Poor Tysie...

Christmas

Even though Christmas has come and gone, I wanted to write down a few of my favorite moments from this holiday season... in no particular order.

1. For the Sevedge Family Christmas on Christmas Eve Eve, we hosted a Minute to Win it Party for the whole family.  16 people divided into 4 teams.  It was a total blast!  I was too busy "hosting" the game to take pictures, but my cousin Laurie did a nice job!  Hopefully I'll have pictures to share soon!  We're planning to make it an annual tradition, which makes me very happy!
2. Every night Gracie asked me to sing "Baby Jesus" which is Away in a Manger before bed.  She would look through her "Baby Jesus" book and point to the manger, baby, stars, and cattle.  It has become her favorite lullaby and we're still singing it after Christmas.
3. Ryan and I took Gracie out to Longview Lake to see the Christmas lights.  As we drove through, she got to ride in the "funt" (front) so she could have a better view.  All the way home, she said, "I funt!  I funt!  I funt!" over and over again.  She talks about it almost every time she gets in the car now.
4. Ryan took 3 days off leading up to our actual Christmas break.  And he took off the week between Christmas and New Years, too!  Having him home extra has been so fun!  We even took all the kids to The Grove and to Winsteads one day.  It stressed Ryan out, but the kids and I thought it was awesome!  
5. We celebrated Christmas Eve this year with the Weaver side of our family.  We went to church together and came back to our house afterward for dinner and gifts.  Great-grandma Jean joined us this year and all of us had a laid back, great time.  Brandi and I even wore our comfy pants!  Thank you, Jesus!
6. Gracie woke up Christmas morning to see that Santa had come and brought her exactly what she asked for.  Baby dolls!  Two of them!  And a cradle!  She was so happy and fun this Christmas.  Her catch phrase became "Oh my goodness!"  So endearing and sweet... happy with everything she got.  She quickly asked "Open it?" after each gift.  
7. We spent the middle of Christmas day at Ryan's grandma's house with the Courter side of the family.  It was a quiet day full of presents and yummy food!  We missed Uncle David and Aunt Kris this year because they were sick in bed... boo!
8. Our final Christmas Day celebration was at my sister's house with the Sevedge family.  It's a small get together, but we had a great time.  All the kids were so excited for Christmas this year.  Kyle's only disappointment was opening a box of jeans from Grandma.  But she redeemed herself by getting his favorite gift of all, which was a camera.  So it was all good!  Kyle was super sweet though, this year.  He thanked each person with a hug before he opened the gift and then again afterward (except for Grandma and jeans gift! Haha!)  Then when we were getting ready to leave, I noticed Kyle kneeling and praying on the stairs.  When we asked him, he said that he was asking God to remind him of Jesus' birth every day and thanking Him for the gifts and all his family that loves him.  Now if that's not the sweetest kid ever, I don't know who is?!  Love that boy!
9. Our last Christmas celebration of the season was with Ryan's extended Weaver family tonight.  We gathered at Aunt Diane and Uncle Randy's house for food and a gift exchange.  We only see most of the family once a year, so it's always nice to get a chance to catch up.  This year, Ryan's cousin had another baby... we didn't even know they were expecting!  I'm hoping to do a better job of keeping in touch with them in the future.
10. We also visited Santa earlier this month.  Our family trip to Crown Center is a fun tradition.  There's a play area when you see Santa, which the kids have a blast in.  We tried and tried to get some good pictures of the kids (or even just one of them) but none of them turned out!  Gracie was too scared of Santa to sit on his lap alone, so Momma got to sit with the Big Guy, too! 
11. Ryan's work had a sort of Christmas party on the Plaza.  So Ryan and I got the chance to dress up (I let him pick my outfit) and go out for a nice date.  Everyone at his work bragged on our awesome Ryan is... it was almost like he'd paid them off, but I can't be too sure!  Then we ended our night at Seasons 52 for a delicious dinner.  It was such a great reminder of how much fun we have together!

Our visit to Crown Center... these were the best pictures I got!

Kia giggling on the floor!  It was that kind of night!

Finished the night off at the candy store!

Night out with Ryan!

I really like my red shoes!
So do Gracie and Kia!

Christmas Eve

Our tree!

Christmas morning!

Santa left gifts for Gracie!

Enjoying her new babies!

The Daily Grind...

As many of you know, I've gone part-time this year for many reasons.  One of the major cons on my Pro/Con list of working full-time was the "The Daily Grind".  You know... the making lunches, washing bottles, packing breakfasts, setting out clothes, getting up early so you can get your kid up early, rushing out the door, so you can work all day, then coming home so you can make dinner, clean up, play for 45 minutes, do baths, go to bed, and do it over and over and over again.  It drove me absolutely bonkers.  I felt like we were missing out on some of the best years of our lives and of Gracie's life because we were stuck in the daily grind.  Like hamsters running in a wheel.  Going nowhere... letting time slip away from us.

Thankfully, God provided this job-sharing opportunity to us, and my daily grind has changed.  I've tried to use my time wisely in an effort to improve Ryan's daily grind, too.  Taking some of the responsibilities off his plate, so that when he is home, we can spend time doing things we enjoy.

Anyway, I was looking through the pictures I've taken on my phone over the past 2 months, and I noticed just how much my daily grind has changed.  Here are some of the highlights...

This is all the couch cushions on the floor so we can play "I jumping" 

For some reason I have a feeling I'll see this look a lot more in say, 15 years!

