Gregory 2.5 Month Letter

Gregory and AJ hugging 2013

Lovin on your brother

Gregory with makeup on 2013

Raiding Momma’s makeup bag

Gregory Thomas the Train face

Pure joy and excitement over Thomas!

Gregory sweeping with Dadda

Like Father like Son

Gregory reading to Roger 2013

Reading stories to Roger

Gregory in glasses

Trying on some glasses– future nerd alert!

Cooking up a storm

Cooking up a storm

Enthralled with the tiger

Enthralled with the tiger

cuddling brothers

Morning Thomas the Tank Engine cuddles

Gregory asleep in carseat April 2013

You love to sleep in the car!

Gregory eating in highchair, March 2013

So enthusiastic about food!

Gregory playing with trains

Playing with trains

Dear Gregory,

You are a little over 2.5 years old. There are so many things that we love about you, that it takes Mommy a few days to compile it all!

The biggest thing we want to remember about this stage of life with you is your extremely joyful spirit. We asked your Uncle David what he thought of you, and the first thing he said was, “He makes me want to be a happier person! He’s always so cheerful!”. And it’s true– you are enthusiastic, over-the-top excited, and want to giggle hysterically about everything. You greet the members of your family with sheer and utter joy, and you love to interact and sing/dance with people. You have a special “Happy Dance” that you break into whenever you are especially exuberant about something and just can’t contain yourself.

You talk ALL the time. We love the way you talk to yourself about what you’re doing, saying,”YEAH” in reply to all of your little suggestions. You will reiterate the days’ events for us in a sweet little voice, remembering little details that even we’d forgotten. Our favorite sayings of yours: “Thank-oo Mama!” (high voice), “What issit?” (pointing to all sorts of stuff), “Cookie for cookoopoofs!” (thanks David!).

You also are having trouble pronouncing a few words, making it sound (at times) like you are screaming obscenities, especially the F word. You have caused your Momma more than few embarrassing moments in public!

Your funniest conversations occur when you’re playing with your Thomas trains. You re-enact all of the little TV episodes you’ve seen, chastising engines, making them best friends, telling them to be patient, etc…You play with your trains around 70% of your waking day. We received a train table from a friend, and you LOVE it!

The other thing you love to play is church. You use the kitchen cabinets are your “Royal Doors”, take cups and put a cloth over them to simulate “cuh-moon-un”, sing Alleluiahs all over the house at the top of your lungs, and hold books high in the air as though you’re reading scripture. You use hangers as your “censor” and have a special technique that no one else can master (although you stubbornly try to instruct us!). You have a funny little way of crossing yourself that looks like you beating your chest– super cute!

Two more things you are obsessed with– windshield wipers (Dadda turns them on in the car on random so that we can hear you squeal in delight!), and helping Mamma sweep. You also pretend to cook with your new pots and pans from ikea. You describe all of the funny concoctions you are making, like “Oranges soup!”.

You seem to be obsessed with whatever sport is currently on TV, probably because your dad is always watching a game or two. You watch intently, then mimic their mannerisms exactly. For example, you grab Momma’s softball glove, pretend you’re on a pitching mound, look left then right, pretend to throw to first, then raise a leg and throw it. Your batting stance has also gotten a lot better because you’ve been watching hitters pivot as they swing!

When you are shooting hoops with Dadda outside, you say tons of hilarious things like, “That’s MONEY right there!” when he makes it, or “AIRBALL!” when he doesn’t. You usually are super encouraging, saying things like, “Wow Dadda good shot!”. You love to point out the free throw line and the 3 point line. A few times, the ball has almost hit you and you’ve looked at Dadda and said, “woah! SCARED!”. This is the first time we’d ever heard you mention being scared when we’re not referencing the “roller coaster” from Happy Hollows!

You LOVE to sing. Your cutest renditions right now are “Old MacDonald” (you love to name all the animals!), Patty Cake, and Happy Birthday (you carry a “cake” around the house and pretend to blow out candles, complete with the “underwater” Cone version). You also like it when we sing to you, and you have a specific order of bedtime songs that you make us follow everytime– “You Are My Sunshine”, “O Theotokos”, “Close Your Eyes”, “O Gladsome Light”, and the tuck-in song, “The Eyes of All”. Whenever music is on, you automatically start swaying your hips to the beat and break into some HILARIOUS dance moves!

You’ve also become a great big brother. You constantly bring toys for Baby Wee, and even when you have a moment of selfishness and take something away from him, you immediately try to replace it with something else. You’ve established a “screech-call” together that keeps you both giggling hysterically as you yell it back and forth in the mornings. Last night, we heard Anthony in the other room crying. When we ran into investigate, you told us that you’d taken the ball away from Wee because it was “too small” and he wasn’t supposed to have it. You seemed concerned, like you really wanted to care for your brother’s safety!

Before bed, you love to wrestle wildly with Dadda, then give big open mouth smooches to everyone (Dadda has to remind you to close your lips! ew!), then ride piggy back upstairs to bed. You also still use a “die-die” (pacifier), but we’re working on that 🙂

You are super affectionate. You sign “I Love You!” to people all the time now, and it’s just the cutest thing ever.

When you don’t like something, you’re very clear about it. For example, when you don’t want to wear a particular pair of shoes, you cry over and over again that they’re “too big! too big” even though the opposite it usually true. It’s just your way of saying you don’t like them. You STILL don’t like swings, and you only occasionally like slides. Now that we’ve started counting to three before giving you a spanking or time-out, you’re very obedient 90% of the time. Everyone’s noticed how much more cooperative you are. Sometimes, as we’re counting, you sit there staring at us, and when we get to three, you end with a shout, “NO SPANKING!”.

You LOVE animals. You get a huge kick out of the deer that come to roost on our lawn, and watch them at the window for hours. You also love the zoo! We’ve taken you to the Sacramento Zoo, the San Francisco Zoo (last summer), our small Charles Paddock zoo (1-2x/month), and Happy Hollows (more of an amusement park).

