Circles

Circles... Circles.. Circles. Gray loves circles. She was drawing perfect circles at 20 months old and she loves them now more than ever!! Everywhere we go she finds circles... if you are wearing glasses she sees the circle lenses. If you are driving a car, she notices the circle wheels. If you turn on a celing fan, she sees that it's going in circles. I had to share this picture, as it captures her daily drawing on her magna-doodle board.

The Birthday Girl Gives Back

We all live together in this not-so-perfect world. We hear of those that are homeless and hungry and yet, we manage to give back so little! I was raised by a wonderful man that taught me the importance of giving back. I watched him donate his time, him money and his encouragement to families and less fortunate children my entire life!! As I have gotten older I now appreciate these values so much more. I am lucky to be married to a man who too loves helping others. We try our hardest to help those in needs and we make it a priority to dedicate ourselves to several projects each year!! When it came time to talk about Gray's birthday party we decided that she didn't need the toys...and what a great opportunity this was to start teaching her the lesson of giving to others. We found a local organization called Smart Start and found they were in need of childrens books. In lieu of gifts we asked each child bring a childrens book to Gray's Ice Cream party. All books were donated to Smart Start, an organization that is dedicated to helping less fortunate families and children in the Charlotte area. It feels so good to help others and as parents it feels so good to have your child be involved. Of course she's young - she really didn't understand but one day she will... and what a wonderful story to share. Marble Slab Ice Creamery did a great job with an ice cream and toppings bar!! The kids had five flavors and eight toppings to choose from.

Here is a shot of all the kids, each holding one of the books donated to Smart Start. Gray is a lucky girl with amazing friends!!

And here she is... the birthday girl and her basket of books ready to donate!!

Birthday Fun!!

Here are a few snapshots of Gray's bday activities! Thank you so much to everyone that was able to celebrate this big 2 year milestone with us!! Gray had a wonderful day and just loved having all her friends and family around to spoil her rotten. Gray anxiously awaiting the arrival of her friends at Pineville Park.

Daddy and Gray testing out her awesome new bubble machine!! This little girl loves bubbles and we really love this no-spill container!!

2 years old Paw Paw bought Gray her first bike!! Im hoping he's planning on purchasing her first car too!

The birthday girl - covered in streamers and bubbles!! Whew.... what a celebration it was!!

Pizza... Pizza

We love Friday nights!! A few Friday's ago the Sipe Family came into town and we managed to entertain all three girls with a pizza party! The girls just loved it... down to the last bite!!

Duke Blue Devils.....

Crazy title for a blog post huh? Well before I start writing I want it to be known that Im doing this post for Grandpa Mike. It will only happen once and after this is posted I would like the war between Duke and the UNC Tarheels to be put to rest :)

Let me explain... you see Paul's Dad (Grandpa Mike) is the BIGGEST Duke fan I have ever met. The man loves Duke Basketball. And those of you that know my husband, you know that he is the exact opposite. This house always does and always will pull for the tarheels. For those of you from NC - you understand this rival is a big one - so to have it between father and son is almost dangerous!!

When Gray was born Grandpa Mike did the unthinkable... he traveled to Franklin street (right in the heart of the UNC Tarheel campus) and actually went into a Tarheel Fan Store and purchased Gray and entire wardrobe of tarheels attire. She's got t-shirts, hats, shoes, socks, cheerleading outfits and the list goes on. She has size newborn to 5T - so she's set for most of her childhood on tarheel merchandise. So this was a big deal - what Duke fan would do this?? Grandpa Mike would. He's made friends with the folks who own the store due to his frequent visits. They know him as "the Duke fan who is here to buy clothes for his baby grandaughter tarheel fan". It's quite funny!!

Well this year at the start of the NCAA tournament Paul and his dad made a friendly agreement - If Duke won, Grandpa could buy Gray a shirt and we would let her wear it. Why... why would Paul make this bet when the Tarheels had thier worst season ever. Our hopes were high that another team would win and it came down to a final, nail-biting game where Duke was crowed the National Champions. Grandpa Mike then went out and bought Gray 2 Duke shirts.... they came wrapped in Duke shiny wrapping paper with a big Duke Blue Devils bow and on her 2nd birthday she wore her duke shirt all night long.

