The Weston Family

Thanksgiving Fun

2011-12-28T19:09:00.000-08:00

A couple of days before Thanksgiving, we invited Fiona, Emma and Jake over for a couple of crafts. We made oreo turkeys and handprint turkeys. Grady was a maniac and had to be "restrained" in his seat because he was attempting to eat the turkeys in progress. I am pretty sure everyone had their weeks worth of sugar that afternoon!

Thanksgiving morning, Addie, Grady and I particpated in a turkey trot that Kristin organized. Addie rode her bike the first mile and then took turns jogging with me and my mom and riding in the stroller. It was a great way to get in a little exercise before the beg meal!

Addie ready to go!

We were in Del Rio for Thanksgiving and had a great time with Bryan's family. We ate entirely too much food and watched a lot of football! On Friday, we met up with my brother's fiance and went shopping for her wedding dress! We were lucky to find a beautiful dress here in Del Rio as well as dresses for Addie, Kristin and me! We had a wonderful weekend and are so thankful for all of our family and friends!

Day on Base

2011-12-11T18:32:00.000-08:00

We had a Moms Club event at Laughlin Airforce Base earlier in the month. We went on a tour of the base and then headed to a hanger where the kids could touch and climb all over the planes. Addie skipped school that day to join us and bothshe and Grady had a wonderful time! A bus picked us up at the hanger and took us to the simulator building. We took turns going into the simulator... my favorite part by far! Addie loved it as well and helped me as we had the chance to land our T6! Grady did not like the simulator and was out before we even got started. We ended our visit with a picnic lunch at a park on base....we love our base friends and feel so lucky to get to be a part of experiences like this!

Halloween

2011-11-20T18:38:00.000-08:00

Addie dressed up as Hello Kitty this year and Grady was an airplane. They were both so excited to dress up and even more excited to trick or treat. We went over to Hyslop's for their annual Halloween party. Addie and Mellie ran off together again like last year. Mellie is in 5th grade and this may have been her last year to trick or treat with the little ones...so sad. Addie worships both of Dacia's girls and they are both so sweet to her! Grady and Jax had a great time together. I am so happy that they play so well together! They are so funny to watch...it will definitely be fun to watch them grow up together!

Off to trick or treat at Nanna and Buck's house

Addie was very excited to receive The Lion King!

Grady LOVES Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and is always saying, "oh toodles!"

Addie, Ben, Charlie, Jax and Grady

Crossfit

2011-11-20T18:19:00.000-08:00

Grady and I go to crossfit every morning. He is a trooper and sits in a stroller while I work out. He watches Wonder Pets and plays games on my phone. He also watches everything we do and as soon as we are finished with our workout, he gets out of his stroller and tries to copy everything we did that day! It is so cute and funny to watch.

Grady and his friend Aitana. He LOVES her and gets so excited to see her every day!

Dress Up

2011-11-20T18:13:00.000-08:00

Addie loves to play dress up and of course Grady loves to do anything Addie does. Poor Grady, I am sure these will haunt him one day :)

He's cute

2011-11-20T18:12:00.000-08:00

This smile gets me every time. He is so darn cute! Bryan and I love the way he sits in his carseat...such a little man!

Pumpkin Patch

2011-11-20T17:43:00.000-08:00

The Methodist Church held its 2nd annual pumpkin patch in October. Grady wanted to buy every pumpkin there and tested his strength over and over. Addie found the perfect carving pumpkin along with several others to paint and glitter.

Movies

2011-11-20T17:37:00.000-08:00

I took Addie, Grady and Addie's friend Emma to see the Lion King while it was in the theatre. This was both Addie and Grady's first time to the movies. Addie LOVED it and Grady did better than I expected he would. They both loved the popcorn and Addie loved the 3d glasses!

Trip to the dentist

2011-11-01T10:59:00.000-07:00

This handsome guy had his first dentist appointment. I was a little nervous because Addie's first visit did not go over so well! However, he was GREAT and sat very nicely while "Mr. Dentist" brushed his teeth. He was so proud of himself and as we were walking away yelled, "Bye Mr. Dentist!" Of course the highlight of the visit, was the balloon!

Girls Night Out

2011-11-01T10:54:00.000-07:00

Addie and I went to the Miss Del Rio pagent a couple of weeks ago. We had a great time watching the girls dance and model their fancy clothes! Although our pick didn't win, we had a great time together!

Writing

2011-11-01T10:51:00.000-07:00

Addie has really started sounding out words and trying to spell on her own. This was one of her first sentences alone! I was so impressed!!!

(The Fourth of July fireworks are coming)

Flower girl

2011-11-01T10:48:00.000-07:00

Addie was so excited to be a flower girl in a wedding for Bryan's cousin. She was able to pick out her own dress...which was VERY exciting for her! She did such a great job and Bryan and I were so proud of her!

Addie before the rehearsal

Our flower girl

On our way to the bridesmaid luncheon

Sunday Fun

2011-11-01T10:29:00.000-07:00

A couple of months ago we took the ranger out to some acreage outside of town and rode around for a couple of hours. The kids loved it...especially Grady! There were lots of bumps, a little water, and lots of "faster daddy faster!"

Our family

2011-10-16T19:45:00.000-07:00

Sweet

2011-10-16T19:41:00.000-07:00

Grady LOVES for Addie to read to him!

First Day of School

2011-10-16T19:39:00.000-07:00

Addie before her first day of Pre-k4 at The Little Schoolhouse. She (and I) shed a few tears but she had a great day! Since then, she does not want me to walk her into her classroom anymore and she loves school!

Two

2011-10-16T19:30:00.000-07:00

I am not sure how it happenend but Grady turned two last month! He is quite a handful but is also extremely sweet at the same time. There is not a day that goes by that I don't wonder how we managed to survive the day without an injury or complete destruction to the house. He is still into everything the word no means nothing to him. At the same time, he is so cute that it has been hard to really get after him! He loves to hug and kiss and has such a sensitive little heart. He does not like to see anyone cry and will sneak into Addie's room to lay with her when she is in trouble. He also climbs out of his crib after his naps and often takes his diaper off as well. He will tell me, "no no no" when I find him out of his crib. Thankfully he has never gotten out of his crib during the night. Grady had his first dentist appointment last week and he did great!!! However, his dentist said we need to get rid of the pacifier now...even though he only has it at night. So Grady and I cut the tips off of all of his papoos and I let him try them and he said "papoos boken" and "papoos yucky." He cried the first two nights but other than that he has done much better than I expected. He does sleep with his pillow pet, two blankets and several cars and trucks. Lately, he likes to be covered up with a blanket as well! He wakes up happy and plays in his bed or room until we get him in the morning. He LOVES trains, trucks, cars...basically anything that moves. Whenever he sees a police car, firetruck, motorcycle, or airplane, he starts laughing. He just gets so excited. He does not like the sirens and says, "my scared" when he hears them.

He is a very happy little guy and is always smiling. Every once in a while, he throws a fit and has huge alligator tears and by the looks of him, you would think the world is ending. He does not comprehend the word no and spends a lot of time in time out (which does not phase him). He is very rough and tough and I know when he cries, he is really hurt. This is completely opposite from Addie, who cries if she thinks she might have gotten a small paper cut. He is scared of the car wash...everytime we get gas he tells me, "No Mama car wash." He is also nervous in the dark and when I turn on the light he says, "thank you mama." Grady loves lotion, shampoo, and body soap. He tries to use it all day long and I often have to wash his hair several times in one day. He plays really well with other kids and always shares. He LOVES playing with Jax and they run around together and
have the best time. He gets away with a lot more than he should because of his cuteness! He will stand up in the grocery cart and when I ask him to sit down he says, "hugs" and then "kiss" and "mo hugs, mo kiss." It is really cute the first few times but then it gets to be a little much. He loves to help me with anything. He especially loves to sweep and put clothes in the dirty clothes basket.
He talks sooo much! We understand the majority of what he says and he is not very understanding if we don't! He gets pretty frustrated and ends up biting himself...which is weird but his way of dealing with frustration...at least it is him and not someone else! My favorite thing he says is, "No Mama night night" and "No Mama eat eat eat." He also refers to himself in the third person and is ALWAYS telling me, "NO, Grady help you" when I offer to help him with something. He is pretty independent and wants to do things by himself. He always says, "scuse me" when he burps and laughs when he toots...typical boy! He copies everything Addie says and she will say that she is excited about something and then we hear Grady say, "my sited too." His favorite songs are "Honey Bee by Blake Shelton and "Baby" by Justin Beiber. He knows a tons of the words and it is so cute to see him get excited when he hears the song start. He always asks me to watch mooneys (movies) and loves Wonder Pets and Backyardigans. He gets to watch them everyday at Crossfit on Netflix and can find them himself on my phone.

