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!

Settling In

I have been a bad blogger and a bad mommy.....OOPS!

I have not taken many pictures until this last week and I have not posted in almost 3 weeks! We moved the first weekend in June. The following weekend we went and picked up Mike's niece and nephew for a visit. Then we took them down to Salt Lake the following weekend (this last one) and we are going to take them home Saturday. We still have not completely unpacked and I feel like my house is a mess- even though what is unpacked is put away and organized.

On top of that our dryer has seen it's final days so I am washing my clothes here and I was running them down to my moms to dry but I have finally caught up so I may line dry them using the extra bathroom and a fan....not sure. The gas to go back and forth between my parents and here is not worth it. In a few weeks we hope to purchase a new (to us) dryer.

So that is what has been going on here. I hope to post some new pictures soon.

June Is Busting Out All Over!

I can hardly believe it is already June! Where has the time gone?

We enjoyed a visit from my friend Sarah over Memorial Day Weekend.

We took a walk at Kathryne Albertson Park. Grayson LOVED walking by himself where we would let him. I took some pictures of him and they were all so cute I couldn't choose which ones to post- so you get to see them all.

We also spent a good amount of time this last week packing and cleaning. We get to move this weekend in to our new apartment! HOORAY!!!!! We are going to miss ouir current ward, and the surrounding area, but it is time to move to a new, bigger, home.

Other than that we have been fighting off colds and allergies.

Birthday Party Pics and 1 Year Stats

We had a "small" birthday party for Grayson on Saturday. I use quotes around small because everyone's interpretation of this word is different. Small to us was 6 of my 7 siblings, some of their spouses and some of my nieces and nephews and a great-niece and great-nephew, plus a couple of friends and their kids that see Grayson often. We had the party at Settlers Park and mainly just did lunch and cake.
Here are a few pictures from the day.

With Aunt Carma

MMMMM...PIZZA

Walking with Cousin Dallan

CAKE SMASH!!

It was simple and fun.

Grayson also had his 1 year check up today. He was still mighty small, but he was a pound heavier than the dr was hoping after him getting so sick last month. He weighed in at 17 lbs 8 oz and was 27 1/4" long. Both were 3% or under. Weight was not even on the chart- but as I stated in the previous post- these are not test scores.
Grayson exceeded all milestones by walking, knowing 4 signs (milk, all done, more and eat), and 7 words (Nigh Nigh, Banana, Up, All Done, Mama, DAAAADDD, uh-oh). Once he warmed up to the ped he was super social with him. Grayson babbled some stories- and they were funny ones I guess because after he waited a minute and then laughed. He showed the ped his cracker he was eating and offered him some too. He also got his 1 year shots and only cried for a moment.
My lil boy is perfect according to the ped- something I already knew.

A Year Has Passed!

I can't believe it has already been a year! My handsome lil man is no longer a baby- but a TODDLER! I have thought a lot about my journey to motherhood. I struggled with infertility for 8 long years, but the journey to motherhood did not end with that positive pregnancy test- it didn't even end the day Grayson was born.... No, I am still on my journey to motherhood.

I remember being in this stupor after Grayson was born. The events that had transpired seemed almost as if I had just read them from a book....for surely, I was not a mother. I held this little baby in my arms, yet it all seemed so surreal to me.

This is the only picture of me and Grayson in the hospital- taken on my phone the day AFTER his birthday.

I couldn't believe that I had carried this child inside of me, and now he was finally here. He looked up at us, very alert for a newborn, and I remember thinking that I must be dreaming.

On his birthday!

 For months after Grayson was born, we would at times, find ourselves forgetting that we really had a child. Not forgetting, more like, thinking we had woken up from a dream, while he slept quietly in another room, or was asleep in the backseat of the car. We would sit there, look at each other and say- "Is this real? Do we really have this gorgeous baby boy?"

Now, reality has set in- but we still find ourselves in awe of our little boy every day!

