A filled but fun weekend

It was a busy weekend, y'all!

Saturday was the second annual Jogging for Jonah event. Read more about Jonah here-you won't be sorry you did. Last year I was 35 weeks pregnant and could barely waddle to the bathroom so we just made a donation and stayed home. I was excited to participate this year and take Gray along with us. The weather was nothing like typical early May weather should be. It was a very brisk morning with a cold windy mist but it didn't stop us from strolling and having fun anyway. Abbie and Hudson joined us for the walk. I can't even believe Abbie just popped a baby out less than 3 weeks ago and already has a 5k under her belt. Hudson and Gray were all bundled up and enjoyed the ride.

We found Alex volunteering on the sidelines.

The cold weather didn't bother this guy.

He got to go down the big boy slide with Daddy.

After JFJ we went home, put Gray down for a quick nap and then headed to Boone. Last weekend was Paul's grandfather's 90th birthday party that we weren't able to go to since we already had plans to attend my friend Lindsay's wedding. Grandpa Hicks doesn't know who anyone is anymore but we wanted to have a good visit with him for his birthday because we just never know when the last visit may be. Though he doesn't recognize anyone, he LOVES kids. And it's a good thing too because he already has almost 20 great-grandchildren! Gray was exhausted and we were a little concerned about how he'd do but he was just the sweetest little guy ever. He and Grandpa exchanged many smiles, laughs, kisses and hugs and it made our hearts so full.     After visiting with Paul's grandfather we stopped by our friends Chad and Caroline's house. They are good friends of ours from church and just moved to Boone about a month ago. Aidan and Gray are just three months apart and were working on being such good buddies until they sadly moved up the mountain. We are excited that we can still see them when we travel there to visit family though. We are already planning a trip to Tweetsie Railroad later this summer or early fall.  
Sunday we worked in Gray's room at church.

And then I helped host a baby shower for my sweet friend Marie who is due with a baby boy just a few days after Gray's due date was.

Ashley, Marie (the mama to be), me, Alex and Broph.

There were so many precious babies to love on.

Sweet Caroline...one of the BEST babies I have ever been around!

Sweet Hudson. I had to get my snuggles on, after all I hadn't seen him since the day before ;)

And oh this sweet cheek girl, baby Ella.

Fun weekends usually mean busy ones and often I'm wishing for one more day to slow down with my boys. That is what I'm asking for for Mother's Day...just some good 'ol quality time with my two favorite guys.

Happy Monday, y'all!


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Bostic/Clark wedding

We went to one of the most beautiful weddings I've ever been to yesterday. And y'all, I've been in and been to A LOT of weddings! This wedding was for my friend Lindsay that I grew up riding horses with. We rode together for many years and stayed good friends while in college. Lindsay still lives in Raleigh and we rarely talk or see each other anymore: but not for any reason other than life just getting in the way. We can go a year without seeing each other and still pick up where we left off. I love that so much. The ceremony took place in a beautiful church but oh my word, the reception was amazingly gorgeous!! The pictures taken from my phone could never do it justice but I'll let them at least try to tell the rest...

Wish I'd thought to take a picture of the front of the house before it got dark.

I loved the lace table runners!

I wish I'd taken more pictures of the tables but they were the most beautiful antique looking wood I have ever seen!

Such a cool idea for table numbers.

The food was AMAZING!! From shrimp and grits to an Asian bar with lettuce wraps! We may or may not have gone back for seconds.

I thought her dress was so beautiful! Makes me want to get married again so I can pick a whole new dress! To Paul, of course ;)

Gorgeous hair to go along with the beautifulness of everything else.

The house was stunning and come to find out is actually a historic museum. Around the house were tons and tons of acres of gardens, trails, flower beds and horses. It was nothing short of a fairy tale wedding. We had a lot of fun and I am so happy for Lindsay. Thanks to my mom for babysitting ALL day and night so we could go. It was the perfect date night!

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Yard make-over...on a budget

Our back yard has been struggling for a while now. I'm not sure that you can really consider it a yard since we live in a townhouse, but we have a tiny area in the back that is fenced in. This past weekend was absolutely gorgeous and for whatever reason Gray took extra long naps so Paul and I decided it would be the perfect time to work outside.

We started by digging up this hideous bush that's actually in the front right next to the door.

Want to know something funny? I forgot to take a "before" picture of the bush (we were so excited to dig that thing up) so this is a picture of the same ugly bush at our neighbor's house. I just knew he was going to walk outside right about the time I was snapping the picture. I imagine I would have said something along the lines of, "Oh, hey! I was just taking a picture of your ugly bush. We used to have an ugly bush but it's gone now."

