The Graves' Yard

Weslyn update

2012-01-30T18:48:00.000-08:00

It's hard to believe that our little one will be 5 months old in a few days. I got a little sentimental today and let her sleep in my arms for one of her naps. It was so sweet. I knew that days like this were flying by, so I seized the moment.

She's on the move now, rolling everywhere. The days of leaving her on the bed while I get ready are far over. She eats like a champ too! Seems to be ready for food very soon. I think pureeing peas might be on my to-do list this week. Oh and she and Kobe are becoming great friends. They are very interested in each other. Staring contests are their favorite. Kobe always wins though because he can hold his head up longer. Currently she's learning how to sit up. She can finally extend her arms enough to hold herself up for a little bit.

There's always something new with her every week. We are amazed by the changes but trying to hold onto little baby Weslyn before she becomes little girl Weslyn. I sure hope she likes to cuddle when she's older...or she's going to be really annoyed with me.

The secret is to sing "wheel on the bus" to get a smile. Works every time.

She's very impressed with herself as she learns how to sit up.

BFF4L. Nothing can separate them.

The Kitchen

2011-12-20T07:33:00.001-08:00

We had our kitchen renovation back in August, but since Weslyn has come into our lives I haven't had the chance to take any after shots. I've been too preoccupied taking pictures of the baby. You know how it goes. Anyway, here is the new kitchen.

Before

After

Before

After

Before

After

Before

After

Thankful.

2011-11-28T18:14:00.000-08:00

We certainly had a wonderful Thanksgiving this year. It's always great to be in Tallahassee and see family and friends. To start the morning off Lynn, Weslyn and I did the Tallahassee Turkey Trot. It was a ton of fun!

She beat us by a few feet. Pretty good for her first 5k!

My talented sister took some great pictures of us this year. She definitely needs to quit the whole lawyer thing and take up photography.

It was wonderful to be with family to celebrate the holiday. Everyone had a great time!

Great to see some Graves from Atlanta and NC.

You'll notice there are TWO red heads in the family now!

We wrapped up the weekend with a Noles victory over the Gators. GO SEMINOLES! Great way to end a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend.

Approaching Milestones

2011-11-11T09:46:00.000-08:00

Weslyn has been a "mover" ever since she came home from the hospital. She refuses to be swaddled and has been picking up her head since day 5. I see some rolling around in her near future. I better rest while I can because something tells me this girl is going to be on the move in no time!

Happy Halloween!

2011-11-01T12:53:00.000-07:00

Halloween was a great success this year. We had a great time hanging out with family and passing out candy to the kiddos. Lawton had a wonderful dressing up as a scarecrow and scaring the kiddos. See below:

Lawton making his friend "George the scarecrow"

He really went all out to make him look life like!

Pretty good, huh?

In case you can't tell, Lawton is on the right.

As you probably guessed, when children walked up to ring the doorbell Lawton would move toward them...scaring the living daylight out of some of the little ones. He had to shake hands with one little boy to show he was just pretending and not really a mean scarecrow. He really had a great time.

Weslyn had a great time too. She greeted some neighbors in this cute little number Gigi made for her.

Thanks, Gigi!

All in all it was a great night! Hope you all had a great Halloween too!

8 weeks

2011-10-28T14:16:00.000-07:00

I can't believe our little one is 8 weeks old today. Here's some favorites so far..

taking a bottle for the first time. Looks like dad had the magic touch.

napping with momma

hanging out with her brother

picking up her head. Such a strong girl!

taking a paci. Thank. the. Lord.

Gotta love that smile...

Fast Asleep.

2011-09-10T11:38:00.000-07:00

These days Weslyn spends most of her day sleeping. It's quite the treat when she's awake so I try to capture it on camera as much as possible. I have to do it fast though because she can fall asleep pretty quickly...

Awake, looking around...

Getting a little tired...

Fading fast...

And she's out. It's tiring being a newborn.

