Dave, Alicia, & Grace Watch

Contrary to popular belief, Dave and I do have a life outside of raising our child....

HAHAHAHAHAHAHA

Yeah right! She has pretty much taken over our lives. But this last week she let us do some fun stuff with her, so I'm going to give an update on all of us this week. :)


Last Friday, Dave went to the Fathers/Sons outing with his dad and brother. They only stayed for the evening instead of camping out, but it gave his mom, Gracie, and I a chance to have a Girls' Night! We went to dinner at Quizno's (Mmmmm...Toasty!), got some stuff at Target, and then came home for a chick flick. At Quizno's, Gracie ate an entire Sammy (little flatbread sandwich), and really enjoyed her "doops" (chips). The movie we chose was "Head Over Heels," which neither his mom nor I had seen before, and it was...okay. It had some "parts," but it was a cute story overall. It was fun hanging out with my wonderful mother-in-law--I'm so glad to have such great in-laws!

On Saturday morning, Dave and his dad bought and laid sod in part of our backyard, and it looks really nice (so far!). We're hoping we can keep it watered enough to keep it growing. Neither of us has done this before, so we'll see! We also planted a tomato plant and two strawberry plants--hopefully it'll be a tasty summer courtesy of our garden.

"Before" (also, Gracie enjoying the sprinkler)

"After"--Isn't it pretty?!

We also had some friends visit us on Saturday/Sunday. One of Dave's mission buddies, Scott, and his wife, Becca, stayed with us overnight. They live in Oregon and were on their way to San Diego, so they visited us on the way. The last time we saw them they had just started dating and I was pregnant with Grace, so we had a lot to catch up on! We went to Red Robin for dinner, played Wii, and played in the pool and hot tub at our apartment complex. We were sad they could only stay for a day, but we had tons of fun in the short time they were here!

Scott, Becca, and us

Dave & Scott doing Wii Boxing

Oh, and I finally jumped on the bandwagon and read Twilight! And it was AMAZING!!! I'm dying to read the 2nd book, but I'm like number 41 on the waiting list at the local library. Dang! So if anyone who lives near me has a copy they wouldn't mind lending out...let me know! It's so fun to be excited about reading again. I loved reading when I was little, but all the required reading in high school and college somehow dampened that love. This book has revived it, though! Hooray!


Okay, now for the usual stuff about Gracie:

New Words: tickle (tiddle), balloon (bwoon), spachship (dubdip), sheep (dip), [Curious] George (jeej), swimsuit (dih-doots), Nemo (me-mo), yes! (es!), raisins (newmans)
She has also started saying, "I love it!" when she's really excited about something! It's adorable! She thoroughly enjoys watching the sprinkler go as we water the lawn, and she stands at the back door and watches it and says, "I wuv it!" and claps. :)

New Injury: I don't remember anything right now, so there must not have been anything too serious.

New Foods: Raisins. She could eat them all day. She's had them before, but I didn't give them to her much because I was afraid of her choking. Apparently I got over that fear, though, 'cause this week she's had them every day. I guess those 16 teeth work pretty well for her! [Don't worry, though. I never leave her eating them unattended.]

She has very nearly perfected the life skill of drinking
the leftover milk from her cereal. :)

Favorite Things: playing peek-a-boo with her belly button; climbing on her rocking chair so she can pull all our DVD's off the shelf; playing with water outside; watching Curious George (at least 2 times a day); playing with bubbles; doing the actions to "Popcorn Popping" while we sing the song; reading longer books (i.e. storybooks vs. one-word-a-page books) with Mommy and Daddy; and saying "I love you" every time she gives us a hug or kiss

Unstocking all our shelves

Grace Watch #12 (May 5-11, 2008)

New Words: Some of her new words include happy (appy), slide (lide), cow (tow), rake (rik--see picture below), Ariel (Areo--kinda like a feminine form of Oreo), Jasmine (Nah-meen), and she has this new phrase: "lor lap", which means, "I want to sit on your lap." :) And she has also recently discovered how to say the sound for "L", and she thoroughly enjoys it! Before she would just say the "D" sound (e.g. hedoh for hello), but now she goes all out for that L sound by sticking her tongue all the way out of her mouth whenever saying something with the sound in it. Go ahead and try with the word "little"--it's pretty fun. Anyway, here's a video of her saying a few words with "L" in them. (Sorry for all the back-and-forth action; she wanted to grab the camera, and I wanted to keep it away from her.)

