I scream, You scream...

....WE ALL SCREAM FOR ICE CREAM!!!

Grady caught Josh eating out of the ice cream container...

Move over, Dad!

Monkey see, monkey do!

mmm, mmm, good!

Picture of the Day

Susan sent this picture to me. I thought it was too funny and had to share. It was from Grady's birthday party. He HATES leaving the children's museum and pouts every time we are there and it's time to leave. He and I visit often. Just yesterday when we were there, I convinced him to leave by talking about lunch...sandwiches and apples and so on... A little bribery in the form of food usually works well on my child. ha. Well we got outside and were walking down the sidewalk to the car. I called Josh to tell him where to meet us for lunch and Grady apparently decided he wasn't hungry anymore and wasn't ready to leave, so he pulled a typical toddler moment and laid down on the sidewalk and started crying and saying repeatedly, "Children's Museum, Children's Museum!!!" (in his own pronounciation of course!)

So anyway, this picture cracked me up. It's the typical response we get EVERY time we go to the children's museum and it's time to go. HA!

"It's my party, I can cry if I want to...

You would cry to if it happened to you!"

Growing Up

Grady had his two-year appointment with his pediatrician recently. He is growing up WAY too quickly! Here are his "stats" from his appointment. Not anything surprising...he's still a BIG boy! (Remember, the "percent" is for comparing him to children who are his age...so for example, he weighs more than 82% of kids his age...ha!)

Weight: 31 lb. 4 oz. (82%)

Height: 38 inches!!!! (greater than 95%)

Head Circum.: 20 1/2 in. (greater than 95%)

This summer is already flying by! Can't believe we are almost at the "half-way" point (well, I am at my half-way point before school starts, I guess you'd say). We made the tough decision to switch Grady to a new "school" this fall. Telling Granny Gail and Aunt Amanda that Grady was going to a new school was the hardest thing EVER. They have kept him since he was about 8 weeks old and he loves them dearly....and so do we! We wanted him to be able to be in more a of school-type setting and able to be in a class with kids his own age. When an opening came available, we took it. So he has started to go to "school" 2 or 3 days a week to help him transition to the new setting before we start full-swing in August. It's been hard on the little guy to leave such a familiar environment and switch to something completely different, but he is already learning things and I am excited to see how much he really takes off over the next few months. In his class, they do not use sippy cups anymore. So we have been working hard on using a "big-boy-cup" at our house. He's doing great after just a few tries... Here's a quick video:

Sand and Water

When we went to the beach in March, everyone said it was my fault that Grady was afraid of the sand because I am such a neat freak and thus my child is becoming a neat freak because he never gets dirty. Maybe so. I am trying to change my ways. ha. Grady got a sand and water table for his birthday from my parents. I am learning not to care when sand gets all down in his shoes, under his fingernails, and tracked inside my house. In a catalog, I found this cool little bucket shaped like feet for you to sit outside on your patio by the back door for little ones to wash their feet off before coming inside. When I told Josh, he said I was being a wuss. So we didn't order it. I am learning just not to care... This is what happens when you grow up with all girls in the house and no brothers. But I am learning to be the mom of a BOY! :) Hee Hee!

Grady-man LOVES his sand table dearly! Here are a few pictures of him playing and happy to be dirty! We are making progress!

Boy's Best Friend

It seems that everyone we know...friends and family both...have dogs. And Grady loves them. But we do not have a dog. Nor do I want one at this point. Number one: Anyone who knows me well knows that I do not want an inside dog. Like them, but like them outside. Which brings us to Number Two: We do not have a fence in our backyard. Nor do we want to build one at the moment. So therefore, we do not have a pet. For now, Grady must spend time with dogs at both his grandparents' houses. AND pretend with Frank. Who's Frank, you say? Ha... Frank is his pet dog. DeeDee brought this little stuffed dachshund one day named Frank and Grady LOVES the little dog! He goes all over the place with us...to Kroger, out to eat, to Dudy Noble, on vacation. Grady likes for Frank to ride in the car with him as well. (See Frank and Grady-man below...)

I know it's just a matter of time before Grady will begin to want a real dog and will start to ask for one. Until that day comes, though...Frank sure is an easy pet to take care of and clean up after! Thanks, DeeDee!

