ellee's "tandy" house

I was in Costco with my Mom last week and they had their Ginger Bread Houses out!  I had to snag one.  This is the first year that Ellee is old enough to do stuff like this!  So much fun!
Last Thursday after we saw Santa, I brought the Ginger Bread House out for her to decorate.  She got so excited when she saw all the candy!  She spent a good hour and a half decorating.  And of course half of it ended up getting eaten before it even made it onto the house! Best ten bucks I've spent in a while! :)  Here are some snapshots of the decorating process!

 decorating "tandy" houses take so much concentration!

 so proud of her finished house!

Santa!

We went and saw Santa a week ago. As you can see from the pic Tucker was not phased by sitting on the strange man with a beard's lap! On the other hand that was not the case with Ellee!  Like last year she would go nowhere near him. We were able to get a pic with her on it, but Shayne and I had to be in it also. We wont be sharing that one! Next year I think Shayne and I will make sure we are presentable before we see Santa! ;-)

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I'm back!

Life has been busy!  I had all these plans for a summer re-cap post in September, but as you can see that didn't happen!  I have decided to skip that.  I am hoping to get some highlights up as I go through pictures from the Summer, Fall, and now Winter.  We will see though, no promises. :)

So.... now that Tucker is 6 months old, I thought I should probably make time to start posting again.  I'm hoping to post regularly, but between working full time and being a full time mom I don't get much free time!  But, I will try! :)

Here is Tucker at his 6 month well check.  His current stats are: 14 lbs 8.5 oz (5th percentile), 27 inches long (32nd percentile) and 41.2 cm head circumference (3rd percentile).

He is our Perfect, Healthy, Baby Boy!

He is babbling, sitting up, playing with toys, eating solids, smiling up a storm and giggling at all the silly things his big sister does!  We are so blessed with 2 beautiful, healthy kiddos!

Well, I guess that is it for tonight.  Stay tuned for some holiday posts! :)

summer break.

Apparently, I took an unintentional summer break from blogging.  WOW!  Have we been busy this summer!  Between our new addition Tucker and all the birthdays/weddings/shower, etc. I haven't had much time to blog. Not to mention the lack of sleep!  It is all worth it though! And as much as we have enjoyed our summer, I am looking forward to the fall and having things slow down a bit.  I promise I will get an update with some pictures from all our summer activities up soon!  Stay tuned! :)

Tucker's big sister.

This is one of my favorite photos of when Ellee met her baby brother for the first time.

Click on the photo to see more of Ellee's visit! :)

Tucker's BIRTHday story.

I started having mild sporatic contractions Thursday night (June 9th).  I didn't really think much of them because I had been having them for the past couple weeks off and on.  When I woke up Friday morning they were still there so I started to get hopeful, although they were still pretty sporatic.  Because they weren't painful I decided to go to work.  They stayed pretty sporatic and not so painful through out my shift at work.  I kept telling my co-workers that I just had this feeling I would be headed to the hospital that day!

After work I went to pick up Ellee from my Mom's and we decided to go to this garage sale that I heard had some baby items.  (I found a changing table for only $30.  It is in great shape!) While my Mom and I were there the contractions started to get a little stronger and more frequent.  After we left we went back to her house and Ellee and I headed towards home.  Before I left I told my Mom that I had this feeling that we would be calling her later to head to the hospital!  On our way home we stopped at a friends house where Shayne was helping them with some side work.  Ellee and I hung out while Shayne worked.  The contractions started getting closer and closer and begining to be a bit more painful!  Around 6 pm I told Shayne it was time to go!!! We rushed home and Ellee and I waited in the car while Shayne took a quick shower...we didn't want him all stinky while I was trying to deliver!

Finally we headed out.  We dropped Ellee off with Greg and my Mom rode with us to the hospital.  Contractions by then were about every 3 minutes and I think painful would describe how they felt!  We finally made it to the hospital and I got all checked in and settled.

