Friday, February 1, 2013

Baby to Toddler

It's true. Weslyn is definitely not a baby anymore. I mean, let's get one thing straight, she will ALWAYS be my baby, but she's certainly grown up in these last couple of months. It's really made me feel...old. When you no longer have a baby and you have a kid you're officially an adult. At least that's how I feel. I also feel like I'm officially a parent. Only because with this new toddler stage now comes, discipline. Oh goodness, of all the years I've studied child psychology and behaviors, never did anything prepare me for correcting my own child's behavior. It's been heart breaking at times, but those times have been worth it for my proud mama moments. It's an exhausting task but very, very necessary. I'm so happy the Lord guides us in this area because there are too many books to look thru that have completely opposite directives. I really can't complain though. All in all, she's a really great kid. A little fiesty (you won, mom) but still a really great kid.

I see Lawton and myself in her everyday. She loves the outdoors, being with her friends and being really, really silly We've had a great time experiencing her as a toddler. I'm so excited for what the next year will bring us with her.

At the library doing an art activity


She was very fascinated with the paint. I see many finger painting day
in our near future!

Our new Saturday ritual. Going to the park and walking around for...hours. Kobe and Weslyn. They just can't get enough of it. 

In the backyard enjoying a snack. This was one of those moments
that I had to capture. Nothing special about it, but I just hope I
remember it forever. 

Just so you know, I realize most of my blog posts are about the child.
Don't worry, Kobe is still around and still the best dog ever. 

Happy February everyone! Hope you all are having a great start to 2013.

Wednesday, January 2, 2013

Holiday Season 2012

The holidays went by in a flash. Once I began planning for Thanksgiving dinner, I feel like I never had a free moment until today. I'm finally able to sit down and write a blog post. Weslyn is with Gigi and I don't have to work today (which I usually do on Wednesdays).

Wrapping up the last few months is going to be hard to do in one post, but I'm up for the challenge. We saw so many amazing people, went to fun places and ate some really, really good food. Here's a recap of our 2012 holiday season:

Thanksgiving: Wonderful to see friends and family. Lawton's cousins were a huge help with Weslyn's Christmas present. A playhouse and swing set. Our sweet neighbors were willing to give us this generous gift, just as long as we were able to remove it from their backyard...in come the Edmiston boys...I mean men, sorry guys.

They were AMAZING. They spent about 4 hours of their vacation taking apart, carrying down the street, and putting together this playset. Words can't describe how grateful I am.


This is only the roof. The whole thing came in four parts!



The final piece. It really did look heavy. 


Ta Da! Such a masterpiece.

Luckily the cousins were here too, so they got to enjoy some time with it!

Weslyn has already mastered this thing. She's 16 months old y'all.  She can climb up
the ladder on her own and go down the slide. I have no idea who would have taught her this... 

Oh wait, yes, her brilliant cousins. Anna Corbin taught her how to use the slide...

And Chesson taught her how to go up the ladder. Sweet cousins:)


I owe it all to these gentlemen. Big thanks to Lawton, Holt and
the Edmiston men! Sorry you had to miss out on the fun, Corbin & Gordon!



Oregon: We went to Oregon in December and had an amazing time. My cousins got to meet Weslyn in person for the first time. The other time they've seen her was thru an ultrasound my cousin, Charlie,  did at his office while I was 7 months pregnant with her. It was so special for them to spend time with her and introduce her to SNOW. Our trip was filled with skiing, food (of course), site seeing, and games...lots of games!

The time with my family came and went way too fast. I miss them so much already and can't wait to plan the next trip to see them!


Weslyn was quite a trooper on the plan. She only napped for an hour,
but was really happy for  the entire plane ride.

Here she is! Snow for the first time. 

It was hard to move around...

But she got used to it eventually. I think the cold weather agrees with her.
At least the outfits do, because she is stinkin' cute in this thing. 

Lynn, Camaryn & Maddie. All looking stylish and cute. 

