For Comparison

So, even though it is not even close to Fall yet with these 85 degree temps we've been having, I still pulled down all of Grace's baby clothes for 6-12 months since Everly will be growing into them soon. One outfit I pulled down was this little Aggie outfit and put it on Everly while Beck and Ben were here. We actually got the little jacket from Adley! But, check out these two girls in their little outfits. The first is Grace at 7 months and the second is Everly at 6 months.

Our weekend with Beck and Ben

At least once a year, we have the Powell's to stay in College Station with us! Sometimes, we have years where we see them 3 or 4 times at the beach, JW Marriott, Austin, or Orange Grove, but this time, we had not seen them in almost an entire year! So, it was so much fun to have them come stay for a weekend! Many times, the Huey's also come in for a day trip to College Station on Friday, but they were busy this time, so it was just the 9 of us. On Friday night, they arrived and we ate chicken, baked potatoes and salad while the boys and Grace started playing. They picked up right where they left off with their friendship and never had any problems all weekend. Even Grace played the entire time without every feeling left out and they always included her. They played and played and crashed Friday night, and us adults even stayed up until 1:30! That is very late for me and Vic these days!

On Saturday, we got dressed in our Aggie gear, since this was the big Texas A&M vs. Alabama game weekend in Alabama. Before we left, the kids went outside and Beck coached them to play football for awhile. He was so funny telling them where to stand and what to do and was serious. But, sometimes, his other 3 players got confused or forgot and it made for some interesting plays, touchdowns, and tackles. It was the funniest thing! Also, since Mandee and Derek had not seen the new stadium, we headed up to campus to walk around the stadium, the MSC, and over to the Century Tree. The kids ran and played and we got the cutest pictures that I truly hope we get to recreate one day when they are all Aggies attending Texas A&M together! We went to Chimy's to eat lunch and hit it right before the college crowd arrived to watch the game. It was a great lunch because the adults sat at one table and the kids, minus Everly, sat a different table. It's exciting to get to that point in your kids ages! Then, we headed home to watch the game, do a lot of pretending and dress-up, play outside with some of the neighbors, and finish off the night with pizza. Early the next day, they headed home and Atticus and Grace were so sad to see them go! We look forward to every time we get to see Mandee and Derek, Beck and Ben.

Do we really have 3 kids?

Sometimes, I just think it is fun to realize we have THREE kids! And, I also think it is fun to take their pictures all the time and am also realizing I will rarely ever get 3 to look at the camera and smile and pose all at the same time. So, I'll post this cute one since I was semi-successful! And a bonus picture of our littlest love!

Update on Grace's hair for picture day

So, you know how I posted those adorable pictures of Grace and the curls in her hair? Well, I'm glad I did and took my own pictures. Check out what happens when you put Grace in front of a photographer after her hair has been in 100% humidity for no more than 2 hours. Note: These are the proofs and the only ones we will ever have...not buying this round of precious pictures!

I mean, her face says it all. I think we will stick with my amateur photo instead.

Everly is 6 months!

Just a couple of days ago, our Everly turned 6 months old! Here are some things to remember:

