the little things

what matters.

Gramcracker invited us over for a homemade lunch today. Gram and gramp's house has always been one of my favorite places to be.     My grandparents just kind of rock. 

And I can tell Grayson enjoys being there too. He just makes himself right at home and loves seeing what gram is up to in the kitchen!

After we enjoyed this awesome lunch-

(Carolina BBQ, gram's awesome potato salad and some sweet tea!)

we spent lots of time playing with Grayson and catching up. It was wonderful.

A bit later, I heard Grayson in the kitchen with gram, so I wandered in and saw this-

Just the two of them. Dancing in the kitchen and having a blast! Grayson LOVES the radio in there and knows how to put the charm on to get gram to turn it on just for him every, single time. ;)

A little later, after a diaper change, we decided to let him roam pant-less for a bit...he loves doing that! And we even found an old My Buddy doll that he LOVES...AND my grandpa's hat from when he was a little boy!

Precious, I think!

It was such a fun day and one I am so grateful for. I am blessed. Today, I saw what matters most in this beautiful life of mine: family. memories. love.

It was a piceless time with them and I love that Grayson had SO much fun!

project life. week six.

A new week! I unintentionally tried something different this week-waiting until Saturday (the end of my PL week) to work on it.

Not a fan of that!  I felt a bit overwhelmed. So, I won't be doing it again!  I didn't like having to figure out the pages, the info, the photos, etc. all in the same day. My days are so choppy as it is, it was a pain trying to fit it all in. 

But, I did it! ...as not to get behind, remember? ;) 

This one shows the insert I made using a 12x12 page protector and cutting it the width of the valentine's cards and because I don't know a thing about sewing, I used the Washi tape idea I had seen on Pinterest a long time ago. Too bad that tape has barely any stick to it. :( It's working...for now anyways!

I did try something new this week by adding a "currents" card I typed up in Word. I plan on including one every week now! Funny Story: before I had printed the list, I left it up in Word. Well, Nate found it one night after work and decided to fill it out and not tell me. It was a nice surprise and I love having "him" in this project too! Plus, he made me laugh with his thoughts. Per usual. :)

And we're done for the week! Another one documented and I couldn't be happier! Yeyy! 

In other news-I hit 28 weeks today. Third trimester. Whoa. Unreal to me! This pregnancy is FLYING by!

SO thankful for a healthy little guy growing in there and for his strong and often kicks and jabs! :)

my little gatherer.

One of Grayson's favorite things to do lately is to gather.

Oh, and push/pull the laundry baskets around.

And when both new hobbies can be combined? Well, that's just perfection right there!

He loves getting things from me (like that chip clip or wooden spatula) and giving them a good toss into the basket.

And then it's GO time!!

Another thing we've been doing lately is "cooking." I gave him these fun colored cotton balls to mix in one of my bowls while I was cooking. He lOVES it! 

Yey for new, cheap, entertaining play ideas!

project life. week five.

Is it just me or do these weeks just seem to be going faster? As I was finishing this week's spread I kind of couldn't believe it was Saturday again and another whole week had gone by! Geesh. Too fast!

I had to be kind of quick in taking the photos for the week because someone was VERY interested in our "book!" :)

He loves looking at each photo, especially when he sees himself or daddy!  He's also a big fan of going through the pages and trying to crinkle the protectors between each little finger! Haha.

A sweet friend of mine, Heidi asked if I'd like to join her and another friend, Alex in a tag/embellishment swap this week and I was happy to join and give them some of the extras I had to use in their Project Life!  Heidi sent some adorable papers and tags and I used many throughout this week! (Thanks, Heidi!)

It was fun including another grocery store receipt (yey, Aldi!) and my most favorite part this week? Grayson's first "drawing!" Melts me. Another reason I am SO happy to be doing this form of scrapping because otherwise that sweet little memory would still be sitting in a box somewhere until "I got to it one day." 

Link your PL in my comments, too! I'd love to see! 

favorite things. 10 months.

I often get asked what baby things we have found useful for Grayson, especially at this age. He's so very into everything and isn't a super picky kid, but he definitely has his favorites.

