Brock n' Roll...

This is how we roll

2011-10-26T19:59:00.000-04:00

My (Jenny) brother and I have a long standing tradition of doing a "bad ass" picture anytime we are together. Since getting married we have taught our spouses the ways of the wise. Now...we teach our children. Ladies and Gents..I give you Miss Hazel Brock in all her "bad ass" glory.

Also, just because I think my kid is funny - here are some embarassing photo booth shots taken over the last few months on our computer with the last ones being this evening :). Yes, I am talking on the phone in the first one - this was the first photo booth I ever did and wasn't sure really what I was doing. My apologies to whomever I was talking to - I promise I was listening.

A little teaser -

2011-10-16T21:51:00.000-04:00

If this doesn't get you excited for my next photoshoot to post, I don't know WHAT will!

Stay tuned!

Public Service Announcement - Car Seat Safety

2011-10-12T21:00:00.000-04:00

If you can't tell by her facial expression, this is serious stuff, people. Warning, this is not an uplifting post and it's extremely sad but it's important to spread the word and educate people to what can happen if we're not careful with our babes in their car seat. To anyone that has or will ever watch a baby that is still in a car seat - this is important.

A friend of my mom (and a friend of mine) works for an organization called 'Safe Kids Worldwide' - she's no joke. She knows car seat safety better than I know celebrity gossip - and that's saying a lot. In fact, interesting note - she was on the television in the hospital talking about car seat safety while I was giving birth to Grayson. That information was not needed..but I digress. Here's the deal - she is contacted by parents all the time that have had their baby die due to a car seat incident as these parents want to have their stories heard and get the information out there so others can learn from what went wrong. She recently came across a death of a 10 month old baby girl that was TOTALLY PREVENTABLE and I'm using this blog as a vessel to inform my fellow parent friends of what happened so that this doesn't happen again.

Here's the story straight from the mouth of my friend -
A very caring, older mother (she was nearly 40) used a (well researched) babysitter to watch her beloved 10 month old baby girl. She was only leaving the baby with her for about 2 hours and dropped her off in her car seat. The mom never thought to tell the babysitter not to leave her baby in the car seat the whole time and to never leave her alone. Long story short, the babysitter unbuckled the crotch buckle but left the chest clip attached at the baby’s chest. When the baby got fussy, the sitter put the baby in a bedroom and shut the door. She soon quieted. When the sitter went to get her about a half hour later, the baby was deceased in the seat. She had “submarined” down in the seat because the crotch buckle had been left open and the baby got “hung” on the chest clip. She could not pull herself up and reposition. So here is the message: know who is watching your baby at all times (daycare, church nursery, babysitter) and be sure they know how you want your baby’s safety to be handled. Car seats are for the car. They are not babysitters. Children in car seats and swings need to be attended by adults.

For more information about this and other safety tips for kids birth through age 14 go to www.safekids.org.

GOT IT???? GOOOOD. OH and one more thing - if you have a blog or other social media outlet that you could post this story on to spread the word to your community, please do so - the more awareness out there..the safer these sweet babes are!!!

3 Months Old!

2011-10-12T20:42:00.001-04:00

Here are the many faces of schweeeeeeeeeeeeet girl at 3 months old.

and for comparison sake - here is a link to her big brother at 3 months old! CLICK HERE

And yes, she could hide a paci in those cheeks if she really wanted to!

Weddings, Weddings, and more Weddings!

2011-09-18T12:12:00.000-04:00

Two of our favorites - Gray's old nanny, Annmarie and Jenny's best friend and Gray's godmother, Christina got married in back to back weekends in early September and Gray was the ring bearer in BOTH weddings!! He did such a great job in both. In Annmarie's he was pulled down the aisle (outside wedding) in a wagon and only yelled "Help me, daddy...Help me!" a few times and in Christina's, despite a not so successful rehearsal, he walked down the aisle holding my hand (which was okay as I was in the wedding party), very peacefully and went right to his daddy who just HAPPENED to be holding a powdered donut as his special treat :). Unfortunately Kyle and Gray didn't get to see that whole ceremony as Gray was very curious as to "Where dey goin'??" (when the readers got up to read) and then in dead silence he wanted to know, "Where's Hazie Haze???" - and...I proceeded to give Kyle the glance and he and Gray exited stage left. Up top is what Am chose for her wedding and then we had full dressing rights in Christina's wedding so he wore the below sear-sucker suit with a purple argyle tie to match the colors. Oh and yes, Hazie Haze was looking her finest for both events :).

Just as a side note - as I was posting this Gray pulled up a chair next to me and took one look at the top picture and proceeded to announce, "OH, HE'S CUTE, MAMA...HE IS CUTE!!!!" - we struggle with self confidence around here.

Gammy and her youngest gam-daughter.

2011-09-10T09:40:00.000-04:00

See post below for one of grandma and her grandkids!! There are more to post..they are coming!!!

A grandma and her babes (& 2 months of living)

2011-09-09T20:00:00.000-04:00

I get it - I'm so backloaded on blogs that it seems impossible to catch up. So, with that in mind I give you this - Grandma Brock and all her grandbabes. Can't get much cuter than this, folks.

Oh and here's our littlest babe showing off her 2 months of living. I will also post a 1 month because I just realized I never did that. OH and for the record, her 1 month has no proof it's her one month but just trust me - this was schweetz at 1 month.

2 months:

52 pounds in 52 weeks

2011-07-24T22:01:00.000-04:00

To all my closest friends -

Hazel here. That's right, guest appearance from yours truly. I just felt so tired that all this talk was going on about me and I really, so far, have had no say. Well, folks - that all ends tonight. First, I want to thank all the folks that sent me cards for my 3 week birthday this past Thursday. You guys don't need to do that EVERY week of my life but I sure have appreciated the elaborate gifts and money that has been sent my way in honor of aging. Seriously though, can you believe I'm THREE weeks old? That means the next Thursday that comes I will be able to tell people my age in MONTHS and no longer in weeks - unreal. The bad news about my 1 month birthday is that if I read the blog correctly, it's about a month in which I go really pale, my hair falls out and I get bad baby acne - MAD calls this the awkward baby stage.

Exhibit A - Grayson around 1 month

I'm not afraid though. One thing I have going for me that Gray didn't was that I have hair in the back long enough to pretty much hold a french braid. Mom braids my hair often (as you can imagine) so even if I lose everything up top - I'll still have this 'party in the back' to work with and style as I please. Oh the joys of being a girl!!!

So far so good around the house. I mean, what's there to be bad from my perspective? I cry and I get either a) a milkshake or b) picked up and cuddled. Wow, tough life. I poop and my butt is wiped in a matter of seconds and people "oooh" and "ahhh" over me constantly. NOW, if you ask mom and dad their opinion of life right now, they MAY have a different story :). I think I heard mom describe me the other day as "needy" - if that's not the pot calling the kettle black! Listen, my hands move without me controlling them and I slap myself in the face constantly when left uncuddled in someone's arms. It's a big world out there and I'm just a little girl - can I help it if I prefer to be bundled and safe in the arms of love rather than thrown to the wolves (by wolves I mean Daisy and Grayson) and left unprotected in the bouncy seat or the swing? Mr. "I don't want to touch my sister" sure has gotten a little more brave in these last three weeks and I'm not about to take my chances with him if I don't have to. For all I know, he could go for my pony tail!!

About the subject line. Here's my goal for the year - 52 lbs in 52 weeks. All I know was that in ONE week of my birth I was successfully able to gain a full pound. The doctor walked in the room with mom and I and the first words out of his mouth were, "well, congratulations, mom - you definitely are successful at nursing her!" I personally think I should have been congratulated but whatever, Dad already taught me life isn't always fair. So, I made a goal to keep up the momentum and gain a pound a week from there on out. So, I was 9 lbs after a week, add 51 more weeks to that and I hope to be 60 lbs by age 1. I'll keep you posted as to my progress after each doctors appointment.

Okay, it's been 15 minutes so I have to go back to sleep but let me leave you with some highlights.

1. Apparently I pee more when getting my diaper changed than my brother. I just feel the fresh air and my whole body relaxes. Good news is that mom's face stays dry when it happens - bad news is that the ottoman that she's changing me on does not.

2. I have made up for the fact that I can't shoot my pee at MAD with the fact that I have been able to shoot my poo at MAD. I say that's even better. Yes, it was the middle of the night and yes, I was on their bed and yes, their comforter will now be forever stained, and yes, mom laughed so hard she cried. Trust me, they have already thanked me.

3. Grayson is getting much more brave with me. He even will ask to hold me. He's still very sweet with me!

4. I can smell mom as soon as she enters within a 20 foot parameter of my whereabouts and it can literally wake me out of a deep sleep. The other day Dad had gotten me to sleep and placed me in the bouncer (so tricky of him to wait till I had fallen asleep) and mom simply came downstairs into the hallway when I got a whiff of my next meal. I gave them my best "pop-eye" showing I was aware of her presence and Dad immediately banned her from the hallway and the kitchen so that I would not be wakened. Gray apparently never had a nose like I do but I'm not afraid to wake up if I think food is on it's way to be delivered - do you REMEMBER my goal from above??

(if this picture below isn't the look of "feed me" I don't know what is...- also, notice arm that is flying out of the picture uncontrolled by me - do you understand NOW why I want to be held?)

4. I'm a sweet, sweet girl and although not always convenient that I appreciate physical touch, MAD say they wouldn't have it any other way (85% of the time). :)

(This picture below is part of the 15%)

Wow, blogging is exhausting.

hugs and kisses,

Hazel

an ode to Lucille

2011-07-12T14:22:00.002-04:00

Smiling is my favorite -

2011-07-12T14:14:00.000-04:00

Life as we know it..

2011-07-08T13:19:00.000-04:00

Hey gang -

gray here...feels good to have the blog back in my control. Dad took hostage for a few days and every once in a while I see Hazel sneaking her way onto the computer but so far I'm maintaining ownership of this thing so that you can get the real lowdown on life at home.

My seeester is HOME! Let me tell you a little bit about her and I'll throw in some pictures of her first bath (which Dad now gives her and I baths every night together and it's one of my favorite things ever), visits from friends, and then a few of myself when I opened a gift brought to me by my aunt KJ and grandma Sands. Note that Grandma has sent me plenty of cars to entertain me as well!!! Let's see - well, for starters she eats a lot. Actually, in the last 24 hours I think Mom has had a few issues at feeding time but prior to that my sister can probably challenge me to an eating competition. Girl likes to chow...that's how I confirmed she was indeed a Brock. I don't TOTALLY understand the eating thing with her right now and here are the questions I frequently ask during feeding time.

1. What's 'dat??? (you can imagine what I'm looking at)
2. What's Hazel doin'????
3. Hazel eat chickin' nuggets wit Gwayson?
4. Hazel eating mommy!!!!
5. What's mommy eating??
6. What's 'dat???

....and from there I start again on repeat. MAD keeps trying to clarify that my sister isn't ACTUALLY eating mommy but eating from mommy and it's some sort of special Hazel milk. I offered to give Hazel some of my milk from my sippy to give mom a rest but apparently that's not a good idea.

I have been told I'm a great big brother - (yea, big shocker there, right??) - MAD acts like it's this big surprise that I'm a good big brother because every time they tell someone that they say it in this voice like, "we're really surprised but so far he's been great!" --- my deal with my sister is that I really emotionally care for her. I want to know where she is and what she's doing and I get concerned when she starts crying. However, I don't necessarily want to touch my sister. I think I'm a little nervous I might break her so I keep my distance. I will blow her a kiss but haven't actually touched my lips to her body yet and one time I touched her hair with my hand and I thought that was hysterical. So, apparently MAD has to not worry so much about germs or me being rough with her because well...there's no physical contact. They've been calling it a WIN/WIN.

Dad's been pretty much on full time Grayson energy patrol and I have LOVED LOVED my time with him while Mom and Hazel try to figure out life together. Dad's been able to learn a little about me (e.g., of course if I ask a question or request to do something and it doesn't get answered or satisfied immediately, I WILL keep asking again and again and again and again and again until it has been answered or my need has been met to my satisfaction. Who wouldn't keep asking???) and I have been learning a little about Dad (e.g., he can build a race car ramp out of old cardboard boxes in a matter of minutes with twists and turns and legs to support it in order to give me something new to play with). Some would think he's trying to buy some alone time...psshhhhhhh, I just think he's awesome and not going to get any of that alone time :).

We've had a few visitors and great, great friends already bringing meals to us. I told mom she should give me a new brother or sister every month! Dad gets 5 weeks to just play with me and I eat better than ever before. Booyah. Dad said he was game (pending he got some alone time between this five weeks and the next five weeks)...Mom just rolled her eyes...well, either she rolled her eyes or they involuntarily rolled as she fell back asleep. (here's how Dad found mom and Hazel last night..about 2 hours after Dad asked if she was ready for her bath and didn't get a response).

We really are doing great. Hazel has been a very sweet sister and a good sleeper for MAD. Mom came down with some common nursing infection but she's on anti-biotics and recovering nicely. We've been out as a family and Hazel has already enjoyed her first Babies R Us visit, Kinkos visit, Children's museum visit, Chick fil-a visit, and World Market visit. She was asleep through them all but I'm pretty sure she loved it. Mom is embracing the pink and loving some little girl outfits. I think she's still in shock that I have a sister - I hear her say often that she thought she and Dad would only breed little boys but is VERY thankful the Lord had different plans. Well, thankful for now....apparently she may think differently in 12 or 13 years from now :).

Alright, off to find my sister and head to the big boy playground...maybe Hazel will want to go down the slide with me :)!

-Gray

Fun Pics with Julie Ramsey

2011-07-03T15:47:00.000-04:00


This is where I normally sleep!

Comparison

2011-06-30T19:11:00.000-04:00

Who's who?

Some Info and Pic

2011-06-30T18:54:00.001-04:00

Everyone is healthy and happy. Hazel is 8lbs 1 ounce and 20 1/4". Grayson's on his way. Here's some pics in the meantime.

Hazel Mae Brock

2011-06-30T14:39:00.000-04:00

Go time

2011-06-30T12:48:00.002-04:00

It's go time!

Water, Epi, Coffee, and Sugar

2011-06-30T12:00:00.001-04:00

The water has been broken. Our doctor estimated an early afternoon birth. The contractions got a lot worse quickly and then the epidural was done. Good stuff. Per the anesthesioligist Jenny has the #1 back for an epidural. That's the 2nd time Jenny's had that said about her. So either they say that about everyone or it's especially true for Jenny.

I'm on my 4th cup of coffee...interesting note...sugar canisters list the amout of sugar per serving of sugar. In 4 grams of sugar there are 4 grams of sugar...mind blowing. P.s. I don't even like coffee.

Passing Time

2011-06-30T10:06:00.000-04:00

Right now we're just passing time...well...I am...Jenny's working hard. I watched the chart for a bit. Contractions are steady and getting more painful...still no epidural...where is that guy?

