Proud Big Sister

We ordered some new furniture for the baby's room a few weeks ago and we found out that it will be delivered tomorrow. We have been working on cleaning out the "former" office for a few weeks now and on Saturday we finished the job. We also ordered some new bedding for our baby boy and it came in the mail on Friday. On Saturday we were able to pick out some paint for the room. It needed to be repainted anyways since we didn't do a great job the first time so we were kind of looking forward to it. Yesterday we put Grace in some clothes that she has grown out of and we threw on her Crayola art smock. We let her help us paint the room and I have to say that it was one of the best decisions we have made. Grace has so much fun and so did we. Unfortunately, her nap fell during the time we were painting so she had to stop in the middle which she was not very happy about. When she woke up from her nap the room was completed. We took her in to show her and her face lit up. She was so proud of herself! Of course,we weren't able to paint the closet because we still have to clean it out and she picked right up on it. All day today she kept opening the door and going in the room to show Moma her work. She also pointed out the "missed" spots in the closet. Here is a video that I took when we first started painting.

Driveway Sleddin'

It is 9 degrees outside today. Perfect weather for some driveway sleddin'. We met my Dad for breakfast this morning and when we returned home we decided to brush off my car and let Grace play outside for a little bit. I thought about taking her sledding down our driveway, but my intelligence clicked in and I decided that it probably wasn't a good idea for a pregnant woman to do so. Daddy stepped up to the plate. Please excuse my laughing in the video. I have really needed a good laugh lately and Jason was kind enough to provide me with some entertainment. The second video is my favorite.

24 Week Visit (a little early)

Last Wednesday I had to go in for my 24 week appointment. I was only 23 weeks at the time, but I am about a week ahead on my appointments. The baby's heartbeat was 155bpm. I also received my information and yummy drink for my glucose tolerance test. I have to go sometime during the week of February 2nd and I think I will have to go on Saturday, February 5th to avoid missing work. Apparently I gained 8 lbs in the last four weeks. YIKES! I am still only 1 lb heavier than I was before I became pregnant. Dr. Ogden checked to see if I was swollen, but I am not and my urine test was fine. Looks like it was the yummy holiday food and week off from work.

Last Sunday I decided to vacuum and mop all of the floors in our house. I was very sore afterwards and thought I probably overdid it. During the beginning of last week I was getting a pinching feeling down my left leg. I told the doctor about it and he seemed to think that it is sciatica. It looks like the baby is already sitting on my nerve. He showed me a few exercises that I could do to help relieve the pain and he said that if it continues I could go to a chiropractor (Yikes, no time for that!). Thankful when I woke up on Saturday the pain and pinching feeling disappeared. Funny how things work when your pregnant! It was back again on Sunday and now on Tuesday completely gone. Hopefully he continues to stay off of my nerves for now.

Grace Rockin Out on the Drums

Grace loves rocking out with Daddy. Here's a video that Jason took a few weeks ago with his phone. I just love her little dance in the middle of the video. She's such a little comedian.

It's a...

beautiful, healthy baby boy!!! Jason and I went in for our ultrasound this morning. Everything went very well. His heartbeat was 138 bpm and he is perfectly healthy. Our doctor was not in the office today so we had to see another doctor from the practice. She was slightly concerned because I haven't gained any weight so far. She just asked how my eating habits are and I explained that I have been eating plenty, but I am pretty active still and I had the flu a few weeks ago. I have to go back in 4 weeks for my 24 week check up with Dr. Ogden. Here is a video of the little man for now. We had a name picked out, but I'm not sure if I still like it so he doesn't really have a specific name yet.

Merry Christmas!

Grace is loving this holiday season. After she was born we found an Elmo stocking that sings "Jingle Bells". This is the first year that she can actually enjoy it. She loves when we push the button and she can sing with Elmo.

Pretty, Pretty, Princess

This post is long overdue, but I was waiting for Jason to upload the pictures and then I needed to find time to write the post. Time is very hard to come by these days for Jason and I. During the month of August, Grace went through this phase where she would only wear dresses. It was the cutest thing because she would pick out the dress and I would put it on her. Next, she would run to the family room and then twirl in her dress and sit down and primp it. It provided my mom and I with a lot of entertainment.

The picture below shows Grace in a dress my mom picked up at Big Lots one day. When she woke up from her nap she found in laying on top of the ottoman. She immediately asked to wear it so I had to give in.

