Paris

The weekend after Valentine's Day Davis and I headed to Paris for our last big trip during our time in Europe.  Paris was one of the last big places we both wanted to go (even though we have both been in the past) before heading back.  Don't get me wrong, there are about a million other places we wanted to visit while over here, but there is only so much you can see in 2 years.
We got in the car after Davis got off work on Thurs. and ended up driving through an awful snow storm that slowed us down a lot.  We eventually got into Paris at about midnight and checked in and passed out from our long drive.
Friday we woke up ready to go. We had not made any real plans so we just hopped on the subway and headed to the Eifel Tower. It was kind of overcast this morning, but after lunch the clouds cleared and the rest of the weekend we had sun. It was still freezing though.

Grey was not too into the Eifel Tower

 

Grey perked up for the bike tour we took

The military school



The church where Napoleon is buried

I don't think they have too many bike trailers in Paris because everyone seemed to stop and stare at Davis and Grey...Could just be cause they are cute though :)

Note to self:  white puffy jacket + 30 weeks pregnant = not the best look

So excited to run around a bit

Feeding the ducks after eating lunch and falling in a mud puddle

The Louvre

Bike tour at 30 weeks was a good idea for the first hour or 2, but by hour 3 I was ready for it to be over.  My equilibrium was a little off....it was a fun way to see the city though!

It totally wore Grey out :)  I think he looks like a homeless man in this picture.  He was soooo dirty from falling in the mud puddle.

Bottom of the pyramid at the Louvre

Grey had been in his stroller a lot this day so we found a park semi-gated grassy area for him to run around in so he could get some energy out and hopefully sleep that night.

Day 2: Notre Dame

sweet boy

Grey could not get enough of the pigeons so we saved bread from lunch to feed them.

Sometimes he got confused and ate the bread himself :)

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We eventually ran out of bread and he started throwing rocks....that was the end of the birds hanging around

This face cracks me up....I think he had just seen a horse and carriage or something

We chased Grey around a LOT

Watching big boys play soccer

Grey got to ride his first merry go round

He wasn't too sure of it at first and didn't like that it passed us by, but quickly learned it was fun to just wave and see us the next time he came around.

We got to this neat park right as everything was closing so all we really got to see was the backside of the ponies leaving, but Grey was still amazed

I somehow managed to get no pictures from Versailles from the last day.  We took a train there and spent basically the whole day there.  Grey was not in a good mood and strollers were not allowed in the palace so it made for an interesting day.  I ended up having to wear him in a backpack on the front on top of my large pregnant belly and he didn't like it any more than I did.  After the tour of the palace we did end up having a nice walk around the gardens and a little lunch by a pond with more ducks so we ended on a good note. 
All in all our trip to Paris was a success.  There was lots of walking and lugging the stroller up and down subway steps, which made for one sore pregnant momma.  It was totally worth it though and I am so glad we finally checked Paris off our list. 
Now it is back to reality and starting to pack our house because we move back to the states in about a month.

Sledding

It snowed a lot on Sun. night and Davis had Monday off so we decided to take advantage of the snow and go sledding.  We have talked about going a few times, but don't have sleds.  We borrowed one from my friend Aimee and took her little boy Owen along and headed to one of their favorite sledding hills.  Davis, Owen, and I had a blast.  The jury is still out on whether Grey liked it or not.

He is not so big on walking in all his snow gear that is all hand me downs that are at least 1 size too big.  He also is not a huge fan of the snow in general.  We just continue to take him out in it hoping he will loosen up :) 

Davis and Owen tried out the hill before Davis took Grey down. 

 

As you can tell Grey was not really sure what was about to happen...

 

 

 

The hike back up was not so fun....

....unless you are Grey and get to ride back up!

 

Of course big ole preggo couldn't let the boys have all the fun.  It was quite the adrenaline rush and I didn't feel like going into labor yet, so I only went once. 

We had a blast even though we only went down a few times due to the intense walk back up.  So glad we finally went sledding though.

 

 

Snow

We have had lots of snow in Germany.  Well maybe not a lot for Germany, but a lot for these Alabamians.  It took some getting used to because life just goes on when it snows here.  They plow the roads and carry on life as usual.  Schools don't close, businesses don't close, etc.  I had to learn to drive in it as well.  I learned all about pumping my breaks  :)

Grey was not a huge fan of the snow at first because it was almost up to his knees and he couldn't walk.  This picture cracks me up.

We didn't have a sled and I thought this cooler might work....wrong!