I'm blessed to have a wife who loves sports. She has control of the TV and put it on Sportscenter for the last hour! boo-yah. Although she just switched it to the baby story on TLC...not sure if that's a good thing.

Still waiting...oh yeah...our new nurse just graduated from JMU in December. Sweet! Go Dukes.

Grayson's gift

2011-06-30T08:52:00.000-04:00

Gray loves cars. It's his passion right now. So to help his heart grow fond of baby B we got a gift for baby B to give to G$. We cannot wait to introduce them to eachother. We asked Gray what he would say to baby when he saw baby and his response "HI BABY! It's Grayson!". We asked what would he play with baby and his response "Baby play cars? Baby color?"

Contractions are getting stronger...it may be epidural time and then some water breakage.

Naming Rights

2011-06-30T08:24:00.000-04:00

So - we're currently unaware of the gender of baby B. This has made the naming process a little more interesting (last go round we had Grayson locked in from about 3 months on). This time we're coming down to the wire. We've got a boy's name but the girl's name is down to 2. I'm pretty sure our 4am-7am nurse may have had an impact on the girl's name though (much to Jenny's pleasure). Here's some hints for those that would love to know or guess:

Boy's name:
1st name - you'll recognize this name from a sitcom in the 90s...not where we got it but it's a coincidence
middle name - sounds like a hall of fame basketball players last name

soooo...what could it be??? Zach Gordon? Chandler Starkley? well - it's neither of those...

Girl's name (we're leaning towards):
1st name - a flowering plant
middle name - unknown
soooo - possibly...Rose? Hydrangea? Daisy? Who knows!

Any guesses?

Today is the day

2011-06-30T07:34:00.000-04:00

Today is the day! Jenny woke up at 1am with contractions and could not go back to sleep. My first quote was "really Jenny...in the middle of the night? That's ridiculous...:)" At 3am we called the doctor who told us to come in. Christina came out to watch G-man and we took off for the hospital at 3:45...We weren't sure if we'd stick or if they'd tell us to go home (Out The Door "OTD" as our nurse called it). But after 30 laps of the Labor & Delivery Department we had progressed 2cms and were officially admitted at 7.

Woohoo!

Gray is having a great time with Tina followed by fun with the Purdy crew!

From Mom...

2011-06-28T12:39:00.001-04:00

Alright, I know all you folks enjoy a little more when G$ does the blogging but too bad - I'm really pregnant and it's really hot and so I am starting to call the shots around here :). Here's a little update on life in the Brock household!

So, Gray really is such a character. I wish I documented more the hysterical things he says but I guess I just enjoy them in the moment and then remember a lot of laughing throughout the day. His latest saying for everything is, "What happened???" - Kyle and I think that's his form of "why" or "what is that?" or "I need milk." Just kidding, it's not that bad but last night as I was walking up the stairs to join Gray and Kyle for books and a song I hear, "what happened, daddy??" and then Kyle's answer, "Nothing happened, buddy..that's just my leg." I immediately started chuckling as I entered the room - "good thing he didn't point to your face" --- a common concern right now.

He also sees people ALL the time out and about and it's my favorite thing ever. For instance - we have a friend, Wei that used to work with Kyle, and Gray is actually terrified of him because he's a really tall Asian guy that Gray typically reacts to with tears. Well, just the other day, OUT OF THE BLUE, we are driving and all of a sudden I hear, "oh, dere's Wei-Wei" and he's just pointing at the car next to us. In the car was an African American middle aged male - at least he got the gender right.

The other night we were reading "the giving tree" - ps. they really need to add color to those pages - and when Kyle turned the page to a middle aged stick figure with a little bit of a pot belly, Gray says, "oh, dere's Daddy." - it's just so matter of fact when he says it - no question in his mind. Apparently, the other day Kyle and Gray passed a picture of Grandma and Gray said, "oh, dere's Mommy" and Kyle got a kick out of it. Listen, I'm not offended - all of Gray's grandmas are very attractive ladies so I'll take it :)!

Here is something we have been doing a TON of lately. It's just plain hot here and Gray has been doing some swim classes. By swim classes I mean getting comfortable in the water and jumping in. He still doesn't love his head being wet and we have yet to submerge under water but we're progressing :). Two things not to worry about from this video: A) his little mermaid swim diaper - he's comfortable in his manhood and this was a mishap on daddy's part as he was in a hurry to buy some diapers before swim class one day. B) the fact that his swim diaper is on backwards - he typically asks for more room in the front :).

He can hit a baseball off a tee like you wouldn't believe and he still just LOVES to race Kyle around the downstairs. He's pretty bossy - "Mommy pway...Mommy sit HERE...Mommy pway with Emily and Grayson pway with Thomas...Mommy EAT breakfast.....Mommy drink your milk.....Daddy, change shirt.....Daddy, read book" - and the list goes on and on. We work on please but also work on the fact that just because you say "please" does not mean your request will be granted. That's a tough one sometimes. He has rocked his big boy bed like a champ, however, our mornings now start a little earlier than they used to. We're about to not know the difference between morning and night anyway though so I guess it's okay - I give all the credit to Kyle who is always the one to go and get him first thing.

Here was night number one - yes, he really sleeps like that with his hands.

On the baby front we are almost there. 39 weeks today and my body is definitely showing signs of being ready. I get a LITTLE nervous about a car-birth only because when we were induced with Gray I started at a 1 and it took me about 5 hours to get to a 3 and then about 3 hours to go from a 3-10cm. Well, I am walking around at a 4 - hmmm...good thing all labor and deliveries are different :). We are anxious to meet this little peanut though and so excited to find out gender and just see what he/she looks like. We have settled on a boy's name but I think at a stand-still on the girl's name. It may be a moot point so I think we'll stay stalled until the birthday. My thought is that once a woman has gone through all that - is the hubby REALLY going to say "no" to much post birth? :) - just kidding...a little. Gray has talked often of the size of my belly with this one. Here's the best pic I got to show you all how I'm looking these days -

a solid 10 inches between Gray's head and my leg..maybe a foot...awesome.

The Kitchen - we are so close we can taste it. Oh and by "we" I mean "Kyle" - I can't wait until it's finished and I can post pictures. All that remains is the backsplash and painting the ceiling....I can't even describe all the work Kyle has done and how hard he has worked. For a guy that didn't grow up necessarily remodeling things, working with saws and wood, moving electrical boxes and outlets, and the like - it's UNBELIEVABLE to me how he has done all this on his own. Oh and not to mention he's done all of this with a full-time job in the day and not missing a beat with me and Grayson in the evenings until about 8:00 - he has worked so unbelievably hard. You'll see more soon but I refuse to post till we're at the finished product.

We started our Mother's Day and Father's Day traditions. Strawberry picking on Mother's Day and blueberry picking on Father's Day. So, so, so fun for us. Gray just loves fruit - as do I, and it's such an interactive and fun experience and then a reason to BAKE when we get home :)! Both experiences were awesome this year and it makes me so excited for the years to come.

As I was just looking through my pictures on the computer to see what I could upload, I found this gem - meet Daisy's best friend, Maddy. This sort of sums up how I feel these days.

Alright, there is plenty more to tell you all about I'm sure but this has gotten long and a bit out of control. Next time we update hopefully it'll be from a hospital so stay tuned :). I'm sure there will be PLENTY of good material for Gray to discuss once his brother or sister arrives. Oh and people have been curious as to whether Gray's brother/sister will also be blogging. We're going to have to wait to see his or her personality. I leave it up to the kids.

Goodbye, Miss Stacy

2011-06-23T08:10:00.000-04:00

*Note, this post was written on Wednesday but published on my last day with Miss Stacy, Thursday.

Oh what a sad, sad day it will be for me tomorrow. One of those days where you can't do anything else but journal about your feelings - which, is why I am skipping my nap right now and journaling instead.

You see, Miss Stacy has been my M, T, Th best friend since January but it feels like she's been here my whole life. I don't think the Lord could have provided a better sitter for me if He tried - let me give you a few reasons as to why I feel this way.

Umm - can you ever look like this and NOT know it was a good day?

1. She introduced me to Kipper. Who doesn't love a British dog that is a dog of few words but hours of entertainment? Stacy, without you my parents would have NEVER found Kipper and I don't think I'd ever have a haircut since Kipper gets me through my haircuts.

2. She took me to my first lock-in. Usually kids don't get to go to their first lock in until they are like in middle school. Not me...Stacy exposed me early by locking me in her car and it was awesome. We played cars through the window, I got to see police cars, policemen, AND a locksmith. I mean, have you ever been best friends with a lock smith? I didn't think so - usually I only get to see these types of things on Barney but that day it was REAL LIFE.

3. She taught me the formal name of that buckle that goes between my legs in the car seat. Duh, a CROTCH BUCKLE. I say it all the time - it's my favorite buckle and whenever I climb in my seat my parents know exactly what I'm looking for when I yell, "where's my cwotch buckle??" I'm pretty sure I'm going to skip kindergarden with knowledge like this. In addition she taught me so many new sayings. My most used is, "one mo' minute??" said in the sweetest voice possible. Fellow toddlers, do you even know how much more playing time you can average with a saying like that?? They don't ever set a timer - I think I get anywhere between 3-10 additional minutes of whatever I was doing when I ask for "one mo' minute?" -- thank you, Miss Stacy for adding hours of playtime into my life.

4. When I was throwing up a few months back she didn't care. Mom tried to give her an out so she wouldn't get sick but her reply back was, "I'm not scared of a few little germs!!" - that's how much she loved me and she loved mom and dad - mom barely would come near me and here Miss Stacy still wrapped her arms around me. For the record, yes - I got her sick within a few days .and she still came back as soon as she was feeling better.

5. She takes me to the pool almost every day and makes sure my eyes are protected at all times. She has introduced me to about 5 new parks I never knew about. Mom barely makes it up the street to the same ole' playground we always go to. Stacy just looks in the gps for fun new playgrounds and takes me there so I can experience more. C'mon..say it with me - ROCK-STAR.

6. She does SO much for mom and dad. Grocery shopping, errands, will empty the dishwasher without being asked, has done our laundry, given me my baths, cleans up my toys, and helps mom with decorating ideas. Jack of all trades - she is the entire package.

7. Because she is the "entire package" I decided I didn't want to let this one slip away. SO, in honor of it being my last week with her I decided to take advantage of her singleness and I had my first REAL kiss. You heard it - I'm not talking no peck here people - I had her entire lip in my mouth. Here's what you do - throw a baseball bat at your baseball tee and have it bounce back up and hit you in the face. Booyah, tears start coming and as every male kid knows, the first thing any grown woman knows how to respond to a boo-boo is, "do you want me to kiss it??" - BEST RESPONSE EVER - and the answer is always YES, please kiss my boo-boo. So she did and in for the kill I went - I won't ever forget it...and I'm not positive but something tells me she won't ever forget it either.

8. She became Dad's hero when she and I spent a few hours making a homemade Mother's Day gift for Mom. It's awesome. it's a stepping stone that has my hand prints on it, the year, and Happy Mother's Day love, Grayson that now sits outside in between some flower beds. I'm pretty sure Dad is banking on the fact that mom will one day forget it was Miss Stacy that helped me with that.

9. She voluntarily invited my girlfriend over so her and I could get some alone time. I guess adults look at this like she was being a servant to Lucille's mom by taking Lucille off her hands but I know she was just loving me and giving me the time with Lucille I needed before she moved. Seriously though, what babysitter voluntarily asks for additional children to watch? Stacy does..that's who.

10. She has loved me so well these last 6 months. Through attitudes, smiles, snots, the runs, long naps and short naps. Through my boo-boos, my crankiness in the mornings when she comes (this is nothing against her but happens to just about anyone that walks through the door not named Mom, Dad, or Lucille). She got very accustomed to dirty diapers and taught me to even say, "EW GROSSSS!!!" when someone changes them, she sings to me, reads to me, prays with me, and teaches me everyday.

Miss Stacy, our whole family with miss you IMMENSELY and are so thankful for these past 6 months! Good luck at Grad School and let me know if you ever need to get away for a Chic-Fil-a date.

xoxo,

Grayson

ps. a little sneak preview to the next post (so long as mom doesn't go into labor in the next 24 hours) -- yes folks, if you remember from last year at this time...get excited.

Life these days...

2011-05-26T21:17:00.000-04:00

For all one of you who still manage to check my blog (cough, mom) - I couldn't sleep tonight so I thought instead of just despairing about my girlfriend's departure to Florida in a few days, I'd update you all on life as I know it.

1. Well, for starters - this whole "baby phase" still hasn't gone away and in fact, it seems to have just gotten bigger...literally. I think I'm starting to put it together though...the baby inside mama's belly is a real baby like I hear crying at stores. I don't love when I hear babies cry in stores and whenever I do I tell mom "baby cryin' mama..go get it?!?!" - hopefully this baby won't cry...ever. I kinda can't wait to meet this thing so that I can actually interact with it. The other day as I colored I wanted the baby to color with me so I just took three crayons and rubbed them on mama's belly. I don't know if they weren't the baby's favorite colors or what it's problem was but eventually I just gave up trying to play because he/she wasn't taking my crayons.

I think this baby is coming soon too - well, at least that's the vibe I get from all the strangers that feel the freedom to comment to mom on the birth of my brother or sister. Comments like, "how many weeks are you? REALLY? Looks like that baby is ready to come NOW." or "..how many days do you have left? (said at 34 weeks)." My personal favorite comes from a great friend of mine, William (remember my body guard twins William and Hudson?) - we were at dinner the other night with them and William oftentimes would just look at mom, point to her belly and say, "why it like dat??" - Ms. Shannon took it as a learning opportunity for William that although there is a good excuse for this belly - not all people with big bellies have babies in them so it's not an appropriate question to ask outside of the house.

2. I had my last day of school today with Ms. Kathie and Ms. Becky. What a great time I had with them every Wednesday morning for the past year. Ms. Kathie gave me bubbles today and I gave a big daisy (the flower..not my dog) to each of them to say thank-you. When Ms. Kathie gave me the bubbles I gave her a pretty good high-five. She wasn't satisfied with that so when she asked for a hug I figured I'd go all out on my last day (what are they gonna do...suspend me?) and gave her a big fat kiss on the lips. No shame here, people - Ms. Kathie is retiring after this year so I knew I'd never see her again. Mom MAY have been a little embarrassed by my forwardness but I didn't care. Don't worry though, mama...you know you're still my #1 pregnant girl.

3. Ms. Stacy - my favorite nanny - has taught me how to ensure mom is in a good mood upon her arrival home from work. It's so easy - I wish I knew this before - but fellas, when your mom gets home from being gone for any period of time - especially if she has swollen ankles and is sweating profusely from the 90 degree heat and in clothes that don't fit her well..all ya gotta do is say, "mama, you so pretty" and they turn into pudding - and sometimes she'll start eating pudding..I wonder if that has to do with people asking her how many hours are left till she's due?? I don't think mom's ever said no to me for anything after I feed her that line. What's not cool apparently is using that line on Dad - for whatever reason it didn't have the same affect.

