But Daddy's really good, he loves Gracie to Pluto and back! And so you know, Pluto Smooches cannot be wiped off. That's her thing... she likes to tease her daddy by wiping his kisses off (I wonder where she learned how to tease??!!) She does it so he'll give her more smooches. But the new discovery tonight was that Pluto Smooches don't wipe off. Interesting!
Wednesday, February 26, 2014
How far?
Every day I ask Gracie, "Have I told you that I love you today?" As the conversation continues, I say, "I love you to the moon and back." She always reciprocates. But tonight when I told her how 'far' I love her, she replied, "No. You love me to Aunt Steph's and back!" I guess I need to work on my affection, cause Aunt Steph only lives a mile away! Silly Monkey!
Tuesday, February 18, 2014
Aquarium Adventure!
We had an extra day together last weekend because of President's Day, so Ryan and I decided to take Gracie to the Sea Life Aquarium for an adventure! Whenever we plan a new and fun family outing, Gracie always calls it an adventure! And she's right, we definitely had an underwater adventure together!
It was everyone's first time, so we explored the aquarium together! Here are some of the highlights of our exploration!
Our little family always has such a fun time on our adventures! I look forward to all the adventures ahead!
It was everyone's first time, so we explored the aquarium together! Here are some of the highlights of our exploration!
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| Daddy and Gracie looking at the freshwater fish... like the ones we catch at the lake! |
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| Our little fishy! |
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| Look! Look! |
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| Hands on exhibit, but Gracie didn't want to touch! Check out that tongue! |
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| String ray! |
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| Dory! (from Finding Nemo) |
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| Gracie in the bubble! |
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| Trying to find the turtle |
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| Shark! |
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| Jellyfish! |
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| Look, Nemo! |
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| A Lego station to build a castle |
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| Digging for fossils! |
Our little family always has such a fun time on our adventures! I look forward to all the adventures ahead!
Sunday, February 16, 2014
Annabelle's Baptism
This morning we had the privilege of attending Annabelle's baptism. She was such a good little baby as the Pastor baptized her. I didn't hear a peep out of her during the entire service. What a good girl!
It was especially interesting for Gracie because we're currently in the process of taking classes to join the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod at King of Kings. There they believe in infant baptism, which is different from Northland Baptist, where we attended when Gracie was born. So Gracie will be baptized into the Lutheran Church sometime in the future and we've been talking a lot about it lately. She's not too keen on the idea at this point. When we talk about it, she simply says that she's not ready yet. We've talked about what baptism means and we've pulled out the Hymnal and even recited the words as we baptize each other and her babies in the bathtub. But as far as letting Pastor Frank baptize her, she's not ready quite yet. I'm okay letting her wait until she's comfortable with the idea. Her childlike faith is so evident and her love for Jesus and her desire to go to church and Sunday School is strong, that I don't want to push. She will be ready when she's ready. But it was good for her to see Annabelle's baptism today because she was able to get some of her questions answered and see her baby cousin (whom she adores) take the plunge!
Before, during, and after church, all Gracie really wanted to do was hold Annabelle. Surprising, I know! Aunt B and Uncle Chad were nice enough to let Gracie hold Annabelle until her heart was content... well actually, I don't think there are enough hours in the day to make that happen, but she held her quite a bit!
A few pictures from Annabelle's first milestone!
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| Cousin love! Melts my heart |
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| Grandma Tena and her grandbabies! |
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| Aunt Kristy and Annabelle So happy to witness her baptism! |
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| Uncle Ry-Ry and Annabelle |
I had to add this picture, too! This is the first picture Gracie has taken with a real camera (not my phone) and I think she did a fantastic job!
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| Annabelle's Grandma Sandy and me! |
Valentine's Day
Our family decorated for Valentine's Day in early January, so little Gracie has been asking for weeks, "Is it Valentine's Day, yet?!" Finally, on Thursday night, a day early, our little family celebrated our love for one another. We chose to celebrate on the 13th because Ryan and I had a couple of dates planned for the 14th and 15th.
We began by fixing biscuits and gravy for dinner... Gracie's favorite! Then she got to open her gifts. We got her a balloon (big hit!) some baby accessories (like she needs more) and an Anna doll from Frozen. She loved it all! The Anna doll was especially exciting... see below. I also gave Ryan and Gracie our third family yearbook. For those who don't know, I use Blog2Print to publish our family yearbook each year. I include all the blog posts from January 1 - December 31 of the year before. Then on Valentine's Day, I give it to them as a gift. It's always fun to pull it out to read and see pictures of the past.
