Greyson Showing off His Geography Skills to Tata

Greyson is quite the little scholar. I hung a map of the United States in his playroom and he has been learning a state a day. At 19 months (when this video was taken) he knew the western half of the U.S. At 21 months he now knows all 50 states! I have to admit that I was learning right along with him...geography has never been my strong point!

Bor or Girl?!?!

I am 18 weeks pregnant and am anxiously waiting to find out the sex of my second baby! The results are sealed in an envelope which Chad and I will have our waiter open at dinner this evening. Morton's is our favorite restaurant and we always celebrate special occasions there. We did the same thing when we found out Greyson was going to be a boy. It kind of adds a little extra excitement to finding out and also makes it a little more memorable. After dinner we will go out and purchase an outfit for the baby, but not before we have dessert at Coldstone!

My order:
Extra Snickers and Butterfinger mixed into sweet cream ice cream placed inside a waffle cone (the cup kind)... and I wonder why the pounds keep adding on.

Wedding Anniversary

I can honestly say that the BEST day of my life, aside from Greyson's birth, was the day I married Chad. Chad is an amazing husband and father. He is my soulmate and my best friend. I cannot imagine my life without him. Today we celebrated our 2nd wedding anniversary. Because Chad had to be in Las Vegas for business we decided to turn it into an anniversary getaway. We ate dinner at the Eiffel Tower Restaurant which overlooks the entire city. From the view, we were able to see the water show in front of the Bellagio Hotel. It was absolutely breath taking. While awaiting dinner, we made a list of our 10 best memories together...

1. The Proposal http://www.mywedding.com/chadandbrannanforever/stories.html



2. Wedding/Honeymoon



3. Greyson's Birth


4. Breckenridge Snowboarding Trip


5. Moving into Our New House


6. Summer Boating Days


7. First trip to Disneyland


8. New Year's Eve 2005


9. Flagstaff/Snow Bowl/Lowell Observatory


10. Our First Family Vacation


Just before leaving, Chad reached into his jacket pocket. He pulled out two 4x6 photo cards and began reading aloud the words that were printed on them. I quickly realized he was reading his wedding vows to me. It wasn't the words that I heard that made me realize this, rather the lack of words and tears in his eyes that gave it away. He was just as choked up as he was on our wedding day. My eyes welled up with tears as I listened to the words he struggled to speak. He managed to get through them, but says he is certain that even 50 years from now he will have just as hard of a time.

Wedding Video Montage
(For the record, we were not nearly as red as this video makes us look!)

"All Done"

When it's time for Greyson to take a nap or go down for the night, he is more than happy to oblige. That is, as long as he has his blue blankie (boo) and paci (pa-pa).



Once Greyson awakes from dreamland, he knows that his "lovies" do not leave the crib. While he will gladly leave them behind, he always tries to make the escape with paci in mouth and blue blankie in hand. With a smirk on my face and raised eyebrows, I slightly cock my head to the right and ask, "Are you all done napping?" He knows that is his cue to quickly do away with both lovies if he's planning on seeing the other side of those bars! Ninety-five percent of the time that's exactly what he does. Every so often he needs a little more alone time with his lovies, so I just leave him in his crib and close the door behind me until he's ready to make the separation...usually about 5 minutes.



Very early this morning at 4:00 AM, my sleep was abruptly interrupted by Greyson crying. It was still pitch black outside and I had been asleep only three and a half hours. Once I realized Chad "couldn't hear him," I staggered my way toward his room and flipped on the hall light hoping not to blind either one of us. Seeing as how Greyson does not get up until at least 7:30 AM, what I had planned to see when I opened the door was my child looking just as disheveled as me, frantically searching for his paci so that he could fall back asleep without knowing he was ever awake! To my surprise, he was standing up in his crib with paci in mouth and blue blankie in hand. He instantly stopped crying and it was obvious that he was delighted to see me. That precious little cheeky grin, visible even with his paci, told me that I might not be heading back to bed as quickly as I had hoped.





