17 Weeks!

This past week we hit 17 weeks!! The baby is definitely growing!! It is a lot lower than Gracelyn ever was... so the little kicks that David and I feel are REALLY low but definitely strong! We find out in a week what we are having and we are getting very excited! Next week we will be in our 5th month! It is so crazy to think that in a week or two we will be half way through this pregnancy since we will be having the baby closer to 38 weeks rather than going full term! My nausea and gagging have lessened but my heart burn has intensified!!!
 Just some of the joys of pregnancy :)

HUGE fear of bugs!

Lately Gracelyn has become so afraid of bugs... especially flies and fruit flies. She will be eating her lunch and one will land real close to her, sometimes on her hand... she becomes frozen with fear and when it flies away she jumps and then cries... poor baby! We are trying to help her understand that flies won't hurt you... David will even pretend to be a brave warrior using the fly swatter as a sword... this only brings a temporary laugh and then once the evil winged thing is back so are the tears! I hope this passes... I don't want her to be afraid of bugs :(

Gigi's Animal Adventures!

David and I knew we had an angel baby from the beginning.. you know the ones that are just happy all the time, and sleep all the time and are sooooo easy going... well... that was then and this is now.... now our little angel is one VERY spririted child! She has a very sassy personality and doesn't like it when things don't go her way. We have been learning all about raising spirited kiddos and trying to find the best ways to communicate and discipline and just to get her to be happy and quiet for 5 short minutes... which is actually very hard and very rare ;)

Because our little busy bee has to be doing some activity 24/7 or else she goes crazy and turns into a leech grabbing onto both legs and walking pretty much on top of us and refusing to let go... David had the great idea of going to the Zoo on Saturday!

She is learning so many more animal noises and is really starting to repeat anything we say to her... so we had a lot of fun with the animals! Of course her favorites are still the tiger and the baboons... she got to see a baby zebra and pet some animals at Harmony Farms! There are two really great splash pads at the Zoo that look like a lot of fun but she once again wanted nothing to do with them ... oh well, we will keep trying ;)

**Sneak peak at the growing baby bump**

Gigi also had a "first" this past week. Apparently my daughter thinks she can walk through kitchen tables now! I didn't see it happen but I heard a bonk and a crash and when I went into the kitchen and saw her cup under the table and saw the HUGE goose egg forming on her forehead I knew she had walked right into the corner of the table OUCH!

and now it has turned into this awesome battle wound... what a nasty bruise! Poor baby girl :(

New hair :)

For all that know me, you know I just LOVE to dress up my baby girl. She was wearing bows when she was still in the NICU and I haven't stopped since ... just changed from headbands, to puny tails or baby antennae as some call it a side clippie is another one... mainly she is a pig tail girl but lately I have noticed that her hair is getting so long and thought we would try something different... the famous half pony! The hairstyle I pretty much lived in all through Elementary school!!! Here is my big girl wearing her first half pony :)

The favorite pig tails!!!

The side clippie

And the new half pony... doesn't she look older :( please ignore those LONG bangs... I still have never had her hair cut ;)

Maybe next we will attempt the full pony, or something crazy like a messy bun... I have so much more to work with now ;)

On a breezy day like today...

we took advantage of it and went to the Zoo. Gigi and I met up with a few other friends and their kiddos and we all enjoyed some good mama talk and watching the kiddos love on the animals!! I have to keep reminding myself that we have a membership and once it gets too hot we won't be going very much. Of course we could always play in the splash park ... that is if my daughter ever learns to like it ;) Today she was running with me around the water and a little sprinkler shot up right in front of her and she cried!! She HATES anything cold and looked betrayed as she ran back to me.. poor baby!!

My friend Emily and her nanny kiddo Emma :)

After the Zoo we headed home for a nap... while I cleaned some tubs and toilets... got to love spring cleaning ;) When she got up we played outside for a while and enjoyed some yummy juice pops! My Mom got me some make your own popcicle holders and Gigi LOVES to eat them outside! I use light diluted apple juice to make them so it is less sugar and no die like regular popcicles... she loved the freedom of holding it by herself and I love that her clothes don't get stained... we both win ;)

Part of it fell out onto the ground... she was NOT happy about it being "all gone" If you look closely you can see her little pouty lip :( Of course that didn't last long...  she quickly picked up the pieces off the ground and at them.. Yum?

