Wordless Wednesday

Surprise party

The birthday girls


Saturday night we had a big surprise 30th birthday party for our friends Kat and Jen. It was a great party and they were both truly surprised. :) The costumes made it even more fun---I was a cowgirl and Ben was God's gift to women. Lots of pictures to share!

Halloween preview...

Emma Claire looks so stinkin' cute in her goldfish costume! Grayson absolutely hates his and screams hysterically until I take it off, so I only have pictures of EC to share. I'm hoping that I can talk Grayson into keeping his on by Wednesday. We shall see! :)

Cutie pies

I swear, I could just eat them up!!!

Picture of the Day

My friend Robin forwarded this to me on email...it's too funny not to share.

Thursday Thirteen

13 random things you might not know about me...

1. I fed Emma Claire 4 times in the middle of the night last night...I'm sleepy!

2. My friends and husband say I'm bossy. They might be right. :)

3. I hate clutter. My house isn't cluttered where you can see it...but my drawers and closets are a mess.

4. I have been with Ben for TEN years next month (married for 4).

5. I'm the biggest klutz I know. I fall down at least a couple times a week.

6. My car is infested with ants right now and I can't get rid of them. It's driving me crazy!

7. I spend way too much money on my babies' clothes. Their wardrobes are much better than mine.

8. I don't have tons of shoes---I wear my Rainbows 80% of the year.

9. I'm addicted to hand lotion. I put it on at least 10 times a day.

10. I get a pedicure every other Thursday.

11. I can recite every linking verb and every preposition by heart. I'm a grammar junkie, although you wouldn't know it by the way I write.

12. I fall asleep during my prayers every night and then have to finish them either when I'm up in the middle of the night or in the shower in the morning.

13. I've never had a cup of coffee. Ever!

Wordless Wednesday

Comparison pics

Grayson at 3 months and Emma Claire at 4 months...

I can definitely see similarities, but I think EC has a darker complexion and doesn't have the same eyes that Grayson does. What do you think? :)

4 months old and deja vu

I can't believe that my baby is 4 months old already! Emma Claire had her 4 month checkup this morning and is a healthy little girl. She weighs 13 lb 10 oz and is 24 1/2 inches long. 50th percentile for weight and a little more than 50th percentile for length. She's reaching all of her milestones on time and growing like she should be, so Dr. Nicole was happy. We're going to wait until she's 6 months old to start baby food since things are going so well with nursing and she doesn't have any interest in real food yet. She did great with her shots---a few little screams but calmed right down. Mommy didn't watch so she actually stayed calm this time, too! :)

Deja vu...
Emma Claire has been diagnosed with torticollis, a condition in which the head is tilted toward one side. Grayson also had this and did 9 months of twice-weekly physical therapy until he was 12 months old, so we know what's in store for us this time. Ben and I noticed a few weeks ago that Emma Claire looked like she also had it so I wasn't surprised at all when Dr. Nicole said that she wants to refer her for therapy. It's not a big deal at all----torticollis basically means that a baby's neck muscles are short and tight on one side and long and loose on the other side. It's 100% correctable and we know this since Grayson is perfectly fine now, and PT was a really great experience for him.

In other news, poor Grayson is really sick this week. He was very fussy and refused to eat all weekend, so I took him to the doctor yesterday (twice in two days, aren't we lucky?) and it turns out that he has a virus that causes ulcers all over his mouth and tongue (OUCH!!) and on top of that he has strep throat. No wonder he hasn't wanted to eat since Thursday! He's lost a pound so I'm trying my best to get him to eat and drink, but the best he'll do is drink a little juice and Pediasure every day. Cross your fingers that my little buddy feels better soon---it's not fun having a sick, whiney 2 year old! :(

Trip to Laurens

We spent this weekend in Laurens at Ben's parents' house. Grayson was sick the whole time but had a period this morning where he felt well enough to go explore the farm for a little while. The "cool dude" loved driving the tractor with his daddy!

