A Trip For Two: What Grace Did

Now, I wish I could have been a fly on the wall for the days that Grace was home without us while we were in Montreal, eating up her time with her beloved Nana and Papa. But these pictures will have to suffice. I'm sure there were things we weren't told, but what I do know is there was play dough for the first time, lots of trips to the playground, lots of swimming in the backyard baby pool, and a bin of dried rice and beans with small plastic animals hidden in it (which apparently is more fun than any expensive toy you could buy). I think a good time was had by all.

We interupt this program...

I think the cat is out of the bag and everybody knows, but in case we missed you, I am pregnant again! My due date is officially April 6th (although as usual I have some issues with how they arrived at this date). I am well into maternity clothes, and have been for a few weeks, unlike last time where I was in my second trimester before I darkened the halls of the maternity department at the stores. I have had two good days in a row (sorry, Steph) and am wondering if the sickies are starting to be behind me. Last night I actually ate half a chicken breast (in addition to many other things, but meat as of late has been revolting). Grace has no clue what is in store for her in six months, and I am kind of wandering the same thing about us. Dixie is probably the most prepared out of all of us this time because now she has been around so many babies with our weekly bible study at our house.

As a side note- Erik, unfortunately, is not quite done with his exams yet. In fact, at this very moment his is hunched over his books at the dining room table. He took one exam in May and passed (woo hoo!) and has his last one in November. Then he will be done, Lord willing. These two exams are for his final degree, his EA, which allows him to sign off on government work. And then I think he might be better decorated than anyone in his office.

A Trip For Two: What Mommmy and Daddy Did

At the end of August, Erik and I went to Montreal- sans Grace! When we first started planning the trip months ago, I was paranoid. Five whole days without Grace? We had only been apart for hours at a time since she was born. Sick, I know. At Erik's insistance (I'll admit, I was on the fence) we planned the trip for just the two of us. The purpose was two fold. Erik had to go a for an ethics seminar (a joke for anyone who knows Erik well) as the last requirement for his FSA (Fellow of the Society of Actuaries) degree. So we tacked on a few days and made a trip of it. A little fun, a little work (Ok, all fun for me). At the end of the seminar, there was a graduation ceremony and dinner.
We did things on the trip that we used to do without much thought . Went out for dinner, and actually took more than 20 minutes to eat because there wasn't a toddler to watch. Had adult converstaions- for an equally long period of time. Rented bikes and rode to a market, picked up strawberries, croisants and cheese for lunch then rode for several hours and stopped at a park to eat. Stayed out past 8 o'clock! Slept in past 7am. Needless to say, it was a grand time.

And I just want to say again, for the millionth time, how proud I am of Erik. Only those who have really gone through it can know how much work it takes to get this degree. He often says it is like having a full time job working 50 hours a week, and going to grad school full time. You get the idea. He has been studying since we first got married. Six years of hard work. Congratulations sweetie!

A bonus post!

Today as we were running errands, we drove by a place where they were doing construction. There was a backhoe digging in the ground, and from the back seat comes "short!" or "wart!". I had no idea what she was saying until I looked to see what she was pointing at: the backhoe. She was calling it a "Snort"!

For all those without toddlers in the house, let me backup and tell you about a book called "Are you my mother?". In this book, there is a baby bird who falls out of the nest and goes looking for his mother. It is not a kitten, not a dog, not a cow. Then it thinks the giant backhoe, which makes the noise "snort" and thus is called Snort by the baby bird, must be his mother. The Snort puts the bird back into his nest where he is reunited with his real mother. Grace loves to read, but I've never really known how much was absorbed until recently when I watch her read to herself, and she remembers some of the words on the pages. I guess she remembered the Snort from the book, and not knowing it was called anything else, was estatic that a Snort really exists! She told Daddy all about it when he got home. Aparently, it was the highlight of her day.

Are you still with me?

It's not just you... I feel like we have dropped off the face of the Earth these last 6 or 7 weeks as well. We have been incredibly busy. From the middle of July until Labor Day weekend, we have either been out of town, or have had company, with only a few days between each time. I'm not sure Grace knows where she lives, or who is supposed to be living with her! There have been grandparents coming and going, and even Mommy and Daddy left for the first time ever!

