Pictures!!! I know I am few days late! :)

So it has been another busy week here. With wanting to spend as much time with the family as I could on top of working while they were here, I got behind again on the pictures! So I am going to post these few pictures and will post more about the family visit later on! Here you go!

Grandma "Maam ma" and Gracie having a snack
Climbing up to slide back down...I love her outfit
She was playing in her highchair and totally passed out! It was way too funny!

Her first bowl of Cheerios with milk...she ate 2 bowls!

Saturday

Well, it has been a busy busy day! The dogs went to the groomers....where they cute them way too short, went to Gymboree, ran errands, still cleaning the house (I am taking a break), and then I still have to run to Walmart....ugh! Oh I forgot, dropped my car off because my air conditioning went out in my car....almost $1200 later and it won't be fixed until Monday....oh my my my am I irritated! Not to mention I had a REALLY bad day at work yesterday so I am exhausted. But the GREAT news is we have family coming in tomorrow! Matt's mom, Aunt Deb, Uncle Curt, and their daughter Mikayla (who was the flower girl in our wedding) will be in. We are so so so excited! We don't really have a whole lot planned but it is going to be great just to see the family.

Gymboree was a blast today. Gracie was definitely the star of the hour. Other parents were just going on and on about how cute she was. Not to mention she was on center stage the whole time. In group she was in the middle, during activities she had to be the first one, and during the dancing she showed off her moves. She is just too cute. I will have to post the video I took a couple of weeks ago of the Dance Gymbo Dance song...too adorable! The only part we have a problem with is bubble and parachute time. We love it so much we throw a fit when we have to move on to the next activity. Even when she knows what is coming up she throws a fit. It is the same thing week after week. Not to mention it's been the same since she started going. It was way too cute!

Well, I have to go clean. I will upload some pictures here later on. Enjoy the rest of your weekend!

Going right along....

Tonight I am going to touch on a subject the my friend Liz touched on yesterday in her blog. Liz has a very valid point when it comes to marriage. If any of you follow the entertainment news (which most of you know is a guilty pleasure of mine even though 75% of the time it's false) you will have noticed a family named Jon & Kate Gosselin. They are a couple that have been married for 10 years and have 8 beautiful kids. Kate suffered from PCOS (something I am familiar with) and they used fertility meds to conceive. Well the first time they had twins, the second time they had sextuplets. Anyhoo, they have filed for divorce after months of turmoil. It breaks my heart to see any couple file for divorce, especially when kids are involved. Now don't get me wrong, you can't raise a child in a home that isn't happy, but kids are always the most effected for the longest time when parents divorce. It doesn't matter how old or young they are. What really bothers me is how easy it is to get divorced today. I mean couples can decide with a course of a week to divorce, file papers the next week and then get the final draft to be signed within a few weeks later. When you have committed yourself forever until death do you part to someone how can you make that big of a decision in such a little amount of time?

I am fortunate. I have been in a relationship with someone I love with all of my being. Matt and I have been together for almost 12 years now and married for 8. With in those 12 years, we have been through a lot...passing of family, deployments, heartaches, years of fertility issues and anything else that life has thrown our way. It hasn't been 12 years of all happiness. What most people don't understand is when you are married there are going to be times where you feel like things are going bad or you going to feel like it is never going to get better. That is when you need to lean on your spouse and work through whatever the issue is. Society has made it so easy to just move on. The day you got married you pledged to your spouse for better or worse. Worse is going to happen. It is what you decide to do, the choices you decide to make, whether it is going to stay "worse" or get better. At the end of the day when you go to bed at night and your spouse is laying next to you, imagine them not being there day after day and think about how that makes you feel. I know I can't imagine my life without Matt in it. He is the man I loved yesterday, love today, and will love all the tomorrows I am allowed. I thank God everyday that I have him and Gracie in my life. Life isn't always easy, life is going to through wrenches, curve balls, and anything else to keep it interesting. As long as you don't ignore those curve balls and work through them, you and your spouse will make it through.

In light of divorce being so common, I felt that I needed to share my thoughts. It hurts to watch people close to you go through things that you know they may not be able to come out of. I have friends that have been so close to divorce, one of them almost called a lawyer. I am so thankful for them that they were able to work through it. Now will they have more issues in the future, sure they will. But each situation is going to make you stronger, it is going to make your marriage stronger, and both of you will become better people and parents in the end.

