Are These Two Related?

You have to look DEEPLY to see the resemblances of this mother/son duo... :)

Back in December Jeff and Colleen celebrated their pre-Christmas birthdays and we celebrated at our house. Happy belated birthday to a couple of CRAZY LOCHHEADS! You make life so fun. :)

Q: Does anyone want to ask Jeff what he got for his 30th birthday? Something to help him feel youthful...

A: ...or at least FULL of YOUTH on the road! Yep, we said we'd never do it and we're eating every anti-minivan word. What a way to bring in the new DECADE! :)

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas!

"Titt 'ights" = Christmas Lights...we laugh every time she says this!
"Good Job, Daddy" = What Gracie says whenever she sees outdoor lights put up--he gets credit for the whole town's lights!
"TREEEEE!" = Christmas tree
"Hee-Haw! Tanks, Dianne!" = said when she views her stuffed donkey toy under the tree from her babysitter
"More Tookie" = her favorite holiday food addition...frosted, pressed, swirled...they're all delicious! (and G'ma's are the best for giving LOTS of these!)
"Happy Birthday, Daddy...Happy Birthday, Jesus." = still being said the week after dad's birthday...the second part is said after we prompt her: "Who else's birthday is it?" Sometimes G'ma Colleen gets a birthday wish, but it's immediately followed by, "Happy Birthday, 'Tott." Apparently she and Papa Scott go together. :)

Baby Jesus

I'm pretty sure God had Mary and Joseph ride a DONKEY to Jerusalem just so that 2000 years later our little girl of 18 months would be hooked to the manger scene. Oh, we keep asking her about Baby Jesus...and she knows who he is...but somehow the donkey keeps jumping into her fingers. She even calls her Nativity Book, "Hee-haw." Wouldn't that be just like God to think of HER when sending his own son?


Here's Baby Jesus, Mom!
She loves her nativity, G'ma Joan! Thank you!!!

"KK and 'Eeah"

Gracie loves Kalei and Alea...no one makes her giggle quite like them! Thanks for playing so well with her, girls!

Daddy's Girl

He's the first thing she mentions when we say, "Let's go home."


She has quickly decided that on his lap is the best place to be each morning...with her cheerios, of course. (Did I mention she can say "cereal"? She really is Jeff's girl!)

I took a nap on Saturday while Jeff and Gracie watched basketball in the basement. When she came upstairs I asked her if she had played with Daddy...her response was four words: "Hamp. (Dad's always at camp...) Downstairs. GO ZAGS!"


"Hi, Daddy..."
"Happy Birthday, Daddy."
"Daddy...HAMP."

Giving Thanks..."Amen!" --Grace

Gracie discovered pumpkin pie this year! "Mmmm...MORE."

A full table of Lochheads...though we were missing Angela and Jen's family...glorious food!

Three turkeys in the kitchen...

Make that FOUR turkeys...this is our drawer and cupboard organizer, Grace. I don't think she'll fit here next year! :)

Our newest Lochhead additon...Swede! Couldn't resist this little "Welcome to the Family" present...he seemed amused, don't you think?

This is one of the many attempts at a family picture for the Christmas Card...toddlers make things REAL. Real fun! :) Stay tuned for the final pic to come in the mail this month!

And of course, "Bro-bro" had to get in on the pilgrim fun... He was QUITE amused.

So thankful for all that we've been blessed with this year--sweet daughter, new house, loving family and friends, jobs, and baby on the way... We are so blessed!

"Go, Zags!"

Add this to Gracie's verbal repertoire...

...Overtime stress currently looming in the Lochhead household...

...c'mon, Zags!

Dad is at Camp

A couple of weekends ago Jeff went to a YoungLife weekend camp called, "Fall Fiasco" with YL leaders and students from Rogers HS. Grace and I had a girls' weekend and apparently I made a big deal about Daddy being gone...she knew that Daddy was at "Hamp"...only now whenever he's at school or out of sight and Gracie's asked where Dad is, she replies very assuredly, "Dad. Hamp."

Words...

Grace has been entertaining us with her jabber for quite some time, now. Jeff and I think back and remember quiet car trips and evenings when we could talk over dinner without being interrupted...but these days are so much better! :) Grace is especially interested in knowing people's names and looking at pictures (on the frig or on Facebook) and naming everyone... But she's also acquired some funny favorite words that we never would've predicted and still giggle about...

1. "Hee-Haw." This is her favorite animal sound and she says it at the funniest times. Sometimes she mistakes pictures of moose for donkeys. She also likes camels...weird.

