All Smiles in Colorado

Just in time for his first trip to Colorado, Grayson's once elusive smile was no more. In an effort to melt his grandparents' and aunt's hearts, Grayson put on his happy face. It was quite successful.

Grayson's first airplane trip went really, and we all thoroughly enjoyed the trip to Colorado. It was so nice to be able to spend time outside with everyone and escape the 105 degree heat we've come to expect every day this summer. He even took his first bath outside, and no, we didn't use the hose.

My parents and sister could not get enough of the little guy. Good thing because they were nice enough to let us go up to the mountains for the weekend and take care of him. They spoiled him rotten and he loved every minute of it. It was a great trip to Colorado, and just the first of many.

Looks at those dimples!

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Fun Times in July

July was certainly an exciting month! We kicked it off with a trip to Houston to celebrate the fourth. Grayson took his first swim and did really well. He was a bit confused at first and held a straight face for most of the time, but by the end he started splashing around and may have even cracked a smile. In mid-July my brother, sister-in-law and niece came in town from Boston as well as Grammy and PawPaw from Houston and cousin Carrie from Indiana. Whoa...I don't think our house had ever seen that kind of action. Sylvia, Grayson's cousin, provided us with some valuable insight into the next year and a half. She is 20 months old and is a mover and a shaker. However hard it seems right now to have an infant, I can definitely see that toddler mobility = parental exhaustion. Sylvia never quite adjusted to the time change and was up and at 'em by 4:30 each morning. Holy smokes! She was very, very sweet with Grayson. In particular, she loved to touch his feet and pat his head. With the blistering heat, trips to the neighborhood pool were essential. Sylvia loved shoveling water into her bucket and, of course, running around and making her daddy chase her. Grayson was content with people watching and lounging poolside. It was such a fun visit! We finished up July and started off August with a trip to visit Erik's family in Colorado. More pictures and details to come in a separate post...

Grayson doing what he does best.

Sylvia snoozing on PawPaw.

Running from daddy! So much fun.

Some Of Our Favorites

There's certainly no shortage of pictures of the little guy. I'm pretty sure the snapshot count is well above 1,000 now and continues to soar daily. Here are just a few of our favorites along the way...

6 weeks: A little smile

8 weeks: Happy boy

5 weeks: Ooooh, snuggle puppy of mine...

4 weeks: Burp turned nap

1 week: Little lump o' mush

6 weeks: Disgruntled

If you need a good laugh...

Hanging in our doctor's office is this giant adorable picture of a newborn laying on his belly in a vintage victorian-esque chair. I've always thought it was adorable and have since seen many versions of it just looking at examples of birth announcements, parenting magazines, etc. If you can't get a visual, I've posted two examples below of the basic idea. Although we missed the window for Grayson getting newborn portaits, I had the brilliant idea of trying our own version when he was about six weeks old. Clearly, we needed a professional. Grayson had his very own unique take on the situation and this was as close as we could get :) It makes us laugh every time.

Cute and cuddly. This is not Grayson.

Sweet and innocent. Still not Grayson.

Yep, that's our boy. We love you Grayson.

The Heims Visit!

If we've learned anything at all over the past two months, its that time is precious and the days FLY by. What did we ever use to do to fill our days?!? Apologies for not posting updates in a more timely manner. Perhaps now that we're a little more accustomed to the chaos, we'll be able to update on a more regular basis.

Erik's family visited from Colorado when Grayson was just two weeks old. We had so much fun together and got to enjoy some outside activities before the blistering heat arrived. Grandma Joan and Grandpa Steve had already met Grayson, but it was Aunt Alissa's first introduction. There is no doubt how much she loves her little nephew. Grandma Joan stayed for a few days extra and was soooooo helpful to me around the house. I don't think I could have made it without her. Here are a few pictures from the visit. We've since scheduled Grayson's first plane trip to Colorado in July...so we'll all get to hang out together again soon!

Grandpa and Grayson

Aunt Alissa was VERY good at getting him to sleep.

Cha Cha pose.

Eating breakfast at the food truck.

Tummy Time

Tummy time is...well...not our favorite part of the day. There's lots of grunting, a fair amount of drool and inevitably a few pathetic cries at the end. But, the other day there was a glimmer of hope, as we MAY have seen a little smirk during this daily chore.

Off to a good start!

Is that a little smile?

Tummy time is so hard! Help!

And now I'm d.o.n.e.

Grammy and Paw Paw's Visit

Grammy and Paw Paw were nice enough to stay with us the week after Grayson was born to help Britney and I out with just about everything. I don't think we could have made it through the first week without them. Meals just appeared on the table and dishes miraculously went away. Our front yard even got re-landscaped!

Of course, they also wanted to soak up as much time with the little munchkin as possible. Here are some of my favorite Grammy and Paw Paw moments that we captured that week.

Coming Home

Coming home was so much fun. Mommy and daddy were a little bit nervous (dad drove extra carefully for Grayson's first car ride), but it was very exciting to show baby Grayson his new digs. We had a cute stork waiting for us in the front yard thanks to Grammy, Paw Paw, Grandma Joan and Grandpa Steve.

First Reactions

The emotions are written all over their faces. I was able to capture our parent's reactions to seeing their grandson for the first time as they watched him get a bath in the nursery. I love these pictures and cherished this moment!

Our First Family Photo

This is our first family photo! Mommy is a little drugged up and daddy is wearing funny garb...but baby Grayson looks snug as a bug in a rug and as handsome as ever.

Welcome Grayson

Our 'little' bundle of joy arrived at 8:05 on Friday, April 22 and was healthy, but not so happy. You should have heard those pipes! At 9lbs 6.6oz and 22.5 inches, he was a big boy, but we anticipated that. We couldn't be happier that Grayson has entered our lives. The best is yet to come.

Student Drawing

One of Britney's students was nice enough to draw a portrait of her nine months pregnant. The initial drawing was curiously missing her pregnant belly, but sure enough, it's there now. We both got a huge laugh out of this.

DIY Mobile

I've been touting for awhile now that I could "easily" make a mobile for the nursery. I stand corrected. Many hours of cutting, folding, measuring, balancing and hot gluing later, we have a very basic mobile. Not quite as easy as I thought, but we think it turned out well.

Baby boy's viewpoint from below

Week 38

WHOA...big belly! Rightfully so...he's a big boy in there! We find out this week

if he's crossed the threshold into c-section territory.

I've resisted the stereotypical "pregnant pose" for the entire nine months. I finally gave in and did a cheesy one :)

Nursery

Slowly but surely the nursery has been coming together. I think we're all set, with the exception of just a few minor details. Looking forward to adding that finishing touch (baby boy, of course!).