Happy Holidays from the H's

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It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year

November has been a month of a lot of events and travels. At the beginning of the month I ventured to Indianapolis to have our traditional "girls weekend" with my Mom and sister, Lisa, with the intention of seeing Celine Dion in concert. Sure enough once we arrived on Saturday for the concert on Sunday we found out that Celine had cancelled her show due to illness. Yes, we were bummed but true to our style we turned lemons into lemonade and went to see a local dinner theater production of the "The Sound of Music". It was a fun show and we had a blast together that weekend which is what those weekends are all about. Kyle and Grey had a wonderful boys weekend while I was away, and I handled my first weekend away from the little man relatively well.

Then a few weeks later Kyle, Grey, and I headed back to our old stomping grounds at Purdue University to meet up with my Dad and step mom, Robyne, and Lisa to see Purdue play Indiana University in the old oaken bucket rival football game. Grey stayed back and had play time with his Nonny (Robyne) while the rest of us enjoyed a chilly football game were the Boilermakers had quite a game and came out mighty victorious! Always fun to go back to college and visit some of our favorite spots - Purdue holds a special place in our hearts. Kyle and I both talk about becoming professors down the road and would LOVE to be back at Purdue eventually.....we'll see.

Then we hosted Thanksgiving at our home a few days ago. We were joined for the occasion by Kyle's parents (Daryl and Joyce), my Mom and stepdad (Joanne and Mike), and my sister, Lisa. Kyle cooked an outstanding bird and all the fixings and we enjoyed a delicious feast. Greyson loved having all the family around to play with him and give him the constant attention that he enjoys. He was a wonderful part of our Thanksgiving table and only ate part of a roll and baby food this year, but by next year we're guessing he'll be shoveling in all the food.

Greyson is growing and changing every day. His 9 month appointment is coming up later this week so we'll have updated "official" statistics then, but from using our home scale we're guessing he's between 20-22 lbs. He is a skilled army crawler - you can check out his new found ability in the video below. He does a combo of pulling forward with his right hand, then uses his left elbow while moving his right knee up. He hasn't done an up on the knees crawl yet, but he can get just about anywhere with what he's doing now so we'll see what he does in the future. He's also working at holding himself up in a standing a position - he loves reaching for his mobile while holding on to the edge of his crib. Also, his other rather amusing new habit is his favorite sleeping position. He lays his face down on the mattress in the corner of his crib and then tucks his knees and puts his tush right up in the air. Kyle and I get a kick out of it every night when we go to kiss him goodnight. What a goofball. You'll see him in all his glory in his November pictures that are linked for your viewing pleasure.

Kyle continues to keep busy finishing up his second to last semester for his masters degree in Military History. He's looking foward to only having one semester left to go with only a few more credit hours until he is done! While he is finishing up his masters, I just found out that I was accepted into Penn State's M.Ed. in Curriculum and Instruction with a focus on children's literature program. It's an online program that will allow me to work on it while being home with Grey and while we move around for Kyle's training. I'm very excited about this program and look forward to starting my courses in May.

Hope you all had a great Thanksgiving and enjoy the upcoming holiday season!

Happy Holidays,
The 3 H's

Our Little Man

October has kept us quite busy. We started off the month with a trip to Florida to visit with Kyle's parents. This was Greyson's 3rd airplane trip, and he's quite an excellent flyer - he gets that from his Aunt Lisa. We had a wonderful long weekend enjoying the Florida sunshine, taking some time to relax, and Greyson got lots of love and attention from his Pop Pop and Jo Jo. Check out the pictures and you'll see what a little swimmer we have. We're looking forward to our next trip down to Florida over New Year's for some more Florida fun. Other than that trip we have enjoyed some downtime at home this month. We took Greyson to the pumpkin patch, I hosted a Halloween party for our playgroup, and of course, he experienced his first Halloween. Lots of fun and lots of great photo opportunities - so check them out.

Greyson is growing like a weed and based on us putting him on our home scale he's about 20-22 lbs now and quite the arm workout to carry around all the time. He's an excellent sitter and lately he's developed a passion for rolling. He can roll from one side of the room to the other in a matter of seconds. Then when he gets stuck somewhere he pivots on his belly and rolls another way. He hasn't quite figured out the crawling thing, but we figure he's learned to get most places rolling so why crawl? I'm sure he'll figure it out soon enough, but check out the video down below to see his rolling in action. His skills are quite impressive. He's also getting more and more verbal. He says "ma ma", "da da", "na na", "ba ba" and a variety of one syllable sounds. He'll have these talking moods where he just talks and talks and sure does seem to love it. We're guessing that when he does start using his words more, he's never going to be quite. Afterall, he's got us for parents and both of us always seem to have something to say.

