Prayers for Jason

As most of you know, the past week and been a hard week for the Graeber family. Jason Graeber had sinus infection symptoms starting last Friday. By Sunday, his vision was blurred and his equilibrium off. After going to the doctor on Tuesday, the doctor noticed that one of his eyes was dilated, so she sent him to the ER to have an MRI done. The MRI revealed a mass in Jason's brain. So, they immediated transfered him to Tulane in New Orleans. After several MRI's, bone scans, CT scans, blood tests, etc., we still have dont know what the diagnosis is. All of Jason's films and tests have been sent all around to several neurosurgeons, and they are all calling us back with their opinions. They all seem to agree that this could possibly be just an infection, but that it too could be a tumor. So, Jason is soon going to Houston, TX to the doctors at MD Anderson for the best possible care to find out what is going on and get the best treatment possible. I know that thousands of people all over are praying for Jason, and he already feels all these prayers! He is in great spirits, and he has a faith in our God that cannot be shaken. Karem is a strong and loving wife to Jason, and she is there to fight with him the entire way through this journey. Please keep the prayers coming for Jason and the Graeber family as they start on this journey of the unknown. God is good all of the time!!!!!!

11 Months

Well...... he turned 11 months old yesterday. I can't believe I am saying that!! We are in first birthday party mode now!!! We have decided not to do anything huge this year for his birthday, but I still have a lot of planning to do! The only thing that I have new to report is that Leyton and Tootsie are really becoming the best of friends. They play together all the time! First thing in the morning, Leyton looks for Tootsie, and she is waiting on him every morning in his doorway. Tootsie loves the fact that he chases her!!

We had a fun weekend this past weekend! We had a block party in our neighborhood. Thornton was working late on Friday night, so I took Leyton to listen to the band, visit all of our neighbors and eat hamburgers!! He LOVED the band. Everyone passed him around and he did not seem to mind a bit. I hope this becomes a neighborhood tradition because we had a blast! We have so many fun people that live around us. We just hope Daddy can come with us next time! Saturday, Leyton and I went and had lunch at the club with Aubrey, Allie Harris, Melissa Miles, Mary Mason and Stratton. Then we all went downtown to the open house. Sunday, we headed to Cleveland to go to the open house there with my aunts and my grandmother.

Trick-or-Treat!!!!

Leyton had a wonderful first Halloween!!! He dressed up as a lion cub, and in my opinion, he was just the cutest little lion cub ever!!! He did so well, he never tried to take off his mane or anything. He had so much fun pulling all of the candy out of everyone's bowl!!! He even had his first taste of chocolate! He had a couple of mini mm's and LOVED them!!! And he did put a whole mini milky way in his mouth and i had to rush to get it out before he tried to swallow it! Lets just say i will not let him hold a little candy bar again. After we made the rounds with Leyton, we took him to Sweetie and Heydaddy's and he spent the night with them. Thornton and I headed over to an adult Halloween party at Marley and Bradley's! It was so much fun, and there were so many cute costumes!! All in all, a wonderful first Halloween for our little family!!!

Fred and Wilma Flintstone....

The cutest little lion cub ever!

Digging into the candy bowl at GG and Pop's house

Our little family

Thornton, Leyton, Graydon and Allie Harris..

She was a giraffe... arent they the cutest

little jungle animals???

Favorite New Toy

I saw one of these cute little cars in Destin this past summer, and had to get my little man one. He loves it! He keeps his hands on the steering wheel like he is driving and talks the whole time you push him!

Driving his car on a cold day!

In his pumpkin outfit

Such a happy man in his car!

The Grove

Well, I really did not pack well when we went over for the game. I only took suede shoes... go figure. And the grove was so so so muddy, and it misted all day. Not to mention it was FREEZING and neither me or Thornton took a coat!

So what did we do? Wore jeans, tennis shoes, and went to the bookstore

for sweatshirts! That is honestly the most comfortable

I have ever been in the Grove!