Giddy about opening presents... and the balloon!
So excited about her Anna doll!
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| Notice the doll clothes and hair. Very nice and put together, right?! |
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| 30 seconds later Braids out, Gracie brushing |
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| 60 seconds later Hair brushed, clothes off |
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| 90 seconds later Jammies on |
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| 2 minutes later "Mommy" in princess attire, Baby shushing begins! |
Shortly after gifts it was time for a bath, so Gracie dutifully took Anna downstairs and laid her in the cradle with a pillow and blanket. Such and good Mommy! What a fun Valentine's Day Eve!
Ryan and I were spoiled this weekend with not one, but TWO dates! The first was just an easy dinner and shopping at JCPenney, but I'm not complaining. We both wore jeans, hoodies, and tennis shoes... yeah buddy! Then on Saturday night we went to The Melting Pot to enjoy some fondue. It was a unique dining experience and we left totally stuffed. A great night! I love date nights with Ryan where we can just be husband and wife. I do love my role as Mommy, but I also love my role as wife. Blessed!
Tuesday, February 11, 2014
Great Grandma Jean's Birthday!
Tonight we celebrated a belated birthday for Gracie's Grandma Jean. We all enjoyed catching up and eating well, but this was the highlight for The Goose Monkey! Such a wonderful big cousin!
Wednesday, February 5, 2014
Snow Play
So far we're on our second snow day for this snow storm. I've used this time to focus on just playing with Gracie. We've had plenty of indoor fun, but we've been outside quite a bit, too!
Sledding!
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| All bundled up! |
Sledding!
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| Making a snow angel. |
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| Digging out her playhouse. |
Tuesday, February 4, 2014
You've Got Mail
A few weeks ago I finished our Valentine's Day mailboxes. I try to put a special note or treat inside each morning for Gracie and her cousins. They all love to get thoughtful notes or silly jokes. Gracie keeps all of hers and asks me to read them to her every so often. Aunt Steph and a few friends from work have even written notes to the kids... which they love love love! Gracie also quite enjoys creating mail for Daddy and Mommy. It always says the same thing... "Dear Mommy/Daddy - I love you!" Which somehow never gets old!
Indoor Fun!
We've had some snowy days lately, which means Momma has had to get creative to keep G Monkey entertained. Below are 2 of her favorite 'surprises' lately.
Kool-Aid Playdoh - basic homemade salt dough mixed with a packet of Kool-Aid. She enjoyed making it together and also had fun fixing us 'scrambled eggs' with it. Good time filler, but kind of a mess on the floor. Oh well, what isn't?!
The Bubble - for all the Holy Cross Alumni out there, I stole this from Mr. Maas. I'm sure we all remember "The Bubble"! For those who haven't experienced it, it's basically a tent made of plastic and tape. You inflate the tent with a fan. Cheap and always a treat! Steph and I used to make our own at home as kids. Super cool!
The girls rushed to get blankets and pillows to snuggle inside and talk. Too cute! Tysie even joined them for a while, but preferred being able to look out the window instead.
I even army-crawled inside with Natalie so she could experience The Bubble. As you can see from the picture below, she was pretty unsure about the whole thing at first, but quickly realized she was hanging with the big girls. Then she was giggling and acting all cool! Hilarious!
More snowy day fun to come soon!
Monday, February 3, 2014
How did you and Dad meet?
The short answer: We were set up by people from work.
The long answer:
It was a Thursday night in May of 2005 and I was at the Retirement Dinner for all the teachers retiring from Chouteau that school year. I spent the night visiting with several people, but sat at a table with Tara Mast, our school librarian, and her husband Derek. We had fun just chit-chatting.
The next morning, Tara walked into my room and asked if I would consider going on a date with another guy. You see, she had set me up with one acquaintance already that year, and so had several other teachers. I'd had at least 4 blind dates that year... none of which caught my interest enough to go much further. She told me how her husband Derek wanted to find me a match and sat up in the middle of the night and said, "I know who we should set up with Kristy! Ryan Weaver from work!" Tara wasn't sure if I'd be interested, but she'd written down some descriptors on a Post-It Note. Ryan was "Blond, a soccer player, a family guy, 5' 11'', a Christian, a hard-worker (who reported to Derek at the time), and had a good sense of humor." Well, going out for a free dinner never bothered me, so I said I'd be happy to meet him.
