Getting ready for the roadtrip...

So, why am I on here posting a new blog entry when I should be packing feverishly to make sure everyone has all that they need for our road trip to see Jon's parents? Call it procrastination...it's my weakness! I figured I hadn't posted an entry in a while, so why not now? The days since my last entry have proved to be pretty uneventful, which is a good thing these days. We're looking forward to going down to the ranch in Kerrville and hanging out with Jon's family, eating a lot of food, and watching some UT football. I'm sure there will be more to report once we get back. Road trips always make for some interesting incidents when you travel with a two-year old.

One funny thing that Grayson has been doing lately is staying up waaaaaaaay past his bedtime after it's supposed to be lights out. We really have no idea what time he actually goes to sleep. We'll go up and check on him before we go to bed and his little lamp on his nightstand will be on and his books scaterred around him in the bed. I guess we should go and check on him like 10 minutes after putting him to bed to make sure we enforce lights out? He started doing the same thing at naptime today, too, so he's really not getting the sleep he should be getting. Who knew that 2-year olds could be so sneaky?

Happy Turkey Day to everyone! More posts to come...

The Dilemma

Lately, Grayson has been pushing and "beating up" on Conley a little more than usual. Most of the time, I don't actually catch him in the act; he always seems to wait until I have my backed turned before he initiates contact. But for the times when I do catch him in action, he gets put in time out as a consequence. For all of the other times, the scenario ususally goes something like this - Conley starts screaming, I run over to see what happened, I question Grayson, and with some prodding he will ususally tell me that he either hit Conley, took a toy away from Conley, or that he pushed Conley. Now here's the dilemma...he knows that he gets put in timeout for doing those things to Conley. But, when I ask him and he tells me the truth about what he did, do I still put him in time out? We want to encourage him to tell us the truth, but soon he will start to figure out that when he tells us what he did to Conley, he gets in trouble. Ahhh, so there's the rub! I feel he should be in timeout still, since he knows that those things are not allowed, but I hate the thought of the timeout discouraging his telling of the truth. What would you do?

Diarrhea

Well, this fabulous word seems to be the latest favorite of Grayson's since "Uncle" Scotty sang him a few verses of the Diarrhea song. Jon and I were sitting at the dinner table finishing our meal when our attention turned to Grayson. He was playing with his cars on our big ottoman and saying, "Diarrhea, , FORWARD!....Diarrhea, , BACKWARD!" It's funny, but we need to come up with a new favorite word, and fast! He just randomly blurts out "diarrhea" around the house and when we're out and about, which is just a little embarrasing.

The Rock Star and His Future Wife

Our friend, Natalie took some pics on Halloween during our post trick-or-treating stop over at their house. Her little girl, Claire, is just as cute as a button...she's so cute I can't even stand it. Claire calls Grayson her "boyfriend", so Natalie and I have decided that they are going to marry each other when they get older.

Grayson gets down with Cole's guitar and cowboy hat - a rock star in the making?











Grayson gives Claire a hug











Grayson's just chillin' with his girl and his juice











Claire plants a big one on Grayson...picture this 20 years later with a beer instead of juice!

Once Bitten

When I went to pick Grayson up from school today, Miss Tonya, one of Grayson's teachers, whispered to me that she needed to speak with me. We went inside the classroom while Grayson was getting his diaper changed and Miss Tonya proceeded to tell me that Grayson was bitten by one of his classmates today. She said that it wasn't serious, or they would have called me, but that they had to file an "incident" report. Per the school's policy, Miss Tonya wasn't able to tell me who bit Grayson, but she told me that if Iasked Grayson, he would tell me who did it. Surprisingly, I wasn't too worried about it. Is that weird? I know some moms that would be like a pit bull unleashed if that had happened to their kid. I felt that one, it wasn't serious, and two, these kids are little and still learning and it's bound to happen. It is unfortunate that it happened to Grayson....my sweet little boy is more sensitive than most and from my last post, you know that he cries about almost everything these days. So after my discussion with Miss Tonya, we left and were walking out to the car and Ranger and his mom came up to us. She told me that Ranger had just told her that he had bit Grayson...the same Ranger whose birthday party we just went to yesterday. She was very apologetic and explained that Ranger was going through some sort of phase right now with the biting. Apparently he's bitten his baby sister twice already. I told her not to worry about it and that Grayson was fine. But, you can bet that if he continues to bite and bites only Grayson and not anyone else, the pit bull momma will be coming out!!

