random iPhone pics

I am pretty good at keeping up with pictures I take on my camera. however, I usually take just as many on my iPhone...but maybe only upload them about twice a year. some of them made it on Facebook, but these are a few of my favorites from the last couple months.

funny series of grady and I... he was very curious/concerned with the reverse camera on my iPhone

my sweeties at bedtime. and my first pic with instagram!

yes, he must have his blankie pulled up to his neck each night

and lambie, as usual, on the face or next to

the little guy waiting patiently at gymnastics for stamps after class.

there was a crowd of kids begging to be first, so he politely moves the the very end to be last.

he never ceases to surprise me with his politeness and patience around other people

nap time? i don't think so!

playing as brothers. LOVE.

just c.u.t.e.

grady will nap in auntie kristin's bed with her anytime. with mom or dad? never.

 mama's boy. enjoying sunshine this weekend.

yes he is...my little man :)

and another large toy to clutter our house :-)

the tunnel...

...a purchase to justify spending $5 shipping on a $4 item (bubble blower from gymboree)... adding another $30 item to my shopping cart made the $5 shipping much easier for me to justify. however, now I have a 6 foot tunnel in my very small living room. not such a smart plan. the bubble blower itself would have actually been worth spending $9 on. either way, the boys are happy :-)

strider

grady has become a little pro on his strider lately. he got this bike at the end of the summer last year but didn't have much time to use it. now, if it's not raining and even remotely nice outside, he wants to be no where else but out on his bike (even wakes up saying "go ride bike"!?) and has gotten pretty darn good on it over the last few weeks - from wobbling and walking at the pace of a snail to speeding steadily, coasting around corners, and holding up his feet for long periods of time. i am now constantly telling him to slow down (i'm afraid he's going to crash while speeding around corners 50mph)-never thought that would happen! 

the point of the strider is for kids to learn how to balance on two wheels, gain confidence, then be able to  transfer to a regular pedal bike without the need for training wheels. they start off standing over the bike, pushing and walking with it. then walking a bit faster. then learning how to balance and slowly lifting their feet to glide little by little. after time and practice, they gain confidence. grady definitely has. so, we're thinking a big-boy bike w/o training wheels for his 3rd birthday :) i think he can do it.

notice the Lightening McQueen bell :)

cruising!

look ma! feet up!

this is hazardous, when he looks back at me...

hanging out in the wagon after our walk watching big brother zoom around

ooh....and yeah, grady is wearing an adult sized skater helmet. haha. we tried many kids bike helmets, but we just happen to make babies with large heads :) so...they didn't work out. but, we visited a bike shop in town and let grady pick out one that he liked and fit well. this one fits perfect. and because he got to pick it out and actually likes it, he has never thrown a fit wearing it! yay.

aviation day

the boys, jon, and i went to aviation day last saturday. we got to see a lot of old airplanes. we thought grady would really enjoy it, but, turns out, he is much more interested when they are actually in motion. unfortunately, we missed the air shows. i would love to go back sometime without kids though - it was pretty interesting and i could have walked around awhile longer and watched the videos. grady was, however, very impressed with the fire truck sitting on the lot among all the other airplanes. that and the school bus that chartered us from the parking lot to the event.  he screamed bloody murder getting on the bus and about half the way there. absolutely terrified. but he got over it. on the way back, he was pretty excited.

i didn't take many pics, but here's a couple of them.

"school bus" ride (shuttle) to paine field to see the airplanes

boys in front of one of my favorite planes

 

love having weekend days off to spend time as a family

grady's highlight. he doesn't look too excited, but he was :)

the infamous fire truck

looking at the panes through the fence while waiting for the bus shuttle back

after airplanes, we headed over to open gym for an hour at the little gym. grady and drew both loved it and got to wear off some more energy :) it was a fun saturday.

headaches

grady has been having short (30-60 second) periods of severe head pain over the last month. the stop-in-your-tracks-and-scream-type pain. he grabs his head and says "head hurt" or "bump head". he is acting completely normal before and after - like nothing ever happened. at first i thought it was nothing. i didn't witness the first few times, so i wasn't too concerned...and it was only happening every few days, so i didn't think much about it. however, after i witnessed it a couple times and it started getting more frequent, i became a little worried-it was scary to see. when it happened twice in one day, we decided to bring him to our pediatrician. still thinking it was probably nothing, i was interested to see what she had to say. we were told kids don't have headaches and migraines like adults do, so basically any child under 5 they have to rule out any major abnormalities...tumors, masses, lesions, bleeds, etc.