There are so many things to catch people up on that I will try to post something new every other day (Hey, at least I didn't say every day! I know my blogging limitations.).

So, in no particular order (ok, the order in which I stumbled upon the pictures on the computer) here is the first item of interest. In July, Grace and I went up to Albuquerque to visit with the Westbrook clan and both of Grace's Great-Grandmothers. We also held our bi-annual meeting of the Grace Admiration Society (see photos at left and below). By the way, when you go swimming in Albuquerque, Papa puts warm tap water in your pool!

A Sweet Anniversary

On Saturday Erik and I celebrated our 6th anniversary (whose symbol is candy, by the way; my kind of anniversary!). We went out to dinner at a fancy restaurant downtown, the kind that serves several "gifts from the chef", like mozzarella stuffed squash blossoms and goat cheese filled puff pastry. It was the kind of food that a wanna be chef gets really excited about. The restaurant was in an old historic hotel and the dining room was done in Art Deco. We got all dressed up, got a baby sitter for only the second time, and got to take our time with the meal. At one point Erik said, "So what should we talk about since we don't have to be playing tag team with a toddler at dinner time?"

But in the end, there is nothing like coming home, having your little girl run to you yelling "Mama, Mama!" and run her hands through your hair as she gives you a hug. We decided it was one of our best anniversaries, but there's also no substitute for having dinner with a child, having to show your elbow to a giggling toddler for the millionth time.

Mexico trip with the Westbrook family

So, we finally got the Mexico pictures online! Here are a few to tempt you with... for more check out all the uploaded ones at Snapfish.

http://www1.snapfish.com/share/p=334141181871338346/l=269348839/g=19070380/otsc=SYE/otsi=SALB

Flashback

I meant to post these a long time ago. But I didn't. Then I thought I would put them all (there were some more) on the website and send out the link. But I didn't. Is anyone really surpried by this anymore? So enjoy these pictures from March and just imagine our trees with a lot more leaves now, and our grass a lot browner! This was an unusually warm day in March, but we paid for it with a freeze a few weeks later that did a number on our rose bushes and kept most of our Spring flowers from flowering. And now it's so hot even writing "freeze" makes me laugh!

P.S. I did not dress Erik and Grace the same- I happened to notice it after we took the pictures! (At least Erik isn't wearing pink shoes.)

May pics

I planned on posting some pictures from our vacation to Mexico with my family, but they were just all too wonderful and I couldn't pick! That is, the ones excluding me. I doubt you will see me in a bathing suit on the internet! I will send out a link instead to our photos when I upload them to Snapfish. These pictures in the park are from our Mother's Day picnic right before we left for vacation. Grace loved picking the "flowers" and having us "smell" them.

This is how Grace "helps" me cook. I think my dirty utensils have doubled since she has decided to be my sous chef.

Grace and a potential suitor, Grant Sexton, playing. Doesn't Grace look coy? I think its because its her turf.

Grown-up girl

I know this blog is totally out of context, but I wanted to post this picture for Grace's Daddy and show him what happens when he goes out of town for a week... the girls go wild! This was the first time that Grace has ever had her toenails painted, and it surprised me that she wanted it done. I think she saw me doing it, and thought, "If it is good enough for Mom, must be good for me!" I painted one nail cautiously, but she kept asking for more, so I did them all. You know my tenderhearted child, so this is really shocking. She freaks out with a stamp on her hand at story hour. Just hope she likes it tomorrow morning when the socks come off...
P.S. I thought you might find this little story funny from the past few days. It probably is funnier to hear her say it- maybe I can get her on video tomorrow. For over a month, Grace has been saying spoon as "spoon". Regularly. Consistently. On the day before we got home from vacation, she bumped her head pretty badly. Two days later, now home, she wanted a spoon. It came out like this- "shuuma". We had no idea what she was talking about until we saw her point at it. Do you think she has a concussion or just decided the latter word was a lot more fun to say?

