Little Conversation

"Graham, today you're going to school! You're going to play with lots of friends and have fun!"

"Night night?"

"Yes, you will go night night at school."

"Eat?"

"Yes, you will eat at school."

"Mama back??"

"Yes sweetheart. Mama will always come back to get you."

*melt my heart*

Us Lately

Here is a little glimpse of what's been going on in our world lately, portrayed through iPhone pictures.

LOTS of playground time.

A fun day with Graham's friend Jaxon. They love playing together!

A special treat after school last Thursday.

A fun trip to the zoo with friends! Graham had a wonderful time checking out animals with Wyatt and Max.

A popsicle from DQ while we visited my parents this weekend. 

Our nightly ritual: all 3 of us curled up on Graham's bed for a bible story and prayer. Graham's favorite? Baby Jesus, or as he likes to say "Baby Gee."

Nap Mat

I've been feeling a tad guilty about all the time I've been spending making so many special things for Molly, when I haven't made anything for Graham in a long time. And I didn't really make anything for him when he was born except for a Christmas stocking. When I found out that Graham would need a nap mat for nap time at school on Thursdays, I knew I had found a project I could do for him! I used this tutorial, which basically involves a slipcover for a cheap-o mat with a small pillow and blanket, that all strap together nicely. I took Graham with me to Walmart and let him help me pick out the fabric, so it's trucks, of course. This actually turned out to be a very inexpensive project, since the fabric was only $4.50 per yard. It was easy and fun and I enjoyed making this for him! It makes me feel good that he will have something special and homemade when he has to lay down at school. 

Graham is very proud of his new "night night!"

Graham's First Day of School!

Graham will be going to preschool at our church one day a week from 9-2. Today was his first day! He will be in the same classroom that he has bible class in on Sundays so it is very comfortable and familiar to him. He was very excited about carrying his truck backpack and his cars lunchbox. He gave me a kiss and said "bye bye" and walked right in! They don't like parents to come in the room with their child, and I know from experience that this makes the transition easier for both parties. But I must say that as I watched him walk in with his lunchbox and a smile on his face, my eyes filled with tears. I am just so proud of him. And letting go, even for only one day a week, is hard. But I know it will be very good him, and for me as I try to prepare for a new baby. He is such a big boy and he's growing up so fast!

In this picture he is very serious, trying to tell me about the trash truck he just heard outside. :)

Walking down the hall to his class.

Saying hello to one of his teachers.

Graham's New Bed

We have been meaning for several weeks to move Graham from his toddler bed to a twin bed. He is really too big for the toddler bed. For his birthday in April, we got Graham new bedding for a twin bed and I have been excited to get it out and use it! Also, we knew he needed to get used to the twin bed before Molly comes. On Saturday my brother and my dad came over and helped us rearrange furniture. We also attached a safety rail to the twin bed.

I bought these wall decals online to decorate his room with. They turned out really cute!

Graham is SO PROUD of his new bed. It's amazing how all his little sleep issues have been solved by moving him into this new bed, I guess he must have been kind of uncomfortable. He was taking about an hour to fall asleep and then waking up several times during the night. Since we've moved him, we don't hear a peep after we tuck him in until the morning!

Playing at the Playground

We moved to a different area of Fort Worth at the end of June. At our old house, there were several nice playgrounds nearby that Graham and I would frequent. It has taken me a little while in our new neighborhood to find good places to play. We have discovered one playground in Arlington that is particularly nice, and we've been going there several times a week, because the weather has been so beautiful! Last Saturday I took along my camera to capture some shots of Graham at his new playground. HE LOVES IT. This park also has lots of great walking/biking trails so we often like to squeeze in a little walk too.

A Few Sweet Graham-isms

Graham says some things in his own cute way as he learns new words, I just want to write them down so I don't forget! (I know this may not be interesting to anyone else.)

Momo = Elmo

Maymay = Mater (from Cars)

Jagee = Tractor

Bowbow = elbow

bussy = bus

ish = finished

If you ask Graham, "what's your name?" He very enthusiastically replies, "ME!" We are working on saying Graham. He always refers to himself as me. One of his favorite sayings is, "up, up high me!"

Graham has such a good sense of humor. He new favorite thing is to put something in the wrong place (like maybe a puzzle piece) and then grin and say, "no!" and put it where it's supposed to go.

Graham is still in the stage of saying no to almost any question. Not just once but usually several times like this, "Oh no. No. No." Often he says no to things he actually wants. We are figuring it out. :)

That's all I can think of right now. We are like most parents in that we think everything he does is cute!

Project Progress

You may have read this post I wrote about all the projects I have planned for Baby Molly's nursery. Well, so far I have made great progress and I still have a little less than 3 months to go! I have even added a few new projects to the list. Making my own baby bedding has been time consuming but very fun. I've loved every minute. 

For her bedding, I decided not to use a crib bumper. I used one with Graham but I recently saw a news story about how dangerous bumpers are and it scared me! I have finished the baby blanket (I loosely followed this tutorial):

And I'm working on 2 crib sheets (with this tutorial, although I've changed it quite a bit):

Haven't started the crib skirt yet but I have my fabric:

Haven't started on the nursing cover yet but I have fabric for that too (tutorial):

Burp cloths are finished (tutorial), this was a super fun/easy/cheap project:

I've started on the Christmas stocking. It's fun to work on here and there when I am relaxing on the couch watching TV. I don't really plan on finishing it by Christmas but we'll see:

I found this "bow board" on pinterest and decided to make one for Miss Molly to store and display her cute bows and headbands. Here is the one from pinterest:

And here is the one I made:

I am also going to use another idea I got from pinterest (one of my favorite websites, by the way) to decorate Molly's room:

 My dad is making the wooden letters for me and I am going to fill the embroidery hoops with scraps of fabric leftover from the bedding. I think it is going to be cute! My Aunt Rachel has graciously agreed to help me make 2 changing pad covers in the same soft pink minky that's on the back of the blanket. I tried doing that myself but I was in over my head. Thanks Dad and Rachel for your help!