Somersault

Do we have a future gymnast?

Big Girl Bed

This is a picture I took of Grace Sunday afternoon when I put her down for her nap. She was SO excited about her new bed. She just giggled when I tucked her in and kissed her. She had no problems at nap time --- no crying and no getting out of bed.

No Paci: Night 3

We modified the toddler bed yesterday by adding a toddler bed rail. Grace seemed to like it, and I slept much better. She did not get out of bed once, and there was no crying last night. Grace moves a lot in her sleep. I think having the security of the bed rail enabled her to get into a deeper sleep because she didn't have to worry about falling out of bed. If Grace sleeps better, Mama sleeps better. I think we're in the clear from here --- no more falling out of bed and no more wondering during the night.

No Paci: Night 2

For the record, choosing to make these changes (toddler bed & no pacifier) on a Sunday when we have to work on Monday was a bad idea.

Grace left her room and ambled down the hallway three times during the night. It's a good thing I'm a light sleeper and caught her each time before she made her way down the stairs.

She fell out of bed once.

There were two spells of crying because she missed her paci.

No Paci: Night 1

Before bath time, Grace went to the drawer where we keep the extra pacifiers to discover that they were gone.

At bed time, she asked me, "Where pink paci, Mommy?"
Me: "It went up in the clouds with the balloon, Grace."
Grace: "Where green paci, Mommy?"
Me: "It went bye-bye because you're a big girl."

As the conversation continued, she asked me to remove the big pillow from her bed, and she asked for her baby bed back. She cried for about half an hour tonight before falling asleep.

She fell out of bed once and came out of her room twice.

Up, Up, and Away!

Now that Grace is officially 2, we decided that it's time for the paci to say good-bye.
So we attached her favorite paci to some helium balloons.
And away it went.
Come to find out, she was upset about the balloons going away and not the paci. Whew!
Bye-bye, Paci! Wish us luck!

I'm Three

She seriously believes that she's 3! HA!

Happy Birthday, Grace!

Because we celebrated Grace's birthday last weekend, we kept her birthday very low key yesterday.
Daddy bought her some cupcakes at the store. After dinner, we invited Grandma and Papa over to sing Happy Birthday to her and share cupcakes.
She blew out the candle so fast that I couldn't get a picture of it.
Gabriel didn't seem to mind that we celebrated Grace's birthday twice. As long as he gets to eat cake, he's happy.

Island Girl

We brought Grace this dress back from Jamaica. I bought it big so that she can wear it in the summer.
She was so excited about it, she wore it over her pajamas all morning!

Stroller

I don't think this is how the baby stroller was intended to be used, but they were sure having fun with it. I'm loving Grace's dress up clothes this morning. Every time I turn around, she is dolled up differently!

Dancing to Imagination Movers

Gabriel and Grace love to watch the Imagination Movers on t.v. This morning she kicked off her high heels and started dancing to the song at the end of the show. These kids crack me up!

Grace's 2nd Birthday Party

We started the party with some of Grace's favorite foods: Chick-fil-a chicken, mac 'n cheese, fruit, and green beans.
Then we had some birthday cake. Grace loved it when everyone sang Happy Birthday to her.
She was awesome at blowing out her candles. In fact, she was blowing them out faster than Daddy could light them.
Uncle Eddie and Aunt Stacey made the trip down from Indy for the party.
Uncle Ed and Grandma
Uncle Brian and Erin
Grace enjoyed her cake. She insisted on having both of the elephants from her cake.
What a messy little face!
Abby was helping Grace open her gifts.

Abby and Missy gave Grace a dress up set. Holy Cow! She was decked out in all kinds of jewelry AND high heeled shoes!
Yes, she opened the rest of her gifts while wearing her heels.
Ooooh! Uncle Ed and Aunt Stacey gave her a 3 in 1 set with a changing table, stroller, and crib for her babies.
After party cuties: Grace, Gabriel, and Cassidy.
Gabriel wanted to try on the Barbie heels from Uncle Brian and Erin.
Let's just say that Grace was able to walk in them better than he did. I don't think he feels like he's missing out by not getting high heels for himself.
Rock star Grace wore her Barbie shirt and Barbie heels from Uncle Brian and Erin and pretended to sing into her Barbie microphone.
Brian could not resist picking Gabriel. I am sure Gabriel deserved whatever he got.
Uncle Ed jumped in on this playtime too.

Thank you to all who came to Grace's party. She loved her gifts and had a great day.

"No Ants Allowed!"

We have a minor ant problem that developed yesterday in our kitchen. This afternoon I was killing the ants on the countertop when Gabriel asked, "Mommy, why are the ants coming in our house?" To which I replied, "I think they are looking for warmth and food." "We don't have any food for them, Mommy. I think we should post a sign for the ants. It should say, No Ants Allowed! No Food for You!"

"No More Pictures, MOMMY!"

Yes, that was a quote from Miss Gracie. "No more pictures, Mommy!"
And the more she told me to stop taking pictures, the more pictures I took.
She tried to escape . . .
. . . but it was no use. She tried to yell for help . . .
. . . but with each yell for help, came another click from the camera . . . just to irritate her.

Hey! I've already lost my Mother of the Year Award for this year, so what's to lose?!?!

Fall Evening

We took advantage of some beautiful Fall weather this evening and played outside after dinner.
Gabriel found a bug and smooshed it. He had to show off the remains.
Of course, Grace took a purse outside with her. It was full of beautiful silver bead necklaces from West Virginia.
Then we took a walk around the neighborhood. This was GREAT because Gabriel pulled the wagon, Grace rode in the wagon, and Dan and I held hands and walked beside them. Ahhh!
Gabriel got an A+ for effort when Dan decided to sit in the wagon too.
The kids thought it was funny that I ran next to the wagon. Gabriel is the ONLY person I can outrun, and often, that is questionable.
Such a nice evening with the family! I love Fall!

Trick or Treat at the Zoo

We met the Bowers this evening at the Louisville Zoo for some Trick or Treating. Landon was dressed as a super-cute Thomas the Tank Engine.
Gabriel and Grace had the "Trick or Treat" down pat by the second booth.
Landon was trick or treating like a pro too.
The kids got plenty of goodies tonight: crayons, candy, a sticker, a color sheet, and more candy.
We rode the tram to "Sleepy Hollow." It was a very short, but cute ride with the Headless Horseman scaring us along the way.
Grace and Daddy sat together on the ride.
We saw a lot of super heroes tonight, but Gabriel seemed a little fond of Wonder-woman and THIS Superman.
Gabriel ate the candy almost as quickly as it was put in his bag.
Our final stop was the Haunted Carousel. In other words, they make it go backwards for the evening.