Joy Luck

My goal today was to find a dress to wear for a dinner party Mike's boss is throwing on Friday night. No luck for me, but I did find an adorable dress for Grace. It's always easier finding something for her than for me. She looks good in everything. If it looks good on the hanger, it'll look good on her. Not so for me, unfortunately.

But there was still lots of joy in our day. Grace kept me laughing, as always, and I had a meeting with the Tri Delta gals to discuss our latest book, The Joy Luck Club.

I heard lots of babbling and random giggling as I was driving, and when I finally got a chance to look back and see what was so funny, Grace had taken off her shoe and sock, put the sock on her hand and was using it like a puppet. She was putting on a one person puppet show and entertaining herself!

I'm Stuck

For the most part, Grace is very easy to put down for a nap. There are times when she might resist, but I ignore any talking and/or whining and eventually she'll drift off to sleep. The only time I go into her room is if I hear her saying, "I'm stuck" because there have been a few times when she's gotten herself stuck at the top of the rail trying to climb out of her crib.

This afternoon, I could tell she wasn't in the mood to go down for a nap easily. But I put her down anyway, walked out, and ignored all the calls for mama.

Then I heard the magic words.

So I walked in there, ready to help her down from the crib rail, but the girl was actually lying down and twirling her hair. When she saw me, she giggled, held out her arms, and said, "Good morning!"

I think it might be time to introduce the story of the little boy who cried wolf.

She Keeps Me Laughing

Grace and I didn't do anything particularly exciting today, but we managed to have fun anyway. She's really into diapers right now and she wants to diaper all of her stuffed animals and dolls. When a diaper wouldn't fit on her koala bear, she insisted I put it on her. And then we both had giggle fits at her silly antics.


I don't realize that there are certain phrases I say quite a bit until I catch Grace repeating them. As I was busy at the stove making dinner, she was busy making a big mess in the kitchen. She emptied out an entire bag of straws, pulled off all her refrigerator magnets, scattered her snacks, and dribbled milk all over the floor. I was oblivious to her mess making until I heard say, "Oh my gosh! It's a mess!"

Then as I was folding laundry, I saw her reaching for a newly folded pile, ready to undo all my work. I caught her eye, but before I could even say anything, she said, "No, ma'am!" As if by scolding herself, I'd let her get away with the naughty deed.

This age is so much fun!

How did my baby get so big?!?

Goodnight, Silly Girl

Another Party and a Costco Membership

We attended another birthday party this afternoon and Grace was very interested when it came time to sing Happy Birthday. I thought it was because she really enjoys the song and is fascinated with candles. It turns out, she was just trying to sample the cake before it was time. Thankfully the birthday boy was a good sport about Grace sticking her hand in his cake.





This picture shows her licking her fingers after sampling some apple pie that we got at Costco. Mike and I are now members of a wholesale club. I officially feel like a mom now that I can buy diapers in bulk.

20 Months

It has been 20 lightning fast months since this girl came into our lives. She has changed so much in such a short amount of time, but something that is always a constant is how much joy she brings to my life.

A few things I don't want to forget...

She is an amazingly affectionate child. I can never get enough of her kisses and hugs and, thankfully, she is very generous with them. Sometimes when I come and get her in the morning, she'll hug my neck, lay her head on my shoulder, and whisper, "I missed you, Mama." It completely melts my heart.

She is not stingy with the 'I love you's' either. In addition to telling me and her daddy that she loves us, she likes to profess her love to popsicles, oranges, and other various favorite foods. It cracks me up to see her say, "I LOVE you, banana!" with as much passion and feeling as she says, "I LOVE you, Daddy!"

Sometimes, when she's feeling particularly sweet, she'll say, "I love you soooo much!"

She loves the ABC song. She can't sing it all the way through yet, but she does sing, "Now I know my ABC's" which is good enough for me.

She can count to five, although she often skips the number two for some reason.

Her vocabulary has exploded in the last month and she can now speak in short sentences. It still amazes me that a quiet girl like me can have such a talkative child.

She still sleeps in her crib even though we really should convert it to a toddler bed. The hold up can be blamed on me. It'll make me so sad to see my baby in something other than her crib so I'm prolonging the inevitable as long as I possibly can.

But no matter how hard I try, there's no stopping time, or even slowing it down. Remembering this fact helps me to cherish every single moment. Even the ones that aren't as sweet and fun (tantrums in public and the constant mess) because I know that these moments don't last forever and one day when I'm sending her off to college, I'll actually miss them.

Had a blast at a friend's 4th birthday party.