Introducing...

2011-09-10T10:17:00.000-07:00

We would like to introduce our daughter, Weslyn Elizabeth Graves. She was born on Friday, Sept. 2, 2011 at 3:15am. 8 lbs 15 ounces, 21.5 inches. She's perfect in every way. Our family couldn't be more excited to have her.

My labor began Thursday evening. I was having contractions on and off during the days before, which prepared me for the big event on Friday morning. Around 9:30pm the contractions were close and intense enough to start timing. Lawton was an incredible coach throughout the entire process; I truly couldn't have done it without him. We walked the hall of our house for a couple hours while Kobe watched us with a close eye:) By midnight it was time to go to the hospital. The 20 minute drive to St. Luke's Hospital wasn't as bad as I had imagined. I was able to breathe through each contraction and stay calm...for the most part. When we got to the hospital the contractions were more intense and so was the pain. I remember feeling like I couldn't do it. I couldn't handle the pain. Lawton encouraged me and kept telling me, "You are doing it and you're doing a great job." My labor progressed quickly going from 6 cm dilated to 9 cm in about an hour. The nurses and midwife were encouraging as well and stuck with me the whole time. By 2am we were in the home stretch. I was exhausted, falling asleep between the pushing and contractions. It went by quickly though and at 3:15am our Weslyn was born. A head full of hair just like her parents. She is now 1 week old and we are continuing to adjust to life with a baby. Kobe has kept a close eye on her and is already comfortable around her...even through the crying and funny smells. Everyday it gets easier and hard to imagine life without her. We can't wait for more friends and family to meet our new addition to the Graves Yard.

Starting to feel the need to nest

2011-08-05T16:12:00.000-07:00

37 and 1/2 weeks along now and I'm ready to organize this house from head to toe. Not just organize, but get renovations finished and things looking pretty:) We're in the middle of our kitchen renovation right now and the house is a total wreck. Tomorrow they are putting in the countertops and doing the backsplash. We picked out a faucet, sink and hardware, so now we just need to pick out lighting.

Kitchen lighting: I love this one.

I searched for a while to figure out what kind of fixture it's called.

Evidently it's called a schoolhouse ceiling light.

Here's the light I found that I love. The price is a little steep at $80...

After more research I found this one. Only $25 at Lowes. It will probably

work better anyway since the ceiling in our kitchen is a bit low.

After the kitchen is complete I will feel much better and not as frantic about the house being "incomplete" before the baby arrives. Tomorrow we're going to clean from top to bottom, organize all other areas of the house and hang more pictures. That will help make the house to feel more like our home. Here are some other ideas that have been floating around in my head lately:

Framed fabric. I think this would look great in the living room.

Definitely not this color, but I do enjoy the design.

I've realized our coffee table weighs a lot and takes up too much space.

We're going to trade it out for something more functional like this.

The only problem is I want to have something more colorful. So hopefully my

oh-so-creative MIL will help me make slipcovers:

http://www.designsponge.com/2010/03/sewing-101-ottoman-slip-cover.html

We'll see how much we get done in the next couple of weeks. Hopefully we can get a good head start this weekend! Wish us luck:)

Nursery

2011-07-17T18:23:00.000-07:00

The last few months have flown by. We've moved into the new house, started renovations, and pretty much finished the nursery. Once we know the gender we'll decorate the walls of baby Graves' room a little more. Here are a few photos of the nursery so far:

Glider was a gift from Grandma and Grandpa.

Curtains made by Gigi.

The crib was passed down to us from cousin Chesson. Crib skirt made by Gigi.

The Winnie the Pooh characters were mine but now I'm passing them down to baby Graves. The photo on the second shelf is Lawton when he was a little one. :)

Gift from Corbin & Byerly. My favorite part of the whole room:)

21 weeks

2011-04-12T05:29:00.000-07:00

I know it's been quite a while since we've posted a bump picture, but the last 9-10 weeks haven't been as exciting as the weeks are now. Here's 21 weeks:

I've been feeling really great. Walking every day with Kobe and exercising a lot more. Lawton and I started taking a birth class last week. It's been...interesting, but for the most part it's been educational. It's getting us more and more excited about the arrival of baby Graves!

