Ballerina

This is the year for Ballet! We had our first official class today, she really enjoyed it. If Gracie could dance naked she would, instead she puts up with her Ballerina outfit because she thinks it's so cute, however she says it's too itchy & asks to dance naked!

When we went to find her an outfit, she pranced around the dance store when she got this one on & this is the one she chose. She went to go potty & told me she was a Ballerina, then she looked down, saw she had her regular clothes back on and says, "oh, I'm not a ballerina anymore!" Then puts her hands out and says, "I'm a princess."

She was so antsy today in class, trying hard to pay attention but it's at a slower pace since they're learning different ballet moves, so in between watching her teacher she'd have these moments of twitches, or fall on the floor, or start jumping, it was hilarious, she couldn't contain herself. I said, maybe she needs to go to Hip Hop!

She has definitely come out of her shell this year. She loves to make people laugh & loves to be silly. When we went for her trial there were 7 year old girls there with ballet outfits on & she just walks up to them and says, "look at me! I'm all dressed up! I look like you!" The girls giggled and smiled and she says "What's so funny? ME?!" And they all start laughing and she does her Wall E impersonation & acts like a dog & then a cat and she thought she was being "cool" with the "older girls".

16 weeks & 33!

Well, it's not so bad being 33 and pregnant, never imagined I'd have babies this late but that's okay. At dinner our waiter said, really, it's your birthday today because I just had a pregnant lady whose birthday is today and she's 40! Wow! He gave me free dessert!

We had a great day, family came over & we hung out. My mom & sister made such a fresh, yummy lunch and Sara brought a box of Godiva pumpkin truffles, talk about feeling pampered. Gracie wanted me to have an Eva birthday so bad, that's all she talked about, Eva for my birthday & Ella was coming over! So my sister made an Eva cake, turned out so cute. And had my favorite peanut butter & chocolate icecream! Wow, I was spoiled.


I put these photos up because of the girl's faces, they were so excited!

These two girls are so cute together. They were lying under the bed snuggled next to each other whispering secrets & giggling. Two peas in a pod!

Later that night...Gracie got into her new Wall E P.J.'s Look at this sassy smile!

What a poser! Never seen her do this before!

Flexn'!

Mad Skilz Flexn'!

She is just giggling away.

Here's my girl!

Going out on our date!

Our first crop from the garden!

I've been wanting to grow a garden for a long time, especially this past year since we've lived here a while and I SO miss the farmer's market up in Minneapolis. My heart aches for that farmer's market (but we won't tell Todd that) I didn't have too much faith in myself because I kill every house plant & that's why we have all fake flowers & palm trees in our house. The one thing I do have is our lucky bamboo and Todd waters it! So anyway, I decided it's time especially after a few of my friends started and were really enjoying it. So far everything has started in pots & I'll be making a raised garden on the side of the house to transfer everything once it's bigger. We planted green & red peppers, tomatoes, an avocado tree, which just sprouted last week. Cayenne Peppers, banana peppers, cilantro and oregano. I tried romaine lettuce & Todd found caterpillars eating all the leaves, he literally watched their mouths moving, chewing away at the lettuce, they had a feast! So no more lettuce. The cilantro flopped, that has been a bit of controversy in our house. I had it under our patio for shade & every time I went out, Todd had moved it sitting in the sun. I asked him to please leave it in the shade, and I kept finding it out in the sun. I'm thinking, whose garden is this anyway? So I gave up, left it out in the sun and he came to me a few days later and said I killed the cilantro! Can you believe the nerve? He said it's all dried & frizzled up & that the cilantro didn't like me! So we're starting the cilantro over & we made a compromise where it will go. And we're also going to plant zucchini.
Gracie absolutely loves the garden, waters it & checks it every morning. She was so excited about watching our first Cayenne Pepper turning red. A few days ago she woke up and said, "It's red, it's red! Come see, mommy! I'll show you!" So we go outside and there it is! Bright red! She says "see, God made it red, mommy!" Oh she's so cute. So we picked it & she's been carrying that pepper around so proud & excited.

15 weeks

Aaaahhh pancakes, and puppy pancakes at that, look at this sweet face! Mama is feeling good lately to do fun things like this!

