It is amazing how many things can transpire in less than one month. After Easter, Me, Grady, Jenn and her boyfriend Jesse headed to S.D. for a trip home. It was a quick weekend, but we packed so much into 32 hours.

Here Grady discovered that he can have alot of fun with hula hoops that have

nothing to do with hips! Grady had a blast hanging out with his cousins. Here we all are gathering sticks in the pasture to make a great bonfire for that night.
Grady not only got to ride in his first tractor, he also got to pet and sit on his first baby calf. Grady absolutely loved the cows and their babies

We headed home and Spring finally came full force which continued to allow us to explore Grady's new favorite adventure - parks. Here he is discovering the bike rack although it looks a little like baby jail!

Grady thinks it is hilarious to suck on his toes....if only we all had that flexibility

Grady is so independent, most all meal times are done on his own. Here is our little monkey! He absolutely loves fruit!

We have such great friends in the Waglers! They invited us for a spontaneous Iowa Cubs game. It was so fun to watch the 2 boys and their different personalities. Finnean was so into the actual game whereas Grady was interested in exploring every surface and overall area. Here he is watching the crazy mascots run around the field. I can't wait to continue to watch the boys grow up together.

With Spring comes the awesome season of Garage Sales!!! I got a great deal on this little chair and thought it would be great in his new toddler room. He seems to enjoy reading his books in his new chair. What a big boy

Grady has become infatuated with his crib; and not only when he is going to sleep. He has discovered that he not only loves jumping on the mattress, but he loves taking his books and pillows and reading in his crib.

Mother's Day was a rollercoaster of a weekend. We were given some disturbing information regarding our daycare lady and made some unfortunate assumptions without complete information. Thankfully the Lord revealed himself in the situation and we now have an even greater ministry opportunity. Many of you know the situation and we just ask for continued guidance as we attempt to live out Christ's message in this situation. After the rollercoaster ended, the church blessed us with an abundance of flowers. So we bought the proper items and planted flowers for Mother's Day. What a great evidence that God can bring beauty from confusion.

Grady is finally starting to smile for the camera. Here is our finished product. What an amazing son and family I am blessed with

I am so thankful that when faced with emotionally charged situations, that I do not just have to rely on myself and others to make it through. Currently I am clinging to the verse....Do not be anxious about anything but in everything in prayer, bring your requests to God. The Lord truly does show himself in any and every situation and I pray that I can continue to strive to exude his message through my life. Happy Mother's Day to everyone out there.

Spring is here

Super cool fly guy. This is what I think Grady would call himself when he wears his shades. He wasn't too sure about them at first; however now he loves them. Grady's favorite spring activity is going to the park. Thankfully we live by two different parks; one with a swing and one with a slide. Grady is absolutely fearless; he will go down the biggest slides without a qualm. He is almost 18 months old and he continues to get more of a personality; exploring and learning the world around him. I cherish his new smiles and discoveries daily. Here are some snapshots of our recent adventures.

Grady's favorite playground activity is the slide. We, as in mom, starts him off on the small slides, but he inevitably increases to the big boy slides. So cute in his camo crocs!This is one of my favorite pictures. Grady enjoys holding our hands while walking. Here are my main two men walking through the park. I just love the metaphor that is displayed here. If Grady grows up anything like his Daddy, I will be too blessed!Grady is so independent; he loves to push his own stroller! The tulips came really early this year and it was fun to help Grady discover beautiful flowers.

Grady is so crazy sometimes...he loves to attack us and crawl all over us. What a great joy at the end of a stressful work day to come home and enjoy big bear hugs from my baby. He looks like a little koala bear here

Grady would really like a computer of his own (hint hint grandparents!) He has learned how to open it and push the buttons. Here I caught him trying to get on the computer while I was cooking dinner.And for the final piece of news from the Blanchard household...Grady will become a big brother in October. We are all really excited. This was the way we shared the news with our families; some caught on right away...others took a minute!

Christ is Risen; Easter bunny visits!

Easter is such a wonderful time...a time to not only get together with family, eat great candy, and watch kids relish in the discoveries of the Easter bunny, but more importantly, it is a time to celebrate the greatest happening in the Christian faith - Christ's resurrection. I have been reminded lately how we take that sacrifice and blessing for granted. This Easter, I am challenged to allow the resurrection of Christ to impact me on a daily basis. The Blanchard family had such a fun Easter. Ben's folks and grandmother was able to come and visit, along with their little dog Rascal. It was so great to see family and Grady really shined up to them easily...especially Grandpa since he is so silly. Grady also got a needed haircut and in his Easter outfit, he just looked like a little man.

Here we are at church; Grady as crazy as ever. It is amazing how difficult it can be to get one decent picture! Grady received his first Easter basket; since candy is somewhat difficult, the Easter bunny brought him some fun toys and shoes. He loved his Easter basket!
Here he discovered that the eggs open and have fun surprises in them!

Grandma Mary, with the assistance of Great-Grandma Jones, made Grady is first bunny rabbit! It was so cute and Grady thought it was way fun to squeeze, throw, pounce on, bleed on, drool on, and pretty much anything else to destroy it within the first day! He really likes to hug it

Chillin with the Grandparents and the bunny. Grandma's keeping a good eye on him and that bunny!

