The Weaver Family

Tuesday, September 17, 2013

Catching Up

It's been way too long since I last blogged. We have been super busy doing super fun things, which is probably why I haven't been posting as much. But I do have some pictures to share of the past month or two.

In late July, Kia got potty trained. Steph said it was the easiest thing she's ever done. We celebrated at Chuck E. Cheese! Gracie now hopes to do the same in the near future. We shall see!

For a few weeks this summer, Steph and I got to watch our friend Trisha's girls while their babysitter had a baby. That made 6 kids total, but we had fun together!

Walking (or maybe running) through the thingies at Crown Center.

Since no one likes to pose for me anyway, I told them to act silly. This is what they thought I meant...

Daddy celebrated his birthday with a big Yee-haw at Texas Roadhouse. The cinnamon butter dinner rolls are heaven!

The three 2 year olds being 'baby burritos' after swimming.

On Labor Day weekend, we rode the train at Line Creek. On the way home, Gracie asked if she could call Grandpa Sevedge and tell him that she rode a train. I simply explained that he lives in heaven and they don't have phones in heaven. She said, "That's okay. I'll just text him." And she did... or at least pretended to. It was awful sweet!

Pretty girl enjoying the ride.

This is G doing what she does best... chit chatting. There's just something about the way she looks in this picture that makes me smile!

Cousins!

We also went to The Santa-Cali-Gon Days on Labor Day weekend... also know as Santa Calley Days. It was so hot and the girls were too short to ride much, but we had fun anyway!

Next was Graham Cracker's birthday at Joe's Crabshack. This girl loves her Graham Cracker!

Again, trying to get everyone to look at me is impossible, so I told everyone to look anywhere they wanted. To be honest, this picture doesn't look much different than the 12 I tried to take before it.

Graham Cracker and all 4 grand kids! Look at all that hair, Natalie!

Graham Cracker being serenaded Hawaiian-style!

We took our first fall camping trip the following weekend and Gracie ended up sleeping in a big girl bed in the camper instead of the pack n play. So big! She really only wanted to ditch the pack n play so Tysie could sleep with her.

Kyle is now a big Kindergartener and sometimes we try to enjoy our few minutes with him before school by doing something fun.

Natalie swinging for the first time at our house. So happy!

Kia smiling! Pretty girl!

Gracie cheesin'!

Kyle swinging! So handsome!

There's still more to share from the past few months. But I feel better knowing I've shared a few fun moments with you.

Sunday, August 25, 2013

A Happy Helper

We've been working on Gracie's big girl bed for a few weeks now, but progress is pretty slow for a multitude of reasons. One of the main reasons is that a lot of the work requires two people and sometimes having a third helper... the toddler kind... doesn't actually make the work easier. I know, it's shocking! But today we worked together, all three of us, and made some headway. No pictures of the bed just yet, but here's our happy helper and her awesome protective eyewear! Safety first!

Wednesday, July 10, 2013

More Summer Fun!

Now that Gracie is two, there are so many fun things to do! She's all about playing at the park and she can actually enjoy the swinging, sliding, climbing, and crawling all by herself. We spent time at English Landing Park last weekend and Steph and I were reflecting on how much easier it is to take the girls to the park. We could sit and chit chat a little while they played. It was a perfect night and the kids had a great time exploring new equipment. Gracie is getting more gregarious in her 'old' age and she's usually pretty successful in everything she tries. I'm amazed at her monkey-like skills!

Gracie also had her first experience with school this week. She's been so stoked to attend VBS with Kyle and Kia. Her teacher was Mrs. Green, who also happened to be Kyle's preschool/preK teacher, too. Gracie thought it was the absolute bee's knees to be in Mrs. Green's class. She did pretty well overall. The week wasn't tear free, but she still looked forward to going every day. Being away from Momma all morning was difficult for Gracie, but she's learning that I always come to pick her up. I quite enjoyed getting to help out in other areas while she developed some independence of her own. My child is a stinker though... this morning as we were getting ready for VBS, I asked her if she was going to be a big girl at school today and try not to cry. She replied honestly by saying, "No, Momma. I do cry. I do." I explained that she didn't have to cry because Momma always always comes back. And she just repeated, "I do cry, Momma. I do." So I told her it was okay to cry, but she would still go to class anyway. And sure enough, she did cry. At least she's a woman of her word!

