Friday Night Leftovers

• The whole 'Christmas Season' seemed to fly by this year. We didn't decorate or do anything Christmas-y until after Grace's birthday, and we're taking down the tree tonight so it seems like we've barely had our decorations up. 
• This may be the first time we have taken the tree down before New Years. I'll miss it for a day or two, but I'm looking forward to having my living room back together. 
• Yesterday my friend (and cooperating teacher from two years ago) and her daughter came over for lunch It was great to see them again, and we had a lovely visit! 
• Grace had her 12 month vaccinations today. It was a rough few minutes, but she's been fine since. No fever, no fussiness. 
• She weighs 21 lbs and is 79cm tall (although that could be a bit off, she was very squirmy while being measured). 
• We cancelled a lunch date today because I had forgotten about Grace getting her shots when we set it up. We did have some company though; Uncle Mike came over for a bit, and the Nicholdins stopped in for a visit too!
• Need more leftovers? Head over here. 

First Sledding Adventure!

Our Christmas Story

Christmas started for us on December 23; we had our Christmas celebration with my side of the family - my parents and all my siblings, and their spouses/significant others. Grace and I went out to Zilla and Grampers' house early. Unfortunately, Daddy had to work but came out later that afternoon. While Grace napped, Grampers, Uncle Mike and I built a snowman (for Grace, of course). It snowed most of the day and it was good packing snow, perfect for snowballs and snowmen. It was so much fun!
We spent the evening eating, drinking, and playing cards. I won $27 playing Chase the Ace! We exchanged gifts and read our Name Poems, our family tradition. As usual, there were some funny ones and some touching ones that got everyone teary eyed!
We had breakfast there in the morning, then headed home after Grace had a nap. Memé and Papa were already in town, and crazy enough to go out shopping on Christmas Eve! We had Grace's favorite meal for supper: spaghetti!

Grace slept in until 8:30 on Christmas morning, a lovely Christmas gift for B and I! She had a great time opening presents and playing with new toys. After opening a gift from her Great Aunt, Uncle and cousins, she ignored the cute stuffed monkey and instead hugged her new socks! This girl loves socks, it's so funny. We went for a walk around the neighborhood in the afternoon and stopped in to visit some of my aunts and uncles. Memé and Papa made a delicious turkey dinner and we all just relaxed for the evening.

On Boxing Day Memé and Papa headed home and we headed back to Zilla and Grampers' house. For years we've had a family gathering at Zilla and Grampers' house on Boxing Day; it used to include a road hockey game but we haven't played for a couple years, and this year it was too wet and slushy. We had more great food, hung out with family and friends, and I won another game of Chase the Ace and took home $24!

It was an awesome Christmas weekend. Grace was spoiled and loved all of the excitement, attention, and having lots of family around!

Christmas Weekend

We had a wonderful Christmas weekend. We started celebrating on Friday and didn't stop until last night! Time to get the house back in order and I will post some highlights soon!
Hope your Christmas was filled with family, fun, and good cheer!

Merry Christmas!

Friday Night Leftovers

• I've learned this year that it doesn't matter how early I start my Christmas shopping, I will still be running around doing last minute things all week leading up to Christmas. 
• I am so looking forward to spending time with family this weekend!
• We've gotten so many comments on Grace's new boots when we go out. And her Cindy Lou Who hat always gets noticed!
• Begrudgingly, B said he wrapped each of my stocking stuffers individually. My Mom always did that and it makes opening your stocking even more fun! B thinks it's a waste of time. 
• All gifts are wrapped and under the tree!
• Grace has been really good about staying away from the tree. She has grabbed an ornament a few times, but then she'll look at us, shake her head and say "no, no, no." She hasn't gone after the presents at all.  
• I bought some egg nog last night. I like egg nog even less than I remembered.  
• Need more leftovers? Visit Danifred. 
• Merry Christmas!

Christmas Questions

I've read these questions on a few blogs that I follow, so I'm going to play along!

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? Wrapping paper. I like wrapping presents, unless it's something really oddly shaped, then I'll cheat and put it in a gift bag. I also wrap each individual stocking stuffer. That's the way my mom did it and I love it!

2. Real tree or Artificial? Real. After having an artificial tree for a few years living in apartments, I love having a real tree again!

