What to say...

Things have been a little slow in Shelton Land as Mommy has been battling the sniffles and staying away from big outings. Headed to Great Grandma's for an impromptu dinner Sunday to visit. Hannah and Greyson had fun "modeling" and riding her rocking horse. I think these kids are showing a real passion for horses lately...we'll have to go ride a real pony again. Greyson still talks about it.

Hannah modeling..Riding the horsey.Greyson's turn...he kept saying, "Yee-haw!"I had to get a shot of Hannah's front little buck tooth before the other one came all the way in....she looks stinkin' adorable with it!Now...she's teething big time, and it looks like the bottom one will come in to match. She had her 9 month check up (a little late), and she is growing like a weed. She weighed 19lbs 8 oz (70th percentile), 28" long (70th), and her head was 17" (80th). She's a big girl, but she will NEVER be as big as little stinker boy. He's just growing up so fast these days. I can't believe the things he says now....or rather sings. He told me the other day that he wanted to sing "Jingle Bells." Mind you I've never heard the boy sing much more than the ABC's and The Wheels on the Bus. I figured he wouldn't even know it, but he gos and sings the whole song.....well, the chorus anyways. I was thoroughly impressed.

In honor of the critical event of the absolute must go see NEW MOON, Hannah wore her tennis/cheerleading outfit. GO TEAM EDWARD! More cuteness.Loved the movie....Mom, Tammy, Kim, and I went to the VIP showing the night before it opened at 9:30. It was the craziest, most insane crowd I have ever witnessed...Literally almost 7000 people trying to see this movie....MAYHEM! Our lovely self portrait post movie....Now that Mommy is FINALLY feeling better...of course, Greyson is now getting sick. I told him about blowing him nose, and James might have mentioned that he was "getting sick." Bad decision...you just don't tell a 2 year-old these things. He now is going up to everyone and telling me repeatedly that "my nose is sick......I getting sick....I need tissue." It's cute but not so good when you are trying to make it to a special event and act like you don't have the sniffle kid. We went to Great Grandpa's Thanksgiving feast at The Corinthians today. It was so nice to meet everyone at his place....Hannah and Greyson were quite the entertainers :-). I honestly didn't get to take any pics with my camera....things were a bit crazy.

We got our family pics on a CD so now I can FINALLY share them. We are so happy with how they turned out. Here are a few...or several. It's hard to pick which ones to post. I love them ALL! Here's stinker boy playing peek-a-boo!
Our first family shot attempt...They're adorable!

This is the "official" family pic...the one that will hang on the fireplace!
So sweet...he loves giving her kisses.
They were checking out the turtles in the middle of the pond....so cute!My handsome boys...

Love it!
Our little princess...
Daddy & his little princess.
One of our last shots....
Yay...we're done!
Here's hoping that Greyson stops sniffling, and the week goes smoothly. Can't wait for Thanksgiving and putting up the Christmas tree....so thankful for James and our kids....my whole family. I am truly blessed. What a magical time of year...

A Week of Firsts...

This was a week of firsts for the Shelton family....and seconds. After much fussiness, sleepless nights, and sadness...Hannah has finally gotten her 2nd tooth. It's the other top front tooth so she is officially our little buck-toothed beaver! I can't wait to get some good pictures of them!

Hannah is SO mobile, and she is getting into EVERYTHING! She loves electrical cords, dirty shoes, dog food, dog water, and leaves...pretty much she loves anything that is "forbidden." She doesn't really know her own strength so she often grabs and pinches to get your attention. She fish hooked Greyson, and he was pretty sad about it so he yelled at her. We talked about how he didn't know how to be soft when he was little with Chi-chi, and he had to learn. Greyson decided he would teach her a lesson...

Hannah: (swats and Greyson and pinches his face) Ba-ba!
Greyson: No-no Hannah.....we have to be soft....(pets her like the dog)
Hannah: (grabs Greyson's cheek) Da-Da
Greyson: Hannah....you be soft...like this (pets her again)

I am sure this is the first of many big brother lessons, but I just love it when he tries to teach her things. He's so big!

James had Veteran's Day off so we decided to take the family to the zoo for a little outing. It was so great, because there were almost no other people. With the small crowds, Greyson seemed to be try all new things!