The dress below is actually my old dress from when I was Grace's age. She picked this one out one day and she absolutely loved it. I will have to find the picture of myself wearing it to compare in a future post.

This dress is from Grandma Gina. I received it as a shower gift before Grace was even born. She seemed to love the length of this dress. We also put little clips in her hair so she could have Princess hair.

This is just a picture of Grace being silly. She ran into the office one day and climbed in the chair and started to pretend she was using the computer just like her Daddy. She has such a great sense of humor!

Happy 2nd Birthday to Grace!

Jason and I would like to wish Grace a Happy 2nd Birthday today! It is hard to believe that it has been two years since Grace was born. It has gone by so fast, but we have cherished every moment. It is amazing how much laughter and love Grace has brought into our home. At this time last year she was only saying a few words and phrases and she was still crawling. Now she is walking, running, dancing and jumping. She has "small" conversations with us and she loves to crack jokes here and there. She is such a blessing!

Yesterday we were able to celebrate Grace's life with our friends and family. It was such a wonderful day and we had a great time visiting with everyone. Thank you to everyone for such a great day! Here are some pictures from the party.

Springdale Farm Trip

Sorry for the long delay in posts. We have been very busy and although we have taken a bunch of videos and pictures, we haven't had the time to upload all of them.

For the past few months, we have been working on animal names and sounds with Grace. About a month ago we found some great farm animals at Toys R'Us and they quickly became one of Grace's favorite toys. We finally had a chance to take Grace to Springdale Farm and she had a blast. Here are some pictures of our trip.

They also have a playground and picnic area. Unfortunately, I didn't have time to pack our lunches that day so we had to eat at home. Grace still loved going on the playground with Daddy though. :)

Grace hamming it up for the camera!

Here's Grace riding the tractor. Unfortunately, I am terrible at taking pictures so her face in blurry. :(

Here's Grace feeding the baby goats. She loved this part.

Grace pet the sheep, but we had her stay away from them since they are so big and she's still so little.

Grace and Daddy on the tire. :)

We taught her how to feed some grass to the goats so she kept trying to feed grass to all of the animals. So cute!

We all know how Grace loves horses (aka horsies).

I'm sure we will be visiting Springdale Farm a lot more in the future! What a great place!

Spring Break

I was able to spend the past 9 days at home with Grace. I was really, really, really looking forward to it and now my time at home has come to an end. :( I absolutely love my job, but I also love spending time at home with my little peanut. Jason had to work many, many, many hours this past week so Grace and I had a lot of Mommy & Daughter time at home. We didn't really go anywhere because we were waiting and waiting and waiting for Daddy to come home. I have to say that it was really a blessing in disguise because we usually have a million things to do while I am on break and for once we were able to relax at home. Here are a few pictures from our week:

Here is Grace with two of her favorite items in the world, chalk and bubbles. She loves to play outside now that the weather is a little nicer. It is very difficult to get her inside once she is outside. She usually throws a fit so we have to time our playtime outside wisely.

We spent a lot of time watching the birds, squirrels and ducks in our front yard. Below is a picture of Grace watching Grandma Peej feed the ducks. We just love how she says bird (bur), squirrel (girl) and quack (ga-go). Too cute!

Here is Grace playing with her "Word Whammer". She loves to push the button and sing-a-long to the "ABC Song". I tried to record her with the video camera, but of course she stopped singing whenever I tried. This an awesome toy that I purchased for my students in Vegas, but she really loves it. I don't even know if they make them anymore.

On Monday I decided to mop the floors. Grace showed a lot of interest in this activity so I grabbed her mop and bucket so she could "pretend" to help. She decided to dip her mop in my bucket and help that way. She also liked playing with the real mop. :)

It's unbelievable how fast our little Grace is growing. We can actual converse with her now and she understands what we are saying. She loves to sing songs and she has many phrases that she says over an over again such as "Where'd it go?" "I did it". When we took her for her 18 month check-up last month the doctor asked us if she said about 10 words and we just laughed. She is definitely a chatterbox just like her Mommy. She also loves to draw like her Daddy and she is also quiet and shy in public just like her Daddy. She seems to really love animals right now. She has a great sense of humor and she loves to make people laugh. We are so grateful to have her in our lives. She makes us laugh/smile everyday and we are so grateful to that.