A day in the life of Grayson

Grayson was funny today. As soon as he ate breakfast, it was busy time. He got in his toy basket, unloaded all of the toys, climbed out of the basket, put all of the toys back in the basket, and started all over again by climbing in the basket. This kept him occupied and happy for the longest time! After his morning nap, we hopped in the car. We stopped and spent some time at a Barnes & Noble looking at books and of course had to visit their Starbucks to share a slice of pumpkin bread and for my new favorite drink- vanilla spice latte! Then, we met our friends Krystle and Natalie at the Fort Worth Zoo. Grayson is really into cats so his favorite animal was the white tiger! The kids had fun and it was good for us moms to catch up with each other too. What a great day!

I will survive!

This is the song that kept playing in my head today as I attempted to keep a very fussy Grayson and I sane today while Drew attended our church's men's conference. In order to get out of the house, I took Grayson to the mall. He at least liked the little ride that sucks all of your quarters, but I don't want to talk about the little girl bully at the indoor mall playground, the fact that I got absolutely no shopping done, and I really don't want to talk about how I stress ate an Auntie Anne's pretzel and was secretly glad Grayson didn't want the piece I offered him (more for me)! Fast forward to me arriving home with fuss-ball in tow, dropping him off with men-conferenced hubby, and immediately and mysteriously disappearing to hunt down that food truck I saw driving into our neighborhood..Mama needed her some lunch!

Hoping and praying tomorrow is better.

Life lately through iPhone pictures

Remember Me?

Hi! Remember me? It's been a while since I last posted something here and a lot has happened. To name a couple of the big events: Drew started working at DaVita as a recruiter, we got in a big wreck (everyone is ok thankfully), and Grayson turned 1! Of course lots of other things have happened too, but it is too overwhelming to think about trying to play catch up. So, instead I will pick up on what's happening right now.

Grayson is walking everywhere, but the walking has turned into a full-on sprint! Not only that, but he is now in a severe climbing phase. He is climbing on toys, boxes, tables, and couches...and pretty much anything he can hike his leg up onto in order to hoist him onward and upward. I've got my hands full.

Drew is taking a college Micro-Biology class in order to obtain his prerequisites to enroll in a nursing school in the future. The class is twice a week after work. He is doing a great job at balancing family, work, and class...and driving! The poor guy is constantly commuting from one place to another and the DFW traffic isn't always so friendly. I'm very proud of my smart man!

On Wednesdays I have been attending BSF (Bible Study Fellowship). Grayson has his own BSF class he goes to and has been getting better and better about adjusting to being with somebody else besides me. I am loving studying the book of Genesis in depth and am challenged to dive into the Word daily.

Here are some fairly recent pictures since what blog post is complete without a few pictures?!

 Cutie

 Creepy Doll at my Grandparents' House

 Blue eyes. Stocking hat. New playground.

Funny boy

At The Park & The New House

My brother, Trey and sister in law, Katie have moved to California permanently...only a few days before we arrived as their guests! Bless their hearts! They were the best host and hostess despite the lack of furniture as it was still on the moving truck. We love their new house and so did Grayson! He had fun scooting around the floor playing with either the toys Mimi got him or random boxes (isn't that always how it is?!). The first day we were there, we all walked to Trey and Katie's neighborhood park. Grayson had a blast swinging on the swing, going down the slide for the first time with his Dad, riding up on Raydad's shoulders, and being tickled by Mimi!

Swinging

Uncle Trey thought Grayson needed some padding behind him in the swing, so he offered to stuff his jacket behind him (so sweet)!

First Slide Ride

First Curvy Slide Ride

Mimi tickling Grayson on Raydad's shoulders

I love this picture!!

Grayson being tickled by Mimi

Somebody loves his Mimi

California & Sea Kayaking

Drew was recently blessed with a new job offer to be a recruiter for a company called DaVita, still here in the DFW metroplex! We're thrilled and he has already been working there for a week now. God gave us an extra dose of blessing when it worked out that there would be a week in between Drew finishing his work at Ferrovial and starting his work at DaVita. Mom and Dad had already offered to fly us out to California sometime this summer and we didn't think we would be able to, but with the week off, it was the perfect time! Little Man had his very first flight (4 total with one to LA and another to Santa Barbara and back) and did as well as anyone could hope for. He always fell asleep on take-offs and only cried because his ears hurt when he woke up from a nap coming home from California once. Sometimes it was tricky keeping him entertained when he was awake, but between the two of us we were able to pass him back and forth and all went well. You wouldn't believe how much attention he got from everybody at the airports and the stuart on the first flight loved Grayson and even asked to hold him for a little while...and Grayson went to him without crying (a rare thing in these stranger danger days of his!)!! Toward the end of that first flight, the stuart came back to our seats and handed us a passport type book for Grayson where he had logged his first flight in it with the captain and co-captain's signatures as well as his first pair of wings! SO CUTE!! Nothing was more welcoming than getting off the plane in Santa Barbara to the cool weather. What a great start to our trip.

Fair warning...we have so many great pictures from our trip that there will have to be multiple posts and an absurd amount of pictures!!

So this is a little out of order, but one of the days we were there, Mimi and Raydad babysat Grayson so that Katie, Trey, Drew, and I could go sea kayaking! It was SO. MUCH. FUN! We got to go in caves, saw up close: sea otters, sea lions, and all sorts of birds, may have "tumped" (Katie that is for you!) over in our sea-kayak once, and enjoyed rowing on the beautiful water. Drew accused me of "fake paddling" but I faintly remember the guide telling us to let the LADY get back on the kayak first when a certain male someone hopped on first instead! Thanks Mom and Dad for the fun adventure!!

Ready to go! (Why did they give me the wetsuit with the wierd yellow stripe?)

So much fun!

Sea otter

Birds

Does that look like fake paddling to you?!

Sea lions

Caves

Here we come through the cave!

Pros!

Starfish

California Coast (with fog)

We made it! (I think this is the cave where Drew said that Trey almost got decapitated in as he and Katie went through!!)

Look at how cool those rocks look!

This was the cave that didn't have an exit. We were suppossed to turn our kayaks around, but Trey wasn't listening to instructions and kept looking for a crack in the rocks to exit out of and Katie claimed he panicked when he didn't see a way out! Haha! 

I love you, Drew, but definitely going with a single kayak next time (right Katie?!)!

Walking around on the shore for a quick snack break and so that we can warm up post tump over!

Katie and Trey looking cute on shore in front of a cave.

Push us in boys!

All 4 of us inside a cave.