the little things

Getting There

I'm pretty disappointed that I will now be 2 weeks behind on Project Life, but I'm out of ink and to be honest, just do not have the energy to plan it all out right now. :(

We have been so busy these past few days. I just can't seem to catch my breath (literally-thank you, Liam! haha).

I wanted to share some things we've bene up to lately.

First, after several requests to do it, I decided to start a wee, little "business" for mom-to-be's/baby gifts. I'm having a blast and am feeling awfully blessed with each order!

The name is BabyCakes and you can find us here on Facebook if you'd like! :)

Grayson is proving to be quite the little helper these days. He decided to help daddy mow the lawn the other day. It was precious!

Grayson got to attend his first-ever Easter egg hunt this past Saturday!  He did awesome and had so much fun!

After the egg hunt Saturday, we spent the whole rest of the day as a family (afterall, we only have a handful of them left to spend as "3!") and went shopping for some necessities and then grabbed a sweet treat on our way home.

We couldn't head home before venturing to the park for some fun on the swings and slides! Oh, and dirt/sand! Gotta enjoy that, too!

We had a terrific Easter, too! Grayson had lots of fun pulling each little thing from his basket. This ball for his pool this summer had him puzzled, though! haha

After church we spent some time with family, enjoying the special day and a very good meal. After lunch, we all ventured outside for some fun! Grayson loved running with Craemer!

Mom and Phil had an egg hunt for Grayson and Roman. They did awesome!

The boys took turns riding in the "new" car mamaw and papaw found at a flea market over the weekend!

I realize more and more every day just how blessed I am. Amazing, funny, smart, supportive, helpful hubby...handsome, smart, sweet, friendly, silly little boy...and strong, healthy baby on the way. 

After a busy, but amazing weekend, I barely made it back home before realizing I could barely walk because my feet and ankles were so swollen! I had a headache all afternoon (plus, I'm SUPER emotional lately) and just didn't feel well.

A text to my mom later, she was concerned that maybe my blood pressure was a bit high. And issue I've been thankful to NEVER have dealt with before.

She came over and took my blood pressure as I laid on the couch with my feet propped up. Thankfully, it was just fine. Turns out, I've just been overdoing it a bit. Okay, a lot.

I don't really stop these days. And I've been feeling it! My body is SO ready for this baby to come! 4 more weeks. I can do it! I need every single minute I can get.

Still have SO much to do. I'll get there. :)

Grayson's 1st Birthday Party!

Welp, it happened. The first week in months of doing Project Life that I didn't even get the week's spread started, let alone completed.

It was bound to happen sometime, I suppose.

Just had a super busy week and I'm almost out of ink. Looks like I'll have to double up for this coming week!

We were busy celebrating our sweet Grayson and that to me is more important than anything. What a wonderful first birthday he had!

His party was a "If you give a mouse a cookie" themed and we had lots of fun with family and friends Saturday.

Here's some snapshots from his party day!

He was ready to party! Waiting for guests...

His 'monthly photos' banner I whipped up the day before!

The sweet side of the food table. :)

I baked up some chocolate chip cookies and sugar cookies. The cupcakes were made by my mom's friend who's starting a new business and they were deeelish! Grayson enjoyed chocolate! 

Can't have cookies and cupcakes without milk! ;)

My sweet boy waiting on his lunch with his party hat and shirt all decked out for #1!

His cake. Poor guy was not a fan of having so many people crowding him while he tried to enjoy it.

Slight meltdown.

And then he was on a ROLL!

He got so messy (yesss!) that there was no choice but to put the cute boy in the sink for a scrub down!

Then, presents!

Oh, and some little favors for the kiddos that were there!

I think it was a success! :)

month 12.

Dear Grayson,

One year old. My sweet boy, how can it be? These last 365 days have truly flown. It goes without saying you are our pride and absolute joy. We have loved watching you grow and change so much these last 12 months.

