rolling down

There is something about a big hill that is irresistible for children. I have never seen Gracie do this before so it was fun to catch it on camera.

"bunky" beds

"Bunky" beds, as Gracie calls them. ZI found this set of solid wood bunk beds at DI for 40 dollars. I couldn't pass them up! So I brought them home, Daryl used his paint sprayer to paint them for me, then I dotted them. I'm almost done with them but I had to post one of the head boards!

before

Beau hung them up to dry after he did the touch ups

all done!

messy messy

I was remembering something about Gracie that happened the beginning of this year. Tiffany, Connor, and Logan stopped by one afternoon and Gracie had just sat down for a bowl of popcorn. She jumped right up and ran to the door to give the boys a hug. Gracie LOVES Connor and Logan (especially Logan, he is her favorite person.) So Logan went over and sat in her little rocking chair and started eating the popcorn. Soon Connor and Gracie joined. Apparently Gracie didn't want to eat the popcorn with the boys and so she began grabbing it out by the handful and dropping it in Logan's lap while saying "oh no, big mess" over and over again until the bowl was empty. Poor Logan had this look on his face that was priceless. It made me laugh so hard. Logan and Gracie have always had a special little connection and I think it's darling. Even when she was first learning to walk, he would wait for her before running off to do whatever fun thing there was to do. Connor is great with her too! I am grateful for those sweet moments to make me laugh.

An old old picture of Logan pushing Gracie on her bike. Dec2010

Photo Re-Cap Feb-April

I have been a terrible blogger obviously. I mean, lets be honest, Gracie's birthday was the last blog entry I attempted and that was in January!  Life at our house has been busy busy. Rather than re-cap you all on our boring lives I will just tell you about the girls.
Gracie: I have the most amazing two year old in the world. There is no question about it, she is too smart for me that's for sure. Gracie is completely potty trained. She still has accidents every once in a while but, what kid doesn't. She amazes me. She loves wearing her big girl Disney panties and frequently changes them throughout the day. Gracie can say well over 300 words and adds new ones every day. She can count to ten and knows her ABC's though, she won't say them for just anyone. Gracie loves to say goodbye to EVERYTHING when we leave the house: "Bye rug, by fish, by wall, by t.v., by sweater, etc." It's darling. Whenever she is looking for something she will say "hello" For example "oh no mamma Meowy (her cat) gone, Meowy...Hello" and she will wander around looking. She does it for everything including shoes, crayons, food, baby, etc. It's hysterical. Every time I take her outside to play she screams "Momma! Outside!" and acts like she has never been outside in her life. She will run around and twirl in the grass. She also loves to dance. I frequently watch her come out of her room grooving to music. Gracie LOVES to sing. She likes to make up songs about her daddy and she will sing them all day long. She is the funniest stage of her life as she learns new things to say and do. I love my girl.

Evie Ruth is my dream baby. She is so sweet and calm. I adore her personality. Evie is an observer and loves to watch her sister run around and be crazy. She will sit for long periods of time blowing bubbles, singing so loud, sucking on her fingers (and toes), and just being by herself. She has been rolling over for about a month and is now trying to scoot by pulling her legs under her and pulling herself forward. She loves to laugh and give kisses. Evie only cries when she needs something and otherwise, she just is happy. Evie loves to be outside and if she isn't feeling well all we have to do it take her outside and she will calm right down. I can't believe how fast time is going with her. She will be five months this month. Too fast! I keep telling her to slow down and stop growing but she just smiles at me. Evie loves to eat eat eat and she also loves to sleep. I adore her.

My girls and I spend all day together and it's wonderful. We have our good days and our bad days but, overall, we truly love spending time together. I love watching them grow and learn. I will be better about posting I promise!! 

Gracie Leigh turns 2!

 Did I have any idea the effect you would have on my life two years ago today?  No.

 Did I have any idea how your smile would continually melt my heart every day for two solid years? Maybe.

 Can I imagine my life without you in it? Absolutely not.

 You continually make me laugh, cry, and beam with pride at your personality.

 But where did the time go?

 When did I blink so long that you went from my sweet, life changing baby, to my beautiful and crazy toddler?

 Do you have to grow up? Can't you just stay this age forever?

You are my sunshine. You have made my world better. Every morning and every night I thank God that he sent you to me. I can't believe, even now, that I get to raise you. You are a brilliant, beautiful, fun, crazy, emotional, dramatic, little girl. But, you are mine. I am so happy that we have had these two years together and I can't wait to spend more years together. I love you my Gracie Leigh, Happy 2nd Birthday.

Gracie's Birthday Party

We had a birthday party for Gracie on Saturday. It was so wonderful. Earlier in the day our wonderful friends Kyle and Natasha Bodily, MaKayla, and Hannah, came up to visit us. It was so great to see them. We miss them so much. They brought Gracie some dress up things that she LOVES, and we got to sit around and chat. They also got to meet Evie. It was so wonderful.  That night we had family and friends over to celebrate Gracie. She had a blast. Connor and Logan were there to celebrate with Gracie and that made her whole night. She loves her cousins.  They were kind enough to bring her a bag of suckers and of licorice. Aunt Tiffany and Uncle Jens made sure that Gracie was not deprived of her sugar that night :) We all watched as Gracie, Connor, and Logan ate their way through a bag of licorice. She was in Heaven. She had a blast and we had a blast. I made her cupcakes and topped them with piped white chocolate. Ya, I watch too much food network channel. We ate pizza, Gracie's favorite food, and watched her open her presents. It was a fun night.

"pretty mommy pretty"

Days at our house are obviously never boring.