What She Wants, She Gets

We had a fun day of shopping today, and I have slowly come to realize that it's dangerous to go shopping with Grandma and Grandpa because what Grace wants, she apparently gets. We weren't but ten minutes into our shopping trip when Grace was already walking out of a Baby Gap with a new toy.

Here's Grace loving on a stuffed lamb.

Here's Grandpa paying for that stuffed lamb.

Grace loved this little stroller at a Juicy Couture store, but there was absolutely no way I was going to let her get it when the toy stroller cost more than her real one.

Grace isn't the only one who gets what she wants. Grandma wanted a couple things from Louis Vuitton and Grandpa got it for her too. It's good to be an Augustine girl!

The Grandparents Have Arrived!

Grandma, Grandpa, and Aunt Megan arrived tonight and they came with lots and lots of presents. You'd think it was Christmas morning again. Actually, I think Grace opened more presents tonight than she did on Christmas morning.

We are so glad the rest of the Augustines have come to visit for a few days, especially Grace. She did not want to let her Grandma go at the end of the night. Grace was waving bye-bye to me and her daddy and was gladly going to go with Grandma. And if she wasn't still nursing in the middle of the night, I would have let her.

Grace reluctantly, and with some tears, said good night to Grandma, but I'm sure that tomorrow, the spoiling will continue. It must be nice to be the only grandchild.


The grand finale of the presents- a bracelet engraved with her name. At eleven months old, this girl already needs her own jewelry box for all her bling!

After Christmas Party

My mom always said that Christmas isn't officially over until January 6 because that's when the wise men finally made it see Baby Jesus. So I guess it isn't too odd that Mike's ship's Christmas party is three days after Christmas. I'm glad we went though since we won a gift card to Ruby Tuesday. And Grace got another opportunity to wear one of her three Christmas dresses.



She loved watching all the people dance and had a few moves of her own.

"Mom, stop calling my name and telling me to smile. Can't you see I'm trying to dance here?"

The Honey-do List

Finish baby proofing the kitchen. Check. Install my pantry organizers. Check. Take down and put away the Christmas decorations. Check. Spend lots of quality family time together. Check.

This was our last weekend before Mike deploys for seven months so we made sure we were never apart for a single moment. Mike worked on his honey-do list, I tried to hold it together and managed to stop myself from crying every time I thought about how long Mike will be away from us, and Grace was oblivious to it all and kept us laughing with her usual shenanigans- making a huge mess wherever she went and practicing all her new tricks, "beautiful eyes" and "flying kiss".

I know this week is going to fly by and there is probably something that I forgot to add to the honey-do list and so will remain undone until Mike gets back, but I will try to focus on the present and enjoy the time we have left.

Grace's 1st Christmas

I am thankful for so many blessings this year and one of them is to be able to celebrate Christmas with my little family of three. With the military life, it's never guaranteed that you'll be able to spend holidays together, so I never take it for granted when we do.

I think back to last year when my belly was huge with baby and Mike and I didn't exchange 'regular' gifts, but got some baby items instead in preparation for Grace's arrival. This year, it's still all about gifts for the baby and I suppose it will be like that for the rest of our lives. I don't mind one bit though. And I can't wait until next year when she'll be able to understand a little better what this season is all about.

We celebrated Christmas Eve with a quiet dinner at home followed by a solemn and traditional Midnight Mass. We woke up early the next morning to open Grace's presents and then headed to Mike's ship for a Christmas lunch. The rest of the day was spent relaxing at home. I even got to take a two hour plus nap while Mike and Grace played with all her toys. Then we ended the night with a family outing to the movies to watch the new Sherlock Holmes flick. Grace was an angel and slept through the entire movie.

The Augustines had a wonderful Christmas and we hope you and yours did too.

Our Christmas Eve dinner.
Heading out to Midnight Mass. It was a long mass at over an hour and a half long, but Grace was a trooper. There was minimal fussing even though we didn't get out of church until almost two in the morning.
Present from mommy and daddy- her very own chair to lounge in.

Opening Santa's present...


Grace and I had fun dining and checking out dad's ship.

Master of the Mess

Grace is a master at making all kinds of mess now. But I find it very hard to stay upset for too long. That sweet face melts my heart every time.


As I was trying to make our Christmas Eve dinner, Mike suggested he take Grace along with him while he ran some errands. I was excited to be able to focus on dinner without having to worry about Grace being underfoot. Meal preparation went smoothly and quickly. I didn't trip over any toys on the kitchen floor. I didn't have to restock the pantry with all the things Grace pulled onto the ground. I didn't have to divert little hands away from things little hands shouldn't have.

