Back to school!

It's been a while since we posted so I'll try to catch up.....

The kids started a new school, First Baptist Day School, in early August after a week at home with me. Needless to say we were all ready for school to begin when the week was over (God bless those of you who have kids home all summer and Lord help me when my time comes!).   Gray is in a class of 5 and is the youngest of the "Terrific Turtles" and loving all the big-kid interaction. He's the only one who isn't potty trained yet, since he's the youngest, and that's been great for kick starting the process. I guess that means no more dragging our feet around here. Stay tuned for more on that topic, as I'm sure it will provide some entertaining pictures and stories. Gray's new program includes weekly Spanish class, Kindermusik, and Gigglebytes computer class. He loves his teacher, his new friends, and especially the moon bounce in the gym that they get to play on when the weather doesn't cooperate. His teacher says he's very vocal and playful, which I'm sure means loud and rowdy. I used to think all boys were, but I'm starting to think it might just be him. Oh well, he's so much fun and I get so tickled by his antics. I don't know where he comes up with this stuff, but he's says things like, "I love shopping, it's great!" and "That is one awesome fountain". When P came to town and slept in his bed with him, he woke her up and said, "Too loud, P....you're snoring!".  Lord help us....

Hayes is a "Little Ladybug" and adores her teachers and all of the fun crafts projects they do. We were all nervous about how she'd take to sleeping on a nap mat, but they must really wear her out because they say she goes right to sleep with no fussing or help. I say this with amazement because even though Hayes has been a great sleeper from the start, lately she's been tough to put down and waking up super early. Come to find out the child has grown about 7 teeth in the last 6-8 weeks, which explains her all-around fussiness and resistance to sleep. Poor thing......1 tooth is bad but multiple teeth coming in at one time is pure torture! And her hair is trying to keep up with her rapid teeth growth and has gotten long enough to put in a ponytail. Clearly, both kids got Adam's full head of hair and it truly makes Hayes look like a 2 year old instead of the 14.5 month old that she really is.  She loves to make animal sounds (cow, sheep, and duck) and can also "arghhh" like a pirate. She says "bye-bye", "Gray-Gray", "night-night", and "snack" and can sign for "more" and "eat". Every day it's something new and we are loving every minute of watching this precious girl grow up.

This summer seems like it has been one birthday after another....first Hayes', then Adam's, and tons of our little friends. We celebrated Campbell Cole's 2nd birthday with a beach party at the Cole's and had a great time watching all of the little ones help themselves (literally) to the cake and splash in the kiddie pool.

P came in town the next week to stay with the kids while Adam and I went to Orlando and she took them to their friend Annie's 3rd birthday party down the street. They loved riding the pony and of course Gray had so much fun chasing after Annie. He does not like the fact that he has competition for Annie's heart from our neighbors, the Crump boys, but I guess it's best that he learn that lesson in love earlier rather than later in life.

Next was our niece, Greer's, 1st birthday party. It was so fun to get together with family and friends to celebrate sweet  Greer's big day. She adored her Dora the Explorer cake and showed off her new walking skills. Yea Greer! Since Greer's birthday is only a day before mine, her party happened to be on my actual birthday, which was such a treat. I made this door sign for Greer's party and thought it came out so cute and sweet, just like her!

 We celebrated my birthday after hers with a family dinner and some yummy steaks and key lime pie....Mama's favorite! The hubs also took me out for a date at the new Sweet Grass restaurant and we were so thrilled that it lived up to all the hype. We will definitely be returning! Thanks to Lovie and Papa for keeping the kids while we got some alone time.

For Labor Day, we headed down to ole Red Stick to stay with my parents at their new place. We stopped at our favorite restaurant in Jackson, Ms (Keifer's) on the way there AND the way back and indulged in the feta dressing, which we are still tirelessly trying to recreate with no success. The weekend was filled with delicious food and good wine, as always, and we had a great time catching up with our family. We drove over to Franklin for the day to visit with my 88-year-old grandmother and all of my aunts and uncles and I am so glad that she was finally able to meet Hayes. I only wish we could get down there more.

 On the way back, we stopped in Lafayette, where I grew up, and visited with my 78-year-old godfather, Parrain Ted. It was so neat watching the kids play with the same toys from the same toy drawer that Mal and I played with on the many, many trips to Parrain's house growing up. His house holds great memories for me and now it will for my kids too.

The weather here is absolutely beautiful and we are soaking up the cool temps, knowing they won't last long. Last weekend we went down to Kidz Kountry farm in Southaven for a barnyard birthday party for another little friend and then over to my friend Angie's to celebrate her twin boys' 2nd birthday. They were both so much fun and I just love that theme with all of the red gingham, raffia, and mason jars.....here's the door sign Angie commissioned me to do for the party, which is now hanging on the boys' bedroom.

