Tulip Festival

We got to go to a Tulip Festival!  A friend organized a day for a group of us to go and it was beautiful and a lot of fun.  It was about a 45 minute drive, but it was worth it.  You got to hand pick your own tulips.  We brought a picnic with us and enjoyed eating with such beautiful scenery.

Despite the face, he was enjoying himself.  He didn't like the sun being in his eyes.

He wasn't really sure about the flowers at first.  He sure liked poking them though.

On our way home, we stopped at an Amish grocery store I had seen.  They had a petting zoo outside and Grayson loved petting the goats.  He kept calling them 'doggies' but hey, everything on four legs these days is a doggie.  The goats were use to being fed, so they would stick there little heads through the fence and smell or lick your hands looking for a treat.  Grayson just laughed and laughed, he thought it was great.

He picked up on it really quick and started holding his hands out for the goats.  They had some chickens, turkeys and peacocks as well as other animals.  I can't wait to take him to more petting zoos, Trevor never appreciates them as much as I do, so I'm excited to have a buddy to go with me.

New Adventures for Me

Being a stay at home mom has definitely opened up different doors and opportunities for me.  I have started developing different talents or becoming involved in things I normally would not have even thought about.  I recently had the chance to make a baby shower cake for a good friend of mine who is having a little boy.  While I did do cake decorating before I had Grayson, I have been able to make two baby shower cakes in the past few months and it has been fun.  It has been a fun reminder for me of talents I have wanted to develop more and skills I have wanted to use that I didn't necessarily have time for when I was working full time.

I have also started taking online classes through Coursera.  It is an amazing program that offers a wide variety of free on line classes from very highly respected universities from around the world.  It as been so fun to learn about new things and be able to do it on my own time without having to worry about grades or due dates.

My next big new thing has been Zumba.  I started taking Zumba from a friend here several months ago.  She is expecting a little girl and when teaching started getting difficult for her, she asked if I had ever thought about becoming an instructor myself.  I had never given it any thought, but I did after talking to her.  With some encouragement from a wonderful husband, I decided to go for it.  I worked with her some to get a feel for what it would be like and then this past Saturday, I spent a grueling nine hours in a Zumba instructor course and became an official licensed instructor.  I was exhausted after the class and so hungry (we had to stop at Five Guys to get burgers on the way home), but I'm glad I did it.  I'll be teaching three days a week and I'm excited!!!  I'm so grateful for this blessing and for a kind friend and sweet husband who had faith in me!

I even have the cool pants now too!!

I had to shower first before I took these pictures.  

Grayson's 15 month Stats

Grayson recently had his 15 month check up and he is a picture of health!  He is growing and changing so much, we love to have him as part of our family.  Here are his stats:

Height: 31 inches

Weight: 23 lb 9.5 oz

Grayson has started talking!  It's just a few words, but his annunciation gets better every day.  I would say his first word was actually a tie between 'daddy' and 'doggy.'  Sometime you can't really tell the difference between the two which is kind of funny.  It is very distinct, it's not 'dada' he actually says 'daddy.' He calls me daddy too sometimes, but he does know there is a difference.  One time I asked him where mommy was and he patted me on the chest.  I admit, I got a little teary.  Every milestone he makes, no matter how small, bring such joy to my heart and I feel so proud.  Now he says lots of words such as, 'bubbles', 'car', 'choo choo', 'cracker', etc.  He is getting really good at mimicking what we say also.  Trevor and I have both been impressed with how well he understands simple directions. One day, he wanted a drink and I told him his sippy cup was under the book shelf.  He looked around for a moment and then walked to the book shelf and got down on his hands and knees and tried to grab his cup.  I was so proud and impressed!  It certainly makes my life easier being able to have some progress in communication.  Although, it does get frustrating for him too because sometimes I know he is trying to tell me something specific but he doesn't quite have the vocabulary for it.  Lately, he has started saying 'yea' which is adorable and so it's really fun to ask him a question and he says yea to everything.  It makes me feel like we're having an actual conversation. 

