Jack, Jack and more Jack

Mr. Jack has had a busy couple of days!

It started after Mimi's on Sunday evening. When we got home I laid him down on a blanket on the floor so he could play. Before I knew it, he had just rolled right on over! Denny was still unloading the car because we had literally just walked in, so I was only able to get a still picture of him, but at least it's something to document his first roll! :)

"Whoa... how did I get here...???" Hey mom!

Then Monday, we had his 4 month well visit... and started cereal!

Jack is still growing like a weed, but has slowed down on his weight! Here are his stats...
Weight = 15 lbs. 6 oz. - 75th%
Height = 27 1/4 inches - greater than 95th%
Head = 45th%



Dr. B gave Jack a glowing report, then the mean ole nurses came in for his shots, and then we were on our way!

I really dreaded starting cereal only because it's such an obligation, the bottle is just so easy and convenient when you're out to eat, or even when you're just at home! And really, it just means that my little guy is rapidly growing up! :( But it was fun to see his reaction and start a new little chapter in his life. I can remember when gave Olivia cereal for the first time so clearly!

I don't really think Jack knew what to make of it.... Needless to say, I don't think he'll be eagerly awaiting his cereal dinner tomorrow night! :)
This picture really says it all! He never cried, but you could tell he was not loving it!

Ah... finally done!

Christmas at Mimi's

We had such a busy but fun weekend! We ended it with our annual Gray Family Christmas at Mimi's house! I can't believe that a 90 year old woman still demands to do everything herself and entertain our family of 14! She is so stubborn, she refuses any help!

As always we had a lot of fun! It's always so good to see everyone and watch the kids play together! I didn't get a picture of Olivia and Laurel playing, but they were literally out of sight the entire time, playing in Mimi's "TV room". It was so sweet seeing them play together, in the very room that I played with my cousins, Mel and Liz, many moons ago, as Mimi would say!

Liz, Jack and Presley

(this was the only pic of Jack as he was either sleeping or eating for the rest of the afternoon!)

Presley and Gray - These 2 are hysterical! They absolutely just love each other, they are two peas in a pod! They climbed up on Mimi's bed and were pretending to sleep... snoring and all!

All of the great-grandchildren - sans Jack, he was taking a snooze!

The 3 girls - Me, Mel, Liz (and Ed and Bryan in the background)

When we got home I thought I'd try a picture of the kids together since they were both dressed up. See below for how well it went! :)

And last, but not least, Olivia with her favorite gift from Mimi's Christmas, a stuffed pony from Uncle Ed! She has been carting this horse around all day. We have even made a bed for it in her room, and it had to come with her to Kennedy's today because Olivia did not want to leave the horse home alone!

Olivia's Christmas Program and Party

Last Wednesday Olivia had her Christmas program and party at school! I was scared we were going to miss it yet again (she was sick last year and missed both!) because she had been sick since Sunday and missed school on Monday. But thankfully she was feeling much better by Tuesday and was able to make it this year!

Unfortunately her class got the back row, so we could hardly see her, and we were in the 2nd row of the audience! So the picture is not great, that's for sure! But she is in the back row, towards the left.

Back in the classroom for the party!

My little Rudolph eating her donut!

After their snack they had a book exchange.

Olivia and Maci - don't they look like such big girls!

Someone please tell me why

this sweet little boy
keeps waking up SCREAMING in the middle of the night!!!

Jack usually has an awake period around 5:00 a.m. He'll wake up, play, laugh, talk, etc.... However, he has not been so happy the last 2 nights! Wednesday night he woke up at 5:30 a.m. and cried and cried. I finally got him back to sleep after an hour of holding, walking and rocking. Then last night he woke up at 11:30, 4:00, and again at 5:30! At 11:30 and 4:00 we were able to get him back to sleep relatively easy. We had to pick him up which is not typical, but he quickly calmed down and went back to sleep. But at 5:30, it was not so easy! He was completely inconsolable! No matter what we did he was screaming and super wiggly! Which is so not like him!!! Usually, even if he is upset he calms down if we pick him up. I finally gave in and fed him for like 5 minutes. It seemed to do the trick. He was awake when we put him back in bed, but talked and laughed until he fell asleep, like he usually does. And then he slept until his normal time of about 7:30!

