Grayson is officially rolling over!

This post is to brag a little about Baby G. So Grayson has been able to roll from side to side for some time now but he can now roll from his back to his belly and then back over. Grayson is ready to move and has already figured out how to worm his way around on the floor. It won't be long before he scooting across the floor even faster. It is wild to us because he is doing all this stuff so quickly. We joke that he is stuck in a little man's body because he sits up and pull up his knees when his is on his belly. We worry that our baby will grow up much faster than his big brother did because he sees so much more than Blake did. I always hear the 2nd kids grow up and do things much faster and I seem to think that it will be true for Baby G. He is our sweet pea who loves to cuddle and especially loves his mom. Ask anyone - its true!!!!

Blake was good for most anyone when he was a baby. I would say that he was probably better for Billy than me but Grayson is the exact opposite. Grayson loves to cuddle and rub my face or hold my hand when he falls asleep. I hope that he will remain loving and sweet natured. Blake is a loving child but he is a VERY busy child. Personality spills out of his pores from the minute he wakes up to the minute that he falls asleep. Speaking of that - I need to make sure that Blake is asleep in his bed. It is doubtful but he sometimes will surprise us.

Elephant in my pants!

Here's some background on "Elephant". When Blake was about a year old - I gave him an elephant beenie baby to hopefully provide some comfort for him at night and maybe we would get a full night of sleep. Well Elephant (what an original name) became the love of Blake's life. He even has a spare elephant but he knows the difference between the two. Blake has some funny quirks when it comes to elephant that most of you know about. He likes to smell its tail or better yet, stick the tail in his nose or ear. I always believe that it is an innocent comfort item, strange sometimes but innocent.

So there is the background - onto the story from Christmas night. Blake was going to bed when he decided to stick Elephant in his pajama pants. He said that they were hiding and it was hard not to laugh. Trust me - they were secure in his pants. So of course - I let him come back down stairs to show off his elephants that were know in his pants to his grandparents and Billy. It was probably funnier when it happened that it is trying to tell it but Blake never ceases to amaze us. One thing that Blake does not lack is personality. I wanted to name the title to this blog something different but I was afraid to that I might in trouble. My idea was to name it "A whole new meaning to the term elephantitis".

Christmas photos

Here are some Christmas photos from the big day. We had 3 rounds of opening presents and they all went well. Billy's mom, Jerry, and Billy's dad all stayed with us and the boys had a great time playing and being spoiled. It has been busy but lots of fun.

Tis the season!

So the holidays have quickly approached the Conner household. Time flew by this year - I always wonder if it is because we have 2 little ones or we have just become all that much busier with work, life, family, etc.... I am typically well prepared in advance but I had to wait until a few weeks ago to get going on the shopping. But with some help from Billy's dad when he was visiting - we were able to knock it out pretty quickly and now all the wrapping is done.

We have Billy's mom and step dad coming into town today, Billy's dad and step mom come into town Friday, and then Brianna and Jason will be here on Saturday. We will have a houseful but it should be lots of fun. There will not be a shortage of helping hands and Billy and I might run away to catch a movie at some point. I just hope everyone has a safe journey up here for the holidays and it should be a lot of fun. I am sure there will be lots of stories to remember and most of all - there will be memories made for the boys. Billy and I like to remind ourselves that our boys are very lucky little boys because they have 6 grandparents who love them and would do anything in the world for them. I try to be thankful for the all the great things we have in life and not get caught up in the day to day craziness of life. Sometimes it can be hard we are lucky for everything we have and so the boys. So needless to say - I anticipate that the boys will be spoiled this year (probably over spoiled in my opinion) but it will be a great 1st Christmas for our little angel Grayson and one that Blake will totally love because he gets the whole present thing now.

Have a great holiday and I will post some pictures from tonight and tomorrow later on. Tonight is our PJ giving night.....

A local legend!

So I have been meaning to pay tribute to a local legend in Spindale since we visited at Thanksgiving. The gentleman (who will remain anonymous) that lives here does a ton of work each year starting around Halloween to get everything ready. He has hundreds of lights and figurines in his yard and it actually kind of pretty. A lot of work goes into this yard so we wanted to show Blake while we were driving around looking at the lights. All the towns have the downtown sections decorated so we wanted to drive and show Blake this year. He is into lights big time - it doesn't matter if it is a flash light, head light, or thousands of Christmas lights. He loves to help plug in our tree lights and outdoor lights everyday. We usually try to help him but he sometimes will beat us to the punch and have them plug in. So back to this picture - here is the best part. There is more than one house like this. This gentleman is in competition with his son who lives on the next street and he has just as many. I give him a lot of credit to put this much work into it each and every year. It has become a family tradition for us to go see them.

