November extras

Is there anything cuter than a baby fresh out of the tub?!

The boys love making blow up houses with Jeff.

This was Grace's very first time riding in the seat of a shopping cart.

Leo is always coming up with interesting things, including saying "look, Grace is under a rainbow".

Then he said he was a pirate baby.

At school they had a "dress up like your future career" day.  Harrison chose to be an electrical engineer.  Jeff outfitted him in a hard hat (which he has to wear sometimes), electrical tape and a digital multi-meter.  Harrison said people kept saying that he was an engineer and he had to correct them that he was an electrical engineer like his dad.

My sister flew in a few days before we went to the beach so the boys got some extra time with her.

Leo finally got his fish!!

He named the fish Bruce Wayne because the fish is blue and black (Batman colors).

family pictures

In addition to Grace's photo shoot, I asked Shannon if she would also take family pictures for us.  These are our first official family photos (outside of the hospital) as a family of five!

 As anyone knows who has ever tried to take a picture with multiple people (especially kids), it's hard to get everyone to look the right way, keep their eyes open, etc. but I think all these pictures are perfect, perfectly imperfect, just like us!

Thank you Shannon for these beautiful pictures!

pictures of Grace

My sister-in-law is such a talented photographer.  She was so generous with her vacation time to take pictures of Grace for us like she did with both the boys when they were babies.  I LOVE how all of these pictures turned out.  Here are some of my favorites.  Thank you Shannon!!  You did an amazing job!

It's worth noting that this is the moment that Grace truly sat up by herself for the first time.  The initial attempt ended in a yoga pose.  After that, she sat like a big girl.

Both of these necklaces were my Grandma Grace's.

I love this headband even though it's almost bigger than her head.

 Grace did great with all the outfit changes and picture taking.  She is such a beauty, inside and out!

And finally, Jeff wanted some pictures of Grace with a few of his Army things.  This little shirt says dad is my super hero but you couldn't see the word hero.

 How appropriate to take these pictures at Thanksgiving!

the beach

I knew we wouldn't be swimming in the ocean on this trip.  I also knew that it didn't matter.  We played on the beach every day we were there.  Some days were cooler than others and some trips had to be cut short because of the wind but we still had fun.

I forgot to take a picture of all the shells we collected.  It was a lot!

Harrison kept reaching into crab holes trying to find a crab.  He never did find one.

Leo's face says it all.  The boys had a blast.

As cold as that water was, they wouldn't stay out of it.

The sound of the waves was like a white noise machine for Grace.  She fell asleep every time we took her to the beach.

Before we drove home we let the boys have one last run on the beach.