Grace is getting sneaky

This evening we gave Grace popcorn shrimp and steamed broccoli for dinner. 

She loves popcorn shrimp, but she doesn't seem to be too fond of the broccoli. 

We were very clear that she had to eat all of her "baby trees" if she wanted any dessert.

So she put the "baby trees" in her mouth.

She made a big production of chewing them up.

Then she put her hand back to her mouth and slyly spit the broccoli out.

And she opened her mouth to say "Aaah!  All done! See?" 

Mmm.  I wonder what will she come up with next?

Cracking pecans as a family

One of the presents we received for Christmas this year was a nut cracker.

We also received 13 gallons of pecans that Seth and my dad had picked.

So David went to work!

You place the nut in the cracker.

Pull the handle, and voila!  The shell is cracked.

Then the real fun begins.  You get to pick the nut out of the shell!

Grace and I really enjoyed it.

She was really good at it most of the time.  After a while, she started tossing the shells and all in our "keep" bucket.

David helped pick them, too. 

It was a lot of fun spending family time together cracking and shelling pecans.  Now I just need to get baking.  I plan to make pecan pie for New Year's.  And banana pecan pancakes for breakfast tomorrow.  And some type of nut bread this week.  And maybe pecan crusted chicken for dinner.  We have a LOT of pecans to use...I see lots of pies and breads in the future.

OB checkup

This morning I went in for a scheduled OB appointment and I took Grace with me. While we were waiting to be called back, she sat in my lap and let out a little gas. Then she giggled and said "Oops. My hiney said hell-whoa" (Oops. My hiney said hello.) Which was quickly followed by "It's uh steen-key hell-whoa." (It's a stinky hello.)

Overall, she was pretty amazing. Quiet and patient. I gave her a lollipop which kept her entertained for most of the appointment. The nurses even commented on how good she was and they gave her three Dora stickers that Grace loved.

Then the nurse finally called me back. She weighed me. I gained 2 pounds since my last visit on November 20. Then they took my blood pressure which was 116 over 72. Finally, after filling out some more paperwork regarding family medical history, the nurse took me and Grace to my room.

While waiting for the doctor, Grace played in the dressing area aka "tent." Then she looked at me and asked "You gonna get neck-ed, Momma?" (Are you going to get naked, Momma?) Um, no, Grace, I'm not. "Why not?" Well, because the doctor is just going to listen to Momma's tummy. "Oh-tay." (Okay.) Then she said "Here, Momma. Put you feet here" and pointed to the stir-ups. I guess she was remembering the ultrasound experience.

Finally, the doctor came in and we listened to the baby's heartbeat. It was nice and strong and loud. Then they took me back to the weighing station to take some blood. I held Grace while the nurse poked me. Grace was very still and quiet; just watching what was going on. Then the blood stopped flowing and I made the mistake of looking at the vial.

That's when it happened. I fainted! Really. I vaguely remember staring into space, feeling my hands and back get clammy. Then everything started slowing down. I felt the blood drain from my face. I could barely hear the nurses. I felt like I was wearing ear plugs because everyone sounded so far away. And then my vision started getting smaller and smaller until I couldn't see anything. The nurses were asking "Are you okay? Are you okay? I think we have a fainter!" Then someone handed me a glass of water and told me to drink it. Slowly the world shifted back onto its axis. And I was okay. A little shaky and still clammy, but okay. So I sat at the nurses station until everything was back to normal.

All this time, Grace just sat calmly in my lap and watched everything. After a while, the nurse came back and gave me a swine flu vaccine. Thankfully, I didn't faint this time. And Grace just said "You got boo-boos, Momma. I tiss it. All beh-er" (You got a boo-boo, Momma. I kiss it. All better). Finally, we were done and Grace said "I won doe home." (I want to go home.) So we did. Hopefully, our next visit will be less dramatic.

Happy Birthday to me

Today was my 29th birthday. 

My mom had a small cake for me.  Grace helped me blow out the candles.

The sweetest and most meaningful moment for me was when Grace just walked up and started singing Happy Birthday to me.  She did it all by herself.  No one prompted her.  It almost brought tears to my eyes.  

Merry Christmas!

Today we drove to my parent's house for Christmas. 

Grace adored playing with the miniature Christmas mice on the coffee table.

Soon we started opening presents.  Aunt Hope enjoyed helping Grace.

Grandaddy helped Grace open some books.  One is called "The Boy Who Lost His Bellybutton."  Grace reallys likes that book.

Seth got tickets to a Jeff Dunham ventriliquist show.   He was so excited!

We gave Nanna and Gran a book that they really seemed to like.  We gave Mom and Dad the same book.

Grace loved a little flashlight she got with her name on it. 

And she absolutely adored her little four wheeler from her Aunt Hope.  It took a while to get it put together.

But once it was working, Grace had so much fun riding it.

She needs to work on her steering a little, though.  She kept running into walls.

