Grant @ 10 months

10 months has really shown us Grant's budding personality.  In fact he's become quite a Wildman!  He grunts when he eats, and eats everything in sight, laughs when he passes gas, SCREAMS just for fun, has no fear, is tough as nails and you better pay attention cause he may just bite you!  His favorite mischievous places include the toilet, Travis's water bowl, any shoes left unattended, the washer, mommy's makeup bag or purse, the roomba, electrical sockets (which he can pluck out the covers with his little fingers), and doorstops (which he loves to take the little rubber caps off the end and pop in his mouth. I'm convinced he may have actually swallowed one!) 

 On to more normal milestones. He's learned to clap, points to pictures in books, loves to make us laugh,  says Dada when he's happy, Mama when he's upset (we need to work on switching that around a little!) and imitates lots of sounds from phrases that I repeat throughout the day.  He gives the best slobbery attack kisses ever that leave your face dripping but they are so sweet. 

 He's a mess but I'm so thankful for all the craziness he brings to our lives.  I wouldn't trade it for anything and I find him completely irresistible!

All that to say these pictures were a challenge this month. I managed to get a few good ones but I won't disclose how long it took.  

I'd give him a prop and he'd chew on it...

 and then take off with it.

 I finally gave up on chasing him and decided the best way to get a picture was to strap him in his high chair.   He was a little perturbed that I put him in there with no intentions of feeding him.

 So I got him a snack.

Then he gave me a few smiles!

First Family Vacation plus a wedding too! (warning: way too many pictures...)

We've never done a vacation before that wasn't either work related for Jon or with extended family.   Every year I've wanted to go to the beach before the peak season of crowds and unbearable heat.  We thought this would be a good year to give it a shot before our life goes to a school schedule (hard to believe thats right around the corner)!  We were planning on being in Birmingham memorial day weekend for my cousin Kerrie's wedding so we just tacked on a beach trip to the beginning of that. It was a great way to kick off the summer!

Can you tell Wes had fun?  I really should have limited his PBS time before our trip because I'm pretty sure he was screaming that he saw a "Sea Urchin"!

Obviously, We had some wardrobe issues that first day!

We went to get icecream one night so of course I had to take some (ok lots) pictures.  Moments are rare where everyone is relatively clean, dressed and happy!

"OK mom thats enough"

Hard day at the office!

Poor Sleepy Baby.

You have no idea how many tries it took to get a pic with the glasses (halfway) on!

One last picture before leaving

We were sad to see our vacation end but were excited to head to Birmingham for a fun weekend with lots of family and one last BEAUTIFUL Cavender cousin wedding at my Aunt and Uncles House!

Hard to top this for a wedding spot!  

Best way to get everyone to sit still for a picture: Sonic Happy Hour! 

Silly Kiddos!

Just not sure if any of the kids had fun at all??

Congrats to  Kerrie and Jon!! We love you guys!

Wes turns 4!

Last month Wes turned four.  I can't believe it, really where does the time go?

He loves to learn and go to school.  He's learning to read and recognize words.  He's trying to sound them out, he knows all his numbers and is learning to tell time, he can write his name as well as the rest of the family's name.  He loves to draw (doesn't get that from me for sure!), play sports, ride his bike, swim, and help us around the house.

He's got the sweetest laugh, irresistible dimples, and is always being silly.

He's opinionated, always right, always has to win and has an endless amount of energy.   He tells me he never gets tired and always starts his day around 6:00am!  We're pretty sure he's going to rule the world someday.  Or at least we hope we can channel all that into something productive and or successful!  When we ask him what he wants to be when he grows up he usually says a football player, not sure how thats gonna work out cause cause we're still working on catching.  The other night he was playing in the yard and Jon threw him the ball and he caught it.  He was so excited and he kept saying "it didn't even hit me in the face this time!!"  Bless him...

Wes is such a sweetest best big brother and I know the last 8 months have been a hard adjustment for him but I'm so thankful that he's so sweet to his little brother and can actually be very helpful at times

Four is such a sweet age filled with so many conversations that melt your heart and we're looking forward to the next year and all the memories it will bring!

We celebrated his birthday with a morning with daddy at the driving range with a new set of clubs followed by a day at the zoo with one of his friends.  He had a great time!

Grant @ 7 months

So I needed to hurry and get some 7 month update before he turned 8 months which is actually today (I have a few hours to spare)!  Grant had a scary episode that most of you know about where he ended up in the hospital.  Someday I may say more about it but right now I just haven't got around to it and honestly its nice to sometimes just not think about it.  Anyways, that has set us back around here lately to say the least but we're finally getting settled back into a normal routine.

 7 months was a big month for Grant because he started crawling and is getting close to pulling up.  He's loving life and is such a happy, content little guy and we are enjoying seeing his personality come out.  I can tell he's going to a handful also.  He's very curious, has no fear, his hands are always moving and reaching for something and hardly ever cries when he gets hurt.  I see lots of stitches in his future!

Other big news is he's trying to talk:  All day long I say "Mama" whenever I pick him up and he'll look at me and say "DADADADADA"  Kind of a bummer for the one who carried him for 9 months but still sweet, he's trying at least!

He's still waking up at night.   Some nights only at 4:00am others at 10, 12 1, 2, 4, 6, you get the picture..... We've blamed a cold, we've blamed teeth (which he now has three on the bottom), we've feed him more, we've blamed him being sick and losing some weight, we've tried some tough love.  I'm sure we'll get there someday, hopefully!  Meanwhile I'll push through with lots of coffee and concealer to hide dark circles.

I've been working out to get stronger!

Why are you not holding me????

Fine, then I'll just come to you!