We replaced the ugly bush with this Camellia. I can't wait for it to bloom but even it's green leaves are so much more pleasant that that pitiful thing that used to be there.

Over a year ago we got a huge concrete slab poured (it was sure to sell our house, said the realtor) so there isn't much grass but what is there has been dead for a long time. It was time we did a few things to perk up what little outside space we do have. If it doesn't help out house sell at least we will enjoy more while we wait.

It didn't look quite this bad before but it was close. We killed all the weeds and then raked them up.

We were planning on buying fertilizer and grass seed but saw Lowe's had just gotten fresh sod in and for as little as our backyard is, we were able to buy sod cheaper than what the grass seed and fertilizer would have cost. And we have immediate grass-score!

When we moved almost two and a half years ago from my townhouse, we threw away the cushions to the patio furniture because they were disgusting and could not be cleaned up enough to use. We never replaced them and therefore have never used the furniture since we've been here.

Pitiful chairs with no cushions. Also notice where the grill is here.

We got some rust-away spray and fixed up the chairs.




These cushions came from Aldi and were only 10 bucks a piece! We haven't been able to find any for less than $40 a chair and we just weren't willing to spend that much. These aren't exactly what I would have picked out, but they aren't too awful and for a total of $40, I think they look pretty good!

We Paul scrubbed all the nastiness off of the siding too. He says he now knows why people rent pressure washers.

It was beyond time to pull old, dead flowers from last year.

I planted some wild flower seeds that my mom gave me in this pot. I hope they sprout soon. We realized after all of the yard work was done that this poor pot could stand some spray paint. Maybe we'll get around to that this weekend.

The area in between the concrete and the fence was a combination of weeds and old mulch.

This is after we pulled the weeds and laid new cedar mulch. It looks so much better and smells wonderful.

This is our yard now. Doesn't it look so much happier? The sod is struggling in a few spots even though we've soaked it twice a day every day since we put it down. Not sure what's up with that but it still looks better than it did.

We also moved the grill so it's not taking up so much of the beautiful concrete space.

I'm so excited to spend some time out back this spring. We had some friends over last night and enjoyed a lovely dinner on our "new" patio. I imagine lots of days spent blowing bubbles and using sidewalk chalk this spring and summer when Gray starts walking.

Perhaps when we have a real yard one day we won't neglect it for two years ;)

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10 months

Another month gone by way too fast. I guess Gray's gonna grow up whether I like it or not.

I first tried snapping a few pics by myself but to keep this boy still and take a picture at the same time, by yourself, is close to impossible.

To be so tall, Gray actually has pretty short legs but they look so long here!  And in case you're wondering what he's holding, that would be an Ibuprofen syringe...one of his favorite "toys" right now. Don't worry, he doesn't play with it unsupervised ;)

And this would be what happens when Mama takes the syringe away. 

And this would be what pictures are like when Daddy is home :)

We won't know accurate growth stats until Gray's one year check up so on to some other 10 month updates...

Milestones-Two more teeth! This makes 8 total, 4 on top and 4 on the bottom. Poor baby has gotten one after the next after the next since he was 5 months old.

Gray will stand on his own for several seconds at a time and is cruising around furniture like it's cool. He is very brave and thinks nothing of letting go of one thing to grab onto something else. I'm honestly surprised he isn't walking already but I'm in no rush for that to happen so we are fine with him taking his time with that milestone. He crawls around so fast and doesn't seem too interested in walking right this minute.

He is saying and waving bye bye more frequently now and does it at the right time.

Playtime/Interests-Toys aren't too impressive to Gray right now. He'd rather chase Sophie, play with a syringe, pull all 100 books down from the bookshelf or play peek-a-boo with Mama and Daddy. He is SO much fun right now. One of his favorite things is for us to say "I'm gonna get you!"-he cracks up, squeals and crawls as fast as he can to get away from us but then looks behind to make sure we're chasing him. He could play peek-a-boo all day long. Sometimes we put him in his crib and hide on the sides of it. He jumps around squealing and laughing and goes from one end of the crib to the other peaking his little head over the top to see where we are. It's the cutest thing! He still loves books but sitting still through an entire one is rare. However, he has just started getting a book and bringing it to us, crawling up in our lap and waiting anxiously for us to read it. I hope his love for books never goes away! We've been going to the Y for several weeks now and he loves it! Being out and around people is totally his element. Paul and I were in a little store in Old Salem with his parents last week and we had Gray in his stroller. This older lady came walking up saying "Hey Gray! Hey Gray, how are you?!" Gray was smiling and carrying on like he's known this lady his whole life and I've never seen her before. I thought maybe she worked at Paul's school and I just didn't recognize her. She finally told me she worked in the nursery at the Y and that he was her favorite baby. I found it to be both sweet and hilarious.