I'm really bummed that we didn't get any pictures of us with Ellee before we headed into the hospital, but by the time we had gotten to my Mom and Greg's Ellee was passed out and we didn't want to wake her.  Oh well.

 The view from my room.  Not that I enjoyed it much...haha! : )

I think this was still pre-epidural.  It had to have been between contractions!

Because I was Group Beta Strep (GBS) positive at the begining of my pregnancy I had to have 2 rounds of antibiotics before I delivered Tucker.  Thankfully they were able to get both rounds in before delivery.  It saved him having to get a round of them!

By the time I was halfway through the 1st round I was really ready for that epidural!!!  I should have gotten it before they started the 1st dose of antibiotics, but I was trying to be tough...mistake.

After the epidural I felt much better!  (I really recommend the epidural!  For me it made the experience much more enjoyable!)

It seemed like it wasn't to much longer and they told me it was time to push. 

Here we are with my nurse just before delivery.  When she checked me for the last time she was so surprised she could see Tucker's head!!

I gave 1 big push and 2 little ones and Tucker Joshua Gray was born at 1:16am on Saturday, June 11, 2011. 

Words cannot describe!♥

My Mom did the honors of cutting the chord.

Proud Daddy! 

7 pounds 12 ounces, 19-3/4 inches long. 

 Grandma Katie and Tucker.

 Grandpa Scott and Tucker.

 Grandmom Lane and Tucker

Putting aside all the pain from the contractions, giving birth is the most amazing experience I think I will ever go through!  Words cannot even describe what it feels like to carry a child for 9 months and then after all that waiting to see their sweet face!  Tucker Joshua Gray is such a blessing and we are so blessed that God chose him to be apart of our family! ♥

Maternity Photos

Okay, Okay!  It has been a while!!  We have been Busy with a CAPITAL B!!  Between all the birthdays in June and well the arrival of our little man Tucker it has been hard to sit down and blog!  So, I'm going to try and play catchup!  I guess I will start with Tucker's maternity photos.  Here are some of my favs!

 one of my all time favorite photos of the 2 of us!

 sweet ellee kisses.

 love this face!

It was so hard to pick just a few to be my favorites!  Pat Thomas at Gig Harbor Photography did an amazing job!  If you want to see a few more photos go HERE!

37 & 38 weeks!

I guess her hands were cold...

I went into check on Ellee before I went to bed last night and found her like this...

Her new this is saying: "Sup Dude".  It is the cutest thing ever!  Shayne said she put the mittens on before getting in her crib and kept saying "Sup Dude".  She is such a character and makes us laugh everyday!!! : )

missing socks?

Just thought I would share this great idea I came across.  I'm not even sure where I heard about it, but it is genius!
I don't know about you... but, I don't know how many times I have washed Ellee's clothes and gone to fold them and the washer or dryer (not sure which is the culprit) has eaten one or two or three of her socks, leaving only one of a pair.

I have discovered a solution! 

LINGERIE BAGS!!!

As you throw the dirty clothes in the hamper, just put the socks in a lingerie bag!  When you do the load of laundry throw the bag in with and WALLAH! ALL the socks are in one place!  The washer or dryer can't eat them because the are trapped! : )

Last night I put 11 pairs of socks in this handy lingerie bag and when the laundry was done I had, count 'em, 11 pairs of socks!!! : )

I wish I had discovered this idea sooner!!!  I might have been able to rescue more pairs of socks! Hehe! : )

Mowing with Daddy.

Last week we had one of those rare sunny days and Shayne decided to take advantage and mow the lawn. Ellee wanted nothing to do with staying inside with Mom!  It was close to bedtime and she was already in her PJ's.  So I bundled her up with hat, coat and lets not forget her rubber boots! (she LOVES her rubber boots!)

She watched from the sidelines for a while, but then ran out to join him!

"wait for me Daddy!"

"Fives!"

Helping Daddy push the mower!

I'm thinking it's never to early to teach them how to do chores! Hehe! : )