Look Who Is Two!

I can't believe how fast time flies. Grayson turned 2 on the 20th of May. My little baby is growing up!

"Shake Shake"

So to start- He had his well baby child visit on May 21st. He is 22 lbs even and 30 7/8" long. Perfectly proportioned and a tiny little bottle of energy! He is meeting or exceeding all of his milestones.

This age is challenging- Grayson is the king of tantrums- but so much fun at the same time. He is learning so much stuff. He can count to 10 with a little assistance. Unassisted it goes something like "one, two, five seven, eight, nine, ten". He can tell you his name- and is getting the pronounciation down pretty good. He can answer how old he is and his favorite color. If you ask who his best friend is he will say "Grayson" even though Mike has been trying to get him to say "Daddy"

He is very imaginative and loves to play with things in all different ways. He also loves figuring stuff out. He, unfortunately, has figured out how to unbuckle the harness chest clip on his carseat, can undo infant seats, knows how to tell if a wii remote is on/working (that tiny little blue light), and so much more. He loves figuring things out. Reminds me a lot of his uncle Eric.

He also is quite the ham- like Daddy. He gets comedic timing pretty good for a 2 year old and loves to make people laugh. He loves doing things like wearing our shoes and if you ask his name while he is doing so he will tell you he is the person who's shoes he is wearing.

Grayson knows too many words for me to count and is getting really good at using 2-3 word phrases. He still babbles tons, but like I have said before, he talks a lot more than a lot of kids, so it is expected. He still uses quite a bit of sign language which is nice.

Some funny stories:
Grayson likes to pray. A lot. So when we say the blessing before eating, he will look around, and if somebody is folding their arms "good enough" for him, he will call them out. Quite often "Coo Coo" (Cuckoo- or Mike's mom- another cute story I will tell in a different post) is the culprit. He also likes to yell "amen" at the end of the prayer.

I must get annoyed with Mike a lot in front of Grayson, and use his name when annoyed. Now, if Mike is doing something Grayson doesn't like, and doesn't stop when he says "Daddy" you here "Mike STOP!" or my favorite was one day he said "Mike stop noyying me"

We had a small party for Grayson the night before his birthday. He got some pig food (coins for his piggy bank) and some great educational toys (thank you!!! I was happy not to see more of the same old toys)

I made a cake and decorated it a little. I definitely need more practice.

One of his favorite gifts were some Melissa and Doug puzzles from his Almost-Auntie Brena

And of course, he loved cake!

And after chowing down for a few minutes, he decided we needed to say a prayer- even though we had prayed before dinner (at the party).

I think he enjoyed the cake.

I can't believe my little guy is two already! Time is flying by so fast.

Another Update

I feel so bad for being so behind. We have been busy bees, and school is getting into the home stretch of the semester, lots of projects coming due soon, so I have been spending most of my time doing that.

So, where to start?

We headed to California for Spring break. I won some hotwire dollars (for lack of better term) to get a free hotel stay. We met up with our friends the Bolanders down there. We went to Knotts Berry Farm, the beach, and thanks to some awesome friends, we got into Disneyland for free one day. It was a lot of fun.

I fell back in love with my Ergo on this trip. But not front or side, hip wearing. It was perfect for waiting in lines. I loved it! The pictures above are us in Fantasyland pulling (or trying) the sword from the stone, and then Grayson playing in Goofy's back yard. I wrote a pretty detailed post about our day in Disneyland on my Disney blog. Yes, even though I am behind on this blog, I have several others that I am doing. The Disney one is about things having to do with travel to Disneyland, Disney craft tutorials, and such. I just have so many friends asking for tips regarding Disney things, I decided to put it all in one place.

After our stay in California, we changed our normal routine of driving home and actually stayed a night in Vegas at The Signature at MGM Grand. If you ever want to go to Vegas, and want a smoke free, casino free hotel- THIS IS IT! It was really nice and not having to worry about having to walk through a casino, or smell smoke was nice. We enjoyed dinner at the Rain Forest Cafe, walked on the strip a tiny bit, visited the M&M store, and called it a night. we were in bed before 10 pm. Not very adventurous. We decided between that, and the fact the traffic coming home during the day rather than driving through the night was much heavier, that we won't be staying over in Vegas again.

 We got back on Friday, and Saturday Mike went and picked up his niece Sienna who came and stayed with us for her spring break. We spent a day at the zoo, and just hung out. It wasn't her most exciting visit (especially considering we took her to Disneyland 2 times last year and Colorado in the summer), but it was good that she was here.