Made it to the top of the 'mountain'!

Oops!  Falling nearly gives Daddy a heart attack!

Horsey rides from Bubby!

The kids playing in Tysie's kennel... I promise I don't put them in there!

They actually like to play in there!

And yes, Gracie is licking the cage!

Playing in cardboard boxes!  

Best toys ever!

Wooden puzzles

She's figured them out!

Sippies!

Sippies and Barney.
Life doesn't get better than that!

Tysie loves having her family around more.

But only a little bit more than her "old daily grind"!  

Can you spot Tysie?!

No two days are ever the same in my new daily grind.  I like that, a lot!  And I am so grateful that God has given me this opportunity... and that Ryan allows me to enjoy it, as well.  I am blessed.

First Haircut

Just before Gracie hit the 18 month mark, Momma decided it was finally time to get her first haircut.  I waited a while to see if the ends would curl, like some babies' do, but she is Ryan's and my daughter... so no sweet ringlets for her.  Don't misunderstand me though, her hair is gorgeous!  She still has a hint of red in it, that pretty strawberry-blonde I've always adored.  It's thickening up just enough so that her baby cowlick is starting to disappear.  It parts perfectly down the side and almost tucks behind her ear.  It seems to hold curl well and stays put in her "ponies" and "bows" each day.  Momma would kill for hair like Gracie's!

She and I visited my hair stylist Amy, at Salon Egos.  Daddy tagged along to take some pictures of the event!  Gracie wasn't too sure at first, but we came prepared with blueberries, so things turned out just fine.  I swear, we could do almost anything to her, as long as we had blueberries in hand.    

Here's a before shot from bath time the night before.

Not a fan of the squirt bottle, at first!

Sit back and enjoy the pampering! 

We "celebrated" with Chinese for dinner!  

Cousins Pictures!

When we had Gracie's 18 month pictures taken, we couldn't resist the chance to capture all three of the Sevedge Cousins together!  I was a bit worried going into the photo shoot because I have found it to be nearly impossible to catch all three kids looking their best at the same time.  If I had just one penny for every 'almost perfect' picture I've taken of the three goofies, I'd be a stay-at-home-mom FULL time!  Michelle had her work cut out for her.   But as you can see, she did not disappoint!

Kia - 2 years
Kyle - 5 years
Gracie - 18 months

Handsome boy!

I don't know why, but this looks like TROUBLE to me!

Look at Kia's face!
There was one of Gracie and Kyle kissing where Kia was laughing...
but this one was too funny not to share!

Sweet and ornery at the same time!

Dancing Queen!
Like mother, like daughter!

Beautiful girl!

Ring around the rosie...

... we all fall down!

The story of Gracie's life right now... always trying to keep up!

No glasses... so charming!

18 months

It's been a busy couple of weeks around here, but I wanted to share a few highlights of Gracie at 18 months.  She has grown to be a tall, skinny girl.  At her last appointment, she was 20 lbs. 8 oz. and in the 75th percentile for height.  I can tell she's getting tall because she's outgrown almost all of her pants in the last 3 weeks.  Her personality has really begun to show through in the past few months.  We have seen her develop quite a good vocabulary and unbelievable verbal skills.  She easily strings words together and repeats everything.  Ashamed as we may be, Ryan and I admit that she has repeated a few bad words.  I can't even blame them all on him.  I know... terrible!

Her favorite phrases at the moment are "Whatta doin' Momma/Daddy?" and "I d'know."  I noticed today that she is figuring out some of the smaller words in common phrases.  For example, she used to say, "Baby night-night?"  But today I heard her say, "Baby night-night go?"  She is getting all the words, just jumbled up a bit.  It's super cute to listen to.  Last night at bath time, Tysie rang the bells (her signal to be let outside) and Gracie yelled from the bathtub, "Hode on T!  Hode on!"  It made me giggle because I know I say that to Tysie all the time... "Hold on, T!"

She also really enjoys talking and singing about/to her family members.  We sing several songs about each member of her family, including The Wheels on the Bus (aka: The Grandma on the Bus) and He's Got the Whole World in His Hands (aka: He's Got Mommy and Daddy in His Hands).  Every family member has a part to play, including Step (Steph), Pop Pop (Grandpa Weaver), Aunt B (Brandi), Ky-Ky (Kyle), and Gigi (Kia).  We also sing about the dogs in our family.  God has them in His hands, too you know?!

She's totally into bubble baths, baby dolls, dressing up in high heels while vacuuming, and sweeping the kitchen floor.  Her favorite food continues to be fruit, all kinds, but especially "bew-brees" "own-jes" and "ray-zins" (any guesses?) .  She also enjoys some veggies and big hunks of meat on the bone... I have no idea!  Mealtimes are anybodies guess with her.  Sometimes she's an all star eater and other times she only eats the fruit.  It just depends.  Now Chinese food is always a sure-thing.  Our favorite lady at Chinese loves Gracie.  She is always so surprised by the amount of food Gracie consumes and she always gives her special treats when she's done.  Gracie seriously loves North Dragon!

For Gracie's 18 month pictures, we met Michelle Spinola of Spin Inspired Photography at The Nelson Atkins Museum of Art for an unusually warm December photo shoot!  She did such an amazing job!  If you're looking for an affordable photographer who captures your family being themselves, I highly recommend her.  Here are some of my favorites from our Minispin!