Aug 29, 2009 - 14 weeks - I got this shirt at Old Navy today, it's supposed to be pajamas but I say it's too cute to just wear to bed, hoping I can stay in these Calvin's a little longer with the Bella Band!
I feel little flutters once in a while, especially if I'm very still lying down. When I was at Old Navy & saw the little girl section, nothing really spoke to me except for things for Gracie. As I glanced at the boy section I got chills & my eyes started watering, what does that say? My mother instinct is saying boy? I saw THE CUTEST long sleeve shirt that looked just like Todd's style. With some Vans, oh man, he'd be so cute.

But if I have a girl like this little stinker, which she was being a stinker here at this moment, we are set with girl clothes & toys for sure. Either way, we are happy & feel so blessed, what a gift!

Finally, she looks at the camera, only because we said - oh look! Wall E is on top of daddy's head! :) Gotcha!

Gracie-isms

Oh my goodness, Gracie has me cracking up laughing so much lately with what she says & she cracks her own self up all the time. And it's so cute how her lips curl up when she smiles & her nose crinkles and she gets this goofy laugh like she almost can't breath and then says, "I'm so silly, mommy!"

She has been trying to put the alphabet sounds to words when we're talking. So one day she says, "Pu, Pu, CAT!" And smiles. I start laughing & realize what she's doing and so have been telling her it's "Cu, Cu, CAT!" And she laughs, "no it's P mommy, not C!" Okay, okay, you're 3, you are older & wiser! WHATEVER! Oh! Which leads me to another funny story about the word "WHATEVER!" She started saying it, shyly, testing the waters. Of course we were shocked & started laughing because she said it jokingly & so cute with this bashful smile. Then as days passed, it was this full on teenage attitude, NOT cute AT ALL whatever and we put a halt to the word whatever! So now if daddy says it, which he's the one who says it a lot, she very quickly points out that he said it and says, "We don't say that word, daddy! It's not a good word."

One day in Target she was being a stinker with me & grandma, I told her she needed to have a happy heart, her response, "I lost my happy heart, mommy."

She's so excited & sweet about the baby & being a sister. She randomly will tell me the baby is sleeping or that the baby is talking & what the baby is saying. Today she told me the baby is sleeping on a pillow! I told her the baby is floating in water, and she correlated it to the pool, and I could see her little imagination going wild.
She'll give me things to eat & tell me they are for the baby, I've never prompted her to do this, she is really thoughtful & sweet.

So today, we had a great day. We had oatmeal for breakfast, listened to music. She sat on the couch with some stuffed animals & was singing away.

I caught a few video clips but got busted both times! hehe Her own version of "so you want to be a cat?" from the Aristocats movie. Can't see her because it was early & no lights on!

We did some work in her workbooks, which I am seeing how bright she is, she's very good at following directions on things she's never done. We went over how saying "I can't" is not good to say or think. I can see how homeschooling is so rewarding & creates a completely different bond with your children, we laughed so much.

Later we made pink play dough together, she's quite an up & coming cook, you see! And then while we were playing play dough out of the blue she starts talking about her cousin Mia. "Mia Kate this, Mia Kate does that. Mia Kate is little. Mia Kate bla bla bla." Silence. Then she busts out, "Pu, Pu.....Mia Kate!" I was rolling on the floor.
Kids are so Pu Pu, priceless & Pu Pu precious, especially when they are your own!

We're adding 2 feet to the Field house & thankfully it's not house remodeling!

June 25, 2009 - I woke up at 4am and took a test, of course I couldn't go back to sleep so I was up, heart racing, trying to figure out how to tell Todd, so I wrote in red lipstick on our bathroom mirror. I got back in bed before his alarm went off, & so when he went to the bathroom I hear "oh really? aaawww." And he came out so excited. He said he knew I was pregnant, so he really wasn't surprised. Which if I had blogged back when we had Gracie, it would've been an entire different scenario to write about. More drama, for sure! It was my birthday, same bathroom, different test but positive!! I was SO extatic! I was having a birthday party, and we were having margaritas, I took it because I was 10 days late & if I were pregnant I wouldn't want to be drinking. What a great birthday present! I couldn't tell Todd because I knew he wouldn't react well & would ruin the party, so I told him when everyone left while sitting on our diving board. I asked, "So do you wanna know a birthday present I got at 7am I didn't tell you about?" I got a look & told him. Oh my! He had me take another test to be sure! And finally after composing himself we went to tell his parents because they were flying back home the next day! They were SO excited being their first grand baby. So this time it's been really sweet because he was ready!! I prayed that he would be ready for #2, and Gracie helped break him in! You go girl! :)

