Lifestyles of the Young + Suburban

We’ve changed the theme of the blog a bit. Lisa found a new background and layout that she liked and I was able to make a few adjustments to it. Let us know what you think!

No Nana, those are just the lights….

We’ve almost finished decorating the house! We only have a few wreaths left to put up outside and some boxes to put back in the attic. After trying to decorate early this year, I am not so certain that it’s worked out for the best. We started before Thanksgiving and here it is a week and half before Christmas and we still aren’t finished! Next year I don’t think I’ll be in such a rush…unless we get a tree before Thanksgiving too I guess.

Grayson and Jackson helped me out around the house a little and I tried to make them part of the decorations. I didn’t last long.

The Manchee Family Christmas Tree 2009

This past weekend we also had a visit with Santa. Every year our clubhouse has been getting Santa to come and get pictures with all the kiddos. They have cookies, hot chocolate and cider, beautiful decorations and train rides. Grayson had a great time last year (we won’t mention the fact that he was probably oblivious to everything). This year…well…let’s just say maybe he was confused as to why he wasn’t sitting on Peepaw’s lap.

Every kid has to have at least one photo like this, right?

Also, this past weekend Ryan celebrated the last birthday he’ll ever have in his twenty’s. I showed my sympathy by letting him choose BBQ for our lunch. We then celebrated over at Josh and Stacy’s house and started the afternoon watching the Cowboys (we won’t talk about that). Later in the evening we took a carriage ride through the neighborhood to see all the pretty light displays. It was cold, but a beautiful night. We ended the evening with some fajitas on the grill and sugar cookie cake. I know Ryan had a great birthday and the day wasn’t too bad for the rest of us either!

Ryan, blinding us with one of his new toys.

Carriage Ride to see the Christmas Lights

We got some family photos taken a few months back and decided they would be perfect for our family Christmas card. Although we didn’t send cards to everyone this year, we are thinking of you all. Our family has had a great year and we are so thankful for all of our wonderful family and friends.  As we hop between Dallas and Atlanta, we hope to celebrate the season together and we wish you all a very Merry Christmas!

The season has started off with some excitement!  First, Frisco already our first Texas blizzard!  It only lasted about 3 hours and was all but a few puddles by midday, but it was beautiful.  Grayson wasn’t exactly sure about what he thought and Jackson showed his disdain for the wintry weather by delaying his morning potty adventure until the afternoon.

SNOW!

Adding to the excitement of December, was the birth of Christina’s baby boy!  For those of you who don’t know, my little brother Zach and his wife, Christina, have been expecting a baby boy.  Kyle James Austin was born on December 5th at 5:24am.   He weighed in at 7 pounds and 5 ounces and was 19 inches long.  Mom and Baby are doing great and Daddy is learning all about parenthood quickly.  We are so happy for them and can’t wait to meet our new nephew and Grayson can’t wait to meet his new cousin!  Here is the cutie pie!

Happy Birth Day Kyle!

Thanksgiving came and went so fast!  We had AWESOME house guests – the Caveney family and a surprise arrival by Kaitlin!  It was so great to see my family and show them around our town.  A link to some of our fun times is on the right.  I am so happy and so very thankful they came to stay with us and only wish they could have stayed longer.  We spent Thanksgiving day at Stacy and Josh’s house and ate and ate some more.  The next day, Melissa, Kailtin, and I braved the cold weather and crowds for some Black Friday shopping.  It was an experience for sure, but I wouldn’t pass over 5 hours of shopping with those girls for anything.  We had a blast and are still hiding our receipts.  Shhh…

Ben is getting us pumped up for the Yo Gabba Gabba show.

The Saturday after Thanksgiving, there was a Party in Our City!  Yo Gabba Gabba was in town at the Dr. Pepper Arena in Frisco.  Ryan and I took Grayson to see his first live show.  We had awesome seats on the floor and we all had a great time.  We weren’t sure how Grayson was doing at first because he was more or less in a trance, but we soon realized he was just soaking it all in.  During the intermission he starting jabbering away and managed to smile during the last half of the show.  All the performers were great and Grayson got to meet Biz Markie and hear the beat of the day live!  We also got to take photos with all of the gang after the show and DJ Lance Rock was very nice and was willing to hold Grayson, but Grayson wasn’t quite ready for such close interaction.  Check out our awesome photos under our photo links.

Ryan, Lisa, and Grayson and The Gabba Gang

This past weekend was the annual neighborhood Fall Festival, which includes a petting zoo and prime photo ops in front of the fall fest sign and fall decor.

Grayson was more in to the petting zoo, than the photo op, but we still had a blast! Happy Fall.

Ryan smiling, Grayson squirming

Grayson feeding the bunny

Kids are funny. This is the time when Grayson will do just about anything I say. I am soaking it up while I can.

On a completely opposite note: The dog who will listen to absolutely nothing I say turned six on Wednesday. He had a good day and hopefully the cupcake he ate won’t cost me any money. Happy Birthday Silly Bully.

Jackson the Lazy

Jackson the Non-Listener

Jackson the Spoiled

Jackson the Licker

Jackson the Silly Bully

Yea! Yo Gabba Gabba is coming to Dallas. What’s better is they are coming to Frisco! That’s right on November 28th the whole Gabbaland gang is coming to the Dr Pepper Arena. Josh sent me a pre-sale code, so we were able to get seats last week!

Just last week Lisa was trying to convince me that we needed to go to Chicago to see them, since they were only having limited shows in LA, NYC and Chicago. So the good news is we saved on airfare and travel expenses, so we splurged and bought the coveted VIP seats.

The VIP seats are right in front of the stage (second row) and give us access to the post-show meet and greet! I am not sure if Lisa or Grayson is more excited.

So, expect some post-Turkey day pics of our fun time hanging out with DJ Lance and the rest of the gang!

This weekend was full of fall fun! Ryan, Grayson, and I went out to the park to get some family photos taken. The weather was beautiful and we got some great pictures with our own camera too! Check out those photos under our photo link.

Having fun at the Park!

We also spent Sunday evening introducing Grayson to the joys of Halloween (meaning candy of course!). He had a great time even though mom couldn’t get him a costume that fit him! He spent most of the time running around, screaming and dancing. We couldn’t get him to say “trick or treat”, but he could say “sucker” no problem! Next year I promise to get him a costume that fits!!

Grayson the Tiger

Halloween is almost here! Can you believe it? I surely can’t; this year has flown by so fast and has been filled with so much.

In September, Grayson and I made our first trip to the Texas State Fair and Ryan introduced us to Big Tex.

This October, we’ve been super busy! We made a week long visit to Georgia with our first ever family road trip! My good friend Molly got married and we threw a baby shower for Christina. Since we’ve been back home we’ve had tons of fun visiting our pumpkin patch at Grace Avenue and Grayson has had a blast running around the patch discovering hay, pumpkins, and gourds.

I’ve got links to photos of all our adventures under the photo list on the right. Check back next week for more October fun as Grayson will be doing some “trunk or treating” at the patch this weekend! Happy Halloween!

Family Road Trip with Grayson in the Driver's Seat!