A little sister....

(This is an old pic, but it seems appropriate today.)

We are so excited about our baby girl! Chesson and I have been practicing saying 'sister' much of the morning. Okay, really, I just say sister, and he plays with his farm animals. But, I think if I start now, maybe, just maybe, he'll say it in May. -- Yesterday I picked up a couple of pink and brown onsies....ahhh - little girls clothes are going to difficult for me to resist. I mean, look at that, it has lace and a little bow. C'mon - cute, right? It's a nice change from the trucks and dogs of boys clothing. ~ Now it's time to make a plan for a girlie nursery! Yippee!

Many of you have kindly asked how I'm doing. Let's see. I'm 18 weeks pregnant, and I'm feeling really good. The medicine I'm taking is truly amazing (without it I'd still be quite sick), and I'm excited to have my energy back! I'll try to get a picture up soon.

Go Mountaineers!

We proudly cheered on the Mountaineers this Saturday. Becca and Brian were in town, and we had fun cheering for the same team. (They went to State and Corbin went to UNC...so we rarely all cheer for the same team.) It was a sad loss, but a great game!

A note from Chesson

Dear Friends,

I am so sorry that Mama hasn't had time to post in quite a while. I've become very curious (Mom says I'm into everything), also a couple of molars just came in...ouch! So, I've been keeping her pretty busy. Here are a few pics of what I've been up to during the last month.

1. I drool a lot (I told you...molars). 2. I like to sit in my book box to read.

I know just what to do with the keys. I can't quite turn the door knob yet, but soon - very soon. (Also please note, I love to play with the empty egg carton. I can rip it to little pieces very quickly....so fun.)

Daily Chores. Just taking out the trash.

I found this drawer under the oven. You wouldn't believe all the treasures in here!!

Okay, this is just the best. We have a tree - in our house! Every morning I come downstairs and remove all the ornaments I can reach. Yay!Beads!!

This is my girlfriend Lillie. We are on our first date. Isn't she the cutest?

It's been a busy month!!

Big Hugs - Chesson

Roar!!

Check out this great costume Chesson's Gigi (Corbin's mom) made for him. He wore it almost every day last week. Thanks Gigi!!

We even went to Chick-fil-a to have supper with our good friend Ashlee. Chesson has a bit of a crush on her. Can you blame him?

l

Drum Roll Please....

As you can see, Chesson is very excited to be a big brother. haha! Okay, so maybe he doesn't really get it, but Corbin and I are thrilled. Baby Graves #2 will be here in May. As most of you know my body in not really a fan of being pregnant. During the first 6 weeks I lost about 8lbs (just like with Chesson). Now I am taking some wonderful anti-nausea medicine. And ,thankfully, I think the worst of the sickness is behind me. These days I am feeling better than I ever did when I was pregnant with Chesson. I am only mildly sick and tired. That must be a good sign right?

UNC Football

Tonight is the UNC / FSU football game. Corbin's family is coming from FL to cheer on their Seminoles. We are a family divided for this game, and Chesson would like to take a moment to declare his allegiance to the Tarheels. Go Heels!

Breakfast Is Fun!

Playing a little Peek-a-boo. I've been trying to teach Chesson baby sign for months. Of course, it only took Corbin a day to teach him touchdown:o) But, finally, he's doing the sign for All Done (well, his version of the sign) - and saying it a little. I have to say, I think it's pretty darn cute!

One Excited Dad

We just might have a little soccer player on our hands. (Sorry it's so dark, I guess I should have turned on a light.)

A Man of Few Words

Chesson is clearly all boy. Corbin and I refer to him as 'Mighty Baby', because he loves lift ridiculously heavy things. Check out Chesson wrestling his lion, and if you listen carefully you can hear him roar.

Labor Day Weekend

We had a jam-packed Labor Day Weekend. I can't believe how much fun we had in just 3 days!

Chesson and I started our vacation early with our playgroup. We all went to Pullen Park, and rode the carousel for the first time!!

Then, we all rode the train. What fun!! On Friday evening we headed to Atlantic Beach, and early Sat. morning Corbin and I rode in this to the ASU / ECU game in Greenville. Um, pretty much awesome!! Thanks Uncle Jeff!!

I think it was about a thousand degrees in the stadium, but we had fun anyway!!