Kyle and I are keeping busy with work and school. Kyle did find out recently that he will be comissioning as a field artillery officer in May. He's happy with that branch and glad he'll be going back to the branch of the Army he was in before so he can apply all that he already knows. Now that we know what branch he is going to comission we also know that we will be heading to Ft. Sill in Lawton, Oklahoma for about 6 months sometime next summer for Kyle's field artillery officer training. Not particularly thrilled about living in the great plains, but it's better than many other places we could have been sent and we're only there for a short while. We will know where we are getting stationed for after his training sometime next spring and we're quite anxious to know where the next place is that we will call "home". The relatively exciting news for me is that I just recently applied to get my M. Ed. in Curriculum and Instruction with a focus on children's literature through Penn State. I'm anxious to find out that I officially got in and plan on starting classes either in January or next summer. It's an online program that will allow me to still be a stay at home mom after completing teaching this year, and plus with it being online it gives me the flexibility to work on my masters while we're moving all over for Kyle's career during the next year or so.

Well, that's all for now. Enjoy the two videos - we couldn't pick just one this month. One showcases Greyson's rolling abilities, and one is a rather amusing Halloween video of Greyson as the cutest and silliest penguin....enjoy! Don't forget to check out the October pictures link.

With Love,
K, L, and G

Busy Busy Busy

September has been a CRAZY busy month for our family. Almost every weekend we have had something going on or been out of town. Two weeks ago we went up to Chicago for the weekend for my Grandpa Bell's memorial service. It was a beautiful service and I really felt it honored him in a very sincere way. Despite it being a sad occasion it was wonderful to see family that we haven't seen in awhile, and for Greyson to meet some second cousins that he hadn't met yet. Then this past weekend we road tripped up to St. Louis for a friend/teaching colleague's wedding. Nonny and Poppy (my Dad and Robyne) were kind enough to meet us there and be wonderful babysitters to Greyson so we could attend the wedding and reception. We had a blast at the wedding seeing some friends we unfortunately we don't get to see very often, and Greyson had a great time checking out St. Louis and playing with his grandparents. Great times were had by all. Now we're preparing to head to Florida in a few weeks to visit with Kyle's parents and to show Greyson the excitement of the Villages, the retirement community where they live. We're looking forward to having another fun trip.

Other than that not too much is new with us. Kyle is keeping busy with his graduate classes, and I'm enjoying my part-time teaching job - especially being able to go in, teach, and leave by 3:15 everyday. What a nice change! Greyson continues to be such a joy. He's chewing on everything and drooling so we think those teeth are on their way, but no sign of them just yet. Also he's working on figuring out crawling - he hasn't quite discovered how to tuck his knees under his tush, but I'm sure he will with time. He is doing quite a bit of "talking" - he says ma ma, da da, ba, ga, and few other one syllable sounds. He hasn't quite connected those names with Kyle and I and says ma ma and da da to just about anything, but I'm sure he'll figure out those names go with us soon enough. Our biggest accomplishment is doing some successful "sleep training" according to Dr. Weissbluth (thanks Aunt Susie and Jenni for the recommendation!). Greyson was suddenly back to waking up a few times a night for no reason other than wanting our attention and we weren't to thrilled with this since we had been blessed with a sleeping through the night baby since he was about 8 weeks old. So, we followed the book "Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child" recommendations and now he's back to being a super sleeper! He's sleeping about 12 hours at night and taking 2 naps that range from 1-3 hours daily....yeah! We're so happy he's back on track and we're a much happier family with a well rested Mom, Dad, and baby. Hope you all are doing well!

With Love,
K, L, and G

P.S. Check out Greyson's September photos - some really cute ones!

P.S. Check out this rather amusing video of Greyson - already trying to get behind the wheel at 7 months old

Happy Grandparents Day!

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Back to School for Mom and Dad

Well, hard to believe Greyson is 6 months old and we're half way through his first year of life. He's got such a defined personality now - always making faces, loves to giggle, and talk in his own unique baby language. Developmentally he's really progressed and is quite skilled at sitting up on his own - occasionally he topples over to one side or the other, but he's learning what he needs to do to avoid that. Lately his other favorite hobby is shaking his head from side to side - looks like he's saying "no", but we think he just likes how it makes things look funny when you shake your head. He's a goofy boy who is still super easy going and just as happy as can be. We still constantly hear from people who are around him how laid back he is - he honestly only fusses if he's tired or hungry, and we're thankful for his chill personality. Speaking of hungry, we have quite the little eater on our hands now. He's had all stage 1 foods and he loves ALL of them - not a picky eater at all. He chows down 3 things of baby food a day, plus he gets 3 bottles of formula, and still nurses in the morning and night. I think his Dad, a proud eagle scout, would say Greyson has earned a merit badge in eating. We have his 6 month check up at the end of next week and then we'll fill you in on his updated stats, but from our estimations he's about 20 lbs. and close to 27 inches long - what a big boy!

Kyle and I have been busy this month with the adjustment of us both going back to school. I've now been back teaching part-time for about 3 weeks. The afternoon hours as the technology teacher is working out really well. I simply go in at 11:15, teach 3 or 4 classes (of 3rd, 4th, and 5th graders) and then I'm done at 3pm and typically home by 4pm. So glad this job opportunity arose because not only does it still allow me to fulfill my passion for teaching, but I get special mommy and Greyson time in the morning, and then Grey gets to bond with Dad in the afternoon, which is a unique situation that we both value. Kyle started back at Austin Peay for grad school this week and so far, so good. He only has a couple classes on campus, and 2 online so that allows him to be home more often which is appreciate by both Greyson and I.