We really enjoyed watching her ride it.  Each time she rode by, she'd wave and say "bye-bye!"

And Seth found matching Spongebob Squarepants pajamas for me, Hope, and Grace.

Don't we all look so cute?

After opening all the presents, we had a fabulous Christmas lunch.  Turkey and dressing.  Honey glazed ham.  Sweet potatoes, black eye peas, soft yeast rolls, potato salad, and the list could go on and on.  And that's not even counting all the amazing deserts like pecan pie - my favorite!  It was a delicious meal that we ate off for dinner and lunch the next day.  Then we played with Grace and her presents.

This little cleaning cart was another of Grace's favorite presents.

It came with these tiny little balls that you clean up with the vacuum.

Grace, the little neatfreak she is, spent hours playing with this.

The rest of the afternoon we watched Grace make messes and clean them up.  And we spent some good old fashioned family time together playing dominoes and scrabble.  It was a wonderful Christmas.  The best part, however, was the presence of family.  Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas, Grace

 decided to open our family Christmas presents on Christmas Eve this year so Grace would have time to play with her toys before driving to my family's house on Christmas day.

Here's our tree with all Grace's presents.  Grace woke up around 7 am and I could hear her calling me.  She kept saying "Momma, Momma!  Dare's pres-unts!"  (Momma, Momma!  There's presents!)  We waited to put the presents under the tree after she went to bed so she was really excited when she saw them.

I came downstairs with the camera and videoed her.  She was so excited, but waited somewhat patiently for Daddy to come downstairs before opening any presents.

She sat on some of the presents while waiting.

And so sweetly kept saying "Peas!"  (Please) and making the sign for please.

The first present she wanted to open was her puzzles.

She really liked them.

Then she got a bubble set from Mammee and Pappy.  She kept saying "bubbahs!  bubbahs! I won bubbahs!"  (bubbles!  bubbles!  I want bubbles!) and then she wanted to go outside immediately to play with them even though she had more presents to open!

We finally convinced her to open more presents and she loved her baby doll!  She was very mothering to it.

And Grace adored these paint pens from Mammee and Pappy. 

She didn't want to put them down once we let her start painting with them.  In fact, she used up almost all the paint in her first painting.

Then she opened her t-ball set.  She seemed to really like it, too.

We had fun playing with it.

Hey batter, batter!

"Aye-yah!"  And she hit it!

After playing t-ball for a while, we started bowling.  That was a lot of fun.

One of the funniest things to watch was Grace cleanup.  She sings her "Cleanup Song" the entire time.

We had a wonderful Christmas this year and hope that you all have a very merry Christmas, as well!

Grace cut her hair

Grace was downstairs watching a cartoon when I decided to run upstairs and sneak a quick shower in.  I was piling the shampoo in my hair when I heard Grace say "Yook, Momma!  I tut my hair!  See?" (Look, Momma!  I cut my hair!  See?)  Of course, I jumped out of the shower as fast as I could and ran over to her, but it was too late.  She had climbed up on a chair, stood on her tippy toes and reached the scissors I used to wrap all our Christmas presents.

And she cut one of her beautiful curls off.  One that would have been bangs if they didn't curl up so much.

As I grabbed the scissors from her, she smiled so sweetly and asked "Eye boo-ful, Momma?"  (Am I beautiful, Momma?)

Yes, baby, even when missing a big chunk of hair in the front, you're still beautiful to me.  sigh.

Christmas train ride, again

On our way home from Foley, we decided to stop back by the Christmas trains.

It was getting a little chilly so we bundled up.  We were very excited about seeing all the Christmas lights.

While waiting for the sun to set, we passed the time by playing in a tent with toy trains.

Then we bought our tickets.

And got some free hot chocolate.

Which we drank while waiting for the next train.

Cheers!

Soon the train arrived.

And we hopped on.  

And got to see some beautiful displays and lights.  To my dismay, this is the only picture that turned out from the ride.

Soon we arrived at the North Pole!

There we got to see Santa Claus.  Unfortunately, Grace was terrified of him and wouldn't even look at him.

Santa was still nice to Grace and gave her a wooden "too too tane" which Grace decorated in Santa's workshop.

Daddy helped some.

Mommy helped, too.

Here's her train all decorated.

We convinced Grace to watch the other kids sit on Santa's lap hoping she would overcome her fear.  

After a while, we got back in line.  Grace was fascinated by this snowman.

She kept asking if his nose was a real "tare ut" (carrot).

Boop!  She poked his nose!

Then it was our turn again.  And again, Grace was terrified.  sigh.

Then it was time to board the train again.

Grace enjoyed playing with her train while riding back to the station.

Before we knew it, we were pulling back into the station.

There we were greeted with fresh molasses cookies

And more hot chocolate.  Yum!

Then we watched the train go by once again.  I love this picture!

And got one last picture of the lights wishing "Goodwill to Y'all."