G is TWO!

Grayson is TWO years old today! I can hardly believe that we have been parents for that long...how is that even possible?! 

I can't get over how little G looks in his 12 month picture a year ago. I remember thinking that he looked like such a big boy then! He has changed SO much! 

The stats:

Weight: 24.6lbs (10th percentile)

Height: 34 3/4 inches (50th percentile)

Diaper: 4 during the day & 5 at night

Clothes: all 24m stuff for the most part. He's in an awkward stage where some 24m stuff is too small but 2T is still pretty big. I'm having a hard time finding clothes for the fall & winter! He's still wearing his 12m shorts so we will only be wearing 24m pants with an adjustable waist. G is long & super skinny!

Shoe: 7

What's Been Going On:

• Grayson started MDO this month! He's going on Tuesdays and Thursdays. He is going to the program at our church and is in the same room for school, MOPS, & Sunday School. This has helped the transition so much! We love his teachers & he is doing so great already. He is even sleeping on his little nap mat! I was shocked. He had a school birthday party yesterday and was so excited that the class sang "Happy Day" to him. So sweet:)
• G is getting better with his appetite. He is willing to try things now instead of just refusing. He has even tried some veggies! He's now drinking Horizon vanilla milk instead of his nightly Pediasure--our wallets appreciate that change! His favorite foods right now are grilled cheese, peanut butter, Mickey Mouse nuggets (seriously), grapes, goldfish, pretzels & hummus, pizza, & bagels with cream cheese. 
• Grayson is talking up a storm! He can literally say just about anything. G always talks about his friends...he will say their names & then say "nice!" Yes, he has nice friends! 
• I know we are not fully ready yet, but G is very interested in the potty. He's had a potty seat for a few months but really started showing interest this month.  This past week he actually went twice after telling us he had to use the potty! I'm in no rush, but getting rid of toddler diapers would be nice:)
• Grayson is still being such a sweet big brother. He has his moments of jealousy (usually while I'm nursing) but other than that, he's adjusted really well. Whenever Griffin is crying he makes sure that he has a paci, blankie, and his monkey lovie! G wants to make sure that his baby is taken care of! That's also the first thing he asks when I pick him up at school or after MOPS..."baby??" He always has to make sure Griffin is in the stroller:) 

 
 Grayson's favorite things right now are...

•  any and all forms of machinery: trucks, planes, helicopters, boats, & trains. He requests to watch truck videos on YouTube daily. We play in his sandbox with trucks. He has trucks ALL over our house. He's starting to get into Thomas & will watch it for about .25 seconds every morning :) 
• Yardwork. I kid you not. This child asks to mow & use his weed eater at least 87 times a day. He cracks me up! He will walk around our entire yard just like Ben does either mowing or using his "eata." I wish his tools really worked!
• tools. Grayson has a few play tools that he loves. Ben emptied out an old plastic toolbox & gave it to G for his tools and he thinks he is so cool! Anytime he thinks something is broken or needs new batteries he yells, "TOOLS!" and then scurries off to fetch his box. He will "fix" everything in our house. It's hilarious! 
• jumping. This is a newly learned trick & he thinks it's pretty fun. He now sets things in the middle of the floor so he can jump over them. I think he will be a track star of some sort!
• playing outside with all of the neighbor kids. We live on an awesome street that is FULL of kids. G's best friend, Gray, lives right next door but he also loves all of the older kids nearby. Every morning we watch his friends get on the school bus & then we anxiously await their arrival every afternoon. We are lucky that these kids are so sweet & actually enjoy playing with our little guy! 

 

At 2 years old, Grayson is a strong-willed, very busy, very active, hilarious little boy. He makes us laugh on a daily basis. G has such a sweet heart. He is so caring & king and I really hope those traits stick with him as he gets older. I can't wait to see what this next year brings for our sweet Grayson! 

I am SO lucky that I get to be G's mama. These past 2 years have been a dream & I still have a hard time believing that this blonde little boy is mine! 

