Christmas 2011

We had a wonderful Christmas this year! Even though we were missing a couple of very special people, we made this Christmas one to remember. I think Pappaw and Mema would have approved :)

Christmas Eve
Jared and I are very fortunate that we are able to celebrate the holidays with both sides of our families every year. We always begin the fun with the Petkoff side on Christmas Eve. This year we were at Jimmy and Di's house (aka GG and Pops). Grey had SO much fun tearing open the packages! He had so much fun that his poor Mom and Dad were WORN OUT by the time it was all said and done! He especially loved jumping up and down on the big box his toy came in.

I think the most exciting part of the evening was when the big man himself came to visit. Kannon and Kolson were PUMPED, Greyson...not so much! haha Poor baby was a little scared (read: terrified!). Maybe next year?!

(Above is my favorite of the Santa photos. Kannon's expression pretty much sums it all up.)

After we had dinner and finished opening all of our gifts at GG and Pops' house, we changed Grey into his Christmas pj's and loaded up to head to Wichita Falls.

Christmas Day
On Christmas morning we woke up at Mom and Dad's house (aka Nana and Gramps) to see what Santa had left for us! My very favorite thing to do on Christmas morning, since I was probably 7 or 8 years old, is to wake up Grumpy (Blake) and Grumpier (Tom) so that we can open gifts! I now have an excuse when they get mad at me (because they do EVERY year! haha) because Grey wakes up at the crack of dawn so we have to open gifts early, right?!

Grey and Gramps talking over their breakfast choices.
Uncle Tom helping Grey open his stocking.
Checking out his new tricycle with Daddy and Gramps! He LOVED it! Thanks to Santa's helper (hint: the guy in the blue shirt) for assembling all of Grey's presents!

Standing in his kitchen helper. BEST IDEA EVER!! He really likes to stand in it at the counter so that he can see everything.

After we opened our stockings and played with our "Santa gifts" we had breakfast and then the rest of the family came over. I didn't do such a great job of taking pictures of the melee that occurs when we open gifts, but I promise everyone was there to celebrate. Bill, Kat, Will, Micah, Kristen, Chad, Brayden, and of course, Nanny were also in attendance! How did I not get a photo of Nanny?! I will do better next year :)
Opening his presents, and probably thinking "Ugh more shoes?!" haha
Getting the bird's eye view with help from Uncle Blake!

Christmas Sugar

Greyson and his cute daycare girlfriend Claire were caught giving each other a little Christmas sugar! Too cute!



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Merry & Bright

Merry Christmas! This is our Christmas card that we sent out this year, and I found the idea for the photo on Pinterest. What that particular pinner failed to mention, and what I did not anticipate, is that Grey was terrified of the lights at first....oops!! It took four of us over an hour to accomplish these 2 photos. Luckily, I decided to do this the day after Thanksgiving, so I had back up; my Mom, Tom, Jared, and me taking the pictures.

After we got him warmed up to the idea of the lights, as you can see in the photos above, he loved them! So much so, that he decided he should put them in his mouth. Which caused all of us to yell "NO!" at the same time, and scare the living daylights out of him!

Note to self: Next year make sure to test out the photo idea BEFORE the day you need to take the pictures.

16 Months

Greyson's 16th month has been a rough one! The poor little guy was sick for pretty much all but 3 or 4 days of it. (The picture above was appropriately taken in the doctor's office.) He had 2 ear infections, a sinus infection, pink eye and allergies that just wouldn't quit! He has been on a steady regimen of antibiotics, with a daily dose of either Benadryl or Zyrtec. I am so glad we are at the age where he can get some relief from all of this with a little medicine. Needless to say, I also feel like we are solely funding the Kleenex corporation.

Aside from being afflicted with a HUGE case of the sniffles, our little guy has really taken off in the language department. He regularly says Mama, Dada, and More. He also says something close to "shoes" that sounds alot like "shish". He also repeats words to us more often now. And because of this, we had our first big OOPS where words are concerned. If you know me, you will be shocked that he wasn't repeating the word that I said! Greyson's Daddy was making a joke by repeating a word that his Uncle Tom had said, and Greyson thought it was so funny that he should say it too! Needless to say, we have severely curbed our proclivity towards the "fun" words.

It is so much fun to see Greyson's curiosity to explore things these days. He is so interested in trying to do things that we do. He loves to help load and unload the washer and dryer, and we think we may have a mild case of OCD on our hands.:) He has a particular affinity for stacking things just so. I'm so terrible because I really like to unstack and move the things that he has so carefully organized. It is hilarious to watch him restack them back just exactly as they were. You can see how he artfully stacked a few toys on the top of this paper towel roll.


Here he is inspecting Gramps' work on the icemaker repair :)


And, here is another picture of him playing with his truck. It's so funny because he puts his sippy cup in it and drives it around, and then takes a drink every so often like it's a fun game.

In the spirit

We are busy decorating the house today, and somebody is in the spirit!

Although it is taking twice as long with all the extra "help", it sure is ALOT more fun this way!

Happy Thanksgiving

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Thankful

On this first Thanksgiving since my Pappaw passed away, I'm thankful for so many things in my life. But, I'm thankful for my family and the memories that we make together most of all.

On a holiday that is so closely associated with food, I tie this one to my sweet Pappaw more than most. I love food. I love to make it, eat it, experience it, and that is probably because food is love in our family--and at Thanksgiving, Pappaw and Nanny shower us with love.

