Happy Easter

happy easter from the stafford family!



Mommy Moments

As a mommy I always find that I am behind the camera capturing moments of Grayson.  I need to take the time to step in front of the camera and capture moments with Grayson and I together. 

It was nice to see this tender moment that my sister captured for me with my Grayson.

I am going to start challenging myself to step out from behind the camera and take pictures of Grayson and I together.  Along with capturing more special moments with Chad and Grayson.  Because truly their are sweet and special moments that they share together each day.  I will forever have those moments in my mind, but would love to have them on paper or my blog. 

Will you join me in this challenge?

{If you do I would love to hear from you}

I have decided that at least once a week I will do a blog post for our memories that will include a picture with me and or Chad.  I don't ever want to forget the special moments that we share as a family together. 

Let's start capturing these moments TODAY!

11 Months OH MY!

Where is my baby?  He is almost 1...oh my!

But today you are 11 months and 4 days old!

I am really excited for his 1st Birthday Party and celebrating with our family and friends, however it does make me sad that Grayson is going to be one!  He is growing up so FAST! 

SLOW DOWN GRAYSON! 

What have you been up to this month:

~ You now have 5 teeth

~ Your newest TRICK is standing up all by yourself without using the furniture.  Go Grayson!

~ You are sleeping SO much better at night!  We do have our nights where you still wake up once at night. 

~ You still manage to be sick at least once a month.  I guess this is what happens when you go to daycare each day during the week. 

~ We went to the doctor a few weeks ago to have them check your cough and at that visit you weighed 18 pounds 2 ounces and you were 27 inches in length.   You haven't any weight since your 9 month appointment.  I think it is because you are CONSTANTLY on the move crawling EVERYWHERE!

~ You are eating Table Food exclusively at daycare each day for breakfast, lunch, and a snack.  But when we make it for you at home you will not eat it. 

~ You do not drink your bottles at school, they try every day and you refuse to eat.  However as soon as you see mommy or we get home you suck down a bottle.

~ You are still our NO NAPPING baby at daycare! 

~ Besides table food at daycare, at home you are eating cereal bars, cheese puffs {which are your favorite}, yogurt melts, cheerios. I still feed you baby food and you are a big FAN of veggies still.  You do not like any of the stage 3 baby food. 

~ You love playing and one of your favorite toys is playing with any type of ball.  You love to hold the balls and pick them up and throw them.  It is so cute! 

~ I have learned that you are not a morning baby.  You love to sleep in the morning.  I wish I could spend all morning snuggling with you and sleeping.  That would be PERFECT!  

~ You are wearing size 9 month PJ's and you can still fit into your 6-12 month two piece old navy pj's.  

~ You are wearing size 6-12 month clothes.  However since it has been warm I have put you into some of your 12 month clothes and they are big, but I don't want to purchase any short shelve 6-12 month clothes knowing that you will continue to grow.

~ You wear size 3 shoe

~ You are wearing size 3 diapers

~ You can clap

~ We are working on waving

~ You love playing with your friends at daycare and you just spent the past week with your cousins and had a GREAT time!

Grayson both daddy and mommy LOVE you so much!  We have one more monthly sticker post to do, but I think we will still continue your posts each month because it is a great journal for our family. 

Happy 11 Month Birthday Grayson!

Our Recent Trip

We headed to the cold and at times snowy South Dakota last Thursday through Monday to celebrate our nephews birthdays. 

here they are with their sweet mommy!

I knew it was going to be cold, but it was snowing!  I am so ready for the warm days and it was nice to come home to warmer weather.  

Needless to say with the cold weather we enjoyed time indoors at my sister's house.  Grayson had the best time playing with all of his cousins.  He was a busy boy trying to keep up with all of them.  While we were in South Dakota he mastered standing on his own.  I think if he would have spent another week playing with his cousins he would have mastered walking.  I always get nervous traveling with Grayson because I am afraid he won't nap or sleep at night.  On this trip he did AMAZING!  I am sure it had to do with all the playing he did with his cousins!   

While we were there we tried several times to get pictures taken by Amie.  I wanted Amie to take Grayson's 10 month pictures and a picture for his birthday invitation.  I think we got some really GREAT pictures.  I love his birthday invitation and I can't wait to share it with all of you.  Here is one FUN picture we got of Grayson... love him to pieces.

 
I will have to tell you getting a crawling baby to sit and get pictures is tough. 
He was EVERYWHERE! 
I am hoping we have better luck when Amie is here for Grayson's 1st birthday!  {which is next month...yikes!} 

Sunday afternoon we went to the local gymnastics school to celebrate Aidan and Drew's birthday.  It was so much fun!!!!  Grayson's two favorite things was the swing and the basketball.  I wish I could have that exact swing in our backyard on a big FAT tree.  It was so NEAT!!!!  
I am so glad that we were able to make the drive to South Dakota to spend time with my family.  It was great memories and I look forward to hosting our families in May when we all get together to celebrate GRAYSON turning 1!!!!! 

