Legos!

Little man playing with some huge Legos at the Children's Museum over the holiday week. He loved them!

Merry Christmas

Our tree is finally, as of tonight, up and decorated. Note to self: do not wait until December 22 to pick out a tree. You will end up with a fat, very full (lotta sap!), somewhat misshapen tree ... Regardless I love it and am excited for this weekend when Chad's sisters are here to help us celebrate. Happy holidays!

Cousins, Cousins.....

One of many cute photos of the boys from our early Xmas trip to the Mitten. Just Chillin' in Oliver's crib one morning.  More to come!

Story time with Daddy

Little traveler

Grayson on the test ride of his SkyMall stroller/carseat combo! This awesome gift from my friend Missy will come in handy this week as we brave the holiday air traffic en route to Michigan for an early Christmas trip. Happy early Christmas everyone! More holiday fun to come ...

Loving Limes!

He kept going back for more! So funny!

Lil walker!

Grayson is getting more confident walking! Here we go....

RCTID!

Cutest little Timbers fan!

Go Green!

Future Spartan excited for the win against CMU!

Getting closer....

Grayson has been using this walker toy constantly for the past few days.... Maybe our almost-15 month-old wants to finally walk!! It is pretty cute to watch :)

Reunited and it feels so good....

Grayson's 1st request upon return home was a walk to Grant Park and some serious swingin :)

Hot Baby

Clap your hands if you're hot! Mid 90s and still happy! :)

Our morning walk

Gray and I took a morning walk/jog along the Willamette River downtown today. It was a gorgeous day! View of the Hawthorne bridge, as well as G and mama rehydrating "cheers"! Please excuse the diaper shot, how embarrassing! ;)

True NW kid

Grayson loves the Camelback! Too funny.

(almost) 14 months!

I'm a big boy now!

remember me? Sept 2010

September has arrived... we all know what that means. Fall is just around the corner! We are secretly hoping for another month of summer weather here, as it took awhile for it to get here in the PacNW.  We have had a really fun, busy summer so far: We traveled to Colorado for Maya's wedding, celebrated G's first birthday, had lots of BBQs at home and with friends, enjoyed a visit with Aunt Kath, Uncle Gordon, and Oliver, had a weekend away in Bend... and had countless days at the park, library, zoo, and in the backyard swinging, dipping in the kiddie pool, watching airplanes, blowing bubbles, and chasing the kitty and every ball we own :) Grayson is (has been for some time now) at that age where EVERYthing is fun! He is such a great little guy and we love spending time with him! He is "talking" quite a bit and actually has several words he says, and many, many things he knows and understands. So amazing! He is getting so tall, and he is quite a big boy with an appetite :) He is still "cruising" the furniture and starting to use his little walker toy (or a chair) to move across the floors -  not all the time - but he's getting there. He is such a fast crawler; I don't think honestly he wants to waste time with the whole walk, fall, walk, fall thing. I swear, once he learns to walk, he will be running that same day! We may be in for it!

We are having a great summer, but I am also really looking forward to fall! MSU football officially starts tomorrow, and the NFL isn't too far either! Both Chad and I are participating in 3 fantasy football leagues... all in good fun!  And Mr. Gray is enrolled in his first two classes... a Music Together class and a "jumpmates" class at The Children's Gym (toddler specific pre-tumbling class)! With those two commitments, as well as our library group once a week, I feel like the kid already needs his own calendar! I am really excited though :) 

Next up on our travel docket: our trip back to Georgia for Chad's sister's wedding. We couldn't be more excited to get back to GA, see both sets of Grandparents (yes! my dad&Anne are coming down!), Aunt Linds, and all of Chad's extended family! And of course, we can't wait to celebrate Amanda & Ben. They are so great! (I totally lucked out with my in-laws. Best people ever!)

Check out this super cool pic I snapped tonight at Mt. Tabor Park. Grayson just loves when his daddy throws him high up in the air :)



Hope you all are well, and that you have a safe Labor Day weekend. XOXO from Portland!

