15 Month Check Up

Grayson had his 15 month check up today. Everything is looking good. He weighs 27 lbs., 3 oz. (75th-90th percentile) and is 32.75 in. tall (>90th percentile). He's still a big boy and taller than he is heavy. He is saying between 3 and 5 words, which isn't very many. However, he understands almost all of what you say so Dr. Amy is not concerned. He's not walking on a regular basis but has taken steps & pulls up and walks around everything so, again, Dr. Amy is not concerned.

* Let me just take a moment here & say I LOVE Dr. Amy. She is the laid back to my uptightness & it makes for a great doctor/patient relationship. She puts up with me calling at least once a week & always knows when to say "Don't worry" or "Come on in." Just saying.

I thought Grayson had 8 teeth, but Dr. Amy was able to see a molar coming in that Grayson would not let me see. Dr. Amy has a stick to put down your throat so Grayson was a little more compliant in letting her look in his mouth than he is with me. Grayson had 2 shots today & was a trooper. He cried for a few seconds and was totally over it after that. I feel for him though....I hate those things, too. Overall, it was a good visit. And the best news of all.....she said Grayson could keep his paci until he's 2! Since Micah never took one & I rebelled against the advice of the American Pedicatriac Association to take away pacis at 6 months, I wasn't sure how much longer would be reasonable. All I know is Grayson (i.e., mom) is not ready to lose it because he doesn't want to have to (i.e., mom doesn't want to listen to him) cry at bedtime. So, we will deal with that in about 9 months. Hmmm....I have just as much time to prepare to take the paci as I did to give birth to a child in the first place & I'm not sure which is going to be harder :)

Grocery Trip

It's not a lot of food, but I got all of this for $0.54 at Kroger. Score!

Chicken Taco Soup

I've decided to also use this blog to reflect on my attempts to be domestic :) Lately, I have been meal planning for the week. This cuts down on stress at dinner time because I already know what we are having, and it cuts down on costs at the grocery store since I use my meal plan to make my grocery list each week. More on all that later.....

Tonight's dinner is Chicken Taco Soup in the crockpot. This is a super easy meal.....and it's yummy & yields plenty of leftovers. Here's the recipe:

Ingredients:
1 onion, chopped
1 16 oz. can chili beans
1 15 oz. can black beans
1 15 oz. can whole kernel corn, drained
1 8 oz. can tomato sauce
1 12 oz. can or bottle beer
2 10 oz. can diced tomatoes with green chiles, undrained (I substitute one can of Rotel Mexican diced tomatoes with lime juice & cilantro)
1 1.25 oz. package taco seasoning
3 whole skinless, boneless chicken breasts
shredded cheddar cheese (optional)
sour cream (optional)
crushed tortilla chips (optional)

Directions:
Place onion, chili beans, black beans, corn, tomato sauce, beer, and diced tomatoes in a slow cooker. Add taco seasoning & stir to blend. Lay chicken breasts on top of the mixture, pressing down slightly until just covered by the other ingredients. Set slow cooker for low heat, cover, and cook for 5 hours.

Remove chicken breasts from the soup, and allow to cool long enough to be handled. Shred chicken and stir back in to the soup. Continue cooking for 2 hours. Serve with desired toppings.




I often use frozen chicken breasts & cook this on high heat for 3-4 hours, then shred the chicken. Yummy!

Reminiscing

Micah at 15 months.

Grayson at 14.5 months.

It's Snowing!......Again

I can't even keep track of the times it has snowed this winter. For west Tennessee, it's been quite a bit. So far, I've dodged a bullet because Micah hasn't wanted to go out in it. I like the snow, but bundling up to go outside for 15 minutes (because I know he won't last any longer) does not sound appealing to me. Today, Micah decided he did want to go play, and I couldn't say no. So, we took just as long to bundle up as we stayed outside. Micah actually wanted to stay out longer, but Grayson was getting cold since he was just sitting in a wagon. Even if he could walk, I didn't have boots for Grayson. Fifteen minutes and a few pictures later, we were back inside.

Even though I'm tired of the snow, it sure is pretty.

I'll Show You

In response to my earlier post, Grayson decided to show me what he can really do and take 2 steps this afternoon. He was kind enough to wait for his daddy to come home for lunch so that we both could witness this amazing feat. Exciting!

Diary of a 2nd Child

Grayson. What to say. He is my wild child. Case in point. We just finished baby proofing this past weekend because we never had to worry about those kind of things with Micah. Micah has never pulled things out of cabinets with reckless abandon. Never put anything and everything he could find into his mouth. Friends of mine would look at me in shock when they realized I keep markers in a drawer in our coffee table. A drawer that Micah can reach. No, Micah's never done any of those things. Now his brother is making up for it.

