::little man::8 Months!

This past Sunday Grayson turned 8 months old. He's getting bigger and bigger every day. I just love the baby stage so much because I love watching them learn new things. Here is what G was up to this past month! (I will post pictures when I take them within the next few days)

-he is wearing anywhere from 3-9 month clothes. He is in 9 month pajamas, 3-6 month t-shirts, and 6 month onesies. 

-he is in size 4 diapers. 

-G is still eating 5 oz at a time. He is having a bottle every 3 hours or so be he also gets baby food in the morning and afternoon and he snacks on puffs alot.

-he is eating puffs by himself now and can pick them up and put them in his mouth by himself. 

-his crawling has gotten a lot faster. He is still army crawling but I have seen him get up on his hands and knees some so maybe he will start crawling that way soon.

-he can sit himself up when he is laying down and he can also pull himself up on his knees. He wants to stand up so bad. When I am sitting on the floor playing with him all he wants to do is grab onto my shirt and pull up. He loves standing and bouncing. 

-G is still loving bath time. 

-he takes 3 naps a day. an hour and a half around 8:30am and 12pm and then about an hour around 3:30pm. He goes to bed between 7and 7:15 and sleeps until about 6-6:30. I'm working on getting him to sleep till 7 but for now, this is where we are at. He has had a rough week with teething and has been getting up some during the night but he normally goes right back to sleep. When he isn't teething he sleeps all night long.

-he has two teeth but the top teeth will be here any day. His poor gums are so red and swollen.

-he is so ticklish and he will belly laugh so loud.  

-he likes to sit and look at books while I read to him.

-he is currently very attached to me. He wants mama and only mama. It's cute but also tiring.

-he can make the "B" sound

Grayson is just the sweetest little boy and we are having so much fun watching him learn new things!

::Kindergarten::

How in the world is my little baby starting Kindergarten this fall?! Emma will be 5 on August 30th. She missed the cut off day by 1 day! So, she can start Kindergarten this fall or I could technically wait until next fall and she still wouldn't really be behind. Josh and I have been thinking about her schooling (and really all of children) over the past year or so. It is a BIG decision and one that we do not take lightly. About a year and a half ago or so I brought up the topic of homeschooling. I honestly thought Josh would shoot down the idea and there wouldn't be anymore discussion about it. I was surprised when he said he thought that would be great and he was all for it. That began our serious discussions on what we wanted for our kids. It's a very personal decision for each family. And it's actually the hardest decision I've ever made in my life. Choosing how your children will be educated shapes their whole life. I went back and forth for months on whether I wanted to homeschool and also whether I thought I could actually do it and make sure that my kids would learn the things they needed to learn. I wanted to give them the best possible opportunity to succeed and do well. After many many discussions we have chosen to homeschool. I am very excited about this and Emma is also. By homeschooling I am able to teach them how they learn best and I also am responsible for things that they are learning that are not school related. Josh and I have many reasons to homeschool but I don't feel as though I need to explain them all. I do not want to come across like I don't agree with people who send their children to public school. That is definitely NOT true. Homeschool isn't for everyone. I am going to try this first year and see how it goes. I imagine it will be a year by year discussion on whether we should continue or not depending on how it goes. I am very optimistic though. I know that everyone doesn't agree with our choice and I know there are probably many people who have a much different opinion than we do. We know that there are pros and cons to homeschool and also public school. But we also believe that the pros outweigh the cons for homeschool. We really appreciate the support that we have been given and we hope that you all will continue to support us as well as our children. I am looking forward to this coming school year and also keeping you all updated on how we are doing with this new adventure!

:little boy::

BOY, (n): a noise with dirt on it

This sweet boy has blessed our family for 7 months. He has the sweetest little grin and the most loveable personality. We just adore him so much. 

All photos by: Images by Autumn

7 Months!

My sweet baby G turned 7 months old this past Friday. This month was a big month for him. He is learning to do so many things and we love watching him grow.

 Here is what G has been up to this month:

-at his 6 month check up a couple of weeks ago he weighed 18 lbs 9 oz (65th %) and he was
26 3/4 in. long (43rd %)

-he is wearing mostly 6 month clothes but is wearing 9 month shorts

-we just moved him to size 4 diapers a couple of days ago

-he is still taking 5 oz bottles and gets 6 per day. I've tried to give him more milk per bottle and cut one out but he just does better having less more often. 

-he usually gets about 4 oz of baby food a day too and about 3 oz of juice with water

-he has been eating yogurt melts for about a month now but the other day he started eating puffs.

