Isabella and Aunt Sarah Visit

Aunt Sarah and Isabella came to visit us from Florida last week to help us get ready for the baby. I don't have many pictures because we were so busy but Grace did have a good time playing with her cousin. Thanks to Aunt Sarah the baby's room has been cleaned out and Grace's room is filled with all her stuff!

Slumber Party

A few weekends ago, Grace had a slumber party with her friend Lily. The girls played, made many crafts, ate dinner and even took a trip to get some ice cream and play on the playground. Everyone got along well and did a great job sharing. Things didn't get too wild....they were fast asleep in different rooms by 7:45pm. Maybe next time they'll make it until 8pm ;o)

Living It Up

The night of the "Daddy Daughter Date" I spent the evening out with some friends. That morning Grace and I went to Target to pick up a few things and while I was there, I decided to pick up some beer for Jack to watch the football game that evening after G went to bed. She and I headed down the beer aisle to pick something out. There were many people on the aisle scattered amongst the 20 signs warning against alcohol consumption during pregnancy. I picked up a six pack and much to my embarrassment, Grace spoke in the loudest voice I've ever heard her use, "Oh, that for your party Mommy? You drink that beer at the party with your friends?"

Trick or Treating, Part II

We'd like to report that part II went as well as part I. But, it just didn't. Grace was very excited to go trick or treating with her friends Caroline and Evelyn. We started with a fun meal and then everyone got dressed in their costumes. Grace had received a princess flashlight from her Grandma and Pop and had been very excited to use it for trick or treating. She turned it on and was ready to go.

The dads put the girls in the wagon and off they went. I'm not sure exactly how it went wrong but Grace did not have a good time judging by the screaming and crying when she was brought back 30 minutes later. Honestly, she is shy so the thought of going to people's houses she didn't know must have been very frightening. Jack took her to a few houses but once she started to cry to go "back to Ms. Betsy's house" he carried her back. Unfortunately for Jack and a heavy Grace, right before they got back, she started to cry to go back to trick or treating. So, Jack carried her all the way back. This cycle continued a few times before poor Jack just gave up and brought her back. Of course she wanted to go back outside but we knew what would happen when she was brought back- and Jack's back was about to break- she is heavy normally, but especially when upset and not holding still.

She was upset for a few minutes but soon took off the costume and made herself at home with Caroline and Evelyn's toys until they came home. If you ask her about trick or treating, she'll tell you "I not like it, I cried".... ;o( maybe next year...

Trick or Treating, Part I

Another one of our Halloween traditions is trick or treating with our neighbors. We were invited to a friend's house for trick or treating but we wanted to be sure the girls, and now Miller, got to trick or treat together first- which just consists of walking across the street. One day we'll add more houses to the routine.

Halloween 2008

Grace had been looking forward to Halloween for many weeks. She'd made many craft projects in her Mother's Day Out Program about Halloween and had received many Halloween gifts so she was excited to see what the day would bring.
As a side note- every time she received candy before Halloween from generous friends and relatives, she would look at it and say "Oh, I can eat this when I go potty." Interesting connection she came up with.... we went with it and had a very successful potty training month ;o)

Dancing Princess

The week of Halloween, Grace was able to wear her costume to dance class. Here are a couple of shots of our dancing princess-

Pumpkin Carving

One of our annual traditions at Halloween is to carve our pumpkins at our friends Tad and Erin's house. We've been going there for many years- long before we had kids. The atmosphere has changed but we still have a good time.

Grace wasn't as excited about carving as we had thought but she did stick her hand in once or twice. She was more interested in eating and playing with Little Tad and Anna. She did get into it when we let her pick the "shapes" of the eyes, nose and mouth. She also had lots of opinions about the size and placement. I think she was pleased when we were finished and proud to line it up with all the rest.

Daddy Daughter Date

When Michelle was recently out of town for the night, Grace and I planned a "Daddy Daughter Date Night." We had a lot of fun and were most productive!

Grace has a new "big girl" room and we bought her a new shelf system to help her with her organization. We decided to put the shelf together. When we had all of the pieces on the floor, Grace asked me "can I make a house with this?" I of course informed her that these pieces were to be used for a new shelf and she responded "oh, ok."

Grace was very good about handing me the pieces I needed.
Grace wanted to help put the shelf together and she insisted on "doing it herself."
The finished product!