New Food: She tried fruit snacks for the first time (that I'm aware of) last week at Mimi's house, and she loved them! (Who wouldn't?) She also had her first sampling of that All-American Cake from Costco (y'know, the one with like 5 layers of chocolate cake and 5 layers of ooey-gooey fudgey frosting, with big pieces of shaved chocolate on the outside?) because we had that at the family Mother's Day celebration. Amazingly, she liked that too. :)

Papi taught her how to rake. What a big girl!

New Injuries: Ooh, we had some bad ones this week! First, I smashed 3 of the fingers on her left hand in a kitchen cabinet! I had it open getting food out and she put her hand in the side where the hinges are, and I closed it on her! I felt so awful! Then the next day she slammed a drawer on her thumb (same hand), breaking the skin. Then, on Sunday Dave was playing "I'm Gonna Get You" with her, and she fell and got a rug burn just below her nose. I don't know why it got there and not her nose or lips, but anyway...it was sad. However, one cute thing that has come out of all these owies is that she likes to have us kiss her owies to make them all better. After she gets an owie, she says, "Owie...tiss?" and then one of us kisses it and she says, "Ah-behbee" to say "All better." It's so sweet!

Other: On Friday we went and visited Grammy & Gramps (Dave's paternal grandparents), and Gracie had a lot of fun playing in their backyard. They have a fun fountain that she loves to splash her hands in, and they always have juice, crackers, pudding, and all kinds of goodies that we don't have at home, so she loves it there! Here's a picture of her playing in the fountain.

Mother's Day: I guess this has more to do with me, but I had such a wonderful Mother's Day, thanks to Dave and Gracie. For my gifts, Dave took me to Michael's on Saturday to let me get a bunch of scrapbooking stuff that I'd been wanting for a while; then Gracie gave me some sidewalk chalk as a present so we can draw pictures outside together. :) On Sunday morning, Dave got up with Gracie and let me sleep in, and then they woke me up to breakfast in bed!

I tell ya, Dave cooks a mean breakfast. He made me hash browns, eggs (both scrambled and fried, 'cause he wasn't sure which I would rather have), bacon, and pancakes, with a fresh orange on the side and both milk and juice to drink! And it was all delicious! Gracie sat on my lap while I ate and sampled all of my food, which made it that much cuter. He also made dinner that night and made me feel special all day long. I love that guy!

I'm such a lucky mommy!

Finally, here are some more favorite pictures from the week:

Gracie in her cute hand-me-down nightgown from her cousins.

Look what I found in my laundry basket!

Her favorite part of coloring is shaking the box of crayons. Cheap thrills, huh?

This is what happens when you play in your crib for an hour
instead of sleeping--you fall asleep on the way INTO Target. :)

That's all, Folks! See ya next week!

A to Z Tag - Dave's Version

Alicia suggested that I introduce myself so you all can get to know me better. We'll give it a go. Please don't be harsh.

