The Faircloths

Picture time! This is what you really want!!

2009-09-13T15:06:00.005-04:00

Grayson and his Daddy having a good time! Smilings their favorite, haha!

G'ma Sha and Grayson...yep, all smiles!

This is the back of the jon jon Grayson's Mimi made him! It has his name on the back. For those of you wondering, she does take orders!!

Singing the Georgia fight song, it still cracks him up!

Family shot, I think we are getting better at this!

LOVE his blue eyes and those long eyelashes, ladies...he's mommy's for now!

Grayson with his Great Uncle Jimmy and Gigi!

This shirt is so cute! We do love G'ma Sha!

Grayson and Hannan playing, I am sure Grayson's Aunt Lela loved having 2 little boys running around while she unpacked boxes! Luckily G'ma Sha was there!

The boys are so interested in each other's hair!

I love those two boys, nothing sweeter!

When you try to take a picture of Grayson he comes right for you...he wants to take the shot!

Loves his books, he does this every day. Most of the time he wanders into his room on his own, shuts the door and quitely looks through his books!

Abe and Grayson, chilling...well, Grayson is! Grayson loves to lay on Abe and get as close to him as possible.

All of these are Grayson around 14 to 15 months old, more to come!

Exciting Updates!

2009-09-13T14:47:00.004-04:00

Well, we have been busy, but who isn't these days? I guess that excuse is out, so...no more excuses. I am graduating next week from my Masters program, and could not be more ready for this occassion! I hope to rejoin the blogging world and spend more time with my hubby and little boy!

Jason's work is going great, while he is traveling more, we know that it is a blessing to be so busy. He puts a lot of emphasis on still being at home at night when possible and making it to any appointments for Grayson and....baby #2! Yep, for those of you who might not know Grayson is going to be a big brother, wow, to say it is still surreal! At this point things are going well, we have been to the doctor twice and have heard the heartbeat. This baby is due March 6th. Grayson will be 21 months old, and we just know he will be the best big brother. We know it will keep us on our toes and if we thought we were busy now, just wait. At the same time, we can't think of anything better to do with our time than grow our little family!

Grayson is getting cuter by the day! He loves to run all over the house, drools like a maniac...molars and the rest of his teeth are coming in all at the same time! He is doing pretty well with it though, he's one tough little boy. Grayson still eats well, he will usually try anything we give him at least once, however, some meals have been challenging to get him to eat lately. We think it's just a phase, but sometimes I do get stressed, it seems silly for me to get like that, but I am working on it!

We are moving into a season where some of my dearest friends are having babies and getting married, it seems we have so many celebrations ahead, and both events are such a blessing and a revelation of God's love for us and how much He wants us to experience joy. I just want God to get all the glory, because He is the source.

I hope this finds you all doing well, getting ready for fall, and just have to say...GO DAWGS!

Love,
Lindsey

Re-post from our Celebration Extension Service Blog

2009-07-20T21:40:00.003-04:00

Explanation: This is a re-post (twitter fans will appreciate that) from a blog that we post on with our church. We felt led to start what our church calls an extension service in the area we have recently moved to. It is a unique opportunity to have an entire church service with the worship style and preacher that we have grown to really enjoy. If anyone reading this has a friend or family in the South Georgia area looking for a relaxed atmosphere to celebrate what God wants to do in their life, please send them our way!

Back home and we brought our church!!!

We have learned in our past 4 years at Celebration how important it is to stay planted in the house. Well… when life uproots you, you just have to take the house with you. Celebration’s extension services have allowed us to do just that!

I was born and raised in hot, humid, and beautiful South Georgia, and I can think of no better place to bring the real, relevant, and enjoyable atmosphere of Celebration Church. We are virtually flying by the seat of our pants in so many areas of our life, and our faith is being constantly increased as God continues to show Himself strong and come through every time. I know that even though we are not expecting to have a ton of people here tomorrow night, God has big things in store for the future of the Valdosta/Thomasville/Tallahassee Extension Service. Maybe multiple different services?!?

I have assisted with Big John’s weekly service at the St. Johns County Jail, and I really look forward to those type of outreach services stemming from our service here. I guess since our first service hasn’t happened yet, I may be getting the cart before the horse. We appreciate all your prayers and are also excited to be a part of this unique group of believers!

Jason, Lindsey, and Grayson Faircloth

WOW! It's been too long!!

2009-07-01T20:32:00.021-04:00

Okay, so a lot has happened since my last post. Between our beach vacation, Grayson's first birthday bash, and moving...we have been non-stop, and the ability to sit down quietly for a few minutes at my computer has been non-existent!

Hope you all liked the recap in pics, and I wanted to refer you also to Grayson's first birthday pictures from Studio Viohl in Moultrie, GA. You can look at them by going to www.studioviohl.com/blog and find any picture of Grayson and click on it to view the rest! They were great and of course we can't believe our little man is a year old now!

Some new things he started doing....

1. WALKING, yes, he is too cute and he is quite awesome when he toddles across the room or follows you...we are so proud!

2. Counting from 1-4, he did it tonight while Jason was giving him a bath! He had some bath toys lined up on the side of the tub and counted them off, when I got in there he would only count to three but it is sooooo cute!

3. He also has started this tantrum thing where if you take something away from him or if he doesn't want you to leave him, he will follow you and then throw himself in your arms sobbing...I have to admit, it makes me melt in a way and then fight back laughing because he is being so dramatic. The water works are of course over in minutes.

4. Down to one bottle at night...this kind of makes me sad too, but happy he is adjusting to getting rid of his ba-ba. For any of you who have seen Grayson and his bottles or eating in general, you know this has been a difficult task for him. However, he loves everything we give him and cow's milk is just fine with him in a sippy cup. I could list all of the things he has tried and likes, but it would take too long...the cutest is watching him eat spaghetti...a bath is required immediately after!

If you didn't know, we also moved after Grayson's birthday. We are now in Thomasville, GA for a hiatus from Jacksonville in the hopes of growing BCI (Jason's work which is now on Facebook and twitter and putting links here helps out so check them out at www.facebook.com/bciinsulationinc and twitter.com/bci_insulation). We plan to be here for a few months to see what happens and we still have our place in Jacksonville. This is definitely an exercise in faith, and we are excited to see what God has in store for us!

Love to you all!

Quick visit to South Georgia!

2009-05-26T12:02:00.008-04:00

Last week/weekend we made a business trip/visit to South Georgia and Grayson's motto is NOT all work and no play, so he spent some time with family. There was good food and company all the way around, if you are in Thomasville, Georgia and want great seafood, try Homecoming (family-style at its best!). If you want good Mexican you can try La Fogata's (the orginal is in Moultrie!). No trip would be complete without playing with cousin Hannan and Uncle Jay and Aunt Lela at their house, or G'ma Sha taking him shopping for new pj's at Kohl's and Target for toys! Papa Jay and Flossie met us for lunch where he had a blast "talking" to everyone at the restaurant and looking at pictures of baby Lizzie! Between playing and napping, this little guy gets the most out of every day, as we all should!

At the end of day, how sweet!

My boys relaxing on a Saturday

Grayson making friends

Grayson showing his Great Uncle Jimmy how close he is to walking!

Grayson's Grandma Sha and Gigi

Grayson and his Great Uncle Jimmy

Grayson with his Papa Jay and Flossie

I got this surprise, the bag is too cute, I love it!

Papa Jay, what are we getting into next?

If you can't tell, that's a tortilla in my mouth!

Grayson was looking at Papa Jay's pictures of baby Lizzie...

He loved looking at the picture of the little baby!

She might be a little too young for you right now Grayson!

Happpy Weekend! (notice we have extra p!)

2009-05-17T18:45:00.005-04:00

I got the chance to go to our church's women's conference, called Shine, this week/weekend, and awesome doesn't even begin to describe it! Celebration Church of Jacksonville brings in some wonderful women of God to speak and in true Celebration-style we are treated like princesses! While mommie was away the boys certainly played and had a great time together. When the conference wrapped up on Saturday, we had family time and went to historic downtown St. Augustine...above you will see a picture of Grayson (in another outfit Mimi made him!) just prior to the blow out he shared with us! I should have known with that face he had something up his sleeve!

I am not sure what this was taking place downtown, but it was loud and colorful, and Grayson loved it!

