I need advice

Hi everyone. I need your advice. Crede's room has been giving me grief. I thought after hanging this vinyl on his wall I would feel like it was done, but there's still something missing. Any suggestions?! Some framed art on the walls? I don't know. This is why I am asking for help! Here are the photo's I took today. This is above his bed (the crib is set up right now, but it'll be a bed when he gets old enough)



This is as you walk in his room. I need to find some fun things to put on his shelf without it looking too cluttered. Any thoughts?

See that "UNDER CONSTRUCTION" sign? I think I am going to have some "CAUTION" tape made (out of vinyl too) and stretch it across that small wall about 3 times. Also, on his dresser I'll put a small lamp. Any other ideas?!

Okay so that's his room. I leave any ideas to you. ANY. Thanks for taking your time to think of little ol' me. :)

Photo SHOOT!!

aaaahhhhhh now isn't that a cute picture? This looks like a little boy who has been THREATENED not to move his hands in his lap, to keep his feet together, and who is trying to tell me, "I do NOT want to be here right now."

Well after some pretty crappy pictures that we had taken last month, we finally got all our pictures updated. Mine - I'm not so sure about, being 7 1/2 months pregnant and all...blech. BUT my kids are sure cute, and this is why I wanted to post these pictures. They really turned out nice. (for Target portraits).

Grace and Morgan giving Crede a big smooch...

all my kiddies - Grace is being quite the goofball here - but that's just who she is.

Morgan's turned out great. When we get her pictures taken, she always turns into a spaz and worries to DEATH how she is smiling. Also, it BUGS me when I get my portraits back and my kids eyes are out of focus. If you look at your portraits, I bet you'll see what I'm talking about. Anywho - this picture below is my absolute favorite of her. That's just my Morgan to a "t".

Here are a couple more...

and lastly...

Okay now let's start this next section with a little story. I went to Target in Riverdale to get Grace's and Crede's birthday pictures. They turned out soooooooooooooooo crappy. The pictures below are the "before" pictures. Oh - they're just horrible. The photographer would say, "okay, now....Grace, sit here, hold your hands here and, ready...... hold still! ....... ONE ......... TWO .................................................................................................. hold still! ........................... THREE! So by then what do you think Grace and Crede were doing? Well NOT smiling and NOT looking at the camera would be a good guess.

Lets start out by looking at the "not so great" pics. I think in this one, she was going for the all "natural" innocent angel look?!?

now Grace? hooooooooooold still. wait a minute...... hoooooold still......... wait! You're not looking at the camera! Oh who cares, I'll just take it anyway.

Now here are all our re-takes. Grace had a fun time with our new photographer, and she was REALLY good with the kids. This time we went to the Target in Layton. If anyone goes there, Heather is the manager and the photographer, and she is very good with kids.

I love the look on Graces face in this next one.

and lastly...

Now for Crede. Same thing. He's a boy, he's two, and the photographer was kind of mad that he wouldn't stand up with JUST his thumbs tucked in his pocket while she counted to three. Nope, couldn't be his entire hand in his pocket. Just his thumb. Well here are the results of HIS sitting.

Does he need to go to the bathroom?! Who knows.

There's a perfect caption to go with this one....I just can't quite put my finger on it. Is he folding his arms? Is he cold? What a flattering pose.

NOW here are the retakes. This next one makes him look quite handsome I must say. He's just a cute little boy.

Here's a close-up....

And here's my favorite of Crede. Cute cute.

Anyway, I thought I'd post our new pics. Thanks for thinking that they are as cute as I think they are...heh heh. No really - thanks for stopping by, and have a lovely day.

Let's Reminisce...shall we?

As I put the finishing touches on our nursery (for the 4th and FINAL time...hopefully) I got to thinking about our journey to this point in life. First of all, here are the pictures of the nursery:

I mainly took the pictures because I'm planning on selling this stuff after this baby has outgrown it...but I figured since I have the pictures I might as well make some use of them.


As I start to reminisce, I'm going to start in stage#1...the pre-children stage in our marriage. I recall the time where I had a set schedule. Not only for myself, but for my cleaning and organizing. I would clean every Saturday, I would do laundry during that day as well, and I would often use phrases like "MY kids will NEVER...."