4. My girlfriend and best friend is leaving to move to Florida on Sunday. I couldn't be more upset if I tried. Not only is she cute but she's funny, she's little, and I mean look at us at our latest photo shoot - if that doesn't scream MARRIAGE IN PARADISE I don't know what does. I'm just praying she doesn't meet any other guys in Florida..or in South Carolina when they move there because I plan on waiting for her. She loves me for who I am and vice versa - Seal, I'll miss you so much!

Here are the rest of my besties after an Easter egg hunt. From left to right we have Eve (Evie), baby Francis, her big bro Johnathan, my girl, stud, Mae (Mae Mae - twin of Evie and big sisters to my girl), William, baby Anna, and Hudson. A couch made for 3-4 fits 9...I love it.

Here was Dad showing me how to get it done at the Easter Egg hunt.

5. Here's me and two of my cousins who came to visit when MAD were in Boston for a baby moon and to see Mom's bestie, Christina (Kitina) get engaged AND run the Boston marathon!! I can't WAIT to be the ring bearer in her wedding - from what I've heard there's going to be a big bowl of mac n' cheese waiting at the end of the aisle calling my name. Thanks, Grandma for watching me for SO MANY DAYS and loving me so well!!!! My car collection DOUBLED while she was here as did my CARS logo apparel. Booyah, Mom - you are losing big time in the "control over my wardrobe" game.

6. Dad's been setting the bar high for Brock men lately. When I say high I mean HIGH. Aside from all the work on the house/yard he's been doing, he managed to surprise Mom on Mother's Day after church. STRAWBERRY PICKING!! Similar to our blueberry experience I got the hang of it pretty darn fast. 2 for me and 0 for the bucket. Any collection we did have was strictly from Dad's doing - apparently mom found it difficult to get (and stay) that low to the ground and still be able to stand back up. Seriously, I don't know WHY people are saying she looks big :).

Oh and sometimes I like to watch myself on the computer. In fact, I ask to watch myself quite often but my guess is if you danced as well as I do...you'd watch yourself too :).

Love you all - thanks for checking in!

Dance Party?!?

2011-03-19T18:01:00.000-04:00

I heard my dad threw my mom a Birthday Dance Party and I didn't get an invite...check these dance moves to see what you missed dad.......as C-Lo would say...forget you!

The 2nd Anniversary of the day of my birth...

2011-03-17T20:46:00.001-04:00

The time has come..(Warning..no pics)

2011-02-23T23:34:00.000-05:00

I have no idea how long this post will be but I have been writing posts for the past 5 months and just saving them. Every time I would show one to mom she would claim she didn't have time to edit...hence the videos I was forced to create - (insert frustration: She has time to eat every 2 hours and time to update her facebook status every 10 minutes but no "time" to edit my blogs..ugh). I digress. So, I just keep writing and saving and now I will pull out the highlights of the last 5 months into this post as she has PROMISED me she'll edit one this week...I'm not holding my breath, people. Oh and you wonder why no pics? That's because there haven't been many taken of me around here. I know - grounds for removal from the home you ask? I'm looking into it.

Here we go:

1. I love cars. It's legit and it's my passion. I love to race my cars down pillows from the couch, I take them to the pwayground and race them down the slides, or sometimes I just like some alone time and prefer to take cars to the bottom two steps and play there for a while. Usually when I do this I ensure some quite time as mom finds it difficult to fit her new and improved "wider" self onto any one step comfortably.

2. I also love"shooting" my basketball or sockie bomb (soccer ball) or football. I know a "miss" when I see one and I call them out every time. Even if I don't know you..if you come over and shoot and miss I'm going to remind you that you missed. Don't be offended.

3. MAD says my mind is like a sponge. I remember EVERYTHING so be careful what you say around me. Before mom put me down for my nap the other day she wanted to remind me that everyone else in the world was asleep in hopes I wouldn't be tempted to want to wake up early and play. Well, low and behold the dryer buzzer went off 30 minutes into my nap and I was convinced that was national time for all things to wake up and play. Mom came in to try and rock me back to sleep by reminding me again that everyone else in the world was sleeping. This was our 20 minute conversation while she rocked:

Gray: "daisy nigh' nigh'?"
M: yes, daisy nigh' nigh'
G: daddy nigh' nigh'?
M: daddy should be nigh' nigh' but daddy is disobeying and is washing mommy's car outside..but then he'll go nigh' nigh'
G: McQueen nigh' nigh'?
M: yes, McQueen nigh' nigh'
(this was followed with naming ALL my cars and asking if they too were sleeping...Owey-owey nigh nigh? Blue Balooza nigh' nigh'? Monster truck nigh' nigh'...etc, etc).
G: mac n' cheese nigh' nigh'? Banananananana nigh' nigh'?
M: yes, mac n' cheese and banana nigh' nigh'
G: Eve, Mae, 'Cille (short for Lucille) nigh' nigh'?
M: yes, all of the Kennedy girls are nigh' nigh'..even Ms. Stephanie
G: Rob nigh' nigh'? (Rob is the Kennedy girls dad whom I have probably interacted with twice in my life but I look up to him and want to talk of him often whenever anyone in the Kennedy family is mentioned).
..and the list went on and on. It was comforting though to know everyone and everything in the world was sleeping all at the same time. Although, it didn't convince me to go back to sleep..I took it as a challenge to wake everyone up. "WAKE UP mac n' cheese, WAKE UP Rob, etc, etc, etc"

4. I love jumping off of anything I can find (even if it's just 1 inch high) and typically when I "land" I look around and repeat "C-C dat? C-C dat?" which I find is much easier that pronouncing ALL the words "Did you see that??" I also prefer when MAD confirms that yes, they did see the incredible height I got on my last jump. Oh and another favorite activity is duck feeding..not sure which I enjoy more, feeding the ducks or eating the bread myself but I have learned a few valuable lessons in sharing from this activity. Piece for duck, piece for Gray..piece for Gray, piece for Gray...oh yea, piece for ducks....etc.

5. There often is talk of "baby" around the house. Mom makes me say good night to so called "baby" every night and I do so with love. I know what a baby is when I see it. Baby Anna, Baby Lucy, and soon I'm going to go meet Baby Frances and yea, they are fine but they won't race with me and quite frankly I don't understand what baby Anna, baby Lucy, and Baby Frances have to do with what is in mom's belly. To be totally honest with you, I kinda wish what was in Mom's belly would go away (being a baby or one too many pieces of coffee cake) as I am finding it difficult to get comfortable when cuddling for songs before bed time and am tired of the grunts I hear upon moving from sitting to standing position or vice versa. I'll let you know if anything comes of this "baby" phase but so far I'm thinking it's just a phase. Oh and I like to imitate daddy by putting my hand on mommy's belly at night. Not sure what I'm waiting for but I think it's funny.

6. We've had our share of illness around here. The good news is that when we get sick in this house the cleaning patrol comes out and I'm pretty sure everything that can be washed gets washed over and over and over again. I'm starting to catch on to this idea of "clean up" and am extremely good at cleaning up my own toys while singing the clean up song "cwean up, cwean up, evwie-body evwie-where..." - it's also a great song to sing while cleaning up if mom and dad are NOT helping me clean up because when I get to the "evwie-body evwie-where" part i just kinda give them a look..."ah-hem..EVWIE-BODY EVWIE-WHERE..." and it becomes a team effort. Oh and there has been SO much cleaning up lately that the other night when mom put me to bed and was closing my door I wanted to remind her of something, "Mama...??" "Yes, buddy" she replied to which I said, "Check laundy, mama? Check laundy?" - "Good point, buddy..I do need to go check the laundry..thank you." I then heard Dad yell out from MAD's bedroom, "Mama, check dishes? Mama clean bathroom? Mama take out the trash??" - I thought he was taking it a little far but always glad to help mom remember when needs to be done around here :).

On that note I'm out. Sorry so long - hope you enjoyed the read and I'll be back soon (i hope). Next up..a short video - stay tuned.

Now I know my Daisy...

2011-02-11T18:49:00.000-05:00

7 minutes with Grayson

2011-01-27T23:04:00.002-05:00

LEAVES!

2010-12-01T14:58:00.000-05:00

Sorry for the delinquent posts, folks! In the meantime until I can write again, enjoy some fall fun in the leaves!!

Farmer Gray

2010-11-05T15:52:00.001-04:00

My girl's mom was sweet enough to take some pictures of me and MAD to get ready for the holiday season this morning and seriously, it was VERY sweet of her. Mom gave her a crash course in the camera and she followed us all around while I told her about ~~Nemo~~ Neno and Cars and threw rocks at her while she was trying to take the pictures. Apparently throwing rocks at an expensive camera and a good friend isn't cool..who knew? Anyway, I was all ready to post the pics in the blog but as MAD went to edit I got in big trouble. Apparently those are secret pics and can't be shared till Christmas time. I don't understand these things but they were persistent even in the midst of my complaints. The one I AM allowed to post though is my favorite anyway. This goes out to my great Aunt Polly...I can't wait to meet you!!!

xoxo,
Farmer Gray

Monkey See Monkey Do..

2010-11-01T21:37:00.001-04:00

Who in their right mind decided it was a good idea to pick a day where all people under 4 ft. tall are required to put on some ridiculous outfit that doesn't fit and is entirely too hot for the temperature outside and walk up to strangers who look terrifyingly dangerous and have them give you candy. Ummm..H-E-L-L-O, people. So for 19 months all I hear is "don't take candy from strangers" and "strangers = dangers" or "if you don't know their name, don't play their game" (whatever that last one means) but all of a sudden tonight I'm allowed to approach whoever the heck I want, hold out some bag, and in fact ask that they put ~~poison~~ candy into it at their discretion? I don't know, seems hypocritical to me.

So, when mom first brought home this outfit I tried to make her wear it. It apparently was a 2T-3T and in fact there was concern it was going to be too big. Do my parents KNOW me? I don't think I would know what "too big" was if it slapped me in the face. But, then we arrived to my girl's house and I realized all little people were wearing these crazy costumes so with an animal cracker in hand I succumbed to the embarrassment that this was and decided to have myself a good night. How could you not when you're the only monkey in the midst of three lovely ladies!

Y'all, the street we went down was CRAZY. It's known in Richmond as the best trick or treating in the city and it didn't disappoint. They block off the entire street to cars and these houses go ALL OUT as far as decoration. One time these two black apes jumped out of a house and started running all around and scaring little kids - not cool. Nobody scares Lucille...nobody. I would be lying to say I did a whole lot of trick or treating. Much to mom's dismay I didn't collect a whole lot of candy and I'm fairly certain any chocolate I did collect has since been consumed by dad. Somehow my bag always looked empty?! Don't worry..I snuck a few from my girl's bucket. Here J (and by J I mean Mr. Cow) and I are enjoying some evidence of our success.

**When not a fan of trick or treating, here are some steps to still be able to enjoy the treating at the end of the night.

1. Scope out the gal with the highest ratio of candy in bucket to inches tall:

2. Start up small talk while keeping banana in clear sight (notice she's trying not to look)

3. Take a seat on nearest curb to get more on her level but be careful to keep balance as monkey's are front heavy (ps. I'm pretty sure my buddy the cow stole that Reese's from Lucille as well).

4. Admire her "purse"

5. Look to Dad for advice on next step as she tweets about her favorite monkey. Dad's first words...show some leg.

6. Stop playing it cool and JUST GO FOR IT..what do you have to lose besides a snickers bar???

I had a fantastic night. My personality fit my costume as I ran all around the street screaming like a monkey. So fun to be with my friends and in some weird way I am already excited for next year.

Just another day in paradise -

2010-10-13T16:47:00.001-04:00

Wassup?

My size 7 (wide) kicks were starting to cramp the ole' toesies so I told MAD I'd had enough and off to the store we went. Umm..two things. 1) Did you know that metal objects are involved when measuring one's foot? I was pretty sure I was being kidnapped and strapped to a metal shoe so I couldn't run away when nice young lady tried to "measure my foot." YEA RIGHT, lady. Like I'm going to fall for that one - reminds me of when that nurse wanted to "measure my head" - more like strangle me by the forehead. I think Mom was proud of me for not giving in and listening to strangers- eventually she just said, "I think he's an 8..the 7s are tight which leads me to believe he's an 8..let's go with that." Last time anyone will try to make me wear an over sized metal shoe. OH and 2) you get balloons when you get new shoes even if you scream while being "measured"!!!!

Mom did another photo shoot the other night...this one for Graycie - an on and off again romance (i choose to insert the "y" as it makes her and my names that much closer) and her brother Henry (insert pound and Thomas train). I think it went pretty well...until the end. Here's all I know - it was a long evening, we were approaching the finishing line and mom had visions of ~~sugar-plums~~ porch swing photos with the siblings. One said sibling was just a year old and as such, maybe not as stable as the other. Her mom and dad recognized that and hung close to the swing. Mom apparently thought that said parents were going to be an obstacle in the full porch swing photo and proceeded to request that her parents just "trust" this 1 year old for a minute and let her be alone on the swing for just one or two shots. This shot was right before the end of the photo shoot and potentially the end of my relationship with Graycie and mom's relationship with Graycie's parents. You can tell Henry wasn't pleased.

The salt-march is getting old and I have started to chill out a little at the ole' day care. We actually call it school and sometimes now when I wake up since I don't know what day it is I just say "schoo? schoo?" and I get a yes or no. I mean, I'm still not pulling any Arsenio Halls when we pull into the parking lot but I just request for puppy (my moral support), hold on tight to mommy or daddy and with no tears but a little anxiety I am handed to Ms. Dawn who proceeds to walk me to the window so I can wave and blow a kiss to mom or dad as they head off to who knows where. I have started eating a little there as well and yesterday rocked a 2 hr. and 15 minute nap. Yup, you heard it right - on a cot on the floor I just crashed for over 2 hours. I am also mildly obsessed with my Monday sitter - Am (pronounced: iam). Now when mom comes to get me in the morning - I include Iam in the line up of wanting to know their whereabouts (daddy? puppy? daisy? naddy? IAM?)

Alright - with that I think I'll go put on my "soes" and play some basketball. You should see my outside shot..it's sick. Here are a few pics from a photo assignment mom had to do for a class she's taking. Yes, I model for a living as evidenced by my poses.

Crew Cut...

2010-10-03T22:18:00.001-04:00

Hello my sweets! I greet you as mom always greets me when she sees me (unless I happen to be complaining, crying, whining or naked...then it's usually either "I don't understand you, can you please use your words" or "Hello my...OH MY, where's your daddy and please put your water down." I digress. Things have been going well around home. One question I have is, "will I forever have this much snot and will it always be this color??" I really just feel like the nose is non-stop and quite frankly I'm sick of mom attacking me with a washcloth. What will it take for her to figure out if she comes at me with that thing I'm going to scream and cry and then she'll have a bigger problem on her hands than if she just let what was originally there dry up and fall off on its own. Don't they teach you those things in school?