The Birthday Party Eruptions

Today we went to a birthday party for one of Grayson's classmates at school, Ranger. The birthday party was held at The Zone in McKinney, which Grayson loves because of the big bounce houses there. All was great and Grayson was having a great time up until it was time to eat and have cake. Pizza was served and Grayson took one bite and immediately started to cry. This is what he does when something is too hot....however, Grayson's idea of too hot and our idea of too hot is not the same. Something can be barely lukewarm and he thinks it's too hot. So this cry is not just a little whimper cry, it's an all-out screaming cry and everyone is looking at us like "what is going on with them?" So I finally calm him down, he eats some pizza, and then the cupcakes come out. Grayson devours his cupcake (or should I say, the icing) with the voracity of a starving hyena and then proceeds to tell me that he wants another one. As I try to explain to him that everyone only gets one cupcake, eruption #2 comes. Like seriously, the way he was crying, you would have thought I was beating this kid or something! Keep in mind that this whole time, Conley is strapped to the front of my body in the Baby Bjorn...fun times! So I finally calm Grayson down again and then Ranger starts to open his gifts. Well, Grayson wants to open a present, too! Of course! Why wouldn't he? BUT, as I explain to him that those are Ranger's presents because it's his birthday, the screaming begins again. Really, you ask? YES - really! By this time, I was done. I took Grayson out in the hallway and sat him down on the ground againt the wall. I told him that he could stop crying and go back inside and play, or we could go home. He continued to cry for a few minutes and then said he wanted to go play. So we went back inside and he played for a few more minutes. During this time, Conley was getting increasingly agitated and tired, so now he was starting to freak out on me. This was our queue to leave. I bet you can't guess what happened when I told Grayson it was time for us to go? HA! The worst part is, these crying fits are happening with increasing frequency these days and it's really irritating. Like, is Grayson going to be that kid at school that gets picked on because he's a little cry-baby? Seriously, this kid will start screaming over the tiniest little thing and sometimes this goes on ALLLLLL day long. By the time Jon gets home, I am just done. So after a parental discussion, our new game plan is to not acknowledge or give him attention when he does this, unless he's injured, of course, or something serious has happened. To be continued...

Six Years and Counting...

Today is our six year anniversary! And we've been together for ten! It seems to have gone by in a blink. We had a huge weekend planned...the kids went to Mimi and Grandpa's house, we got a hotel room and had plans for a nice dinner. Well, our romantic weekend was quickly derailed by a nice stomach bug that I seem to have caught. Ugh. Really? The ONE weekend when we don't have the kids and we spend a lot of money on a nice hotel? Grrrr! I did manage to make it through dinner by popping a ton of Pepto. We ended up going back to our room and watching UT lose the big game in the last seconds while I willed my stomach to make itself better. A big downer all the way around. At least we got to sleep in, I guess. Better luck next year.

Halloween, Hunters Creek Style

Another Halloween has officially come and gone...this year was particularly fun since Grayson understood dressing up and saying "trick or treat" to get candy (instead of putting back into other people's candy bowls). I have to say, our neighborhood does it up right. Not only were there sweet treats for the kids, but at various stations throughout our side of the neighborhood, neighbors doled out some good "adult" treats as well (read beer and margaritas). I think at one point, I was double-fisting a beer and margarita while pushing the stroller - is that bad? *LOL* Good thing my parents were with us. Dad carried Conley around most of the night...they were both troopers. Poor Conley was basically in a sweatsuit given our un-Halloweenlike temperatures lately. I think Conley was already starting to de-robe as we hit the corner to turn up the street. Grayson had fun meeting up with his friends along the way...they were quite the bunch. It's so fun to see him and his friends get so excited to see each.