I remember the pre-children days when I knew that I would have angel children that wouldn't DARE disobey. I wouldn't need to child-proof my house because MY kids would be SO well behaved that they would leave my antique porcelain figurines alone. (I don't have antique porcelain figurines, but it's just the principle of the thing. ) MY kids would NEVER talk back, they would be perfectly behaved, and we would be the envy of all. We would all be dressed to the hilt, never have runny noses (and MY kids would NEVER pick them for heaven sakes), and I would never be the cause of a scene in the grocery store because MY kids would NEVER throw fits.


Stage #2
Let's call this stage...oh...the Only Child Stage (yeah I know. Reeeeaal original).

We FINALLY had our first child. We were prepared. We bought anything and everything we would EVER need for this baby. She had the perfect nursery. She had a wardrobe that Paris Hilton would be jealous of. She had 100% of our attention 100% of the time. If she cried, Chance and I would discuss what techniques needed to be used in that particular situation. Chance and I even fought about naptimes, whether or not to let Morgan "cry it out" (because it seemed so dang cruel for pete's sake).

Morgan was by FAR the most beautiful child in this world...couldn't everyone else tell this? I would read to her not only in the womb before she was born, but as a newborn I would show her black and white flashcards because that helped to stimulate her mind and vision. While I was pregnant I faithfully kept a journal about how "amazing" pregnancy was, and how blessed I was to feel life inside me. I would play Mozart, Bach, you name it.

As our first child grew, I read books, I sang songs constantly, I even got out my art books from college and taught about Picasso, Van Gogh, Degas.

Now.

Let's move on to Stage #3.
The 2nd Child.

We tried for a couple of years to get Grace here. My pregnancy was scary - I was on bed-rest for a few weeks and was TERRIFIED that I would lose this baby. She was very anticipated and welcome when she finally arrived.

Luckily, Paris Hilton's wardrobe worked for this one too...so she had everything she needed. I felt GOOD. I had another little girl, she was perfect, I loved cuddling with her every chance I got, and I VOWED that THIS time I would just enjoy her, and enjoy the little stages she was in. I was determined to Breast Feed (and when THAT wasn't working, I pumped exclusively for 3 months). I was LOVING the newborn baby stage. My patience was endless. I never yelled, I was living my dream. **sigh**

Ssccccrreeeeeeeeeeeaaach! ***sound of car breaks***

When Grace was 3 months old, guess what? Yep..I'm pregnant again. Come again?!?! So that put a SCREECHING hault to my good attitude. Instead of focusing on art lessons, music lessons, reading and stimulating my child, I was just plain ORNERY. (I love those awesome pregnancy hormones...ya know?) My children would only be 12 months apart, and I was FREAKING out. Remember the days when I had schedules for everything?!?

Let's fast forward to
Stage #4
Dwindling Sanity

Yep, the 3rd child arrived, and my sanity departed.

Laundry? What used to take me 1/2 a day now takes me 1 1/2 days to complete. Let's talk about pre-treating. Before my sanity left me, I ALWAYS pre-treat my clothes. Any little spot or potential stain I would attack with vigor, and if THAT didn't work, I would attempt other methods until that stain was finito. Now? It's a good day when I am folding clothes and I don't find a stain that's been permanently heated into a shirt.

Cleaning? Hmmmm.....I am not even going to admit how often I clean now. Mopping my kitchen floor has become a wistful thought. I changed my kids sheets the other day and thought to myself, "I REALLY should be doing this more often". I think I found a few long lost toys, socks, and other such items neatly stuffed in the foot of their beds.

Oh, and patience? Well that's totally gone as well.

If one of our kids throws a fit? Well....lets see how far they can throw it. That's especially fun when I am at Walmart and Grace is screaming at the TOP of her lungs.

Crying it out during the night? Oh yeah...I'm all for that. Chance, at this point, has resorted to wearing earplugs to bed so that HE can at least go to work the next day and not be a zombie.

Childproofing our house? Well, DUH! It was either (a) yell at the kids nonstop to "quit touching that!" or (b) move it out of the house until the kids get older. I chose option (b).

I think it's quite amusing how much MY attitude has changed through these stages. If you would have told me 7 years ago that this is my life, I wouldn't have believed you. Back then, I knew I would live in the perfectly kept house with perfectly kept kids. Now I realize that there are SOOO many more important things than a clean house and clean kids.

I am so blessed to have HEALTHY and HAPPY kids and a house that is comfortable. I love the fact that I don't have to worry that my clean house will be wrecked if my kids play with their toys. I am grateful that I can do something fun for myself without feeling like I have to keep a perfectly manicured home, and that I have a husband that doesn't mind a little clutter here and there.

