"RALPH the HAIR DRESSER"

This post is dedicated to my DAD!!

For those of you who know my handsome Dad he always has his hair combed perfectly! In fact it is a very rare occasion when it is found out of place!! Even after swimming, water skiing, biking with a helmet, or working in the yard somehow it still holds its place!! And even most mornings after he wakes up his hair is still perfect!! But, there are times every now and again when Dad wakes up with his hair sticking out in every different direction! Growing up this was a rare but definitely funny treat for us kids to see! I'm not sure where he got this but on those mornings he would always tease us that "Ralph the Hair Dresser" came to visit in the night and did his hair!!!!
So the other day I went and got Grayer out of his crib after a good long nap and this is what I found... (click on pictures for better detail:)

I Guess "Ralph the Hair Dresser" has more than one client!!!

LOVE YOU GRANDPA!!!

FUN VISITS!!!!!

August has been a fun month for us because we have been able to visit friends and family!! My sister, Megan, had her baby girl a couple weeks ago and so we made the trip to Bloomington, Indiana to meet sweet little baby Eva!!! On our way there we stopped in Indianapolis to see our friends, Triest and Ross, and there baby boy, Gabe!! It was so great to see them again and to talk and laugh about old times!! We tried to do a photo shoot with Grayer and Gabe together but it wasn't very successful, all Grayer wanted to do was touch and poke at Gabe which then made Gabe cry so these are the best pictures we got...


After our visit in Indianapolis we made our way to Bloomington. We always have tons of fun when we visit the Whiting family, but this trip was extra special because, we got to see new baby Eva and also my MOM was there!!! She hadn't seen Grayer since he was 2 months old, so this visit was long overdue! It was so fun to see her again and for Grayer to be with his Grandma! We were sad that my Dad couldn't come but look forward to seeing both him and my Mom again in October!!!
We also got to meet up with Andy's best high school friend and his wife while we were there! They were in the process of driving/moving to Boston and it just worked out that they we driving through at the same time we were there!!! We were glad to see them again!
Anyway here are a few pictures of our time in Bloomington...
Little Eva - so precious!

Grayer and Grandma - he loves her!

Playing in the fountain


Grayer and Mommy - he loves her too!!

Swimmin' Time

CRAWLING!!!

At 7 months old Grayer is officially a crawler!! He has been working at it for the past couple of weeks trying to get his hands and knees to work together to make him go forward. At first he could only do one at a time, either the hands or the knees, which would cause him to move backwards! This, of course, drove him crazy because he would see something he wanted in front of him but kept moving further and further away from it because his hand and knee coordination wasn't in sync. But he has finally got it!!! He is still a little wobbly and slow but he is getting better and better everyday! It won't be long and he will get away from me faster than I can blink!!! This is a video we took today of Grayer going after Andy's empty bowl of soup!!!

6 MONTH PICTURES!!

WARNING:

Adoring parents trying to decide which pictures to buy,

EQUALS...

A picture overload and an empty wallet!!!
But, can you blame us!!??!!

We missed you Daddy!!

This past week Grayer and I drove to Bloomington, IN to visit/help my cute pregnant sister in her last weeks of pregnancy!!

So, with Grayer in his car seat we left
our daddy and husband at home and made the 6 hour dive!!

Megan's husband was out of town so it was just us sisters and we had tons of fun together!!!
We did lots of fun things together including making quiet books and canning chicken!!

We also went swimming a couple of times

We went to the park and played on the toys

And Grayer had his first taste of carrot

We love you Daddy and are glad to be home!!!

SLEEP & TEETH

Grayer has started this new thing where he sleeps with his legs tucked under him so his little bum sticks up in the air!! I think it is so funny the different positions babies and little kids can get themselves into while they sleep. It's a wonder that they don't wake up after turning circles in bed or even that their limbs don't fall asleep! So here are some pictures of Grayer in his new favorite sleeping position!!! So CUTE!!


He also has had another tooth come in and so he now has two bottom teeth poking up. He is not so good at showing them off yet, every time I go to look at them he covers them with his tongue! So these are the best pictures I could get of his two little teeth!!
(If you click on the picture to enlarge it you can see them better:)

UPDATE

I just realized that it has almost been two months since I updated our blog. I guess we have either been extremely busy that I haven't had time to blog or we just don't have anything new or much going on to blog about. I can't decide which one it is because these past two months have blown by so fast and yet I can't think of anything to report. So I guess I will just give a quick summary of what we have been up to.
In June Andy and I celebrated our 4th wedding anniversary !! Wow, how time flies! We had a great time celebrating together and we love being married to each other!!!!
We also have both recently received new callings in our ward. Andy is the ward organist and also the 2nd counselor in the Elder's Quorum Presidency. I am an advisor in the Young Womens. Andy has really enjoyed his Elder's Quorum calling because he has never had a calling that did not involve music in some way, so this calling has allowed him to grow in ways that he has never been able to before. And, I absolutely love being in the Young Womens. I have been busy preparing lessons, going to mutual each week, and youth conference! Our program is small but the girls are great and I love serving them.
Grayer, is growing like a WEED!!! I can't believe that tomorrow is his 6 month birthday!! He is growing up way too fast and I would really appreciate it if he would slow down. It seems like he changes every day! Right now he is tackling his first tooth!! Poor baby! It is just barely poking through, but he sure lets us know when it hurts! Thank goodness for Tylenol and Teething Tablets!!
He is at such a fun age right now. He loves to talk, scream, sing, gurgle, squeal, laugh, and make any other noise that will get our attention! He is getting stronger and more balanced and can pretty much sit up on his own now!! He loves to play with his toys and with his Mommy but will take play time with his Daddy over anything in the world! He is as cute as can be with his big blue eyes and new spiky hair do, we love our Grayer Bear!!

As a family we have taken some fun road trips. The Mormon Tabernacle Choir was in Cincinnati a couple weeks ago so we got tickets and made the trip! It was a great concert! We met my sister, Megan, and her family there and then after the concert drove to Louisville, Ky. Justin, Megan's husband, has been doing an internship in Louisville this summer and invited us to come stay and tour the city!! We had a great time! We went to the Kentucky Derby Museum where we got to see an actual horse race, I thought it was really cool!!!

The jockeys are so little!!!


The Stadium -- the cheapest seats run around $100 and the race is only 2 minutes


Fancy hats that ladies where to the races


In fact we liked Louisville so much we decided to visit again this past weekend for the 4th of July!!! Of course I forgot my camera for the second trip, but again we had a great time!! We rented a four person bike and road it along the river, we went to a farm and picked yummy peaches, we went to a glass blowing demonstration, we went out to eat, we went shopping, we watched the fire works, and made our faithful trip to Graeter's Ice Cream!!! Thanks Megan and Justin for letting us come stay with you in Louisville!!
Grayer in his 4th of July outfit!!!

So now we are back in Knoxville and getting back into the swing of normal life. Hermione, our cat, misses us when we are gone and she is glad we are back:) We are glad too, we love going to visit family and see fun places but we love being home too!!!