First Boat Ride

Grady's first boat ride on the reservoir... So much fun! Thanks, Grana and Pops! We will have to do this again soon! And maybe conquer the fear of the swimming pool...

Steak and Picasso

For our anniversary on Friday, Josh took me to Shapley's for an early dinner. My last visit there was the night he proposed! We joked that it will probably be another 5 years before we go again. I hope not...it was outstanding and such a treat!

Then, much to my delight, we went to Easely Amused for "date night portraits." I've been to Easely Amused several times already and had seen this class and wanted us to go, but Josh never seemed too thrilled about that. Surprisingly, he signed us up on his own... We had a lot of fun and I thought these pictures were worth sharing...

"The reveal"

(you have to sit across from your date and you do not see each other's paintings until you are done... You are supposed to paint a Picasso-inspired portrait of your date)

Sweet Treats by Susan

Hurray!!! Susan started a blog! Click on the link I've added to my sidebar to check out her yummy creations!

Today marks...

5 years!

June 10, 2006

For Aunt Sue

Grady apparently has seen the light and decided that CAKE is YUMMY! For the past couple of months, we have gotten to sample lots of Susan's goodies as she has been baking away. She would bring over the most elaborate cakes and cupcakes and Grady would just look at them, but not eat them. For his birthday party, Susan made the CUTEST animal cupcakes.

Again, at the party, Grady wouldn't touch them. He played so hard at the museum that when he got home, he was starved. I gave him a left-over cupcake and he devoured it in three seconds. Guess that was all it took to realize that he does indeed like cake. ha. Now he will ASK me for cake.

Anyway, these pictures are for you, Susan. Thanks for making his cakes. They were beautiful! Hope these make you smile! :)

The calm before the storm...

Two Years Ago Today...

the sweetest little bundle of joy entered our lives and it has not been the same for one single moment! We are completely blessed beyond words and I thank God every day for bringing this little man into my life. My, but he has come a long way! The photo below shows how small he was the day we brought him home from the hospital. It's hard to remember holding something so small now that we lug around a huge little boy!

And today my man is TWO!

I told someone the other day that I see why people call it the "terrible twos." It's not really that they are terrible, but just curious. Much more so than the infant stages... Which makes them get into EVERYTHING, hence parents get frustrated and say they are terrible. I will remind myself of this repeatedly when I get frustrated over the next couple of years. ha. He is full of curiosity and I love that about him. Yes, it can be frustrating at times...like when you walk into his room and find that every single wipe in the baby-wipe container has been removed from the box and strewn all around the room. Or when you find that he has turned the garbage can upside down and dumped out all of the contents just to see what is in there. Or even perhaps when he tries to taste everything in sight...sponges, hair on a stuffed animal, carpet (yes, carpet), baby-wipes, soap, and so on...

But it's just a part of being two, I guess. And with all that curiosity comes lots and lots of laughs and smiles that I wouldn't trade anything for.

How sweet he is!
Happy Birthday, dear Grady!
You are a very loved little boy!

We celebrated Grady's birthday at none other than my favorite place...the MS Children's Museum. Unfortunately, I didn't get that many great pictures because he is so darn busy and all over the place. He never pauses for a good shot. But then again, every kid there was like that!

My family had a second little "family party" for him because my grandfather was unable to come to the birthday party at the museum. Plus, Jenny flew home from Idaho to be with us, so she wanted to steal a bit more time with Grady-man as well. So Aunt Sue made another cake and Grady got to blow out candles for a second time. Here's a video...

Cake

I have to brag on my sister, Susan... she has gotten into the hobby of baking and cake decorating and her stuff is just so cute! She is working on a website and when she finishes it, I will post it so you can see more, but here are just a few pictures that she has sent to me of some of the things that she has made in the last couple of months. She started as kind of a hobby, and through word of mouth at work, she's really kind of made it into a little business! She has an order or two every week! She is making Grady's birthday cupcakes and they are going to be SO cute! Can't wait!

Easter Egg cake

baby shower cake
and cupcakes for the same baby shower

a Nascar cake... ha!

graduation cake...

I think she had an order for a USM graduation cake right after she made this one. So now she needs to make a bulldog cake just because...

birthday sheet cake...Thomas the Train