I had surgery the week Sienna was here. I have been struggling with infertility again, and we had tests done and found out my right tube was blocked. After trying to get around that, and having already met our deductible, we decided to go ahead and try to unblock during surgery. I was also in a lot of pain the last 2 weeks of my cycle (ovulation until next cycle). We thought that was also from the blocked tube, but my OB discovered I had endometriosis. He cleaned it up, and also cleaned up my c-section scars on my uterus, got my tub unblocked, and removed some other adhesions . I am currently in the last 2 weeks of my cycle, and not in pain. It is WONDERFUL!

Grayson update:
He is almost two already, which is just crazy to me! He has learned so much. He is starting to know his numbers, and can count a little bit. If you ask him how old he is, he will tell you 2.
He has learned so many new words and phrases that we are always amazed at what comes out of his mouth. He is still babbling a lot, but he is REALLY talkative, so it makes sense he would still speak more babble then a quiet child. He is also singing a lot now.
He loves to race and will even say "Ready, set GO" and expect you to run up and down the hall with him. He loves music, cars, and blocks. Mickey Mouse is still his best friend. I wish I could remember all the words he knows, and all the animals he recognizes and can make their sounds, but it is too numerous to remember off the top of my head. I am trying to compile a list before his 2nd Birthday.
He is still small, maybe weighing 21-22 lbs and wearing mostly 12 month clothing (some smaller some bigger based on brand).

I am going to try my hardest to update more often once school is out. Next semester (fall) I am attending full time, so I am not sure how well I will keep up then, but hopefully it will be better than this semester.

Our Crazy Life

Life is crazy in our house lately. Mostly because of school, family events, and a few other things going on. I thought it was time to maybe give an update. I must first apologize for the lack of pictures. Being a mom and student, and doing photography and everything else I have going on- well, I often just have my phone on me and snap quick pictures on there. They are fine for loading onto facebook, but not the kind of quality that uploads well to a blog, etc. So, my goal is after midterms (March 15th) I am going to start getting out my big dslr camera more and taking some real pictures of things we are doing.

On to the updates-

Mike and I are staying busy and Grayson keeps us on our tows. Mike is back on his fitness plan and doing really well. He has already lost 18 pounds of the 30 he gained back after Grayson was born. I am losing as well, slower, but that is expected as weight gain is common for women with PCOS. Luckily though- what I do lose, stays off, even if I have a day or two where I slip up.

Grayson is the one everyone really wants an update on.....
He is doing great. He had a huge growth spurt a while back and is officially over 20 pounds! A little sad because it was an easy answer when I didn't want to explain to people why we continue to have him rear facing to just say "he hasn't reached the weight required to forward face" but I plan to use this as a teaching tool when people wonder why he is still rear facing.
He is now, at 21 months, in 9-12 month clothing. He is perfectly proportioned, just small. Continues to be healthy and meeting or exceeding all milestones.
We did however, have our first ear infection recently. Followed by an allergic reaction to the antibiotics. That was not fun. But he is all better and now is fighting off a cold he caught. We have all been sick recently, for about the past month or so, someone is always sick in the house, but we are finally on the mend.
Grayson amazes us every day with how much he is learning and how much he knows. I will forget a lot of stuff, but right now some of his words/phrases are:

eat, night night, poopy, more, agua, milk, book, shoe, sock, bye bye, hi, whats that, where'd it go, I get it, help, uva (grape), cheese, yogurt, cookie (granola bar), cracker, no, yes, door, sock, shirt, Mickey, Pluto, Pete, Goofy, Daisy, car, see, blue, red, down, up, light, please, thank you, banana, apple, hot dog (from the hot dog dance- hot dog refers to Mickey Mouse, not the food), puppy, kitty, cat, pray, go bye in car, head butt (yes- he head butts and asks to do one if you don't offer- thanks Mike), color, Mommy, Daddy, Gamma (Grandma),  door, tree, bird, baby and many more that I can't think of right this instant

He can sign eat, nigh night (sign for sleepy), more, poopy (the sign for diaper- he signs diaper and says poopy), dog, cat, book, mommy, daddy, milk, water, hurt, all done, and I think there are a few more.

He knows the colors red, blue and purple really well and is doing better at green. He also knows what a goat, duck, frog, snake, chicken, cow, cat, dog, pig, horse, lion, and sheep say (I think that is all the animals he knows but I might be missing some).

