Reed turned 1!

 One of Grayson's best friends, Reed, turned one last week! Grayson and I went to his birthday party before we headed to Atlanta last Saturday. Reed's family are HUGE Tennessee fans (me & his mama don't discuss this-ha!) so he had a football party with lots of orange! It was so cute!

How cute are those rice krispy treats?! You can kind of see Reed's invitation in this picture. His mama, Catherine, made them and they turned out great...I need just a teeny bit of her talent!

The cute birthday banner!

The monthly picture banner of the cute birthday boy!

Here is Reed all ready for his smash cake!

My boy loves football...he had a blast playing with this birthday present!

...and we're off!

BOOM. Best smash cake experience ever. Reed smashed it so hard it flew off the highchair! Such a boy!

I think he enjoyed himself:)

We tried to get a picture with Reed, G, Riley, and Ashton...but try putting 4 babies in a ball pit together. No easy task!

This was the best we could do with the 3 blondies. They sure are cute!

I love having friends with boys the same age as Grayson...they will have so much fun growing up together! (and the mamas will have fun, too...no worries there!) Happy Birthday, Reed!

I'm alive--brain dump.

I'm still alive! Ben's laptop has a virus & is currently not working AND BlogPress on my iPad is super lame...therefore, I am having a hard time getting computer time. I am currently sitting at my kitchen counter with our super old and ghetto fab laptop that has to be plugged in straight to the router and has a screen that falls off. oh, and a wonky mouse. AND I can't forget the random missing keys. Seriously...it's in bad shape. 

I'm daydreaming of a new computer for myself. (not happening) Santa? Anyone?!

We've been really busy lately but until I have a place to upload pictures, a good old fashioned brain dump will have to do.

• I have a HeyTelling problem. It is so fun! 
• It really bugs me when people beg for followers on their blog. Like, REALLY bugs me. I also just don't understand strange shortened words when people are talking/typing. Adorbs, for instance. Why can't people just say adorable? I don't know. Sounds like something that 12 year old Laura would have said.
• Grayson started feeding himself with a spoon this week! It's so adorbs cute to watch but the control freak in me is having a hard time dealing with the mess. He ends up with yogurt or applesauce ALL over the place. He's gotta learn sometime! I'm hoping this will help him branch out & not be so picky. I'm trying macaroni and cheese tonight...we'll see if he will eat it like a big boy!
• Grayson is going to be a garden gnome for Halloween this year and the costume cracks me up. He just looks so funny!

• I've determined that candy corn and peanuts are my favorite snack of all time. Not the healthiest, but definitely the tastiest. 
• I made this Caramel Apple Trifle last week for our small group when we got together:

Source: tasteofhome.com via Laura on Pinterest

It was SO good! It just tastes like fall and was so easy to put together.

Hopefully I will be back soon with either a fixed computer or a NEW computer! Thanks for all of the love on my new dark hair...I am finally used to it and don't have to look twice when I walk by a mirror!

The Dark Side

So the other day I left my house looking like normal blonde Laura. But, I was on a mission. A mission to join the dark side. {sidenote: can we discuss how awkward it is to take a self pic??? I mean, really, I feel so emo. I don't know how people do those OOTD pics every.single.day. I feel lame posting these...forgive me}

Ta-da! Welcome back, brunette Laura. I had dark hair when I was 19...so basically, like a million years ago. I loved it at first, had a 10 minute spaz out at home later when I felt like I needed to go get a spray tan  ASAP because I look so dang pale with dark hair, and now I love it again. I was ready for a change.   I do have to look twice when I walk by a mirror because I don't recognize myself. Pretty strange. 

Happy Monday! 

13 months

Grayson is 13 months old today! Some days it feels like we just had his party a few days ago and some days it feels like a long time has passed!

Here are the stats:

Weight: 20lbs

Height: 30in

Diaper: 4

Clothes: 12 month clothes & 18 month pajamas

Shoes: 4

Here are some things that happened with G this month:

• Grayson is officially all done with bottles and formula. It was SO much easier than I expected. We actually stopped on his birthday and Grayson didn't even notice. They are packed away! 
• We also packed up the highchair & G is using the booster seat at our kitchen table. It is so much easier to clean & he feels like a big kid eating with us:)
• Saying: bye, da (dad), mum (I'm british), down, and everything else is beesh. Ha!
• Still has 12 teeth but he is currently teething...we are waiting for #13!
• Grayson starting pointing to things this month. He can point to people he knows and he points to the dogs when you ask about them.
• Poor little man had Hand, Foot, & Mouth Disease this month AND the terrible, awful, no good stomach virus. He was pitiful! We are so happy to be healthy again! 
• Grayson is doing better when he is dropped off at the church nursery & in his MOPS class. Hopefully the separation anxiety is easing off!  

