his very own swing

For G's birthday present Uncle B built him a swing set to go with the swing from Grandaddy and Nana.

G loves to swing. What's not to love?

Flying through the air in the sunshine sounds awesome.

We have enjoyed it these last few days with all the sunshine.

Thank you Uncle B!

12 months

I know it's a little after his birthday but I need to post about what all Graham is doing as a big ol' one year old.

We had his 12 month Dr. appointment this week. He's doing well, growing and such. Dr. lady is pleased with him. His shot this time was for chicken pox. Am I that old that I remember the days before the vaccine when, gasp, we just got the virus? Not that I liked having it mind you. It was miserable. But anyway, it was either chicken pox or polio. She thought he was slightly more likely to be exposed to the pox germs than to polio. I have to agree.

His stats are:
Height: 28.5 in (10th percentile)
Weight: 18 lb. 8 oz. (2nd percentile)
Head Circumference: 17.9 in (28th percentile)

So much for being a big boy. We're not suprised. Matt and I aren't unusually big people. Poor G, always the short kid these days...

I get stopped all. the. time. by people asking how old Graham is as they watch him run all over the place. Their response is always "my, he is just so small to be walking so confidently." I just laugh.

So he's walking everywhere. Close to running. I have a feeling once we get there, we're never going back.

He is becoming more verbal by the day. He says "ball, baby, bird, mama, dad (sounds like dat), uh oh (sounds like uh uh uh uh uh, he is trying so hard to make the oh sound but can't figure it out), up, and hot (sounds like hhaaaa). His intense screams at us have mostly stopped since he's figured out how to sign for "more" and "all done". He understands many more things that we say like outside, bathtime, go get your binky etc. It's amazing to watch him learn new things every single day.

As far as eating goes, he's getting a little more adventurous. The boy still hates his veggies. So in order for him to eat them, I'm still mixing baby food purees into yogurt. He'll eat cut up fruit pieces all day long, but not a pea. Not even one. He eats grapes, strawberries, banana, apple, loves some blueberries and raspberries. He also eats oatmeal, little cheese crackers, whole wheat pitas, little bity peanut butter and cracker things I found at Trader Joes, greek yogurt, and recently I discovered that he likes scrambled eggs. I'm so glad he likes those because we eat them like twice a week!

Some things I regularly try to get him to eat and he rejects are: raisins, veggie pieces, pasta, cheese, and meat. Oh well, maybe one day....

He is one ball of energy these days. The house is mostly baby proof, so he just runs around with his toy of the day until we help him realize that he really does want a nap. The other day he found a small flashlight and carried it around all day, through both naps, and into the night. He found it each morning and didn't let it go for 3 days straight. Can we say determination? Ha!

He's very much in a daddy-phase and only wants Matt if he's not working. We spend a lot of time outside while he explores the grass and dirt. Such a boy.

Such a sweet time in our life with him. With each new phase we are more in love with out little Cub and this journey as parents. We rely heavily on God for the grace to get through the hard days and praise Him for the joy in the sweet ones. What an amazing gift this little guy is and such a sorce of joy for our family.

a train party

A little baby friend turned one over the weekend. We've had many a baby birthday and for some reason I've always forgotten my camera. Jess and I were in the same childbirth class and our babies were born two weeks apart. You wouldn't know it though because sweet Will is so much bigger than our little Cub. It has been so much fun watching all of these little babes grow up and see their sweet personalities emerge. Happy Birthday Will! We enjoyed your party!

The train table was a huge hit.

Sweet Kate. Seriously...cutest little girl ever.

Parker and Will in the "bounce house".

The babies would go in and immediately fall all over each other because they're new to standing and the floor was squishy.

Jess and the birthday boy. This picture was all sweet until he started furiously shaking the balloon in her face. Now it's just fun!

Family coloring.

I think this picture captures their personalities perfectly.

Will is biting the balloon by the way. His favorite part of the bounce house.

Also, G has a new talent...death grip. He picked up a train piece and a crayon and didn't. let. go. the whole party.