Grace surprised me by making taquitos for dinner.

Grace decided to relax in her new Dora slippers. Unfortunately she wanted to show them to our dog, Elliot, and proceeded to put them in his face. As you can guess, he thought it was some type of toy and we all had entertainment for the rest of the evening!

Officially in the Big Girl Bed

Shortly after the "color myself" incident, we moved the mattress back to the bed. Things have been going great- as far as we know- she won't get out of the bed until we come and get her. She is very proud of her new "big girl" status.

Pardon the interruption

We need to interrupt our regularly scheduled blogging to say.....

First Trip to the Dentist

A couple of weeks ago Grace had her first trip to the dentist. We weren't sure how she would do so I borrowed all the dentist books I could find from our friends. One of the books was about Dora going to the dentist and we read it every night the week before we went. A couple of days before the appointment, she walked up to me with a mirror and her play eye shadow brush and told me to open my mouth. She proceeded to "play dentist," tapping on my teeth with the eye shadow brush, "just like Dora's dentist."

When we got to our appointment, Grace had a good time playing with the toys and watching cartoons.

When her name was called, Jack and I took her back. She had a choice to lay down on the chair and watch the cartoons on the tv on the ceiling or sit up. She decided to sit up like Dora did. We told the dentist about Grace reading the Dora book and he proceeded to sing her the theme song from the show- it was an instant hit. She allowed him to look in her mouth and do everything he needed to do. She had no problems with her teeth and got an "Excellent" for behavior on her chart!

After the appointment, things got even better- they had a "craft" for her to do! She got to paint her hand and put her print on a ceiling tile. Now when we go back we can look for her print.

In addition to the typical free toothbrush and toothpaste, the dentist gave her a gold coin to get a prize after the appointment. Grace had a blast choosing between the 10 options and settled on a set of small monkeys.

The appointment was a success!

Catalogs

Grace has inherited my love of catalogs. She not just looks at every one that comes in the mail, she studies them. It literally takes her about 20 minutes to look through one. She studies every item on the page and every so often you hear "oh Daddy like that" or "that for Isabella", etc. spoken under her breath. It's a great, free way to keep her busy for a long time every afternoon at mail time.

Stems...?

For the last few weeks, every time Grace gets a "boo boo" (usually imaginary) she tells us it has a stem on it. We've asked her if she's saying "scar" or "scab" but no, she insists it's a "stem." We asked her what "stem" means and she says "it means it won't go away."
It's amusing to us now just because it sounds so silly since it doesn't make sense- she's always talking about her stems. Any guesses?

Pumpkin Patch

A couple of weekends ago, we took our annual trip to the pumpkin patch with our friends Tony and Betsy and their daughters Caroline and Evelyn. We have been taking this trip since we joined Tony and Betsy on their second date, since they did meet at our wedding.

We tried a different patch this year and it was great. We started with a picnic and then headed to the hayride to the pumpkins. This is Grace's third year to go but really her first to understand what was going on. She ran right off the hayride towards the pumpkins. There were so many pumpkins to choose from- we were very impressed. Grace was very picky- but quickly we realized it wasn't "good" unless she could pick it up. Finally we settled on a pumpkin and Grace entertained herself by sitting on the pumpkins while we waited for Caroline and Evelyn to settle on their pumpkins.

The girls came up with a cute game of putting Grace's hat over her eyes and Caroline and Evelyn took turns pulling it off while we were waiting for the hayride back. They thought they were hysterical. After the patch, we came back here to watch the Alabama game. The girls used Grace's box spring as a craft table and entertained themselves most of the game. A great time was had by all.We can't wait until next year!

Baby "Tommy"

We had our 36 week appointment today and found out that baby "Tommy" (as Grace refers to him/her as even though the baby is now a sister if you ask her) is head down and ready to go. This is good- but hard for Jack and me to grasp because most of you know, Grace's head was stuck in my rib cage and there was no chance she could come early. This baby could come early....we have some packing and cleaning to do!

We did have an ultrasound today to see if the baby was breach since Grace was and that's why we have the cool picture. They did a 4-D picture which was really neat because as soon as the ultrasound tech, Jack and I looked at it- we realized this baby looks just like Grace.... I glanced at what was a solemn Grace a few seconds before and saw her jumping on Jack's lap, smiling and waving at the baby. It was so cute....She looked genuinally excited to see her sibling.

