being present. But, your first bath where we were able to let you lay in the warm water was a different story! You loved it! One thing you don’t love, sadly, is when I put that wonderful baby-smelling lotion on you after your bath. You always let out a mad cry when I rub it on you. You are still wearing 0-3 month clothes (the size you were wearing the day we brought you home from the hospital) and have been getting lots of compliments on all of the tie onesies I sewed for you. 

You have been a busy boy this first month, Grayson! You have already been to two weddings!! The first one was your aunt Kellye and uncle Josh’s wedding on November 5^th. You were such a good baby during that busy weekend! Your great-grandmother, Granny, loved holding you while Mommy and Daddy were busy as we were both in the wedding. The next wedding you attended was your Mommy’s cousin’s wedding (Chase and Jessica Carver) in College Station. Your Mimi set up a newborn photo shoot that weekend and you posed like a natural! 

Everyone compliments you on what a good baby you are. Your Daddy and I are so thankful for that! You really never cry. There have only been a few times when you let out what we call your pterodactyl cry and it’s always because you are either hungry or working on a dirty diaper. Speaking of those dirty diapers, you toot and burp like a grown man! It is sometimes alarming to your Mommy! J  

You are precious in every way and we know God has great things in store for you. We are praying that God blesses us with wisdom in our parenting and that He will continue to allow you to grow and stay healthy. You have blessed our lives in immeasurable ways, Grayson. We love you very much!

Love,

Mommy and Daddy