Sure, my kids aren't perfect - but neither am I! I just hope that as they grow up, they will know how much they mean to our family, and how much they are loved. I also hope that they will appreciate us as parents. I'm so glad that my attitude and outlook have changed through these different stages, because I really don't know how happy I would really be if I was only concerned with perfection.

Anyway, thanks for listening to the ramblings of a semi-sane Mom of 3 1/2 kids.

The End.

Oh boy.

I can't believe that it's been a whole month since I blogged. I started out with the best intentions, and those intentions aren't enough apparently. Lets see....what's happened in a month...

ME

I am now 28 1/2 weeks pregnant. I'm huge, I have no waistline, and I get winded sitting still. I crave sweets 24/7 and I'm afraid that's going to be my downfall. Oh, and did I mention that my patience has left permanently? Thanks to a husband that still loves me even through all of this, and through the fact that I am still snoring like a lumberjack, I am not totally losing my mind. I think that I only have about 10 more weeks to go....and I am COUNTING DOWN.

We're still having trouble with names - and if ANYONE has any cool suggestions, we'd be happy to hear them. Seriously...any.

Mothers Day: I really LOVE Mothers Day. I love that I get to hear my little kids sing in church on Sunday, and I love the effort that Chance puts towards me on that day. He really does try (even though we're nick-naming this Mothers Day as the "Maverik Mothers Day". . . you can probably come up with your own conclusion there.) to make my day special. I got some roses at church and even a Kit Kat (mmmmmm....chocolate.) My Mom came over for dinner and brought a...da da daaaaaaaa MRS. BACKERS CAKE. Oh how I love Mrs Backers. (For those of you that don't know, Mrs. Backers is a bakery in Salt Lake City that has the BEST cakes. They have been around since MY mom was a little girl. President Hinckley had a birthday cake made there for one of his birthday's too. If you EVER get a chance, stop in - get a cupcake or two, a danish, some fresh bread, even a triangle. You won't be sorry.) We ate dinner, stuffed ourselves with cake, and relaxed the rest of the night. It was a very good day.

I played the piano for our neighbor's/friends wedding as well. I was VERY stressed about that day, but it ended up going really well. I had a lot of fun, and I got a very yummy lunch too. Thanks to the Coombs for that day. They are the best people I know.

I'm also looking forward to summertime because I have some fun plans for me and the kiddo's. We have a summer movie pass, and am planning on going each Wednesday throughout the summer...we have school lunch to look forward to (it's free, yay!), and I seriously think that I will be spending most of my summer sitting in a kiddie pool out in the backyard while I watch the kids play. (let's not linger on that image...mmmmmm kay?) I'm already too hot and it's not even 80 degree's yet. We have a couple of fun camping trips to plan, and I am possibly going to try to sneak in a mural for an old friend of mine - and try to get THAT done before the baby comes. All of this before the end of July. Yay!

My last thought (and yes, it's very random): when you are driving down the road, and you see something dead on the side, or in the middle...whatever...do you get the heebie jeebies? I was coming home from my OB appointment yesterday and saw some gross leftovers on the freeway from SOMETHING that died, and shuddered BADLY....and then I thought, "does anyone else have this issue?" okay - let's move on.

CHANCE

He is working when he HAS work, and we're just grateful for any income that we can get at this point. He is continually obsessed with hunting, shed hunting, putting in for hunts, you name it.

Chance is so excited to be a daddy again, and he is always rubbing my tummy and talking to the baby to get it to move. His favorite thing to do is to jiggle my tummy and then wait for the baby to kick his hand. As a side note....that's not MY favorite thing for him to do. Chance is always thinking of names (some crazy, some kind-of okay) and he keeps looking at little babies in our ward and neighborhood and saying things like, "Aren't you excited?? You forget all the fun things that babies do!" He's such a good Dad.

I fell in our church parking lot one day after church, while holding Crede, and after being concerned for me, Chance made a day of it, and teased me non-stop. He makes me crazy because I CANNOT keep a straight face with him even if I'm ticked off. So all day long, I was forced to laugh at myself. Chance and Morgan even made some pretty cute artwork over our ENTIRE driveway. Here's some pictures of the finished product:

Just for the record, this isn't really how it ended. Crede was just fine - no cuts or scraps anywhere. Chance likes the flare for a good story.