Grayson and Jon head out

Conley and Grandpa hanging out together

Grayson gets a hug from his cutie-patootie "girlfriend", Princess Claire.

Cole, Grayson, and Thatcher

Erin, Natalie, and I pose for the cameras with our "adult" treats

Grayson's Pants

Something funny happened to Grayson today and I could not stop laughing. It was so funny and so stinking cute! I went to pick him up from school today and before leaving, we walked over to talk to our friend, Erin, who teaches there (her little boy is Grayson's buddy, Thatcher). As I was talking to Erin, I noticed that Grayson's pants seemed to be a little looser than usual, but went on with my conversation. When we finally left the building and were walking out in the parking lot, I turned to check on Grayson, as he ususally lags behind, and found him standing there with his pants around his ankles! This boy needs to get some meat on his bones - ha!

Perhala-ween 2008

Jon and I went to our neighbor's annual Halloween party last night. It was fun as usual, but this is the first year that kids were not allowed to attend. I guess the guest list has gotten so big that it would be not as fun for those adults without kids to have to deal with the running around and the loudness that ususally accompanies. But I have to say, it was nice to be there without the kiddos for a change...Mommy got to drink some "happy juice" (maybe a little too much, since I was feeling the effects the next day) and have conversations without interruption. Very nice.











Our gracious hosts, the Perhalas - can you guess who they are dressed up as? Hmmmm....









Some of the guys...









And the girls

Gag me with a spoon, why don't you?!

My sweet little Conley has started having an adverse reaction to everything I try to feed him with the exception of anything that is fruity and sweet. We're trying to work our way through the Stage 2 foods, and slowly but surely his reaction to the new foods has progressed to the point of him gagging whenever I put a spoonful in his mouth. And I'm not talking about just a one little gag, but full-on gagging with coughing, heaving, and teary eyes. Today, he made himself throw up all of the formula he had just taken in, which ended up all in his lap - gross! Just this week at Conley's checkup, Dr. Nail was saying, "don't back yourself into a corner with the foods to where he'll only eat one thing". And whaddya know? So, I've now become the "Fruit Nazi "and we're going back to veggies and non-fruit mixes, one tiny bite at a time. He did eat some turkey and rice yesterday, so that's a good start, but man! You should see this kid gag himself - it's amazing! *LOL*

Also this week, Conley has started to really pull himself up on everything, including the side of his crib. Now when he wakes up in the morning, he grabs on to the crib and hikes himself up and then starts to cry when he's been there for a while and can't figure out how to get himself back down. Gone are the days when he would just lay on his back or tummy and hang out in his crib. Last night, about 15 minutes after I had put him to bed, we heard him crying on the monitor and I went up to check on him. I couldn't see because my eyes hadn't adjusted to the dark yet and I didn't want to turn on the lights, so I was feeling around the crib for Conley and found him sitting straight up! It was too funny...he was upset because he couldn't figure out how to lay back down again.

Conley's 9 Months and Grayson's a Klepto

Conley had his 9 month checkup yesterday. All's well...he's a healthy baby boy. He's now 27.8" long (50th %) and 16 lb 10 oz (3-5%). His weight is now tracking on the lower curve, but he is gaining, so Dr. Nail wasn't worried at all. Of course, the entire time we were in the office with Dr. Nail Conley was squirming non-stop. Dr Nail's response was, "that's why he's so little...he's burning off everything you put in his belly", and duly noted that I am going to have "my hands full" with him. No doubt! I am trying to prepare myself.