Our house is currently in the closing process. Just a couple more weeks and we will be homeowners! YAY! Big thanks to our realtor Jamie Goodroe for all her hard work.

12 weeks

2011-02-13T13:18:00.000-08:00

This week we had a pretty exciting week. I had a doctor's appointment on Friday and we heard the heartbeat! It was amazing. I could have sat there and listened to it all day.

We also found a house we're putting an offer on! It's only a few miles away from where we are now, so the move would be pretty easy. It's all brick 3 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms. The only downside is that is has a pool that needs some work. We actually don't want a pool (yet) so we would probably have the pool removed. It's a good thing we've made some good friends at church who have the proper equipment to remove something like a pool. We'll see what happens. Should have some more news soon on the house!

For now here's the 12 week photo:

August 23, 2011

2011-02-08T17:39:00.000-08:00

Our family is expecting a new addition in August, and no it's not another puppy:) Kobe will be the only puppy in our family for a while. Baby Graves is due August 23, 2011. I'm about 12 weeks along now. Here is my belly photo from 11 weeks. I would have put up the 10 week photo, but it doesn't look any different from this one. Not much going on, but hopefully my next photo will be a little more exciting!

2011 Trips

2011-01-17T11:59:00.000-08:00

We are very excited about 2011 in our house. We've had A LOT going on recently and are excited for what's to come. One thing we're excited about in particular are all the trips. Here's a list of what's on the calendar so far:

Weddings:

Palazzo Lavaca in Austin, TX

Our friends Hayden and Sean (who went viral: see here) are getting hitched this April here. We're psyched about spending time with old friends and sight seeing in Austin. I'll be celebrating this occasion early at the bride's bachelorette party in New Orleans!

The Warehouse in Tallahassee, FL

Our friends Matthew and Rachel are getting hitched this May in a place that's dear to our hearts, Tallahassee. We met Matthew at our church and became BFF4L right away. Lawton is in the wedding and also gets to go on a bachelor weekend. Look out! We're so excited about going back to Tally to celebrate this amazing couple's life together!

Cliffs at Glassy in Landrum, SC

One of my dear friends from high school, Grace, is getting married here this July. We're so excited for the happy couple and can't wait to celebrate!

We have a couple more wedding here in Jax that we're excited about too! Congrats to Whitaker & Heather and Kim & Mike!

Family Vacations:

Hood River, Oregon

We're pumped about going to see the Chambers family in May! We've recently been planning this trip and can't wait to hang out with family!

And of course we're always excited about seeing our Graves family in Raleigh. Not sure where the destination will be yet, but we'll be seeing one another for sure! You have to make sure you see this family every few months with kids as cute as these:

Here we come 2011!

Thanksgiving.

2010-12-15T18:44:00.000-08:00

We enjoyed Thanksgiving this year in Jacksonville. It was a fun filled week with kids, catching up with family and ping pong...lots of ping pong. :)

Here are a few photos of the festivities:

A trip to the Pumpkin Patch

2010-10-16T17:57:00.000-07:00

We've been planning for a couple weeks now to carve pumpkins to put in front of the house. I've been very excited to finally have the opportunity to give out candy to all the little kids for Halloween! Here are some photos of our pumpkin carving extravaganza.

We didn't even make it to the end of the patch...this place was HUGE

Lawton found a not-so-pretty one.

Hard at work.

Lawton made me take the guts out first.

Kobe was very skeptical of the pumpkins.

They came out pretty well:)

Seaching for our first home.

