April 2014

I know I have been absolutely terrible about keeping updated on our blog, so let the back posting begin.  It is going to take me a while because we have been very, very busy for a while.

In April, Trevor was finishing his last semester in law school and in the middle of finals, so we usually only saw him in the morning before class and at dinner time.  Grayson and I did our best to keep ourselves busy and entertained and also worked on getting our apartment packed for our move to Alabama, that's right, if I didn't mention it before, Trevor got a job offer with the firm he interned with last summer.

One of the new things we tried was to go visit the Children's Discovery Museum in Downtown Charlottesville.  I had heard about it from several friends, but we had never gone before.  It was a fun little museum and Grayson had a great time playing there.  

The had a boat to play on complete with slide to go down and some puzzles and other fun things in the toddler room.  They also had places where you could build your own cars and race them down ramps, a play store, vegetable garden and a real beehive to mention just a few things.  We spent a couple hours there and had a great time.  

With our packing, I emptied out the ottoman and so Grayson liked to bring his books into it and sit and read.  Sometimes he would request a pillow and a blanket as well to 'take a nap.'  

In the month of April, we got to enjoy watching General Conference.  Twice a year, our entire church has the opportunity to listen to inspired messages from modern day prophets and apostles for a weekend.  We have started some fun Conference traditions which I think Grayson likes.

I like to put pictures out of various gospel topics that are most likely to be addressed during Conference weekend, then when we they are brought up, we can point at the pictures that match.  He found the pictures of the apostles and prophets in the middle himself.  He was looking at the Ensign (our churches published magazine) and he kept saying, "look mom prophets, prophets!"  So, we added it at the center of our 'board' and when a new speaker would come up, he would find their picture and we would put a sticker on them so we know who talked.  Then Sunday morning, we make a really big brunch with our friend's the Funks.  We have been making sausage and buttermilk biscuits and some amazing french toast with cinnamon chip bread.  It is all so so so good!

Grayson watching Elder Holland speak

When I was packing things up, I found a box of my old toys from when I was a kid.  I pulled them out for Grayson to play with and he absolutely loved them.  Of course, the Star Wars toys were the biggest hit and since that day, he has played with them almost every single day.  He is a big Star Wars fan and I only had to 'nudge' him a little bit!  

On another day, we met a few of our friends and hiked the Monticello Trail one more time.  It is a really fun trail, especially on the way down hill, you can get going really fast especially with a jogging stroller pulling you down.

On the way up, we let the boys get out and run a lot.  It was helpful to wear them out and they had a great time.  

Grayson and I stopped at the lake on the way down to feed the geese and ducks and have a picnic.  I brought some bread for the critters, but as usual, Grayson ate most of it.  And then watched me throw some bread.

Grayson is really into super heroes and he a got a new super man shirt, which he wears religiously.  We have had to ban super heroes from the dinner table, so we don't spend the whole time dodging webs, arrows and blaster shots.

We got the chance to also meet with a large group of friends to do an Easter egg hunt at one of the girl's house that had a big backyard.  Grayson thought it was a lot of fun. 

The best part, was when he realized there was something inside all of the eggs we were picking up.  Also, I then learned, quite quickly, that he can now unwrap chocolate candies.  He definitely ate his fair share of Easter candy.

Grayson made quite the hall for Easter and kept asking about the Easter bunny the night before.  I have to admit, there are some aspects of holidays that are just more fun and enjoyable when you have kids.  Everything is so fresh and new to them and they are so delighted by so many things.  Being a mother is teaching me much more about what the Savior said when he taught that we all need to become as little children.

Some times we would go for walks up to dad's school and go see him and where he studies.  Grayson always liked that.

We also got the chance to go to a birthday party for one of Grayson's friends.  It was a super hero theme, so of course Grayson was ecstatic!

Knocking down blocks with Captain America's shield

Dressed up like a super hero!  It took him a while to warm up to the mask.

Grayson got a special lunch one day and he absolutely loved his hamburger!  He hadn't really tried one before, but he loved it!  Ate the whole thing.

Grayson 'helping' with packing.

Playing at a park

Having a snuggle with dad.

Adventures in March

March was a busy month for us.  We had another snow storm and Grayson had a great time playing in the snow.

Snuggling with dad on a cold day.