Ok, I have babbled on enough for tonight! :) Be sure to kiss your spouse and let them know how much you appreciate them. In the hustle and bustle of every day life, little things often go with out being said. Don't let it become to late...let them know you love them.

This picture was taken the day after our lives changed forever. After suffering from infertility for about 4 years we found out that we were pregnant. Matt and I have never been so scared and excited. I am so thankful I get so spend everyday with him, enjoying being parents and experiencing life with him. I love you Matthew!

Just a lil' tibit

So Gracie came home from daycare so hyper. I swear they fed her nothing but sugar. Now, as if she wasn't hyper enough, Matt is feeding her Popsicles. My my my...anyway, she has been doing a lot of pretend play. Her dolly has barely left her arms tonight which is so cute to watch. She is also singing and talking a lot. Right now she is singing "baby baby baby" over and over again. So sweet.

I dropped off Gracie's paperwork for her to start transitioning into the toddler room. I am impressed with the classroom and her teacher seems really nice. It is going to be change for all of us when she completely transition but I think she will do really well. It is bittersweet. I am very excited about her being able to learn new things, but it is just one more reminder that our baby is growing up. Cuddle times are getting less and less and tempers are getting more and more.

Well, tomorrow is Wednesday, half way through the week. That little fact makes me very happy. Enjoy your weekend and I promise to have pictures this weekend!

Happy Father's Day!

Happy Father's Day to all Dad's out there! This is Matt's first Father's Day at home. Last year he was in North Carolina so it has been nice to have him home so we can celebrate with him. Matt is a great dad. Gracie is the center of his world. Every night he rushes home so he can spend as much as he can play with her. He is the dad I always knew he would be and I am thankful for that everyday. Both of us love watching her grow and seeing her discover new things.

We are celebrating here at home today. We did take some time to go to the park but we are pushing a 100 degrees so it was a short playtime. We are going to grill out for dinner then probably watch a movie (we have been trying to do this for days now!).

The other exciting part of our weekend is I went to the motorcycle safety course and learned how to ride. Let me tell you that I loved loved loved it! I had so much fun. I can now understand why Matt is always itching to ride. Now don't get me wrong, I have some time before I am ready for a long term ride...I am going to visiting empty parking lots for awhile! :) All I have to do now is go and take the written test then I will be a licensed driver! Whoo hoooo!

Well here are some pictures from today and a few of my favorites of Matt and Gracie! Again, Happy Father's Day to all of you!

So sweet...you can see how much he loves her!

So happy with his little girl!

Daddy's Lil' Girl

"Are you sure about this Daddy, it's a big slide?"

Where did Daddy go?

Gracie is transitioning!!!

Ok, so I am having a major mommy moment. I got informed today at the daycare that Gracie is going to start transitioning on Monday to her new classroom. She will start with going to the new room an hour a day and increase it until she there all day. Sometimes they do it with in a few weeks, sometimes it takes a couple of months. I am so sad. I love the room she is in and the girls love her. Not to mention, Gracie doesn't really adapt to new people well. She is always friendly and sweet but she likes her comfort zone. I have no doubt in my mind that she is ready for the next step, but I don't know if I am ready. It's not only her comfort zone, it's mine. So please please please keep me in your thoughts while I am going through my mommy moment. I don't have any new pictures tonight but I will get some soon. It is going to be a busy busy week. Ugh...so do you think they will let me keep her in her same room?

18 Month Pictures

Gracie and her bear

Getting so BIG

Up, Up, and Away

This one is my FAVORITE!

Again with her bear!

Busy weekend

Somehow our relaxing weekend turned into a busy one. Matt went riding all day on Saturday...and by all day I mean from 11-8. He is SO sunburned. Poor guy. Gracie and I ran errands Saturday morning, went to Gymboree then attempted to get some stuff done at home. We are having more visitors at the end of the month which always sparks an organizing party for us. So I went through a couple of things. We are in the process of trying to relocate our DVD's because Miss Gracie loves to get them out and not put them back. Not to mention we used to (notice the used to) keep them in alphabetical order. Ahhh...toddlerhood...gotta love it.

