Gracie's Spring
(From family email sent 5/15/07)
Friends & Family:
I know that your in-boxes are littered enough already, but here's another one. :) I have several loyal visitors to the blog, but I know that most of you are very busy people and I have had some requests for an email/picture update. So here it is in a nutshell:
Gracie had a wonderful 3rd birthday in March. She celebrated twice and remains more than willing to have a birthday party everyday. We had a Clifford party here at the apartment for her, and invited the girls from the tea parties. Even though they are several years older than she is, everyone had a blast and mommy went way out on the decorations, including a Clifford doghouse cake I made. Each child even got a take home a goody doggie bowl full of treats. The next weekend we had another party in Tennessee; this one for the family. Gracie had loved the kids play place "Fun Adventure" in Johnson City so much, when I saw you can have parties, I signed us up. Grandma and Grandpa drove up from Lynchburg and the many TN family members all came to celebrate. I was bummed that none of my former co-workers and their families were able to come, but Gracie seemed to have a good time anyway. We threw her a Happy Feet party and she was completely spoiled. Plus, the week of vacation we spent in Tennessee after the party was much needed!
When we got back from Tennessee, I started a new job. Well, I added new clients to my current job ;) I now care for Emma, an adorable and lovable 10 month old. I met Kathy (Emma's mom) through my neighbor Colette who thought that I might be willing to keep Emma. Babysitting isn't something I sought out, but after I thought about it, I decided I would love to give piece of mind to another mother. I am so blessed to be able to stay at home with my daughter, and not all moms are that lucky. I can only imagine the stress and worry that goes in to finding a daycare provider for the most precious commodity you have. So, this is my way of giving back. Now Kathy knows that her daughter is being taken care of and enjoyed as if she were at home. As for Gracie, she is wonderful with her. Don't get me wrong we have a few rare moments of jealousy, but nothing extreme. Gracie and Emma adore each other, and Gracie is so protective. Emma hadn't been here a week and she was crying when I laid her down for a nap. Gracie broke in to tears and was sobbing "she needs her gi-gi momma!!" I nearly cried watching my child hurt for this little baby. I had to carry this big one out of the room and snuggle her and reassure her that I would always take care of Emma and Gracie!
We spent Easter in Lynchburg this year, which I think has become a tradition we enjoy. Grandma finished another smocked dress that Lou had started, and she looked precious in pink. The Easter bunny was quite good to her, and we did all the fun Easter things I so look forward to. The week before Easter, Gracie and I hosted an egg hunt and party for the girls here. It was freezing, but the girls managed to find all of the eggs I hid outside the apartment. When they came in from the cold they enjoyed the bunny cake I had made and we all painted eggs.As for Easter weekend, Mariah and Gracie got some time together during a Easter party at Grandma & Grandpa's church, and they got to ride the train at the mall. We didn't attempt pictures with the bunny, knowing that wouldn't have been a success. But, I snapped some really beautiful ones after church on Sunday.
In May we took Gracie to her first Apple Blossom festival and her first circus. She had an amazing time and was so excited. We have another festival coming up this weekend and hopefully Grandma and Grandma will be bringing Mariah to enjoy it too.
Our current project is a garden outside the apartment. I had this awesome idea and called and got permission from the landlord to start a "learning garden;" a place where the kids of this building can be apart of the planting process and watch their hard work grow in to beautiful plants. It took a LOT of work to get the extremely rocky ground ready, but we already have some success. I have green peppers, tomatoes, potatoes, squash, strawberries, watermelon, carrots and pumpkin all planted. Cucumbers are the next to go in. I really hope that this project pays off and the girls get something out of it. Some of these kids have never seen something grow from a seed, much less helped in a garden. How exciting!