A- Attached or single: Very much attached!
B- Best Friend: Alicia
C- Cake or Pie: Probably cake. But I'm not a huge fan of either.
D- Day of Choice: Friday. I can have the satisfaction of getting things done and have tons of fun the same day.
E- Essential Item: Shades
F- Favorite Color: Blue. Always has been. Probably always will be.
G- Gummi Bears or Worms: Worms. There's just more to love.
H- Hometown: Turkey Town, CA. (That's not a foreign country, by the way. And if CA did split from the continental US, you'd all want to come and visit the beach. Get over yourselves.)
I- Indulgence(s): I don't know. Video games?? Books??
J- January or July: July. Lots of swimming.
K- Kids: 1
L- Life is incomplete without: My family!
M- Marriage Date: June 26, 2004
N- Number of Siblings: 3 brothers & The Girl
O- Oranges or Apples: Oranges. Usually.
P- Phobias or Fears: Too many to list.
Q- Quote(s): Anything without "lol". "Doh!" "That's what she said."
R- Reason To Smile: I have a wonderful family. They get me through everything.
S- Season: Spring
T- Tag Six: Nope!
U- Unknown Fact About Me: I'm just a quiet person. I'm not judging you, or analyzing every facet of the situation, I'm just not talking.
V- Vegetarian or Oppressor of Animal: Oppressor of animal??? Who came up with that? Lame! I'm a carnivore.
W- Worst Habit: Whatever it is, I probably haven't realized what it is yet. Sorry to those who have to live with it.
Y- Your Favorite Food: The good kind. American, Mexican, Chinese, Italian...it's all good.
Z- Zodiac: Leo

Happy Birthday, Sis!

Chase, Jenni, & Gracie, December 2006

Today is my sister Jenni's 35th birthday, and although she's really busy and probably won't even see this until she gets a free minute in a couple years, I wanted to write about her to let you all know a little about this amazing woman. She's been my hero since I was very young. She's ten years older than me, so we never really fought with each other like other sisters do who are closer in age. (Although I'm sure I annoyed her when I was younger, but she was too good a person to let it show.) Though we talk and joke and laugh like other sisters do, it feels to me like she's mostly been a teacher/mentor to me (in a kind way, not an overbearing way). I've learned sooooo much more from her than I could ever write here, and the things she's taught me have been about the most important things in life (e.g. marriage, family, babies, children, the Gospel, etc.). Anyway, I'd like to list just a few of the spectacular things about her here, in no particular order.

1. Even though she became a mother at age 20, she still completed her bachelor's degree. She became pregnant soon after she got married, but since she was so dedicated to her education, she took 23 credits one semester and 24 credits the next so that she could get all her classes in. Can you even imagine? At the time I was only 9, so I had no idea what it meant when my parents talked about how many hours she was taking, but now I just think, "Wow!" She finished all of her coursework the day before she gave birth to my niece, Ashlee! Then she did her student teaching when Ashlee turned 1 and graduated soon thereafter (with a GPA of ~3.75). What a woman! Her example kept me going whenever I wanted to complain about student teaching while I was pregnant, and I'm so grateful to her.

2. She has an incredible gift for music. She plays 5 instruments beautifully and has perfect pitch. She has composed music and written her own arrangements of other music. Two Christmases ago, she wrote music to go with the words to "The Living Christ" and played it over and over again in the car to teach her children the words to it. Then, when we got together for Christmas they recited it for us perfectly. Sometimes I wonder why she hasn't been translated, all the amazing stuff she does. And then I remember that she has to be around to be an example to me. Thank goodness!

Jenni, Paul (our brother), and me

3. She is so humble. She seriously has no idea how wonderful she is. She took me to Enrichment with her while we were visiting last month, and during dinner she told the other ladies at our table about something chaotic that happened at her house, and we were all cracking up. Then one of the other ladies said [and I paraphrase], "I love Enrichment! Now I know she's not perfect!" and Jenni thought she was talking in general about other women. Then she realized the lady was talking about her, and she said, "Oh my gosh! Whatever!" and looked at me and said, "You know what it's really like at my house!" and I said, "Jen, you're not getting any support from me--I still think you're perfect!" I don't know if any of that story made sense in writing, but basically, she's great and doesn't even realize it.

