The Ultimate Catch-Up

Since I *do* use this blog as a scrapbook, and love to look back on past posts, I thought I'd do a summary of the kiddos.  

Maddie

Maddie turned six in July and just started the first grade.  

Her best friend is Emma and seriously, they could play together for 200 days straight and she'd still cry when they had to part.  

Maddie can be THE SWEETEST thing but she's got a sassy streak in her that becomes a tad more prominent when she's hungry or tired.  Speaking of tired, she's an amazing sleeper and sleeps from about 7pm until we wake her in the morning for school (6:40ish).  She eats an apple in bed every night (random) and must have her blankie and 12,000 books in order to fall asleep.

Her true love though?  Cartwheels.  She cartwheels anywhere and everywhere and she's AMAZiNG at them.  She can do one-handed ones and is working on a back handspring.  She goes to gymnastics once a week and cheer practice once a week, too.

She's also (warning: I'm going to brag) very, very smart.  Reading really "clicked" this summer and she can now happily read Grayson his bedtime stories.  I watch her solve math problems and I'm blown away by how quickly she picks things up.  She is a VERY good student and we are so proud that our hearts sometimes want to burst.

She loves her Daisy troop, cheerleading, anything American Girl, sour candy, going to church, playing in her room, and shopping for clothes.  She's basically a really fun, really rad girl!

Grayson

Grayson turned two in May and spends his day hanging with his mama and brother.  

Grayson's best friend is his Sissy, who he pretty much adores.  He also loves Landon (Emma's brother, so fabulous) and watching them begin to play together in the boy language of Super Heroes is kinda awesome.

Grayson is a snuggler, a sweetie, and a puppy that doesn't always know his own strength.  Ha!  He is the first to give hugs and kisses and the first to say, "Love you."  

He's into Batman, both the old school cartoons and the new toys, his green blankie (that he calls "Beezie"), snacks (aka: "snack-uh-snacks"), his aunties, Chipotle, watching movies, and Skittles.  He gets super excited for "art projects" and would happily paint everyday.  He's finally tall enough for his basketball hoop so the family room floor is usually littered with a thousand balls.

Gray is definitely a typical tantruming two year old and sometimes I want to pull my hair out (just being honest).  His language is extensive, though sometimes it takes a couple go-rounds to actually understand his long sentences!

He's our sweet little man, a guy with a thousand nicknames (GG, Gray Baby, G-man, on and on), and I'm savoring this last year of having him home 24-7 (even those tantrums; I'm counting it all as joy!).

Griffin

Our Griffy is 6.5 months old and is pretty much a rockstar baby.

Seriously, he's one of those kids that makes you question your decision to not have any more.  Ha!  I mean, I realize he'll eventually be a tantruming toddler too (see above) but for now, he's just my baby.  

*PS: READ... LAST baby, mkay?  :)

Back to Griffin.  He's huge.  Everyone comments on that.  He's in all 12 month clothing and can wear the same size diaper as Grayson (super handy for me, haha).

He nurses exclusively (holla!) and would like to eat more solids.  Mama just gets a little tired.  :)  But, I'm trying.  I let him eat bits off my plate sometimes, which delights him to no end.  

Griffin put himself on pretty amazing schedule (morning nap, afternoon nap, 7pm bedtime) and I appreciate him parenting himself.  Haha.  Kidding.  But really, he's so amazing.  He and Gray nap at the same time in the afternoon and I spend the first 20 minutes or so running around and basically clicking my heels.  :)

 He loves sitting and playing with big brother's toys, nursing, giving wet, slobbery kisses, jumping in his Jumperoo, and smiling.  He smiles all the time.  :)  He's chatty, likes to nurse once during the night, and has yet to fully transition to his own room (sleeps in a pack and play at night, in our room).

Whew!  So there you have it.  We're super, insanely blessed.  

But that's not to say that Mike and I don't sometimes look at each other and say, "Oh my gosh.  There's so many of them."  :)