"Tee tee"

This is why our kitchen is gated... Gray likes to play in the cat food saying "tee tee"!  He was loving it this AM while I was baking. Ha!

Gray's first Ben Harper concert!

Here are a couple shots of Mama and G at BH in Bend, OR. Grayson loooooves to dance!

Daddy's man trip

Chad went away for 4 days on a man trip.... mountain biking and camping in Oakridge, OR. Here is a photo he took of the bar at their campsite. Yeah, they were really "roughing it" with this beer set up, don't you think?!

Lil' Meatball

A true Italian. His first pasta with sauce.... and LOVING it! Mangia!

95 degrees

This is what we do when it gets hot... Swim, relax, eat fresh berries, melt down 'cause its too hot for these parts. It was a good day :)

Sent from my Verizon Wireless Phone

Gray's favorite thing to do at Tar-jay

Sitting on the big red ball! As long as we do this on the way in and out.... Target shopping goes smoothly!! (Yay for me!)

Sunscreen Spike

Hanging outside with my cool 'do, courtesy of Coppertone Baby :)

Book Baby

Grayson loves to read!! This one is a personal favorite of his. :)

Too cool for school

G's new shades. What a stud!

Cousins!

Gray and Oli swinging at Grant Park! Fun!!

Birthday Swing!

My cool new swing is finally up! Thanks Oliver, Aunt Kath, and Uncle Gordon!

Fish face + man capris

My shorts are a little long Mom.  But here's a kiss for you anyway :)

Trivial Pursuit, anyone?

gray getting a one-up on future classmates.... Studying "The 80s" via TP at Fire.

Sunday Mornin' goodness

Today's breakfast was whole wheat blueberry pancakes and fresh kiwi. Someone liked it... A lot. :)

I'm cute.

Sometimes my mom watches me sleep. And takes pictures. Is that weird?!? ;)

P.S. I love my monkey.

ONE.

Birthday Boy!

our little peanut grew into a big peanut :) Grayson is ONE! i am so PROUD to be his mama for so, so many reasons. he is such a funny boy, makes me laugh so many times throughout the day. he 'hams it up' with just about everyone (anyone!)...us, friends, family, strangers at the grocery store... it is hilarious! he is so smart too, i feel like he is the smartest one year old in town! :) he has several words that he 'says' ... now i know what other parents meant by understanding their child's nonsense! he also understands so much, which is really, really cool. future genius?! we are still waiting for the day he takes his first step(s)... and are secretly glad that day has not come yet.  i can only imagine my heart racing everytime he lunges forward or topples over!  i am SO not ready for that!!! the last year has flown by, and i fear that in a flash, we will be at his kindergarten/high school/college (MSU) graduation!! does life really happen that quickly? most parents would say YES i think. 

we had a fun celebration on july 4... a backyard BBQ ... it seemed appropriate as that is how the life of G started (meaning me going into labor at our 2010 party on july 3). grayson's first birthday party was complete with friends (big and small!), balloons, kiddie pool fun, lots of food, an ELMO cake to smash, and perfect weather.  later in the night, after an exhausted one year old boy went to sleep, we watched fireworks with friends from our yard (all the while G slept the entire night through all the noise! good boy!). a wonderful day!

opening gifts with Mom

happy first birthday my little one. you are the best thing i've done and i love you so, so much. love, your mama






check out our pics :) picasaweb.google.com/pdxarmingtons

the 10th month of G

true portland kid

hello! it's been awhile since i've posted anything. but i just uploaded a bunch of photos to facebook this AM (and our picture page last night) so i am motivated.  let's see, what's going on in the life of G? he is so much fun at this age, such a little ham. he smiles and laughs at everyone! when we are out and about, he literally stares smiling and laughing at people until they smile back at him... it is so funny and cute! he's like "HELLO!!! LOOK AT ME!!!"