This age is a lot of fun, but very trying for me. Grayson wants to do everything himself, and I worry about the mess, or think how I can do it faster, and Miss Anxiety, me, gets all stressed over the tiniest things. I have gotten better, but it is still hard to let him go ahead and let him pick up every toy by himself, or let him put the socks into a pile as I separate them from our other whites, but I am getting better.

All in all, our family is doing well. We are excited to be going on vacation at the end of the month and looking forward to relaxing and having some family time as well as meeting up with our friends the Bolanders.

Sick

We have battling a lot of sickness in our house this last month. It started off with teething- not a sickness, but that triggered an ear infection in my little man. His first. After a week with him back in our bed, not much sleep, and some other personal things that were going on, Mike and I caught colds ourselves. After starting to feel better from that, I came down with a stomach bug this weekend. To say the least, it has not been our healthiest month.

I hope to get blogging more soon. Unfortunately, I have found that a smart phone and quick upload to facebook, has me taking less pictures with a "real" camera, and therefore, I feel like I have nothing to blog. I need to get back on track. And thanks to my little sister Amanda, I now have a handy blog planner that I hope will help. Especially since I have several blogs.

Speaking of blogs- I have a new one. Not quite ready to announce it here, but I will soon.

Disney On A Dime- My Top Tips

A lot of people have asked my best money saving tips for going to Disney. We love Disney and wish we lived closer so we could go all year long, but we can't, so we settle for once every few years- but last year we spoiled ourselves and went TWICE!

So, I am going to share some money saving tips. Some of these tips are specific to Disneyland (where we go since we are closer to it then DW) and some of these are general- for any travel.

I can get a little excited when telling people my money saving tips and jump all over the place- so I am going to try and keep it organized. Wish me luck on that!

WHEN TO GO
When wanting to do Disney on a dime, you have decide WHEN you are willing to go. January- April 1st, Disneyland offers a discount on their tickets. However, if you are going during spring break, it will be VERY CROWDED! Going during spring break, summer, Thanksgiving, or Christmas breaks will also bring higher hotel prices. Sometimes it is worth it (kids can't miss school) and other times it isn't. Is it possible to go a long weekend in October and then only miss 1-2 school days to save the extra $300 for the week on hotel? For some it may be, others it may not be.
Also when deciding when to go- think about how you plan to get there. If you are traveling from Idaho in the winter- you could end up going through snow storms. Heck, when we went last spring break we hit a white out snow storm between Twin Falls, ID and Jackpot, NV. Flying may take less time, but may be more expensive, especially if you choose an airline that charges for bags checked. If you decide to fly, try to use Southwest (2 free bags per ticketed passenger), or try the name your own price on Priceline. If you are going down for the Holidays, pick dates that are typically less popular for flying. When we went to Texas in 2010 it saved us $200 each to fly back ON Thanksgiving.

WHERE TO STAY
This is probably one of the biggest ways to save money, and one of the most important things you can look into, take your time and really think about.
First- Do you know anybody  with a time share that you might be able to use? When we went this last October, we were able to use my sister's time share and have a full 2 bed/2 bath condo with a full kitchen. It saved us a lot of money on lodging, but also on food because we were able to make meals, stock the fridge with snacks, etc. Because it would have used up too much of her "points" to stay in Anaheim, we went ahead and stayed in Oceanside. It was well worth the hour commute. We had several people so we were able to use the carpool lane as well.
Second- if you don't have a time share available, and no relatives to stay with, then next best thing is to weigh your options. If you are going to need 2 rooms anyways, I highly suggest looking into something like The Residence Inn by Marriot. They have FULL KITCHENS (including ovens) and 2 beds and 2 baths. Much like the condo. Usually the cost of the 2 bedroom is cheaper than 2 hotel rooms in the area and you get the full kitchen.
If you only need one room, I suggest doing hotwire.com. Why hotwire and not name your own price on priceline? Well- hotwire asks how many guests (therefore you hopefully won't get 1 double bed room with 4 people), and gives you a small list of amenities that the hotels in a certain group will guarantee. You can go to another site like tripadvisor and research the areas offered to be sure they are safe. They also tell you the price they are cutting it down to, rather than you having to keep putting in amounts until your offer is accepted.
If you belong to a "club" for hotels (wyndham rewards, marriott rewards, etc) and know well in advance you will be going to Disney, you can book any small trips in between now and your trip at that hotel chain. Save up your points and then redeem them for free nights during your Disney trip. We did this back in 2007 and were able to get an entire room for FREE!!! YEP FREE! Sure, it was at Super 8 (on Disneyland Dr) but our room was clean, had a mini-fridge and microwave, was walking distance to the park, and you could watch the fireworks from the hot tub. It was well worth it.