I admit, I totally cried and cried last night as you played in the tub and as I put your pj's on and as I let you fall asleep on my chest before bed. It's totally bittersweet, little man. It feels like yesterday that you were born and that we were celebrating that joyous day.  Now, it's time to celebrate you-as a one year old!

You seemed to have hit a growth spurt this past month. I didn't notice as much day to day, but when I look back at even last month's photo, my do you look different from even just then!

This morning when you first woke up I gave you a treat-chocolate milk! It was a BIG hit!

Later, daddy and I took you to breakfast at Buehler's where you had a Mickey Mouse shaped pancake and some bacon. You loved the pancake, but wanted my eggs instead of the bacon.

Then, we let you pick out a balloon of your very own just for this very special day. Of course, you chose Thomas! You have carried it around with you ALL day and even delayed your nap by a couple hours because you just couldn't part with your "ball!"

You are still pretty tiny for a 1 year old. People often comment on "petite" you are. I agree. And I love how little you are! ;)

You are so friendly and sweet. You took to your new buddy, Jackson coming every day like a pro and oooh and ahhh over him every morning when he's dropped off.

You love, love, love Super Why! Bubble Guppies, anything Thomas, anything round that even looks close to a ball, baths, dunking under the spout of the tub to get a drink or wash your face, swimming and floating in the tub, going for a drive, being outside and anything to do with puzzles and books.

You have really gotten friendly with other kids and are a big "talker!" Your new words this month were, "ourple" and "blue" No joke. You say purple a LOT more than blue and it's so clear!

When we ask you what sound the elephant makes you make a wet, blowing sound! Yey. It's so precious!

You are more special than you will ever, ever know. I am so absolutely blessed that the Lord chose me to be YOUR mama. You mean everything to me, sweet boy. 

You will always be my baby. Always.

I am so very excited to see what you do in this coming year! It's sure to be amazing!

We love you so very much!

Happy 1st Birthday baby boy!

Love,

Mama and Daddy

yum.

Grayson is a big, big fan of popsicles. Can't say I blame him one bit! This was mine and I just let him have the last third of it to gobble up.

And gobble it up he did! He sat so peacefully on the kitchen floor just sucking the juice and chewing the cold pieces, enjoying every, single second!

It was precious. And the sticky mess he left on the floor was totally worth it! ;)

Yey for yummy, sugar-free treats from time to time to soothe the ol' gums! 

month 11.

Um. So, this month totally snuck (ok, 'sneaked' as Nate would wish for me to say ;)) up on me with this whole having a baby born on the 30th and February only having a max of 29 days! 

So, here we are. Uh hem...here HE is!

11 months.

Holy Cow!

Dear Grayson,

You are getting so big, little man!  It was very hard to even get a good photo or two of you this morning, you just go, go, go!

This month you started music class. What a blessing! You LOVE it, just as we thought you might. You love the songs and motions, as well as the instruments you get to play with. This class has helped you so much with getting to know other kids. You are very social and kind, but until this class you weren't too sure about other babies. Now, you just walk right into class each Tuesday and love socializing and playing music!

You absolutely love the sweeper. You get so excited every time I bring it out! You follow me all over as I sweep away. Afterwards, you always have to explore the pieces of it and "grunt" in excitement with it!

You now take your hand to your lips and "blub, blub, blub" quite often.  Especially when we ask you to do it. You love showing off!

While you eat, if we ask "can I have a bite?" you are so happy to share and reach your bite right to us! A sharer already and we love it!

A couple of weeks ago as you rounded the corner in the living room you said, "hi dad!" to daddy while he was on the couch! It was precious and SO grown up!

You really enjoy looking outside and watching the cars go by.

You walk almost 100% of the time now. People often comment on how little you are to be walking. It's so fun seeing you just go all around now!  And in the rare moments you crawl, it's now just strange to see! Haha.

You are VERY interested in the toilet and when it's flushed. You find it very neat. We find it very GROSS. ;)

You are super great at independent play and enjoy figuring things out on your own. You also love placing blocks or other objects in things, like openings of toys or in cups.

You're also a big fan of stacking things. Blocks, cups, etc. You really enjoy the blocks at gram and gramp Frase's!