3. When do you put up the tree? Usually mid-December. This year was a little later than usual. 

4. When do you take the tree down? Never before New Year's. 

5. Do you like eggnog? I'm not a huge fan of eggnog. I like to have a few sips, but will rarely drink a whole glass. 

6. Favorite gift received as a child? I remember getting a doll that had a little disc in its back. On one side it laughed, on the other side it cried. The year we got our original Nintendo (our big gift for the 4 of us) was a memorable one too. 

7. Do you have a nativity scene? No. 

8. Hardest person to buy for? My Dad. But we draw names so I didn't have to buy for him this year!

9. Easiest person to buy for? Grace

10. Mail or email Christmas cards? Mail, or deliver in person if I know I'm going to see the person over the holidays. 

11. Worst Christmas gift you ever received? A scrunchie and two packs of gum. My brother will never live that one down!

12. Favorite Christmas Movie? Muppets Christmas Carol

13. When do you start shopping for Christmas? This year I started in October! I've never started that early before. Usually November/December. 

14. Ever recycled a Christmas present? Yes. But I knew the person I was giving it to would actually like and use it, I wasn't just passing it off. 

15. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? I love all the sweets at Christmas time! And on Christmas Eve at my parents house we always had lots of yummy appetizers. 

16. Clear lights or colored on the tree? White lights.

17. Favorite Christmas song? I love the Kenny Rogers & Dolly Parton Christmas album. It doesn't feel like Christmas unless I listen to that!

18. Travel at Christmas or stay home? Stay home. 

19. Can you name all of Santa's reindeer? Yes. 

20. Angel on the tree top or a star? We have an angel this year. 

21. Open the presents Christmas Eve or morning? We open one present on Christmas Eve - new jammies to wear to bed that night!

22. Most annoying thing about this time of year? People who don't know how to park properly in a parking lot. 

23. Favorite ornament, theme, or color? I love homemade ornaments. See this post for my favorite. I also have metal icicles that my Grampy made, and some ornaments from my Nanny and Gramma that are very special to me. 

24. What do you want for Christmas this year? I'm just looking forward to spending time with family, eating good food and making memories!

Wordless Wednesday (Grace meets Santa edition)

The Christmas Sheep

This is my favorite Christmas ornament. It's about 25 years old and at one time it resembled a sheep. We had several of these growing up, and they were made by my aunt. We've always thought they were funny, and as we got older and the sheep got shabbier, we thought they were even funnier (this is the best looking one of the 3 that remain; I took it from Mom's house). This sheep always makes me think of decorating the tree every year with my sister and brothers. I have so many wonderful Christmas memories and I am so excited to make new Christmas memories with Grace! 

O Christmas Tree!

We finally got our Christmas tree on Saturday! We didn't want to decorate until after Grace's birthday party, and we went to visit B's family the weekend after that, so we just got around to decorating this past weekend.

We bundled Grace up on Saturday afternoon and walked one street over to a house in our neighborhood that was selling Christmas trees. We picked out our tree and had it delivered to our house.

B and I had a nice evening decorating after Grace went to bed. The next morning she was pointing at the tree and saying "wassat?" So far, she doesn't try to touch it much but she loves looking at it, pointing at it, and saying "oooohhh!"

We helped decorate Zilla and Grampers tree yesterday. This year they cut a tree down from outside our camp so it's far from perfect but is extra special. I love decorating their tree because the majority of decorations are handmade, most of them by my sister, brothers and I when we were kids. I can't wait until our tree is covered with ornaments that Grace made!

First Birthday Party - Round Two

We spent a few days with B's family this past weekend, and celebrated Grace's birthday - again!

The drive there took longer than usual. Gone are the days when we would give her a bottle and she would sleep for the entire 3 hour drive. We left later than usual due to a rough night thanks to teeth 5 and 6, stopped for lunch and stopped again just to get Grace out of the car for a bit because she was getting restless.

Her birthday party was lovely! She was spoiled again by family and friends, and we had lots of good food. Grace's cousins made her a beautiful cake and cupcakes!

Strike a pose!

Daddy's Girl

Playing with the balloons

Get this party started!

Beautiful girl having fun

The awesome cake and cupcakes that Grace's cousins made for her!

Family

Mmmmm... cupcake

Loving the icing

Opening gifts

One Year!

Can my baby really be one year old already? I can't believe how fast this past year flew by!

At 12 months, Grace is crawling at full speed and cruises around the furniture quickly, but hasn't yet started walking. She can stand unassisted for a few seconds, but usually sits down as soon as she realizes she's not holding on to anything. She still needs to pull herself up on something to get to standing.

