2-year-old photo shoot

We recently entered the terrible twos. On December 4 to be exact. So far, Grace is doing her part to keep up the "terrible twos" reputation. She has decided to carefully ponder every command that we give her. Meaning she takes her time, mulls it over, thinks about it, looks at us as if to say "yea, I'll do it" and then takes off the other way throwing caution to the wind and ignoring our very words. What is up with that? What will she be like when she's a teenager? I know if my Mom is reading this she's probably thinking "it's payback time!" Man, oh man. This is getting interesting. Now for the photo shoot. Check out Grace's new smile - she's gonna love it when she's 35 and I show this to her first boyfriend:)


I'm trying to take a picture of her in this chair every year. She wasn't having any part of it this year.


This was her favorite gift, she didn't want to get off of it, even for cake!!

Starting today...
This blog will be taking on a slightly different twist. From an all-about-Gracie-type blog to a day-in-the-life-of-Gracie's-family-type blog (that's a lot of hyphens) with a twist of humor. So starting right now I have a couple little stories to tell. The first being all-about-Gracie. Monday night I decided Gracie needed a bang trim. So I got out the scissors and asked her to sit really still while I gave her a little trim. I promised her that I'd give her "treats" if she sat real still, and she did. So we went downstairs, I grabbed a few candy corn (yes - by some miracle we still have Halloween candy) and gave them to her. She immediately ran with them into the family room yelling "here Bear, here Bear" (sounds like He Be) thinking that the "treats" were for the dog! She sat their so patiently just waiting for treats to share with the dog. That's my girl. I'll post pictures soon so you can see the results of the bang trim. I'm thinking that beauty school may be in my future. They're pretty darn straight and she looks adorable. If I may say so myself.

Second story. So last night at 1:15 a.m. in the morning me and hubby hear the garage door opening at the same time. And since both of us were lying comfortably in bed we knew something fishy was up. So big strong guy proceeds to hop out of bed, run down the stairs and out into the garage without hesitiation. While I hunker down waiting to hear gunshots or some form of a scuffle. I hear said big strong guy yelling at the top of his lungs and panic a bit. Shortly he comes back into the house and tells me to call the neighbors to check their cars. Apparently someone had gotten into his truck (which he mistakenly left unlocked) and stole our garage door openers and then proceeded to open our garage along with our neighbor's garage. Police came, husband put on his pants (because he did run out of the house in his underwear - yelling at the top of his lungs, mind you) and they caught the guys. The police speculate that they were stealing garage door openers and planning to rob people the next day while we were working. Good thing for big strong guys in their underwear who react with lightning speed.

I love fall...
...it's my favorite time of year. The pretty leaves, pumpkins, Halloween and then thanksgiving. I love all the traditions and sharing them with Grace has been so much fun!

A visit to the pumpkin patch




All dressed up for Halloween - go Mizzou!





Thanks, Aunt Amy, for the cute pjs!

You've come a long way baby!
One year ago today, October 30, we were in China just getting to know our little girl. We excitedly went to a room where we patiently waited our turn to hear Meng Yun Niu. I was nervous that I wouldn't recognize her name. But as soon as I saw her, I knew she was ours. All that hair and those perfect pouty lips. There was no mistaking which one was our Gracie. It's hard to believe it's already been a year. She's been with us for a longer period of time than she was without us. I love that. I love her. She continues to be the joy of our lives. We celebrated 1 year with Chinese dinner out. Grace loved the white rice and Moo Shu Chicken. A year ago we were feeding her prunes, green beans, carrots, cereal and formula. Now she eats just about anything we put in front of her. Tomatoes and green beans are two of her favorites. She's talking up a storm and learning more and more words each day. Last night she sang the "Ghostbusters" song with me.

Opening my book from China with Daddy

Opening my charm bracelet with Mommy

Daddy reading to me

Me and Mommy

Enjoying my new book after a busy Gotcha Day!

A visit with my big brother...
Grace's big brother and his family are visiting us this week. The best part is that he has a 3-year-old daughter. They're having a great time and Grace is learning how hard it is to share, toys, attention, space, etc!

Her favorite phrase right now is "Right Bap" (right back). She holds her pointer finger up and says it with such conviction. We had our last homestudy this week and in a couple more weeks it will be officially one year since Grace became our daughter. Can't believe how time flies!!

Now for the reason you're really here....

Grace and her older niece

Riding the train at the pumpkin patch

Checking out the tunnel with Dad

Four-way tug-of-war (did I mention we had 2 canine visitors also??)

