11 weeks

Since Wednesday will mark 12 weeks for the little guy I thought I better get on the ball and show you his 11 week photo!!

NC Zoo

A couple of weeks ago we went with a some friends to the zoo in Asheboro.


Friends.


The weather was beautiful so we, like these turtles, wanted to take advantage.


I could say that we went for Gray's sake but, the truth of the matter is, I love the zoo.


I love all of the animals (surprise!)


I want an owl... and I would name her Hedwig. Because I'm so totally creative. Actually, I really just want the real Hedwig... I use the term "real" loosely.



Back to Gray...this is what he did pretty much the entire time. But at least he was out in the fresh air while we walked around and looked at the critters.


Whenever I see lemurs, I'm always disappointed if I don't see King Julien...

I've already disclosed my affinity for Penguins of Madagascar so this confession should come as no surprise.


Did you know that they have a new baby Chimpanzee at the zoo?


It's true! But the baby isn't in the exhibit yet due to the weather. I expect he/she will be around in a couple of months!


Then there is this guy. Is he beautiful or what? We've seen a lot of fun stuff in the lion exhibit over the years. A few years ago in December they had brand new lion cubs. Lion cubs who weren't supposed to be in the exhibit. Lion cubs that were in the exhibit because we were having such beautiful weather that they wanted to lions to be outside! And can I tell you how cute really tiny lion cubs are? Extremely cute.

Then, about a year later, we went back to the zoo. The same cubs (who were much much bigger) were in there with both the male and female lions. I watched the roll around and bask in the sun, play with one another, attempt to play with the male lion (result: unsuccessful), and then I watched one of the cubs stalk a Cardinal that was hopping along the ground (result: entertaining to watch, fortunately for me he was unsuccessful at capturing his prey).

This time around the lion roared. But we missed it!


Guess we will just have to go back and try again!

Yum Yum Better Ice Cream!

For a very romantical Valentine's day lunch, David and I headed over to Yum Yums. It was Baby Gray's first visit to the iconic Greensboro restaurant so of course I needed to document this milestone. :)



The weather was absolutely beautiful so we decided to take advantage and sit outside. Plus, if someone decided to start screaming and crying it wouldn't be quite such an ordeal. (You'd think David would have grown out of the temper tantrums by now... ha!)


I don't know what the big deal is... the milk tastes the same to me!



Seriously, though... the hot dogs are delicious. The most unnatural color ever? Yes. Does it concern me that they might have radioactive properties that could potentially cause me to turn into some sort of mutant? Yes. Does that mean that I don't eat them? No.

In Greensboro Yum Yums (Yum Yum's? Idunno... is this considered a possessive? Let's just pretend I know the proper way to write it and move on...) is known for their hotdogs... but they were originally an ice cream store and started serving hot dogs on the side. And let me just tell you this... their chocolate chip ice cream is heaven on a plastic spoon. Most delicious ice cream EVER.



Happy first trip to Yum Yums, little one! Hopefully we can make a lot more over the years (except for the fact that UNCG is slated to make them move and tear down the building which means that they could potentially close forever. Boooooo).

Puppy!!!

Look at our new puppy!!



Isn't he precious?



Hahahahahahaahahaha just kidding!!!



This little guy was rescued by a couple of friends of ours and he is absolutely adorable!



Thought you might enjoy a few photos because if a cute puppy dog doesn't brighten your day I don't know what will!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Happy Valentine's Day!!!!!


I have to say... in general, I am not a fan of a black and white photos with particular color areas showing through. They just ain't my stilo, ya know? But, I wanted to make sure everyone knew that my little Valentine was really celebrating his love for ME! Sure I have on no make up, the 25 MPH wind is not helping my hair, and I have on the stellar outfit we went for a walk in today but you know what? Ensuring everyone knows that my son loves me enough to wear a shirt that displays that love for his mom is worth the rest of the embarrassment. I mean, sure... he has no say in what he wears or what clothes are purchased for him but I don't really think that matters.



HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!

TWO MONTHS!

It is almost impossible for me to believe... but our little bambino is two months old today!



For anyone who is interested in how my neurotic brain is keeping track of these things... he is actually 9 weeks old as of tomorrow but for the sake of his monthly birthdays, I'm going to stick with the 8th of the calendar month. :)



I really can't believe it. We are so lucky to have this little guy in our lives! He is a blessing that I am thankful for every single day.



At two months, Gray has started to smile quite a bit! He has two parents that absolutely swoon each time we see that little grin spread across his face. It makes our hearts melt!



He has also ceased using crying as his only method of communication. Instead he will "fake cry" when he wants something- which pretty much means he will yell like he is crying but it isn't the same. He grunts and makes a lot of different noises as he is learning to use his voice. In addition to now smiling both while awake and asleep, he still giggles a lot while he slumbers which is quite possibly the most adorable thing in the universe. Each time I see and hear it I can't help but be taken aback by the wave of happiness that goes through my body.

He also likes to kick and flail his arms quite a bit! Good exercise! He holds his head up on his own for quite a bit of time and can turn his head from left to right (and vice versa) on his own. He can hold his head at a 45 degree angle off the floor as well. Such a strong boy! And if he is laying on your chest he will use his legs to push himself into an upright position- a pseudo standing position.

As for sleep? Well, we still have those nights when he is up every two hours. BUT we have had a night or two when he has slept 5 consecutive hours!! Hopefully sleeping through the night is on the way!

I feel like I am truly fortunate to not only have the little guy in my life but to be able to spend this time with him as he is growing and changing every day! We love him to pieces!


Okay, Lady... I've had enough!

Center of Attention

It must be a hard life...




...being the constant center of attention and having everyone rushing to meet your every need. Gray, show 'em how hard it is... give us your best frown!



There it is!!



I need to do a better job of taking pictures when we have friends and family visit and if I can accomplish that my next step is to actually post them on here! This is, after all, the point of the blog :)



So, here are photos from the little man's visit with his Nona, Great Grandmother, Great Aunt Ellen, and cousin (I'm not so good with the different levels of cousindom...) Jason.










Grandmother, grandson, and great grandson :)