Leyton with Gigi and Pop

Me and Leyton

The family

Leyton with Sweetie and Heydaddy

Weekend in Oxford

Thornton and I took Leyton over to the Ole Miss vs Alabama game a couple of weeks ago. We were giving an engagement party for Sparky and Jenny Kate in Oxford on Friday night, so we made a weekend of it! I took off work on Friday and headed over to Oxford with Leyton that morning. Jason and Karem came and brought Thomas, and we also got to Eric and Shea and Grafton. Also, Pfeifer came in town for the game from New York, so we got to see everyone!!! The grove ended up being really nasty and cold after all the rain we have had, so Mr. Leyton did not have the best grove experience. We will try again though!

So happy!

Playing with Thomas after breakfast. I didnt have my camera

when Grafton came by, but I will hopefully get

to see them again soon!

The girls at Roosters after the party Friday night!

We had such a good time!

10 Months

Well, another month has passed by! My baby is 10 months old today. I don't have a ton to report over the last month. Teething has definitely kicked up a notch over the last few weeks. We are cutting 4 teeth right now. I don't have another child for comparison, but everyone tells me that this teething business can get pretty rough at times. I have to say this little boy has not missed a beat during teething, so far! He has been his normal, happy and busy little self. The only way that I can tell he is cutting a tooth is the constant knawing on EVERYTHING and the tons and tons of drool!!! It has not effected his sleeping or eating, so far so good!!

I have a feeling we will not be eating baby food much longer. He is at the stage where he wants to feed himself. He LOVES the Gerber puffs!! He is great at feeding himself with those. And now, when I am feeding him baby food, he tries to grab the spoon and put it in his mouth himself. So, I guess I will have to get better about cooking dinner here soon!!!

Leyton is so so so busy these days! He does not want to be held much. He wants to go go go ALL the time! He literally tries to jump out of my arms at times. I must say that I am surprised we dont have brain damage. I am so glad their little heads are so hard! He somehow got out of his stroller the other day and landed on the ground. We were shopping and I turned my back for 2 seconds and then I heard him crying and he is on the floor!! Of course, I started crying thinking the worst, but he was back happy a minute later. He hits his head on everything, and has even slipped and landed face first on the hardwood floors many times. His little lip was swollen the last time he slipped!

Other than pulling up and "cruising" around his toys, I guess that is really all that I have to report this month. He still "talks" a ton too!! We are taking him to the Grove for the first time this weekend to cheer on the Rebels against Alabama, so I am sure we will have tons of pics to post when we get home. And Halloween is just around the corner! He is going to be a little lion cub and I cant wait!!!

Ready for Halloween with our pumpkin pjs!!!

Whenever he sees me with the camera, he immediately

starts grinning and crawling toward me!

I hardly have time to take a picture!!

He loves to look through his books

Eating in my new big boy booster seat

at Nana's house

Holding his own bottle. He is showing off in this

pic holding it with one hand.

The stats.....

Leyton went to the doctor today for his 9 month check up. She said everything looked good, and she would probably see us back in about a month for his flu shot, yikes! He weighed in at 19 lbs. 5.5 oz, and is 29 1/4 inches long!!! Still very long. I dont think he is taking after his mama on that one.

This is how i found him this morning. He always wakes up

so happy!

Playing with one of his many toys!

9 Months Old!

I cant believe it... in just 3 short months, my baby boy is going to be 1 year old! Leyton is a busy busy busy boy these days! This little guy does not like to sit still for a minute. He is crawling EVERYWHERE, and fast! He loves the door stops in the house. Every single time I put him on the floor in my bedroom, he heads straight for the bathroom and plays with the door stop. He loves the "spring" sound it makes. He has pulled it off twice now.

Another thing that we LOVE these days is Peek-a-Boo! I took Leyton to Memphis on Saturday shopping. A lady came up to us in Macy's talking to Leyton, and he pulled his lovie over his eyes. When she said "peek-a-boo" he would pull it down and smile at her. He did it like 5 times! It was so freaking cute! And today, he was standing on the couch, and would bury his head in the cushion, and wait for me to ask "Where is Leyton?" before he would look up.