I think since reading my last blog post Mom is looking to get me out of daycare. I've only gained 1/2 a pound since my 15 month appointment and I think mom thinks daycare is making me anorexic. I tried to tell her it's just my salt march but regardless she's looking for an out. Who wants to come over and play 2 days a week? I'm real sweet and cute, I promise.

Oh, I got a haircut and I mean a real haircut. Mom gave me the whole trim around the ears and back routine last Wednesday but then Dad said I was nearing a Justin Bieber look and so mom promptly finished off the top on Thursday night. I do alright with haircuts..they're no equivalent to ice cream but I also don't dry heave during them as I do when you make me try to eat a carrot. Yes, I literally dry heave. Back to the hair - so at first I was really scared of the clippers and wouldn't let you come near me. Now, mom can cut my hair herself so long as the following three pieces are in place:

1. I'm eating. Preferably a bowl of Pirates Booty.

2. You let me touch the clippers before you put them to my head. I find the vibration hysterical.
3. I have puppy with me and not only is puppy with me but you need to give puppy a haircut with the clippers every 3 minutes.

When you succumb to all three of those requests then I'll take my crying down to complaining as you cut. You're welcome. I felt like my new haircut made me look preppy - so I went and played some golf with my close buddy Baxter.

Mom's still working on building her photography portfolio so she made me call Lucille to ask if she could take pics of her and her sisters again. How embarrassing! It was fine though, I tweeted her and she re-tweeted me right away saying they were in. I mean, SERIOUSLY, how cute are these girls? Yea, I get to see them multiple times per week. I am One. Lucky. Man. (insert shamless plug for mom)

Lastly, the fam and some friends (including my girlfriend) went pumpkin picking this weekend. Fall is here people and we have the pumpkins to prove it. My favorite part was the tractor ride that we went on to get into the pumpkin patch. Actually, that was my second favorite part - my FAVORITE part was when dad shared his special pumpkin picking donut with me. For some reason mom walked away when she was eating her donut...wait a minute!! I also loved having my own little pumpkin to carry, seeing Lucille in my JMU hat - what a cute girlfriend she is - and giving my future newest friend, baby Anna, my little pumpkin so she could share in the pumpkin picking fun!! (Baby Anna is due October 18th and we CAN-NOT-WAIT!!)

Really a great weekend. Still am working on my words but I've pretty much mastered the following:

1. Up...Pease?

2. Dad-dy, Mom-my (or Mama), Pup-py, bup-py (lovey), Daisy, and now Nana (otherwise known as Maddie..the dog we are dog sitting for)

3. E-I-E-I-O. This comes out when MAD asks if I want to sing a song. They will list a whole host of songs to which I violently shake my head no. When they finally ask me what I want to sing I just respond (in-tune) "E-I-E-I-O"

4. cheeyos

5. ball

6. doc-toe (short for doctor...this comes out when we read "..then the doctor said, NO MORE MONKEYS JUMPIN ON THE BED!!"

7. Bubbles (this one is usually said on repeat)

8. Help (typically this is said when I'm trying to climb onto something I am not allowed to climb on)

9. Tank-ou

10. Amen.

And to that I say, AMEN.

g'night, my sweets.

Skool and Self-feeding

2010-09-22T21:33:00.002-04:00

Two topics to discuss with you folks on this fine, fine Wednesday evening. I have puppy and lovey (lovey is pronounced buppy..you can imagine how confusing this is for MAD) and a little down time in the ole' cribberoo before I stare at the back of my eyelids for 11 hours. So, clearly I haven't been the most diligent about posts. For you to complain would be preachin to the choir - I complain about myself. Nevertheless, let me fill you in a bit.

Okay, well - I started skool. There are two types of skools. One I like on Wednesday mornings from 9-11:55 with Ms. Kathie and one that well..let's just say if the building were to self-destruct while nobody was in it, I don't think I'd cry. The second skool is Tuesdays/Thursdays. At first I owned that place. Day 1 MAD dropped me off and I pretty much did a no-look wave so as to not ruin my game with all the potential new ladies. By week 3 I realized none of the ladies ~~were as attractive~~ had as attractive of a heart as my gurls Lucille or Graycie and so my game became a non-point and I just wanted my mom-my, or dad-dy, or pup-py, bup-py, OR dais-y. I also started to pick up on the fact that this was no 9-11:55 business..MAD was leaving me from 8-5:30 and I'm not sure if I've mention this or not but I boycott all their food. Seriously. You can ask MAD for my daily status sheets - they normally look like this:

Lunch:
Chicken Nuggets - None
Peas - None
Applesauce - None
Roll - Maybe a bite
Milk - All

Nap:
12:30-1:15

In comparison, here's what mom's daily report card of me is when she's home:

Lunch:
Chicken Nuggets - ALL plus some of Mom's
Peas - Some..most fed to daisy
Applesauce - ALL and fed myself
Roll - 2x
Milk - make it whole.

Nap:
2-4:30 or 5:00

As you can see - there is disparity in my "norm" between skool and home and that's why, as I learned from Gandhi's salt march, I'm boycotting all things daycare as my non-violent protest. I'll keep you posted as to how this all pans out.

(*note: for all the grandmas, grammys, and gammys out there very concerned about my well-being - I typically am described as happy and active and have started to get a little better at my goodbyes. Ms. Dawn always carries me to the window and I can wave bye-bye to Mommy or Daddy as they drive away. I have had a few hard days but overall I'm handling pretty well and puppy and buppy come with me everyday. One of these days I'll sneak Daisy into my tote bag to make it really feel like home. PLUS, if you really feel bad for me you could consider moving to VA and caring for me on Tuesdays/Thursdays - I'm just sayin' :))

Alright, onto me being a big-boy. I have started to feed myself using a spoon. I mean, I'm not typically one to toot my own horn or anything but let's just say I had pretty much nailed it from attempt #1 as seen below and thus why I don't use a bib. How do I know I nailed it? I look EXACTLY how Dad looks when he eats his yogurt so I MUST be doing something right!

(*Gramps and Grammy..I just want it to be clear that the little bit of yogurt that spilled on my shirt did in fact come out in the wash. Still representin' Vegas in style!)

I think next MAD said they were going to start letting me use my own steak knives to cut up my food. Let's hope that goes as smoothly as spoon coordination has!!!

Until next time. Fist bump and explosion.

G-love.

Bath in a Bucket ...

2010-09-06T21:11:00.000-04:00

bubbles

2010-08-16T23:24:00.000-04:00

Life's a Beach

2010-08-15T22:19:00.000-04:00

Wow - things got P-R-E-T-T-Y crazy around the house and thus my lack of posts since Day 3. We are now home and recuperated..all in all a wonderful trip - Let me summarize some highlights.

1. Mr. Joe - every time he lays eyes on me he would just say, "Life's a Beach, Gray" in a real slow and relaxed voice. Apparently I optimize the "beach" attitude. Without using any words I am sending out the vibes that everyone just needs to chill out, sit in their chairs, cross your legs, eat your shredded wheat and enjoy the moment. I tried to use that one on Mom when we got home when she told me to pick up my toys, "chill out, Mom..life's a beach" and for some reason that didn't go over so well. Mental Note: life is only a beach AT the beach.

2. The twinsies - I officially got my loveies and blanket taken away from me at night after Day 3. On Day 4 the twins went to bed a little earlier than me so they were fast asleep when I entered the room. Mom convinced Dad that I was tired too and to let me have my sleep aids. So, as usual I went down with a smile and a wave until Dad closed the door and then up I went throwing Lovey at Jane Martin and Puppy at Catherine to try and wake them up. Apparently Dad didn't trust me and he was in the room and cleptoing my belongings before the girls even had a chance to wake up and return them to me. I hated when the twins went to bed before me but I mean hey, life's a beach, people...just ask my good friend, Fields.

3. Let's talk more about the twins. OHHHHHH, the twins.

On Day 6 I was in bed before the twinsies because the twinsies were at the hospital. Here's the thing...before you freak out, everyone is okay. Thursday was the day for the girls (i.e., the moms) to have their "alone time." All the adults make a big deal about their day away from the kids. Dad's went out Wednesday and played some golf/went to a movie and mom's were headed out Thursday to go to some outlets. You know what the twins thought about that? B-O-R-I-N-G. You know what's not boring?? Napping in your parent's room and finding EVERYTHING you possibly shouldn't. The Twinsies have the best breath in the house - after eating through two packs of gum on Day 2 and a few licks at a pack of Halls followed up on Day 4 with a little ginger spice that was packed away to be used for one of the meals and finally for their grand finale on Thursday, splitting a bottle of TUMS and a bottle of Tylenol (yes, they broke thru the "childproof" closed lid - mental note: childproof does not mean twinproof) between the two of them. This happened right after the ladies had driven an hour to get to the outlets and managed to make their way through one store. I would imagine the TUMS was to help settle the stomach after the Tylenol - are those girls advanced??? And seriously, before you cast judgment...isn't it commendable that they were sharing so well in all of this? I mean, it was proven by the blood tests they got at the hospital - both had elevated Tylenol levels which means just one thing..SHARING. As I learn these days, sharing is caring, people and these girls should be rewarded. That they were - 4 hours at the hospital and a few tests later they were home and everyone was fine. Somehow through it all I was blamed to be their "drug dealer" but to that I say, "life's a beach" and I'll take the 5th and just will keep playing with my rocks.

4. Although there is so much more to tell I will wrap this post up with filling you in that we had to head home a day early due to a few illnesses. I rocked a cold from Tuesday through present day and then dad got a case of the upset stomach on Thursday night. So, to lessen the chances of infecting the rest of the house with a stomach bug we packed up the car and got on the road Friday morning - super sad to say the least. We really had a wonderful time and have already reserved our house named Bigger Kahonas..or something like that..for next year. I am most excited for the rocks. I mean, the pool is fine and the ocean is okay, but have y'all ever played with rocks? UNBELIEVABLE. MAD would ask me if I wanted to go to the pool and I would squeal with delight while shaking both my fists as a result of uncontrollable excitement - couldn't get my swimsuit on fast enough - get down stairs, MAD would jump in the pool and I would run either to the driveway or go around the pool, grab my bucket and start filling...then empty...then fill...then throw one in the pool...then fill up someones Crocs with rocks...entice my friend Landon to join me and repeat. I am pretty sure I heard talk of turning our backyard into a rock garden - I'll keep you posted.

Vacation - Day 3 .. Group shot

2010-08-10T19:10:00.000-04:00

No games were played today, people. The deal was we were all getting up early anyway to leave for the beach for a few family pics and some group shots so we called a truce for today. I will say though I am MUCH more comfortable in my sleeping environment. In fact, now when MAD put me up there to go to bed I just wave bye bye to them and rub my eyes once or twice to show them how tired I am and how soon I will be asleep and then the games begin. I throw all my loveys/blankets/books, etc. out of my pack n' play and then the twins get out of their bed and throw it back in. THEN, when we all start giggling the twins parents come up and they get in BIG trouble for getting out of their bed. It's awesome. I just squeal with delight when I hear the heavy footsteps b/c by that point I look like the innocent bystander as all my possessions have since been thrown back into my pack n' play and those two are the ones out of their beds. I also was fortunate enough to have my bed set up right under the light switch but one time that got me in big trouble as the twins parents caught me creating a strobe light effect for the dance party the twins and I were throwing. WHOOOOPS. Mom came up for that one and I was moved to the middle of the room where I could no longer reach any objects

Alright, enough of the stories. Here's the best pic of us kiddos that mom was able to snap this morning (we call this the look away).

and here is literally the best one of all of us looking. Remember my post about not faking a smile? I stood my ground - and so did most everyone else - I love these friends :)

Until Day 4.

5th Annual - Day 2

2010-08-09T14:55:00.000-04:00

SCOREBOARD: Grayson - 2, MAD - 1

I'm not undefeated anymore BUT, I didn't lose either. It was 5:45 when MAD heard me and they didn't even respond. Apparently the other people in the house are serious sleepers b/c they told MAD that they couldn't even hear me on Saturday night and to let me cry for a while on Sunday night if they so choose. I politely in sign language said "Thank you" (wink, wink) to each and every one of them that told MAD to let me cry when I woke up. Anyway, I made it to 5:45. They did let me cry and I did get quiet again but Mom quickly realized that I was quiet because I was so distracted by the twins who were now up and out of their beds showing me all kinds of tricks that only 2 1/2 year old twins can pull off. 5:45 is apparently better for MAD than 5:00 but in my defense, we still got to see the sun rise - booyah...and thus the tie. I don't plan on letting MAD get any more points this vacation..don't you worry.

Until Day 3..

Vacation DAY One

2010-08-08T15:16:00.000-04:00

SCOREBOARD: GRAYSON -1 MAD - 0

Wanna know what is OVER-rated on vacation? You guessed it, SLEEP. You see, I sleep in a room with the Brown twins. Two older ladies (2.5 yrs old) and me. I'm not sure how I ever managed to get away with this but I have already decided that I LOVE vacation. I love it so much I was awake on Day 1 at 5:00 a.m. and was NOT going to be fooled into going back to sleep...no matter how many Amazing Graces' MAD sang to me. MAD put me in bed with them, taking turns singing to me for about 45 minutes while the other one slept and I just poked at said sleeping person's eyes and then they threw the white flag and off to the beach we went. The only part of my trip that is not going to be told in pictures is the part where mom was too busy taking pictures and dad was admiring the emptiness of the beach that early and both neglected to pick me up out of the water when a wave came toward me. You guessed it - ocean-1 Grayson-0. I have since evened up the scoreboard though with our early afternoon beach trip. Turns out I'm a fan.

and...my buddy Landon

Until Day 2....

Blueberry Picking 101

2010-08-05T14:25:00.000-04:00

Mom took me blueberry picking this morning. Let me put it this way - blueberries do to me what a brown sugar poptart does to mom. They put me in that place of inner peace - nothing else in the world matters - it's just me and Mr. blueberry..the only ones left in the universe. So, you can imagine my utter excitement when we showed up to rows and rows of just beautifully ripened blueberries...AT MY HEIGHT!! I asked mom what it would feel like to arrive at bushes of brown sugar poptarts that were for the taking - I'm fairly certain I caught her drooling. So, let me show you how it's done.

1. Hunt for perfect blueberry bush:

2. Grab bucket from Mom:

3. Pick blueberry:

4. Put in bucket to take home:

5. Pick another blueberry:

6. Put in bucket to take home:

7. Analyze work thus far:

8. Pick another blueberry:

9. ~~Put in bucket to take home~~ Close your eyes and let the blueberry hit your lips:

10. Stop chewing when mom calls your name in hopes she won't notice:

11. Head back to pay for blueberries (and pray they don't ask you to get on the scale)

12. Observe snack for the next week and a half:

13. Smile (unaware of blueberry theft proof all over my face)

14. Any questions?

Enjoy the video for a more extensive showing of how to do this right:

Here's what lunch looks like when the 1 nap schedule is forced upon you...