This month has also had some highs and lows - we started off the month meeting up with Kyle's parents in Gatlinburg, TN (kind of like the Wisconsin Dells of the south) for a weekend getaway. We had a great time shopping, visiting the aquarium and Greyson got lots of hugs and kisses from his Pop Pop and Jo Jo. Then on more of a somber note, my Grandpa Bell (my mom's father) passed away a few days ago. He had been struggling the last year and half in a nursing home, so we're happy he's in a much better place now, but it's hard to imagine not having him here with us any longer. We will be heading up to Chicago in a few weeks for a memorial service and look forward to being with family and sharing stories and memories of the many great times we had with him throughout his life. I'm so thankful that he was able to meet Greyson in June, and that I see so much of my grandfather in my son's eyes when he smiles and he will carry on his legacy through his middle name of Robert. I know he will always be with me and watching over me - love you so much Grandpa Bell.

Enjoy the video down below of our big boy sitting up and talking away - such a funny little monkey! Also check out the weeks 24-28 (August) pictures from our trip and from around the house.

Love to you all,
Kyle, Lindsey, and Baby G

Whirlwind July

Hello All~

Well, July has been another busy month and it really seems like it flew by as I find myself preparing to head back to work (part time - thank God!) for the new school year. Here's what we have been up to. In early July Greyson and I returned from our fabulous trip to Chicago and spent a little over a week relaxing at home waiting for Kyle to finish training. Kyle then returned from Ft. Lewis, Washington, and we were all very happy to be back to a family of 3! Then the craziness began....literally 24 hours after Kyle returned we took a flight to Chicago and then drove up to Door County for a wonderful 5 day vacation. Door County is considered the "Cape Cod of the Midwest" and it holds a special place in our hearts. Kyle grew up visiting there and this was our 4th visit there together. Always a pleasure to visit a beautiful area where the pace of life is a bit slower. We enjoyed visiting with family friends - The Schultz's, attending a delicious fish boil, climbing the tower at Penninsula State Park, playing mini-golf at the Red Putter, and visiting Al Johnson's Swedish Restaurant for breakfast. It was a fantastic first vacation with Greyson, and a wonderful way for us to bond back together as a family after Kyle had been gone for a little over a month. Since returning from our trip we've enjoyed some downtime together at home with Kyle on leave and my summer break. Soon enough we'll be starting our shared parenting schedule with Kyle back in grad school and me doing my afternoon technology teaching. We're both THRILLED to have Greyson with one of us all day and hopefully once we all adjust to the new schedule it will move along smoothly.

A couple updates about the G man - he's now a little over 5 months and entering some new stages in his life. The biggest change is Greyson is now a "big boy" and starting to eat food. He's having rice cereal twice a day - granted most of it goes into his mouth and comes directly back out, but it's so darn cute and he's learning more and more about how to eat each day. In the next couple of weeks we'll be introducing some basic baby foods so it should be fun to see his facial reactions with these new tastes. Greyson is become much more verbal also, always babbling away and screaming with glee is one of his favorite hobbies. Another little trick he's learned recently is he realized he has a tongue and likes to stick it out and then blow so he pretty much just gets spit everywhere, but soon enough he'll realize he can close his lips on his tongue and then blow to make his tongue vibrate which Mommy and Daddy do at him quite often.

A side note - Kyle and I both started Weight Watchers online and so far so good. We're a little over a week into it and I've lost 3.5 lbs and Kyle has lost 5 lbs. We're really happy with the plan and both are looking forward to getting ourselves back into the "best" shape we can be in. It's not like Kyle and I were obese, but we both recognized that we needed to make a concious effort to eat healthier and could use to drop a few pounds. Plus, we realized that we had to work toward this goal together or it just wouldn't work out - so far we've been a great team and I can't wait to continue to see us be successful in reaching our goals. Hopefully you'll notice a difference in us in the pictures I put up next month.

With Love,
Kyle, Lindsey, and Greyson

P.S. Check out the updated July pictures and enjoy the video of Mr. Messy Man enjoying a delicious meal of rice cereal - too cute!

Busy Month of June

Well, I do apologize that it's been quite awhile since the last website update, but the month of June was a busy one. Kyle left for his ROTC training in early June and then shortly after he left Greyson and I spent about 2 and half weeks in Chicago seeing family and friends. We had a GREAT time! Greyson got lots of love from his many grandparents and it was wonderful to introduce him to family members he hadn't gotten to meet yet. We also attended a few great events: Kyle's cousin Nick's wedding, my stepmom Robyne's doctorate graduation party, visiting my Grandpa Bell at the VA home, and spending a weekend at my Dad's lake house. We ended our visit in Chicago by celebrating my 26th birthday with my family (including a homemade cake by my lovely sister - thanks Lisa!) and then we arrived back in Clarksville a few days ago. Grey was an excellent traveler during both legs of the road trip and it was a WONDERFUL trip for both of us!