He now knows how to climb which he is very proud of, but it definitely makes life more interesting for us.  The kitchen table is no longer safe because he can easily climb on the chairs.  I'm running out of places to put things.  I also have to really watch him around the bookshelves because he tries to climb up them.  He also really likes to climb inside cupboards, as you can see below.  A lot of times, he pulls everything out first and then climbs inside.

He also loves to shove all of my shoes off the racks and then sit on top.  It makes the closet messy, but he sure has a fun time.  He tries to put our shoes on sometimes, but his feet are still so small that he can't move with them.

I found him in the closet one time sitting on the top shelf with a container of applesauce in one hand a fruit cup in the other hand.  Turns out he had raided our 72 hour kit.  I guess he was going to have a snack in the closet.

He gets a kick out of putting things in and out of containers: boxes, baskets, anything.  After Easter, he was walking around the house carrying toys in his Easter basket and another basket he found.  It was pretty cute.  I always find it fascinating the things that kids find to entertain themselves.

Ah yes, the ottoman/toy chest.  The best part of this, is that he can get in, but he has not, as of yet, figured out how to get out.  When he is done playing inside, he tries to get out, but usually just ends up complaining until one of us helps him.  It inevitably follows, that he gets right back into the ottoman and the cycle start all over again.

When Trevor wears a hat, Grayson likes to play a game and take it on and off of Trevor's head.  One day, Trevor put it on Grayson's head just to see what he would do.  He actually left it on for a little bit and he looked so darn cute, I had to take some pictures.

He has never been a thumb sucker, but he has been chewing on his fingers lately.  His molars are starting to work there way in, so I think that chewing on his fingers helps it to feel a little better.  It sure makes for some constantly soggy fingers though.

Grayson got this T-ball set from my parents and he loves it!! He says 'ball' and is getting really good at hitting the ball off the stand.  Trevor has been working with him on how to hold the bat correctly.  Sometimes he carries it around like a club behind him and more plays gold rather then t-ball.  Other times, he will choke the bat in a good two hand grip all on this own and then 'count' to three, like we always do with him, and hit the ball right off the stand.  He is such a clever boy and a fast learner!

It has been another fun toy to play with outside.  The warmer weather has allowed us to play outside a lot more and I have tried to take advantage of it every day that I can.  I have taken him to the park quite a bit and he really likes the slide.  The first time he went down by himself was a complete accident!  He was following another little boy around the big kid playground equipment and when that little boy went down the big curly slide, he started walking after him.  Before I could grab him, he slipped and landed on his back and then slid the whole way down.  I went down right behind him, but I confess I was laughing the whole way down.  I couldn't help it!  He didn't know what happened at all and he was not happy when he got to the bottom.  Despite that experience, he still loves going down the slide, but usually the smaller ones.  The swings he also likes, but the best part is they usually start to put him to sleep.  His head will droop forward and his eyes start to close, so I usually can't push him in the swing too long.

We also had to get some traditional fun summer things, like sidewalk chalk and bubbles.  We have started using our balcony as an extension of the living room and Grayson loves it!  When we first started doing it, he would just walk in and out, in and out, in and out.  Now he likes to go out and draw with the chalk or watch the cars go by.  Whenever he sees someone walking a dog outside or even a dog barking outside, he goes running to the sliding glass door or out on the balcony if it is open.  I cannot begin to explain how much this kid loves dogs.  He is not scared of them in the slightest.  If he sees a dog anywhere, the park, a store, anywhere, he will head straight for it with his arms out.   

I've been working on packing for our summer move and Grayson has been very helpful in his own way.  Of course he finds more joy in unpacking the boxes that I just filled, but it keeps things interesting.  He has really loved having all the boxes around though to use as his own personal jungle gym.

Trevor sat him on top of the book shelf to see what he would do.  Of course, what does my dare devil son do, laugh.  Oh boy.

I know this is silly, but I had to take a picture.  He is so good at feeding himself these days.  This was the first time he just ate a straight peanut butter and jelly sandwich without my tearing it into pieces or holding it for him to bit.  He did it all by himself and he was very proud!  I can't believe how big he is getting.

