A Grell Tale

We are so glad you have taken time to check in on our lives. First and foremost, God is the author of this story. Every thing we do, say, and have is His.
Jared and I have been together since 1998, and married since 2003. After four long years of trusting God, he blessed us on August 1, 2009. Balen James is the most "perfect-for-us" little man in the world! We LOVE being parents and just can't get enough of him.
I love to spend time sharing our story with you, and I truly enjoy getting to hear your comments as well! We hope you enjoy watching our family grow. Thanks for stopping by.



Thursday, December 22, 2011

Precious

I love this little bottom. I love the toy story pj's and underwear. I love the speckled little legs and the birth mark on his foot. I love how excited he is to live life. I love that he is healthy, and able to climb just about anywhere he wants. I love that he sits on the bathroom counter everyday and talks to me. I love that he wants to be near me. I love that God chose me to be his mother. I love that there is soo much I will cherish about this picture for the rest of my life.

B Man sings Jingle Bells



Away in the Manger

First time to sing in the big church! Not one of the little boys ever opened their mouths to sing a word!! It was cute though!



Santa Clause is Coming!





Balen is learning who Santa is. He spots him everywhere we go. Grandma Terrie bought us an Elf on the Shelf this year. Balen has really enjoyed looking for him, more than I thought he would. This is horrible, but we recently stopped moving him. He is STUCK until B decides he is ready to poo in the potty. He is doing great with his "potty" training. We hardly ever have pee pee accidents anymore, but we have yet to poop, or anything even close to it, in the potty. Mr. Potato head has lived in a box on our mantle for close to a month and a half now, waiting for that special day. We have bribed him with EVERYTHING imaginable. Nothing. Now, Christopher the Elf is REALLY sad that Balen poops in his "unnawear." He told mommy and daddy that he couldn't move anymore until Balen goes in the potty. Well...its been almost a week, and still nothing. I told Jared we should keep all of his Christmas toys in boxes on the selves until he goes!! Once he gets them, he really won't care about getting "Tato Hed." I'll keep you updated.

Other Christmas firsts: He loves Polar Express. He has a ticket from a basketball game that he carries around while reinacting scenes from the moving. "HEY, YOU LOST YOUR TICKET!!! COME BACK!! HERE'S YOUR TICKET" Yelling this over and over! We have also pretend punched his ticket to the train at least 20 times.

Learned Jingle Bells. It's a must see!! I'll post the link in another post!

"Sang" in church for the first time. Also another post!

He has done great staying out of the tree, presents, and decorations! I've been really impressed.

He really enjoyed filling a shoebox for Operation Christmas Child. He bought for a 2-3 year old boy and did good talking about how it was for a little boy who didn't have any toys. I figured he would want all the stuff for himself. I was proud of him.

Can't wait to see him on Christmas. It is going to be so special!

AAAAGGGHHHH!



The photography train has taken off this month!!!! I was SOOO busy. Honestly, a little busier than I would like to be, but its just a busy season. It has finally slowed down, getting closer to Christmas. Everyone was wanting family pictures and Christmas cards to send out. I was ABSOLUTLEY blessed and encouraged by all of the people who wanted me to take their pics. With the all the business, I was able to make a new purchase...a new camera!! I have really enjoyed it so far, still have got to use it tons, but love what I've seen. It is amazing to watch God work, and to accomplish things I never ever ever imagined I would be doing.

This said, November is a big picturey blur!! There was not a lot of time left to snap pics of my own, which makes me a little sad. I did manage to click a few of crazy man, while I was taking some Christmas pics for a family member.

Trick or Treat

We took B to a few houses and a church to trick or treat this year. We met up with a few friends to get a pic of them together. Boys, boys, boys! These little guys have fun together. I will have to say, Baby Reid won the best costume! He is the little parrot in the front. I didn't get a good pic of his costume here. His big beak sticks way out in front of his head and he has a huge, colorful, feathery tail attached to his bottom! So cute!



Plumber


We had to get a new dishwasher. Luckily, we have a great plumber who likes to let Balen jump in and help!!

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