Bubbles

The Hubs has been suggesting that we take some pictures of Grayson with bubbles for the last couple of weeks because his reaction is so dang funny.  These pics do not disappoint!

Oh, and this video??  You will play it about a million times.  You're welcome, family! ;)
Update: I think it works now.

Gray's first cupcake

 After Grayson's one year check-up, we took him to Crave to pick up his first cupcake.  We went with a classic flavor combo - vanilla cupcake with chocolate frosting. 

 Our sweet boy's face was a little flushed from the 5 shots that he had just received and the crying that ensued from said shots.  By the time we go to Crave though, he was in a much better mood.  Daddy had to go back to the lab, so we decided to save our cupcakes until after dinner.  (And spare Crave the mess of a one year old eating a cupcake!)

 We decided that we'd just start out with 1/4 of the cupcake to see how he did before offering him anymore.  It was also bedtime, and I wasn't too keen on the sugar high right before bed. 

He was not.interested.  Didn't poke at it, didn't want to open his mouth, and didn't want to try it.  I finally smeared a little icing on his lips, hoping that he would come around.

 We decided to let P have a go at it.  He took some of the cake part and shoved it in Gray's mouth.

 He finally started playing with the frosting...

 And then smeared it all over the side of the high chair and tray.  

 Not impressed.

We weren't able to get much of the cupcake in his mouth, but we decided that it was just too late to be trying.  We figured that since it was about bedtime and he had gotten so many shots, he was probably just exhausted.  Surely he would enjoy his smash cake at his party more...right?!...

Playing outside

Since we live in Houston, Grayson has not had much exposure to the great outdoors in the last few months due to the heat.  Any time that we go outside, we can tell that he really enjoys being out, but we have not really played with him outside.  He has some playtime outside at school, and now that it is cooling off, they go to the playground more often.  A few weeks ago, The Hubs was working on a Sunday, so Grayson and I were left to find something to keep ourselves busy.  I thought about buying a baby pool, and even ended up finding one half off, but when we got home, I realized I didn't want to blow it up and decided to save it for next year.  The next best thing I could think of was to fill some big bowls with water and let Gray splash around.

 

 
Grayson had a good time splashing in the water and playing with his rubber ducky.

He started getting more interested in the leaves on the ground and then crawled into the grass a little.  Our mini splash day ended once he made the dirt into mud and had a very dirty onesie.  I decided, however, that his splash time didn't have to end.  I put him in the big tub for the first time at our house (he had big tub baths at Mimi and Grandaddy's while we were in India), and he has only bathed in the big tub ever since. 

He loves to splash around in the tub and stand in front of the faucet and jiggle the piece that turns on the shower head.  Bath time has become even more fun for Grayson, and I usually plan on it taking a bit longer than it used to.  I am totally fine with this since he enjoys it so much!!

Pure Joy

Grandaddy took us out to dinner last night (he is in town all week for business), and Grayson was so cute throughout the meal.  I got my phone out to take his picture because he had his arm on the table and was resting his head on it (SO cute), but of course he moved before I could snap the picture.  He seems to be understanding that the camera is something to smile at, so he made a super cheese ball face at the camera.  He is just the light of our lives!

In the past, Grayson was interested in being near Jackson and getting kisses from Jackson, but we wouldn't let him get too close because he would get excited and start hitting Jackson.  Lately though, he reaches out really gently and tries to pet Jack.  It is so sweet!  Unfortunately for him, Jack still expects to get hit, so he doesn't stick around too long when Gray starts extending his arm.

 This week Grayson has started to move around like this because he will try standing up from that position.  It is so funny to watch him crawl around with his booty in the air.  Fun story:  My dad got in town Monday evening, and I was telling him that Gray's buddy at school has started walking.  As I was talking about that, Gray deliberately stood up and took one step!  We then tried for about an hour to recreate the whole thing, but G wouldn't have anything to do with it.  Oh well, we saw his first step!  Now we just wait until he feels like doing it again.