Cousins around the Christmas tree

Just wanted a share a picture of the cousins. Here are 5 cute kids who all love each other.

Making a birthday cake

So it was dad's birthday the other day and Blake helped me bake the cake. I have to say that Blake did a great job helping mix all the ingredients and using the mixer like a big boy. Keeping all fingers away from the mixer and then helping pore the batter into the pan. Blake loves to help out in the kitchen and will be super excited when he sees that he will be getting a new kitchen for Christmas. It is hard to believe that Christmas is right around the corner and we will have a houseful of family which will be wonderful for Blake and Grayson.

Family Pictures

Yesterday we had our Christmas pictures taken and they turned out really well. You never know how it might go with 2 little boys. But as you can see the boys did a great job and I have to say the photograph was the best. She must be exhausted by the end of her day because she was wonderful getting the boys to smile and laugh. Billy's dad was in town so we wanted to take the opportunity to have his picture taken with the boys. Billy 1 came into town a few days ago to help out and he has been a huge help. Billy and I were able to go out Christmas shopping after the boys went to bed. We were able to get our lights on the house and finish a few small things. We are very blessed to have two wonderful boys and they are blessed to have 6 grandparents who love them and would do anything in the world for them .

Holiday Festival

We were very very proud parents tonight. Blake's preschool had its holiday festival tonight and it was the sweetest program ever. Blake's class was the first to go and they sang 2 songs. My parents were fortunate enough to come and witness the 2 sweetest songs ever sang by Blake. Anyone that knows Blake would know that typically you get in trouble for singing or dancing unless it is on his terms. He loves to dance and sing but only when it suites him. So tonight - we were honestly all a little concerned on what would happen or if he would yell stop to his friends. We were pleasantly surprised to see that our son was one of the few that knew the words and the dance moves to go with it. It was too sweet and a proud moment for all of us. It was a quick minute but it was a priceless moment to be a part of.

Papa and the Firetrucks

So when we went to NC for Thanksgiving, Blake and Grayson got to go the fire house where Papa (Billy's dad) works. Blake honestly thought that every single firetruck was his and only his. He was nice enough to let Grayson in the trucks once and awhile. Billy thought it was so funny that Blake had become so possessive but apparently the apple doesn't' fall far from the tree. According to legend - Billy was the same way about the firetrucks when he was Blake's age. They have a great older truck at Spindale Fire Dept that is always nice to bring out when we are around. I wanted to share some pictures of the boys and what Brianna and Jason would look like with two little boys. I always swear that it is good reminder to them to wait a little while to have kids when Blake is pouncing on them.

Our visit with Santa

Well today we braved the mall and saw Santa Clause. We actually went to Fair Oaks mall because their theme was Polar Express. They have a huge inactive snow globe that you walk through before meeting Santa. This year went very well considering last year Blake cried and was hysterical over the strange man in a red suit. We took turns waiting in line since it took over 1 1/2 hours but we were lucky because people were waiting much longer than that.

Blake and I strolled around the mall and he was so good the whole time. We weren't sure how it was going to go because at lunch Blake was already acting tired and on the cranky side but we managed to keep him busy and most importantly in a good mood. Well I better do a few more things considering it is 11pm and I have to be up around 530am. Here's to an early Merry Christmas!!!!

I'm coming baby!!!

So the other night Grayson started to wake up after he had only been asleep for about an hour. There had been a little bit of drama that he slept through but then the house fell quiet and he woke up. Imagine that, right? So Blake heard Grayson starting to cry on the monitor and took up the stairs. As Billy started up with him - Blake insisted that Billy not follow him and he continued up the stairs. As Blake is going up the stairs, he calls out "I'm coming baby" Blake continued to stay "I'm coming baby" as he hurried his little hiney up to his room. Blake call Grayson baby most of the time instead of Grayson. I think Grayson is too big of a word for him so he just says baby or boobe. It made me smile that he loves his little brother.