he pulls himself up on everything and has finally learned how to get back down to the floor. still crawling all over (first started the night we returned from our michigan trip, ha! wanted to wait for daddy!) and not ready to walk yet, or even stand alone, which chad and i are both very ok with.  he is talking a lot, mostly babble, but he does have a few words and knows just about everything in our house by word recognition. he is very smart!!! chase the cat is getting used to this other "thing" at his level, and usually is ok with the subtle tormenting grayson gives.

as much as we can, we spend time outside. spring in portland usually graces us with several nice days mixed in with the rainy, grey ones.  we even had a few days in the high 60s and 70s.... lovely! we take him on walks around the neighborhoods, hikes at mt. tabor, swinging at the parks, and just recently now bike rides! his new bike seat is super cool and he seems to love it! a future biker ... makes daddy very proud! we all can't wait for summer and more chances to ride around this bike-friendly city.

enjoying some adult time in mexico!

chad and i got a chance to get away for alex's wedding in mexico, it was amazing. of course being surrounded by family in the sunshiney warm weather and beauty of a gorgeous resort helped :) we enjoyed relaxing by the pool or on the beach sipping adult beverages and enjoying being a married couple again (instead of parents). grayson had a wonderful time at home with gramma jo and grampa dick, and only missed us 23 hours of the day! we got to spend some quality time with the Armington's - all of them - and look forward to this fall when amanda and ben tie the knot in georgia.

as we quickly approach the dreaded day of june 6, i am reminded how lucky we really are in the grand scheme of things. every single day i wish that my mom was here to experience our lives with grayson; i am hoping that she is experiencing it somehow. i guess we just keep moving forward and keep sharing stories with him. she will be remembered through us. 

it's been a busy few months, but that's just how i like it.  this past year has flown... in about 6 weeks our little guy will be a year old. wow!  until next time.........

oops....

SHOOT! the last post from earlier today never got posted when i wrote it!!! darn it!!!!! (obviously i am not blog saavy just yet.)

crazy Sheldon's at Dad's 60th shindig

so, i originally wrote that last one in january. we just returned from our surprise trip and it was awesome. my dad was absolutely shocked and even shed a few tears when we came walking up to greet him. i am so glad we went and the only thing i would have changed was to have chad come with me. darn spendy flights!

i am still wishing we lived closer. being far from family is so hard. on the way back last week, i was wondering why we even live out here. when i returned home (here) i remembered how much i love living in oregon...but it makes me wonder...what is more important??? obviously our jobs are here. but still makes me ponder... 

grayson and oliver playing together again!

G+G :)

gray and gramps swinging...a daily activity!

grayson with grandpa and grandma on our last morning there

 

sadness turns to excitement

june, 2010

as usual, i am missing my people :) i do LOVE living in oregon, geographically not-so-much but the actual city/state is fabulous.  there isn't a day that i don't wish we lived in michigan... only because a majority of my family and friends are there, actually moving there w/o jobs and everything is not ideal. (my solution: everyone just needs to move to oregon, it's way more fun and awesome here! hee hee)  i am sad when i miss out on family get togethers, friend's dinners, playdates, etc.  last weekend alex and dayna had their official wedding ceremony...  if it were not for skype i would not have been a part of it!  yes, we will be in mexico standing up in their "real" (non-legal) wedding.  BUT it would have been nice to have been able to actually hug my brother and now sis-in-law on their (first) wedding day... wait, which day will be their anniversary?!? :) anyway..... after saturday's family event, it made me sad to be far away, and more and more adamant about planning another trip to michigan, and soon.  i'm itching to go.......

well, my itch has been scratched! i booked a flight home for mister G and i to fly in, and even more exciting is that we are surprising my dad for his 60th birthday in march! i cannot believe he is not going to know we're coming! luckily, at least for this, he does not EVER use a computer, much less know how or where to read my blog :) he is going to be so happy, i cannot WAIT to see his face when we walk in the door.  (for any of you that might happen to see my dad, talk to him, or whatever.... SHHHHHHHH!!!!)

so... i'm excited! yay!