We also went to the Germantown Festival, which was the perfect outing for such a beautiful day. We ate "fair food", people-watched, played on the playground, got a snow cone, and even rode some rides. There was nothing cuter than watching Hayes get to ride the "big kid" rides like her brother. She is such a daredevil and screamed for more. Here we go, all over again......so much like Gray in some ways, and yet so different. That's what makes them such perfectly unique creatures I suppose.

Until next time,
The Pattersons

The Family Reunion

Guest Family Photo (notice Hayes writhing in my arms)

Guest girls in green

 Two weeks ago Adam and I drove the fam over to Pell City, Alabama for the weekend for our long-awaited Guest Family Reunion. My mom was a Guest girl and she and her 3 sisters had been planning every detail for this get-together for the past year. The drive down there was a breeze compared to going to Destin earlier this summer. The built-in DVD player is a lifesaver and now that Hayes actually semi pays attention to the movie, we are all enjoying the ride a LOT  more! And the absence of the bottle routine every couple of hours doesn't hurt either. Woohoo for first birthdays! But then there's the walking. Now that she's finally completely mobile, she of course goes in a completely different direction than Gray, making it almost impossible for me to go anywhere with the two of them alone. Fortunately, Adam was at the reunion with me, as were my parents and sister/brother in law, so the wee ones were outnumbered. Nevertheless, it was still extremely hard. My dreams of sitting on the dock sipping daiquiris while the kids innocently frolicked nearby were clearly not realized and Adam and I spent the majority of the time running around after them in 100 degree, thick-as-a-swamp heat. There were 45 people there, half of which were children, so you can only imagine the chaos. But we survived, even staying at a motel in 1 room with carpet that stuck to your feet when you walked, and made some great memories that will hopefully last us until the next Guest family get-together. Let's just hope that next time the kids are more in the frolicking phase so that Mommy can fulfill her aforementioned fantasy.

Hayes and Owen see-sawing with P's help

Owen filling up Gray's tank

                                   

In the lake with Big and Mal

Uncle Wayne letting Gray drive the pontoon boat

Playing with Wil in the baby pool

July birthdays

The last few weeks have been busy with ......well, life I guess. We had Hayes' 1st birthday party a couple of weeks ago and it was so much fun to get together with all the people we love and celebrate her big day. She was such a big girl and didn't fuss once! Even though we had a major wardrobe malfunction (her custom-made bird dress and bloomers didn't fit!), everything else seemed to go off without a hitch. She loved all of the attention and proved to be a complete chocaholic...definitely Adam's daughter.

She has absolutely LOVED playing with all of her girly toys since she has grown so accustomed to playing with trucks and bugs this past year. We had so much fun planning our first girly party and were so happy to have such a great turnout. Thanks to everyone who was a part of her big day!

Gray has been such a big boy lately too, and it's really making me realize how much he has grown up. I miss my baby boy sometimes, but it's so nice to see him morph into this wonderful little man. The 2's are so much fun! He loves to tell me what Hayes is feeling and what she needs (not sure if he's a good translator or a great guesser, but he's always right!) and he's such a good big brother to her....most of the time. He has done so well with the crib farewell and has been sleeping better than ever in his big boy bed, which he promoted himself to on his own after the first week. He fell out once and reverted back to his toddler bed, but seems to have overcome his fears over the last few weeks, which is a good thing because we're leaving tomorrow for the family reunion and he'll be sleeping in a double bed next to P and Pop. Yikes!

It's also been a big couple of weeks for Mommy. I just accepted a part-time position as a freelance grant writer for a nonprofit called The Visible School.It's all from home and on my own schedule, so it's absolutely perfect and I am loving it so far! They threw me in head first with my first grant due about 3 days after I started, but I rose to the challenge and have written 3 more since.  It's fun to be working on a new project again, but I'm still loving being a stay-at-home-mom. The best of both worlds, if you ask me!!!!

We celebrated Adam's 31st birthday this week and it was small and simple but fun. We had Adam's parents over and I bought and fixed all of his favorites....Gus's fried chicken, Pancho's cheese dip, and asiago mac n cheese. Linda made Adam's birthday ritual, chocolate sheet cake, and we are still enjoying it! Happy birthday to my silly, loving, handsome, humble, wonderful husband. Here's to your next 31 years!

Love,
The Pattersons

Happy birthday Hazie!

I can't believe that a year ago yesterday our little Hazie came into our lives, forever changing them. I was dreading the idea of a girl and all of the drama and fuss that comes with them, yet here we are, 1 year later, knee deep in tutus and bows. And we wouldn't have it any other way.

