Rain or Shine

With the cold weather gone and the mild weather at our doorsteps, the boys are always eager to get outside. Rain or shine, they want to be outside. And for this reason, I love our house even more. Being able to send the boys out to play and keep an eye on them from anywhere on the main floor of the house is wonderful. If they want to go outside but dinner needs to be made, no problem. If they want to go outside but I need to tidy up all the toys scattered about the living room, no problem.

I am so excited for summer this year (not so much for the heat and humidity). Our boys are truly outdoor kids and I never thought I would say this but I am excited to spend all of our time outdoors (and that's saying a lot because I am not a fan of the heat...I much prefer the comforts of the air conditioning). 

There are so many things I want to do this summer like go to the zoo and have Joshua help me with my gardening and spend lots of time at the wadding pool and splash pad (especially now that Grayson is old enough to enjoy it as much as Joshua) and have picnics and go on bike rides. 

The summer holds so many possibilities for us and I can't wait.

Funny Things the Boys Do

Grayson has this fairly new thing where he helps himself to snacks. It was cute at first, but now we are seriously considering putting child locks on the pantry doors. The only reason why we haven't is because we have a pretty strong hunch that it will cause Grayson to have a bit of a meltdown because this kid wants what he wants (#wantswhathewants should be his hashtag).

Three of his favourite things to take out of the pantry are cereal, crackers, and boxes of mac and cheese (no buddy, I am not making you mac and cheese for breakfast or for a snack before bed). His all time favourite has to be the crackers though because he can play a game of "come chase me Suka" with the dog. He loves it. As soon as he grabs a cracker, he's off running and occasional looks behind him to make sure Suka is chasing after him. It's cute for the first 5 minutes, but then turns tiresome when Suka eats the crackers on him.

Grayson's love of snacks is also why he was given the nickname Gus Gus, who is the mouse that is always eating in Cinderella.

Our little Gus Gus can be quite busy but his kisses, giggles, and big smiles always brighten our days.

New Words

Grayson is turning into such a little boy. He definitely isn't a baby anymore. He's independent but affectionate at the same time. He is also very determined and wants what he wants. It seems each day he is learning new words or using words he already did know in the proper context. It's so cute to watch him communicate because like Chris, this kid loves to talk.

Here's a few of the things Grayson says:

Mama

Daddy (he tends to say this one pretty loudly)

Joshua (pronounced you ah)

I did it

I don't know (as he lifts up his hands and shrugs)

Yes

Nnnnno

What's that?

Please (in sign language)

More (in sign language)

MmmHmmmm

 

 

Grayson also has a few expressions and one of my favourites is when he acts surprised. His face becomes serious and he makes an "o" with his mouth. And then his faces bursts into a huge grin. It's adorable. 

 

We get a kick out of his communication with us. It's just so much fun.

 



Handsome and Handy

Two weekends ago, Chris and I decided to start finishing our basement. There really is no good time to start something like this so we decided “why not now?” to which I could give a whole list of reasons like our wedding and I want a baby! We bought some insulation, rented some sort of really loud and obnoxious tool from a store, and off we (and by we I mean Chris, his dad, and his uncle) went installing the insulation. Next, there was some taping and ta-da, just like that the insulation was installed.

Last weekend we purchased the lumber for framing and Chris got started framing the basement with the help of his dad (all the while I was able to have a Grey’s Anatomy marathon…I’m being helpful by staying out of the way). Then, Sunday evening rolled around. Chris was working on the basement when he said something along the lines of “Kelsey, I think I need your help.” Here I was thinking he wanted my opinion or my help standing a wall, easy peasy, but no, he came up the stairs with blood running down his arm. Things that ran through my mind were “what is wrong, why is he so calm, breathe Kelsey, breathe, don’t pass out, you can do this, look at it, breathe”…you’d think I was the one who needed to go to the hospital. Five stitches later and Chris was back to normal…well, almost because he is a bit of a suck when he is in pain (and he admits this too).

This weekend Chris continued with the basement (and a few evenings this past week). Then, Sunday rolled around, and I hear him come up the stairs with a few choice words. Luckily, there was no hospital visit, but there is a very swollen and bruised thumb from a hammer incident. So in my personal opinion, he should not be working on the basement on Sundays.

The framing is almost done…Chris just needs to finish framing the landing at the bottom of the stairs and then the hallway on the other half of the basement (the half with the hallway will be finished down the road and be a bathroom and bedroom….right now, his priority is the play room man cave).

Funny Things the Boys Do

Now that the boys are getting a bit older and interacting more and more with each other, Chris and I have noticed that they get into a lot of shenanigans. Because of this, we often refer to them as our hooligans or Thing 1 and Thing 2. Grayson also has the nickname Gus Gus, who is a mouse from Cinderella who loves his snacks so the nickname is very fitting for Grayson.

Since the boys do so many things, I’m going to start posting some of the fun ones (or at least fun to us) as a way to remember the small moments that brightened our day.

