It Gets Worse For Daddy

Grace was walking down the hall the other day and when she passed our bedroom and said "mommy's room." When she passed the study she said "Ellie's room" (it's where we keep his house). For some reason when she passed the guest bathroom she said "daddy's room." I am not sure what her daddy did to her or if her mommy is having some fun, but after a few days Grace now understands that daddy lives with mommy in "her" room!

Cinderella

Grace and I were playing in her room this morning when she got up and ran to the wipe container. She took one out and ran over to a stain on the floor that has been there since we moved in. She got down on all fours and started scrubbing really hard. I asked her what she was doing and she said "Daddy potty on the floor, I clean it." I turned my head trying to muffle my laughter when she said "he made a mess. Daddy potty on floor. Gracie clean."
I'm not really sure what goes on here when I'm not home.....

Memorial Day Weekend

We had a busy Memorial Day Weekend. We went to Tuscaloosa to stay with Grace's Grandma and Pop.

Grace had fun gardening with Pop

Playing in the pool with Grandma and Aunt Kristen

On Sunday we went to Florence to go to the vistation of our friend Lee Callaway's mother. She was a great lady who will be missed.

Monday Jack dedicated time to the veterans and volunteered with the War Dogs. Monday afternoon some friends came over and the kids played and we had a nice meal together. Poor Anna still has her cast but she was getting around really well- we hope you get it off soon!

The Baby in Mommy's Tummy

We are excited to announce that Grace will be a big sister in November!

New Camera!

We are back in pictures! We've been meaning to get a new camera anyway and a month without one has spurred on the purchase. Grace and I researched them on the internet yesterday and Grace picked out a pink one she wanted. She was very disappointed when the camera that came out the box was black (I want pink camera!) but she and Elliot smiled anyway.

Last Day of School

Monday was Grace's last day of school. Grace LOVES going to her Mother's Day Out program two mornings a week and is really going to miss it. She has formed a special bond with one of her teachers, Mrs. Margaret, and will have a hard time this summer adjusting without her. Apparently Grace was her little shadow and if you ask Grace what Mrs. Margaret calls her, Grace says "Mini me." And if you ask her who loves her she says not Mommy, not Daddy but "Mrs. Margaret." She will miss Mrs. Margaret and Mrs. Adriana and all her classmates whose names she still likes to rattle off "Holden, Hunter, Ava Claire, JuJu, Meredith, Camilla and Gavin."
The last day of school they all wore their swimsuits and had a water day. Grace had great fun and it was a good way to end the school year.

Busy Weekend

We had a lot of fun this past weekend. I still haven't found my camera so hopefully those that took pictures can send them to me and I'll update this post.
Friday afternoon, Grace's Grandma, Pop and Great Grandma came over to visit for a little while. She had a good time playing with them. Then Grace's babysitter Rachel came over so Jack and I could go out to Art on the Rocks at the Museum of Art. It's a fun event with food, music and art.
Saturday we took a little risk and took Grace to Do Dah Day- the dog festival downtown. Recently Grace has developed a fear of dogs, all but Elliot, so we weren't sure how the day would go. But, Elliot loves his one day a year where it's all about him so off we went. Jack spent the day at the War Dog Memorial tent and even walked in the parade with Elliot. Grace and I spent most of the morning and early afternoon watching the parade and hanging out at the tent. She did pretty well with the dogs. I think she was too overwhelmed to get upset because there was thousands of dogs. She enjoyed watching everyone and everything.
Saturday night we went to our friend Noah's 5th birthday party at Pump it Up, an inflatable gym. Grace had a great time playing with all the big kids. She had a special friend, Anna Grace, who made sure she was well taken care of. The only problem we had was that the instructors blew a whistle part of the way through the party to go into another party room and Grace thought the whistle was signalling pizza and cake time. You know how she likes her cake....
On Sunday, after church, we went to our church picnic. Grace surprised us all by running to the playground and demanding to go on the big girl swing. Those of you that have been to a park with Grace know that she hates all swings. She sat on the swing by herself and wouldn't get off. She wouldn't even be lured off by food. Finally after 20 minutes, her friend Sarah Grace convinced her to get lunch but she went back to the swings many times for the rest of the day. She had a great time playing with her friends on the playground, a mini carousel(that had to be hand pushed....the poor dads) and even the tall slide.
It was a busy weekend... If you have pictures- please send them to me ;o)

Shuffleboard

When we were in Florida, Grace picked up a new sport/hobby- Shuffleboard! As you can see, she got better as the day went on ;o)

The Square

One of Grace's favorite things about her time in Florida was her trips to the Square for dancing. The last few days she was there, she asked to go to the Square constantly. Once she got to the square, she immediately asked, without prompting, for a "Strawberry Dackee." After she received her drink of the evening, she would give us all turns dancing with her. Below are a few of the dancing highlights.

