Cheese!

Our silly boy

I never promised to be good at this blogging thing!  I do wish I was better, but when I seem to find the time, I choose something else.  Oh well.  So, here's the monthly post.  I wanted to share and remember how straight up silly Graham is right now.  He seriously is the funniest person I know.  I laugh daily, he continues to be a pure joy.  I can't believe I get to be his momma. 

 

He loves sharing...you ask him for a bite, you'll get one.  You ask him for a hug, you'll get one.  You ask him for a kiss, half the time you'll get one!

 We've been playing outside a lot lately and Murphy has gotten used to us being out there.  He still jumps a bit, but overall he and G get along smoothly.  See, Graham just wants Murph to have another bone.  He'll say, "Woof, bone!"

 Oh gosh, was this a morning!  Graham found this hat and his bow tie in a drawer when I was getting him dressed.  He immediately started shouting, "HAAAT, TIIIE," over and over again.  So, I put it on him.  No big deal, right?  Wrong.  It was a HUGE deal when I went to take it off before we went to the store.  So, I decided that it doesn't matter what Graham really wears to the store...and off we went.  A few weird looks, but over all a lot of laughs, giggles, and smiles.  What a ham. 

 Oh, and he LOVES glasses too.  Eyes, as he calls them.  We eat many meals with eyes on, we take many car rides with eyes on, he'd wear them to sleep in if I let him. 

 ICE!  He loves anything cold and sweet.  This ice cream date was a special treat after his 18 month check up.  He knows when we drive by Braum's and will say, "ICE!"  He takes after his momma in this department!

 Super Graham!

 See, sharing again!  We share an apple almost every day after his nap and this particular day LaLa (Elmo) was hungry too. 

 Another "eyes" shot.  This was on our way to church one Sunday morning.  He got those on all by himself, said "COOL," and walked out the door.  Yes, they are upside down...they are most of the time.  He's so cool he doesn't even care.

 We lost these "eyes," and I'm so sad.  He was extra cool in them.  Look at that sweet church hat we had to have.

 No lie.  One night after a long road trip, we were all just watching TV and Graham runs into his play room and comes back like this.  Gosh, I love him.

 Here's the new water table that ReeRee's bought Graham.  It didn't take him long to stick his whole head and face in the water.  He LOVED it and just died laughing at himself.  I mean, if it's hot you do what you gotta do.  And it's HOT in Oklahoma...108 next week!

 Just had to add this little cutie to the mix of silliness.  What a stud going to church. 

 His favorite store here is Atwoods because they have baby chicks.  Again, hat and eyes have to be on.  And I believe he picked out his shirt this day too...he LOVES his basketball shirt. 

I love being this little guy's momma.  He's precious beyond words and can make his momma laugh at the drop of hat....literally.  La la love you, sweet boy.

Easter 2013

We had a blessed Easter this year.  Again, holidays are much more fun with Graham in the picture.  We did a fun activity for some of Graham's little friends.  I found the cutest idea on Pinterest to "Egg" a friend's house.  We hid 12 Easter eggs in their yard, rang the doorbell and ran!  Well, I rang the doorbell and ran!  Here's the catch though, one egg was empty and it was to represent Jesus' empty tomb.  I left a little note on each door explaining that.  So cute, right?  We did it to four friends and it was fun to see/hear their reactions.  We'll make this a new Easter tradition!   Here's G with his dollar bill from one of our favorite ladies at church.  She sends him a dollar for every holiday...we used this dollar to buy his very own milkshake!

 Graham and I in our Easter outfits.  You can't tell me dressing a little boy isn't fun! He LOVED his hat too!

 Sweet Caroline and her parents were here too!  What a pretty girl in her purple! 

 Graham and Pop before church, just talking with the guys.

 Graham and his best friends; Ford, Kooper and Elle.  You should have seen us three moms trying to get them all to smile....it was entertainment for the whole church, I think!

 Graham knew exactly what to do with the eggs! 

 

 Once he got about 3 in his basket though he was more interested in seeing what was inside! 

We had a busy busy Easter Sunday....Clint preached, of course, I taught 2-3 year old Bible class, led the children in our Easter program (which was more than precious), threw out the Easter eggs while Clint was preaching, and then watched my cute little man hunt those eggs.  Oh...and then had 9 people at my house to feed....we ordered in!  And yes, I'm the horrible mom that didn't get a single picture of the 3 Easter baskets Graham opened...oh well.  Maybe next year! 

All things Graham

I haven't had a long monthly update about Graham in some time, so here ya go.  Really, it's just for me, but maybe you can share in my joy?!?!  Graham will be 18 months next week....I'm sorry, WHAT?!?!  Where in the world did my baby go?  He's growing up waaay to fast.  He's definitely in toddler stage and it's incredibly cute.  I smile and laugh everyday by something he does.  He really is the funniest person I know.  Here's what Graham's up to these days...

 He's a great traveler!  In the past few weeks, we've been to Abilene, Amarillo and the DFW area.  Graham usually sleeps the whole way if we plan our trip around nap time...and of course if he has his friends Burt and Ernie to sleep with (pictured above).  It doesn't get much cuter than that.  Speaking of Sesame Street...G LOVES it!  He knows every character by name and gets so excited to see them come across the screen.  It's really the only show that we let him watch right now and he's obsessed!  He calls Elmo LaLa (every parent can sing the Elmo song right...lalalala Elmo's world).  But every other character is spot on, it's precious.

