Dinner in a Jar...Actually a Mylar Bag!!

So I've been on this Dinner in a Jar kick..brought on by this wonderful book...

But instead of putting the food in the jars, I will be starting to transition to Mylar bags, which are pictured below.
I will probably have them that size for pint size dishes, and whole bags for quart size meals. And a new project I will be working on is breaking down the serving sizes of the recipes for 1 person, that way I can make individual mylar bags, which will then go in our bug out kits!


These are the oxygen absorbers I use to keep the food inside good. I wouldn't want everything to spoil!

I will be able to post everything as I go, and will breakdown the recipes and also put that up. I'm excited to get started!!

Amanda

Grace's Cuteness

This is little bitty in an 18 month shirt!! I know, all you would think, well yeah, she is 18 months. Except she's a VERY petite baby, and has just started wearing some of her size! Isn't she cute!? Her hair is also pulled back for the first time instead of up in a volcano.
Look at her cute locks :) I love this kid!!
Hangin' out with Daddy!!!
Aww, how cute :)
Playing with her bathtub books that our friends gave us!!! She was so excited to read them, and I was just as excited since I had never bought her any of these books! These pictures were actually taken on the 12 of March, but I just now got them downloaded and posted!

Amanda

Morning by Morning Productions: Smocked Maxi Skirt

Cute Skirt to Make for Myself and Grace!!

I will definitely be making this skirt for the two of us!! How ADORABLE!! And then I will be able to use my elastic thread!


Morning by Morning Productions: Smocked Maxi Skirt: " I love maxi dresses and skirts. I can't ever buy them, because tall people are not ..."


Very beautiful!

Amanda

Homemaking on the Homestead: McMom's Breakfast Sandwiches for the Freezer

Homemaking on the Homestead!

I'm having such a hard time focusing just on Grace with this blog because there are so many fun and interesting things I want to add into it for Homesteading, canning, Dinner in a jar, sewing, etc!! So I think I'm just going to incorporate it in because I just love sharing what I've found!

She makes awesome breakfast sandwiches with eggs, cheese, sausage, and English muffins. I am so excited to try it out!

Homemaking on the Homestead: McMom's Breakfast Sandwiches for the Freezer: "I promised in February’s newsletter I would be posting a tutorial on making McMom’s Breakfast Sandwiches for the freezer.. and here it is!..."

Amanda

Grace's Birthday...Activity a bit Early!

So I found this awesome cake I'm going to make for Grace's birthday in September. I had to post about it so I'd always have the picture!!

Isn't it DARLING!!!! I can't wait for her birthday to make it for her!!!

Amanda

Preparedness Challenge

So I follow a blog that is all about Homesteading and getting better at living closer to the land. I absolutely love it! And they are having a preparedness challenge, and for this week, we were supposed to share one thing we did to become more prepared for the "what if" scenarios.


This week, for the Preparedness Challenge, I went to the LDS cannery and got another order of some food, and then this afternoon the family and I worked on collecting what we needed for our 72 Hour and "Snatch and Run" kits :) It was so much fun, and we had so many things just around the home!

Here's the #10 can that houses our 3 days worth of food...snacks, really! No gourmet meals here, if we have to be using our kit, we will be carrying as little as possible!
Here's what it looks like once you take the lid off...there is a menu so you know exactly what's in it, and you will be amazed how much food fits. There's a lighter because I will also be making food kits with single serving meals in mylar bags, and we can heat the water in our cans, and pour it in the mylars. That's in the coming weeks :)
This is everything that's in the can!! Amazing right?! It is packed in a certain way...shown below.
The first layer...
Then the second layer :) And then the third layer picture below!
Ta da!! I LOVE these things! And there's actually still room to fit more stuff in it. We will switch the food every General conference to keep it fresh, and so we can have snacks during conference!


I'm so excited about this challenge because it will keep me more focused on HAVING to do something each week since I want to post about it, and link it to her website!!

Amanda

New Snack :)

Grace has a new favorite snack...well, I wouldn't know about favorite, but she definitely loves it!!

Peanut butter mixed with mashed up bananas and some milk, and put that in between two crackers! She ate 5 so far for her afternoon snack!! Sweet growing girl!!

More later.

Amanda

New Things I Almost Missed

I am always looking at Grace to see what new things she can do, but there were some things I haven't noticed, or that I have noticed but haven't documented! I am trying to remember to document everything on here, since I will be publishing her blog every two years and giving it to her for a gift :) Anyways, on to the new things!