Later in the day, we had to stop in at Kroger to pick up a few grocery items. Since we weren't going to be there long, I decided it might be fun for Grayson to push one of the little kid buggies. I soon reconsidered the wiseness of my choice. At first, he did pretty well. But as we continued through the store, random items started to appear in the cart, so I would have to back track to return the items to their proper place. Then Grayson thought it would be fun to "race" with the cart and was running full speed up and down the aisles with the buggy, not really caring if he ran into something along the way, including the back of my legs, or worse, my Achilles. Ahhhh! I was a nervous wreck! He did actually run into the back of this big guy. I had to apologize profusely. I think it will be a while before we try the little kid buggy again. On top of all that, while unloading the groceries back at home, I found a chapstick package that "found it's way" into our stuff. Grayson must have put it in the buggy when I was grabbing some cough drops. I checked our receipt and we weren't charged for it...how it got past the checker I have no idea. Geez...meet my son, the kleptomaniac!

The Alley Rally

Today we had our 2nd Annual Alley Rally. What is an Alley Rally, you ask? Well, all of our neighbors that live along the alley way (our particular alley forms a "Y" shape so that there's a large area in the middle) converge upon on the Ruster's driveway where we set up the grill, the chairs, the coolers, and all of the stuff for the kiddos. They run around and play with one another in the alley (really safe, right?) while the adults hang out, have some adult beverages, scarf down some food, and try to engage in adult conversations, all while keeping a wary eye on what the kids are doing and playing referee, if necessary. The kids had a great time and played really well with each other for the most part. There were a few spills that resulted in scraped knees, and a few tears over a particular toy, but all in all it was good.

Our neighbor Tiffaney brought out the new addition to their family, Boudreaux the hairless cat. The kids got a kick out of him.









Yesterday we took the boys to get their portraits taken. They turned out really well. I took a couple of snapshots with my camera during the session. Conley's going to really hate that I put him in this costume when he's older.

Guess who's gettin' some teeth!

Well, finally! Conley's has his two little bottom teeth starting to poke through!

Gross!

OK. so Grayson loves it when Jon puts him up on his shoulders and spins him around. So last night after dinner, Jon bribed Grayson to go up stairs and take a bath with the promise of a spin session once he got upstairs. Bad idea...Grayson ended up blowing chunks afterwards! At first he just coughed really hard and I noticed that he had liquid coming out of his nose. So we took him to the bathroom to clean him up and thank goodness we made it in time because he just let it go all over the counters, the mirror, the floor...you name it, it was covered. Thanks, honey, for giving me just one more big mess to clean up at the end of my day!

Oh, the drama!

So Thursday afternoon while in SuperTarget, we had our first all-out tantrum over a toy that I was not going to buy for him. You would have thought this kid was being tortured by the intensity and the decibel level of the crying and screaming. I normally let him look at the cars in the toy section, but that day, I gave him the heads up that we would NOT be buying any more cars until he earned all of the ones I already bought for him as his reward for going pee and poop on the potty (which he has put a cease and desist order on lately - ugh). All was going well until he grabbed a package containing "Cars" movie replicas of all the characters in one package (nevermind the fact that he already has all of them but one). He pulled the package into the cart with him and I decided that he could look at it until it was time to go and then he would have to put it back - BIG mistake. So the whole time we're walking through the store, he's saying "I don't wanna put it back", over and over and over again. You would have thought this kid was Rain Man or something. I tried to just ignore it, but after about 10 minutes of this, I finally told him that yes, we had to put it back and that we were not buying any more cars right now. Screaming and lots of tears followed...people would either look at me with disgust, empathy, or pity, depending on whether or not they were childless, had kids, or were grandparents, respectively. So, lesson learned...if you're not going to buy a toy, don't tempt fate by going to "look" at them.

Yesterday, we went to The Big Orange Pumpkin Farm in Celina and met up with all of our neighborhood friends. The weather was awesome and the kids all had a great time. They got to feed some cows and goats, go on a hayride, pick out some pumpkins, and run around all over the place. Conley was quite the trooper, especially since he did not have his usual morning nap.


















