Celebrating Two! (Grayson Style...)

So, I forgot to blog about Gray's birthday. In all fairness, it wasn't a big ordeal with lots of cute pictures, so it didn't provide the typical blogging inspiration I usually have, but it happened and was very exciting for a two year old!

I was planning a Cars birthday party for my little car-lover, but when it was looking like the cousins would have a hard time coming here because of sports and busy school schedules, and considering the fact that I swore to never again pack up a birthday party after Gray's first birthday party in Lynchburg, we decided to simply enjoy our little two year old just the four of us. It was perfect!

He woke up to this:

We enjoyed cinnamon roll pancakes, and then he opened a couple of gifts. 

The boys played with the new toys until lunch at Chick-Fil-A!

We tried to introduce Gray to his first taste of gluten (the nuggets!) but he was so distracted by the play set we couldn't get him to eat a bite! We stretched the celebration through the whole day. He would open one gift at a time and play with it for awhile. Have a treat here, do something fun there. It was the perfect speed for his little two-year-old frame. 

That evening we enjoyed pizza for dinner and then I served an angel food cake with chocolate ganache. (Yum!)

His face says it all!

Then, the next time we were in Lynchburg we went ahead and threw a little party for the two April birthdays, Gray (the 6th) and Ian Jude (the 24th)!

I provided the cake, and it was definitely showing signs of travel, but it was still cute!

They really are double trouble!

Actually, the youngest four cousins are all boys, and getting them all in the same room together is breeding ground for equal parts mischief and laughter!

It was an excellent celebration of two years of Grayson goodness!

We're so thankful for this little guy!

xoxoxo

A house for a home...

It seems we've found a house to make a home next year...

That's right! A house!!! With a yard. And a storage shed. And lots of space to run and play.

We're so excited!

It is actually located in the town of Farmville, less than a mile from the hospital Riley will be working at.

(We're hoping he will be able to come home on his lunch breaks!)

The neighborhood is lovely, with sidewalks and beautiful historic homes and pretty gardens.

It will take about an hour to get to Lynchburg for church and Asher's preschool co-op we'll be joining next year, but we're thankful that we've found a house so ideally located for Riley's work, and we're thankful we found a house!

Searching for rentals has proven to be a little trickier than we had anticipated, since it's such a rural area. We are most thankful to have found such a lovely little spot, and a house with so much character inside! 

It was built in the '50's and has a pretty funky layout, lots of fun little nooks and crazy hallways, and some pretty fantastic brown shag carpet in the main living area. I told Riley not to worry, I always love a good decorating challenge!!

I'll post pictures of the inside once I get some better ones.

And this brings me to my second point... I have yet to see it in person!

Riley drove to Farmville this past Saturday by himself to meet the landlords and check it out. He said he liked it, and I completely trust him.

He picked out the past two places we've lived in without me, and he did a wonderful job both times. No reason to fear!

It's so exciting to begin to visualize the next chapter of our crazy journey!

In a house all to ourselves!!!

A Weekend in Knoxville

The day we (tearfully) waved goodbye to my parents we packed up our own car and headed to Knoxville, TN to visit Riley's grandmother.

(I know, we're crazy!)

Nana doesn't like to have her picture taken, but we snapped a couple photos of the boys up in her trees...

The University of Tennessee had their annual "Orange and White Game." (Spring scrimmage.) We thought it would be the perfect opportunity to introduce the boys to live football, since it was a laid back, family-friendly environment. (Read that: Free!)

The weather was ideal for spending the afternoon outside!

Dogwoods were blooming all over town and it was a delight to spend some time with Nana in beautiful West Knoxville.

Recovering from the combination of having guests for over a week and leaving town for the weekend has proven to be a bit of a work out, but so much fun was had! And I think we've finally settled back into "normal" life.

*I'm hoping to post pictures of our time with Gramma and Pappy soon... just waiting for Gramma to send me a copy of the pictures from their camera!

(hint, hint, Mom!)

Blueberry Promise

This is our second year with these blueberry bushes. They are promising to be a good bit more fruitful this season than they were last.

Looking forward to sticky, purple-stained little fingers this Summer!

Now I just need to convince this little rascal to restrict his digging to his sandbox, and leave the flower pots alone...

*Smile*

Date Night... Out!

My parents visited last week, and it was such a blessing to have them! 

One of the specific blessings we had with their presence was the ability to go out for a date night, which hasn't happened for... hmm...... ?

We try to do a weekly "date night in" where we enjoy trying different wine and cheese pairings together after the boys go to bed. But it was definitely a treat to head out on the town by ourselves!

Not only did we discover how much fun Target is without little kiddos running circles around your shopping cart (hah!), but we also got to take a scenic drive out to a nice restaurant in Eggleston, a tiny farming town in the middle of nowhere. 

The road we drove ran right along the New River. It was gorgeous!

The restaurant was called "The Palisades" and we highly recommend it! There was a cute little gift shop that we browsed while waiting for our reservation (we got there about half an hour early), and Riley bought me a set of darling little notecards. The restaurant was cozy, classy, and they had a live jazz band performing, which provided some pretty excellent background music. The food is mostly locally grown and purchased, the chef was very talented, and over 90% of the menu was gluten-free, which came in handy for me! All in all, we were pretty delighted.

After dinner we tried their homemade Pomegranate Chocolate Chip ice cream, and were pretty glad we did. Oh, yum.

 And, I know this is random, but the womens' restroom was seriously the cutest public bathroom I've ever been in. 

Really clean, and absolutely gorgeous. Antique hardwood floors, paintings of Virginian farm land, copper sink, fancy glass soap dispenser, and fresh cut daffodils. Seriously? Love.

So, we were pretty much giddy the whole night. We are so, so thankful to my parents for essentially kicking us out the door for some much needed time together. (Seriously, they herded us out the door and told us to get out of here hours before our reservation so we could just hang out around town!) They're the best!! 

And, in case I haven't said it before... I LOVE MY HUSBAND.  :)

XO

My, how the years fly... Gray is Two!

My little Gray is two today!
This little boys brings so much joy!
He laughs and snuggles, runs and cuddles,
We love him ever so! XO!

Today we celebrate two years of Grayson goodness.

(Well, two years and nine months, if we're going to get technical!)

He has truly blessed our life with a generous share of snuggles, laughs, running jumps, ramblings, songs, and more snuggles.

I thought it would be fun to do a little recap of our time with him in pictures!

Here I am just a couple hours before he exchanges the security of my womb for the warmth of my arms...

Newborn Grayson Wayne...

One Year Old!

And our big Two Year Old!!!

And so far, Grayson's "twos" have not been terrible at all!

We love you, Gray Way!

Happy birthday to you!

xoxoxo

Happy Easter 2013!

Happy Easter from the Lathams!

HE IS RISEN!

He is risen, indeed!!!