Momma's Bed

I was in Michigan last week spending some time with my dad. Grace insisted on having Mark read her bedtime stories in our bed and wanted to fall asleep in "Momma's bed." So, that became their routine and he would then move her to her crib after she fell asleep. He left her in bed the night I got home so I could move her to her crib. She had a wet diaper so I was changing it and she still had her eyes shut and was sucking her thumb. She slowly opened her eyes and then a big smile came through the thumb sucking. I got a sweet, "Mommy!" And then she reached up, grabbed my face, and pulled me down for a kiss. Then she quietly went back to sleep. How do little kids now exactly what you need?

Milkshake!

Kids eat free at Steak and Shake on Sundays...a nice treat after church!



P.S. That strawberry shake was "supposed" to be mine!

Job!

This week I accepted a job offer from Colorado State University! I will be starting as an Assistant Professor in August. We are so thrilled that the job search is done and that we are fortunate enough to end up in a location that is so beautiful! The icing on the cake is that Mark was able to secure a transfer (within 30 minutes of asking!) to Fort Collins so he will be able to stay with his same company. This is great as it will make our move much less complicated and it was nice to see that his company values him so much that they were able to take what is often times a very bureaucratic process and expedite it to help us make our decision!

Signing the letter!

We've had this map up in Mark's office since the job search started. We would put push pins in all the locations where I was applying. I applied to a lot of jobs--I would say it was really a full time job trying to find a job. So glad it is over!

Randoms

Having a snack at the breakfast bar like a big girl

"Cheese!"

Opening her Valentine's gift from Grandma and Grandpa Applebee

Using Daddy as a jungle gym

Notice the big girl panties...not potty trained yet but we're starting to work on it. A few minutes after this photo we had a puddle under her chair at the dinner table! :-(

If you're happy and you know it...

I bet you're happy after watching that video, huh? :-)

Grace's Superbowl Prediction

Running in circles

Grace literally ran in circles around me today. She did this for about 15 minutes before I thought to grab the camera. She proceeded to do it again after her nap. Where she gets her energy, I have no idea--if I could capture it and bottle it we'd have a huge college fund for her! Part of the time she is singing "Happy Birthday" (she just misses the "birthday" part so it's "Happy to you...").

Alphabet

We sing the alphabet dozens of times a day in our house...

More Gracie and Daddy time

I had another trip to make this past week and left Sunday. Mark and Grace headed down to Indy to spend some time with Nana, Papa, Aunt Amy, Uncle Greg and Anna.

Building a marble maze

Ready to drop the marble!

Our little reader

Anna--getting so big!

Grace loved waving the keys in front of Anna's face

A brisk walk

The fresh air put someone to sleep!

Nana's girls

Snack time for Anna

Grace trying to teach Anna how to roll over


Unfortunately my flight home on Tuesday was canceled due to the massive winter storm that hit 1/2 the country. I was not able to make it home until Thursday! Here's the view from the hotel window--luckily I was warm and well fed during my extended stay!

And the snow fell back at home too! Actually it was ice, snow, ice. According to Mark, it was like shoveling concrete and we have two broken snow shovels to prove it!

It was nice and warm in the house though!

I arrived home around 2:30 on Thursday and knew it would be tough to get into my car because of the ice that had hit Indy. Well, getting into my car wasn't the hard part. Once I got in, this is what I saw...

I got out of the car and this noticed that besides the broken windshield, I also had a huge dent on top of my car...


Thank goodness for insurance! I went to the body shop yesterday and they are going to have to put an entire new roof on it. What a trip!

Since I've been home, Grace has been a little bit clingy. To tell you the truth, I kind of love all the "mommy, mommy, mommy!" I was headed to the grocery store today and we gave her the choice of coming with me or watching basketball with dad. She chose basketball but as I was pulling out of the driveway I think she changed her mind...

Poor girl!

Cookies!

Saturday we had Jenn, Porter, and Grey over for a play date. I baked cookies before the Linvills arrived because I thought it would be fun for Grace and Porter to get to decorate them. As always they had a blast together and I think they managed to take out every toy in our house!

A cookie just for "G"!

Sprinkles!

Such concentration!

I just love the cheesy two-year old smiles of Porter and Grace!

Finished product!

Loving on baby Grey!