Greyson is 1!

I can't believe it, but my sweet baby boy is 1 today! I teared up just thinking about it last night. This time last year, Jared and I were so excited to meet him that we could barely sleep! What an amazing blessing this year has been! I know that everyone says this about their child, but Greyson really is the best thing that has ever happened to us. Remind me again why we waited so long?!

We snuck into Greyson's room this morning and woke him up at 7:53 am on the dot! Cheesy, I know, but I just couldn't help myself! Jared thought I was crazy, but I think it's a fun tradition to start. It was a little bright for him when the flash went off on the camera, but I assure you he was smiling :)!



Right after we got him all changed and ready for breakfast, we officially started the annual measurement inside the closet door. He wasn't too happy about it, so I didn't get any pictures, but here is one of the mark on the wall (use your imagination--Ha!).



To look back and compare how much he has grown over the last year, absolutely blows my mind! He has grown so much! I can't believe my sweet little newborn is basically a toddler! I get the BabyCenter.com emails that chart his growth, and he is officially in the toddler category! How did this happen?! I refuse to believe it! Thankfully he still wants to snuggle with me, because I don't think I could take it if he didn't, so I think I'm going to say he's still an infant :)

Speaking of growing, we went to the doctor, and Greyson is moving around so much that he lost a little weight! I need to go on that workout plan! He is weighing in at 22.5 lbs (25%), he is 29.5 inches tall (25%), and his head is measuring at 18.75 inches (90%). So, he is fulfilling our short kid prophecy, but apparently he's going to be a little Einstein with that big ole noggin'!

In other news, Greyson IS WALKING!! Nana (my Mom) says that I am being too picky and that he has been walking since June, but he is beginning to walk more than crawl these days, so I think that makes it official. He is so good! He still looks like he's drunk, but he's doing so well! He is walking all over the place! I knew it was going to happen, but it's still so funny to see it!

Greyson is still eating a ton of food! In addition to all the foods I mentioned last month, Grey is now eating all kinds of beans, eggs, waffles, raspberries, you name it! The doctor said we can give him anything we want now since we don't have any food allergies ourselves, so game on! I'm still sticking to the organic food as much as possible, but there are certain things that I draw the line at. For example, I will buy organic fruits and veggies, eggs, etc., but being a big baker, I don't think it's necessary to buy organic flour, etc. to bake things with. That just seems over the top to me, and since our family thinks I'm a little nutso with the organic, I'm trying to find a happy medium. Greyson is still drinking breastmilk since I have some frozen. I think it will last through the rest of August, and then he will start drinking regular whole milk.

He has a ton of teeth! He has four teeth on the bottom, and just got two more on top to make a grand total of 4 on top! I can't believe he has 8 teeth! It's so cute to see that toothy grin! Cracks me up!

And, much to his Daddy's delight, he seems to be turning into a lefty. I don't know when this is official, developmentally, but he picks everything up with his left hand, and more importantly to Jared, he throws everything with his left hand. Jared says he's hoping he can pitch a 93 mph fastball with that left hand, and let us retire early. We'll see...the height issue may be a problem! haha

Greyson still has the best disposition. He is such a happy baby, and he just brightens my day! I think he gets it from his Daddy. Whenever I am stressed about something (usually inconsequential), I just have to look at him and he either starts smiling, giving me the eyebrow, or he comes barrelling after me! How could you be in a bad mood after that?!

We love you Greyson, and I can't wait to celebrate you each and every year!

It's My Party...

And, I won't smile if I don't want to!

This must have been what Greyson was thinking when we had his photo session for his 1st Birthday. The little stinker would.not.smile.at.all!! Ugh!!

We met DeEdra from Photo{e}Motion in downtown Wichita Falls early in the morning to take Grey's 1st birthday photos. DeEdra takes beautiful photos, and I had this session scheduled for a while because I knew she would do a great job. I had worked SO hard to have all the props, outfits, you name it, and none of that could make my normally sweet smiling boy give us just a hint of a smile! I even "saved" the goofy sounds that crack him up so that he would still think they were funny. He normally loses it in a fit of giggles when I say "Shooey." I even bragged to DeEdra and my Mom, who was there to help, that it never failed to make him laugh. So, the moment comes, and I do it, and he stared at me like I was crazy! I got NOTHING! No response whatsoever! It has to be what a comedian feels when no one laughs at their jokes on stage!