I am still having the hardest time getting Grayson to try new foods. He is so picky! He will not eat a vegetable to save his life. Not even kidding. He gags! Right now his favorite foods are: chicken nuggets, veggie sticks, apple straws, grapes, strawberries, the free sugar cookies at Publix (ha!), yogurt, goldfish, and fig newton fruit thins. He still hates all milk but he drink ice water all day. Our doctor isn't too worried about the milk & I'm just happy he loves water! Also, this child is obsessed with coffee. He throws major tantrums if he doesn't get a sip. What baby hates milk but loves coffee?!

You may notice in these picture that G has a swollen top lip. We had a tripping-over-a-dog incident on the porch this afternoon and my little guy did a faceplant on to our porch. The porch is made of concrete--ouch! He was a trooper & loved sucking on the ice!

I can't believe our little guy is over a year old now! Grayson is well on his was to toddlerhood and becoming a lot more independent. Nobody told me how fun this stage was! I love it! 

Happy 13 months, G!

So What! Wednesday

I'm linking up with Shannon again for some So What! Wednesday fun! This week I am saying SO WHAT if...

• I am already wanting a new blog design? I literally JUST had this one done a few months ago. I really need to figure out how to do my own so I don't have to pay anyone! 
• I have a love/hate relationship with Twitter? It seems to be people's main source for complaining, it can be clique-y like middle school, the bandwagon hopping is ridiculous, and I'm pretty sure I liked some people more before I joined the twitterverse. Oh well. If I stop tweeting then I can't follow people like Giada, Bethenny, Jamie Lynn Spears, and Brad Paisley...and we all know that isn't happening!
• I leave blog comments, tweet, text, call, AND heytell my friend Jen? What? Communication overload? I just like to cover all my bases.
• I still want to buy more pumpkins? Hello, my name is Laura and I am addicted to pumpkins. 
• I like my dogs more than a lot of people. 
• I got a little choked up last night when I was looking at pictures from Grayson's birth? This year has f l o w n by & it makes me a little sad.
• I made candy corn/peanut mix AND a double doozie last night? That candy corn mix by the way?? To die for. 

What are you saying SO WHAT to this week??Go link up with Shannon!

What I'm loving right now

Let me start off by saying that it was supposed to be 55 and rainy today. I postponed a picnic with a friend because the weather was supposed to be nasty. Well, friends, let me just say...it is about 83 degrees and sunny right now. Way to go, Nashville weathermen, way to go. 

I've tried a few new things recently that I now love so I thought I would share them. Here is my current love list:

Trader Joe's Tea Tree Tingle Body Wash

This is something I actually started using a few years ago. This stuff smells SO good. I've used the shampoo and conditioner too...but the body wash is always in my shower! It comes in a huge bottle and has a fabulous Trader Joe's price of around $5. Can't beat that!

GVP hair straightener {Sally's Beauty Supply generic brand}

I have used the same hair straightener for 6 years. It was finally starting to act up AND it was always bad about breaking my hair. I was told about this hair straightener on the twitterverse & decided to check it out. It is comparable to a Chi but only cost $60. I have loved it so far! I can control the heat so it doesn't feel like I'm scorching my hair like my old one did. AND it has an automatic shutoff after 60 minutes. Now I won't be paranoid about forgetting to unplug it! 

Brazilian Tech Keratin Leave-In Treatment

I also bought this stuff at Sally's. It's a lot cheaper than the other leave-in spray I was using..this stuff is only $8.29! It smells really good and makes my hair so soft and shiny. I will definitely be buying this stuff again! 

Starbuck Via Caramel Iced Coffee

I have a love/hate relationship with Starbucks right now. I love them because they sent me ONE sample of this in the mail. Y'all? It. was. so. good. I might become addicted. Plus, it is so much easier than brewing my coffee. I'm lazy. However, I hate them because I can't find this in any stores! Such a tease! All I have been able to find is the regular iced coffee. Don't get me wrong, it's good when you add some flavored creamer...but it's no caramel iced coffee! If you find this, I'm going to need you to email me & tell me where! I've had it on my brain since Friday. 

iPhone 4s -- in pretty white:)

Ben and I have had our old iPhones for over 2 years and were definitely due for an upgrade. You better believe we pre-ordered the 4s as soon as we could! I am so not that person that would camp out at the Apple store to get a new phone. Stupid. We got our phones on Friday and I love, love, love it! The camera on this phone is so much better than our old one & I'm excited I can now take videos. My new friend, Siri, is pretty cool too. I like to ask her random questions on a daily basis to see what her answer is. If you haven't asked her about her favorite color...do it now. I swear this phone is smarter than me. 

What are some things you're loving right now??

G got his hair did!

