Griffy's first haircut!

Griffin had his first haircut today - at 15 1/2 months! And it was compliments of his daddy! Here are a few pictures of it...bye bye baby whispies and hello little boy!

Itching for Spring!

We had an absolutely beautiful morning today...and it has us all itching for springtime! the kids and i both get a little stir crazy when we can't get out to run around at some point during our day - but freezing cold or rainy weather obviously prevents that. this morning it was near 70 and sunny so we had an outside play date and a picnic at the Likes. it was a good change of activity for everyone and gets me excited for the months to come!

Haley's Lingerie Shower

We had a lingerie shower and a girls night out / bachellorette party for Haley while we were home as well. Lots of fun and lots of cute stuff. We had the shower at mom's and then went to a dueling piano bar afterwards. I must admit that i am pooped - we stayed out late and my dear griffy was up at 5:45 the next morning!!!

get ready joel, she's armed!!

at Red Sky

haley's performance

Can't wait to see everyone in 3 weeks for the big day!!!

Haley's Shower

Haley had her atlanta bridal shower this past weekend. the kids and i were home wed-sun and enjoyed our time there. avery got to go to haley's shower (while big daddy watched griffin) and she thought she was big stuff! she played shy at first and wouldn't talk to anyone and wouldn't let me put her down, but when some of her 2nd cousins arrived, she immediately got down and branched out. the shower was fun and haley got some good loot!





hailes and myself






haley and all the girls





ann and crystal




aunt hailes

this pic is on twice but i can't figure out how to delete it!

Kangazoom!

its been almost a week since i've posted, but we are still alive! brent and i both had a stomach bug the first half of the week so i was out of commission! but he's better and i'm almost back to normal now...

the kids and i drove down to ATL yesterday for a few days. we have 2 showers for aunt hailes on saturday so we wanted to make the best of our travel time by staying a few extra days! we met my lifelong friend (literally friends since birth) Lindsay Dye Markus and her little guy Bryce who is almost 10 months old at a "bounce-house" type place today called kangazoom. the kids had a blast climbing and falling and rolling around. i think we need to purchase one and keep griffin in it until he 2! his poor little noggin would appreciate it! today, he would climb up something, purposefully fall off, and then just lay there and belly-laugh! i enjoyed the short but precious time catching up with lindsay.

griffin and bryson

trying to keep his balance

having a "ball"

what a big girl!!

Happy Valentines!

We had a little Valentine's party today at our house with Avery's 2 best friends (Caroline and Carter) and Griffy's best buddy (Creighty). Avery and I made heart shaped cookies last night - she LOVES making cookies - she talked about it all day and had a blast doing them. Its a major mess, with flour and dough everywhere, but her excitement makes it worth it! She loves to do it all herself (she is my child) - cracking the egg, stirring up the batter, using the rolling pin, and of course the cookie cutters!

Before lunch, we let the girls have their hand at decorating the cookies. It was really funny to watch their personalities come out - Avery was wide open with sprinkles everywhere and in piles on her cookies, Carter only wanted frosting because the sprinkles were too messy, and Caroline was very detailed and particular when she did hers. They all loved it.

After lunch we took the cookies outside and let everyone eat and play for a while. We've had weather in the 65-75 range all week so its been wonderful! Great weather for sand, sidewalk chalk, and bike/wagon rides.

HAPPY VALENTINES DAY!

15 months

Dear Griffy -

you are 15 months old already! where have the days gone? We had your MD apt today and you weigh 23 lbs, 5 oz and are 30 1/4 inches long. both measurements are around the 30 percentile but your big ole noggin is close to the 97th!!! Dr. Cooley was impressed with your mischievous smile and your wild self as your ran around the room. she also promised not to turn me in for all the bruises and the scrape on your forehead. (while on the subject of the MD visit, I must add that Avery begged both the doctor and the nurse for a SHOT - a bandaid didn't cut it, she wanted a shot too!)

you are such a sweet boy but very wild. you love to climb on any and everything. i have walked into the room numerous times to find you standing on top of the little choo choo or in avery's shopping cart. thankfully you can't shimmy into chairs or the couch yet. you continue to keep a bruised forehead and have at least 1 good fall a day. I am thankful that your wild side is balanced out by a lovey side. you love to cuddle when you wake up for 5-10 minutes before doing anything. and you "check in" with me throughout the day by running to me and offering a hug and a very loud kiss, then returning to whatever you were playing with. i'm glad you are a snuggle bug!

you have finally started waving "bye-bye" and blowing kisses but are still not saying anything in english! you'll repeat things on occasion but overall, your vocab consists of mama, dada, hi/hey and "ba" (ball). you absolutely love your sister and think that anything she does is hysterical. you play well with each other (a lot of the time) and have started making up games together. your latest trick is to grab something of avery's and take off running, looking over your shoulder and laughing as she chases you! too funny!

you are a joy in our lives wild man! we love you...