4. She is always there for me. I have taken an immense amount of her time asking her the simplest (and probably the dumbest) questions imaginable, but she has always taken the time to answer them without ever making me feel silly or dumb. She has guided me through teenage-hood, college, roommates, dating, engagement, marriage, pregnancy, breastfeeding, and is still guiding me through being a new mother. She was even there when I gave birth to Gracie! It was such a neat experience, and she really helped Dave and me be more calm and relaxed through it all. She cried happy tears when Gracie was born and has always treated Gracie like she was her own baby.

Jenni & Gracie, Dec. 2006

5. Finally, as if you couldn't already tell, she is one of the best mothers in world. I'm pretty sure that she was born around Mother's Day for a reason. She has wanted to be a mother since she was very young (or so I'm told by my mom), and she has fulfilled and magnified that calling to the utmost. She and her husband have 6 beautiful children, and although their kids might not appreciate all she does for them right now, I know that later on they will be just as amazed by her as I am. When I think of the scripture about children calling their mother "blessed" I almost always think of her. She has sacrificed a great deal for them, but she loves every minute of it.

There's so much more I could tell you about her, but I'm gonna leave it at that. I love her so much and am so grateful to Heavenly Father that I get to be her sister. Happy Birthday, Jenni!

Grace Watch #11 (April 14-May 4, 2008)

(I really need to figure out this html stuff. The first way I posted the pictures, with Picasa, didn't always display them. So I posted them through blogger, and now sometimes each picture shows up twice. I tried to correct that, and it messed up the whole thing, so I'm leaving it the second way. So, some of you may get to see 2 pictures. Lucky you! :) )

Happy 22 months to Gracie today! I can't believe she'll be 2 years old in only 2 months! (Wow, lots of 2's!)

A child after my own heart--she loves dessert!

New Words: I don't think I can remember all of her new words, (1) because it's been so long since I did a Grace Watch, and (2) because she is picking up several words a day now. It's so exciting! Plus, the words she's been saying for months are becoming a lot clearer. For example, "I love you" used to be "wuv wuh", and now it's "I wub woo"; plus, it seems like she understands what it means more now. It's pretty heart-melting for Dave and me. Okay, here are some of the words she's learned (and her pronunciations, if different than the real pronunciation): bottle (bobble, as in bottle of shampoo), honey (uhn-ee!), lady (lay-lee), ice cream (i-noom), Lilo (Luh-lo, of Lilo & Stitch), pickle (pipple), knee (neh), chocolate (chaw-dit) {confession: I just gave her some chocolate so she'd say "chocolate" and I could write the pronunciation. Yes, I almost always have chocolate (albeit dark chocolate) on hand.}, ribbon (bibbon), ribbit (as in what a froggie says), boat (butt, heehee), chug-chug (chuh-chuh), little (lillo), giraffe (jaff), CD (dee-dee), horse (huss), eat (it), and the names of all my AZ family members. I should spare you all those, but it's really cute how she pronounces some of them: Paul (Pow), Rob (Row), Jenni (Nenni), Ashlee (Arlee), Blake (Bik), Spencer (Beh-ber), Emmee (Uhmee), Kaybree (Bay-bee), Chase (Chis). And she thought so highly of Chase (who's almost 3) that she made up sign language to go with him. She says his name and kinda rubs her hands together. (Actually, I'm wondering if she remembers me showing her "cheese" once or twice, which is twisting your hands back and forth; "Chase" kinda sounds like "cheese"....)

Chase & Grace--a match made in heaven!

She's also learned some prepositions (for lack of a better name for the group of words!): on, off (op), in, out (ous), up, down (nown). AND, one of the most exciting developments is that she has started to put words together, which is the next step towards sentences! The first one was "Light, on!" and the other one was "Gate, open!" (referring to the baby gate we have). :)

New Foods: I think we already covered them in the new words section: pickle, ice cream, and chocolate. And she asks for popcorn like every day--she could eat it all day long and not get tired of it. We had some on the train ride at the Phoenix Zoo, and I swear she ate twice her weight in it by the time the ride was over!