The Gracie Times

On the Front Page:

"She speaks!" We have a working list of words that Grace has started using. She barely made the quota of 10 words by her 18 month check-up, but now she has about 20 words that she even uses on a somewhat regular basis! There are the ever popular no, mama, daddy, Dixie, outside, shoe and "nana" (both for banana and her grandma, Nana, and she knows the difference). Some less useful ones include arm, cracker, and this.

On the Sports Page:

"A Dare Devil in Kentucky" Grace went down the park slide without crying! A big slide, outdoors, from the top and wanted to go again and again! For those who find this unimpressive, consider the evidence: A couple of months ago she cried when she went down a slide two feet off the ground, indoors, on carpet. That's right. She's a bona fide wimp (my friends call her cautious and less adventurous, but honestly, lets call it like it is).

On the Local Page:

"Daddy's exam in two weeks!" Erik has been studying for his 9th actuary exam. Will these ever end, you ask? We are wondering the same thing. It has proved especially challenging this time because Grace is so tempting to play with and work has been extremely busy. We are looking forward to a family vacation to Mexico right after his exam with the Westbrook clan.

One the Life & Art Page:

"Friends and Fun" We had my Mom here for about 5 days in April. Grace learned "hold you" for when she wants to be picked up. The kids are at the age where they actually play together at playgroup, and occasionally fight over the favorite toy. Grace has also been into coloring and stickers. I can actually put her in her booster seat, slide her up to the kitchen table and she will color contently for quite a while. She also has been "helping" me make dinner. She slides the chair up to the kitchen counter and asks to get up. Erik's job after his exam is to make some sort of stool with rungs on three sides so it is safer. Don't judge me here on the safety issue- 30 minutes of getting to cook dinner without a whiny toddler hanging on my leg has got to be safer for all those involved. :)

Works for me Wednesday

I have never posted one of these because I don't feel like I really have the authority to do so. I feel like I am constantly behind, so how can I have good household management skills? But here goes...

I do my laundry a little oddly. Instead of doing all the laundry once a week (full loads or not), I have Monday as my laundry day but only do the loads that are full. For example, when Erik is getting down to his last undershirt, I do a massive single load of socks, undershirts and other whites (we have a front loader conducive to this). I feel like this saves water and time (less sorting). What I have found very helpful is using clothes pins on Grace's clothes because she is the dirtiest member of our household with stains on everything. When there is a stain on her shirt (when isn't there?) that needs to be re-treated before the wash, I put a clothes pin on the stain and put it in the laundry basket. When the time comes round for me to wash her clothes, it is much faster to find the stains this way than having to hold up every shirt in the darkness of the laundry room and hope I caught them all. Obviously remove the clothes pins before you wash the clothes.

P.S. I guess it is never to early to start teaching them responsibility using chores! Here is Grace helping unload the washing machine. She loves to do it and it teaches her the concepts of "empty" and "full". I plan on keeping it as one of her chores because the machines are the perfect height for kids and adapts to any age.

Spring has sprung in Kentucky

The grass has just had it's first haircut, the trees are budding, and all I hear from my little peanut these days is "shooo" (for shoes) and "siiii" (for outside). Toys hold no interest now! All she wants to do is walk around outside (for which we had to purchase big girl shoes, hence the fixation on the shoes), blow bubbles, dig in the dirt, and watch for birds and airplanes. She even eats her dinner better when she is outside! I'm wondering if she is ready for her first camping trip...

Once upon a time

Poor child... no one was around to read a book, so she decided to read to herself! She is in my grandfather's chair that was made especially for him in 1966. Pop would be proud that someone else is enjoying reading in this chair as much as he did!

What little girls do when they play

Grace had some fun times with Grandma last week playing with her kitchen and having a carpet picnic. Even Dixie was invited (although I really don't think she enjoyed herself as much as the teddy bears did)!

The law of averages (yawn)

I have accepted the fact that there will be no sleeping in for the next, what, 10 years or so? Yet it still really bothers me that of the two or three times in her life that Grace has slept really late, it always happens on a week day. I'm sure my mathmatical husband could tell me the chances of it happening on a Saturday (I know it is not in my favor). But please, Grace, next time you sleep until 9am, like this morning, could you pick a Saturday morning for your snooze? Thanks, love, Mom.