Today was a family day. I took Matt out for Father's Day considering I am supposed to be in my motorcycle class next weekend. (It is supposed to be over 100 degrees all weekend...not going to be the best riding condition.) Matt loves to go out for breakfast so I surprised him with that. Then we went to Lowe's to start on our yard work. Our grass is in sad sad sad shape so we are going to try to turn that around. Then we came back home long enough for a quick nap and shower for Gracie's 18 month pictures. Taking pictures of a toddler is so much harder then she was an infant. She was more interested in the stuff that is around the studio then she was in cooperating. We only got a few but they were too cute. I am going to post another blog with the pictures.

Gracie's vocabulary has blossomed over the last week. We have added "mine" (not my favorite), "slide", "bird", "cat", and at least 3 or 4 more that I can't remember. Daddy bought Gracie her own Harley bike today too. She was all over the house. I didn't get any real good pictures of it so I will try again tomorrow. She LOVES it though!

Well, it is 10 so I need to get to bed. I hope you all had a good weekend and I want to wish my friend of friend's daughter Mikayla a happy first birthday!!!!

Racked out! I didn't put her to sleep like this...apparently it's comfy to sleep like you are the most relaxed little girl.

She got a hold of Matt's hat...how cute is she!

This was actually the day of her shots..can you believe she is that happy after getting 2 shots?

Row Row Row your boat....

Heading through the tunnel!

Bubbles bubbles everywhere!

Our little monkey...she is EVERYWHERE, up, down, even upside down!

This picture cracks me up...it's like the air log was going to disappear if she took her eyes off of it.

18 Month Check Up

Gracie had her 18 Month check up today and she is doing fantastic. She weighed 23 pounds and is 30.5 inches tall. She is a petite little thing but Dr. Hamilton wasn't concerned at all. She is doing well in all areas especially the climbing. She wouldn't keep her feet on the floor the whole time we were there. I was very happy that we were seeing Dr. Hamilton because I was able to get a refill on my medicine too. We then met Matt for lunch which was awesome. I took the rest of the day off just in case Gracie had a reaction or anything like that which of course she didn't. So after meeting daddy for lunch we came home and took a long afternoon nap. I am not feeling well so it was nice to relax. Well, I just wanted to update you on Gracie's doctor's appt. Have a good Wednesday!

Where it all began....

Matt and I are working on a special Father's Day project which led us to some some old photos...so I thought I would share! I never would have imagined almost 12 years ago when Matt and I started dating we would be where we are now. I love this man more then I could ever imagine. Enjoy the pictures......

Matt and I Senior Prom 1999...

I was probably about 3/4 months old here.


I am guessing I am about 2.

Matt and his dad...around 9 months or so.

Like father like son!

Our little family....I couldn't be happier!

18 Months Old

On Friday, our little girl reached another mile stone...she is now 18 Months Old. Saying 18 months sounds so much better then 1 1/2 years. Each month that passes I realize that she is getting bigger and developing in more ways then you can imagine. To celebrate her 18 month birthday I thought I would do a Fun Facts About Gracie For Each Month:

Month 1: She started sleeping through the night...I know we were lucky.

Month 2: She giggled for the first time and hasn't stopped since then.

Month 3: This was the 1st time she swam in the pool.

Month 4: First time she was in an airplane.

Month 5: First time she saw Grandpa.

Month 6: First time Daddy had to leave for a few weeks.

Month 7: First time she got to see a whale at Seaworld.

Month 8: Attended her first football game.

Month 9: She FINALLY cut her first tooth, 3 more followed with in 2 weeks.

Month 10: She attended her 1st pumpkin patch/maze and we plan on going again this year!

Month 11: She got to have 3 birthday parties in one week!

Month 12: She got her first pet, Daddy brought home Harley for an early Christmas gift.

Month 13: Celebrated New Year's in our new house...Gracie survived her first move!

Month 14: Gracie learned how to brush her teeth all on her own...no worries, we still help her!

Month 15: Gracie went from walking to running in one month!!

Month 16: She expanded her vocabulary a lot this month....it's only the beginning.

Month 17: She got to visit her friends at Seaworld again plus got to visit the ocean for the 1st time.

