10 Months Old!

I'm not even sure how I feel about it, but we are on the first birthday countdown now.

Grayson is in the double digits…10 MONTHS OLD!!

Time flies.  I'm sure all parents feel this way.  

Actually I know they do, because parents tell me that all time…

"They're only little for just a moment."  

I wish I could go back and savor every moment just a little more.  

Grayson is known as the happy go lucky baby.  

He can light up a room instantly with his gap-tooth smile. 

He has many friends at church.  

However, in this pic, he had just knocked over Abby's blocks and laughed afterwards.  

We may have our hands full with this child.

His vocabulary is growing every day.  

His lists of words/sentences include:

Woah

Oh

No

Let's Go

Mama

Dada

What's that

Good girl

Dog

Book

He also speaks a lot of babble and we're still in search of an interpreter.

Grayson has taken a few steps on his own but pretty much pulls up on furniture and Mama and Dada to navigate around.  

Grayson loves books.  He's fascinated by the pictures. 

The weather in VA is so strange.  One day it's 70 degrees and then it's snowing.  

This month we enjoyed the swings at Mt. Trashmore and the good ol' snow again.

There is no place I'd rather be than at home with Grayson.  

He melts my heart with his sweet slobbery kisses.  

9 Months Old

I've had a lot of time on my hands this week.  

Our second snow storm of 2014 brought us almost 9 inches of snow.  

That's HUGE for our area.  The schools have been closed for 2 days so far.  

I haven't been able to teach voice lessons and we had to cancel worship team rehearsal.  :(

The great news is, I have time to blog.  

I love these two handsome fellas!

Grayson fills our days with so much joy, well...most day.  

He has so much personality now.  He also has some stubbornness!  Welcome to parenthood. 

He's going a mile a minute this one.  We have started some extensive baby proofing of the den, where we spend most of our time.  David covered our brick hearth with foam and fabric.  It's actually really pretty and brightens up the room.  I'm so glad he did it because Grayson pulls himself up on it all the time.  We also mounted the TV.  It makes the room look bigger and our lives are much easier.  I know some people don't believe in baby proofing and think you should just correct your child all the time.  I still have plenty to say "No!" to.  Trust me.  

Speaking of the word "No!" Grayson knows what "No!" means and he doesn't like it.  He will usually take his hand away from something if I tell him to, but 2 seconds later, he's back at it.  

We're also ALREADY dealing with the sharing issue.  

I had no clue that these things start so early.  

I thought we had a few more years to prepare.  Darn.  

__________________________________________________

So this month we had a few firsts.  

This month was the first time I locked my child in the van.  It was not a good day.  

I was leaving the store and Grayson was hungry so I thought -  I'll just put him in the carseat (without strapping him in) and I'll get in on the other side and feed him before we finish the rest of our errands.  

I get to the other side of the van and realized, 

I've locked the doors - with my un-strapped-in-child, my keys (obviously), and my phone.  

I attack the first lady I see and beg to use her phone.  

Did I call 911?  Nope.  That would be too easy.  And to be honest, it didn't even come to my mind.  

I was panicking.  

By then, Grayson had stood up in his car seat, turned around, and was dancing....great.  

I called David about a hundred times.  

This lady has some spaceship-phone that I couldn't properly use and 

I apparently kept hanging up when David would answer.  

The whole thing is a little fuzzy.  

Eventually I got in touch with David and he was on his way.  

I kept banging on the window of the van to keep Grayson's attention.  

I was crying like a baby and the sweet lady with the spaceship-phone stayed with me the entire time.  

A man saw me banging on the van window, crying, and called 911.  

Thank God someone has some sense in this story.  

Immediately a fire truck appears.  

I expected them to come running from the truck with the jaws of life to pull apart my van and rescue my dancing child.  But no.  

They walked calmly over as I'm jumping up and down, waving them over.  

Eventually Grayson was rescued and I wasn't put in jail  for neglecting my child.  They assured me that this happens all the time.  

They gave Grayson a coloring book.  I think they thought he was older than he is.  

Everyone does.  My kid is big.  

David showed up and calmed my nerves by taking us to get froyo at Skinny Dip.  

So this was another first for Grayson and unlike the above story, it was a good first.  

Grayson makes the funniest faces when he tries something new.  

He always looks like he's eating a lemon even if he loves it.  

Another first:  Grayson's first and second snow!!! Two in one year!  Wooohoo!

 We've had such a good time, especially this week.  

A parent of one my sweet voice students brought a sled over for Grayson.  He loved it.  The cold didn't bother him one bit.  He could have stayed out there longer.  I plan on taking him again this afternoon.  

I just love that Elmer Fudd hat!

  We have a great time with this not-so-little man.  He really has changed me, for the better!

