Summer is finally here!

Well, summer has finally showed itself here in the Palouse...but then went back into hiding. We're hoping it comes back out to play this weekend since we're going up to Uncle Jim's cabin to go 4-wheeling, BBQing and just relax!

Grace has been busy...talking more and just hamming it up in general. She really enjoys talking to family via webcam conversations (gotta love how technology can bridge the miles!) and heads for the great outdoors anytime she can make a break for it!

Just a few photos - I'm sure there will be more after this weekend!

Picture 1 - We went to Boise (via a different friend's wedding in McCall) to visit Guido & Shana and had a great time - Gracie got to be dressed up, we went on a fun walk on the Boise greenbelt, had a nice Cheesecake Factory dinner (Chuck's first time there!) and just enjoyed our time in the nice weather with friends!

Picture 2 - This is what Grace does when we say, "SMILE!" :-)

Picture 3 - ALWAYS riding her bouncy horse - Grace went and got her summer "outside" hat and was a realy cowgirl once she flipped up the brim!

Picture 4 - Look out world...she has a shoe fetish! She's putting on my slippers here, but she is constantly into my shoes on the rack, takes strappy sandals out of my closet and wears them on her arm like a purse (but usually more than one at a time). She currently has about 4-5 pairs of her own and while she's wearing one pair...she's eyeing another!

Spring time!

Well Grace hasn't slowed down much...that is until she got her first major fever this week, then BAMO...she shifted from rabbit-gear down into turtle-gear. Not sure what it was - maybe a bug, maybe a little infection, maybe a tooth (her new game is to NOT let us look in her mouth, so it remains a mystery). It took a couple days, but she recovered and has moved back to high-speed once again.

She is even more adventurous and curious (if you can believe that!) and the warm weather is opening up new worlds for her in the backyard, around the neighborhood on walks with Mom and Dad as well as with the daycare kids. She gets a real kick out of walking on different textures and going after all of Mommy's flowers that are in bloom - how fun it is to pick petals! ;-)

I finished up my semester (phew!) and had 2 short trips to wrap things out while Chuck was asked to serve on the city council (what an upstanding guy!).

Grace is talking more and more -- mama, dada, hu-lo, bu-bye, uh-oh, day-do (we think it's a combo of Apollo and doggie), signing new things -- thank you (sort of), bathtime, drink, more and blows kisses. It's so amazing to watch her study, learn and take everything in. If only we could continue to learn at that same rate our whole lives!

I'm a big girl now!

Gracie is growing fast - so much so, she's up to a big-girl, forward-facing car seat! And boy does she like it...watching the cars and seeing what Mom & Dad see, and seeing us! Plus her new seat is pretty cozy and has a nice recline feature - which she promptly tested out on the drive back from Spokane!

spring?

Well, we got a little bit of nice weather and so it was out to the yard to clean up flower beds and the yard...and Grace was right alongside to help! She had a blast running around in the yard and taking her hat off, put it on, take it off, put it on...

She was also having giggle fits watching Apollo bounce on his side of the fence trying to get to her!

We got the lawn mowed, some new plants in the ground, roses moved - and the next day it frosted. Go figure in the Palouse!

Last week was a CrAzY one for us...well me really, but made it crazy for all of us. It was the CVM Open House and my big recruitment event of the year which meant a lot of early mornings and late nights, but things went well in the end and now it's done. The light at the end of the tunnel that week was that I got to go see Elton John perform in Pullman. It was a great show - he only stopped for a few minutes the whole 3 hours he was on the stage. There were some oldies, some familiar songs, and of course some go-to favorites. Now if I can just get through the final projects for my classes, then life will start to feel really nice again!

The next nice snap we had (and it turned out to only be a couple hours) we decided to see how Gracie likes girlie things, you know...like a skirt. Well she was sure a ham in it - dancing and giving her coy little smile...but then it was back to true character trying to pull it off or over her head. So apparently it only lasted about a half-hour after she got to daycare before it was back into blue jeans!

busy, busy!