TICKETS-

Disneyland has so many different ticket options it can get confusing.
I highly suggest you ALWAYS get the park hopper ticket. It is nice to be able to go to the other park if the lines are just to long at the current one. If you enter DCA (Disney California Adventure) and then find that you are not enjoying it, you can head over to Disneyland and the other way around. Plan on spending most of your time in Disneyland, but that park hopper option is always nice.
Go for 3 days or more. This gives you a ticket you can get called a Parkhopper Bonus ticket. The bonus- a magic morning entry where you can get in an hour earlier than others and the lines are shorter. It is nice for rides that don't have fast pass (Matterhorn) and also to do the kids rides without a long wait. There are also characters out with NO LINES!
Do you know someone who is military? If so, they can usually get discounted tickets on base. Even here in Idaho- out at Mountain Home or at Gowen Field they can purchase discounted tickets. Ask them if they are willing to get them for you (you pay of course ;P).
Does your work offer discounted tickets? Mike's work has a huge site with tons of discounts to millions of things- car rentals, hotels, cruises, and they have something called "Tickets at Work" that offer discount tickets to tons of theme parks. Including both Disneyland and Disney World. It is generally $50 cheaper for a 5 day ticket from there then from Disney. Other places (Knotts Berry Farm) are 50% through his work. It is great and I am so thankful we have that available to us.

FOOD
This is the biggest way you will save when going to Disney. No doubt about it.

When we were there in October- an ice cream bar was $6, a bottled water was $2.50....NOT WORTH IT!

We take snacks into the park. Small bags of chips, frozen water bottles, sandwich baggies of gold fish, etc. We used to take a cooler with sandwich stuff and leave it in the car- go back to the car at lunch and eat, and then go back to the park.
In October we did something different- we actually rented a locker. Just before you go through security there is a picnic area hidden off to the side. It is very nice and quite. (We always come from the Mickey and Friends parking structure and when you get off the tram and are facing security, the area is to the left. It has lots of green shrubs surrounding it.) WE LOVED IT! When we would go back to the car on previous trips, after sitting on the tram, then in the car, you started to realize how tired your feet were. We also ended up changing our minds and just eating in the park a lot. With the locker- we kept a cooler in there with our lunch stuff, paper towels, paper plates, and utensils. We also kept extra cold drinks to take back in the park after lunch, extra snacks, and then we also were able to keep all our sweatshirts in the locker and send one person to get them before it cooled down. Our medium sized locker was $12 a day- but it was well worth it and definitely saved us a TON in food and beverage.
Also- refill your water bottles/camel packs in the park at drinking fountains. There are tons of fountains in the lines. Pirates, Thunder Mountain, etc all have them.

SOUVENIRS
I always love souvenirs. However, it is important that you focus on things that will 1) be used and 2)remind you of your time and bring back all the memories
Do you have a Disney store? We used to. Back in 2007 we raided the Disney Store clearance for T-Shirts for us and our friends and their 5 kids. When we all arrived in Disney I gave them the shirts.
Make your own Autograph book. The same year I also made autograph books for all the kids. I was able to personalize them and they were a lot cheaper then the ones you buy in the store.
I also made journals using notebooks and scrap book paper. I had several other fun things that I did. It made the need to spend a lot less intense.
After that, I focus on things we will use over and over (clothing) and things that will last and remind us of the trip. Ornaments are a big one. We purchase a tree ornament on every major vacation we take. Fun photo frames to frame a picture from the park are also great.
PHOTOS- take your own. The ones by the park cast are ok, but not worth the price. And guess what- if you ask them to take one with your camera- they almost always will. NEVER give a DSLR camera to another park guest. Point and shoot- go for it, but please, do not hand someone your $600 Canon/Nikon to take your picture. If you really want a picture of your whole group, and you are not wanting to ask a cast member to use your camera- pick 2-3 key locations that you want them done and get the photo pass and use them there. Print your favorite one or buy the CD. If you do decide to do the photo pass all over the park- BUY THE CD because once you hit a certain number of pictures, it is way cheaper than buying the prints.

