Five Months

Sweet Sibley,

I'm a little late in writing this, so you're now five and a half months old!

This has been a huge month for you! You're now holding your own bottle, and just last week we gave you baby food for the first time. You LOVED it! So far we've tried peaches, green beans, and apples, and you love them all. It's a whole new world for you, and it's so fun. :) You even make this "mmmm" sound when you want more.

The time change has made you go to bed a little earlier, but you still sleep like a champ. Bedtime is usually at 6:30 sharp, and you'll sleep a solid 12 hours if we let you! (And we can't thank you enough for that, seriously.)

Just this weekend I was looking at you and admiring what a wonderful big girl you've become. You smile 90% of the time now, and you're so happy (most of the time!)!

You're really working on trying to crawl, although you still haven't quite figured out how to make your arms and legs work together. You just kind of swim on your belly or play superman. It frustrates you sometimes, but you'll get there soon enough.

It has been an absolute joy to watch you grow each month, and we really can't wait to experience the holidays with you as a part of our traditions now.

Life is so good, and we love you so very much, our little Munch.

"It's So Southern..."

Last weekend we headed off on a highly anticipated girls' weekend to The Grand Hotel and Spa in Point Clear, Ala.

I've probably mentioned it before, but I truly cherish my girl time, and this one was extra special because we all got to just ENJOY and no one had to play hostess.

What an incredibly wonderful weekend! This place was spectacular and "so Southern" as my friend Allison put it. The resort was amazing, and we even caught a history lesson about the place and its military past.

We relaxed around the firepit with some cocktails before heading to dinner.

We decided on dinner at Gambino's in Fairhope. This place had great Italian food, then about 9 the DJ came out, the disco ball came on, and it turned into a dance floor complete with the corresponding music video playing on the projector screen. HILARIOIS. We had sooo much fun line dancing and requesting some old school rap. I think we were the life of the party! Hehe

After dinner and our impromptu dance party, we went to this hole-in-the-wall bar called The Jub. Whoa... We had even more fun, played some pool and sang some karaoke.

Let's just say our relaxing morning at the spa was well deserved. :)

The spa there was LOVELY. I fully enjoyed my 80-minute hot stone massage and wish I could have one every weekend!

Saturday afternoon was spent shopping in downtown Fairhope, then we had Mexican and margaritas Saturday night while watching the Alabama-LSU game. We were in Roll Tide country, after all.

It was such a wonderful weekend, and I've always felt that girl time is good for your soul. 

I feel refreshed and all caught up, and I can't wait to do it again soon!!

Homecoming and Halloween

I've abandoned my beloved blog! Time to catch up...

Last weekend we headed to Hattiesburg for Southern Miss homecoming, one of my favorite weekends all year. This year was a little different because our usual crew didn't come to set up a tailgate, so we improvised.

We met some friends at a new restaurant in town for lunch, Patio 44, then my parents met us to take Sibley home for the afternoon/night.

We drove over to campus and made a last minute tailgate on some benches. We still had a lot of fun, despite not having a tent.
 

After the SAD game, I called it a night while the rest of my friends went out downtown. I needed my beauty rest. ;)
 

I still love my Golden Eagles, despite not winning a game since 2011. :(

Halloween was Thursday, and it was a total washout. Most neighborhoods postponed trick-or-treating to Friday, which worked out much better.

We went one clock over to our friends Melanie and Trey's house for a hayride (minus the hay) on a trailer for all the kiddos to trick-or-treat. Sibley loved it, even though we just watched the whole time. Fun night! Can't wait until she's a little older to actually have fun with her daddy's favorite holiday.

Isn't she the cutest Snow White you've ever seen?
 

And last but not least, we had a lazy, cozy Saturday night at home this weekend and made our first real fire of the season.

This baby is loving some tummy time these days, and she LOVED watching the fire. Welcome to winter in the Grey fam, little one!
 

Four Months

Sweet Sibley,

You are now a little over 4 months old! (Eighteen weeks today, to be exact.)

What an eventful month it has been! You LOVE going to school, and we love the school, too. Ms. Mary and Ms. Carolyn take great care of you, and it's so funny to watch you and the other four babies in your class just watch each other. 

You got your second round of shots last week, and you did great! You are now 15 pounds, 1 ounce and 24.5 inches long. Big girl!

The biggest news lately is that you've learned how to roll over onto your tummy. You did it for the first time at the doctor's office and have since perfected it this past week. Now pretty much any time we put you down on your back (except at bedtime when you're too tired) you immediately flip over an start trying to scoot. You can work those legs like crazy now and can push yourself up on your arms. You just haven't figured out how to move your arms to make you go forward just yet.

I think I'm close to winning my bet with your dad that you'll be crawling by Christmas!

Speaking of your dad, he is your FAVORITE person in the world. He cracks you up, and you think he hung the moon. It's so very sweet to watch, even though I have to admit it makes me a little jealous. I am still the one who can comfort you when you cry though, so I suppose that's fair. :)

You're starting to teethe now, and we've added rice cereal in your bottles. Next comes trying it in a bowl with a spoon! 

You keep us busy, but we love it. When you crash at 7:45 for the night, we struggle to stay up much later than that.

We can't imagine life without you, sweet girl. It's so amazing to watch you learn how to do new things. Every day is a new adventure, and we love you so very much.

Introducing Mr. And Mrs. Grey!

I'm a week or so behind on blogging, so please forgive me. On September 28th, I turned 33, but more importantly I gained another sister-in-law!

Ryan and Beth Ann got married in an absolutely beautiful rustic, country wedding on Zach and Jennifer's land. Everything was just perfect, and both the rehearsal dinner and wedding were wonderful.

Beth Ann's sweet mom even had some special birthday cupcakes made to celebrate my day, too. It was a wonderful wedding weekend!

Congrats to the newlyweds! I had a great birthday celebration. :)

Not Quite 33

My birthday is this Saturday, but since we'll be celebrating at Derek's brother's wedding, my sweet husband organized a little early birthday party for me this past weekend.

We had a delicious dinner with some dear friends at Bon Ami, followed by a little karaoke. Fun night!

Aunt KK kept Sibley for the night, which was so sweet, especially given that she took care of all THREE kiddos solo while Uncle Neil was out of town.

I feel very loved! Thanks to everyone who celebrated with me. I think 33 will be a great year!

Birthdays and Football

I can't believe it's already Wednesday, and I haven't written a short post about the weekend yet. Here's my recap in fast forward...

First of all, happy belated birthday to my mom! (I know she reads the blog). Glad you had a fun time in Nola. Sibley can't wait to see you next weekend! 

Now on to the weekend... I started the weekend out with a massage Friday night, which was just lovely. We took it easy Saturday and watched football ALL day long. Not a good day for my Eagles, but those Rebels sure played a good one! We watched the game over at our friends Claire and Jeremy's new house. Of course we dressed the girl up in her Hotty Toddy attire. The weather was perfect for some football-watching!

Sunday we spent the majority of the day in Vicksburg visiting with family for Derek's dad's birthday. Sibley was exhausted from all the cousin time once we finally got home, but we had fun.

We watched some Sunday night tv (Saints won, Miss Mississippi didn't) before bedtime at 9. I am a proud old person these days who is happy to go to bed before the hour hits double digits. No shame here.

I love football weekends! Only four more days until the official start of autumn. Happy fall, y'all! Now bring on the cool temps!