July Happenings!

When the sun comes out in Cleveland...people get out and do things!  We started out the month with my birthday.  I took off from work on the Thursday before and Derek had a special day planned (a surprise).

We went out for brunch at this awesome non kid friendly place, then went on a barge tour of the city of Cleveland.  The weather was great!

We had a neighborhood party to go to, and Grayson and his little girlfriend "Alex" played all night long.

J and I went to get our nails done.

On my birthday we went to the minor league ballpark for fun with friends and fireworks of course.

And yes, it was cold enough to wear jackets

Jocelyn and Bella

The "adults" photo cred...one of the kiddos.

On the 4th, we went to Derek's co-workers party on the lake.  Beautiful view.

Then we got the kids to bed and sat in our driveway with some new neighbor friends and got to watch these awesome fireworks!  These were legit (and probably SO illegal) fireworks right on our street.

The following weekend, we went to Indiana to visit my sister and her family...and check out the newly done backyard!

The kids loved it!

We roasted hot dogs and made smores.

My sister and I floated away all of our work stress in the pool...I may have had one too many beer-ritas :) 

Overall a fun holiday weekend, filled with good family time and activities.  Can't believe we have been in Ohio for just about a year, time flies when you are having fun!

Jocelyn's first soccer practice!

Gymnastics took a break over the summer, so we decided to try something new...soccer!  It has been raining like crazy here all "Summer" so we finally got to start on Monday.  Jocelyn talked about it for weeks, even drew a picture at school of her favorite sport, "soccer"...which she has never played before?!?  Guess Dad has brainwashed her or something. 

She was slow to warm up to it, so Derek took her out there and hung out for a bit.  I could tell he desperately wanted her to love it because soccer is in his heart.

She finally got brave and lined up and followed directions.

Even showcased a few moves...

Even scored a few goals

From the sideline I yelled for her "Jocelyn, smile for the camera"...ALL GIRL! Ha!  Such a sweetie, we were so proud of her, she did great!

Grayson's 2nd Birthday Party!

For those that know me well, I love to host a party...and especially ones for kids with some pinterest inspiration behind it.  I go all out!  For who?  Me of course, because the kids don't care, but I will have pictures to prove how awesome of a party planner I was when they are older.  So, you can imagine my fear when I all of a sudden realize Grayson's birthday is coming up, and we don't have the security of family members to fill the room.  We have met a lot of people, made some friends...but still not the same as in Texas.  I was brave and decided to put a deposit down at The Little Gym and crossed my fingers that some of Grayson's school friends would RSVP Yes! 

They came through, and we had a good turn out.  I did have some neighbors on notice in the event that nobody showed up, I was going to make them come so Grayson could say that he had a party that wasn't just the 4 of us at The Little Gym, haha!

Quick family pic before the festivities

It was almost as if he owned the joint, he was into everything! So brave

Judah, Grayson and Vinny

Our little Monkey

He ran his little heart out!  I just smiled the whole time watching him.

more smiles

Saralynn, Jocelyn and Lili  the "big sisters"

Donut rolls

Air track

You could totally tell that this party was full of daycare kids.  They all congregated at the table, and sat there and ate in silence.  The gym staff even complimented on how well behaved they were and how there was NO food left on the floor, ha!  Looks like daycare is offering more than just child care..it's manners too!

Jocelyn Ann!

The best we could get of the entire crew!  Thanks so much for everyone who came out to help Big G celebrate his 2nd birthday.  We are thankful for you guys!

Grayson is 2!

I can't believe how big our little guy has gotten, it feels like yesterday that we welcomed him into this world?!?  G has blossomed into this little personality and he makes Derek and I smile every day.  He loves his big sister SO much and wants to do everything she does...literally :)  He is a bit more active than J was at this age, but I guess that is the difference between boys and girls.  We transitioned into the "terrible twos" stage about 2 months ago, I'd say.  He is VERY stubborn (not sure where he get's that from), quite the cuddle bug and loves to give kisses.  His vocabulary is not as broad as Jocelyn's was at this age, but he knows exactly what he wants and he will scream and grunt until we figure it out, or we just ask Jocelyn and somehow she miraculously knows exactly what he wants?? 

We took him in for his 2 year appointment today and he is weighing in at 26lb 6oz, and 32 3/4 inches tall...needless to say he is not going to be tall like his granddaddy!  He got a shot and was a total champ, all he said was "oww" rubbed his leg and took off the band aid. 

I don't think Grayson has ever met a stranger and he will give you this smile that just melts your heart.  All the ladies love him, and he is quite the charmer...he knows he is cute as can be!  I have said this before, but when we learned we were going to have a boy I didn't know what to do...but I wouldn't change a thing, he has my heart in the palm of his little hand.

Family Pictures!

One of our friends we met through the gym has a daughter who is a senior in high school and enjoys photography.  I noticed that she had taken a few friends senior pictures, so I asked if she would take some family photos of us!

They love each other so much!

She goes, hey mom...take my picture! Ha!

I love Grayson's little pose in this picture, so sly!

My boys

Jocelyn loved having her picture taken, she was very cooperative and was always finding places to take pictures...hence the swing picture :)