-he likes to snack on those while we are eating dinner

-G started CRAWLING this month. He actually started about a month ago pulling himself forward a little bit. Now, he is all over the place. He is really quick and can get anywhere he wants to go. Right now he is doing an army crawl. He pulls himself forward with his left arm. I imagine he will be up on all 4's soon. 

-he also cut his first tooth last weekend. He didn't get much of a break because now the next one is trying to pop through also.

-he usually takes 2-3 naps per day, usually 1-1/2 hrs in the morning and after lunch and then a 30 minute catnap in the afternoon

-he is mostly sitting up on his own. He can sit for a while as long as he doesn't lean over too far. I've been trying to practice sitting with him but because he started crawling so early, he has decided he would rather crawl around than sit still

-he went out on the beach for the first time this month also

-he loves him little blue golf club

-his nighttime sleep has been really messed up this month because of teething. I'm hoping we will get back to those 12 hr nights soon.

-he got to go swimming for the first time and he loves it!

-G moved from his baby bath tub to the big bath tub a few nights ago. He was soaking me and the floor every night so I got him a little inflatable duck bath tub that goes in the big bath tub. Now he sits up and plays and he LOVES it!

::fam beach trip::2013

This past week was spent at Oak Island with my family. This is our 3rd year doing a family beach trip and it is so much fun. (well mostly) I love being able to have vacation with everyone and the kids love playing together on the beach. Let me start this post off by saying that in NO way am I complaining and I DO feel blessed that we are able to go to the beach and be on vacation. However, I am going to tell you like it is. I want to be able to look back on this trip and see how vacation has changed for us as the kids get older. A few days before we left Grayson had his 6 month check up and Dr. Lowe told me that he was only a few days from his bottom teeth breaking through. He has been teething for a couple of months and in the couple of weeks leading up to the beach he went from sleeping  12 hours a night  to waking up 2 or 3 times. I was hopeful that the beach trip would still go ok and that Grayson would do well. Well, it didin't exactly happen that way. Grayson did really well on the ride down there, but once we were there he just wasn't that happy. He had his times were he was ok but for the most part he was just miserable. I could tell how swollen and red his gums were and I was thinking any day that they would break through. He woke up multiple times a night every night we were there and was usually awake for the day between 5am and 6am. It was exhasting. He HATED the beach. I took a pool for him to sit in and play with toys but he just wasn't having it. He wanted to be able to crawl around. He lasted for maybe an hour and then he was done. Josh had to work a few days while we were there so I was on my own. Let me tell you, getting all 3 kids ready and carrying everything to the beach will wear you out!! Then taking care of Grayson, hauling everything back home, getting everyone cleaned up, etc. It just isn't as much fun as I thought it was going to be. Grayson just wasn't his usual happy self and I was usually the only person who could make him happy. It's hard having two little girls who wanted to play on the beach all day and then a baby who just wanted to fuss. I had envisioned beautiful beach pictures with the girls in their new dresses and Grayson in a cute little outfit but every evening he was fussy and the girls were whiney because they were so tired. One day. Grayson woke up Saturday morning with two teeth poking through! I am so relieved that he finally cut those teeth and I'm hoping the others don't give him that much trouble. We came home yesterday and Grayson slept 12 hours last night and took a two hour nap this morning. Go figure. I am so thankful to my family who were so sweet to help watch my girls on the beach and try to help with Grayson. It was definintely an exhausting trip and I'm thankful to be home. But the main thing was that the girls had a blast and Grayson came home with two new teeth!!

Emma

Emma & her sand castle making buddy Autumn

Grayson's 1st time feeling the ocean!

Grayson's 1st time at Provision's!

Katie & G

pictures!

1. bath time

2. grocery shopping with me and the girls

3. G

4. kicked back drinking his juice

5. Emma sharing some goldfish with Millie

6. practicing sitting up

7. G

8. sweet baby foot

9. all smiles

1. sticking his tounge out

2. Emma sliding

3. Ryleigh swining

4. G

5. hanging out in the kitchen while mommy cooks

6. she loves her little brother

7. sassy girl

8. apples and PB

9. Ryleigh and Papa

1. Em

2. G

3. eating some pears

4. lunch time!

5. napping in his new carseat

6. leg rolls

7. he LOVES his jumper

8 & 9 SNOWCONES!

1. got a new swing for the playset and he LOVES it

2. playing outside

3. daddy helping Ryleigh hit a ball

4. family walk

5. Katie's bridal shower that I put together

6. swimming 

7 & 8 daddy and G at a cookout

9. Grayson and his great grandmother

1. silly boy

2. Emma

3. sitting up!

4. hangin out on daddys truck

5. one of the few times he will take his paci during the day....wasn't feeling too good.

6. my princess

7. taking a little catnap

8. sidewalk chalk!

9. cruisin around