Out on the Farm

Grady gets to go to Grammi and Grandpa's 2 days a week while mommy goes to work. He has always loved being outside, and at their house it is no different. He actually spends most of the day in the back with the animals and if he's not out there he wants to be. A few months ago Grammi started taking Grady on trail rides with her on the family (trusted) horse Justin. Grady absolutely loved it from the very beginning. In fact he got into the habit of waking up from his nap, grabbing his helmet, and saying "ride." So About 2 weeks ago Grammi pulled out Grady's first saddle and put him up there all by himself. I am actually so impressed with 1. his fearless nature and 2. his ability to stay balanced all on his own. Grammi is of course right there leading Justin in case something were to happen but Grady couldn't be happier to be riding Justin by all by himself. Here are some pictures :)

Our Growing Family

It's been awhile but I thought I'd update and maybe catch up later. The big news in our family for now is that we are expecting our 2nd baby boy in April. We are so grateful that God has blessed us with another baby and our family is growing. So far my pregnancy has been pretty easy. I haven't been tired or sick at all. Thank you God! Grady will point to my belly and say baby, but we're not quite sure he completely understands how his life is about to change ;) I'll post growing belly and baby picks soon!

Batter Up!

That's right! We are starting him young! However, I am quite convinced that somehow Grady already has baseball running through his genes... He will take his little bat (a.k.a. bam bam as we call it) everywhere with him! It is his favorite toy! I asked Buddy if he thought it was normal for a 1 year old to be so entertained with just a bat? Now, you could view this two ways... 1. Wow! That's great! Super easy kid to entertain! or 2. He hits everything in sight with his bam bam and laughs! We are working on the latter and currently trying to teach him only to hit balls! This comes after he hit mommy and gave her a bloody fat lip! Don't worry I recovered quickly, but it may be time for him to learn a little lesson. ;) Hitting people and all objects besides balls aside, we are very proud and amazed by our little guy's young talent! Here is a video... He actually hit the ball better the first time but of course we didn't have the video camera out then. :)

10 Months!

Surprise! Surprise! I'm doing our 10 month post late again... It seems as though there is never enough time. Which I'm sure all you mama's out there understand! Our little Grady is now 11 months old but let me give you the 10 month update first! 10 months was full of change for Grady...

- He got his first tooth (on the top front)

-Followed by another (on the top front) and 1 (on the bottom front)

-Started crawling

-Loves to talk (mostly babbling but it's cute!)

-Waves Hi and Bye all of the time!

-Is always playing with his tongue, we think it helps him concentrate while he's walking ;)

-Pretty much refuses baby food (anything pureed) and is doing a great job with table food!

-Some of his favorites are chicken, broccoli, peas, strawberries, blueberries, yogurt & cheese

-Is now WALKING!

Grady was sick for all of February! It was so hard on him and us! It wasn't a bad cold that required hospitalization or anything, but it was lots of congestion, that led to an ear infection, which led to many nights with lots of waking up! I felt like we had finally got into a good routine with our little guy sleeping and mommy and daddy were definitely enjoying it! Needless to say February was hard on us too! Then once Grady started to get over his cold, he popped in 3 new teeth which had him waking up throughout the night all over again! Our poor guy was still pretty happy regardless of the circumstances. He is now fully recovered, and I told Buddy I am loving seeing him feeling like his old self! It is so funny to see how mobile he is and how much he has changed in 1 MONTH! We can't leave our doors open because he will crawl or walk right outside! If he has a choice that is where he wants to be! He also loves to go in Buddy's "man room" and play our Guitar Hero drum set. We think this is because he loves watching the drummer at church on Sundays. Another month down and I continue to be amazed at the growth of our little guy! It truly is God's miracle to watch this little blessing learn new things everyday!

Walking!

Playing with my first box!

I love berries!

First Valentine's Day!

6,7,8... & 9

Yup that's right! Our little man is NINE months old! Wow! I skipped a few monthly posts up until now so I thought I'd take some time to catch y'all up! Grady now weighs 22.8 pounds and is 30 inches long. That puts him in the 75th percentile for weight... he must be slimming down a little with ALL that movement! ;) and the 90th percentile for height. At his 9 month check up Dr. Akey was most impressed with his social skills! Grady was having so much fun with both the nurse and Dr. Akey and they could not believe what a happy outgoing little guy he is. This was especially surprising because we discovered that he had a double ear infection and his first tooth is about to poke through. Grady has been working hard on those baby milestones...

-He is sitting very well

-Pulls himself up on toys and the couch

-Stands alone for about 5 to 10 seconds

-Walks while holding onto the couch or Mommy and Daddy's hands

-Gets in the crawling position and will start to go but hasn't quite taken off yet

-Loves to give BIG open mouth kisses!

-Is starting to climb out of his (sink) bathtub... time for the big one I guess

-Will eat a variety of foods but seems to like fruits and yogurt more than vegetables :/

-Says in a way that Mom and Dad can understand... "Dada" "Hi Dad" "Hi" and something that sounds like he's yelling for "Layla" (our dog), with an occassional "Mama" on accident :/ (but I know he loves me!)

-Loves getting attention from anybody and will smile or say "hi" and waves his hands to get it!

Grady goes to our preschool on campus and I love having him right next to me while I'm teaching! They do crafts all the time (So I get the best keepsakes!), sing songs, play, go on buggie rides, and I love that he gets to interact with other little kiddos! The other day I got the best compliment... The teacher said he just seems to be full of JOY with such a happy spirit! I loved hearing that... makes me feel like God's love is shining through him, and I hope that he will continue to share those smiles and brighten people's day with it!

Time for an update :)

Fall is flying by and well, I guess it's pretty much over! We have been super busy and I have not been keeping up with the blogging world. I though I'd just do a post to catch y'all up on us over the past few months...

Grady was a cow for Halloween!

We went to the Orange Circle for "Treats In the Streets" with some of our friends.

We went to Arizona for to visit my brother and watch Buddy play in a baseball tournament.


We miss Auntie Amanda and had so much fun visiting her too!





We celebrated Buddy's Mom's 50th with a surprise party!
Grady's first time at the Irvine Park pumpkin patch...

Love this picture of my boys!
Grady's nickname has become "Ham." He seems to like to be the center of attention and have pictures taken of him!
We celebrated my Grandma's aka "Grandy" 75th birthday! Isn't she beautiful?!

Proud of my hubby!

Not to relive the glory days or anything but... today we found out that Buddy was named to the division 3 All Decade team for his pitching performance at Chapman while he was there. It's always nice to be recognized and it reminded me that yes he is quite a stud! :) Here is a quote from the article...

ORANGE, Calif. – Four Chapman University baseball alumni have been named to the first-ever All-Decade team selected by D3Baseball.com. In addition, Panthers’ skipper Tom Tereschuck, who guided Chapman to six championships appearances in seven years and a national title in 2003, was named as the second team head coach.

As Chapman’s ace pitcher in 2005 and ’06, Klovstad lost just one game. He was 28-3 in four years pitching for the Panthers with a 2.18 ERA. A consummate workhorse, the right-hander set a school record for innings pitched (272.1) and tossed eight complete games. He was briefly the school record-holder in career victories until Drag won 30. Klovstad was Chapman’s first Division III pitcher to earn All-America honors twice in his career.

I thought this was pretty cool!