Today I saw Grace pulling her sock off, and usually I tell her no, and put it back on without thinking that it could be a teaching moment. (I guess it wasn't today since it's 12:34 am...so Friday) But this time, when she took the one sock off, I said, "Give it to me please Grace." And she reached out for me to take it, but was about 3 feet away. So I held my hand out and said it again, "give it to me please. The sock. Put it in Mommy's hand." And she crawled over and handed it to me, and actually released it from her hand rather than pulling it back to her chest. Ok, huge step. So I decided to take it a step further. Get ready for this guys!! I said, "Grace, please give me your other sock. **Pointing to her foot with the sock still on it** Grace. That sock...S-O-C-K. Sssssoooocccckkkk. Please give me the sock. In my hand." And what did she do? She pulled it off...and HANDED IT TO ME!!! YES!!! I WAS SO HAPPY!! This is just amazing!!! And she even had issues pulling it off, so I thought she would give up, but she didn't! Great job girly.

Second thing. She's been great at helping get dressed. She will push her hands through arm holes and has done that for quite a few months...since at least 12 months old if not earlier. And she's also pushed her legs through the pant legs. But just recently, we've been working on pushing her arms through sleeves while holding something. She likes to chew on her toothbrush while getting dressed, and usually, I put the hand in the sleeve that's not holding the brush, then I physically transfer the brush from one hand to the other and put the other arm in that WAS holding the toothbrush. And I've had to do that for a couple months. And of course, as always, I was talking my way through it..."Grace put your left arm in...good girl. Now we have to move your toothbrush. Let go...**peeling her fingers off the brush and transferring it to her left hand***You need to hold it with your LEFT hand now. Now push your RIGHT arm in...Good girl!" So that's usually how it went. Well now? YEAH RIGHT!! I put her empty arm in...well, she does, and then she transfers the brush ON HER OWN, without me even prompting her!! So that's awesome because it's showing the ability to remember an important task, cause and effect because she now knows that she can't push her arm through a sleeve with a toothbrush in her hand, and the ability to swap something from one hand to the other. This is stellar. But that's not it!!

The third thing she can do she's done for about a month now, so it's fairly new. When we are putting socks on, she's usually sitting. And when she sits, she always has her legs bent. She can't sit with her legs straight because her quads and hamstrings are SO tight that it's painful for her. So it's kinda hard for me to put her socks on, so what I do is lift her foot a bit and then put the sock on. And I again talk her through it, all the time..."Ok Grace. We need to put your socks on. Lift up your foot...up...lift up... UP. Now we put your sock on! Good girl. Now the other foot...etc." All throughout her life, we've talked non-stop with her about what we are doing. Even if it's brushing her teeth or walking from one room to the other. So back to the story. So what's she all of a sudden started doing???? Lifting up her foot BY HERSELF!!! She sees me pull the socks out and unfold them and she's all attention on that. I open it up a bit to fit around her foot, and she lifts her foot about 4 inches off the floor so I can put the sock on!!! YES!!! She's learning, and keeping in what she learns!!! **Fist pumping air**!!! But no, no, that's not all!!

A lot of the times when I am changing Grace, I have her stand on the changing table and then I pull her pants down and off, one foot at a time. I would always lift one leg, then pull the pant leg off, then move to the other. Well, gosh, she just had to show me how good she is. I no longer have to lift her legs. Why? Because I pull the pant leg down, and she's ready with her weight shifting, holding my shoulders, and up comes her foot so I can't pull the pant leg off!! I talked her through that one too..."Ok, Grace. Time to take your pants off because...(whatever reason). We have to unbutton it, and then push push push it down, down to the ground!! Then lift ONE leg...ONE LEG...LIFT!!! Good girl. Now I pull the pants OFF. Then the other leg Grace, so SHIFT shift shift your weight, to the other leg. Good, now down down down they go, down to the ground. And off they come!" So now she just does it!! SO SMART!!

Well, that's all we have for now. More to come in the future though, I wouldn't be surprised.

Amanda

A Change

I'm happy to say that Grace's blog has changed, yet again! I just love changing it in regards to holidays and seasons! So here's the old:

And here's the new:

I'm so happy Spring is on it's way!! I got Grace her Easter dress, and her great Grandparents got her an Easter day outfit for when we do the Easter Egg hunt! So fun!! I've got so many activities for us to do, so I'm hoping I can make some schedules for us to get some done. We will definitely be decorating paper mache eggs. That sounds SOO fun! And I always seem to find such beautiful pictures for her titles, which I love.

Amanda

Bear Crawl!!!

I'm so excited to write this post. For a couple months now, Grace has been going from hands and knees to hands and feet. But she will just rest there for a couple seconds, and then go back to knees. But...dum dum dum DUUUUUMMMMM!! (That was a drum roll). She took 4 STEPS in bear crawl!!!! WOWOWOWOWOW!!! I'm so thrilled!!! She wants to walk so much!!

