Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween!

We took our little pumpkin to PumpkinFest yesterday in downtown Franklin. It was great people watching--tons of fun costumes...including a 1 year old Rodeo Clown! However, we quickly realized that pushing a large stroller is no fun in a huge crowd of people. We strolled for a while & enjoyed a yummy funnel cake!
Grayson is really excited about his first Halloween. Can't you tell?

a pumpkin and a pumpkin.

We will just be laying low tonight & passing out candy to all the neighborhood kids. I can't wait until next Halloween--Grayson will have a lot more fun!

my baby must-haves

Registering for baby stuff is a smidge overwhelming. Okay. Who am I kidding? Ben and I turned around and left Babies-R-Us once because we were overwhelmed-ha! Now that we have pretty much all the "essential" baby items I am realizing the things that we use the most on a regular basis. Things we need for survival. Well atleast things we need to keep us, the parental units, sane. Here are my baby must-haves:

The Fisher Price Rock & Play Sleeper. Considering I came from birth looking like a senior citizen (remember? the ankle brace, knee brace, walker, SHOWER BENCH...) I needed a place for our little nugget to sleep downstairs. Our original plan of napping in the pack-n-play was thrown out the window since I a)couldn't walk period, b)definitely couldn't go up and down stairs without Ben pretty much holding me up, and c) I most definitely was not allowed to carry Grayson. Ben got this little contraption from Target the day we came home from the hospital for like $40. It's great! He slept in there for the first 3 weeks of his life and napped in there until a few days ago. I recommend it:)

Every baby needs a lovey to snuggle with. Grayson has a froggy lovey and although he is only 6 weeks old (gasp!), he clings to his little froggy. I love that he already has something he is attached to. Thanks Aunt CJ for our froggy!

The Nikon D3000. Grayson loves to take pictures with this camera & he seems to have quite a talent. I kid, I kid. Hands down, if you have a child, you need a great camera. I love our camera. I used my old one last night at a restaurant and was so frustrated with the picture quality. Yep. I'm a total camera snob now.

My SkipHop diaper bag. Looks like a purse. Holds a gazillion things. (who knew babies required so many things?!) AND it hooks on the handle of our stroller. Triple win!

Baby Einstein playmat. This is the only thing that is guarunteed to occupy Grayson for more than 10 minutes. He will lay here for half an hour kicking, grabbing swinging his arms, and cooing. He loves his little ocean friends! ...and so does Jack. Hmm...

A great bottle drying rack. This is ours and I love it! It holds a ton of things and doesn't take up a ton of counterspace. I use this 2 or 3 times a day as my side job has become "Laura the Professional Bottle Washer."

The Homedics SoundSpa Lullaby...a sound machine made for babies. PERFECT! I just bought this and already I love it. It's really small so it doesn't take up much room. It has 6 sounds...3 nature & 3 lullabies. AND it has a projector! I'm jealous. I want pictures of animals floating across my wall and ceiling! Grayson is used to lots of noise (3 lunatic dogs, remember?) so I think he likes having some white noise as he sleeps. He (and Hudson) are slightly intrigued by the projector, too.

The JJ Cole Diaper Caddy. I saw this when we were registering and it was an impulsive add to our registry. I got it at a shower and have used it a ton! We have a 2 story house so it is really convenient to have a little changing station downstairs.

Any other must-haves you think I am missing out on??

brain dump.

• I bought the book below recently. I need a full night of sleep. I am hoping this book helps! It is an easy read..seriously, I almost finished it the first day during one of G's naps. Our video monitor is being shipped and set to arrive on Tuesday. Once it is here, Grayson will receive his eviction notice and have 1 day to move out of our bedroom & into his nursery. I love the little guy to the moon & back...but he is a loud sleeper! We are starting "baby bootcamp" from this book next week...wish us luck!

• I love fun nail polish colors. Especially in the fall/winter when I can get away with wearing my black, browns, grays, purples, etc. Last year I called this nail color fetish my "Miley Cyrus phase." Well, it has arrived again! AND I just found the best nail polish site ever! I love OPI nail colors...perhaps because they have super fun names like "my chihuahua bites." If you go to their website they have a virtual hand and you can try on all of the colors they make! so fun! I was on the hunt for the perfect shade of brown last year and never quite found it...but I think I just did on the fake hand..."can you tapas this?" yes please!
• I can't for the life of me figure out how to take care of a baby, take care of 3 {uber shedding} dogs, AND keep a house clean. help?
• I need a jogging stroller. I don't jog. Or run. ew. BUT, I love walking & I need a good stroller to push my chunky monkey in. I am not willing to spend a fortune & I don't need one of those ridiculously legit strollers like a BOB. Any suggestions?
• I am very upset with Heidi Klum. She picked the wrong designer to win on Project Runway. Team Mondo all the way. If you by chance watched the finale last night, then you saw Jessica Simpson. Geez Louise. What happened to her?

i have a problem.

I am a tv junkie. I have lots of shows that I watch on a regular basis. Thursday stresses me out because there are 4 shows that come on & my DVR can barely handle it! Speaking of DVR...what in the world did we do before DVR?! Here is what I have recorded right now..

16 and Pregnant started again last night! This show is such trash but I can't help but love it. This was the first time seeing it since having my own baby. 25 and Pregnant wouldn't be nearly as interesting to watch as 16 and Pregnant. I seriously can't imagine how those girls do it now that I have my own! Last night didn't let me down...the 16 year old got married. Yowza.
I love love LOVE the Duggars. How can you not love a perfectly well-behaved family of 21? Jinger, Jedidiah, & Jackson are my favorites. See? I know them that well. I'm fascinated by how these people live & by the fact that the parents know the names/faces of all 19 kids...ha! By the way, Michelle must have a 20th child because I don't like them stopping on an odd number. That's all.