Relaxing

I need to catch up the blog on the rest of our fun in Florida. We all enjoyed relaxing and taking advantage of the great weather.

Mr. Kelvin would be so proud....

Mr. Kelvin, Grace's swim instructor, will never believe the transformation that has taken place over the last few days. Grace loves swimming! She asks to go swimming every morning and even asked to go after her nap today. She's been jumping in, "floating" on her back, putting her mouth in (not quite her face) and floating around on various toys. Her favorite is to be thrown "so high in the air, one more time." We've all taken turns tossing her up but her Daddy throws her the highest and is requested over and over.

She loves the hot tub when we don't warm it up and runs around in the "little pool" on the bench. The "big pool" also has a seat built into the side and she loves walking on that.

Another favorite was playing with soaker toys that sprayed a stream of water. Grace squealed with delight if anyone sprayed her and would BEG for more. She even asked Jeff to squirt her in the mouth and she stood very still with her mouth wide open just waiting to be sprayed...

Isabella also loved playing in the pool ;o)

A Night on the Square

On Wednesday night, we headed down to the square. The Villages, the town my parents live in, have several town "squares" with live entertainment every evening- the entertainment being a band and the local "dancers" (they have a very generous happy hour). We were only there about five minutes when Grace discovered my Strawberry Daiquiri, virgin, thankfully. It took her another 5 to drink the entire thing without stopping (brain freeze!).

You would have thought the drink was loaded with the dancing that then ensued..... She wanted to dance alone and had her own style of waving her arms around and dancing in circles. She kept getting dizzy and looked like she'd had a few too many....

After dancing, we went to dinner where Grace placed her first order. The waiter asked everyone for their drink orders and when he got to Grace, she turned to him and said "Mmmm, milk please." Such a big girl ordering for herself- and even ordered what she should!

Fun with Great Papa

Grace's Great Grandpa and his wife Brenda came down to Florida to visit everyone. I told Grace she was going to be seeing her Great Grandpa and she immediately changed his name to Great Papa.

They've been enjoying reading books, playing and taking walks.

In Florida

On Tuesday, after a late start thanks to my car (which left us stranded on Saturday when the key wouldn't turn in the ignition. It finally was fixed by Tuesday afternoon), we headed down to my parents house in Florida. The trip was pretty uneventful, interupted only once with a little temper tantrum from our little red head. We had stopped for dinner and when we were getting back in the car, Grace marched right over to the driver's side door and announced "I drive." We have no idea where this came from but she was insistent and more than disappointed when we turned her offer down. She did finally calm down and actually slept a little in the car.

When we got here, Grace was excited to see that her Nana had a surprise for her- a table and chairs just her size. Grace sat in one seat and pointed to the other and said "for Bella, I call her." Nevermind that it was 1am and Bella is 7 months old, Grace was excited to call her cousin and tell her about her new chair. I can't wait until Isabella gets here and Grace tries to get her to sit in the chair....

Lunch and Playing with Pops

A couple of weeks ago, Pop came to visit Grace at lunch. He brought her McDonald's which was a nice treat. Grace loves her french fries and ketchup. After lunch, they played outside and had a great time.

Swimming Lesson Flunkee

Well, technically I believe Grace will receive her certificate. Mr. Kelvin said he would mail it. We'll see.... Swimming lessons started so well and we learned a lot the first two weeks. I'm not exactly sure where it went wrong but the last two weeks of lessons were just not good. She did get really good at sitting on the edge of the pool and not getting in- mostly because she was crying and yelling no. We tried everything once and watched everyone else the rest of the time. Jack came once to see if he could convince her to participate but even he had no luck. It wasn't a complete waste- according to Grace she loved swimming lessons, smiles when we talk about it and even says she "put her face in" (she must be referring to my hair she buried herself in, not the water... ). And I learned a lot of things to teach her- both safety wise and tricks for getting her prepared for swimming for when she's ready.
I'm crossing my fingers that there will be pictures of Grace swimming on this blog this summer (two miracles- Grace swimming and us finding the camera....)