Its finished!!

No more blue linoleum - I am thrilled!!! The tile is finished and looks wonderful. Brent and Mike have worked their booties off the past 3 days to get it completely done and dry enough to get everything moved back in. The quarter-round has all been cut and needs to be painted and nailed down, but other than that, its a done deal. I have learned that I don't want to live in a house where I am doing any major renovations - 3 days of the microwave in the foyer, stove in the playroom, and fridge in the living room were enough for me! Mom has been wonderful (as always) and helped me keep the kids occupied and out of the guy's hair. So THANK YOU to all involved. I love it!

the finished product

finally getting a break!

Tiling - Day 2

So the men have continued to work all day long getting all the tile down. I think they are exhausted but the floor looks great! Maybe a few advil will help ease their pains! Brent wishes some more members of McBrayer Odd Jobs INC were here to add some trash talking to the work day. Its been a little too quiet. I can't wait to see the final product..

Let the games begin!!

Mom and Mike came into town late last night for a long weekend. Brent and Mike are tiling our kitchen - yeah!! So I am posting pictures to keep all you McBrayer boys updated on our project. I know you all wish you were here! Today's goal is to get all the "S" out of the kitchen (like all the appliances and furniture) and get the backerboard glued and screwed...

Story Time Playdate!

Playgroup this week was at Border's Bookstore for their storytime. The kids all paid attention at some point but never at the same time. How someone attempts to read to a bunch of toddlers is beyond me!! I'ld never have the patience! But the kids enjoyed it!

Caroline, Carter, and Avery

Avery was front and center - go figure!

Carter, Creighty and Griffin

Running around an empty mall afterwards...

A Weighty Responsibility

Griffin is my little cuddle-bug and I am trying to take advantage of it before he is too big to hold or too cool for mommy love!! He is extra lovey at night so I like to spend just a few minutes rocking him before laying him down at night. As I was rocking him a night or 2 ago, I spent a few minutes just praying over him...and as I did that, I was really reminded of what a huge responsibilty I have. I am 100% confident that my own mother has always been and will always be my biggest prayer warrior. I know that she prays for me regularly - and that has always been a source of comfort regardless of what was going on in my life or what decisions I was facing. I can't even express how important that has been in my life...and therefore, I desire to be Avery and Griffin's biggest prayer warrior. I want them to know that from the very beginning of their lives, their mommy has loved them enough to bathe them in prayer daily. This seems like a daunting task at times when I can't even find a quiet moment in my day, but the weight of the responsibility keeps me praying. I pray that God will give me the desire and discipline for this task!

Super Bowl Party, Parnell Style

We couldn't find a sitter so we could go to the super bowl party our new life group from church was having so we had our own mini party at home! Brent picked up burgers and fries for us and a hotdog for avery (yes, i have resorted to hotdogs!). The kids ate dinner while watching the pregame show and were pretty attentive....but once the game started, they were merely a distraction for daddy!!!

Faithfulness

Great is Thy faithfulness, O God my Father;
There is no shadow of turning with Thee;
Thou changest not, Thy compassions, they fail not;
As Thou hast been, Thou forever will be.

Great is Thy faithfulness! Great is Thy faithfulness!
Morning by morning new mercies I see.
All I have needed Thy hand hath provided;
Great is Thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me!

Summer and winter and springtime and harvest,
Sun, moon and stars in their courses above
Join with all nature in manifold witness
To Thy great faithfulness, mercy and love.

Pardon for sin and a peace that endureth
Thine own dear presence to cheer and to guide;
Strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow,
Blessings all mine, with ten thousand beside!

we sang this in church this morning and i have been thinking about the lyrics ever since. i think that i overlook all the little ways God shows His faithfulness to me everyday...my prayer is that He will open my eyes to see and cause my heart to acknowledge His presence and faithfulness.