18 Months

Dear Gray,

Sweet boy, I can't believe you have already reached the 18 month mark! I always get nostalgic around these age markers. I always feel like time goes to fast and you and your sister are growing too quick. But the last few months have been worse than usual. I have been almost literally aching for more time with you and for more time before you turn into a "big boy." (I realize that sounds dramatic, but it's true). Maybe it's because I started a new job so I have a bit less time with you. Or maybe it's just because life with small kids is busy and fast, and there isn't much down time. I try my hardest to enjoy every moment and to soak you up every day, but I am sad at how quickly you are growing up.

You are seriously the sweetest.boy.that.ever.was. You are mostly so content to play and entertain yourself. You are very entertained by your big sister, too. :) You have trouble saying her name but you have started calling her "sissy." You love to laugh, and tickle, and play. You love to give hugs and blow kisses. I love watching you run! It is the cutest little wide-stanced-arms-swinging run there ever was. You love to cuddle and snuggle. Especially if you are feeling sensitive or sad, you love for me to hold you and put your head down on my shoulder and your arms around my neck. I love how soft your skin is and I love your smell. I love your wispy blonde hair and your wide little feet. I love coming to get you from your crib in the mornings and after nap. The first thing you do is ask for a book. You are often walking around with your lovey in one hand and a ratty paperback book in the other. You love Dora, Nemo, Woody, Buzz, and Elmo. When I took you to Barnes and Nobel (where it was silent), you excitedly and  loudly shouted their names over and over and over when you saw them on the shelf. When you see a cow (even on the milk carton in our fridge) you point and shoot "moo!" over and over until we acknowledge you. You love songs and try to sing along to Old MacDonald or Bingo or Twinkle Twinkle. You love fruit and milk and lately pretzels. You will not eat peanut butter. Ever. You don't seem to like chocolate either. I love watching you dance. You swing your arms side to side and stomp your foot and it makes your daddy and me laugh so hard. We especially love watching you dance to the "ugawug" song from Peter Pan...it's hilarious! I love how much you love to facetime your grandparents or your aunt and uncle...you get an enormous grin and just have to position yourself in front of the camera. You have learned the words "no" and "mine" and use them often, especially with Saylor. You HATE to have your diaper changed or your clothes changed and it is pretty much wrestling an alligator to get you to oblige. You love marching up the stairs after dinner and you love taking a bath. You have become very interested in airplanes and love to point them out outside.You never fight going down to sleep, but you like to be read to at bedtime and you like to pick the books. You still love your lovey very much. You are saying lots of new words and work very hard to get my attention when you want it. You can name many animals and make their sounds. But I still think overall you are just a quiet-natured guy. You don't cry very often when I leave you at the nursery or school or the gym. You love to push the buttons on the elevator.You have come to love trains and you love to say "choo choo" and "all aboard" any time you see one, and now you even say "all aboard" every time we load up in the car! You love to play a new game where you point to each person in the room and say their name (as best you can) as fast as you can, on repeat. You are a good sleeper, unless you have teeth coming in, which seems to cycle through every few weeks. You are sometimes shy with new people and other times you wave to everyone when we are out and about.

I love you, buddy, very, very much. Even though I don't have the same time with you that I did with your sister, and even though I have done a terrible job taking pictures and videos of you like I did of her, I love you more than I could ever begin to put into words. Having you come into my life has broadened my definition of love in a way I never knew before. Thank you for bringing so much joy into our lives every day! 

Moving Day

It's been a big weekend...moving weekend! We are officially moved into and (somewhat) unpacked in our new house. I am not sure how we ended up buying and selling a house, moving, and me starting a new job all within a 60 day period...I guess we just like to keep things interesting around here. :)

Matt and I started looking at new houses earlier this summer - primarily because we were in the market for a better elementary school. We had our eye on a couple, but for various reasons they did not work out. Then, in September, we found one we loved and put in an offer. We quickly decided to put our house on the market before we went out of town, and amazingly, it sold in a day. It has been crazy how quickly this has all happened! I was fully prepared (in my classic pessimistic nature) to spend the next year and a half looking, and was legitimately worried what we would do if kindergarten time came and we still hadn't found a house.

It has been such a blessing to see how God has taken care of our family, in both the big and little ways. (I MUST remember this next time I get anxious about something - probably next week - ha!).

I have definitely been a bit nostalgic about leaving our first house. It's crazy to think about everything that has happened there over the past 6.5 years! 

We:

• Spent COUNTLESS hours fixing it up. We have changed almost every inch of it in some way. Some in little ways, some in big, but all with a good amount of time and energy
• Celebrated six wedding anniversaries
• Brought two precious babies home from the hospital
• Survived a couple job changes
• Had a lot of laughter and good times (and some hard times, too)
• Hosted many home group meetings with our church community....some of these friends have moved away and some are still part of our Dallas family 
• Celebrated many birthdays and holidays with friends and family

I can't help but wonder how many times ____ happened in that house. How many times have we said "i love you", or how many loads of laundry did I do? How many times did we get up in the night with our kids? How many movies did Matt and I watch on our couch (ok how many did Matt watch while I slept through)? How many times did Matt mow the front yard, or how many times did we hear the pitter patter of little feet running down the hallway to greet us? How many runs have I been on in the neighborhood, and how many time has Matt sat and played the piano in our living room? How many play dates did we have there?

I know that HOME is not the place you live as much as the people you live with. I'm so thankful to have all my people come with me to our new house, and to make new memories there.  But I will always cherish the memories we have from our first house! 

Here are the kids "helping" pack our Uhaul

 Our last family picture at our old house, before the movers showed up. I love how we all look SO TIRED...! :)

Thanks to both of our families who took a turn coming up from Houston to help us with this ginormous undertaking, as well as our awesome Dallas friends who have helped watch our kids, move boxes, bring us dinner, etc. We are very blessed!