Two new favorites of yours in the tub are: being squirted with a toy (you scrunch up and giggle hysterically when we do it!)-you also love squeezing them yourself to watch the water come out! Another favorite is now "swimming." We have to be careful not say 'swim' or 'swimming' until you're washed and just playing because you like to slowly lean yourself backwards for me or dad to catch you! You enjoy floating around a LOT! Swim lessons are in your future, I think!

One word: messes. ;)

You went to your first Auto Show in Cleveland with daddy and I this week! You loved all the cars and especially loved getting out of your stroller to walk around for a bit. You were so teeny in that BIG complex! We had so much fun!

You're wearing a Size 4 dipe and 9-12 months clothes. Some 6 month jeans still because you're such a shorty! Sorry, kiddo. 

Your favorite shows right now are Mickey Mouse (of course!), Thomas the Train, Kipper and Super Why!

Favorite toys: Hot Wheels (daddy is SO proud!), boxes, old plastic bottles, your wooden cutting food and our shopping cart to push around.

You wave goodbye and hi often now and still have just 2 teeth. But, they say the longer they take to come in the better for your teeth/gums..so I'm not worried!

You take excellent naps now and we've slowly started giving you whole milk a few times. You really like that. Hoping to have you off bottles and formula within this next month!

You clap all the time now, too and really enjoy being outside.

Oh, and you eat so well! You love, love, love blueberries, bananas, turkey, cheese and pancakes! Oh, and icecream and snatching my bran cereal!

Not sure how you do it, but we fall more and more in love with you each moment of each day, Grayson. You are our world and we know you're going to be such a good big brother and kiddo in general!

You are such a wonderful, amazing gift and we are so thankful for how much you love learning new things and get so tickled at your curiosity!

We love you with all our hearts!

Mama & Daddy :)

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!

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!

month 9.

Oh, for pete sake. I really ought to get here more often! I'll work on it for this new year!

Anywhoo, Grayson is quite the little growing man these days!

Dear Grayson,

Whoa. 9 months already?! You're growing so fast!

You are into everything these days and we love how independent you are.

This past month was a very busy one for a lot of people, including our family. You celebrated your first Christmas (and LOVED it!). You loved wearing your elf ears and reindeer antlers.

You also really enjoyed the Christmas tree and never messed with it much. You just liked the tree skirt. We think you thought it was a blanket! Ha!

This month you also met Santa and had a BLAST opening gifts from our kind family and friends!

Let's see...what else have you been up to?

Oh, yeah. This. Getting wipes and Kleenex out and string them all over the house!  I have since cut fabric squares for you and stuffed them in a Kleenex box and you go crazy! You love them!

You now clap when asked, as well as wave. 

You're very social and love wearing fun, animal hats!

You're officially all done with the jumperoo, swing, crib mobile and baby bath. 

You love, love , love taking a bath!  Anytime you hear the water running, you come dashing in and stand at the tub, ready to go! You love the water, especially the shower head! You even get brave and dip your head under from time to time for a drink! hehe.

One of your latest favorite things to do is "help" mama with the laundry! You love the baskets and taking each piece out one by one. So silly!

this past month you also saw snow for the first time, figured out how to open all the cupboard doors and started standing all by yourself for quite a while at a time!

You are a very good eater! You love chicken, mandarin oranges, green beans, tortillas, blueberries, olives and bread!

You also started drinking from a sippy this month and on the very day you turned 9 months old you got your first tooth AND started drinking from a straw!!

You love your riding toy (that you always stand at and push all over!) and your wooden push toy.  You walk so good and are well on your way to walking all on your own!

You are a big fan of dancing and watching mama cook.

You dislike getting your clothes and/or diaper changed and being told "no!"

You love riding in the car and going shopping. The cart is so fun for you right now!

Oh, and how could I forget? You also started saying, "uh-oh!", "mama", "hi!"m and "ball."  So proud of you sweet boy!

We love you very much!!

Love,

Mama and Daddy :)

month 8.

