October

This month is flying by!! I can't believe that it is already the end of October... Christmas is right around the corner and I am sooo excited! :)

Looking back Grayson is just growing like crazy, I can't seem to get him to SLOW DOWN! He has been on solid foods now for almost 2 months. He's eaten green beans, peas, carrots, squash, avocados, prunes, bananas, peaches, pears, apples and oatmeal.  He really likes yogurt and bananas and prunes (thank God he likes prunes for as much as he needs to eat them, poor baby). He loves to gnaw on and share bananas and watermelon with you, and he is getting the hang of the Gerber puffs! We are about to try mangos, apricots, mashed potatoes, zucchini, blueberries and turkey. He is sitting up and rolling all over the place, he scoots and crawls backwards, but we're not quite to crawling yet.  We will probably be needing to move his crib down a notch soon - scared to walk in and him be sitting up on his own in the morning! ;)

We have had a lot of firsts this month! I left Tony and Grayson overnight for the first time to go to the Women's Retreat... and they did AWESOME!  Tony ran his first 5K, Grayson went to the park and on the swings for the first time, Grayson had his first sleepover buddy this last weekend, first pumpkin patch and first movie going experience!

Tony's 5K and Grayson and I cheering him on!

He LOVES playing at the park!

Grayson had his first buddy stay overnight....

... and we got to practice having 2 kids :)

First (of many) Pumpkin Patch!

 

First Drive-In Movies

I have to share how awesome Tony is.  He has Fridays off (since he works Sundays), and every Friday (and sometimes Saturdays) he lets me sleep in while he gets up with Grayson between 6:30/7 and feeds him his first bottle and plays with him and usually they go get Bro-Nuts (donuts for bros).  And usually when I wake up I walk in during Grayson's morning nap... on daddy. That boy loves his daddy and cuddling for nap time and it melts my heart!

Make him stop growing!

4-7 months

This coming weekend we will be going to the Middle School Retreat! Should be fun with Grayson, all the students love him :)  For Halloween we will be at our church for First Fest and he will be a skeleton (above picture of his skeleton sleeper). As much as I want time to slow down and for him to stop growing up, I'm ready for November to zoom by so we can get to December! We LOVE Christmas, and I'm fairly certain my son is a Christmas elf with as much Christmas music he listened to in my tummy and how much he kicked last year. So excited to have our first Christmas as a family of 3 and to go to Illinois to see family and hopefully Grayson can experience snow!  December Grayson will be 9 months old and will have his 9 month Dr appt. Time is flying... Catch it and make it stop! ;)

** I added a button on the sidebar for you to go directly to my photos on Facebook if you are needing more Grayson pics!! **

We're back with some Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes!

The blog is back!! I know there hasn't been a post in 5 months and so much has happened and changed in that time! It took 7 months, but I am finally to the point in figuring out mommy-hood enough to find time to blog again! So sorry that it has taken sooo long, but I'm going to catch ya'll up to date real quick and try very hard to post regularly again. ;)

SO, the last time Tony blogged he was graduating from SWBTS and announced our exciting new adventure in Houston.  So, 5 months later we are here and settled in a rental house here in Houston.  Tony is serving as the Middle School Minister at Houston's First Baptist Church. Grayson will be 7 months old next week (WHAT!?). It has been an awesome journey already!  This summer we were able to take a quick trip home to Illinois before we moved to Houston; Grayson and I went with Tony and the youth group to RUSH week in Branson, MO; the Bianco family were able to visit us in Branson and my mom came for a visit here in Houston. It's already October and I am counting down the days to Christmas in Illinois (and hopefully Grayson's first snow!).

We are so very blessed here and have no doubt that this is right where God wants us serving.  We are absolutely in love with our church - the students, the staff, the pastor and his preaching, the people... Amazing church, amazing people, God is blessing! Tony feels so blessed by this job.  I feel very blessed here in so many ways. I have a group of 7th grade girls for Life Bible Study who are precious and blessing me immensely! It feels so good to be with students again! I am making friends with other staff wives and youth leaders in the church. Grayson is so very loved by nursery workers and our friends here and he is making friends himself. And I've begun working part-time in the church nursery 2-3 days a week with 2 year olds.  I have days where I struggle still transitioning and figuring out the whole "stay-at-home mom" thing... but I know this is what God wants for me and my son right now and he is and will bless me.

Grayson is growing!! Oh my word he is growing!! I cannot believe that my little baby boy is 7 months old next week!! Some of the days are slow going, but the months are flying by me.  Wish I could freeze time... It won't be long before he'll be so wiggly and full of energy he won't want to cuddle with his momma. :(  But he does right now! He is a momma's boy through and through; Lord I pray for his future wife! ;)  He LOVES his daddy, though! Every night when Tony comes home from work and Grayson hears his daddy's voice and sees him walk in he gets the biggest smile!  Grayson is now sitting and rolling all over the place and scooting like an inch worm. It won't be long til he is crawling. He has such a personality, it is awesome to watch.