• She weighs 15 lbs. 14 oz. and is 25.75 inches long. For her weight, she is in the 42 percentile.
• She is a great sleeper! She has been sleeping 12-13 hours a night and taking naps during the day. But, her naps are not always on a schedule. We can almost always get a normal morning nap in except for church on Sunday or dance on Friday. But, afternoon naps are the toughest because I'm either picking Grace up at 1:30 on Tuesday and Thursday and then Atticus every day at 3:00. So, I generally have to wake her during those times to go pick up kids. And she does not usually fall back asleep in the car. Thankfully, she is really good at putting herself to sleep so sometimes I come right back home, put her right back in her crib and after a little bit, she falls back into a nap. But, I sure do hate to wake her up when she is sleeping so soundly. She is also no longer in a swaddle; she sleeps in a sleep sack; and she sleeps on her tummy most of the time.
• She will roll all over the living room and her crib. She doesn't love playing on the floor by herself, but if she is in the mood, and I don't make eye contact, haha, she will roll around for awhile until she gets stuck or doesn't have anything close to play with. 
• She is so close to sitting up on her own. She can sit up for a little while on her own, but then she falls over and sometimes gets upset about it. And she can't push herself back up to sitting up yet. But, otherwise, she prefers to be sitting up to play and prefers Vic or I be right there to play with her!
• She loves to play. She likes the stacking rings, or unstacking them I should say. She loves her Nuby bead necklace and we just got out the musical play table without the legs. She is starting to really push those buttons. She will also chew mostly on her bunny lovey and her stuffed giraffe. She will even look at little books and then of course put them in her mouth!
• She stays pretty quiet most of the time, but when she gets to talking and cooing, she gets loud!
• She's actually tall enough to start jumping in the jumperoo now! 
• She has now cut two teeth this past month. They bother her off and on. They are the two middle bottom teeth. 
• She still takes a paci and can even put it in her own mouth now! We've noticed this when she is in her crib playing.
• She is starting to get out of 3-6 month clothes.
• She is still in size 2 diapers.
• She still sticks her tongue out all the time! She is also starting to blow bubbles when she plays. 
• We started her on rice cereal and oatmeal about 3 weeks ago. Those two things have gone fine and while she almost always scrunches up her face at the first bite, she has liked both. So, we tried applesauce and she liked it, but on the 3rd attempt, we noticed around her eyes and up the sides of her head, her skin started breaking out in a little rash. It wasn't bumpy, but it was definitely something irritating her skin. The first time, we'd been outside and I thought maybe something else in the air or grass might have bothered her. But, when we realized it happened again after applesauce, we stopped the applesauce. She had some prunes one night and it did the same thing. We went back to only cereals for a few day and then introduced carrots and while she did NOT like carrots so she only got a few bites in, she did not break out at all. So, we haven't been very consistent in anything except cereals yet. We will re-introduce things a little later on but I hope we don't have food allergies in our future. 
• However, the CUTEST thing she does right now is this. If I am holding her in my arms and I try to eat something or drink something, she attacks whatever it is going into my mouth. She will grab onto my cup and pull it towards her and put her mouth on it and then realize she doesn't really know what to do with it. It is so cute! She will do the same with any food I have and just grab at it. I will try to post a video soon. It's so funny!
• She is still in mama/daddy mode. If anyone else takes her, she just cries. Rascal! She's also starting to get into that part of being held where she wants to move around a lot, which makes me more aware of not letting her throw herself out of my arms!
• She is pretty calm and very observant. She will watch the older kids all the time but when they start to pay direct attention to her, she comes alive! She laughs and smiles and loves the attention they give her. And, she loves to lay on her changing table or in her crib and either pull up her feet to her mouth or have me blow kisses into her stomach. She just laughs and laughs! She loves the element of surprise the most! I will pretend to be minding my own business while playing with her and then grab her with a kiss or a squeeze or something and she will jump and then just laugh and laugh. I'll do it over and over and she loves it!
• I still love to snuggle her and always hope she is so tired before she goes to sleep at night, that she will just fall asleep nursing and then let me hold her awhile. As long as something doesn't wake her up...ahem...Atticus and Grace...I get to snuggle her as she sleeps for awhile before I lay her down. But, many times, she is just ready for her bed while awake. I'm not worried thought; the phase of coming to our room at midnight to get into bed with us is still in our future! ha!
• She's just still the perfect little fit to our family. I feel like she just sits back and watches a lot (but seriously, how do you get a word in with Atticus and Grace being so busy all the time?), but I am seeing more and more of her little personality emerge and notice it a lot even when it's just she and I spending time together on Tuesday and Thursday mornings.  How are we halfway to that big 1 year birthday celebration?
  

Family Pictures 2016

Since most of us would be together for Pa's 90th Birthday, we decided to have family pictures done again. The last time we had them done was when Atticus was only 6 months old, and a lot has changed since then! So, here are some of my favorites!

 Poor Everly was DONE with pictures; all she wanted was a nap....

And for this last one, do you know what Grace said when she saw this picture of her and Melbo? "Where's Bubba?" She knows wherever Melbo is, Bubba the cat must be close by.