Life stays busy here, especially now that I have two. But it just means even more fun and looking for new ideas. The most exciting new development is that Gracie is potty trained! All that effort I had been putting in since 18 months didn't do diddly squat! Gracie just decided one day to use the potty (we hadn't been trying to train her for the past 6 months or so, we decided it wasn't working and it wasn't worth the frustration and mess). However it happened, I am relieved. Waiting until she was ready has paid off. Her decision was about 3 weeks ago, and we have had very few accidents, and we are now in day 3 of no accidents. Those accidents, by the way, would only happen when she was playing and she didn't make it to the potty in time. I gave Gracie a potty party last week and she was so proud. I made her a construction paper cap and printed off a potty diploma. We had cupcakes (with iced undies on top! I'm really getting good with the cake decorating!) and the neighbors came over and she got gifts of big girl underwear. The party made her feel so accomplished, and I was just as proud as she was!!
I think that about sums it up here. We certainly hope that life on your end is going well and we would love to hear from you. If you want more Gracie info you are welcome to check out my blog, I update it nearly everyday and it is such a joy to me.
I have embedded some pictures in to this email, but there are plenty more. Below are some links so you can see whole folders. Last year I switched from Snapfish to Picasa, so you don't have to sign up to see my pictures, just click on the link and there they are.
I hope all of you moms had a nice Mother's Day. Besides Gracie having a cold, mine was pretty good. Gracie gave me a card, and she and I went out with Kathy, Emma, Colette and Mallory for a Mother's Day brunch last Wednesday and we had a great time.
Our love to you all,
Barbara, Garren & Gracie
March 2007
Gracie's Birthday-Apartment
Gracie's Birthday-Tennessee
Week In TN
Gracie & Emma
April 2007
Easter Egg Hunt & Party
Easter In Lynchburg
May 2007
Apple Blossom/Circus
Potty Party
Friends & Family:
I know that your in-boxes are littered enough already, but here's another one. :) I have several loyal visitors to the blog, but I know that most of you are very busy people and I have had some requests for an email/picture update. So here it is in a nutshell:
Gracie had a wonderful 3rd birthday in March. She celebrated twice and remains more than willing to have a birthday party everyday. We had a Clifford party here at the apartment for her, and invited the girls from the tea parties. Even though they are several years older than she is, everyone had a blast and mommy went way out on the decorations, including a Clifford doghouse cake I made. Each child even got a take home a goody doggie bowl full of treats. The next weekend we had another party in Tennessee; this one for the family. Gracie had loved the kids play place "Fun Adventure" in Johnson City so much, when I saw you can have parties, I signed us up. Grandma and Grandpa drove up from Lynchburg and the many TN family members all came to celebrate. I was bummed that none of my former co-workers and their families were able to come, but Gracie seemed to have a good time anyway. We threw her a Happy Feet party and she was completely spoiled. Plus, the week of vacation we spent in Tennessee after the party was much needed!
When we got back from Tennessee, I started a new job. Well, I added new clients to my current job ;) I now care for Emma, an adorable and lovable 10 month old. I met Kathy (Emma's mom) through my neighbor Colette who thought that I might be willing to keep Emma. Babysitting isn't something I sought out, but after I thought about it, I decided I would love to give piece of mind to another mother. I am so blessed to be able to stay at home with my daughter, and not all moms are that lucky. I can only imagine the stress and worry that goes in to finding a daycare provider for the most precious commodity you have. So, this is my way of giving back. Now Kathy knows that her daughter is being taken care of and enjoyed as if she were at home. As for Gracie, she is wonderful with her. Don't get me wrong we have a few rare moments of jealousy, but nothing extreme. Gracie and Emma adore each other, and Gracie is so protective. Emma hadn't been here a week and she was crying when I laid her down for a nap. Gracie broke in to tears and was sobbing "she needs her gi-gi momma!!" I nearly cried watching my child hurt for this little baby. I had to carry this big one out of the room and snuggle her and reassure her that I would always take care of Emma and Gracie!