He is very competitive with Addie and they argue more than they get along these days. If he says he sees a blue train, she will say that it is actually blueish green and then he yells, "blue train" and it goes on and on. He repeats everything she says, which annoys her and in return she is mean to him. However, he runs to her when he is upset and she comforts him. He worships her and I know deep down inside, she adores him too!

He sits on the potty before his bath and goes most of the time. It is funny to think that Addie was completely potty trained before she was 2 and was staying dry at night as well. Oh well, it will happen one of these days! I do not think he fully even grasps the concept yet!

Grady is not much of an eater these days. He loves cheese, beans, peanut butter, fruit and pasta. Like Addie, he does not like watermelon. He loves milk and goes crazy over a juice box. He pretty much refuses to eat a vegetable and is not much of a meat eater. He will occasionally eat chicken and loves hot dogs but that is about it. He loves to dip food in ranch and ketchup. However, he weighs 27lbs, 4oz and is 34.5 inches tall. He is in the 50th % in both weight and height.

He had a great 2nd birthday. We celebrated with ice cream and cupcakes at the beach in Port A and then with pizza and cupcakes here. He got a train table, tons of tractors and pajamas for his birthday. A few weeks later, a friend of mine gave Grady a box of trains and tracks that her son has outgrown! He loves them!!! I think his favorite part of his birthday was singing (to himself) and blowing out his candles. He practiced that for weeks!

Grady man, Mommy and Daddy love you so much! You drive us crazy with your destruction every day but definitely keep us laughing! You are such a sweet boy and we are so proud of you!

Port Aransas

2011-09-13T20:04:00.000-07:00

My mom and Denny rented a beach house in Port Aransas for a few days. It was supposed to be our last family get together before Kyle left for Officer Training School. He was able to go a little earlier than expected and Kristin and Chance had something come up...so Mavis and Chuck and their girls joined us! Kyle's girlfriend, Lori, and her two kids Zoe and Hunter were also able to come! We had the best time! I am convinced that the beach is the absolute best vacation for kids because there is so much entertainment to be had without going anywhere! They spent hours digging up clams every day! We also loved jumping the waves, looking for shells, building sandcastles, and Grady and Harper loved splashing in the little waves and filling up buckets of water. The first time Addie went to the beach, she was a little younger than Grady and very hesitant...she definitely liked the pool better. This time, there was not any hesitation and she had a blast! We did not know what to expect from Grady but the second I set Grady down in the sand, he took off running into the water and never looked back! He absouletly loved it!

Our house was perfect! My mom and Denny had the entire bottom floor to themselves and it had it's own kitchen. They were able to sleep in every morning (we were usually already at the beach by the time they got up) and avoid the chaos of 6 kids under the age of 6. The middle floor had 2 bedrooms, a bathroom and the main kitchen and living area. The top floor had two bedrooms and 2 bathrooms. Each floor had huge patios with tables and chairs for all sizes. There was a community pool that we used daily and the beach was just a short walk away.

Each morning, we ate breakfast and were off to the beach. We played until lunch and then spent a little time at the pool before we went in to eat. Then it was rest/nap time for the kids and happy hour for us! We spent a couple of afternoons at the pool, had a birthday party for Grady one afternoon and went souvenir shopping another. We all went out to dinner one night to the Beach Street Grill and had great shrimp and a lot of fun. Sunday came too soon and we were sad to leave...the kids had such a great time together....although the adults might have had more!

Harper and Grady were so cute together. Harper is definitely the boss of the two and for the most part Grady lets her boss him around. They followed each other around the entire trip and played much better together Addie and Aiden ever did at this age! It will be so much fun to watch them grow up together!

Baboo and Grandpa, thank you for the vacation!! We had so much fun and really appreciate you taking all of us! Addie is already asking when we can go back!

We met up with Mavis and the girls in SA the night before we left. Addie and Aiden reading the Bible. So cute to hear them tell each other Bible stories!

Grady and Harper "chasing" a kite...

Zoe the mermaid!

If you ask Addie what her favorite thing about going to the beach is, she will say it was burying Baboo.

Lucky ones who got to ride back to house instead of walk :)

Addie thanking Grandpa for a great dinner

This picture is too much...so cute!!! Can you tell who the boss is?

We held "cheerleading practice" one morning on the beach

Happy faces at Beach Street Grill

Meet the Teacher Night

2011-08-28T19:46:00.000-07:00

Addie starts pre-k 4 tomorrow and we went to see her classroom and teacher last week. She and I are both really sad that she is going back to school. I feel like I am losing my best friend and she wants to know why she can't learn at home with me! I am excited about her school year though! I know her teacher from when I taught at Lonnie Green! She is the sweetest lady and her own children are very sweet and well behaved...so I know she is in good hands! The only thing Addie says she is excited about is that she gets to participate in show and tell! It will be nice for Grady and I to have a little time to ourselves each day but I know he is going to miss her as much as I will.

I really can't believe how big she is.....

Silly Grady

2011-08-28T19:30:00.000-07:00

Stockyards

2011-08-24T12:22:00.000-07:00

While visiting Poppy and Mimi this summer, we spent an afternoon in the stockyards. Addie was so excited to ride on this bull!!!

We also visited a petting zoo and ended our night at Joe T. Garcia's for a great dinner!

This face

2011-08-24T12:15:00.000-07:00

Addie took this picture of Grady. This face gets me every time...he gets away with murder!!!

Colorado part 2

2011-08-24T12:12:00.000-07:00

Addie wanted to have a picnic in the "forest" so we packed a picnic and headed a few miles from the cabin to an area with a lot of trees!

They loved finding walking sticks

We were off to climb a "mountain."

We made it!

Grady LOVES mustard!

Sweet moments happen occaisonally!

We went to a great restaurant on the river. Addie loved watching the chipmunks run around under the tables. She also loved my steak and ate over half of it!

I ordered creme brulee for dessert and this little monkey ate all but the couple of bites I was able to steal from him!

Our trip is over...headed back to Alamosa to fly back to San Antonio. We had a great time and definitely enjoyed the cooler weather!

Colorado part 1

2011-08-04T19:43:00.000-07:00

We flew to Colorado a couple of weeks ago and spent a week outside of Creede with Bryan's mom and sister. We had a great time and enjoyed beautiful weather! Our flights over went smoothly and Grady was pretty well behaved....even though he had to be contained. Addie and Grady loved feeding the birds and the chipmunks every morning. We played a lot of games, went on hikes, played at local parks, ate lots of ice cream and roasted hot dogs and marshmallows. We went to a local bead shop and Addie designed and made a necklace for herself and one for Aiden. (By that I mean Donna and I spent more than an hour stringing the beads while Addie drew pictures...). She is soooo proud of her necklace and has not taken it off since!

A few pictures from the beginning of our trip...

Heading to the airport

North Clear Creek Falls...aka..the big waterfall

Grady's favorite part of the waterfall

Outside of Lake City

Just for fun...Bryan and I in the same spot 5 years ago...

Riding horses...they both had a great time!

Letter to Daddy

2011-07-12T08:38:00.000-07:00

Dear Daddy,

I think I am handsome and everywhere I go, people comment on my blonde curls. However, I have heard you tell me that I look like a girl too many times. Although I don't think so and mommy definitely doesn't, I told her I better get a big boy haircut to make you happy. I want to be just like you Daddy! You would have been so proud of me. I sat in the chair all by myself and didn't try and get out once. I was worried about mommy though because I saw tears in her eyes. She told me that this haircut makes me look too much like a big boy and she doesn't want me to be big yet. Silly mommy! Daddy, I think that mommy must love you a whole bunch to agree to this! I miss you daddy and I can not wait to see you tomorrow and see what you think of my hair!