This last March, you got a new toddler bed. You took to it right away without any transition period. Since you did start waking up super early as a result, we got you an “OK TO WAKE” owl, which you love to show off to everyone (also, as a result, when we ask you what owls say, you reply, “Hoo-hoo”, then sing a little song, just like your owl!). You have a recurring nightmare that you’ve pooped all over the bed, so I often have to convince you that you’re completely dry in the mornings 🙂

Last but not least, you had your first Easter Egg/Pascha celebration this year! You love eating all the food, and we are still slowly making our way through your Pascha candy (occasionally you get one as a treat). You have a cute rendition of “Christ is Risen”, wherein you combine the last three lines of the song into one 🙂

Some of your best sayings/conversations:

Me: Thomas and Percy are best friends!
Gregory: Yeah.
Me: Who’s your best friend?
Gregory: Me! I’M my best friend!
Me: “Gregory, why can’t you play with Thomas trains.”
Gregory: “I was NAWty.”
Me: “How were you naughty?”
Gregory: “I got time-out.”
Me: “Yes you did. How were you naughty? What did you do to Baby Wee?”
Gregory: “I took him out. On the carpet.”
Real conversation I just overheard from Gregory: “There’s a bat and a ball! Gregory plays baseball! Homerun! Yay for Gregory! There’s the ball again! The ball is soft. Poopy is soft. Eeeewy poopy. Don’t hit poopy.”
Gregory keeps telling the ice cubes in his cup to “take a bath!”. Seriously, could my kid get any cuter?
 I told G that Dadda was picking up a surprise from MissTracy, and now he’s running around frantically looking in every box he can find, saying, “Surprise in there? Surprise in there? It’s a Toby car, I jus know it!”
Me:” Who loves you, Gregory?”
Gregory: “Nana, Awntee Em, Awntee Brookie, Unk-ul Ray Ray…”
Whenever I ask Gregory to do something, he responds with, “Okay, jus-a-minute. Be pash-unt.” So polite in his procrastination. Just like his Momma.
Gregory Singing: “A-B-C-D-S-I-J, Apples and Oranges, Kisses for Roger!”

We love you a ton, Gregory. You are turning into the little boy we’d always dreamed about!

Love, Momma

Gregory 26 Months

I just found this letter, written but not published! And now, here we are 4 months later! Where has the time gone?

Reading this has reminded me of why I do these letters– in just a few short months, I’d almost forgotten about a lot of these things! It brings me such joy to remember them, because he’s already outgrown so much.

Dearest Gregory,

Goodness me, you’ve grown so much in the past couple of months! It’s as though you took the whole baby-to-toddler thing seriously!
Gregory sweet face 11:12

You are super serious about any task you set your mind to. We joke that you have a mild case of OCD, because when you’re involved with something, whether it be coloring or shooting hoops in the living room, you are NOT to be dissuaded until you feel like you’ve done it JUST right.

Within just a few weeks, you went from 1-3 word phrases, to full on sentences and paragraphs. Instead of, “down!” you say, “Momma, peez get down now?” or, “No, I dunno wan a kiss kiss!” You remember what foods you like and request them specifically. Your favorites right now are “Yow-goot!”, “Sawbull ies” (strawberries), and “Back-a-deez!” (Mac and Cheese– you say this one so fast and full of excitement that it’s hard for others to understand).

You also made the huge jump towards knowing all of your letters and colors! We point to objects all over the house and say, “What color is this?” You repeat, “Whaa col-s’-dis?”, then you pause, thinking, and then you usually get it right! The difference between blue and green is still pretty hard, but you consistently get “back”, “pink”, “red”, “lellow” and “owange” right! Your aunts and uncles have been confusing you by throwing things like, “Teal” and “magenta” in there too.

You love to sing songs, and you have the sweetest little boy voice. Your favorites right now are, of course, Christmas songs. You stand at attention in front of the tree and sing, “Oh Kee-mas tree, oh Kee-mas tree, Luh-luh yuh banches!”. You sing “Happy Birthday” to random people, and every night you command mommy to “Sing SONG! SING Gegg-oly song! Sun-shine song!” (Mommy sings “You are My Sunshine” and uses your name in it). You also sing, “Spawn-bob, Squaw-pants!” over and over, since this is the only TV show you watch (we’ve tried others, you just don’t like anything else!).

Gregory piano playing 11:12

You love to play pretend with musical instruments. Nana bought you a recorder, and you actually figured out how to blow it AND play it, all by yourself! You sit down at the piano and get super serious about playing the keys, often singing along at the top of your voice. One of your fingers got a nasty blister on it from strumming Dadda’s guitar a little too roughly!

Your bedtime routine is super cute and touching. You go around to everyone in the house, saying, “Night night! Kiss lips!” (we had to make a distinction between tongue-kisses and lips-kisses, because things were getting pretty messy!). You often add a, “Luv Yoooo!” in at the end.
Gregory Bath 12-12

When you get hurt, you instantly want someone to come and, “Kiss an’ make bettuh”. Mommy will kiss the “boo-boo”, and then you say, “Again?” over and over, until Mommy has given you at least a dozen kisses. You also return the favor when someone else gets an owie!

Gregory fingers in A's mouth 12:12

You intensely dislike Anthony’s crying. In your weaker moments, you yell, “NO CRYING! WEE! NO CRYING!” with almost a growl. When we remind you to be gentle and say things nicely, you get sing-songy and softly say, “No crying, Wee! S’ okay! No crying, Buh-buh-bear!” You get super possessive when he touches your things, but you often hunt for the “bes-toy” and bring him something nice to suck on play with.

Lately, you are also very good at remembering things that we say and bringing them up later. If Mommy tells you we are going home to eat dinner, and forget to mention it for over an hour (it takes mommy and daddy a long time to mobilize and get home sometimes!), you will say, “Num-num? Din-uh?” the moment we pull in the driveway. This memory of yours is especially sharp when it comes to Basketball games and Mac n Cheese!

You are not potty-trained yet, but you do sit on your potty then pretend to pat yourself with a baby wipe. You often point to your diaper and say, “Poo-poo!” giving us a bit of a head start with changing you. We’re sure that when you set your mind to being potty trained, we’ll know. All in good time, right? 🙂

We love to play imaginative games with you, asking ridiculous questions (like, “do giraffes live in trees?). You tilt your head to one side, think about it, then say, “Nawwww!” in the cutest little voice. Lately, you’ve begun making up your own and saying, “Naww!” before we even have a chance to answer.

One last thing– you LOVE to watch videos of yourself! If you hear a video coming from Momma’s phone or laptop (usually when she’s uploading), you sprint on over and beg to watch it, over and over. You giggle hysterically when you see yourself, and oftentimes you preemptively say the exact things that you do on the video!

Gregory, we couldn’t imagine life without you. You are one special little boy, and we want to keep you forever.

Love, Momma

Gregory 2 Year Letter

Dearest boy,

I know that everyone says this, but it is SO HARD for Mommy to believe that you are 2!

But you very much ACT like a two year old. You repeat everything anyone says, you are and have been speaking in complete sentences for a few weeks now, and you are able to do so many things on your own.

