grandmas' girl

Grace is blessed to have some really sweet grandmothers in her life.  I wanted to capture the beauty of the things they have made and given her while it all still fit.  Grace didn't want to give us many smiles while these pictures were being taken but I think they turned out beautiful.  I am still in awe of the talents that these women possess to create these heirlooms dresses and quilt for Grace to pass down.  Everything she has on was given to her by loving grandmas.

  It all seems so fitting since Grace was named after her great-grandmother.  I can only hope that she will have the kind of relationship with her grandmas that I had with my Grandma Grace.

sweet boy

This past week has not been fun.  First Harrison was sick and missed two days of school.  Then Grace got sick and then Jeff & I got sick.  Now, Leo is sick.  Harrison invented a cough drop dispenser to make us feel better.  He named it the 3-3000, maybe because it's in a size 3 diaper box.

He loves the fact that he and Grace both have bottom teeth coming in at the same time. 

 Jeff was gone for a week of Army training at the beginning of the month.  On that Saturday, I woke up to this note taped to the lamp by my bed.  Harrison made breakfast for himself and Leo so I could sleep in.

These little things remind me what a lucky mama I am to have such thoughtful kids.

that and that

I don't feel like we've done much in the last two weeks but we did go to the amusement park before they took down all the Christmas stuff.  We lucked out and went on a day that was cool but not cold and the park wasn't crowded.

Leo got brave and decided to ride the Grover roller coaster.  He loved it so much that we rode it four times back-to-back.  That's how I like to ride too.  I finally have a roller coaster buddy!

They also rode this ride four times back-to-back.

The boys wanted to pet the Clydesdales.  This one kissed Leo.

from horses to unicorns

 Leo is usually the one who does silly stuff to Grace.  This one was Harrison.  He said she looked like a spy.

I was trying to catch Grace clapping on video but instead she just wanted to be cute.

Finally, nothing warms my heart more than seeing how much these kids love each other.

first tooth

Grace's first tooth finally broke through!

SEVEN MONTHS OLD

Highlights from Grace's seventh month:

• adoption finalized on December 11!
• trip to Connecticut
• started eating baby food
• ate apples, bananas, pears, green beans, carrots and butternut squash for the first time (pears & carrots were her favorites)
• first Christmas & New Year's
• visit with Papa Larry
• tries to put everything in her mouth
• claps her hands
• takes two naps a day now
• wearing 6-9 month clothes & today was her first time wearing size 2 shoes
• unofficially weighs 17.8 pounds
• best baby girl ever!

 Love these faces!

New Year's

Jeff took the boys to the museum for "Noon Year's Eve".  It was a star theme so they had a lot of Star Wars going on in addition to other stuff.

Later we had a little New Year's party of our own.  We invited another family over for a small kid-friendly party with a 7:00 PM countdown.  It was a lot of fun!

This was our balloon drop.

baby new year
Our house was solid noise for over two hours.  Grace didn't complain once, not even with the noise makers or when Leo started popping the balloons.

Here's some more end of the year activities.

We decorated a lot of cookies to give out.  Harrison was a big help.

We got our money's worth at the bounce house while school was out for Christmas break.

What are Grace's thoughts on 2018?