a big girl with diamonds in her ears!

We finally did it, Gracie got her ears pierced! She has been talking about this for a long time now and I'm not sure why we have been waiting but we did it! That's not true I know why I was waiting, I knew it would hurt and as much as she wanted it I thought she would hate me if we did it. Anyways, her pediatrician Dr Calcagno did it right there in his office. She was a little scared at first but as you can see below she did very well! Of course when he got out the earrings they use to pierce the ears Gracie told him "ummm my daddy buy me diamonds" and pushed away his earrings. It took some convincing but she let him pierce her ears with his earrings only because daddy said it would be ok.

mr. tickles

We have a new member in our family, Mr Tickles the caterpillar. Ethan found him the other day while playing outside. He named him Mr Tickles because it tickles when he crawls on you. So for the past two days Ethan has played with his new friend. I'm not sure how long Mr Tickles will be here but for now he sure is entertaining!

a very goofy little girl

What do you get when you take the camera out around Gracie???

an eventful hour :)

another princess sleepover

Things went so well last time we decided to have another princess sleepover. The kids enjoyed the sunshine at the park. Running, swinging and going up & down the slide (over & over again) were among the many games they played. But the most fun was on the walk to and from. After the park they built a fort using our dining room table. They had so much fun in it that I let them sleep there too. And sleep they did 9 1/2 hours to be exact (if you know Rylee you know this is HUGE). I'm sure they would have even slept longer but I was having my parents over for breakfast and had to start cooking. I must say I really like this sleepover thing :)

saying goodbye to a friend

Last weekend I said goodbye to a friend, Katie Hoffmeister. 20 years ago she moved into the house across the street with her wonderful husband Jay and two small children Thomas & Kelsey. But it wasn't until I got a little older and started to babysit for her that I really got to know just how great she was. Her smile could light up a room. She was kind and understanding and truly wanted the best for you and wanted you to be your best. She was a loving mother. One time while babysitting, the kids were fighting over who could play with this one toy and I said "What would your mom say if she were here?" and Kelsey said "her heart would be sad" I just wanted to know who got the toy but her kids knew that she would be sad if they were fighting. She was one of the strong women I had to look up to in my life and I am thankful for that. She was there for me all through high school when time were tough as well as during the good times of my wedding and when Ethan was born. She will be missed by so many but most of all her family as they were the most important part of her life. As I say goodbye I am not angry at her death but find peace in the many gifts she has given me!

new background

I'm trying to update my blog background so please hang in there with me as I change things around :)

my valentines

happy valentines day!

on our way to a diaper free home

Yesterday while at Target, Gracie found a box of pink legos and wanted me to buy them. I told her they were for big kids (ages 4+). She said she was a big kid so I told her when she started going potty on the toilet then maybe mommy would buy them. Until now Gracie has had no interest in going potty on the toilet. Later in the baby aisle she found big girl panties and a smaller toilet seat that's fits on top of your toilet. She begged me to buy these and said she wanted to go potty like a big girl. Now we went through all of this about 6 months ago, bought her all the potty stuff and she never went so I wasn't sure I wanted to invest all the money again, but I did.



On to tonight when she found the legos in my room. She wanted to open them and I reminded her that they were only for big girls who went potty on the toilet. She got up took off all her clothes and went into the bathroom. I helped her put the new little seat on the toilet and she asked me to go and shut the door. A few minutes later she came out and said "all done mommy I went poo-poo in the toilet" I checked and SHE DID! We did the happy potty dance, put on her new panties and opened her legos. A few minutes later she said she had to go again so off we went and sure enough a big #2 again. A few hours later at the gym's daycare she told Ethan she had to go potty so he took her in with some help from an employee and she went potty.



I put a pull up on her tonight so we'll see how she does but I think this may be the start of a diaper free home :)

jungle child

Gracie is now OBSESSED with the Jungle Book 1 & 2. She will watch them every second of the day if I let her. This morning she asked me to put the "jun-jill book" on, so I did. I sat down to watch it with her for a little bit. When the tiger Shere Khan came on I screamed and acted as if I was scared holding Gracie tight. She started laughing "She-Con not in my living room Mommy he's on the cd" I started laughing too and said oh really. She picked up the DVD case and said "see Mommy it's not real"

Thanks babe, I'm not scared anymore :)

blazer game

Jake took Ethan to his first Blazer game last night.

princess sleepover

Last night was Gracie's turn for a sleepover. Her best friend Rylee spent the night, again this was the first sleepover for both girls. Going to bed was a little tricky but after about an hour they both fell asleep......in my bed.

the cute little princess before bed

time for their morning bath

time to wake Jake up

the artist at work

her masterpiece

princess dress up time

snack time at the end of a great day!