Love,
Grady

Before...

Look how still I am sitting...yes the blue around my mouth is for the pop pop I finished in 5 seconds.

Look at me now...Mommy keeps telling me that everyone will still tell me I am handsome!

2011-06-29T19:27:00.000-07:00

This pretty girl started Vacation Bible School this week and is LOVING it. She comes home every day with sweet discoveries. The first day, she asked me in a very excited voice..."Mommy did you know that God knows what we are going to do or say even before we do?" It is so neat to see her so excited about Jesus and she tells me every afternoon that she can not wait to go back tomorrow! She also loves to "pray God." This afternoon, I was talking to someone outside of my car and got in and she was teaching Grady to pray God. It was super cute!!!!

Pink pajamas

2011-06-29T19:19:00.000-07:00

The other night, Grady insisted on wearing some of Addie's pajamas and decided on these...

Fun in the Sun

2011-06-29T19:17:00.000-07:00

We had a blast on Saturday afternoon playing in the water...well they played and I watched! The water out of the hose was entirely too cold for me!

Silly faces...

Daddy got in on the fun as well!

Grady Monster

2011-06-29T19:07:00.000-07:00

Grady man is almost 23 months old :(. I told Bryan the other day that I can not believe that a little boy this cute can be so naughty. He has the cutest personality, however, I think the "terrible twos" are starting to emerge. We are hearing more, "no no no." He wants to do everything by himself (me turn) and does not want me to carry him around as much. He arches his back to get away from me when I pick him up. He can destroy a room in less than a minute. He calls my name to look at him when is going to do something he knows he is not supposed to. He climbs up on everything, stands on tables and jumps on all furniture. He is fearless at the swimming pool and jumps in as soon as he gets his puddle jumper on.

He tries to keep up with Addie and copies everything she does...including wearing her clothes, makeup and jewelry. I usually give him water with his lunch and give Addie the choice of water or milk. If he hears her choose milk, he will throw his cup and say "no no no...mik." Addie has a really crazy memory and knows the names of tons of songs on the radio. When one comes on that she knows, she yells out the name. She loves the Sara Evans song, "A Little bit Stronger." I guess Grady does as well because now as soon as it starts, he will shout out, "a yittle soner." It is so funny! He also loves the Justin Bieber baby song...he sings "Baby. baby, baby oh!" Sometimes he will sit on my lap and want me to sing him "You are my Sunshine" or "This Little Light of Mine."

He still loves for Addie to come into his room when he wakes up in the morning and I love hearing, "Ooooh hi Addie" when she opens his door. When the phone rings, he picks it up and says, "Hewo." He still obsessed with trucks, tractors and planes. When Bryan gets home from work, he runs to him and starts begging for, "uh oh tractor, blue airplane, choo choo tractor, helicaker..." These are his favorite you tube videos to watch on Bryan's iphone. He still says his name is Jax and if you ask him how old he will be on his birthday, he says two. He and Jax play really well together now and they both get really excited to see each other! He loves taking his vitamins (my mins) and eats more toothpaste than he should probably have in a month. I think he must stash travel size tubes somewhere because he comes into the playroom sucking on a new one on a weekly basis.

He is without a doubt, 1000% a daddy's boy. Sometimes I have a pitty party for myself when he gets hurt and runs right past me straight for Bryan but I am so thankful that he has a daddy that makes him feel so safe and happy!

Our biggest accomplishment over the past couple of months was banning the papoos (pacifiers) to the crib. He had a hard few days at first and cried for one constantly.  At one point, Bryan tried to convince me to give him one! We survived and now as soon as we walk out of his room in the morning, he throws it into his crib and says, "papoo night night." I am hoping to get rid of them all together when he turns two.

Grady talks constantly! We can really carry on conversations with him which is really nice! He can usually tell us what is upsetting him and sometimes makes things up! He fell at the gym yesterday and busted his lip and his nose. Today he was crying and I asked him what was wrong...he said, "my mouf..my nose." Really??? Some of my favorite things he says are, oh no noodness (oh my goodness)...when he wants to ask a question, he says yes at the end of his sentence..mama coke jes....grady shoes jes...it is so cute! LOVE the way he says yes. We constantly ask him questions that we know he will say yes to just to hear him say it. He also nods his head and smacks his lips as he is saying it. He also says Addie goes to nimnastics (gymnastics).

He loves cheese, most fruit (like Addie he does not eat watermelon or any other kind of melon), does not really eat any vegetables, loves peanut butter and jelly, LOVES pizza and bean and cheese tacos. He likes to eat sketti (spaghetti) with cheese. Of course he loves any kind of junk food. He will chew up a mouthful of peanuts or almonds and then keep them in his mouth FOREVER. It is really weird. He also often asks for "bip" with his food...which is dip...either ranch or ketchup. One time I made the mistake of putting syrup on his waffle. Addie doesn't like syrup but I thought Grady might...he took one bite and said, "no no no" and threw it on the ground. He is definitely very opinionated! At a mexican food restaurant, he will want to dip his chips and we will tell him that it is too spicy. He will go on and on and on about bip that we finally let him dip it and then he will fake cry and say it is too "sicy." He loves beer and tries to sneak it anytime he finds one left unattended.

A couple of weeks ago, Andrea and I took the kids swimming out at Rough Canyon and went to eat at Hookers after. We were sitting down outside and Grady looked up and started acting really strange. All of the sudden, he started screaming bloody murder. I looked up and it was a little spinning metal fan. I had to hold him the entire dinner...he did not eat a bite and would continue to look up and scream every few minutes. Fast forward to the next week and we are at Kristin's house. He chased their cat into her bedroom and was up on Kristin's bed. He looked up and saw the ceiling fan and started screaming. It finally dawned on me that he has really not seen many ceiling fans and was scared of them. We have been living with Bryan's parents since before he was one and they do not have many ceiling fans in the house...so funny!!!! He is fine now but still points them out everytime he sees one.

Grady...you are too much but we love you more than you will every know! You make us laugh all day long and could not imagine a day without you in it!   We love you buddy boy!

Iphone pictures

2011-06-14T19:50:00.000-07:00

I have a ton of pictures on my phone and had to post a few!

Grady's first time out!

I left Grady in the kitchen to grab something outside and found this when I came in.

Thanks Sylvia for the chocolate at the bank!

She dyed eggs for over an hour and had some beauties!

Addie and her teacher, Ms. Bre...snif snif

My big girl and her ponytail...

Addie and Grady put on my gym socks and shoes..hope her combinations improve in the future!

Getting ready for dance pictures

Addie's last day of pre-k3

Right before her ballet recital

Four year checkup...these pictures are out of order but this is after her FIVE shots. She was a very brave girl and earned herself a vanilla milkshake!

Getting the stats...39 inches, 34 pounds...40th %

This is what happens with a big sister. He puts this on often and runs around the house saying, "girls girls," because Bryan tells him that girls wear tutus...not boys.

At the bullriding

We love the pink boots Baboo and Grandpa!

Crazy hair after dance pictures!

Next up...a much needed Grady update!!!

Easter

2011-06-14T19:10:00.000-07:00

I am a bit behind on posting! We had a wonderful Easter weekend this year. We had Addie's 4th birthday party on Saturday and on Sunday, we had a wonderful time with family. Addie darted out of bed to see if the Easter bunny came to visit her (and Grady). She was happy to have a few treats. She was so surprised to see that the Easter bunny knew that she wanted a "broth and panty" swimsuit! Grady was slightly disappointed that his eggs had trucks instead of candy!

After breakfast, we went outside for an Easter egg hunt. Addie ran around trying to get as many eggs as she could while Grady opened up each egg and tried to eat the candy.

It looks very innocent but Addie is actually trying to persuade Grady into trading her gummy lifesavers for his chocolate.

A few family pictures..

You can see here where Grady gets his eyes....look at his daddy's...

Addie is saying, "Buck, you said one more picture about 200 ago...."