I don't know if it's a milk supply issue, like maybe he's not getting enough anymore throughout the day, just a phase, or something else. I am all for letting him cry it out and cry himself to sleep, and we've even tried that. But he is SO upset, it just feels like there is something wrong and that is why he's not sleeping. Whatever the reason Denny and I are desparately trying to figure it out! We have been spoiled by Jack's great sleeping and are at a loss! :)

I think we may try to give him some cereal tonight and see if that helps. My dr. wanted me to wait until we came in for his 4 mo. well visit, but desperate times... :) His appt. is Monday so, we aren't jumping the gun too much!

If anyone has any suggestions or ideas we are happy to hear them!

Look Who's Four Months Old!!!

It's our sweet baby Jack! And yes, I have to say it every month... I cannot believe it has already been 4 full months since this sweet little baby came into our lives! I honestly feel like I just posted his 3 month update! And I'm sure the next month will go by even quicker because of the holidays! But on Sunday Jack became the big 4 months! I am a little disappointed that we couldn't get in for his well visit until December 22nd because I am dying to know how big our big boy really is! He is super long, that much I know for sure! But I can't wait to find out his percentiles!

So, for now, we'll just have to make due with other ways he is growing up! Not a whole lot has changed in a month really! He is still the same happy, smiley, laughing boy he has been. Still a great sleeper (even at naps now), and great eater... obviously! Now, if only he could get some hair.... He seems to have my slow growing roots poor kid! At least he's a boy though! And for the life of me I can't really tell if he's going to be blonde or have more Olivia's color of hair. Some days I swear he'll be a toe head, and then other days I'm certain it will be darker! I guess only time will tell!

He has finally gotten some better control of his noggin and is enjoying his Bumbo seat.

(I feel horrible I cropped Liv out of this picture. But it was so good of him, and not so good of her.... eyes half open, looking drugged.... she'll forgive me one day I'm sure! It's a shame too b/c she was actually looking at the camera and slighly smiling!)

He is liking to stand more and more, and is really close to rolling over from his back to front! He was SO close last night, I took some pictures only to upload them and realize, it just looks like he's lying on his side. But I promise, in person, he was so close to doing it. He just needs to get over that shoulder! He's got the hip in gear!

He had a hold of his sleeve and he was really tugging at it, like c'mon, move already!

So, all in all, he is doing great, and we are enjoying his sweet disposition! As soon as we go see Dr. B, I'll be sure to update, as I'm sure you are all sitting on the edge of your seats! :)

Christmas Parade

Denny, Olivia, Jack and I went to our first Neiman Marcus Adolphus Children's Christmas Parade yesterday! Our friends, The Lewis', go every year and when she told me about it I thought, what a fun tradition! With some guidance from Stacy (and a reminder from Allison), we decided to stay at The Magnolia Hotel the night before since it is right next to the Adolphus and obviously on the parade route! It made things so much easier the morning of the parade! I am really SO glad Stacy shared this tradition with us because it was so much fun!!! As we drove into downtown Denny and I were remarking on how we never leave our bubble of the Plano/Frisco area and it's sad because there is a big, wide world out there and we just never think of exploring anything outside of our bubble. We felt like we were in another country or something. It has been so long since I've been to downtown Dallas!

I will say the check-in process was not perfect. We couldn't get in front of the hotel to valet because there were so many people also wanting to check in so, after circling the block, we self-parked at a garage down the street. Sounds simple, but when you've got a pre-schooler, a baby, a pack-and-play, 4 camping chairs, and all of our bags, it was quite humorous watching us waddle down the block and into the hotel!

The Nelson's also decided to join in on the fun and were there as well. So after we were all checked in (in neighboring rooms no less), we headed out to dinner.

On our way, we ran into Santa in the lobby! Olivia was being a little shy and would not sit with Santa, or stand by him, by herself. So we both got to tell him what we wanted for Christmas! :) Olivia's big wish list item this year is Emily from the American Girl collection.

Allison and sweet baby Beck, Jack's BFF!

The Lewis Girls

The hotel had milk and cookies for the kids, so of course, we had to partake! Olivia never turns down a dessert!

After milk and cookies we called it a night and went up to bed! The next morning we were up early and the guys went to set our chairs out to ensure us good seats for the parade. They did great, we were the 2nd row right outside the hotel! The Magnolia also had a great breakfast buffet, so we chowed down, then bundled up and went to our seats!

Here is our little Jack all bundled up and having fun, well, enjoying himself at least!

Olivia was so excited to see what was coming next in the parade!

I love this picture! Jack looks so scared! At the time a marching band was going by and he did not know what to make of them! Hard to believe that he actually slept through most of the parade!

