Soccer

TJ and Davis . . . evaluating :)

Davis and E noticing that they have the same shoes - as opposed to listening to the coach!

It was my bright idea to sign up the boys for soccer this fall.  I think once they actually get the hang of it - they will have a great time.  The first game was on Saturday and it was pretty much little kid soccer chaos - but the boys sure looked the part :)  Eli was kind of an all-star.  He is a good six inches taller than the other kids on the team.  Davis is super excited about it and really likes the idea of playing a sport on a team.  Of course, he also loves that his cousins are doing it with him.  I know that there is an element of confidence because he knows Eli and TJ will be there with him.  That would have been me as a kid for sure, so I am grateful that he has those relationships with the boys.  I hope that they have a great season.  Hey . . . they are already off to a better start than the Cardinals and they haven't even had  a practice - HA!  Goooooo Tigers!!

Busy Life!

My parents with all the Grandkids

Cousins (minus G and Evie) with Mickey

I can't believe it has been so long since I have had enough calm moments to collect my thoughts and blog.  We have been pretty busy with just life in general and our very fun trip to Disneyland!

The boys getting ready to go on Mr. Toad's Wild Ride

Family Picture :)  Just inside the gates on Day one

Eeyore was his fave!  Meeting him and getting one to take home from Papa

Parker liked the characters - Davis wasn't nearly as excited about them - He was willing to pose with the Splash Mtn Briar Bear though - his favorite ride!

My parents took us, the Johnsons and my brothers to Disneyland and it was one of my favorite trips we have ever taken together.  My kids had SO many favorite things.  Davis LOVED Splash Mountain - he would ride it over and over again if he could, he also really liked the other big rides but he especially enjoyed S.M. - he also had a great time at Mark Twain's island running through all the rock forts and really liked the California Experience ride in CA Adventure park.  Parker says his favorite was the "roller coaster" (Matterhorn) which he only liked as long as I would cover his eyes when the polar bear jumps out, he also really like seeing the different characters (particularly Lightening McQueen) and watching the parade.  I didn't really expect Grayson to think one way or another about Disneyland so I was especially excited about how much he loved it.  The first day he had a huge smile forever and would randomly just start clapping.  He liked the Dumbo ride and all the other small rides, but what he loved was meeting the characters.  Duh?  Giant stuffed animals that interact with him - I should have known he would be in love!  It was so sweet to me.  My dad bought him an Eeyore on the last day and you should have seen the kid's smile when he came running out of the store with it.  He still holds it all day long.  Grayson has never liked that feeling of being lifted into the air - or that dropping feeling.  On several of the rides when you would have that moment of "weightless"-type feeling he would get really scared.  Several times when this happened he then wanted to move and sit with Mark instead of me.  It was especially sweet to me that that made him feel even more secure, to sit with his Daddy.  I loved everything about it - seeing all the kids so excited and able to have fun around the clock and also being able to do such fun things with my whole family.  I love watching my brothers love on my kids and the boys adoring their uncles.  I also love to watch the sweet relationships with the cousins that will probably be lifetime best friendships for my boys.  On our last day, we ate lunch with my parents at the restaurant at DL where Mark and I got engaged.  That will always be a special place and I really enjoyed being able to be there with the boys and my parents.  

My Birthday - Grayson's Party

In my family, my brother and I had birthday's in the same month and my other brother and sister had birthdays in the same month so it was pretty much the standard tradition to celebrate with a "together" family party.  It was very fun for me to relive that experience a little bit today, sharing my birthday with Grayson.  This was really the only weekend that worked to have a little 1st Birthday party for Grayson and it turned out to be my birthday - but I would be more than happy to celebrate with my baby every year!  Sadly we didn't think to take a very cute picture together :(  Of course Grayson always looks super cute!

My very thoughtful husband didn't want me to be without a cake at the party so he had this super yummy cake made for me.  It had two different layers of filling, lemon and blackberry - does it get any better than that - my two favorites for sure!!  So yummy and very kind!  (definitely cuter than my attempt at a cake for G)  I also got some very pretty flowers delivered from Great-Grandma Jeanette!  Thank you for the sweet surprise!!