So I will leave you with some pictures of the last few months to catch you up and the promise that I will try to blog weekly, if not every other week. ;)

0-3 Months

And if you need even more pics, I am constantly adding pics to my facebook page (by month)!

This Is Only The Beginning

What a wild ride it has been!  I cannot even think where the time has gone since we came to Fort Worth in Aug. of 2009.  In 09 we cam down with the goal of going to Seminary.  Now looking back, I can see how God worked through so many situations and circumstances it is AMAZING!

Diamend has worked at some great places and experienced some wonderful people that she will always be friends with.  She has made connections with other minister wives that will help her as we continue this journey that God has placed us on.  She has built relationships with friends that will last and be life long.  It is crazy to see where God has taken her and grown her into the perfect pastor's helpmate!  She is the most amazing woman I know and I thank God each day for placing her in my life.

I too have been blessed to work at an amazing place that has not only provided funds for living but wonderful friendships also.  It is weird to think that soon I will leave Apple and it has been such a big part of our lives here in Texas.  I also have made life long friends that I will get to bounce ideas off of as well as pray for as they serve the Lord in areas that I will most likely never get to go!  I have been blessed to have been trained by some of the most amazing men I know and I cannot wait to see what else they will give the Lord to work with!

Diamend and I both have been blessed so much by our son Grayson!  We cannot express the joy he brings us.  There is frustration for sure but he is a gift from God for sure and we cannot see ourselves moving on in life without him!

Our next adventure takes us to Houston, Texas where I will be serving as a Junior High Youth Pastor at Houston's First Baptist Church.  God has blessed me with the opportunity to work at, with, and alongside an amazing church family, leadership, team, and pastor.  We are truly humbled that God would even use us to proclaim His name!

For those who have been reading this blog the last 3 years and those who have supported through prayer, gifts, and thoughts I want to thank you!  I'm not thanking you like an off the cuff thank you but THANK YOU!  Really.  God has used you in ways that you will never know or see but He has shown us and we have felt it in our lives.  None of this would be possible without YOU so thank you thank you thank you!

Diamend says that I never post, or when I post I just type.  So here are some pictures of our amazing son Grayson!

Thank you all again and look for another update soon on the move and my first few days at Houston's First!


Tony Bianco

Grayson's Arrival!

Just one day after my last blog post, Grayson made his surprise arrival! I know I am almost 3 weeks late posting this... but time really gets away from you with a new born!

Let me catch you up with what has happened the last couple weeks.... Friday morning (March 9th) I woke up about 7AM thinking I was wetting the bed! I woke Tony up and texted a couple friends trying to find out what was going on... b/c I really didn't know that my water had broke. As far as I knew, we were scheduled to have the c-section on Monday and that was that - we had a schedule to stick to.. haha. So after about an hour, a phone call to the Dr and a quick shower we wereheaded to Baylor Hospital in Dallas. Tony kept his cool - though I think he was a littlefreaked, as he got from Ft Worth to Dallas in about 30 minutes!

After a few hours of contractions they were finally ready to do the c-section at 2pm. I was so scared, but the doctors and staff were great; and at 2:33 PM Grayson Anthony Bianco made his arrival.

He is absolutely perfect!! Weighing 7 lbs 15 oz and 21 inches long.

That's all I've got for now (sorry for the teaser), but more to come! :)

The last weeks...

Weeks 36-38 are a big blur. I know that we had our ABC's of Baby class at week 36, which went really great. We learned a lot about Infant CPR, Breastfeeding, baby bathing and swaddling and safety... and feel pretty prepared. Week 37 I got to go to one more JBF consignment sale and got a ton of clothes for Grayson. We've had weekly doctors appointments which have gone fairly well. Grayson is doing great - heartbeat is good and he is measuring on track! :) I, however, have been swelling quite a bit and have some protein in my urine... So because of that, at week 38 I was put on early maternity leave with limited bed rest.

So this equals a lot of this:

We've been doing a lot of baby laundry and organizing getting ready for his arrival!

Week 36 and 37

Week 38

We kicked off week 38 (right before being put on limited bed rest) with a little baby moon! We wanted a small one night get away where we could rest and enjoy being alone. So we stayed a night at the Magnolia in Dallas and rested and went to the Dallas Aquarium on Saturday for a little fun.

He is so handsome! I'm so excited for him to become a DAD!

After the aquarium, we stopped by the Dallas Farmers Market. We had never been there before and wanted to make sure we were able to experience it. It was great and so much great produce!!

And we even snuck in a quick movie to end our weekend, thanks for a group on deal!

So that's whats been going on in these last weeks! I've been at home getting ready for Grayson while resting up. Saturday my mom and Tony's dad and sister will get in town! :) Sunday Tony will be preaching at church (praying this baby boy doesn't come early!). And Monday (at way to early in the morning) we will all go to Baylor in Dallas for my C-Section and welcoming Grayson into the world!!! I cannot believe it is already time to meet our son and become parents!! Please pray for us and family as they travel... pray for our doctors and a smooth surgery and hospital stay.