Babies and mommas.

There were way more cute babies than I was able to capture.

I guess it's the price of mobility...

Great party, Happy Bday Will!

in with the new

I looove my new car! Meet Haley. As in Haley Honda. She was born in 2007 and has been a great addition to our family. Graham especially loves her tinted windows. I love that her navigation system is so polite as she tells me where to go. Oh, and when I am in reverse, she even has a camera to show me what's back there!

We're bonding quite well. Welcome to our family!

privacy

I've been doing some thinking. With G getting older, I keep taking more pictures of him and his little friends. Then I want to share them. But do I want to share them with the world?

The other night Matt typed the blog address into the URL bar with a minor typo. What do you know...there is another family with a Matt and Leslie and kids that they love to blog about. As I was looking at their private family pictures as a total stranger I realize that if we just did that how easy it is for others to do it too.

Don't get me wrong, I want any and all readers to share our lives with us. Any and all readers who intentionally come to our blog.

So, I think we're going to go private.

Don't worry, this isn't going to be just family. If you readers would just leave me a comment with your email address I'll make sure you're invited to keep spying on our lives! Even if you feel like I might not know you, just comment...if you've been reading I want you to keep reading!

It'll be several days, maybe a week until we make the switch so that y'all can let me know your email addresses.

I don't want this to deter anyone from blog stalking. Seriously. I do it and totally expect it from others. I hate to ask you to come out of the cracks. But it's ok, if you comment now I won't expect you to keep commenting. You can go back into the shadows if you want, haha.

Or you can email me privately. leslie dot steel at gmail dot com.

Happy reading!

a sock monkey birthday

We had G's birthday party at a park near our house. That park is special to Matt and me because I walked around it every. single. day. that I was pregnant (ok, so I missed like 5 days.). Matt and I often walked together talking about our day and talking about our future and what our lives would be like once our little boy arrived. So we really like that park.

Graham loooves him some outside. He goes crazy if one of us goes out without him. And when we go on walks now, he gets so still and doesn't make a peep except to shriek with delight. Now that he is walking, this is his absolute favorite thing! I swear he would run around until passing out if we let him.

Do you like this face? Its his "I think I'm funny, play with me" face.

Please notice the look on G's face....

Parker and G were beside themselves with their love for the balloons. Great gift uncle B!

The theme was sock monkeys, they're so cute! A friend made this cake because he is oh so talented. Isn't it awesome?

We tried to take a picture of all the babies on the slide. Mistake. With every squirm them squished the babe in front of them. I was holding G in place, so poor Parker was holding them all up! Ok, try again...

Then we tried the stairs. Great idea if only they'd all sit still. HA.

Not sure about what to do...

I love the eyebrows in this shot!

We love you little Graham! You've added unspeakable joy to our lives this past year!

*Thanks to my friend Becca for the awesome pictures! She's a professional people. So hire her! Email me if you want her contact info.

out with the old

We sold my car Monday night. We're sort of proud since we did it ourselves. I've never bought more than a used piece of furniture or toys for Graham on Craigslist. But we have several friends who have bought, sold, then bought again their vehicles on Craigslist, so we thought we'd give it a shot.

Enter Buyers 1-8.

I'll use numbers for the sake of confusion.

Buyers #1-5 emailed me asking for more pictures and my history with the car. They were all pleased with the pictures but as soon as they checked the VIN, they never contacted me again.

See, we had a little problem with the title transfer from my dad to me when I moved to Wisconsin. Yes, that's right, I once lived waaayyy up there. It's next to Canada.

Back to the car. Apparently you have to fill in the odometer reading at the time of signing the title over, not when you go to request a new title. Woops. So, when I went to register in Wisconsin I was issued what's called a "Not Actual Mileage" title. The nice lady in the DMV said that it wasn't a big deal. Just a formality since I couldn't remember the mileage from when we signed everything 5 days prior. Well, apparently it is a big deal. HUGE actually. Because when we ran a carfax on my car...there were alerts on EVERY odometer reading after that titling in Wisconsin. It basically implied that no odometer readings from then on could be trusted. That maybe I'd tampered with it.