Before I get started, I just want to say thank you so much for all the warm, well wishes about Baby #2! They mean so much to me and our family. Thank you!

Dear Grayson,

As you may be able to tell from the above photo, it is getting very hard to keep you in one place for long! You are on the go ALL. THE. TIME!

This month has been a big one for you on many levels. The day you turned 8 months (November 30th), you got your first big OUCH! You lost your balance while standing in your crib just after waking and clunked your sweet face on the corner of your crib :( I panicked. Then called grandma! That little gash was bleeding so bad, but after a brief cry and a warm bath you were good to go! Daddy says it's bound to be the first of many ouches, but I'm trying to think positive! ;)

You also shared the news with many people that you are going to be a big brother in May!  You like the idea, I think!

You also attended your first wedding. For our friends, Amy and Jay Shrader.  Aside from stealing my roll at dinner, you did fantastic. You loved all the attention, especially from grandma and grandpa Frase and great gram and gramp!

You try to stand by yourself all the time!  You're just so over this "sitting/crawling" business! You love pulling yourself up on me or daddy. We love it.

You attended your first Holiday event with cousin Roman in Wooster where you got to see Santa for the first time! It was so much fun hanging out with grandma and grandpa and cousin Roman!

You're all done with pureed food. You self-feed about 95% of the time!  Aside from yogurt and applesauce. You also drink from a sippy cup all throughout the day now.

You love blueberries, applesauce and chicken!

As of November 8th you weighed 17 lbs. 4 oz and are a shorty at just 26.5 inches long!

You wear a size 3 diaper and are in clothes sizes 6-9 months.

Did I mention you love pulling yourself up on everything? Cuz ya do!

This month you also enjoyed your very first Thanksgiving. You had so much fun seeing family and playing with your cousins! Everyone loved your homemade Turkey shirt and you especially loved the meal of turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole and a roll you feasted on! ;)

You still love Mickey Mouse, as well as Cookie Monster, Elmo and Chicka on Sprout!

You are also a big fan of mama and daddy's cell phones, the remote, checking yourself out in our bedroom mirror and taking baths!

You can sit in highchairs at restaurants now and also sit in the front of carts when we go shopping. You kind of think you're a big deal. Hehe.

You are VERY into exploring these days. You love finding new things, such as my cookie cutters and candles. You also lovethe Tupperware cabinet and getting toys from your basket.

You're a big fan of cars and trucks, going for car rides and other babies.

And while I know you love me, you are getting exceptionally close with your dad (I think it's this whole mom going back to work thing?) and I LOVE it. You two are so cute together and I can see your love for daddy each time you see him, hear him or hear his name. I kind of melt.

And while we are so sad that you're growing so, so fast, we are SO proud of who you are becoming as a little person and absolutely love watching you grow and learn every single day.

You are our pride and joy and we love you more than you will ever know. Happy 8 Months, little man!

Love,

Mama and Daddy :)

month seven. (a bit late)

Dear Grayson,

My, what a crazy, busy and surprsing month this has been! We are all so busy lately!

You, especially.

You are crawling now and love to be outside. You also discovered your shadow and had your first Trick or Treating experience. (You LOVED it and were a BIG hit around town!)

You are still loving baths (and even stood up in the tub the other night. About gave me a heart attack!) and you are a HUGE people person.  People often comment about how alert and friendly you are. God heard my prayers, didn't He, little man? :)

You are such a good eater. You pretty much love everything but peas and do not like green beans pureed, so I just give them to you heated up and you go. to. town! You officially take a sippy cup now, too. And love Puffs.

You are still obsessed with anything Mickey Mouse!  You made your first trip to the pumpkin patch with daddy and I. You also enjoy Sesame Street and LOVE the racetrack that grandma Sandy bought you.

You never sit still anymore and diaper/clothing changes have become near impossible! So quick!  

You can also sit yourself up all on your own now from a lying down position and love to "stand."

We love you oh, so much Grayson and are so very thankful for you!

Love you always,

Mama and Daddy