Today we went to see Tammy, Tom, and Emily and we watched the TX-OU game together. It was such a great game and our Horns pulled out the win. Hook 'em! Grayson and Emily had a fun time playing with each other.

It's Not Bad

Well, Grayson had his first official mommy-given haircut today (not counting the baby hair trims). I decided to try to cut it myself since taking him somewhere to get it cut is such a total nightmare everytime we go. Grayson saw me trimming Jon's hair with the clippers one day, so I asked him if it would be okay for mommy to cut his hair and he nodded yes. Apparently, Mommy with clippers is not as scary as the stylists with clippers. So, with Mimi and Grandpa here for support, I proceeded to trim his entire head with a #8 guard. Note to self - do not use a guard on the top of his head because even the #8 makes it too short! At least it will grow out fairly quickly. And Grayson was a champ through the entire thing! So proud of him. After we were done, I asked him how it was and he replied, "It's not bad."

Grayson's new haircut

Conley's finally starting to be able to sit up on his own. Today was the first time he sat up on his own for about a minute or so before toppling over onto his side.

Grayson and Mimi raced lawnmowers today

It's Official!

Well, today is a great day (although you might have to ask me again at the end of the day, after I've been with the boys all day - ha)! Today makes it official...as of this morning for my weekly Weight Watchers weigh-in, I have lost 30 lbs and am now down to 115 lbs! I truly didn't think it was possible after having two babies, but Weight Watchers works! It probably helps that I am at the gym at least 4 times a week, too, but I am SO excited to be my old self again! WOOOOOO-HOOOOOO!

Conley's New Ride

Today we bought Conley a new mode of transportation to get himself around the house...I know the pediatricians hate these things, but when Grayson was Conley's age, he thought his walker was the bomb, so I figured Conley would probably get a kick out of it as well (it also keeps him from becoming the human swiffer as he creeps along the floor). And, I was right! Conley seemed to be digging his new ride.

Grayson had his own fun pushing Conley (a little too fast for my comfort) back and forth through the house.

We went to the park today for some afternoon fun. Conley's first ride in the baby swing seemed to go over well. I took some pics. The sunlight shining behind him lights up his baby afro as though it were a halo...awwww, what a sweet little angel (for now)!

On the flipside, Grayson's ride in the big boy swing did not go as well...he asked me to push him higher, I told him to hang on tight, and the next thing you know, "THUMP!" Grayson fell backwards out of the swing...good thing he really wasn't going that high! I think it scared him more than anything. You think he would learn...this was the second time it has happened to him

Grayson has become quite the negotiator with the whole potty training business. Before we left the house this morning, I asked him if he would like to try to poop on the potty. He responded by saying, "I want a car". I told him that if he pooped on the potty I would give him the car right then and there. And you know, this kid can poop on command when there's a new toy to be had!

Grayson and Conley have a snack together

Brunch with the Diehls

Well, the third time really is a charm! It's only taken us that many tries to get together with Troy and Dina since they moved into their new house here in Frisco (see background story below). Either we were sick or they were on call or in surgery; but today, the planets aligned and we went to visit them at their new, (ginormous) beautiful home. They cooked up a mean brunch for us and we provided the mimosas - yum! The boys were great and Grayson got a big kick out of Troy and Dina's dog, Dylan. He's a puggle (a pug-beagle mix).

Dylan the Puggle

Troy and Dina with the Conley
So, Troy is Jon's friend from way back. They met when they were both attending the University of Salamanca in Spain and apparently, they had some crazy times together. Troy is an orthopedic surgeon, who until just recently, was working for the Cincinnati Bengals. He and his partner were wooed by Centennial Medical Center in Frisco to build their practice here (insert shameless plug - Performance Orthopaedics & Sports Medicine for all of your orthopaedic and sports injury needs). Out of all of the places in the world he could have ended up in - small world! We're so glad to have you guys in the neighborhood. And congratulations on the little bun in the oven!