Shortly after this picture was taken, we were in one of the shops and I was talking to Grayson as he sat in his stroller, I smelled a little something and asked him ever so sweetly if he had a "poo poo?" He smiled that sweet smile and leaned up to touch my face, that is when his cute green and white striped outfit was now solid green (sorry for those of you who are grossed out right now!). Jason and I quickly walked to the truck and began changing him on the tailgate....please don't think bad of us, I have no pictures of this part of the day because it's hard to take pictures when you are gagging, but trust me...it was the only place we could take on a clean up like this! We laughed and sanitized heavily, put our baby in his car seat with only his diaper and shirt on and were off! However, Grayson wasn't done showing us that his diapers are no match for his potty abilities!

Now, I know what you are thinking...Jason peed his pants?!? No, he didn't. Grayson and Jason were sitting sweetly together watching TV before bedtime. Jason thought Grayson had just tinkled in his diaper because his leg felt warm where Grayson was sitting, which was true, but another truth was that somehow the diaper did not contain the tinkle! So we laughed again, got everyone cleaned up and bought size 4 diapers!

Happy Mother's Day!

2009-05-11T13:53:00.006-04:00

See what I mean about family pictures....
...they are priceless!
Happy Mother's Day!

This outfit Grayson is wearing is another one that my brother (he's 24 now!) wore when he was a baby...love it!

I hope everyone celebrated Mother's day and had a great time doing it! Well, my boys sure made me feel special the entire weekend, and made my first official mother's day the best! Saturday morning I got breakfast in bed followed by a day at the beach! Then, we came home and got cleaned up and went to St. John's Town Center to walk around...I got a new dress, diaper bag, and a treat from Starbucks...it was a perfect evening! Sunday, I got breakfast again in bed...those two!!! The church service was great, Grayson stayed with us for worship and then that little wiggle worm had to go to the nursery, but it was special for me to have him in there. Next up, we got lunch at my favorite Mexican restaurant, La Napolera (pineapple ladder to Jason!!) and took a nap (AWESOME!). Then Jason made me the BEST dinner ever, steak Marsala with fettuccine Alfredo, and baked asparagus....he is an excellent cook, and I will never eat Alfredo sauce store bought again, his is phenomenal! To top off the great weekend we went on a family walk...thank you my sweet boys for making me feel like a princess!

Sick baby + pool= a good day!

2009-05-07T11:26:00.004-04:00

Grayson and I were determined that being sick didn't mean we couldn't enjoy the beautiful weather! After going to see Dr. Hartley (she is one of his pediatricians who diagnosed him with the pyloric stenosis when he was 40 days old) and getting a little medicine, we were ready to do something fun the next day!

The baby pool we got at Target looked pretty cool, it had fishes on it and even a sunshade! The first one we got had a huge hole in the sunshade that was discovered only after I had blown up the pool...bummer doesn't describe it well enough...but none-the-less I returned it for another one!

This pool was ready to go, and after blowing it and the sunshade up, we started filling it with water and Grayson had to get in the pool for that part! Here are some pictures of our little man enjoying his baby pool, I wish I could have captured his new favorite thing to do, CLAP! He clapped the whole time I was filling it up!

We honestly were'nt sure when he would clap, but this past weekend Mimi got him going and he hasn't stopped since, everything is worth a clap or two!!!

We hope that by the weekend we can join everyone else at our neighborhood's pool or the beach...I think we are all due for a little sunshine!

Happy EARLY Mother's Day everyone!!!

Easter baskets, another wedding, and Amelia Island's Shrimp Festival!

2009-05-04T19:59:00.008-04:00

So, yet again, I am grateful for blogs, but not when they won't let you move your pictures around! So, as not to dwell on that...this post tells the story of our weekend backwards, but maybe all for the best!

We actually started the weekend celebrating Easter with Mimi and Papa since they couldn't be here on the actual day and yet again we found a great place to eat, Lulu's! Then, we got up Saturday morning and headed to St. Simon's Island to celebrate with one of my life long friends, Stephanie, get married at the beautiful Ocean Lodge! After much laughing and catching up with friends and my parents, we headed home but not before making one more stop! That is where this story (in pictures) begins...or ends!

Amelia Island Shrimp Festival, our last stop of the weekend!
Just one of the cool art exhibits downtown

Kissing on my little man!

The festival was pretty neat, and we didn't get any pictures with our good friends, Bryan and Dana, who told us about it, maybe next year with baby Foltice too!

I liked this shot Jason took!

Mommy and Grayson

Daddy and Grayson (love those smiles!)

Note, it is hard, if not impossible to get a group shot when the wind is blowing...this is the closest one I got! These are some of my best friends from Carrollton, I grew up with these beautiful (inside and out) girls! Ava and Grayson were born in the same month and I think Grayson was excited at yet another potential girlfriend for the future...

Dana's mother and Ava & my mom and Grayson... grandmother's getting to show off their little ones!

Marcia is like a mother to me and it was awesome to see her with Grayson...

Everyone has to touch Grayson's hair, those soft curls!

My dad and Mrs. Deese, the bride's mom...all of the Carrollton crowd was there!

The happy couple!

I just loved this shot of Stephanie and her dad as they made their way down the isle.

Ahh, a family picture...of course as I have mentioned before the art of catching all three of us looking at the camera may be likended to catching a wild animal! Oh, my mom MADE Grayson's outfit and my aunt did the monogramming...they just spew creativity!!!

So his mouth is full of food, but I had to have this picture with a hat on...read on to find out why!

Grayson NEVER wears a hat for long, and we were all shocked when he wore this hat the entire time as he, Mimi, and Papa opened up the basket!

How do we get into this thing?

Okay Mimi, what can we try now? Cherry flavored puffs, yum!

Well, we ended the blog with the first part of the weekend and I think it might be fitting...Grandparents are such a blessing in so many ways, the Easter baskets filled with goodies are wonderful...the great food, amazing...but what makes my heard melt is seeing my mom and dad with my son, making memories!

What a week!

2009-04-27T10:54:00.005-04:00

While I don't have any pictures from this past week to share, I thought I would still update everyone!

Grayson, Abe, Jason, and I all went to South Georgia for a couple of days last week. We stayed with Grayson's Grandma Sha and Thomas...we had a great time!

We got to spend some time with Gigi (Grayson's Great Grandma) and had a delicious meal with her, Grayson was quite the fan of the mashed potatoes. We walked at a beautiful park in Thomasville, went to Grandma Sha's school she taught at, and spent a day with Hannan!

Grayson and his cousin, Hannan, are close in age and they were too cute playing together. Grandma Sha and I even let them take a bath, too cute! Grayson was preoccupied with the faucet, which made me nervous. He tends to find something to investigate and will continually go back to it over and over again...

Hannan cracked me up in the tub, he would throw all the wash cloths out of the tub soaking me and Grandma Sha. The harder I laughed the faster he would throw them out as I put them back in, I couldn't stop laughing! I had a wonderful day with both the boys, but what was really neat was that when one of them starting crawling off somewhere the other one followed! It is going to be fun seeing them grow up together.

One thing we learned...Jason and I can not have a TV that sits on the ground or at a height where Grayson can reach...He was constantly pushing Grandma Sha's TV on and off, he just loves glowing buttons!!!!

When we got back into town, we decided Saturday would be a family day out! We started early and spent the morning at the beach until lunchtime. Grayson loved the water, even though it was cold, he and daddy went out and didn't want to come back! He actually stayed under his sun shade when he wasn't in the water or strolling down the beach, which made me happy because while he had sunscreen on, it was my first time putting it on my squirmy little boy.

After a nap, Grayson seemed ready to go and so off we went to our neighborhood's pool. Once again, Grayson loved the water and the only problem was when we wanted to get him out, he wanted in that pool the whole time!!! It was an awesome day and we all slept great that night!

We can't wait until this weekend, Mimi and Papa are coming to visit and then we are all going to a wedding in St. Simons. More to come, hope everyone is doing great!

Happy 1st Birthday Cousin Hannan!

2009-04-20T08:52:00.012-04:00

Mandi, Flossie, and baby Lizzie...ADORABLE!
What are these two up to?

Not sure what is going on with our blog, but it won't let me move pictures to show everyone how the day progressed...sad! That's okay, because we do have pictures and while they are in no particular order you can see just how special the day was for everyone!!! We hope Hannan had a wonderful day, because we sure did!!

Uncle Jim and Becky
Daddy and Uncle Jay
I can say we TRIED to do a family picture...usually one of us is making a funny face...

Daddy and Grayson, my boys, smoochies to you both!