As for a paci update, it's been a month now and we're over the paci. She still tells the story of baby mouse and the broken paci, but the drama of losing her beloved has faded. When we were cleaning out the car last week, she voluntarily threw away the car paci. The one in her bedroom seems to have disappeared mysteriously. So it may or may not have ended up in the trash already. All in all, bedtime was only a problem for 1 night. Nap time was another story. She's lost quite a bit of daytime sleep over losing her paci, but we're back in track now. I discovered the key to getting back on track about a week ago. After fighting naps for 3 weeks, I was desperate for her to get some daytime sleep, so I asked her if she'd prefer to sleep with her door open. The thought crossed my mind the night before because she'd had some fears about a monster. And I remember, as a child, feeling better about sleeping if my door was open. Anyway, I mentioned that to her thinking maybe the nap time issue was about losing her security when she lost her paci. I assumed bedtime wasn't an issue because she was so dang tired from no nap. My intuitions were right because now we leave the door open at all sleep times, and Gracie has taken a 2-3 hour nap 6 out of 7 days! Momma considers that a victory! I usually shut her door once she's conked out so that she stays that way. But every night she asks, "You leave that door open?" Whatever works!

As she gets older, this parenting-gig gets

more and more fun, challenging, and amazing! It's pretty awesome to think that this wonderful person is my daughter. Most of the time, I think she is absolutely perfect! In the few moments where her imperfections show through, I learn so much. I'm learning how to be patient and reflective and to teach some

of the hardest things to teach. Give me fractions and division any day. Teaching sharing and perseverance is so much harder. But I'm trying!

Some pics from the park (I love how much Gracie is in love with Natalie!)

VBS 2013

I had to include a picture of Gracie helping paint her big girl room. The work has begun and she is very excited about having a big girl room someday. Ask her and she'll tell you, the walls are a pretty shade of "aqua".

Friday, July 5, 2013

Playing at the Fountain

Gracie is a little obsessed with fountains, which is why running through one made it on our Summer Bucket List. She always loves to point them out when we drive by and often times I take little detours so that she can see them. Last weekend we went out to dinner near the fountain on Vivion, so after dinner we told her we had a surprise for her. The walk from the parking lot up to the actual fountain is long for a toddler, and you can't hear or see the fountain until you're much closer. As we walked up the sidewalk, Gracie was super confused because she was expecting a candy surprise and she couldn't figure out how this long walk was going to result in candy. As we got closer though, she realized what was happening and was so giddy that Ryan and I just had to laugh! When she gets excited, she does this crazy wiggle/run thing, which is hilarious!

She wanted to touch the fountain (of course!) and run around and around it. We spent a while just enjoying the nice night and listening to Gracie squeal about the experience in general. Afterward, instead of walking back down the sidewalk, we played Hide-and-Seek using all the trees on the way back to the car. We even climbed a tree or two, just for fun!

And when we got back to the car, Gracie politely asked, "So where's my candy surprise?!" Apparently I've used that bribe a few too many times!

We can't cross 'Run through a fountain' off our Summer Bucket List yet, because we didn't get to run through the fountain... just around it. We're hoping that once it warms up again, Zona Rosa will have their fountain going so that we can run through! Even though we couldn't get in, it was a great night, even topped off with a rainbow in the sky.

Gracie and Daddy running through the spray of the fountain.
And yes, that's Daddy carrying Baby!

Really enjoyed getting wet!

You can't tell here, but the water was really far away from the ledge.
Daddy had to lean way over in order for Gracie to actually reach it.
They almost feel in once or twice!