Greyson wanted to ride the elephants and play on the playground....he was having such a great time!
Hannah decided she was ready to be a cowgirl! After all, she is from Texas.This is Hannah on the horse...she REALLY liked it! She kept pushing my hands away, because she wanted to ride it all by herself. We think she's going to be quite the little daredevil.Greyson has always been too afraid to ride the ponies, but since his sister did he decided he was ready!He LOVED it, and it was so fun to see him enjoy something new. It's amazing how much joy it brings you to see your little ones discover new things. He wanted to pet the animals in the barn...We went back to our favorite picnic spot to have lunch...it's just perfect. The weather was fabulous, the leaves all around, no people....tons of birds for Greyson to terrorize.
On the way out...Greyson really surprised us when he decided he was ready to ride his 1st carousel. We had such a great family day....later on I got word from our photographer that our proofs were ready. They turned out WONDERFUL, and I can't wait to share some of them here. I am in the process of getting the CD so stay tuned.

Friday, we went to play with our friends at the Choo-Choo Park in Castle Hills. He is so obsessed with trains so it was perfect. They were busy playing on the train...And feeding the ducks/terrorizing them...Running off some energy...Hannah was busy playing in her friend's PopATot...quite possibly one of the coolest inventions EVER! It collapses like a camping chair and you can take it anywhere for a mobile play area for your baby. You can hook your toys to it and everything...love it!Later on when we got home, Greyson decided he would start his own train service at the Shelton stop...He kept telling me to sit in the red chair...."All aboard!" It was SO cute! I love that he has such an active imagination.

Saturday, we went to Bachman Lake Park to see the airplanes take off and land at Lovefield. What a great idea...thanks Kim for being so creative! We saw lots of planes and even helicopters take off right over us. They had a park to play on and ducks to feed....what more could you need?

Hannah was busy playing with her "boyfriend" PJ and her friend Jett.
Greyson discovered a new way to swing, and he was super excited about it.
He fed the ducks with Daddy...

As if the day were not exciting enough....the kids slept FOREVER at nap time so James and I got to work on a really fun project. This picture may look like just an ordinary car in an ordinary garage, but that's just not right!

That is MY car in MY garage for the FIRST TIME EVER! YAY!!! After much complaining and whining, James and I finally cleaned out the garage so I could load the kids in some peace. No more Greyson running off while I try to load Hannah...no more Mommy get soaked while loading both kids in the rain....YIPPEE! It really doesn't take much to make me happy.....I am beyond excited!

We had Tammy and Toby over last night for a family dinner, and Toby decided to be a dinosaur ride for the boys....that takes some strength when you're talking about lugging around our big boy!

This morning, Greyson woke up and wanted to watch a little TV. I was getting breakfast ready so I thought, "what the hay!" There was already a little doggie movie on (Lassie), and he HAD to watch it. I left the room and was working in the kitchen. I heard a little whimpering sound coming from the TV room so I went to investigate. What should I find but Greyson with his head in his hands giving little quiet sobs.

Mommy: What's wrong buddy?
Greyson: (big turned down lip and little sobs coming out) Lassie help her friends.
Mommy: Aww...that's so nice that she helps her friends, isn't it? (watching movie as Lassie falls in the river and looks like she's drowning)
Greyson: (big crying) Lassie's hurt....is she going to be ok?
Mommy: I don't know, buddy. Let's wait and see (crossing fingers that this isn't an Old Yeller ending)
Greyson: (Lassie miraculously jumps out of river but is all alone....again, more crying from little buddy) Lassie can't find her friends (tears)....Lassie is lost.
Mommy: She's going to find her friends, buddy. (Lassie finds boy at school)
Greyson: Oh yay, Mommy! Lassie finds her friends. What a nice doggy!

It's amazing to me that a 2 year-old can be so in tune with a movie. He surprises me everyday....growing up so much. What a sweet and soft spirited boy we have....I feel very blessed.

So busy...

