A HUGE LEAP FOR GRACE!!

I can't believe it. I'm so excited, and sad, and happy, and thrilled, and sad all over again!

SHE FELL ASLEEP IN HER BIG GIRL BED!!!

Can you believe it? I can't myself, so there's proof below.

I didn't even try to make her go to bed in the toddler bed. I was changing her and putting her jammies on and she kept trying to get away and go to that bed, so I figured we'd see if she was serious. I put her pillow on the bed and she able threw herself out of my arms to get to the bed. Over and over she pointed to the bed saying "ni-ni-ni-ni." So I sang the goodnight song, laid her down, and left...and of COURSE I listened outside the door. Rustling, creaking, what I THOUGHT was sliding out of the bed, and then...silence. At this point, I thought she was out and trying to find her way around the room for something to play with. But no, this is what I found...
My sweet sleeping girl...tucked away in her big girl bed. I put all the pillows on the floor so she would be less likely to get out because of the unevenness, and also because if she fell out, she'd be protected! And the horse is there to make it a bit harder to fall out.

I had to get a closer view to see if she was pretending...

But she definitely wasn't. There's drool to prove it! WOW. Great job girly. I'm sad that you're growing up so fast but so happy you're growing up so fast.

Now, some might wonder why I didn't just use a bed side-protector with the crib? Because she needs to get used to this bed so we can take it to the cabin. Also, if she didn't do well with this bed, then we wouldn't have to put together a crib with a sliding door that was taken apart to put the protecting side on it. So when she masters this for 2 weeks or so, we'll take the sliding front off the crib and putting a protective side, and the fairy bed will go to the cabin :) No more pack and play!!


I LOVE YOU GRACE!!!

Mommy.

Exciting Things Going on!

So, there are tons of things going on so I just HAVE TO SPILL THE BEANS! We put together Grace's toddler bed. It was for Conference tomorrow so she could have a comfy spot to sit and read in "her special spot!"

Fairy bed!

I moved it into her room just because I've ALWAYS wanted it in there to see if we could move her to sleeping in it. But I know she was scared of it in the apartment, so it will be her comfy reading corner. Thanks Daddy and Brother Ryan for putting it together!



Next? THE BIKE TRAILER CAME! Again, Daddy and Brother Ryan put it together, and they did a fabulous job. Grace was very impatient, and wanted to try it out SO MUCH that she sat on top of the box!


Then of course she had to try it out while they put together the back handle...

And Pooh Bear just HAD to be there as her trailer partner!



And here she is outside waiting for Daddy to connect it to his bike. All ready and excited to go! See her buddy there? They both had to wear hats so their ears wouldn't get cold! She had 3 layers on, thick winter socks for mittens (everything else is WAY TOO BIG), and her homemade quilt mommy made for her!

Now a family picture ready to go! These bikes were free, by the way. We had enough Discover Credit Card points from tons of years of buying stuff, so those points went to buying these two Schwinn bikes, headlights/tail lights for both, and a speedometer/odometer/clock/mile counter that attaches to the wheel, as well as the handlebars :)

Off we go! It was so cute to watch her in her trailer! At one point we were on the main road, and she'd wave back and forth out each window, and as she did so, you could just barely hear her saying "HI!!...HI!!!...HI!!!" It was like she was a Queen being pulled by her chauffeur!

Back home...WE MADE IT! And she was so toasty warm in there...even her hands were warm. Let's give a "HURRAY!!!"
Here is the shelf Brad built and put in for me in Grace's room. I can finally have room in my sewing room to put...sewing stuff...because these books are up there!


That's all for this post :)

Amanda

Swim, swim, swim...

Grace got to go swimming yesterday for her PT. She LOVED IT! They worked on balancing on a kickboard, swimming (kicking feet) on belly and back, and what was really awesome was when they worked on the kid side. It was about 2 feet full, so Grace was able to stand and the water was about her middle belly. What was amazing was that she walked, through the water ALONE! She didn't have to have her hand held, she caught her balance when necessary, and she did great. A game they played that she was really good at was with rings. Her PT threw the rings all around the pool, and Grace had to pick them up by putting her foot in the ring and lifting them to Stacy's hand. Great job Grace!!! And she obviously loved that because tonight in the bath she tried to lift her toys like that! Lastly they got to get in the hot tub. Grace screamed and whined and fought and yelled gibberish at me with an angry face when it was time to go. She LOVED the water. I'd dressed her and all the while she yelled gibberish with an occasional "water" thrown in. When I let her go after being dressed, she FLEW to the side of the baby pool and stood there, pointing at the water and said "water? Water?" I had to tear her away and she whined the whole way home.

Aw sweetie!

Amanda

JUMP!

Grace JUMPED for the first time EVER today!!! Usually her jumps are...knee bends, which are great, but they aren't really the real deal. Well by golly, she showed me she's growing and learning and going to succeed (which I always knew she would do!) She and I were jumping in the kitchen, and over and over I would say "Jump UP!" and kept cheering her on, and she DID IT! 2 inches with both feet off the ground, and she didn't even lose her balance once she hit the ground. Of course I went crazy and screamed and told her "GOOD JOB!!!" and so she got startled, threw herself into my legs and screamed and laughed with glee! She knew she'd done good.

