Zoo Fun

When Eric got home from ALC, we took the kids to the Denver Zoo and renewed our membership. Since then I have taken the kids a couple of times with friends. We LOVE the Zoo! We always see something new when we visit, and the kids always have a lot of fun. Here are some pictures from our last two visits. The girls insist on wearing their "flamingo dresses" every time we go to the Zoo!

Grayson John is One Year Old!

Our "Big Man" turned ONE on May 21. He is such a joyful little guy, and he has been such a fun part of our family. I feel terrible for not posting updates every month... poor third kiddo! I will try to finish his monthly updates soon.

When my friend Lauren had her third baby, she said he was a great mixture of her older two kiddos. We feel the same way about Grayson. He looks sooooo much like Elliette, and he has her happy and sweet nature. He smiles at everyone and seems to be happy almost all of the time. At the same time, he is curious and active, just like Cadence. He didn't like the jumperoo for long, and he doesn't like to be contained. He is always climbing, and he is into everything! He climbs up the stairs if we forget to block them. We can hear him laugh as he's going up as fast as he can. He adores his sisters so much. He always wants to be with them or do what they are doing. They love him very much, too. They have started getting more frustrated with him as he is now taking their toys; however, they also love on him and are very protective of him. We really lucked out with three awesome kiddos!

Elliette - 1 year

Cadence - 1 year

Grayson - 1 year

Grayson has been such a WONDERFUL baby! He has been a great sleeper for the last year. He is always very happy and smiley. He really only cries when he is really hungry or when we change his diaper (he hates to have his diaper changed!). He loves the water as much as the rest of us do, and he's great at bath time.

Grayson is a great eater. He has been a nursing champ. Now at one year, he is nursing between three (mostly) and four (sometimes) times a day. He also loves to eat real food. His favorite foods are avocados, cheese, bananas, blueberries, cherries, waffles, and spaghetti. He doesn't like eggs at all. We have given him whole milk a couple of times, and he just throws it down. He is very vocal and bangs his hands on his tray to let us know we are taking too long to feed him.

Grayson has taken many steps, but he still isn't walking. He took his first real steps about a month ago. He is great at standing and has really good balance. He likes to climb in the girls' plastic chairs and stand up and clap his hands. We have to constantly turn the chairs over so he will stay out of them. He also recently climbed on top of their picnic table, stood up, and clapped his hands! Thankfully we got him down before he hurt himself! He is a really quick crawler, and he is the first of our kids to do the normal baby crawl. In fact, he recently started tucking one leg up like the girls.

Grayson has said "DaDa" and "MaMa," but he doesn't really use words yet. At the same time, he is very vocal. He laughs a lot and talks in his own way! He has started pointing frequently. He tries to brush his hair with a brush, and he tries to put on his sisters' shoes.

Grayson has really started playing with toys lately. He likes to color and will often find crayons, markers, or pens and just start scribbling on paper. He likes to look at books, loves his Little People, and really likes cars. He makes funny noises "vrrrooom" as he makes them drive. It is so fun having a little boy in the house! He likes playing with the basketball he got for Easter; he loves to throw it! He likes the playground, and he loves playing gymnastics! Grayson also likes to play with the girls' dollhouse. The girls will take a lot of time organizing it and placing the furniture in the different rooms, and Gray will destroy it in no time! He also loves to be outside, but he doesn't like to crawl in the grass. I have taken him for a few rides on the girls' pink tricycle, and he likes to ring the bell.

Originally we weren't going to have a friend birthday party for Grayson's first birthday. My Mom reminded me of the two different first birthday parties we had for Elliette and the park party that I had for Cadence while Eric was deployed, so we decided instead to have a little cupcake playdate with a few friends. It was an awesome idea and very low-stress! We invited a few of the babies over who were born around the same time as Grayson. We had a cars theme. It was very cute to see the little guys playing, and everyone seemed to like the cupcakes!

For his first birthday, we gave Grayson a bubble machine, some crayons and a coloring book, and a Strider bike (hand-me-down from Cadence!). He ate his first peanut butter and jelly sandwich on his birthday and loved it. I also took him for a five-mile bike ride in the trailer. It was a low-key birthday, and we enjoyed celebrating our "Big Man!" Unfortunately by the afternoon he had developed a little fever and was very fussy. This morning he was chewing on his finger; I looked in his mouth and saw a huge molar popping through. Poor little guy!

Happy birthday, sweet Gray Gray! We are so blessed to have you in our lives, and you make us smile everyday! Mommy and Daddy love you with our whole hearts, and we are excited to see what the next year will bring!

Awesome Message from Becoming Minimalist

http://www.becomingminimalist.com/

Easter

We had a nice and relaxing Easter this year. First we attended Buckley's Breakfast with the Easter bunny. It was our third year to attend, and it was a great event! The kids all had fun hanging out with their friends and hunting eggs.

The girls dyed Easter eggs.

We woke up Easter morning to some fun surprises and had an egg hunt in our backyard. We attended the Easter service at a new church we have been attending, and then we met some friends at a park for lunch and fun. 

It was a really fun day, but we were really missing our families this year. Hopefully we will make it back next year!

Here is a link to our family's favorite Easter song: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VXp6xcY5IqU

Snow Day

We have had SEVERAL snow days this winter season (and even several into this spring!). I can't believe how crazy the weather has been. It has gone from blizzard conditions to sunny and warm within a few days. I have never experienced weather like this, and I am ready for it to be warm for a while. Grayson really doesn't like the cold/snow, and even Elliette is over it. Cadence and Eric still love the snow and cold... One of Cadence's favorite things is to make snow angels.

Zoo Day

We finally renewed our Denver Zoo membership, and Eric and I took the kids to the Zoo for some fun while he was on leave. It was a beautiful day, and we all had a great time. We've already been back (pictures to follow), and we look forward to many more Zoo trips this summer!

Outside Fun

A few days after Eric got home from Arizona, we headed to the soccer field to throw the Frisbee and enjoy the beautiful day.

I am almost ashamed to say that it was probably the first time that Grayson crawled in the grass. He didn't seem to be a fan!

The girls had fun throwing the Frisbee with Eric. They were so happy to have Daddy home!

Grayson got a chance to play with the Frisbee, too!

Unfortunately, I am not the best at aiming the Frisbee. I first hit Elliette in the stomach, and then a few throws later I hit her right in the nose. She seemed okay until she realized that her nose was bleeding! Poor sweet girl. Thankfully she was fine by the time we got home and cleaned her face!

Pixie Skate

I took the girls back to Pixie Skate in early February. They wanted to earn the Roller Skating badge from Frontier Girls, and this was the perfect opportunity! We tried Pixie Skate once before, and it was a disaster. They girls cried the whole time. Thankfully our experience this time was much better. They both loved it and did great on the skates. We will definitely be going to Pixie Skate again!

Grayson had fun watching the kids skate!

Learning how to fall...

Success!

Elliette has been fixing her own hair lately. She decided to put enough clips in her hair to look like a headband. She is definitely a girly-girl!