MORGAN

She got to go on her first field trip yesterday to Hoagle Zoo, and had the time of her life. She keeps talking about it, and she wants to go back as soon as possible. We cut some bangs on our little Morgan about a month ago, and that didn't turn out as I'd hoped, so now we're growing THOSE out, and probably won't cut anymore for a long, long time.

Morgan is being such a good big sister to Grace. Everyday she is wanting to go outside to play and Grace tags along with her each day. Morgan does complain a little, but she watches out for Grace the WHOLE time, and helps her if she needs it. She'll tighten Grace's bike helmet, and she'll help her on the swings.

Speaking of bikes, Chance has helped her overcome her 2-wheeler fear, and she's now riding a 2-wheeler FINALLY. After last summer's fall with the whole "head split-open" thing, she has been a tad leary. Yay bug!! You are doing so awesome on your bike.

Morgan also wrote her first book recently. It's called, "The Three Pony's" and it's "rittin by Morgan". She drew all the pictures herself, and she sounded out all the words herself. It's about the cutest thing ever, and like I always say, she's a genius. I'm totally not biased. She's a genius. Her kindergarten teacher read it to her class as their morning reading book. Cute cute.

GRACE

Poor Grace. We bought her some "thumb guards" yesterday to help her stop sucking her thumb. They look like a PAIN to wear, and she complains about them a lot. Her teeth are in desperate need of the thumb guards though, and we're hopeful that they will work. Basically, they are our last resort.

She is totally potty trained now, even at night. She has been pretty easy compared to her older sister, and I'm SOOOOOOO grateful for that. Way to go Gracie.

Grace and Crede have really started playing well together (about 80 percent of the time), and it's really funny to listen to their conversations. They played house this morning for about an hour, and Grace kept insisting that he "come eat his dinner!" He kept saying, "okay, I'm coming!" The other 20 percent of the time, Grace is taking Crede's toys, and Crede is screaming his best blood-curdling scream he can muster. Our neighbors probably wonder what is going on in here. **sigh**

CREDE

Well he's still my cute little boy. His new thing is that he laughs about EVERYTHING. He has this throaty cackle that he uses all the time, and he doesn't sit still for anything. I really think that he takes after his Dad. He is so funny. He now can count to 10...I'm thinking even 12 or 13....yeah I know - he's a genius too.

I'm finishing Crede's bedroom (the decor) and am having a fun time doing it. I'm making some dump trucks/cement trucks/back hoe to hang on his wall, and I made a cute (wait...let's say cool instead.) magnet board as well. I think that it's going to look pretty neato when it's all finished. I'll take pictures.


Well I'm thinking that is our month all wrapped up nice with a big bow on top. If I think of anything else that's happened, I'll make sure to update. Have a lovely day, and we'll keep in touch!

Here Comes Peter Cotton-tail...

Oh my word...I really do love Easter. It's spring, the tulips in our yard are coming up, it's FINALLY getting warm outside, and yes, there is a LOT of candy to be had (by me). I went through about 3 bags of Cadbury Mini Eggs, and about 6 boxes of girl scout cookies this spring so far. **eh hem** I know, I know....I have a small sweet tooth lately. I tend to rationalize the fact that I'm pregnant, and I haven't gained THAT much so far..... let's move on, shall we??

Here are our kids Saturday morning before all the Easter Egg hunts began. We woke them up extra early to get them all ready, and Chance hid Easter eggs out in our front yard for a "practice run". This is to guarantee that our kids will optimize their candy/egg intake during the crazy Easter Hunt. I crack up every time Crede pulls this particular face. I say, "Crede! Look at Mom!" He'll just stick his chin up in the air and look at me down his nose. This is what I got in this first set of photo's. Chance is holding Crede's Easter basket and showing him how to put eggs inside and keep running. (Silly Dad). The group photo is of Morgan, Grace and Crede with their cousins, Aspen, Tucker, Tatem and Hadlee before the Clinton City Easter Hunt began.




Now THESE photo's need a little 'splainin'. First off, the bottom pics are after the Easter Hunt...Grace eating candy already (and drooling it all down her face), Crede chasing down the Easter bunny to give him hugs (he took a liking to that guy), and our cute little kids in front of the Easter Bunny. (Morgan made sure to inform me that it wasn't the "real" Easter Bunny, because she saw his head inside that mask. Thanks bug....I was a little concerned.)