My sweet girl!

And a few of her favorites...

My Little Pony's Pinkie Pie

Rudolph

And last but not least, Santa!

It really was so much fun and something we will look forward to doing every year! I highly recommend it to anyone who lives in the area with kids! What a great way to kick off the holidays!

Thanksgiving in Austin

Thanksgiving this year was a little different for us! Every year since Denny and I have been married we have traveled to Houston for Thanksgiving. His parents host dinner and there are usually at least 20 people there... all family! It is so much fun to see everyone and catch up, so I was wondering what in the world we would do this year since Bumpa and Gigi have moved to California. So when they told us they would be spending the holiday in Austin (the UT/A&M game was on Thanksgiving Day) we jumped on board! We will make any excuse to visit our favorite place!



We decided to drive down a little early, on Tuesday, so we could spend some time with some of our friends that still live there! We were so grateful that our drive went really well! Both Jack and Olivia were great! Seriously, it could not have been any easier! Until we actually got into town! :) Denny and I were using his Garmin navigation thing and decided that we knew well enough where we were going that we didn't need to listen to Ms. Garmin! What a mistake! Basically, we took a wrong turn which costed us about 20 minutes we did not have! It was way past Jack's time to eat as it was, and he had a dirty diaper! Not fun! So, moral to this story... "The machine is never wrong!" (For all you Office fans out there! Denny and I laughed so hard! We had just watched that episode of the Office and kept repeating that quote!)


Once we arrived all was well and we freshened up, and fed Jack, and headed out to a friend of ours new home! We visited there awhile and then went to Chuy's for dinner with Nad and Elizabeth, Owen and Lisa and their daughter Laney, and Noodle. It was so crowded and after the wait for our table I was too busy feeding Jack, so I took zero pictures... I am so sad!


That night Owen and Lisa were kind enough to let us stay with them! So the next day we went to check into our hotel room and get settled in! We stayed at the Embassy Suites at the Arboretum! And for any of you with children that travel to Austin, I highly recommend it! They have a small pond which is home to some beautiful (and huge) coi fish, as well as 2 swans, Butch and Sundance! That was pretty much the highlight of the trip for Olivia. And as I type this I am remembering that again, no pictures!!!! UGH! Where was my head!?!?


Anyway... after we unpacked a little we decided we all needed naps! When we all got up, sweet little Jack was not quite ready to wake up! He had been sleeping in my arms (it was so great!) and I laid him down on the bed to see if he would wake up...... I just thought this picture was cute... and check out those chubby thighs! I could just eat them!!!!!!!!!!!!

Once we were all finally awake we went down the the Co-op to purchase some Longhorn apparel for the game the next day! Here in the parking lot they have erected this ginormous Bevo statue.

And after the Co-op we met up with Bumpa and Gigi, and Ryan and Nicole, for dinner.

Jack was in such a great mood at dinner, he would not quit smiling!


Our other one was pretty happy as well! She had Gigi all to herself at the end of the table! She had been patiently waiting her arrival!

The next day was Thanksgiving and we had decided to go to Threadgill's to get our turkey and dressing! It was packed!!!! So thankfully Denny and Bumpa went early to put our name on the list and Gigi and I came later with the kids!

Ryan and his girlfriend Nicole also joined us. Aren't they quite the handsome couple!?

Olivia was not in the mood for lunch, so she just colored!
And Jack slept!

After lunch we once again went back to the hotel to rest! Then it was off to the tailgate for the game!

Adam and his girlfriend, Diedre came up for the game! I am really sad I didn't get to talk to them more, so I look forward to doing so at Christmas!

Sweet little Jack hanging at the tailgate before the game!

Believe it or not this is our FIRST picture of all four of us since Jack has been born! Isn't that sad! Hopefully there will be more in our future!

Ryan, Denny, Adam and Alex - all the brothers! Kevin was definitely not forgotten, he was in our hearts and our minds! :)

The Graney/Stungis Clan!
And another rarity... the entire family! Wait... who is that jerk that jumped into our family photo? Of course, it's Owen! Not to worry though! I have already "cropped" a version of this picture so that it is truly just family! Sorry Owen! :)

WOW! That is one l-o-n-g post! I hope I didn't bore any of you to tears! But we had such a wonderful time with all of our family and friends, which is what Thanksgiving is all about! I hope we have started a new tradition... at least every other year! :) And I hope you and your families had a blessed holiday as well!