nineteener.

Nineteen months, with grapes shoved in his cheek.

Posing.

My little love. I informed Gray that he had a pocket. He never knew they existed, now he wants "ockets" on everything. Ellie is waiting for the day when Gray can actually figure out how to open that door.
(It's tricky, let me tell you.)Taking a ride on his "cuck." (truck)Serious, as always. "WOAH! What am I doing on the table?"
"I hate this! Get me down, NOW!"

"Mom, that was so not cool."

Still bitter.
Honestly, I was OK with his bitterness, because these pictures are PERFECT.

"I am SO done with this."

Happy 19 Gray!

Gray is talking up a storm, seems to enjoy throwing fits, has developed a bit of separation anxiety, has become the world's most picky eater, laughs a lot, makes us laugh a lot, loves Ellie, loves to be outside, loves to go to the "ark" (park), loves reading, loves giving kisses, kicks a soccer ball likes it's nobody's business, slam dunks a basketball in a way that would make Michael Jordan jealous and is no longer allergic to dairy or peanuts (WOOHOO!) We are loving this age, although it can be very, very challenging and exhausting (having a newborn ain't got nothing on toodler-hood), the pro's outweigh the con's without a doubt.

Love you Gravy. Thank you for making us laugh every single day!

FUNthanks.

The morning Nana and GDD left.

Gray Land
This was set up when Drew and I got home. AWESOME.

"Babyccino"

Cookies and milk, anyone?
On a side note, Gray is no longer allergic to dairy and now (b/c he is only in the 5th percentile for weight) is drinking ROYAL RICH milk from our milk man. It's ONLY 10% milk fat!!!!!!! It tastes like ice cream that has melted.

"Play Hut Time"
I promise our living room doesn't always look like this! :)

"Art Time"

"Guitar Time"

"Yogurt with 3 Spoons"

"Great Play"

"Breakfast Time"
Now, that is some SERIOUS hair.

"Giving Love"
I made this sign for Gray and put it on his door the night before we left. When he woke up and saw it, Toni said he tore the picture up (what she meant was he tore our heads off.)

MUCHAS GRACIAS!!!
Thank you so much to Mike and Toni for watching Gray while we spent some time together, alone! Gray had the time of his life and wishes we would leave again, immediately. Toni was so amazing and sent us pictures of Gray every day (they are all above, in quotes.) As you can see, he had so much fun and formed a great bond with his Nana and GDD. Drew and I feel so lucky to have parents that love our son and our son loves back. Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you from all four of us. You have earned YOUR gold star!

xoxox

VACATION- at last!!!!

First drink.

lob-stahWhy do I live in the mountains? Hot-tubbin' waiting for our sushi lunch. Not a soul around. We had a lot of these. Celebrating, 2 new knees and hopefully will be celebrating them running in a few months. Amazing beach. This log was a few hundred yards from our resort and Drew and I kept thinking it was a person or an animal. ha. Banana?Drinking, again? Beautiful.

Drinking, again????

The result of too much drinking. Drew and I walking around our resort after dinner (and...drinks) trying to be funny with my camera. ha. ha. ha. so much fun.

Our chairs sent us a postcard. Wasn't that sweet? We miss them so much it hurts.


Drew and I just got back from a much needed vacation to Punta Mita, Mexico. My first trip without Gray. I was having a bit of anxiety about leaving Gray for the first time, but because Drew's parents came out to watch Gray, I knew he would be fine (more on that later!) We were gone for 5 days. Seems so short when you say it, but the time allowed us to relax on the beach, read books, sleep in, sit down for 3 meals a day, have adult conversations, golf (Drew), spa (Kristy), skip stones in the ocean, search for sea shells to bring Gray and enjoy each others company. It was amazing. We both feel refreshed and I am so grateful to have such amazing in-laws to allow us to take such a trip. Now, when and where are we going next?

one and a half.

hahaha.


One and a half.

All I can say is holy moly, time moves much too fast.

I have a video to celebrate, but b/c of my song selection, I can only post it on facebook...
look for it there.

All you need is LOVE!

my little love.

I mean really, how can you not love him?

"Just doing my squats so I can eat a ton of chocolate later."

"Mom, I just had a vision...Dad got you diamonds for Valentine's Day...lots of them."

"I need a hug! NOW!"

love.

sweet love.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Eternally grateful.

Words cannot describe how incredibly grateful I am to have such amazing parents. For those of you that didn't know, I have had 2 knee surgeries (for torn meniscus) in the last 2 months. The first (my left) was in December and my parents came out for 10 days to help with Gray. The second (my right) was about 2 weeks ago and again, my parents came out to help.

With my first surgery, my dad came with me to the hospital so Drew could work. Being a retired anesthetist, I knew he was the right person to have by my side when the doctors were prepping me for surgery. He informed me of how things would go and made sure the anesthetist was using the right drugs. This time around, I knew what to expect and was grateful to have Drew by my side and my parents at home taking care of Gray.

The second time around was a bit more exhausting for my parents (and me.) Gray got croup a few days before my surgery and was (and still is) pretty miserable. Talk about CRANKY, SNOTTY, COUGHY, CLINGY, SLEEPY. It's awful. All he wanted me to do was hold him, which is very challenging when you just have had knee surgery. My mom would wake up with Gray and let me go back to bed, if I needed to. She would feed him breakfast, clean the kitchen, feed him lunch, clean the kitchen, feed him dinner, give him a bath, clean the kitchen... all while singing and dancing and trying her hardest to keep Gray happy. Both of my parents kept Gray entertained while I laid on the couch, trying to recover. They played endless games, read endless books, took lots of walks, stacked the blocks over and over and changed many nasty diapers.

A few days after they got here, my dad got sick. I figured it was only a matter of time before it was passed around to someone new. I had it the week before they got here, then Gray got it, then Drew got it and then my poor Dad. I actually think he may have gotten the worst of it. He couldn't move and yet, he did. The day we got almost 2 feet of snow, Drew had gone to the mountains to go skiing. My poor, sick dad shoveled our terribly long driveway. I can tell you from experience, it is a grueling task, even when you are healthy. Talk about SUPERSTAR! Gray must have thought so too, because the day before they left, my dad was downstairs resting on the couch and Gray yelled "gammmmmpaaaaaa" after my mom and I had been calling for him. It was priceless.

Both of my parents are SUPERSTARS, vacuuming...almost daily, taking care of Gray, doing laundry, cleaning, making dinner and Drew's birthday cake, taking care of Ellie and most importantly being my shoulder to cry on. I will never forget how much you did for me during this very challenging time. Words cannot express how grateful I am to have you as my parents and as my friends.

I love you!
(and so do Drew, Gray and Ellie)

Happy Birthday Drew!

Happy 33rd Drew!

Here's to the most supportive, most loving, most generous, most wonderful husband and father! We are so lucky to have you!

All our love,
Kristy, Gray & Ellie

*the photo above is taken by Heidi at Vita Bella Photography in Flagstaff.