As I approached Greyson's crib, he let go of his blue blankie with one hand, pulled the paci from his mouth and threw it to the mattress with the other and said, "All done!" The dos and don'ts of parenting went out the window at that very moment. All that mattered was that my cute, sweet, adorable little boy was all done! He was ready to get up and start his day. He wasn't even going to attempt to take blue blankie and paci to the other side. So do you know what I did? I picked him up and we went downstairs to eat an early morning snack! He had a banana and I had a cinnamon roll. As tired as I was, I enjoyed those 10 minutes that we spent together snacking under the microwave night light before heading back to bed. Sometimes as parents we just have to take advantage of those priceless moments and enjoy them to the fullest.

Auntie it-ey

Greyson LOVES his Auntie Whitney (it-ey)! He thinks she's the cat's meow. She is a singer/song writer and recently started a live online broadcast that airs every Tuesday evening from 7:00 to 7:30 (AZ Time)...this is the link http://www.ustream.tv/channel/whitney-steele-s-favorite-show

I always make a bowl of popcorn for our little family to share during the show. Greyson gets so excited when it's about to start. He points to Whitney's profile picture on the screen and blurts out, "it-ey! it-ey! it-ey!" Here are a few pictures I took of him watching the first show that aired.

"it-ey! it-ey! it-ey!"

Snacking on his popcorn with his eyes glued to the screen.

Going in for a close-up...

I really hope he doesn't have my family's bad eyes!

Tarzan, King of the Jungle

Now Starring in...


Tarzan in His Early Years



Tarzan the Fearless



Tarzan the Botanist


Tarzan and the Getaway Car

Tarzan Finds a Dad

Tarzan Feeds Nana

Tarzan Goes Trick-or-Treating

Tarzan and the Woman Who Terrorizes Jane

Greyson's 1st Year Video Montage

I really struggled trying to find the perfect song to complete Greyson's 1st Year Video Montage. My little boy is one now! This last year was a big year not only for Greyson, but for me and Chad as well. We survived our first year as parents! I wanted a song that really put our year into perspective. One that would make my heart melt and a flood of tears fall from my eyes the instant the first note was heard. The song I was hoping to find would posess the trifecta of a sucessfully sappy, sad, yet happy mom/dad/baby song. Many downloads later, I found the perfect song. Although it doesn't meet my criteria, what makes it perfect is that it's Greyson's favorite song.

How old are you Greyson?

Happy Birthday little man! I can't believe you are a year old. Although the last twelve months have passed by so quickly, daddy and I made it a special point to savor every moment...even those middle of the night feedings and the crying car rides that I thought would never end! I'm not sure who cried more, me or you??? But look at you now, you have grown and learned so much already. You are now my little one year old toddler! You already know all of your letters and sounds. You are saying a ton of words...however you absolutely refuse to say mama, mommy, or any other form of mom. You are walking! I love the way you waddle over to me, tightly wrap your arms around my neck and then bury your face into my chest. Within a matter of seconds those big eyes look up at me for a response. And unless it's nap time and you are feeling a little crabby, your smile is always just as big as mine. You are so silly and so much fun. You have changed my life Greyson. Daddy and I love you more than you will ever know. Every night before we go to bed, we peek in on you and lean over your crib in disbelief. What did we do to deserve such a beautiful blessing...

Cutest Kid in the Universe

(7 months)

Of course Chad and I think Greyson is the cutest kid in the universe, but we are a little bias considering we are his parents :-) So, you can imagine how honored we were when we received the following email:

Congratulations! Greyson has been chosen as the Cutest Kid in the Universe for the October issue of Parents magazine. This means he will be in our Goody Bag section, featured as the cutest kid. In order to complete the process, we need to know a little more about Greyson! If you could, please answer the questions enclosed in the attachment. We’d love a prompt response since we work very far ahead each month. Again, congratulations – he is adorable!

All the best,
Wendy

Wendy Toth
Editorial Assistant
Parents Magazine


This is the cover of the issue he is in.