We then had a wonderful Easter lunch with all six grandparents as well as Kiki and T. We then went to the basement and watched Tangled. It was a great afternoon!

Mother's Day picture

2011-05-13T19:59:00.000-07:00

I still need to post our Easter pictures but this one was easier! We went to the bullriding on Mother's Day and took this cute picture before!

Egg Hunts

2011-05-13T19:55:00.000-07:00

Grady and Addie both had Easter egg hunts the Thursday before Easter. Grady's was with our Moms Club and Addie's was at school.

Addie and Grady before school

Grady hunting for eggs. He only got a couple because he wanted to open each one and eat whatever was inside before he found anymore!

After our fun with the MOM's club, we went over to Addie's school to watch her egg hunt and help with her Easter party.

Walking with her class to the egg hunt

Addie and Parker

Poor Grady...he looked like he was in jail!

Walking back to class...she was not happy because I was not walking right beside her and holding her hand...

Addie and Grace

Party time

2011-05-13T12:08:00.000-07:00

Addie had a butterfly party for her birthday. She invited her friends from school and friends that she has grown up with. The grandpas and Bryan cooked hotdogs and we also had sandwich trays, chips, dried fruit and little applesauce bags. Addie requested chocolate cupcakes with chocolate icing. All 6 of her grandparents were here and I honestly do not know how we would have pulled it off without their help! Thanks so much! We couldn't have done it without you! I had good intentions of getting her picture with each set of grandparents but it didn't happen :(.
She helped Nanna decorate the tables and she and Poppy decorated the popcorn bags with stickers.

Grady walked around getting into everything...

Addie helped Kiki tie balloons on chairs...

Baboo was just happy to party...(Addie took this picture)

We had a popcorn machine and a snowcone machine....Buck was in charge of these but I don't have a picture of this...

T stopped by before work just in time to help with the pinata...

Addie was able to get a little bouncing in before the party began.

This is the best picture I could get of the two of them

Cake time!

At one point, Ben and Addie crashed the party in the Barbie Jeep. After running over Grady 10 seconds later, the jeep had to be put away!

Sweet Emma!

Ben!

Jax only wanted me to hold him and when his mean mom took him away from me, he screamed and threw a huge fit!

Addie and Ximena

Just for fun..here are Addie and Ximena at Addie's first birthday party!

In the middle of the fun, a snake was spotted in the fountain. They thought they would catch it with their bug nets!

Ximena and Emma stayed after the party to watch Tangled

The next day....

Not sure who had more fun! Addie,we hope you had a wonderful birthday. Daddy and I love you so much!!!

Addie's birthday

2011-05-09T19:27:00.000-07:00

Addie had a great 4th birthday! We were in San Antonio for the weekend and drove back on her birthday. She received phone calls on my phone the entire way back...I joked that my phone rang so many times and not once was it for me! She thought she was pretty special! She had ballet that afternoon and her class sang to her! She definitely loved the special attention.

We had pizza and cookie cake for dinner with Buck, Nanna and Kiki. She had been asking for a cookie cake...so we brought one home from SA and in true Addie fashion, she liked the icing but not the cookie. On the other hand, as soon as Grady saw it, he started saying (yelling) "cootie cootie cootie" until he received his.

After dinner, she was able to open presents and she was so excited!!! We got her a Tag reader and a couple of books for it. We also got her the Uno Moo game and Skipbo Jr. She LOVES both of them and wants to play them all of the time. Grady gave her a jumprope and a tshirt. Buck and Nanna gave her new bedding and a super cute picture for our new house as well as a new Leapfrog Explorer (Grady broke the one Santa gave her for Christmas) and a Dora game. Kiki and T gave her an adorable swimsuit coverup and Alyssa gave her some new games for her Explorer. She LOVED opening all of her gifts and we enjoyed watching her!

It is still hard to believe that she is 4!!! The drama has decreased slightly but the attitude has made up for that! It is truly hard to keep a straight face and even harder to believe that these things are coming out of a 4 year old's mouth! She knows she is acting a bit naughty because most of the time we hear, "sorry sorry sorry" as soon as she is finished with the attitude.

Can you tell Grady ate pizza and cake?

Way too Fast

2011-04-21T12:34:00.000-07:00

It is so hard for me to believe that my little girl is 4 years old today. It seems like yesterday, I was checking into Methodist Hospital (by myself). Not long after, I was holding the most beautiful baby girl I have ever seen! Two days later, we checked out of the hospital...drove through chick fil a and headed home to Del Rio. We stopped in Uvalde so I could feed Addie and change her diaper. When I took her diaper off, she pottied all over me (both kinds)! Definitely something I will never forget. Fast forward four years and we have a beautiful girl full of personality, spunk, and as smart as can be. She makes us laugh every day and we are so proud to be her parents!
**she has decided that this year she wants swimsuits with "broths and panties"
**she says ant instead of aren't..."I am a good drawer, ant I"
**she tells us she loves us at least 100 times a day - she is so sweet
**she says when she grows up she wants to be a mommy...although today she said she wanted to write stories...
**she loves books and is dying to learn to read. she knows all of her letter sounds and a few words as well - I am sure she will be reading in no time!
**she loves to sleep with me and ends up in bed with us every night...we are too lazy to put her back in her room
**she loves to sing and dance...she loves ballet and her teacher says she is one of the best dancers in her class!
**she takes ballet once a week and gymnastics once a week
**she loves school and worships her teacher...her teacher loves addie as well...she says Addie is the only one she can joke around with!
**she loves to play games on our iphones and would play them all day long if we let her...
**she is into picking out her own clothes...we usually settle on picking out her shoes
**she worships her daddy but is still a wee bit of a mommy's girl!
**she would be happy if I did not ever make her eat..although her favorites are macaroni and cheese, hotdogs, grilled cheese, oranges, steak, and cheese
**she loves chocolate icecream
**she loves to chew gum and is very responsible with it
**she is defintely my little helper and is always trying to please us
**she loves to help Grady and definitely loves to boss him around
**she says she wants a little sister named Jewel
**she loves playing with her friends and has become a lot more independent when doing so
**she watched her first Disney movie a few months ago and has since watched a ton of them
Addie girl, you are more than I could ever hope for. You make me want to be a better mom every day. I love you to the moon and back fa-evah!! I wish you would please stop getting older and stay little forever! Daddy and I love you so much...more than you will ever know!

Addie's birthday at school

2011-04-18T19:53:00.000-07:00

We got to take cupcakes to Addie's school last week in celebration of her birthday. Addie requested chocolate cupcakes with chocolate icing and chocolate chips! Her teachers are so great and soooo patient. Addie was so excited to have us in her class!

My attempt at craftiness!

Ms. Bre reads thie book, "If you Give a Pig a Party" at every birthday celebration!

Bedtime stories

2011-04-18T19:46:00.000-07:00

Funny Grady

2011-04-18T19:44:00.000-07:00

The other night, Grady came out of Addie's room very proud that he had put on a pair of Addie's panties. He kept them on until he went to bed! He was also excited that he got to take a vitamin "miamen" and was carrying the container around until Addie (the ruler of the vitamins) gave him his daily dose.

**Please excuse the pajamas that are a little too small

Cheese!

Grady

2011-04-11T19:25:00.001-07:00

Singing in Church

2011-04-11T12:22:00.000-07:00

Addie's school sang in church on Sunday. They did a great job...just wish we could have seen Addie a little better!

Monday Cuteness

2011-04-11T10:54:00.000-07:00

Books and "Bugs"

2011-04-07T19:18:00.000-07:00

Grady has been "reading" to himself a lot lately. He is also scared of bugs landing on him. While "reading" yesterday, he thought he saw a bug on his leg. It was in fact a freckle. He spent a good minute trying to get the bug off of his leg. It was hysterical to watch...Kristin and I were in tears!

2011-03-27T16:41:00.001-07:00

Bryan got Addie and Grady m&m cookies and Grady picked all of the m&m's out and ate them one by one. The way he was saying m&m's was so cute..I had to give him a few more and get it on video. He also bit Jax last week...again...and now when I ask him if he is going to be a nice boy, he bites himself and says "Jax." I think we are in trouble....