We tried for an hour to get him to smile. We changed outfits, played with different toys, and he even got to get messy with a smash cake, and still no smiles. Of course, what does he do the minute we get out of the car at home...smiles and laughs! He laughed and smiled the rest of the day! I could pinch him! Little stinker!

Here are some of the photos. They look so good, but just imagine how much cuter they would be with a smile!

Party Hats!

Every kid needs a party hat for his birthday, and I knew that I would need a cute one for Greyson to wear for his birthday photos and party. I tried to find a cute one to buy, but they weren't that great, and they were too pricey (for one use) for me to justify the cost. So, I googled for cute ideas, and it really wasn't too difficult.

First, I had to find a pattern to follow. I ended up finding this one at Jones Design Company and it worked perfectly! I decided that the hat needed a bit more heft than one piece of cardstock would supply, so I took two sheets and used spray adhesive to stick them together. (You could probably use something like posterboard instead, but this is all I had on hand.)

Then, I printed the hat pattern on one side, and found these graphic patterns from Sprik Space to use on the other side. I used the cute aqua chevron pattern to coordinate with the red/aqua theme. Then just cut out the hat pattern along the lines.

Before you start decorating, I highly recommend that you purchase some Goop (I got mine from Hobby Lobby).


This stuff is great! It dries clear, adheres to EVERYTHING, and when you get it on your fingers, it just peels right off. I decorated the hat before I glued it into a cone. It was much easier for me to do it this way, but the directions said you could do it the other way as well.



I already had red ric rac, so I used that as a border for the bottom of the hat. I used felt circles to make a polka dot effect that would stand out more than just paper. I experimented with the felt that had a sticky backing, but I still ended up having to glue it down.


I cut pieces of ribbon and used a dot of glue between each one laid out in a criss-cross pattern.





After I glued the hat into a cone shape and let it set for an hour or two, I glued the pom to the top of the hat. I also found red cord for the chin strap. If you use cord instead of elastic make sure to measure the length on the birthday boy first. :)

My advice is to do all of this in stages so that the glue gets a chance to set before you move on to the next step. The most difficult part was getting the pom to set straight on the hat. It is a little crooked, but it was the best I could do because the ribbon made it harder to stick.

I think it turned out pretty well, and it even survived the photo shoot without getting destroyed! I promise he is happy about the hat even though he doesn't look it...more on the photos in another post.

Let the fun begin!

With Grey's big birthday coming up at the end of the month, I have been in planning mode for a while (truth: 2 months). Who loves to plan?! Me! I love to plan an event/party/trip, you name it! I'm a big planning dork, and I love to organize all the details. Need help?! Call me, I'm your girl! haha

So, while I promised Jared there would be nothing crazy like a petting zoo at the 1st birthday party (wouldn't that be fun though?!), I made no promises that I wouldn't get a little obsessed...I mean, come on, it's his 1st birthday for goodness sakes! (Get ready to hear this for each birthday to come....sorry Jared! He knew what he was getting when he married me!)

My very favorite part of planning any kind of event, regardless of what it is, is finding the perfect invitations. I LOVE an invitation, and am a firm believer that it sets the tone for the party. I began searching for invitations back in May, and couldn't find anything that I just loved. I knew that I wanted his party to be a milk and cookies theme, but everything I found was just sort of okay and didn't allow for much personalization. Then, as I was perusing one of my favorite blogs, Design Dazzle , I stumbled upon a cute project that was totally non-birthday related that led me to a new favorite blog, Life Sweet Life .

Sarah, of Life Sweet Life, had designed THE CUTEST invitations for her son's birthday party. I think she and I must be related or something because we have such similar taste (check out her projects they are amazing, and will probably be seen at our party!). I immediately emailed her for the details on how to get them, and she said that she would be happy to make them for me! I sent her the details and told her what the theme was and she put together the cutest graphic for the back as well. I just love them!!

I sent them out and added a little label for the back that I made using Grey's face, along with adding a red/white striped candle to the front. I'm pretty proud of them, and I think they are a hit!




The sticker with his face shows up on here as over pixelated, but I assure they are too cute in person!

Next project: party hats!

Happy 4th!

Happy 4th of July! We hope you and yours enjoy your fireworks!


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone