My first video!!!!!

I am so excited! I have successfully taken and posted my first video for our blog! It's about time huh!?

Anyway, here is a really cute video of Olivia making Jack smile and even LAUGH! Jack loves his big sister, she always seems to make him smile, and now laugh! It's hard to hear him over her, go figure, but if you listen real hard, you can hear him and see his little shoulders rise when he laughs!!!! It is by no means an all out chuckle, but I am proud! I love it!

Olivia, the budding photographer

I had the camera out today and for some reason said yes when Olivia asked to use it to take a few pictures of Jack. I even walked away and let her have free reign of it! She came running into the kitchen a few minutes later all excited about the pictures she had taken of Jack. I fully anticipated the "pictures" to be half Jack, half her finger, or Jack's head cut off, or something of the sort. However I was impressed when I found that she had taken some pretty good pictures. And by good I mean, Jack's head was in every picture, and although I could see the shadow of her finger in a few, I didn't actually see flesh in the picture! And she had accomplished this while his swing was on, swaying to and fro! Just thought I'd share a few of her photos!

Denny's Birthday

So, this post is a week late, and a tribute short! Last Tuesday was Denny's birthday! I had it all planned out in my head that I was going to post a really sweet post for Denny for his birthday! He has been so wonderful since Jack arrived, so helpful and supportive (even when I didn't deserve it many times!). I thought his birthday would be the perfect time to tell him, and the few that read our blog, what a great dad and husband he really is! However, as it does on most days, the time just got away from me and before I knew it his birthday was over!!!!

So, I will take a brief moment to express my gratitude and admiration for his loving heart and patient attitude! Denny has truly stepped it up since we came home with Jack. He has changed every diaper in the middle of the night, no lie, and many during the day as well, he has given me time to run errands alone, taken every opportunity to take Liv with him when he runs errands, encouraged me to go out and have fun with the girls, taken Liv to school every day, done laundry, dishes, packed lunches, cooked, etc.... I really could go on! Not to say there haven't been times I've wanted to strangle him of course, but I'll blame that on postpardum hormones! :) I honestly don't know what I would do without him! God has tremendously blessed not only my life, but Olivia and Jack's lives as well! We are thankful to celebrate another year of his life!


Okay, now that that is off my chest... Denny happens to share a birthday with one of my closest friends Allison, so we decided to all go out to celebrate, kids included! We went down to the Shops at Legacy, one of my favorite places, and had dinner at Taco Diner, one of the reasons I love the Shops at Legacy! :) It was such a nice evening we decided to eat outside and it was really a lot of fun! Ava and Olivia spent the evening running around the little courtyard area while the adults got to eat and enjoy some good conversation! Beck and Jack were very good and stayed quite content in their carriers! Amazingly I remembered to bring along the camera and was at least able to snap a picture of Denny with Jack and Olivia! It's not the best, but it's better than nothing!

Pony Parties!!!!

Olivia had a day full of parties last Saturday! Ironically they were both Cowgirl themed parties, so Olivia got her fill of barnyard animals!



We started out at her friend Ava's 3rd birthday party. She had a pony come for all of the kids to ride, and they also brought some other animals to pet. Olivia wanted nothing to do with touching any of the animals, but she did have a lot of fun riding the pony! She wasn't too sure at first, but once she saw all of the other kids having fun, she decided she had to join in! And she loved it!!! As usual, Jack just stayed in his carrier, and thankfully we were outside, so he was pacified!

This was as close as Liv would get to "touching" the animals!
Saddling up for her first pony ride! We all had a lot of fun at Ava's party, a big thank you to Ava and her mommy for a great party and thinking of us!

Later that afternoon we headed to our friend Campbell's 4th Birthday party, which was at the Frisco Horse Park. Since I didn't really want to bring Jack to another outdoor party in the heat of the day, he stayed at home with daddy and Olivia and I decided to ride with Kennedy and her mommy Julie to the party!

Here are all the girls listening intently while they give directions while at the "farm"! Olivia is super sensitive to the sunlight, which is why she is covering one eye with her hand. I'm not sure her method helps shade the sun, but whatever works for her I suppose. She was not interested in sporting sunglasses as I had suggested! :)

Olivia on her 2nd pony ride for the day!
We were also able to feed the goats! Olivia got apples and carrots to feed them and thought it was a lot of fun to feel their lips and tongue on her hand! Obviously I went into the pin with Olivia to help her out and lucky me, for some reason all of the goats were attracted to me! They kept jumping up on me for whatever reason. That part was not fun! But Olivia had a great time! All three Cowgirls - Kennedy, Olivia and Campbell
Thank you Campbell for including us in your birthday celebration, we had so much fun!

My Smiley Guy

This month has gone by so quickly! We have stayed pretty busy, so I have plenty of pictures and stuff to update with, but I just haven't had the time to sit down and do it! So we'll start with a few new pics today and then there'll be more to come!

Jack is getting more and more fun each and every day! He is really smiling quite a bit! It is so cute to see him show off those adorable dimples! Olivia was not this smiley as a baby, so I was due a smiley one! I had to beg, borrow and steal to get a quick grin out of Liv! Not that she wasn't a happy baby, it just took a lot to get her to smile for us! But her little brother seems more easily entertained by my silly faces and even sillier baby voice! Maybe I've just perfected it 4 years later! Or maybe I'm just more calm altogether and therefore he is more calm as well! :)

Here are a few pics of him hamming it up for the camera!

Look at that double chin! He is definitely not missing any meals!
Not even a little spit up could take away that smile!
And here he is getting in some much needed tummy time! He likes being on his tummy, probably because he's sick of the view from his carrier and his crib! :)
Just this last week Jack has really started looking at everything and enjoying his time on his Gymini
He is also starting to coo and "talk" to us, which is oh so sweet! I so love their little voices! If I am ever savvy enough, I will take a video and put it on here, but don't hold your breath. At this point I'm lucky to get a few pictures and a quick post!

A New Name!!!

So now that Olivia is not our only pride and joy, we really need to rename the website. The Real OC just won't cut it for Olivia and Jack! :) Although I hate to give it up, it's so cute! The ironic part is, I started this blog literally, like a day after we conceived! Of course I knew it was possible we were pregnant, or could be soon, but we had been trying for so long, I thought I'd risk it and just name it after Olivia! I knew one day I'd be in this predicament, or hoped, but thought, hey, it I jinx myself, that will be just fine! And I did, it worked! :)

So, Denny and I have tried to come up with something clever, to no avail! So if any of you out there can think of something cute for our website and are brave enough to post a comment, please do so!!! It can just include the kids, or all of us, we don't care!!! We both have tired, baby brain and keep coming up empty, so we need all the help we can get! So don't let us down!!!

Saying our Goodbyes

It was a teary day at the Graney house Sunday! Bumpa and Gigi are on their way to California! However they made a pitstop here on their way out, which is so sweet considering Dallas is not exactly on the way to Santa Barbara!! But, they decided they just couldn't leave our great state without seeing their sweet grandkids one more time! It was sad saying our goodbyes today, but as I told Gigi, we will probably see and talk to them more now! It always seems to work that way! We already have 3 trips planned to see them, and they have one here for Christmas, which will be so much fun!!!! I tease them that Bumpa is going for business and Gigi is going for pleasure! :)



I can remember being in Houston last August and them telling us there was a strong possibility they would be moving out there within a year. Although they seemed serious, I didn't think it would really happen. Obviously I was wrong!



Here are a few pics from today before they left!

You all are going to think I leave Jack swaddled all day every day! :)

One of these things is not like the other, one of these things is doing it's own thing...

Can you guess who was not happy to see her Bumpa and Gigi leave?!?!

We love you both and pray for a safe drive and smooth move and transition! We miss you already!

Happy One Month Birthday Jack!