 

Dear Grayson, 

I've loved you from the very beginning.  

When they laid you on my chest, you completely took my breath away.  

I had never seen anything so beautiful. I will never forget that moment.   

My life was changed forever.  

Each day, you continue to teach me new things and I've received more joy than I ever knew possible.  

Sometimes it scares me, the impact I will have on your life.  Can I do this?  

God put us in each other's lives for a reason.  We will learn together!  

I promise to be mindful of the things I say and do.  I know you be watching.  

I will teach you how to be a man - strong, independent, and respectful.  

I will tell you everyday how much I love you.  

I pray that you will love me and in those teenage years, at least like me.  

I will pray for you and thank God for you daily.  I will give you never ending love!

Love,

Mama

8 Months Old

Happy Holidays from The Hardwick Family!

Thank you Jessica Tirey Scott for these awesome pics! :)

I remember as a kid, Christmas couldn't be any better.  Now that I have a kid, it's SO much better. 

Grayson received about a million toys from Santa, family, and friends.  

We may never need to leave the house again.  

My good friend, Kristina - owner of Memorable Moments Photography took these amazing photos of Grayson.  

We gave them as Christmas presents to our parents.  They were a hit! 

OK, I know I'm his mom but come on, this boy is so handsome!  

Alright, now I debated whether I would post this video.  

Some of you know, Grayson HATES to hear me sing...especially if he's tired, hungry, hot, cold, awake, etc.  

When we discovered this - of course the camera starting rolling....so here you go

GRAYSON HATES MOMMY'S SINGING

Enjoy! :)

2013 was so good to us! I can't wait to see what the new year will bring!

  

7 Months Old

It's getting harder and harder to be on time with this blog.
It's not that life is hard or that Grayson is difficult.  He's actually a lot easier now.
Either he's easier, or I kind of know what I'm doing now.
Well - it only took 7 months to get the hang of it.  :)

He looks so grown now!

I promised to post pics from Halloween a LONG time ago.
So this blog will be a Halloween/Thanksgiving special.
I figure I only have a limited time of making my child look ridiculously cute before he wants to dress himself.
Let me introduce you to BIKER GRAYSON!

He is the cutest biker ever!   

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving week spent with David's side of the family.  We rented a house in the Outer Banks.  Grayson did great on his first trip.  He was full of energy, making the funniest new sounds, and "crawling" all over the place.  He was great entertainment!

He was cutting his to front teeth on a bone.  

David tried to take it away from him at one point.  Big mistake!  

My grandma turned 92 this month!  We are blessed to have her in our lives!

I know I keep saying it, but every month gets better.  

Grayson's is developing into a fun-loving, crazy, full-of-energy child.  

We are blessed!

6 Months Old!

My big boy is 6 Months Old!

My oh my where does the time go?

Grayson is getting bigger by the minute and now that he is officially six months old,

I feel like he’s turning into a little boy, rather than my little baby. 

Ok, I've never really had a little baby.

Here a few things Grayson has been up to lately.

+ Rolling and rolling everywhere he wants to go. 

+ He can sit up with support and sometimes on his own.  

+ He loves playing with toys now.  He presses the buttons to hear the sounds and of course, everything goes in his mouth

+ Grayson is eating like a champ! Besides bottles, he eats a fruit with oatmeal in the morning and veggies for lunch and dinner.  We just started introducing meat this week.  His pediatrician suggested it.  

+ He weighs 24 pounds and is 31 inches long.  He lost weight since his last checkup, but the doc is concerned about his weight.  :(  Grayson is on a diet!

+ The amount smiles and laughter that come out of this boy are unreal.  He really is such a happy baby. Of course, we have our share of the grumps too.

+ Sometimes he wakes up once during the night because of diaper overload!  We have tried many different nighttime diapers.  It's crazy how heavy those things can get.  If he does wake up, we just change him and put him back down.  He gets up around 7am now.  No more sleeping in for Mommy.  He goes to bed earlier though, which mean Mommy and Daddy go to bed earlier too!

+ He’s at the age now where it’s fun and pretty easy to bring him places. He's very observant, taking in all the sights and sounds.  He's also a huge flirt

+ Overall, he is so sweet and so much fun. 

Here are some cute pics from this month:

Visiting with Memaw.  She was cracking him up!

Grayson and Noel hung out at Mt. Trashmore.  

We visited Hunt Club Farm and picked a pumpkin from the patch!

Papa Jim and Grandma Leta came to visit last week.   And yes, Grayson is wearing a Christmas sleeper in October.  He will be too big for it at Christmas :(

Check out his TWO teeth!  

Mummy's little treat! Grayson is all ready for Halloween!  I will post pictures on here next week.  

His costume is gonna be awesome!

He is so expressive and fun!  His personality is sparking!