Daddy's girl

VB Surprise

When my good friend, Nellie, mentioned she was headed to Virginia Beach for a few days to go house hunting, Grace and I jumped on the chance to tag along and visit with the grandparents for a couple of days. It was the quickest trip to the Beach we've ever done, but it was still worth the long drive to see how much the family enjoyed Grace. And believe me, the feeling was definitely mutual. The morning after we got back to Jacksonville, Grace was doing a roll call of the entire family and I had to sadly tell her that they were all in Virginia Beach.

Not the Bachelor Pad I Remember....

For those of you that are wondering why we've been so late with an update, well, that's because the blog is in Daddy's hands. Don't worry, the girls are fine. They decided to make a surprise trip up to Virginia Beach for a few days. In the meantime, I'm left to my own devices. I can crash on my awesome couch, watch whatever HDTV program I want to (ie sports and car shows), I can smoke cigars on the patio, and all those things I did when I first bought this condo. After all, it was meant to be my ultimate bachelor pad. And yet, somehow, it's eerily quiet. Not coming home to my beautiful girls gets old quick. I actually took the Volvo to work today over the Camaro - who would've thought that? Now, it's late in the evening, I walk into Grace's room, and it's saddens me to see it without her. I guess it's a good thing I'm on duty tomorrow. A night on the ship without family is natural. Nights at home without family just isn't. In fact, it's painfully unnatural. Goodnight girls - see you soon.

Happy Friday

Watching an episode of Little Bear before bedtime.

A Nice Surprise

We had a great day. We started off with a playdate with some friends at the hands-on museum, lunch at Panera's, and then shopping at Gymboree. Unfortunately, Grace didn't score any new outfits today because they didn't have her size in the outfits that I wanted for her, but it was still nice to go shopping with a friend for a change. Then it was back home for a long afternoon nap.

As lovely as all that sounds, it was overshadowed with the fact that Mike would be working so late he wouldn't get home until after Grace went to bed. Just like last night.

But then as I was deciding whether I should eat cereal or a bagel for dinner, Mike called and said he was on the way home, three hours earlier than expected! So Grace and I went outside to wait and welcome home her much missed daddy. What a nice surprise to have him home for dinner.

By the way, we didn't have cereal or bagels for dinner. I had Mike stop by Walmart to pick up a ready made pizza.




When we first started dating, Mike gave me a tutorial on how to properly close his car door so as not to get any fingerprints on her (Catherine, the Camaro). When I told him Grace left a big old handprint on the car, instead of freaking out, he said not to worry about it. My, how times have changed.

This isn't the best picture of Grace, but I had to include it because it shows her first pedicure. She insisted on getting her toes painted as I painted mine this morning.

Favorite Moments of the Day

Watching my little ballerina run around at the pool. I love that she's so dainty, but only in looks. She climbed up those stairs at the splash park and slid down the twisty slide fearlessly, over and over again.

Grace asked me to take her picture for the very first time and, of course, I obliged. I was expecting her to strike a pose, but instead she lifted up her shirt to show the camera her belly button.

This cupcake was supposed to be Grace's after dinner dessert last night, but she had a popsicle instead. So while she napped this afternoon, I snuck it out of the fridge and devoured the thing with a cup of Lady Earl tea and lots and lots of guilt. Apparently, a chocolate cupcake with chocolate buttercream frosting proved too great a temptation for this chocoholic. If Grace didn't know she was supposed to have a cupcake, then it doesn't really matter, right? What she doesn't know won't hurt her....

Cupcakes and Hugs

Grace and I enjoyed some incredibly yummy cupcakes this afternoon to celebrate our dear friend Nellie's birthday. Well, I enjoyed my cupcake (and Grace's too) and Grace enjoyed hugging on those cute Baggett boys. I let her hug on handsome boys now, but I know her daddy and I won't be too keen on her doing that about thirteen years from now.

My Mess Maker

On today's agenda: stay home and relax by taking care of some housework and laundry. It was supposed to be an easy day interspersed with some reading for my book club.

I never got to the floors, half of the laundry is still dirty, and the only person who touched my book was Grace. As tiring as my day was, it was filled with lots and lots of laughter. Grace knows how to make a mess, that's for sure, but she is so much fun! At the end of the day, I care less about the dirty floors and more about these precious moments that fill my heart with joy.

As I emptied out the dryer, she climbed up on the table and attacked the post-it's. When she was done posting the notes all over herself and the table, she proudly looked up at me with a big smile and said, "Wow! Pretty!"

Climbed up onto her changing table and emptied out her wipes container. Again.

About a minute after I put her down for a nap in the crib, she was standing in the hallway announcing, "I climb out." We still haven't converted her crib to a toddler bed, but we really need to soon. She has mastered the escape from the crib and there's no stopping her now.

Enjoying her powdered donut treat.

"Mama, cake?"

This is the state of our living room when she's awake. My house is only tidy twice a day- during her naptime and after she goes to bed for the night.

Finally tired from all her shenanigans and taking a break in her new 'seat'.