We originally planned to meet on a double date with Tara and Derek, but it seemed that we couldn't find a free time. By the end of May, Ryan said the earliest he could go out was July 15. What the heck?! Six weeks from now is the soonest you have time? Now that I know your father, I know that he just didn't want to go out with me... his social calendar is never that full! I remember telling my dad about 'this guy' and he agreed with me that this cheeseball must not be worth my time if he couldn't even get together until July.
Well, as it turned out, waiting so long to meet was just how it was supposed to be. During the month of June, my dad passed away unexpectedly. It was a rough time for my mom, my sister, and I so any relationship probably wouldn't have worked through all of that.
So the days flew by and before I knew it, July 15th had arrived. I was looking forward to finally meeting this cheeseball, to see if we might hit it off, but mostly to enjoy another free dinner! But around 10:30 on the morning of our first date, your dad called to cancel for that night. He said his Aunt Denise had suffered from a heart attack and he had to drive his grandmother to Indiana. I felt so bad for him and his family, after going through everything with my dad, I knew how challenging times like this can become. I ended the call by telling him I'd pray for his Aunt Denise. And I did, all weekend, I prayed for Aunt Denise from Indiana and for Ryan's entire family.
So it's mid-July and I still haven't met this kid yet. On Monday morning, July 18, he called to reschedule our date. He was leaving for a 2 week trip to the lake that weekend, so we decided to meet up that night for mini-golf and dinner. We met at Timber Ridge Mini Golf near Claycomo. He told me he'd be driving a blue Ford F150, so I knew what to look for. He arrived first, so when I pulled in driving my green Toyota Rav4, I saw him right away... and I noticed right off that he wasn't 5' 11'' (wishful thinking, Ryan!) We played a round of mini-golf and as weird as it sounds, we had an instant connection. I really don't remember much about the golf, I just remember that he was wearing khaki shorts, a green shirt, and brown sandals. I remember laughing a lot and being really surprised at how comfortable I was with him. I also remember leaving Timber Ridge and heading to 54th Street Bar and Grill off Englewood Road. For some reason when we were getting into our cars to follow each other, the topic of speeding came up. Ryan said that he never drove above the speed limit (which is true, even now). I said that I didn't speed either (which at that time was a lie... but it's true now!)
We ate dinner at 54th Street and had easy conversation the entire time. Even after the waitress had cleared the table, we just sat and talked. I remember one point in the evening when we were talking, I actually put my feet up on the booth seat next to him. I recall thinking to myself, What are you doing?! Sit up! You're on a date! He didn't seem to mind and we ended up closing the place down. When we got to the parking lot, we started to say goodbye, but ended up sitting on his tailgate talking for another few hours. Neither one of us knew what time it was, but by the time we got into our cars to drive home, it was after 1:30 am.
On the drive home, I glanced at my cell phone and there were something like 14 missed calls from my sister! She was convinced that I'd gone on a date with a serial killer and she would never hear from me again. So I called her to tell her about the date and this guy and how easy our conversations were. She was happy to hear that he wasn't a killer! I think I caught her off guard when I told her I was pretty sure he was the man I would marry. And clearly, I was right!
When girlfriends of mine have asked me "How did you know he was the one?" or "How do I know if he's the one?" my answer is always, "I just knew." And it's true, I just knew he was the one for me. I was 24 years old and I been on several first dates, casually dated a few boys, but never been in a serious relationship. I was always very sure of what I wanted. I had written a list of qualities I wanted in a mate... Ryan met most of them. I had an idea in my mind of what was attracted to, and your dad met all of them. There were a few things about him that I never saw myself ending up with. A drama & choir boy... that was never my type. I thought I'd end up with a baseball boy instead of a soccer boy. But none of those things matter when you really get down to the person. What mattered most was that he was the only boy who I was totally comfortable with. I was myself with him from the very first date. He challenged me in ways that no one else had and brought out sides of me that no one else had. Unlike previous boys, when Ryan called, I wanted to talk to him. We would spend hours and hours on the phone and he was always interested in what I had to say. We shared similar interests and dreams, which made bringing our lives together exciting and fulfilling. My relationship with your father was easy. Don't get me wrong, we've had our challenges and things to work through, but for the most part, our relationship was/is easy and fun. When they ask, I always tell girlfriends in challenging relationships that if it's hard at the beginning, hard before the wedding, then he's probably not the one. If a relationship isn't fun at the beginning, there's no hope that it'll be fun later.