Happy 2nd birthday, Grayson!

a letter to my teenage self

Over the past week you may seen quite a few bloggers write letters to their teenage self.  There is a link-up over at Chatting at the Sky that has hundreds (literally!) of these letters & it inspired me this weekend to participate. I've often thought about things I wish I had done differently as a teenager. Writing this letter was actually pretty therapeutic.

Dear Teenage Laura,

There are so  many things that I wish you could know at this very moment in your life. But the truth is, as much as things may hurt & as bad as you think things sometimes might be, it's better for you to learn things on your own. When you are 16 & 17 years old, your emotions are so strong & you will feel like the world is over more times than you care to mention. Trust me when I say that the world ISN'T over and you aren't defined by your high school years. Goodness, if only you knew what all was in store for you 10 years down the road. I know that you think high school is the best time of your life, but your adult life is pretty amazing.

You will spend the first 3 years of high school sorting through friendships & never completely feeling like you have a niche. Don't worry. You will go hiking in Canada for 10 days with YoungLife the summer before senior year and that trip will renew you. You find yourself that summer and realize who your true friends are. Cherish the times you have with those friends. Once you all go off to college you will miss having them 5 minutes away. Don't take them for granted & spend as many late nights at Steak n Shake with them as you can. This huge group of friends makes your senior year at Lassiter so much fun & even as an adult you are thankful you had such a tight-knit group of friends to help you survive those hormonal teenage years. Here's a fun fact: some of those girls are still your best friends even if they are hundreds of miles away.

Oh, girl, I wish you wouldn't put so much of your value into your physical appearance. You are beautiful & perfect just the way you are. Stop comparing yourself to other girls at school and church. This will quickly turn into an obsession and completely take over your mind. Trust me when I say that an eating disorder will get you nowhere but home during what is supposed to be the best freshman year ever in college. There will be moments in this season of life that you hit rock bottom. You aren't sure how you're going to get out of this sad place. You are so much stronger than you think you are. I wish more than anything that you knew that. You learn so much about yourself during your senior year of high school & freshman year of college. Your eating disorder doesn't define who you are, you will recover, & you will come out a much stronger and more confident girl.

I also want you to know that these boys you spend SO MUCH time focusing on are not the ones for you. You spend so many nights crying over things they say & the way they treat you and they just aren't worth any of your tears. They don't respect you & you can do better. You know this deep down but like the attention they give you. Trust your gut. At one point early on in college you will just want to give up on guys all together. You feel broken & used. Yes, you will shed many, many tears but here's a little secret: not long after this you will meet a wonderful guy who will eventually be your husband. He makes you feel beautiful & important & he loves you. and guess what else? God didn't hand you just one guy...he gives you 3! That's right...that guy you meet will also be the father of your 2 precious little boys. Don't give up yet, sweet girl!

Sometimes you feel so conflicted about who you are & what type of person you want to be.  It's hard to walk the halls of a high school with almost 3,000 of your peers and not feel insignificant. You have friends from many different "groups" and it confuses you. You are a Christian but you feel torn between how to act. Sometimes you feel out of place because you are more naive than some of the other girls. Sometimes you feel out of place because you don't go out & drink. Here's all you need to know: don't turn away from the Lord because you feel like a hypocrite sometimes. He loves you & is so passionate about you. and guess what? You're a sinner saved by grace & you aren't supposed to be perfect. Cling to your faith & don't worry about fitting in with all these different groups of people. People like you because you are kind and genuine. You have a good heart. You CAN be the girl that is involved with YoungLife, goes on mission trips, sings in the school chorus, AND has friends that are different than you. Even friends that are a little wild. I promise.  Don't worry about not fitting in to a certain mold. This makes you a more well-rounded person; a quality that you will appreciate as you get older.