Kyle is doing well with his training. He's currently out on a 10 day field problem (playing war is what I call it) and he should be finished with that tomorrow and I'm looking forward to his next phone call. I think this might be the longest we've gone without talking including the year he spent in Iraq. Really miss getting a chance to chat with him, especially now with a baby - I always want to fill him on Grey's updates and accomplishments. I'll catch him up when we talk sometime this weekend. He then has a few last training events next week and he'll arrive home next weekend - Grey and I can't wait to have him back! I've gained a large appreciation for my friend's who are playing the role of single mom while their husbands are deployed. Taking care of Grey on my own is a pleasure, but it's a time consuming tough job for one and I've come to appreciate all the help Kyle offers. He's an amazing husband and dad and life just isn't the same without him. Plus, I came home to a house with Jack's beanstalk weeds growing in the front yard and ants in my kitchen - oh the joy of dealing with fixing problems with the house....again gave me more appreciation for all the odd jobs and work he does around the house that I typically don't do.

Greyson is now 4 and half months old and changing and growing everyday. Had his 4 month doctor appointment yesterday (a little bit late due to us being in Chicago) and here's his update. He now weighs 15 pounds 4 ounces (60%), he is 25.5 inches (75%) long, and his head measures 42 centimeters (50%) around. He handled his next round of shots quite well, and once I picked him up when they were done he quit crying and was even smiling at the nurse who gave him the shots. He's such a little flirt. Another proud moment occurred in early June when Greyson rolled over from his tummy to his back for the first time. Check out the video below to see him in action. Currently he's very into arching his back and pushing on his feet, so I'm guessing that rolling from back to front isn't far in his future. He's also a drooling machine as his teeth are starting to come in. It's looking like he'll be getting his canines first - so we'll have a little vampire baby :) When he hits the 5 month mark we'll be starting him on beginning solids so look for some messy pictures in the future. Overall, Greyson is continuing to be an AMAZING little boy, and everyone who I visited with at home just couldn't get over how good he is. My mother tells me I'm spoiled rotten with what a good baby he is, and I was nothing like him when I was a little one (thanks Mom!) He truly is such a joy to be with everyday and every time he gives me that gorgeous smile I know I've accomplished something amazing by bringing our little guy into the world. I'm such a proud momma!

Well, I better hit the hay. Happy 4th of July to all of you. Look for the next update toward the end of July. I'm going to start doing monthly updates instead of weekly - especially with heading back to work part-time in about a month. Hope you're all doing well.

Lots of Love,
Ky, Linds, and Grey

P.S. Don't forget to check out the updated pictures from weeks 16-19.

P.P.S. Check out our little man rolling over from front to back....so proud of him, but sad his daddy missed this moment. At least he can see it on video :)

Family Time

Not too much new going on here with our little family. We actually enjoyed a laid back weekend of not doing much which was much appreciated after a very busy month of May. One exciting note is that we've found a great local babysitter and used her for the first time on Saturday and we went on a "date night" to our favorite restaurant in Nashville. We did very well leaving Greyson, and he was great for her, and Kyle and I definitely appreciated a little time to ourselves - especially with him leaving later this week. Definitely a little blue about Kyle's departure to Ft. Lewis (near Seattle) for a month, but I know Grey and I will keep each other busy. I'm looking forward to my sister, Lisa, coming to visit this weekend, and then next week Greyson and I will be heading up to Chicago for about 2 weeks. He'll get some quality grandparent time with both sides (Kyle's parents will be in Chicago for a wedding, so that worked out nicely) and get to meet many new family members on my side during our trip. Plus, I'll get to enjoy celebrating my birthday at the end of this month with my family - it's somehow become Army tradition that Kyle always misses my birthday :) Hope you all are doing well and looking forward to seeing many of you soon!!!

With Love,
Kyle, Lindsey, and Greyson

P.S. Enjoy his week 15 pictures and the video below - I think an appropriate title for it would be "Giggles and Drool".

Visit with Old Friends

This past Memorial Day weekend was a busy one, but a GREAT one! We were thrilled to have good friends of ours John, Diana, and their soon to be one year old son, Patrick, in town to visit. Diana and I taught together at Minglewood for 2 years and they now live in the Washington, D.C. area. It was a 4th grade teacher reunion weekend also having Nicole in town who is now in St. Louis. We had such a great time enjoying another fine time at Jazz on the Lawn (a picnic at our local winery with live music), a birthday celebration dinner in honor of Shannon, hanging out and playing games, and a nice Memorial Day brunch. Overall, we had a blast and it was so much fun to have Greyson and Patrick in the house - we definitely realized we have a lot of baby proofing in our future thanks to Patrick's walking around and being our little tester. So wonderful to have the "original teaching crew" back together - makes me realize how much I miss those girls and all the antics we would get into in and out of school.