2010-10-02T13:05:00.000-07:00

Well, not really our first home. Since Lawton and I have been married (it was 2 years in July!) we've lived in 3 different places. All rentals, all great experiences. Now we're ready to begin looking for our first home...to BUY! We're very excited and can't wait to start the process. We don't want to actually purchase the home until sometime next year, but we want to get a head start on feeling out what we like.

Here's a trip down memory lane. The different places we've lived since July 2008.

This was our first place. We had a great deal from one of Lawton's friends.

This was one of the three bedrooms we had. The place was really meant for roommates: 3beds/3 baths.

This was our 2nd place, but Kobe's first home. It turned out to be a pleasant surprise living across the street from one of our now very good friends.

We lived next to great people, but the down side to this place was that it only had ONE drawer in the kitchen.

The kitchen was teeny, but it was functional enough for the two of us and Kobe.

This is our most recent rental. Lawton's great uncle has been so kind to let us rent his carriage house. It's in a beautiful neighborhood and is just the right size for us.

We've made a lot of changes to this house. Here's the living room. You can't find those smaller pillows in a store. The material can be found at Joann Fabrics, but Lawton's sweet mother made the pillows.

View of the windows. Curtain material can also be found at Joann Fabrics. Curtains made by Betty Ann:)

Our kitchen is once again teeny,but it's functional enough.

And we have four drawers!

This is my favorite room. It's filled with furniture Lawton's grandmother refinished for us and photos of our family.

This place has been the best so far. It's got a big yard that Kobe can run around and the details of the place are charming, definitely my style. We looked at four houses today that all ranged from 1600-2000 sq feet. Some had great yards with a porch, some had smaller yards with a deck. It was fun for us to decide what we liked most and what we didn't like at ALL! It was also a great experience to see what we're willing to compromise on and what we're not. One thing is for sure, older homes that have been added onto in a cheap way are not our style, but kitchens larger than 150 sq ft right up our alley.

Our new life in Jacksonville

2010-09-26T18:39:00.000-07:00

During the past four months we've been adjusting to life in Jacksonville. I'll admit, it's quite different from life in Tallahassee. Back then one of us were always in school, we lived around our friends and we always had a million fun things to do with our church, friends and family. Jacksonville has been fun, but much slower (which might be something we really need). Now we are both working and we have no friends. Ha, not true but we do have very few friends here. We're making progress though and Lawton's parents have been wonderful in making our transition nice and easy. There were a few bumps in the road in the beginning, but we're getting more into a routine these days. Lawton is LOVING his job and I'm still having a great time with mine. Here are a couple photos of where I spend most of my time during the day:

If you notice on the bottom, my candy jar is empty. It never stays full very long. :)

This GINORMOUS cork board saves my life. I wish I had one of these at home.

I don't make very much as a Social Worker but I will say this, it takes me 6 months of work to pay for this piece of paper.

When the day gets too hectic, I daydream out this window.

I've been pretty blessed to have this office. It's nice and spacious enough for all my paperwork. :)

Tallahassee Family Visit

2010-08-10T17:44:00.000-07:00

This weekend we went to Tallahassee to have a family get together before Matt leaves for New Mexico for the semester. We are so proud of his accomplishments and can't wait to hear all about his experience in Los Alamos.

It's been nearly three months since Kobe and Cooper had seen one another, and boy did they make up for lost time! Kobe has had low energy for the past couple of days, and something tells me Cooper is feeling the same. Here are some highlights from our weekend:

The boys had a great time running around with each other


Lawton having a training session with Kobe and Cooper

Time for a rest

Cooper with his military grade cooling vest (it's filled with fat - seriously)

Kobe

Mom with her grand dogs

Mom's cooking: yakimandu, chop chae and rice

Lunch :)

Raleigh Vacation

2010-05-18T18:36:00.000-07:00

This week we've been in Raleigh, NC relaxing and having a great time with the Graves bunch. It's been a lot of fun hanging out with family and playing with our nephew and new niece. Here's a little preview of our week so far:

Chesson and Kobe picked up right where they left off. Instead of calling him "Ko Ko" like he was in the last time they saw one another, Chesson now calls Kobe "Kobu". It's really the cutest thing ever.