New Injury: Amazingly enough, she hasn't had any injuries this past month! Yay! (Now that I said that, something's gonna happen...:S)

***Correction: I just remembered! On Saturday we were shopping at Target. Gracie was sitting in the cart and all of a sudden got this really startled look on her face and looked at us like, "What happened?" She kinda started moaning, and I said, "What's wrong? Do you have an owie?" She made the sign for owie and said, "Owa!" She was moving her mouth weird, and I said to Dave, "I wonder if she bit her tongue...?" and he said, "Oh yeah, could be." I said, "Do you have an owie on your tongue?" and stuck out my tongue, and then she said, "Tunn, owa!" Then she started crying! I picked her up and held her, but then she started crying even more. (Dave's theory: she knows I'm a softie and will be {overly} sympathetic, so she cries/complains more to me. I think he's right.) Anyway, Dave headed for the checkout while I went and got one last thing, and she cried all through the store as we went to meet him! For some kids that might not seem strange, but Gracie hardly ever cries when she gets hurt, so I was a little concerned. But Dave's theory proved to be right in this case: sure enough, as soon as I put her in the cart when we got to Dave, she stopped crying and happily said, "Hi!" to Dave. That's what I get for trying to be a nurturing mother! Grrrrr...

Are you ready for swimsuit season? 'Cause we are!

New Skills: Daddy taught her how to load his gun! :) Okay, not as bad as it sounds, I promise! While we were in AZ, Dave had to do something, so he and his little brother bought Nerf guns that shoot little foam darts. Well, Dave taught Grace how to push them into the holes to load the gun, and she loves it! He shoots them all around the room, then she gathers them up and loads them in the gun. It's really a good system they've (he's) worked out.

She is also venturing into the world of singing. Every so often I'll hear her kind of humming or ahhh-ing along with music. We watched "Charlie & the Chocolate Factory" last week, and during one of the songs the Oompa Loompas sing, "Ooooo-oooh, oo-oo-oo-ooh!" and she repeated it. I'm so excited for her to start singing! And any time we sing or she hears music in church, she starts leading it with both hands. Apparently we have a future choir director on our hands!

Other News: In Arizona, Gracie went to Nursery with Chase and had lots of fun. He told me, "Ali, Gracie cried before [meaning after] you left, but I gived her a hug and kiss and she was okay." And she was! It was so cute! PLUS, they decorated pictures of ladybugs and got to play with real ladybugs during class! (I know, brave Nursery leaders!) So as soon as we got home, we hung up Gracie's ladybug picture on her newly-decorated bulletin board:

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(Those are pieces of red tissue paper glued to the paper.)

Also, while we were there, Chase (who speaks very well for his age) asked me a couple times, "Um, Ali, when will Gracie talk like this?", referring to how he talks, in sentences. I would laugh and say, "Probably in about a year!" and he'd say, "Oh, okay." I love how kids' minds work!

All done! Good for you for making it through that! Thank you for reading!

Junk Food Junkie

As I've said before, Gracie loves to eat. However, lately it's been really hard to get her to eat anything that's not either sweet (she has a pb & honey sandwich every day for lunch), salty, and/or devoid of nutritional value. Dinner has especially been a challenge, because she'll rarely even taste what we're eating. She usually ends up drinking some milk and eating saltines or goldfish crackers for dinner, and then I feel guilty sending her to bed without a decent dinner. Arrrrghhhhh! But tonight we had success! I made some chili that, for some reason, tickled Grace's fancy, and she chowed down! I've tried to give her beans before to give her some good-quality protein, but she'd always lick one and then throw it on the ground and then continue to decorate the carpet with any other beans that I dared put on her tray. The beans were her favorite part of the chili though!

Now, I don't expect her to suddenly start eating everything I give her. In fact, I don't even expect her to eat the chili again. I know better than to get my hopes up like that. But I'll take what I can get, and at least I know that, right at this moment, her body has something nutritious to digest. It's a step in the right direction. :)