While we were at the game Chesson spent the day with his Papa and Granna. It has been about 4 months since Chesson has let anyone give him a bottle (he's a squirmer...a man on the move...so all bottles are given in his high chair). Evidently, his Papa has the magic touch. So sweet!! On Sunday morning we came back to Raleigh to spend the next 24 hours with some of our dear friends who live in NYC. They have a 3 month old little boy. John and Chesson had such fun getting to know each other.

Are you ready for football season?

Chesson turned 1!!

I could write pages about our sweet boy. I mean, I just adore him. He is good natured, easy going, quick to laugh, and slow to become frustrated. Oh, and he's super chunky and perfectly squeezable! But, instead of sharing all he is doing, I want to share a bit of my heart. Because this week I have been reminded of how far our family has come in such a short time. (Of course, I can't resist adding in a few pics of our weekend!)

This has been a unique year in so many ways. It has been filled with new challenges that have made me a stronger, and hopefully a better, woman. I can honestly say I have seen God at work!

As most of you know, Chesson has an eye condition called Nystagmus. He was diagnosed at 5 months, and at that point he couldn't see more than 2 or 3 feet. He saw quite a few doctors, and we were just plain scared. We prayed, we had our friends praying, and their friends praying. Sweet Dana, our vision therapist, (who we now call our friend) came to work with him every week. Now, 7 months later, Chesson can see across the room!! He continues to steadily meet his goals, and Dana is going to come see us less and less (this is a bit sad...but, ultimately great news for Chesson). Corbin and I know this is nothing short of a miracle, and we are thankful!

I know we will continue to face challenges as Chesson gets older, but we will face those challenges with our hope in the Lord. He is good and faithful.

Thank you so much to all our dear family and friends who encouraged us this year....we needed you!

Here's to many more birthdays shared with our precious Little Man!

We Love You Chesson!!

My addiction....an update

Okay, so I know I've said this before, but it's worth mentioning again. I really can't believe all the money we are saving using coupons. Last week Harris Teeter was tripling coupons, and I was able to buy all of this for less than $5 (the pencils came from Rite Aid, but they were free, so I put them in the pic).

My new goal is to spend $40 a week on groceries. This includes our veggies, meat, Chesson's food, and diapers. I have succeeded the past two weeks, and we have eaten some delicious meals. This week I blew it, but we're having a b'day party for Chesson Sat., and I'm not quite good enough to feed 15 people on $40. (Although, I plan to be good enough one day.)

Some of you have asked how it works, so I'll try to give a brief explanation. I buy things when they are on sale, and I have a coupon (I use the coupons from the Sunday paper and a few from the Internet). This makes them free to nearly free. I stock up when an item is cheap, then I have it later when I need it. For example, I didn't need any dressing,but it was free. So, I picked up a few free bottles to put in our pantry. Later, when we run out, I won't have to buy it full price at the store. Corbin likes to make jokes when I come home from the store...."So this week we're eating cornbread and peanut butter, huh?" haha! It does seem a little funny to look at it, but we just stock up each week on the good deals. Now our pantry & freezer are full of just about anything we need to make a meal (rice, pasta, sauce, dressing, crackers, chips, salsa, meat, spices, muffins, etc). My biggest problem is that my freezer is too small to store everything. I also have a box that I fill to take to the nearby food pantry. Items that I get for free, but we don't need I put in the box (we have rice, toothpaste and shampoo coming out of our ears).

I wish I could say I figured all this out on my own - but, I definitely did not!! I took a class from a woman here in Raleigh - this is her website: www.theintentionalhome.blogspot.com.

For Dana....

...and anyone else who might be interested in Chesson's stacking skills.

Playgroup

Today playgroup was at our house. The kiddos pulled out every toy in the living room, only to realize those toys just weren't very exciting.

The most fun place was the tupperware drawer in the kitchen!! Chesson always perfers a spoon to a toy that lights up and sings to him. (Hmmm, maybe that has to do with his love of eating?) Today, I learned that it's not just Chesson. The whole gang relocated to the kitchen.

Again I say, why do we even bother to buy toys?

our unbalanced walker...

Finally, a little documentation that Chesson is taking a few steps here and there. He is becoming sturdier by the day.

Mama's Little Helper

Hmmm, what's this? Towels! I'll help you! Okay, I'm in the basket, now what? Is this right? I emptied the laundry basket. Is that what you wanted me to do? Hmmm...Mama, could you help me fold this?

