Grace's Announcement

I know there are lots of worried folks out there with the lack of updating. I don't want to make excuses, but I honestly DID have a good reason. I've been feeling sick. Very, very sick. But I've never been so happy to feel so crappy. And I know that the feeling is only temporary.

Here is Grace with a little announcement that will explain it all...







This morning Mike and I were able to see Baby #2 and hear that wonderful heartbeat and it was the most beautiful sound in the world.

We were going to keep this a secret for a little while longer, but our plans to keep this exciting news to just immediate family has slowly been undone by excited grandparents. So we didn't want to keep our other faithful blog followers and friends in suspense any longer.

Long Overdue

I apologize to our faithful readers (grandparents!) for this long overdue update. I apologize in advance because it's not a more detailed update- mostly pictures. The most important thing is that we're all doing well and we're finally enjoying some cooler weather here. Life is good and I am grateful for all of our blessings.

The fall consignment sales have begun and this is by far Grace's favorite find- an almost too small bunny costume. She just had to have it and she wears it ALL. THE. TIME.

Waiting for Daddy to come home from work.


He's home!


This is another day, but still wearing the costume. Her buddy Ty and his baby brother, Trenton, came over to play one morning.


This is what happens when you come over to a girl's house to play- you get to play with strollers and vacuum cleaners! The good little sports didn't seem to mind too much.


Fall ballet classes have begun and while she's still not the most perfect student, there is definite improvement over the summer session.

Cleaning Day

I couldn't stand the mess any longer. I was starting to get mini panic attacks at the state of my house. So today was cleaning day. And I had a wonderful little helper who insisted on doing everything I did. I let her, too, because it's mostly her mess anyway.

Now I'm going to sit on the sofa and just look at my clean living room for a bit before I head to bed. I need to enjoy it while I can because I know this state of cleanliness won't last long. My little helper did a good job cleaning, but she does an even better job messing.




Grace even multi-tasked and took care of her baby while vacuuming. Then she told me, "It's hard taking care of my baby and cleaning." Tell me about it!

My Runaway Bunny

Every kid threatens it. I know I did. I just didn't think my kid would do it so soon.

She was begging for some chocolate milk this evening, but I didn't want it to ruin her appetite so I told her she could have some after she ate her dinner. She whined. I said no. She produced some crocodile tears. My answer was still no. She 'pretty pleased' me several times. Still no.

"Well, I guess I'll have to run away then."

I laughed. And, still, I didn't give her the chocolate milk. Am I a mean mama or what?

Later, we had a Skype session with Lola and Lolo. I told them the story of my runaway bunny and Lola asked where she was running away to. Grace said, "Virginia Beach." Smart girl! That's where the grandparents are. If she was in Virginia Beach, I know my girl would have been chugging on some chocolate milk long before threats of running away had to be issued.

Sparkly Toes

I never would have bought Grace these pink, glittery shoes. They are cute, but I don't like to buy her clothing or shoes that light up or are covered in glitter. She loved them so much though that her daddy couldn't resist. Now she wants to wear them ALL. THE. TIME.

She calls them her 'sparkly toes' and when I tell her that the outfit she is wearing doesn't match the shoes, she refuses to wear it and will try to look for one that does match. Only two years old and already has an opinion on her wardrobe.

Overdue Update

I know I have been totally slacking with the updates. I wish I had a better excuse, but I just don't have any energy lately. None. Zero. Zip. I would be mortified if anyone came over to my house right now because it is a wreck. Seriously. I managed to sweep the floor the other day, but didn't get around to mopping it like it desperately needs. Toys are everywhere, but I just step over them and do my best to ignore it all instead of picking up like I should. I finally went to the grocery store, but only because we were out of just about every single staple, and the threat of Hurricane Irene possibly passing by this way made stocking up a necessity.

But I can say that the little energy I do have, I reserve to play with my girl. My house may be a mess, but at least my baby is happy. I asked her tonight as I was putting her to bed what her favorite part of the day was and she said, "Playing with you, Mama." Hearing that is totally worth every dust bunny hiding under the couch, the dirty dishes in the sink, and the crumbs and sticky fingerprints all over the furniture.