Got Snow?

Cathryn and Grace,
Just wanted to give you a glimpse of the snow we got yesterday. Dixie is breaking it in for us. Hope you're having fun in Albuquerque!

Blessings of 2006

I think that instead of making a New Years resolution that I already know I won't keep (kind of like finishing this post-in-progress), I will instead reflect on the blessings that God poured out on us in the past year.

1. Grace continues to grow and be healthy, of which I can think of no greater blessing.
2. Erik has continued to be blessed by a good job in a good company with good co-workers.
3. I have been blessed to be able to stay home with Grace to teach, train, and enjoy being her mother.
4. We have a nice roof over our heads, food on the table (usually good, although there are the blunders every now and then) and live in safety and comfort, which is more than can be said for most of the world.
5. We are surrounded by friends who love us enough to laugh with us and yet help us grow.
6. Our parents are healthy, and one set can even be called without a country code being needed!
7. And selfishly, because I was nursing, I could eat more than normal and still loose baby weight. Not a very couth blessing, but it was good for me! :) If only a diet was always this easy.

Houston, we have lift off...

I think it is safe to say that we have a walker now! She took her first steps when Aunt Sara was here before Christmas. She didn't attempt much more. Last week Grace decided to try a few steps a day, and realized we thought that was pretty cool. So then she thought she was hot stuff, and she should keep walking. She still prefers crawling because it is faster, but I can tell she is excited about this newest trick she has learned!

Check out this short video...

A very sticky situation

I am sure that everyone has either seen this or at least heard about this already. But I ran across this link when I was cleaning out my old emails and thought that I should share it just in case you live under a rock like me and miss those big news items. :) This video is an example of people with too much time on their hands! But the entertainment value is worth a minute of your time. It is patterned off of the fountains at the Bellagio hotel. (Sound makes the video even catchier, so turn up your volume.)

http://eepybird.com/dcm1.html

January Baby Boom

I have five friends who have had, should have already had, or will have a baby this month. I must admit that I am really happy right now with just Grace and am enjoying her immensely. And I am still mystified by the concept of grocery shopping with two kids. But with all this baby activity around me, it does make me want another baby (I think I hear Erik shrieking in the background!). I think this baby stuff must be contagious. Repeat after me- we are not ready to have another one yet. I think. I'm pretty sure. Why don't we get back to you on that....

Grace, 3 days old

That's my daughter

While I was on the computer this afternoon, Grace wondered off into our bathroom. She loves to play with her bath toys even when it's not bathtime. I assumed this is what she was doing, but when I walked in, she was using a sponge to "clean" the inside of the tub, something she must have seen me do yesterday while cleaning. I know two things-
1) she is soaking up information now like a sponge (ha, ha) and
2) I know what her chore is going to be on cleaning day now!

Long time, no blog

I always feel like I drop off the face on the Earth around the holidays. This is, of course, for good and happy reasons: I am often having fun with family and traveling. This season would be no different. We had my parents come in to Cincinnati for about a week, and then we all drove down to Charlotte, NC for Thanksgiving with my extended family. Grace did well enough on the long car trip that we are already talking about when we could go back. Here are some pics from the trip.

If grandparents are for spoiling, the rest of the family must be for showing how to really have fun by playing in the dirt. Grace thought it was the best. I'm still cleaning dirt out from under her finger nails... Grace's Great (really, Grand) Aunt Susan taught her how to be Miss Wishy-Washy and give the barnyard animals baths. Grace got how to use the brush on them by herself. It was awfully cute. Now if only she could give herself a bath!

Party Pics

Yikes! Is it really November? I guess that means I am a bit behind on posting Grace's birthday party pictures. Please forgive me!

The party was fun. We had four other families come with their kids and served chili and cornbread. I made the cake (in a shape of a pumpkin of course!) and her smash cake. I was even able to find sweet fall pumpkin plates to go with the pumpkin theme (the invitations said "Our Little Pumpkin Is Turning One!"). For her birthday Grace got her two front teeth. I'm not kidding.