Hannan got some really cool gifts, too many to count!! He was too cute as the man of the hour!

Hannan was so sweet, he shared his new radio flyer wagon with Grayson.

This one I just imagine them talking to each other...

Grayson with his Great Uncle Tim, Grayson just loved this toy and sat forever in Uncle Tim's lap playing with it.

Grayson with his Great Aunt Brenda Sue, Hannan with his Aunt Laurie...bubbles are a hit!

Grayson and Grandma Sha, look at his face...that little lip!

Grayson with Gigi...okay, this face he is making cracks me up! He sure is showing off those top teeth!

One view of the puppy themed birthday party, too cute, they had everything just perfect!

Uncle Jim and the boys

Grayson loved all of Hannan's toys, this is the night before the big day, once again Hannan was so sweet to share!

Hannan's Great Aunt Becky was so sweet to hold Grayson, and she got him to sleep while the party continued on!

I told you Hannan shares! He even gave Grayson a taste of his cake!

I love this one, and we love this family!!!

Abbey was just so sweet and helpful, she and Grayson were buddies!

Hannan just loved his cake!

Left to right: Jay, Jim, Uncle Tim, Papa Jay, and Jason! What a handsome group...

As you can see we had quite a day, there are so many more pictures and I am sure Lela and Jay will post some on their blog too! They were the best host and hostess as usual!

A wonderful start to a great weekend!

2009-04-16T22:18:00.008-04:00

Grayson's Uncle Jim came to visit and he brought Becky to the beach, and we loved getting to spend some time with them! While the beach was WINDY, we all laughed, Jason took pictures (that sweetie!), and Grayson played all day long! Of course we had to use their visit to get some great seafood too, it's official that our little family loves to eat...if you've seen Grayson at any meal you know what I mean!

Who knew a bucket and some shovels would be such a hit?!

Now...off to Georgia to celebrate Grayson's cousin's birthday! Let the fun continue...

Happy Easter AND Happy 10 months Grayson!

2009-04-12T18:36:00.008-04:00

We had a wonderful day and thought we would share some pictures...from the awesome church service to "hunting" eggs on the beach...Happy Easter Florida-style!

Below is Grandma Sha's gifts she mailed extra special to Grayson, see you next weekend! Grayson just loves Elmo, books, and I of course love the cute outfits!!!!

Grayson had 2 outfits for Easter...little boys! The second one below in all of the beach pictures is extra special! This outfit was my brother's (Grayson's Uncle Tyler) outfit as a baby boy, and I promise to keep it in as good of shape as it came to us in for his little boy one day!! Love you mom and Tyler for letting us have these sweet clothes with such good memories!

Servolution!

2009-04-11T17:58:00.011-04:00

We are sad to say that Mimi and Papa weren't able to make the trip this time, here is a picture of the basket Mimi worked so hard on...

Since they couldn't be here with us, what better way to spend our Saturday than to take part in Servolution! Servolution is our church's (Celebration Church of Jacksonville) way to reach out to the community. This was Grayson's first outreach...well... first outside of the womb!

We all geared up Saturday morning and headed out to the St. Augustine Women's Refuge to paint, do some yard work/clearing, and hang out with our friends from the St. Johns Campus of Celebration Church as well as the women at the refuge.

I think the pictures say it all...we hope you all enjoy tomorrow and the real reason we celebrate this day, the resurrection of Jesus!!

Grayson and Sofee, the youngest crew members that day!!

Growing up!

2009-04-01T12:13:00.004-04:00

Next week Grayson will be 10 months old!!!! Wow, so much has changed with him...

He pulls up on everything, especially knobs to drawers or cabinets, he will even get as brave as to let go with one hand, then the other and falls on his bottom!

Grayson still loves his walker but also likes to have you hold his hands and let him walk around...this past weekend he started this dancing thing and giving high fives!

He has quite a memory too, he will find a button or something to push on, and he will remember exactly where it is no matter how much time passes or where else he goes that day...he loves to turn off his fan after every nap, you can't skip it because he will practically jump out of your arms to get to it!

We got to go on an unexpected trip of sorts to Georgia this past weekend. Jason had a meeting in Atlanta so we came along and made a trip of it! Stayed with Mimi for a couple of nights and played, shopped, and played some more!!! Then it was off to Carrollton where my friend Stephanie was having a wedding shower, it was nice to see everyone and show Grayson off, the joys of motherhood!! We stayed with Grayson's Papa and Uncle Tyler and went out to eat, laughed, played, and repeat!!! The last night we got to eat with my Mema and I have a few pictures from her and Grayson, too cute!

Then we said goodbye and went back south and stayed the night with Uncle Jay, Aunt Lela, and Hannan! The two cousins were precious together, can't wait for them to see each other again already, and luckily Hannan turns 1 in a couple of weeks, so we have a birthday party to go to!! We had a wonderful meal, shrimp and grits, and got to spend the evening going to church and then hanging out with Papa Jay and Flossie. The next morning while we were packing up to finish our journey, we got to spend a little time with Grandma Sha and Hannan before getting on the road!

Whew! What a trip, and now we are just gearing up for the next trip or rather visit from Mimi and Papa for Easter weekend! The fun never ends and it is so nice to have family and friends to spend time with, priceless memories!

A day with Grandma Sha!

2009-03-23T09:01:00.011-04:00

On Saturday when Grayson got up we all headed out to see Grandma Sha in St. Mary's for the day! First we got to eat a BIG breakfast at Cracker Barrell and then we hung out in the hotel room (where Grayson took a nap!) until it was time to go to the football game! The picture below is at Cracker Barrell with a camera phone...we just had to let him ride the rocking horse and wear the cowboy hat, too cute!

This was Grayson's first football game where he got to acutally be at the stadium. It was the high school Georgia versus Florida All-Star game, and while it was a little windy, Grayson loved it! Thomas was the referee for the game so we got the star treatment, it was really neat to see just how much referees have to do during a game!

We were all amazed that during the course of the game, he took 2 naps with all of the activity going on around him, but then again that little guy will take a nap practically anywhere.

He was awake for some of the game and we got some really cute pictures of him laughing at his daddy.

After the game, we went to downtown St. Mary's and ate at a wonderful seafood restaurant (Lang's) on the water and walked around long enough to snap a few last pictures!

We had such a wonderful day spending time with Grandma Sha and Thomas, we miss them all the time and can't wait until the next visit!!!

Papa & Mimi are back!

2009-03-15T10:55:00.005-04:00

This weekend Grayson got to continue his 9 month celebration with his Mimi and Papa, and grandparent time is the best! Grayson was a little under the weather, but that didn't stop him from smiling and laughing. The food at Creekside Dinery was awesome and Saturday we walked around downtown St. Augustine. We ate a little pizza place on St. George St. and snapped a few pictures! Thanks to Papa's duck sounds and Mimi's photography, we got a family shot too!

Then, it was off to the outlets to get Grayson some spring clothes which included sandals, I will have to let him do a photo shoot soon with all his new shoes, Mimi always brings some goodies with her too!

Saturday night, it was wings and a movie, but not after Papa & Mimi's walk around the neighborhood with both Grayson and Abe! We ended the weekend with a good breakfast (thanks to Jason!) and blowing bubbles! Mimi and Papa sat outside and blew as many bubbles as Grayson could pop. Needless to say it was a big weekend and little man is fast asleep upstairs in his room!

We love you Papa and Mimi, come back soon! To Grandma Sha, see you soon!!!!

I'm 9 months today!

2009-03-12T17:58:00.006-04:00

We celebrated Grayson's 9 month birthday with a trip to see Dr. France for his well-check, but don't worry, all he got was a little prick on his heel to check hemoglobin (which was perfect!). Our little man is not little!!! He weighs in at 22 pounds and 6 ounces and is 29 3/4 inches long. We were proud to get such a good report from the doctor on how well he is developing!

Later we did a little photo shoot and as you can see Grayson had other plans, last weekend he pulled up for the first time and now he thinks he is a pro! He didn't want to sit for the pictures, he wanted to go and that's just what he did!

He pulled up on the stairs and then proceeded to crawl up the rest of the stairs all by himself! Of course mommy and daddy were right there, but wow he is growing up fast!!!!!

So for now we are just anticipating our visit from Mimi and Papa this weekend, you know we will have more to report after that!!!

Swings and slides!