I've noticed with her crawl that it's more of a "I do it cuz I have to" rather than a "this is how I get around." You get it? Her body language totally screams, "if I could walk, I WOULD!" and I'm just thrilled about that too because that just means she's so much closer to walking. Her balance is still horrible, so we'll see what happens with that, but I'm just gonna say, "she WILL WALK." That sounds so good to hear.

Oh, and stairs. Holy cow batman this kid can climb. I chased her last night, just playing, and she headed for the stairs. When I started landing heavily on the stairs and saying, "I'm gonna get you" in a gruffy voice, she ZOOMED up the stairs crawling. WOW. It was like a little jet pack was attached to her back.

Exciting things. She's an awesome kid, doing great things, succeeding in everything in her own time. Wonderfulness.

Amanda

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BRAD!!!!!!

Today is Brad's birthday, and I was SOO happy to give him his gifts!!!! I couldn't resist any longer, and so I planned everything last night. This morning he had pancakes and bacon for breakfast, and then got his first gift...

A homemade book of the "46 Reasons Why I Love You". He teared up :) Sweetie!

After that, I gave him his card, which told him to have fun with a scavenger hunt that I put together. I had gotten a little $1 wooden airplane, put the pieces in 5 different bags, and had him search for them. He quickly realized it was a plane so I gave him his next gift...

A 40 minute flying lesson, where HE FLIES THE PLANE!!!!

He was pretty much speechless, and then started a flood of "I wanna learn how to fly.....couldn't understand this part......I can take lessons.....mumble mumble so fast I couldn't understand...Then I could by a plane........FLY TO MONTANA!!!" Goofball.

And then I was supposed to wait till later to give him his next gift so that the b-day celebration was lengthened, but I couldn't WAIT!!! So I gave him the last one...

Two tickets to Cirque du Soleil!!! It will be in May :)

After all the excitement, and my little hint that the second ticket is for me, we went to Grace's PALS playday and stayed for an hour, then headed to her audiologist appointment, which I talked about it the post before this one. And we were going to do his fly today at 1:30 pm, but because of the yucky weather, cloudy and raining, we postponed until nice weather. But he was excited!!

And now he's napping. I wore him out with all the excitement today :) We will be going out later to pick out his cake/pie. I like doing this because then he gets to pick what he's been craving this day, instead of eating whatever I make. So maybe lemon meringue, maybe cherry pie, maybe pumpkin. We'll see!!

Ah, good day. I'm glad I finally got to give him his gifts...I might have exploded having to wait any longer.

Amanda

Grace's Audiology Appointment

Hm...it was interesting to say the least. The audiologist had Grace and I sit in a sound booth and they went (Brad and the Dr.) outside of the room. I was given strict instructions to hold her but not move at all. If I looked to where the sound was coming from, then she would feel me look and know where to look. So sounds came from here and there, first the Dr. speaking into a mic and having it move from left to right, right to left, loud and soft, super soft. Then it was silly noises, like scratching a mic, a whirly gig sound (make up a sound in your head for that one), tapping noises, things like that. All in all, the results...

Grace has fluid in both ears, her eardrums aren't moving, and she's got mild hearing loss because of this. So we have to go back in two months to be rechecked, and hopefully in that time the fluid will be gone. If she still has the hearing loss, we will be recommended to an ear, nose throat doctor. The dr. said that the mild hearing loss goes hand in hand with fluid in the ears, but we won't be able to be 100% on : Yes, the hearing loss is JUST because of the fluid, or that the fluid is all gone but she STILL has the mild hearing loss. Get it? We are just assuming, at this point, the fluid is causing the hearing loss. But in two months, we will know for sure. All I know is I'm bummed... but trying to be positive.

The dr. said the signing is a great thing to do along with voice, so we are doing great. I asked her about Grace's lack of desire to talk, and that I was wondering if that was because of the hearing loss, and she said, "some kids are talkers, some are signers." So pretty much I've gotten from this appointment to go with the flow, Grace will show the way, and we will follow and help her along the way. But whatever she chooses, we'll go with it. We are giving her ways to communicate, vocal and sign, and she will choose what she likes.

I'm not going to say "what a coincidence" but seriously. I think things happen for a reason, you know? I've always been interested in the deaf community and sign language. I had deaf friends growing up, taught myself sign in elementary, junior and high school, then took 4 semesters of it in college for a deaf minor degree. And now my child has hearing loss. So maybe Heavenly Father was paving the way to having a slightly hearing impaired daughter? I'm not saying that's a bad thing. I'm saying on my knees, "thank you so much Heavenly Father." He gives us what we need to succeed in our lives.

Amanda

NEW WORD!!!!!! Actually, words!!!