Grace at 3 1/2

So, since Grace is almost 3 and a half and the sweetest, funniest little girl, I need to blog an update on her! She is just the perfect fit in our family of 5! This girl is a mix of sweet, snuggly, stubborn, silly, thoughtful, imaginative, sensitive, smart and silly!

• Sweet: she is just sweet. She generally wakes up in the morning in her happy little sweet mood. Her little voice is sweet and high pitched (which on whiny days the high pitch is harder to take but I still love that little high voice). It's hard to explain, but her actions and her mannerisms and her little self is just so sweet.
• Snuggly: She is very snuggly. Many times, when she gets upset, she will only say "I need you to pick me up" and that is truly what makes her calm down and feel better. She just wants to snuggle up. She also wants to snuggle up in the morning sometimes when she comes to our room and we are still sleeping. She wants to snuggle when she doesn't feel good. She is just still tiny and snuggly.
• Tiny: She is petite and tiny and she is happy about it! She likes to be a "big girl" but she will also tell you she likes being tiny.
• Stubborn: She can be SO stubborn. She is usually very easygoing, happy, and carefree but when she is not in the mood, she is stubborn. I finally realized I will call it "all in grace time" because sometimes that is just the way it is going to go with her. I think some of it has to do with being 3 and learning independence and boundaries, but whew it can be exhausting. Her stubbornness right now is with what she eats. This girl does not need food like most people. If she doesn't like it, she will be stubborn and refuse to eat. Even if it is food she loves, she will put up a fight if she is not in the mood. She is also this way when it comes to picking up toys or doing other things she doesn't want to do in that moment. And the part I have the least patience with when it comes to her being stubborn is when she "runs out of gas" while we are walking somewhere. We can be on a walk in the neighborhood, walking through a store, walking 10 feet to a stopping place and she will get tired, whine and say "I'm running out of gas" and proceed to sit on the ground telling me to pick her up. Ugh. I don't know where "I'm running out of gas" came from!
• Pleasing: As stubborn as she is, she loves to please you. When she does want to please you, she will eat her entire dinner or pick up her toys or help do anything you are doing just to get your praise and please you.
• Imaginative: She has the BEST imagination. She can setup any of her little toys and just play and play and play and play. Usually, she does not want anyone to play with her when she does this; she just likes to talk to herself and make all of her toys talk and come up with all kinds of scenarios and situations. I will hear her repeat things I say or play school or toys with her toys. It's precious. And, when she and Atticus will play, she will really get into pretending with him. They will play with their toys and come up with imaginative ideas. Of course, with Atticus, boy things like blasters and Star Wars and attacks are involved, but she is so happy to pretend with Atticus too.
• Girly: She loves to wear pink and purple, twirl, look pretty and look in the mirror, wear bows, play princesses, sing, dance, and talk about her friends. She is just a sweet, happy, girl!
• Sensitive: Oh is she sensitive. And this is ok with me, actually. I want her to guard her little heart and not feel like she has to do what others expect all the time. If something bothers her, she gets upset and does not want to be in that situation. Can it be frustrating? Yes. But, I want her to feel comfortable and know when not to. If she gets embarrassed, she wants to hide away from that embarrassment and only be with me or Vic, who she is comforted by. If she thinks she is not being included, she is hesitant to include herself, but instead wants to be comforted. I mean, I know she is only 3, but as independent as she can be in her comfort zones, she is equally hesitant and shy when she is not comfortable. That is why I'm so proud of her in preschool and dance; she slowly warmed up to it, feels comfortable and goes all in right now. I really don't want to push her into things; I want to let her decide and feel comfortable as she grows up.
• A performer: She loves to sing and dance at home. Sometimes she will ask you not to sing with her or not to watch her because she gets embarrassed, but she LOVES to sing and dance. She will also make up her own songs and she will ask all the time to listen to my music on my phone. Currently, her favorites are the Mary Poppins Soundtrack, Elena of Avalor show soundtrack, Bibbity-Bobbity-Boo, Ice Ice Baby (yes...by Vanilla Ice although I'm glad you can't really understand the rapping lyrics well...), Every Step I Take (a Christian Radio song she heard at church and loves it because it says her name in it..."waves of mercy, waves of grace...), and she mixes in a little hip hop with Work by Fifth Harmony and Can't Stop the Feeling by Justin Timberlake. She is so funny with her songs she loves! And, she loves ballet class right now and asks me daily if she can go to ballet today!