This post is a little delayed. Oh well. Better late than never, right? Grayson has a head full of stick straight hair. Around the time of his birthday party it was starting to get a little out of control. Exhibit A:

Hair starting to cover eyeballs.

Exhibit B:

Downright ridiculous.

See what I mean? I decided to take him to the only place I knew of that cut little people hair...Divas and Dudes Salon. This place was ridiculous. And by ridiculous, I mean disco balls, OPI nail polish, and glitter hair spray. So basically, it was a 5 year old girl's dream. 

This place was so funny! I was happy and browsed the latest OPI colors while we waited on G's stylist (that sounds funny). When it was Grayson's turn to get his haircut, he sat in the chair with his little rockstar smock and....

 he hated it.

 Not only did he hate it, but he did the pterodactyl scream pretty much the entire time. That poor girl that cut his hair. Bless her heart. I'm sure she had busted ear drums after our visit.

 Please note the veggie stick in G's hand...that helped for about 30 seconds.

Doesn't he look so big?? 

...and the final product! I swear I think he left Divas and Dudes as a 4 year old!

iphone snaps

 Ben and I got the new iPhone 4s today. Mine is pretty & white:) However, we are having mucho problemos syncing up our old iPhones to the new ones & all the hassle has turned my brain into mush. That & the fact that my child has been screaming since about 11:30 because the tooth monster came back to visit. Yep. Brain = mush.

I have over 1,000 pictures on my iPhone so I thought I would share a few recent snaps.

{some} of my pumpkins! I love all the different pumpkins that my little produce stand has. These are so fun!

G and his buddy Reed at the zoo observing flamingos. (sidenote: I almost called these creatures penguins. Seriously. My brain is gone)

He looks so cute in his little hoodie!

Jack sunning on the porch swing. Rotten.

Ellie has copied Jack and now hides behind the new kitchen curtains. These dogs are ridiculous!

Grayson loves doing downward dog. He does this all.the.time. Cracks me up!

We went to my friend Mary's house & G loves her little dog, Millie. He had the biggest smile on his face trying to chase her!

Obsessed with these jammies. The tie? really?? Amazing.

You may have seen this on the Twitterverse this morning...but, my child LOVES my coffee. He pitches royal fits if I don't give him a sip. I tried a Starbuck iced coffee via this morning and that boy stole my Tervis to get a sip! Ridiculous.

Happy Friday:)

that time the stomach virus took over our home

You guys. This poor kid can't catch a break. We went a week between Hand, Foot, & Mouth disease and then we get the worst stomach virus in the history of the world.  That's right. WE.

Grayson got sick on Monday with a nasty stomach bug and then decided to politely share it with his parents. Ben got it on Tuesday. I was sick on Wednesday. When I say it was the worst stomach virus in the history of the world, I mean it. My husband took his first ever sick day on Tuesday. That,  my friends, is a b i g deal.

Luckily, I have a nice mama who drove up from Atlanta yesterday morning to help me recover and take care of the pitiful boy. I'm pretty sure I may or may not have told Ben on Wednesday morning that I thought I was dying. oh, and I may or may not have wanted to cry when he left for work...except I was too dehydrated. I wish I was kidding.

Here's to hoping the sickies stay away for a long time. I'm off to lysol my entire house!

garage sales and pumpkins

Is it really Monday already? We had a fun & busy weekend but it went by way too fast! Ben was home this weekend so we made sure to do lots of fun things! Saturday was like garage sale mania around here. Our neighborhood, along with all the other nearby neighborhoods, were having garage sales. Grayson and I went out at 7:45. I'm pretty sure he thought I was crazy since I was dragging him around in his jammies and robeez shoes. He loved finding toys at all the houses we went to...usually it was toys he already has! Go figure. I did find him a Home Depot tool box with tools & a cute Fisher Price xylophone--all for $5! My favorite find though was this:

a train table for $30! My friend, Catherine, called me and told me that she had seen one in her neighborhood. I hopped in my &  it was mine! Well, Grayson's I guess.

We also had G's 12 month pictures taken (gasp) at one of my favorite parks. I had all these cute fall longalls in my head for him to wear...and then it was 84 degrees. Welcome to the South. Grayson had fun running around in the woods playing with sticks. I'm fairly certain he will be holding a stick in every.single.picture. I tried taking it away & HOLY MELTDOWN, Batman. So the stick stayed. Toddlers and their demands are so strange. 

I've been wanting to get some pictures of G at a pumpkin patch. We found a church that had lots of pumpkins and decided to let him run around and look at all the pumpkins. He had a blast! It feels weird wearing shorts and tshirts while picking out pumpkins, though. I need my cool weather back! 

We have a lot of pumpkins now & I have some projects (thanks to Pinterest) that I want to try with them! Hope everyone had a great {cooler} weekend!