Little Anna Corbin is doing great. Lawton and I are getting excellent practice with this whole baby thing....for the very, very distant future. Now weighing in at 6 lbs 15 ounces, she's a little peanut.

Life has been pretty much cake the past week or so. We've been having such an amazing time here. It will be very sad when we all have to leave. More fun to come later in the week. G'daddy comes in on Thursday and we will also be taking Chesson to gymnastics too. More pictures to come!

Ears Lowered

2010-05-01T14:47:00.001-07:00

For my birthday I asked for (and received) a nice pair of hair clippers, hair scissors, and thinning shears. Not only are these useful for giving Kobe a trim, but Sarah has also graciously agreed to start giving me haircuts.

(A "before" shot of Kobe)

("After")

("During")

Cellmates

2010-04-11T14:30:00.000-07:00

That's cousin Cooper Small in the back.

My Wide Mouth Can

2010-04-01T18:08:00.000-07:00

Vacation

2010-03-28T18:20:00.000-07:00

We recently went on a Graves family vacation to the mountains in Cashiers, NC. These are a little late, but better late than never.

The relationship these two have cracks me up and melts my heart. Here is Chesson giving cousin Kobe some hugs.

It snowed!

Kobe didn't get to go on the mountain trails, but he had a great time playing in the leaves.

Our very first mountain trip with the Kobester. Hoping there will be many more to come:)

Like Christmas Morning

2010-03-23T13:07:00.000-07:00

Look at all the free treasures that I found in my mailbox today. They are both the result of couponing and not checking the mail for a few days.

1. Sample of Prilosec OTC (treats frequent heartburn!)
2. Olay body wash (7-in 1 advanced anti-aging)
3. South Beach s'mores bar (and $1 off coupon for my next purchase)
4. Jetstream Uniball pen
5. Metamucil powder (berry burst AND pink lemonade flavors + $2 off my next purchase)
6. Tide sports detergent (it's the #1 detergent for stain removal)
7. Pampers cruisers diapers (size 5 -- so if you have a baby who wears size 5 let me know and they're yours...I wear a size 33 so they're useless to me)
8. $15 rebate check from a $13.80 Olay purchase (that's a $1.20 moneymaker folks)

Weekend Update

2010-03-22T11:50:00.000-07:00

I left Sarah and Kobe for the weekend to have some awesome times with the soon to be MR. Davis Balz. My weekend consisted of paintball, shotguns (both inside the cabin and out), and lots of bacon.

(Kobe didn't get any, he's just admiring the bacon like the rest of us)

Sarah had a much calmer and presumably less dangerous weekend consisting primarily of this:

Muffin Tops

2010-02-20T16:03:00.001-08:00

I do not recommend using the lowest rack in the oven to bake muffins on unless you prefer muffin tops as opposed to actual whole muffins. Turns out that the bottom oven coil is too close and will quickly burn any part of the muffin that is touching the muffin pan. Thus only the tops are edible.

(my muffins sans their tops)

On the plus side, muffin tops are DE-LICIOUS!!

Valentine's Day

2010-02-14T20:25:00.000-08:00

Lawton and I celebrated Valentine's Day by driving back from Land O' Lakes. We went to a couples baby shower yesterday for my good friends Jessica and Robert. Lawton was wary at first, but it turned out to be really fun! It was a big barbque at a local park with a lot of old friends from high school.

Tonight we had a delicious dinner thanks to my momma; her specialty, yakimondu (Korean dumplings). Lawton brought me home some tulips and peanut M&Ms. He surely knows the way to my heart.

Kobe has two wonderful Valentines in his life. Here is Reagan Rill. The two of them spent some time together this weekend in Tampa.