In just the past week, your vocabulary has probably tripled, which never ceases to amaze Mommy. It means that you really heard all those things we were saying around you (which we occasionally hoped would go unnoticed!).

And the way you enunciate, with that sweet little-boy voice of yours…melts Mommy’s heart every time. You are really good about saying, “Bye-bye, love you mommy!” when she leaves to teach. You fearlessly attempt words that are really hard, such as “Seventeen” and “Hyena” and the ever-dreaded, “W”. You love the ability to be able to express exactly what it is you want. Most often, you say things like, “Play game, please?” (you’re a fan of “Temple Run”), “Have a stinky in the dipey!”, and “Need Die-Die, please!” (“Die Die” is your pacifier…yes, you still use one!). When you say, “All Done”, you very carefully enunciate every single consonant. It’s adorable!

You also clearly tell us the difference between all your different balls. There is the “Fuht-ball”, the “Bees-ball”, “Backs-ball”, and “Vie-vie-ball”. Sometimes you say, “Orange ball” or “Boo ball” too.

But Mommy’s favorite thing you do….by far, is when you point to yourself and say, “Big Brudder!” and then pat Anthony and say, “Lewww Brudder!”. You love to kiss his tummy and make him laugh. And you know what? It makes Mommy and Daddy laugh too!

You’ve also become very sensitive to Baby Anthony’s crying, and will either run up and try to soothe him (often you’re the first one to the room when he’s woken up crying from a nap!) or you yell “ALLLLL DONNEEEE!!!” right into his face. You yell, “QUIET! HUSH!” at Claire when she barks. All of these things show us that you like your peace and quiet, that’s for sure!

Sometimes when you hug Anthony, he attempts to steal your pacifier!

One of your obsessions right now is going outside with Daddy at night and pointing out every single “Leww STAW!” and then the “BIG MOOOOOON!”. You love to sing nursery rhymes at bedtime with Mommy, including your own rendition of “FAHFAH JOCK JOCK” (Frere Jacques). Often, after we’ve put you to bed, we hear you humming away for quite a while afterwards.

As always, you are still Mommy’s champion sleeper. I have no idea what we did to deserve you, but you go to bed without any soothing, despite the fact that it’s almost always a different time every night (Mommy and Daddy’s schedules have been a bit unpredictable lately!). You often sleep in until 10am (UNHEARD OF FOR A TODDLER!). And then you take a 3+ hour nap 90% of the time! You are just a kid that needs a lot of sleep!

You have an extremely determined and focused personality. When you set your mind on one thing, you obsess about it until it comes to completion. The other day, you really wanted the big orange ball to stay put in the net, so that you could then knock it out with a second ball. Grandpa and Mommy watched you, trying so hard not to laugh, because every time the big ball went through the net instead of catching, you growled or shrieked in frustration. All we need to do is give you a piece of chalk, and you’re consumed for the good part of an hour, covering the entire back patio in scribbles. You also hit the ball off the tee with a TON of force and distance, which is shocking considering how “un-orthodox” your swing is (it’s more like a golf swing). When you get your hands on a baby wipe, you obsessively wipe off every surface in sight, without looking up. You love to push the kiddie-sized grocery cart at Trader Joe’s, and whenever Mommy takes too long to make a decision, you grab whatever you can reach, throw it in the cart and keep on going!

You’ve become a lot more imaginative the past few weeks. Without prompting, Mommy often finds you crawling around on the floor pretending to be a doggie (which is okay, until you try to lick the floor or eat out of Claire’s bowl!). You play pretend with different animals, having them kiss or talk to each other.

One of your favorite games is “Where did Dadda go?” You throw a blanket over him, and then giggle as you take it off. This game applies to any person or object. Occasionally, we hear, “Where Ra-Relle go?” or “Where Gigoly (Gregory) go?” or “Where Wee go?” (this one scares us, because you throw a blanket or pillow over Wee’s head!).

Speaking of pretend, you love to play church! After Sundays, you obsessively “cense” the house with whatever will swing. You hold books over your head and sing the “AW-AY- OO-YUH!”.

While in church, you spend your time finding every cross or icon possible to kiss! You’ve even used your pacifier to “cense” different members of the congregation. Everyone finds you so irresistibly cute and asks “how did we train you to be so good?”.

On our way to the beach!

Your favorite foods right now are definitely mac and cheese, any kind of fruit, and salsa! When we go to a Mexican restaurant, we can usually count on you to not only dip chips in the hottest salsa, but also take the container and actually DRINK from it! Woah! When we ask if you want to go get food, you say, “Rice? Beans? Ladas? TACO??!!” Surprisingly, you also love asparagus!

You’re just getting used to having a new “Sisss-ter Cat-luhn”, but you’re actually pretty easy going and haven’t had any difficulty adapting. Most of the time, you’re just happy to have someone new to play with! This comfortability is probably due to the fact that you love all your aunts and cousins that occasionally babysit you for short periods of time when Momma has to go to appointments.

You are so helpful to Mommy. Just this morning, as “we” finished bathing Wee “together”,  she asked if you would go grab his diaper out of the other room. Just like that. And you ran and got it for Mommy! Sometimes, we ask you to throw something away or to put certain toys and books away. You love to please us and comply every time.

You got a much-needed haircut 2 weeks ago!

You also have such a special relationship with both of your Grandmas! Just like last year, your “Nana” Esther watches you for 3.5 hours on Mondays, and “Gran-ma” Courtney for 1.5 hours on Wednesdays and 3.5 hours on Thursdays. You get so excited when they come to the door to play with you, and eagerly show off all your toys and books. You barely even notice as Momma walks out the door for teaching 🙂

At the Pioneer Day Parade with “Nana”. After this day, you couldn’t stop talking about “flags”, “cars” and “hawsies”

When you do get cranky at night, we sometimes turn on youtube videos of elephants or giraffes. Calms you down every single time. It can be the world’s most boring video, but you still watch it happily, for sometimes half an hour! This is the only TV you watch (other than the 45 minutes of Beauty and the Beast that you barely made it through before moving on to play with something else!), but we are happy to have it in our arsenal full of tools during the cranky-6-8pm hours!

Little Man, if you need to know anything about these past 2 years, know this: you are such a neat boy, and so so loved. Everywhere we go, people stop to adore you. Your aunts and uncles and grandparents all fight over who gets to spend the most time with you. You are so much fun to be around. Mommy loves getting to experience your little world on a day to day basis and wouldn’t trade it for anything.