It feels like we need to do less "stuff" so I can have less to blog about. It's only been a week, and I feel like I am WAY behind. Oh well...things have been VERY busy, but it seems they always will be so deal! Anywho...we went to the Children's Museum of Nature and Science down at Fair Park last week, and we had BLAST! Greyson had so much fun on the toddler floor where they have so much to do and experience. It's a definite must visit! The first thing that attracted stinker boy was of course.....DIRT! I was thankfully able to keep him entertained in this small sand table rather than the GIANT dinosaur exhibit sand room where I would surely never see the end of the sand in every available crevice ever created. He moved quickly onto farming...the kid loved it! He was busy gathering eggs...
He even milked a cow....Rode a horse...
We put him to work in the fields...
After this exhibit he was soaked from head to toe, but he really loved it.
He loved putting on the fireman outfit and "driving" the fire truck. Great Grandpa would be so proud!
We hosted our first playdate for the "Moms of Two" group, and it went great! Greyson was shy at first, but he warmed up after a little while. The house looked like a bomb went off in it, but Greyson slept for 4 hours so it was COMPLETELY worth it!

We had our first outdoor professional family picture taken on Saturday at the Fort Worth Botanical Gardens. What a beautiful place, and we can't wait to see how they turned out. Hannah and Greyson were looking super cute as always, and it was....entertaining.....to see how difficult it is to try to get two small children to cooperate for a pic. Three cheers for Linsey for being so patient. I didn't get a lot of pics since we were struggling to rush through the different areas to get some shots while we had willing participants, but here's a couple. Hannah and Daddy when we first got there...Greyson loved exploring the gardens....we'll never do inside pics again if we can help it. It was much easier to keep him occupied this way.We went out for a family lunch at Logan's Roadhouse, because Mommy was in the mood for some grilled chicken, and Greyson was requesting chicken a fries. For those of you not familiar with the establishment, they leave a big old metal bucket of peanuts on the table. You break them open and munch on them as sort of an appetizer after you which you just throw the shells on the floor. Perfect place for messy kids as the ensuing mess doesn't really show. The funny part was when Greyson discovered said peanuts.

Greyson: What those? (pointing to peanuts)
Daddy: Those are peanuts....do you want one?
Greyson: Yeah! I want penis....
Daddy and Mommy: What? (ROFL)
Greyson: I want penis....
Daddy: Those are peanuts (emphasis on the T).....
Greyson: I want more penus (ok....so the kid can't say peanuts)

He repeatedly kept asking for more penis (aka peanuts) throughout the meal. He then started stuffing about a dozen down his shirt, because they needed "cooking." He is nuts! haha!

Both kids were pooped after the photo shoot and big lunch so they took gloriously long naps....YAY! Hannah awakened in need of a wardrobe change and what better time to have yet another photo shoot? She's a maniac....maniac....on the floor!

James keeps saying she looks like a flash dancer...she just looks sickening cute to me! She even strutted her "Arkansas crawl" for the occasion. This involves a careful balance of crawling mixed with scooting so she doesn't slip on her knees. I think she looks sort of backwoods...hence the Arkansas crawl. She gets into EVERYTHING!
She looked high and low for all forbidden things....
We were supposed to go to a housewarming party for James' boss in the afternoon after nap, but the kids were just not up for it. Greyson slept right through it, but since we had used the promise of a party after the nap to get him to go to sleep, Mommy had to come up with something as a replacement. James and I were headed to another housewarming party (everybody's moving right now it seems) for Kim and Trevor so Grandma was coming over to watch the kids. I decided to throw something together so there would still be a party. We decorated using stray leftovers from other parties...
He didn't seem to mind...he was super excited. And what kind of party would it be without your party hats...
And no party is complete without some candles and singing. I threw a few candles in a muffin and we sang "Happy Party to you" to Greyson. He thought it was awesome!

Hannah has just added a new syllable to her ever expanding vocabulary, and I must say that it is by far THE most important one! She said......Mama......well, it sounded a little more like Meh-Meh, but I'll take it. It's a step toward Mama. They always say Dada but never Mama.

We went to the park today to enjoy the gorgeous weather. I had planned on meeting Grandma at a new park in between Garland and Plano. Unfortunately/fortunately, we couldn't' find it. I decided we should just go to Haggard Park where Abby had her wedding, because I remembered it having a train. We played on the playground for a little while before Greyson noticed the train car across the way. I had NO expectation of what would happen, but I was so pleasantly surprised. There actually is a small train museum, and an elementary school group had cancelled this morning so we got a personal tour! Greyson was so happy! He "talked" to the train conductor.
Got to watch model trains...
Hannah was pretty excited about the trains too!
He even got to be the conductor of the train!Learned about electricity and conducted experiments.
Admiring the train one last time...we had a great time, and we'll definitely be back. It's free and it was fun!Here's hoping for a great week in Shelton land!