Addie and Mal

2011-03-23T19:19:00.000-07:00

I can't believe this pretty girl is going to be 4 in a couple of weeks :(

It seems just like yesterday I was posting this picture of Addie and Mal...

Farm Day

2011-03-23T19:12:00.000-07:00

Addie had farm day at school a couple of weeks ago. She was not feeling well but I was able to capture a couple of pictures. Grady spotted the "tractor" as we walked in and didn't leave it until I dragged him off when we left.

I was helping her rope a bull...the blind leading the blind!

Weston/Stewart reunion

2011-03-23T18:50:00.000-07:00

The kids and I met Mavis and her kids at my parent's house in SA over spring break. We had so much fun! There were many tears when they left on Thursday. Addie and Aiden played so well together! They would play behind closed doors for hours playing ponies, mommy and baby, doctor, makeovers and reading books. We had a blast at bounce houses, the beating at Buck and Ozzy's, the kiddie park, and I particularly enjoyed hanging out at night after the kids went to bed.!! Grady and Harper coexisted but at least he kept his teeth to himself!! Harper really tried to keep up with the bigger girls...she can hold her own! Thank you so much for meeting us...we wish we were closer. We love you and can not wait until next time!!!!

Grady...this may not be acceptable in a few years!

Grady is thinking..."Someone has got to add another boy to this mix..."

18 months old

2011-03-01T19:24:00.000-08:00

Grady is 18 months old and a mess! He is getting cuter and naughtier by the second!!! He is OBSESSED with tractors, trucks, golf carts, jeeps (beeps) and fire trucks. If there is a tractor anywhere in his line of sight, he will find it! He loves to color with markers..on everything. He ate one last week and had marker in his ears, up his nose and his mouth was completely blue. He draws on non paper items such as his shirt and then tells me "uh oh shirt" or on his leg "uh oh eg". We do try and keep markers away from him...however, Addie often leaves them within his reach and he seems to have a marker radar and can find one in less than 5 seconds if one is left out. He recently got some crocs and he loves them. He is able to put them on by himself which makes him very proud!!! He still loves to get into Addie's closet and try on all of her shoes. He also loves to get into her panty drawer and put them into the dirty clothes one by one. We wash more panties every week because we are not sure which ones are clean. He loves to take clothes to the laundry basket and is a great helper.

I have noticed that this month more than in the past, he understands 99% of the things we tell him. It is crazy to see this happen. Today we were walking and I asked him to hold my hand and he reached up and grabbed it. It just made me realize how big he is getting :( He is still a little snuggler and gives us hugs all day long. He has said "uv you" a few times and it is always when he is repeating Addie. He still worships her and still runs to hug her anytime she is sad or has gotten in trouble. Although, they fight more than ever!

He repeats EVERYTHING we say and is talking more than ever. He now calls Bryan daddy instead of da da. Anytime we pull into the driveway or see a white truck, he says, "daddy" in the sweetest voice ever. He loves his daddy. Some of his new words this month are, "uh oh setti oh", juice, pop pop (popsicle or lollipop), hey mama, hey addie...and so on, eas (ears), sees (cheese), coke, firetruck, golf cart, blue (most colors are blue). Addie and I say prayers every night before she goes to sleep and Grady lays there with us. Now as soon as we are finishing her prayers, he throws an "ama"...(amen) in there as fast as he can to say it before us. Pretty funny! Every baby he sees is Jax. When we pull up to Andrea's house, he says "Ana...Jax." He and Jax could easily pass for twins...although Grady has a few more pounds on him! He still tells me when he has to poop and he has actually sat on the potty a few times. Lately, he has been telling me tee tee when he goes...I hope to potty train him around his birthday...we will see!

He loves to stick out his tongue and then everyone around him has to do it too. When he gets excited about something he runs and jumps in place until it happens...I have to get it on video one of these days. Every night, he watches us read stories and then as soon as Addie gives Bryan hugs goodnight, he runs as fast as he can to beat her to the bathroom so he can brush his teeth first. It is so funny to watch him start to inch towards the door as we are finishing Addie's second story. I have found myself doing something with Grady that I swore I would never do...just to keep the peace. I have always said that every child gets/earns certain things and the other one should understand. However, Grady throws such fits and acts so wounded and sad when he sees Addie get juice, candy, or anything special that I just give it to him to stop him from being so upset. Poor Addie....she NEVER got juice at this age...much less candy. Addie does remind him on a daily basis that he can not chew gum until he is three because she had to wait until then...so I am sure that one will stick! Oh well...I am sure if we have a third child, he/she will have ring pops from the beginning :)

A couple of weeks ago, he and Addie were playing in her room and I heard her scream. Then he came running out...belly first...saying "uh oh ish, uh oh ish." Addie is right behind him screaming something about her fish tank. I got to her room and he had completely emptied her fishtank onto the ground....rocks, fish, plants, water...everything. Gross. I called Bryan to come home..it grossed me out too much! I have also walked into the bathroom as he is flushing the toilet saying, "uh oh, uh oh." I haven't found anything missing...yet.
When he does not get his way, he rolls around on the ground and hits his head...throws things...and then finally falls apart and asks for his papoo (pacifier). I am trying to limit the time we have the pacifier..some days are better than other.

He wears size 4 diapers, 18-24 month clothes, and weighed 25 lbs, 12 oz at his last appointment. He is in the 50th percentile for weight and has moved up to the 60th percentile for height. He goes to bed between 6:30 and 7 at night and gets up between 7 and 7:30 in the morning. He takes an 1.5 - 2 hour nap after lunch. He still does not watch much tv but loves Elmo.

Grady, you are smart, funny, ADORABLE, loving, and a wild man. We can't believe you have already been with us for a year and a half. There is not a day that goes by that you don't challenge us and at the end of every day, your daddy and I laugh at everything that you have managed to destroy that day. We love you so much and always look forward to the craziness that tomorrow will bring!

I couldn't publish this without a picture of "the princess."

Happy Valentine's Day!

2011-02-14T11:58:00.000-08:00

Addie before school on the day of her Valentine's party.

Here is Addie's class...with a couple of siblings! Addie is holding Addie's hand. She is adorable and the little sister of Brooklyn.

Addie was a lucky girl. Her Daddy came to her party and he was the only daddy there. She was SO excited to have him there...as was I...Grady was a wild man on a mission...to destroy.

Look at the smile...he was on a mission to steal more food and juice from the kids who happened to look away from their plate for a minute.

Too much!

Addie woke up this morning saying, "It's Valentine's Day!!!" Yesterday we decorated and delivered cupcakes to friends and today she was excited to "share her love" with everyone! She was also excited about presents...

Addie at Crossfit this morning. She was doing her clean and press!

Marshmallows

2011-02-11T20:54:00.000-08:00

I was putting dishes in the dishwasher and Grady got awfully quiet. I turned around and found this....so cute and naughty! He was so proud of himself!

Laughter

2011-02-10T19:19:00.000-08:00

Grady adores Addie. When she cries, he runs to hug her. When he gets hurt, he runs to her. When he sees a truck or a tractor, he calls her to look. He also thinks everything she does is hysterical. Tonight I happened to have my phone with me at bath time and was able to capture some of this. At the end, he looks at me and says, "poop." I managed to turn off the video and pick him up right as he pooped in the bathtub....nice!

Watching the snow

2011-02-08T11:55:00.000-08:00

It snowed here on Thursday...but it did not stick. Addie and Grady both had fevers so we were stuck inside. I caught them both watching the snow while Addie was explaining the snow to Grady....cute!

Addie brought this home from school the other day. She was so proud that she knew her address and could write it!

Haircuts

2011-02-01T18:44:00.000-08:00

Addie had a haircut appointment this afternoon and Grady was scheduled for his first haircut in 3 weeks. When I took Addie in, she said that she would have time to cut Grady's when she was finished with Addie. Luckily, I had time to run home and get the camera!!! I did not know what to expect out of our little wild man. However, he sat in the chair like it was something he does every week. It did help that he had one lolipop for each hand! He loved looking at himself in the mirror and looked like such a big boy! He lost his curls but I think his hair turned out very cute...or handsome :) Addie's hair looks so cute like this and she LOVES that Ms. Kelly gives her a "fast braid." My braids take quite a bit longer than Kelly's!

