Grayson all Smiles

Grayson was full of Monkey Shines at Granny's house and I was able to get many good smiling pictures of him!
He looks so much like me nephew Jon!


Chilling under the tree after all of his hard work smiling

Stockings

I'm a little behind on the posts yet again! We opened our stockings back on the 6th on the feast of St. Nicholas. Jillian was excited to see all of the things in her stocking.
She quickly dumped everything out
and started playing with her new things

Grayson was not so interested in his stocking so Jillian helped him open his things
Jillian also got to open the big box for the whole family. We got an Elf on the Shelf. Mommy started to read the story and we discovered that we had to name our Elf. We asked Jillian what she wanted to name him but she didn't have an idea so we told her to go the fridge and bring a magnetic letter for what she wanted the name to start with. She brought the letter C and was even able to tell me that it was the letter C. Daddy came up with the name Corky and Jillian agreed.
She enjoyed reading the book and looking for Corky each day. She even obeyed all the Elf rules and never tried to touch Corky. When Santa came she asked where Corky was

Grayson's Baptism

Grayson was baptized this past Sunday. He did so great and posed for a photo session before we headed to church. Grayson was the 84th child to be baptized in the Henke baptismal dress. The dress is over 100 years old and is getting very fragile. I don't know how much longer it will make it but hopefully all of my children will be able to be baptized in it. It is a very special tradition.





Getting dressed again in Church


Making the sign of the cross on Grayson's forehead
Baptizing Grayson. He didn't even cry when the water hit his head but of course Grandpa had made sure that it was nice and warm water

Godparents Brian and Jeanette lighting the candle

Uncle Father Jim and Grayson

Visit to Santa

On Saturday we stopped by the courthouse in Hallettsville before heading to the Grahmann Thanksgiving gathering. We were 3rd in line to see Santa and didn't have to wait long. Just long enough to get our first really good family picture (at least one that I'm not in Pjs)


Grayson wasn't scared of Santa, he was just really hungry as we had not exactly timed this right but he did fairly well for his 1st time
Jillian is still not a fan of Santa! You can tell by the scowl she is giving him in this picture - she is starring him down. She did sit with Mrs. Clause and eventually told her that she wanted a baby.

Grayson Update

I feel like I have not been keeping up as well with this for Grayson as I did for Jillian but maybe that just shows that it is a lot harder with 2!

Grayson has been doing well. Mommy went back to work on the 14th just in time for his 2 month birthday. Work is going ok but it was difficult adjusting to the routine. Grayson also had his 2 month appointment on the 14th. He still only weighed 8 pounds, 14 ounces so we are still fighting with his weight. The doctor had said that he was doing well with weight gain at the end of October and now he has kind of trailed off again. When he was born he was in the 25th percentile and now he is only in the 5th. We are supposed to go back again on December 14th to see how much he weighs. He looks like he is getting bigger to me but he is still wearing newborn clothes. Grayson eats like a champ at school and his teacher is determined to fatten him up. He eats 4-5 4oz bottles each day depending on if Mommy is able to come feed him at lunch time or not. I visit him often but most of the time he is already drinking a bottle so I don't get to feed him.

He is definitely a very alert baby and he started sleeping through the night only after his 4th day of school. School must be exhausting! He goes to sleep around 10 and sleeps until about 6!

Here are some fun pictures that I hadn't had a chance to post until now

1st smile caught on camera and man did I have to work to get these. He gives them much more readily now, they are just hard to get on camera

Daddy having PJ time with the kiddos.
Jillian is being a great big sister! She likes to try to help and most of the time it is actually helpful. She has even fed him a few entire bottles. She also likes to pat him to burp and of course cram the pacifier in his mouth.

Big boy holding his head up in his Bumbo chair. Of course this only lasts for a brief time before he falls over to the side and sucks on the side of the Bumbo
We went to visit baby Konnor. Can you tell that these two are a month and a half apart in age? They are the same size - no Konnor is bigger! I guess that's ok though because Kelly was able to share some of Konnor's newborn clothes that he had already grown out of. Thanks, Kelly!

Halloween

Halloween for us started on Thursday with Boo-da Halloween. I must love my daughter because I braved the crowds and the wind by myself with both kiddos since James had to work. Jillian was very excited to go trick or treating and I told her she couldn't go without posing for a picture first...so she half cooperated. So she is supposed to be a cow but I could not find cow ears or tail so really the costume wasn't complete. All the matters though was that she thought she was a cow and would even "moo" to prove it.
One of the first people we saw downtown was Jillian's friend Avery but they both were a little confused and cold and not wanting to take pictures.
Grayson's 1st trick or treating experience
The crowds were a little difficult especially when Jillian wouldn't go up to the tables by herself (when they had costumes on). I had to kind of push her along and try to keep a hand on the stroller with Grayson. She only lost me a couple of times when coming away from a table but I would say all in all it was a success and she did quite well and was a big girl.
Jillian's daycare had a full fun day planned on Halloween and since I'm not working I was able to join them. Grayson and I hung around after taking Jillian to school and it was fun to see Jillian interact with her friends at school. Grayson also liked school and was wide awake for most of the morning.

Our little cowboy - get it cow and cowboy!
Jillian had fun doing Halloween crafts
and playing with her friends. Her and Avery did better posing for a picture here
All the kiddos ready to go trick or treating in the school


Grayson got to ride in the 4 person stroller at school with his soon to be classmates and by that time of course he was asleep

On Halloween night we headed to Lakeway with James' family for trick or treating. Grayson decided to finally give us (well Daddy) his 1st smile on Halloween. This was my attempt to get a picture. I'll have to do much better
our cow and cowboy
Jillian was such a big girl while trick or treating! What a difference a year makes. Last year she was scared and clinging to us. This year she told us several times to stop because she wanted to go the door by herself. It was so much fun to see her being so big!

Even a big girl though enjoys a good ride on Daddy's shoulders especially during long walks