2. "Eight." This is her favorite number. She is able to count to ten with a little help, but when she gets tired or is feeling silly she'll just look at you and say, "Eight," after any number you say.

3. "Amial." She loves her amial (animal) books!

4. "e-I-e-o." This is her version of the Old MacDonald chorus. There isn't a trip taken without a round of this song bouncing off the car windows--and she always sings this line a good three seconds before it should be inserted in the song...always one step ahead of us!

5. "Hot." This is the name she's given our fireplace and she talks about it anytime home is mentioned. "Ready to go home, Grace?" Grace: "Daddy. Ba-yoon. Baby. HOT." (Listing all the fun things at home, I suppose...)

6. "Bye, ____" Every time we go up the stairs Grace has to stop and say goodbye to all sorts of inanimate objects in the room. Anything from her doll stroller to Daddy's "(gui)Tar" gets a farewell...and I feel like I'm in a weird version of "The Sound of Music" as she waves her way up the open stairwell. :)

7. "Peaches." This girl LOVES fruit. Every time we ask if she's ready to eat, she nods her head with authority and says, "Peaches." Oh, and don't forget her "NOON-LES." I think she could eat a box of Pasta Roni all on her own. (If there was no hope of peaches for dessert...)

8. "Amen." This is funny just because she says this at different points of the phrase, "In Jesus Name we pray..." depending on how tired and ready for bed she is when we're saying our bedtime prayers. On very tired nights we only say the "In..." and she's saying "Amen!" and diving for her crib.

Love this girl! She keeps us laughing. Oh, and this week we are MomMY and DadDY instead of Mama and Dada...we've finally graduated!

No Fooling!

The Lochheads are excited to welcome a BABY BOY to our family...due to arrive on or around APRIL FIRST. No joke...Really.

Looks like he's already working on his jump shot...

Trick-or-Treat!

Grace was all ready to wear her monkey suit on Halloween. We did the family tour...G'ma Colleen and Papa Scott's, G-G's, and Pappy and Granny's...



We're pretty sure Grace learned three things on this day:

1. She LOVES smarties.

2. She doesn't like masked kids coming to the door.

3. Grandparents give really good treats to costumed grandkids on October 31.

Greenbluff Days...All Gone?

Each year we look forward to them, and then we blink and the weather turns "November" on us...but we had several outings to Greenbluff this year to enjoy the caramel applesauce, the hay mazes, and the punkin' chunkin'...


We had a fun outing with our friends when the Schneringers came to town--Grace and I, Sarabeth, Rachel, Baby Lydia, Lauren, Baby Alia, and Megan


And the boys--Troy, Caleb, Robert, Johnny (with Lydia), Jeff and Joel





One Sunday the cousins got together at Greenbluff...here's Grace posing with Janie and Anthony



Gracie did NOT like the horse ride. She loves to say, "Hee-Haw" and loves to make horse noises, but this was a little too close and personal...and a little too close to nap time. We got our money back and Gracie got ushered to the car after this. Memorable way to end a fun day.

A Day Off...

Gracie and I took a mental health day on Friday--and it was the BEST THING we've done in a long time! We had a great morning just hanging out and puttering around the house--great, cozy rainy day, I might add--and my mom and G'ma Caroline came to visit after their doctor appointments. Grace loved showing them around--they had to see all of her books and her Dora Kitchen and all of the pictures around the house. It was so fun and revitalizing! Grace wanted to wear her monkey outfit when she got up, but by the time the pants were on, she had changed her mind about wanting to get dressed...so, this was her outfit for most of the relaxing morning. :)

Early Debut

Okay, I couldn't wait until October 31--here's Gracie in her MONKEY costume. You win, Uncle Drew! MONKEY FACE!!!

...Short for Belly Button

Grace is starting to venture into multi-syllabic words and phrases..."Bye-bye Dianne," is said everytime we leave her babysitter, "Ba-ba, peez" when she would like her bottle, and "Da-da HOME" is chanted over and over on our way home from work to see Jeff. We know that she's able to say many syllables together, so Jeff and I just chuckle when she admires her belly button and simply calls it, "Butt."

Lovely. We'll work on it...

Costume Prep...

Gracie is loving her Halloween costume that came in the mail. Any guesses on what kind of animal feet are dangling from her highchair? Answer to be revealed October 31!

Sweet Sixteen Months

WWF in our Livingroom

Grace's new favorite activity is tackling Daddy. She just lowers her chin and races for Dad when he's on the floor. And then there's giggling...