 We started taking him to a weekly gymnastics class for toddlers.  He's the youngest one in the class and usually the only boy.  He loves it though...mainly because he gets to see his BFF, Elle, and they get to run and jump on all sorts of cool toys.  I love that we can work on balance and strength in a fun environment.  And it's good socially too!   Don't tell his daddy I told you, but Clint took gymnastics until he was 6!  Like father like son....

 Graham is so curious these days.  He loves exploring new places and things.  It's fun to watch him experience something new.  Just about a month ago he started having some separation anxiety.  So much so that he would scream when I left the room for nap time.  We tried many things to help him, and eventually led to me rocking him to sleep for naps again.  We're just starting to get out of that routine and he's going to sleep on his own again now.  It never happened at bedtime, just naps.  He still sleeps great through the night, about 8pm to 7:30am.  I'll play all day with him as long as he sleeps at night!

 His vocabulary is exploding!  Everyday he picks up a new word and he's starting to make phrases now too.  It's so cute.  He'll look at me and say, "Dada?"  I'll say, "Where is Dada?"  Then he says, "Dada work."  LOVE it.  He knows the sounds of about 15 animals, but don't ask him to say them to you...he usually only says them to Clint and me.  If I ask him to say them to someone else, he acts shy...awesome...make me look like a fool, Graham!  We're starting to work on colors and letters.  So far, he thinks every letter is an A...it's a start, right?  And every color is blue...hey, at least he knows one color and one letter...we're progressing! 

 He's still obsessed with hats.  He's got about 7 hats that hang in our door way and before we go anywhere he gets to pick out a hat.  He usually picks one of Clint's hats at first, but then knows to pick one of his.  He's got the most precious Easter hat that I'm so excited about...I had to put it away so he didn't choose it everyday and mess it up.  Can't wait to post pics!

 Graham is a GREAT preacher's kid!  We're trying to train him to love Jesus and the Bible.  Here he is in Bible class loving the Bible.  Right when we all sit down to eat (doesn't matter which meal) he'll bow his head really quickly and say AMEN!  He's usually too quick to say AMEN, but I'll take it.  One Sunday night he shouted AMEN after a prayer in our service and everyone laughed...funny boy, that Graham. 

 He LOVES books!  Every night before bed time, Clint reads him 3 books.  Many times he wants more books...how can you say no to that!  This picture was taken during our snow blizzard a few weeks ago.  Clint sat there and read probably 20 books to him....look at their morning bed head hair!

 It's so cute that he's remembering other people now besides me and Clint.  A few weeks ago we kept my neice, Caroline and Graham absolutely loved having her around.  He calls her CaCa.  We have her picture in the hallway and when we go by it he'll say, "CaCa."  Love that he knows her!

 He also loves his BFF, Elle.  We see Elle at least 3 times a week for a walk or play date or park date.  When she's around he'll just shout her name constantly, it's adorable.  They crack each other up too, I love watching them play together and so glad he's got his first friend.  Elle had to leave gymnastics early this week and that whole day Graham would say, "Elle, bye bye." 

 See, the kid LOVES books.  This was one morning when I was blow drying my hair.  He climbed up in that chair by himself and was just looking at that book.  Goodness, I can't get enough of him!

The weather has been so nice lately and he's gotten his fair share of being outside.  He LOVES being outside.  We can't say the word "outside" until we are literally ready to go out.  I can't even tell him to get his shoes on before he's darting out the door (or trying to, we do keep it locked).  He loves balls and will just chase a ball outside all day long. 

 

Here he is looking at our dog, Murphy, through the fence.  He loves touching the leaves, the dirt, the sidewalk...anything.  He's all BOY when he's outside. 

 

Sweet Graham, you bring a JOY to my life that is indescribable.  You are such a gift to your Daddy and me.  Being your momma is the best job in the world...our bank account may be empty (or close to it), but I wouldn't trade my time with you for anything.  You are a true blessing.  Love you, angel face. 

Graham's Valentine...a little late!

Here's G's valentine that he mailed to his friends and gave out at church.  He LOVES my parent's dog, Porter.  And sweet Porter lets him love on him all he wants.  Just in case you can't read the small font, it says, "Hope your Valentine's Day is filled with lots of kisses."  We handed these out with small bags of Hershey Kisses!  Happy Valentine's Day from Graham...just a few days late!

Look what Pop made!

I'd been looking for a new entry way shelf for a few weeks and I came across this on pinterest.  I just e-mailed the picture to my dad and said..."could ya make this?"  I wasn't thinking he actually would...but about a month later I've got my entry way shelf hand made by my dad....and a lot cheaper too!  I think he should start a business...what do you think!

We have a PLAYROOM!

While we were in Amarillo after Christmas, I decided that it was time to make my old ACU office into a playroom for Graham.  I had no clue where we were going to put all his new toys that Santa brought so I used all of my Christmas money to makeover my office.  That's what you do when you're a mom right...spend your Christmas money on something for your kids???  Well, it was WELL worth it.  Graham and I spend so much time in there every day and it's so nice to have our living room back and not full of toys! 

 

Here's the before shot.  I loved my ACU purple wall....but somethings gotta give!

And now, it's Graham's art wall! I had 2 big white canvases that I wasn't using so I just taped them up and painted stripes on them. The other one that you can't see in the picture says "READ."

 Isn't our little super hero cute in his reading chair???

 I can't get over how big he looks on his tractor here...too much for this momma to handle!

 And why not make the easel into a tunnel....good thinking, Graham!

 And of course, Bear and Cookie have fun in the playroom too! 

What a fun space for such a fun little boy!