Language Development- No new specific, clear words but yet Gray seems to be talking more and more. Does that make any sense? We don't necessarily pick up on any new words but I am certain he knows what he's saying. We are really encouraging him to use words when he wants things instead of whining or crying. I know it's too soon to expect that but I don't feel like it's too soon to start teaching it. I've been really slack on sign language. It is just something I rarely think to do with him but I want to try to start being better with it, especially the signs for "please" and "thank you". It is really important to us that Gray is polite and has good manners. Receptive language continues to blossom and it is so amazing what he can understand at 10 months old. He knows/understands/responds to several "where" questions..."Where is Sophie?" (he will about break his neck looking for her), "Where is your water?" (he'll pick up his sippy cup), "Where is Daddy/Mama/Gray?", etc. He has his moments with "no" and "no touch" but he no doubt knows what it means.

Eating habits- Gray has four bottles a day, anywhere from 5-8 ounces. He eats baby food/table food three times a day. He is becoming less and less interested in baby food, I think mostly because he wants to feed himself. He is getting better with table foods. Some of his favorites right now include: goldfish, teething cookies, crackers, puffs (still a favorite and he could eat his weight in them, no doubt) bread, tortilla, sweet potato chips, apples, pears, and oranges.He is still having a rough time with some textures. Banana and green bean baby foods are two of his favorites but he'll have nothing to do with the real thing. He loves water and drinking out of his sippy cup.

Sleeping habits- 7:00/7:30 at night to 7:00/7:30 in the morning. He is still taking two naps a day and lately isn't sleeping much longer than an hour. He seems pretty close to one nap a day but we tried it the other day and it proved to be not time quite yet.

Temperament/Personality- Gray continues to have such a strong personality, which also comes with a strong will! He loves people and loves to talk, play and be silly. He knows when and how to get attention, he knows when a camera is on him and I am pretty certain he knows he is so cute! ;) He is normally a very happy and content little guy and because of his first three months of life, I try to never take that for granted. Last week was really rough. He was pitching several hard core fits every day and no lie acted like he was in his terrible twos! I think a lot more of it was due to teething than I thought because he has been a complete angel baby this week. Sometimes when we tell him no, he just goes about his business and it doesn't bother him. Other times is starts World War III. Paul and I have already spent many hours reading books and listening to podcasts from Gray's pediatrician, Dr. Satterwhite (who is AMAZING, by the way!). Oh, and a lot of time praying too! I don't say that lightly. Parenting and specifically disciplining, is no easy task but is so, so important and though we could never be close to getting it all right, we are sure going to try hard anyway. We haven't had any issues with separation anxiety, maybe because Gray loves people so much. But yesterday for the first time, he cried when I dropped him off at the nursery at church. I stood by the door and listened and he was over it in less than a minute. Tonight for the first time, he cried when Paul left for soccer. It too only lasted for a few seconds. Hopefully it's not the start of some separation issues.

Favorite things about Gray at 10 months- I want to include this from now on because Paul and I frequently have conversations about "what our favorite things are about our boy" right now. Gray has learned to give kisses and it is the sweetest thing. He opens his mouth and leans in to either our mouth or cheek. He also puts both arms around your neck and gives the biggest hugs. But the kisses are something we have to ask him for and we don't always get them. This morning when I went in his room to get him, he gave me a big hug when I first picked him up (which he normally does these days) but then without me asking, he gave me the biggest, longest, most slobbery kiss on my cheek! I definitely shed a few tears of joy over that one! We also love how excited he gets when one of us gets home or when we pick him up from his class at church or the Y. It's such a good feeling to see his little face light up, his feet start kicking and that sweet little voice start squealing and talking.

I have been a mommy for 10 months now and it is still such a surreal feeling. I am often overwhelmed just thinking about the fact that God is allowing us to be parents to such a sweet miracle. And I can't believe in less than two months until we will be celebrating one year of life with that precious miracle that we get to call our son.

Busted!

Gray will barely be able to keep his eyes open but as soon as he gets in his crib lately, he becomes wide open and plays for a while before he falls asleep. He is almost always so happy during this time so it's a lot of fun to watch what he's doing and listen to what he is "saying". One day last week we were keeping an eye on the monitor waiting for him to fall asleep and we noticed he had a diaper in there and was having a good 'ol time playing with it and slinging it around. At first we thought he had taken his diaper off and I thought surely we had some time before we had that battle to deal with. Sometimes when Daddy changes him, the diaper gets on top of the diaper genie but doesn't quite make it in ;) So Gray reached his little hand through the crib railing and got it. Thankfully it was only a pee pee diaper!




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FREEDOM!

