The Sugar High does End...Eventually

Sunday Grace woke up super early, and still full of sugar. She was intent on rummaging through her candy yet again. Then finally started to wind down with her best pal.

Duck Duck Goose

Warning: Picture Overload!!!
Even though this is Grace's 2nd Halloween, this is her first time venturing out to trick or treat. I was so excited for her. She has been getting better with strangers, but she still is very careful, which makes Momma and Daddy very happy. I don't want her to be afraid, but I'm glad she won't just run to anyone on the street.


She is so stinking cute! I can't believe how big she's getting.
Grace seemed to know something was going on, because she didn't want to take a nap at all. She was pretty cranky most of the day, so I was a little worried her costume was going to be accompanied with a major meltdown. She did great! She was so excited to put on her costume and go outside.

Getting ready to go.



This is the first house we went to. In typical Grace fashion, this was the look she gave every stranger.



But once that first piece of candy hit her bucket (which btw I made from scratch) it was on. They still got the "I'm watching you" look but she held that bucket out with confidence.


We only went to a few houses, but once we were done, she kindly handed out candy to other kids. I was really proud of her.
Then it was time get some candy of her own and go inside to look over her loot.

One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish

I would like to introduce you to Grace's new pet; Blue Fish. Grace has a fish at school named Sammy, who is currently making my life much easier in respect to dropping her off in the morning. She can't wait to see him. So we talked about it and decided that a fish is really not that much trouble, so why not. We picked up Blue Fish a couple weeks ago and Grace loves him. It could be compared to her borderline obsession with the ducks. She absolutely insists on sitting ON the table to get a better view of Blue Fish. Usually the bowl has to be between her legs so she can look down on him. Such a loving little mother. She points and talks to him, and occasionally she'll even blow a kiss or two at him.

A Day at the Museum

A few weeks ago we went to the Louisiana Art and Science Museum. We didn't spend much time looking at real art due to the wild toddler we brought with us. Grace does not want to be held, she doesn't want to hold hands, but she does, in fact, want to run around like a child raised by wolves. Yes, a museum was a splendid idea. Really though, I picked it because of the children's area they have. There's a Discovery Depot and Science Station. The Science Station was a little too big for her, but she felt right at home in the Discovery Depot. She climbed and crawled and played. There was a miniature kitchen, so I sat Grace at the table. While I was helping her get seated Daddy made a plastic pizza. Grace was not pleased that we tricked her. She loved all the cool toys and houses and things to climb on.

Duck Crazy

I think Grace secretly wishes she was a duck. We have a family of ducks in our neighborhood and they're very friendly. One of our neighbors actually has them eating straight out of his hand. We've recently been feeding them too, but not out of our hands. I'm still to nervous, since they get so excited. I don't want them getting too wild and trying to take one of Grace's finger with them when they go. Oakley and Itchy start barking, of course, as they make their way onto the porch to let us know they're here. That's right they come right up to the porch and wait. Grace gets so excited and runs around the house screaming. She runs to the nearest parent for shoes and then she's out the door. She definitely more interested in talking to them than actually feeding them. She squats and walks towards them quacking. Well it actually sounds more like, aah, aah, aah, aah. But really it's the cutest.

This Age is so Difficult

My, "Mr. Fix-It"

A while back the lawnmower broke. My Dad came over and he and Jared worked on it and got fixed it up. The very next weekend while I was giving Grace a bath I could hear Jared cutting the front. I kept hearing him turn the mower on, turn it off, and back on again. After I put Grace to bed I found Jared in the backyard staring at the mower. I guess he was willing it to work. Finally it just died and wouldn't start again. He had to push the beast back to the garage. He ordered a new carburetor and picked up a new battery. The next weekend he set to work and conquered the beast. I was so proud.



And what did Grace do while Daddy fixed the mower?
Well she had a snack and went for a walk.

July 4th Festivities

The weekend of July 4th we headed over to Granny and Papaws house to celebrate Papaws Birthday with them and Memaw. We ate lots of junk and wore ourselves out. It was so much fun. We went swimming, blew bubbles, colored, and had lots of chocolate cake and ice cream.

Happy Birthday Memaw

Memaw is her real name. Promise. I named her, so I know. However, she occasionally goes by Elenora, which is where Grace Elenor comes from. So a few weeks ago, we took a trip to visit Memaw for her birthday. She's 94! Memaw gave Grace rides around the house and everyone had a great time. Grace also had lots of fun throwing things on the floor and managing to break toys that have been around since I was little. Sorry Aunt Laura, she's to rough for her own good.
We love you Memaw!

Happy Father's Day

Well Father's Day was a month ago, but better late than never, right? It was a fun day. We did a little shopping in the morning but mostly hung around the house and enjoyed each other. Grace and I made photo collages for Father's Day gifts. We ended up printing both in black and white. I love the way they turned out.



Grace wanted Mommy's help to make an extra special gift for her Dad. So I found a super cute book at the bookstore and created this:

I found the book and pasted the photos over the existing photos. All the wording was already there. I even ended up covering all the pages with contact paper since I'm well aware of the way Grace plays with her books.

Happy Anniversary!

Four years ago I married my best friend. I love you with all my heart.

Battered and Bruised

Last Tuesday I got to Grace's daycare, and unlike most days lately, they were playing outside. It's been so hot! Grace saw me and came running from the other side of the playground. When she was about 4 feet from me I noticed her face.
I grabbed her face and was asking what happened to my poor beautiful baby. Her teacher , M, was shocked that the office didn't call me. I, on the other hand, wouldn't use "shocked" to describe my feelings on the matter, but I'm sure you can use your imagination. A big bruise on her forehead, a cut above her eye, rug burn across her face, and her nose was rubbed raw.
What happened? Well, M explained that my mostly well behaved child was climbing on the kitchen sink play set. Oh, I see. M had to change a diaper and Grace made her move. That morning, Daddy put her in a pretty dress that Mommy picked out, which probably didn't aid in her climbing agility. So down she went. Now I really like M, and so does Grace, and I wasn't upset with her, but I think she felt pretty bad.
I let the office know how aggravated I was that no one called me about Grace's accident. So Wednesday afternoon I got a call. Guess who it was from. Ding, ding, ding, that's right! It was daycare. I was told Grace was playing and attempted to stand up using the toddler lunch table as support. She slipped and hit her mouth on the table. She continued on to tell me that there was no blood, she only cried for a second and she was fine. I was already on my way to pick her up when they called. When I got there M was sitting on the floor with Grace. She told me that Grace was playing but when she stood up, she slipped or her feet got tangled, she wasn't exactly sure, and she fell on the table. She also said there was a pretty good amount of blood. What? Yeah, you heard me. The girl on the phone said no blood, so apparently she's an idiot. I saw her shirt, which had been changed, and it was a lot of blood. On the outside Grace looked fine, but her gums were badly bruised and cut, especially on the left side. While I did take photos of this particular accident, they're not getting posted, but I promise, they're not pretty.
I thought a trip to the pediatrician was probably a good idea, since her teeth were coming in and it looked pretty bad in there. She got a full check up and everything looks great.
But falling and cutting your gums does have an up side. It made way for her left central incisor to pop out and the left lateral incisor it's to far behind. So she may be a little lopsided for a while.