Cute Grady

2011-01-28T12:30:00.000-08:00

Grady pointed to the camera and said "sheese." I asked him if wanted to take a picture and he said, "sheese, sheese." I actuallly got a few!!! I know I am biased but I just think his smile is so cute!

Insisting on wearing Addie's jacket. It will not be pretty when she wakes up....he does not seem to want to take it off.

1.25.11

2011-01-26T13:48:00.000-08:00

Grady loves wearing Bryan's hats and he thought he was big stuff riding his horse in "da da hat" today!

Grady Man

2011-01-18T19:41:00.000-08:00

Grady is now 17 months old and has changed so much in the last month. He is 150% pure boy. He loves trucks, trains and tractors. Anytime he hears a train, he yells choo choo and now knows where to look for them when we go over the overpass. He runs everywhere now...which leads to many falls every day. He is either chasing Addie or trying to get into her stuff before she does. He has a little temper and when he does not get his way, he will hit me, the floor, throw something...or himself on the ground. Bryan, Addie and I try not to laugh at him but it is hard. He just looks so cute doing it! He still gags himself regularly...usually when we are in the car. The other day, it made him throw up on himself and he proceeded to sample it and then said, "oooohhh uck." He also sucks his big toe????? I guess I tell him yuck a lot when I change his dirty diapers because now he tells me yuck when I lay him down to change them. He also tells me when he poops....hopefully this is a sign that he will not be difficult to potty train :). Grady is talking so much these days. He repeats everything we say..especially Addie. My favorite thing he says is, "ooooohhh cacker," which he says when he tastes something he likes or gets excited about eating something. It sounds so cute! He also says "mama mama mama" when he wants something or wants anyone to do something for him...not sure why he chose my name! He always says "thank you" on his own but I have not gotten a please out of him yet. Some of his other recent words are...pup pup, book, apple, diaper, elmo, no no no, go chee is for the peekaboo barn game on the iphone, shoes, socks, bath, cheese (sheese), water (wa wa), eyes, ice, coke, juice, cracker, Jax (his friend), choo choo, nigh nigh, fish, Ba ba (our fish), hat. I love his little voice and love hearing him try new words every day.

He loves books and will often go and get a book and then want up on the couch where we usually read. He will "read" the book. It is sooooo cute. I have tried to get it on video several times but as soon as he hears the beep of the camera, he stops.

Speaking of pictures, he never sits still long enough for me to take one. However, if I tell Addie I am going to take her picture, he stops what he is doing and runs over to get in her picture. He will stand there until I stop...such a goof.

He and our cat Mal have a love/hate relationship. Grady loves Mal...Mal does not love Grady. Grady is a little rough and may or may not beat him. However, Mal swats at Grady if he so much as looks at him. He has scratches all over his hands and arms from being swatted. It does not deter him, he goes back for more every day.

He loves to hug you tightly and say pat pat pat as he pats your back. He loves to get a baby of Addie's and feed it a bottle, rock it and kiss it. It is so sweet to watch. I am glad he is not telling it no no...He takes his shoes off 200 times a day and says uh oh shoes until I put them back on and we start the process again! He loves brushing his teeth and playing in the water. He can also get up onto Addie's bed by himself. He thinks it is hilarious and he loves to get me all worked up. I just know he is going to crawl off the edge one day...again. A couple of days ago he ran into the playroom saying "ma ma uh oh uh oh"...he grabbed my hand and took me into Addie's room where he showed me the lamp that he pulled down off of the table. Neither Bryan nor I even heard it fall. He will put his entire head under water in the bath and blow bubbles, get water up his nose, choke and gag, and go at it again. Addie just stares at him in disbelief...

Grady...you are the most adorable little guy we have ever seen. We love you so much and are so blessed and thrilled to be your mommy and daddy!

Grady during a toe sucking session

Addie's show

2011-01-06T17:14:00.000-08:00

Addie loves to put on a show! Tonight I got her to sing "The Itsy Bitsy Snowman" and to do a cheer. (sorry they are sideways...trying to figure out how to fix that)

Christmas pictures

2011-01-06T11:55:00.000-08:00

We had pictures taken for Christmas. Here are a few of them.

Christmas

2011-01-06T11:50:00.000-08:00

We had a wonderful Christmas. This year was especially exciting because Addie truly knew what was going on. She knows that we celebrate Christmas because of baby Jesus' birthday and she recognized Mary and "Jessof" in nativity scenes. She loved opening the Advent calendar boxes each night and counted the number of days each night until Christmas. When Christmas Eve came, she could hardly contain her excitement! When I was growing up, we got to open one present on Christmas Eve...and it was always pajamas. I wanted to carry on that tradition with our family, so they opened their Christmas pajamas on Friday night.

Addie woke up a little after 7 Christmas morning but had to wait until Grady woke up to go and see what Santa brought. He always sleeps in a little and she was as patient as you could expect a 3 year old to be! She was beyond excited to see her computer there and as soon as Grady saw his truck, he went crazy! He was saying "uck uck...go go go." Santa most picked out the right toy for Grady!

Both Addie and Grady were spoiled beyond belief! Addie got her first American girl doll, a crib and clothes for her doll, a new outfit for ballet, a ballet bag, cowboy boots, a jewelry box, dress up clothes, a caboodles makeup case and TONS of makeup, clothes, a Memory game, a robe and slippers, movies and a pillow pet! Grady got a pillow pet as well, clothes, cowboy boots, a sock monkey jack in the box, a sit on tractor, an alphabet train, lot of Chuck cars and sets, pajamas, clothes, an activity cart, a mat for his cars and trucks, and a couple of movies. Together they got a bounce house...which we are super excited to use this spring!

Bryan was excited about his Cabelas card...don't get a smile like this often...had to post!

We had a wonderful week of Christmas! We are both blessed to have such wonderful families! As Addie says, "The fun is over, back to the real world!"

2011-01-04T16:32:00.000-08:00

Addie got a ring pop at school today and she was able to eat it while Grady was taking a nap. In true Addie fashion...she was still sucking on it 2 hours later. He walked into the play room and immediately starting saying..oooh, yum, ooooh, yum. She was watching Mickey Mouse and he looked at me and grinned and then went for it. I grabbed my camera and was able to capture this...

I got Grady his own sucker and the first thing he did was go up to Addie and give her a lick...so sweet!

Monday

2011-01-04T12:30:00.000-08:00

Feisty Mal

2010-12-31T11:05:00.000-08:00

Christmas Eve

2010-12-28T18:55:00.000-08:00

We were in San Antonio for Christmas this year. On Christmas Eve, Addie, Kyle's girlfriend Lori and I went to get pedicures! Addie chose blue for her toes and Lori was brave and let Addie choose her color as well....the most neon pink you have ever seen! Bryan helped Addie bake cookies for Santa. Addie, Grady, Poppy and Grandpa fed the deer in the front yard while we got dinner ready. We had a mexican feast for dinner...Bryan's homemade fideo soup, enchiladas, tamales, beans, rice and tortillas. It was great!!!!

Running back to get more food...

I attempted to get a picture of them in their pajamas....

We wrote a note to Santa. We were so proud of Addie...she wrote a lot of the note herself. She can now write all of her letters!!!

We left food outside for the reindeer!

We put our cookies and milk out for Santa and then attempted to go to bed. Addie was too excited to sleep and said she heard bells ringing. She started singing Christmas songs so that Santa would hear her....so cute!

Christmas Activities

2010-12-28T18:33:00.000-08:00

We had a great couple of weeks before Christmas! Addie had Sophia and Chloe over for lunch and gingerbread house decorating! Addie and I made them snowflake grilled cheese sandwiches and we all had a great time...although I think more candy ended up in their stomachs than on the houses!

We went to San Marcos for Christmas with my grandfather and my dad's side of the family. My cousin has a little girl named Brooklyn and she is 2.5. She and Addie were finally able to play together this year and had a great time! Addie also enjoyed helping Papa open his presents.

Grady enjoyed carrying around Brooklyn's hello kitty bag and a truck...

