the little things

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

project life. week eleven.

Well, I have to be honest. This isn't my favorite week completed, but what's important is that another week of my precious family is recorded and in the books book!

I didn't even open the album once this week. Let alone, plan pages or print photos. Thankfully, I did write down little things up until Thursday and then just got too busy/tired/forgetful to continue.

It was still a wonderful week around here. Music class. Hitting week #32. Grayson saying 2 new words; "blue" and "purple!" Enjoying the beeeeeautiful weather in Ohio nearly everyday. I could go on.

I used some fun stuff that my friend Alex sent me from our PL swap! It was fun to include some new things, since I pretty much use the same papers, alphas and stickers every week! Haha.

I didn't even get around to rinting photos until yesterday and had a busy day even then, so I just had to do it all as quickly as I could while Grayson napped in the afternoon. I am just happy to have it done!

Again, I'm linking up with The Mom Creative this week. :)

Liam: 32 weeks.

He's growwwwwing!

Size of baby: a squash. about 3ish lbs. according to Dr. M-A he's really growing and trust me, I FEEL it!

Total Weight Gain/Loss: +4 (lost a pound this week-why can't I lose weight this "easy" when I'm NOT pregnant?!)

 Maternity Clothes: Same as with Grayson. Some maternity, some my usual wardrobe.

Movement: Lots. and all. the. time. Hard jabs and big waves. My whole belly rolls when I sit at times!

Sleep: Not too shabby. I miss sleeping on my belly though!

What I miss: being able to make it through the day without heartburn. :/

What I'm Looking Forward to: meeting him!

Cravings: smoothies!!  i want them alllll the time!

Symptoms: bad cramping. lots and lots of pressure. saw my Dr. today but nothing to be worried about, thank goodness!

Best Moment this Week: seeing my belly just roll and Nate getting to see it too!

Had my 32 week visit today and Liam's heart rate is 145 bpm. Faster than Grayson's and she said it's because he's so active in there!

We're both doing great. I made the rest of my appointments until my 2 week post-partum visit. It's a bit unreal to see just 4 more appointments on there! Whoa.

Excited to meet him!!

project life. week ten.

 

Happy Week #10 of PL!

I kept things pretty simple this week. Just not much time this weekend to put it all together, but am so happy I did it! 

We had a hectic week, almost making it more difficult to take photos and remember what the heck even happened most days! Haha.

We did make LOTS of time for hanging out, playing and relaxing out back on the sun porch which was a blast! I even did these pages on that porch Sunday evening! We love it out there!

Nate and I both had some Photobooth fun with Grayson and I had him journal on their photo. He's part of this album just as much as anyone and I love having his "guywriting" in there! :)

Another good week in the books! :)

I'm linking up with The Mom Creative and my bestie, One Happy Mama this week!

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! 

Liam: 31 weeks

I've had a few people ask me if I am doing the weekly pregnancy updates with Liam like I did with Grayson. The short answer is no. Not because I don't want to, or because I haven't been recording snippets here in there in my Project Life , but because it's simply slipped my mind so often.

This pregnancy has been so different the whole journey. I mean, I was 12 weeks along before I even KNEW I was pregnant! Ha. The time is flying even without having a VERY busy 11.5 month old and I am just exhausted these days!

BUT, I decided Liam deserves to be recorded too, so I've decided to try and start documenting here a bit more at week 31. (yesterday) :)

(Please forgive the no make up,lounge clothes and hair thrown into a messy bun! I forgot to get a photo during the day like I normally do, so I had to take what I could get at 6 last night! LOL!)

Size of baby: 4 navel oranges. Awww so sweet!

Total Weight Gain/Loss: +5

 Maternity Clothes: Same as with Grayson. Some maternity, some my usual wardrobe.

Movement: He's quite the mover! Feeling big, swift gifts under my boobs and on my sides. He also manages to get a "wave" in there every so often too!

Sleep: I am usually so beyond tired by the end of the day, I don't even remember my head hitting the pillow most nights!  I sleep pretty decent, thanks to my pregancy pillow-the same one I had with Grayson-my hips hurt quite often, but I usually just put the pillow between my legs and feel much better.

What I miss: Being able to walk without feeling like I'm gonna pee my pants! ;)

What I'm Looking Forward to: seeing his sweet face for the first time and having Grayson meet him.

Cravings: whole milk. chocolate milk. vinegar. and as of this morning, a big, cheesy burger!

Symptoms: lots of pressure down low. cramping a smidge.

Best Moment this Week: seeing that little heel kick at the top of my belly. I melt. :)

Side note: the weather here in Ohio has been gorgeous lately and we are soaking up all the sun we can!  Grayson and I ventured outside last night and played on the sun porch and in the back yard. It was so much fun! I love my sweet boy!

project life. week nine.

Why, hello there week 9!

Aside from the date card, I pretty much didn't work on this all week. Instead, it had to wait until I had some free time and energy on Sunday to get completed.

I was able to print many of my photos on Saturday, so that helped a bunch. I always get a bit overwhelmed at that part-the photo printing. Choosing, selecting size, and the worst part-sneaking away from Grayson to print them because he is obsessed with the printer!

I had a really hard time photographing the pages today. Thank you, gloomy Ohio weather. ;) But, am really happy with this week's spread.

I used more cards from Kristina and Crystal's kit, as well as the daily card freebies Crystal shared on her blog last week. How sweet are those gals? Love! I also cut out some numbers and such from a piece of American Crafts paper. That was fun to do, too!

I enjoyed adding lots of little bits from this week-like the Rite Aid receipt (where I scored two Playtex sippies for Grayson for a whopping $1.05 after tax and such!) and the printout from my doctor's appointment last week.

I am really loving these busy, hectic days. Even though they are just that; busy and hectic. But, I've only been given one life and I'm gonna take it and make it the best one I can!

Not perfect. Nope. No way. But, mine. :)

Happy Tuesday! Happy 31 weeks of pregnancy! (whoa.) Happy Project Life Day!

project life. week eight.

8 weeks in and still loving this! I just thought today, "how am I going to do this the first few weeks after Liam is born?" Hadn't thought about that (or much of anything else for that matter!) yet.

I would LOVE to plan a bit ahead somehow...maybe make up each week's card and place in the pocket, or have a notebook nearby for all the days with a newborn again. That's in a perfect world though, so I may have to just skip a few weeks. But, I refuse to stress about it. So silly. I'll just have to see how it all goes, I suppose!

Anyways, on to this week...

(you can click on the images to make them bigger if you need :))

I am loving those sweet tags from my bestie, Kristina! I printed some more this week and love how they complete the pages.

Per usual, nothing real fancy here. Just how I like it! :) It's hard to tell in the photo, but the top right photo of Nate and Grayson is actually a 4x6 protector with more photos from that morning underneath. Grayson has been loving flipping that open over and over again!

It was another fun week around here. A walking, almost running baby (can't believe he'll be a "toddler" next month! ack.), new recipes tried thanks to Pinterest, lots and lots of reading, beautiful weather, a first wagon ride, the auto show, and so on and so on.

Life is grand. Just trying to soak up as much as I can and enjoy it.

:)

I'm linking up with The Mom Creative again this week for Project Life!