Making History

Below are Grayson's 5 month pictures... This weekend he got to go to the Farmer's Market and to Cabela's with his Daddy. In a few years, I am sure he will enjoy the trip to Cabela's even more!

Many of you may have noticed that we take Grayson's monthly pictures in the same white, wicker rocker. This rocker came from Grayson's 4th great-grandmother. Her name was Caroline Adams Smith. She was born in Kentucky in 1857. I love that we get to use this piece of family history!

Saturday Mornings in KC

One of our favorite things to do in Kansas City is to visit the Farmer's Market. This is something James and I discovered shortly after moving to Kansas City almost 6 years ago! We love the different smells from the spices being sold and the unique restaurants nearby to the aesthetics of the beautiful fresh flowers, cityscape, and brightly colored fruits and vegetables. We even enjoy the music that people play as they sit along the sidewalk and entrances. We had not been since Grayson was born, so we thought it was time for a family trip! 

Grayson did so well! He rode along in the Moby Wrap for almost 2 hours.

 He enjoyed looking around, too!

Beautiful flowers!

A picture from a previous trip. James buying spices.

 Cityscape taken from a previous trip.

Grayson decided to take a short siesta while we were waiting on food (We ate at the Habashi House. We really like their falafel and hummus!).

On this trip we were joined by two couples from the Antioch Group that James and I lead during the week. We love our group! 

It All Came Tumbling Down

James and I love our backyard, well, the treeline at least. Unfortunately, the lack of rain and hot temperatures last summer proved to be too much for one of our large Sycamore trees. It started dropping leaves towards the end of last summer and continued to wither away from there. Not only were we bummed to lose one of the large trees that provided shade to our home, but we had to hire someone to cut it down!  The process was pretty awesome to watch. If Grayson was a few years older, he would have loved it!

Initial climb...

Cutting all of the branches off first. 

This guy must have nerves of steel.  Not only are you high off the ground and  tied to the tree by a little rope, but sometimes the tree would sway!

All the limbs are gone.

 Time to cut down the tree trunk. 

I definitely don't think I will ever be applying for this job!

Here is a video of him cutting down one of the branches and cutting down the trunk (If you try to enlarge the video, the quality is not so great). You will have to tilt your head or computer to watch (unless someone can tell me how to rotate a video!!). It makes it more fun that way...

Unexpected Finds at a Garage Sale

We have been blessed with awesome weather in Kansas City! Who would have thought that without the AC it would be 74 degrees in our house. Lucky for us, my friend Laura and I decided to have a garage sale this past weekend. We ended up doing pretty well at our sale, but I think the best and most unexpected part of having a garage sale was  getting to meet and talk with people, even if it was only for a few minutes.

Over our two day sale I met numerous neighbors; one couple just moved in last week, but they came from Stillwater, Oklahoma where they had lived for almost 20 years (They came to Kansas City because of their grand-babies!). She bought a few items for the playroom she was putting together for when they come to visit. Unfortunately, they are avid OU fans....James and I may be able to look past that...We also met a family who was thankful to have teaching supplies to work with their child who has a learning disability. One lady we met lived with both her mother and mother-in-law! I thought that was an interesting set-up and wondered how that came about and how it was working out! There was an older gentleman who, in his younger years, loaded hay onto trucks in Western Oklahoma  for 2 cents a bale! He said it was good money back then. He also said he remembers loading a lot of hay on trucks marked "Durant, Oklahoma." I thought that was interesting since I grew up a few miles south of there. The beaming new parents of a 3 week old boy had to have been my favorite couple to talk with.  They were so excited about being new parents and their stories of trying to figure things out  matched James and I perfectly. Sometimes it is nice to know that what you experienced, looked forward to, cried about, or questioned was completely normal!

After the sale on Friday night,  James and I were able to sneak away to watch Raiders of the Lost Ark outside at Crown Center. We were joined with some of the members from our bible study at church. I was pleased, excited, and shocked to see that they had  a snow cone truck there. My fellow Kansas Citians (who are former Oklahomans)  know what a big deal this is because you can't find a snow cone stand anywhere in KC! In Oklahoma, they are on every corner! It wasn't as good as JJ's, but I will take it! ;)

Waiting for the movie to start! All in all, a great weekend!

(See...James made it into a post!)

Another First...

Grayson not only has a cute smile, but he now has a cute, toothy smile! I discovered his first tooth yesterday! 

Still too tiny to see with the camera.

Mom, stop putting your finger in my mouth!

Okay, I don't really mind!

Milestones

I promise all of my posts won't be about Grayson (James will probably make it in the posts every once in awhile :)), but I love to update you on his milestones. He is changing so fast. I have to say that I have loved the 4 month stage and each month  keeps getting better and better!

Last night I was in the living room and Grayson was playing on the jungle mat. I had laid him down on his back and when I looked up, this is what I saw:

Grayson is now rolling from his back to his stomach!  

The Magical Three Days

I shouldn't be writing this...... we are only beginning the third day of sleep training. James told me last night, "the first rule of sleep training is that you do not talk about sleep training. The second rule of sleep training is that you DO NOT talk about sleep training" (Name that movie!) Let's hope this post doesn't jinx us!

Since our lovely 4 month old still gets up 3-4 times a night and every hour some nights, James and I decided that we had to try something. I was tired (no pun intended) of feeling like a zombie. We talked to our pediatrician and many of our friends and they all talked about how if you let your baby "cry it out", it only takes 3 days before they begin to sleep better...Everyone kept mentioning "three days." They made it sound  magical!

Well James and I began Saturday during Grayson's nap time. By his third nap, he didn't cry at all! He slept for 7 hours that night without waking and 8 hours last night. Tonight will be the third and final night. So far, I am pleasantly shocked and grateful that Grayson, the kid who didn't sleep at night or during naps, is learning to soothe himself to sleep and stay asleep! No more zombie mom!

Our well-rested boy!