This is what happens a lot of times when I'm making dinner and can't play with him.  This happened on one particular day when I was handling raw meat quite a bit so I really couldn't do anything with him.  I figured hey, at least it's nothing breakable and I was just grateful I was able to get dinner made with no temper tantrums and no clawing at my legs to be picked up.  My kitchen looked like a tornado had gone through it, but it was sure funny when Trevor got home and walked in the kitchen.

He likes to sit inside the pots and pans cupboard.

Mountain Dew hat!!  He was less then thrilled.

A separate day, but still turning my kitchen into a  natural disaster.

We made him his own pizza for pizza night Fridays!  He loved it!!

In short, our son is amazing, adorable and the best little boy I could have ever hoped for.  It is truly a thrill to teach him new things and see how excited he gets with the world around him.  Being a stay at home mom is not glamorous and it is not easy, some days it just sucks, but it is so worth it.  For all those rough days, there are those little moments, when he starts to try and sing along to "I Am a Child of God" at bedtime, when he pats me on the back and lays his head on my shoulder, when he come running to me with his arms out and a huge smile on his face and a million more.  I could write about this kid forever. I have learned so much in the past 15 months, not just on how to be a mother, but about myself.  Nothing motivated you to want to improve yourself like having a kid.  I have realized over and over, if I expect something from him, I have to do it myself.  I have to be a good example for him.  We love him beyond expression and we are so lucky to have this little man a part of our family.

Softball Games

Softball is huge at the law school.  This year, Trevor had time to play more and we were able to go to a few games.  Grayson loved it because there were lots of other kids to play with and there were spare softballs laying around for him to play with.

He, amazingly, kept his baseball hat on the whole time and he looked pretty cute in it.

He saw the bigger boys playing on the bleachers, so of course he had to follow suit.  I was impressed, he climbed up all by himself and then he wouldn't get down.  It made him so happy to just walk back and forth on the bleachers and playing with cars along the way.

We had a great time visiting with friends and cheering on Trevor and his team!  All the softball fields where they play are in walking distance from our house which makes it even more fun.

Pirates and Parties

Grayson got invited to his friend AJ's (our Richmond adventure companions) pirate birthday party.  His mom, Emily (yes it gets very confusing when ever we hang out together), did an amazing job with the birthday party.  I had helped her pick out some supplies when we went to Hobby Lobby in Richmond.  She made these super cute bandannas and Grayson actually kept it on. Surprisingly, he also left on the eye patch and was mostly cooperative when I drew his little mustache and goatee.  When he kept tripping over things, I decide to take off the eye patch to fix his depth perception   

But not before taking a few pictures!

Talking to the birthday boy!

Emily makes the most beautiful cupcakes!  She has her own business and I am always impressed to see what she does.  They were sure tasty too.

Grayson loves the hill in their backyard and this was the first time that he managed to climb up it by himself.  I think he was very proud of himself.  He was playing up there a lot and having a great time.

There was a fun treasure hunt and some tasty 'gold and silver' (candy in gold and silver wrappers).  Grayson like following the other kids around on the treasure hunt, but mostly I think he just loves to be outside.  

Dogwood Festival

Every year, Charlottesville celebrates the blooming of the dogwoods with a festival.  It lasts for a few weeks and they have all sorts of events over that time period.  They have a carnival, a parade, bands and lots of other fun things.  We decided to go check it out on the night of the pork barbecue.   

The food was delicious!  I love a good barbecue.  The only negative side was the band that was playing.  It was an oldies cover band which wasn't so bad, but they had their speakers up so loud it was deafening.  I couldn't even here the servers when they were asking me what food I wanted.  Luckily, it didn't bother Grayson, but we were sure to find a picnic table as far away from the pavilion as possible.

We caught a glimpse of the Dogwood Princess and her court posing for pictures.  Then, we went to check out the carnival rides.  Grayson really like walking around and was fascinated with all the games.    I had to hang onto his hand tightly when we went past a game involving lots of rubber ducks in kiddy pools.  He is still too small for any of the rides, but maybe next year.  It was a fun family outing.