I thought it'd be fun to list some of the things he (and we) like right now and find useful, helpful, or fun!

1. The Tiny Diner. I picked this up on sale at Babies R Us before Grayson was even born just to try and am so thankful I did. We take it everywhere we go to help catch the drops of food he misses and to cut down on the "table germs" situation at restaurants. It cleans up SO well and I love how it rolls up into the "trough" for easy storage.

2. FAO Schwarz Elephant Walker. Nate's mom purchased this for Grayson when he was starting to show signs of wanting to move more, right around 6.5 months. He would try to push it, but it's heavy and quality made so it wasn't until about a couple of months ago he could REALLY stand to it and now that he's walking, he really loves it!  He loves storing his Scout dog in it! ;) I really feel like it helped him to walk a bit sooner than he would have otherwise. He was never intimidated by and never gave up even when he tumbled.

3. Playskool Busy Gears. This was another gift for him and he loooves it! Something about the sounds and movement really fascinate him. He loves that he can take each gear off and put it back on in a different spot. He also likes finding the "red button" to turn it on.

4. Playtex Sippy Cups. He loves these with the straw. Though the price at Amazon is rather high compared to what we paid at Target for the same cups. We like them because they don't leak and are super easy to clean. He likes them because they fit his little hands perfect and he thinks he's cool stuff holding it! ;)

5. Board Books. Any and all kinds. He has a shelf in our dining room just for books like this that he can "read" and enjoy, but not tear or bend. He pulls them out several times a day and we always enjoy sitting down and reading one or two to him each day. He gets the biggest kick out the one I linked and this one from his cousin Michael!

6. Wooden Blocks. My mom and Phil bought a shape sorter box with all kinds of colorful blocks at a garage sale last summer and it is literally Grayson's favorite toy right now!  He really likes taking them and putting them back into the box one by one. We also say the colors or count as he puts them in. Or we stack them. He spends countless time playing with them.

 I have to say, this is my favorite age so far with him. He is learning and doing so much every, single day-it's awesome!

Nate and I are really trying to make a conscious effort in providing little educational bits along his days and while he's playing. Things like colors, counting, words, etc. (it's so the wanna-be teacher in me! haha) And it's a lot of fun.

We've also enrolled him in a half-our, once a week music class with other babies his age and he is LOVING it! So are Nate and I! I am so grateful that Nate gets to come along. He really enjoys that time with Grayson and Grayson feels the same. Such a daddy's boy! :)

I've been scooping up ideas on Pinterest lately that I cannot wait to make/try with him in the next few months. This age is one where toys are fun and such, but he's needing more I can tell. I plan on doing some sensory things for him soon and can't wait!

to-do.

I've noticed this week that my to-do list is piling. Both with necessary tasks and some not so necessary tasks (like crafting ;)).

I am just not a fan of feeling behind in stuff. I don't know anyone who is. It can be so bothersome having that list over your head!

I'm off work today and have already gotten a bit of stuff checked off like cleaning up the kitchen and making a homemade blackhead remover (thank you, Pinterest). But, there's still more to do...let's be honest-as a mama, there is always still more to do!

I have Grayson's birthday invites I need to begin working on (gah! Birthday invites? Already?! Where in the world is the time going??) and get those put together so they can hit the mail by the end of this short month. I also need to get to work on his birthday shirt and thinking of how we will decorate the hall.

I am a planner. I can't help it! 

Then, there's my Project Life to continue working on. Love it! And a new fun felt craft I just found for Grayson I would like to make. He loves playing with his pretend kitchen, so what I found will (hopefully) be very loved!

There's just always something to do.

The good news is as of February 20th, I will be back to being a stay at home mom...for a couple of weeks anyway, until I start watching a friend's new little guy!  God always provides. More on all this later. :)

I'm off to continue working on my to-do list...laundry, dusting, what to make for lunch/dinner today, get packages ready for the post office....sigh...I'm tired! ;)

Oh, and because I don't like to post without a photo...here's Nate and Grayson at Grayson's music class this past Tuesday! I know it's fuzzy, Grayson especially because he was too busy shakin' his shaker eggs! But, how cute are my boys? LOVE!