Grayson's idea of a good time is to pull every hair product out of my bathroom cabinet, make his way to the dog bowl and eat some dog food, splash in the dog's water bowl while he's at it, break a few of my coasters, pull keys off of our computer, then finish it off by coloring on the kitchen floor with a crayon that he found under the couch. Somewhere in there he may pull every DVD off of the bookshelf, put a couple of Micah's blocks in his mouth, rip up a couple of magazines, pull every book off his bookshelf, every blanket out of his drawer, try to ride the dog like a horse, and try to eat a marker (which result in a green face and green tongue by the way). I promise I watch my children, but this one is quick and I'm not used to having to be quite so vigilant. There is a website called www.shitmykidsruined.com. Grayson will make us famous eventually, I'm sure.

Most of these things have been easy to fix. All cabinets now have locks, the dog bowls are put away except when Grayson is asleep, the coasters are put away, the computer is up high, the crayons are put away (except when a stray one rolls under the couch unbeknownst to mom), the DVDs are on a higher shelf (as is everything else....there is nothing on the bottom 2 shelves of our bookcase), and Micah knows to put caps on markers. I don't really care if he pulls all his books down and gets all his blankets out. They are his. The dog....well, he'll just have to suck it up for a while longer. While all these things drive me crazy, they are also what I love about Grayson. They are what makes him different from his brother. He is fearless, an explorer. I wouldn't have him any other way.

Micah-isms of the Day

#1--Micah: When it's cold, does rain freeze & turn into snow? (Maybe every 3 year old knows that but I was amazed that he sort of got that concept)

#2--Micah: (looking at creamed corn on his plate) I don't like that.

Me: Honey, it's just corn.

Micah: I don't like that corn. I only like corn with a stick.

First Haircut

Today was an emotional day. Grayson got his first haircut! I'd been putting it off but could no longer deny the baby mullet that was starting to take over and the sheepdog locks covering his eyes. I actually did shed a tear because the new hair makes him look so much more like a little boy instead of a baby.

The before picture (He's upset because I took a marker away from him. Notice the green marker stain around his mouth)

The after picture (no more bangs in the eyes and hair is no longer partying in the back)

And for his first haircut, he got an award.

Micah did not get such a nice keepsake for his first haircut since his stylist (i.e., Mom) did not think of something so cute and actually misplacd the locks of hair she cut.

Not to be outdone, Micah got a haircut as well.

The before picture (just to illustrate the sheer volume of hair this child has)

The after picture (don't you love the face)

Who Has the Socks?

Every load of laundry I do of the boys' clothes ends up with at least one sock with no match. Where do they go? I rarely find the matching sock. We have moved out of 2 houses and still not found the match to our mateless socks. A mystery of the universe I suppose.....

Sunny Afternoon

My boys amaze me every day. Just in the little things. Today, the weather was absolutely beautiful. Sunny. Sixty degrees. One of those rare, enjoyable days that hasn't graced us in a while. We ventured out to the park this afternoon to enjoy some Vitamin D. This particular park has a couple of play structures but no swings. We have not been to a park since probably November due to the frigid days we've been having. Last time we went, Grayson pretty much sat in a swing. My first thought was, "This will not be much fun for Grayson." I could not have been more wrong. Even though he's not walking yet, he scooted and crawled all over that playground, climbed up the steps, went down the slides (even the ones that said for ages 5-12)--you name it, he did it. And with no fear & a big smile! Micah even played like he's never played before. He ran, he jumped, he climbed, he slid, he rode. The afternoon just made me realize how we limit our children with our own preconceived notions about what they can or what they should do. When we just let them go, that's when they shine.

Enough TV Already!

I'm going to try to do a better job of using this blog as a journaling opportunity. To keep track of the little things going on in our lives. Right now, that would be TV. Too much of it to be exact. This is a daily battle with Micah. He wants to watch TV. I tell him "No" because he has already watched a couple of shows. Bring on the meltdown. So, the other night it came to me in a dream (not really but it seems more dramatic). Make a visual aid to show Micah how much TV he is allowed in a day.

I put this together this afternoon. I'm going to take it to have it laminated later so it will be reusable. Each TV represents a 30 minute (or less) show. Each time Micah watches a TV show, he will cross off a TV with a dry erase marker. If he chooses to watch a movie, he will cross off 3 TVs. This way he can see how many shows he has left, & I am sort of putting it in his hands to decide when he wants to watch TV. Once all the TVs have been crossed off, the TV is off for the day. Sounds like a good plan in theory. I'll let you know how it works!

