Monday, May 20, 2013

And so it begins...

The climbing, that is!




Before we know it this will turn into climbing trees and deer stands. Lord, give me patience and calm my nerves because boys are gonna be boys!
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Wednesday, May 15, 2013

My first Mother's Day

This time last year I was super preggo and Paul surprised me with the sweetest card and a gift. I didn't really feel like a mom yet though so I considered this year as my first "real" Mother's Day. I told Paul I didn't want anything except for a weekend with my boys and no plans. We soaked up some good quality time, just the three of us. Paul couldn't resist some surprises though. We had a delicious meal Saturday night of filet mignon, shrimp and sweet potatoes.

No lie, it was the best tasting steak I have ever had in my life. There is a fresh meat market right down the street from our house and we often hit up their specials because the meat is soooo much better! I also got a huge bouquet of Asiatic lilies, one of my most favorite flowers.

I have enjoyed watching them bloom all week.
But the most special part of Mother's Day was waking up to this
Though I didn't ask for it, I hoped so bad that Gray would "make" me something. I wanted to get his hand prints when he was born and we never did it so this couldn't be more perfect. Paul did such a good job making this with Gray and I already treasure it so much!! The first one they made got a tiny crack in it when it dried so they even made me another one. It is seriously one of the sweetest things I own.

On Sunday we went to church, in which Gray dressed appropriately for the occasion.
We kept Gray with us during the worship time of service. We've been doing this some because we want him to get used to it and we love worshipping as a family. He has to go to his class afterwards though because he would be too much of a distraction for us and everyone else. We missed three weeks in a row of Bible Fellowship (Sunday school) class so even though the crowd was small, we really enjoyed the study and fellowship. Gray was extra excited to see us when we got to his room to pick him up. Perhaps it was because he'd made me this...

This would have been the first time Gray ever held a marker. And I'm pretty sure there was more on his hands than on this bookmark.

After church we got lunch for my mom and Gram and visited with them and my brother for a while. Late that afternoon when Gray woke up from his nap we strolled up to TCBY where they were giving free yogurt to all moms. Holler!

I certainly had a wonderful first Mother's Day but even before Gray was born, I've always had somewhat of a heavy heart on this specific holiday. I can't help but think of those who have lost their mom or who have a strained relationship with their mom. And now that I am a mama, I couldn't help but be broken hearted thinking about those who desperately want to be a mama but can't be or aren't yet. It sure makes me even more humbled and thankful for the blessings of two wonderful mothers (mine and Mom Hicks) and a precious little miracle that I get to call my son.

The sweetest Mother's Day sugar that I didn't even have to ask for!

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Saturday, May 11, 2013

ELEVEN months!!

Y'all, our baby boy was eleven months old as of yesterday. ELEVEN. Which means next month he will be a whole year. I just can't even believe it. Pretty soon we will no longer have a baby but will enter into TODDLERhood. Gray is at such a fun age right now and I continue to be amazed at how he grows and changes every day. Each day he seems to be doing or saying something new. He is like a huge sponge, just soaking in every little thing he possibly can.

I'll go ahead and post pictures because this month's post is another long winded one that most of you won't care to read. I'm sure I'll be cracking up at these posts one day when there's a second child because I'll be doing good to get through each day, much less write a novel for every month of life. How Gray feels about taking pictures these days... "Ain't nobody got time for that!"

He thought we were out of our minds asking him to be still for pictures. Thankfully he gets over these fits pretty quick.





Growth-Gray is wearing mostly 12 month clothes but some 18 months onesies and pajamas. I took him to the doctor on April 23rd because I was afraid he might have an ear infection (he didn't) and his weight was 19 pounds, 11 ounces (38th percentile). I don't feel like he has grown as much in length the past month or two but I still can't wait to see what his measurements are at his one year appointment.
He just moved up to size 4 over night diapers (for some reason Pampers over nights are smaller than their regular ones) but will be moving to all size 4s soon.

