Busy

Busy. That's quite the understatement when describing what our lives have been like the past couple of weeks. Hence the lack of blog updates. That, and we didn't have internet hooked up yet. We'd have to go to Panera for their free wi-fi. And because we felt guilty if we just sat there and used the internet, we would buy some pastries and a drink. So in the end, we probably spent an insane amount of money just to check emails and Facebook.

Since the last entry, we moved to Jacksonville and finished the last of the renovations, celebrated Grace's first Thanksgiving, received our household goods and did our best to cram it into our new place, and drove to Virginia Beach for a class Mike has to take.

The 2 weeks we were in Jacksonville was the longest amount of time we were in one place since we left Japan. We have literally been on the go since the beginning of October. I wish I could say we were done with traveling, at least for a little while, but Sunday morning, we make the trip back down to Jacksonville.

I figured I better update the blog or I may never be able to document these last couple of weeks.

So here it is. Get ready. It's a long one.

THANKSGIVING WEEKEND

First we had dinner at Dave's where he was kind of enough to cook us a Thanksgiving meal complete with made-from-scratch mashed potatoes. And he's a bachelor! Impressive.

Then we had dessert at the Baggetts'. John and Mike were roommates during their swinging bachelor days and now they have three kids between the two of them. With one more on the way (on the Baggett side).

We took a day off of working on the house to head down to St. Augustine. It was gorgeous!

We made time to check out the alligator farm. Very cool, but we have to come back during the summer. The alligators were sluggish because of the colder weather and they're much more impressive when the weather is warmer. Particularly during feeding times.


SOME RANDOM FIRSTS

Now that Grace is up to five and a half teeth, we introduced toothbrushing to her daily routine. She loves it!

Her daddy was very proud of this particular first- nose picking. But don't worry, I plan on teaching her that ladies absolutely do NOT do this in public. And we always use tissues- never bare fingers!

She finally understands that she's in trouble when we speak to her using "the tone".

Look at that pitiful face!

Her first lumpia. She was a little unsure, but this girl is eager to try all kinds of new food.

My sweet baby has turned into a tiny dancing queen! Any time she hears even a hint of music, she is bopping up and down and shaking that little booty of hers.

I don't have a picture to go with this first, but Grace took her first step last weekend. And I missed it! I'm with her 24/7 and the one time I didn't have her with me because I was making a quick run to Walmart, she takes a step for her daddy. But I don't mind. I'm actually happy he was able to witness a first of hers. Especially since he'll be leaving for 7 months in a few weeks and will likely miss many milestones while he's gone. But it did almost make me cry that I wasn't there for this milestone. So far, I've been right there for all of her firsts.

Her first visit to Santa Claus was a disaster. My normally friendly and go-with-anyone baby cried hysterically when I placed her on Santa's lap.

The night we took Grace to see Santa was also pet night. Friendly old St. Nick frightens her, but she's okay with dogs that are huge as horses.


ALMOST CAUGHT UP NOW...

I celebrated my birthday with a date night with my husband. (Looking at this picture makes me regret this pose. I forgot the power of side poses. Facing the camera head on this way makes me look HUGE!) The grandparents babysat while I enjoyed a steak and lobster dinner followed by a movie, the new Twilight flick. I loved it, and Mike was kind enough to keep his sarcastic snickering to a minimum.

We hung out with Ninang Glenda, Lina, and Sadie this afternoon. Grace sure does love her Ninang Glenda.

Having a blast at the play area.

And finally, my favorite picture of the day- Mike playing 'stinky feet' with Grace while he gets her dressed for the day.