Greyson is doing really well - getting pretty regular on his schedule and even shifted his bedtime up a bit to more like 8pm and it's nice to have some "Mom and Dad time" every evening. Kyle is preparing to head off to Ft. Lewis, Washington in early June for a month of ROTC camp training (I call it "playing war"), and I'm getting rather sad he'll be leaving us. I know Grey and I will be fine, and we're looking forward to a long visit at home in Chicago to visit with family, but it just won't be the same without Daddy. Granted I really shouldn't complain because so many people I know have their husbands deployed again and mine is only going to another state for a month - in perspective I think we can handle that. Hope you all had a wonderful holiday weekend and as usual, enjoy the video clips and week 14 pictures!

With Love,
K, L, and G

A Week of Firsts

It's been a busy week of "firsts" in Greyson's life. We took him on his first trip to Purdue - our Alma Mater and the site where Kyle and I met and fell in love (ahhh!). We hold Purdue fondly in our hearts and thoroughly enjoyed the chance to head back, visit campus, and relive some wonderful memories. We headed up to Purdue to take Greyson to his first wedding - Kyle's college roommate Jeremy. He did great during the whole ceremony and was a hit with his cuteness and flirting ways at the reception. He even enjoyed his first dances - did a little slow dancing with Mom and Dad, participated in YMCA (check out the video below, sorry it's dark! - that one was for you Aunt Sue), and of course happily sang the Purdue fight song. Greyson also enjoyed his first hotel stay. We brought the Pack n' Play and he slept well and handled being away from home fabulously! The real exciting part of his first hotel stay was that he got to go swimming for the first time. Greyson is a BIG fan of bath time so we were excited to see how he would handle pool time. He got to wear his cool swim diaper and adorable Hawaiian print board shorts and off we went. He got a chance to hang out in the pool with both Mom and Dad and had a great time. Being a Pisces he truly is a water lover - just like his Daddy, and I think the pool will be one of his favorite places. Luckily I already got him a blow up baby pool for the backyard, so I think we'll get a lot of use out of that this summer. Overall, we had a great weekend and enjoyed Greyson's many "firsts". Hope you all are well and hope you have a great Memorial Day weekend - we're looking forward to a fun weekend with my teaching friends who moved away in town....can't wait! As usual, enjoy the video clip (again sorry it's dark) and don't forget to check out his week 13 pics.

Love,
Kyle, Lindsey, and Greyson

No Longer a Newborn

Today it's official, Greyson is 3 months old and therefore no longer in the "newborn" category. It's bittersweet....I'm thrilled to see him growing and learning so many new things all the time, but a little sad my baby boy is one day not going to be a baby anymore. He has to grow up sometime, and the truth is I'm just truly loving watching this amazing little person grow right before my eyes each day.

Some other exciting news is that I have taken a different teaching position for next school year. I was originally planning on going back next August and teaching 4th grade as I have for the past 3 years at my school, but a twist of fate stepped in. I found out there was an opening for a part-time technology teacher in my school. I interviewed for the position and got the call stating I was offered the job later that day. Therefore I will be going back to work in August as planned, but will be teaching technology (basically I'm the computer lab teacher) to all the 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade classes once a week in the afternoon and I'll be working from 11:30-3:30. The REALLY great part of me working part-time is that I will be able to be with Greyson in the morning and Kyle is able to be with him in the afternoon with his grad school schedule, so Greyson will not need to be in daycare (something I wasn't too keen on to begin with). We're both thrilled and it just seemed like fate that this great job opportunity that will still allow me to use my teaching skills and feel the satisfaction in working (not to mention having adult interaction), but also allow me to feel I'm getting to be the kind of Mom I want to be all at the same time. What a blessing!

Speaking of blessings, both Greyson and I had our baptism this past Sunday. Everything went wonderfully and we had a great celebration at our home with many great friends and loving family there to celebrate. Thanks to all who were able to make it, and especially to our great families who came in town for the weekend. We had a GREAT time having you here and look forward to seeing you all again soon!!!

Enjoy the video down below - it's of a little goofy game called "Tank Commander" that Greyson and Kyle like to play together. Leave it to an Army man to take his child on an imaginary tank ride, but boy does Greyson seem to love it....I better watch out or he just might follow in his Daddy's solider footsteps.

Love,
K, L, and G

P.S. Check out his week 12 pics as well as 2 other links from other photos taken by family from this past weekend festivities.

Moving On Up

Well, it's official Greyson is sleeping in his crib in his nursery. Kyle and I decided now that he's consistently sleeping through the night that Greyson was ready to move into his crib, or as we call it his "big boy bed". He's done very well with the change and is sleeping wonderfully. Granted the bassinet is still setup and ready for it if he needs it in our room. We're enjoying having our bedroom back to ourselves, but miss seeing his sweet face right there - thankful he's just a click away on our video monitor, and trust me, we use it to check on him quite often.

