More Miscellaneous...

The life of a stay at home mom...
So yesterday I started looking around online at different virtual scrapbooking/slideshow websites. I found this super cool one called smilebox. Because I'm not a terribly creative person, this website did all the work for me. And I had fun making this sweet little slideshow for my boy. I can't believe in a week and 4 days he's going to be a year old. Now I'm going to go cry. And work on some more "creative" slideshows. :)

Make a Smilebox photobook

Kevin's 30th Birthday Party and Easter Sunday

I know I mostly post just pictures of Greyson and all of his super exciting achievements, changes, etc. But I thought I needed to give special honor to Kevin on this one. My dear husband, Kevin, turned 30 on March 19, 2008. It was a scary change for him, but I think he welcomed 30 beautifully! He looks great, he's an amazing husband and father, and he blesses so many people's lives on a daily basis. You can't get much better than that, can you? I am so proud of him. He makes so many sacrifices for his family, and works so incredibly hard to support us. Greyson and I are blessed beyond belief through his life and I am so thanful for him!
Because of the wonderful person that he is, I decided he needed to have a huge Birthday bash to ring in 30 years of life. So we rented out the back room of Rosie McCann's in downtown Santa Cruz on Pacific Avenue. We drank beer, ate amazing food and had a great evening spent with our nearest and dearest (well, all that were close enough to be in attendance that is). I have to give a special shout out to our dear friend Nate Ashley, who flew out all the way from Austin, TX to surprise Kevin for his birthday party. It was not easy figuring out how to sneak Nate into Santa Cruz, arranging flights, etc, without Kevin knowing about it. But, with a lot of work and secrets, we pulled it off! Nate is family to us and the party was perfect because he was there to celebrate with us. What a good friend! I don't know many people who would go that distance for a birthday party, do you? People like Nate are one in a million, and we are blessed to have him in our lives!
The day after the big bash was Easter Sunday. So, because my whole family came from Modesto to celebrate Kevin, we all spent Easter Sunday with Kevin's family at the coast. What a way to spend a holiday! We had a wonderful day together and enjoyed celebrating Greyson's first Easter. He got his first Easter Basket, filled with books, a stuffed animal and some clothes. He was more interested in the empty basket, of course, but it was fun for us nonetheless.
Getting to spend birthdays and holidays together with both of our families has been such a huge blessing. And it makes it even better having Greyson as a part of it. It's hard to believe that next Easter he's going to be running around, hunting for Easter eggs. Phew, I better get ready! Sounds exhausting already!

Winter/Spring 2008

Sorry it has been so long since I updated my blog! Time just gets away... and before I know it, several months have passed! I am going to try to stay current so that I don't have to put so many pictures on at once in the future. :)
So, Greyson has changed SO much since Christmas time, it's really amazing. He is nearly walking now and will be one in just over two weeks. I'm not ready for this! He's a toddler now, and not a little baby anymore. He's so busy, crawling all over and trying to walk, he doesn't have time for cuddling anymore. But he is still the sweet, perfect little guy he's always been and he just gets more fun everyday. He thinks I'm hilarious, which is the greatest! Everything I do makes him laugh hysterically. Finally, someone appreciates my sense of humor!
These pictures are just miscellaneous shots that I took between January and mid-March. I hope you enjoy watching my sweet baby grow up as much as I am!

Thanksgiving and Christmas 2007

We had a wonderful holiday season spent with all of our family. It's so nice living so close to everyone so that we can all be together. We spent Greyson's first Thanksgiving in Modesto at my parents house. My Grandparents were there, as well as Erika, Isaiah, Paris, Uncle Dean, Aunt Karla, Makena, and Fallon. And the best part was that Robert, Linda and Kristi were able to come to Modesto to spend the holiday with us. Greyson is so blessed to get to enjoy all of his family together! And all of them enjoy him as well.
For Christmas we went to Watsonville to spend Greyson's first Christmas with his Grandma, Grandpa and Auntie Kristi Igarta. We had such a nice, relaxing time there. Kevin and I REALLY enjoy our visits to Watsonville. Grandma, Grandpa, and Auntie are always so excited to be around Greyson that we actually get this thing called "rest". I had almost forgotten what that was like! They make it very appealing to come visit often, because they encourage us to rest up! And we very willingly take advantage of their offer!
We were all so excited to shower Greyson with Christmas gifts, stockings, cute Christmas p.j.'s... all the bells and whistles! Unfortunately, he was still only 4 months old so what we were doing didn't really make a difference to him. He just watched us get excited, and then would go to sleep. We forced him to take so many pictures... but he really was a trooper. Even though he was too little to really know what all the fuss was about, we still had so much fun with his first Christmas celebration. We wouldn't have changed a thing!
During the Christmas season, one of Kevin's best friends, Dave Lewis, came to visit with his family. Dave, Jess and Cali came to California all the way from Tennessee to spend the holiday with Dave's family in southern California. We luckily got to intercept their visit for a few days. Cali is just a few months older than Greyson so we had so much fun with the two of them! It was really fun for Kevin and Dave, who lived together for a couple years before they got married, to spend time together with their babies. We wish we got to see them more often... especially since we've decided that Greyson and Cali will be married one day. Do people still do arranged marriages in this country? We'll see what we can do... hee hee.
We rang in the New Year at home, just the three of us. Greyson wasn't feeling really well, so we opted to stay in and enjoy our own little family. And we really did. We just have more to be thankful for every single day!

Autumn 2007

We had an eventful Autumn last year! Watching Greyson grow and change was the best part. He just seems to be getting better and better... it's more amazing than anything we could have imagined! We moved to our new apartment when Greyson was two months old. We were in a less than desirable neighborhood and chose to move to a better area, which just happened to be mere blocks from Grammy and Papa! It has been so much fun. We can walk to their house, and Papa comes over for walks and visits all the time. We love that he is retired!
Greyson's Great Aunt Debbie was in town for Halloween. It was so much fun to have her here to meet him, and for her to see him on his first Halloween. He dressed up like Superman, and we spent the evening walking the neighborhoods with Isaiah, Paris, Auntie Erika and Papa. Greyson LOVES the outdoors, and he enjoyed walking around in the evening, looking at all the trees, and flowers and watching all the kids running around in their costumes. It was a fantastic Halloween! We can't wait for next year when he can walk around on his own.
We also got to take him on his first trip to visit Grandma and Grandpa in Watsonville. We had a great time taking Greyson to see the ocean for the first time. He was only 2 1/2 months old, so it didn't make a huge impression on him... yet! We have big plans for him and the beach as he gets older! We know he will love it, just like us. It was fun introducing him to many of our friends in the Santa Cruz area. We had a barbeque with Brent, Malisa, and their sweet baby Vinnie. And we got to visit Rob and Julie's church so that they could meet him as well. He is such a great baby, and a very easy traveller. He has made it very easy to come visit Grandma and Grandpa for many weekend visits. He loves being with them! We wish we lived closer, but we are thankful that it is close enough where we can see them often. We are enjoying Greyson so much and the little person he is becoming!

Greyson's first weeks at home

Greyson's first pictures - August 18, 2007