OTHER WAYS TO SAVE
If your hotel is close- walk to the park. Parking is now $15 a day. YIKES!!!!! If someone else in your group doesn't want to walk and is willing to pay for it- woohoo! But if your hotel is only 1/2 mile away- WALK! But do expect that the end of the first day, that walk back will seem 3 times as long.
Book a trip through AAA or even just buy park tickets through them. It will get you extras. Like this month, if you book through them, you get free parking PLUS a 10-20% discount at Disney and neighbor restaurants and gift shops. SWEET!
Find fun ways to save for your trip- so yeah, this doesn't SAVE you money on the trip, but we have a change jar I decorated to be Disney. We put all our spare change in there and you would be surprised. In 2007 a year of change saving paid for our gas to California and back. It is also a great way to save pennies to smash.
If you use Swag bucks, etc save up your points for airfare gift cards, hotel gift cards, restaurant gift cards, etc. Use these to eat out while on vacation, buy your flights, or pay for your hotel.

Disneyland is a lot of fun, and it can be done on a really cheap budget, if you plan carefully. People think I am crazy when I start planning 6-9 months in advance, but when it makes it so you can do your entire trip for under $1000 for 4 people- it is worth it. Our next time will hopefully be while the park is all decked out for Christmas. If not this year then next. We are already watching to see what kind of deals are out there, although we won't decide when we are going for another 3-4 months.

I am SORRY!

I apologize a million times over for not posting anything for 2 whole months...YIKES! Life just got busy between finals, Christmas, and a lot of other things. Then school started back up this week, and yeah...
But enough with the excuses.

Grayson really loved Christmas. We have adopted the gift rule of something you want, something you need, something to wear and something to read. This is inclusive of Santa and parent gifts, with only a few stocking stuffers being added. Since Grayson didn't really have a need he did get an extra toy in it's place.  With this rule, Christmas was stress free and we spent the time focused on Christ and spending time with family. With Christmas and our discussions, Grayson learned how to say baby, tree, ho ho ho, snow, and a few other words I can't quite remember.

Grayson and I started TOT School last week. I found the idea on my new addiction- pinterest- and decided to give it a try to give a little structure to what we are teaching him. We still teach through play and creativity, but for 20-40 minutes each day, we focus on the week's theme- last week it was RED. Each day has a theme (make something monday, tastey Tuesday, etc) and I have something planned for that day that follows that theme. We post the schedule and the theme so both the family, and Grayson's babysitter (while I am at school) know what he is working on that week. Of course, we still point out plenty of other things, but it helps me come up with new stuff and tie a weeks work of activities together on something we want to teach him.

Mike has been working hard and has started working out again. He is doing great and has lost 7 pounds in 3 weeks. He had lost 50 before Grayson was born and through fatherhood, stress, school, etc gained back 30. His goal is to lose that 30 and keep it off. Since he is not going to school this semester, he figured this is the perfect time to focus on that. I am also on the weight loss journey and have lost 9 pounds. Still have a long way to go, but slow and steady wins the race.

So, now to the fun stuff- PICTURES! These will probably be completely random in order- but here we go!

I should have used this on his 18 month (and maybe I did) as it was taken November 21

I was getting ready to go to school and turn around to find he had put his hat on and got his shoes. Poor kid wanted to come too.

Santa brought him a work bench and tools. He also got wooden cars (tired of too many plastic toys), a Mickey Mouse Rocket, and books.

We played minute to win it and he wanted to try shaking the jingle bells out like Daddy

He really enjoyed shaking his groove thing!

I will try to blog more often for anyone who might still be reading. Sorry for the lack of posts! Hope everyone had a great Christmas!

18 Months!

I can't believe my baby is 18 months old today! Time has gone by so fast!

Grayson was supposed to start Nursery today.....but a huge bang of the head on the pew in front of us during the first 5 minutes of sacrament meeting ended out church day....it was bad.... Poor guy!

Grayson's 18 month appointment is not until the beginning of December, but we think he is hovering right around 20 lbs and 28 inches.....but that is unofficial.

He has changed so much in the last 3 months!