Wednesday, June 26, 2013

Camping Trip

Last night we got back from a long lake trip. As usual, it was a wonderful getaway, filled with plenty of activity as well as rest. The first half of the trip was a new experience for me. Ryan got Gracie and I all set up and then headed over to Bennett Springs to fish for the weekend. My sister and her kids came down to hang with G and me for the weekend, along with our mom. It was a total blast having us girls and the 4 kids! We spent lots and lots of time in the water, and I even took us for a boat ride out to the Nemo Bridge. Before heading down, my sister stopped to pick up Puddle Jumpers for the kids to wear while swimming. If you haven't seen them before, these floaties are awesome! All the kids were able to swim independently (although not far from an adult) and enjoy being in and out of the water on their own terms. Such a great investment! Even though Gracie is 5 pounds smaller than the weight minimum, she had no problems 'swimming' like a big girl in her Puddle Jumper. Unfortunately, I didn't get any pictures from our girls and kids camping weekend. I think the fact that Team Adults was outnumbered might have been the main contributing factor.

On Sunday morning, Ryan came back to Pomme to celebrate our 6 year anniversary and to finish out our camping trip. We all suited up and headed out to the water to enjoy our Sunday. All the kids (minus Natalie) got a chance to tube in the cove... going very slowly. Gracie and Kia rode with an adult. I so wish I had taken some pictures of the experience! Kyle took his turn first. He jumped in the tube and from the boat, all you could see was his little head sticking up out of the center of the tube. Then Aunt Nerned and Kyle rode out it the main channel together. I couldn't stop giggling as I held on for dear life. Kyle was unphased, but I was pretty sure he and I were going to get dumped! We didn't though... which is probably why he is so eager to go again! After Kyle was back in the boat, my mom decided she'd like a turn. Ryan promised to take it easy on her... she jokingly reminded him that she is the mother-in-law, so he'd better be careful! She rode on her belly and on her back and quite honestly, she did a great job! The kids all got a kick of seeing Graham Cracker ridin' the waves! Next was the little girls' turn. I rode around the cove with Gracie and Kia rode with Grandma. Gracie sat pretty quietly and just took it all in. She liked waving at all her family back in the boat. Kia also quietly enjoyed the ride as well, but once Uncle Ry-Ry gave it a little extra gas, she said "There we go!" as if she was waiting for him to go faster!

After a short lunch, my family headed back to Kansas City. It was a super fun way to enjoy a hot weekend, that's for sure!

Ryan, Gracie, and I stayed at the lake until Tuesday, so we had a few extra days of play. The fun just continued. We were able to swim and boat, as well as fish, take walks, and fly a kite and an airplane. It was an all around fabulous weekend. One night, Ryan and I even got 11 hours of sleep... simply heaven! I was able to get out the camera for the second half of our camping trip. Here are some of my favorite shots!

Shoveling rocks on the shore

Helping Daddy drive the boat and waving at everyone who passes by!

When we originally upgraded to our new boat, we did so because we didn't feel comfortable taking a little one out in Ryan's old fishing boat. We also wanted to have a recreational boat for playing on the water as our family expanded. So last year, our first year with the boat, we were stoked to enjoy fishing and playing in it. We tried multiple times to take our then one year old out to fish, and for a variety of reasons, it just wasn't in our cards. She always did well with fast boat rides, in fact, the faster, the better. But fishing brought out her co-dependent tendencies and resulted in one of us fishing and the other trying to entertain Gracie in the heat. Not fun at all. Both Ryan and I were super sad and kind of wondered if it would be years before we enjoyed fishing together again.

We tried again on Monday night. Ryan was pessimistic, but I packed snacks, water toys, a baby doll, and a cell phone with YouTube for backup. We filled the live-well with water, which made a perfect water play tub for Gracie. When we got to our fishing spot, I pulled out play pots and pans, cups, and a water baby for Gracie. She began giving her baby a bath and making soup right away. She went through a couple packages of fruit snacks (whatever makes you happy!) and also wanted to help me fish. Turns out she's a lucky fishergirl! She reeled in 4 casts, and of those 4 casts, she caught 2 fish! She was giddy each time we brought the fish to the boat, although didn't want to touch them at all. That's okay, I don't touch them either! We release our fish after we catch them, which was confusing for her. She'd say, "They go back to their tank?" I think she was likening these fish to our goldfish at home. It was cute! So here she is with her first fishy!

Before we headed home on Tuesday, Gracie wanted to fly her kite. The wind was perfect for kite flying! We'd also bought a styrofoam airplane at Dollar General to fly on a windy day, so we pulled that out, too! It was a really great time!