2009-03-11T17:27:00.005-04:00

Well, it seems like every day is a photo op and we tend to take it! The weather has been so nice for the past few days, so off to the neighborhood playground we went. I think Jason and I had as much fun as Grayson did!

Weddings and babies!

2009-03-09T20:39:00.009-04:00

This past weekend Grayson attended his first wedding and got to meet more of his mommy and daddy's sweet friends from college! While he made it all day with the festivities, by reception time he was sleeping pretty hard, (thanks Flossie!) even with the band right beside us!

Papa Jay and Flossie took the little man so mom and dad could mingle at the reception! The band was literally right beside our table, too funny! The video we have is dark but you get the idea of how loud it was, that's my boy, he can sleep anywhere!

One of the videos here is from Grayson and I hanging out in the hotel room while Jason went to the rehearsal. You can see he was trying to pull up and I even cheated for him a little! But, after a day, Grayson had it on his own! We stopped off to visit our friends Madonna and Brett and while we were there Grayson pulled up to a standing position (no video of that)!! We were so proud and they were excited to see a first for him and they are one of the couples expecting too!

We had so much fun that we didn't take a lot of pictures, but we do have some cute ones and a few videos to share! We are so excited that so many of our friends are having babies, 4 of them alone will have little ones by this September that were at the wedding!!! I just kept telling them how awesome the whole process is and it just gets better every single day...

Grayson and his friend Reagan!

2009-03-05T15:46:00.005-05:00

My sweet friend Laura and her daughter Reagan met Grayson and I at the park and luckily there was a camera on hand! Reagan is about a month younger than Grayson, and they were so cute together today. They played with the leaves, some of which got into their mouths (don't worry we were close by!), and just "talked" to one another. I just love all these moments, so precious!!!

Leslie and Katie come to visit!

2009-02-28T13:53:00.006-05:00

My sweet friends Leslie and Katie came to visit this week and we had such a great time! Grayson was quite the trooper as we got in and out of the car and strolled around shopping. While he took a nap at the restaurant, we had lunch and did what we do best...talked! It was so nice to spend time with them and I have to say that the girls were a big help as we heaved Grayson in and out, buckled him, etc.... whew, we were all tired!
But...not too tired to keep enjoying the day and head to the beach. Grayson loved it and wanted to be down with his toes in the sand the entire time. Then, it was bath time for all and we got ready for dinner at O.C. Whites! If you know Jason and I, when you visit we always make it an excuse to eat there, it's great, just ask anyone! Well, needless to say we were all ready for the bed after our long day!

While I was sad to see them go, we got to spend some quality time together and Grayson got a taste of why I love them so much! Grayson can't wait to see his Auntie Leslie and Katie again!!!!!!!!!!!

Mimi's goody box!

2009-02-17T14:03:00.007-05:00

Today Grayson got something in the mail from his Mimi (my mom). When a big box comes, we know Mimi has some goodies in there for little man! This package was full of clothes for the spring, a handmade gift for me (which I always love!), socks for Grayson's growing piggies, a Valentine's day card with a special gift, puffs, and a new snack, biter biscuits! When we got the goody box it was the perfect time to let him try this new snack and the pictures show the delicious mess! Thank you Mimi, we love you!!!!!!!!!This picture below is detailing the cookie beard he developed!

A day at the park!

2009-02-15T19:28:00.007-05:00

We weren't sure if the weather would cooperate for us to take any pictures at the part this weekend, but after church we saw our chance! This is a park Jason mentioned to me years ago as a place to take Abe, I never did, but last week Grayson had a play date there and we loved it! Sorry to say the swings were all taken when we stopped off, so I will save those shots for another day. We looked at the river, birds, flowers, trees...everything is a first for Grayson and it is so special to be a part of it!

My funny Valentine

2009-02-13T09:38:00.003-05:00

I only wish I had my camera for the day Grayson made Valentines for his family...

We were going to go to Borders and pay $2 and make Valentines with other kids, glad we did a test run at home! I found some cute small Valentine cards at Target, then a washable ink pad. We were simply (haha) going to put his handprint on them and mail them out. So we sat in our highchair with supplies in front of us and began. I found out a couple of things:

1. Grayson loves to grab things, not press his hand ever so gently on the pad and then the card...
2. Even though washable ink comes off little hands easily, it doesn't come off the underside of fingernails!

Well, after cutting fingernails so that my son didn't look like he had painted his nails pink, and sending off some Valentines with smeared ink, sometimes 3 fingers, or a blur of his hand, we decided it was a job well done. Or at least some funny memories, Grayson had fun, and maybe we will do Borders next year, haha!

Wishing everyone an early happy heart day, we hope to get out this weekend and take some pictures to post of the family. We are truly enjoying the weather here, and I just have to show you all some shots of Grayson in a swing, of course he is chilling and laughing, it is just too cute to try to describe!

Love, love!

Walkers, crib soothers, and books oh my!

2009-02-07T11:21:00.007-05:00

I feel as though I have to constantly be taking pictures of Grayson these days, he is growing and changing so much and I have him right in front of me! What a week, and we still have the weekend to go, who knows what he will be up to by the time Sunday rolls around!

When Grayson is in his walker, you can tell how proud he is of being able to run all over the house. Abe runs away and Grayson is not too far behind him laughing, they have had few successful encounters. Abe may be older, but he is still quick, but it doesn't seem to bother Grayson!

Little man is also working on his top two teeth, well for now only one is barely showing through, which would be funny if he just got one first, haha! Then the whole crawling thing, every time we are in his room we get on the floor and roll around crawl a little, and of course READ! He loves books, we go each week to story times at our local libraries. We are blessed to have so many libraries around us and they each have different story times for babies. I get to meet some mommies and Grayson gets to interact with other babies and we read, sing songs, and play with BUBBLES! Okay, I know it is for him, but I have a lot of fun too!! Still the center of attention, no matter where we go Grayson is smiling at everyone, he never meets a stranger.

Grayson has a crib soother as you can see in the pictures. We usually cut it on at night for him. However, he has other plans for his nap times! Downstairs I will have the monitor and all of the sudden I will hear the button being pushed multiple times, followed by the soother's music. If you go up and sneak in, he is millimeters away from the soother, and he doesn't mind getting caught, he just flashes a smile and keeps on doing it!

...and we are off...

2009-02-02T17:36:00.004-05:00

Today was a big day for Grayson! While it poured outside, we were having a party inside the Faircloth house. For the last few weeks Grayson has been trying to crawl, he'd get up on all fours and rock back and forth. Then he'd get on his knees and prop the rest of his body up with his head (sorry if that is a bad description!)...and now, we have his first successful attempt at crawling! I guess you can see in the video that it is really just a leg and an arm, but we were soooo excited! And it takes him a little bit to get going. More to come as he continues to get mobile, watch out Abe!

Sorry for how loud it is, or rather how loud I am...I will remember the next time we record (hehe)! Just make sure you turn the volume down so I don't blow you away!!!

Grandparents, what a blessing!!!

2009-02-01T21:12:00.004-05:00

Grayson's Mimi and Papa (my parents) came to visit us last weekend. I was afraid Grayson was coming down with something, but it wasn't anything that some Grandparent time couldn't cure!!!

There are times I wish they were closer so that he could see them more, but when we do visit or they come here, it is a weekend of fun and great memories. We relax and play with Grayson, who knew handing him off to Mimi for a diaper change or Papa to calm him down could be so nice? Wait... I knew that, hehe! We usually eat great seafood and shop a little too. This trip Mimi and Papa loaded him and us up with clothes and the highlight was the walker for Grayson. We even let him try one out at the store, and instantly we all knew it would be a hit!

We had to rearrange the downstairs so that he has a straight shot from one end of the house to the other. Along the way, he tends to stop off at Abe's food bowl to try and get a handful of what he thinks are puffs, but really dog food. Then, he will bump into a chair, the front door, his daddy's recliner, the entertainment center...you get the idea. Oh, and when I say bump, I mean the bumpers on the walker hit these things, not him (haha, another story later)! It is hilarious, and he can really move in that thing, I don't think he will walk, he will run!

He also got another baby einstein dvd and he absolutely loves them, it is the only thing he has ever seen on TV that he will laugh out loud at and talk to (his only words, da da da da da).

We love you Mimi and Papa, see you soon!!!!

Anniversary and firsts!

2009-01-19T16:19:00.005-05:00

Jason and I celebrated 3 years of marriage on January 14, 2009 and we planned a get-a-way at our good friend, John's plantation. We would also be leaving Grayson for his first ever over night trip, lucky for us we have his Grandma Sha so close in Thomasville, Georgia!