Have you ever eaten an "airhead"? Well Grace had one Saturday evening and it turned her tongue completely blue. I was cracking up. Oh, and to top it off, she still sucks her thumb, and it turned THAT blue as well. Nice. We made sure to brush their teeth extra well that night. The last few pictures are on Easter morning as the kids realized the Easter Bunny came. Hooray!! (The Easter bunny almost forgot to get the baskets out, but shhhhhhh.....you don't have to say a word.)

Here's my 3 little kids before leaving for Church. It was our Stake Conference and we had to leave extra early that morning. I'm tellin' ya....I am SOOOOOO not a morning person, and the last 2 days about killed me. Don't they look cute in their Easter best?

Grace, I need to formally apologize to you for a minute. See, you get all of Morgan's "hand-me-downs." That's not a bad thing, HOWEVER, you are not as small as Morgan was at your age, and so I put on all these "cute" clothes that I think will look wonderful on you, and they're just a TAD small. (including this year's Easter Dress). I'm sorry little Racie Roo. You're a cute little girl, and one day I'll figure out how to dress ya'.

Okay so after Stake Conference, we raced home, put the kids to bed for naps, (the song "These are a few of my Favorite things" comes to mind during this time of day) and started getting geared up for the Bailey family party at the "Grand-Bailey's" house. I had to make a salad and pack up for what seemed like an entire weekend in order to "be prepared" for any type of incident. Poopie pants? check. Not in time for the potty? check. Cold weather all of a sudden? check. Mosquito's? check. UVA and UVB rays? check. Dinner spilled all over the front of you? check. You get the picture, right?

Well here's all the pictures of the grand-kids at the Bailey's before they were unleashed for the big Easter Egg hunt. (There are 14 1/2 grand kids so far. WOW!) I was laughing at Grace and Crede...they feed off of each other and decided that Grace's basked would make a nice hat for Crede. He's looking at her and thinking, "How do I look?" Morgan is coloring her princess picture that she got during the hunt. (I forgot, she lost another tooth. That makes 2 now. Yay Morgan!)

Well as you can see, our Easter is quite the ordeal. I love it SO MUCH, but I am completely pooped afterwards. Oh, and to top it off, Crede's birthday was actually on Easter this year. I didn't dare attempt anything more than what we were already doing, so this is why we celebrated it a day later. So tonight I sit here looking at our HUGE tupperware bowl FULL of candy and thinking that it should last us at least until Halloween.

Ahh...my little Crede. Happy Birthday!

Here's my very first train cake. I got this idea off of the Internet, and Crede absolutely adores trains, so - TA DA...here it is. Whenever we go over the train tracks in the car, if there is no train, Crede starts throwing a FIT, so we've had to start telling him the train is asleep...just a side note there.


Yep, here's a close-up of the "engine". How do ya' like the oreo headlight? The only thing I'd change...well I'm not going to say - it'll bug you too if I point it out (but if I DON'T point it out, you might think that I just didn't care.....oh never mind....just enjoy the cake ).

Grrrowwwer! That tiger cage sure is life-like. And the caboose? It only needs one axle to support itself. It's got amazing balancing ability.

After spending about the entire day frosting this dang thing, I had to run Morgan to her new gymnastics class, run home and try to shove dinner down my family's throats before the "partaaaay" started with the Bailey extended family. After eating our gourmet meal of Macaroni and Cheese (with a side of peaches or applesauce for that nutrition jazz) I had Crede sit next to his cake for a shot. Here's my cute little 2 year old looking at his CHOO CHOOOOOOO!

The family finally showed up, we finally lit the 2 little candles on the top, and we finally sang "Happy Birthday" to Crede. He was just a-grinnin' during our song, and he blew out the candles on the FIRST blow. No spit or ANYTHING. Yep, he's talented. So talented in fact, I should just stop there so that I don't sound like a biased parent. Morgan is in the background doing an "empathy blow" (you know....like when you're watching TV and you find yourself smiling....and you're a little embarrassed because you're by yourself, and you didn't realize that you were enjoying that commercial so much) , and Aspen (Crede and Morgan's cousin) is leaning in for the front-row view.

From this last picture, you can probably guess what one of his presents is. Yep, you might guess a ball, but you'd be wrong. He got some matchbox cars from his Grandma Angell. He was carting those around ALL day. His favorite place to play with them? In the windowsill. Morgan and Grace even snagged some to play "house" with. Grace's rendition consisted of a lot of yelling and phrases like, "NO! You go potty!" Morgan's was a little more laid back with phrases like, "let's go play over here away from those boys.." yadda yadda - you get the drift.