Thornton and I lowered Leyton's bed to the lowest level the other night. Joyce said that she came in his room when he woke up from a nap, and he was standing straight up in the bed. He is so tall that the railing was hitting him midway on his chest, so we had to lower it all the way down. Now, when he is not standing up, it is hard for me to get him out! He is still talking his baby talks all day, sleeping great, making new sounds, etc. He is even mocking people! We went to Abby and Graydon's on Sunday to watch the Rebels play. Allie Harris started coughing, so Leyton fake coughed back to her! But he does not like anyone to mock him. If you do, he screams at you!

The changing table used to be his favorite place when he was really little, now he hates it! I have to put him on it to change him because if i change him on the bed or the floor i have to wrestle with him to keep him still. But when i first put him on the changing table, he screams until i give him something to play with while i change him. And if you tell him "No" to something, he does this funny thing with his nose and pouts for a minute. Too funny!

I cant say it enough what a WONDERFUL baby Leyton is. He is just always happy and easy going. I took him to Memphis with me on Saturday and he was such a trooper! And i took him to Greenwood on Monday to look at furniture with DD, and he was great! He never fussed. He is truly a blessing, and we thank God for him every day!!!!

We are going to the doctor next week for our 9 month well baby check up. Will update the stats after that!

Lovin him some bath time

Glued to Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. If you get in front of him he

will lean so he can see around you.

So happy at breakfast


This is what i do now while i take a shower to keep him in one spot.
As you can see, he is pulling up tryin to break out
of baby jail!



Laying in bed with Daddy... well, Daddy is laying. Leyton is trying
to crawl off the bed.

One more exciting thing!!

I forgot to mention on yesterday's post that Leyton is starting to say Mama!! Last Friday, I was getting his breakfast ready, so i put him in his exersaucer for a bit. He saw me getting his food together and started jumping up and down and saying something like "ma-ma-ma-ma-ma"! I turned around and looked at him and he was grinning and kept doing it. I was so excited that I called Thornton and told him, and he didnt believe me. So, i told my mom, and she really didnt believe me either. Well, after church on Sunday, we were standing around and talking to several people in the sanctuary. Leyton was beginning to get a little fussy with hunger, and he started pulling my hair and saying "ma-ma-ma-ma-ma". I looked at Thornton and he just started smiling.... he knows what he heard!! And then he looked at Leyton and started saying "Da-da??" Which Leyton has been doing..... My mom even heard him do it! I cant tell you how good that makes me feel to hear him say that!!!!

And He Is Off.......

Leyton has finally mastered crawling!!! He has been taking his little one and two steps at a time, but now he has it all figured out. I was at work yesterday afternoon when Joyce called me to tell me that he was crawling all around his room! I got a little teary-eyed about it, but it is so exciting at the same time. Needless to say, I rushed home right after she called to see for myself. Sure enough, he was crawling!!! And, of course, the first thing he crawled to when i got there was an outlet with his night light and monitor plugged in....so, we headed to Wal-Mart to get outlet covers for the house. We are going to have to up our game a little bit now!!!

Leyton is also starting to pull up on stuff. He grabs at the couch to pull up, and he even grabs for the top rail in his crib to pull up (glad he has not mastered that yet). If he is sitting in my lap, he will grab onto my shoulders or my shirt and pull right up.

He is just getting to be a big boy so fast!!!! I will post some pictures later of him crawling. I dont have my camera with me right now!!!

Leyton's on the Move!!

Leyton has been trying to crawl for so long now... and he is on the move! Today was like any other day, getting on all 4's and rocking back and forth, getting tired and then stopping and scooting backwards. Well, all of a sudden, I look down at him, and he is on all 4's but he put one knee forward, and then the other and made some movement, FORWARDS!!!!! He only got a couple of "steps" in there before he fell, but he did it!!! And ever since then, he is moving. It is not a "full out crawl" just yet, but he is going..... sometimes he just puts his behind up real high in the air and pushes really hard with his feet and leaps forward. It is so cute to watch!!! I put him over by his changing table today with a book, and I left the room for about a minute. I came back in and he is almost on the other side of the room getting into all of his books. It is so much fun watching him move around, but i have a feeling once he gets the crawl perfected, he is going to be so fast. I am going to try to enjoy the little bit of time i have before he gets that way!!!