We had such a fun day doing all of Hayes' favorite things....playing with her new kitchen

opening cards from all the people she loves....

eating her first birthday cake....

and dancing around the living room to Indigo Girls with her Daddy (can't imagine where she gets that love from).

Gray was a little jealous of all of the attention, particularly during the birthday cake part, although I'm not convinced that it didn't have more to do with his obsession with sweet stuff.

Once he got a piece, he was much more tolerable.

God love our dirty little boy....

Happy birthday Hazie-girl (as Gray calls her)! We love you and can't wait to see what your next year of life holds for you!

After a lot of research, we finally decided on what camera to buy.....a Canon Rebel XS! It was a little anniversary gift for Adam and I to ourselves for making it past the "7 year itch", and we are so excited about it. I haven't really figured out how to do much except point and shoot, which kind of defeats the purpose of an SLR camera, but I'm looking forward to learning all the ins and outs. I tested it out while we were making cookies Friday night. Huge improvement over our old camera, but still a lot to learn!

Muah!

The Pattersons

Too hot to handle

With the heat of summer in full force, we are itching to find things to do where we can keep cool and have fun. Fortunately, Memphis seems to have a good number of options but we'll see how long they stay novel to the kids. Last Friday, I took the babies to the Germantown Athletic Club's splash park with a friend and her daughter. The older kids had a blast running in and out of the pool and Hayes, as always, just soaked up the attention and the great outdoors. That place is sheer genius!

Saturday, Adam and I took the kids to the Children's Museum for what sadly was their first trip (I know, shame on me). What a blast that place is! So much to do for everyone, (even Adam)

but the winner for Gray was the firetruck. It caused a mini meltdown when it was time to leave, but totally worth it.

Hayes' favorites were the dance room (Yes, there is a dance room and she booty danced till her diaper drooped) and the cars (Here she is pimping her Escalade in style). I don't know where her thuggish tendencies came from but they are hysterical.

It's a little pricey at $10 per person (ages 1 and up) but if you bring in a canned good for the needy for each person, they knock a buck off the price per person. Definitely looking into a membership for the year. Yesterday, another first! Lovie came over and stayed with Hayes while she was napping so I could take Gray to the movies with some friends and their tikes. Gray did better than I expected but not as good as I had hoped, so I'm pretty happy all in all. Fortunately, the theatre was filled with kids and every mom there is in the same boat so I didn't feel so bad. I figured Gray would come home and mimick the dancing or singing from the movie, which was Alvin and the Chipmunks. Instead I found him in the den with a bench pulled up to him like a counter. He was asking Hayes if she wanted to buy tickets and handed her a post-it note. Not sure if I should be concerned or relieved about these entrepreneurial interests.

In other Gray news, we are starting to talk/think/dream about pottytraining him, but are trying to be strategic about timing. The doctor said to wait until he was 3 but with that date now only about 4 months away, we're in preparation mode. To take advantage of his ongoing obsession with Toy Story, I thought buying a Woody and Buzz themed potty seat would provide some good motivation. Thrilled would be an understatement. Last night while I was just settling for the night, I overheard Gray in his crib saying something about his diaper over and over again even though I thought he'd been asleep for 30 or 45 minutes. I went in there and his excitement about the new potty seat had apparently gotten the best of him. He was buck naked and his clothes and sheets were drenched in urine. He told me he wanted to go potty on his Toy Story seat. Note to self: Do not make any changes or the suggestion of changes when it comes to the kids while husband is out of town.

My last cool trick for this hot weather is the Farmer's Market at the Botanic Gardens. It's every Wednesday, totally free, and they have a vendor called Mama D who sells italian ice that is made with REAL fruit...black cherry, watermelon, strawberry-lemonade. So yummy and the perfect way to cool off! Lovie treated us to some cones this afternoon and then we headed over to the gardens to dip our feet in the pond. Aghhhhhh....

Stay cool everyone! Till next time....

The Pattersons

Another favorite....

Going anywhere these days takes major preparation on my part and there never seems to be a bag big enough to contain all of our stuff. The biggest challenge has been the beach/pool bag. By the time you pack the towels, pool toys, sunscreen, and snacks, there is no room for adding anything extra and good luck finding anything once it's so tightly jammed in there. My solution? The Land's End Extra Large Classic Tote Bag. Used my 40% off coupon and free shipping and got this great tote bag that has more than enough room for everything we would want to take to the beach or pool. I love the key holder so I don't lose my keys and the inside, divided pockets are a God-send. Don't get me started on the zippered-top.......

It's even big enough for Hayes!