soooo....after a long week and a half of worrying, stress, doctors visits, trip to the ER, CT scan, neurology visit, and MRI...everything is NORMAL :-) it still doesn't answer the question of what is causing this, but for now, it's a HUGE relief!

grady has only had one more head pain in the last week (when we walked into the clinic for his MRI)...so they seem to be less frequent again. eyes, ears, and teeth all look good as well, so not sure exactly what is causing this. we will continue to monitor him and follow up with the neurologist in august. they said if it continues or gets more frequent again, they can put him on a medication that will help control the headaches over time. not much we can do for the pain, being it only lasts less than a minute and we have no idea when it will come. however, after talking to jon's family, there are a couple of boys on his dad's side of the family that have been worked up for headaches and it was found that they are a reaction to nitrates in certain foods (such as hotdogs). i have no idea if this is something that can be hereditary or not, but definitely something to look into.

i have learned over the last couple weeks, that this is only a minor bump in the road in the journey of mommy-hood. and i will never, ever, stop worrying about my children. if it's not one, it's the other. if it's not one thing, it's something else. but all i can do is pray each day for continued health for them.. and count my blessings on how lucky jon and i are to have two beautiful, healthy children.

...oh, and try not to be that psycho, overbearing mom sitting next to them in the doctors office or procedure room. because, when it's my children involved, i'm no longer a nurse. i'm just a mom. as much as i wanted to start sobbing while watching him go through everything, while feeling helpless i couldn't comfort him, i think i hold my composure well ;-)

about to get put to sleep for his MRI (only because he is too little to

 hold still for 30 minutes if awake).

wasn't quite sure what to think about the nice nurse anesthetist.

in recovery. they said most kids wake up from the sedation on their way to recovery, or within a few minutes after getting there. however, little did they know this was grady's normal nap time. we had to wake him up after 15-20 minutes :) 

few drew pics from last night

drew playing with a new bath toy we got him for his birthday - loves bubbles!

decided to get hyper right before bed...wouldn't lay down in his crib. 

gotta love that sweet face though. and cute wispy hair.

jami and baby hudson

met up with my friend jami and her little guy hudson in anacortes today. weather was gorgeous. 

beautiful glowing mom and 9 month baby boy

letter to my boy

dear drew,


a year has gone by...a whole year...a whole year since you were just the tiny 6lb 11oz peanut i was cuddling in my arms at the hospital. so tiny, so sweet, so precious and innocent, so new - swaddled and content. beautiful. all i could do is look at you, smile, and think of how blessed we are to have you in our lives. it all seems like just yesterday to me and i remember it like it was. but it wasn't just yesterday. yesterday you turned one... ONE! i can't believe how fast the last year has gone. it brings tears to my eyes thinking about it. you grow up more and more each day and no matter what i do, i can't slow it down. but with each day brings more joy, more smiles, more love. something new, something exciting. i love you. with more than i ever thought my heart could hold. and now, my little one-year-old, you are still so sweet, so precious, and so innocent...but not so tiny! you have grown from a little baby boy to a little man :-) i couldn't be more proud of all that you are, and all that you will become.

brand new

3 months

6months

9 months

just a few things i love about you...
i love your smile. i love your squeals and giggles. i love the bright, spunky personality that has burst out of you over the last few months. i love that, even though you don't say much, you are still very opinionated and have your own way of letting us know exactly what you want, think, or feel. you are almost always mellow and happy, but have learned how to throw a good tantrum recently, (usually when grady takes a toy away), but they end abruptly when you are picked up. i love your long, loud grunting/growling-type noise you make and the way you squeeze your hands in a fist so tightly. it's your way of expressing excitement, but it makes us all laugh. every time. i love the way you look up to your big brother already, like you are taking in everything he does (well, hopefully just the good stuff ;) i love the way you sit there quietly when grady reads books to you - listening to every single unrecognizable word, but how you won't ever let mom read to you - you flip the pages back and forth so fast like it's a game. i love your thin, fine, almost invisible blonde hair - i swear you won't need a haircut until you're five. i love the huge smile that crosses your face when i hand you lambie at night...the way you reach out your arms and pull him into your face and roll over in your crib-the same way-every time. i love your six little teeth and huge toothy smile. i love your chubbiness - legs, feet, arms, hands, tummy and oh-so-kissable cheeks - reminds me that you still are a baby, for just awhile longer. i love that no one makes you laugh like daddy. he brings out the huge belly laughs, giggles, and squeals from you. i love the way no one can calm and comfort you like mommy. i love the way you light up when you see me and wiggle your arms and legs so fast with excitement. i love that you love mommy's singing and how calm it makes you (because God knows, mommy is a horrible singer). i love the way you rest your head on my shoulder when i hold you, the nights we rock quietly in your rocking chair, and the fact that you still love cuddling. period. and i hope you alway do...because that is one thing I never want to let go.