She loves to talk! She's always been quite vocal, and she babbles all day long. She knows a few words - mama, dada, socks, boots and cat.  She imitates us a lot, and we have gotten her to say Murr, dog, and Zilla. She will also mimic different sounds she hears (when I say shhhh, she says sssss). She will point to different parts of her body when asked (nose and head) and she will tell you that a cat says 'meow meow' and a dog says 'woof.' She signs milk, more, all done, and banana.

Grace is a pretty good eater in that she will eat most things, but she doesn't eat a lot in one sitting. She loves fruit of any kind and most veggies; she's eating more meat now and she doesn't like eggs, no matter how we cook them.

She is still a great sleeper. She likes her sleep, just like her mama! Sometimes she will skip her afternoon nap, but she usually still naps twice a day. She still loves her Blankie. She is always happy when she wakes up. We love waking up in the morning hearing her talking in her crib. She gets louder and yells for Dada when she is ready to get up.

She loves to play hide and seek. I will hide behind the ottoman or beside the couch and she'll come crawling after me. She loves when I peek out and try to scare her - she'll jump a little, then laugh hysterically. She likes playing with her blocks and wooden puzzle pieces. She still loves to pull her books off the shelves and she loves to 'read'. She especially loves Brown Bear, Brown Bear - the version we have has little sliding windows that reveal the next animal and she loves to slide them open and turn the pages. She likes when I use funny voices when I read to her. She loves being outside and enjoys being bundled up and going for walks in her stroller.

Grace is a very happy baby. Or should I say toddler? She is almost always cheery and smiling. She has an awesome laugh and loves to be around people.

She is wearing 12-18 month size clothing and wears size 4 diapers. Her feet are exactly a size 3 (we had them measured at a shoe store!) but is currently wearing size 4 shoes so she will have room to grow. I will update her height and weight after our next doctor's appointment.

The three of us on Grace's first birthday

Friday Night Leftovers

• I love hearing Grace try to talk and imitate us!  
• Her word count is increasing. She says mama/mum, dada, cat, and her newest word is sock (kind of sounds like sack or sometimes sass). Not surprising, I suppose, because she is constantly taking her socks off and listening to me say "where are your socks?"
• Grace always takes off her shoes and socks in the car. It's to the point now that when I open her door, she points her foot at me because she knows I'm going to put her sock and shoe back on. 
• On that note, Grace got new boots for her birthday that she can't pull off! (Yet). 
• She was really trying to say Zilla the other day - 'zzzzaaa!'
• Grace will point to her nose and head when asked. Lately if we say "where is your nose?" she will stick her finger right in her nostril and laugh. 
• She will tell you that a cat says "maow maow" and a dog says "woof."
• Earlier this week we bundled Grace up and went for a walk before bedtime to look at the Christmas lights in our neighborhood. She pointed out her favorites and said "ooohhhh!"
• We had a lovely afternoon today with Mary-Anne. We did some shopping and went out for lunch. Grace loves shopping with Mary-Anne because she runs around the store with her in the cart!
• I think tooth #5 is on its way!
• Find more leftovers here!

Wordless Wednesday (The "how cute is this coat?" Edition)

Meow

I just walked back into the living room where Grace was playing with her books. She had opened one of her animal books to the page with a cat on it, and was pointing at the cat saying "meow meow!"

I am so amazed by all the new things she is learning lately!

Party Weekend!

We had Grace's birthday party on Saturday. She actually turns one on December 13, but Saturday worked best for us and family to celebrate her big day. It also happened to be the same day as her due date last year.

The party was a huge success! We kept it simple, my side of the family and a few friends, including Grace's BFF and her parents (birthday party - round 2 will be next weekend with B's side of the family!). Grace looked so cute in her birthday outfit and she loved all the attention. We let Grace go wild on a piece of cake but we kept her contained in her high chair this time, as we did not want a huge mess like after her cake smash! After I gave Grace a bath and most of the guests had left, she seemed to get her second wind so we let her stay up and hang out with Zilla and Uncle Mike, who stuck around for a while longer. By supper time, Grace was absolutely exhausted. She didn't eat much, and fell asleep almost immediately when we put her to bed.
We are so thankful to our family and friends for making Grace's party so wonderful, and for spoiling her with gifts!

Grace also attended her first birthday party as a guest this weekend! On Sunday we celebrated C & N's (beautiful twin girls!) first birthday. There were a few other babies there, all around the same age. Grace loved playing with the girls' toys and crawled right over to help them open their presents.