Enjoying another snowy day.

I enrolled Grayson in a gymnastics and art class at the local rec center and he loved it!  The class met once a week for an hour.  They would have gymnastics for half an hour and then art class for half an hour.  I loved the teachers for the classes and I thought they did a really good job with the kids.  There were different stations set up every week in each of his classes.  The kids could run around and explore and try new things.  By the end of the class, I could tell that Grayson was improving in his climbing and the other skills he was learning.  In his art class, he loved painting and playing in the sensory bin the most, but they also did play-dough, clay and sand art among other things.  I was fun to watch him explore and try new things.  We finished up in March, so I thought I would include a picture of one of my favorite pictures he did.

This is Grayson's art work from Valentine's day. 

Grayson always wants to eat or drink whatever we are having, so one night, Trevor let him get the last drops out of his root beer bottle.  It was pretty funny to watch.

Trevor's birthday was at the beginning of the month and we had a fun time celebrating.  He opened packages from family with Grayson's help of course.  Then, Grayson and I got to tell him what we had planned for his birthday.  We went to DC to Ikea and Trevor got to pick out a new duvet and sheets which he had been wanting for a long time.  We had a great time going around Ikea and had dinner there.  Then we stayed in a hotel and had a fun evening and a lazy morning.  The next day we started our trek down to Alabama for Spring Break.  We drove for about four or five hours and then stopped in Bristol for the night.  We had so much fun and Grayson loved staying in a hotel. 

In Bristol, we walked to Outback and had a tasty dinner.  Grayson has definitely been getting more independent.  While we were at the hotel, all of the sudden he said, "you wait here, I be right back."  He then ran into the bathroom and shut the door.  I went in after him and found him trying to go potty by himself.  Then later, we told him it was about time to get ready for bed and brush teeth.  The next thing I know, he was in the bathroom again.  Trevor went to check on him and he had managed to climb onto the bathroom counter and had his toothbrush and toothpaste out and ready to go.  

The next day we stopped in Gatlinburg, TN for lunch at a restaurant we like called the Apple Barn.  We had a delicious lunch and it was a nice break.

We made it to Alabama in the late afternoon and had a great visit.  One of the highlights of our trip was going to the Chattanooga Aquarium.  We bought a membership there and are excited to go back a lot.

Grayson absolutely loved the aquarium!  I lost count of the number of Finding Nemo references that I heard in our two visits to the aquarium.  I think his favorite exhibits were the seahorses and the large shark tank.

The second time we went, there were divers in the shark tank and Grayson was fascinated!  He talked about them for a long time afterwards and while we were watching them kept asking me if he could go see them.  I told him he had to learn how to swim first.

We certainly wore him out, he feel asleep about two minutes after we got in the car clutching his new toy shark and orca.  Now whenever he is in the bath he usually tells me he is a diver or a seahorse.

The day after we got back from Alabama after a successful trip of finding a place to live in Huntsville when we move there after graduation, I helped throw a baby shower for my dear friend Jane.  I had to show pictures from it because we had a Lord of the Rings themed baby shower.  Oh man was it fun to plan for.  My inner nerd had a field day!

Party favors.

Diaper 'two towers'

We had brunch just so we could call it second breakfast.  I think one of my favorite parts was watching the girls come who know absolutely nothing about Lord of the Rings.  Their confusion at everything was pretty entertaining.

I made her a cake of Bag End.  It was a successful shower and a lot of fun to boot!!

February

We kept ourselves busy in February.  We had a big step for Grayson, we potty trained him!  I took a crazy three days, put out some plastic in the living room and Grayson's bedroom and gave a big push.  I figured I would give it three days and if it didn't take, we'd put it off and try again in a few months.  It was definitely not fun, but by the end of the second day I was seeing some definite progress.  Now, he is doing amazing!  I would say by mid-March I felt like there was a drastic improvement and longer time between accidents.  He is a quick learner and I love not buying diapers!

I brought out different toys we don't play with as often to try and entice Grayson to stay on the plastic to make any accident clean up easier.  I made him a sensory bin with rice, dried bins and some other stuff.  There was a sensory bin at his art class and he loved it!  Now he loves playing with the bin, but man does it make a mess.  I think it was just tempting fate to hand a toddler rice and a spoon...oh boy was it a mess.

