Snowy Season!!

This year we have been blessed with lots and lots of snow! For most big kids this has provided a lot of opportunities to be outside sledding, building snowmen and playing. For little kiddos, like Sayer, it has been too bitterly cold on most snow days to venture outside.

However, a couple of weeks ago he had an opportunity to go outside and do a bit of playing, sledding, exploring and laughing with mommy and daddy. So, we bundled up good and tight and put on our snow boots and headed outdoors to play!

At first he wasn't quite sure to do with all of the snow...

but after a little coaxing from mommy, he joined me to play in the piles of snow...

and he LOVED it!


The only sled that we had was from last year. Yes, it was a bit too small for Sayer, but he had fun nonetheless. Going up and down and up and down the hill with Daddy!

Daddy was worn slick by the end of it all, but it was worth hearing Sayer's laughter and seeing that priceless smile across his face! Oh the days of winter... what fun!

We have a crawler...

It's official... Greyson is crawling!!

He has been on the move with one or two steps at a time over the past week, but tonight he officially on the move! He crawled across the room to his bottle and also crawled across the room to a rubber block. Daddy, Sayer and I were there to witness the event.

And, from what I've learned Mimi, Aunt Karen and Aunt KiKi were there earlier today to witness it for the very first time! One thing I am so thankful for is that my mom doesn't tell me when she has witnessed something before me. She let's me tell her and then she tells me that she saw it! It was that way with Sayer and now with Greyson.

Hopefully I will post video footage of him crawling over the next day or so!

Way to go buddy!!

Pee Pee on the Potty

Sayer surprises me everyday with how quickly he catches on to things. He has been wearing pull-ups for well over a month now and has experimented with wearing big boy underwear for short periods of time on the weekends. We have been working, although not super hard, at going pee pee on the potty.

It started out with me asking him on occasion if he wanted to sit on the potty to go pee pee. It started morphing into him telling me that he had to go pee pee on the potty and now it is an everyday event that he goes by himself on the potty. Many times, I have been feeding Greyson and all of a sudden I hear the potty sing and watch Sayer run out of the bathroom saying "Mommy, I pee pee on the potty" "Coclate"! (we bribe him daily with Hershey kisses)

He is not completely potty trained at this point, but he is making great progress. I have daycare to thank for helping me reinforce the idea of going pee pee on the potty.

I hope, within the next few months, that Sayer will be completely potty trained. But, I have refused to put pressure on either of us. When it happens, it will happen. All in due time!

Good job buddy!! We are very proud of you!

Milestones...

are coming weekly with Greyson. So many steps to becoming a big boy.

Last week his first tooth broke through the skin.

This week he went from rolling to sitting on his own.

Such little steps for a baby, but such giant accomplishments for a Mommy and Daddy. I forgot how exciting it was to watch your child hit each milestone!

Looking so forward to the next steps Baby Grey!!

7 Months... what a big boy!!

Seven months Greyson Jon...

Already you are starting to drink out of a sippy cup and you have your first tooth just about ready to break through. You are growing like crazy and eating, eating, eating all of the time and you look just like a baby bird when you eat... mouth wide open!

You have found your hands and discovered that you can clap! The look on your face is priceless each time those hands connect and make a sound. You have also found your voice and you talk to Mommy and Daddy all of the time. I am fairly certain that your first real word will be DaDa because you babble it already.

You are on the verge of crawling, so I don't think that it will be long before you are freely moving all over the place!

We love you little buddy!!

Christmas Day 2010

When I think of Christmas morning so many memories come flooding back to my mind...

Jason and I would wake up super early on Christmas morning and whichever one of us woke up first would sneak into the other's room and get them up and together we would tip toe into the living room so we could get a peak at what Santa had left us the night before. Once we gave it a good look, we would go wake up mom and dad so they could share in our excitement. Presents would always be stacked very deep around the Christmas tree and they would grow half way out into the room.

Christmas morning, for the past 34 years of my life, have always been spent at my parents house gathered around their Christmas tree. Two years ago when Sayer was born, one week before Christmas, we celebrated Christmas morning here at our house and this year was the second time for that to happen. With Santa visiting our house we thought that it would be easier for my parents to come over here to open gifts. They were able to come over before Sayer got up so they were able to watch him walk down the stairs, his eyes full of wonder and excitement as he looked at all of the presents that Santa had left for both he and Greyson. I LOVE the look on his face and his response when I asked him if Santa came to visit. I will never forget this first Christmas where he "got it". I know that every year will only get better!!

Sayer and Greyson were both very good boys this year. Here are some snapshots from Christmas morning 2010.

WOW - check out the Radio Flyer Big Wheel from Uncle Jason and Aunt Heidi. Sayer loved it!! He was fascinated with the long flag that was on the back. His legs weren't quite long enough to reach the pedals, but he didn't care. It will be perfect come this summer.

And, the drum set from Santa was a hit!

Greyson watching Sayer play his drums. Next year will be a different story when Greyson will be right in the middle of everything along with his brother.

Sayer giving his cousin Remi the chew toy!

Merry Christmas everyone!

Christmas Eve at Aunt Karen's

Christmas Eve at Aunt Karen's... year 3 of a fairly new tradition!

We started the afternoon by meeting at the cemetery to gather around grandma and grandpa's grave to read our poem, say a prayer and pay our respects. Even though this has been a tradition that started the year grandma died, it is not something that gets any easier as the years go by. In fact, for me, it is more emotional now that I have my own children. I so wish that my grandparents were still here to be able to share in the lives of their great-grandchildren. I know that Sayer and Greyson would bring such joy to their lives.

After we left the cemetery we headed to Aunt Karen's festive house to enjoy each other's company. This year was special in many ways, but one thing that made it extra special was that Jason and Heidi (newly engaged the first of December) were able to be with us.

Always more presents than we know what to do with. Aunt Karen and mom LOVE Christmas and they LOVE giving. They have always made Christmas extra special for each of us "kids" and now my kids get to share in the giving/receiving! We are all so blessed that we are able to give so abundantly.

Aunt Heidi, Uncle Jason and Greyson. (Poor Grey was starting to get sick Christmas Eve. You can certainly see it in his eyes in this picture.)

WOW - how things have changed in one short year. Last Christmas Eve Sayer was the one and only child. This year he was joined by cousin Janika and Greyson. Kids make the holidays so much better! Sayer and Janika playing with toys BEFORE opening their presents.

The family gathering for Christmas Eve dinner. We always have the "traditional" meal... turkey, ham, potatoes, stuffing, green beans, hot rolls, sweet potatoes and spinach salad. YUM! Thank you mom and Aunt Karen for always working so hard to prepare such a wonderful meal for all of us. I promise to take over one of these days!

YaYa and Janika playing BEFORE presents.

Sayer opening his first present of this evening. He was very into opening gifts this year. Last year it was all about the paper and tissue paper. This year it was all about the gift that was inside. Sayer had twice the presents to open this year because he opened all of Greyson's gifts too. Next year might be a different story...

Justin and Janika.
KUDOS to Jason for bringing the "gift" of the night!! He had presents for mom, Aunt Karen, Justin and I that he said were from Grandpa and Grandma. As mom and Aunt Karen opened their gifts, their facial expressions said it all as they realized what the gift was.

Jason had taken a photo of my grandparents farm from the corner of their grave site. The cemetery that they are buried in overlooks their farm. The picture turned out AMAZING. This picture certainly doesn't do it justice. What an awesome gift Jason. Thank you!

Sayer licking the icing off of a Christmas cookie that Farrah made. What a perfect way to end a perfect night!!