A few highlights from the past few days:

***Grace went back to the dentist on Wednesday to fix that little cavity and she did fantastic. She even said, "Woohoo!" when she climbed up into that seat. I was afraid the enthusiasm for the dentist would wane after the procedure was done, but she didn't mind it at all. The dentist and hygienist worked so fast it was over before I even had a chance to get all nervous. The whole thing took about five minutes! We waited in the waiting area longer than the process actually took.

***I took a photography class on Saturday to finally figure out once and for all how to work my fancy DSLR camera. I was tired of always resorting to the auto modes when I knew the camera was capable of so much more. I had the best time and I wish I had known all I know now when I first got this camera two and a half years ago.

The class was in Georgia and it was an all day event. It was the first time I had been away from Grace for that long, and the first time Mike had her all by himself for that long. I told him to send me texts and pictures to keep me updated on how their day was going. He took her to the zoo in an outfit that made me cringe (I knew I should have laid clothes out for her! But I wanted him to get the whole experience of taking care of her from beginning to end), but they both had a great time.

***We took Mike to the ship before the sun was up this morning since they are going underway for a little while. Grace and I crawled back into bed the moment we came home and then slept so long we almost missed church this morning. We made it, a few minutes late, and Grace behaved herself really, really well. Mostly because it was free donut week and I threatened her with leaving church without a treat if she didn't behave herself.

She picked a chocolate glazed Krispy Kreme donut, my favorite! Grace ate half and said she was full. I was drooling and thought I would finish it myself because it hurts my feelings to have a perfectly good Krispy Kreme donut go to waste. I took a bite and I couldn't eat it! It was too sweet for me!! What is up with that? I ended up tossing the half eaten donut in the trash and I have been thinking about it all day long. Poor donut.

Birthday Weekend Getaway

We celebrated Mike's birthday with a weekend getaway to Tampa and Bradenton.

On Saturday we visited with the Neu Family, our dear friends we met in Japan, who now live in Tampa. The last time we had our girls together, they were all still babies! Even though we spent a good part of the day checking out the Florida Aquarium and catching up on the last two years, it wasn't nearly enough time. Thankfully, we are just a few short hours away from each other now so visiting every once in a while is possible.

Then for Mike's birthday dinner, we went to The Columbia, supposedly the oldest restaurant in Florida, where we enjoyed an awesome meal and a flamengco dancing show. Grace was mesmerized by the dancing and sang along to every "Happy Birthday" that was sung that night. Apparently, almost every single table had a birthday celebrant, and all the waiters had to go around and sing their greeting. Even though we had a birthday celebrant at our table, we were spared the singing because I knew the birthday boy doesn't enjoy that kind of attention. In the end though, I wish I had gone ahead and let them sing because Grace would have gotten such a kick out of it.





Tired from the day at the aquarium. Even though the photo is blurry, this is my favorite picture of the day.


After sleeping in Sunday morning, we traveled down to Bradenton to have lunch with Mike's cousin, Cole, and his sweet daughter, Cora. Grace was so excited to see her 'cousin friend' who she hadn't seen since they played in the snow together back in January when the whole Augustine family was in Ohio celebrating Grandpa Augustine's birthday.

We let the two girls frolic on the beautiful beach for a while before we said our goodbyes and headed back home. Of course, the outlet center in Orlando was calling my name so we couldn't pass it by without stopping in for a couple of hours. It might very well have been my quickest time spent at an outlet mall, but it was lots of fun anyway.

We finally made it home a half hour shy of midnight and I put an exhausted and soundly sleeping Grace straight to bed without even bothering to change her into pajamas. She did wake up to go to the bathroom at one in the morning and sleepily asked me, "Are we still on vacation?" I told her that Daddy didn't have to go back to work for another couple of days, so we were technically still on vacation.

Loving all the time we get to spend with our birthday boy!