I know I say it all the time, but I really don't know where the time goes!!! I can't believe Jack is already a month old! I feel like we just came home from the hospital! It is so crazy to me that it's been a whole month! On one hand it seems like we've done nothing in that month, but on the other hand, it seems like life has been non-stop and so much has changed! Olivia has started dance and school; Bumpa and Gigi are in-transit as we speak with their move to CA (sniff, sniff); and we have a sweet boy who is showing off his beautiful smile more and more, and getting more and more plump every day! I love that he is starting to fill out and look more like a baby and not a fragile newborn. Not that he was ever tiny per se, but his little limbs were so darn skinny. They still are pretty thin, but you can actually see crease lines in his arms and legs now!

I will say managing two can be a tough to-do! Overall things are going really well, but there are those "Calgon" moments I just want to be "taken away"! It's times like, when I am changing Jack's 4th poopy diaper in an hour, he is screaming because he's tired of being half naked and is in desparate need of a nap, and Olivia is yelling at me to come and wipe her poopy bottom. Or when I'm holding Jack and he's fussing, Olivia is asking me a question (a never ending occurance these days!), and Denny is trying to tell me something all at once! Honestly though, I am not complaining, I know it is all part of having two! Having two children is such a tremendous blessing and I thank God every day he gave me the loving family he has! Jack is a huge gift (as all children are!), he just makes our little family complete! I don't know what I would have done without a little boy to love! He has already stolen my heart!

Speaking of, he was super smiley today and I was alone trying to get him to smile and take a focused picture. As you can see, I was not successful. But at least he looks content in this picture! His sweet smiles just melt my heart! They are so gratifying! You will also see that he is swaddled (I'm not actually sure what is going on with the swaddle here, I promise I don't just wrap a big blanket around his neck!). My sweet friend Carrie recommended we try it to settle him down at naptime. I really didn't think it would work, but it really did! At least 90% of the time, which I will gladly take!! Bless you Carrie for your life-saving advice!

Some tummy time, which he really enjoys! Olivia used to not like her tummy so much!


I wish I could have gotten some better photos today, but alas, this is all I could get! Denny and I spent most of our day trying to find a video monitor that will work in this house! UGH! After one trip to Toys R Us, two trips to Babies R Us, and two returns, our most recent purchase is a Graco digital monitor. I'll let you know if it does the trick, I am prayerful it will! Otherwise we'll have to go back to the stone ages and just use an audio monitor! We parents these days are so spoiled by all these wonderful gadgets we have to take care of our kids! If only they were fullproof!

Okay, I apologize for the rambling, I did not get enough sleep last night! I'll keep my next post short and to the point, promise!

First Day of Pre-K!!!

Today was Olivia's first day of Pre-K at her preschool! I think we were both looking forward to it as much as the other! However, Olivia may have been a little more excited, she woke-up at 6:15 this morning!!!! Yikes! After a full morning of getting everyone ready we had just a few minutes to spare for some pictures before heading out the door! As I have told you all before Olivia is not exactly cooperative for the camera, so here are some silly shots I was able to get! I'm not exactly sure what she is always looking at to the left of the camera (her right), but it must be good because her eyes immediately go in that direction everytime the darn camera comes out! UGH!

Olivia and her good friend Maci - she is so excited to have Maci and a couple of kids from her last year's class in her class this year! AND, we have a super teacher, Ms. Casey who I am friends with from our church! We truly lucked out this year!!!!


Poor Liv, she woke-up yesterday morning with a serious allergy attack and they are really running her down. Hopefully within a few days they will come and go and she'll back to her energetic self, and not look so tired!!!!

First Day of Dance

Olivia had her first day of dance yesterday! She has a new teacher this year, who seems really good, Ms. Jennifer! This will be the first year she will really start to learn technique and the class will be more "serious" and not as much fun and games! I hope she still likes it! :) She also has all new girls in her class. We really miss our friends from last year, all the girls were so cute and sweet and really got to be good buddies! Hopefully the same will happen this year as they all get to know each other!