Holly Jolly Christmas

December is such a busy month! How is it possible that it's already half-way over and Christmas is next weekend? We've had lots of fun getting into the holiday spirit this year. Every year with Dylan just gets more and more enjoyable, and of course I've been enjoying milking Santa Clause as my main parenting technique for the past couple of weeks. I'm thankful that Dylan isn't to the point where Christmas is only "gimmes" but he's also excited to see me wrap presents for our friends and family, finds joy in the decorations and special treats, and truly knows the reason we celebrate Christmas is to honor Christ's birth. Thank you Catholic school!
We've done several Christmas projects together including

frosting cut-out cookies (thanks Auntie Darcy for making them with Dylan!)

making a snowman nightlight and one for his cousins (it still needs a hat....I just haven't ventured to the fabric store).

and a Christmas Tree painting masterpiece.

Last night was the Christmas program at Dylan's school. The preschoolers just sing a couple of songs but the K-8th graders put on a Christmas play. I'm always so impressed by the hardwork they put into their production. Dylan did a great job but didn't crack a smile until they were finished and he was coming back to sit with us. Pretty typical. Grace however took advantage of the opportunity to flirt with the crowd and was carried being shown off by Dylan's teachers. I tried to get a photo of both kids before we left the house....wow! this is easier said than done. Oh well they are still cute!
G was so sleepy because we had to leave the house at her bedtime....but she rallied.

Grace Evelyn- 6 months

I can't believe I'm sitting down to write about Grace turning 6 months old. I remember after she was first born, thinking about how old she would be come Christmas (ok let's be honest I thought of that long before she was even born.....I think I bought her Christmas dress two days after I found out she was a girl!) She's at that glorious age that is all too short and fleeting- sitting up unassisted, happy with a basket of toys in front of her and most importantly not yet moving. Looking back to Dylan at this same age I realize how quickly this stage ends and find myself consciously making every effort to enjoy each and every day of her numbered days of true infancy. She is ready to move and wants to get going- you can see it in her eyes. When she's around Dylan or other kids she literally starts jumping with excitement. I know when she does start moving I will be in trouble because her personality does not indicate that she will ever slow down. It just goes too fast! I'm hoping the next 6 months go a bit slower....I'm not very optimisitic that they will, but I'm just not ready to think about this sweet baby turning 1 quite yet. We have been so incredibly blessed to have this little girl join our family- she just melts your heart with her cheesy grins and excitement. Love, love, love her!!
Bathtime! She loves it!
Just can't get enough of the mutual love between these two. So cute!

Winter Wonderland

It seems that our beautiful fall weather is most definitely over in Spokane. Last week's storm has brought us a total of 20.5 inches so far for the month with an expected 6-9 more inches on the way for tomorrow making it a possiblity to break the record for the most snowfall during the month of November. Moving back from the west side last year we had expected a snow-filled winter, but ended up having very little , so this seems like our first "real" winter as Spokanites. We took advantage of the long Thanksgiving weekend to have a visit with my oldest, dearest friend Sharisse, fit in some sledding and snowplay with the cousins, spend some quality time with Grandma & Grandpa (who had planned to stay in Spokane and babysit while Kevin and I made a trip over the mountains for a wedding....which sadly did not happen due to travel conditions) and decorate for the next holiday- CHRISTMAS! Dylan was a super helper this year and was very excited to get out all of his favorite decorations.

The driveway has stayed clear for 24 hours. Woo hoo!

Sharisse with the kiddos

Deep conversations between brother and sister
Our cuties!
Posing for Grandma & Grandpa's Christmas card

Cinco

Grace is 5 months old. It is crazy how quickly 5 months has passed! She is changing everyday before our very eyes and growing up way.too.fast.

During the past month she has:

• Gotten teeth! One bottom one is out and one more just poked through.


• Started eating solids. In the last week(+) she has decided she loves food- She's tried rice cereal, carrots, sweet potatoes and mushed up bananas. She even tired to swipe a piece of bacon off my plate during the weekend. I have a feeling she'll be a bit of a chow hound, and unfortunately this isn't going to stop her from growing up so fast!