So, we packed up and headed north to Quitman, Georgia where we had dinner with John, Grandma Sha, Thomas, Aunt Lela, Uncle Jay, and Hannan. Mexican food never tasted so good and of course the company made it all the more special!

In the 3 years we have been married and the previous 5 years of dating, I feel I have been blessed to see Jason grow in so many ways, and while on our mini trip we talked about what the things we learned about one another after we got married. Most of it was little things we laughed at, like how he doesn't put his clothes in the hamper but rather right beside it.

But really we feel as though every day brings opportunity for us to become closer and enjoy our life together. There will always be days where loving one another as Jesus loves us (agape love) may seem hard to do and then there will be the days where it just flows from us so easily. No matter what the goal each day is the same, we both are constantly trying to put the other's will before our own. That means a sacrifice that is nothing compared to what Jesus did on the cross for us. We can't wait to see what 2009 brings for the Faircloths three!

What a blessing!

2009-01-09T15:05:00.004-05:00

As I sit here with my sweet little boy sleeping upstairs in his crib I am flooded with thankfulness. I often feel as though it is easier to confess with my mouth the things that aren't so good or the tough times, but in this moment all I can think about is Jesus's love and how he shows me every day.

I see it when I look at Grayson and those dimples surfacing as his whole face smiles at me. Talking with family on Skype and feeling as though the distance isn't really there. A phone call from my sweet husband reminding me of our Starbucks date. It's news that good friends are having weddings, babies, and finding jobs! I could keep going...

God asks us to lean on Him, to find our happiness, strength, hope, peace in Him and Him alone. The outcome of that is His ability to take care of things like our finances, relationships, and health without restraint. Then we can also enjoy all the moments and people that God has placed in our life to the fullest. I am full, thank you Jesus!!!

The rest of Christmas in a flash!

2009-01-06T11:30:00.008-05:00

Yep, you know it seems like Christmas is over in a flash and this year it was no different, but each year is better than the last! In no particular order, here is a quick look at the travels for Christmas!

Me, my Great Uncle Jimmy, & Dad all have curly hair, we are too handsome!

Gifts from Gigi

and Grandma Sha were fun to open and play with!

Even Grandma Sha's friend (Sue) gave me a sweet gift!

Me and Grandma Sha!

Opening my new guitar from Uncle Jay, Aunt Lela, and Hannan.

I missed cousin Hannan, so when we saw each other, he had to give me a kiss!

Uncle Jim gave me a present that really made me laugh!

Christmas with Papa Jay and Flossie was fun and we enjoyed the weather and gifts outside!

Christmas day with Papa, Mimi, and Uncle Tyler was a blast too!

Uncle Tyler gave me a cell phone that says my name, he is the tech savy one of the family!

4 generations (Me, Mom, Mimi, and Great Grandmother)

Christmas morning, you can see how much fun we had!

Opening the presents was just as much fun as playing with them!

After opening 2 presents Christmas morning I was out!

Reading with Papa!

Christmas with Mema

The whirr of paper was too much fun!

No matter where we were during our Christmas travels, we kept being reminded of the reason for the season, Jesus's birth and how because of Him we can enjoy the peace and happiness of this time of year and every day after, forever!

Love to you all,

Jason, Lindsey, & Grayson

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

2008-12-21T20:27:00.005-05:00

Here is a peek at the start of Grayson's first Christmas, there is more to come!

Grayson and his daddy restored a family heirloom for my early Christmas present, so sweet!

This was Jason's mema's table and he sanded it, refinished, and polished it secretly...

Grayson sitting up, he loves it and is getting pretty good at it!

We took Grayson to see the lights in St. Augustine on the bay and down town, we had so much fun!

Daddy trying to look like Grayson, he is wide eyed and full of wonder all of the time!

Being able to do these things with him and Jason is the real blessing, it doesn't matter what is going on, or what kind of mood I am in, they make me smile!

To top it all of we took him to a pizza place on St. George Street where he was practically crawling on the table and being such a sweet heart!

We have just begun our Christmas travels, this is the tree at Grayson's papa's house (my dad) with his presents underneath. Note, they are all his...how are we going to get them in our car we don't know. Grayson has a onesie that says, "Who needs Santa I have Grandparents!" More to come as we continue on...it is amazing, warm, funny, every good emotion wrapped into one!

See you soon!!

Grayson's dedication weekend!

2008-12-15T17:24:00.006-05:00

This little guy was all to happy to get started on his big weekend! He had family coming in from out of town, Santa to see with his cousin, Hannan, and a baby dedication to top it all off! We were so blessed by all of those who took the time to make this day special for Grayson!

Garner/Faircloth Family Reunion

2008-12-12T10:18:00.005-05:00

We had a wondeful time this past weekend in Savannah, where Michael, Laura, Josh, Madison, and Joseph opened up their home and hosted a reunion to remember! Good food, make that tremendous food, laughs, stories, babies, and memories filled the weekend. I think this needs to be a tradition in every family and I certainly look forward to the next one!

The first night down town, shrimp and pralines!

Of course I had to put this one on here, the hat was hilarious, my little bunny!

Last, but not least, our hosts, Laura and Michael, love ya'll!!!

A Happy Thanksgiving!

2008-12-01T20:13:00.008-05:00

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

I am almost 6 months old!

We hope this finds all of you full and happy as you come away from the last week's events! Thanksgiving this year was full of fun and food for all of us, Grayson got to spend time with everyone and is ready for Christmas travels! But before that we have a family reunion to attend this weekend and it is sure to be a good time as well. For those of you who may have known and for anyone reading our blog, just before Thanksgiving we lost a dear friend, Hugo, in a car accident. We just ask that you pray for his family who resides in Guatemala and his brothers who are here in the United States trying to get him home to be buried. If you look back to one of our posts, we have a picture of Hugo and Grayson. He will be missed and it reminded us just how important it is to spend time together when we can. We love you all!

No doubt I love to eat and there isn't a vegetable or fruit yet I haven't gobbled!

I got to spend some time with my cousin Hannan, and we laughed and played with our daddys!

We played on cousin Hannan's laptop and laughed at one another...but mostly how silly our daddys were being!

Daddy took this picture while hunting with Papa Jay!

Time flies when you're having fun!

2008-11-21T10:35:00.011-05:00

Here is a little recap in pictures of what Grayson has been up to lately... we will start with the most recent!

We enjoyed our church's family fun night!

Grayson did too, but caught up on his sleep!

Mimi and Mom took me to pick out some pumpkins....

I couldn't decide which one, there were so many!

Mom and Me, the pumpkins are almost as big as me!

Mimi and I had so much fun that day!

Off to our nation's capital, mom had a residency for school, so dad and I tagged along!

The Vietnam Wall

See what a big boy I am? I am as tall as the Washington Monument...

At the Lincoln Memorial, mom's favorite!

This is what I did most of the time, the stroller was just so relaxing!

While we were there, we celebrated dad's birthday, 27 and still sharp, good thing I take after him!

At the hotel with dad while mom was away...read the paper, caught up on my tv shows, and returned some calls!

First time in the pool, this trip just had a lot of firsts!

Got to see dad's good friend, Jim in DC too!

I did pretty good flying too...well, ask daddy about that one...I am a stinker!

Dad's birthday with the family...can't tell here, but he has no idea about his party! I am not sure about these pictures, but had fun with cousin Hannan and Uncle Jay!

Me and Grandma Sha relaxing!

Abe had fun too on this trip, he got to play outside and see his doggy cousin Abbey!

Visited with Papa Jay and got a special gift Flossy made me!

BCI guys, me too one day!

Grayson went to his first UGA game (well not the game, but Athens!).

Tailgating with Mom, Dad, and Nancy

We had to stop off and see Leslie and Jake, I even gave them a smile or two!

Got to tailgate with Mom's sorority sisters (Katie, Marie, and Leslie) and the guys too (Bryant, Ron, Jason, and Daddy of course!).

Mimi had me and I had my fist!

Hung out at AGR to grab a bite to eat and take some pictures!

Grayson also has been just chillin' at home and cuddling up with Daddy on his lunch breaks!

We also love to go to Element (our church's youth service) on Wednesday nights...

What mean grillers!

Me and mom just watched and waited for the good food...

Love you all!

Grayson, Jason, Lindsey, and Abe too!

