What happens when Daddy figures out how to log in.....

It isn't often that I plan on logging on, posting pictures or "BLOGGING", but I look forward to the opportunity to be able to reference this blog in the future to remember the fun times we have had and insure future embarrassment of both ourselves and Graysen.

Seeing as Graysen can't protest picture opportunities (yet), she is about to find out that being posed isn't as entertaining for her as it is for us, or at least me. With a summer rain storm rolling in this evening, we took her out in the back yard to feel the wind and hear the storm coming in. The end result was....

A chance to have some fun and meet the backyard neighbors.....

We have finally finished the Nursery and wanted to thank everyone that helped create Graysen's new home. There were many components of this room that came together over time, but had we known how many hours would go into the creation of this room, we most likely would have chosen a completely different design/theme/idea...or just gone to Toys R Us.

We saw a round crib many years ago and have always wanted one. Seeing as round cribs aren't easy to come by, we had to design and create what we wanted. Little did we know that this process would become so....well...let's just say "entertaining".

The second part of the room, after deciding on the bed, was choosing colors. Of course, we never would have thought that Charcoal Gray was that WEIRD of a color. What? Doesn't sound weird? Well, go and try things in this color that are similar shades. You too will start off eager and excited but will quickly begin questioning if there is something odd about this color that you hadn't considered before. It seemed with each small victory in finding something that was about the right color, the next logical part wouldn't work out, or would be wrong shade, or would....you name it.

As bits and pieces FINALLY started to come together, we were able to blend in items that friends and family had given us to help make Graysen's room hers.

Aunt Marisa created letters to spell her name, which we have placed at the entrance door. The girls that threw one of Shonna's baby showers made the shelf that is now above door.

To help record her growth, we made castings of Graysen's hand and foot. The "extra" casting was just to add a little decoration to the Shadow Box. I am sure she will greatly appreciate it in the years to come.

Rachel made Graysen a picture display board for her room, and it actually worked out to be the perfect thing for holding her bows and headbands. Every little girl needs her accessories, and this makes it easy for her (read - Daddy can see what to chose from) to pick the perfect item for completing her outfit.

Graysen's bed, like the colors of her room, started off as a pretty simple idea that grew fairly complex in a very short period of time. The only way to overcome the issues was to make the darn thing. As a new Daddy, I didn't think about that if you are going to have a bed made, you might want to think about how you are going to put sheets on it and where you are going to get them from. Such an oversight meant only one thing, the fabric store(s) would now become the most frequently visited place in my daily routine.

Unless you have shopped for fabric before, you could not possibly imagine how silly this process is. You will find one fabric for one part of the bed, but when you look for another fabric in the same color palette for another part, they won't have it or even worse, won't have enough and can't order it anymore. I honestly believe I stopped at EVERY fabric store Houston has to offer trying to tie everything together. Wait, you know of some obscure import/export place that sells fabric? Yep, I even stopped there.

Now that we have the finished product, the hours of driving and looking were well worth the outcome. Mommy loves to go in her room and pretend it is hers.

Now I can go back to posing Graysen and taking silly pictures. Tonight, Graysen got to wear her new favorite outfit that Mommy and Daddy brought back from Italy. It has significant meaning, but we will save that for another posting..........

Not what I was going to blog about

1. I was going to blog about our very restful weekend at the Hyatt Hill Country but I will save that for another day. I will say it was very needed and we had a great time. I didn't have to make one decision for 4 whole days. Our friend Jonathan planned it and took care of being in charge of our group. He even made our spa appointments for us. It was AWESOME. Don't get me wrong, I love planning trips. It is in my top 5 favorite things to do but every once in a while it is nice to be taken care of too.