Lo, be carefree and young while you can. Have fun with your friends. Take advice from your parents--trust me, they usually know what they're talking about. You'll actually become friends with them after you leave the nest...isn't that crazy?! They're pretty fun to hang out with. Don't wish away your life--you'll get to that marriage/mama thing eventually and it will be the best season of your life--BUT, enjoy the moments before that. You think that senior year of high school is the greatest time of your life, and while it was pretty awesome, it only gets better.

Love,

27 year old me

P.S: you look better with long hair. Don't cut it off.

So What! Wednesday

This week I am saying SO WHAT if...

• I practically ambushed my awesome OB this week about birth control at my 6 week post-op appointment? My exact words were: "I am not doing 3 under 3. So it will probably happen. And then you'll see me cry." 
• I've been acting hangry this week? Yep. You read that right. HANGRY. Hungry + angry. Dieting AND giving up all my favorite dairy products have left me very sad. 
• I try to force my toddler to watch tv so he will just be! still! for! one! second!?!? Don't worry, he's not having it.
• the overload of sponsored blog posts lately makes me stabby? and the pop ups from BlogHer? well, those lead me directly to the "x" in the top right hand corner. Let's get back to the basics, blog world. 
• my brain still isn't functioning so I can't think of anything else? hmph. 

Go link up with Shannon & have a happy Wednesday! 

where I belong

I like to think I have been pretty honest since giving birth to Griffin. I hope I have been, at least. I would never want to paint a picture of my life being all rainbows & butterflies; it is far from that. Especially in this season of life.

Right now, our house is loud. Between a tantrum throwing toddler, a screaming newborn, & 3 wild dogs, our house is just loud. 

I lose my patience more than I care to mention & there are so many days that I am completely done by 4pm.

This season of life is so hard, so trying, and so exhausting. 

There have been moments in the past few months when I have had the thought, "this is not what I signed up for."  When I haven't been able to shower in way too long, when Grayson is trying to do flips over the couch, when Griffin projectile spits up all over me for the millionth time that day. Those are the moments that, just for a split second, I wonder if I was absolutely crazy for signing up for this gig.

But then? Grayson says something that absolutely cracks me up. Griffin opens his eyes for a little while, makes eye contact with me, and gives that heart-melting baby smile. I watch as my oldest checks on his baby brother & gives him a kiss on the head.

That's when I know. I'm right where I belong. Maybe I am in fact crazy for trading in the teacher hat for the stay at home mom hat. I'd like to think it's a good kind of crazy though. My heart is in it. This is where I belong.

brotherly love.

It is still surreal to me that we are a family of four. Some days it feels like I was just finding out that Griffin was indeed a boy. I remember being so excited about Grayson having a brother 2 years younger than him. They would grow up being the best of friends--that's my prayer anyway! 

It was love at first sight with both my boys. But seeing them together? Loving one another? Knowing they both belong to us? Talk about my heart turning into a puddle of mush. There is nothing sweeter!

I've had so much fun over the past almost 6 weeks capturing moments between Grayson & Griffin.  Grayson is such a sweet big brother & loves to give Griffin kisses, make sure he has his paci, & always wants him to have his monkey lovey.  Seriously, nothing makes me happier than seeing these 2 boys together. It makes my heart happy.

happenings

• Grayson started school on Tuesday! We enrolled him in our church MDO program & he will be going 2 days a week. I've been so busy with Griffin that I kept forgetting about school! His first day was a half day & they say he did great. He was SO tired when we got home & slept for over 3 hours. 

As weird as it will be not having my little sidekick around 2 days a week, I think we both need the time apart. I think school will be great for G & I know he will enjoy getting out of the house to spend time with other kids! 

• Griffin is now 5 weeks old. I can't believe that he's been here for that long! The last 5 weeks have been a whirlwind, for sure. The prevacid for his reflux seems to be helping & we are also thinking that he has a milk allergy just like his big brother did. I got stressed with G due to his reflux, milk allergy, & crazy amounts of projectile spit-up and switched to formula before he was 1 month old. I'm determined to make this whole breastfeeding thing work this time & I've taken dairy out of my diet. I love cheese & pretty much all things dairy-related so this is a big deal for me. I love me a big bowl of queso, but, I love Griffin & his sweet tummy more. Oh, the sacrifices that we make for our kids! 