It basically called me a liar.

So I hate carfax.

Because of the carfax, all of those potential buyers wanted nothing to do with me or my sweet, reliable, truthful Lexus.

Enter buyer #6.

He emailed me asking if I'd take a little less than I was asking in cash. Heck yes I'd take CASH.

In the middle of car history emails back and forth: Enter buyer #7.

He said he'd pay cash tomorrow. Bring it on.

Tons of emails back and forth later, they both say "it's ok, the other buyer can have it."

Dang. No sale.

A week passes...no emails for sweet Lexus. I also get a flat tire. Again.

Enter buyer #7 again. He asks if I'll take even less than before, in cash, tomorrow. I say I'll think about it.

I'm talking to Matt about this, so ready to just take a loss and be done with it.

Enter buyer #8. He asks if I'll take a little more than buyer #7, in cash, tomorrow.

I'm so fed up with the whole back and forth but so desperately want this to be over. We set up a time to meet the next day. In a public place. With all the papers necessary to make a sale.

Buyer #7 emails me and says he hopes that buyer #8 doesn't show. I think that's mean.

We meet. Buyer #8 is nice, honest, and what do you know...worked for Lexus for many many years. He loves my car. He promises to take care of her...he agrees to buy her.

So we follow him home to sign the papers and leave sweet Lexi there.

I have to say that at this point, it's dark and we're like in the middle of nowhere and both of our parents are worried that we're going to be taken hostage or something. (Thank you for your concern parents, we love you!)

No worrying necessary though, this buyer was so nice! I couldn't be more pleased with how everything went down.

Also, I know he'll take good care of Lexi. She was good to me and I know she'll be good for him too.

I was a little sad to see her go.

not forgotten...

I'm a little behind on posting. This is not for lack of material but for my own inability to post out of order. This will sort of satisfy that little issue.

Graham's birthday party was a huge success! My photographer friend took pictures so that I could enjoy it so I have nothing to post yet.

So the party pictures are coming soon!

one year ago today...

Maybe the fastest year of my life.

I have been so incredibly blessed by this little guy for the last 365 days. Each day is a gift and a miracle. He has taught me a lifetime's worth of lessons in self sacrifice. And for each hard moment there are a billion wonderful and beautiful moments.

The first time he smiled.

The first little coo.

The first giggle.

The first time he reached out for me.

The first time he crawled toward me, walked to me...

And now when he grabs my legs and waits for me to look down at him so that he can reach for me to pick him up.

Of course there are the fits, the crying, the bumps and bruises, the night-time feedings. But those are but a speck of dust in this year of joy.

What a great and mighty heavenly Father we serve. I am beginning to scratch the surface of what He means when He says that children are a gift from the Lord. What a blessing our little Graham is. As we try and fail everyday, may we truly give him over to our Father for all things. May we continue to try to love him as Christ loves us.

We love you little monkey!

Florida Reunion

So remember when I was going to post about the huuuge family reunion right after the vacation post? Yeah, me too...the time has gotten away from me. How many more times can I play the "my baby is mobile and I'm working 2 jobs" excuse? Oh, that's the last time? Ok, you want to know what's going on, lets get to it.

While on vacation in Florida, we were ohsoclose to all of my in-laws extended family. Some of them have come up to St. Louis to visit, but it's been close to ten years since the whole family has been down there. So I was really excited to see them as they were us.

There were grandparents, all of Jenny's (Matt's mom's) sisters, their kids and grandkids and many spouses....I mean when I say the whole family, I mean the whole family!

Can we say related? This is Jenny's mom and three sisters. It was so fun seeing them laugh and giggle like little girls! I'm sure they wish they all lived closer.

These are all of the cousins. They also had such a great time laughing about their childhood and how so much has changed.

And what was little Grahamster doing during all this visiting and picture taking?

Running (seriously, almost running) all.over.the.place. He looves being outside and had a blast with all of the open space. He was sweating.

Oh how I love that precious face!