• Confident/Bossy: When she is not sensitive or shy, she is so confident in how "fabulous" or "beautiful" she looks and she is a little bossy when it comes to playing with her. She will constantly ask to play "Mrs. Summer and Hallie" and then instruct me on what to say and do as I play the part of Mrs. Summer. Who are these people you ask? Well, Mrs. Summer was her teacher at the end of preschool last year and Hallie was in her class. She loved to come home and have Atticus and her and I be people in her class and pretend to be at school or play. It has just continued on and we play this almost daily. She will do the same with Shimmer and Shine, her favorite show and I will play Leah and she will play Shimmer or Shine and she tells me what to say and what to do so we can play. 
• A terrible sleeper: Actually, she sleeps fine once asleep, but this girl CANNOT sleep in a room by herself, and barely a bed by herself. I am so thankful for Atticus's kind heart (even if we force him to use it sometimes in these situations) because he will either sleep with her or she sleeps with him. They already share a room and that usually takes care of her need for someone with her but lately, she need someone in her bed. The really funny part is that Atticus will "allow" it but she has to be halfway down the bed, perpendicular to him practically and not in his sleeping space. We always make him make room for her in the normal sleeping position, but I love watching him try to assert his rules to her if she is going to sleep in his bed. I also love listening on the monitor to her nonstop chatter until he says "Grace. Go to sleep" and then she follows him and does it. 
• Her smile: I mean, it really lights up a room! It's her giggle and her smile and her cuteness all rolled into one. I know, I know. But, that little face is just the best! 
• Silly: She is just a silly girl! The other day, she walked into the room and said "look Mommy; I'm going to put a goldfish on my nose!". She lays down on the ground, balances one on her  nose and starts laughing! This girl!
• A great big and little sister: Grace is a great sister! She and Atticus do aggravate one another, but she loves him so much. She will talk about him during the day and still tells me she misses him. She will be so concerned about him if he gets notes from the teacher. She will be so proud of him if something goes great for him. She just loves him. She loves being a part of his life and has zero concerns that he does not want her to do everything with him. The funniest thing is that when the kids on our street get together to play, they are almost all boys. But, Grace thinks she is part of the group and Atticus will always include her in the play. I know the day is coming that will break her little heart when he chooses his friends over her to play, maybe because he's older or they are doing something she is not big enough for or because she is his sister or a girl. And Atticus loves her, so he will have to work at making sure she knows that. But, I love that she is such a great little sister. I also love how much she loves Everly. Now that it's just us girls all day, Grace really likes to talk to Everly and play with her and bring her toys and go check on her (in the middle of naps! yikes!) and make Everly laugh. She is just a great big sister to Everly and I look forward to the days where they get to play together more and more!
• Nonstop talker: She talks nonstop. She really does not stop. If she is not talking to a person, she is talking to her toys, or making up songs to sing, or reading books to her own story out loud. She will ask a thousand questions and want to talk and talk and talk. It's the cutest and I love it.
• Fiercely loves: I don't know how to say this, but it's important when I describe Grace. She loves fiercely. As I said earlier, she can get embarrassed or shy really fast and decide she doesn't want anything to do with somebody or something and there's no changing her mind. But, she also loves those that she is comfortable with fiercely. I know this because she talks about people all the time. She talks about her family and whether Grandma will play her instruments or why Pop puts the bad guys in jail or when GG is coming or about her teachers or specific friends. Those she feels comfortable with and has these great memories with, she will just talk about all the time. Her little world is only made up of a few people she will let in, but she loves us!