Here are just a few pics from this week.

This is after breakfast the other day. He had prunes and apples with

his cereal and made an absolute mess,

but it was so cute!

Leyton "riding" his little tractor, with a little

help from Joyce.

He loves this thing!!

8 Months Old and So Much Fun!!!

Leyton turned 8 months old yesterday. We have had many many changes over the last month! Leyton got his first cold :(! About a week ago, I noticed that he had a little bit of a runny nose, but it was clear. It did not take long for him to become stopped up. After a couple of days of sucking his nose constantly and using the saline drops, i called the doctor. She said it was good that I came on in because he was really congested, but we caught it before it moved to his ears and chest. So, he had to take 2 antibiotics. He was great at taking his medicine, and he is so much better now!!!!

Leyton is "talking" so much more these days! He has got his b's and d's down pat! He is constantly saying "ba-ba-ba-ba" and "da-da-da-da". I know he does not know what "Da-Da" means yet, but it is still so much fun to hear him say it! I hope his M's come soon so i can get close to getting a "Ma-Ma"!!!! He is still rocking so hard on all 4's trying to go forward. He still scoots backwards, but he is getting to where when he rocks back and forth, he will take one giant leap forward, and then stops!

Leyton also shakes his head back and forth when I say "no, no". He is so funny to watch! I was feeding him the other night and he didnt want another bite, so he would just shake his head "no, no". Too cute! Thornton and I just laugh at him! Thornton looked at him the other day and said "No," and he shook his head!

He is still a great eater and great sleeper. He eats whatever we give him, and seems to like everything except the Gerber Vegetable Beef dinner.... he makes an awful face with every bite of it, so I will not buy that one again. We are just having the best time watching him grow and change every single day. I really cannot believe that in just 4 short months, we will be having his first b-day party!!

Playing with his blocks. He loves these things!

Constantly has his fingers in his mouth feeling his teeth.

Sitting with Daddy in his chair wearing his visor. Leyton looks like

such a big boy in this picture!

Trying to go forward!

He loves to hold his own spoon

In our soft pajamas getting ready for bed

7 Months Old

Where is the time going???!!!! My little man turned 7 months old last Wednesday!!! He is just growing and changing so much each day now. Someone told me that from now on he will amaze me every single day doing new things, and they were right!! It seems like every day he is doing something new. So, what is Leyton doing??? He is trying so hard to crawl! Everyone has told me that boys are a little slower at stuff like this than girls, but he sure is trying. He can turn all the way around in a circle and he can "scoot" backwards. It is so funny to watch him because he starts to grunt when he gets mad that he is not moving forward. Even though he is not crawling yet, he is into EVERYTHING that he can get his hands on!! Take tonight for example...... i was getting his dinner ready. I had warmed up some squash and sweet peas and put them on the counter while i loaded him into his bumbo seat (he usually eats in his high chair, but i was trying to cook at the same time). When i picked him up to put him in the seat, he reached behind me on the counter and grabbed the whole bowl of peas and threw it on the ground!!!!! I could not get mad because it was funny...i just fixed him some green beans instead.

Leyton LOVES bath time right now too. He can now pick up his little bath toys and play with them while he kicks and splashes in the tub. Leyton is still a wonderful sleeperz is babbling up a storm, and sitting up great! Sorry to ramble, but i just cant get enough of him! Here are a few pics that I took tonight. Enjoy!!!

Oh!!! I never posted Leyton's 6 month pictures that we had taken. They were PRECIOUS!!! I will try to get a few put on the blog... AND, i have tried and tried to get a pic of his precious little teeth, but he will not let me! He smiles so big all the time and shows them, but when i try to get a pic of them, he wont let me... it's like he knows what i am doing!!

This was at dinner last night.... DD took this pic before we went riding on

the golf cart.

Leyton playing with his lady bug... he LOVES his toys!

Okay. This is Leyton holding his sippy cup. He drinks his water out
of his cup, but he really just likes to bit on the sippy part!
I really think he is going to bite through it one day soon.


Swinging in the back yard!

The sun was a little bright, so he is squinting in these.