Love, Mommy

Gregory 22 Month Letter

Dear Gregory,

These letters are getting tougher and tougher to write! While I have plenty of facts to fill them with, I just don’t know how to convey the sense of love and wonder you cause your parents to feel. Every time you discover something new about the world, it feels us with unspeakable joy, as though WE discovered it too. When you enjoy an experience, Mommy and Daddy can’t help but smile at each other and say, “THIS is what’s all about.”

You had a bunch of new experiences this past summer. You went camping for the first time you can remember (the REAL first time was when you were 9.5 months old, but you were barely walking then). You LOVED LOVED LOVED the “riv-uh”, the dirt, the friends and family, all the trees. Your favorite game was pushing different objects around the campsite in the dirt, especially the broom and a metal spatula. You had a blast in the river even though it was freezing cold and you fell down a few times. You loved counting the trees (you count by saying, “Tree! Two Trees! Anuh Tree! Anuh Tree!”).

You’ve gone swimming only a handful of times, but you are so brave, floating on your back, turning over on your stomach and kicking, and even letting Daddy dunk you. You’ve also been to the beach quite a few times! The sand is quite a hit with you, whether we have a re-used starbucks cup for you to spoon with, or a real sand bucket.

You have had Dadda home with you ALL summer, which has been amazing for you guys. You’ve developed such an awesome bond that is so awesome to watch. He tosses you around and makes you laugh hysterically. He shares his “green” protein smoothies with you and teaches you how to be a gentleman in church. He’s usually the one who makes you your morning bowl of steel cut oats with blueberries, followed by a banana.

Getting thrown in the air by Dadda

Speaking of church, you still love it! You stand quietly at attention like no other kid I’ve ever seen (seriously, how did we get so lucky?). You like to kiss every cross you can find, saying, “craw! craw!” (cutest.thing.ever.). You swing socks or anything similar around the house in your hand like a censor, singing, “all-le-lewww-ya”, over and over for hours.

The after-church coma…too many cookies at coffee hour!

One of your favorite games is to count fingers and toes– yours, or anyone else’s. You go one by one, sometimes jibbering on, always with a huge smile on your face. Sometimes, you accidentally count one twice, but you don’t mind.

You also love to come in and name everyone in the room. The cutest is when you get to yourself. We ask you where “Big Brother” is, and you point to your chest and say, “MEEEE!” You use Aunt “Ra-rel” (Rachel), Aunt “Me-me” (Emily), Aunt “Ja” (Janelle), “Unk Jo” (Uncle Joe), “Poppa”, and, of course, “Mamma”, “Dadda” and “Wee” on a routine basis.

Hanging with “Unk Joe” on the beach in Ventura

You talk SO MUCH. Constantly, in fact. There isn’t a word that you won’t try and repeat. You know hundreds of them! Many of them take a special interpreter, but every day you are becoming more enunciated. Some of our favorite words: “peek-ulls” (pickles), “kee-kies” (cookies), “peed-uhs” (peaches), “bel-bow”, “bah-bel-bah” (banana), “nawg-neal” (oatmeal), “die-die” (your pacifier), “MAR-O!” (Mario, like the game you love playing with Aunt Janelle), “Bum” (helpful when we’re trying to change your diaper!), “Ra-relle” (Clarabelle). You string together a few phrases, like, “Bye-bye in car!”, “No, not now!”, “Shoes, peez, Dadda?”, “Mamma, down, peez?”, “Read book peez!” The other day, Mamma found some squishy oatmeal on her hand, leftover from cleaning up your breakfast. She said, “eww!”, and you thought it was hysterical. For a few minutes, you wandered around saying, “eww!” with the same little shudder. Sometimes, you will launch into a long, fast, garbly-gook sentence, and Mamma has to stop and say, “Gregory, I don’t understand!” You pause, puzzled, and then try again. You’re really quite forgiving when it comes to miscommunication.

The face you make when you say, “hmm?”

You can name all sorts of letters and numbers, even sounding most of them out. Sometimes, you even walk up to license plates and point them out!

You love being Mamma’s helper during the day. If she asks you to put away some clothes in the hamper, for instance, you not only follow directions quite well, but you LOVE doing it! Whenever you’re done doing something that Mamma or Dadda requested, you are beaming. We try to find lots of little “chores” for you to accomplish during the day, even if it’s something as small as putting away a dish into the sink.


Also during the day, you love to play Imagination Games. If Mamma plays with you, you love to flap your wings like a birdie saying, “tweet tweet!” or barking like a dog. Sometimes, she uses one of your plastic animals to pretend to talk to you, and you grab another animal and “talk” right back. You use tealight candles as your “makeup” jars and pretend to put stuff on your face.  We see you imitating the things we do, all the time! You even pretend to squat and pee on your little potty (speaking of which, we’re not sure when the potty training will seriously commence, hopefully by your 2nd birthday!).

pretending on the potty

Other things you like doing during the day: you love to color with chalk on our outside patio. It looks like a masterpiece, I tell you 🙂 You LOVE your tee-ball set in the backyard. You are still constantly throwing balls everywhere. You do not like TV, however, except for the occasional National Geographic movie Dad puts on for you guys (as long as it has lots of animals!). You love to color on a piece of paper. Mamma is hoping to make you fingerpaints and play-doh this week, so hopefully those will be fun! You still love reading close to a bajillion books a day, and your attention span allows us to read you the longer ones now.

Since you are definitely a toddler, we have had to punish you more lately. Usually, you don’t get your way, and you have a complete meltdown, complete with foot stamping and high pitched wailing. What we have noticed, however, is that as long as Dadda can get you to look him in the eye and he can talk to you about it (usually after a spanking or two for REFUSING to look at him, unfortunately!), your heart becomes soft and you walk over and say, “Sry, Mamma?” in the sweetest little voice. Unless you are absolutely exhausted for one reason or another, you are very easy to instruct. It seems as though you know that Dadda (usually the one to do the punishing lately) means what he says and that the quickest way to get back to all the fun and games is to apologize.

seconds later, you chucked that truck at Mommy’s head

You still have only been sick 3 short times in your life– at 2 months with a chest cold, 16 months with a runny nose and cough, and at 19 months with a high fever for 3 days. That’s it! You still sleep 12-14 hours at night, and almost always get a 3+ hour nap every day. You nearly have all your teeth (as far as Mommy can tell!) and will go to your first dentist visit next month!