Holy cow this kid is a sponge!! At this point we are counting mimicking as knowing words since it seems SOOOO hard for her to speak. So today while I was at Quilting Group Daddy taught her how to say "hot" since he was burning things in the fireplace. And earlier in the day I realized...DUH...I should be making her say "up" if she wants to be picked up, which she's picked up pretty fast!! And "in" is the other one!!! Holy cow three words!! We use "in" all the time while getting her "in" the truck, so that's an awesome way for her to learn. I am so so so so happy. So chalk that up on the board, oh yeah!


Amanda

Grace's School

So I've been doing tons of research on homeschooling and things like that because I really want to get an early start on things like that. I've found some awesome blogs of mother's that have done homeschooling for quite some time, and I've been downloading a lot of activities, ideas, and things like that. I know it might be early, but there's no time like the present, right? And I don't know if I'm always going to home school Grace. I guess we have to see how well the special education school system is, and we will go from there. And I also need to see to what capacity Grace can comprehend what I'm teaching her, and if I'm qualified and knowledgeable about special needs to work with her, or if she'd be better of in a school system.

One thing that's been a real...eye opener...I guess, is seeing where other 18 month olds are in comparison to Grace. Not that it's upsetting, more like...um...I don't even know the word. It kinda gives me a foundation of where to start teaching, you know? Like, 18 month olds, for the most part, can paint without having to mouth it. They aren't so orally fixated at this age, while Grace is still chin deep in the oral fixation. So I can see and understand that developmentally, she's still at about a 12 month stage. So I am able to know where to start with her lessons at a 12 month level rather that 18 because it will be too much for her to understand. I don't want to give her things she definitely wouldn't understand and will just frustrate her. I'd rather than walk right beside her rather than pulling her along. I am so proud of where she is, so I will be a helping hand beside her :)

I'm excited that I will be starting a formal "Homeschool" for her soon, but will need to get everything set up, activities set up and developmental level appropriate, and the schedule it around all of her other therapy. I am probably going to wait until after her IFSP meeting since that is when we are adding speech therapy, which will probably be another block of time during the week that will be just for that. I'm hoping we will have it weekly...

Amanda

Whirlwind Wednesday

Gosh today was crazy...We had to be up super early (7:30 am) so we could get to water therapy in time. Daddy was awesome and was up with Grace so I could sleep in till 7:45...she was up at 7 or earlier. I stayed in bed till 7:59 am then finally rolled out. It was hard to wake up!! I tossed and turned all night with a tornado of appointments, things I've said I'd do, things I want to get done on my own free time, milestones and therapy, when will she walk kinda thoughts, so even though I went to bed at 12, I didn't fall asleep till 2. But whatever. Anyways, we left at 8 and because of the crazy traffic got to therapy 10 till, which was good because I could change her in time.

Hm...I don't know what it is about therapy, but Grace has become more and more resistant to it. Her therapist Elaina said she did pretty well, but I could see the slight frustration in her face today with Grace. Today there was the big issue with Grace wanting to go face first into the water. I mean, she would be open mouthed and throw her face into the water, or drop from standing so she would go under. She didn't comprehend that going under the water meant she couldn't breathe. And I don't know how to make it "click" in her head. I gave the therapist the ok to let her go all the way under for a quick second to see if that would help her realize, but after discussing it we figured if she got scared, she wouldn't want to get back in the water. And then Grace bit Elaina today... :( She was supposed to be standing but wanted to bounce instead so Elaina lifted her arm up, and Grace was holding on. So she was dangling there, and Grace reached up and bit the bottom of her hand. I was so upset! I think more embarrased than anything because at this age, the whole biting thing should be GONE. So all in all, therapy this morning was about 45% effective. But on a happier note:

We get a letter every day after a therapy session. It describes the workouts that were done, how Grace responded, and so forth. And there are charts of what we hope to accomplish, the percentage of the way we are there to accomplishing, and when the activities were started. And when I was looking over the paperwork, I noticed she's accomplished some!!!!! I didn't even realize that!!! So as of 1/27/2011, she has met her 100% need of going from sitting, half knee, to standing at the couch or wall!! WOO WHOO!! And she's also met her going from laying to hands and knees! Oh yeah! Kick butt girly!

So even though today was so so, she's still accomplishing. She's about 30% for all other tasks we hope to have accomplished, and there's about 8 others. For example, one huge one for me is "Grace will take 4 steps unaided up the pool ramp." So I love getting these letters each week. They show immense progress. And they remind me that even though she has a tough day, she still is succeeding. So I'm super blessed.

Here other goals to accomplish are:

• LONG TERM GOAL: Ambulate short distances independently (30% progress)
• short term goals below:
  

1. Grace will be able to take 5 steps on the pool ramp independently. 3/5 trials. (the trials things means that 3 out of 5 tries she will succeed in doing this goal.)
2. Grace will be able to walk up and down the pool ramp with contact guard assistance from therapist. 3/5 trials (meaning she will have the therapist there just in case she goes off balance).
3. Grace will be able to cruise in either direction on the pool ramp with stand by assistance. 3/5 trials. (This is a tough one because Grace is SO dependent on the therapist that she can't even have hand's off or else Grace will throw herself down into the water.)