2010-08-01T14:12:00.003-04:00

A few things to clarify about the video:

1. No choking occurred during this process. I was supervised closely by Mom.

2. This video preceded a solid 3+ hour nap.

3. You'll notice I've conquered the "Bah Bah" for a sheep noise but I refuse still to say "Bye Bye" - really I just like watching mom get worked up.

I'm Bringing Sexy Back

2010-07-30T13:46:00.003-04:00

bloggers -

This is going to be short and sweet. I reunited this weekend with some of my kuzins during Kuzins Kamp reunion 2010. We have now done this the past two years and plan to make it a yearly tradition. You can see last year's Kuzin Kamp experience HERE. Quite frankly this is one of my favorite trips of the year and this year we even got to celebrate my Gammy's ~~60th~~ 38th birthday with the whole crew. It was nothing short of amazing and there are so many details to blog about but I gotta get this one off my chest. So, if you'll allow me to be Debbie Downer for a minute and tell you my biggest disappointment. Apparently I'm related to a bunch of people pleasers. EXHIBIT A:

This says it all. Let me set the stage. No more than 2 minutes before this picture was taken we probably had 4 of the 6 kids crying or complaining. Seriously. If you could see the number of takes with parents arms involved trying to keep them still or getting their attention..it was unreal. But ALL of a sudden all the adults start jumping up and down and waving their hands and singing songs - even offering bribes - and ALL MY KUZINS change their tune...except for you, Katie - you kept it real and I love you for that (so what if she's only 10 weeks old, she's allowed to express herself too!). But seriously, a few songs and oh, now I'm SOOO happy to be here. It's only 110 degrees out and literally I have sweat dripping into my diaper but let me put on this smile like I REALLY think your song is clever and sitting in itchy grass with 8,000 people screaming at me is what I had hoped and prayed for at 6:30 in the evening on this night when I've already spent the entire day overwhelmed and woke up this morning at 5:30 with probably only an hour nap had since them. Not me, I'm not gonna fake anything. If I don't think you're funny I'm not going to fake laugh at you - get over it - I'm just like my dad. So, to whomever it was we were all looking at..don't take it personally, I just think you maybe need to work on your routine a little bit.

Love you all...especially you, Katie Jane.

-Stonecold.

You say Tomato...

2010-07-17T22:54:00.002-04:00

ahhhhh..where to start. Well, I'll just jump right in I guess - soooo, I ripped the tape measure in half when the nurse was trying to get the circumference of my head. Why was she so obsessed with getting the measurement to the exact millimeter? I was already sad when she walked in there as it was right in the middle of what would have been my afternoon siesta and then mom accidentally (or so she claims) knocked me in the face as she was attempting to put on one of my crocs in an effort to make me less sad. Two words Mom...EPIC FAILURE. Slap in the face made me more sad and then nurse lady insisted I have my head measured and it didn't matter that she attempted at least 4 times prior to the hulk hogan move I pulled - she was persistent. So on the last go I just grabbed it by both sides as I let out the loudest ROAR I could have mustered up and just pulled with all my might and POW - Grayson - 1, Paper tape measure - 0. She evened up the score though when she pulled out another one. Seriously, can't they just get different size hats to put on us? Whichever one fits, that's the size of my head...why is that so hard? A paper tape measure?!? Hey nurse, 1982 called and they want their method of measuring a ~~baby's~~ big boy's head back.

Then, another lady walks in while I'm working on my afternoon snack and seriously comes after me with some cold, metal object right on my chest, then my back, then my ribs, then back to my back. What in the world is wrong with these people?? I knew she was trying to hear something as these long pipes extended into her ears from said metal object so I just screamed as loud as I could in hopes she couldn't hear a thing. I don't feel bad - Eye for an eye, lady.

We left knowing this. I'm crazy tall (at least an inch off the curve) and 29 lbs. and some change. That put me at 95%. Oh and for my ever so accurate head measure - 95%. Good thing she was so precise as to put me in a frenzy, pretty sure the doc would have sent me to a head specialist if I came in at 94% or 96%. All that to say, nothing we didn't already know - they're not worried about malnourishment for me. Good news...she told mom to keep me on whole milk till I'm 2. Who's got two thumbs and loves thick milk?? THIS GUY....

Y'all - totally unrelated topic but mom and I have been visiting some day cares as we prepare for the coming year. No, I didn't fire Aunt Am and Friday Mom but Friday Mom is moving to Nicaragua and although I have pleaded on several occasions to have me flown there every Thursday night - I've been told not till I'm 8 can I fly alone and so the answer is No for at least 7 more years. And Am...well, she for some reason turned down the position to be my in-home nanny/housekeeper/chef. I mean, I offerred $20/day...can you really beat that as a nurse??? So, the other day we walked into one (which is the one I will be attending 2 days per week) and I think I know what sold mom. You're thinking it was the friendly staff, great curriculum, colorful classrooms, and their offerring of part-time. MYTH. What got mom was when we walked into the Toddler room (where I will be residing on T/Th) and apparently it was nap time because let me set the stage. 10 toddlers (16-24 month olds) lying on little mattresses ON THE FLOOR with their blankie and lovey SOUND ASLEEP. Did you get that? All 10 of them people..all asleep...no pack n' plays, no physical barriers, all just lying there on their mats looking as peaceful as can be. I personally think there are electric fences around each of those mattresses and have a funny feeling that each kid wears a chip on their belly button. I tried to wake up the kids to see if they got shocked when they moved off their bed but my "DAH!!" and "DUAAHH?????" and frantic pointing at each of them didn't work. Check back in mid-August for the update, but let's just say mom told the lady she deserved a raise if she could keep me on that mat for 5 minutes.

Last topic of this post - apparently my family is collectively known as the Dog Whisperer? We rescue dogs. Not for permanent residence but I didn't realize MAD couldn't pass by a runaway dog on the side of the road without having it end up in our backyard. Meet Gizmo (we gave her that name). Nobody has claimed her yet and quite frankly I hate her. When I'm sitting on the floor she's JUST at my height and girl won't get out of my face. Daisy at least is annoyed of me so she stays away - this girl is all up in my grill not even leaving me with any air to breathe. We've tried to find her owners - collar but no tags. Dad posted her sweet face on Craigslist and so far we've gotten one person telling us she's a Puggle and not a Pug and that we spelled the name of the street wrong that we found her on...awesome, thanks for wasting my time Captain Correction. Then another person emailed claiming that it "MIGHT" be her dog as her dog ran away 10 days ago from a city about 20 minutes from us. We emailed them back asking for some identifiers (color of collar, any markings, tricks she knows, etc) but we haven't heard back. OH and for the record - asking the person of any certain tricks was suck a trick question. Dog is dumb. She can't even sit - so even if this fraudster thought he/she was so smart by saying, "oh she knows sit and lie down" as most every dog knows the basics..this dog doesn't EVEN know the basics so we would have known so called owner was an impostor. BOOYAH. Anyway, 10 more days and this dog is free to be adopted --- want her?

Oh yea, and mom and dad went to a safari with some of their besties. I still am a little disappointed they didn't take me but did I mention my Grandma flew in on last minute's notice to care for me while MAD had a mini vacation? I don't get what you even do with yourselves if I'm not with you so I'm sure it was pretty boring but I guess Dad managed to surprise mom with a trip to what appears to be the Wild Animal Kingdom. I have more pics of my time with Grandma but they all ended up on Dad's computer so you're going to have to wait until next post. I'll leave you with a teaser though...that's how I roll...always leave the readers wanting more....

Peace,

ps. To finish off the subject...you say tomato and I say, "DAH!"

I learned my Middle Name

2010-06-29T16:50:00.000-04:00

Do y'all have middle names? I mean, I get it..I'm Grayson. Sometimes Gray and sometimes Gray Gray and to people who are inferior to me, I'm Mr. Brock. Who knew though that I had a middle name?! I hadn't really heard mine much until just recently when I visited a house that isn't "Gray proof". So, allow me to FULLY introduce myself to you all - all my wonderful readers..you deserve to know my full name:

Grayson Nosir Brock - it's not french..it's pronounced "NO SIR" in a louder, more stern voice.

Just the other night I went to Harrisonburg with Mom and Daisy to visit my Aunt KJ at her mom's house and within minutes of me ~~crawling~~ walking into the house I'm pretty sure all I heard for the next 24 straight hours was, "Gray NoSir." I mean, I would just start walking to the next pretty wine bottle, shiny t.v. lights, standing vase, potted plant, china cabinet, medicine drawer, cleaner cabinet, trash can, dog bowl, etc and it was just a constant ringing of "Gray NOSIR" "Gray NOSIR" "Gray NOSIR" and every once in a while she would get me confused with someone else and I'd hear "Gray NOTOUCH." Verdict is still out but I think I like the middle name - it's different and unique...Mom has always been big on the Not-So-Common names.

Oh and PS. Happy Fathers Day?! Man, I was ON THE BALL for Mothers Day and here's all I got for Father's Day. At least I'm calling Gramps and Grandpa while I set up the photo. I don't want to put blame on anyone for this lack of effort and I ain't no blame shifter but without saying names and only using rhymes it is Tom's fault.

So, what else. My Gammy came to visit from Thursday to Sunday. She was only supposed to stay till Saturday but M.A.D (Mom and Dad) neglected to find a sitter for me for a dinner they already had planned and thus, Gammy saved the night. I had a GREAT time with her. She was with me all day Friday while MAD worked and we went to the Children's Museum on Saturday and then watched the world cup. She even helped to bring some plants back to life that Mom had ~~killed~~ not watered enough. We had a great time all around and I can't wait to see her again in July!

So, I'm pretty much a full-time walker. I think it still catches MAD off guard to see me walking. Sometimes I'll cruise past Mom and she'll say, "Oh, hey there Walker" and I just give her the look of annoyance and say (with my eyes), my name isn't Walker..it's Grayson...Grayson Nosir. Then she apologizes. I still raise the roof the whole time I walk - people think it's because I can't balance. FALSE. I just like raising the roof and giving the glory to the good Lord for each step I take. Trust me, if you were as big as I am, you'd be praising God for every step you took as well. Amen?

I got a new kitchen. Mom asked Dad if they could remodel their current and here was his compromise. BIG WINNER. Dad and Mom discussed the kitchen and Dad even looked for it online and showed mom pictures of it before he left. I'll never forget when he called Toys R' Us (I'm not paid to say their name but give-aways are welcome) and asked if they had it in stock? "Oh, it's purple and not blue?" he said to the salesman? Mom inserts smirk on her face. Dad looks over at mom, "It's no big deal, he won't know the difference anyway and it'll serve the purpose we're looking for." Mom responds, "yup, I agree..it's a good price and if we have a girl someday she'll love it too." So dad takes off to the land O' Toys and 20 minutes later Mom gets a call from Dad.."Umm..I maybe spent a little more money on the kitchen then we had talked about." I KNEW IT..I KNEW Dad couldn't settle for the purple kitchen and thus now I have kitchen that could serve as a tool bench if needed. You couldn't look any manlier boiling water if you tried. The only annoying thing is that my fridge has automatic ice and water dispenser and MAD's doesn't so they come over to use it ALL the TIME. Oh and it has a cell phone and a holder for the cell phone that comes with it. Best. Kitchen. Ever.

Oh this was awesome. The other night Dad swooped me up from my high chair at dinner and threw me in the car and we had a late night car trip. Story goes that Mom drove to Chesapeake that day (2 hours from home) and took some co-workers with her. They met up with some other co-workers and spent the day doing some work. Well, at lunch they took other co-workers car and mom left her keys in his car. Said co-worker drove back to Richmond two hours before mom did with other co-workers. Car has an electronic start so the only thing we could use to get it home was the keys themselves. Can someone say "long cab ride" for Mom? I would say it but it just comes out "du afiejof du oahgl muah okay okay okay"

Off to a going away party for some great friends. Don't make me blog about it or I'll cry. Peace.

Referring you to Facebook

2010-06-15T23:32:00.002-04:00

Peeps -

Big news for you. Unfortunately with the help of Dad we tried to relay the news in video format to post to the blog as we typically do but YouTube muted our audio. I'll have none of that so instead of waving the white flag and letting YouTube win I just am going to refer you to mom or dad's facebook page for your viewing pleasure.

I would also like to state that what you see in the video is still not my preferred method of transportation but it just is going to be used to hush the masses who ask, "shouldn't he be walking by now?" To that I say, "shouldn't you have learned to mind your own business by now?"

A few things about me at this exact moment:

1. My Aunt Krystle is here watching me this week and let's just say my family has never eaten so well in all our lives. Also, she brought her 11 lbs. dog, Audie. You wouldn't believe how good I am at finding his eyes..over and over and over again. Best part...for some reason he doesn't move when I poke them. They say the best way to learn is by repetition and I'm pretty sure I've mastered where his eyes are. Tomorrow I plan to work on finding his ears..his inner ears. I would say this is the best week of my life but refer to #2 below.

2. I'm pretty sick. I had a fever last night that we've been successfully lowering with medicine but still the day was filled with lots of tears. They were mostly mom's tears. Some would maybe say today that I was acting irrationally at some of the events of the day but I disagree. Let me ask you (this is just 4 out of about 48 reasons I had a meltdown today):

Would you NOT be totally offended and slightly ticked off that your mom's friend tried to give you a sticker for not feeling well? I mean seriously, does she think I'm just a 15 month old? Deserved a meltdown...in the church office.
Can you believe mom tried to offer me frozen mango today b/c she thought my teeth were hurting? I mean, do you even know me mom? I like blueberries and I like them refrigerated. Nothing about refrigerated blueberries screams frozen mango. Deserved a meltdown.
Mom's friend had the audacity to look me in the eyes and smile. Clearly she was trying to hit on me. Umm..how many times do I have to say it? I have a girlfriend, people. Deserved a meltdown.
I woke up from a 2 hour nap. Something had to wake me up..I don't remember what it was but I just know I woke up and I was angry. Deserved a meltdown - a LONG meltdown.

3. Due to #2 above Mom and Krystle decided it would be good to get some fresh air. We strolled over to the pool and actually this was a highlight of my day. My fever was down, my shirt was off, my bucket hat was on and there were toys all OVER the baby pool. I was playing this awesome game of throwing the ball outside the pool so Krystle had to go get it. Time of our lives.....and then I swallowed some water. By some I mean a lot and by a lot I mean to the point that I threw up. Chunks. In the pool. Remember those blueberries from 2b above? I wasn't super phased by it but the look on mom and KJ's face was priceless. If I could throw up everyday in a public pool and elicit the same facial expression I think I would. Just then another mom and little girl walked through the gate. We're not sure what she saw but all we heard was, "Nah, let's not swim in here, sweety..let's go to the adult pool. (insert glare at mom)" Sweet, she was gone. This gave mom ample time to scoop up said chunks in one of my buckets and rid the pool of any evidence. SCOREBOARD: Grayson's puke - 1, Wyndham baby pool - 0. We call that undefeated, baby.