Overall, sweet boy, you are just a joy to have around. You are curious, entertaining, loving (you almost always give kisses if Mamma says “please”!) and so smart. There are days when Mommy wants to find a way to bottle the very “essence” of Gregory right now. She always wants to always remember your baby-growing-into-boy smell, your chubby rosy cheeks, your blonde curls that are way too long because Mommy thinks your hair is too pretty to cut, your adorable Farmer Boy tan from wearing your “rash guard out in the summer sun, your stubbed toe nails from all your adventures….sometimes Mommy want to freeze you in motion and never let you grow up.

Playing with chalk in the back yard

Then again, you become more fun and engaging every day, so I guess we can allow it 😉

Love, Mommy

Being Gregory’s Mother– 20 Months

Being Gregory’s mother means knowing that when he HEARS that garbage truck behind the backyard fence, he will strain every muscle in his body to try and see it from his high chair. Best save the chiropractor for a later date and lift him up high to see it.

Being Gregory’s mother means knowing that if you put on some music, preferably the Downton Abbey soundtrack, he will start dancing. She doesn’t know where he got most of his “moves”, like the one where he’s “sprinkling seeds”, and especially the river dancing, but Gregory’s mother doesn’t ask rude questions like that. She does suspect that Gregory’s father has something to do with it all…

So suave!

Being Gregory’s mother means knowing that although he seems to like torturing “Ra-relle”, that dog is still his best friend. Gregory’s mother can rest assured, knowing that they have an odd symbiotic relationship wherein he occasionally acts as the benevolent dropper of snacks, and she occasionally acts as a punching bag for all manner of shovels, brooms and toy cars.

Gregory never met a dog he didn’t like

Being Gregory’s mother means knowing that he WILL remember whatever word you say and repeat it. Watch out, world. He points to his Mamma’s cup and says, “Beer!”. He yells “WHY!!!”, not because he’s asking, but because it’s what Mamma uses instead of a 4 letter word. When he says he wants “vaggies” for dinner, Gregory’s mother doesn’t get embarrassed– she knows he meant those little carrots and corn kernels, not….anything else.

Being Gregory’s mother means finally getting kisses “with lips” instead of with a head butt. A definite improvement, except for when he gets too enthusiastic…

Being Gregory’s mother means knowing that he has some anatomical trouble when it comes time to find his “bel-bow”, but he is a pro at naming his hair, ears, eyes, pointer finger, chin, tongue, teeth, you name it!

Being Gregory’s mother means being continually surprised by just how smart he is. Gregory’s mother used to have to prompt him with letters, asking, “What’s this one? What does it say?”, but she was shocked to find that he now loves to run up to license plates and read off the letters and numbers. Gregory’s mother knows that Gregory especially likes having a “B” on his shirt, especially when it’s accompanied by a matching “baseball”. One can never get bored when they have easy entertainment sitting right there for the saying.

All ready for first trip to the zoo!

Being Gregory’s mother means getting to take advantage of his new-found attention to detail. Gregory’s mother gets spit up on quite often by Gregory’s little brother, but the icky stuff doesn’t phase Gregory– he follows directions and goes to get Mommy a washcloth.

Being Gregory’s mother means getting to watch him sit for nearly ten minutes while concentrating and trying to figure something out.

Being Gregory’s mother means knowing that one SURE way to make him giggle is to say, “MAH-rrrrio!”. Gregory’s mother also knows that the best silly things don’t make sense.

Being Gregory’s mother means knowing that his favorite book is “Jamberry“, and that it can be read a variety of ways to his liking. Sometimes, an English accent is okay with him– it does rhyme, after all. And sometimes, it should be half-way sung. And sometimes, it should be done with tickles, all at the right spots. Gregory’s mother also knows that Gregory likes games, especially when they involve food, and that the only REAL way to read Jamberry is with a plate full of fresh berries, ready to snack on during each page.

Smiling with Nana on Mother’s Day

Being Gregory’s mother means knowing that, when pointing out objects, he doesn’t like to just stop with one “tree!”, but wants to find, “anUH tree!” or “two tree!”. This also applies to “lams” (lamps), “doe-s” (doors), and “haws” (hats, of which there are a LOT in Jamberry).

Pointing out things at the park

Being Gregory’s mother means getting to wake up to the most sweet and cheerful voice saying, “Hi! Mamma, Dadda, maw-ning! Hi!” Gregory’s mother also gets to cuddle with him every morning as he drinks his milk, knowing that he will stop in between gulps to say, ever so tenderly, “mmm, Mama…mmmm, Dadda….mmm, Wee….”

So cute when waking up from a nap!

Being Gregory’s mother means getting to hear his sweet, “Nigh-nigh, lub-loo” (“love you”) every night as he’s on his way to bed with Dadda.

Asleep on the floor while playing

Being Gregory’s mother means getting to stand peacefully in church with the most well-behaved child she’s ever seen. Gregory’s mother also gets to respond to at least 2 people, every week, who say, “Wow! How did you train him to be so GOOD during church?” And the only answer Gregory’s mother can ever give is, “We didn’t do anything! He just loves church!” Because, how else do you explain how a toddler is able to quietly sit for 2+ hours???

Gregory standing at attention all of Anthony’s baptism next to Mamma and Dadda

Being Gregory’s mother means knowing that the only way he comes back inside from playing is by kicking and screaming. Gregory’s mother knows that he loves the outdoors so much, and this is just the price one has to make in order to be a civilized human being.

Being Gregory’s mother means knowing that he loves sports of all kinds. She knows that all it takes is someone to demonstrate, whether it be an NBA player on TV or Dadda. Gregory’s mother doesn’t have to be afraid when he’s in the backyard all by himself for nearly an hour– he’s just hitting the ball off the tee, over and over again.

Being Gregory’s mother means relinquishing a certain amount of control when it comes to her plants. Gregory frequently “waters” these plants by stabbing the dirt around them with the watering can’s spout.

Being Gregory’s mother, ultimately, means getting to feel ever so blessed, every single day, for such a sweet, loving, smart and hilarious kid.  It means getting the joy of hearing him say things, like, “Dadda HOME!” It means getting to spend every day with someone who she not only loves, but someone she loves being around, “tinky” diapers and all 🙂

G’s 18 Month Letter

Dear Little Man,

Meeting Anthony for the first time!

You are now a big brother! Just a week before your 1.5 year birthday, your little brother, Anthony was born to us. We’ve been preparing you for months, but we had no idea how you’d actually take things. So far, the adjustment has been a bit rough on you, but we can tell you’re trying. You never take out your frustration over Mama and Dada’s distracted behavior on Anthony– instead, you are only gentle and sweet towards him, jumping at every opportunity to hug him. You love pointing out all his different body parts, and you’re always trying to rock him in his bassinet.