Month 18: She is still the cutest girl in the world and very much our Princess!

As, always I love to look back at pictures and reminisce over how much she has grown. So I thought I would share a few of my favorites. She is and always has been a very happy baby. I can confidently say that 85% of her pictures she is smiling. What a precious baby girl. As she moves more into toddler-hood, it makes me excited and sad to watch her grow. Happy 18 Month Birthday, Grace Anna...know that you are loved little girl of ours!

Grace around 2 months

This one was right before she got the hang of crawling...I love it!



About 9 months.....she is so photogenic...too bad I can't get her to hold still anymore to get pictures like this one!

Our little princess enjoying the park...by far one of my favorite pictures!

Whew....living with a toddler!

Living with a toddler is the most exhausting but rewarding thing in the world. Gracie definitely keeps us on our toes! She is so energetic it isn't funny but I can honestly say I love it. It still amazes me that she is almost 18 months old. Each day that passes I get more and more excited to see what kind of girl she is going to grow up to be. Now don't get me wrong, I cherish each day because I know she is getting so big. There are things that I already miss about her being an infant. She doesn't like to cuddle as much, she is more independent which is bittersweet, and she didn't have an attitude when she was a bit younger. Yep you read that right, attitude...with a capital A! We throw temper tantrums like there is no tomorrow...they are getting more frequent too. I am sure that is because she is starting to hear "no" a lot more but hey, she may be our princess, but we are still the king and queen of this house! :)

Let me tell you a little story about little Miss Grace. She is a monkey. She climbs on anything she can. (Remember the bruise story from last week.) Well, since she doesn't believe in the word no, she continuously gets on the couch and runs/walks across it. I honestly let her do it with in reason (until she gets out of hand and almost falls). She has to learn when to settle down and so forth. Well, lo and behold, she got a little to squirrely on the couch and I said to her:

"Grace, sit down please."
"Grace, sit down on your bottom."
"Grace Anna, you are going to get hurt, sit on your bottom."

Little Miss Attitude with a capital "A" looks at me with a look that says "Mom, really, do you think I am going to listen the third time if I didn't listen the first two times, yeah right." THEN SHE PROCEEDS TO ROLL HER EYES AT ME!!! It was so funny and cute I had to laugh. I know, I am encouraging the behavior but tell me what 17 month old rolls her eyes!!!! At least she hasn't made a habit of it....YET!

We have been up to our normal busy schedule. Matt is going to BNOC Phase 1 right now. (Army school for E5's). He goes to phase two in Ft. Lee in July. This will be the first time in over a year that he is going to be gone longer then 24 hours. We will be good though. I know he is looking forward to the break. Although he has to get up so early...earlier then I do for this school now and he is not liking it. Neither am I, once he is up I have a hard time going back to sleep so I am exhausted hence why I haven't typed a blog in a bit.

I had a conference with Gracie's teacher today. Gracie is doing really well and is getting ready to transition into the Toddler Room. I told you in my last blog that her vocabulary is getting bigger, but we are hoping that it gets a bit bigger before she transitions. She already eats VERY well with a spoon and fork. She also drinks out of a glass with help, but she tends to spill it on her. Gracie gets the cutest shocked face when it goes down her shirt! I think she is in the very early stages of wanting to potty train. She is playing with her diaper a lot. I think we might be getting a potty chair sooner rather then later.

Well, I should go to bed, 4 am is going to come EARLY! Here are a lot of pictures from the weekend and this week. Enjoy and have a good Thursday!



"Look what I found Mommy."


"I found another rock, just for you!"


Gracie is such a helper. She helps Daddy bring in water from the garage! She even puts it on the shelf in the fridge.


Yes, we have already discussed her love for shoes, she loves playing with my heels. Last night she was actually walking around in this one...she isn't ready for both of them but we'll take it one shoe..er step at a time!

I love this picture. She has this look like "Really Mom...REALLY? It is 5 AM do you think I want my picture taken? I haven't gotten my hair to calm down yet!"

She loves bubbles....she asks for them all the time!

She loves her zebra bouncer too. I hear the music from it at least 10 times a night.

Daddy & Gracie coming back from a walk tonight after we went to DQ for an ice cream treat! I love these two!