Milestones-Gray took his first real steps on April 26. He is not an official walker yet though and really isn't very interested in it right now. He is such a fast crawler and can get to whatever he wants so he seems in no hurry. I am surprised he isn't walking already because he has been standing and cruising for 2 months now. I think I wrote in the 9 month post that I'd be shocked if he wasn't walking before he was one. The way he is acting now though, I wouldn't be surprised either way. We aren't discouraging walking but certainly aren't encouraging it either. He is already so fast and busy that I am in no rush to be chasing him around more than I already am. He does get really excited when he takes a few steps though and I do look forward to seeing his cute little self totting around. Just hopefully not today ;)

We think Gray may have a whopping TEN teeth before his first birthday. After eight, we know our boy pretty good and his signs of teething. Though he hasn't been as fussy as he has for the other eight, we are pretty sure another tooth (and probably two since the rest have all come in pairs) is going to pop through soon. I can usually see on his gums where the hole is right before the tooth breaks through the skin but because he already has 4 on top and 4 on the bottom, I can't see in the rest of his mouth good enough.

Playtime/Interests-Gray still loves to pull all 274 books off of the bookshelf every day (don't you love how last month it was only 100 books? The more it drives me crazy, the more dramatic it needs to be). This is still one of my least favorite things that he does but I am learning to choose my battles and that one isn't worth fighting. And there must be some good in it because Gray is obsessed with books right now. He will pull each book off the shelf and look at it until he finds one that he likes and then will sit down and look at it. He knows how to turn the pages by himself. He loves to pick out a book and crawl over to me and get in my lap so I can read it to him. Man do I love that! His favorite books are his tractor books and animal touch and feel books. Another favorite is "I See a Monster", another touch and feel book that was a hand me down. We read that one at least five times every day. He has an animal book that has a button that makes the animal sounds and he when either he or I push the button, he tries to make a noise too. He still loves playing peek-a-boo and being chased. He also has a truck toy that he loves to push around (it's in one of his pictures above). He still loves Sophie and bless his sweet heart, tries every day to chase her and get her to play with him and she just won't have it. My keys are another obsession and fake keys just won't cut it. I let him hold them but I make sure his paci is in so he doesn't put them in his mouth, though he still tries to. He has learned to climb the stairs and we let him do it when we're right behind him. We have a gate up now so he can't get to the kitchen or the stairs unless we let him. He isn't one bit happy about that mean 'ol gate either.

Language Development/New Words-Sorry to wear this out but his receptive language skills continue to blow my mind. He understands SO much. He can often bring me certain items or books that I ask him to. If I tell him to find his tractor book he can sort through all of his books he has thrown down from the book shelf and bring it to me. Sophie's ball and stuffed elephant were across the room one day and I asked him to bring me Sophie's elephant. I didn't expect him too because he knows what her ball is but I didn't think he knew what her elephant was. Sure enough, he crawled across the room and brought it to me. When I hear Paul's car pull up in the afternoon, I'll say "Daddy's home!" and he has started crawling from the living room into the hallway and waits at the door. It is so sweet and makes Paul's day every time. He isn't saying "uh oh" yet but if I say it he looks at me so concerned. He still understands "no" and "no touch" and has been so much better about obeying, for now anyway.

He also is saying a few new words these days-"more" (sounds like "me"), "bottle" (sounds like "baa"), "ball" (sounds like ball), "book" (sounds like just the 'b' sound), first two word phrase-"all done" (sounds like "all done"-we are so proud of this one). He doesn't use these words all the time but he definitely associates them with the correct things or timing. He has started swatting at us when he doesn't want anymore food or throws his bottle when it's gone so we've really encouraged the "all done" phrase (I continue to forget about the sign language). Thankfully the word "no" isn't being said nearly as often as it was the last two months. After doing some reading and watching some of Dr. Satterwhite's pod casts, we realized we had too many "nos" around the house and not only was it not realistic for him, he began saying it a lot because he was hearing it a lot. So we pick our battles and have only a few "no touches" for safety reasons.

