Christmas time again & 15 months old

There have been some wonderful memories made with Gracie this year that I want to focus on. December 19th we finally put the Christmas tree up. With a little help from Gracie, the tree got decorated and now has to be lit at all times when Gracie is awake, at her request. She knows how to turn the tree lights on and off and makes sure they get turned on first thing in the morning. Here she is decorating the tree, and a photo of the ladies with my new haircut. This is the first time I have had bangs since "Mall bangs" were popular. It really is like relearning how to do you hair and is nothing like riding a bicycle because I don't want to remember how to tease my bangs so much they can stand straight-up with a slight curl to them. Our next adventure that weekend was to celebration Abigail's 4th birthday and Gracie's first big girl party. Now she did her best to keep up with the other kids she adores, though she still needs help keeping steady on her little feet.The Christmas celebrations started after church at the Peters. Gracie was blessed with so many gifts from the family and spent a lot of her time playing with her Cousin Alex's toys the most. The kids and adults enjoyed another Christmas together and hope that next year could be even better. My mother found our old copy of The Little Drummer Boy by Ezra Jack Keats, here is Gracie's imitation of the book with her cousin Andrew trying to join. Below that is a photo of her asking Grandpa to read it again. She knows where the book is kept and will always go to the drawer to make you sing it to her. The girl loves books that are songs. We need more suggestions since she only has two. On Christmas day we celebrate with my family which was a special and quiet day for all of us. We were thankful for so many things this year that really were highlighted on the day. The big hit of the day was a baby doll set she received, not to mention plenty of other items again. The girl is blessed to have such giving Grandparents. Gracie gets so concerned when her doll starts to cry and she does her best to pat and love the baby to give her comfort. Too Cute!Big highlights for 15 months:

• Finally 20lbs. She is 25% for weight and 75% for height.
• She loves to say "Dank do" Thank you often now
• Goldfish and Mac & cheese are some new favorites
• She is a little trouper who can brighten your day as she comes running at you with the biggest hugs that are lasting a lot longer some times.
• When she thinks something is funny or she is trying to be funny, she almost closes her eyes and scrunches her nose.
• When asked she can point to her nose, mouth, eyes, and ears.
• New words: Hawk (jayhawk), Hot, HoHoHo, Dog (before it sounded like da), Thank you, Please is often used as well.
• As stated before, any book that you sing with is wonderful.
• She also loves to "put on make-up" and "brush her teeth" while mommy does.
• The little helper's face beams with pride when she brings my towel to the shower door when I am done showering.
• Ms. Independent wants to walk more in stores, stomps her feet when she wants something, and has learned to throw her head down in frustration. Oh the fun starts.

Gracie is the light of my life everyday and the compass for which I make decisions. All I can do is hope that those decisions bring her the happiness that she deserves, that we all deserve. Here is a photo from her Christmas photo shoot. The top two teeth will be here eventually.

You are all such wonderful family and friends. We wish you a blessed 2010!

Special Men in her life

This week was fun for me to really see what a big influence the men in Gracie's live have on her. Here are a couple examples of how much she already is influenced.

Earlier this week when she saw my dad, Grandpa, she just couldn't get enough of him and hugged him for over a min. She knows he is as huggable as a teddy bear and couldn't help herself. This morning we were looking at photos that included the Peters family photo form last year.
Gracie looked right at Neil, aka Papa, and screamed PaPa. She was so excited to see him that she just kept pointing and screaming Papa. Then she noticed Daddy in the photo and would take turns screaming Papa or Dada while pointing at the photo.

She is loved unconditionally by so many really great men in her life and we are so blessed that they can watch her grow while helping to show her how she should be treated by men in the future. As a woman myself, if you didn't know that already, I can tell you that a healthy relationship with male role models is so important for a girl as she matures. There are so many women that are not so lucky. Thank you all for your wonderful support.

C is for Cookie & Claus

Previously I forgot to post this photo of two favorite ladies playing Ring Around the Rosie.

Well Gracie and I have had some good times together over the past couple weeks. The first week in December we were able to enjoy an impromptu night at the Peters after weather kept us from making the trip into the mountains. The time together was so relaxing and Gracie just loved spending more time with her grandparents. She was even able to surprise Neil by calling him Papa. There were lots of fun and kisses for all. Gracie just loves her Monkey PJs and trying to get the remote control to work.

This past week I traveled to Atlanta for just a quick 36 hour trip, though that provided Gracie with additional time with the Grandmas. Gracie loved it and has learned to say GiGi (JiJi?) for Grandma Jeanne.

Saturday was the annual cookie day with my mom, Julianne, Violet, and about 10 other people. This was Gracie's first year to enjoy the fun that was had by all. Here are a couple photos from the day to see all of our hard work surrounded by fun!

Today was the first Christmas celebration day. Nicole had a holiday party for her play group that included a traveling music class. Gracie just adored the music that was played and signing while I was able to take the morning off and enjoy her reaction. Her love for music leads to more and more dancing everyday. We were lucky and visited with Santa at the Parker library tonight with Adam for the first time. As you can see from the photos, Gracie wasn't excited about the idea. She thought he was very interesting when I was her support, especially his beard.

Here is the perfect photo of Gracie because she is wearing a fun outfit and talking on the phone aka DaDa. Her obsession with phones is almost as strong as her obsession with Bananas.

Gracie is the light of our life that we can't wait to celebrate Christmas with. Wishing everyone a blessed Christmas season.

All I want for Christmas is my two front teeth

Two Thanksgivings and tons of family time. We were able to enjoy Thanksgiving day with the Adam's side of the family and then the weekend up at the farm with the mine. Gracie decided she wasn't really a fan of much of the normal food fare. The stuffing, and cranberry salad were hits the day of the event. As you can imagine, the pie was the highlight of the meal and something she could have at any time.

Highlights in her world...
She can now say Please and Papa.
She is moving everywhere and just showed her climbing capabilities by getting "hiking" our ottoman. It was a huge surprise to mama.
After learning to use a straw she is enjoying all the fun things she can do with her mouth including duck calls. Here is a video to show proof.

There is nothing more to love that seeing this little lady cracking herself up in the back seat while we drive.

We are so thankful this year for such wonderful family and friends. You continue to be there for us for all of our ups and downs, what would we do without you!