One little funny thing that Crede's doing right now is the fact that he ALWAYS has to have a ball. Let me specify....a bouncy ball. They fit perfectly into his little sweaty palm, and he seriously carries them EVERYWHERE. Sometimes he'll have 2 - one in each hand. Once I put him down for a nap with one, and when I went in to check on him, that ball was still in his clutches....sound asleep and all. Oh, how I love my little boy.

Okay, and I'll quick fill you in on what he got for his birthday. Matchbox cars, a big bouncy ball, a big dump truck, some way cute flip-flops and shorts, and a lawn-mower (which is nice because our old one lost a wheel last summer and I wasn't sure how that was going to work this year).

Crede, we love you SO much. I am so happy to have a son. You are MY little boy, and I love the fact that you are a "Momma's Boy". Dad, on the other hand, is glad that you are growing out of that stage. You are my only child with MY color of eyes, and you are the smartest 2 year old in the world. We love you! Happy Birthday.

Happy Birthday Grace!

Well here's our birthday #3 in the last month. Grace turned 3 on the 30th, and she had a very fun birthday. Here's my attempt at some flip-flops. Grace was pretty excited about them, and they tasted o' so-yummy! I like making cakes for kids who don't really care what their cake is. Morgan these days is so picky, it's crazy! Grace was just lovin' the M&M's on the side and all the FROSTING!!!

And here's our birthday girl cheesin' it up with her cake.

We technically didn't celebrate her birthday until a day later because that was the only time we could have her family birthday party. When you're 3, you don't really know the difference, so - sorry Grace! She got to go to the Doctor earlier that day (which is always such a treat), the Doctor said she was perfect and healthy, and she didn't even need any shots. YAY! I have a question though. Who likes trying to help their 3 or 4 or even 5 year old pee into a cup?? That HAS to be my least favorite thing about going to the Doctor these days. EW! We got the root-beer sucker as requested and after Grace gave the nurse a hug (her own idea I'll have you know) we left to go home.

Grace was DYING to unwrap her huge present that I wrapped earlier that day (in Santa wrapping paper) and put in the front room - she would NOT leave the thing alone. Crede even walked into the kitchen with a big strip of ripped wrapping paper that he tore off the package, little bugger. After policing the finished birthday cake and wrapped present, it was time for her Partaaaayyy!

For her birthday she received, (1) big purple ball that you sit on and bounce (it has the Disney Princesses on it - so Grace LOOOOOVES it), (1) Kitchenaid-looking mixer and cookie cutters and measuring spoons to use in our "kitchen" downstairs, (1) pair of barbie princess slippers, (1) Elmo book that makes sounds (which Crede has commandeered), (1) "Bolt" movie (which Morgan has commandeered), and OUR present that we gave her which was a big wooden dollhouse.

Here's Grace while singing "Happy Birthday", all ready to blow out her candles. During Morgan's birthday, I about turfed it with her cake in hand, and you know something? I about turfed it with THIS cake as well. Chance kept calling me a spaz. At least I didn't completely drop the thing, right? I just chalk it up to being pregnant and off-balance. It seems as though more accidents happen to me while pregnant. Anyone else have these issues??!

Well we partied it up last night with the Bailey's, and then when everyone left, picked up all the toys that the 10 kids played with, yelled at OUR kids to get in their pajama's, (wait, not yelled...we asked in a gentle, calming voice), and collapsed onto the couch to watch a PBS "Frontline" special on how the health care system in this country is very screwed up. What a finish to an exciting day.

This morning I spent a little bit of time trying to put together Grace's big Doll-House that we gave her. Here's her playing with it in her room. I don't think she's even gotten dressed yet today due to the fact that she's too busy playing with all her toys.

Now I realize those pajama's are a TAD small....but Grace refuses to wear anything different. They have Disney princesses on them, and so they are golden in her eyes. The shirt is a nice mid-riff, and would be totally in style during the early "Friends" episodes. Not so much now. And it's almost Spring, right? So capri's are all the rage again.

Well Grace, we sure love you, and love the fact that you are potty trained, that you actually talk now, and that you are turning into such a pretty little girl. We're SOOO blessed to have you in our family, and are grateful for each day we have with you. Happy Birthday little girl.