Eating habits-It's pretty safe to say Gray is over baby food at this point. Occasionally we can get some down but he would much rather be feeding himself. I don't like that he isn't getting as many vegetables and fruit, but I know the next stage is normal and hopefully we will get back there soon. He is getting so much better with table foods and is adding to his menu. New foods this month are-black olives (one of the few foods I do NOT like so I find this so funny), edamame hummus (Trader Joe's), peanut butter, cheese, cheese quesadillas, blueberries, green beans (not baby food style) and animal crackers (he didn't like them last time we tried). Puffs are still a favorite along with Goldfish and teething biscuits. He started using his snack trap recently and he loves it. He looks like such a big boy.


He is still getting 4 bottles a day (8 ounces) of formula. We have some frozen breast milk left but want to save the rest in case he has a hard time transitioning to whole milk. We are going through a canister of Costco size formula every two weeks! This makes me even more thankful that he was breast fed for almost 10 months.

Gray has learned to share his food which is so sweet! We didn't really teach him this but he started trying to give us bites of his food so we use the word "sharing" a lot now and tell him how nice it is of him. Now he's decided to share with Sophie too.

Sleeping habits-Gray has been SUCH a good sleeper lately! He loves his crib and loves going down for naps and bedtime. We've tried a couple of times giving him a lovey or toy in his crib but he played with them for over two hours and isn't attached to a lovey right now so we decided to continue not putting anything in his crib. We also figured if he went down easy for right now, why make him have to have something to go down. He almost never cries when we put him down. Though he'll barely be able to keep his eyes open, as soon as he gets in his crib he comes alive. He will play anywhere from 15-45 minutes before he puts himself to sleep. He stands, he sits, he crawls, he rolls over, he practices happy baby and downward dog positions, he talks, he plays with his toes, etc. It is such a good feeling to see him so happy in his crib and entertaining himself without any toys. I know we will hit many more sleep stages but for now we are enjoying this one!

He still sleeps 12 hours at night (it's been more like 7:30-7:30 lately) and has been getting only one nap most days lately. He would go down around 10:00/10:30 but by the time we get home from either the Y or church, it's almost noon before he gets down. Some days it's a hard stretch for him to stay awake until bedtime but he isn't tired until around 5:00 and by that point it's too late for a nap. He has also been napping longer so I think he is really close to consistently being down to one a day.

We went out of town a couple weekends ago and he slept through the night in his pack n play every night and took a two and a half hour nap one day. That was only his fourth time sleeping away from home and it was his best yet. I hope he will keep that up with all of our summer travel plans.

Temperament/Personality-We've had such a happy, content boy for the most part. He has also become so sweet and affectionate with hugs and slobbery kisses ALL the time! We'll never be able to get enough of them. He continues to be Mr. Social Butterfly and loves being out and about. He "talks" to everyone he sees when we're out. He loves going to the Y and to church. I dropped him off at the Y the other morning and there was a new lady being trained. The other worker took Gray and as she walked off with him she said to the new lady, "This is Gray. He's pretty much the best baby we have, he never cries." It feels so good to hear that, especially when the first 3-4 months of his life we wondered if he'd ever not cry. We pray every day for God to give him a sweet and gentle spirit and He has certainly done that. We are so thankful and pray it continues.

Favorite things about Gray at 11 months-Hugs and kisses are still a favorite, especially because now he does it all the time without us asking for them. Some of my favorite times are when he first wakes up in the morning. I almost always get up before he does so I can get a few things done before the madness of the day starts, so I get to watch him on the monitor. He stretches for a few minutes, lays there for a few, sits up and just chills for a few, all the while having so much to say to himself in the sweetest "I just woke up" voice. He will stay happy for up to a half hour after waking up and though I don't usually wait that long to get him, I do sometimes just watch the monitor the entire time. I also love how sweet and sleepy he is right after he gets a bottle. He'll nuzzle his little head into our chest and wrap his little arms around our neck and it's just the best feeling in the world. There aren't many nights where all three of us are home for Gray's bedtime but when we are, we just soak it in a little longer until either me or Paul tells the other one "We HAVE to put him down now!".

Gray's one year post will most likely be late because he doesn't go to the doctor until the 12th and it will take me a while to compose myself long enough to get it written. Where did the past 11 months go?!?!

Monday, May 6, 2013

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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Tuesday, April 30, 2013

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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