Lifestyles of the Young + Suburban

Our new study is almost complete!  The work should be all done by tomorrow (hopefully!!).  Things are looking really great and only a few touch ups are needed to make it perfect!  Here are few pictures of the old and new room.  I sure won’t miss the old one!  More pictures to come when it’s totally done!

View from the dining room into the sitting room. This is now enclosed for the study.

Entryway before the changes.

What used to be the sitting room is now an enclosed study!

Awesome built-ins!

The entryway tile goes all the way up to the dining room now, but I think this shot is before the grout. Also, the picture was taken from upstairs.

So Lisa and I were fortunate enough to get an iPhone for ourselves this week. I’m playing around with all the apps that are available – I have over 70 already installed. Probably a little overboard, but one of the apps allows me to quickly post to our blog.

My hope is that we’ll be able to share more of the fun stuff in our lives with all three of you that actually read our blog.

So stay tuned!

Mommy!  And Grayson is too, of course!  Today Grayson started his very first Mother’s Day Out program at Cornerstone Church in Plano.  Yesterday we talked all about school (and at first mention, he shouts “teacher!!”) and all the new things he’d see.  Luckily, some friends from our own church will be in his class to help with the transition.  Grayson was very excited to have his own backpack and lunchbox.  He actually wouldn’t let go of the lunchbox and made a little bit of a fuss about it when he had to put it in the lunch bin.  Other than that and being upset when we dropped Jackson off at doggy day care, he had a great start.  I was a little sad that I didn’t really get to say good-bye, but I am so happy that he walked right in with the teacher to sit down and was open to the experience.  I am anxious to hear what he has to say about his day!

Grayson is very proud of his lunchbox and backpack (althought it's way too big as you can tell, he's trying to hold it up with his arm!).

Although we had some rainy nights during our visit to Georgia, most of the days were beautiful, hot and sunny!  Grayson and I spent days by the pool and had so much fun visiting with all the family at Nunu and Peepaw’s house.  Although Grayson wasn’t too into the softball game, the rest of us had a great time and the weather held out just in time for all the boys to get soaked while packing up the gear after the game!

Grayson’s already asked to go back to Nunu’s house a couple of times and he keeps wondering where Trey went.  We are looking forward to when all the family comes to visit us in the big D!

Ben, Grayson, Sophia, Kaitlin, Kyle, & Trey

We had our annual Cinco de Mayo fiesta last Saturday.  (We do usually have it closer to the 5th, but this month has been uncharacteristically busy.)   We jazzed it up a little bit with the addition of a margarita machine!  Even though we couldn’t get through all the margaritas, every body had a blast!  We are especially thankful for our neighbors calling the friendly Frisco police department on us.  Too bad our party was no where near the craziness that the police requires.

Here’s a video of Grayson showing his fiesta spirit since he couldn’t come to the party (and he shows off some of his Spanish thanks to Dora) and then a few pictures of the fiesta.

Isn’t this the cutest trio you’ve ever seen?  Cousins, Emily, Ellie, & Grayson show off in their Easter best!

(And I’m only a month and a half behind in showing it to you!)

Grayson celebrated his second birthday last week!  We can’t believe that he is already two, but he is so proud to tell you so.  We spent a quiet evening at home with Grammy, Poppy, Aunt Stacy, Uncle Josh, Emily, and Ellie.  A few days later we had a big birthday party with Grayson’s friend Leighton at My Gym.  Grayson and all the kids had a blast and I was happy to have them all run around some where other than my house!

Not sure what this year will bring us, but I am looking forward to all our new experiences.  Grayson has had his fair share of tantrums already, so I’m not sure we’ll be into anything new there.  However, he also has a great big grin and giggles to go with it!  I think we’re in for lots of fun!

Time has really flown by this year so far and I can’t believe that it has only been a month since we posted last.  Some how we’ve managed to keep ourselves super busy, but can’t really figure out with what!  Grayson has been a little under the weather for a couple of weeks this year and I was with him for a while.  I think I probably complained about being sick more than Grayson.  He is tough little guy and very seldom complains when he feels down.  Luckily for Ryan, he has managed to keep healthy in the middle of taking care of us!

Grayson is growing up so fast and talking up a storm.  We still can’t always understand what he’s trying to tell us, but he sure does try.  The other night we asked him what he wanted for dinner and his reply was “couscous”.  I only wish he would actually eat it!

Here are a few photos from the past couple of days.  Lots more to come soon.  I am doing my best to get caught up with all our family photos!

We ended 2009 much like we started 2010, with lots of family and busy, busy, busy.

We spent Christmas in Texas, so as to not confuse Santa and enjoy a great day with my folks and the Koch’s. Grayson really had a blast with all the wonderful gifts from ole Saint Nick and from all our wonderful family and friends. Here are few pics of him from Christmas Eve and then Christmas morning:

On the 26th, we loaded up and headed East to meet up with Lisa’s family. We celebrated Christmas in Georgia on the 27th and had such a nice time getting together with everyone:

During the week, Lisa and I decided to take a day trip to show Grayson around our old stomping grounds in Athens:

Christmas is almost upon us and I can’t really figure out if Grayson is more excited to see what Santa will bring him or if Ryan and I are more excited to see Grayson’s reaction to all the new things he’ll be experiencing.  We have been looking forward to this Christmas for a while and grow more excited all the time when we see how much Grayson is growing and learning.  His squealing is sure to be extra cute tomorrow.

Last week we took a trip to the Gaylord Texan Hotel.  They decorate so beautifully for Christmas and we had a great time taking in the sights and having a nice dinner together.

This past weekend Ryan acquired a new toy thanks to the white elephant gift exchange at our Sunday School Christmas Party.  Here is his trying to figure it out while Grayson screams in delight and the dog attempts to eat it.

Merry Christmas to all and we hope Santa fills your stocking full!  Love, Ryan, Lisa & Grayson