The next day, we went to Sea World! We had a great time!!!! The weather was perfect and Addie is at the best age..she loved every minute of it! Her favorite show was a toss up between Shamu and Sesame Street. Grady loved both of those as well and although his attention span is not very long...he did great! Addie was also tall enough to ride the Shamu roller coaster. She rode it twice and was so proud and excited!

The smile is for this....

Addie loved the "snow" at the Sesame Street show.

The best we could get...Grady does not stand still.....EVER!

We spent an evening helping Buck and Nana decorate their Christmas tree.

School Christmas party

2010-12-15T11:57:00.000-08:00

Addie had her Christmas program at school today. She did a great job and looked so cute on stage! After the program, we went back to her class for her party. Grady was so cute and insisted on sitting next to Addie at her table!

Addie with her friends, Emma and Sara

Addie and her teacher, Ms. Bre

Here is a video from this morning. Our video camera will not charge, so this is from an iphone.

Watching video from Santa

2010-12-14T13:23:00.000-08:00

Addie watched her email video from Santa this afternoon. It was so cute to watch...she got so embarrassed every time he showed a picture of her or said her name! Thought I would share...

Pictures

2010-12-13T12:01:00.000-08:00

It is impossible to get a picture of Addie and Grady together. If she is smiling, he is escaping. If he is smiling, she is looking other way. I have just about given up!!! Here are a few of my attempts.

My pretty girl (thanks Baboo for the pants!!)

Cookies

2010-12-13T11:53:00.000-08:00

Addie and I made cookies for her ballet class today. Addie was a great helper and is so excited to share them with all of her friends!!!!

Oh Grady

2010-12-07T13:20:00.000-08:00

In the two years that Addie wore diapers, I never experienced this....

I now know why some people use duct tape at nap time. Yes he is laying in urine...nice!

Update

2010-11-30T19:12:00.000-08:00

I can not believe that it is the end of November already! Christmas is right around the corner and Addie is already singing Christmas songs. She is going to have so much fun this Christmas! She has already written her letter to Santa and is excited about starting her advent calendar tomorrow! She LOVES gymnastics and ballet and practices often during the day. She is doing great in school and has 3 best friends in her class. She really seems so big all of the sudden. Her vocabulary is growing so much and some of the cute little things she used to say are corrected now. She used to ask for HEB coucons and recently she started saying coupons. She no longer says she is bizzy after twirling...now she is dizzy. Yesterday, she gave Bryan and picture she drew and told him to take it to work with him so that he could remember that she loves him :) When playing ring around the rosies, she used to say pashes, pashes, we all fall down. Today she said ashes. There is a little song that they sing on The Backyardigans and it goes, mornings, evenings and afternoons. She sings, "mornings, anythings and afternoons." She knows several songs on the radio word for word and knows the name of at least 10 songs. She loves Taylor Swift and Sugarland! She loves Bryan more than anything in the world and although it is sad for me that she drops me like a hot potato whenever he walks into the room, I am thankful that she has a daddy that loves her more than anything as well. She is still extremely sassy and is also polite at the same time. She "helped" me recently at a vendor show at the country club and two separate vendors told me how well behaved and polite Addie was. We are so proud of her and thankful that she is in our lives!

Grady is 15 months old and a wild man. He is in to EVERYTHING and has already started throwing himself to the ground when things don't go his way! He is saying a lot more words and it is so cute to see him start to really understand us. His recent words are backpack, cracker, pretzel, up, nana and thank you. He walks around in the mornings looking for Addie and yelling Addddiiieee...really sweet to see how much he loves to be around her. He copies everything she does..if she puts on a necklace, he wants one too. She is wearing a little Hello Kitty watch these days and he insists on wearing one as well. He runs into the bathroom yelling bath when it is time to take a bath. He loves brushing his teeth, spitting and then getting his toothbrush wet. He tries to do it himself and gets furious if you try to help him. He is climbing on everything from tables to beds and I caught him trying to stand on windowsill that is two feet off the ground yesterday. He falls and cries for a minute and then is right back at it again. He knows when he is not supposed to do something and still does it...laughing the whole time. He loves to take the lids to addie's lipgloss and take it off and on. However, we always tell him not to put it in his mouth. He will walk up to me giggling and take the lid off and put it right into his mouth. He is so naughty but he is so cute that it is hard to get mad at him! He is a picky eater and still not too into meat. He has 10 teeth now now and is working on 4 more. He still naps at 10 and 2 and goes to bed between 7 and 7:30 at night. He is close to dropping one of his naps and that will give us a little more freedom during the day! He still loves going to the gym but cries when we get close to the church nursery. He loves being outside and would be happy if we were out there all day long. As Addie would say, "he is such a handsome little man," and his giggle and little fang smile keep him out of a lot of trouble. Addie said today, "Grady really wears me out!" I completely agree but wouldn't have it any other way!

Grady is always going up to Addie and hugging her. It makes her so happy..and us too!

Grady and his climbing...

Grady showing off his watch

Hondo corn maze

2010-11-20T20:31:00.000-08:00

We stopped at the Hondo corn maze after a weekend in SA and we had so much fun. They had a great barrel train that both Addie and Grady loved...me not so much! They had a huge jumping pillow that Addie LOVED! We pet and fed baby goats and slid down a really fun "straw" slide. Addie experienced her first porta potty and was not impressed. She could not understand why we could not flush the nastiness before she used it. Of course Grady was right there trying to get his hands in the potty...fun times.

After MUCH thought, Addie decided she could ride in the barrel by herself. Grady and I were right behind her.

Handsome Grady

Grady watching Addie on the jumping pillow...wishing he could join her. I witnessed so much bad parenting around this pillow and could not risk Grady getting trampled to death....so he was stuck with me.

Addie on the slide...

Grady and I enjoyed the slide many times as well but did not have anyone to take our picture :(

A trip to SA is not complete without popcorn from Target. We stopped on our way out of town just to pick some up! As soon as we walked into the store Grady started saying, pacorrrr...pacorrrr

Video update

2010-11-20T20:05:00.000-08:00

Grady is a wild man and he loves his independence. It is so funny to watch him after being so used to Addie. Addie has always been pretty dependent on us and Grady is not at all! We went to the park a couple of weeks ago and I slid down the slide with Grady once and then he was done with me! (Addie was scared of this slide for the first 2+ years of her life)

Grady is excellent at sensing when the bathroom door has been left open and he quietly makes a run for it. He has been found splashing in the toilet, can unroll the toilet paper faster than I would think is possible and is now fascinated with the stool. He loves dipping his toothbrush in water and especially loves drinking from Addie's cup.

We have been practicing Addie's songs for her school Christmas program and it is too cute not to share. (Grady was sick and we stayed in pajamas most of the day!)

Addie loves ballet and I think they must be learning a dance to "Santa Claus is Coming to Town." She asked me to record her ballet dance and repeatedly asked me if I would send it to Ms. Georgia...I'm sure she would be so proud :)

Halloween

2010-11-02T08:20:00.000-07:00

We had a great Halloween weekend! We went to the last highschool home football game Friday night. Addie was able to go down and "cheer" with the little cheerleaders and that made her entire night! Saturday night, we took Addie to the "Monster Mash." We saw a lot of her friends, played games and slid down a hay slide several times! On Sunday, we went to a fall festival at church and they had wonderful activities for Addie! She rode a pony and was so proud to get a bean bag through the hole in a bean bag toss! Poor Grady was stuck in the stroller but was happy with a lolipop. That evening we went to the Hyslop's house and met up with TONS of other kids to go trick or treating.

Addie LOVES Mellie and was so happy that Mellie walked with her from house to house. Mellie is so cute and sweet and Addie loves that she is always so glittery!

Handsome Grady man before church on Sunday

Grady...Mr. Pumpkin

Pumpkin and Pumpkin Princess

We were successful in getting a picture of Grady in his pumpkin hat

Addie FINALLY agreed to get her face painted! She chose an orange and green butterfly.

Addie and Daddy fishing for candy

Addie and her friend Emma

Grady rode in this truck all night long! Sweet Emma drove him around for over an hour until the batteries ran out!