May 2011

While I love capturing moments of Grayson, I still have to learn to be on the other side of the lens. I have gotten better, and make sure to have pictures snapped of us together.

When Grayson was born, Mike was definitely the proud daddy!



Mike and Grayson on Grayson's Birth Day

And he still is! In fact, he is constantly bragging about Grayson and showing him off. He is one of those "annoying" parents that thinks their child is the center of EVERYONE's universe!

When Grayson was first born, and those first few weeks, I worried a lot about his size, where he was on the charts, and felt that if he wasn't moving high up in the percentiles, it meant he wasn't progressing. He was a tiny lil guy after all.

Going home from the hospital- Even NEWBORN clothes were WAY to big on him

But I learned that those charts are not like test grades, and being in the 1-2% does not mean my child is failing. While he grew slowly, he grew, and his body was proportionate. Height did not grow faster than weight. While it took him a year to get to size 3-6 month clothes, he still grew, and not just on the charts, he was mobile at an early age. By four months he would mysteriously be clear across the room from where I had left him laying while running to the restroom. By 6 months he was an army crawling pro, and by 7 months he walked along furniture. He surprised us even more, by waiting 3 more months to venture away from furniture at all, and another month after that before he started fully walking on his own. Even now, he prefers to hold our hands when out in public.

Grayson has changed in so many ways, back then we marveled at his multi-colored hair- the blonde tips that teenage boys would pay hundreds of dollars for-

With his Aunt Amanda- Check out the hair!

His hair continued to amaze us as it grew like none other, very little fell out, and it refused to lay flat and continued to go in a mohawk.
I learned to cut a baby's hair long before I had planned. With each hair cut, his hair changed color, going from dark brown with blonde tips, to red, to blonde, to almost white.

Grayson can boast that he has had 7 haircuts before the age of one year.

He can also boast that he is an experienced traveler.

He has been to 10 states besides Idaho, has taken a 10 day road trip, flown to Texas and back, survived overnight drives to California, seen Disneyland, fallen off a hotel bed, and visited an emergency room while on vacation.  He has even survived driving to Lewiston and home in one day- twice!!!!

Grayson cracked us up with his attentiveness and his faces the first few days and weeks of his life-

And of course- he still does.His laugh is contagious and HUGE!

Indeed, Grayson has changed a lot, and so have I. I find myself just starting to realize that I really am a mother. I think being a mother is in a sense, something that happens overnight, but also, something that you grow into and changes as your little one does.

I feel so blessed to have this handsome young man in my life. He is such a great gift and has taught me so much already. This year has passed so fast. I am sad that Grayson is no longer my baby, but look forward to the toddler years and the years after that. I hope to savor every moment, laugh at every silly thing he does, hold him when he needs comforting, and always be able to call him my lil baby.

Thank you to Reflections Photography by Sue Anderson for Grayson's one year pictures and our family portraits.

Playing at the Park

We have been blessed with a few nice days here. Days where we don't need jackets to be outside and the wind is minimal. It is really starting to feel like Spring in Idaho.

During these nice days, we have been able to do a little more stuff outside.
Here are a few pictures from adventures at the park. The girls in the pictures belong to my friend Toni who I walk the mall with, and we get out together with our kids.

Grayson loves to just walk around the park and people watch. He will walk, look around and LAUGH!

The swings with Grayson are hit and miss. I guess this day they were a hit.

This is Toni's older girl. This day the sun kept going behind the clouds and a cold breeze would kick up so jackets were needed.

This is Toni's younger girl who is a year older than Grayson. They are friends and love going to the mall every day together.

Doesn't he look so cute in those sunglasses? He hates when we put them on but if we just get him distracted by something else for a few minutes then he forgets they are there.

I am excited to do a lot more outside. We have been venturing out of the mall and over to petsmart with the kids. Grayson loves to watch the animals. He SCREAMS at me when it is time to go because he doesn't want to leave. I am very excited that I am getting a zoo pass so I can take him to the zoo this summer, fall and next spring! It will be a lot of fun!