Stroking Anthony

You’ve grown in leaps and bounds these past two months, especially in language. You now say several parts of the body (“mow”/mouth, “eee”/ears, “no”/nose and “hah”/hair) and point to them on various people. You’ve developed funny names for everyone in our family, including “Bama” for Grandma Honeycutt, “Ja” for Aunt Janelle, “Weee” for Anthony, and “Rah-el” for Aunt Rachel. More surprising, at least for Mommy, you can identify several letters of the alphabet and sound them out! Your favorites are, “T”, “F”, “S”, “E”, and “O”. You’ve started identifying one shape– a circle– only, you call it a “ball”. Everywhere we go– “ball? ball? ball?”. You can differentiate between all other kinds of balls and your favorite, the “bebe-ball” (basketball). When you wake up the morning, you often babble away for about half an hour before you will “allow” yourself to be picked up. Sometimes, we like to listen on the monitor as you talk– you often cycle through all of your favorite things, one right after another: “Momma? Dadda? Boo? (book). Doddy! (doggy). Ball. BALL. Ball.”

Shooting hoops with Aunt Janelle

You love to pray, which makes Mommy and Daddy so so happy. Whenever we leave the door to our room open, we find you in there in the icon corner, babbling away while staring at the icons. You can reach a few of them, so sometimes we find you sitting next to them on the floor, talking to or kissing them. At night, when we get you ready for bed, we say, “Let’s go pray!” and you repeat excitedly, “Pay?? Pay??” and run into the room. You’ve started “censing” things around the house, usually using Claire’s chew rope or our stuffed Aflac duck on a string.

Chillin with Aunt Rachel's sunglasses

One of your cutest words/saying right now is “thank you” (which has morphed from, “Da-doo!” to “Cock-a!”….not sure why!), mostly because you say it in such a high sweet voice. You say it when you receive anything, which makes everyone and anyone’s heart melt. Your other super cute one is whenever someone is leaving. After saying, “Dye-dye” (bye bye), you follow it up with, “Duh- d00!” (love you). This one is Mommy’s favorite by a long shot, although it makes saying goodbye pretty hard! You make Mommy’s day when you pick a Dandelion on the front lawn and run up with it, saying, “Momma! Flaw!” You are so pleased with yourself afterwards!

Your first Easter Egg Hunt

Your favorite things to do: go outside to pet Grandma’s kitties, go down slides at the park (just yesterday, you let another little girl push you!), watch the ducks at the park, tear apart all of Grandma’s cupboards, toss a basketball around the court with Daddy (we say, “outside?” and you always respond with, “Yeah!” or “Shoes!”), and, most of all, read books over and over and over, especially when you climb up to your favorite green chair in the living room. Your basketball hoop in the living room gets a TON of use (it’s already tilted). We’ve moved it up two notches since we bought it, and you are pretty darn accurate! You love it when others participate– sometimes, you hand someone a ball and say, “Hoo! Hoo! (hoop) over and over again, excitedly, and won’t stop until they take a shot.

Such a handsome boy! We love your big blue eyes!

Mommy really MUST get a video of you reading “Goodnight Gorilla”, your absolute favorite book. You get so excited when you get to the part where the woman realizes there are a bunch of animals in her room. There’s one page with just surprised eyes, and you make your eyes really big and gasp, “OH!!” There’s another page where there are 8 or so “goodnight” speech bubbles printed out, and you point to each one and say, “Night! Night! Night!”

Your "lala" (gorilla) that you hold while reading Goodnight Gorilla

You had your 18 month checkup today, and did a great job. You are now in the 40th percentile for your weight, which makes sense because, well, have you seen your belly in some of these pictures? You have at least 4 molars (it’s hard for Mommy to tell, since you like to bite down on your toothbrush) and at least 5 front teeth. They are coming in faster now, but we still have yet to notice that you’re “teething”.

Playing hide and seek with Daddy

You still love to cuddle with Mommy and Daddy every morning when you have your morning milk. It’s especially fun when Daddy has a vacation from school, since you guys love to play hide and go seek under the covers (while Mommy tries to sneak in some extra snooze time!). Your other favorite foods are “bababa” (banana), steel cut oats with raspberries, and “chee!” (cheese). If Mommy doesn’t watch you carefully enough in the mornings, you will sometimes make your way to the bread cupboard and steal a slice or two 🙂

At the beach with Dadda during Spring Break

Mommy can see that you have such a sweet and sensitive heart. This is made evident with all of the hugs you lavish on others. We can also see it when you get chastised for something you didn’t really “mean” to do, and you either hide your face in something from embarrassment or cry, soft and sad. You care so much about your “doddy”– one of your favorite things to do is give her “tees!” (treats) from the bag in the cupboard. It makes you so happy to make the dog happy, which shows Momma what a generous and caring heart you have!

Calling to Claire

This side of you is what we hope the Holy Spirt continues to cultivate as you grow to care more and more for your little brother. You will be such a great example for him, leading the way in so many things, both intellectually and athletically.  We cannot wait to see the kind of big brother you will become!

You couldn't wait to have Mommy come home with you!

Love, Mommy



16 Month Letter

Little Boy,

Every day, you remind Momma again and again that you are turning into a little boy and are no longer a baby. It makes her a little sad (okay, a LOT sad), but it’s also so exciting!

The biggest way you are growing, in leaps and bounds, is in your language development. We never taught you any “baby signs”, and yet you are so good at communicating what it is you want from us. You say things like, “joos” for juice and “crack-uh” for cracker. You string together words, saying things like, “Mama, boo?” if you want to read a book, or “Dadda, ball?”. Just yesterday you walked up to a stack of bananas on the counter and said, “Bellah-buh-buh?” over and over again, interjecting, “Plee? Plee?” in your oh-so-polite-and-desperate way. You are so good about saying “please” before everything, and you are even better about saying, “Dak-doo!” (thank you) when you get it. Sometimes, when Mommy or Daddy is eating, you come up and lick your lips incessantly, saying, “more? more? plee?”.

Even though you are getting so many words under your belt (Mommy can’t even keep track of how many words you know now! Dozens!), there are still times when we don’t know what you want. You jabber away, using hand motions and your cute little voice intonations, and we run through the list of usual suspects. “You want num-nums? Ball? Book? Outside?” You grunt angrily for each. When we get to the “right” one, however, you shout, “YEAH!”