This is my first time watching "Dancing with the Stars." I got hooked when I was in the hospital during premiere week and I learned that The Situation was on it. I'm sad that the Sitch is gone now and even sadder that "teen activist" Bristol Palin is still there.

Project Runway...how I love thee. I have always had a girl crush on Heidi Klum. I want to look like her. It also doesn't hurt that my favorite designer is a judge! I'm slightly obsessed with Michael Kors. I want him & Tim Gunn to be my GBFFs. Ya know, gay bffs:)

This show comes on after The Office and is new this season. It's pretty funny. I'll take it.

I pretty much watch this show only because I absolutely love Maci and how she says "Beeeentley" in an uber country accent.

I watch all of the Housewives...minus DC. If I want to watch mindless reality tv I really don't want it to involve politics. Anywho, I used to hate the Hotlanta Housewives. Mostly because I am from Atlanta and I can't for the life of me figure out where in the world they found these ghetto-fab ladies to represent my favorite city. I was tardy for the party. I'm now hooked. They added Phaedra to the mix this season and she is ridiculous. Can't help but love her. And Kim? A hot, hot mess.

Law & Order: SVU. I love this show. I've been watching it for years. I love that USA has marathons of it all the time. Stabler and Benson make this cast.

Polygamy is fascinating to me. This show has a great storyline. If you have never seen it, I suggest that you netflix it...totally worth it! I even got Ben into this last season:)

Michael Scott, Jim Halpert, Dwight K. Shrute...enough said.

How can you go wrong with this cast of ridiculously tan guidos/juiceheads/guidettes? I personally love the MVPs...oh, and Snookie.

What do you watch?

fam time

Last weekend Grayson was a happy boy...his Nana & Poppy came to visit and he got to meet his Great-Grandmother and Great-Grandaddy!
He was so good the whole time they were here...he especially loved sitting in everyone's laps and smiling, cooing, doing anything cute:)

I love this picture. Grayson is so lucky that he will get to know 2 sets of great-grandparents! Here he is playing with my Grandaddy!

We ate lunch and walked around downtown Franklin & of course ended our afternoon at Sweet Cece's. Grayson and Poppy hung out while everyone else got their froyo on:)

Grandmother & Grandaddy

Hanging out with Nana & Poppy

my little model.

We had Grayson's newborn pictures made on his 2 week birthday by Laurel Pankratz of Eilas Photography. If you're in the Nashville area...look her up! She's great! :) Of course our little alert boy was wide awake during the w h o l e session. No sleepyhead newborn pics here, folks!

1 month

I can't believe Grayson is 1 month old today!

Here are his 1 month stats:

9lbs 14 oz last week at the doctor....probably about 10lbs now!

22 inches long

...still wearing newborn diapers because he is so skinny:)

wearing all 3 month clothes...he's a big boy!

I am loving that Grayson is staying awake more during the day...he has been so much fun! He loves just staring at the ceiling and "talking." He especially loves hanging out on his changing table...so happy he likes his room:) We are starting to get a few smiles and giggles & they are seriously so cute. I'm ready to see those dimples on a regular basis!

He has been a much happier baby since we switched to a hypoallergenic formula & yesterday we started his acid reflux meds. Hopefully that will help his little tummy, too! Now we just need to work on sleeping a smidge longer during the night-ha! His mama is a tired girl!

Happy 1 month birthday, G!!

you know you're a mom when...

• you have absolutely no problem catching a waterfall of pee with your hand so it won't go on the carpet.
• you get really excited over your baby's poop. so excited that you may or may not have texted your husband about it.
• you wash clothes every. single. day.
• your outfit is pretty much guaranteed to have spit up on it...and you are totally okay with that.
• your brain feels like it left your body when the baby did. I may have almost lost all 3 dogs yesterday in a 45 minute period...
• you get really excited over baby clothes! specifically a little tuxedo onesie and baby chuck taylors.
• you forget to eat during the day because there is a demanding little person who needs you more than your body needs food. maybe i could patent this new diet plan?
• your 2nd job is being a professional bottle washer.
• the thought of experiencing all of the "first" holidays this year makes you giddy.
• running quick errands is thrilling! especially when everyone comments on how cute your baby is:)
• a gummy little smile makes you melt.

5 on Friday

1. Grayson has been acting really fussy for about a week & acting like his little tummy hurt. I took him to the pediatrician on Wednesday & he gave us a new (uber expensive, of course) hypoallergenic formula. So far it has helped some...although I still think he has acid reflux. I'm happy to have my smily baby back! :)

2. These 2 boys make me very happy. I love watching Ben with Grayson. He loves his little man.
3. I got to see my friends this week! I took Grayson up to school for a baby shower. He was perfect and slept through the whole thing. I miss seeing these girls every day!

4. I finally got my fall decorations out. My house smells like pumpkin pie. The weather has been amazing. I cannot say this enough..I love fall!

5. We should be getting Grayson's newborn pictures back today or tomorrow...SO excited!! Can't wait to get started on birth announcements!

fall.

We went to my favorite little market in downtown Franklin this afternoon. They always have the best pumpkins and it's where I get all my fun blue, white, and fairytale pumpkins. Yes, there really are fairytale pumpkins!

I love all of the colors of fall...I need to start getting out our fall decorations!

Of course this year I got to bring my very own little pumpkin to the market!

As you can see, he was fascinated.

He just hung out in mama's sling.

Happy Fall! :)