Welcome, Liam!

Liam Oliver Wade

January 11, 2014

4 lbs 11 oz

18 inches

Isn't he handsome?!

Even though Liam was born almost 5 weeks early, we are very blessed that he is a perfect, healthy little boy! Sarah is doing great, too! I was grateful for James' help, so that I could be there when Liam was born. He and Grayson hung out and had some guy time for a few days.

 Grayson and I will get to hang out with this sweet boy for a few days this weekend! This is my disclaimer that you will probably have to look at ridiculously cute pictures of Grayson and Liam on my next post!

Highlights for the End of 2013

We're back!

 I am thankful that I am able to stay home with Grayson, because that means we also get to visit family other than the holidays!Since the end of October, we got to spend time in Edmond while James went hunting, I went to my sister's baby shower (twice! We had to cancel the first one after the ice storm and we ended up getting "iced in" for a couple of days in Oklahoma.), hung-out with Sarah for her birthday, and of course, spent the holidays with family. We have been busy, but we have enjoyed it!

Here are some highlights since I haven't updated in awhile:

1. James graduated!!!!!!!!!! James officially completed his master's degree with Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary on December 14th.   
2. James and I celebrated our  6 year anniversary on December 15th (perfect timing since he just finished school!). This weekend we are attending a couples cooking class to "officially" celebrate our anniversary. We are both looking forward to it. 
3. We found out that we will have TWO new NEPHEWS this year. Sarah is due in February and Katie is due in May! Grayson will have a blast growing up with his cousins....I am not sure what we are doing to do at family gatherings with all these boys bouncing around the place!
4. Grayson is now 10 months old. He is so fun! He is a master at crawling, pulling up and walking along furniture. He loves to mimic sounds. His new sound is clicking his tongue. He also just started playing "Where's Grayson?" AKA "peek-a-boo" and handing toys and other items to us. We are also at the stage where we can't eat unless Grayson is eating, because he wants our food. Last night he took a bite of James' apple! No food is safe!

This is how thick the ice was during the "Ice Apocalypse 2013." This particular chunk came off of Sarah's car. Needless to say, we couldn't go anywhere for a few days.

Grayson's first Christmas!

Grayson being himself :).

10 Months...Looking even more like James!

Counting Down

Grayson and I are keeping ourselves busy on this beautiful fall day. Not only are we packing (by we I mean me, while Grayson crawls  around, demands food and naps :)), but I also made pumpkin baby food for Grayson and then we made a paper chain to count down the days until James is finished with his degree at MBTS!

We got this pumpkin a few weeks ago when we went to Weston Red Barn Farm. It was so easy to fix. You can just put it in the oven whole and bake for 45 minutes. When it is done, you can easily cut through it. I scooped out the inside and then put it in the food processor.

Grayson and I are excited for James to be done with school in December. He only has 49 more days left! (I can't imagine how James feels.) There have definitely been stressful times along this chapter of our life together, but it has also been a blessing. I am not sure what we will do with all of our free time (haha) or where the journey will lead us next, but we are looking forward to it. If I would have started this chain on James' first day of class, there would have been 2,372 links on it!! (Grayson enjoys his new toy!)

Trying New Things

Grayson has been eating rice cereal and oatmeal for the past couple of weeks, so James and I decided it was time for him to try "real" food. We started with carrots. I am not sure if Grayson doesn't like the taste or if he doesn't like the texture, but he makes the funniest faces when we feed him. :)

Family Fun

We LOVED having Mary and Gary come visit us last weekend. It was a blessing to get to spend time together as a family. We had a lot of fun chatting, eating together, going to Cabela's, and hanging out with Grayson...of course! I know that Grandpa and Grayson will frequent Cabela's together as he gets older.  Here are some pictures from the fabulous weekend:

Grayson enjoys sitting and looking at books. He really likes to help turn the pages!

We Have a 6 Month Old!

One thing I have noticed with having a baby in tow is that more people strike up a conversation with you while you are out and about. One day last week Grayson and I were running some errands and we had family related conversations with at least five people. We talked to an individual whose "babies" were 14 and 16 now. She encouraged me to enjoy the time I have with him now because he will grow up so fast. I find that most moms will encourage you to do that. I am sure I will do the same to a young mom one day when Grayson is grown. I talked to a young mom and we traded tips on teething babies. She suggested putting his "Sophie" in the refrigerator (What a great idea!). Another mom was an educator whose son was grown. I only spoke with her for a few minutes, but she was very interesting and encouraging. She is currently teaching English a few children who just came to America from Asia (Their parents are attending a local university.) I thought that was a pretty awesome job.It is interesting to me that babies really do have a way of bringing people together. I always enjoy conversing with new people and  the encouragement!

We are a little late in adding Grayson's 6 month pictures, but I included them below along with a few pictures of his newest milestones. At 6 months he still loves to bounce in the jumperoo...or while you are holding him...and he wants to feel everything. He is also currently cutting his 4th tooth.

First bites of rice cereal. He isn't so sure about it!

Sitting up! He is still wobbly, but he can at least sit and play for a few minutes. 

Time Flies When You're Having Fun

Has it really been a month since my last post??? Although I should publish a post over each adventure and visitor that has come to see us this past month, you will  have to bear with me and read one summary post!

We were blessed with many visitors this past month. Our first visitor was Jonda (my BFF ;)). While she was here we went to Smithville Lake to walk and for a picnic ( James roller-bladed. I think he had too much fun), drove to Weston and visited the Red Barn Farm (We decided that we would make a day of visiting Weston next time she comes back) went to the movies,  and ate some good food, of course!  

 After that, my mom, sister and brother-in-law came to visit us! We loved hanging out, making and eating dinner together and playing games. I look forward to more visits like this! 

Here are a few pictures from  this past month:

At the beautiful Red Barn Farm...Jonda's picking apple pose. 

Too cool in his sun glasses and sunshine reflecting off of his bald head!

Proof that Jonda has won Grayson over...he no longer screams when she is near. 

Oklahoma State Alumni Picnic- We can't wait to go again next year!