Sneaky Little Stinker!

Man, oh man! That Grayson is one sneaky little boy! And he's a little too smart for his own good, if you ask me. We just went to Target the other day to get a new package of toy cars for him to be used a rewards for when he goes potty. Well, there's no such thing as delayed gratification in Grayson's world. He cannot wait and he wants what he wants, right now! So, this morning, I left Grayson in the living room to watch his show while I went and got dressed to go to the gym. I was gone maybe three minutes. When I walked back into the kitchen area, Grayson was nowhere to be found and all was eerily quiet, which is never a good sign (queue suspenseful music). I looked up on the counter where I had placed the package of toy cars, and whaddya know? They're not there! I called for Grayson...no answer. I walked into the play room and found him crouched down in his play house with the door shut and all of the cars out of the package! What a little stinker! These kinds of things have been happening with more frequency lately. And he's not very subtle about when he's trying to get into something, either. Later in the day, I was getting dressed in the bathroom and Grayson came to see what I was doing. Once he decided that I was busy enough, he left the bathroom, shutting the door behind him, and then he shut the bedroom door, too! This time he was trying to get into his chocolate treats (also rewards for going potty). I had no idea kids coud be this sneaky as such a young age!

Poopin' On The Potty!

Wooo-hooo! Grayson went poop on the potty again today! This is the second time. The first time was a week ago. The incentive was a new toy truck. I told him that if he went poop on the potty before we left for the mall, I would give him the truck, and VOILA! Poop!

And here's a funny story from the other day.... I was putting Grayson to bed earlier this week, and I was wearing a little cami tank top. I guess I was "expanded" at that point in time, since I am only nursing two times a day right now, and so my chest was hanging out of the top a little as I was laying on my side reading to Grayson. Grayson points at "one of them" and says, "what's that Mommy?" So I was thinking that maybe he was talking about a mole or something on my chest, so I asked him again what he was talking about. Well, he pointed straight at the boob and said, "what's that?" I just started laughing and Grayson joined in. Once I calmed down, I explained to him that what he was pointing at is "Mommy's chest". Grayson's response was, "Ooooohhhh". I was cracking up!

Our first post!

Well, it's our first blog entry - finally! Nothing too exciting or out of the ordinary today. Grayson shared his pancakes with little Morgan during our play date today. Very cute! He's just now starting to share things with his friends and understanding that it makes them happy when he shares.

Both boys are doing great and growing up before our eyes. Conley's 8 months old now. We had to start supplementing because he wasn't gaining enough weight. It makes me a little sad that we're done with the nursing already, but I am glad we at least made it this long. I guess I will feel liberated once we're completely done. No more expanding and shrinking every day. And yea for the return of wine and margaritas! Conley's baby afro is starting to lay down now that his hair is getting longer. It still sticks up, but just not as much.

Grayson recently got some new Skechers shoes. They are his favorite. He says "Mommy, I want to wear my 'Skoochers'". It's so funny! Grayson has also had a recent breakthrough in the potty training department. He's not consistent yet, but he's doing great! Although, I guess it helps that we provide incentives (read "toys"). This potty training business is getting expensive! But I guess diapers are expensive, too. So we're just trading one expense for another.

Another big event that happened recently was Grayson's first visit to the dentist. Our friend, Erica, kept Conley for me so that I could dedicate my full attention to Grayson, since the experience from this first visit could dictate how well (or not so well) future visits go. I was worried, but there was no need. He did awesome! I was so proud of him! Of course, it helps that this dentist is a pediatric dentist and the entire office is outfitted for entertainment and distraction of the kids. The waiting area is a play haven, and once inside the office, there are TV screens on the ceiling, fun murals on the wall, and more.

They put "Cars" on for Grayson, and I think at that point he was sold! All of the

hygienists and "Dr. CC" were awesome with him.