• LONG TERM GOAL: Improve standing skills (25% progress)
• short term goals below:
  

1. Grace will be able to stand in chest deep water with one hand for support and the other free to play with stand by assistance. 3/5 trials.
2. Grace will be able to stand without upper extremity support and minimal assistance. 3/5 trials.
3. Grace will be able to stand without upper extremity support for > 8 seconds on the pool ramp. 3/5 trials.

• LONG TERM GOAL: Improve transitional skills
• short term goal:

1. Grace will be able to transition to sitting from either side with minimal assistance from therapist. 5/5 trials.
2. Grace will be able to transition to sitting from either side independently. 3/5 trials
3. Grace will be able to transition to standing using a half kneel to stand and minimal assistance from therapist. 3/5 trials. (MET)
4. Grace will be able to transition to sitting from quadruped over either side independently. (MET)
5. Per parent report, Grace will be able to come to standing in the middle of the floor using a bear stand pattern (hands on floor). NEW

Fun stuff :) I LOVE IT!!!

Anyways, after her therapy session I went to DI to pick up some more humanitarian kits to sew. I like doing the skirts, dresses, and I picked up a school bag and newborn gown kit to see if I can figure those ones out too. After that, I had to come home and pick up a girl friend to go food shopping for a Relief Society activity tomorrow. Then after that we raced home to rest because at 5:15 I will be picking up another girlfriend and we will be going back to DI to help put together Newborn kits as well as becoming new members in a quilting club!! FUN!! I love the fast pace and everything but it is taxing on the body, and the mind!! But I'd rather be this busy with my girlie and all the other obligations I have than to sit around doing nothing, or working outside the home. I am so blessed to be able to grow Grace and teach/love her at home. And I also forgot that Grace had an appt with her eye therapist at 11, which we totally missed.

Any who, I'm excited about the newborn kits, and the quilting club. After the quilting club I am hoping to be able to go there sometime soon and spend a whole day just sewing, quilting, or whatever. I have enough, but there are so many that don't have enough, and I want to help as much as I can.

Amanda

NEW SIGN!!!!

Grace has learned a new sign, and I'm oh so excited!!! She's learned how to sign, "bath." That's where you rub your chest with a closed hand as though you were washing yourself with a rag. I'm so happy!!! She's learning so many new signs so fast! I'm just hoping this will make it harder for her to qualify for speech therapy. Lots of kids I know "fall through the cracks" of being not bad enough or too good. And she's actually using her "milk" and "more eat" without being prompted, which is great. I was over at Keri's house (Jonathan's Mommy) and we were chit chatting while the kids played, and Grace got a bit fussy. I thought she needed a mommy moment, so I scooped her up, hugged her, and went to put her down, but then she squeezed that little hand so tight over and over (like squeezing a teat) and I was so HAPPY!!!!! So I went right over and got her milk! And it's rare that she actually does the two words signs, "more eat" but once she signs "more" and I say, "more what?" then she will do the "eat" sign. But that's still wonderful!

We are now working on "cracker" (tapping your elbow with the opposite hand), "ball" hands open with fingers touching like they are holding a ball, and "mommy" "daddy". Mommy is a open hand and you touch your thumb to your chin, while Daddy is the same but on the forehead. So we will get there :) I'm excited, enthusiastic, encouraging, and everything else she needs!

She's doing awesome. That's...(counting in my head how many signs that is...) 7? And she knows how to say, "out, hi, what, wow..." I can't think of anything else right now.

WOO WHOOO!!

Amanda

Temple Tuesday...and more

I'm so excited I got to go to the Temple today!!!! Grace got to go back to her friend Jonathan's house while I had my wonderful trip to the temple with my friend Pam. We were there for 2 1/2 hours and I just LOVED it. And when I got back to my friend's house to pick up Grace they had so much to tell me about what they'd done!!! Cute drawings, a paper plate "G is for Grace" glue and noodle project, and had baked cookies! WOW!! Fun stuff little Grace. I brought my friend a peace offering of donuts since I'd told her we'd only be an hour... :) She didn't mind though! Grace just loves going over there...when I say, "Grace, lets go to Jonathan's house" she runs to the door...well...crawls...and is so excited! And Jonathan's mom tells me that he's always asking to play with Grace, and have a sleepover with Grace. How cute!!