I wasn't sure if we should tell Gracie right away & before we got the chance to talk about it, she heard Todd excited, came bursting through our bedroom door and says "WHAT?" with a big smile. So funny! SO Todd says, "you're going to have a baby brother or sister, there's a baby in mommy's tummy!" Not sure what she's gonna say, put one hand up and says "I know!" Whatever! Silly girl. Since then she's getting more & more excited.

August 4, 2009 - Our visit to hear the heart beat. The doctor looked all around and couldn't hear it. During this time, Gracie's saying "I hear the baby!" "There's the baby!" "Is that the baby?" The longer it took, the more anxious I got more for her feelings of what if?

Thankfully, we get a sonogram right away before the tech goes to lunch & there the baby is, kicking it's legs, arms moving all over, it looked like it jumped in the water. Little heart beating. Oh it was adorable watching such a tiny little thing with everything already moving. Todd says "we got another feisty one on the way!"

Gracie was in aw of the baby & stood on the chair to get a closer look. I took the photos while lying there & tears welling up. Seeing my baby watch another baby, it's something you just can't describe. What gifts from God.

Her one question was, "Is the baby blue?" We laughed and said no, the baby is your color. "What color is the baby? It's not blue?" She was very concerned. The innocent mind of a child, right? Why wouldn't it be smurf blue? It appears that way on the big screen!

It's very surreal bringing your first baby into the dr's office that you went to when they were in your belly, not knowing who they were, what they were going to look like & then to bring them in for the next baby, wondering the same thing. If everything is growing good, healthy & all. She had to come in the bathroom with me & she insisted she needed to pee in a cup, too. I had to go in another room, so Todd helped her, what a good sport! Hilarious.

We've had some really sweet moments & talks about the new baby.
When I was 6 weeks along I showed Gracie this photo of a baby fetus and according to her interpretation, this is a baby dolphin dirl. (girl)

While putting Gracie to bed, we pray for the baby & for Lulu's baby because she is also pregnant with her first YAY! (Gracie's Aunt) and after we got done praying she looks at me and says "Your belly is gonna get big!" And I can only imagine she learned this from my friend Katie who recently had her baby & watched her belly grow this year before she had Sam, which is such great timing for Gracie to grasp the whole concept of brothers & sisters (since she watched Jack have a new baby brother) & big bellies. Then she asked if she could lay on me, so we laid in the floor on my belly and I said, "are you excited about the baby?" "YES!" "Do you think it's a boy or a girl?" "A girl!" So you're going to have a sister? "Ya, I'm gonna have a sister!" So cute!

July 2nd, she was snuggling so sweetly on my belly and just smiling at me, and I asked "are you laying on the baby?" And she says "it's TWO babies in your tummy, mommy!" "I don't think so!" I said. And she looked at me like, how do you know?
Since then she is very sure there have been 2 babies in my belly, a boy and a girl. But now since the sonogram, she saw only one so now it's just a sister she says. Todd was practically jumping up & down that there's just one.

Today she asked if she could have a picture of the baby, so I printed it out for her and she told me later that this is her friend. Aaaawww. Melt my heart, I said yes, he or she is going to be your best friend and buddy!!

Gracie's 1st Big Girl Bike!

(Sanibel photos are below Gramma K K!)


We went to Toys R Us today & let Gracie pick out a "little bike" as she calls it. She thinks they are so cute because they are little bikes. Even though we think she's a big girl graduating into a "big bike" we can't call it that!

Before she would ride she had to put rocks in her bag & take Benson her lizard for a ride.

And now she's all done riding for the moment but looks like she had fun!! YAY!