Longing for Spring...

It's been a long winter and an even longer past few days.  We have been spending A LOT of time in the house the past few days fighting off colds and trying to stay warm.  The kids and I are usually on-the-go kind of people - always finding something fun to do to get us out of the house during the day.  But with the backyard looking like a frozen tundra and the fact that my car takes at least 20 minutes to get even a little bit warm, we have been hibernating in the house. 

We've played a lot of Hungry Hungry Hippos, watched a lot of cartoons, kicked balls around, colored, played cars, laughed, cried, you name it - we've done it.  Today Matty looked at me and said, "Mommy, let's go get coffee."  Poor kid would do just about anything to get out of the house today, and getting coffee sounded like a great idea to me. So I warmed up the car for a good 20 minutes while everyone got bundled, then off to the Dunkin Donuts drive-thru we went.  I keep telling myself that I will miss these days, and I am enjoying time at home with my little munchkins.  But some days are long and hard.  A little warm weather and a walk to the park would do us all good.  We can't wait for the Spring!

 

Brand New Baby Trevor

Gracie and I went to visit a brand new sweet little baby boy today!  Kristin, Jason, and Big Brother Carter welcomed Baby Trevor to the world on Monday.  Gracie and I finally went to meet him this morning since I was under the weather the past couple of days.  He is so precious and cute and tiny!  It's hard to believe that Gracie was that small just 10 months ago!

Gracie loved Baby Trevor.  I think she thought he was her babydoll.  She had fun playing with his little feet and hands!

Lots of Love

We visited Grandma & Papa's house today for the first time in what seems like forever, but it has really only been two weeks.  We love hanging out at their house since there are all kinds of new and exciting things to get into!  While we were there, I tried to get a few pictures since I have been slacking in that area lately.  Matty isn't too keen on having his picture taken lately, so there are only a few of him.  He is just too busy to stop and pose :) 

I am very excited that Gracie has enough hair and enough patience to let me put pigtails in now!

 We played for a little bit in my old room.  Matty was busy dancing with my old Care Bears and Pound Puppy, and I am really bummed that I didn't get a picture of that.  Here are a few of Gracie hanging out on my bed...








Tie Day

When the "Working Man" woke up this morning, we told him we had plans to spend some time over at Nanny and Pa's.  He happily replied, "ok, I want to wear a tie."  Matty is such a busy little guy.  He carries his bag(s!) of tools around everywhere and always has multiple project going on.  Some days he insists on "working shirts" which are flannel shirts with pockets and carpenter jeans with lots of pockets to hold stuff.  But once in a while, he is a white collar working man in dress shirts and ties.  I think that Matty just loves his Daddy, Pa and Papa so much that he wants to be just like them - no matter if that means working in the garage with tools or in the office.

Such a handsome Working Man

Playtime with Gracie

Playtime with Gracie is full of laughs, LOUD squeals, crawling over/under/through whatever looks interesting and clenched fists with a bright red face and a piercing scream when things don't go her way.  Needless to say, we have a lot of fun!  Here are a few pictures that I snapped of her this morning.  I haven't captured a picture of the clenched fists/red face look yet, but I am sure it won't be long before I do :)



Gracie really loves to play peek-a-boo.  Here she is playing it with her pots and pans!




Peek-A-Boo!




It is becoming quite difficult to take pictures of Gracie now since all she wants to do is crawl all over me and grab my camera strap, or better yet, my camera.





Gracie waves bye-bye to mommy as she tries to go explore behind Matty's chair.





Gracie has started kissing her reflection when she sees herself in a mirror.  I guess she likes what she sees :)  There is a mirror on the inside of that pan.



Gracie is TEN Months Old!

Ten Months Old?!  It doesn't even seem possible, but our little girl is growing up! This past month was a big one for Gracie.  She learned and experienced so many new things! 

She had her first haircut only 2 weeks ago, but it almost seems like she is ready for another one.  Her hair grows so fast, and she isn't fond of barrettes or headbands so we have a challenging time trying to keep the hair tame.  I think soon we will have enough for pigtails, or maybe just one pigtail.

Her first teeth also came in this month!  She got her two bottoms (they are so cute!), and I think the top two will be peeking through anyday.  Teething doesn't seem to affect her mood too much.  She is still a very happy little girl.  But the poor thing is always chewing on her hands and anything else she can manage to get in her mouth.  One side effect of teething for Gracie seems to be bright red cheeks!  So we have been using lots of cream and giving lots of kisses to heal them :)

Gracie learned how to wave bye-bye and hello this month which she does with so much enthusiasm.  She is obviously very proud of herself, and so are we! 

Gracie still has wonderful sleeping habits and a very happy personality.  As she gets older, I think she is definitely getting louder.  She is so LOUD.  Her squeals, babbles, cries, and laughs turn heads wherever we go :)  And just like Matty, Gracie loves to laugh!  It doesn't take much to make her giggle.  There are so many times when I will laugh at something which will make Gracie laugh then Matty will start laughing.  Before you know it, we are all cracking up with tears rolling down our faces for no particular reason other than laughing is fun :)

She also celebrated her First Christmas this past month and got so many cute toys and clothes.  Despite all the toys that Gracie recieved, she still prefers to play with any and all of Matty's toys.  She isn't picky, just as long as it isn't her toy.  She also really loves our play kitchen.  She keeps a very messy kitchen, and we always have to watch for flying bowls and forks :)

Gracie brings so many smiles to our faces.  We love her so much!

Always eating her fingers!

First Day of 2011 = Fun Times

We started off 2011 with a lot of fun visiting Carter and family!  Matty and Carter had a great time

"fixing" stuff and chasing each other with hammers and drills.  Gracie had a good time just watching two crazy boys in action.  Carter will have a new baby brother soon, and we can't wait to meet him!

Gracie really loved crawling through Carter's gourmet kitchen!