The feeling was mutual between your father and I... the feeling that we were meant to be together. We went out again that week on Thursday night. He came to my softball game and talked with my mom while Aunt Steph and I played ball. After I cleaned up, he and I went Zona Rosa for ice cream. We found a bench and spent the rest of the night talking and dreaming. It was on our second date that your father said, "So when we get married, what song do you want to dance to for our first dance?" I wittingly replied, "If I marry you, I already know what song we will dance to." He said, "I have a song picked out, too." The song I had always wanted to dance to was from the movie How to Lose a Guy in Ten Days. I wasn't sure of the title, but it was the song during which Ben and Andie fell in love. Ryan's song choice was from Dawson's Creek, called Feels Like Home. As it turns out, they're the same song! And yes, we chose it for our first dance song when we were married 2 years later.
I must insert a side note here --- About a year after we first met, I was on a car trip to Council Bluffs, IA with your Aunt Brandi and Uncle Chad (we were meeting your dad up there). I found out that the story of Aunt Denise from Indiana having a heart attack was all made up. Yep! He had crafted that whole story... I found out later that he canceled our date that night so that he could drive up to Iowa to see his cousin's ball game. Aunt Denise never had a heard attack, never lived Indiana (that was Aunt Betty!), and I prayed for this made up aunt all weekend long. By the way, Aunt Betty didn't have a heart attack either. Jerk! Yeah, I'm sure you can imagine how that conversation went. I'm pretty certain I can still pull that card out of my back pocket to win any future argument. It's probably a good thing I didn't find out about this little lie until we were already engaged. Otherwise, I'm not sure your father would've been your father... if you know what I mean!
The long answer:
It was a Thursday night in May of 2005 and I was at the Retirement Dinner for all the teachers retiring from Chouteau that school year. I spent the night visiting with several people, but sat at a table with Tara Mast, our school librarian, and her husband Derek. We had fun just chit-chatting.
The next morning, Tara walked into my room and asked if I would consider going on a date with another guy. You see, she had set me up with one acquaintance already that year, and so had several other teachers. I'd had at least 4 blind dates that year... none of which caught my interest enough to go much further. She told me how her husband Derek wanted to find me a match and sat up in the middle of the night and said, "I know who we should set up with Kristy! Ryan Weaver from work!" Tara wasn't sure if I'd be interested, but she'd written down some descriptors on a Post-It Note. Ryan was "Blond, a soccer player, a family guy, 5' 11'', a Christian, a hard-worker (who reported to Derek at the time), and had a good sense of humor." Well, going out for a free dinner never bothered me, so I said I'd be happy to meet him.
We originally planned to meet on a double date with Tara and Derek, but it seemed that we couldn't find a free time. By the end of May, Ryan said the earliest he could go out was July 15. What the heck?! Six weeks from now is the soonest you have time? Now that I know your father, I know that he just didn't want to go out with me... his social calendar is never that full! I remember telling my dad about 'this guy' and he agreed with me that this cheeseball must not be worth my time if he couldn't even get together until July.
Well, as it turned out, waiting so long to meet was just how it was supposed to be. During the month of June, my dad passed away unexpectedly. It was a rough time for my mom, my sister, and I so any relationship probably wouldn't have worked through all of that.
So the days flew by and before I knew it, July 15th had arrived. I was looking forward to finally meeting this cheeseball, to see if we might hit it off, but mostly to enjoy another free dinner! But around 10:30 on the morning of our first date, your dad called to cancel for that night. He said his Aunt Denise had suffered from a heart attack and he had to drive his grandmother to Indiana. I felt so bad for him and his family, after going through everything with my dad, I knew how challenging times like this can become. I ended the call by telling him I'd pray for his Aunt Denise. And I did, all weekend, I prayed for Aunt Denise from Indiana and for Ryan's entire family.