My sweet family. Not including my sister, who is the one
taking the picture. Gotta love her skills.



family photo

Here we are in Pike Place Market, first Starbucks!

Oregon 2012


Christmas 2012: Christmas was nice and relaxing. My sister and parents came to Jacksonville to celebrate the holiday with us and Lawton's family. We all had a wonderful time on Christmas Eve at our house and on Christmas day at Holt & Betty Ann's. My favorite moment of all was when Lawton and I took a few minutes to put Weslyn down for bed together on Christmas Eve. We had a house full of people over, but we didn't care. We were going to read Weslyn the Christmas story together and pray to thank God for His son. It was the perfect way to close out 2012.

I think they are best friends. Same size and same  interests. Cuddling and eating. 

Christmas Eve 2012

Christmas day. Showing off her peek-a-boo skills. Still hasn't gotten sick of that game. :)

Weslyn got some very special gifts. A kitchen (shown here) from my parents,
chair with her name on it from Lawton's parents and a playset. 

2012 has been an amazing year.  Thank you to our friends and family for making the year so great.
Can't wait to see what 2013 has in store for the Graves family!


Thursday, November 1, 2012

Trick or Treat

We had so much fun on Halloween. Weslyn got to spend all day with Gigi and had fun adventures with her, as always. Then our sweet friends, Heather & Paul came over with their little girl, Izzie later that evening. Weslyn & Izzie had so much fun with one another. Playing, a hayride in the neighborhood and trick-or-treating. We only made it to one house, but one was enough:) We were all pretty hungry for dinner, so headed back to our house after the hayride festivities.

Weslyn & Gigi in their matching outfits. So cute. 


Very excited to see one another. Hugs all around. 

Sylvias. Love this family. 

On our way out. Of course Kobe came too. 

Ready to trick-or-treat!

they each picked chocolate. Girls after my own heart. We of course lost the candy 5 min later. 
Kobe was quite a hit too. We realized that all of our neighbors are big fans!


More hugs. 

The monkey & little red riding hood make quite the cute pair.


Hayride fun

Hope everyone had a Happy Halloween!



Wednesday, October 31, 2012

Pumpkin Patching & Carving

We've had a great time on our pumpkin patch adventures this year. It makes me look forward to many more to come. Weslyn had a great time running up and down the hay filled aisles, pointing at all the pumpkins.







The pumpkin carving  took place last night once Weslyn went down for bed. Nothing like carving pumpkins & watching the Lakers play for a little in-home date night:)







Happy Halloween!

Friday, October 26, 2012

An Athens Affair

Last weekend we went to Athens, GA for one of my best friend's wedding. Audrey was a BEAUTIFUL bride and let me tell you, girl knows how to throw a wedding. It was awesome. Everything was fantastic. Each event, all of the venues, and the people were the best part.  My people. My friends who I literally grew up with.  You know those people who really speak your language? The ones who laugh at the same stupid things you laugh at and the ones who you can be offensively inappropriate with? These are those people for Lawton & me. They also hold a special place in my heart because they knew Lawton & me before we were "Lawton & me." This group is how I met Lawton in the first place. We were all a bunch of over-sized teenagers when we met and now we're adults...for the most part.We still know how to have a great time together (even with our old age) and a great time we had. I seriously had not had this much fun in a long time. My parents were in attendance as well and took great care of Weslyn during the evening so we could spend time with friends. We stayed up way past our bed time every night talking, hanging out and dancing the night away. Needless to say, I can't wait until the next time we're all together.


A little frisbee on UGA's version of Landis Green

He's sexy and he knows it



One of my faves. Hayden & Sean with Weslyn.

She was a great sport and spent a lot of time in the stroller:)

Love. Joe & Julianne with Weslyn.

Pre-wedding cocktail party

Striking a pose.

Male Models.
Much hotter models.

Some of the bridesmaids.

Lovely bride and groom.













Love these people.