This weekend is going to be a busy and exciting one. My mom (Joanne), step dad (Mike), sister (Lisa), Grandma Bell, and Kyle's parents will all be coming in town in honor of Mother's Day and the baptism of both Greyson and myself on Sunday. As many of you know, I was raised with a mixture of Christianity and Judiasm, and therefore wasn't baptized as a child. I'm excited to share in this experience and moment with my son, and know we'll look back on it as a special moment in both of our lives. Don't you fret my Jewish relatives - Greyson will be still be learning about his Jewish roots and I'm sure he'll enjoy the excellent matzah ball soup his Dad makes for me quite often. Should be a great time to spend time with the family and celebrate faith.

Hope you enjoy the video below - Greyson is really getting the hang of actually using his hands for things and shows that off with his trick in the video....check it out. Also posted his week 11 pictures were he is as cute as ever!

Love to you all,
Kyle, Lindsey, and Grey

Smiles and Giggles

Well, we haven't been up to too much new this week, so I figured I would focus on sharing some great video clips as the blog for this week. The first one is a great one of Greyson giggling and smiling and the second is one Kyle took of how funny he is first thing in the morning. Sorry they are sideways, but that happens when we take vertical video on our digital camera - we'll try to remember not to do that in the future. Hope you enjoy the videos and there are week 10 pictures posted - so enjoy the many faces and great personality of our darling little boy.

With Love,
K, L, and G

A Day in the Life

Well, I thought for this week I would share a little glimpse into the day in the life of Greyson. Before I do so, I wanted to let you all know he did very well during his 8 week appointment and braved getting his vaccines better than Mom and Dad handled it. Also it was an eventful weekend for us because we attended Kyle's Austin Peay ROTC Ball and had a lovely night out (meaning Greyson had his first night in with our wonderful friends, Shannon and Paul, babysitting him). Back to Greyson's day in the life - if you know me, you know I'm a huge fan of organization, structure and schedule. It's a great trait in helping me be a successful teacher, but something I've learned to be a little bit more relaxed with now having a newborn baby. Now that Greyson has grown some I'm proud to share we actually do have somewhat of a schedule - so here is life in the land of a 9 week old:

5 - 6am: Wake up
6-7am: Morning Feeding
7-9am: Back to sleep (Mommy tries to go back to sleep also)
9-10am: Mid-morning Feeding aka Brunch
10-12pm: Hang out, playtime, errands, morning short nap
12-1pm: Lunch Feeding
1-3pm: Hang out, playtime, errands, afternoon short nap
3-4pm: Mid-afternoon Feeding
4-6pm: Hang out, playtime, evening walk
6-7pm: Dinner Feeding
7-9pm: Bathtime, Rocking/Story/Singing, Bedtime
9pm-5am: Sleeping through the night :)

Happy to say we pretty much have this schedule down to science - granted I'm sure it will change as he continues to change, but I'm just so proud of how well he is doing and what an amazing baby he is! We continue to look at him constantly and marvel over how we created such an amazing little person and he's a little part of each of us. Posted some new pictures of our 9 week old boy and even some pictures of us all dressed up for the ball....enjoy!

With Love,
Kyle, Lindsey, and Greyson

Here are a few random videos of Greyson we've taken that we wanted to share.

8 Week Update

Well, today marks Greyson hitting his 8 week milestone. Tomorrow morning we will be visiting our pediatrician for his 8 week check up and we're both anxious to learn about how Greyson is progressing. We, of course, think he's perfect but it's wonderful to hear that he's doing well from an actual medical professional. One major milestone Greyson has hit is he is now sleeping through the night on a regular basis. We've established a bedtime routine were we give him his last feeding and then hang out with him a bit, rock him in his glider and sing or read to him (mommy is the singer, but I've caught Kyle on multiple occasions creating his own little songs for baby G), and then we lay him down around 9pm and he fall asleep on his own by 9:30 and sleeps through until about 5am. Then we change him and I give him his morning feeding and he goes back down for another 2 hours. Plus, he takes 2 one hour naps and the occasional short cat naps throughout the day. We're THRILLED with this and Mom and Dad are much happier as well rested individuals.

With his 8 week check up tomorrow we're predicting Greyson to weigh in around 12-13 lbs (he's our BIG boy) and to be about 24 inches long (2 feet tall at 2 months old - I think he's going to tower over me one day). As first time parents, we're going with a giant list of questions that I'm sure our fabulous pediatrician will be able to answer. As soon as we get back from his appointment I'll post his official new statistics on this blog to share with you how much he's progressed. Wish me luck in dealing with him getting his first round of shots - I think he'll handle it better than I will. Look for the chart below to be updated sometime tomorrow.

Greyson's 8 Week Statistics

Weight: 12 pounds 4 ounces (75th percentile)

Height: 23 1/2 inches (75th percentile)

Head Circumference: 41 cm

Till Next Time,
K, L, and G

P.S. As usual, go check out his week 8 photos - he's so stinking cute!