So it's mid-July and I still haven't met this kid yet. On Monday morning, July 18, he called to reschedule our date. He was leaving for a 2 week trip to the lake that weekend, so we decided to meet up that night for mini-golf and dinner. We met at Timber Ridge Mini Golf near Claycomo. He told me he'd be driving a blue Ford F150, so I knew what to look for. He arrived first, so when I pulled in driving my green Toyota Rav4, I saw him right away... and I noticed right off that he wasn't 5' 11'' (wishful thinking, Ryan!) We played a round of mini-golf and as weird as it sounds, we had an instant connection. I really don't remember much about the golf, I just remember that he was wearing khaki shorts, a green shirt, and brown sandals. I remember laughing a lot and being really surprised at how comfortable I was with him. I also remember leaving Timber Ridge and heading to 54th Street Bar and Grill off Englewood Road. For some reason when we were getting into our cars to follow each other, the topic of speeding came up. Ryan said that he never drove above the speed limit (which is true, even now). I said that I didn't speed either (which at that time was a lie... but it's true now!)
We ate dinner at 54th Street and had easy conversation the entire time. Even after the waitress had cleared the table, we just sat and talked. I remember one point in the evening when we were talking, I actually put my feet up on the booth seat next to him. I recall thinking to myself, What are you doing?! Sit up! You're on a date! He didn't seem to mind and we ended up closing the place down. When we got to the parking lot, we started to say goodbye, but ended up sitting on his tailgate talking for another few hours. Neither one of us knew what time it was, but by the time we got into our cars to drive home, it was after 1:30 am.
On the drive home, I glanced at my cell phone and there were something like 14 missed calls from my sister! She was convinced that I'd gone on a date with a serial killer and she would never hear from me again. So I called her to tell her about the date and this guy and how easy our conversations were. She was happy to hear that he wasn't a killer! I think I caught her off guard when I told her I was pretty sure he was the man I would marry. And clearly, I was right!
When girlfriends of mine have asked me "How did you know he was the one?" or "How do I know if he's the one?" my answer is always, "I just knew." And it's true, I just knew he was the one for me. I was 24 years old and I been on several first dates, casually dated a few boys, but never been in a serious relationship. I was always very sure of what I wanted. I had written a list of qualities I wanted in a mate... Ryan met most of them. I had an idea in my mind of what was attracted to, and your dad met all of them. There were a few things about him that I never saw myself ending up with. A drama & choir boy... that was never my type. I thought I'd end up with a baseball boy instead of a soccer boy. But none of those things matter when you really get down to the person. What mattered most was that he was the only boy who I was totally comfortable with. I was myself with him from the very first date. He challenged me in ways that no one else had and brought out sides of me that no one else had. Unlike previous boys, when Ryan called, I wanted to talk to him. We would spend hours and hours on the phone and he was always interested in what I had to say. We shared similar interests and dreams, which made bringing our lives together exciting and fulfilling. My relationship with your father was easy. Don't get me wrong, we've had our challenges and things to work through, but for the most part, our relationship was/is easy and fun. When they ask, I always tell girlfriends in challenging relationships that if it's hard at the beginning, hard before the wedding, then he's probably not the one. If a relationship isn't fun at the beginning, there's no hope that it'll be fun later.
The feeling was mutual between your father and I... the feeling that we were meant to be together. We went out again that week on Thursday night. He came to my softball game and talked with my mom while Aunt Steph and I played ball. After I cleaned up, he and I went Zona Rosa for ice cream. We found a bench and spent the rest of the night talking and dreaming. It was on our second date that your father said, "So when we get married, what song do you want to dance to for our first dance?" I wittingly replied, "If I marry you, I already know what song we will dance to." He said, "I have a song picked out, too." The song I had always wanted to dance to was from the movie How to Lose a Guy in Ten Days. I wasn't sure of the title, but it was the song during which Ben and Andie fell in love. Ryan's song choice was from Dawson's Creek, called Feels Like Home. As it turns out, they're the same song! And yes, we chose it for our first dance song when we were married 2 years later.
______________________________________
I must insert a side note here --- About a year after we first met, I was on a car trip to Council Bluffs, IA with your Aunt Brandi and Uncle Chad (we were meeting your dad up there). I found out that the story of Aunt Denise from Indiana having a heart attack was all made up. Yep! He had crafted that whole story... I found out later that he canceled our date that night so that he could drive up to Iowa to see his cousin's ball game. Aunt Denise never had a heard attack, never lived Indiana (that was Aunt Betty!), and I prayed for this made up aunt all weekend long. By the way, Aunt Betty didn't have a heart attack either. Jerk! Yeah, I'm sure you can imagine how that conversation went. I'm pretty certain I can still pull that card out of my back pocket to win any future argument. It's probably a good thing I didn't find out about this little lie until we were already engaged. Otherwise, I'm not sure your father would've been your father... if you know what I mean!
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