After that Grace took a much needed nap and I just watched a movie. Then she and I went to help out at activity day's for the girls. They were finishing their skirts they'd made, and I thought Grace would have fun there so we both went!! She had a blast. The girls would play with her, copy whatever she did, and they all just were laughing and giggling. So it was a good thing Grace got to go this time :)

Oh, if you didn't notice, I didn't talk about therapy. Her therapist was home sick, so it was canceled, but for sure there is water therapy tomorrow morning (9) which we will be going to. I doubt it will be in the water since it's been raining, but we'll see. Who knows, maybe the clouds will part and the sun will shine!

Grace has been in a great mood this past week or so. I'm wondering if she's going through a growth spurt since she's been needing bottles (yes, we are still using them) in the middle of the night, and usually a glass of milk before bed too. So I'm going to try to increase the amounts she eats at her three solid meals, and make snakes more caloric for her. Everyone that sees her says she improving by leaps and bounds, as well as growing in length! And her eyes seem to be doing better too. They don't cross as much, so that's good! While we were at Jonathan's house on Monday Grace actually stood up at the stove, which is great because it was a flat surface without handholds, and she did it without any whining!! So she's obviously getting more confidence. I just love taking her over there because Jonathan's sister had some special needs, so I feel like his mom knows what to watch for, how to help her, and other things that parents of "normal" kids might not know. Especially since Grace is "seizure watch" and "latex allergy."

Hm...what else can I say about little Grace? We've been going to the library about 4 times a week because she's just SO into reading that we go through about 5 books a night!! Yesterday, it was so cute! She had a book on the floor, and she went to it, flipped a couple of the pages, pointed all over the book and did her lengthy gibberish "reading" and came over to me, or crawled around. But what was so cute is she kept going back and doing that. I didn't prompt her to do it, or show her the book. She just did it herself. So she's taking initiative to read on her own, which is GREAT!


Amanda

Merry Monday!

Today's been an extra special day! Mondays are usually our stay home days, and of course the library. But today was extra special because Grace got to go play with her friend Jonathan and his mommy while I went to my friend's house and started cutting out our felt for quiet books we're making! I'm making one for Grace, and she is making one for her grandchildren. So that was so FUN!! I knew Grace would have a blast over there, and I got to have some adult time with a gal friend! I got about 6 pages worth of felt cut, so now I just have to start piecing the pages together!

After that I went to get Grace, but we were invited to lunch so we stayed and played some more :) But nap time soon came around and I could tell Grace was tired! So now she's napping, Daddy is at the doctors, and I'm getting some Primary/FHE lesson pages ready to be copied at the library for our FHE folders. Our printer has died...sad sad. So now anything I want to print I email to myself and hopefully will be able to print it at the library. (I haven't tried, but my fingers are crossed that I can). There are some General Conference Packets I want to print, as well as some conference games that will keep the family more focused (ME) and some St. Patrick's day printing stuff :)

We will be heading to the library once daddy gets home to return and pick up some more books, hopefully print the stuff I emailed myself, and copy a bunch of stuff from my lesson books!

On Friday Grace has an audiology appt. that we've been looking forward to FOREVER. We want to see just how much she can hear. And her Thurs. water therapy was switched to Wed. at 9 to help out with the therapist's schedule.

Busy busy life...but I like busy!

Amanda

Sunday

Wow, I had totally forgotten about the time change, so Grace and I got to church 45 minutes late!! Silly me! But that's ok. Grace went to Nursery again and did just wonderfully. She didn't even wave goodbye because she was just so involved already. A little girl had walked up to her right when we walked in and gave her a toy, so that probably caught all her attention!

During the last hour I went to change her diaper and her face was all covered with crumbs from snack. It was SO CUTE!!! I don't even care if she gets messy, that's what kids are supposed to do. And when I took her back they were having circle, so I set her down and she was just fine, as if I didn't even come in. I'm so thankful she's able to go to nursery without being sad that I'm not there. I'm so happy that she's got patience, love and the desire for friends! It makes it so much more fun for her in nursery.

Amanda

Super Saturday

Well, today wasn't really a super Saturday, but I needed a catchy title! Anywho...

Today was a productive day. Grace did A LOT of walking practice, and did pretty well! Most of the time it was two handed, but for about 20 minutes she walked one handed (times were broken up). When she went down for nap I got busy in the sewing room...cleaned it up, organized, and then finished two projects that were about 95% done but were just sitting there! So I'm pretty excited about that. One was Grace's pajama's (hemming and elastic for the waist) and my pajama pants (hemming). Then Grace was nice and stayed asleep (4 hour nap!) so I started on her color quiet book, which is super cute!! Pictures to come once it's done. And I will be finishing her art folder, while I LOVE and will be putting pictures up of.

After Grace woke and ate, she hung out with Daddy for a bit with the chickens, and then she and I went over to a friend's house and played until dinner time, then headed home for our own dinner :) She got a gift from her friend!! Two bath time books! We didn't have any so I was excited!