Quick Strike

2008-09-21T08:57:00.004-04:00

Yesterday was rainy and nasty here in sunny Florida. Grayson had to get prepared. This little hoody was the best he could do. Just before we got out the door, our friend Hugo came by to visit. He immediately asked to hold the baby, who he asks about everytime we talk on the phone, which is several times a day. I could see the slight sadness in is eyes as he held little gordito. He tells us it has been a while since he has seen his two babies. Those who know Hugo, will appreciate this.

I hope you all take a moment to be thankful for our American lives, and our relative proximity to one another as a family.

We love and look forward to seeing you soon.

The Faircloths

We are back...again!

2008-09-20T10:32:00.009-04:00

Okay, so this whole blog thing was supposed to keep everyone up to date on our exciting lives with Grayson (I say this kind of sarcastically)...and we have dropped the ball as his parents! So if each day is a new beginning, then I am beginning again!

Wow, Grayson is growing so fast and he is getting more cute every day! He is 3 months old and will be 4 months in October, just saying that makes me think how far we have come. From the beginning when he was just a wee one, so tiny and quiet...to him finding his voice and crying for a week or so a good bit, to smiling at you and cooing, to laughing and talking to his bouncy seat's aquarium thingy!!!

Time flies and he changes every single day. Jason and I were double teaming a huge blowout of Grayson's and he was laughing at us as we were holding a leg, wiping him, and trying not to gag! We both thought about the time when he was exactly 40 days old and had the pyloric stenosis issue. God is so good and brought us and him through that, and to look at him now you would never know really. Even his tiny scars on his tummy are almost all gone. However, we cannot forget how it changed our perspective and how precious each day with family and friends is, and how we need one another to live in this messy world. God is for us and wants us to be happy and healthy. Illness, crummy days, bad situations, saddness, and stress aren't of God and He gives us the chance to lean on Him in those times and find in His goodness and mercy.

A message one Sunday comes to mind, we were looking in Phillipians chapter 2 and talking about living above being offended by the world and others in it. Our instinct needs to be hold tight (or trust) to God's word, much like little Grayson trusts Jason and I unconditionally that we will take care of those nasty diapers and get him all fresh again!!! God is a rescuer and I know He has rescued me many times and will continue to do so!

Grayson's hair is coming back in and it is so cute and while we loved our little bald man, that soft hair sudsing up when giving him a bath (which he loves!) is sweet too! We have been enjoying some time at home lately. We had his first vacation, albeit 20 minutes from our house, in late August! My dad rented a house in Ponte Vedra on the beach for a week and my mom, Mema and Clint (my dad's mom and her man friend), and our little family enjoyed it!

We are looking forward to Grayson's first UGA game next weekend as the Dawgs take on Bama, we can't wait to show him off and hang out with some friends and family. Then, we have his first wedding (which he won't be at all of it!) as my college friend Stefanie gets married. Thankfully Grayson's Mimi (my mom) will be helping these two weekends with him so he doesn't get too tired! We also will end each of these trips stopping off in Moultrie to see family and friends there too! We have pictures one weekend and the next is just for fun! Then Grayson gets to fly for the first time to Washington DC as I have a residency for school for a week and the boys will be playing around DC! Just saying all that makes me realize how busy life can be, but what we do it for is the relationships and all of the trips and visits are priceless!!!!

I hope everyone is doing wonderful and I love you all, Grayson sends baby toots and giggles your way (of course that is how he shows love!).

Lindsey

Summer in a flash

2008-09-07T21:11:00.006-04:00

Well, its after labor day, Grayson is three months old, the parents are tired, and the dog is still confused. Looking back at our pictures off of our camera, a lot has happened since the fourth of July when we last downloaded a bundle of photos. Here are a few more that tell the tale themselves. Hope you enjoy.

We caught up with the Harrisons and they treated us to a seafood dinner! Instant friends, these kids.
Grayson had his first of many trips to the beach. Whether he knew it or not. (That guy to the right has on a swimsuit, I promise)
We also went out to Clarks fish camp, where we saw stuffed animals galore, and some folks got in a bar fight. Neato, huh?

........Okay, the previous section of this post was written weeks ago and left unfinished. I am just going to throw it up there like it is and get on with the new stuff.

Sorry,

Jason

Smiles and Coos!

2008-08-17T21:02:00.004-04:00

I have to say that the smiles and coos Grayson is making these days are some of the sweetest things I have ever seen! Not partial right? At about 7 weeks he started smiling at you on purpose and cooing, and it seems to just increase every week. He has the cutest dimples, one more defined on the right and one that shows up from time to time a little higher on the left. Another new thing is that he is loosing his hair, fortunately, we know that his will come back, so we aren't too sad. While we are still getting up at night with him, usually one time around 4am, we are highly anticipating the his first night with no interruption! For now, I am enjoying our little night time chats and of course the real reason he is up, to get some grub. Well, I better go, its about time for him to eat again and time for me to try to catch some sleep...thank you Star Bucks for helping me in the morning!!!

Love and SMILES to all,

Lindsey

Hello?!?

2008-08-14T20:52:00.002-04:00

Alright, I heard a lot of complaining about not putting stuff up here, and I haven't seen many comments on our posts.

Grayson is now 12 lb 3 oz and 24 inches long. He does have the large Faircloth head, as he is in the upper percentile on circumference. Weight is average and height is on the high end. I guess the big head is just to hold that big brain for all that knowledge he is gonna have. I can't sit around and type all night cause Uncle Jim is here, and we need some brother time. Looking forward to Mimi coming this weekend and Papa the next week. I know my family cares, too. Maybe we'll see them in the Fall.

Love to all,
Jason

Something Good

2008-08-10T23:29:00.002-04:00

You asked for it. Now here comes the flood.

I know, three posts in three days. I am blowing the doors off of this thing. If you have not read the other two from Friday, please scroll down and read those first so you can get caught up on the events discussed in this one.

There are several reasons why I am about to put this on the World Wide Web for all to view. I guess the most obvious is that it is the single most important thing I have to say, and this is as close as I can get to a mountaintop from which to shout. Judging from the numerous complaints we’ve gotten concerning our lack of recent material, I would say that most of our friends and family check this page, and that is exactly the group of people I am eager to talk to.

Okay, enough small talk. I promised in one of the previous posts to talk more about Grayson’s condition, medically known as pyloric stenosis. It is basically when the pylorus muscle that wraps around the entrance to the small intestine becomes so large that it prevents food from going that way. I don’t need to explain how this could be a problem. The surgeon, very simply, cut that muscle, allowing the small intestine to bulge out one side and empty the stomach. I am not sure what they did to fix this before modern medicine, or how they figured out how that the pylorus was the cause. What I do know is that when the pediatrician told Lindsey that Grayson would need surgery, I could almost hear her spirit fall to the hospital room floor. I don’t mean to be dramatic, because I am fully aware of the families who spend months at the same children’s hospital that we were able to walk out of unscathed after only three days. Our hearts go out to those children we saw facing mountains much larger than ours. Nevertheless, it was a struggle at that moment to see through the difficulty of the situation to the other side where we would use this as a testimony to the goodness of our God. Which brings me to my point.

As to why we were faced with this circumstances, or why anyone faces sickness, disease, or hardship of any kind, I would refer you to the NY Times #1 bestseller The Shack by William P. Young. My interpretation to the answer to this question in our situation would be lengthy because I have told so many people what I am about to say here. Our three-day unnerving inconvenience was without a doubt an attempt of our enemy (and yours too, whether you acknowledge him as so or not) to bring us pain. As I launch into this, please know my prayer is that it will be received in love and without judgment, but stay with me because as I said this is the most important thing I could ever tell you. This post will serve as proof that God works all things, even pyloric stenosis, to the good of those who love him. If this has the impact on the lives reading it that I am praying it does, then something definitely good has come about.

I found it interesting, as I am sure you will, that the Latin translation for pylorus is gate, and stenosis is a form of the word narrow. Now that may not ring any bells unless you call to memory a passage from Sunday school

Matthew 7:13-15

13 "Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. 14 But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.

Now I won’t carry this analogy as far as I did with my middle school group. You can only imagine how interested they were when I told them to “follow the poo.” But, in all seriousness, please take note of the last five words above. I hope that something that you are about to read will push you toward the few.

