Eight

Dearest Grant,

Today you are eight months old. Wow! How the time is flying! Mommy's friend, Ashley just brought her baby boy home from the hospital and your Aunt Jessi will be doing the same next week. It's been fun thinking back to how anxious I was for you to enter this world and how in eight short months you have turned Daddy and I's world upside down. I remember going to bed each night before you were born thinking, "Is this the night it's going to happen? Is this the night I will meet my baby boy?" I could not have imagined how very perfect you would be and how perfectly complete you would make my life. I dreamed of you, I wanted you so very badly and now, I can't imagine my life without you, sweet boy.

Today was the best day. We enjoyed a lazy Sunday morning with coffee, the paper and you in your walker exploring. You are confident and fearless. You come running when I open the dishwasher and clash loudly with a thud against the door while grabbing at everything in sight. You napped and then we spent an hour outdoors while Daddy washed cars and mowed the lawn. You enjoyed watching every minute all the while your curious mind took in everything. Later, your pal Luke came over and you tried your best to tell him all about how you got to help Daddy mow the lawn and wash cars, you also showed him the progress you've made trying to crawl. He was very impressed.

My best moments with you are the moments we spend on Mommy and Daddy's bed. We play peek-a-boo. I tickle you and you laugh, we sing songs and say poems and rhymes. I put you on my knees and we play airplane. You look me in the eyes and I melt. Your favorite toys are your whoozit and stacking cups. You already have mastered pulling the cups out of the larger ones and you can entertain yourself for hours. You are such a happy baby and have the widest grin plastered across your sweet face the majority of our day. I am so grateful to be your Mommy. I am so grateful to watch you learn and grow big and strong. You are exactly why life is worth living. Thank you for the unbelieveable joy you have brought into our lives.

Love Always,

Momma
XOXO

He Put A Ring On It...

One of my most fun, dearest, bestest, loyal, knows-you-better-than-you-know-yourself friends, Brittany, got ENGAGED to our friend Drew Easter weekend! They have been an item for quite some time now and we are all thrilled about their upcoming nuptuials this October in Emerald Isle, NC.

Today I opened my mailbox to find this:

Yes, she's mighty crafty, she's a teacher!
Brittany, I would be honored to stand up for you on your special day and be your bridesmaid! Love you bunches! XOXO

Fountain Frenzy

We are extremely lucky to live about 5 minutes from this fountain. It's a frequent stop for Mom's in the area starting this time of year. The kids go nuts over this outdoor fountain and it's pure entertainment to watch. The fountain is located in the center of our local outdoor mall, Eastern Shore Center.

Grant is still too little to enjoy the fountain but that doesn't stop us most days from getting out and about to watch all the kiddos play!
These are our neighbors Aiden and Maddie. This particular day I called their Mom, Angela and begged her to bring her kids to the fountain for Grant and I to watch, play with. Angela is the best neighbor, I call on her daily for some much needed adult conversation and interaction.

Grant is loving exploring the world around him and Aiden loves lending a helping hand!

The fountain bursts are sporatic. "Watch out Grant!"

I know this will be one of Grant's favorite activities in the very near future and will also provide much needed relief from the HOT days ahead.

oops of the week...

Grant has become increasingly mobile in his walker and FAST! Yesterday, I opened the cabinet below the kitchen sink where I keep all of our cleaning supplies and turned my back for a quick second. The next thing I know Grant is reaching for all of the bottles and has his hands all over everything in the cabinet. What I failed to realize is that this particular product had fallen out of the cabinet and he dragged it around the kitchen under his walker for probably 5 to 10 minutes.

A dot of bleach had spurted out onto his sock which I did not see until Ron and I took our little one for a walk an additional 10 minutes later. I took the sock off, noticed that the area that had been touched by the bleach spot was white surrounded by pink and shrugged it off. This morning the spot looked like this:
I've been applying Neosporin to the area all day but in posting this I'm hoping that I can warn you all of the dangers these harsh chemicals can cause to our babies delicate skin! Here's hoping the affected area is better tomorrow, poor baby!

Mud Bug Party

They say that Mobile, Alabama celebrates four seasons that are distinctive to this area. There is not that big of a difference in the weather here year round, it's mostly warm and the winters are truely mild.
Traditionally, we celebrate SUMMER.

Mobilians celebrates the BEACH

(and yes, I live an hour from here...jealous?)

Secondly, You all celebrate FALL.

Alabama celebrates FOOTBALL season.

Rightfully so, they are the national champions...

Next comes the dreaded WINTER.

Mobile celebrates for multiple weeks MARDI GRAS!

Lastly, You all are relieved when SPRING rolls around and you can come out of hibernation.
Here that's just the right time for CRAWFISH.

Celebrate crawfish season is exactly what the Yaeger clan did this weekend. We came together with several of our neighbors and invited friends for our first annual Cambron Crawfest (Cambron is the name of our neighborhood.) Crawfish resemble small lobsters and are a shellfish similar to shrimp but different in texture and in taste. 120 pounds of these little suckers were on the menu along with corn, potatoes, mushrooms, and onions.

I like crawfish but I do not enjoy doing this... the tideous task of shelling the little monsters. I reserved this duty for my hubbie. Being a North Carolinian, the whole crawfish experience is fairly new to the both of us and honestly, I didn't want to get my hands dirty!

Ron grilled hotdogs and hamburgers for the kids

While Grant napped the afternoon away in his jogger.

The weather was beautiful, the company was grand and our first crawfish boil was a huge success!

Many thanks to our neighbors, Laurie and Drew for hosting the event at their lovely home!

(Life of Lowery in my blogroll)

Heartbreaker

Meet our neighbor, Kyndall.

Also known as "Kyn Kyn" by her family and "Heartbreaker" by Grant. That's exactly what she's going to be. This little girl is full of spirit and spunk and is going to have Grant wrapped around her little finger. She asked Santa for a truck like her Daddy's for Christmas and this is what he brought:
I think Grant is pretty lucky to have such a pretty little neighbor to adore for the next few years and she has a pretty rad ride as well.

Sometimes his affection is too overwhelming!

"Mom, enough with the pictures, you're embarrassing me in front of Kyndall!"

Off into the sunset they go...

Not in Kansas Anymore...

I have definitely never seen one of these signs in North Carolina...

I see them quite often around town and have spotted a number of gators. It's not a very comforting thought but anyway, where there's water, there's gators in these parts...

Getting on with the purpose of this post.

My parents drove down to 'Bama last week. My Mom was on spring break from school so the pair took full advantage of her week off and came to see their number one grandbaby! We enjoyed several days together and I enjoyed having them watch Grant while I caught up on hair appointments/dentist appointments and lots of running around that is next to impossible with Grant in tow. We enjoyed lunches out around town...


and family outings...

It was wonderful having them here... Miss you already!

It's also great that Mom has not lost her touch when it comes to making Grant laugh!