Your Grandma was sitting at the computer the other day when you came up, jabbering. She ran through the “list”, but none of them fit the bill. She tried again, but you were just so frustrated that she didn’t understand what you were “saying”. Finally, you grabbed her hand and led her to the doggie’s crate, where she was napping. Grandma let Claire out, and you two frolicked and played for the longest time. It was obviously what you’d been trying to say!

Your joyful “HI!” and soft, “bye-bye!” are two of my favorite words, especially when you wave or give “cuddles” to go with it. We have so many pictures of you hugging (ie. squashing) the doggie…

Physically, you were 23 pounds at your appointment last week. That’s definitely in the 25th percentile! Way to go, Little Man!

You are so very athletic. We raised your little basketball hoop up another notch, and you can still make baskets. You’ve even established some pretty good shooting form– often, you only use one hand to guide the ball, and you are getting some pretty awesome back-rotation, just like all those NBA games you stare at on TV. You’ve started bending your knees and getting into it. Mommy and Daddy can’t wait until you jump! You also catch bounce and chest passes with ease. The day after the Superbowl, Mommy could toss the little football at you and you’d catch it while running!

One of your favorite things to do is to read books. You know so many animal sounds now, including “ROAR!” for the lion and “Hoo-Hoo!” for the owl. Sometimes, Mommy can entertain you in the car by practicing different kinds of doggie barks back and forth! Your favorite book is “Goodnight Gorilla”– your eyes get SUPER wide when we get to the part where the zookeeper realizes all the animals came home with him, and sometimes you shout, “Woah! Woah!” in anticipation of that particular page. When we get to a page with trains, you say, “Choo-choo!” and pump your fist downward. You also know how to put shaped pieces into puzzles!

Everyone, and I mean everyone, has noticed how socially comfortable and well adjusted you are. Unless it is late at night, you are just happy to be hanging out with people. You smile and expect people to smile back. You have no problem running away from Mommy and jabbering with strangers. You are especially fascinated by other kids, especially girls who are older than you (hmmm…). When we take you to Daddy’s high school basketball games, you have a special “fan club” of about 15 different 7th and 8th grade girls who fawn all over you and play “ball” with you at the end.

Since you are obsessed with body parts right now (especially with your belly!), we go through the list a few times each day. You can point to your ears, eyes, hair, nose, tongue, belly and especially your “pee-ee-ees!” (piggy toes). That one is definitely your favorite 🙂

Your naps are a bit of a mystery to Mommy right now– you still take one, 99.9% of the time, and it’s usually exactly 3 hours after you wake up in the morning. The length is what’s perplexing– sometimes it’s a 2-3 hour power nap, sometimes it’s only 1.5 hrs. Occasionally we can sneak in another 45 minute nap at around 3pm to help you make it to your bed time at 6:30pm in one piece. When we do put you to sleep at night, however, you STAY asleep until 8am the next morning. It’s wonderful and keeps you healthy and happy, but it’s also sad, because Mommy and Daddy miss you terribly by the time you wake up, 13 hours later!

You have still not been “sick” since you were 2 months old. You have a tiny cough right now that’s been fading away since you woke up. A few days ago, you had a slightly runny nose. But that’s it– one super healthy kid! Also, we detected another tooth– your fifth!– that’s grown in on top. The only way we know you’re teething is by alllll the excess drool…

In just 8 more weeks, you will be our “only baby” no longer. While that makes Mommy sad, she knows that you will have so much fun playing with your little brother someday. You are such a sweet and loving kid, and I hope you’ll rub off on him 🙂

Love you tons,


My Valentine, 2 Years Ago!

Two years ago (actually, technically it was late late on the 13th), I found out that I was going to be having our first baby! After months and months and months of trying, despairing that I would never get pregnant, I took a test after a nice dinner at Chili’s with Jesse. When it was positive, I couldn’t believe it. I really couldn’t. I felt like doubting Thomas, needing some more substantial proof before I would let myself believe that what I had hoped for so desperately was actually true.

And then, it hit me like a load of bricks. I was so overwhelmed, scared and excited, that I immediately curled up in a ball on my bed and started shaking and sobbing uncontrollably for hours. Jesse tried to speak reassuring words, saying he was excited too, there was NOTHING to be scared about, we were totally ready to be parents.

It took me a minute to set the record straight. I was NOT scared about becoming a parent. In my heart, I’d been a parent for a long time.

Instead, I was scared of God. I was scared that He would take away this thing I had always wanted. I was scared that it was all some sort of cruel joke to make me “grow” as a person. I didn’t want to go through the pain of losing a baby. That sort of growth seemed too great for me to handle.

I called my Dad while I was in this state. I said some things about God that bothered both Jesse and my Dad for weeks.  Eventually, I had to repent of the way I felt at that moment, because it showed some deep-seated fear and anger towards God. Somehow, I assumed that God didn’t want me to be happy and would take away this blessing just to hurt me.

I still struggle with wondering if/when God will take Gregory away from me. It’s not something I’ve totally overcome. Perhaps it’s because I know that there’s a part of me that idolizes getting to have Gregory as a part of my life. I know how God feels about idols, and it’s not pretty.

Then again, I need to force myself to remember that I’m NOT the center of the universe (haha!). God loves Gregory just as much, if not (hopefully!) more than He loves me. Gregory is God’s child. He is not an extension of me, he is made in the image of God. God will take care of him.

Here’s a few of my favorite pictures of my little Valentine, Mr. Gregory. After 16 months, he is still the brightest part about my morning. I still miss him like crazy every night after he goes to bed. Sometimes, I find myself just staring at him in awe, because I can’t believe that he’s actually here and that God chose to bless us with him.

We love you sooo stinkin much, Mr. Gregory 🙂

At home together, the day you were born

Newborn Photo Shoot at 2 weeks

your little "salsa" naps, 2 months old

Our little family, when you were 3 months!

5 months old, almost crawling!

6 Months old, at the park!

our favorite gangster

Chillin' with Daddy

8 months old, still pretty bald!

taking some first steps at 9 months!

Helping Momma with the dishes

Beach Trip, 10 months old!

The reason I get up in the morning 🙂

Monkey pjs

1 year old!

such a cutie patootie

always hungry...

My favorite toothy grin!

this morning, barely stopping long enough for a picture as he tears up the house 🙂

our lil Valentine 🙂

14 Month Letter to Gregory

Dear Lil’ Man,

Mommy’s been putting off writing this letter to you, even though your 14 month mark was nearly a week ago. There’s just sooo much to say, so much to write. How can there be a way to show you all the joy you bring us on a day to day, hour to hour basis? How can we let you know just what an incredibly sweet and extraordinary boy you are?