Let me clear up what I believe is a perversion of the truth of this verse. I admit for years, without anyone telling me this, that I saw this narrow gate and subsequent narrow road as a metaphor for the difficulty in finding and maintaining… salvation, a life of prosperity and abundance, peace, joy, or whatever God had for me. If you are like me, this misinterpretation has kept you from pursuing this path, because it says right there it is hard and most people won’t get it. Why try? I kind of saw my self tight roping some gravelly trail with sharp drop offs on both sides, and I, somewhat, subconsciously decided it wasn’t worth it. Are you tracking with me? (props to Stovall www.celebration.org) What hit me between the eyes during the study of this verse was that the narrowness of the gate is not as descriptive of the path’s difficulty as it is of the exclusiveness of Him who is The Way. There is only one path. That is why it is narrow. Not to say there are not difficult parts (please refer back to the above fictional work), but that is not what makes the path to life so hard for most people to locate. It is their own attempt to feel in control of their future preventing them from submitting to the true control that God has over everyone’s future. It is a matter of faith.

There are many ways that won’t take you to this life Jesus referred to in Matthew, which is why it is referred to as wide. Some of you right now may be a living testimony that this wideness is not synonymous with ease or lack of problems. Some of the ways found by entering the wide gate are easy to recognize. Take other religions for example. While it is a flowery thought that all roads lead to the same God and eternity in heaven, it is, according to the Bible, untrue. Sorry Hollywood. There are others however, that you may not recognize. Like being a “good person”. As our pastor said today, holiness is a fruit, not the root of knowing God. I believe there are a lot of really “good” people who were awfully disappointed on the other side of the eulogy. But for all those ways, there is but one end. Destruction. No interpretation needed.

Now for the “good news”. Another recent sermon centered on the following passage

Matthew 16:15-18

15 "But what about you?" [Jesus] asked. "Who do you say I am?"
16 Simon Peter answered, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God."
17 Jesus replied, "Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by man, but by my Father in heaven. 18 And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it.

You see, the revelation that Jesus was who he said he was, did what he said he was going to do, and is still madly in love with the thought of having a relationship with you is the only path that leads to what can only be described as… well, life. The now popular phrase that it is not religion, it is a relationship is based on this truth. God does not want to swat you with a giant stick when you do wrong. He wants to, and does, love you no matter what. The sooner you grasp that, and begin to know him like you know your friends and family, the sooner you will experience the life He has for you, which we know, again from the Bible, is more awesome than you can even think to ask for.

I know this was long, but I will say again, all the other stuff on this page and the rest of this crazy internet, won’t do you any good without God. For real. And I know this is Grayson’s page, for looking at pictures or hearing funny stories, and you were not prepared for this heavy bit of info, but if you are going to be a part of his life, it will only benefit him and more importantly you to make God, not just a part, but the center of your life by agreeing with me now wherever you are:

Jesus, without the eloquent words of an ordained minister, I just want to speak with you in a way that is more real than I have ever done before. I want to tell you that I love you, I need you in my life, and I want you to forgive me for living the way I have been, because you are the only one who can. I want to know you as my closest friend, and I believe that your death has saved me from the destruction I know is waiting for me at the end of the road I am on. Help me to enter the narrow gate now, and walk this narrow path that leads to life. In your name I ask these things. Amen.

If this is the first time your heart has expressed this sentiment or it is the fiftieth time that it has not made sense, please call Lindsey and I and we will talk it out together or celebrate, whatever the case may be. Either way, know that God is for you and loves you and that Grayson is depending on all of us to share our wonderful relationships with him in the next life, as well as this one.

Back in the saddle again!

2008-08-08T21:08:00.002-04:00

We had his 2 week follow-up, post surgery on Wednesday of this week and the surgeon said he looked great and he weighed 11.3 lbs. When we went into the hospital he weighed 10 lbs.! Then, on Thursday we celebrated his 2 month birthday and man, Grayson can eat (like his dad maybe???)! We are having so much fun with him cooing and smiling at us, it is truly amazing. We are now taking weekend trips to the beach (only an hour, but hey, we are getting out!!) and he loves to lay sprawled out under his sun shade snoozing. We are going to try it again this Saturday. We go for his 2 month well check-up with the pediatrician next Wednesday and I am sure the little stinker will weigh even more, and we are going to give the pediatrician a big hug for her staying on top of Grayson's care.

More to come and happy birthday this Saturday to Grandma Sha!

Love,
Lindsey

A little (hehe) behind!!!

2008-08-08T20:18:00.017-04:00

Okay, I logged on here and dust came out of my computer. Clean the cobwebs off the posts below, and forgive us for not updating this in forever. It has been more than a little crazy around here.
Let me start by cutting out the suspenseful ending for those who don’t know; everything is now fine. We are at home, healthy, happy, and eating (and pooping) like never before. I had planned on getting on here a week ago and sharing the journey we took around the state of Georgia to see all our friends and family who had not yet had the pleasure of being introduced to our little man around whom this entire page is centered. We have over a thousand pictures of him meeting his great-grandmothers, and his aunts and uncles, both actual and honorary. We also wanted to refer everyone to our professional pictures at

https://www.collages.net/consumersite/guestlogin.aspx?username=grayson&password=19753

We will still try to put some of these pics here, but the best place to view them will be snapfish. It takes hours to upload those so we will put that link on here later, but in the words of the immortal Paul Harvey, here is the rest of the story.

As early as the Fourth of July weekend, Grayson was exhibiting a tendency to vomit up entire feedings. We attributed this to a number of things and were ultimately incorrect. During the end of our recent trip to see everyone, the vomiting had reached such a point as to cause a great deal of concern that something was really wrong. Our first day back we went to the pediatrician, and she suggested a few remedies to solve what was most likely reflux. She said we might want to rule out a rare condition called pyloric stenosis (more about that in a later post, please check back), and after an ultrasound, he ended up having it! We were crushed, but blessed to have such a wonderful staff at Wolfson Childrens Hospital taking care of us constantly! After 3 days and 2 nights in the hospital, the rest is history and we are doing great, except we can't fill him up!

Thanks for all of the prayers, calls, emails, texts, and concern- you all rock!

Love,

Jason, Lindsey, and Grayson

2 weeks of fun

2008-06-26T19:08:00.008-04:00

Yeah! Happy 2 week birthday little man. We went to the doctor today and he weighs 9 lbs 1 oz, that is a 1 lb 1 oz increase in two weeks. Go Mama's milk! He also gained 2 inches putting him at 21 inches long! He is really starting to show some personality, and has had lots of visitors. Just tonight, Bragg and Jessica Vaughn came by to see him and us, "I knew he could do it!" He was a bit disappointed in the Bulldawg baseball teams performance in their last two games, but he has always been more of a football man anyway. He can't wait for the fall!

I would love to say more, but it has really just been a lot of eating, sleeping, and pooping. (Uh-oh, I wonder if I should check the adult content box on my blog settings with that last word.) I do want to thank all the wonderful people from our church who have been bringing us food, Karen LaFlamme, Darlene Linge, Denise Piligian, Natalie and Danielle Snyder, and Tracy Porter. May God pour out blessings on you and your families.

I would like to make a special note about one of those ladies who brought us food. She provides assistance and counseling to families who have had a loved one suffer from traumatic brain injuries. Everyday. As her job. As if that was not enough, she took time out of her schedule of doing this to prepare us an incredible homemade meal and drive it half an hour one way to our house. You may already be touched by her kindness. If not, try this on. The reason she does what she does is because her son suffered one such injury and the need for support became apparent to her. This son apparently resides in a home in another town obviously limiting her time with him. On the day she fixed the meal and brought it to us, he was here visiting for his 21st birthday. He was to return to Clearwater the following day and was staying with a nurse while his mother was blessing us with dinner. If your not teary eyed right now, check your pulse. Tracy Porter, you are a saint, and I will pray for blessings on your life daily. I hope everyone reading this will take a moment to do the same.

Well it looks like I did have a lot to say. Maybe I should get a separate blog for my inner ramblings.

Love to all,

Jason, Lindsey, Grayson, and Abe

Clipped...finally.

2008-06-20T20:55:00.005-04:00

Hello readers, (like there is some vast following out there keeping up with our scribbles)

Do we have some news for you! Our little man finally got his little man taken care of. Just wanted to headline with that considering the concern shown by all. So now we can rest easy, but I'd rather not make this post all about that, and the vaseline involved, or the speed of flow rating listed on the side of the bottle nipples, or the length of time breast milk can sit out on the counter. So...

