Birthdays and a Change of Plans

Last weekend we celebrated the first birthday of Grant's best bud, Luke! Luke had a monkey themed bash and we had a blast "hanging out" with the Lowery's.

My family of three with Drew, Laurie and Luke
It didn't take long for Grant to gather all of the balloons that were strategically placed for the party for his own enjoyment. He went around the house screaming, "BALLOON, BALLOON!"

Grant had a blast "monkeying" around at Luke's first birthday!

We also celebrated Henry's 3rd birthday and everything was BLUE!

Henry had a jumpy house and Grant loved running around and climbing in and out of it (of course, when the bigger kids would allow it!)

Yipee!

Henry's younger brother, Benton and Grant are just a few months apart and always enjoy playing together. Benton loves to give Grant big bear hugs!

On another note, sadly the store I have been managing since last May closed for business on Saturday leaving me and my staff unemployed. Blame it on the economy or the oil spill, tragically, my store isn't the only one in this shopping centre closing. I'm a firm believer that everything happens for a reason and I'm embracing this opportunity to stay at home with Grant for a little while until the next great opportunity comes along. I've spent the past two days packing up all of the merchandise, bags, boxes and fixtures to be shipped out to other locations and had my official last day today.

I'm excited for all that 2011 has in store for the Yaeger clan! First things first, I'm dying to get back to NC for a visit and now I have the time. I have a niece I'm just dying to meet... stay tuned!

Party in the USA

Yes, I am referencing Miley Cyrus' summer hit and also the phrase that you can hear out of the mouth's of Ron and Nathan and the majority of their friends when their excited about something. Weird. I know. We recently celebrated Ron and Nathan's 29th birthday. Nathan's birthday is on Christmas day and Ron's turned 29 on the 30th. We gathered with a small group of friends last Sunday night to celebrate these two turning another year older.

I found an old Halloween picture I took of Ron and Nathan in 2006 and had it put on their birthday cake! They both love those God awful American flag pants...

The guys in the kitchen. Jim grilled a huge pork tenderloin for dinner.
Kimmy, Emily and I

Once again, the kiddos stole the show! Brooks was less than excited about having an "organized" photo taken!

Grant was excited about the opportunity to be alone with Savannah.

Savannah tells Olivia that Grant is "Mine!"

This is what Savannah does when you tell her to give Grant a kiss, so sweet!

Happy Birthday to you! One more year to the big 3-0!

Christmas Morning

For the first time, the Yaeger family stayed in Alabama for Christmas. It was nice starting our own tradition and being at home on Christmas morning! Grant awoke at 6am forcing us to start our day super early, he must have had a hint that something big was going on downstairs!

Dada bringing Grant downstairs to see what Santa brought!

Grant's stash, the radio flyer wagon was from his Mimi and Poppy
Grant went straight for "Melmo" he was so excited about all of his new goodies!
"Look Mom, Melmo!"

Grant loved his tricycle, unfortunately his feet are still about two feet too far away from the pedals. He loves being pushed around in it though.

After playing with all of Grant's new toys it was time to sit down and dive into all of our presents from our families in NC. I love my UGG slippers from Ron's Mom!

Ron received a lot of new clothes!

Ron's Dad Jim opening presents

Ron gave me a new purse!

A leaf blower!

I surprised Ron with this 140 pound baby that was hiding in the back of my car, the big green egg! To say he was pumped would be an understatement!

Grant later in the day reading his Elmo books

Our little climber can climb right into and out of his radio flyer wagon. He loved being pushed around the house in his wagon. Christmas day was very cold and we didn't play outside for too long!

Overall, Christmas day in our household was extremely relaxing. We didn't go anywhere or do much but play, eat and enjoy eachother's company. After a long day of overstimulation, Grant tired out in Poppy's arms...

Jim's dog, Ginger, even was pooped and mistook Grant's chair for her dogbed!

We are extremely blessed to have had such a wonderful Christmas holiday filled with celebration, surprises and family fun. Merry Christmas Everyone!

Dear Santa,

We've been really good this year. We've been kind to all of our friends and family. Mommy worked really hard to make something really special for all of her friends...

I've tried really hard to stay away from the Christmas tree like Mommy asked.

I've even been learning about the true meaning of Christmas,

celebrating Jesus' birthday!

Mommy and Daddy say I've been really "nice"

Poppy even came down to spend Christmas with me!

Dear Santa, Hurry down the chimney tonight!

I'll be waiting patiently like a good boy. Love, Grant

Merry Christmas!

Celebrating Scarlett!

Very soon, sweet Savannah is going to be a big sister to baby Scarlett!

Recently I hosted a "sprinkle" for her Mommy, Kimmy at my house. I don't have many pictures to share because I didn't take any. I know, I'm sorry, but it was a fun, festive event with good food, friends and celebration of the Mommy to be times two!
Natalie, Kimmy and I at Kimmy's baby shower

I wanted to give Kimmy a very special present for her newest additions nursury so I enlisted the help of my great friend, Kim in North Carolina. You all have read about her business, Daisy Faye Designs and how incredibly talented she is. Together we came up with the concept of appliqued wall art. You can read more about the creative process on the Daisy Faye Designs blog: http://www.daisyfayedesigns.com/2/post/2010/12/daisy-faye-designs-home-decor-lt3.html

For now, enjoy the pictures of baby Scarlett's gorgeous nursery. It's absolutely to die for in person!

Hurry up baby Scarlett! Grant is ready to meet his newest gal pal!

Grant Graduates Gymnastics

Saturday morning, Grant graduated from his "Little Birds" Gymnastics class at The Little Gym. Here is a series of photos taken on Ron's cell phone and sent to me complete with Ron's captions for each picture.

Grant and his teacher, Mrs. Jennifer

"Grant receiving his first award!!!"

"His acceptance speech... I'd like to thank my Dad for taking me here every weekend to work on my skills!"
"Throwing the award back to his fans... Moving on."

Grant looks forward to joining "The Beasts" gymnastics class in January!