Grayson is 2!

No more babies in our house! Two years have gone by in the blink of an eye. Grayson has stayed true to his mellow baby personality. He is still our go with the flow friendly guy.  The big kids didn't want to say hi to Santa until Gray ran up with open arms.  He is our dare-devil and explorer. He has no sense of proximity to mom. He loves to wander and he even went to another campsite by himself this summer. He is beginning to be a picky eater and would eat crackers and cookies exclusively if I let him. He loves any kind of car, truck and airplane. He loves to mimic the whole family. He loves to ask, "is your nose running?" and when we say yes he screams, "you better catch it!" He is definitely done with being bossed around by Katie and Levi. He screams loudly and usually gets Mom to run to his rescue. He likes to scream that way anytime he isn't getting his way to try and get them to give him what he wants. What a blessing this little boy is. He brings such joy to our whole family.

Happy 2nd Birthday!

Making his birthday cake.

 

 It was a challenge getting Katie and Levi to not grab Gray's presents and rip them open for him.

 Thanks Nana and Papa!

 Mommy and Daddy got him toothbrushes for his birthday. He was actually really excited about them.

 Birthday breakfast at Grandma and Grandpa's.

 We shared blowing out candles on cinnamon rolls.

playing dress up

I had my wedding dress out the other day and before I stored it downstairs I let Katie play in it and took some pictures. I had seen the idea on Pinterest and thought it would be fun. Katie loved wearing it, though it was so big she could barely move! I'm glad I got these pics, because she is growing up so fast. Love this beautiful daughter of mine!

 

 

halloween perspective

I loved this blog post about Halloween. Being in a new house we have lots of new neighbors I am excited to be friends with and I loved her ideas of how to be "the house" to go to. I also love Halloween as a holiday and as a chance to be out with our neighbors and our families enjoying life together. Can't wait for trick-or-treating tomorrow night!

http://troublefacemom.com/2012/10/31/on-halloween/

October Snow

We had our first snowfall of the season and the kids were so excited. It was like Christmas morning. They couldn't wait to put on their snow gear and head outside. There was really only a dusting of snow, but they made the most of it. We did all the traditional snow activities, shoveled, snow-angels, snowman, snowball fight. Hopefully we will get a couple more good storms this winter and be able to go sledding and skiing too.

 Could not sit at the table and eat cause they weren't close enough to the snow.

 Throwing snowballs at Mommy. I'd say I was the winner this time.

 The amazing snow man we scraped together from the little bit on our grass.

Fall Party

Our friends the Sharda's hosted a really fun fall party. We went as Darth Vadar, Rosie the Riveter, and the Star Wars crew, Darth Vadar, Princess Leia, and Yoda. Levi was very unhappy to be wearing his costume. Let's hope he gets over it for Halloween tomorrow night!

 Katie got lassoed and the boys came to her rescue.

 The crew of kids minus a few.

 The kids and their jail faces.

 The side line-up.

 Katie wanted to use all the props.

come on in.

So I've had lots of requests to see the house!! It isn't done. I didn't try to take great pics, I didn't even pick it up. Honestly, I don't really care if you see it this way. If you come over it will probably still look this way in a week. We feel so blessed to call this home. And here's the tour.

 

Front of the house. We loved that the builder added some detail to it. Lots of corbels and stone and we think it's pretty.

 

The front entry. I cannot wait to garland up that bannister for Christmas. To the right is the playroom.

 

 The playroom. Already getting well played in. Lots of plans for this little room once we are more settled.

 Great Room. The window on the left is actually a slider that goes out to the patio.

 Danni! I get to watch her a few days a week and we are all loving having a baby around the house.

 The kitchen and dining area. The granite came standard with the house as did the hardwood.

 The patio that leads to the backyard. Lots of building and will be for a while. We hope to get the fence in in September. For now the kids are loving watching all the work being done.

 Another view of the kitchen. I have a pantry!! Also you can barely see the bathroom down the hall to the left. I am ecstatic that when I potty train Gray I won't have to be running upstairs all the time.

 

We have three bedroom plus the master upstairs which has made bedtime so much easier. Levi's room. 

 The Master.

 Another view of the master. It has a little nook area. I am planning on setting up a little morning quiet time area for me. I would love to get a Keurig too:)

 One of the master closets. Yes, I said one. There is another regular closet across the hall from this one.

 Shower.

 Aren't you so glad you can see our toilet. Temporary window treatments!! Lets just say a window in the bathroom is genius!

 Upstairs laundry. Taylor has been shocked by how much laundry is getting done.

 Upstairs loft area. We are using it as our office. Still a mess and definitely on the list of projects needing to be done that I don't feel like doing.

 Gray's Room

 Katie's room.

 Levi and Katie both have walk-in closets.

 Another view of Katie's room. The ribbon un-glued off the a and she still wanted to hang them up.

 Kids bath.

And that's the tour. We also have a 3 car tandem garage. One stall is just double deep. The basement is really big too. Lots of room for boxes we haven't unpacked, all my craft stuff and storage. We really do feel so thankful to be living in this home. It feels like such a great fit for us. We can't wait to make lots of memories here. There are lots of houses for sale in our neighborhood so come live next to us!!