He is very social and loves to play. He is a busy kid and is always busy playing, running, or building something. But he likes to be a cuddle bug too. He hates to sit still and do things like body parts, but will gladly sit still for books, coloring, and such. So we have started to become creative in our book choices and coloring choices to help him learn body parts and colors.
He has learned a lot of new words, but uses them all sparingly. He also can mimmick most of the words we say. He also has his own little language that he uses. We have noticed he uses certain "phrases" at the same moments/things. It is kind of entertaining.
Here is a list of words he says regularly:

Mama, Daddy, Door, Up, Banana, Cracker, Apple, No, Yeah, Door, Eat, GO GO, Coco (the dog a few doors down), Bry (for Bryn, the toddler girl whose mom watches Grayson while I am at school), Night night, Book, Play, In, Out, Blue, Gamma (Grandma), Drink, That, WazDat (What's that- whenever he hears a sound), Woah, OW, Please, Thank You, Hot Dog (not from the food, from Mickey Mouses Hot Dog song), Oobas (spelling? - Spanish word for grapes), cheese, bird, bath, hat, hi, bye

He has been mastering forks and spoons, although many times the hands still win in the feeding wars- especially if he is really hungry. He has also learned about dipping his food into things. He loves to dip food.

Grayson loves to make people laugh. However, he is quite sensitve. If you laugh when he didn't want you to he will cry. He lets you know when he wants you to laugh with his "fake/polite laugh".

Grayson is quite inventive. The other day my parents were watching him while I was at school (babysitter had other things going that day). He decided to push a toy over to his book shelf, one of those ride on or walk behind car toys, so that he could reach the top shelf and get his piggy bank off of it. He then proceeded to bring it out (oh, after a fall, Grandma putting the pig back, and him throwing a tantrum to get it back) and show Grandpa where you "feed" the pig. He got all of Grandpa's coins and half of Grandma's.

He enjoys helping around the house- and even has his own broom. He is very insistent on doing things himself. This age is so much fun because he wants to be so independent, and this age is very frustrating, because he wants to be so independent :)

MIA

WOW---- It has been a while. I apologize for going MIA!

Let's see, I guess I should do some updating.

First- I have been super busy with my photography! It has been a whirlwind and I just realized how much I have been doing while trying to wrap up the end of the year.
Second- I started school in August and it has kept me pretty busy as well. Mike is also in school and working 50-60 hours a week. We are actually busier then we have ever been, yet, the way things have been scheduled, and how things have worked out, it feels like we have been able to have more family time and we aren't overwhelmed. Hoping we can continue this next semester.

In October we took a vacation for our 10 year anniversary down to California and Disneyland. Originally my sister Amanda and my older sister Joyce were supposed to come with Mike, Grayson, my friend Sarah and I. Some things came up though and they were not able to come. So, in order to have 4 riders, Mike's niece Sienna got to come with us again. It worked out so part of the time was during parent teacher conferences so she didn't have to miss much school. We had a lot of fun, but I didn't take as many photos this time because we had just been down there in March....but here are a few.

Grayson LOVED the Splash Park in DCA! He was so tired after- you can really see it on his face.

We had a lot of fun and it was a great way to celebrate 10 years of marriage.

After we came back, we got back into the grind of things and have kept really busy ever since. We are finally getting a little breather with the Thanksgiving Holiday.

September 11- 10 years later

I remember exactly where I was when the planes hit the World Trade Center Towers. I worked at a fast food restaurant and I was there doing the opening prep. We were listening to Rick D in the morning when the broadcast was interrupted for a newsflash that a plane had hit the North Tower.
At that point, they weren't sure if it was an accident, or what had happened. I remember clear as day a voice in my head "This is an attack. This is terrorism."

That day, the TV in the back area of the restaurant remained on, as did the radio in the front area of the restaurant. It was pretty slow that day, and those who came in understood why the radio was on. Customers would tell us how people were responding. One gal worked at a bank nearby and before they closed early for the day she said she had more than a dozen customers, many who were elderly, pulling all of the money out of their accounts.

America had never been in this position before. The closest thing we had experienced was Pearl Harbor, and many like myself, were not alive, or had no memory of that event.

We saw the worst from mankind that day.

More important to me, we saw the best from mankind. Those who selflessly stayed behind to save others. Those who responded with no regard to their own safety. From those who knew it was better to take control of a situation, giving their own lives, and come down in a field, then to let the intended target be hit. From those who volunteered for months afterwards. From the soldiers who fought so this would not happen again, and ultimately gave all. From the way the country came together, united.

Update

Sorry I have been gone for so long. We were super busy, and then, my power cord to my laptop started smoking one day while I was working on some pictures....YIKES! Luckily we got it unplugged before anything happened to my laptop, but I had to wait for a new power cord to come....and that took 2 weeks thanks in part to the holiday, and also to my package not being put on the Fedex truck when it was already in Boise.....

On to business....