• Rolling every which way. You can put her down a blanket but if you walk away you are likely that she has rolled her way to somewhere else.
  
• Started grabbing, grabbing, grabbing. Her favorites are necklaces, noses, hair and shirts.

Grace continues to LOVE watching her big brother and is already trying to figure out a way to keep up with him. She's already getting up on her knees and rocking! Dylan is great at keeping her entertained and happy. Here is a portion of a song he was singing to her in the car today:

"Gracie Girl, Gracie girl. I love my sissy Gracie girl. You are the best sissy in the United States of America." (There wasn't really a tune, but it was sure sweet!)

She is a good sleeper but much to our dismay does not sleep in public. Ever. It's like she doesn't want to miss out on something. She can be asleep in the carseat but the second you get into the school, store, or destination, her eyes pop open and she is ready to take it all in. Luckily she gives lots of big grins to everyone she meets so it makes up for not sleeping. She's loving her time with Grammy Nancy when I work (subbing on average 2 days a week has been working well) and I think Grammy is pretty smitten with this little granddaughter.

Here's to the next month of firsts for Gracie!

A Sidekick and a Primate

Dylan chose to be Robin for Halloween this year despite the fact that Kevin and I both questioned whether he'd rather be Batman. I mean who wants to be a sidekick. In Dylan's eyes the sidekick is just as cool....and the promise of his next door neighbor buddy to be Batman made the dynamic duo complete. However, said neighbor changed his mind and went as a Clone Trooper instead so Dylan was only half as dynamic but still super cute! Grace wore D's hand-me-down monkey costume for about a total of 1 hour so I'm happy I didn't spend money on a new one....she'll definitely be something more girly next year- I've already got ideas!
Halloween was complete with family, cousins and trick-or-treating the neighborhood. And I'm dealing with the constant nagging of a 4-year old wanting candy from his bag.....he's definitely a candy freak so it's on the top shelf where he can't get to it!

Blessed

We had Grace baptized on Saturday at our church. She was surrounded by many people that love her including Grandparents, Aunts, Uncles, cousins, friends and her Godparents Stephanie and Ryan. She was so alert and intrigued by everything going on during the ceremony, and didn't even make a peep when the water was poured over her. Such a sweet little girl!

After the baptism ceremony we celebrated at our house....and little Grace slept pretty much through the party.

Stats

Grace went for her 4 month appointment last week. Since I have yet to start a baby book for her (I know, terrible mommy!) I will put them out for the record here:

14 lbs. 11 oz

(almost double her birth weight)

25 inches long

In addition to her check up we ended up having some x-rays taken of her right hip join and leg. We've been concerned because her foot turns out and has become increasingly more noticeable since she's doing more standing, rolling over, etc. The doctor doesn't seem too concerned and with exercises we should be able to get it corrected before it gets worse. I told Kevin that my worst fear came true...we named her Grace and she has two left feet! (just joking.....sort of).

Pumpkin Hunting

Fall just isn't complete without a trip to the pumpkin patch to pick out the perfect pumpkins. Last year we waited too long and our trip out left us searching through rotten pumpkins to find atleast a couple that were in good shape. Luckily this year we have had amazing fall weather and a beautiful day yesterday put us in the right spirit to head out to Greenbluff to the pumpkin patches. Granted we spent more time in our car (lots of traffic on those little country roads due to the nice weather) and in line to pay for our pumpkins than we did out in the fields, but we had a nice family outing just the same.

4 months and counting

Our precious girl is already four months old! She's got lots of new tricks and things she loves including:

• Squealing....she's loving those vocal cords!
  
• Practicing rolling over- tummy to back is the easiest
  
• Playing in her new excersaucer
  
• Having mommy sing "The Itsy Bitsy Spider"
  
• Watching all of big brother's moves....he's pure entertainment!
  
• Grabbing toys and stuffing them in her mouth. Mmmm.
  
• Drooling is her constant accessory. Maybe some teeth in her near future??

We are so blessed with this happy, healthy little babe. Her smile makes our days so much brighter. My absolute favorite time of the day with her is getting her out of bed in the morning...she wakes up and grins from ear to ear when you lean over the crib. Even if I'm not ready to get up yet, it's too hard to resist.