 I have so many more pictures to share from our weekend, but I don't want this post to be too long and boring for you!  I will leave you with our newest family picture. 



Wordless Wednesday Video Style

Yes I Shred

Yes I do the 30 Day Shred by Jillian Michaels and I like it!

I have gotten several emails on tips and random questions about her program that I thought I would just do a post.  They are my thoughts and so they might be all over the place, but I wanted to share with you my experience with this exercise program.   

First I am no expert when it comes to working out.  I like things that are quick and show results, otherwise I move on.  Jillian Michaels 30 Day Shred has done this for me.  It is great because I can either do it during Grayson's morning nap, during my lunch hour, or at night after Grayson has gone to bed.  Personally I prefer to do the workout during lunch.  I feel as if I am awake and have fuel in my body to really get a good workout.  If I wait until the end of the day it is tough as I have no energy left after my busy day of being a working mommy.  My first tip is finding what time of day works BEST for you.  That way when you are doing the workout you are giving it 100%.  I did get asked if I do the workout every day.  No I do not do it every day.  I really try to do it 5 days a week.  I feel that I get the best results doing it this many days.  I usually give myself a day off during the week and one day off during the weekend.  This is what works for me, but it might not work for you.  I will tell you that every time I do the workout I am so SORE!  It is hard to do the workout when I am sore, but once I get pass Circuit 1 I am doing much better and feeling great about working out.  It is something about the first circuit that gets me every time.  But during the last two circuits I have so MUCH ENERGY! 

Another tip I have is once you learn the circuits and what comes next try to focus on something else and not the TV.  I find if I focus on something else I get a better workout and the time goes by faster.  It is only 20 minutes, but it is a TOUGH 20 minutes.  If you have done the 30 Day Shred you know that there are 3 Workouts.  I usually do Level 1 always on Monday and after that I switch back and forth between Level 1 and Level 2.  I haven't tried Level 3, but I am hoping that by the end of April I will be able to do Level 3.  I should have stated earlier that I have been doing the 30 Day Shred off and on since March.  I am so HAPPY that I decided to start doing the Shred again.  I have several friends and family that have started the Shred and it is great to talk to them and hold each other accountable. 

My final tip would be during the workouts Jillian always has a girl on the workout that does the modified version follow her until you are strong enough to do the entire exercise the right way.  I personally think it is better to do the exercise the right way and take your time vs doing it incorrect.  For example during the strength section if I can only handle one weight when I am doing the exercise I only do the one weight as I want to do it correctly and get results.  I know over time I will get stronger.   

In the end you have to do what works best for you.  I personally can't always make it to the gym and giving up 20 minutes a day to workout works for me.  I hope these little tips and tricks helped.  Good Luck to all my Shred Friends and Family! 

Keep it up!  

Love

What I am loving:

Grayson has not been feeling well all week.  It started Monday with a fever, green nose, and a horrible cough that he has had for over a month.  I have had to keep him at home because of the fever, but I secretly LOVE IT!  I love the snuggle time, the play time, the moments of rocking him to sleep, I love all this extra Grayson time. 

We had a GREAT day yesterday.  Grayson napped WELL!  He eat GREAT!  He played and was so HAPPY at night.  Usually he is upset and not happy after being at daycare all day.  He is always tired and all he wants to do is go to sleep.  So yesterday was a GREAT day where we were able to ALL eat dinner together, go for a walk, give Grayson a bath together, play, and bed time.  I loved yesterday!  I wish every day was like yesterday!

Today we went to the doctor to discuss Grayson's cough and see what needed to be done.  I waited until today to see Grayson's doctor because he has been out of the office and every other doctor we see at this clinic is NO help at ALL!  Dr. S was great today.  He confirmed that Grayson does have a HORRIBLE cough and he is now on an inhaler twice a day and a antibiotic.  I love today because we FINALLY have a solution and I have HOPE that it will work.  Cough be GONE FOREVER!

Finally I am loving the 30 day Shred by Jillian Michael's.  You might think I am CRAZY for loving it, but I love the results I am seeing and the way it makes me feel.  In fact Chad did the workout last night with me and he thought it was GREAT.  He is going to try doing it twice a week with me.  I laughed a lot while we were working out together.  It was a great time together after putting Grayson to bed last night.  Another reason why I LOVED yesterday. 

This post can't be complete without a few pictures of my baby that I love to pieces.  These pictures are from our weekend trip. 

look at that face...

first Popsicle on a WARM spring afternoon

this is the way Grayson crawled on the patio

Grayson is getting so brave and stands up all the time on his own...watch out world this little guy will be walking soon!

Grayson and Socks! 

I took this picture yesterday and shared it on Facebook and Twitter.  It is one of my new FAVORITE pictures of my babies!

What are your loves today? 

Wordless Wednesday



Grayson is not feeling well so I haven't had any time to blog.  Hoping by this weekend Grayson is feeling better.  I don't like having a SICK baby!