11 months - already?

------ Chesson watching his friend, Mr. Chris wakeboard. -------
Thanks so much for inviting us to your lake house!!

I can't believe my baby is almost a year old!! My oh my - people say that the time will fly by. They say you won't remember what it was like to have a newborn. They are right! We visited our cute new friend Lillie this weekend, and she is just a precious little peanut. Corbin and I were trying to share with her parents what it was like when Chesson was that young, and we were surprised to find that we couldn't really remember all the details. I guess that's how we'll all get tricked into having more children (right Sunday?). (Note: that is not a proclamation that I am pregnant or thinking of being pregnant soon, it's just an observation :0) )

Chesson is weighing in at 25+ pounds, and wearing 24 month clothes. I keep thinking that my biceps must be huge from lugging that sweet boy around with me all day, but no such luck. All I have to show for his weight is a sore back --- oh, and a really cute chunky baby!

Moving on to the biggest news around here....Chesson took his first steps on Sunday. Corbin stood him up in the kitchen and walked away to fix his bottle (thinking Chesson would just sit down - just like he usually does), and Chesson walked 6 steps over to his daddy. Of course, since then we've only seen him walk once. If you try to help him or encourage him to walk...he just cries and sits down (it's kind of funny). I suppose Chesson just wanted to prove to us that he CAN walk, he just doesn't really want to. :o)

Let the birthday countdown begin T minus 1 month! Woo-hoo!

vacation!

That's right - Corbin and I went on vacation. While we were in Hilton Head, Chesson had his own vacation at "River Camp" (read: staying with Corbin's parents in FL). Chesson is a pretty laid back little guy, and I knew he would be in good hands with his Gigi and G'daddy (along with assistance from Uncle Lawton and Aunt Sarah). Ahhh - vacation - it was wonderful!! Check it out - I'm wearing a dress, and we're not going to a wedding. I was so pleased to eat supper and not be covered in drool. (It's really the small things that make the difference, isn't it?) We headed from there to my favorite place on earth - my parents beach house. It's a magical little cottage, and whenever I walk into it...I feel calm and relaxed and generally unconcerned with life outside of Atlantic Beach. Chesson loved every minute of it...thank goodness! Granna searched high and low to find Chesson the perfect dump truck / beach push toy....and boy did she succeed. Thanks Granna!!

----

Check out Mr. Fearless "driving" his dump truck into the ocean. Crazy kid.

Who needs a push toy...

... when you have a laundry basket on wheels? This is hours of fun for our little man!

I think I'm addicted...

addicted to coupons that is.

Since December, I have been trying to really get the hang of how to save money on our groceries using coupons. We have been getting the Sunday paper, I save the coupon inserts, write the date on them, and file them away. But, I could never really figure out how to save big. A couple of weeks ago, that all changed. I went to a couponing class. It totally sounds cheesy, but it was incredible. Everything finally made sense to me. I can shop at Harris Teeter, buy name brands, and save significantly more than I did buying Great Value brand at Walmart. In the above pic, I paid about $19 and saved $31.35 (a 61% savings)- that's right. In the picture below I spent $12 and saved $27 (a 69% savings). Harris Teeter doubles coupons daily, but this week they are tripling. So, I stocked up on free things that I know we'll need later (deodorant, paprika, tea, hot sauce, windex and rice...all free.) The soap was $.o4, the cups $.25, and the cookies $.54. The bread and rice cereal and cereal bars were just regular price.

Yep, I'm addicted. I plan to never, ever pay for rice again. So, the goal is to stock up when it's free or nearly free, and never pay retail again. Ahhh, I'm in love with coupons.

Memorial Weekend

I can hardly believe Chesson is 9 months old already. Where has the time gone? He continues to be the happiest baby I have ever known.

We had a big weekend with Corbin's family coming from FL to see us (read: see Chesson...haha!). A few more family members came from Greensboro Sunday night, and we had a mini family reunion.

Monday, when it was just the three of us again, we ventured over to the neighborhood pool. This was Chesson's first time in a pool. Since he loves the bathtub...and baby pools, I was sure he'd love this pool. Oh, and I was right!! He laughed and splashed, and played on the stairs. Cute, cute, cute - I can't wait to get this boy to the beach this summer!