We got a couple pretty good snow storms this winter.  Trevor even got a few snow days.  

It started snowing at about 5pm and by the morning we had a good 12-18 inches of snow on the ground.  A couple of families in our complex went outside in the morning to play in the snow.  No one was driving, so there were people snowboarding and sledding down the streets.  It was awesome!  I couldn't go outside because I was watching the baby I nanny and didn't have any winter stuff for him.  My friends were so nice and took Grayson out sledding with their family so he could play in the snow for a little bit.  

He was excited to get out of the house.  It was on one of our potty training days and he even stayed dry while he was playing outside, I was really proud of him.  

I took Gray out to play in the snow again after nap time and the baby I nanny went home.  We had a great time.  We played with some friends, threw snowballs and built a snowman.

My sweet friend took Grayson for a ride on their sled.  Our kids took turns and they loved it. I was amazed at how much snow there was. 

That is our balcony that you see.  We are on the second floor, I almost felt like I could jump out the window into the snow, but I decided it was probably not a good idea.

For Valentine's Day weekend, we actually did a few fun things.  On the day of Valentine's Day, Trevor and I made fondue for dinner at home.  We did cheese fondue for appetizers and flavored broth to cook steak and shrimp.  I also had stuff for chocolate fondue, but we were so full that we saved it for another night.  The next evening, we went out to celebrate with some good friends of ours, Jane and Calvin.  We went to a nice restaurant and then went to a friend's house for a dance party afterwards.  We had a great time! 

Grayson was trying on our friend Joe's motorcycle helmet.  It was pretty cute.

Grayson got a fun package from his Grandma and Grandpa Moore to congratulate him on being potty trained.  He got super hero underwear and a Superman action figure.  He insisted on taking it to bed with him.

Since we have been at home in the mornings a lot more with the baby I nanny, I have been trying to come up with new fun things for us to do at home.  I found this idea on line and decided to try it.  I mixed a little bit of food coloring with shaving cream, gave him some paint brushes and put him in the bathtub in his swim trunks.

He had such a good time!  The clean up afterwards was just as fun as painting!  I will definitely be trying this again.

Emily's 30th Birthday

For my 30th birthday, I wanted to do something special.  I really wanted to have a dance party, so we rented the clubhouse at the apartment complex we first lived at when we moved to Charlottesville.  I invited some friends and we had a fun party.  My sweet husband took me out shopping the night before and bought me a new outfit just for my party.  He always knows how to make me feel special.  My mom came up to celebrate Grayson and I's birthdays and she was kind enough to watch Grayson for us so we could celebrate.

My sweet friend Kerstin made me an absolutely delicious birthday cake.  It was so fun to be able to celebrate with friends.

Some of my amazing friends that were able to come.

We played games, ate tasty food and danced the night away.  It was a great way to celebrate my next milestone.

Grayson's 2nd Birthday

We did a birthday party for Grayson's 2nd birthday at the local fire station.  We invited some of his friends to celebrate with him.  The theme for his party was "Things that Go."  He likes pretty much anything with an engine (he is his father's son) so I figured we would have all of them!  We had a paper airplane contest and all the kids made a paper airplane with their mom's and we saw whose went the furthest.  They had fun!  I brought two train sets and lots of cars for all the kids to play with too.  

After we played for a bit, the firemen came and took the kids out to the bay to see all the firetrucks!  There were some very excited kiddos when they saw all those trucks.  The firemen that gave the tour were fantastic!  The showed the kids their tools, let them turn their flashlights and climb in the fire trucks.  Grayson absolutely loved it!

Sitting in the fire truck!

After the kids got to play for a while, one of the firemen put on all his gear and showed the kids all the things that they would wear when going into a fire.  It was really great because the wanted to show the kids that the fireman wasn't scary at all, that he was their friend and he could help them.  Apparently when firemen go into buildings to get people out, sometimes little kids will hide because they think the firemen look scary.  The kids went up and gave the fireman a high five so they could remember he was the same guy and not scary.  The fire chief said he usually told the kids firefighters wear a mask like Darth Vader, but they don't get the reference any more.  And then my little boy says, "Like Darth Vader!"  Then he talked about the mask like Darth Vader the fireman for the rest of the day.

Overall I think it was an excellent success.