Grayson's Birthday

Grayson LOVED everything about birthday cake (this was an early celebration)

His cake

He wasn't shy about attacking that huge piece

Can't leave any frosting on the plate

Delicious!  You know at some point it becomes unattractive to be covered in your birthday cake - but at this point in life it is super cute!!!

His new very fun blow up toy from the Johnsons

Eating lunch - I made him some fancy mac-n-cheese

G & Aunt Liss

Opening presents - more stuffed animals - HOORAY!

Enjoying watching me open his presents - laying on my lap!

Grayson officially turned one-year-old on August 13th.  How is it possible that my little baby is one already?!?  I know everyone says it, but I feel like I am constantly aware of how fast this time goes and how blessed I am to have this time with all of my little boys.  At the doctor, Grayson was 22 lbs 4 ou (45%) and 31 in tall (75%).  At one-year-old:  he walks all over the place, he consequently falls all over the place, he only says a couple of words (mama, a version of dog, and dada) but he really tries to communicate a lot of things, he LOVES stuffed animals (specific only to G in this house!), he likes to chase a ball or push a bigger car along the floor, he really enjoys food, he likes to be in the pool, he thinks he can do anything his brothers are doing and his smile in absolutely contagious.  I have enjoyed him as a baby very, very much!  He is pretty even tempered, a great sleeper and loves to love on his momma (all good things).  In my mind he is my baby, but I see him do things everyday that remind me how big he is getting.  The other day I was making my bed and talking on the phone (so I wasn't really watching what he was playing with:) and I heard him fussing at me while I was fixing the sheets.  I looked down and he was whining because he was trying to show me that he was handing me the pillow to put on my bed.  The other funny thing he did last week was he brought me a box of Rice-a-roni from the pantry and was pointing at the picture on the box to tell me he was hungry and wanted the picture of the food.  It was almost like he thought that bowl of prepared rice was waiting for him in the box.  There isn't really any food that he doesn't like, so far.  He is pretty willing to try anything.  He didn't really eat much baby food - his nine teeth were ready for real food early in life.  He really loves noodles with meat sauce, pizza, any kind of fruit but particularly cantaloupe, and the reliable pbj sandwich is his favorite treat.  My favorite thing to do with him is cuddle him before bed and do anything silly to make him smile because he has the world's best smile.  I pray many things for Grayson, but above things, I pray that God would give him a heart to love Him and know and understand the things of God.  I so look forward with hopefulness to what God could do for His Kingdom through the three boys together.   

Ouchie!

Grayson was my earliest walker by several months.  He was taking random steps as early as 9 months and was really walking by 11 months old.  I'm not sure if this is the reason, but he is such a clumsy walker.  It is worse than when they are learning to crawl.  He bonks his head multiple times a day and some of the bumps are quite bad.  This knock on his forehead was one of his worst, but sadly he got another today to match!  My poor little dude needs to grow out of his wobbly legs.

He Loves It!

Grayson has not really enjoyed the sand much at all this year.  He HATED it in Atlantis and was pretty unhappy to be down at the beach in Coronado this year also.  During the July trip, he warmed up to the idea of playing with some toys on a beach towel but he didn't venture beyond that at all.  It has been a little bit difficult to really play with the other boys on the beach this trip because there weren't any extra people along who could keep him to sleep while I took the boys to the ocean.  When we were walking down this morning I literally said, "Grayson, today will be the day you learn to love the beach."  I didn't really believe it would happen, but today he LOVED the beach.  It was very uncrowded, we were really the only ones down there for a couple of hours and he was walking and crawling around everywhere.  He even chased a bird into the water and let some waves come up on his legs.  I was pretty excited about it.  What kid of mine doesn't like the beach??  He had sand in every crevice possible and I will probably still be finding those gold/black flecks in his hair and ears for the next couple of days - but he really enjoyed himself . . . FINALLY!

Happy Birthday Matt

We celebrated my brother Matt's birthday at Z Tejas.  He is a great friend and a really awesome uncle to my boys.  I am very grateful for him and the blessing of siblings that are our closest friends!