Well, Grace survived her birthday - had her one year check-up and was 30 inches long and exactly 20.0 pounds! Unfortunately for her, the check-up was on her official birthday (Monday) and she had to get 3 shots and have some blood drawn, not to mention she had a raging diaper rash...so really her birthday wasn't a totally great day, but she had a great birthday party, so hopefully it all balances out!
She's been getting more and more independant...today we took a walk around our neighborhood and she wouldn't let us put her in the stroller or carry her - she had to walk...and don't think she was holding onto our hands...no sir, she had to be walking on her own!
Friday she spent the night with Grammy while Mom & Dad got a night out...it was a nice treat! We got to see the new George Clooney flick, "Leatherheads" - a fun little movie!
This next week is shaping up to be a doozey for us...I've got a REALLY busy week at work, not to mention my classes - they are starting to wrap-up for the semester so are filled with final papers, presentations and other busy work - and then I have my big recruitment event of the year this weekend as a part of the Mom's Weekend festivities. Thanks fully Chuck's schedule happened to balance mine as he has a fairly light load and will be able to hang out with the Bean while I'm trying to maintain sanity! I can't wait for the 1st of May when classes will be over, well minus the one I have to take this summer, the weather will warm up and life will slow down a bit!

It's been a year...

In just over 3 hours Grace will officially be one year old. It's hard to belive how different things were then and how wonderfully they have changed since!

On Saturday we had the big birthday bash, complete with Care Bear theme - 2 cakes (one for her and one for the rest of us!) - presents - friends & family - sun, snow, rain - you name it...we had one heck of a party! :-)

Grace was blessed with lots of gifts that are sure to enterain and keep her "learning" - although I think we now need a bigger house! The big hits were a purple bunny from Tiff & Jeff, a CaseIH tractor with trailer (wait, maybe that was Dad's favorite), LOTS of books and stuffed animals and a Little People farm.

After presents it was on to the rite of passage - destroying the birthday cake! Liz and I had stayed up way too late the night before decorating the two cakes, but it was worth it - they looked great, if I say so myself. This was probably the biggest let-down of the afternoon...Grace didn't want to be dirty and didn't really dig into her cake - even when I stuffed her hand into it. Oh well! She did enjoy some of it and will have plenty to much on the rest of the week.

Thanks so much to all those who made their way here to be a part - and we thought about and missed those of you who couldn't be here!

Uh-oh & Easter

This past weekend Grace got to spend some time with Grandma Carol, Grandpa Mark, Aunt Erin and Uncle Nick when they came to visit (pre-birthday - since they'll probably be in Alaska next weekend). Grace had a great time showing off and getting them a mini-DeMeerleer workout! We squeezed in the Cougar second round game (GO COUGS!), got everyone up-to-date on this blog, Grace got to celebrate her birthday a little early with a Cabbage Patch doll (she was very concerned when the other little girl was stuck in a box!) a great book and some cutie clothes. Then we made our way to Pullman for some swimming and hot tub time. Along the way, Grace picked up on "uhoh" and now everything is a crisis of "Uhhhhhoooooohhhhh!" It's actually pretty cute!

On Sunday we celebrated Christ's ultimate gift - his crucifiction and rescurrection - Easter. The whole gang got ready, went to church (where Gracie could NOT sit still) and then made our way to Maple K Farm for lunch and a mini-egg/rabbit hunt. She even had a "Green Eggs & Ham" moment by eating almost a whole slice of ham and crashing, with one hand, a green easter egg after Grandpa took the M&Ms in it that made it rattle so nice. Can we say temper?

All in all it was a busy, but very fun weekend - and didn't phase Grace a bit, but Chuck and I were sure ready for some extra shut-eye because t-minus 6 days and it's birthday time!

wahoo...i did it...i figured out the video piece so now you can really get a feel for just how busy Grace is!

i will try to get a couple more loaded, but now that i think about it, this could be a double-edged sword - now i'll need to keep up on taking videos so that i can post them. hmmm.....

enjoy!*

the learning curve

How cool is this...I added a slideshow! I've spent about two hours trying to figure out the video piece...to no avail! I'll keep at it though because I'd really like to share a couple of them.
Hope you're enjoying our learning process!

Here goes nothing!

Well, it's official, we have a blog. I'd thought about it, talked about it, but never done it...figured email was enough.
Now we can keep you up-to-date on all the coming and goings of the four of us (no, don't read into it...just don't forget Apollo!).
Read, post and enjoy!