My big brother's family

Just for fun... states I have been to...click on the link below to make your own map!


create your own personalized map of the USA
or check out ourCalifornia travel guide

A year ago on August 25th to be exact (I'm a few days late with this post) - we had our first glimpse of Grace. My how she's changed. That was an incredibly emotional, perfectly wonderful, day. And since then, time has flown. I can't believe how much she's grown up. Now she wants to WALK down the stairs every morning instead of jumping into my arms and being carried. What is that about? I'm not ready for this independence!
Then:



















Now:

Back by popular demand...
The last two weeks have been "interesting", but things are starting to get back to normal. So in the name of normalcy, more photos from our Florida va-ca-tion!

Gracie Goes To Florida
She had a great time with Grandma & Grandpa, aunts, uncles and cousins. The first picture is of the three amigos (Grace and her two cousins)and the second is her Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue pose - two of my favorite pictures - more to come...

I want to be a supermodel...

Christmas pictures in June? That's what happens when your Mom works for the home office of Sears Portrait Studio. Grace and Tiffany had a photo shoot and the pictures turned out great. They might even show up on a postcard in your mailbox. Check back this holiday season. Here are just a few of my favorites...

This girl cracks me up...

Before I forget...

At 18 months, Grace has a ton of words she's saying right now and I don't want to forget them. So sorry there's no photos, but I promise I'll post some this weekend. Now for the words:
Milk
More
Bear
Book (always in twos - book book)
Ball
Thank You
Please
Dada
Mama
Nose
Eye
Uh-oh
Wash (for wash hands)
other one
yes (though she rarely says it)
no (says it all the time, constantly, with fervor!)
bubbles
night, night
diaper (sounds like biper)
ouch
boo boo
elbow (sounds like belbow)
elmo (sounds like melamin)
plus she's great at making animal sounds - especially growling like a lion!
I'm sure there's more that I can't think of right now.

Which brings me to something else I never want to forget and can't remember if I've already posted. I'll never forget the day we got Gracie's referral photos. I drove out to my Mom and Dad's as quickly as possible. And when my Dad said these words, I knew that this was going to be something really amazing. He said "she has no idea that half a world away three people just fell in love with her". And so we just continue to fall in love with this amazing, frustrating, stubborn, beautiful, independent, wonderful, little girl.

Time Flies When You're Having Fun
It seems like Grace has really grown up in the last month. She's become quite a little ham. Always cracking us up with her silly faces. One of her favorite things to do is close her eyes really tight and scrunch up her face. It's hilarious to watch her do it. She realizes that she can't see and she thinks it's really funny. I caught the little hambone doing it just the other day...
Daddy bought her a Cinderella chair and she fits in it perfectly. She thinks it's really cool. I can finally get her to smile for pictures...





Grace had her first popsicle Memorial Day weekend. She wasn't so sure about it and after a few bites, she gave it back to me. If you haven't tried Slowmelt Popsicles, you're in for a treat. They do not drip. Genius! They have gelatin in them which makes them much slower to melt. I like 'em, but I'm not so sure that Grace does...



Grace isn't the only one growing up fast. Her cousins Ethan and Avary turned two this month. My how time flies when you're having this much fun!!

The littlest gardener...

My 1st Mother's Day
Sunday was a most excellent day - it was my first "official" Mother's Day. Grace and I took my Mom out to breakfast and Steve took his Mom out to breakfast. Then Steve, Grace and I spent the day planting flowers.

Grace was a big help (wink, wink). She had so much fun digging in the dirt, watching Mommy and Daddy, and trying to do exactly what we did. And I might add that she was the prettiest little flower of all!

I am definitely the luckiest Mom in the world. Wow - I'm a Mom. And I absolutely love it.

Now for the pictures - sorry, this little gardener is not for hire!

They're Back
Gracie and Daddy made it home safe and sound from North Carolina. The trip was rough on Grace. She was so happy to be home. I think she likes her home and was afraid that she wouldn't be coming back. The first night she was home I put her to bed and she had the biggest grin on her face. She fell asleep without a peep. I'm so glad their back. I sure missed my little girl, oh, and Steve too! Now for some random photos...

looking pretty cute in my very first nightgown


Grace and Daddy after a long trip.


"Here I am carrying a bunch of stuff, just like Mommy on Monday mornings!"


Grandpa and cousin Ethan - they're best buddies and I just love this picture!