Grayson Picasso.

Grayson is quite the artist at school. His teachers, Ms. Pat and Ms. Kristy, crack me up. They do art projects every single day with the babies. I'm not kidding.

I get to bring home cute paintings, handprints, and footprints just about every day from G's classroom. It's so fun! Our fridge is quickly running out of room to store his beautiful creations...and of course I can't bear to throw any of it away. :)

This is what Grayson does when I show him his work. When does this whole I-put-every-single-thing-within-reach-in-my-mouth phase end?

Showing mama the blue watercolors. So proud!

Eh. Got bored. Must return to mouth.

I'm pretty sure we've got a gifted child. Look at that talent! :)

recipe rave & other tidbits

• I haven't posted my meal plan lately. We usually do pretty well with sticking to our weekly plan...unless we (um, I) crave mexican. It's all downhill from there. Here is our menu this week:

*Last night we had Blue Eyed Bride's yummy salsa chicken that she posted here. It was so good and so easy! I also was able to get 2 lunches out of it...always makes me happy!
*Tuesday: poppyseed chicken casserole
*Wednesday: taco night! we always get our favorite chips and salsa from a local taco shop. yum!
Thursday: chicken cutlets and gravy, squash, and rice

• I'm still doing the whole baby-food-making thing. I actually like it...and Grayson likes my cooking! I bought some great containers to store his food in the freezer from Babies R Us. We are officially in business! Our freezer will soon be full of pureed fruits and veggies. Grayson's favorite foods so far are apples, pears, avocado, prunes (yuck), carrots, and butternut squash. He doesn't like sweet potatoes. Doesn't every baby love sweet potatoes??

• Is anybody watching Dancing with the Stars? I just got hooked last season when the Situation was on it. Now I'm all about Kendra, Kirstie Alley, Hines Ward (Go Dawgs), and Maks. I know, Maks is not a star...but he is pretty to look at:)
  

• Today was my first day back in the classroom after spring break. It's not easy being away from my sweet boy after spending all week with him. That's all I have to say about that.

• On the flipside, 39 1/2 days until summer. May or may not be making a paper chain soon..
  

a day at the park

The weather was gorgeous while we were in Georgia. I am an outside girl and really want Grayson to grow up playing outside and not in front of the tv. We decided to start him early and take him to the park for the first time!

Mom, dad, G, and I had a picnic at Roswell Park and then played on the playground. They have an amazing 3 story playground that will be awesome when Grayson is older! But for now we stuck to the baby play area. He thought the slide was interesting!

He looks so tiny on the dinosaur!

My baby is an active boy. He does not like to sit still. I figured he would immediately LOVE the swings. I was wrong. Look at the pouty face. So dramatic!

Don't worry, happy boy warmed up to the swing in a few minutes!

He was back to his normal self in no time...kicking his feet whenever the swing slowed down!

He pretty much melts my heart.

I can't wait to spend lots of afternoons at the park this spring and summer!

G's first spring break!

I am on spring break right now...hooray! Grayson, Jack, and I ventured down to Atlanta earlier this week to spend some time with my parents. I was so worried about riding with just a baby for 3 1/2 hours but he did so great! He only cried for 15 minutes and that was at the very end. I was pretty impressed!

Grayson had a lot of visitors in Georgia! He's pretty popular...ha! One of my great friends from high school and Ole Miss, Margie, just happened to be in town from Shreveport! Small world! It had been over a year (ridiculous!) since we had seen each other and I was so happy I got to spend some time with her. By the way...does she not have the prettiest blue eyes ever???

Grayson also got to hang out with his cousins, Ashton and Collin, again! The babies were so funny at first. They were playing with each others feet and hands. I wish we were closer so they could play together more often!

Such big boys!

Grayson has 2 great grandfathers and 2 great grandmothers...lucky boy:) G got to spend time with both on Sunday. He put on quite a good show! Here he is sharing a heart to heart moment with my Papa. Love this picture!

I'm pretty sure Grayson loved all the attention he got from his Nana and Poppy while we were there. There was always someone willing to snuggle him!

These are my high school girls...minus Carly (who is in LA) and Alex (who is in Memphis). We missed them! Michelle, Lauren, and Magan came over to meet G and then we headed out for mexican and margaritas! My high school crew is pretty tight knit...even 8 years later! Love these girls!

We had a great time in Georgia but I must say it's nice to be back in our normal routine. I think Grayson was happy to spread out in his own crib last night!

6 months

Happy half birthday to my little man! How can 6 months have already gone by??

Here are G's stats:
weight: 15lbs 14oz
height: 27 1/8 inches
clothes: mostly 6 month clothes and starting to wear some 9 month spring clothes
diaper: annoying! in between sizes. causes a big problem with soaking through clothes!
food: still taking 4 bottles a day and eating 1 meal of solids at night. Hopefully introducing a morning meal this week!

This has been such a fun month! Grayson gets more and more personality every day. He is so funny! He is a very easy-going baby. Ben and I know we got really lucky...G has set the standards pretty high for the next babies! He really only cries when he is exhausted. Other than that, he is perfectly content!

This month Grayson reached a lot of baby milestones! Right after he turned 5 months old, he started sitting up completely on his own. Holy cow...that changes everything! It has been so fun watching him discover things from this new angle. He wants to grab and reach for everything!