First- Grayson had his 15 month check up! He weighed in at 19 lbs 2 oz (not even on the charts) and was 27 5/8 inches tall (also not on the charts). He is completely proportinate and meeting or exceeding all milestones, and is on track to be a whole whopping 5'4" just like Mike and I, so the doctor is not at all worried.

Here are some things that Grayson is doing now:
Climbing on EVERYTHING
Running
Marching- as in high knees and all
Trying to put on shoes
Putting blocks together and taking them apart
He knows how to pick up toys when you tell him to
He likes to brush his own teeth and comb his own hair (of course I follow up on it)
Grayson has some major dance moves- from the bouncing up and down, to moving his arms like he is a salsa dancer, to swaying his hips....he is very talented
He knows to fold his arms for prayer- especially knows to do it when placed in his high chair
He likes to color
He loves cars and now makes a vrrrrrmmmm sound
Loves to have me read him books, we read about 10-12 a day.

His favorite foods are:
bananas
grapes
chicken
pasta
cucumber
cheese
toast
and sadly- icecream- but it is a RARE treat

Grayson can say:
Hi
Bye
Mama
Daddy
Read (as he brings me a book and climbs in my lap)
Up
Out
Nose
In
Eat
All Done
Cheese
Door
Nigh Nigh
Uh-Oh
No No
Knee
OW

He can sign:
Milk
All Done
Eat
More

He has 8 teeth (4 middle on top, 4 middle on bottom) which he has had for quite a while. HOWEVER, he has 6-8 teeth coming in VERY SLOWLY right now. 4 of which have finally started poking through the gums (2 molars and his top 2 canines). He has been very cranky this last week and I am sure that is part of it.

He has started showing a little interest in the bathroom. He is not ready to potty train yet- as he hates to sit still, but we are thinking in a few months we will get a potty chair and start putting him on it after diaper changes- just to get him used to it.

Grayson loves to run and play and is very social. He is loving having his buddy Bryn over 2 times a week (while her mom babysits him) while I am at school.


On Grayson's 15 month "birthday" we were up at Stanley Lake for a Family Reunion. Here are some pictures from that.

Other than that, I have been busy with school and photography. Mike is busy with school and work. We like our new ward, but it is small compared to our old one...takes some getting used to. Church is also right when Grayson normally naps so we are having some issues there. He is super cranky and upset during Sacrament, and we have left after Sacrament the few weeks we have been home and attended. Even when we get him to nap before going, it isn't a good enough/long enough one to get him through. If any other been-there-done-that parents have any tips, please, feel free to share. So far the general response I get is "do the best you can and if you have to go home, the Lord understands- it is only for a short time" BUT I still feel like I should be there the entire 3 hours, and want to be there the entire 3 hours. He won't stay quiet for RS and Sunday School is the same. He is supposed to start nursery end of November, but if it is like our old ward- they will want him to wait until January (but our old ward had A LOT of babies born the same time as Grayson so I believe that was why it was mentioned).

Now that I went clear off track from an update, I thank those who stuck with me. I will try and be better about updating the blog.

Summer is Coming to an End

I can hardly believe that Mike and I start school on Monday!

I am a bit nervous as this will be the first time I have left Grayson with someone other than Mike for something that was not medically necessary (at least for more than an hour). My friend Toni will be coming over with her 2 year old to watch him while I am at school, but I am still nervous. It could possibly be the fact that he still does not call me Mama on a regular basis, and I worry he will start calling Toni Mama since he will hear her daughter doing so. It could be I just will miss him. I love being a stay at home mom, but I know that I needed to go back to school.

I have been busy doing photos this month. I have had a whopping 8 sessions so far, and I have 3-4 more before the end of the month. It has been a lot of fun and my client base is expanding which is nice.

My aunt and uncle brought my Grandma over last Saturday so we took the opportunity to snap a 4 generation picture.

Here are some other random photos from the last few weeks.

Grayson is such a good eater. The other night we made one of his favorites- Spaghetti! We have learned to make sure his shirt is removed before letting him eat. Yeah- we are a little slow.... :)

Tomorrow we are heading up the mountain for a family reunion. I am excited for Grayson to go to Stanley Lake for the first time.

Still Keeping Busy!

Things have not slowed down for us much this summer! Between travel, visitors, moving, and work it has been pretty busy!

On the 9th Amanda had a Harry Potter Party for her Birthday. We dressed Grayson up as the baby/toddler Harry Potter and headed up the mountain for some Harry Potter fun!

They went all out for decorations!

Young Harry and Grown Harry

Amanda made all these yummy candies- well, except the jelly beans- but she made the containers.