Some photos from Grace's party!

Let's Party!

Gracie with Auntie Murr and Uncle Matt

Mommy & Grace

A better shot of Grace's birthday outfit.

She loves her doll from her BFF!

New hat from Zilla and Grampers

Grace did not like the sing-a-ma-jig from Uncle Mike! (But she likes it more now)

Yay! Thank you everyone!

The party got wild and Grace ended up with her tutu on her head ;)

Mmmm... cake

Birthdays are fun! I could get used to this...

One Year Ago...

One year ago today was Grace's due date. And so began the longest 10 days of my life.

Friday Night Leftovers

• Tomorrow is Grace's first birthday party! (The first of two. We're having a second party next weekend for B's side of the family). 
• We'll be running errands this afternoon to get a few last minute things that we need. Good thing Grace is a good little shopper!
• We had a great day yesterday with Uncle Mike and Uncle John. John came over for lunch, and then we all went shopping. 
• Grace seems to be coming around and starting to eat meat. (I hope I don't jinx it). This week she's eaten chicken, steak, ground turkey, and beef in a stew. Yesterday she actually ate all the meat on her tray first before her veggies!
• We're starting the transition to homo milk. I gave Grace some in her sippy cup yesterday, and she had a few sips. She will drink water out of her sippy cup, no problem. But she'll hardly drink any formula or milk out of it. 
• Surprisingly, I am almost done my Christmas shopping! I usually haven't even started by the beginning of December. 
• If you need more leftovers, find them here!

Wordless Wednesday (Cake Smash Edition)

Grace's Birthday Buddy

Grace loves spending time with her birthday buddy, her Great Aunt Mary-Anne.

Last year, I went into the hospital around supper time on December 12, but Grace wasn't born until the following morning. Mary-Anne was at home, waiting for the call. When she didn't hear from anyone by midnight, she was excited knowing that she and Grace would share the same birthday! Grace must have known that she would share her birthday with someone special if she was born on December 13 - her due date was December 3.

We love spending time with Mary-Anne. I really feel that she and Grace have a special connection. It was apparent even when Grace was very small. I mentioned it here, when Grace was just 5 months old. She always has a smile and her eyes light up for Mary-Anne.

Mary-Anne is also my god-mother, so she has always held a special place in my heart as well. We always have a lot of fun. Whether we're going out for lunch, going to the duck pond, or going shopping, she makes every outing a lot of fun for Grace. Today at Costco she was running with Grace in the cart, while Grace laughed her head off! The three of us always have such a great time together.

Friday Night Leftovers

• Almost every day this week Grace has boycotted her afternoon nap. She will babble happily for about half an hour after I put her in her crib, then she gets mad and wants to come back out and play. She hasn't been cranky, so I guess she's telling me she doesn't need the extra sleep?
• I can't wait to take Grace out on her sled! It's at Zilla's, so maybe we will get to try it out this weekend. 
• I love how easy it is to make Grace laugh these days. 
• Grace is not much of a meat eater. We always offer it to her, but she usually spits it out. Last night I cooked some chicken in a marinade that we had gotten at the Farmer's Market (from the same guy that makes our favorite strawberry jam!) and I was surprised that she actually liked it! I gave her some of the leftovers today for lunch and she wouldn't touch it. Sigh. 
• She's recently started liking hummus. It's funny when a baby has garlic breath. 
• We finally got one of those hard plastic things for the floor to go under her high chair (the kind you put under an office chair so the wheels don't scratch the floor). We have carpet in our dining room and we've been meaning to get one for a while. Grace's new found love for blackberries made this even more necessary. 
• It's still hard to believe that my baby will be one soon!
• Find more leftovers over here!

Snow

We had quite the snowstorm yesterday! The snow was already starting to fall when we went out for breakfast with Papa. We stayed put at home for the rest of the day, and B worked from home so he didn't have to be out on the roads.

When B took a break from work to do some shoveling, we bundled Grace up and took her outside. It wasn't her first snowfall, of course, but it was her first time out playing in the snow! (Okay, so there wasn't much playing going on. Sitting in the snow would be more accurate. It's hard to move in that bulky snowsuit!)

She didn't know what to think at first, and had a very serious look on her face as she studied the snow. Then she started licking snowflakes off of her snowsuit. We didn't stay out long because the wind was cold, but I'm looking forward to taking her out on her sled!