Now she's in bed, and I will probably be heading up to do some more sewing! I will probably force myself to work on some of the projects I've already started. We'll see!


Amanda

Some St. Patrick's Day Pre-fun


We made Rainbow cupcakes and green rice art!

Aren't the cupcakes pretty?! Not really!! I thought it would just cook as layered colors, but they went all tie-dyed. Oh well. Frosting on top, then eaten!
Helping Grace with her art project. I had to hold her right arm so she wouldn't scoop all the rice off the paper!Letting Grace grab a handful of rice to put on the clover :) Good job Grace.Pat pat pat...this is how you do it Grace.
And the finished product :) How beautiful!!

Amanda

Busy Friday! Today's been busy, but fun! This morning we pretty much just hung out at home, and when Grace went down for her first nap, I sewed an art kit for a friend :) Then Grace's Infant Specialist came and we had an AWESOME therapy session! Grace drew with chalk on a chalkboard so well, learned how to take a cap off a marker, and read some books. She was just so amazing with the chalkboard!!! I couldn't believe how well she did drawing with the chalk, and making dots with it too. I was so proud of her! And then with taking the cap off! HOLY SMOKES!! She's so smart! I think Grace loves anything that has to do with art. After that, Grace and I had lunch and then she got to continue eating while we made rainbow cupcakes!!! They were our activity for today to celebrate St. Patrick's day countdown. And after that I figured I should clean up the kitchen, so I got that done too while she was being a good girl!

Here she was learning that she could open a marker! I loved that when I showed her how to stick her finger in the top, she did it again and again!! And she took the top off the pen a lot too!! Smart girl.She absolutely loved drawing on the chalkboard. I don't know if it's because of the noise the chalk made, or just it being a new concept of drawing, but she just LOVED it!! Over and over she would draw, then LeeSee would erase, and she'd draw again. Reading with LeeSee. She was so in tune with what was going on it the book, and with what LeeSee was saying. Sometimes, it's nice to watch Grace focus with someone else so I can really see how well she's doing! To the park we went after all this in home stuff!! It was time to get out and enjoy the beautiful weather! I got to see Grace climb through the tube at the park for my first time ever, which was so exciting because of all the times she stood up on her feet while in crawling position! I was impressed. Of course she swung because she just LOVES to swing! Then we came home after that, and did another St. Patrick's Day project! Grace decorated a 4-leaf clover with green rice! It's SO CUTE!! And she did a really good job. Except in the beginning, I let her play in the glue and her hands were all sticky, and then silly me...I let her stick her hands in the rice so she could grab a handful and put it on the clover, but um...it all stuck to her hands! DUH!! But we got it all figured out, the clover turned out wonderful, and Grace only got one mouthful of green rice!! Silly girl. Look how smart my little one is!! She's realized that if she waves with the sun behind her, then she can see yourself wave with her shadow!! I love this cutie! Turning around in her stroller to see Mommy and Daddy. Little stinker just learned how to do that a few weeks ago and hasn't stopped since! I love this picture so much!!! I love her face; a face of anticipation. Swing swing swing. Grace loved swinging. She could swing forever! Go girly!!! VROOM!! Fast as lightning!! Climb climb climb!!! I am so happy to see her inside the tube!! And look, she's standing! Isn't this just the most beautiful picture??!!! It seriously looks posed, but it's not! Just a fast bunch of pictures taken and that's what I got! Gorgeous child. I took this picture and then a second later, she looked at me from under her arm! How cute. I just love seeing that she's strong enough to hold herself up like this. Strong little miss, huh? Hey! There's Daddy! He's trying to prompt her to climb out since she was just hanging out in there. I like this picture except for the booger bubble! Darnit!! Silly girl.
She's out! YES!! She made it!
Climbing up the big stair to the slide!!
Dooooowwwwwnnnn the slide with Daddy!!! WOOOOOOOO!!!
Daddy playing tag with Grace! She absolutely LOVES doing this!!
Home now and look where the stinker is?! Getting into mommy's jars! Look at her on her tip-toes! Good girl!


Amanda

Water Therapy on Land

Grace had her water therapy indoors today on dry land because I was worried she might still have an ear infection. But I'm glad we were inside today because she got to work out with the "Spider!" It was so neat!! She, at first, hated it. But after a bit she realized it was super fun!! Elaina harnessed her up and put the bungee cords on and let her go! I bounced her a bit in the beginning, and then she took the reins and had fun! And with the mirror in front of her, she was happy :)
The above picture is Grace in the spider :) And the one below is a closeup of her silly face! She was having so much fun!!And after working in the spider for a bit, Elaina did some walking work with Grace, and Grace actually walked with her with only one hand held for about 6 feet!!! WOW!!




