Play Date, Personalities, Progress and Puppy Time

Last Friday Gray and I headed south to D'Ville to spend some time with my sweet friend, Courtney, and her two girls, little Emmas (2 years) and baby Magpies (10 months).  We had a play date with them back in December but had not seen one another since then.  It was so fun to get the kids together and play.  This was the first time I had really seen Gray interact with other young kids/babies, aside from my nephews.  He really seems to love the interaction and could not get enough of them.

I really enjoyed spending time with Courtney, too.  We have been friends since our freshman year in college and I am so lucky to have her in my life!  I'm hoping they can move further north in the future so we can see one another more often.  :)

Tummy time!

Grayson and little Emmas

Grayson going after the older ladies!

Grayson with his dear Aunt Court

I love this lady!

The weather was super nice this weekend so we were able to spend alittle time on the patio and went for a walk on Sunday.  Shane had a seminar on Saturday and his last Sunday PSAT class yesterday so Gray and I found ways to entertain ourselves over the weekend.  This kid has so many facial expressions and different personalities.  His dominant personality is "happy" but the faces he makes seems to change each day.  Check out some of his expressions during a 30 second play session with his "bouncing Tigger" that sings, bounces and shakes his head to music.

Grayson is also making progress and starting to sit up!  We can set him up with the boppy for support and he does fairly well.  He starts to roll to one side and ultimately ends up on his tummy so we can tell he's about to be mobile in no time!

He was watching Sesame Street.  :)

The house has been different since Buckley is no longer with us.  The first few days were really weird.  We miss hearing him bark every time the doorbell rings or an animal pops up on the tv (that dog had a knack for spotting an animal on tv, even if it was only on the screen for a couple of seconds).  Buckley used to escort Shane to the mailbox everyday, too.  He's no longer there to play "hide the nose" in bed before we go to sleep or "protect" us by barking at everyone or anything that passes by our backyard.  I feel like Aspen senses his absence and seems to be looking for Buckley around the house and backyard.  Aspen really has taken a liking to Grayson and I find that when I'm lying on the floor or in our bed, Aspen is usually wanting to join in on our time together. 

Playtime on the floor

New best friends

To close, I have a couple of pictures I took of Grayson in his chair.  When I get bored, I take photos.  :)  I love that I have a subject 24/7 that is willing to give me the best smile with little effort on my part.  These photos may be submitted to a modeling agency.  We'll see....

Summer is approaching quicker than I would like so I am trying to enjoy my last couple of weekends with my baby boy before I found myself working at the pool.  I'm excited for Shane to get some good daddy time in with his little man though!

Buckley

This morning we had to put Buckley down.  :(  It was a really tough decision that Shane had to make, but it was probably for the best.  Buckley was going through kidney failure and we could tell he was not feeling well the last few days.  Shane spent the night with him last night saying his goodbyes, knowing it was possibly his last night with him.  I took him to the vet this morning so they could evaluate him.  I thought it could be the last time I saw him, but didn't want to believe it.  The vet recommended we put him on an IV and antibiotics for a few days but it could only prolong his life for possibly 6 months.  Shane called and made the decision to have him put down so he didn't have to suffer anymore.  We were given the option to bring him home for one more night but I think it would have made it a much more difficult decision to make.

It's so sad to think he is gone and his goofy little face won't be there to greet us when we come home everyday.  I hope Aspen handles his absence well.  They have become the best of friends over the years.

We'll miss you Broccoli!

Texas in the spring...

One of the best reasons to live in Texas is we have the prettiest flowers in the spring time!  They make for some amazing photos.  Of course, the subject of those photos can make any photo great!  :)

Shannon (a.k.a. Aunt Cra Cra) and I took Grayson out to the JCP headquarters today to get some pictures in the bluebonnets and wildflowers.  Shannon works there so we were able to use her i.d. to get us in the gates and around to a pretty secluded area.  It was overcast today which is perfect weather for taking photos, especially for babies who aren't too fond of smiling into the sun.  I'm so excited that we got to take these photos of him!  He looks so good in blue!

  

Gotta love a good outtake.  The basket was pretty deep and he seemed
to disappear in it towards the end of the photo shoot.

Easter

I have always loved Easter.  When I was little, I loved getting dressed up for church in a special dress and going to my grandparents for an Easter egg hunt with my cousins. Looking for the eggs was my favorite form of entertainment so I can't wait for Grayson to get to enjoy it, too.  I bet he'll be ready to join in on the fun next year.

On Saturday we spent the day at my brother's house with my parents and Kristin's mom from Arizona.  We had lunch and hid eggs for the boys in their backyard.  My dad and Kristin's mom took Grayson, Aaron and Andrew for a walk while the rest of us hid the eggs.  We lead a path of eggs from the front yard to the backyard for them to follow.  Aaron is always so shocked each year when we tell him he just missed the Easter bunny.  I tried to get creative this year and take a picture on my camera of some Easter bunny ears just barely in the frame, as if the Easter bunny was too quick for me to snap a photo of him.  It seemed to work, but Aaron was slightly skeptical and felt the ears had a strong resemblance to those of the stuffed bunny Grayson was given by his Aunt Kissy.  :)  Next year we may have to get Uncle Nay Nay (a.k.a. Shane) to throw on a bunny costume!

I had a cute little button up onesie and some khaki pants for Grayson to wear.  He was looking super cute on Saturday!

GQ will be calling soon!

Aaron loves his baby cousin

My new favorite photo of Gray with his daddy!

Momma and her cute little man

First Easter as a family

Mom and her "babies"

We were trying to get a photo of all the cousins but
Andrew was not happy that he didn't get to hold
Grayson.  I thought his pouting was hilarious!

Buckets and gifts from the Easter bunny

Eggs galore

My attempt at tricking Aaron

And their off....

Grayson did have a yellow egg but Aaron snatched it out of his hand.
If you ever wanted to see a protective mother in action, you
should have seen me snap at Aaron when he took the egg
from Gray.  Momma bear had to protect her cub.  :)

Uncle Jay Jay showing Gray how to dance

Grayson and his loot!  The Easter bunny was very generous.

The cute basket I ordered from Etsy (GoodWishesQuilts)

Books, spoons, cars and teethers

Tuckered out after a long day

Part of my Easter gift to the boys were some I-Spy bags that I made (thanks to an idea from Pinterest).  I spent a couple of weeks collecting some little trinkets (buttons, toys, odds and ends from around the house) and made these bags that are filled with the trinkets and pellets.  Then I made some cards for each of the bags with a list and photo of the items so they can search for them.  They were surprisingly easy to make and turned out pretty cute.  Andrew was already playing with his Saturday afternoon while we sat on the patio.

Front view and back view (there is a pocket on the back for the card)

Typed up list of items

Photo list of items

On a completely different tangent, our really good friend, Bobby (a.k.a. Uncle Bobby), was named "East Texas Girls Basketball Coach of the Year"!  Bobby has been a friend of Shane's for some time now and become an honorary member of my family over the years.  He's even joining our family in Galveston this summer!  We couldn't be happier for him!  Here is a link to the article.