I'm so happy :) As if I've ever NOT been happy with her.

Love YOU GRACE!

Amanda

Fun Sun Day!!

Here's sweet Grace in a super cute outfit :) Dado, this ones for you! Isn't it stinkin' cute?!!

She got caught munchin' on a "tip," so she had to give us a smile!

CHEESE AND TIPS!

What a fun day :) Here's some cute pictures to go with the previous post!

Helping Sissy do doody business!
Aw, watchin' Daddy's busy work.
I think this is just the most sweetest picture of Grace for the Spring season!
Brother busy at work raking the old/dead grass off.
Daddy's pulling out all the weeds :)
What should I do for this section underneath the house hangover?
The garden is on my right :)
This is the side by where our garden will be. That is Grace's #1 FAVORITE TOY. (The trampoline :))
See all that bark? That's gonna be our garden!
Look whats coming in!!! GREEN GRASS!!!

Aw, lovely day. Hope more follow!

Amanda

Wonderful Day!!

I don't see how this day could have been any better :)

Grace and I had breakfast together with her sitting at the big girl table on her stool :) What a perfect way to start the day! Then we played for a while and went to the library to waste time and get some books.

Nap time came and mommy got a lot of homework done!! Hurray! After we had snack together, played outside for about 1 hour in the lovely sun and slight breeze :) She absolutely LOVED it. Then inside to have another snack, and then out back for about 2 hours while Daddy and brother were doing yard work and sissy was tanning! I love that there's no snow and doggy stuff was picked up so Grace could play wherever she wanted! Dinner of fish and rice (our rice was super yummy with dried zucchini, dried carrots, dried tomatoes, spinach powder, and lots of seasoning). Then tons of reading time (45 minutes), shaving cream fun with a bath afterwards, and then time with sissy while Mommy and Daddy went to a basketball game!

I'm tellin' ya...can't get any better!

Amanda

Grace's Labels

So, I'm pulling out all the stops. I'm doing whatever I can to help Grace learn her words, and be able to express herself more either verbally or with sign. So...here's the newest addition to the house:

Body Parts
The body parts are above her shelf unit so she can see it everyday!
Clothes for the week. I'm tired of wondering what I'm going to put her in, so now i made these for easy mornings.
Organized so even Daddy knows where everything is!



Morning routine: open blinds, change diaper, turn off heater, get dressed, say prayers, eat breakfast. The pillow and bed are said every morning before getting out of bed.
Evening Routine: close blinds, change diaper, put on powder, say prayers, turn on heater, goodnight song!
Both morning and evening routines.
Weather for the day.
The hook is holding all the pictures of fun activities. I will give her a choice between two, we'll play what she picks, and will choose another once we are done. This hook will also hold one side of a yarn art holder that's connected to another hook on the other side of the wall. It will have little clothespins on it to hold her paintings/drawings!
She gets to choose who she wants to play with (dog/cat). If she wants to go outside to jump on the trampoline, she either has to say some of the word or sign/point at the picture.
All the foods she gets to choose from. I will hold two down to her and she will pick between those two for each food group.
These hold all the cards for the utensils, plates, cups, as well as the objects around the house like: couch, clock, truck, table, chair, etc. These will be shown to her as we are setting the table for a meal, or leaving (truck).

Bathroom routines:
The three on the top are bath or shower, and then dry off.
The long one under that: soap, wet rag, wash face, dry face, brush hair.
The one on the right side of the mirror: Toothpaste, toothbrush, paste on toothbrush, brush teeth.

And some fun pictures below of life at home :)
A little special picture of Grace playing with her grocery cart and beloved bunny!
Our only plant in the entire house!
Grace playing with Mr. Bunny yet again!

Above is the sweet dog that got to spend a night with us before we took him to the pound, and he got claimed by his family :) We enjoyed your visit Elmo! (Grace named him).

Amanda

700th post and Wonderful News!

I'm so excited to be sharing this wonderful information with you all on Grace's 700th post of her life journal!

Without further adieu...

GRACE CAN SIGN HORSE!!! I am so excited because I showed her the sign about 2-3 times a week for about 2 weeks! I am so amazed that she picked it up so quickly! We went to a rescue ranch today and I said, "do you want to go see the horsies?" And she said, "horse?" and signed it twice! I could have cried.

Ok, the next news...she also knows the sign for cat, pears, apple, and water! And she signs all of them when I ask her if she wants them.. "Where's the cat?" "Do you want water?"

Beautiful Grace, just beautiful.

Some more news you say? Yes, there is more! Grace is NO LONGER at the high chair!!! I bought her a bench that turns into a chair, and so she now sits next to me at the dinner table AND LOVES IT! Absolutely wonderful.

She's growing leaps and bounds, and I'm so excited!

LOVE YOU GRACE!

Love, Mommy

Mommy's Goodies

So I'm definitely trying to make this house a home, and one way I feel like that happens is when you buy decorations! So here's my loot today! I'm so excited because I love decorating for holidays, and I think it helps Grace realize that certain times of the days/weeks/months, different days are special.

Do you see that object with the houses on it? Well, that's a "Lock" puzzle! It's Melissa and Doug, and it's about $15 online. How much did I get it for??? $2!!!!!

AWESOME!!!