Hoping to get many more pictures next time we go to the Zoo!!!!

In other news she turned 17 months old this week!!!! She is talking a lot more and we are LOVING her versions of words!! Some of our favorites are:

Baboon - balloon

baboo - booboo points to an owie

"hhiii" to everyone and everything... especially if she is getting into trouble ;)

uh oh oh uh oh - uh oh just repeated!

shhhh - please

shaysee - daisy our dog

dans - dance dance dance

uh boo! - peek a boo

Resurrection Sunday and one fun Easter :)

One of things that comes along with having both families here is trying to fit two holiday celebrations... well three if you include just us into one day!! I love nothing more than sharing special days with both sides of the family. This is one of the reasons why David and I choose to celebrate our family traditions the day before big holidays!

This Sunday we got up at 6:00!!! VERY early for me :) But it was so nice to make it to the early service at SBC. Not only did we not feel rushed but we realized that we had the rest of the day to relax and spend with family. Because we normally got to church at 11:10 it is already lunch and nap time when we get out... this past week was so nice to have the morning to spend with my family and the afternoon with David's.

At my parents house we did our traditional trail mix easter egg hunt... my mom fills the eggs with different little snacks so at the end we all go home with a nice little trail mix :) Of course she throws in the extra little piece of chocolate here and there! After finding 147.5 out of the 150 that were hidden we all sat down for some Golden Rod!! The most amazing eggs and biscuit dish ever!!! One of my most favorite meals that we have on Easter and Christmas :) After breakfast we put Gigi down and my sisters and mom just talked and talked while the hubbys and my brother watched a movie! Such a relaxing and fun morning!

Once Gigi was awake we headed over to David's parents house for THANKSGIVING DINNER ??!??! 

Yes, David's Mom always puts so much work into her meals!! She had made turkey, ham, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, corn casserole and of course frozen fruit salad... which I ate WAY too much of! At least it is fruit ;) After lunch we did a small egg hunt for Gracelyn and her cousin Landon and then we all just hung out! Again such a nice way to spend a holiday... no rushing ... just spending time catching up and taking a lot of pictures :)

David and I are so blessed to have such amazing families who not only love us but love the Lord. How thankful we are for Jesus who chose to die a miserable and humiliating death so that WE wouldn't have to suffer but instead live forever with our Lord!!! Such a beautiful display of His unfailing love!!!

We ended our Easter with a big change! I took down Gracelyn's crib and put it in the garage. Now Gigi sleeps on a twin bed mattress until she is used to it and we can get the canopy bed from our family. So far she is doing great! She loved the extra space and is sleeping on her bed and not the floor anymore ;)

WE LOVE YOU ALL and hope you each have a lovely Easter spent with the ones you love!

Easter Eve Egg hunt with Mommy and Daddy!

Gracelyn was so excited to go find the eggs... she knew there were treats in them :)

At first she just wanted to open each one and eat them as she would go... Mmmm cheese crackers!

Our weeds made for some pretty pictures!!

Daddy and Mommy opened all the eggs and she would try and stuff everything into her mouth before we could put them into baggies.

Easter basket fun : bubbles, books, play dough, chalk, a pearl necklace, tights and a swirly straw!!!

Realizing that chalk is NOT candy... she had teeth marks in her purple chalk and then I noticed it all in her mouth!

We had a wonderful little family Easter together... even though Gigi was didn't eat too much dinner because of all the animal crackers, cheese crackers and fruit snacks she ended up still going to bed okay... I guess snacks for dinner is okay once a year... at least it wasn't candy!!

Happy Resurrection Sunday :)

We hope you all enjoyed your Sunday!! 

Happy Easter everyone!

** please excuse the fake food thrown about and clothes lying on the couch :) **

More pictures coming!!