G also now has TWO bottom teeth! The 2nd one just poked through today. Little guy is a pretty easy teether so far. No fussing, just gnawing...on everything. I will miss those gummy smiles!

Grayson also finally started rolling over both ways this month. He can get anywhere he wants on his quilt by rolling. It's pretty impressive. However, not so much in the crib. G now rolls all. night. long. I don't like this whole tummy sleeping thing because I am so paranoid! Our doc said to leave him alone (I promise I didn't keep rolling him back over all night long...) and that it is perfectly fine for him to sleep on his stomach now.

This big boy can also stay up past 6pm...HOORAY! We've been trying hard to adjust his schedule to perhaps get him to not wake up at 5am. He now goes to bed between 7:00 and 7:45 and wakes up between 7:00 and 7:30. SO MUCH BETTER!!!!

This month Grayson is loving: his beloved dogs, sophie the giraffe, mama's hair by the fistful, water bottles, the jogging stroller, his BIG BOY carseat, eating apples and carrots, sitting on his quilt by himself and playing with all his toys, sitting in highchairs, jumping, being thrown in the air, screeching, playing in the horse jumper at school, and being outside! (not in the grass, though!)

I love this boy more than I ever thought possible. I still can't believe that God chose me to be his mama...I am thankful for that every single day! Grayson has the best little personality and is such a happy boy. I am loving this stage & think it is so fun to see him experience new things. I am soaking him up right now because this is going by so fast!
Happy half birthday, G!

adventures in baby food making

Top o' the evening to ya! Happy St. Patty's Day! How cute is that little leprechaun?!

I've always said I wanted to make my own baby food once we had a baby. It seemed really easy, much cheaper, AND I like the idea of controlling the ingredients. When I got the iPad, I downloaded the book, Top 100 Baby Purees, by Annabel Karmel. It breaks it down in to stages of your baby. I love it...and everything seems simple & most of the purees are freezable. This week I started making solids for the babe & will definitely continue!

I spent around $5 and made apples, carrots, and broccoli. Not bad! I don't have an actual steamer, so I just added a little bit of water to my pots and simmered until my veg/fruit was tender. Pop it in the food processor and add your simmering water until it reaches the consistency you want. Um, yeah, doesn't get much easier than that!

3 ice cube trays of food later...we are in business & ready to start solids! Carrots and apples were a huge hit. Broccoli, not so much. Ha. No big surprise there!

As you can see, more of the broccoli ends up on him rather than in him.

In other news, my spring break begins tomorrow! {insert a big "holla!!!"} G and I are heading to Atlanta to see my fam and friends on Saturday. It's my first road trip with just baby. Actually, baby #1 (Jack) will be riding in his carseat shotgun while baby #2 (G) rides in the back. Yes, Jack has a carseat. duh. Here's to hoping that we have a quiet car ride! I'm a little bit nervous!

tidbits.

This past weekend was superb. I love love love having my husband home! The time change was my friend too. Grayson has gone from waking up at 5:30 to waking up at 7:00! Here's to hoping that lasts!

Ben's dad can build just about anything. He made a great dog house when Huddy was (GASP!!!) an outside dog. Now that house is used as a perch for Hud and Ellie:) Well, he made a toy box/shelf for all of G's things! I love it! He even stained it to match the pottery barn furniture on the opposite wall of the bonus room.

I think Grayson approves. By the way, CHECK OUT THE CUTE TOOTH!!

"see mama, all mine!"
I think it's neat that Grayson and other future May babies will have a piece of furniture from their Pops. I know those shelves will be full in no time!

I had grand jury duty today (which by the way, I love.) so I was finished for the day at 1:30. I had so many things I could do before I picked G up from school, but I decided that I wanted to make my first batch of baby food. Post on that coming soon! Anyways, I think big boy liked his solids!
He is growing up so fast...I can't even deal! He is now officially rolling all around in his sleep & stressing me out. He sleeps 12 hours and I am waking up all night looking at the monitor stressing about him being on his tummy. The pediatrician told Ben today that he is fine to sleep on his tummy now. Why does that make me so nervous??

a boy and his dog(s).

Our dogs were our first babies. I've had Jack since I was 19 and then Hudson & Ellie followed a few years down the road. They've been terribly neglected on the blog recently, but I assure you, they are still ridiculously spoiled. I was really nervous before G came along about them acting crazy and being jealous. But, I have the best dogs ever and they love Grayson. Well, Hud & El love Grayson. Jack ignores him...that's what he does best.

Grayson loves his brother, Huddy! This is what happens after a long day at school.

Grayson squeals and screeches to Huddy, telling him all about his busy day with his baby friends.

See? True love. Hudson is the sweetest, most understanding, and patient dog...ever.

I'm so glad that all my babies get along so well. He's definitely my child!

grass under my feet.

It's weird to me that Grayson hasn't experienced some of the simplest things in life. It's been fun seeing things through the eyes of a baby and watching him explore new things. Today he felt grass for the first time.

It was in the low 70's today here in Nashville and we spent lots of time outside! After sitting for a few minutes not sure about what to think of grass, G decided that a taste test was the best way to see if he did indeed like the outdoor elements.

He was a serious boy checking everything out.

do. not. smile. for. mama.

He was pretty unsure about the whole situation.

Look at his hair!! It's so long that it now blows. Again with the seriousness! He was all business today.

Hopefully the nasty cold & rainy weather is gone for good and we can play outside!...but not in the grass, obviously.