We spent Easter in Lynchburg this year, which I think has become a tradition we enjoy. Grandma finished another smocked dress that Lou had started, and she looked precious in pink. The Easter bunny was quite good to her, and we did all the fun Easter things I so look forward to. The week before Easter, Gracie and I hosted an egg hunt and party for the girls here. It was freezing, but the girls managed to find all of the eggs I hid outside the apartment. When they came in from the cold they enjoyed the bunny cake I had made and we all painted eggs.As for Easter weekend, Mariah and Gracie got some time together during a Easter party at Grandma & Grandpa's church, and they got to ride the train at the mall. We didn't attempt pictures with the bunny, knowing that wouldn't have been a success. But, I snapped some really beautiful ones after church on Sunday.
In May we took Gracie to her first Apple Blossom festival and her first circus. She had an amazing time and was so excited. We have another festival coming up this weekend and hopefully Grandma and Grandma will be bringing Mariah to enjoy it too.
Our current project is a garden outside the apartment. I had this awesome idea and called and got permission from the landlord to start a "learning garden;" a place where the kids of this building can be apart of the planting process and watch their hard work grow in to beautiful plants. It took a LOT of work to get the extremely rocky ground ready, but we already have some success. I have green peppers, tomatoes, potatoes, squash, strawberries, watermelon, carrots and pumpkin all planted. Cucumbers are the next to go in. I really hope that this project pays off and the girls get something out of it. Some of these kids have never seen something grow from a seed, much less helped in a garden. How exciting!
Life stays busy here, especially now that I have two. But it just means even more fun and looking for new ideas. The most exciting new development is that Gracie is potty trained! All that effort I had been putting in since 18 months didn't do diddly squat! Gracie just decided one day to use the potty (we hadn't been trying to train her for the past 6 months or so, we decided it wasn't working and it wasn't worth the frustration and mess). However it happened, I am relieved. Waiting until she was ready has paid off. Her decision was about 3 weeks ago, and we have had very few accidents, and we are now in day 3 of no accidents. Those accidents, by the way, would only happen when she was playing and she didn't make it to the potty in time. I gave Gracie a potty party last week and she was so proud. I made her a construction paper cap and printed off a potty diploma. We had cupcakes (with iced undies on top! I'm really getting good with the cake decorating!) and the neighbors came over and she got gifts of big girl underwear. The party made her feel so accomplished, and I was just as proud as she was!!
I think that about sums it up here. We certainly hope that life on your end is going well and we would love to hear from you. If you want more Gracie info you are welcome to check out my blog, I update it nearly everyday and it is such a joy to me.
I have embedded some pictures in to this email, but there are plenty more. Below are some links so you can see whole folders. Last year I switched from Snapfish to Picasa, so you don't have to sign up to see my pictures, just click on the link and there they are.
I hope all of you moms had a nice Mother's Day. Besides Gracie having a cold, mine was pretty good. Gracie gave me a card, and she and I went out with Kathy, Emma, Colette and Mallory for a Mother's Day brunch last Wednesday and we had a great time.
Our love to you all,
Barbara, Garren & Gracie
March 2007
Gracie's Birthday-Apartment
Gracie's Birthday-Tennessee
Week In TN
Gracie & Emma
April 2007
Easter Egg Hunt & Party
Easter In Lynchburg
May 2007
Apple Blossom/Circus
Potty Party
our daughter is beautiful. Enjoy her all you can because she will grow go away to college and move to Charlotte. You should be very proud of your family.
ReplyDeletedear barbara,
ReplyDeleteyour life sounds full and fun at this time. as i always say, enjoy it, as things change rapidly with children growing sooooooo fast. really good to hear from and about you and yours.
love,
jane
Hey...I meant to tell you how cute I thought your panty cupcakes were.
ReplyDeleteSounds great with the potty training...3 DAYS!!! AWESOME!!!!!!
BJ – you’re such a wonderful and creative mom. Gracie (and Emma) are so lucky to have you!
ReplyDeleteSara
girl you are way too creative and crafty!
ReplyDeleteYou must have a lot of free time!
Stefanie