i'll love you forever. i'll love you for always. as long as i'm living, my baby you'll be. -robert munsch


love,
mom

at one year, you:
- are 22lbs 3oz (41%) & 29 in (26%)   *grady was 24lb 5oz (72%) and 29.75 in (49%)

- have 6 teeth.

- say one word - "da-da"

- crawl all over & cruise the furniture

- walk with help & stand about 30 seconds without support
- have been working with an occupational therapist, molly (whom you love), periodically over the last 6 months and have made remarkable progress. i think you were just lazy before ;-) you do what you want, when you want.

- eat just about everything now and rarely turn something down. you try to grab off everyone's plates.  some of your favorites are cheese sticks, mac 'n cheese, mashed potatoes, and gerber peach yogurt melts.
- give high-five's, but not quite waving bye-bye yet
- gave your first big open-mouthed sloppy baby kiss to mom today!
- love being held or cuddled, and would rather be carried than work to crawl to get anywhere.
- love grady's train table. it's your absolute favorite place to be. you could stand there for hours. if we walk by his room without letting you down to play, you scream in protest.

- just wore your last size 3 diaper today - movin up to a 4!
- wear size 3 shoes

- wear size 12 (some 12-18) month clothes

- stopped nursing on mommy's birthday. i was sad. but you decided you were done, which made me happy it was you that made that decision.
- still drink 3-4 bottles/day and have been introduced to vitamin D milk this week. you don't seem to mind it so far.

- take one 3-hr or two 2-hr naps each day (usually still two-thank goodness :)
- sleep through the night (almost) always - 7pm to 7am (give or take an hour)
- still sleep in a sleep sack, but will need to give that up soon. the weather is getting warmer and your feet are trying to poke out the bottom!

- love our dog Kirby, he makes you laugh

- LOVE tv... not sure what it is about it, but you are obsessed. OBSESSED. so we have to limit that now. some of your favorite shows are little einsteins, mickey mouse clubhouse, handy manny, or the movies toy story and gnomeo and juliet. or, whatever grady wants to watch ;-) you aren't too picky.

birthday & party

drew had a fun birthday party with jon, grady, krisitin and I - mickey mouse themed. he seemed to have a lot of fun. especially with the cake smashing. auntie kristin made a couple amazing cakes - a big mickey mouse head, and a separate one for smashing. drew jumped right in - even before the candle was blown out. he must take after mommy and brother in the cake loving department :) after he had taken down a large portion, he screamed in disgust when we we finally took it away from him. 

drew got lots of nice cards and fun presents from our family (which grady opened mostly all of,  since drew wasn't too interested in that part). i guess grady gets two birthday's this year, since he seemed to think the presents were for him. 

here are some pictures from the birthday party and his birthday yesterday.

watching grady and jon outside

i set the cakes out too early - grady was horrified he had to 

wait until drew got up from his nap to have some.

a few presents and balloons. grady had the big mickey

mouse at his 1st birthday too. it was a big hit both times :)

first bites

diggin in. grady snuck in to join the fun.

drew didn't seem to mind at all :)

YUM!

grady finally got his own.

holding up two fingers, saying "one more. one more piece"!?

checking out the goods

as grady and I were opening presents for drew, 

he snuck away to play with other toys.

balloons were fun though!

needed one pic of me and drewski

birthday morning.
i expected him to be standing up in his crib with a big smile on his face like usual,
but i think i ran in there too soon and he was still waking up... oops.

balloons were now low enough to be way more fun :)

i got a little carried away with pics, but he was having so much fun.
played with many different perspectives.

Jon said the pic above looks exactly like him as a baby, so I thought I'd put it on here.
Any thoughts, Jeanie? Doug?

for some reason, one of my favorites

went to the beach/park in mukilteo in the afternoon before dinner with kristin
and the boys - met jon there after work

enjoying the beautiful weather outside after dinner

bath time before bed. i was trying to take video with my camera, but haven't got it quite figured out yet apparently, because this is the picture it took instead.