Gracyn's Salon

Welcome to Gracyn's Salon where ripping all your hair out and putting lipgloss on your eyelids is her specialty.



I love this little firecracker so much <3

It Has Arrived!

My newest blog book that is! I am so excited every time I finish one of these books and I get to see all the work I put not only into the blog but also the work it takes to format into a book, all come together in a beautiful book!




This book was 190 pages, my longest thus far but 2011 was a big year for us, and now we have the blog book to prove it :-)




I print a blog book at the end of every year and so far I have 2008-2011 complete. It's definitely a work in progress but I'm hoping to be caught up and have the 2012 and 2013 books printed by the end of the year. High aspirations.




For anyone who is interested I used blurb.com to print my books using their Booksmart program to format everything. The Booksmart program "slurps" everything off your blog and formats it a really informal inefficient way and then I go back and add/delete posts and reformat everything to make it cleaner and as concise as possible. It pretty time consuming since I have a pretty big book to go through, but it's fun to go back through all the old blog posts and reread it all.
Only two more books left until I am all caught up. Wish me luck!

What You Looking At?

'Tis The Season

Soccer season that is.

Again we are back at it in full force with soccer practice and soccer games.  I am glad we took a break through the winter but we sure were ready to get back out there with the FC Ponies again!  The team stayed the same as last season with the exact same girls minus one, and the same coaches.  Our first game was this past Saturday and a certain somebody was up in the wee hours of the morning (before 6AM!) because she was just so darn excited.  I'll give you one guess who it was?

Anyways the game was slightly chilly so Matt stayed home with the little ones, so I got to focus all my attention on the big game (thanks babe!).

It was truly stunning to see the advancement in skills and comprehension of the game in just one season.  The difference between our first game last season (ie our first game ever as a team) and the game on Saturday was astounding.  The girls really seemed like they knew what they were doing and just might be a force to be reckoned with.  I think the final score was 15-1.  Pretty amazing.

And not that it matters or anything, or that we were counting but this little lady scored 6 goals!  Second highest scorer on the team, but who's counting?
Seriously, the most important part is that she has a great time, and in her own words she "wishes we could play soccer games every day!"  I couldn't agree more.

Sick Days

We have had a rough few days over here. In the past 24 hours we have been to the vet, my doctor, and the pediatrician twice.  I have filled prescriptions for 2 of us plus Macy.  All in 24 hours.  I'm pooped.


Macy got an allergic reaction to a shampoo I gave her a bath with (I knew there was a reason I never give her baths) and developed a huge weeping hot spot on her back.  Unfortunately in addition to her allergic reaction we were due for every shot and test since it had been a while since we had been to the vet so needless to say it was a pretty expensive trip.
The picture below was taken right after the vet trip, she has bee on steroids for 24 hours and looks much better now......I mean as good as you can look when you have a huge, weird bald spot on your back.  Luckily she doesn't seem to mind.


Then I started feeling a little pain when I swallowed and headed straight for the doctor because I knew exactly what it was.  Strep throat.  And I was right.  Amoxicillan for me.
This morning Avery said her throat hurt "just a tiny bit" when she swallowed.  So off to the doctor for her.  Positive strep.  I'm telling you we could go on a nice vacation with all the money we have spent on doctor's visits and strep throat medications over the past 6 months.
Then Walker had his normally scheduled 4 month wellness visit today.  2 shots and oral vaccine.  Poor guy didn't know what was coming.


The upside is I think I caught mine and Avery's strep throat very early because neither of us has really felt that bad.  She looks deathly ill right?


So after cleaning, washing, disinfecting, and sanitizing every surface in this house hopefully we are past all this sickness.
In the meantime we have 24 hours until we are not contagious.  We choose to fill our time playing dress up with our real life baby doll.  I can't think of a better way to pass the time.

My Funny Valentines

Walker 4 Months

This month I really feel like Walker has really grown the most.  His personality is really starting to shine through and he is just the happiest little guy.  He is constantly smiling and cooing at everyone.  Avery seems to almost always be able to get a giant smile out of him by saying "who's my smile boy?"  Gets a smile every time.  However he is definitely a Mommy's boy already.  He is constantly scanning the room looking for Mommy and smiling from ear to ear when he finds me.  Can't blame the guy for knowing what he likes, right?!

What You Did This Month- 4 months old

Weight: 15 lb 2 oz (55%) - he's our biggest baby at this point so far.  Gracyn was 12 lb 15 oz and Avery was 14 lb 5 oz at their 4 month check up

Length/Height: 26.5 in (93%) - Gracyn was 24.5 in and Avery was 25.75 in. 

Head Circumference: 16.6 in (47%)

Diaper Size: Size 2- Except I think we are almost ready to switch to a 3.  We have switched to Luvs brand because he was blowing out of the Pampers multiple times a day and so far the Luvs are working much better.

Clothing Size: 3-6 months but the one piece outfits already seem to be getting a little too short!  It has been this way with all my kiddos- just tall little babies!

Sleeping Habits: SLEEPING THROUGH THE NIGHT!!!! He goes to bed around 6:30 or 7PM and sleeps straight through until about 6:30AM.  SO AMAZING.  We are still working on napping in his crib for longer than 45 minutes in the day, but he puts himself to sleep so I can't complain too much.  Overall he still seems like he is sleeping a lot throughout the day.  He is much more aware than he used to be and is having a harder time sleeping in the car and when we are out and about.  Usually I can get him to fall asleep if I rock him and put a blaket around us to drown out the light and noise.  I love my baby boy snuggles.

Eating Habits: Nursing every 3-4 hours.  The doctor gave us the green light to start cereal anytime in the next 2 months......not sure he is totally ready for that yet but we may give it a whirl in the next month or so.  