Mommy can only proceed whilst knowing that it will never be enough, but also knowing that you will be grateful for the memories, just as we will be.Someday, you might turn into a surly teenager who sleeps until 12pm and never says, “I love you” because it isn’t cool.

On those days, Mommy will surely want to remember your sweet mornings together. She comes in around 8:30am to find you in your crib, cooing and talking away. She says, “Hi!”, because she’s sooo glad to see you and missed you so much. Your “HA! HA!” (hi!) is just as loud and excited, and you don’t stop saying it for a few minutes. Your diaper gets changed immediately (sometimes, your sleeper, too, if your diaper couldn’t withstand 13 straight hours of pee!), you are handed a bottle full of yummy milk, and you cuddle with Mommy while she dozes a bit longer. When you are done with your bottle, you politely chuck it across the room and begin your usual morning onslaught of kisses and hugs to Mommy’s face. It’s Mommy’s favorite time of day. You are so cheerful and well rested, and you have no qualms about showing off your abundant affection.

That’s something we’ve noticed, over and over again, about you– you are so cuddly and so affectionate. You wear that sweet little heart right on your sleeve.

Eventually, you start to whine because you are hungry for more breakfast. Mommy says, “Are you hungry?” and you respond with, “NUM-NUMS!!!!” You then eat a banana and some wheat cereal while Mommy drinks her coffee and checks her email beside you at the table. After your food is gone, you “ask” to get down by trying to climb out of your high chair (and, since you’re frighteningly coordinated, you almost always succeed!).

Once Mommy gets you down, you begin your morning workout/play-time. Basically, this consists of you squealing, “Ball! Ball!”, finding your basketballs and throwing them around the house, over and over. You pretend to dribble, just like you’ve seen the big highschoolers do, and it’s the cutest thing ever. You barely even realize Mommy is there, throughout all of this, you are so intent on your sports skills, but occasionally you flash a big grin her direction with a little giggle, just so she knows you’re having fun.

You love to rip apart grandma’s cabinets, but lately you’ve taken to putting it all away when you’re done! Lately, you’ve also started playing “house”, using a scrub brush you found to scrub the tiles, rubbing a washcloth against the sofa chairs for “stains”, using your Dodger bat as a vacuum.

Sometimes, though, you “ask” for Mommy to play with you by bringing her books. You LOVE to read books, flipping pages, babbling away the whole time. The touch and feel books are your favorite– you are so very tactile. You also love anything with peekaboo flaps on it. You are almost always very gentle with books. Chapter books without pictures are often your choice, simply because there are so many pages to individually turn!

Sometimes, our “playing” consists of throwing a ball back and forth. You are obsessed.

You love to sing. Mommy often hears you as you play, humming away. You have the same dozen words you’ve been saying for a few months now, but they’ve become clearer and more distinct. You even make some of the animal noises when Mommy reads you a Farm Book! So far, you know: “Mama”, “Dadda”, “Dod-gy” (doggy), “Baww” (ball), “Tee” (tree), “Boo” (book), “NUM-NUM” (food of any kind), “Dis” (this), “Dat” (that), “HAWW!!” (hi), “Buh-buh” (bye-bye), “aw” (all done, while holding your hands out to the side) and “Yay!”. Sometimes, you string “sentences” together” (usually, though, we can only understand a word here or there).

But what Mommy and Daddy love most– more than how smart or how athletic you are (and we can already see a LOT of both!)– is how sweet and loving your personality is. We know that this is not all of our doing as parents. It’s something God created in you. You are so easy-going, so willing to love. Anyone who’s ever received a “Gregory-hug” knows just what a sweet thing it is to experience. Our dog, Claire, is the only one who would disagree with this. You are constantly trying to smother her with hugs, and all she wants to do is get away! But that never stops you from trying.

We are not the only ones who’ve noticed how sweet and special your personality is. Just a few days ago, we were down visiting our church family in Southern California. They could not believe what a good baby you were! Despite the fact that you had two late nights in a row (one, you were up until 11pm! The other, until 9:30pm!), you didn’t have a single breakdown. No tantrums, no crying. You just walked around throwing toys (your usual source of entertainment!) or sat on the floor and read books! Even Mommy and Daddy were astounded at how well you behaved– we’d never kept you up that late, so we had no idea you could be so good! As long as you have your blankie, white noise and pack n play, you can fall asleep anywhere. You even fell asleep in Mommy’s Mei Tai wrap as we were walking around Uptown Whittier!

Because of how sweet you are, it’s getting hard to punish you. When we take something dangerous away, we always ask for it, then say “thank-you” afterwards, but 75% of the time, it doesn’t matter– your little heart breaks. You just stand there, lower lip quivering, and burst into tears. It’s so sad. The same thing happens when you’re exploring in something forbidden (usually the trashcan). You react to having it taken away as though someone just made fun of your shoes. Luckily, you’re easily distract-able with something else exciting. And you always want to be comforted. We’ve joked that your “Terrible Twos” aren’t going to be as hard on us as they are on you. It’s just that we know you’re going to get your “feelings hurt” quite often…

Mommy knows that there are many mommies out there who make a choice to work outside the home. There are others who choose to stay home, either because they think it’s the right thing for their kids or the right thing for their calling. Mommy often feels that the choice was pre-determined for her– it isn’t that you need her home, it’s that SHE needs to be home with you. Just an hour or two away, and she feels achy and sick inside, missing you.

Your little brother is only 4 months away (possibly sooner!). Sometimes, Mommy feels guilty, wondering if you’ll think that we wanted another baby because we didn’t feel complete with just you.

That isn’t even CLOSE to being true. We started wanting more kids right away because you are sooo wonderful! If all of our kids are as sweet and fun as you are, we’ll probably never stop having them. You make us want to have more kids, just because raising you has been such a blast. We joke that your little brother is probably going to get sick of us saying, “Why can’t you be more like Gregory?”

Thanks for making us such happy parents, Lil’ Man.

Love, Mommy

A Few of My Favorites

I finished G’s Memory Book on Sunday night, right after I wrote his 12 month letter. It’s still missing a few letters from all of his grandparents, but it’s getting there! I thought I’d share a few of my favorite pages, even though the resolution is terrible (where oh where is my real camera, packing gods?).

The Cover

The Intro page

People were supposed to sign this at the party...and I sorta forgot to announce it. Luckily, we see most of the people who came on a regular basis, so I'm gonna have them all sign it, eventually!

Letters from Aunt Brooke and Cousin Rachel

A Letter from his godparents in Texas 🙂