I Color on Myself

I don't even know what to say about this. It was just so out of character for Grace- our little rule follower.
The other day she was in her room- I thought taking a nap. Since the mattress is on the floor, we've had many discussions that she can't get out without us getting her. I thought she was following those instructions. I went in about half through her nap time and noticed something a little funny on her face, and then her legs and then her feet. She was half awake and I asked her what happened to her legs and she said, very proudly, "I colored on myself."I really didn't know what to say and I really didn't do a good job of hiding my laughter- she was completely covered and so was her bed and her comforter- those spots of purple and orange did not come on it when it was purchased.

I got her out of bed and called my mom looking for washing instructions on the comforter and she got on the phone and proudly told my mom she colored on herself.

I pulled it together long enough to have a stern talk about not coloring on her legs and face and she was kind enough to correct me - "my stomach too, Mommy" and lifted her shirt to show me. I told her I couldn't trust her and maybe she needs to sleep in the crib. She actually slept in the crib that night- she went right in there, remembering I had told her that. The next morning the first words, literally, out of her mouth were "I not sleep in crib anymore, I sleep in big girl bed now, I not color on myself anymore." (Which is true because there are no longer markers in her desk).

They're Back....

We made it only a few days before Grace really started acting restless in her big girl bed and wasn't as excited to go there. Jack had a great idea and asked her if she wanted her two dollys. Her face lit up and she ran to the crib to get them out. Her idea that they were only for babies was short lived. Grace and the two dollys are happy sleeping in the big girl bed.

Orange Day!

Every month at Mother's Day Out there is a special color day (see earlier Red Day). This month was orange and Grace was excited again to get dressed in the special color, I believe we were reminded by her no less than 20 times that week....No orange shoes this time but still cute!

New Games

At our neighborhood party, Grace and Ella were looking for things to keep them busy and out of the way.
Before the party started, Jack taught them "football." They were actually pretty good and caught on pretty quickly. There were some teenagers at the party and, bless their hearts, they were trying to teach the girls games and they just didn't understand. The first game they tried was a race. They lined up Grace and Ella and counted down from three and yelled "go!" both girls just stood there smiling and giggling Then they tried "Duck duck goose"- pretty much the same results. Then it was "Hide and Go Seek"- that one went pretty well. It was very cute- the girls kept hiding in the same place over and over again but they had the best time.

Big Girl Bed!

We finally got some rails for the "big girl bed" and decided to give it a try. We prepped Grace all day and she was very excited as nap time approached. We went in her old room to get her two dollys and she said "No, they are for babies, I sleep in big girl bed." Jack asked her if she wanted to sleep with anything and she said "I not know, maybe a book."We put the mattress on the floor just in case she tried to get out but there didn't seem to be any incidents- she slept great!

Exposed

We spend a lot of time talking with Grace about the new baby (aka Tommy). We don't know how she will react when he/she gets here, but we've been doing our best to prepare her. Two recent incidents have helped to reassure us that she is excited about her new sibling and she will be a great big sister.

The Zoo- Grace and I went and met some friends at the zoo for lunch. After lunch she wanted to look at the "tigers and monkeys, they so coot." We walked by the giraffes on our way and as we were standing there, she, very out of the blue, lifts my shirt and says "Look Tommy- look at the giraffes! He see them Mommy?"

Shopping for strollers- We took Grace with us when we went shopping for double strollers last weekend. There were many to choose from and to help Grace from being bored, we included her in the conversation about which she liked the best. Again, out of blue, she lifted my shirt and said "Look Tommy- you like this one? You sit here and I sit here. You like it?"

Class Party

One of the families in Grace's Mother's Day Out class was nice enough to host a Halloween party so all the parents could meet. The kids had a great time. Grace's favorite activity was a "spider toss" where each child had a spider she "tossed" into a target. They all walked their spider up and set it in the hole, not really a toss but they had lots of fun.
Grace had a little confusion because her friend Sophia's mom was her teacher last year and Sunday nursery teacher this year so when it was time to play outside, she grabbed Ms. Adrianna's hand and wanted her to play with her.Everyone had a great time playing outside, doing crafts and eating.