This blog post is for my own memory's sake more than your reading pleasure. If you continue to read on, don't say I didn't warn you.

I have come to the end of my breast feeding journey. And it is very bittersweet.

The bitter parts...
Although Gray got teeth pretty early, we never had any issues with him biting me until about 4 weeks ago. He bit me so hard that I hollered out pretty loud. I'd always heard that if your baby bit you while nursing, that you were supposed to yell and/or pop them so that they were frightened enough not to do it again. I didn't even have time to think about my reaction, it startled me and it HURT! Well it's safe to say it frightened him and he never bit me again, because he never nursed again after that. Not only would he refuse to nurse after that, he would get very upset every time I tried. It was heartbreaking and frustrating, but mostly heartbreaking. All of a sudden I had this baby who up until this point, relied almost solely on me for his daily nutrition. I had this baby who'd almost always been so easy to nurse. And now he wanted nothing to do with it. I'd planned on nursing him until he was one and I always thought I'd be the one choosing to wean him and I'd be able to prepare for it emotionally. I guess in this way I never had have that emotional battle, but this has been hard too. I started having to pump for every one of his bottles (4-5 a day, usually only 4 thankfully). It got old really quick for several reasons. Now one might think that being a stay at home mom would make it easier to do so, but I didn't find that to be true for me. I didn't have the option of locking my office door each time I needed to pump. I'd wake up before he did in the mornings, pump during his naps and then at least two more times in the evenings. I hate to pump. I have hated for a long time, especially when Gray was so easy to nurse and for the past 5 months he could eat in less than 10 minutes. His naps are pretty short these days so it came down to either taking a shower or pumping, doing the dishes and laundry or pumping, etc., etc. I was never able to get it done while he was awake because he is all over the place. I was already either staying up until midnight or getting up at 3:00 in the morning to pump. It was all wearing me out. So I decided I'd just pump three times a day and whatever I got, I got. We started giving him formula for his fourth bottle, which I was totally fine with at that point. Soon after that my little plan started to backfire. I was making more milk than I had time to pump which was creating some issues. Most of y'all mamas probably know what I'm talking about, the rest of you can thank me for not going into details. I tried to go back to pumping more but it was making me a miserable person. That might sound dramatic but I was feeling completely tied down to this stupid pump. It was ruling my whole day, where we could go and when we could go and when we were home I wasn't getting anything around the house done other than PUMPING. I was over it. I wanted to be done but I struggled with feeling guilty over not continuing to give my son the best nutrition when God was still providing it through me. But with each day of strictly pumping, I got more and more excited at the thought of being done. I'd still try nursing Gray every now and then but he'd refuse. If he would have started nursing again I would have gladly tried to stick it out another few months. But he didn't. And one day last week I finally made the decision to call it quits. The "quitting" process made for a really rough several days, but I will also skip those details. But after it was all said and done, it was like the most freeing feeling I've felt in a long time.

So on to the sweet parts...
I can go to bed and not have to stay up until midnight or wake up at 3:00 in the morning to pump. If I'm really tired, I can let Gray be my alarm clock in the morning instead of getting up to pump before he wakes up. I can go anywhere and stay gone as long as I want to. I can get things done when Gray naps. I don't have to wash out pump parts and bottles a million times a day (ok, 5 times a day but it felt like a million). I don't have to feel like I'm going to cry when Gray doesn't finish a bottle of milk that I got up at 3:00 in the morning to pump. I can wear what I want, when I want to. I feel like this list could go on and on and on. I officially packed up my pump a few days ago and I felt like the biggest weight had been lifted of off my shoulders. Hello, FREEDOM!!!!

Now, please don't get me wrong. I think breast feeding is one of the most amazing things about being a mom and I would encourage anyone to try it. The fact that God made our bodies be able to produce the most healthy nutrition for our babies is unfathomable to me. It's also an amazing bonding experience that only us mamas get to experience (though I don't see any dads shedding tears over that one). Oh, and it's free too! I am SO thankful that I was able to nurse Gray, especially for a little over 9 months. I can remember my goal being 6 months and I was thrilled when I got to that point. But of all the great things there are about nursing, I think most moms who have done it will admit it is a huge sacrifice. Though I would highly encourage it, I will truly never judge anyone who isn't up for it because it is far from easy! I was so fortunate that Gray was one of those babies that latched on from the very beginning but what I didn't lack in toughness there, I made up for in pain-literally and figuratively! ;) I am also thankful that I was able to get some milk frozen and although it won't quite last until he's one, we will be able to stretch it out for a little while in addition to using formula.

Now it's off to enjoy this new found freedom and hope to forget all about that dreadful pump before we even think about baby number two ;)