Christmas, 2005:

Christmas day this year was spent at Grey's Great Grammas house with all Greys cousins. Grey had a great time playing outside, riding Grammas scooter, and just soaking up all the attention. Grey got in a lot of time with family and loved Grammas huge yard. He would have spent every second outside if we would have just let him! For New Years, Greys other cousins came to visit us in Dallas. Grey loves having the attention of Shaelin and Alaina, and the girls love giving their attention to him. Over all I think it was a great holiday season!!

Chaos reigns during present time!

Shaelin opening a gift from Grey.

Blocks for Grey! What more could a boy ask for?

Alaina had fun opening presents!!

Grey getting a blanket ride on his cool quilt Aunt Rebekah made.

Grey riding on Grammas scooter, and yes, he can drive it all by himself!

Grey and Daddy putting together a new puzzle.

Grey and Aunt Stacey reading a new book.

Grey with Uncle Blake and Jay, Jay the Jetplane!

Merry Christmas to you and a Happy New Year!!!

Just a very quick post to say that Grey can now jump from the coffee table to the couch. How 'bout them apples???

This morning has been one of the most chaotic mornings I've ever had. One of my friends and I do a babysitting swap where I watch her son on Mondays and she watches Grey on Thursdays. Well, her son is transitioning into a "big boy" bed and has not slept well the past several days, in fact, he's been up since 3:20 this morning. Then there is Grey who is teething - finally - at 19 months. So, both boys are in a rare mood today. Today has been chaos. Did I already say that??? Anyway, more accomplished mothers may have already figured out what I just now realized, but I'll get back to that parenting tip in a bit. First off, let me explain one thing about myself. I'm kinda anal retentive. All right, probably more than kinda, but I like to think of it as a cute, endearing, idiocracy but, back to the point. I don't much care for a mess. So, as the boys go around and play, I usually go around behind them and pick up. But today, they have caused more than your regular mess. First off, lets start with the curtains. I have some curtains hung in our living room by a spring rod, to avoid more nasty holes in my wall. Today the boys decided it would be fun to wind themselves up in them... While I'm of course cleaning up breakfast. So, by the time I get both boys out of the curtains, it's too late and they have pulled the curtains down. Then, me being me, I had to get the curtains back up. As I'm putting up the curtains, I hear a quiet giggling - never a good sign. I look around and notice that almost all of the lower half of my Christmas tree ornaments are on the floor and they are pulling off more as fast as they can. So, I get the curtain done in an instant and start herding them from the Christmas tree and I start putting the ornaments back on. As I am doing this I hear a door knob turn... Another bad sign. I leave the ornaments and run into the bathroom to find Grey sitting on the toilet seat with his feet dangling in the toilet kicking water everywhere. UGH!!! So, I get Grey out of the toilet, change his clothes, and go back to the ornaments. And it gets quiet. Really, Really quiet. I stop putting the ornaments back on and run into Greys room, where the boys have opened up Greys dresser and have thrown Grey's clothes all over the room. So, by now I'm done with the ornaments and start in on the clothes. I've closed the door and boxed the boys in with me, and feeling smug with myself for finally realizing this little tidbit. Of course, in the mean time, they take apart the bookshelf and the toy box! Now it's time for lunch and (did I mention all this happened before lunch???) nap time is just around the corner. Blessed naptime. The greatest invention since... Well, since ever. So, after the boys eat (with out too many issues) I put them down for a nap. And as I was sitting down to quietly eat my lunch I had an epiphany. I understand proactive parenting, or at least the theory behind it. But I've got to get over the anal-ness that is me and leave the mess and follow the boys! So, there it is... My parenting tip - LEAVE THE MESS... FOLLOW THE BOYS. If this has helped you in any way, I hope so. Otherwise my morning was all for naught. Now, I've got to go have my 2pm Dr Pepper early, because it's just one of those days!

Cowboys vs Chiefs
Sunday was a big day for Billy. He got to watch the Chiefs play!!! We had our best friends - who are die-hard Cowboy fans come over the for big game. They arrived all decked out in their Cowboy gear, while Grey and Billy were all decked out in their Chiefs gear. It was quite the evening and Grey loved the victory dances after touchdowns...