Yes I have a blog ... do i use it, well that is the question....

So I thought I would be part of the blogging world and after 4 or so blogs I kind of lost interest.  A lot has changed in my life since Christmas of 2011 and I thought this may be the best place to put all of memories since I am not good at journaling or scrapbooking.  Here is a snap shot to what has happened in the past 9 months.
January 2012 - Grady turns 1

February 2012 - I was nominated for Teacher of the Year at my school!  So excited to receive this award.

March 2012 - Found out I am having another BOY! Due July 11.. a little bit of surprise but we will take it!  Also, Grady started walking... I mean running :)

April 2012 - Grady traveled everywhere, went to Mississippi with Daddy and Michigan with Mommy.

May 2012 - Mommy and baby Parker went to visit some high school friends in Ohio - all 3 of us are/were pregnant at the same time.  I was due July 11 with a boy, Jenea was due August 11 with a boy,  and Adrienne is due October 26 with a girl!

June 2012 - Blake's birthday, trying to fit in as much as we can as a family of 3 before Parker's arrival, anticipating Parker's arrival, family coming to visit, Chattanooga Zoo,  etc

July 4 2012 - Welcome to the world (a week early!) Parker Calvin Ryan born 3:47 pm, 6 lbs 9 oz, 20 inches.  Such a sweet baby and such an easy delivery!

 August 2012 - Blake had to go back to work (boo hoo), however my aunt Paula and cousin Sarah, my momma, and AUSTIN and KELSEY's WEDDING kept us busy!  Still can't believe my little bro is married!

So now that brings us to September - hopefully I will update a little sooner then 9 months! 

Christmas in Michigan

Since Blake and I both work in the school system it is quite nice to have two weeks off together.  Normally we would leave after the last day of school and have 2 weeks of vacation with our families.  HOWEVER, now that we have a kid I am finding that there is always a catch and we can NEVER leave on time.  The day we were suppose to leave we took Grady to the doctor because he had another ear infection and after much thought we decided to take him to the ENT for further testing to see if he needed tubes.  After our consultation with the doctor, he advised us to have tubes put in immediately, so on Dec 23 (a week after school has been out) Grady had surgery.  He did so well and the nurses were so impressed that he was laughing and smiling the whole time.  He even fell asleep before he was put under! 

So finally Friday, Dec 23, after Grady's surgery, we drove 10 hours to get to my family in Michigan!  We had a great time and got to see lots of family.  We were extremely lazy because I had a lot of great babysitters that would feed, bath, and watch Grady 24/7.  My parents both had the opportunity to take time off of work and allow Blake and I to chill out.  What a blessing it is to have great family!  Grady got to meet all of his aunts, uncles, cousins, second-cousins, etc and he was the life of the party.  He received so many presents and I know from here on out Blake and I don't need to spend any money on him for Christmas.  The only bad part about going home this year was that there was NO SNOW.  We were so sad because Oma Bock got Grady a sled and we didn't even have a chance to use it. 

 My dad "G Frank" and Grady

 Playing with his new toy

 Hanging out with Oma, I love this pic because I have the same exact one of me sitting on my "Oma's" lap.

 Grandma and Grady eating breakfast

I think the best part about going home was being with my brother.  We have gotten so much closer over the last few months and we got to meet his lovely girlfriend, Kelsey.   We got to watch him play a little soccer and as you saw in my last post, he had a lot of fun with Grady!  I absolutely love his girlfriend and it was fun getting to know and hang out with her.

 Cousin Sarah, Austin, and Kelsey

Grady also had the chance to meet some of my high school friends.  Jillian was home and we went and visited the Bodley family.  Shelby Smith Paulk and her kids Riley, Lincoln, and Emmeryson, and Becky Marx Keogh and her little girl EVcame over for a fun-filled playdate, and we also saw Kristina Reid and her little girl Karis.  

Christmas in Michigan - Coming Soon!

I promise I will post about Christmas break and about our time in Michigan BEFORE Grady turns 1 next week, but until then here is a video of Grady hanging out with his favorite uncle, his only uncle, Uncle Waldo (I mean Austin).  Yes that is my brother with the mustache and Jesus hair :)  He was such a great help while we were home and Grady sure does love him!

SIDE NOTE: I wrote this January 11, it is now January 25 ... I didn't keep my promise, but Christmas and birthday and first snow pics coming soon!

Happy Festivus

This was our second annual (maybe bi-annual) Christmas party with our friends in Tennessee.  This year Anna and Bryan McCarter hosted at their new house.  Of course our parties are never dull and it was mandatory for everyone to dress up as your favorite Christmas character.  Blake and I were Uncle Eddie and his wife (I can't remember her name) and Grady was Kevin from Home Alone from the scene where he is in the bathroom singing "I'm dreaming of a white christmas".  It was great because our friend's Ashely and Justin were the bad guys from Home Alone and Bryan and Anna were Mary and Joseph.  Anna definitely played the Mary part well since she is due Jan 2! 

Oh Christmas Tree!

Last weekend we went to House Mountain Farms in Corryington, TN and cut down our first family Christmas tree.  Since we travel for every holiday, I wanted to do something that was OUR family tradition.  It was a great day and we had a lot of fun.

This is our tree

Grady watching daddy cut the tree down

Notice how we didn't get a family picture.  We never seem to take a picture all together, oh well.  (That's not our tree)

10 Months

This is a little late since Grady did turn 10 months on November 21, but I happened to find the sticker in the car, so we had a little photo session.  At 10 months Grady is all over the place.  Says da-da constantly, mommy is "na-na",  recognizes his dog moose, bottle is "ba-ba", and he loves to be loud.  He gives great kisses and definitely is a cuddle-bug.  He loves to eat my hair (which is gross), but I don't care.  We are eating baby food still, but we like bread, bananas, cheerios, and anything that we can do on our own.