The Many Names of Greyson

Well, since Greyson was born (hard to believe that was 7 weeks ago?) we've gotten some interesting comments about the many names we gave him. As you all know we named him Greyson Joseph Robert - the double middle names are to honor the Hackbarth tradition of Joseph for the middle name of the first born son, and Robert is in honor of both of my grandfathers. Yes, it's a rather long name, but we like it and it will sound very official when he goes to job interview down the road. Even though Greyson was born with 3 names Kyle and I have come up with many other nicknames since he arrived. So, I felt it appropriate to focus this weeks blog on the many names of Greyson...here goes:
1. Grey
2. Grey J
3. Greyson Joe
4. Baby G
5. Fussy Gussy
6. Gus Gus
7. Gus
8. Buttons
9. Pooh Bear
10. Pooh
11. Cutie Patootie

I'm sure we will continue to come up with even more names as he grows and continues to show us his little personality more and more each day. Be sure to check out the week 7 pics to see how much this little guy has grown - I cannot believe he'll be 2 months old in a week. I miss my little newborn boy, but the fact that he's sleeping 7-8 hours a night most nights is a pretty nice trade off. Also, thanks to Nonny and Poppy (my dad and Robyne) for a wonderful visit last weekend.

Love to you all,
K, L, and G

Our Busy Social Calendar

Greetings All! Things are going well here in baby land. A recent thing we've been keeping busy with is I've gotten involved with a great stay at home moms playgroup. It's through a really cool website called meetup.com (they have groups for every interest under the sun all across the nation - so check it out). I've attended about 4 meetings so far and I've met some great people. I have wonderful friendships with the girls that I teach with, but obviously they are busy still teaching and I have a little more free time on my hands right now. Today we went bowling with the playgroup and had a lot of fun. No, Greyson didn't bowl (though now he weighs about 11 pounds which is comparable to a bowling ball), but I held him with my right arm and bowled with my left and actually managed to get a strike once - not too shabby. This group has been a wonderful outlet for Greyson and I to get up and out the house (at times it felt like the walls were closing in on me) and a great opportunity for me to socialize with other moms who have been fabulous. Overall, I'm glad I found this resource and it's just one more way for Greyson to have some local buddies in the future.
We're also looking forward to this weekend because my Dad and Robyne will be visiting and haven't seen Greyson since the day of his birth. I'm sure they'll be excited to see he actually can stay awake for periods of time and has quite a little personality developing. Should be a lot of fun to visit with them and let them indulge in all the grandparent time that they need. Plus, they will be my entertainment source also as Kyle will be at an ROTC field problem for the whole weekend. Therefore I'm single mom for the weekend - little intimidated, but ready for the challenge. Wishing you all the best!

Love,
Kyle, Lindsey, and Greyson

P.S. I forgot to mention I'm already pregnant again.......Ha ha!!! APRIL FOOLS!!!

Road Trip

Well, we did it. We actually left our house for a whole weekend with a 4 week old and survived! Not only did we survive, but Greyson did so well during our wonderful weekend visit to see my sister, Lisa, at her new place in Atlanta. He did excellent during both 4 hour car trips there and back and was a pleasant house guest during our stay. Thanks to Lisa for having us. We had a great weekend with a fun visit to the World of Coke Museum where we all (minus Greyson) thoroughly enjoyed sampling over 30 different Coca Cola beverages from around the world. Check out the Week 5 pictures link and enjoy the quite amusing photos of Kyle and I drinking the Beverly soda from Italy and then the picture of our reactions after tasting it....quite funny. We also had a very nice Easter dinner which was very tasty with some of Lisa's friends. Overall, we had a great time and actually gained some confidence that we can leave our house for days at a time and survive........granted you have to be well planned and thoroughly packed, but it can be done.

Onto a totally different topic.....my new soapbox issue is the lack of changing stations in men's public bathrooms. I understand I'm his mother and he grew inside my womb, but that doesn't mean I should always have to be the one to change Greyson's dirty diaper when we are out in public. I'm now having Kyle look for and note what public places have and do not have them. It drives me crazy when they don't. To all my fellow mothers out there I'm sure you have run into this predicament as well. Therefore, to all public places that do offer fathers the wonderful opportunity to change their child's diaper in public I salute you......and to those that don't you better get hip with the times, it is 2008 not 1950, and start helping us moms out.

Thanks for listening to my ranting, but after all isn't that what a blog is all about? Enjoy the week 5 pics and happy spring!

Until next week,
K, L, and G

Time Flies!