So here goes:

This past weekend, Joshua got to spend the day with Gramma and Granpa after church. So Gramma (my claustrophobic mom) took Joshua to a large indoor playground that had big enclosed slides and lots of tunnels. Of course, Joshua wanted to share all of the fun he was having with Gramma and insisted she come play with him. When they got to the top of the playground and Gramma was trying to convince Joshua to go down the slide, he thought it would be a great idea that she try it out first and he pushed her down. Now, I found this story hysterical (and I am told that all of the other parents and grandparents at the playground did as well). I can only imagine the shrieks they heard as she was coming down the slide and how proud Joshua must have been when he met her at the bottom.

Now, to make this story even better, Gramma is going to have to take Joshua back because all he talks about now is going to this indoor playground. Case in point, Joshua was sound asleep last night with his sheet pulled over his head. When I pried pulled the sheet out from under him, he woke up and sat straight up and exclaimed “go to indoor playground, mama?” He’s a monkey!

And as for Grayson, the other night, Chris and I were having a late dinner since the boys had already eaten. When I got home with the boys, we let them play for a bit before bed and Chris and I were catching up on our days in the kitchen. Grayson strolled into the kitchen and wanted the fridge opened (which he can sometimes do on his own but he normally tries to open it from the wrong side). I assumed he was just going to grab his sippy cup of milk, but nope, he had grabbed a piece of cooked chicken (it had already been cut in preparation of our dinner) and walked away from the fridge with his snack. He was pretty proud of himself with his discovery. And this is why the nickname Gus Gus is so fitting.

Christmas 2015

I know I’m a little late on this post, but I still want to write about Christmas.

This Christmas has been the most amazing Christmas. I cannot properly describe in words how incredible it was. I’m not just saying this because of our engagement, I’m saying this because weeks before Christmas I couldn’t wait to wrap the boys’ gifts, and the weeks leading up to Christmas and watching Joshua’s excitement build was so sweet.

On Christmas Eve, we spent the late afternoon and evening with Chris’ family. Our town does a Christmas Eve parade which the boys really enjoyed. That evening, once we were home, we got Grayson to bed and wouldn’t you know it, Santa Claus made a special phone call to Joshua! Earlier that day, Chris had changed his parents’ contact in his phone to show Santa so when Chris’ dad called as Santa, Santa’s face appeared on the phone. Joshua was so excited! And every time Santa mentioned he was going to bring gifts for him and Grayson for being so good, Joshua would say “and mama too!” Talk about melting my heart!

On Christmas morning, I woke up at 4:30 and had a really hard time falling back asleep. I was so excited…I hadn’t been that excited for Christmas since I was a child myself. When 7:30 rolled around, Chris and I got up, made coffees, turned on all the lights downstairs, and then woke up the boys. The first thing Joshua exclaimed was “it’s Christmas morning!” We filmed him walking down the stairs so we could capture his reaction to the Christmas tree. He was ecstatic that Santa had brought him and his brother gifts. He knew that that Pirate Jake wrapped gifts were for him from Santa and the Cars were for Grayson from Santa. He was so good at bringing gifts to Grayson and he was so patient.

Excited for his Paw Patrol wall decals

 On a little bit of a side note here, I have to mention a gift I got for Chris. His favourite Christmas movie is A Christmas Story and we watch it every year together (even though I really do not care for it). Chris always jokes around in a serious manner that he wants a leg lamp to proudly display in our front window for his man cave in the basement. Well, being the great girlfriend (now fiancé!!) that I am, I bought him a leg lamp, it just happens to be a travel mug. This is my clever way of saying “sorry dear, but we will not be buying a leg lamp any time soon.”

Needed a break from unwrapping gifts

Playing with their new toy

Later that morning, Chris’ family came over to have breakfast and open gifts and then in the afternoon, my family came over, including our newest nephew Nikos. We enjoyed Christmas dinner with them and Joshua was completely in awe of his baby cousin. He would have held him all day if he had the chance.

This Christmas was magical. I cannot wait to see the excitement in Joshua and Grayson’s eyes next year! 

A Very Special Christmas Eve

I love the holidays. There is something about Christmas time that makes me feel so happy inside, all warm and fuzzy. This year, I could not wait for Christmas. The only thing better than Christmas as a child is Christmas when you have children. 

Last year, Chris and I decided to make wrapping gifts on Christmas Eve a tradition. It's fun to just lounge around in comfy clothes, sit by the fire, sip on wine, and wrap gifts for the people you love. So that's exactly what we did. A Christmas story was on in the background and lucky for me, it got switched out for Christmas music instead. The Christmas music led to dancing while we were putting the wrapped gifts under the tree, which I loved.

As I was putting the last gift under the tree and fixing the gift tag on it, Chris said my name. When I turned around, he was down on one knee with a ring box in his hands. He opened it and asked me to marry him. I was in shock, completely surprised. I let out a surprised gasp and heard Chris say "well?" to which I responded "YES! YES! YES!" 

I am happier than I have ever been before. Chris has shown me what true love is and what true love feels like and I cannot wait to be his bride and future wife. He is my Prince Charming, the one I thought only existed in fairy tales. Chris is my happily ever after!