Milestones: He can roll over.  He does not do it consistently yet but that is just a matter of time.  He has tried out the exersaucer and seems to like his new upright view of the world.  And he got to swing in the baby swing on the swingset.  He does really well in the bumbo and is attempting to reach for toys and bring them to his mouth, but he's not always successful.  

Likes/Dislikes:

- Loves being held, and I think he is starting to really prefer only Mommy when he is upset.  

- He likes the pacifier (Nuk brand) but definitely do not depend on it and spit it out right after falling asleep.

- He may be a thumb sucker.  I'm not ready to say for sure yet but he can definitely find that thumb when he is trying to fall asleep in his bed.   

- This boy slobbers all day long.  The doctor said she didn't see any teeth coming yet, but says she thinks boys just tend to slobber and drool more than girls.  He just blows bubbles and slobbers constantly.  

- He is a talker!  Once he makes eye contact with you and knows you are listening he just starts screeching and squealing all over the place.  It's hilarious.  

Walker Winston you are just the sweetest, most precious little guy and I am completely obsessed and enamored with you!  We love you big guy!

Are You Sure?

Are you sure that just two meager weeks ago it was snowing? Are you sure?

Today it was 72 degrees and gorgeous.......this crazy Texas weather is amazing!

Exer-Saucin'

All this little dude wants to do is stand up and look around, so we broke out the exersaucer to see if he was ready for it, and boy was he ready! He loves his new upright look at the world, and although he is still perfecting the reaching skills it takes to play with all the toys, he seems to really love it.  He needs just a teensy little boost to reach the floor, so we threw the Former Aggie directory under there and it works like a charm.  The perks of being an Aggie are just limitless ;-)

Way to go Walker!

They Just Stopped By

We have lived in Texas for almost 3 years now and it is still not lost on me the blessing that it is living near family.  I never ever take it for granted.  Ever.

Growing Guy

Does anyone know how to slow down time?????  Please stop growing buddy!  It's going too fast!

Happy Valentines Day

Happy Valentines from all my little (and big) loves to you.  Wishing you a day surrounded by all the ones you love.

Day Date with Number 1

Today Gracyn went to a friend's house after school and I got to have a little day date with my big girl.  I was so excited to pick her up from school and have some solo time with her.  When I picked her up and asked her what she wanted to do she said "Get hot chocolate and then go to the library!"  A girl after my own heart!


She chose two different flavors of cakeballs and a hot chocolate, except she kept telling me to say that she was drinking coffee.  "I really want to act like this is coffee so I can be big too Mommy."  Slow down, big girl, you are big enough as it is.


Of course the little guy was with us also, but after a quick bottle at Starbucks he slept the rest of the time.


We took our time picking out some good reads at the library and I am really amazed at her level of reading.  She can pick up almost any ol' book now and start reading.  It is pretty awesome.  Plus she loves it, which is the best part.


It was a really nice little treat to get to focus of Avery and have a nice slow-paced afternoon where we could relax, chat and just take our time sipping hot cocoa and reading books.  I could not have picked a better afternoon myself.

Gracyn Paige- 3 years 4 months

In the past month or so it seems like Gracyn is growing in leaps and bounds.  I have no idea what she weighs or how tall but she appears to be taller than most of the kiddos in her class at school.  

Gracyn is such a silly, sweet little girl.  She is probably the clumsiest little kid I have ever met and probably falls down about 10 times a day.  Luckily most of the time she just brushes it right off.  However the drama of a three year old girl has been in full effect lately.  Everything ignites a full-on blood curdling scream, regardless if it is deserving or not.  It is hard to know whether  she is truly hurt/ill/injured/sad or not because she cries at the drop of a hat.  And the whining has been at an all-time high too.  Everything is said in a whiny, crying voice.  Everything.  Every little thing.   Its exhausting and I have a really hard time tolerating the whining.  So the frequent crying plus the whining has made a rough month or so with Gracyn, but I slowly think we are easing our way out of this....at least I really hope so.  



Gracyn is still doing really well at school and luckily her teachers only have great reports about her often telling me she is "so perfect" and they don't know "why I even ask because she is always so great."  She also still doing great at gymnastics.  She is in an upper-level class and has been doing some pretty high level tricks, which is pretty impressive.


Luckily Gracyn is still napping almost every day.  She still really needs it and on days when we try to skip it, she often falls asleep in the car.  She also naps at school every time she goes, which has always amazed me that she will sleep there.


Even with the drama and whining, Gracyn is one of the funniest, happiest, spunkiest, sweetest little girls I know.  She loves playing with Avery and all the other big girls, and does an amazing job of keeping up.  People are always telling me that they can't believe that she is only 3 because she acts so much older, which I take as a compliment.  She is so caring and nurturing to her friends, and especially to her little brother.  She loves to cuddle up on the couch with Mommy and watch any of her favorite shows.  I just love my time with her and want to slow down time because she is growing way too fast!

At 3 years 4 months old Gracyn's Favorite:

Song: anything from the movie Frozen!  She knows every word and I am told she has been know to give performances for her classmates at school

Movie: Frozen

Clothes: This is actually getting a lot easier.  She actually will let me pick out the clothes and will wear them without a fuss now, which is a HUGE step forward for us, however, she immediately changes into either PJs or comfy clothes right when we come home.  Seems like the perfect compromise to me.  

Foods: If Gracyn could live on PB&J then I think she would

Books: This girl is not particular about reading. She will read almost anything and could read for hours!

Hobbies: gymnastics, playing with friends, reading, playing memory match, puzzles