Saturday, June 26, 2010

Pajammy Photoshoot


Bedtime is FINALLY turning into a routine at our house and has been a lot of fun lately!

Gracie has adjusted really well to her new room, in her new house and LOVES her big girl bed, "Night Night" blanket, and squishy pillow.

A few nights ago I wanted to take a couple pictures of her in her new summertime PJs and she surprised me by actually wanting to have her picture taken...up until now she's been saying, "No pictures!" Well, the other night was a totally different story...she was cheesing for the camera, being silly and wanting more and more pictures taken so that she could see how cute and silly she was being (remember the days when we use to have to wait a week to get our pictures developed to see that only a couple of the 24 actually turned out).

Here's our silly girl "clowning around" in her summer jammies.













Grady Bear has become her bedtime buddy!





Pretending to sleep.


Okay, goodnight G!

"There's the Pond"


We have a great pond about 1/4 mile from our house with a walking trail that goes around it - lots of trees, shade, bridges, and so many turtles, fish, and Canadian Geese.

Any time we drive past the pond...Gracie will say in a louder voice from her car seat..."There's the pond...the ducks say...quack, quack I want some bread!" It's so cute!

I took these pictures a few weeks ago, before it was insanely hot...the turtles, fish, and geese probably miss Gracie and her bread...but it's too darn hot to walk down there and back right now for this preggo mom...the next cooler night, we'll be there with a whole loaf of bread.




Feeding the birdies.


Getting a closer look.


Love them.
(her legs look so short in this shot -
must be the 18 month dress used as a shirt).

Wednesday, June 23, 2010

Can-da


Todd's been traveling quite a bit since we moved (more than we both expected)! So whenever Daddy has to go away, I always ask Gracie, "Where is Daddy?" and she replies, "Can-da"... and I ask her if she's Canadian and she says, "No, I'm Dual" and then I ask her where she was born and she says "Can-da". Well, that makes her both Canadian and American - so yes, dual!

Here he is coming back from one of his trips.







Telling me, "No pictures!"

Saturday, June 19, 2010

Father's Day Montage


Gracie wanted me to wish her Daddy-O a very Happy Father's Day!!!

Todd,

Thank you for being an amazing father. It melts my heart to see you with Gracie and I know you will be just as wonderful with Pickle. Gracie loves you so much and I know Pickle will too!!!

Here are some of my favorite pictures of the 2 of them since last Father's Day...and there's even a picture of Pickle in there too.



Friday, June 4, 2010

Potty Time


This post may be TMI for most but this is my blog and I want to remember this experience with my little, BIG girl!

I bought Gracie's potty seat/stool a long time ago; I think she was 15 months or so. I wanted her to just play with it and get "comfortable" with it being around. After a week or so, she started to go tinkle on the potty just before bath time...and I was thrilled that she was starting to understand the concept. I didn't attempt potty training boot camp or potty training in 3 days - we just kinda randomly started, not very consistently, and have been taking it day by day since - some days with great success and some days in diapers all day.

And wouldn't you know it - Gracie really figured it using the potty during our move...a time when I thought - NO WAY am I attempting potty training during our 10 week transition from Canada to Virginia! I guess having no expectations is a good thing...no pressure and you're never disappointed just thrilled when it happens!

While we were in Florida for my mom's spring break I was letting her run around naked after being in the shower with me and I told her, "Do NOT pee pee on the floor...if you need to pee pee, you need to tell Mommy so that you can go on the big potty!" Well, she peed on the carpet at my grandmother's twice...UGH (sorry for that)!!! So I gently reminded her that "WE do NOT pee on the floor; pee goes in the potty!" And I really think she understood because after those 2 accidents she's only had about 3 little tinkle accidents since being in our new house - and I can deal with that!

So typically, if we have nothing planned for the day or if we're having a lazy morning...I let her run around with no diaper on. She seems to be very aware of when she needs to pee when she has nothing on! We did go out and buy some Big Girl panties while we were in Beaufort - Dora and Minnie Mouse panties to be exact...and she was very excited about them...but I think she's not quite ready for those because she does have accidents when she's wearing them (which I know is totally normal). She just seems to do so much better when she has no diaper or panties on...so if you ever happen to stop by our house in the morning you're likely so see Gracie with just a pajammy top on and nothing else!

While we were in Beaufort she also learned how to go poopy on the potty...and I could not be more proud of her and thrilled for myself! It happened on accident, really. She was running around naked after our morning shower and while I was putting on my make-up I noticed she was starting to strain a little...so I quickly picked her up and said, "Yay, let's poopy on the potty" and as I was setting her down - out it came. I made a HUGE production out of how great it was that she just did that...and she got to pick out 2 stickers!!! Same thing happened the next morning and then she got it and now she tells me when she needs to go! YAY for both of us! And I'm beyond happy that she only went #2 in the small training potty a few times - that thing is no fun to clean...but now, constantly goes on the big potty! Woohoo for poopoo!

She still wears a diaper when we're out of the house, playing outside, and at night. I'm not quite ready to tackle public restrooms (although, I did buy a foldable, washable, cushy seat to put in my purse when I am ready to give it go).

So we're taking it day by day, letting her run around naked, frequently asking if she needs to potty, reading books while we wait for the poopies to come out, giving one sticker for tinkles and two stickers for poopies, special foamy soap to wash her hands, lots of praise, hugs and high 5s when she does go - that's what's working for us!

Here are some pictures from when we really started our potty training (in Beaufort)! I'm sure when she's older that she'll LOVE that I posted these but they are too cute not to share...and we really are very proud of our little, big girl!!!





























Thursday, June 3, 2010

Sleep Over at Campbell's


Gracie and I stopped off in Chapin to spend the night with The Pittmans before we officially moved to Alexandria. It took me soooo long to pack our car that we didn't get in until 7 pm. And I didn't even pack the car top carrier very well, Travis had to fix it in the pouring rain! Thanks for that Travis! Ashlee made Buffalo Chicken Dip and a yummy salad and we had Papa John's - I was so excited...I hadn't had Papa's since we moved back from Canada! It was a perfect evening spent with good friends...I just wish I would have had more time with them. Thanks for hosting us for the night!


Campbell was so sweet to Tucker...sharing his Daddy's chapstick and giving him some "treats" out of the pantry. Tucker was obsessed with watching their cat, Miss Mama!


How cute is the Campbell sign in the background!
Where did you get it from Ashlee?


Their 1st morning date.


Gracie's making the 1st move!
but Campbell is an old-fashion guy...
he doesn't like girls who are too forward!
It was my fault for encouraging a goodbye kiss;
I should be teaching her to play hard to get!


We can't wait for Ashlee, Travis, and Campbell
to come visit us in DC!