Cutest Little Cougar

We took Dylan to the Coug game on Saturday and were pleasantly surprised to have a pretty entertaining game that wasn't a complete blowout. Considering we were playing the #4 team in the nation (and we are likely in last place) we didn't have very high hopes. Dylan was a great little trooper and walked all over campus with us. It was fun sharing all the WSU spirit with him and most of all he had some much deserved single kid time with his mom and dad which hasn't happened much since little sis arrived....she on the other hand was happy to have Grandma and Grandpa all to herself!
I hope that we are raising a lifelong Coug fan here....he sure looks good in the gear!

On the drive to Pullman.
Hanging out in the Corporate Tent area on the practice field....he loved the turf!

Silly boy- on a sugar high from a huge pack of Starbursts we bought him.

Fall Soccer

For the past year Dylan has been asking when he gets to play on a soccer team. We've spent many a Saturday out watching his cousins Evan an Dominic play on their teams and he was anxious for it to be his turn. So this fall I signed him up for the local soccer league. He's on a team with eight 4-year-old boys and they practice once a week and play games on Saturday. He's had 3 games so far and is starting to get the hang of the whole soccer thing.....although he's not quite as aggressive getting after the ball as we thought he would be. It's pretty hilarious to watch the games as the boys all huddle together around the ball and usually fall on the ground and trip eachother up plenty. I'm sure by the end of the season they'll all have a better understanding of the game and then they'll play together again in the spring which will be great.

These are pictures from the first game.....which was FREEZING! Luckily we've had good weather since then.

Warming up with the team.

Getting after the ball! Go Dylan!

DG Reunion

When I started WSU in 1997 I went through sorority rush and ended up pledging Delta Gamma. On bid day I was thrust into a group of over 30 other girls and told they were my "sisters".....kind of a strange moment, but over time it really became true. Throughout my four years there our pledge class dwindled as girls moved onto different schools, decided the sorority life wasn't for them, etc. but there was a core group of us that ended up graduating together and moving on to real life. I can honestly say, a lot of what is made fun of sororities is true- anytime you put over 60 girls in one house to live together you are bound to have some drama, but I can also say that I made some of the best friendships during those four years and that they have grown and matured in the nearly 10 years since we left Pullman.

This past weekend 10 of my "core" girls got together for a little girls' weekend and mini reunion. We planned a trip down to Pullman for the Coug football game and had a great time reminiscing about our "DG days" and fun times together. The weekend was complete with a night out on Friday in Spokane, a tour of the DG house (and snooping to see what the girls are like now), beers at the Coug, football and tailgating and of course LOTS of laughs. It ended up being quite a quick weekend and we missed the girls that weren't able to join us, but I'm so thankful for the time we had together and the new memories made and I'm already looking forward to our next girls' weekend!

Escaping

When we had Dylan it took me over a year (14 months to be exact) before I left him overnight....and it was tough. I'm not sure what's different this time around but I have to admit I was really looking forward to our first night away from both kiddos a couple of weekends back. Granted, we weren't going to a very exotic location- a hotel in Moses Lake isn't exactly luxurious- but nevertheless it was a night off, an excuse to get dolled up with my handsome husband and meet up with some great friends to celebrate a beautiful couple at an amazing place. (In this case I'm not talking about Moses Lake, I'm talking about The Cave B Winery in Quincy, WA.)

We continued the weekend with a quick stop in Colfax to see the kids and eat lunch then headed off to Pullman for the Cougs first home game (and quite possibly only win) of the season. Nothing beats a sunny, warm fall Saturday in Pullman and the experience was complete with a trip to the Bookie, beers, tailgating, flip cup challenge and an early take-off from the game to head to the bar- Valhalla this time....even though Kev is definitely a Coug man. Thankfully my incredible in-laws have no problem driving the 15 minutes from Colfax to pick up 8 adults that had consumed a few too many beverages.
It is my new mission to find one of these cute Coug gnomes as seen on the back of an airstream trailer.

Obviously, I was having a great time! So many good laughs!
As always, I was happy to get back to my 2 precious babies.....but the weekend "off" did this mama some good!