Hello, Friends!

...and welcome to Gracie's highchair of amazing tricks! Many new games are being developed here. Grown-Up Fetch is one of her favorites--she simply tosses an object to the floor to see if anyone will pick it up. Any innocent passer-bys who fall for this are immediately tested again with another drop. If they pick it up a second time, WHAMMO! Her eyes light up because she knows that she's hooked another poor sucker.

We are bigger fans of Binky Chase. This is how it's played:


Step One: Spy the binky. You may want to be sly, as the bink has a mind of its own and can't be trusted...


Step Two: Snag the binky and wear it down. Flip it. Squish it. Pass it between hands. Drool on it.


Step Three: Once you've had your fun, STUFF IT. Put it out of its misery.

Hats, hats, hats...

A girl can never have too many...

Rogers Young Life Team

These are the Young Life leaders that Jeff and Gracie and I get to hang out with each week! They are phenomenal leaders and their love for Rogers HS kids is contagious. This week we had a Christmas Feast at Club--which the kids LOVED--so we had the leaders out to our house for dinner Tuesday night as a reprieve during finals week. These leaders are making a lasting difference in the lives of Rogers students. We love them for it!

Should I Know These People?

Santa is holding his beard because Gracie really liked its texture and kept tugging. It was a glorious 30 seconds on Santa and Mrs. Claus' laps...but all good things must come to an end, and Gracie was happy to let other babies sit with the Clauses. Jeff and I are thinking, judging by the look on Santa's face, he could use a good Peppermint Mocha coffee right about NOW.

Here's a better view of G'ma Colleen's dress! :)

Red Plaid Dress Month

We have officially deemed this Red Plaid Dress Month. Gracie has three that are ADORABLE and we realize that they won't fit next year, so she's averaging one red plaid dress every two days. :) You'll see her first dress in the picture on a previous post with my mom. Below is a picture of Grace in the dress that her G'ma Colleen made. You can't see JUST HOW CUTE it really is b/c of her seatbelt, but we'll get another picture in this month! Stay tuned for plaid dress #3 that her Uncle Drew picked out for her before she was even born! He's a good baby shopper.


Filling more of her carseat these days...16 1/2 pounds of smoochable girl!

Alea's Date Night with Dad

Our little friend Alea had a date night with her dad last week, so she got to pick what they did together. Her first choice was to go to Gracie's house to play with her! We were so excited to have the company! Both Alea and her sister, Kalei, take such good care of Grace. We love this picture of Alea reading to Gracie on her date night with dad. They left after a stint of playing--coaxed out only with the promise of Christmas light purchasing to decorate their deck at home.

Looks better VERTICALLY...

Yes, this was a memorable tree year. Grace "helped" us pick it out by keeping good watch on the inside of her eyelids as we walked the lot. We fell in love with the first fir we saw, but perused the others, just so they wouldn't feel insulted. We were tired on this Sunday after Thanksgiving, but we decided to keep our eyes open long enough that night to dress the tree modestly--no indecent trees in our house! Gracie, of course, was in bed by this time, so again, her "help" was much appreciated. We were quite satisfied with the attire we put on the tree, and went to bed humming Christmas carols. We LOVE Christmas season!

The next morning, because of our late night decorating, we were running late getting out of the house. Just as we were flying out the door--with bundled baby, brimming diaper bag, lunches, and don't forget the Peppermint Coffee to-go--we remembered to water the tree.

All of our overflowing Christmas spirit was SQUISHED out of us as we walked around the living room corner to see our decked-out tree...LYING ON THE GROUND.

Great. Merry STINKIN' Christmas.

Needless to say, we were a bit later for work that Monday morning than we thought we were going to be. The funniest thing about this is that Gracie's first sighting of a decorated tree was one that was laying on the ground! :) It looks great now--sitting more stably in its stand--and we REALLY got to think about ornament placement, as we had a "redo" Monday morning, so everything looks JUST SO. More pics to come! :)

If this is wrong...

...then we don't want to be right.

We have had more than twelve days of Christmas--and each one has started off with Peppermint Mocha deliciousness. We refuse to read the back label, so SHHHHHHH! Don't ruin this for us. :)

Little Cindy Lou Who

This girl has never seen December before! We know that she'll never remember her first Christmas season, but OH, how fun it is...

...to dress a girl up in Christmas dresses...
...watch her face when she feels Christmas tree branches...
...bounce around the house to Jingle Bells...

It's all new to her--the tree, the music, the decorations we put up every year, the Christmas story...and we get to experience all of these things with her! We can't decide if this is more fun for HER or for US! :)

Important Thanksgiving Numbers

4.FOUR.4
The number of gloved hands it took to carve up the mammoth turkey that my mom fixed to feed...

30.THIRTY.30
...family members that were placed around tables in our festively decorated garage. My mom has five brothers, and they were all present with their families. It's always a zoo! A really FUN zoo. :)


12.TWELVE.12
The number of pictures we took of Gracie in her turkey highchair on her 6.SIX.6 month birthday.


15.FIFTEEN.15
The number of minutes that Dad took to set up the karaoke machine in the garage that afternoon. It didn't take long for us all to start flipping through his CD collection, looking for our favorites to belt out. This is Mom and G'ma and I singing "Stand By Your Man." Pathetic lyrics, great melody. Thanks, Patsy Cline.


20.TWENTY.20
The number of minutes that Gracie slept in Gma's arms until...


...2.TWO.2 crooners hit the high notes of "Caramia" (Jay and the Americans' classic)...


...causing Grace to sit straight up out of her sleep with 2.TWO.2 wide eyes and 2.TWO.2 arms shot straight out. What in the world is going on? :) Don't worry, Gracie. You're with family. Ha.

7.SEVEN.7
The hour that Jeff and I finally left to go shopping the next morning. Not as impressive as our previous years' departures, but when Grace woke 4.FOUR.4 times during the night, we weren't ABOUT to leave at 4:30.


3.THREE.3
The number of minutes that cousins Abby and Megan were on stage at the Festival of Trees to perform their Christmas dance. They knew the routine better than any of the little girls there!


4.FOUR.4
The four cousins got their pictures taken with each other at Sears for G'ma Joan's Christmas present. Aren't they sweet?!?

1.ONE.1 busy weekend!!! We are so thankful for the crazy family that we are blessed with.