Good girl Grace! I had fun at this therapy session today because it was focused on her being on her feet and walking rather than sitting, keeping balance and stuff like that :)

Amanda

Therapy Therapy Everywhere!

I love taking Grace to therapy, don't get me wrong! I love that she's got so many things that we are able to do for her, and others can do for her to help her succeed. I know I did this quite a few months ago, but I want to do it again. I will write me weekly schedule for you all to see what a week in the life of Grace and I is like:

Sunday: Church, afternoon therapy with Mom/Dad
Monday: Library morning, free day
Tuesday: Physical therapy every other at 9, then play group every week from 10-12, afternoon therapy with Mom. Infant Specialist every other at 9 (she switches off with PT and comes on Wed when PT comes on Tue.)
Wednesday: Every other week Infant Specialist at 9, Gym at 12-1, therapy in afternoon with Mom
Thursday: Visit Great Grandma in early afternoon, Water therapy from 2-3.
Friday: Every other at 9:30 PALS play day, therapy in afternoon with Mom.
Saturday: Free day

Throughout the week, I also throw in art time, reading time, outside time, Trampoline time (helps her strengthen her legs to jump), library time, therapy time, gross/fine motor therapy time, park time (almost every day), going on walks, etc. It's so fun! I love art time because then I get to save everything in my trunk so she can see it later in her life, and of course it's put in the trunk after it's been on the wall for quite a few months! Grace will also be starting Speech Therapy soon, as soon as we can have her IFSP meeting since I was sick when we were supposed to meet. I love all this time I get to spend taking Grace to all her therapy sessions!! And I love watching her work hard...or fuss and whine! That just means she's got her own voice, and isn't afraid to show it!

Amanda

Clover

I forgot to post about this yesterday, but will today since it's worth remembering!! Last night Grace and I made a four leaf clover together! I cut out a clover and she and I tore up tissue paper...well, I tore and she ate! Then she helped squeeze the glue onto the clover, and she did an ok job at pushing about 1-2 pieces of tissue paper on the clover. What she really wanted to do was run her fingers through the glue, or pull the tissue paper off! Silly girl! But it turned out SO cute!! It's so fun doing crafts with her!!

Amanda

Therapy Day

I'm so sad to report that our printer isn't working, which means I can't upload pictures if I use a certain camera....which is the camera I always seem to grab to take pictures!

Anyways, today Grace's therapy went well. This was physical therapy, and we worked on her going from standing at the couch to a toy next to the couch, which would require her to stop leaning on the couch and actually transfer her body weight form left leg to right while walking to the toy. Lots of things to remember to do when making this move, but she did ok. We had to deal with the arching/whining of "I don't want to" alot, but her therapist isn't worried about it. She said this is the age that Grace should be "finding her voice" and her wants/not wants, so we are just going to work around her whines. That was pretty much all we worked on today! This is such an important thing for Grace because once she sees she can go from one object to another, than she's going to have so much more freedom! I also got some pointers from her therapist as to helping her want to get moving more, such as hanging toys form doorknobs so she will want to stand to reach them, or hanging things from the banister so she will want to stand against the wall to reach them. So lots of fun things. We will also be working with her on coming to the table for dinner. I make her crawl there before she gets to eat with us, but now we are transitioning to me helping her walk all the way to the table. There are different ways to do that, like having her walk while I scoot her toy along, or using the walker, or me holding her hands to walk to the high chair. So we will see how that goes :) We are hoping that will all this extra walking, Grace will realize she can get places much faster walking...faster?? I don't know. But I'm hoping she will realize walking is the next best thing!!!

Amanda

Play Day!

After Grace's therapy we went to a friend's house (from church) and 4 other moms came too! It was a really fun play day, and Grace had a good experience for her first time :) I will definitely be going again next week (it's weekly)!! I'm so excited for Grace to get more play time with children!

Amanda

What a Busy Day!!



Today's been an extra busy day! Of course, it's just been that way for mommy! The house was beginning to feel cluttered, so today I pushed up the sleeves and got to work! Now, I can happily say the kitchen is clean and organized, the floor is mopped in the kitchen/dining room, the computer room is organized, the living room is clean, the sheets have been changed, the play room is clean, the laundry has been started and rotated!!! YES!! And Grace was a super girl through it all! She didn't need me too much and was able to play by herself. Now the house feels a lot cleaner! And we are at the library now pickinjg up some new books, and then will go out with Daddy to get Grandpa a birthday present! Fun fun! Good way to start the week, productive!



On a side note...Grace is OBVIOUSLY teething some more! She's slobbering everywhere you can think, fussy and chewing on everything! Good girl Grace! Push those teeth out!



Amanda