• Smart: She is smart. She listens and remembers and soaks things up. She learns quickly from preschool and from Atticus. Anytime she sees a G, she thinks it spells Grace. She can count to 19 if she leaves a couple numbers out. She knows her shapes and colors and (she even told me what a crescent was the other day). But, she also learns and remembers how we do things and what is right and wrong. She is also too smart for her own good sometimes. I really want to raise a sweet little girl, not some diva princess. We'll always think she hung the moon but we don't want her to know it and let it go to her head! ha! But, she is so funny too. She knows just how to mix that sweetness and still stay on top of her game. When I wanted to roll her hair in curlers for picture day recently, I wasn't sure if she would sit long enough for me to do it or not. So, when I told her I needed her to do it, it is true that I was dreaming up in my head something to lure her with...something to play with, something to snack on, someplace fun to sit...something. And she must have been able to tell because as I'm talking about rolling her hair, she looks at me as if she realizes she can probably get something she wants right now because I want something from her and says without hesitation..."I want your phone." It was like she was laying her deal down and asking me if I was going to take it. Her little look, the way she said it. Oh my! I almost laughed out loud with Vic. This girl!
• Loves JAY-ZUS: She love Jesus. But, she says it "Jay-zus". Last year around Easter, she heard lots of talk at school and from us about Jesus dying on the cross. And randomly, she will ask lots of questions about why and how and who did it. She will talk about Jesus in her heart. The other day, she was pretending and turns to look at me and says "Aurora and Cinderella are friends and they are really kind and they have Jay-zus in their hearts." It was random, but she definitely knows about Jesus. 
• Bad Guys: She is kind of curious about bad guys...like all the time. And many times, she will call them bank robbers instead of bad guys. For example, she has lots of questions about why bad guys put Jesus on the cross. Try answering those with the right amount of information to a 3 year old. If we see policemen, she will ask about bad guys being in jail. About the 2nd week of school, there were some active thefts happening in the neighborhood next to Pebble Creek Elementary and Atticus came home from school talking about it because they had been kind of in lockdown mode during the police catching the thieves. So we talked about it and about why they don't answer the door to strangers and why we have to be careful, etc. We talked about the police catching the guys and putting them in jail and how they wouldn't be coming back to the neighborhood. I hoped this would end the conversation. Well, one of the neighborhood kids came down to play and had all kinds of 3rd grade style rumors about the bad guys not being in jail and having guns and all kinds of things. Grace burst into tears right in the front yard! And for the rest of the afternoon and evening, all Atticus and Grace could talk about and worry about were the bad guys. So, after a phone call to Pop (who is a detention officer and who wears a uniform and who Grace understands to take care of the bad guys/bank robbers), we stopped talking about it. Sort of. It gets brought up here and there and she is so concerned but has so many questions (usually the same ones over and over) about bank robbers. 
• Okay, I've talked too much but I love these things about Grace and just want to remember them all! Also, here's a few quick stats on her right now:
• She is between 3T and 4T clothes. She weighs 32 pounds.
• She loves a different baby or stuffed animal every couple of days, but her favorite possession is her pink blanket.
• Her favorite foods are apples, cereal, goldfish, carrots, pizza, pb&j sandwiches and french fries. Oh and fruit snacks of course. Seriously, she LOVES carrots. She will eat other things if in the mood (chicken, rice, porkchops, ravioli, hot dogs, tacos, nachos, bits and pieces of casserole style dishes, beans, watermelon, cheesesticks). She refuses to eat yogurt, drink milk, ea any other fruit, any vegetable, or anything above that she is not in the mood for. Also, she only drinks water.
• Her favorite stores are HEB and Target and the toy store.
• Her favorite place to eat is Chick-Fil-A.
• Her favorite colors are still purple and pink.
• Her current funny phrases are: "I do it by myself", "Just so you know", "Oh my goodness!", "I too scared" (for anything she doesn't want to do), and "Good in the neighborhood". 
• She loves her toys from the princesses and ponies and Minnie Mouse to her cupcakes and tea sets and play kitchen. She is starting to love baby dolls more and more. She recently likes any of Atticus's toys - dinosaurs, farm set, train set. She has taken a step back on her love of art from earlier this year. She has recently started to like putting puzzles together and reading a lot of books. 
• Her favorite movie right now is Mary Poppins. She gets scared to watch any new movie. I've got Beauty and the Beast just waiting for her...

So, that is our crazy little sweet thing we call Grace Caroline! Here are some pictures that sum up that personality!