Sassy Girl

The other day I found Grace trying to pry the babyproofed outlet covers off so I got in her face, said no, and added a finger wag to emphasize my message. The finger wag backfired and now Grace is the one who finger wags her mama. Here she is wagging her finger at me after I told her to stop grabbing the camera lens.

I am loving this stage of babyhood. She's got such a little personality now and I think I'm the luckiest mama in the world to be able to stay home with my baby. I would hate to think that I'd be missing out on all this fun if I were still working. Let's see, try to find a fun way to teach grammar to moody thirteen year olds with attitude problems or have impromptu dance parties in my living room with a sweet eleven month old? Hmmmm...I'll take my baby girl, thank you very much.

When we're not out in public, this is what she looks like since she refuses to keep her hairbow in these days. I let it go at home, but when we're out and about, that bow is staying in!

Grace is my little shadow at home. I was trying to clean this morning and she was content to just sprawl on the floor next to me. If I moved to a different spot, she would pick up her toys and sprawl wherever I went.

It warmed up slightly today so we went for a little walk this afternoon. It was still chilly enough to have to wear a jacket and bring a blanket. Seriously though, I thought we lived in Florida- sunny skies, warm weather?

A New Year, a New Planner

I can't tell you how many calendar planners I've bought in the past that remained nearly blank. I'm not the most organized person in the world, but I like to pretend I am. I got a planner before our big move from Japan because there were so many important dates I needed to keep track of, but even then, it was hardly used. I would write the important dates Mike told me on scraps of paper or just try and memorize them. My blank planner became a running joke between the two of us.

Nevertheless, I absolutely love planners. Maybe I enjoy getting them because I love the possibilities that a blank one represents. All those dates, so many possible things to do!

Well, this is a new year with brand new possibilities. So I got myself another planner. I really do plan on using it this time. I figure, the more I fill that planner with stuff to do, the faster these seven months will go. And that is definitely my goal.

Buying the planner was the easy part though. Now I have to get out there, meet people, and make friends so it'll be easier to fill those blanks with things to do. I need to start radiating the 'let's be friends' vibe to people. Hopefully Jacksonville is filled with lots of friendly people.

This is the only picture I took of my baby today. Pitiful, I know, but I'll try to do better tomorrow.

Some Tuesday Tears

This morning, I was on the computer going through pictures with Grace on my lap when she started pointing to one of her and her daddy. When I enlarged it, she stared at it for a few seconds and then burst into tears! Mike worries that Grace won't even notice he's gone, but I think this morning proves that this sweet baby girl is definitely missing her daddy.

With Grace's birthday just a few short weeks away, the rest of the day was spent working on her party invitation. I put Grace in her princess dress in an attempt to take a nice picture for the invitation, but she just wasn't into it. When the crying began, I had to admit defeat and hope I had at least one decent shot.

Here's a little sampling of the photo shoot.

Up Before Noon

I don't know if you could consider a Walmart run productive, but at least Grace and I were up and out of our pajamas before noon. Then again, we made a Walmart run to get some frozen coconut bars and we walked out of the store with all kinds of things, but forgot the coconut bars. So I guess it wasn't as productive as I was hoping.

We did have a good day that included two naps from Grace lasting more than an hour each. That is a rarity around here. Ever since we moved to Jacksonville, she will not take her naps. She'll happily sleep in my arms, but the moment I set her down in her crib, she is wide awake. I tried something different today and let her sleep on the couch and it worked like a charm. Of course, I couldn't go anywhere during her nap for fear she'd fall off, but at least it gave me some quiet time and I enjoyed reading a few chapters in the novel I'm working on.

We're ending the evening with movie night. One of my impulse buys at Walmart was the movie, Up. I've heard rave reviews about it and Grace and I can't wait to check it out.

Pajama Day

Grace and I are missing Mike like crazy, but that had nothing to do with the fact that we stayed in our pajamas all day long. I was just being lazy and Grace didn't mind as long as I fed her Cheerios and played telephone with her. And because it was a lazy pajama day, I have nothing to write about in the blog tonight. I can't promise that I'll have anything blog worthy tomorrow, but I'll try to be more productive.

Kisses and Hugs

It seemed appropriate that this morning was dark and bitterly cold as Grace and I said our goodbyes to Mike. I know the two of us will be fine, but it just won't be as much fun without Daddy around. There's no one who can make me laugh like my husband. Grace will be missing out on her favorite rough and tumble play because he's awesome at throwing her up in the air and holding her upside down. And now I have to take out the trash.

We are going to miss Mike terribly. These last kisses and hugs from him will just have to last us until he gets back.

Luckily Grandma, Grandpa, and Aunt Megan stayed with us an extra day to delay the pity-party and self wallowing I might succumb to. We spent the afternoon being TV couch potatoes and watching Grace get better at walking. An early evening Saturday Mass, a fabulous dinner at a New Orleans Cajun restaurant, and laughter from seeing all of Grace's new tricks kept me in a positive mood.

We shall see what tomorrow brings, but I'm hopeful that I can keep the self-pity at bay. And in case you were wondering, I did not cry this morning when we were saying our goodbyes. I was strong and tear-free.

The night before, now that is a different story....

Bittersweet New Year

We had a bittersweet new year. My in-law's were here to celebrate with us, which was very sweet, but Mike was so busy working that he didn't even get a chance to eat his New Year's Eve dinner. He had to go back on the ship during dinner and barely made it home in time to ring in the new year with us. But I have to remember to keep looking on the bright side of things- at least he was with us.

Today was spent hanging out with family. Mike made his girls pancakes for breakfast and then once the in-laws came over, off to the beach we went to get some family pictures. I was hoping for one last frame-worthy family picture before Mike left, but Grace was not happy unless she was in Grandma's arms. I might frame our picture anyway just because it's the only recent one we have. We haven't been very good about taking group pictures of our family of three.

In less than 10 hours, my husband is leaving for seven months, so I'm not going to waste any more time on the blog. Send some prayers my way that I can keep things together while my other half is gone.