Grayson's Cousins

Avery (2+ years) and Jackson (6 weeks) have finally moved into their new home in Asheville!



Oh and I guess their parents too.

My brother in law, Johnathan, is part of a team planting a church in West Asheville. Right now they are just meeting folks, having coffee and cookouts, and getting the lay of the land. They are always looking to meet people, if you know of anyone in the area, shoot Johnathan an email at johnathan@fellowshipasheville.com; he might even buy them a cup of coffee.

Riverbank (part 3)

Saved the best for last...first time in her 'kini (aka swim suit). Shout out to cousin Avery for the hat. Shout out to consignment sales for the suit. It doesn't get much cuter.







It was too cold to get into the water, so we brought the water to the dock...in a bowl. (And for those of you wondering, this was one of two times Justin made it to the dock the whole 3 day weekend. He was holed up in the house studying the rest of the time and envoking some serious self-discipline in my opinion.)

Riverbank (part 2)

First time meeting the Humphrey clan...the stranger danger was gone! (side note, it was gone until this morning at Tate Street Coffee when she turned upside down and cried when someone tried to make her laugh. oh well. baby steps.)




First time getting measured for "the wall of heights". It doesn't really have that name I guess, but if you are in the Smith family, or are an extension of the Smith family, you get measured on the upstairs bathroom wall each summer to track your growth. Grayson was the shortest entry. We forgot to measure how tall she was now, but she loved the attention and the paparazzi crammed into the bathroom.


Peeps' record of her height on the wall. (She also was the entry with the most writing.)

Riverbank (part 1)

Grayson experienced her first (out of the womb) trip to Riverbank this weekend. It was a big hit.

First trip down to the dock.


The dogs acting like fools as usual (in their cute matching life jackets mind you). Georgia was also running around somewhere.


Funny faces.


Loving ratting around on the big green carpet with Peeps and Maymay.

Eight Months and (almost) Eight Teeth!

Eight teeth, what?! Four on the bottom, three on the top with the fourth almost cutting through. Unbelievable. And no, this is not drool. It should be drool with all of those teeth, but it's actually water from her sippy cup. And the third picture down is a clear shot of her grinding and popping her teeth together, ick. It's like fingernails on a chalkboard, but worse. Apparently she's trying to get used to all of these intruders in her mouth. Happy 8 months today sweet girl! We just love that toothy grin!

Will it Play?

Grayson's new favorite game is what Justin calls "will it play?". It all started with these cups. A few weeks ago, Justin gave her a cup to hold in each hand and taught her to "play the cups" by banging them together. Now she can sit up on her own, grab the cups on her own, and go to town. But the funny thing is, everything she picks up, she wonders "will it play?" Cups play. Rattles play. Even hairbrushes play, especially against the wall next to her changing table. Blankies do not play. And my favorite, the first time we served her puffs snacks, she picked one up in each hand and started "banging" them together. Puffs, unfortunately, do not play.



The hair continues to grow. Still a bald spot in the back, but down over her eyes in the front. Clips are a daily thing these days.



And the teeth continue to grow as well. She's got five now with two more just about to pop through. (and a side note shout out to my friend Melissa for the yard sale tips, $5 on this exersaucer, what!? can't beat it!)



Other fun activities these days include...rolling all over the place, finding tags on toys in less than 10 seconds to chew, waving to the "baby" in the mirror, playing pattycake if you sing it, or "clapping" (her hands don't quite meet yet) if you say "yay!" and clap yourself, finding your ear when you burp her and laughing, looking for people "hiding" around corners, snuggling with her sleep sack like a woobi, and smiling when I call daddy to her room at night to tuck her into bed. Almost eight months old!

Happy Mama's Day

Some of my favorite things (in order): Millie, Grayson, numbers, and the Schoolhouse Rocks! album.

Play Dates

If I took the time to scan in some childhood pictures, they would include ones of Kelly and I playing together. I'm remembering one in particular of us sitting on her front porch playing with horses or something, with our outfits straight out of the 80's with teal, bright green, and hot pink. And she also had this rad Nintendo Power Pad that we loved (yeah, I said rad). Fast forward to high school, and I could scan in pictures of us and Amy too. More high school-ish play dates like basketball and football games and slumber parties. So it's hard to believe that we all have our own little ones now. We met together today for a play date here in the 'boro...


Amy's son John and Kelly's daughter Kyler. Kyler got tickled that she could pull off John's sock. She had the sweetest spirit though, and decided quickly that she should return the sock to it's rightful owner.


Amy with John, Kelly with Kyler.


Grayson trying to steal Kyler's shoe (what can I say, the girl loves shoes). I didn't upload it, but there is another pic where Grayson is reaching over Kyler's shoulder to steal a toy. Funny thing is, Kyler gave Grayson her other shoe that was already off, and then attempted to take this one off as well for Grayson when she started to reach for it. Kyler could teach Grayson a thing or two about sharing.


Me and Grayson, Amy and John.

Babies and Toddlers

Grayson is super excited that our friends the Boones have moved to town (and we are too!). Baby John is checking her out here, wondering what this squealing little girl is doing in his new house.


Anna Cate and Maddie turned one this weekend (Anna Saturday & Madison Sunday). They had a big birthday bash at the park. It's tricky to catch photographs of all the babies and toddlers together since most are on the move, but here are a few. And I'd like to report that Grayson's current bout with "stranger danger" dissappeared at this party (thankfully!) as she let Anna and Brian May play with her the whole time.


The pictures don't do the dresses justice, but I'd like to give a shout out to the mamas that picked them out. Maddie's was solid purple, Anna's was purple gingham. Both had bows at the shoulders, cupcakes on the front with one candle, and their names monogrammed underneath. It doesn't get much cuter.


When we got home, I had to capture Justin and Grayson in their matching green shirts. Justin hates to match. I kind of like it, at least coordinating. If we accidentally put on similar colors, he immediately has to change before we go out. But I think he secretly enjoyed matching Grayson that day.

Pandora

justin's notorious for saying "let me show you something" on the internet. sometimes it's work related, like a video on the falling dollar, or a deal for me to check out, or maybe a snipit of "useless information" as he calls it. but this week, he showed me pandora. and it's blog worthy for sure. for all of you music lovers out there, check it out. plug in a favorite artist and it creates a radio playlist for you with similar music. and, better yet, you can rate each song as a "like" or "dislike" and it continually adjusts to find what suits you best. someone was using their brain on this one. enjoy!