Some of my earliest Thanksgiving memories are of times spent in their kitchen getting it all ready. I can remember making the chickens "pray" as I called it before they went into the oven (they look like they're praying when they're all buttered up and positioned to go in). I remember learning that there are so many ingredients in the amazing dressing that he made that I could never remember them exactly, I just knew that it was greatness in a dish. And man that dressing is so good! It's by far my favorite food of all time. On many occasions growing up it was my choice for my birthday dinner. So, naturally, dressing=Pappaw, and thanksgiving=dressing, so I'm a little sad about the holiday this year. But I will remember him and be thankful for the amazing memories I have of him on this day. I know that he would want to make sure there is enough sage in it after Nanny makes it, so I'll be sure to test it out and think of him. I can't wait for Greyson to have some, and add dressing to his list of thanks.

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15 Months

Our little man is now 15 months old! It just so happens that this "birthday" coincides with Halloween, so we have plenty of pumpkin photo ops to choose from!

Speaking of pumpkins, Greyson is a huge fan! He is completely fascinated, and a little confused. He loves to play with this big orange bouncy ball at our house, so naturally, whenever he sees a big orange pumpkin he calls it a "ba". No matter how many times we would say, "No, it's a pumpkin" he would just look at us and say "ba?" Poor kid! But, we really shouldn't be surprised because it seems like the "B" sound is his very favorite to say. EVERYTHING starts off as a "ba", and some things he will accept as different "words", but others, much like the pumpkin, are clearly "ba's"!




Since 15 months means a trip to the pediatrician, we have new stats to report!
Height: 30 inches (25%)
Weight: 23.07 (25-50%)
Head size: 19.25 (90%)

Unfortunately, this visit also means shots, so Greyson was not so happy about seeing poor Dr. Conger. Side note: we love our pediatrician! She is so great with Grey.

Greyson has entered a new phase in his 15th month; the exciting world of temper tantrums! All I have to say is that if the "terrible twos" are going to be worse, then please say a prayer for his Mommy and Daddy, because goodness gracious he can turn it on quick! When this kid isn't happy about something. whether it be the miscommunications that can occur between a 15 month old and a 30 year old, or slow food service, or a general moment of unhappiness, he will let you know all about it!! The funny thing is that as quickly as he turns it on, he flips the switch, and BAM, he's a happy baby again. Needless to say, we are learning exactly how patient we can be.

Halloween 2011

We had a wonderful Halloween this year with the cutest little duck you have ever seen! As usual, Greyson was far too busy to pose for any pictures, but I took 83 pictures (to be exact)in hopes that a few would be blog-worthy.

He had his first ever trick-or-treating experience, and he was a little confused about what was going on, but with extra help from GG and our sweet neighbor, we all made sure he got a treat!

All in all, he wasn't so interested in the trick-or-treating though. He was, however, VERY interested in sprinting into the street and rolling around in the grass! Thankfully, there weren't any cars, and Pops and GG were there to wrangle him while I was busy taking photos, and Jared was handing out candy back at the house. (We get a TON of trick-or-treaters--over 60 this year!)



After we did our fair share of trick-or-treating (aka running in the street), we handed out candy to the big kids.

Grey was a huge fan of playing with the giant pixie sticks, and "testing" out the candy from the bowl.

Touchdown!

Greyson learned an essential new move today. His Daddy and his uncle Tom taught him to signal for a touchdown!

14 Months!

Greyson is 14 months old, and is so full of personality these days!

He is on the move! He is a big fan of running. Whether it's running around naked before we get him in the bathtub (sorry no tushy photos), running to greet his Daddy at the door in the evenings, or running like a mad man to get out the back door with Minnie. That last one is particularly fun...it's a constant game of rushing Minnie out without Greyson seeing her go out, or else he HAS to be outside with her. He also likes to run at you when you are sitting on the ground, as you can see, in the photos below when I was trying to take his picture! He decided to tackle me and when he "knocked me down" he thought that was pretty great! haha

Speaking of running, another fun new activity is to chase Minnie, or to let Minnie chase him. She thinks it's pretty great, especially because she gets to bark at him while he laughs and turns around to look at her. Although, he still hasn't quite got the turning and running thing down yet, so usually when he turns to look he falls down, and that's when he starts chasing her. (Can you believe I actually thought about getting another dog before he was born?! It's already a circus with just the one dog!) I'm still figuring out my fancy camera, so I haven't acquired the skills to get a picture of the running that isn't blurry, but here is a playing picture, and a resting picture after a big chase.



He's still a little baldy, but he's working on some hair as you can see in the picture below. You can see his little curl in the back, and it's almost like he needs a little trim back there, but not so much on top! Also, you can see that he is "reading" again. Now, he sounds like he is actually trying to read the book to you. It's pretty cute, except that he likes to rip the book out of your hands and then get mad at you when you don't turn the page?! Hopefully, we will get that straightened out this month! haha


Greyson also attended his first football game! The Marcus vs. Flower Mound game, better known as the "Battle of the Mound," is a big deal in our neck of the woods, so we decided to see if he could handle it. Unfortunately, the game didn't start until 7:30, but since it was sold out, we went a little early to make sure we could get seats.

He did pretty well for the most part, but at about 8:45 pm, with half time still several minutes away, the poor little guy just couldn't take it anymore and had a bit of a meltdown. Not too bad, but he was exhausted! His favorite parts were cheering with all the fans (lots of clapping), dancing to the music (especially on "Jump Around 3rd down!"--thank you 90's House of Pain), and the endless supply of puffs Mommy packed to keep him happy :)

Speaking of dancing, Greyson loves to move to the music! It's so funny! Here is a video of him dancing while I was watching Glee one day. It's no House of Pain "Jump Around," but the moves are just as sweet :) (please excuse my toes and the over abundance of toys--do those ever get to go away?:)