Here's all the women in the house with Grady and his bunny.

Ben's parents were gracious enough to take us out for Easter dinner. We waited for a little while and Grady did an amazing job at the table. Here he is playing with Grandpa Chris's mustache! He thought it was really crazy.

We weren't watching football, but Grady thought it was really fun to throw his arms in the air. He was really entertaining to the other customers around. He is such a social guy and enjoys every second that he is awake!

Such a fun and exciting day...he was all tuckered out after the Easter festivities. He fell asleep in the car and took a great 3 hour nap. Which allowed his tuckered out parents a 2 hour nap. Yeah for awesome Sunday afternoons!

Hippity Hopp down the Bunny trail

With Easter on its way, I figured it would be fun to visit the Easter Bunny again this year...Grady did not necessarily agree with that thought as can be seen by his scared little face in the picture. He loved giving the Easter bunny high 5's and pointing at him, but the meltdown came when mom put him on the big furry lap. I'm such a mean mom; but really, won't we laugh at this picture when he is older? He did however throughly enjoy chewing on the cardboard box of crayons that he got from the Easter Bunny.
Every 3rd Sunday of the month, our church has "Cookie Sunday"; it was my turn to put my baker's hat on so I thought Grady might like to help...I was totally right. He wanted to help alright, help himself to the yummy batter. I think he has a sweet tooth just like his mama!

Our new discovery for the month, is figuring out that he can actually ride his puppy! Grady crawls right on top of poor Chicago and thinks it is so great. Since Chicago is the size of a small pony, I do not have too much of a problem with this new discovery; however Grady is starting to think that riding Chicago means bouncing on him - that we do not allow. They do make a cute pair, however Chicago looks a little distraught!

March catch-up!

After many requests from a number of people, I decided that everyone would love to see updated pictures of Mr. Grady. Everyday he continues to surprise us with his intelligence, humor, and fun personality. Currently his new discoveries are jumping on the dog, climbing up on the rocking chair on his own, chasing the dog with his golf bag, and teasing mom with his food. With his sleeping patterns still crazy, the Blanchard household remains a chaotic blessing.

Here is Grady with his Daddy passed out after a hard afternoon of playing . My two boys are so cute and precious. Grady absolutely loves the bath tub! He has discovered that he can put most of the tub water outside of the tub and get his mommy all wet. He also fusses when we get out of the tub. Here is his precious smile; his cleft chin and high cheek bones are such handsome features.Me Grady...I beat my chest!!! I big boy!My little burrito all wrapped up and freezing after his bath timeGrady loves crackers; he demands a big cracker, no single servings for him!Who Me??? Look at my popbelly!We call Grady our little Mr. Destructo. He loves to scream and run around. He's starting to get to be a little pickle with changing clothes though. Mom has to chase him around and basically hog tie him at times in order to get clothes on himGrady loves to be in the middle of things. He enjoys cooking with mom. When mom and dad come home from work, he never wants to be put down. An extra 24 lbs gets to be pretty heavy after awhile!Grady loves to chase the dog and his Dad with his golf bag. It is the perfect toy to push, pull, and drag. Chicago especially hates this toy!After a long day of playing, Mommy and Daddy were not paying attention and Grady passed out on the floor admist the tornado of toys. He was so exhausted. Well hope ya'll enjoyed the new pics. Having a child continues to be a blessing we are ever so grateful for.

Winter Fun

So we are pretty sure that winter is never going to end here in Iowa, so Grady is getting accustomed to his puffy coat and stocking hat. Things in the Blanchard household are going well; nothing too new. Life just continues to change and grow as our little man gets bigger. He just turned 15 months; he's all over the place and getting into everything just no actual english words yet; however he talks all the time! His new favorite games include: getting the cans out of the pantry and stacking them tall, hiding his eyes and playing peek-a-boo, and crawling onto the couch or ottoman and running off. His dislikes include having to get out of the bath tub and putting on a shirt...it is a daily battle. Life with a toddler is never boring! Here are some new pictures of our handsome man...enjoy!

On a "warmer" day, we bundled Grady up and tried sledding. He seemed to enjoy it somewhat however he struggled with sitting up due to no back on the sled. The whole adventure lasted about 7 minutes!

It was a little chilly but Grady didn't seem to mind too much; he was up for a smile with his MommySuch a cute winter lawn ornament!Now all that we need is to draw some facial hair on Grady and we would have twins! "I want to be just like Daddy!"Chicago's new best friend has become Grady due to the fact that Grady thinks it so much fun to feed the dog. Chicago is a constant companion and is always willing to take a cracker off Grady's hands. Here he waits patiently for Grady to realize that there is a hungry puppy by his side.Grady decided that 8pm was not a late enought bed time so he decided to stay up and eat popcorn with the adults. He sat in my lap and shoveled in the popcorn like a pro. I thought he would choke, but he proved to be such a big boy by chewing each piece. He loved it!Grady understands so much, including where to find the milk...his favorite. He was able to open the fridge, take out the milk jug and drag/carry it to the cupboard. It was pretty heavy but he was able to manage. He really wanted his milk!It really is the simple things in life that make me smile. Here I was able to snuggle not only with my favorite toddler but also with my fluffy cat. What a night!!!