Grey wasn't sure what to think when Daddy threw him in the snow to make a snow angel

He made a cute angel though

18 months

Sweet boy is 18 months and I can't believe it!  He turned 18 months on my 30th birthday (which I can't believe either).  We celebrated my birthday mostly that day, but he did get an extra cookie after dinner:) 
Grey is so much fun at this age, but also challenging and putting our parenting abilities to the test.  He definitely likes and knows how to test our limits we set.  He also knows how to throw a tantrum if he doesn't get his way.  Luckily, his tantrums don't last that long and can be ignored for the most part.  He has been hitting lately though and I thought we had it under control, but he relapsed. It isn't mean hitting it is just light hitting on our leg when he doesn't get his way, but I don't want it to turn into more so we are trying to nip it in the bud.  For the most part he is so sweet and happy and makes Davis and I laugh a LOT!!
I know we are biased, but I think he is so smart.  He is getting really good at the knob puzzles we have and he will put the pieces in the wrong place and say "No".  Then move to the next place and he can do the whole puzzle by himself most of the time.  He can name most of his body parts: eyes, nose, mouth, teeth, ears, hands, feet, hair, and belly button.  If I ask him "where is baby?", he points to my stomach and kisses it....melt my heart! 
He loves to pretend he is talking on the phone and has started walking out the den door and waving and telling us "bye" like he is going somewhere and then babbling about something and he thinks it is so funny.  He still LOVES to read books.  He brings me books all day and then plops on the floor and points to the ground next to him for me to sit and read with him...kind of hard to say no to. 
He has 11 teeth and some more about to come through I think.  He can eat most everything and will try almost anything...if he is in the mood.  He is my skinny boy and only weighs 21.5 lbs, but he eats when he is hungry and never stops moving so I am not surprised he is so skinny. 
He is so fun to be around and I told my Davis the other day that I know I was a happy person before he was born, but I sure do laugh and smile a lot more now that Grey is around.  I can't imagine how much more complete baby #2 will make our life and I cannot wait for Grey to have a little brother!

perfect example of his little attitude/tantrum face
 

He was playing around being silly in these next few pictures.  Don't mind the granola bar in his mouth or the big bruise on his forehead...we get lots of those these days.  Such a boy!

Wearing Da-da-da's cowboy hat.
 

This was in Garmisch on top of the mountain where Davis was learning to snowboard.

 

 

 I forgot to include these last 2 on the Christmas post:

Grey listening to Santa read a story at Davis' Company Christmas party. He was very focused on this funny looking man :)

Grey wouldn't sit in Santa's lap, but he was bribed to come close when Santa offered him a book.  Grey took it, said "thank you" and went to a corner to read his book. When he finished he took it back to Santa not realizing it was his book now.

Christmas

Wow!  I can't believe Christmas 2012 has come and gone.  It was a fabulous Christmas spent with lots of family. 

I won't go into the horrible deatails of all the things that went wrong on our way home and 48 hours of traveling and lost luggage, etc.  But we finally got home on Christmas Eve.

I was anxious for Grey to open one of his "Christmas presents" early.  I got him a shirt to wear when Baby Ozier #2 is born.  He opened in front of all our family.  It says "I Love my Little Brother".  We are sooooo excited to have another boy! 

Our family's are excited too, except for the 2 nieces who really wanted another girl because they are already outnumbered.  2 boys and now 5 boys on the Blythe side!

 The first couple days home were all a blur with jet lag and busy schedules, but we had a great time seeing everyone and Grey had a wonderful time with his cousins and grandparents!  He was spoiled rotten for a week and loved every minute of it!

Christmas morning with all the cousins!

Grey loved his car track from Santa...somehow boys just know what to do with cars even if you don't teach them.

Grey also got a swing, his own rocking chair, a puzzle, and some Veggie Tales DVDs from Santa.

He liked playing with Kate's American Girl RV.  He wanted to get in it :)  It was a little small for him.

A little break from presents to chase the cat.  He was all about all the animals in the house.

He had to get down on the cat level to see his face :)

Sometimes I think the cousins had more fun helping Grey open and play with his gifts than they had playing and opening their own.

This was a common site of Kate with Grey on her hip taking him wherever he pointed.....spoiled!

The car play mat Grey got from the cousin gift swap.  Big hit with all the cousins!

I don't think we could have fit any more presents in this room!

Grey got a tricycle from Nana and Pop.  Not really ready to ride it yet, but he sure thought he could.

Train set from Nana and Pop.

Big blocks form Uncle Allen.  He also got a table from my parents that goes with these blocks.  He loves them!
 

 We had a big Christmas with more gifts that we could imagine.  Davis and I were blessed with lots of presents too..I just didn't take pictures. 
This Christmas was so nice to have Davis home and many times I caught myself tearing up thinking of how blessed we are that he made it home safely from Afghanistan and we were able to spend our first "real" Christmas as a family with so many people we love!