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!!

Spring...Spring... It's a Beautiful Thing!!

I had a dream last night about this blog... which to me is a true sign that I needed to log on and do an update. It's been over a month since our last post and I promised myself I would create this blog and keep it up to date. So here I am....
Spring is HERE!! It has been three back to back days of high 70's tempatures and we love it!! Our afternoons are spent outside... and Gray just loves it!! She's just like her mommy - she loves the warm sun, and being barefoot in the grass. Our new evening tradition is walking hand-in-hand through the neighborhood and saying all the things we see "Mommy, there's a mailbox.. and another one...and another one." or "Shhhhh.... I hear birds". It's the highlight of my day!! I can't begin to list all the new developments that Gray has had in the last month - but I can tell you that she's growing up. Oh how I wish I could stop the clock... I feel like it was just yesterday that we were bringing her home from the hospital and now Im planning a 2 year old birthday bash. She is talking... and talking...and talking. Full sentences... full conversations - and nothing gets by her. She's wild and always being silly - but there are still those quiet tender moments that make us melt. She is finallyshowing interest in sitting down to watch a movie and she actually wants us to "snuggle" on the couch with her. She begs for quiet time with her daddy in between books and bed... they rock in the chair and every night Paul comes downstairs and says the same thing... "Im so in love with that little girl." She started a new thing called "huggies" where she bear hugs us around the neck and presses her cheeks to ours. She is simply amazing - no better word to describe it. The terrible two's monster has reared its ugly head a few times in the last couple of weeks. Paul and I are really working hard to develop our own discipline plan and so far so good.... challenging and rewarding at the same time.
The attached picture is from last month. We need to purchase a new usb cord connecting the camera to the computer - it's on my long list of to-do items this week.

Happy Easter to everyone -we are beach bound for a weekend of fun in the sun and easter egg hunts in the sand!!

Weekend Retreat

We just returned from a wonderful weekend retreat to the mountains of NC. We spent the weekend with the Bazley family in Asheville and had such a great time. Amy was my roommate in college and our girls are only 3 months apart....little Ella is just precious and Gray had the time of her life!! We were a little worried about the weather due to the snow the NC mountains have been getting all winter - but we got so lucky and couldn't have asked for better weather. Temps were in the mid 60's and our entire weekend was spent outdoors!! We can't wait for spring!!! Gray just loves being outside and we are already working on our list, planning for a summer full of fun activities!!

Saturday was perfect!! We packed a cooler and packed both families up in the car for a day of hiking! We visited Dupont State Forest and hiked to Triple Falls. The waterfalls were beautiful and overflowing with water due to all the melting snow and recent rain. The hike was an easy one, thank goodess!! Parts of the trail were still covered with snow and ice. Ella and Gray loved every minute of it. We even met a group of horseback riders and we got to pet the horses. Gray just loves animals and still has not stopped talking about the horse licking her hand. We had a picnic lunch that was picture perfect.... Saturday night was "make your own pizza night" and we got to catch up The Peckham Family and The Parris Family. It was great seeing both families and the kids played all night long!! Sunday we got up and went to the park - another beautiful day where we went on a trail hike and let the kids play. Swings, slides, monkey bars, basketball, sandbox... whew!! Thanks to the Bazley family for a wonderful weekend!! We look forward to another trip this summer!

On a side note.... these waterfalls were just amazing. It only takes a moment to realize that the simple things in life can make us the happiest. Gray is at such a fun age and it's things like a hike, a waterfall, a horse or a little bit of fresh snow can make her giggle all day long! Our goal: To be appreciative for the beautiful and SIMPLE things in life every single day!

Happy Valentines Day

Happy Valentines Day!! This is my favorite holiday.... lots of pink, lots of candy and lots of LOVE!! We had a great weekend - Grandma came to visit!! Gray just loves her MiMi and I think she had a sugar rush for the entire weekend due to the amount of candy she was given!! Having MiMi here gave Paul and I a chance to get a few things done. We made our first trip to IKEA and FINALLY purchased a wall unit for Gray's playroom. The toys were beginning to get out of control - and now we have the most perfect, organized space to keep everything. It was a fun project, pictures to come soon! We also got to enjoy a wonderful dinner out Saturday night. We had some great company too - Laura and Andrew, our neighbors, were able to join us. Thier daughter Caroline is just a few weeks older than Gray. We think they are just great and we're looking forward to a lot more time together as the weather gets warmer!

Happy Valentines Day from the Zytnik Family - we hope it's filled with lots of sugar & LOVE!!!

Friends....

Nothing makes me happier than to see how much our little girl loves her friends! Friends are so important and I can only hope that as she continues to grow into a little girl that we will be able to teach her more and more about the value and importance of friendships! Gray has grown to absolutley love her friends at school... she loves all of her "weekend" friends (the kids of our great college friends)...she loves her neighborhood friends.... and just a few weekends ago she was just so excited about spending the weekend with Tatum & Keegan Sipe in Hickory. We talk about her friends every night. We say all of thier names while we brush teeth and talking about her friends at school is really the only way to get her up and moving and motivated to get dressed Monday through Friday. Her little heart is so tender and she just lights up when we talk about her friends!!
Now I know this might be silly - she's not even 2 yet. I have a feeling that most of Gray's friends now will be her friends for life. It just makes us smile to see her love other kids - and I hope she is blessed with as many, if not more, wonderful friends that we have!! Enjoy the pictures from Hickory - we got close to 12 inches of snow!! We had such a great weekend and celebrated Tatum's 2nd birthday party at Chuck E. Cheese!! Stay tuned for pictures in a few weeks- we're going to visit another friend, sweet Ella Bazley in Asheville.
Celebrate your friendships - the help make us all better people!!

A Phone Call To Paw Paw

I just had to share this video of a phone call Gray had with her Paw Paw lastnight. The quality is not that great and Im sorry for the horrific hair on my child's head. I think it's time for a haircut!!!

You will hear her saying "bah-dher".. that's her version of "right there."

Enjoy!