Dinner was made and the kitchen was clean by the time the two came home, but I had missed my little bugaboo something fierce. Turns out my time in the kitchen isn't as much fun without Grace to make things exciting.

Who Needs a Puppy

I've had a puppy twice in my life, once as a child and once as an adult. Both experiences have taught me that puppies will chew up your favorite stuff and make a mess.

Who needs a puppy when you've got a teething baby in the house? My coffee table now has scratches all along the edges and corners because Grace prefers that over her teething toys. One of her new favorite activities is to make a huge mess by pulling as many books off the bookcase as she can. And then she tries to tear out pages or bite the book covers before I get a chance to stop her. This girl may be little, but she sure is quick.

Search for Church and Baby Steps

I'm sorry to say that the Augustine family hasn't been to church regularly since we left Japan a little over two months ago. But now that we're starting to settle down, it's time to go back to church. Today marked the beginning of our search for a church in Jacksonville.

As we were driving around downtown Jacksonville Saturday night, I spotted a gorgeous old church that also happened to be a Catholic one. The moment we got home, we looked up the mass schedule online and decided that we would check it out for Sunday Mass. We also discovered that it's the oldest church in Jacksonville! A bonus: it's named the Immaculate Conception Catholic Church, and my birthday is the feast day of the Immaculate Conception. It seems meant to be.

Grace was antsy during the service, but I was in awe of all the old-fashioned tradition that I have sorely missed. An angelic choir singing to a pipe organ in a choir loft, beautiful stained glass windows, and confessions heard in confessionals before mass.

Even though there are several churches closer to home, this one may be worth the drive.


Grace has three Christmas dresses. I got her one and so did Lola and Grandma. So she wore one of them to church today. I think my girl looks pretty good in red.



Grace has been on the verge of walking for a couple weeks now, but tonight was a real breakthrough. She took four baby steps this evening after dinner. Her motivation- trying to get a taste of my popsicle dessert. If I have to keep eating sweets to encourage her to continue walking, then so be it. It's my responsibility as a good mother.

Enjoying Each Other

Even though the countdown has begun for Mike to be gone for several months, I'm still in denial about it. Instead, our little family of three is focused on just enjoying each other and anticipating what a wonderful Christmas this will be since at least we'll be spending it together.

Digging into the brownies the fabulous Estoestas sent us for Christmas.

Hanging out with Daddy.

I thought Florida had warm weather! We decided to go out for a walk tonight and had to bundle up the baby because it was so cold.

Grace and I in front of the 'Lone Sailor'. Pretty soon our sailor will be leaving us all alone.

I was getting Grace's bath ready and when I turned around, this is what I found.

Three Times in Three Hours

There was a time a few months ago when Grace went 4 days without having a poopie diaper. An hour after Mike and I decided that we were taking her to the doctor the next morning to make sure everything was okay, she had the biggest poopie diaper ever. At her next well-baby checkup, the pediatrician reassured us that it was not uncommon for exclusively breastfed babies to go that long without a dirty diaper, and we haven't given her bowel movements too much thought since then.

Tonight, after her daddy changed three FULL dirty diapers in less than three hours, it's hard to imagine we used to worry that our baby didn't poop enough. And I think Grace rather enjoyed surprising us with her fully loaded Pampers.


We had lunch at Sticky Fingers and found out that a balloon can help make for a peaceful lunch for mom and dad.

We took a tour of Mayport Naval Base to make sure I know where everything is before Mike leaves his girls. This big gray ship, the USS Farragut, will be his home away from home.

My little helper assisting me with pantry organization.

Late Night Dancing

Ever since this girl discovered that she can groove, she hasn't stopped. Even if there isn't any music to be heard, she will still dance to her own little beat. Here she is, after her bath and all in her pj's, enjoying her own little dance party of one.

And since she was in such a good mood- even though it was way past her bedtime- we decided to go ahead and take her picture for our family Christmas card. I know that Christmas is only a week and a half away and by the time they arrive and I get them all mailed out, it may very well be the new year already, but this has been a crazy time and I'm lucky to get Christmas cards out at all.

Here are some of the ones that didn't make the cut...

I liked this one but I didn't feel it was Christmas-y enough.During the photo shoot, I sang "We Wish You a Merry Christmas" in a loud, silly voice to get her to laugh and smile. We didn't always get a smile at the right time, but without fail, every time I finished a song, she would give me a round of applause.

Distracted by the ornaments.

"Don't look at me, look at Daddy!"

"I'm comin' to get you, Daddy!"