2. Graysen has a stuffy nose which means we both didn't sleep more than 2 1/2 hours last night. It made her eating time double because the poor thing couldn't breathe. I only worked a half day at the office because we

were both tired and I took some stuff home that was easy to do (opening mail and coding invoices...extremely exciting stuff) It gave me the chance to catch up on Friday Night Lights. I watched the final episode. I'm so sad that show is over for good. It is such a good depiction of high school football in a small town. I love football for many reasons. Growing up my Dad worked six days a week and Sundays were his day off. I watched football with him every Sunday. It was my father daughter bonding time and started my love it. During high school fall Friday nights were my favorite. I loved walking from our dance room to the stands. We would stand on the sidelines and wait for the band to finish warming up so we could file in to our spot. I loved the smell of the grass, the bright lights, the smell of the concession stands, and the energy and excitement of the game starting. It is why I like college football more than the NFL. During fall 2008 (otherwise known as the worst time period of my life) it was the only thing that made things tolerable. I looked forward to Saturday all week. 44 more days until the best time of the year

3. One of my friends recently told me since her husband has been reading my blog he wants her to do one because everyone seems so perfect. It has bothered me. I finally came to the conclusion that maybe it is a good thing to look "perfect." At the end of the day one of the things that will make me the happiest is for my daughter to tell me her life was perfect. Isn't that something every parent wants?

I thought I would throw in some not so perfect things just for fun. Shawn and I are through the first six weeks of new parent blissfulness. We get frustrated with each other. I chose to breastfeed her and when choosing that route I took on the majority of the nighttime duties. Occasionally when I look over and see him happily sleeping I have a small urge to punch him awake. O.K, so maybe I lightly flicked him awake the other night because I wanted him to do the changing and burping. He told me the other day I needed to stop being so crazy all the time. He is right. I am a control freak and I need to let him learn his own way a bit more.

I'm a little resentful of the fact I didn't get to stay home for six weeks and just take care of her. I didn't go back to work after 5 days because I wanted people to tell me I was super woman (I only cared about my father-in-law being impressed) I did it because I am one of 6 people in a company. I have job duties nobody else knows how to do. The financials had to get done and sent to the bank. I am not complaining. I have many job perks and wouldn't trade in my situation for anything but I do wish I could have had that time.

I am the keeper of our schedule. I keep track of appointments for both of us. I can't remember a time I have ever messed that up. I am sure it has happened, I just can't remember.

A couple of weekends ago we had people

over at the lake and the doorbell rang. Apparently I had rented out the lake house and COMPLETELY forgot. Not just messed up a date...just completely forgot someone coming to the house for a whole week. Shawn never said one negative thing to me. He took them to Del Lago and booked a room for one night and scheduled the cleaner for after we left. You can imagine his face when the next morning we go to the doctor and I messed up her doctor's appointment by a week. The 3 hours of sleep a night had been catching up with me.

I got in a conversation with an old friend this weekend in San Antonio. I told her I get so worried I am doing a bad job when she is having a meltdown and someone asks to help by holding her. She told me that the people who ask that really want to help. I told her I always feel so guilty about it. I have two friends I am frequently around and I can literally feel myself relax when I'm with them. They are both extremely good with children and are very helpful with her.

I keep telling myself being happy that I'm around these naturally maternal and paternal people shouldn't make me feel guilty. I should be thankful there are people willing to help. I just can't get rid of the inadequate parent feeling. I am working on it.

That is all I have on my imperfections at the moment. I will be blogging about my "perfect" mini-vacation in the next couple of days.

Lake Weekends...

Friends have relieved...

Sisters have been cute...

Babies have been swimming for the first time..

Naps have been taken in the sun...

Uncles have been played on..

Father's Day Blogs have been written in secret...

Doggies have been terrorized by little hands and feet..

Grandpas have slept...

Cousins have played...

Mommies have chilled...

upcoming mommies to be have practiced...

And summer is only halfway thru.

Graysen's 6 Week Report Card

I know I already posted this on Facebook but I wanted to put it on the Blog as well just in case I lose the piece of paper. I went to go work-out the other morning. In case that makes it sound like I do that everyday it was my first morning and I thought I was going to die after 25 minutes. No idea how people have the energy to fit that in after having a baby. It put me on the edge of exhaustion after a week.

I came home after 45 minutes and found this with Graysen.

I told you Shawn was creative..and awesome. It made me laugh all day. And yes, I did pout about getting a meets expectations score for style and accessories. That is the one area I am 100% responsible. When I asked him about it he said that he knew she would look great so it wasn't exceeding expectations..Hmmm. We will see what the 12 week report card brings. I have upped my game. Bows and shoes everyday.