Wow, I cannot believe Greyson is 4 weeks old today. I know so many of you told me, time flies by when you have a baby, but you really don't believe it until it happens to you. He has grown and changed so much already in the first 4 weeks of his life. He has these amazing super alert periods of the day where he just stares at us and checks out all the things around him that he's never seen before. He's starting to have more and more facial reactions, and now we're just waiting for an official smile and not one due to him passing gas (one of his favorite hobbies). He's even starting to squirm around so much we're thinking rolling over isn't far in his future. Many of you know during my pregnancy I used a prenatal education system called "Baby Plus" that played a series of different rhythmic heartbeat like sounds twice a day for an hour that Greyson in the womb had to differentiate from my regular heart beat. I know many of you teased me for using my "tick tock", as many liked to call it, but I'm now a pretty firm believer in that using that device played some part in him being ahead of the curve developmentally for his age. He now sleeps for 3-4 hours between feedings during the night, can hold his head up for a good 30 seconds, lifts his head from side to side during tummy time, and makes all sorts of funny noises other than crying (grunting is my favorite).
We're set to head off on our first trip away from home with baby G this weekend when we will be driving down to Atlanta to visit Lisa at her new apartment. We're already overwhelmed thinking about how much baby stuff we'll have to bring - we're going to be like gypsies moving into Lisa's apartment. It should be a great time visiting Lisa, seeing some sites, and celebrating the Easter holiday while we're in town with her. We'll definitely take a lot of pics during our journey and show those off when we return.
Last, I added his week 4 pictures down on the bottom left - enjoy! Also, Greyson wants to wish 2 of his grandparents a happy birthday.......Nonny (Robyne - Lindsey's stepmom) has a birthday this week and Pop Pop (Daryl - Kyle's dad) will celebrate his birthday next week. Greyson sends a big hug and birthday kiss to both of you!

With Love,
Kyle, Lindsey and Grey J

Week 3 in the Life of Greyson

Well, hard to believe our little guy is 3 weeks old today. I know everyone told me time really does fly by when they're born, but I didn't truly believe it until now. Kyle and I can proudly say we actually somewhat feel like we know what we're doing at this point, but then Greyson always likes to throw us a curve ball. His current favorite game is called "Gotcha"....it involves him wetting his diaper and fussing and Mom and Dad changing it and him being a happy camper, but that's when the "gotcha" part comes in. Moments after we've changed his diaper he likes to let loose a rather loud #2 and it's back to the changing table we go....oh what fun for Greyson and not so much fun for Mom and Dad. I keep trying to get him to combine the pee and poop in the same diaper change for economical purposes, but he's clearly not getting the message. He keeps it up we'll have to dock these extra diaper costs from his allowance.....just kidding. Well, I'll sign off for now because it's almost feeding time here at the zoo, as I like to call it. I feel pretty much like a 24 hour Dairy Queen for the little guy, but seeing him so content after a feeding makes it all worthwhile. Wishing you all the best!

Kyle, Lindsey and Baby G

P.S. Don't forget to check out the new pics I posted - Greyson Week 3 linked down below on the left...enjoy!

What I've Learned

Well, Greyson is now 11 days old and I can honestly say that I've never learned more in such a short period in my life....the parenting learning curve is steep! Kyle and I were discussing this and I figured it was a good idea to post a few new things we've learned since becoming parents. Enjoy!

What We've Learned Since Becoming Parents
1. I can manage to do most things around the house one handed - hold him, nurse him, rock him with one hand and get things done with the other.
2. I have learned to change a diaper in under 1 minute to avoid the risky spraying pee caused from the cold air being on him too long.
3. I never knew showering and getting ready would become such a feat each day and that actually blow drying my hair is now an accomplishment.
4. That my language would suddenly turn into baby lingo instantly - now when we went over a bump with the shopping cart at Walmart it turned into, "Greyson - we just went over a bump bump."
5. That getting 3 consecutive hours of sleep is amazing and so appreciated.
6. I'll never look at yellow mustard the same way again - think diaper change :)

Well, those are just a few of the many things we've gained in our new knowledge bank of parenting. Until next time - enjoy the pics linked on the left side of Greyson's first week home.

Take care,
Kyle and Lindsey

Greyson has arrived!

Well, he's finally here. On February 19, 2008 at 9:19am Greyson Joseph Robert made his way into the world. The labor and delivery process really wasn't all that bad, minus the 2 hours or so of some seriously painful contractions that were eased by my best friend - epidural. After that had taken it's affect and I rested for a few hours I was fully dilated and ready to start pushing. About an hour of pushing later Greyson had crowned and the nurse said, "Let's do one more good push, and then I'll go get the midwife and we'll deliver this baby." Well, with that one good push (must have been a really good push) Greyson popped right on out and the nurse had to sprint over just to catch him in time. He was absolutely beautiful and the sound of his crying was the greatest thing I had ever heard. They took him over, cleaned him up, and were proud to tell us that he scored a 9/10 on the Apgar - as I like to say, he was making A's from the start which makes his teacher mommy proud. Then they weighed and measured him and we were rather shocked to find out that he weighed in at 9 lbs. and 6 ounces and was 21 inches long. He is our big boy!

We then spent the next 24 hours in the hospital recovering and rooming in with baby Grey and as we called it getting "thrown into the deep end of parenting" right from the start. I think he learned a lot about life in the world and we definitely learned a lot about taking care of him and learning to read his signs. We then happily came home and have been enjoying adjusting to the comforts of home and we're never ceasing to be amazed at how absolutely adorable he is and are in awe of the miracle of how we created this life.

Thanks to all for the well wishes and congratulations about our new arrival. We feel so loved and know that Greyson is a very lucky little man to have so many friends and family that are already crazy about him. Well, I'm off for our next feeding, followed by hang out time, and then back to napping.....we're getting that routine down to a science.

With Love,
Kyle and Lindsey and baby Greyson