(Here's proof despite the above that #3 was still my highlight)

4. I am getting at LEAST 5 molars in all at the same time. Literally, you can see breakage on at least 5 of my back teeth. Talk about paradise. This MAY explain some of #2 above as well.

On that note I'm out. Seriously, pray for me. The good news is that I get a TON of cuddles and mom stays home from work tomorrow. BOOYAH.

G 'Walker' Brock - more pics from Myrtle (and this past Monday) attached.

Yikes..May was a bad month.

2010-06-03T21:59:00.000-04:00

I haven't blogged in ages. I don't know if it's because I've given up on the thought of me becoming a professional blogger or if it's because mom doesn't leave a laptop in my crib anymore with me (which is typically where I do all my blogging) but either way this has definitely taken a back seat to ~~walking~~ crawling.

If you noticed (you may not have) but I crossed out "walking" because I'm still not quite there. I mean, I CAN walk when I want. This morning I walked pretty much across my parent's bedroom but I just prefer to be crawling. I heard once that crawling helps build your arm muscles. When I heard that I vowed to not walk till I had to go to school. Seriously, think about it fellas, comment to me if/when you agree - but as a dude I'm worried about my upper body build, right? No guy wants bulging thighs...when Lewseal (pseudonym to protect the innocent) sneaks a peak I know she's looking at my arm rolls, NOT my leg rolls...we (by 'we' I mean 'they' by 'they' I mean 'the ladies') want broad shoulders and decent pecks (and to be sensitive, funny, caring, yadda, yadda..I get it). Sure, all you early walkers are impressive now and the girls are "ooohing" and "ahhhhing" as you strut yourselves through the nursery but I'm okay with that. I am keeping myself in the infant nursery where nobody can walk anyway and saving my days of impressing for when I can actually drive the ladies somewhere and when Mom and Dad will let me out of the house without a diaper on.

Not too long ago Mad (mom and dad collectively) dog-sat for some good friends. Maddy came over for TWO weeks and it was awesome. The most awesome part is that the crate comes out when she's here. Although you would think that just one of the dogs goes in the crate that is certainly not the case. At night when you call Maddy into the crate Daisy just follows her right in. I am pretty sure Maddy gets annoyed but Daisy is really needy and enjoys the snuggle time with her bestie. Well, I won't call it laziness for the sake of saving face, but let's just say the crate is still downstairs and it's one of my favorite toys. I just can't figure out why Daisy isn't as anxious to get in there with me as she is with Maddy???

This past weekend was potentially the best weekend of my life. First off - Mom was home with me from Thursday through Tuesday and then it was Mad from Friday to Monday. You can't even imagine the good conversations I get to overhear when it's Mad. This one for example:

Scene: Mom enters the room in a striped shirt where Dad and I are playing --

Dad: Is that a new shirt you're wearing?

Mom: No
Dad: Yes it is

Mom: No it's not

Dad: I have NEVER in my life seen that shirt before

Mom: Well it's not new. You must not have noticed

Dad: When did you get it?

Mom: Last week

Dad: AND IT'S NOT NEW???

Mom: Nope - I have been back to Old Navy SINCE getting this shirt which now makes this an old shirt

Secondly, we went to Myrtle Beach and I got to see some of my favorites- Aunt KJ, my adoptive Grandma Sandy, and the most knowledgeable current events man in the world, Ron. Before we left mom stopped at the local Target to pick up some beach and pool toys. I mean, they were fine and all but seriously, can you beat an empty hummus containter and a slightly used travel mug? I. THINK. NOT. Some of you may be wondering what had us go down this past weekend? Well, I was invited by my black biker friends because it was black biker week. In honor of, I wore my biker bathing suit and swim shirt. Ohhh the amount of things I have been able to experience in my short 14 months of livin' thus far.

Lastly - a simply request turns near impossible. Let's see you find your bellybutton right after dinner, MOM!

Happy Mother's Day, Momma!!!

2010-05-09T07:34:00.000-04:00

An update, my friends, and sunglasses

2010-05-02T21:59:00.001-04:00

To all my besties -
This post has a specific intent in mind. I would like to cover the three topics summarized so nicely (if I do say so myself) in the subject line above. And with no further ado, here we go.

1. Update: Remember THIS post? (if you're not tech savvy like myself, click the word "THIS" and it will take you there). Well, I have been getting some criticism lately for not updating with which car we took and how the story ended. The story pretty much ended about 35 minutes after I published the post. As usual I had my monitor on in mom and dad's room so I could hear all the juicy stuff they talk about after I "go to bed." Allow me to do a role-play -

Dad: So, I figured out what the difference in price is going to be if we drive the Honda over the Toyota.
Mom: Oh, really? That's nice. (insert playing it cool)
..3 minutes pass...
Dad: Do you want to know what the difference is?
Mom: Sure
..insert embarrassed smirk on Dad's face...
Dad: ~~One million and~~ Thirty dollars.
Mom: Bahahahahahahaha - Thirty dollars? That's IT?? THIRTY DOLLARS??
Dad: (chuckling) shoot, I thought it was going to be more than that!!!
Mom: Well, since you told me I can make the decision I choose we take the Toyota
Dad: That thirty dollars can buy us a lot of fruit you know!!!

And so the Toyota we took - I mean, who cares if it had like 13 recalls on it the next day..a sticky gas pedal is NOTHING compared to the leg room and comfort we had :).

2. My friends: Mom's been taking some pics lately of my friends. This is really a shameless plug for mom to say if you want some pictures taken of your kids..she'd LOVE to practice on them!!! This first set are pics of my girlfriend's sisters (and my girl is in a few of them too!!)

Now meet my "big brothers" Baxter and Owen and the Purdy family!

Lastly. Sunglasses. Although mom has been snapping away at my cute friends, she neglected to take any photos of me on her camera this week. Real nice. However, she has stopped me a few times during the course of the past few days and asked for a few candid camera phone shots. I still look just as cute in the camera phone shots but the difference is mom never uses a flash on her real camera but with the camera phone it's like the paparazzi is after me. I can't keep my eyes open to save my life! Nevertheless - enjoy. PS. The Broncos jersey was in celebration of draft day. Ever since that day mom has been telling me my name is now Grayson Tebow - I don't totally get it but Tebow has a nice ring to it...

Oh and if you couldn't tell by the pics. I wave now..bye bye and hello. Just like please, it allows me to get away with a lot. When mom calls for me to come to her and I choose to go the other way, so long as I wave "bye bye" as I'm making a ~~run~~ crawl for it..she can only get but so mad. I'm working on blowing kisses..I'm pretty sure once I get that nailed down I'm never going to get in trouble again.

-Tebow

Grayson Ryan FAQs

2010-04-22T20:42:00.001-04:00

Goodness..it's been a while since I have A) posted and B) posted with any words. I feel like so much is going on these days that I wanted to update y'all with the latest and greatest, my tricks and my trades, the ups and the downs, my successes and my ~~failures~~ successes! Lots of people have been emailing, calling, tweeting, etc. and asking question after question and many of them overlap so I wanted to just put together a list of FAQs and answer them one by one. Here we go (in no particular order):

1. Grayson, how did you get so cute?

This is DEFINITELY the most popular question. I'm not sure if this is a knock on my parents or what people's thoughts are when they ask but all I can say is that I have some GREAT looking grandpas I take after. You should hear the split in opinions as to if I look like mom or dad...one minute I look JUST like my mom and the next I look identical to my dad. I think people are just scared to admit I don't look like either of them and even HINT at the ole' switch in the hospital possibility.

2. Gray, what's going on with your hair?
Sensitive subject and the answer is I DON'T KNOW. Here's what I do know. The minute I was born I had dark curly hair - like, tight curls. Then I took my first bath and it stayed dark but went straight. Then I came home and went through those awkward early baby phase where some hair fell out and I looked like a 97 year old man. My hair slowly started growing back in straight and blond and with a natural crew cut with the long on top and short on the sides and back. I enjoyed that. Now as it continues to grow I have curls going crazy at the sides and back (although M&D cut these off the other week) but I'm starting to get some puffiness to my hair in the back. Daisy has a strip of crazy hair down her back - maybe I look like her (in answer to FAQ #1).

3. Do you walk yet?
To that I say...define walk. I pull up on anything and everything but my favorite to pull up on is mom's or dad's pant leg. I walk if I'm holding your hand or pushing my tiger but if you want me to get from point A to point B with no assistance...I still prefer the crawl - much faster. Don't judge me..I was premature, remember? My question for you...Do you fly yet? Boooyah. (ps. Yes, mom put me in my hospital hat the other day. Do you think someone has the baby itch?!?!?!)

4. Do you talk yet?
ALL. THE. TIME. The real question is, do YOU speak my language? If you don't then I'm sorry and I can't help you - you should go enroll in your local, "Grayson as a Second Language" class at your community college. Things I say that we have in common between our languages: dadda, mama, daisy (although I have regressed here and now just point), ROOAAARRRRRR (in response to "what does a lion say", and Ssssssssssssss (in response to, "what does a snake say") - so what if sometimes the lion says "sssssssss" and the snake says "ROAR" - it's a submissive lion and an aggressive snake - don't put them in a box. I also know the sign for Please (see picture below) and now I use it all the time..even unprompted and I'm finding it's REALLY difficult for mom to say no to me when I'm signing please b/c I'm doing what she has asked me to do for the past 4 months. This really works in my favor and has backfired on mom and dad. So, Lucille and Grayce listen up..learn PLEASE really quickly - I scored two grapes out of the grape bag AT the grocery store today by using that junx. Oooops, I have a feeling I wasn't supposed to tell you that. Is that my first encounter with stealing?

5. Gray, have you committed any crimes?
Refer to #4 above.

6. Dude, how BIG are you these days?
Let's see - just today I had mom's friend ask if I was 30 pounds as I felt heavier to her than her son who is almost 17 months and isn't a lightweight either. Then I had the deli lady ask mom how old I was and although tempted to just say "18 months" she was honest with the "13 months" and the lady quickly went wide eyed - "Whoa...that's one BIG 13 month old." and to that I said back to her.."Whoa...you're one big 54 year old, ma'am - now let's go share one of those fresh oatmeal cookies that just came out of that oven."

7. Do you brush your teeth?
Yes, all 8 of them every night. I actually love it and would brush in the morning too if mom and dad ever remembered. My dentist is going to be so proud.

8. G-man..do you have any rhythm?
Y'all - I can SERIOUSLY shake what my mama gave me. I actually LOVE dancing and I found that when I press the nose of my lion walking toy it plays techno. It's like me and techno are magnets...of opposite ends. As soon as my jam comes on (ps. track 2 is my favorite and I often skip track 1) I stop WHATEVER I am doing and just shake it. I do the twist, I do the Mr. Elliott shoulder raise, and I have a Grayson original which you'll just have to wait till M&D get it on video. One time I was crawling and mom pushed play and I found I have REAL nice moves when I'm on my hands and knees - probably moves that are only appropriate until I'm about 15 months so I'm taking advantage of my innocence.

9. Do you get outside a lot?
Mom and Dad borrowed a hiking pack for me when they thought they were going to an event where I would need to be carried. Let's just say I've been in it quite often. "Where do you hike?" you ask...well, my front yard, my back yard, and my favorite...the kitchen. You see..when mom is home I am a LITTLE on the needy side. So when it's time to make dinner and I just want to be held, which I'm very verbal about - mom just throws me in the hiking pack, clips all 24 clips and straps together and off we go..chopping and seasoning like nobody's business. Quite frankly, folks..I don't even like dirt and grass...who says you have to be in mountains or rough terrain to use a hiking pack?

10. Do you have any other fun tricks?
First off - they aren't tricks...tricks are for animals so I would prefer if mom and dad stop referring to them each day as my "new tricks." BUT, I can...wave, give kisses on command (oh and just FYI - if you want a kiss just know that I'm going to give you some tongue with that. For some reason the ladies always get taken off guard with this...to that I say, "you're welcome."), clap, empty daisy's water dish - both inside and out..this is one of my favorite "tricks", flex, and read. Oh and with the reading thing - it's awesome. Every morning I wake up I know mom and dad aren't quite ready to tend to me. So, I just turn on my mobile as my light source and grab one of the books mom has left in my crib and read. It's some of my favorite times and still seems to make mom and dad laugh each morning when they find me. So far in my kid Bible I've read through Proverbs.

Happy Easter

2010-04-05T12:41:00.000-04:00

1 Thursday + 1 New shirt from Target + 0 Smiles =

2010-03-25T16:56:00.000-04:00

I'm a 1 year old..

2010-03-17T23:44:00.005-04:00

Nothing about me screams baby anymore. Well, if you don't count the fact that I'm still carried 89% of the time, I can't talk, I maybe wear diapers, and I prefer for you to hold my sippy cup to the point that when you hand it to me I just hand it back to you and put my hands at my side so you have to hold it to my mouth - other than that, I'm totally a big boy. So, I guess b/c when it was time to plan my party I was still considered a "baby" - mom and dad had to plan my party for me. Afterwards I made a list of pros and cons so I could remember for next year when I plan my own party.

Pros:

1. all my friends were there (except the ones that weren't invited or couldn't come - if you weren't invited it was mom and dad's fault..I would have totally invited you)

2. all the chicken nuggets I could eat

3. a balloon was tied to my highchair - next year it'll be a big boy chair but turns out I LOVE balloons

4. i had trucks on my cake -- monster trucks

5. blow horns as a party favor

6. the gifts ...

Oh wait a minute..#6 brings me to my CONS about this party. Does THIS look familiar, people?? If so, why did NOBODY email me (Grayson.Brock@gmail.com ) to tell me Mom and Dad were sabotaging my party???

Unbelievable. It's cool though - I decided to plan a party for Mom to celebrate her birthday which was just a few days later so I sent out a little evite of my own:

Some additional cons:

1. the cake - I think next time I'll go with an ice cream or cookie cake - but I did love finger painting with the icing!!

2. they served fruit as a side item instead of fries. I mean, it's my birthday..just hook me up with the waffle fries - I can be healthy tomorrow.

3. friends that couldn't come. maybe next year mom/dad you might want to send out the invite more than 72 hours before you're trying to have the party. Mute point - next year I'm organizing my own party.

Overall it was awesome and I'm thankful to all the people that came and loved me so well. I got some AWESOME gifts despite the above including a new library of books, a red Ryder as mentioned in a previous post, a full Adidas jump-suit, some re gifted Lego's (you laugh but I LOVE), bath toys, a new CD, a new backpack with my name on it, toys, raisins, and clothes for the spring!! You may note I am not smiling in any of these pictures. It's really not a fair assessment of my happiness at my party - right before all these pictures one friend or another had just approached me with, "hey dude, I woulda brought you a gift but your mom insisted we didn't..sorry, buddy." --

Some folks have been asking about my recently blogged about lady friend...ladies and gentleman..I give you Lucille --yes, I know..she's WAY out of my league...lucky guy.