 

• Grayson turns TWO so soon. His birthday party is on the 22nd & of course will have a construction truck theme. We're having a pretty low-key party at our house. I say low-key because I haven't planned hardly anything. oops. I'm starting to stress a little bit about this. By the way, what in the world does one plan to do at a 2 year old's birthday party?? Seasoned mamas, any ideas??
• I forgot how hungry I am at the beginning of a diet. The first 2 weeks are the hardest. Now that I am back on WW, I want everything that I shouldn't have. Especially Taco Bell. oink. 

• I'm getting braver with this sweet little guy. He slept in his crib a few times this week! Griffin has napped twice & even slept for 4 hours one night in his own bed! Those four hours were glorious and I slept like a rock without having a tiny grunting caveman right next to me. 
• I feel like I'm in such a blogging rut. My brain is FULL of things to write about but I never have time to get a post done. I mean, I will eventually have time right?! I am afraid of even opening my Google Reader. I'm sure it's overflowing! Same goes with responding to emails. I promise I'm not ignoring anyone...I read them all but have been so bad about emailing back. I don't want to wish away any of this time with my tiny boy, but I am ready for a more scheduled routine. We'll get there eventually!

Body after Baby...numero dos

Being pregnant does so many crazy things to your body. The craziest being that at the end of 40 weeks it literally looks like you have swallowed a basketball. 

I think I got spoiled with my post-baby body the first time around. I was 2 years younger. My body seemed to "bounce back" a lot quicker. I could wear my pre-pregnancy jeans the moment I got home from the hospital. Not only did they fit, they were loose. I actually came home after giving birth to Grayson weighing less than what I weighed when I found out I was pregnant.

I gained the exact same amount with Griffin as I did with Grayson. This led me to believe that the exact same thing would occur after having our second baby boy: I would lose the basketball belly & immediately go back to normal. Heck, maybe even better than normal! 

Well, I'm 2 years older AND I had my 2nd c-section. You know, that major abdominal surgery that totally wreaks havoc on your stomach muscles. Yeah, that. 

Let's start with the 39 weeks "I swallowed a basketball" belly:

I'm still amazed that my body can look like this. 

Here's what I looked like 5 days after having Griffin: 

Um, yeah, I still had a 4 month pregnant belly. I know, I know...everything is still swollen & shrinking back to normal. BUT? I didn't want to look pregnant after I delivered my baby.

This is me 2 days ago:

Obviously, swelling has gone down & the lovely belly pooch is what I have been left with. Not a fan. My pre-baby jeans are still too tight which causes the dreaded muffin top. It's really attractive. *said with intense sarcasm*

SO, I am now embarking on a mission. A mission to get skinny. I'm calling it Operation Skinny Mama to be exact. I have signed up for Weight Watchers again & started tracking my points a couple of days ago.  I wish I was the kind of person whose weight just melted off from breastfeeding, but that doesn't seem to be the case.  I'm sticking to Weight Watchers because I know it works & it's easy.

I'm determined to lose this baby weight & then some. Right now I have about 7lbs left to go until I reach pre-Griffin weight. My scale at home is ridiculous so I'm just going to be going by how my clothes fit for now.  And those clothes? Well, they better start fitting because I have been recycling the same 5 things over & over again...which is difficult when you have a baby that likes to spit up a lot.

I figure if I put a before picture out there on the internet, that's enough to hold me accountable. I mean, if I have a "before" picture then I eventually have to show off an "after" picture, right? That's my thinking anyway. 

So, if you people see me tweeting about how I MUST HAVE A KRISPY KREME DONUT RIGHT! THIS! SECOND!, your job is to give me a virtual head smack. Thanks in advance.