Adventures in Richmond

One day, a few weeks ago, I got a text from a good friend asking if Grayson and I would like to drive to Richmond with her and her little boy.  Of course we said yes!  We made a morning of it and had a really good time.  Our boys are about 9 months apart and they sure like playing together.  We went to Hobby Lobby first, which we unfortunately don't have in town, the boys kept each other entertained.

We went to some other stores and then ate lunch at Sonic.  Grayson had a grilled cheese sandwich and thought it was delicious.  I also got him chocolate milk to try for the first time and he was a huge fan.

Grayson had to try on AJ's sunglasses and they were pretty cute.

We enjoyed some good weather and a little fun outside.  Then, we headed home and the kids fell asleep in the car on the way home.  They both slept the whole way home and we got have a nice chat.  We have been so lucky to make so many good friends here.  I have been so happy to have nicer weather and be able to enjoy doing more things outside.

Easter Weekend

Easter weekend was a busy one, but we had a lot of fun.  On Saturday, we got to go to a Ward (Church Congregation) Easter activity.  It was held at a Girl's Scout Camp not far out of town in a beautiful area.  

We all gathered around and heard a message from 'King Benjamin' delivered from  a top his tower.  It was our Bishop (pastor) dressed up in period clothing and he had even made his own tower...lashed together precariously with ropes I might add, but it held the whole time.  He read out of the Book of Mormon, from King Benjamin's speech when he spoke of the birth and life of the Savior.  It was a special moment and a good reminder of what Easter is really about.  Grayson liked sitting on the wooden benches and he stayed put the whole time sitting next to another little girl.

After the spiritual thought, the little kids ran a fun run.  The just ran a lap around the camp.  I think little kids running is absolutely adorable.  This little girl was in front the whole time and she accidentally started running onto a random side trail so some parents had to get her to turn around.  The kids had such a good time.

Trevor and I took Grayson in the jogging stroller and then ran the 5k with the other adults.  It was a lot of fun and was our first 'official' 5k.  We hope it will be the first of many more.  Although we decided not running for a week beforehand was definitely not the best way to prepare.  

We survived, though, and even made it up the giant hill that was in the middle.

Grayson fell asleep on the way back and had himself a good nap.  We enjoyed some tasty bagels and fruit after our run and spent some time with friends.  Then the released the kids on the hundreds of Easter eggs that were hidden around the camp site.  It was like a swarm of locusts had come through. Those eggs were all in baskets in about 30 seconds.  It was amazing!

Grayson slept through the whole Easter egg hunt, but one of his friends was nice enough to share a few eggs with him.  Which he enjoyed playing with immensely   He got to play with a dog too, which also helped to make up for that.  This kid loves dogs like you would not believe.  

Grayson proudly holding his 'loot.'


On Sunday, we put Grayson's Easter basket out for him to open.  He was very curious and had a fun time searching through his bucket to find his presents.  We got him some animals and a few coloring books, he had fun with them.

Daddy helped Grayson look through his bucket and find all of the surprises.

He got these awesome bunny ears from his grandparents and he was kind enough to pose for a picture.  He sure makes a cute Easter bunny.

Reading a new book with Daddy.  This is a Finnish character and I was lucky enough to find this book in a  toy store here in town.

He thought this duck puppet was great, but he kept hugging it with my arm still in it.  

Here Grayson is checking out his new toy from his grandparents.  Trevor and I decided in the future, we will put toys together the night before instead of the day of when and impatient boy is waiting very excitedly to play with it.

We enjoyed a beautiful church service and afterwards had some friends over for a nice dinner.  I love entertaining!  I got a new table cloth and made our center pieces with Easter candy.  We had three families over and we enjoyed a delicious meal.

Edible decorations!

Trevor cooked his first brisket for Easter dinner and it was quite delicious.  He even made homemade barbecue sauce which was also a huge success.  We had such a good time.  What a good way to celebrate the holiday commemorating the resurrection of our Savior, spending it with good friends.