This is Sadie Robinson, Kobe's Tallahassee babe.

Make sure you don't tell them about each other. It's not cheating if you're in different area codes. Happy Valentine's Day!

Bad Dog

2010-02-11T07:42:00.000-08:00

Kobe is quite the model citizen for a 6 month old puppy. He knows and responds well to commands (sit, lay down, stay), doesn't walk through open doors without permission, and is great on walks on and off the leash. But yesterday afternoon he reminded me that he's still very much a puppy.

Apparently it's great fun to tear through the trash while no one is watching; but it will earn you some hard time in the slammer.

Neutered

2010-02-05T12:43:00.000-08:00

Dean (our pastor at The Well) is going through a sermon series called "neutered." He's focusing on how Jesus is improperly viewed by so many (as a Santa Claus, good luck charm, smart guy who just taught some good lessons, etc.). Here is the graphic for the series:

"Neutered" is also what happened to Kobe today. I dropped him off at the Vet this morning and I picked him back up this afternoon. They said everything went well. He seems a little fatigued but is doing alright. Apparently we're not suppose to let him run or jump for the next few days; that's probably not going to happen, but he is resting quietly for the moment.

Sid

2010-02-03T07:40:00.001-08:00

This is Kobe's favorite toy; a gift from Joe, Julianne, and Regan Rill. He squeaks.

He also bears a striking resemblance to one famous Pixar character.

3L - itis

2010-02-02T09:46:00.000-08:00

This is a screenshot of my laptop screen during class this morning.

Not to worry, notice the notes in the background.

Puppy Training

2010-02-01T19:50:00.000-08:00

As part of our Christmas gift from Lynn and Matt we received a private training session for our puppy, Kobe. The trainer came to our house and offered a variety of new techniques for training Kobe. I think with most of her clients she shows up and disciplines the dog, but during our session Kobe slept almost the whole time. Here are a few of her helpful tips:

No dogs on the furniture:

No more picking up shoes and socks:

No taking items off the table:

Say commands like "sit" only once:

We eat before Kobe eats, even if it's a small cracker:

No more picking Kobe up like a baby:

No more licking, what we like to call "kisses":

We agreed and decided to start enforcing them...

...except for the last two. Seriously. Lawton will continue to cradle him like a baby. And no more kisses? Come on what's life without some good Kobe kisses?

Our baby, I mean puppy

2010-01-22T20:10:00.000-08:00

Tonight Lawton and I decided to stay in to watch Kobe on TV. Bryant that is. As most of you know, Lawton is a big Lakers fan which is why our pup is named after Mr. Bryant.

Kobe will take 15 minutes naps here and there throughout the evening when we're all hanging out. He usually parks it on the linoleum in front of our front door where it's nice and cool. But lately I've noticed he will sleep for a really long time if Lawton is holding him. I mean, a really long time. 30, 45 minutes. Sometimes an hour.

Lawton has been holding Kobe like a baby for some time now:

And here's the proof that Dad has the right touch:

sleeping...

sleeping again...

sleeping some more...

sweet dreams.

Potassium Overload

2010-01-17T19:35:00.000-08:00

I ate 5 bananas in a matter of minutes this afternoon. Sarah wasn't home. See below for the damage (avoid my kitchen if you are driving a go-kart).

2010-01-17T16:42:00.000-08:00

So yes, we've fallen for it too. We're starting a blog. We read them all the time and thought it was time to start one of our own. I say we, Lawton and Sarah, only Lawton has been granted provisional blog posting permission. I (Sarah) promise all the readers I will try to filter everything he wants to post. Even as I write, he is making plans to write fake blog posts about his gardening exploits. I'll do my best to keep these from hitting the "interweb." His word, not mine.

Our family is made up of a social worker/children's director, law student/church facilities extraordinaire, and the cutest darn puppy dog you ever did see. Here's a picture to prove it:

Follow us as we experience what God is doing in our lives and what He has to come.