Grady giving Jax a ride

14 months

2010-10-17T12:23:00.000-07:00

This past week, Grady turned 14 months old. There have been a lot of changes in the past month! He has started walking a lot more. He definitely walks as much as he crawls now...I am sure it is just a matter of days before he is a walker! He has worn shoes a couple of times but he is not sure whether he likes them or not. He loves to have me put them on...he takes them off...and then wants them on again. We play this game over and over! He LOVES books. He has a few favorites...

* "Moo, Baa, La La La" (also one of Addie's favorites at this age)
* "That's not my Dinosaur"
* "Snuggle Puppy"

His favorite is an animal book. He brings us this book over and over and will sit there forever as long as you are reading to him. If Bryan is home, he will not let me read to him...only Daddy. He carries the book over to him saying Dada dada dada...so cute! He loves to say the animal sounds. As of now he knows the following animal sounds...cow (booo), horse (aaaa), sheep (baaaa), cat (mow mow), duck, rooster, elephant, monkey. He makes the cutest fish face to show what a fish does.

He loves having his teeth and his hair brushed. Bryan thinks he needs his hair cut...I can not get rid of his curls yet...you only get one first haircut! He throws fits when something doesn't go his way, when Addie tries to boss him, when she rips something out of his hands. He pinches and bites me when he is mad or wants is pacifier. He calls it "see" and throws them out of his crib when he wakes up in the morning. When I go get him, he goes right to where he threw it and says, "uh oh." He recently had a double ear infection and the poor guy was miserable. He still only has 8 teeth...not sure when those molars are going to come in. He has turned into a picky eater. His favorites are peanut butter sandwiches, bean and cheese tacos, grilled cheese, hot dogs, McDonalds or Chick fil a nuggets and fruit. He will not really eat sandwich meat or any other kind of meat...it is very strange! He loves nutri grain bars and waffles for breakfast. He loves ice cream and can down a shake in remarkable time! He loves to be outside. You could push him for hours on his tricycle and he would still cry when you took him off. He loves going for walks in the stroller and he and Addie love walking her to school on Thursdays! One of his favorite activities is getting into Addie's things. He will get into whatever she is doing and destroy it...and then she screams and I turn into a referee. He eats crayons and rocks and always looks dirty! I told my mom the other day that I am glad that I had a girl first so that people do not think that I just have dirty children! He loves to dance and anytime music comes on, he bounces up and down. He is a rough little guy and is always getting hurt. Last week, he fell in the bathtub and bit through his tongue and busted his chin. He cried for a bit and then wanted right back into the bath. He is still very friendly and will tell anyone hi and blow kisses but he has gotten a little unsure about other people holding him. He is good with family and Ms. Rachel at the gym but that is about it...however, he is not NEARLY as bad as Addie was at this age! He is wearing size 4 diapers, his clothes are 12-18 months and when we had his ears checked last week, he weighed 22 lbs, 10 oz. He is such a happy guy and we could not love him more!!!

This is Grady's panic face because Addie is getting a little too close to him....

Singing in Church

2010-10-17T12:16:00.000-07:00

The Day School sang at the Methodist church this morning. They were so cute and Addie surprised us and sang today!!!!! Last year, she did not open her mouth once! We are so proud of her!!!!

Weekend pictures

2010-10-11T18:47:00.000-07:00

We had a family wedding this weekend and got a couple cute pictures!

Thursday

2010-10-07T08:16:00.000-07:00

While walking to school today, I looked down and saw this....

and it made me smile!!!

Firetruck Visit

2010-10-06T19:27:00.000-07:00

A family friend of my dad's is a fireman in Beford and while we were visiting, they paid us a visit! Addie was excited to see the firetruck pull up at the house but it faded quickly when the firemen actually got out of the truck! In true Addie form, she refused to talk and I had to force her sit in the firetruck....look at the firetruck...or act somewhat interested. She did smile a bit when we sat in the driver's seat and gave out high fives when they were leaving. That evening, she gave Aiden a play by play so I know she enjoyed it...sometimes the attitude just gets the best of her! Poor Grady slept through the entire thing. I think he would have really enjoyed it!

Pumpkins

2010-10-06T19:15:00.000-07:00

Addie, Grady and I drove to Dallas last week! We had a wonderful time with Poppy and Mimi and then spent a few days with Chuck and Mavis and the girls. One morning we went to the Dallas Arboretum and they had a ridiculous pumpkin display..thousands and thousands of pumpkins...houses made of pumpkins....it was really neat! I have never seen so many pumpkins in my life! Addie loved it...Grady was not so sure! I did manage to get a couple of pictures. Thanks Poppy and Mimi for a great day!

9.23.10

2010-09-23T11:50:00.000-07:00

Family Pictures

2010-09-21T18:21:00.000-07:00

We had pictures taken a couple of weeks ago. I needed Addie's 3 year and Grady's 1 year pictures. Vanessa did a great job and here are a few (of the over 100) that we have!!

13 months old

2010-09-16T19:05:00.000-07:00

Grady man is 13 months old now! He is a crazy guy and continues to get into everything. He takes steps here and there and has walked across a room a couple of times. He has finally started saying a few words! He says mama, dada, hi, Addie, whoa, uh oh, and the last time we were in SA, he started saying Baboo...very exaggerated...it is more like Baa booooooo. He blows kisses but usually does so from his ear?? He knows where his nose and belly button are. He is very attached to his pacifier and blanket and if you ask him to go find them, he will. He loves to get Addie's books and tear pages out. He throws fits when he doesn't get his way. His feelings don't seem to get hurt as much anymore...he just gets mad and yells. He loves to play in Addie's closet. He tries to put her shoes on and will play in there forever (until she kicks him out). He cried the first week when we left Addie at school...he looks around for her everywhere while she is gone. He has finally gotten used to going to the gym without her and does really well!

He weighs 22 pounds and is 30 1/4 inches long. He is in the 50th percentile across the board. He is not as great of an eater as he used to be. He loves fruit, cheese, waffles, nutrigrain bars and smoothies. He does not care for meat and pasta as much as he used to. Grady, we love you so much and every day with you is an adventure!

Talking to Grady

2010-09-16T18:42:00.000-07:00

Grady and I were waiting in the car while Bryan took Addie in to see the new house and he was not happy. He does not like it when she gets to go somewhere without him!

Grady walking...this does not happen often! He is still a crawler!

Back to School

2010-09-01T13:17:00.000-07:00

Addie went back to school yesterday. It was such a sad day for me. We have spent every minute together this summer and have had such a wonderful time. She is at the age where she is either the most fun little girl to be around OR she has two horns on top of her head. Either way, she is my best pal and I am a little lost without her around! On the other hand, she was so excited to go back to school and did not shed one tear! We were so proud of her and Bryan was giggling at me because I was a disaster! When I picked her up, she told me that she could not wait to go back to school tomorrow! It makes us so happy that she loves school and is comfortable there with her teachers. There are 15 3.5 year olds in her class and two teachers...they must be saints!!! We took a few pictures before school and she put on a show.

They have to wear closed toe shoes to school every day and this year I decided to let her pick out her own shoes. In true Addie fashion, she picked out the most outrageous skechers that I have ever seen. When she walks, they light up everywhere. I had visions of her choosing cute mary janes....I guess it is never too early for the battle to begin! Here she is trying to get her shoes to light up!

Addie's pictures

2010-09-01T12:50:00.000-07:00

Addie loves to take pictures with my camera. Here are some of her latest!

Grady never smiles for me like this!

Then of course we needed some of Addie doing her cheerleader poses....

Rams Football Game

2010-09-01T12:45:00.000-07:00

We took Addie to the highschool football game last weekend. She was so excited to get to stay up late and go somewhere with us when it was dark outside! Her favorite thing had to be the cheerleaders. We have a friend who is a varsity cheerleader and Addie loved watching her! Morgan told Addie to come down to the field when the Rams scored a touchdown and she would give her a football. Addie was so excited and thought she was pretty hot stuff when Morgan handed her the football! It was so cute! She danced to the band and loved the mascot and did "cheers" like Morgan. We had a great time...although we paid for it the next day!