Don't Forget to Brush Your Teeth!

Micah is pretty good about remembering to brush his teeth. For the past couple of months, he has said, "I need to brush my teeth so the cavity bugs don't get them & they'll fall out." Not sure where he got "cavity bugs" from but he started saying it shortly after my parents were here so I think my mom taught him that.....sounds like something she would say :)

And if you're not sure what the cavity bugs will do to your teeth, here's a little preview.....

Santa Claus?

Grayson likes to stick his face in the water in the bathtub. When you have a bubble bath, this is what you get :)

Simplicity

After a long day & a big yawn on my end......

Micah: Mommy, are you tired?

Me: Yes sweetie.

Micah: Then just go to sleep.

Happy Birthday Grayson!

Sorry for the belated post, but it is a busy time of year for us! On November 20th, Grayson turned one year old! I can't even believe it. This year has flown by in some ways and dragged by in others. It's amazing to look at where we were a year ago and how much has changed in a relatively short amount of time. A year ago, I was excited and overwhelmed at the birth of our new son. Finally, a year later, I feel like we have adjusted and obtained some sense of "normalcy" again--which is a relative term when you are a parent. Grayson has definitely kept us on our toes over the last year. He is an amazing boy, full of mischief & lots of love.

For his birthday, we kept things simple. We had one other couple over for dinner & a little "party." Had our family been closer, we probably would have done a family party, but they participated as we waited until his birthday to let Grayson open the gifts they had sent. He enjoyed opening presents but was not very happy to put one toy aside in order to open the next one. He especially enjoyed eating cupcakes!!! Thank you to all who made Grayson's first year the wonderful year it was. To Grayson, Micah may have made me a mother first but you made me a more blessed (and efficient) mother & made me realize just how much love I have in my heart. I thought it was full until you came along. I hope you always know how much we love you! Here's hoping year two is even better than the first!!

The birthday boy in his birthday shirt

Hmmm....I'm not sure about this....

I think this is pretty good...

It's even better in my hair....

See....I told you!

Just wait to see what I can destroy with a baseball bat!

What are you doing to me?????

The clean up

Happy Halloween

This was Grayson's first Halloween & Micah's fourth! Micah actually had a request for his Halloween costume so I felt obligated to fulfill it. He asked to be Buddy from PBS's Dinosaur Train. Initially, I thought I would make the costume but found that to be overly ambitious. I couldn't find the costume in stores but was able to find a pretty good deal online. It was a cute costume but the head was very top heavy & hard for him to hold up. He enjoyed telling everyone who he was, & we enjoyed seeing him so happy.

I had initially wanted Grayson to be The Very Hungry Catepillar from Eric Carle's book and thought I would make that costume as well. Again, that didn't work out. The costume online was $50 & I couldn't see paying that much for something he would wear once. So, we went back and forth on ideas. I really wanted him to be a vampire with his 2 little fangs. I had a suit but couldn't find a baby cape and bow tie. So, we settled on a pig since he is our sweet little piggy. The costume was size 6-18 months (he wears 18 month clothes) & it BARELY fit. He actually popped some of the snaps between the legs!! But it all worked out.

We did Halloween on Saturday as that when all the towns around here decided Halloween should be done. We went to a friends house and had hotdogs and fun before taking a hay ride & going trick or treating. Both boys enjoyed themselves & were very cute if I do say so myself (and I do :) )!

Too Much TV??

Apparently, we have the TV on too much around here. I try to be conscious of it, but I usually have the news on in the background when I get up in the morning and while I'm fixing breakfast. This morning, the news was on as usual & a commercial came on for a local store that sells flooring. Micah was in the kitchen where he could hear the TV but not see it. I hear music coming from the TV but don't think much of it until I hear Micah singing "Quality you can stand on....Woods Custom Floors!" So, now he has been singing the "Woods Custom Floors" theme song all day long. What a little ham!

And Halloween photos will be posted as soon as find the time to load the pictures to my computer.

As Promised

Here is a picture of the 2 top teeth that Grayson is getting. This was a couple of weeks ago so you can't see them as well as they look now but you get the point.

And this is just to show you the face Grayson now makes any time you pull out the camera. I guess it's a smile....??? He looks a little like a crazed vampire ready to get you!! Hmm....we may have an idea for Halloween :)

Pumpkin Patch

Joe was off work today so we decided to go to a local farm's pumpkin patch to get some pumpkins and to take some pictures with my birthday present---a brand new camera! I've been playing around with it some over the past week and a half. I haven't figured it all out but I already love and hope we'll never have to take the boys to a studio again!! The boys had a lot of fun and we got pictures of some great memories!