Seriously, people. My birthday this year was literally the best I've ever had. The whole non-gift thing really taught me a good lesson about how I don't need tangible items from people to be loved and true happiness can't be found in those items as those Lego's are sure to one day disappoint. (I'm gonna pitch that to Pastor Shelby) - In fact, those nuggets sure did disappoint the ole' digestive track that afternoon after my nap...YIKES! I have a big doctor's appointment tomorrow so I'm hittin my ~~big boy bed~~ crib but check back soon for some stats AND I've been doing some research and noticing that all the "famous blogs" - you know, the ones that make their living off of blogging - they all have some sort of "cooking" element to their blog where they post recipes or talk about organic foods. I'm far from an organic guy but have y'all ever tried my infamous Oat-Sauce-Meal? Stay tuned....

Gettin' Ready for the BIG day

2010-03-11T21:09:00.000-05:00

How does one do that, you ask? It's easy...follow this simple formula if you want to have the best first birthday of your life.

1. Start to get your molars b/c that is REALLY fun. Let me give you an example of just how much fun it is. When I started to get my molars yesterday I became REALLY happy. When I say happy I mean happy to the point of tears. I cry when you want to put clothes on me, I cry when you offer me milk (yes, all you need to do is merely offer and I'm so happy I just start crying), I cry when you try to give me medicine that would make me less happy, I cry when my tummy sticks out so much it pushes my tray off my chair and my grapes almost fall on the floor, I cry when I start crying while grapes are in my mouth so I start choking on said grapes, and then I cry when you finger swipe them out of my mouth in hopes that I would stop crying. So many tears of joy - that's the first way to prepare for your first birthday.

2. The second way to prepare is to cold turkey your bottles. I mean, you can't show up to your first birthday party still taking bottles so you just spit in their face one day and be done with them. Now I get milk and not just any old milk...whole milk. Dad referred to it as crack tonight b/c it's THAT delicious. I think it's fine - I take it now in place of that baby formula business but I'm not obsessed with it like dad is. OH and I only use sippy cups with straws...that's how the cool kids are doing it these days. Plus, Grayce told me that it helps my muscles used in speech when I can suck from a straw. I started using that cup yesterday and today I said full sentences. Grayce is so smart. PS. Other BEST thing about the straw...don't have to tilt the cup back - I never could figure that out.

3. And the last way to prepare for your first birthday party - put on a pink shirt, pop your collar and have a photo shoot, of course.....

Valentines Day

2010-02-28T21:20:00.000-05:00

My first Valentines day has come and gone. I know I'm a little behind in posting about this but since it's still technically February I figure, better late than never. Now, listen - I have been getting a lot...and I mean, A LOT of questions lately about my relationship status. I don't know if it's because I'm about to turn 1 or maybe because the hair on my head is growing in so much it's even inching a little over my ears or WHAT, but I want to address the masses. I do have a girl that I text A LOT. I would facebook and tweet her but her mom won't let her have an account. We even talk on the phone sometimes but mom gets jealous and I've had MANY an instance when my lady friend will call and mom will answer as I'm sitting right there and I'll hear, "oh no..sorry, Gray isn't here right now, can I take a message?" or the worst "sorry, you have the wrong number" and then she hangs up. Mom, if you're reading this listen up, I'm almost 1 and I know it's hard for you to let go but I don't need you to baby me anymore!!! I can already hear her now, "if you're gonna live under MY roof you will live by MY rules.." blah, blah, blah. Don't worry, Lucille - one day I won't live under this roof and you'll get your own Twitter account and life will be as we dream...

I digress. So, there's another lovely lady too that I think the world of but unfortunately I haven't gotten to spend too much time with. Grayce Phillips. I mean, seriously - Grayce and Grayson (she may or may not spell her name with a "y" in it but I'm assuming she does..who wouldn't?)-- how could that NOT work out??? But I have yet to really hang out with Grayce like I have with Lucille to know if we really have the connection or not...but I've seen pictures and I know immediately her and I have the same love of food and she is QUITE the looker!

Moving on. So, as the big V-day approached I went to the best place I could to get the best advice. Dad. I mean, Dad managed to score Mom who is 2.5 years older than him!! HOLLA BACK, DAD! If there's anyone I know that's got the moves... it's him -- so, I asked him for his advice. He replied, "son, you GOTTA play it cool. Don't act needy, eager, or desperate. Show your lady she's special but don't try TOO hard to impress. You gotta leave time to improve - if you go all out in year 1 you'll have the pressure every year of topping the previous year and that just gets expensive. Here are the top 5 things you DEFINITELY don't want to do on your first Valentines Day..."

1. Don't wear anything cheesy on Valentines Day..like red things or heart shaped things and don't show too much skin.

2. Don't do anything that's too showy - for example: Absolutely no flexing and no one-arm push-ups. That's just overkill.

3. Don't play the "I love animals" cards. Just because her mom is a Veterinarian - don't be that dude that has to walk around with a puppy just to get a stare.

4. Never show too much skin. Don't ever show her what's under the bib- you gotta save something for the wedding day!

5. Don't smile too much. Smiling shows weakness and nervousness - just play it cool like you've done this a million times.

Got it, Dad. I hear EVERYTHING you're sayin and I'm following ALL your advice. Wait, I think I just heard by phone beep - must be my lady friend shooting me a text. GOTTA GO!

Family, Flyers, and Friends

2010-02-24T09:12:00.002-05:00

Hey sports fans - we got a lot going on in the Brock household these days and so I guess the only real way to handle all that is to just let it loose -

1. Did mom tell YOU she was going back to work full-time in February? I sure didn't receive that memo until the first Tuesday of February when I woke up with my usual UNBELIEVABLY filled dirty diaper that I like to greet her with (you know, the ones where she even has to put me in new Pj's b/c the diaper can't contain all the goodness I have to offer it) and all of a sudden it was GRANDMA that had to deal with that mess. I was so embarrassed - if I had only known I wouldn't have made it such a bad one. (confession: that is a lie..I would have still made it just as bad b/c I continued that behavior for the rest of the week..even after I picked up on the fact that Mom wouldn't be home to deal with it. sorry Grandma). BUT, I had TWO weeks with Grandma and it was incredible to say the least.

2. Do y'all know what "S-N-O-W" is? I think that's how they spell it...everytime I try to say something new it just comes out "ddaazzzzz-ie or da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da" but we got a TON of this snow junk. Here are the things I know about it. It's cold. It's wet. It's white. When it comes, mom and dad stay home and dad builds me friends to play with. Those friends are great b/c I can pull their arms out and their eyes out and I don't get in trouble AND it apparently doesn't hurt them. The ONLY problem with them is that mom and dad won't let my friends come inside and it's really too cold outside to play with them for very long. I begged and begged to let my new friend sleepover but again, I was told if I wanted to have a sleepover with my friend I would have to sleep outside. Are the rules this strict at your house???

3. I got a radio flyer from my Grandma for my birthday (which is coming up on 3/13...you might want to jot that down). It's no joke, either - just straight up the REAL deal. There are no other words needed for this so I just told Grandma to take a pic. I've only done inside laps so far and I'm pretty sure when I get this puppy outside it's going to rock my world. OH and what you can't see is the umbrella that came with it - you know, to protect my fair and innocent skin.

4. Two other things - I'm pretty much literate now and what you can't tell from this picture is that I'm actually reading this book to mom. I wanted her to sit on my lap but as soon as we tried she couldn't hear me anymore. She sometimes struggles with the big words but I just sound them out slowly.."D-d-z-z-z-z-z-z-i-e and da-da-da-da-da-da-da" sometimes I even clap as I sound out the syllables and that helps her, "d-zzzzzzzzz-ie...one, two, three" and "da-da-da-da-da...one, two, three, four, five" - I think eventually she'll pick up on it but I'm trying to be patient with her. 4a. You may remember "I've been everywhere, man" and if not, you need to get more serious about following my blog. But, that video was just the beginning. Now not only am a I crawler like no other but I want to pull up all the time and even like to take some steps if you're holding my hands. It's not that I can't support my weight if you let go (I know you think I'm heavy-set but I can do it if I wanted) - it's more just that I REALLY like dancing (again, see Dinner with MJ below) and so when you hold my hands I feel like we're dancing..slow dancing ;).

5. Right now my Gammy and Great Aunt Lynne are here caring for me, mom and dad, and helping mom and dad make a headboard for their bed. I will post more on that later but in short, it's been glorious. And that about wraps up this blog post. Let's give me a round of applause.

Listen..I've been busy - I plan to update soon, okay?

2010-02-20T18:46:00.000-05:00

Dinner with my new friend MJ!

2010-02-06T20:01:00.000-05:00

Oh yeah...and we're snowed in! More pics to come.

I've been everywhere man...

2010-01-26T21:00:00.003-05:00

Look Out Philly...Here I come!

2010-01-20T22:48:00.001-05:00

This weekend we're going to load the family up and take a ride up to ~~West~~ Philadelphia, where mom was ~~born and~~ raised. Seriously, I'm looking forward to it. I was actually JUST telling Mr. Bear about it:

I told you in one of my previous posts that Mom and Dad got a family friendly car for Christmas. This trip would be an ideal trip to take advantage of the space as mom talked some shenanigans of feeding me in the car to get up there quicker on Friday evening. Well, tonight as I was playing before bed I overheard M & D talking about the schedule for Friday. All of a sudden Dad pulled out the big guns, "Sweetie, I'm just going to be up front with you..." -- UH - OH...things are NEVER good when dad starts with those words. So, I stopped playing with my choo-choo for just a minute as I knew this was going to be far more entertaining. He continued, "I'm going to do the math...how much it's going to cost us in gas using the Honda (small car) and how much it's going to cost us in gas using the Toyota (big car) and I'm going to let YOU decide if you think the difference in price is worth it." And a HUSSSHHHHHHHH fell over the crowd..c'mon, do it with me -- HUSSHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH. Oh yes, this was getting good. So typical dad, he does the diaper math, he does the formula math, and now he does the gas math.

I loved this conversation for a few reasons. This is so my parents. Dad worried about money and mom worried about taking the nicer, more comfortable and more spacious car. Also, Dad presented this somewhat touchy subject in a way that he felt allowed mom to feel like she was the big winner. After all, it is MOM that is going to decide if the price difference is "worth it." However, Dad TOTALLY is trying to manipulate the situation by offering mom the final say but thinking that there's NO way she'll be able to justify taking the bigger car once he presents her with the figures because she'll feel too guilty to accept the higher figure just for the sake of her increased comfort. Unfortunately for Dad though I think Mom will have the last laugh. What dad seems to be forgetting is the first time (literally..this is no joke) mom got home from her first solo shopping experience post marriage. From what I have been told, Mom went out on her own one Saturday with wedding gift cards GALORE and began to explore her options. Pier One was a popular choice in card so she proceeded there first. Thankfully (for her..not for Dad) she had a little cash on hand as well. So, she picked up a few items such as candles, some place mats, and a few other decorations for the house and proceeded home as she couldn't wait to show Dad her finds. Upon arriving home and showing off her items in a 'freshly married, I'm so cute, I'm so sweet, I'm a little decorator' kind of way she then exclaimed, "And sweetie..you'll be so proud of me! I didn't even spend ANY of the gift cards on these items as I just used my cash instead so I could SAVE the gift cards for later!!!"

BAHAHAHAHAHAHA.....

Great-Grandpa..can you BELIEVE THAT???

Great-Grandma...do you think I'm going to grow up to be like her one day?

Wow, you've been trained well...just smile and nod..smile and nod...

So, I'll keep you all posted as to how this story ends. Clearly though Mom isn't one to worry about a few dollar bills here or there, especially if she's still got her gift cards she can deposit into the bank. HAHAHAHAHA. C'mon..if you're not laughing just visualize mom pulling up to the drive-through window at the bank and sticking the Pier One gift cards that she saved into a deposit envelope for the teller. AND, if that doesn't get you..imagine the look on Dad's face or even the thoughts that went through his mind when Mr. Gas Math heard the words "spent the cash and saved the gift cards" from his bride whom he just - one measly week beforehand - committed himself to for the REST of his life. The best part about ALL of this...she's an ACCOUNTANT!!! Even I don't know how this story ends yet but I'm sure it'll be good so stay tuned!! Oh and P.S. - Dad, do I have any say in which car we take?? My legs sure do feel more cramped in that Honda!!!!

I leave you with some more pictures of my time in Arkansas -- this here is 4 generations, people and yes, my heart was way more excited about this than my face let on (it was late..cut me some slack).

...and this year's Mom of the Year Award goes to...

2010-01-18T19:46:00.005-05:00

NOT my mom. My friend Henry just announced his mom wasn't getting the award either so maybe Mom and his mom can relate. Listen, I'm not trying to be rude but let me just ask you this -- you ever been left to sleep in your own vomit before?? Yes, you heard me correctly..I had to sleep in my own vomit. Let me backup here and give you some background --

Well, you know how it was my New Years Revolution to beat dad in the "I'm so sick pity party" right? Okay, so I got that flu bacteria that added an ear infection and forced me on medicine that would give me the runs. A) That was awesome. BUT, I didn't think it was QUITE enough to out-do dad. SO, two Sunday nights ago I stepped it up a notch. I've been in bed - "asleep" - and I devise my plan. PUKE. It's easy. So, I get myself to start thinking about disgusting things that would make me nauseous. Sure enough I feel sick so I start to cry to get mom out of bed at about midnight. Mom does her typical, "wait it out and see if he'll get himself back to sleep" game but not this time. I wail and I just continue to wail harder. She gets up like a Mom of the Year would do...comes in, picks me up and ahhhhhhhhh...I WIN. Dad's alone in the bed and mom is snuggling me like a momma bear to her cubs singing sweet Amazing Grace in my ear and rubbing my back as we rock back and forth. So, now that I'm quiet and content mom starts her slow descent down the road of losing her nomination. With a "I think you're okay, Punkin" she slowly gets up and lays me back down in my crib, tucks me under the blanket and hands me my puppy as some sort of condolence prize. I flip out. For starters, my name isn't Punkin and you're the one that named me so I'm not sure why you insist on calling me that. I start kicking, yelling, the whole nine yards to let the lady know that no, in fact I'm NOT okay and puppy is NOT going to get me back to sleep as I begin to feel the mass amounts of blueberries I had eaten that day rise to the top of my throat. AND with that..the door is closed. Mom goes back to dad who I BELIEVE says, "he'll be okay..he's just gotta work it out" (yes, he hasn't won any awards this year either) and so work it out I did...EVERYWHERE. Then....I fell asleep in it. I wake up once more in the night, cry for just a minute or two because really..what's the point? For her to come in and hand me puppy again and maybe have time to clean up before the stains set? Plus, she wouldn't feel QUITE as horrible if she actually found me in the night while I was sick rather than waiting till the morning. So, this time I just cry for a minute, puke again in stealth mode..and back to sleep.

