Few Pics

Nothing much to say, but here are some pictures I took today of Grady eating "big boy food" (mac and cheese)...






More pictures "on the move"... he LOVES to crawl to Ellie's bowls and also to climb on the furniture!





And this is what happens when you drop a bowl full of baby food... (it was also on the floor AND the ceiling)!

First Day of School... and some pictures!

The kiddos came back to school yesterday. It was a good first day, but I forgot how DETAILED I have to be during the first week of school... this is how you line up, this is how you ask for water, this is where you turn papers in, blah blah blah. It really is so exhausting! But I have some cute kids and I've already told Mikey which names he will be hearing everyday for the next 180 days (Anthony and Samantha). Stinkers. Here are some pictures of my new INSIDE THE BUILDING classroom!! It's still a work in progress, but getting there. And, just so you know, I used to be Hatcher's Hall of Fame (as in Rock and Roll)... but now I'm a White, but I was not about to come up with a new theme and redecorate. So we are sticking with White's Hall of Fame. Not so catchy, but it was better than White's Wackos or White's Weirdos. :)






Grady is doing well at Mrs. Kaye's, having fun with his friends, but yet SO happy when Mama gets there to pick him up. And by 3:30 or 4, I can't wait to see him either. He is VERY energetic. I mean VERY. But the good news is, he must wear himself out during the day because he is sleeping WONDERFULLY. I have earned the right to brag about this because I went through pure torture for 7 (almost 8) months! This past weekend, he slept almost 13 hours on Friday night and then again on Saturday night! Normally he sleeps about 11 1/2. And he barely puts up a fight anymore (at night time, anyway). Still working on nap time, but I'm just going to focus on the positives of sleeping well at night right now! Praise the Lord! I needed that so much since going back to work.

Here are a few (ok, maybe a tad more than a few) pics of "Gray Gray"...






He loved the strawberry I was feeding him, but when I put it in his little sucker type utensil, he decided it wasn't so good!

New School Year

I went back to work yesterday, and I must be honest... I could not WAIT to go back to work. As much as I'd like to say I am stay at home mom material, I really don't think I am. I love spending time with Grady, of course, but I was bored staying home all day. If I had a group of "stay at home mom" friends and we had play dates and things, I might be more inclined to do it, but singing nursery rhymes and playing on the floor all day gets old! And we all know how much Grady hates nap time, so that was a struggle many days as well! After coming home to a really grumpy wife a few times, Mikey told me, "YOU NEED TO GO BACK TO WORK!!!" (And I was also told I need medication... men don't have a clue what having a baby does to your hormones!) :)

So, although I really miss Grady throughout the day, and of course I feel guilty taking him to the sitter, I am very happy to be working outside the home again. But I'm sad he will probably start crawling at Kaye's house and not at home with me even though I worked with him ALL summer. (He's almost doing it!) It's so awesome to see his face when I pick him up! OH, and he waves bye-bye now!

Here are some pics of our energizer bunny...




Peek-a-boo!



Crawling to Mama...



Well if you won't get the toys down for me, I'll go up and get them!






Going, Going, Gone!





(And then Daddy let him tip the dog bowls over and he got soaking wet!)

Grady LOVES to watch his daddy mow the grass. I mean, LOVES it. If we are inside, he wants to watch out the door. If we are outside, he just stares at him the whole time and when he rounds the corner closest to us, he bounces and squeals and waves his hands like a crazy man. Mikey can hear him squealing over the sound of the lawn mower! Do you think he'll be a John Deere boy?





Don't worry, he wasn't going to fall off, but Daddy was standing right out of the camera lense just in case he got wobbly!

Sharks and Avocados

Turns out both were bummers. The shark tournament was HOT and boring. There were no sharks dangling from cranes like I had pictured in my mind. No one even came back in while we were there. We waited and waited, but the group that was "on their way" took too long! We did see them disecting a 400 pound hammerhead, which was kind of cool, but the stench was so disgusting I could smell it in the car all the way home. To be honest, the most interesting thing there was a huge dog (maybe a Saint Bernard or something? Mikey, help me out...) That even made the 10 o'clock news (hey, that's not saying much in Pensacola)!






And now for some more pleasurable viewing... (hopefully!)

I tried to be wholesome and healthy and give Grady some fresh vegetables instead of jarred baby food. I mashed up some yummy avocado. I thought for sure he would like it... I mean, I can practically bite into one.! Here's what he thought of them...






I think he saying, WHAT ARE YOU DOING TO ME, JUST GIVE ME SOME SQUASH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Too bad for you, Grady, you're missing out! I just added some salsa and ate the rest of it myself!

Weekend Update

Here are some pictures of Grady I took today. He is never still and loves to explore. Several people have commented on how active he is. The days of just being held are long gone! I used to get tired of holding him all the time and now I just want some of that time back! But it is so sweet when he does let me hold him and he buries his face in my neck. He is becoming such a loving baby.







Look at him standing up! Can you believe it? He's leaning against the door, of course, but he can do it without me holding onto him. Time really flies.

Here he is looking at himself in the mirror (he must get that from his daddy). He loved it! He kept trying to figure out why he couldn't "get out" of the mirror. See him bending down looking for himself?





Later on this afternoon, we went to my friend Macey's parents house. She and Rob are back home visiting from VA. They moved away last year. Her parents had a cookout for family and friends and we had a great time! Rob's cousin, Chris and his wife Mia have a little boy (Thor) who is 15 months and a CUTIE PIE! Grady liked watching him and playing with him, too. I didn't get any pictures (I was too busy eating my hamburger while I had the chance), but Mia took several and I'm hoping she will post them on her blog. Here is Macey with Grady...



And Veronica...



Yesterday, I took Grady to the beach again and we had a wonderful time. I didn't get any pictures because we spent most of our time in the water. Grady was a good boy, even slept on my shoulder for about 45 minutes, and woke up ready to party again. It was still a struggle getting everything to and from the beach, but well worth it. Grady is becoming a tan fannie! (Me, not so much...)

So far, it's a great weekend! Tomorrow, we are going to Pensacola's Shark Tournament down at the pier. Hopefully we'll see some big DEAD sharks (that means less of them lurking in the water!) :) Look for pictures tomorrow!