 Grayson on his 11th "monthday"  After his first step - because why would he walk anymore after I got the camera out?! 

This is the "I'm not doing anything wrong!" smile.  This is most usually seen when we call his name if he is going for Jackson's bowls or toward the bar - which is the case in this picture.  Silly boy :)

Relaxation in the ATX

We've been pretty busy for the past month and felt like a mini get-a-way was in order.  We met my parents in Austin and stayed with some family there.  We love going to Austin, and we always come home feeling relaxed and  refreshed.  This trip was no different.  We went wine tasting Saturday morning and Grayson got more time to hang out with one of his birthday buddies!

Grayson was so interested in having another kid around and just kept staring at him, it was super cute.  The wine here was not great, but we like to go there anyways because it is so pretty.  It provided a good photo op for the whole crew. 

We went to another winery and had a picnic lunch that my mom's cousin provided for us with cheese, crackers, and sausage.  After that, we drove over to the town of Wimberly and walked around the cute little shops for a bit.  When we were tired of the heat, we headed back to the house for some pool time.

 Grayson's first pool experience went really well.  I was afraid that since the water was a little cold for me, that he would be pretty fussy.  This was not the case at all!   He seemed to have a good time, and started splashing by the end. 

That night, we had a fantastic dinner where we got to sit out on the porch over looking a little stream.  The weather was perfect and my fancy mac and cheese was delish.  We took it easy for the rest of the night.  On Sunday, we went to the Oasis on Lake Travis and ate at the bar-b-que place out there.  We sat on the patio here, too.  We could not have asked for better weather this weekend! 

Easter Weekend

We had a great Easter weekend in Dallas.  We were able to leave Houston on Thursday afternoon, so we had plenty of time to relax while we were away.  My mom treated me to a pedicure on Friday morning, and it was absolutely lovely.  I got a milk and honey pedicure, where they actually pour milk in the spa water and honey on your legs!  An hour long pedicure was a fabulous way to start of the weekend! Thanks mom!

My first instagram pic

We had to visit 5 different stores that afternoon before we were able to find a suit for Gray to wear Easter Sunday.  That evening, my parents had my in-laws and some of our friends over for dinner/wine/socializing (read: baby time) and we had a great time.  The next morning we went to breakfast with my parents and my sister-in-law and then The Hubs left for the second Rangers game of the season and we went to get Gray's second hair cut and visit the Easter Bunny. 

Side note: I just found picmonkey.com for photo editing- its fun! and free!

 

We did a little more shopping that afternoon, then we let Grayson take a nap while we planned Easter lunch and prepared some of the food.  That night we went to Rosa's (oh, how I love thee!) for dinner with my in-laws and then headed home for the night.  We went to church the next morning and then took some pictures of Grayson with an Easter basket.  The basket just had some of the grass and empty plastic eggs in it since he can't have candy this year.  It turned out to be the perfect thing for him since he was just interested in playing with the grass anyways.

 We went to my in-law's house for lunch after the photo shoot.  It was a fantastic meal, and we made sure to get pictures of Grayson with all of his family members who were present. I think these came out great!

Our little family

G and Aunt P

Gray, Mimi, & Grandaddy

Grayson, Grandma, & Grandpa

Oh, here is a little video of Grayson with his Easter basket!

Embrace the camera: April 5

Getting settled into this new house is taking a lot longer than I had anticipated (boxes and clothes EVERYWHERE), but Grayson still continues to grow and do new things anyways.  Last night when I was bathing Gray, I decided to take out the little insert from his tub and try out a bath with him just sitting up.  The Hubs grabbed the camera and took advantage of the photo opp!

G's first bath sitting up on his own-4.4.12

 We have put his bathtub in our shower for now, but he has his own bathroom with a bathtub/shower.  I can't decide which spot will make bath time easier on my back.  Unfortunately, his bathtub has the shower doors that slide across instead of a shower curtain, so that makes less space available for me to use while bathing him.

Splish Splash

Cutie Baby!

Linking Up!