Mini Matt?

Can we say Mini Matt?

This girl not only loves her daddy, but she looks like him as well...
At least I think so, especially when she is wearing overalls from when he was young.

On another topic, here is Grace trying out a new toy that we received.

Thank you Cameron and Madeline for the slide, she loves it!
And down we go!!!!!

New Experience

A quick snapshot to start off the blog....
So Grace is now 10 months old! I can hardly believe that one year is just around the corner. But with all of the new things that she learns/figures out daily I should not be too shocked that she is growing up.

This is all to say that today Grace and I had a new experience. We went shopping for clothes at a department store! Yes, I know it might be hard to believe but during my pregnancy and also during her life so far I have not bought any clothes for her from a department store. Yes, I have purchased about 10-15 dollars of clothes for her but it was all from thrift stores or yard sales.

It all began when I was reading one of my American Baby magazines. They had a 20% discount coupon to Gymboree. I looked at it and thought, "wow that might be nice, but Gymboree is just so expensive (at least compared to my usual department store...the fine establishment of Wally World!). Then I got to thinking well, if I could get it off of the clearance rack, it might not be too bad.

Add that to the fact that Grace would not nap today, and I just needed to get out of the house. So I grabbed the coupon, Grace, and the diaper bag and headed out the door! We got to Gymboree and looked around. I found this outfit on the clearance rack :)
It is for 18-24 months so she will wear it spring/summer/fall or sometime around there. I thought it was so cute. And to make it even better, with all of the discounts and coupons it was only $10.00! Forgive me, I am proud of my find.

Her first store bought outfit purchased by me...It was a good experience.

Not About Grace...as much

So it seems as if this blog is all about Grace (as it should be) but this post...and probably only this post...will not be only about Grace.

Yes, Matt and I have been doing things also. So here is an update on us.

Matt has been working on his plants. Trying to find places to put them inside for the winter, taking care of them, and just playing in dirt in general. He has been working on his computers a lot, what he is always doing I am not quite sure, but he seems to enjoy it and have great success.

I have been getting back into sewing. I have also been getting in some running (this morning I did a little over 2 miles).

We both have been enjoying ringing handbells for our church. This past Sunday was our first performance. I think it went pretty well, and we even had fun doing it. I am so glad that the church has been providing a babysitter for Grace during practices.

We also went on an all day long date this past Saturday. Matt and I drove to Raleigh, NC to see Dave Ramsey live. We have been fans of Dave Ramsey for about two years now. It was very nice to see him live and to hear the information again. Grace spent all day with Amy, Mike, Austin and Adam. From what I understand all had a great time, and those boys wore Grace out! Thanks for watching her. It was good to have a day with just Matt, but it helps remind me how much I miss Grace when I am away from her for that long.

Life is busy, but it is fun!

Milestones

1. Grace took 11 steps in a row (holding on to nothing) yesterday. I think that she was showing off for the neighbors that came over last evening.

2. This one is a very large and important milestone...especially considering that I am a librarian and Matt is one who loves books also...it has been about 2 weeks since Grace has tried to eat a book! She is now holding them and actually opening them up, not just putting them in her mouth.

3. Grace has moved to eating about one to two meals by herself. By that I mean that Matt and I place finger foods on her tray and she feeds herself. Cubed meat, cheese, noodles, well pretty much anything that you can cut up into very small cubes. She loves it all! (She especially loves chasing down peas)

4. Grace is now in 12 month clothes (not because she out grew all of her 6-9 month, but because her 12 month clothes have more warm items for fall/winter). Which also means that many holidays are coming up...Halloween, Thanksgiving, 1st birthday, Christmas, etc. We are gearing up for lots of travel, excitement, and new experiences. We are looking forward to the next two months, and everything that they bring with them.

Happy Birthday Sue

So those of you who read my blog might be a little confused about my header picture. Yes it is a picture of a cake smash, but no it is not her first birthday cake smash...that will come in about three more months.

Matt's mother (Sue) had a birthday at the beginning of this month. When I asked what Matt wanted to get her, after a long time thinking about it, he stated that he wanted to make her a very special card. He wanted to bake a cake, have Grace tear into it, and put it on a card that said "Hi Grandma, I baked for you a cake. But I eated it!"

So the wheels got set into motion one Saturday. I baked a strawberry cake, made the icing from scratch, put it on my decorative plate, hung a backdrop in our kitchen, set up a tripod for the camera, and had a place for the video camera. Now all we had to do was to wait for Grace to wake up from her nap.

HMMM...What is this?

Yeah, it is sticky. This could be fun!

I need to play a little faster before mommy takes this fun, white, sticky thing away from me.

Hey! It is pink underneath...

Let's see what happens when I smear it all over the floor.

Floor is white...check! Hands are messy...check! Cake is getting destroyed...check! Leg is covered in icing...bonus!

Mommy and Daddy helped me discover the wonders of actually eating the cake. Who knew that you could eat stuff that is so much fun to play with?

I see that there is one section of the cake that has not been touched.
MUST DESTROY IT ALL!

I am pretty proud of my job well done.

Now off to crawl to a new adventure.
(which ended up being located in the bathtub)

Just Because

I love this picture!

Nine Month Well Baby Visit

On Wednesday Grace and I went to see her doctor for her nine month well baby visit. It is nice to only see the doctor every 3 to 4 months. Compared to the once or twice a week that we had soon after she was born....this is a dream!

Her weight is 18 pounds 11 ounces (40th percentile)
Her height is 26 1/2 inches (15th percentile)

She was "showing off" to the nurse and the doctor at the visit by taking a step, crusing along the wall, and going just about anywhere that she had handholds.

The doctor said that she is doing well.

She did however have two shots. She was not feeling very well the rest of the day. And the worst part of it all was that Matt and I were going to a church group that night so she was going to be in nursery. I felt sorry for both her and the women that were to take care of her, but according to them she did well.