Kelly in NC

Grayson-
19 months has now passed. Where does the time go? This month we moved into our new house. You have done well with the change in scenery- except for no longer sleeping late in the mornings. I’m not sure how much the time change is to blame or the fact that you sleep in a different room. All I know is that every weekend morning you are getting up at 7 am and driving me and your father CRAZY!!!! We love to sleep in on weekend mornings and you are making it very difficult. Luckily, you are incredibly cute and fun to be around when you first get up. Yes, those adorable smiles and deep belly laughs have saved you from certain death this month!
You celebrated two holidays during your 19th month of life: Halloween and Thanksgiving. For Halloween, we dressed you as a lobster. You refused to wear the hood while trick-or-treating, but people could still tell what you were dressed up as. At first you were not too sure of what to do, but after some lessons from mom and dad- you quickly figured it out. You do not talk well enought to say “trick-or-treat”. Instead you just lifted you little bucket and waited for the candy to drop. You and Jack had a great time and LOVED riding in the wagon, eating your candy!
For Thanksgiving, you went to Florida to visist all of your grandparents and other family members who live in the sunshine state. This was your 2nd trip riding on a plane and you loved watching the planes take off and land at the terminal. You’d jump up and down, bang on the glass, and shout “bane, bane”. Riding on the plane, on the other hand, was not quite as fun. Luckily I purchased enough snacks, new books, toys, and movies to keep you occupied for the entire 1.5 hour ride to Tampa and back. To be honest, you did better on the plane than I expected! Once in Florida, you visited your Uncle Joe, Aunt Amy, and their dog Ollie. You kept calling Ollie “Ozzy” the entire time which I thought was pretty funny. After Joe and Amy’s, we visited MiMi and Aunt Jennifer, where we had our first Thanksgiving dinner. Then the next day we were on to Paw-Paw and Nana’s house. We celebrated our 2nd Thanksgiving dinner at Maw-Maw’s house where you were able to meet you cousin Kyler for the very first time. Nagy and GB Pops were there too as well as a number of older second and third cousins who enjoyed meeting you! As for the dinner, you loved the turkey and sweet potatoes (as expected) but preferred the pickles over everything else! Not a typical thanksgiving side- but one you love just the same!
Next month you’ll celebrate Christmas and, lucky you, your Nagy, GB Pops, Mimi, Maw-Maw, Aunt Jennifer, and Uncle Joe are also coming up for a visit. There really are a lot of people in this world who love you! I think that we are all lucky to have you in our lives. Thank you for another 31 days of hugs, kisses, jabbering, and laughter. You have made the last 579 days of my life amazing.
I love you more and more each day!
Love- Mommy

For Thanksgiving, we made a quick trip down to Florida to visit all of our family. We left on Tuesday evening with a flight into Tampa and spent that night at Joe and Amy’s house (Tim’s brother and his wife). Grayson did well on the plane- although I must admit that I was thankful that the ride was only 1.5 hours. If it have been much longer than that, I think we would have been in trouble.

On Wednesday, my sister Jennifer drove to Tampa and picked us up. We then went to my mom’s house where we celebrated the holiday with her side of the family. On Thursday we went over to my Maw-Maw’s house for thanksgiving with my dad’s family. It was like a huge family reunion and I was able to see aunts, uncles, and cousins that I hadn’t seen in over 8 years. After celebrating at Maw-Maw’s, we then went over to my dad’s house where Grayson, Ella, and Kellynn had a ball petting the donkeys, riding the tractor, and playing with the dogs. The kids loved being on the farm and a part of me realized how much I took for granted growing up there.

We left on Friday to return home. I am now left unpacking bags and thinking about Christmas. I can’t believe how quickly this year is flying by.

Thank you to Jennifer who chauffered us around all last week, and to my family who let us stay with them. I enjoyed spending time with you all and look forward to the next time we will see you again!

Click here to see our photos from our trip to florida!

I am thankful for…
~a husband who is my best friend and so much more
~my baby boy who taught me new depths of love
~2 sisters that I love being around and who constantly keep me in check
~my mom who goes out of her way to prove her love
~my dad who tries not to judge and is always there to pick me up
~my in-laws who have made me feel like a part of their family since the first day I met them
~my best friend who moved to NC and made my world complete
~my sister-in-law and her husband who love my dog almost as much as I do and will go out of their way to help us out when we are in a bind
~my dog who loves me unconditionally
~my Maw-Maw who makes me realize that everyday is a precious gift
I have so many things to be thankful for this holiday. It seems that the older I get, the more I am able to see all the blessings in my life. I feel so lucky for my family and friends. I am thankful for my health and that those around me are also well.

Just wanted to throw out there they my younger sister, Jennifer has started her own blog. Check it out and leave a comment letting her know I sent you that way. We all know how rewarding it is to know that people are reading what you write!

One whole week since we moved into the house…and still we are in caos! In just the past two days, I have gone to Target 3 times and have spent well over $500. And that doesn’t include my on-line target purchases. I’m not complaining though. I am really enjoying the process of decorating my new house. From drapes to bathroom fixtures, choosing all the details have been a fun process.
Grayson has adapted well to the new house. He loves running in circles around the kitchen island and has spent a considerable amount of time checking out the new door stops (they are different than the kind we had at the old house). Ozzy on the other hand is still trying to adjust to the change of pace. Tim and I had alot of discussions (heated arguments) about allowing Ozzy into our new house. I guess we compromsied. Ozzy stays outside or in the garage most of the day and comes in the house once it is dark. He is restricted to certain parts of the house and sleeps in the laundry room (instead of in our master bed room). At first the dog pouted and moped around. But within the last few days, I think that he has finally gotten accustomed to his new life. He goes swimming in the pond everyday and seems to enjoy sunning himself in the grass. Of course, he looks forward to when he can come inside and to be honest, I think that he likes having his own “room”.

The boxes seem to never end. I swear that I have been unpacking since all of our friends and family (10 of them!) helped deliver our things on Saturday. All of the really important things are here, but there are still a few things left at the other house. Our goal is to have the remaining things moved by Sunday. So yes, we are officially moved into the new house. I wake up every morning pinching myself, finding it hard to believe that this house is really mine. It is everything that I dreamed about and more. I promise to post more photos sometime soon. Right now we are just way too busy. I am sure Tim is going to walk in here at any moment and yell about me “blogging”. Just wanted to let you all know that everything is going well and that I promise to be back to my old blogging self in a few weeks!

And no, I do not mean Mono…that was last month! Instead I am talking about this adorable lobster:

To celebrate the holiday, we went to Marc and Kate’s house for trick-or-treating. They have the perfect neighborhood for candy gathering. Lots of nice houses and nice neighbors. We only made it to about 7 houses before we were exhausted. Grayson and his cousin Jack had a great time and by the end they were really getting into the candy gathering.. Grayson appreciated the twizzlers the most! Funny thing about the costume…when I bought it a month ago, Grayson enjoyed wearing it. Then last night he decided he hated it and refused to wear the hood (which is the cutest part of the costume). I tricked him into a few photos this evening by giving him pieces of twizzlers. I told you he loved that candy!