And finally the sun came out. Although I prayed it would be mom who would find me as I awake and start my typical morning chitter-chatter and work on my vowels in the midst of chunks, it turned out to be Dad since mom had to go to work early. New crib sheets - $40, new bumper - $60, new Puppy - $15, new PJ's - $10, shampoo to get me clean - $8....but the look on dad's face - PRICELESS. It made it ALL worth it. The crib was covered, I was covered, all in my hair, all over puppy -- you get the picture. I was happy as a clam though AND I got a special early morning bath out of the deal and stained (permanently) just about everything in sight. The best part - I gave the bug to my babysitter Annmarie and then to Mom Tuesday night and then to Dad Wednesday night. Guess who didn't get out of their crib as mom and dad prayed to the porcelain gods. Grayson - 4, Mom - 0.

Boo-Yah! Piece of cake...:)

2010-01-16T22:55:00.003-05:00

I'm new at this...

2010-01-04T21:28:00.010-05:00

Alright for all you experienced "New Years Revolutionists" out there - I need some help. As this is the first New Years I have ever been through, all I kept hearing for an entire night besides, "Are they really going to bring Dick Clark back again?" was, "So, what's your new years revolution??" I listened intently as mom and dad made theirs: (Mom) - To get addicted to coffee. -- sounds reasonable to me. (Dad) - To break mom's addiction -- hmmm..seems like we have the looks of a healthy start to the new year in our household. SO, as I lay me down to sleep that night, I prayed the Lord my soul to keep....and to help me come up with some new years revolutions...here's what He came up with (and I agreed..some I pushed back on)..

1. To beat dad in the, "I'm so sick" pity party. He started with the stomach bug for a weekend. I saw his stomach bug (for a week and a half) and raised him an ear infection. He saw my ear infection with a sore throat and raised me ANOTHER stomach bug this past weekend. Today though I noticed he was getting too much attention from mom so I called his bluff and raised him a bacterial flu and ANOTHER ear infection-- that's right..BOTH my eyes ooze nasty goodness AND my ear is infected and the BEST part is the doctor put me on a new medicine today for 10 days that will inevitably bring back my DIARRHEA. HOLLER!!! Who's got mom's attention now, Dad!?!? Go ahead...I dare you.....

2. To fit into size 2T before my 1st birthday. I have these two pairs of jeans that are 2T and I'm dying to fit into them as I think they are going to look REALLY good on me. Waste wise I think I'm there but I gotta grow another inch or two before I don't have to roll the cuffs. C'MON horse genes!!

3. To learn more about this Jesus man/God/Spirit (see..I'm already confused) that keeps being talked about around here. When Dad prays with me at night he asks Jesus for a LOT of things..BIG things...well, I got 9 other areas written within that I'm clearly gonna need some help with!!

4. To start wearing deodorant. Listen people..although not written I'm also working on honesty and so I should go ahead and tell you I have a small case of the ole' sweaty pits. I mean, I'm not going to go as far as saying I'm more of a man than other boys my age (although clearly I'm not LESS of a man) but I'm considering starting to shave and let's just say mom has ceased any kissing and tickling within the armpit area due to suffocation precautions. Think what you will folks but if wearing deodorant is so wrong..then I don't want to be right.

5. To stay immobile the entire year. I got weighed the other day at the doctor and although i had on all my winter clothes and a wet diaper I managed to clock in at a whopping 26.7. I'm trying to get to 35 pounds by the age of 1 and if I can't crawl than that means mom and dad still have to carry me everywhere. How sweet would that be --- just to see them exert that much energy into getting me to the changing table would be awesome. Listen people..I know you think I'm mean but in just a few years guess who is gonna be pushing their wheelchairs around and wiping their behinds...that's right, it's ME. And don't think I don't realize I'm an only child so I don't even have someone to split the duties with (oh don't tell me Daisy's going to be any use in that...she's more needy than I am!!!). So, in return, I'm going to take advantage of this helpless state for as LONG as I can (even though secretly I totally know how to crawl...shhh..don't tell my parents).

I prefer....

6. Spend more time with my kuzins haley and caitlin. i miss them.

7. Be #1 in the V-sit n' Reach for all children my age. Mom tells people I have go-go-gadget arms. She says there used to be a show on t.v. when she was a kid of this guy that could just press a button and his arms, neck, legs, etc. would extend very long. I don't need to press a button though - I just naturally have go-go-gadgets. Hence my lack of need to crawl. Toy across the room...NO PROBLEM...I see said toy and just with one or two warm up stretches pretty much have that thing in my grip before mom and dad can get over to get it for me. Why crawl and burn calories when you can just reach and can keep food in your other hand for the snacking.

8. To be potty trained by 2011. What?? You don't think that's feasible?? Reach for the stars people and you may just hit the moon. Reach for the trees and you'll probably hit the ground -- (copyright 2010, GRB) -- picture below is to remind you of my sickness and how I look like I was in a fight with Rocky...this one was taken for you Gramps!

9. Learn a few signs - for example..one day I think I will mimic mom and just sign the words "more please" but for now it's REALLY fun to just GRRRRUUUUNNNNTTTT at her really loudly. Especially when we are in public places. I don't care if I haven't swallowed yet I want the next bite and I want it NOOOWWWWWWW. Life will be much quieter when I finally oblige and just sign my needs. This one though I may put off till next December, just because yelling elicits such a great response out of mom.

10. Find sponsors for my blog and become a professional blog writer. I can't wait to be 18 and a professional blogger (probably world famous) and people say, "So, when did you start blogging??" and I can respond, "when I was two weeks -- here's a picture to prove it." Your parents got you golf clubs and soccer balls at 2 in hopes of living vicariously through you and maybe even getting out of paying for your college via a scholarship...my parents gave me a laptop. BIG WINNER....

Over the River and Through the Woods to Grandma and Grandpa's House we go...

2009-12-25T17:01:00.013-05:00

My very first Christmas was all I hoped for...minus the cake Mom and Dad tell me we'll have in the future to celebrate Jesus' Birthday (no, I'm not bitter) -- Let me set the stage (and please sing in the tune of 12 days of Christmas..) --- On the 12th day of Christmas my true love gave to me....18 hours of driving, 12 degrees outside, 11 meals a day, 10 kisses per hour, 9 new toys with music, 8 new outfits for stylin', 7 grown adults, 6 in the morning wake up calls....FIVE - DOGGIE -DOGS....4 times watching Christmas Vacation, 3 states of traveling, 2 grand kids for spoilin', and ONE HAPPY BOY!!! Well, after the blizzard of '09 and all 18 inches of goodness busted its way through Richmond, which by the way was nothing short of incredible...

Me, Mom, Dad, Daisy, 6 suitcases, 1 cooler, 2 brown paper bags, gifts for the giving, my pack n' play, Daisy's bed, and all the small necessities that come along with having a handsome devil like me were piled into Dad's Christmas gift to mom (thank you, Lord for providing a car with more room so Daisy and I didn't have to share a car seat) and we headed to Arkansas via Nashville. The original plan was to spend the day in Nashville as a family - the modified reality was to spend the night..literally just the night. We got a late start, Daisy whined to the tune of Come All ye Faithful the ENTIRE trip to Nashville, mom had a killer sore throat, I wanted entertainment and Daisy's singing didn't quite cut-it and I'm pretty sure Dad spent the entire trip to Nashville just praying for peace and quiet. We made it though safe and sound and the two folks we did interact with during our stay there (the bell boys) were just as southernly gentleman as we expected. My guess is they were up and coming country music stars...so I got their autograph. We (and by we I mean I) woke up early and was sure to make sure mom and dad knew that, we got our continental breakfast and before we knew it we were on the road again. The second half of the trip was much more relaxed. Daisy must have realized we had been driving too long to be going to her boyfriend's house so she just slept and I played and napped until we finally arrived.

Oh and arrive we did. It's been glory I tell ya..absolutely glory. Dad's cousin Thomas was here when we arrived and dad's brother, his girlfriend (& her two dogs), and my cousin Caity arrived on Wednesday afternoon and if you're doing the math with me that makes...seven adults, two kids, and yes...5 dogs. Nothing better than organized chaos and a chorus of woof woof, yap yap, and a few bow wow wows. I met my grandpa for the first time and that's been wonderful (although sometimes when I'm sitting and playing he sits in his chair and reaches out to me motioning me to come over to him...reminding me and all the others in the room of my lack of ability for mobility) -- along with the many kisses and hugs from my Grandma... playing with my cousin Caity...showing all my food and playing hide and go seek with my Uncle Thomas...and learning new signs from my uncle Aaron and his girlfriend Rayni...

Oh and people - I'm not sure what you woke up to this morning but right after mom and dad told me of the birthday party we were going to today for Jesus, apparently grandma and grandpa heard it wrong and thought it was MY birthday because gifts were EVERYWHERE. I could barely get the tape off one gift and two more were being tossed my direction!!! They were actually sweet enough to get presents for EVERYONE so here's Caity and I doing our thing...

I can't say enough how much fun I have had. I'm glad this trip isn't nearly over yet because there are MANY more family members to meet, food to be eaten, hugs to be received, and dare I say...presents to open??? How come Jesus' birthday gets to last so long??? Alls I know is you won't hear complaints from me!!!

I'm Happy and I know it...

2009-12-18T08:25:00.002-05:00

Sorry for the dark video but my Monday/Wednesday babysitter, whom I LOVE, was wondering the other day if I was happy. Umm...CLEARLY I'm happy. See the post below this one for some more updates!!!

9 months and counting...

2009-12-17T21:51:00.003-05:00

Wow - so, there's a few big things going on in my world right now. Let's talk about them. For starters, I celebrated the ole' 9 month mark. Thank you for all the emails I received. Secondly, I celebrated my first diaper rash experience. Maybe celebrate is a bad term there - at only 9 months my vocabulary is limited but I'm no diaper rash virgin anymore and to that I raise my 'butt paste' - that stuff works wonders. The rash was a result of a stomach virus that rocked me pretty much for the last week. I wasn't phased though. I don't understand what the big fuss people make over vomiting and loose stools. I'm pretty sure I remember mom curled into fetal position last time she was sick literally crying. However, in my opinion that just wastes minutes of the day that I could be playing. So, my theory is...play, play, play, vomit all over friend's rug, play, play, play, diaper explosion, play, play, play, full 8 oz bottle, vomit all over dad, play, play, play. Why waste time fussing over it when all that would do is warn mom and dad that I didn't feel well which would give them time to put me in some undisclosed location that would make it "easier for cleaning" after I get sick. B-O-R-I-N-G....all the fun in puking is when/where it's gonna happen - 9:00 pm after a full bottle sitting in the only expensive piece of furniture you got for the nursery (glider) on Dad with his freshly washed jeans on...A-B-S-O-L-U-T-E-L-Y.

(A comment about the picture below. Welcome to a 'day in the life of Gray' - SERIOUSLY, Mom and Dad?? This brings me back to the days of Robotic Mom when you basically would sit me in there and go on with life as you knew it. The ole' ring of toys - serves as entertainment and containment - you even open the book for me as if it's going to read itself to me..how sweet of you. And you take this photo from your cozy, comfy couch...I mean, why even get a babysitter for me on the days you have to work??? But aren't I so charming???)

Today I had my 9 month appointment with the doc. I love him b/c he calls me 'Chief' - I keep hoping mom and dad will catch on but they don't. So, the talk of the town lately has been my lack of ability to crawl. From what I can tell, mom is getting a little worried I'm behind the ball and dad has been a little pushy lately that I know where my nose is (ps. I don't know, I don't care, and please don't touch my nose again). A few things I want to say about this crawling business. Today, and this is no lie, mom was asking the doc about my lack of crawling. While he was examining me she was discussing my short-falls...awesome, thanks mom. He was asking some leading questions as to what I do when I'm on my belly, what do I do when I want something (uhhh..clearly i just point at it and tell mom and dad to go get it...who doesn't??), etc, etc. So, doc tells mom he's not too concerned about it but to get me dressed and meet him in his office. As mom walks in with me we see the doc looking at my chart and my recent height and weight measurements that were taken just a half hour earlier. Without prompting we hear, "OH MY GOSH...NO WONDER THE KID CAN'T CRAWL..HE'S A HORSE!!!" - Annnndd...thank you, Dr. Terry -- I am assuming you meant to say "HE'S A CHIEF" but I can understand how you would switch those two terms up. Let's just say that hearing phrases like, "off the chart" and "he's no lightweight" are becoming par for the course around here. BUT, doc said I looked like a million bucks...that my expressions were priceless; I am very social and have great eye-contact; and my muscle strength is right where it should be. No worries from him and so I'm hoping this will chill mom out for a little bit so I don't have to spend the entire day tomorrow on my belly.

--One other thing while I'm on the topic. Lest we forget people that I was born pre-maturely. I mean, if I can remember correctly my due date was March 14th. I was born March 13th and in the daytime at that. When I say that I'm 9 months and 4 days today..that's unadjusted --- ADJUSTED I'm 9 months and THREE days -- so, cut me some slack. Doc said I should be right on track with the rest of my unadjusted age group by the time I'm two. Looking forward to that so mom and dad can chill out a bit!

(Comment on the below picture...mom did a little photoshoot for a great friend of hers of her two boys who coincidentally are my best friends, William and Hudson. We did a few shots with me and another great friend Harper thrown in the mix and so I wanted to post to show you how my buddies are growing. Let it be known my love for dirt outweighs my love for looking at the camera and quite frankly, between you and me, I think Will is showing off to impress a girl we both like, Lucille, because he knows I can't crawl yet. This is me playing it cool.)

Alright well, I'm off to bed - I'm working on teeth #'s 5 and 6 and they aren't coming in without a fight. I'm pretty sure I'm gonna win but I wouldn't be surprised if this match goes a full 10 rounds. I love you all and I think the next time I update it will be from the living room of my Grandma and Grandpa's house in Arkansas. You can pray for us as we attempt an 18 hour drive over 2 days and we're bringing Daisy - departure is set for Monday at 2:00 a.m.

My cuz....

2009-11-25T11:59:00.008-05:00

..so what if she's 5 months older than me and her head alone is 5 pounds lighter than mine. don't judge us.

hmmm...mine at home is keyless start..how do I get this thing going?

That's right, baby..they don't call it a love HANDLE for nothin'...just hold on tight..

wait a minute...you're my COUSIN..that's DISGUSTING - hand up on the shoulder please..geesh, I got way carried away there. I...I....I'm so sorry I called you 'baby'...I thought you were my girl Lucille for a minute.

And on that note I leave you with my well wishes for Thanksgiving. May everyone hang out in their undershirts and find turkey thighs that can compete with these.