I'll back up a bit and share some of the more special times we have had as a family in the past week. Like when Lindsey and I had quiet time in the hospital with the sound of our soon to be born son's heartbeat coming out of the machine, or the quiet time the next morning with Grayson's nine hour old hand gripping my finger the whole time. Everyone in the world should have a child. I know what you're thinking, not everyone! Yes, everyone. With no exceptions, just a few conditions. I said I wasn't going to talk about circumcision, but the first condition would be that you allow your heart to be circumscised. John Eldridge talks a lot about this in Ransomed Heart. Having a child will change your life and the lives of those close to you if you have allowed your hearts to be skint back exposing the fresh, sensitive parts that for years have been covered with calloused build up preventing true emotion. A second condition would be automatically met during the birthing process given the first condition was fulfilled, and that is that they recognize the source of life can come only from the source of love, our Divine Creator and Heavenly Father, Jesus Christ. The third condition would also build on the first two, and that would be a commitment to raise the child with the truth found in condition two and all the subsequent truths stemming from the first. These would dictate the way this new life was lived, and the pattern would eventually lead to this world being a lot less messy for us all.

Okay, so I didn't share a bunch of memorable stories of the past eight days. Honestly, stories about sleeping and pooping would probably bore you anyway. So as "the pump" drones on in the background, I leave you with this: Circumcise yourself. (your heart that is)

>Jason<

AMAZING!

2008-06-18T10:47:00.002-04:00

I haven't been on here in a while, Grayson has been such a blessing that keeps us staring at him instead of the computer screen! I am just in awe of the whole experience, there aren't enough words to describe the increased love for Jason I feel and the newfound love for my SON! The birth experience was really amazing and I have to say that all the prayers really meant a lot to me, I felt so calm and at peace. I never imagined he would be 8 pounds, I lost big time in the pool on that one! However, he is healthy, happy, and loves to eat! We went to his first doctor's appointment on Monday and the pediatrician gave us an excellent report, and that he is actually 19 1/2 inches (not sure if the nurse at the hosptial got it right the first time, hehe). The days have been filled with some crazy poopy (or peepee) diapers, not to mention baby toots (louder than you think!!), eating, sleeping, and then of course the changing of the outfits!!! I will write more soon, but know that I appreciate all of the support and can't wait to show him off to everyone!

Love,
Lindsey

He's Here!!!

2008-06-14T20:21:00.005-04:00

Hello Everyone,

I am exhausted so I can't make this a beautiful dissertation on the joys of having a baby and all that; parents know what I mean, but I can get on here real quick to say he was born at 8:16 Thursday evening. The labor was incredible. Looking back, it is easy to see we were extremely covered in prayer. Recovery has been pretty good too, (well you'll have to ask Lindsey about recovery, it's been easy for me but i didn't push out an 8 lb baby). He was 8 lbs even and 19 inches long. He put on quite a show in the hospital nursery, peeing on the viewing window and all. We are home now and doing well with Mimi (Lindsey's mom Melissa) helping out for a while. Thank you all for the emails, text messages, phone calls and visits to the hospital. Especially to our families for the love, support and food. We ate like royalty which, as most of you now, I really value.

Well, Lindsey is nursing and doing well. We look forward to all of you getting to meet him in person!

Latest News!

2008-06-09T15:59:00.003-04:00

Hey everyone!

We went to the latest doctor's appointment this morning and what an exciting day! The doctors have set up an induction date to bring Grayson into the world unless he wants to do so before...so there is still time little man to do it on your own! The big day will be this Thursday (6/12/08), sounds like a perfect birthday to us! Of course he could pick any day he wants, we are soooo ready for him to be here. We will be at Flagler Hospital bright (wait, the sun isn't up at 5:30 am!) and early to start the whole process and any prayers for a wonderful delivery are greatly appreciated!

Love you all!
Lindsey and Jason

Patience

2008-06-08T15:00:00.003-04:00

How 'bout those new page elements up there, uh. This blogging stuff is incredibly addictive. Anyway, I'll put an update on here.

There is still nothing major to report. Lindsey has had some cramping/contraction type feelings every day this week, but Grayson is still tucked in there. We go back to the doctor tomorrow, and they told us that we would be discussing induction as an option to this nerve racking waiting that we have been doing. Don't get me wrong; we are not complaining. Grayson is just exciting the bejesus out of us. I can't tell you how many times we have checked to make sure our multiple cameras and video recorders are charged up and ready. Our families are all eager to get down here and take part in the birthing (Lindsey hates it when I use that word). Lindsey's mom has already made it down and helped us put the finishing touches on the nursery. So, Grayson, you are running out of excuses!

Hopefully we won't wear you guys out with posts about nothing before the real good posts full of baby pictures and humorous anecdotes get here. As always, your prayers are needed as we approach the big day.... whatever day that is.

-Jason

Hot June in Florida

2008-06-06T14:39:00.003-04:00

Well, still no sign of Grayson, I guess he is pretty smart and realizes just how hot it is in Florida in June and has decided to hide a little longer!! We are still enjoying ourselves as a "couple" and anticipating our family status that is just around the corner. As Jason says, "It could be tonight!" Jason always keeps me laughing and I know he is going to be a wonderful father. My mom, or Grayson's Mimi is coming today and we are going to finish the nursery, all we have left is the wall decor, maybe that is what Grayson is waiting on!! Hope everyone is doing well, and if they allowed whale-like people in the pool I would be in there, but I would hate to make all the water come out, the kids in the neighborhood might have it out for me. Have a nice weekend and maybe we will get to have our next post display a picture of the newest Faircloth!

Love,

Lindsey

Update

2008-06-03T21:32:00.003-04:00

Well, Jason and I went to the doctor again today after last Friday's visit. They basically said the same thing, Grayson is ready to go but I guess he is pretty content and fine with hanging out a little longer in his current home!! However, we are all ready on this end to welcome him to his cute room and introduce him to all of our friends and his family, including Abe (his doggie brother!). We can't wait to give everyone the update that Grayson is finally here, but until then Jason and I are hanging out!!!!

Love,

Lindsey

Very Grateful!

2008-06-02T19:45:00.006-04:00

Well, here goes my debut as a blogger, Jason and I are excited to get this going and keep it up not only with updates but pictures too!

I am so blessed to have family and friends that are supportive not only during this exciting time while we await Grayson's arrival, but that have been so for all of my life and Jason's too.

From the time we found out that we would have our own child, our family and friends have been so attentive and generous. Words cannot describe what it feels like to know that the love and blessings in your life will soon be shared not only by your husband but your son too!!! A good friend of mine has always told me that little boys are the best (Brooke!), and I can't wait to share Grayson with everyone.

While Jason and I wait here for Grayson, we feel so surrounded by God's love and peace, and can't wait to have our family come and visit. We pray that all of you will have safe and wonderful trips here whenever you may come and that we can all just enjoy being together and welcoming another little one (our nephew Hannan will be making his first trip to visit his new cousin) into our growing family!

We love you all!

Lindsey

Slow down- Life construction ahead

2008-06-01T22:26:00.003-04:00

Wow, who knew there would be a day when you could just put down your random thoughts on the world wide web and have people all over read them? This is exciting. It is only fitting that I compose my first piece after reading about what could be the most intense miracle I have ever been privy to on a BLOG! If you have time and want to follow the storyline of what was truly the finger of God at work among us, check out http://www.rileyturner.com/. It ranks right up there with my own sister's miraculous healing of her baby within the womb. Hannan James Allen is now 7 weeks old and the picture of health.
As I jot down these ramblings, my wife is laying on the couch, possibly hours, at the most days from delivering our first son. I have been told by everyone that we are embarking on an experience like no other. It can not be described. We feel prepared, at least on the "having stuff" end of things. We have tried to get our act together emotionally as well. God has allowed us to spend the time leading up to now by hanging out as a couple and bolstering our already rock solid marriage relationship. We are surrounded by a church family that is more than wonderful, and our actually family is absolutely ecstatic about the whole thing. I realize the situation we are immersed in is more than idyllic. It is a struggle not to take the overflow of blessings we call our life for granted.
We hope that we can utilize this page to demonstrate the love and mercy God is showering on us to all of our friends and family. We will use this page to post pictures and news about our life and family with emphasis on little Jacob Grayson for the grandparents, aunts, uncles and extended family who can''t be here for every minute of joy and happiness that seems to surround our home. We love you and look forward to sharing with you all.