Joyce making wands. It was really cool all the crafts they had set up to do.

Some partially done wands

Potions for the potions class they held. Those potions were pretty nasty tasting!

Making death eater masks

They had signs to point you to different places. They had letterboxing and also clues to find the deathly hollows

Grayson...I mean Harry....enjoying some lunch.

Some of the costumes. Do you know who they all are?

It was a total blast!

After Amanda's party, Sienna (Mike's niece who was with us for 5 weeks), Grayson and I packed up and headed to COLORADO!!! To see the Bolanders who just moved there from Texas. We stayed there a week and had a lot of fun! I was AWFUL at taking pictures, but it was a blast to just hang out with them.

We took Sienna home the day after we got back from Colorado. We spent some time with Mike's family while up in Lewiston and we got this picture of the 4 generations.

We let Grayson play outside, but when he found something he shouldn't have and we took it away, we snapped this picture.

But I guess he got over it quick enough.

Since we have been home we have not been doing as much. It has been REALLY hot and so I am trying to keep Grayson inside.
We did attend a birthday party at Settler's Park on Saturday and while playing in the water a bigger toddler plowed over Grayson and he has a very good sized knot on his forehead. POOR BABY!
We have about a month left before Mike and I start school for the fall. I am nervous about leaving Grayson with someone while I attend classes 2 times a week. However, it is my friend that I spend a lot of time with walking, going to the zoo, and stuff, so he is used to her and her toddler. He is just in his separation anxiety phase (screaming if I even step out of the room) so I am wondering how well it will go.

More Fun in the Sun

I am really slacking in the blogging department and I apologize for that. It is just we have been having SO MUCH FUN!!!

We went to Utah with Mike's mom, niece, and nephew. We rented a vehicle and we drove down. We went to Gardner Village and the Hogle Zoo and met up with some of Mike's family that lives down there. We also spent some time in the pool and even got to see my friend Sarah.

We came home and spent a week just having fun doing random things. Unfortunately the time came to take Mike's nephew Kaleb home. But the good news was Sienna decided she wanted to stay longer so she is here until July 17th.

OK- enough of the boring updates by text only....let's get to the fun stuff- PICTURES!

My friend Toni and I met up and took the 5 kids to the Nature Center. We saw Deer and their babies and we also saw lots of other cool things and had a good walk. After we went to the park nearby. Grayson enjoyed the bark and sticks more than the slides.

Thinking Stick

He got his first kiss! Summer Loving!!!!

Grayson is enjoying the new house and loves to explore.

He is also getting really into feeding himself (including with a spoon) and he loves to make faces and pose while eating. He sits right next to a window while eating and loves to people watch as well.

Check out those eyes!

 4th of July weekend we started out by going up to my sisters Carma and Amanda's house Sunday for dinner and some family time. Grayson loved playing in their lawn with what else......STICKS

Inside he found another kind of sticks he loved playing with-

And not to sound like the mom who thinks her child is a genius- but I think he had some natural rhythm.

Playing Cousin Ryder's drums

 Grayson has really started liking the idea of talking on a phone- though when it actually comes time to do so, he doesn't do it. I guess an actual voice coming out of the phone surprises him. This is his toy phone. I love how he holds it backwards.

"Talking" to Terrie.

 We went to my parents house on the actual 4th of July to set off some fireworks. Grayson found his cousin Dallan's toy ATV and got on it. After Mike helped power it around, Grayson actually figured out how to make it go on his own.

I was really worried that Grayson would be scared of the fireworks. HE LOVED them!!!! Even more though- he loved the glow sticks and toys I purchased. He was mesmerized by them.

It was a great 4th! I am so grateful to live in this country that God prepared! Had it not been for the US gaining its independence, the Gospel never could have been restored. I am grateful for all those who sacrifice to protect our freedoms. God bless the USA!

Summer Adventures

We have been quite busy (as I mentioned in my previous post). Mike's niece and nephew are visiting us and we have been busy with outtings and travel.

We have visited Settlers Park, the zoo, Hogle Zoo, and much more. Here are a few pictures from our adventures so far this summer.

The Cousins with Great Grandma Hayward

Monkey Face at the zoo- Having a snack

Zoo Boise- Sitting in the nest with cousins and friends

Butterflies in Bloom was TONS of fun

Funny Face- walking at the zoo

Summer has also brought HEAT!!!! Tonight we are having an amazing thunderstorm! We are really enjoying our summer and hope to keep busy for the next few months!