A fun night

Sanders, Grayson, Tyler, Charlotte, and Meg

Silvia, Emma Claire, and Charlotte

My friend Kasey and her 2 girls Meg and Charlotte came by for dinner on Thursday while they were in town for the night. Christie, Brad and the kiddos came over too, as well as our friend Silvia. Silvia doesn't have babies yet and after watching our rambunctious children run all over the place, she probably doesn't want them! :) We actually got the five oldest (Emma Claire and Gibson skipped out on the photo op) to sit still on the couch for a couple of pictures...Grayson was surrounded by girls! Lucky boy!

Thursday Thirteen

Thirteen things I love...

1. God

2. My family

3. My friends

4. Chocolate

5. Spending money

6. The beach

7. Hydrangeas

8. Girls night out

9. Sleeping in (okay, it's been a few years but I do still love this)

10. Baby bottoms

11. Flip flops

12. The internet

13. Clemson

Wordless Wednesday

Why Montessori ROCKS...

Grayson has been going to Montessori school 3 mornings a week for two months now. It's amazing the difference we see in him already. His vocabulary has EXPLODED...not sure if this is because of his age or because of school, or maybe a combination of both. He was only saying single words when he started school and he's now putting words together and saying phrases---some of our favorites are "bight dare" (right there), "night night toys", "gank gue daddy" (thank you daddy), and "yes ma'am" (I'm always working on manners with him so I'm happy when he says yes ma'am or yes sir without prompting). He says something new every day and we are constantly cracking up at what comes out of his mouth.

Grayson also has started cleaning up all by himself! If it's time to go upstairs or outside, he starts singing, "nee nup, nee nup" (clean up, clean up) and putting his toys away. LOVE THAT! :)

And finally, this morning I had my proudest Montessori mommy moment...Grayson was sitting at the table eating his breakfast and I was on the couch feeding Emma Claire. When he was finished eating, Grayson got down from his chair, took his plate and emptied the rest of his banana and waffle into the trash can, and then put his plate into the sink. I did not teach him this---Montessori school did! I bragged to his teacher when I dropped him off a little later and she was even prouder than I was. Yay, Grayson! Yay, Montessori!!

Pumpkin patch and a big crush...

We went to the pumpkin patch yesterday with the O'Neals where we had a delicious lunch, went on a hay ride, picked out pumpkins, and fed the goats and pigs. What a fun day!!

Also---Grayson officially has his first crush. Who knew that a 2 year old could have a crush? Grayson follows Tyler, who is a much older woman at the ripe old age of 4, everywhere she goes and insists on holding her hand. Our trip to the pumpkin patch was no exception...in every picture Grayson is either holding Tyler's hand or running to catch up with her so he can grab her hand. It's hilarious!

Sanders, Tyler's younger sister and Grayson's future wife (or so we thought!) doesn't seem to mind that her boyfriend has the hots for her sister....so far! :)

On a side note---to get in the Halloween spirit, I nursed Emma Claire in both a cemetery and a pumpkin patch yesterday! Ha!! Not on purpose---she was hysterical in church and I had no other option but to go outside and find a discreet place to feed her. The church is surrounded by the cemetery so I dodged tourists behind headstones and filled up Emma Claire's belly so she would quiet down and let me return in time for communion. Later at the pumpkin patch she decided it was time to eat again so I covered up with a blanket and fed her while I chased Grayson around. Talk about multi-tasking! :)

I'm blogalicious!!!

Yay---my blog got a makeover! Many thanks to Jennisa from Jennisa's Bloggie Designs for the awesome header and background. Go check her out if you're in need of a blog makeover yourself. I promise you won't be disappointed!

Playin' at the park...

We went to the park this morning with some friends and were able to enjoy our first cool morning! Grayson didn't know what to do with long sleeves and pants on---he kept pulling at his sleeves and saying, "arm, Mama!". It was perfect weather for a playdate at the park...even Emma Claire enjoyed laying on a blanket with Gibson and talking to the trees!

Trip to the Children's Museum

Yesterday, we drove up to Charleston to the Children's Museum with Meg, Nate, Christie, and her kiddos. LOTS of fun!! Grayson, Nate, Tyler, and Sanders loved it---I think the "water room" was their favorite. They had a great time splashing in the water, running around on a real shrimp boat, and grocery shopping in the cutest little grocery store that was just their size. Emma Claire and Gibson had fun watching all of the big kids and can't wait until they are old enough to join in on the action. :)

Not pictured: Gibson, who slept on his mama the whole time. :)