Here you go Granpda Mike... here's the pictures to show the world (well the very small portion of the world that follows my blog) that Gray for one day was a duke fan!! We love you!!

Birthday Girl

Look at this happy little 2 year old!! Gray has been highly anticipating her birthday for weeks now. She's been singing the birthday song to herself everyday for weeks - so needless to say she was very happy when the day actually arrived. This little girl is spoiled rotten. She had four - yes four birthday celebrations. She's been pumped full of junk food and sugar for almost an entire week. Birthdays are big around here so celebrating for a week is just our style!!
I must admit this birthday was a little tough for me - I couldn't get through the happy birthday song without tearing up. Each day with Gray is so special but there is just something monumental about 2. The baby days are over and I find that each day our little girl is becoming so much more independent. She's getting herself dressed, brushing her own teeth, she will not hold my hand going up or down the stairs and the list goes on and on. Paul and I fall more and more in love with each new day. She is the light of our life!! Here are a few "gray updates" and stay tuned for birthday pictures later this week.

• Loves to sing!! She sings Happy Birthday, Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, Jesus Loves Me, Open Shut Them. Her little singing voice is just precious!!
• Knows all of her shapes, numbers, and colors. Her favorite shape is the trapezoid (yes, I had to look this one up online because he asks me to draw it daily). Her favorite color is pink and her favorite number is 2.
• Sleeping great - but we have a rough time every morning getting her up and dressed. I swear the child would prefer to stay in her pj's with a soaking wet diaper all day.
• Says her prayers everynight and will not going to bed without saying the names of all of her friends and family members.
• Her favorite book is Goodnight Moon and she waves goodnight with each page we read
• When she has a poopy diaper she yells "MOMMY, I didn't poop... I didn't"
• She has full conversations with our dog Jake. And everytime she looks at me and says "Mommy, Jake's not listening to me."
• She loves to tell Paul he is cute and just started telling me that I am pretty.

One quick story for you. There is a little girl named Kallie in the neighborhood that goes to school with Gray 2 days a week. We have decided to start carpooling and last week Gray got into Kallies car and off to school they went. About half way to school this was the conversation.

Gray: Where's my mommy

Kristin (Kalli's Mom) You're mommy went to work.

Gray: Where's my daddy

Kristin: Your daddy is at work too

Gray: Why???

Kristin: Because they went to make money.

There was a long moment of silence...

Gray: Well I don't have to work because I have lots of money in my pocketbook.

She is our sweet and simple girl - and now I want to stop the clock. 2 is old enough :)

Love Thy Neighbor

I've written before about the special love Gray has for her friends - well our neighbor friends are right at the top of her "special friends" list. Laura, Andrew and Caroline live just down the street from us and little Caroline is just 2 weeks older than Gray. They are the sweetest of friends and they can't get enough "huggies" from each other. Caroline is the cute little one without clothes in the picture below!! Gray just adores her and honestly Paul and I love the wonderful new friends that we have made... and they live just a few houses down!

Friday night we went out to dinner with Laura, Andrew and Caroline. We enjoyed a little mexican and then a walk down to our favorite ice cream shop. The girls had a wonderful night and we realized how much easier it is to go out to dinner when there is another "little person." They kept each other entertained the entire time. Saturday night we had a last minute cookout with Laura, Andrew and Caroline... and other neighbors, Kristin, James and 3 year old Cali joined in on the fun. The girls had a blast playing in the pool and running in the yard. We enjoyed the adult time and we started a cornhole tournament that looks like it will last all summer long. Andrew and Paul got lucky with 2 wins in a row - but watch out boys, we are planning mid-afternoon practice sessions. Oh the joys of working from home!!

And yes, Gray did manage to jump in the pool AGAIN - but this was right after I changed her into dry clothes. This child loves the pool!!

This weekend was just perfect... lots of yard work, lots of flower planting, lots of time outside. We just love it when we have a weekend at home with no kind of agenda or set schedule- it's time that we all value so much!!