Can I have my cake now, please?

She wasn't sure at first, but once she realized this thing was mushy, she dove in. And once she realized it was sweet, well, there was no going back!

Grace and her friends, all born within 9 months (except the poor little boy at the bottom who's head got cut off!)

She's a ham, alright!

The girl's got style!

I promise to post pictures of Grace's birthday as soon as we get them organized, but I took this picture today and thought it was hilarious. Grace crawled over to my purse and pulled it out from its hiding spot. At the same time she was playing with her toy cell phone. I think she thought she was turning 16 on her last birthday, not 1....

In other news, we are back from a fantastic 5 days in Chicago. Man, we miss living there. We ate too much and shopped too much. Poor Erik had to be in a conference during the day for 3 of those days, but we still got to see him for lunch.

I also have started weaning Grace. It was such an emotional decision! I thought I would get to a year and "woo hoo, I'm done!" But I found I'm not quite ready to give up the closeness and the fact that she needs me several times a day. There are many reasons I am weaning Grace, not just that she is a year old, so I think I am making the right decision. And I must admit it will be nice to be able to leave her with grandparents now for a weekend away! Oh, I think I hear the phone ringing now...

Our Pumpkin Is One!

Happy 1st Birthday, Grace! I remember October 11, 2005 well. We are so happy that God blessed us with you and your sweet spirit! You are a daily blessing to us and are loved by many.

5 Things

I've been tagged by my dear friend Stephanie to post this. I'm sure she thinks I have forgotten since this was weeks ago, but no, this is just the way my life is right now. Ask my husband who is looking at piles of papers from last month. Still on the kitchen table. Just wipe around them. :)

5 Things in my Freezer:
-Four containers of ice cream; I'm concerned I might be pregnant again!
-Two types of sandwich bread because I like mine chewy, he likes his soft and we take forever to finish a loaf off.
-Homemade baby food (I might have caved on the cloth diaper issue, but at least I kept my word on making her food from scratch!)
-A frozen pizza for that desperation dinner
-A frozen teether that we haven't need much because Grace only has two teeth (still)


5 Things in my Closet:
-Shoes (my husband says too many)
-Purses (my husband says too many)
-Panty hose that I never wear (I'm sure they will make the perfect craft someday)
-Some clothes that go all the way back to high school (there's a reason I don't by trendy stuff!)
-Skeletons (well they say everyone has them, right?) <- I stole this from Stephanie because she is too clever

5 Things in my Car:
-A stroller
-Gum, my greatest addiction
-Grace's "car stuffed animal", the softest lamb you'll ever touch
-A very comfy car seat
-A cloth trash bag, because I'm that much of a neat freak (and I'll make you use it, too)


5 Things in my Purse:(did a thief come up with this list idea to decide who to put on the hit list?)
-A very worn wallet with very little cash because I love my Discover card cashback (don't come after me, thief)
-More gum (I said I was addicted)
-A cell phone that sometimes is charged, sometimes not, and everyone knows not to call because I never hear it ring
-A hair brush which is now an emergency inappropriate toy for Grace
-My palm pilot which may as well by my brain

5 Things in my Diaper Bag:
-Can of toddler puffs (if you don't know what these are, they are little nutritionless cereal puffs that kids love and come in flavors from corn to apple to strawberry to sweet potato)
-Grace's soft, washable bunny which has saved the day numerous times
-During the summer we always had her sunhat and sunscreen, and sadly they are still in there
-A few toys which don't really entertain her any more, they are only good for dropping from the stroller
-Diapers, wipes, and rash cream, duh!

Pulling Up!

Here's what Grace learned to do today! She started by pulling up on the chair below her, since it's a bit closer to the ground and then reached up and grabbed the table. What a big girl! She's discovered a whole new foot and a half of world!








She also wanted to try on daddy's shirt. She's got some growing up to do before it will fit.















Mom took Grace to the zoo last week with all of Grace's friends (Grace is in the back right stroller).