Gymnast

When Nana was here in June, Grace learned how to do a somersault.  She's been flipping ever since!

Splash Day

We had Alice and Richie over for a play date in July.  We set up sprinklers and the kiddie pool in the front yard.  The kids had so much fun!  We brought the picnic table to the front porch for lunch and Laura joined us on the porch in her papasan.  Such a fun day!

One month!

On July 16th we celebrated Laura's first month birthday.  As was tradition during Grace's first year, we lit a candle and sang "Happy Birthday!  Laura was a bit overwhelmed at first but she'll get the hang of it!  Our first month with Laura was great.  She proved to be an amazing baby.  She slept a lot but also was very interactive.  On her first month birthday we had our first official smile.  All month she had been grinning but they didn't seem to be in response to anything specific but by one month we could tell she had started responding to us.  During the first month we dealt with a bit of acid reflux which started to disrupt her (and our) sleep.  We started sleeping in the papazan and then transitioned to Fisher Price's Rock and Play.  That thing is a miracle!  The first night we had it and she slept in it (right around the one month mark) she slept through the night!  Seriously! Like from 11 to 6!  And it's just gotten better since.  The first month proved--Laura was exactly what our family had been missing!  And despite the tears in most of these pictures, she really is a happy baby!

Happy Birthday, Daisy!

Our faithful puppy turned eight on July 15th.  Grace was so excited to celebrate Daisy's birthday.  All day, whenever she wanted to do something she said that it was what Daisy wanted for her birthday.  For example, "We have to go home and do puzzles because Daisy loves puzzles and it's her birthday!"  We did get Daisy a special treat and made brownies for the rest of us.  Wishing you many more birthdays sweet puppy!

Root Beer

We have a new candy store in Old Town that has a huge selection of root beer.  We have started buying variety packs and having "tastings."  Yum!!!

Preschool Swim

In mid-July Grace started her solo swim lessons.  She loved it and really progressed throughout the class.  We have a little fish on our hands!

Saturday in Old Town

Grace had her first ballet lesson on July 14th.  After ballet we headed to Old Town to visit the toy store, get some clothes for ballet, and have lunch.  It is so much fun to be out as a family of four!  The best part was as we were leaving the restaurant that we ate lunch at, an older, stuffy looking couple (I had cringed when they sat next to us for fear of a 3 year old tantrum or a newborn crying fit) stopped us to compliment us on how "well-mannered" our children were.  Awesome!  We'll take it--it's not always like that but this happened to be a good day!

 That is one BIG bear!

 Monkey that Grace always looks for (it's outside one of the college bars that has swings at the bar--how cool is that?!)

 Laura sporting her new sun hat (a wee bit too big for her!)

 "Photography by Grace"

  "Photography by Grace"

 Sweet girl!

Faces of Laura--July 13

Big Sister

There is nothing like watching the two of them together!  Although I worry that Grace may be training Laura as if she's a dog, "Shake, Laura.  Shake!  Good job!"

Faces of Laura--July 10

Mommy, Gracie, and Laura Days

Grace very graciously integrated laura into our Mommy/Gracie days.  Every Wednesday and Friday we got to do something fun.  Here are a few pics from our early Girls' Days.

Hanging out in Grace's Room

Storytime at the Farm

Grocery shopping--the store on the northside of town (about 20 minutes from us) has kiddie shopping carts so somedays we would drive all the way there to do our shopping just because Grace loves the carts so much!

Laura loves hanging out in her stroller

Birthday Parties

Grace has a very active social life...and we get to go along for the ride.  She had three birthday parties in three weeks.  Two the weekend before the Fourth of July and another two weeks later.  It is so much fun to see her interact with her friends!

Birthday Party #1 was William's 1/2 birthday party.  William's actual birthday is between Christmas and New Years so his parents held a half birthday.  Grace LOVED the slip and slide!

 Grace, Breanne, and Mercedes

 Grace, Ellie, Addie, William, David, Mercedes, and Breanne--all best buddies from school!

Birthday Party #2--Kyden's 4th birthday at Pump It Up--a local bounce house.  

Laura went to William's party with us but we opted for her to stay home with Mark for the Pump It Up party.  It was my first time away from her--she slept the whole time.  It was nice for me to have some one-on-one time with Grace.

Birthday Party #3--Clara's 4th birthday at Fossil Creek Park pavilion and splash park

Who has time for a social life when you are managing a 3 year old's social calendar? :-)