January fun

January was a busy month.  My parents were here the month and painted the interior walls of almost the entire house! :)  The color was not a drastic change, but it's wonderful to have paint on the wall that I can wipe little finger prints off of!  The one that was on the walls before was the lowest grade paint you can find and it definitely showed every mark!  I got busy once again with work and then of course Will took command on the 21st.  Grayson and Ryley loved having my parents around.... as did I!  Here are some more pictures of things the boys have been up to this month. :)  

The boys have found a new hiding space!  My dad got locks on all the cabinets with breakable/glass/sharp items, but I left the island without safety locks since it's mostly pots and pans.  Grayson figured out he could climb in there and now it's one of Ryley's favorite places to play. 

We took Grandma and Grandpa to the JAX Zoo.  It has never been SO busy!  The boys were great sports though.... most of the time! 

Ryley rode the carousel for the first time.  He was a much happier boy than Grayson was his first time riding it!  Grayson was forced into riding it this time... usually he wants to ride it and I tell him no because I can't hold him and Ryley on my own.  This time he went on with a fight.  Mommy did not pay $5 for him to just look at the carousel!  He was going to ride it whether he wanted to or not! :)  

 Grayson of course had to feed the giraffes and show Grandpa how it's done.

on the train

I may actually be caught up on posts by the end of the weekend!  Amazing!!

Videos from December

Here are some videos I never posted from the time we were in Ohio.  

Grayson can count to 20!  He still sometimes misses 15, but that's common even for 4 year olds to do.  Such a smart kid I have! :)

Ryley took his first steps while we were in Ohio.  After this though he stopped taking steps till just recently.  I keep waiting for the day he'll trust himself enough to take more than one or two steps.

If you haven't checked out "Pete the Cat" books, we highly recommend it!  Here Grayson is reading "Pete the Cat, I Love my White Shoes" from the library.  We were able to get two Pete the Cat books for his birthday.  One from his cousins Katelyn and Mia and the other with the gift card from cousin Jacob and Patrick.  Thanks for the new books! :)  

Back to Georgia

After Ryley's birthday party, we hit the road to head back to Georgia.  We left cold, wind, and snow in Ohio and took our coats off in Georgia.  While it doesn't feel like winter around here, I'm not complaining since we were able to enjoy a nice mild temperature outside and get out to play again. :)  Grayson found their new wagon in the living room when we got home.  He was ready to go for a ride right then, but it was already dark so he waited till the next day.  Ryley thought the wagon was pretty fun too, but he kept me and Grandma on our toes having to keep a hand nearby due to him trying to stand up.  Our second attempt at a wagon ride included one of Daddy's belts to strap him down!  

With the weather so nice, we went to the children's museum.....again to show Grandpa around since he hadn't been there yet.  Ms. Liz was there that day and we hadn't seen here in a few months.  She's the director for the children's museum and also the one that taught Grayson's toddler art class last winter/spring.  She showed Grayson where the carrots in the garden were and let him pull one out and eat it.  He wasn't too sure about it, but at least took a nibble out of it!  Before we left we had to stop at the model trains.  Grayson could spend 30 minutes in there watching the trains if I let him!  Grandma bought a train whistle/bubble necklace as well and Grayson was quickly instructed that it would not be used inside! :)

Ryley has discovered the piano now.  He and Grayson gave us a "concert" one evening and Ryley was very proud of himself for being able to reach the keys!

More pictures of our fun times with Grandma and Grandpa Sand will be posted in the next couple days! :)

Ryley Turns 1!

Putting on the finishing touches

Ryley's birthday was December 31st.  We celebrated on the 30th while we were in Ohio so family nearby could join us.  Grandma and Grandpa Campbell were able to make it from Indy.  Uncle David and Linda (Will's mom's brother) made it from Cincy.  Then my two sisters (Stephanie and Laura) were there along with Grandma and Grandpa Sand.  It was a full house, but I'm so glad we could have so much family there to celebrate with since we haven't been able to have that in the past.  Here are some pictures taken from that day.  Of course Grandpa Campbell had his camera along with my sister taking pictures for me with mine.  Will was able to Skype in and sing Happy Birthday with us and see Ryley eating his cake for the first time.  He looked extremely tired that day due to long hours and it being late at night there, but I'm so glad he was able to be a part of the celebration even from far away.  

The birthday boy!!  

He's wearing the same shirt I made Grayson for his 1st birthday. :) 

My silly 2 year old opening a present from Uncle David... a fire truck!

He decided mommy needed some off his fingers too

Skyping with Daddy

Gpa Sand, Uncle David, Linda

Thinking about walking!

Such a ham!

Sitting with cousin Addie

I've made all of Grayson's cakes since he turned 1 so of course I had to make Ryley's too!  He had a "Brown Bear Brown Bear" cake with all the characters on the cake.  Then the bear cake was his own individual cake.... that could have fed 4 people! :)

Showing Daddy the cake

Gpa Campbell taking pictures

Time for a bath!

MMmmm... lunch time!  Yes, we did that backwards since Will was able to Skype so we did cake first so he could see. :)

 Time for presents!

A big thank you to everyone that sent a gift and those who were able to celebrate with us!  Wish you all could have been here for Grayson's birthday too! :)