Gracie's Nursery!

Ok - it only took me a year, but Gracie's nursery is finally finished! lol Linzi and I had planned on doing the mural before she was born, but since she surprised us so early, that didn't happen. I was lucky enough though, that Linzi came down starting in October to work on it. Unfortunately, that was when I was still having feeding issues with Gracie, and didn't get to put nearly as much into it as I wanted to. I did manage to do some though. I got to do all of the birds, bugs, and mouse - and the plastic flamingo - what country garden is complete without one of those? haha Linzi did everything else. And it was a lot of work! She painted the flowers that I wanted, and researched pictures of them online to get them just right. She planned out the placement of the flowers on paper first, and then kind of charted them on the wall. She's so organized - I wouldn't have even known where to start! She is an amazing artist, and I'm lucky to have had her as a friend for the past 30 years (wow, I'm getting old!). Look closely at the pictures for the cute little fairies she added. And if you really look at the clouds, you can see the pictures she hid in each one. I thought that was such a neat idea - like looking at the clouds when we were little finding the pictures in them. Too cool. Although the mural was completed in January, we didn't move Gracie into her room until about 2 months ago. That was when I finally got her dresser finished. The bottom part of that dresser was Tracy's when she was a baby. I wanted it to look like a potting bench though, so I drew the top part and Clint built it for me! Am I lucky or what? Then I just added some paint to the knobs and drawers for a one-of-a-kind piece of furniture. I finally put some finishing touches on the room a few weeks ago. I still need a few more things - like a valance and maybe an area rug - and a big gingham bow on her big flower pot/toy box. I just love being in that room - it's a dream nursery come true! Fisher likes pointing out the bugs (I put 29 ladybugs on the walls, since she was born on the 29th), and the birds and frogs. The cute little table was a birthday present from Lolo and Grandpa. It will be perfect for her tea parties when she's older! Thanks again Linzi for painting the beautiful garden for my baby girl!

Princess Gracie turns one!

We gave Gracie a birthday party on Aug. 5th, one week after her real birthday. It worked out great that way since cousin Alyssa was going to be in town. Even though it was way too hot outside, it still was a great party! Gracie was a little clingy to me at first - I think she was a little scared of all of the people at her house. She loosened up after Aunt Tracy gave her some Cheetos though! She scared the crap out of us all by gagging on her lunch though. She just tries to shove it all in her mouth at once (she's gotten better in the past 2 weeks though). She was fascinated with the candle on her cake and kept reaching for the pretty flame! She grabbed fistfuls of cake and icing and managed to eat about a third of her little cake. I'd say her first experience with birthday cake was an enjoyable one! After the cake, she (umm - ok -I) opened presents. She did play with the tissue paper afterwards though. After all the fun, she crashed hard for a couple of hours. It was a lot of excitement for such a little girl. After the party was over, Clint finally got a chance to look at the bubble machine and figure out why it wasn't working. Gracie managed to get bubbles for her birthday party, just after everyone was gone! It's ok though, because the fact that it was getting dark out made for better pictures. I love the one of Alyssa holding Gracie with the bright colors of the bubbles showing! By the way - Thanks, Linzi, for playing photographer at the party. You took lots of great pics! :)

I have to explain this picture. I kept asking Gracie to share her cake with me, but she never did. So Fisher (who was holding his own cupcake) stuck his finger in Gracie's icing and fed it to me. Thought that was kind of funny!

Aunt Tracy, I'm so tired and thirsty. I need a bottle break before opening my presents!

Welcome, Alyssa!

On Saturday, Aug. 4th, we picked up Alyssa at the Little Rock airport. She flew in from Colorado all by herself! Pretty brave for an 11 year old. Tracy was the person who was named as her pick-up person, so Fisher and I waited in the waiting area. When we saw her plane come in, we moved to the security check point to wait for them to come out. I couldn't believe my eyes. My little niece was so pretty and tall! She seemed to have grown a foot since I last saw her in November. So glad she came to see us: they grow up in a blink of the eye!

Gracie's Invitation Photo Shoot

Here are some of the pics that I liked from the photos I took of Gracie for her birthday invitation. Luckily I had Kevin around to help me take them. After awhile, she realized that she could crawl off and we had to call it quits. All it takes is one though, so I was happy with what we got. I bought the cute digital kit off of ebay to make her invi, and I thought it was just what I needed!