Here We Go!

As far as I'm concerned, the holiday season is upon us. I'm not necessarily thinking about Christmas, although my family always starts planning for get-togethers and gift ideas early, but it seems to me that once we reach fun-filled Halloween, someone, somewhere, presses fast-forward and we start flying through November, and inevitably, December!

I'm already excited about celebrating Halloween with Gracie and our friends. I checked out a few Halloween themed books from the library this week and we've been discussing costumes. This momma has already chosen what her little princess will be (and luckily, Gracie seems fine with my plan), but she is coming up with her own ideas about what everyone else should be. She informed me this morning that our baby friend, Caleb, should be a grasshopper...

(Gracie was my little kitten last year!)

Me: Guess what, Baby Caleb is going to be a baby monster!

Gracie: No... a grasshopper! (No idea where she even got this idea!)

Me: Okay, what should Austin (her cousin) dress up as?

Gracie: He will be a grasshopper and "Ashey" (my sister, Ashley) will be a spider. (Not sure about this "bug" obsession either...)

Alright, ladies! I hope you have your baby grasshopper costumes ready! And Ashley, can't wait to see you as a spider! ;)

Looking forward to all the fun October brings!

Rainy Days...and other random thoughts.

I love rainy days. They provide a good excuse for laziness, or at least make nice "clean the house" days, since I know we're not missing much by staying indoors. We'll head to the library this morning (just realized books are past due! oops.) and maybe even the grocery store, but then we'll get comfy, I'll catch up on the usual that needs to be caught up on, and we'll open all the blinds, the front door, and we'll watch it rain.

The weekend was nice, as weekends usually are. We were able to spend time as a family, while also throwing in a sprinkle of friends, and an evening photo session for me on Saturday evening. Sean is so great with helping me juggle the part-time photography work, while making sure I also get in some much needed time with girlfriends, AND quality time with my hubby and baby girl. It's all working out, I'm feeling well balanced at the moment, thanks to his support.

Gracie is doing oh so well. :) She is quite the little toddler girl, seeming so much older than her 2 years at times that it's scary. She says things sometimes and all Sean and I can do is look at each other and try really hard not to laugh. She's still testing her boundaries, asserting her opinions, learning to handle (well, we're all learning to handle) her frustrations and emotions. I think we're doing okay. She gets mad, she lets us know, she excuses herself to her room, then comes out refreshed, lets us know she's "happy", and we go on. :) She is this funny little person and we're loving it all.

We had Baby Caleb over recently (my good friend's newborn baby boy), and to my surprise, Gracie was willing to hold the little guy (with lots of help, of course)! She was gentle and sweet and she talks about "Baby Calem" all the time. She loves that he has a bear "Cuddles" similar to her own.

(We did not bribe her with marshmallows to capture "the kiss" photo.)

Caleb and Gracie are exactly 27 months apart, both born on the 27th of their birth months. That being said, I'd like to wish Caleb a happy ONE month birthday! And a happy 28 month birthday to Gracie! No matter what I do or say, the months just keep flying by...

Wordless Wednesday. :)

Four Generations.

Happy Wednesday!

Friday Highlights.

• Music classes with Gracie. My grandmother joined us this morning. Gracie found her way to the middle of the circle where she twirled, wiggled, and jumped in what seemed to be a special show just for her.
• Watching my grandmother participate in class. Gracie stayed close to her Great-Granny, and instead of bringing instruments to me to play, she took them straight to her, where she then made sure Granny knew just what to do. ;)

• Before dropping Gracie off for her second class (the one without mommies), she very matter-of-factly let us know that "Mommy will leave and I will scream." And she did, a shrill, high-pitched scream, just as promised. This is a "highlight" simply because I couldn't believe she said it!
• Lunch at a cafe downtown with my lovely ladies and husband (before dropping my grandmother off at her sister's house in a nearby city until Sunday morning). I'm looking forward to picking her up and squeezing in a bit more time with her before she leaves on Monday.
• It's Friday! So excited we've made it to the weekend! :)

XOXO.

Is it possible? Is the sun shining a little brighter, the air smelling a little sweeter, and my smile stretching a little further since about 1:39 this afternoon? The clouds parted and when the plane landed Gracie and I were waiting...

...to collect one very special package.

My Granny.

So, we're jumping for joy and soaking her presence in.

We're enjoying every minute of having her here, with us, close enough to hug and love in person.

Because the clouds will part again, she'll have to head home, and I want to know that I made the most of our time together.

Wordless Wednesday.

Happy Wednesday. :)

It's in the air.

Oh, I can really feel it now. It shows itself in the simplest of ways; a cool breeze and the rustling of leaves, the first pumpkins of the season propped on hay bales in yards I pass while driving by, the festivals and advertisements for upcoming festivities, Florida State football games...I couldn't be happier about the arrival of fall!

I love the mid-70s weather we've been having lately. We also attended our first fall festival this past Saturday. There were activities for the kids, a silent auction, bake sale, and barbecue (complete with baked beans and slaw) for lunch. This has to be my favorite season.

To welcome fall, and say "goodbye" to summer, I had a photo session with Gracie. :) It was our "End of Summer" session (my goal was to get some good photos of her in this dress!). As far as her dress is concerned, all the credit goes to her Aunt Anderson. She made one for each of the little girls in the family.

I had fun capturing these images of my daughter. It had been a while since I'd planned a session with her. She was completely uninterested in having her picture taken, but with her daddy's help, I was able to get a group of pictures that I love.

Lovely Thursday.

My sister and I took the kids to the Natural Science Center Thursday morning. The weather was lovely and the little ones enjoyed their freedom as they ran, danced, twirled, jumped, and played together. They were happy doing anything that involved constant movement. Gracie was exhausted by the time we got home, and despite their rather apathetic expressions, we did have a great time! (If you only knew what my sister was doing behind me, trying to get at least one smile! Haha!)

Happy Friday! :)

Labor Day Weekend.

Ahhh...thank you, Labor Day, for gifting me with an extra day with my family, and what a beautiful day (and weekend) it has turned out to be! We've had slightly cooler temperatures over the past few days, an open invitation to get outside and enjoy! I also had an outdoor photo session on Saturday, so the warm, breezy evening was appreciated!

I've been having a tough time finding the time (and energy) to blog lately. I feel like we have just been go, go, going for the past week or so. I would typically share these photos on a Tot School post, but here again, I just haven't had the time to get one together. We've still been having fun moving through the alphabet. Last week we focused on the letter "D". This week we'll be doing activities and crafts surrounding the letter "E". Here are Gracie's latest letter crafts! I love these helping her with these!

"D" is for Dragon!

"E" is for Elephant!

The fall semester of Kindermusik also started back this past Friday. It was lots of fun, as usual, and Gracie woke up that morning ready to go! We were excited to see some of our friends from past semesters. Gracie walked right in and got comfortable. Our instructor pointed out that she's had Gracie in class since she was a baby, and I hadn't really thought about it, but Gracie has been a Kindermusik girl since she was 8 months old! Where in the world has that time gone!?

This semester, Gracie is also enrolled in a 30 minute class (following our regular one), kids only, no mommies. I know that it will be good for Gracie to be a part of something that I'm not, and it's good for me to squeeze in 30 minutes of mommy talk in the room next door. :) She did get upset when she realized I wasn't in the room, but she handled it well. When I peeked in on her, she was sitting comfortably in the instructor's lap.

I hope everyone has had a lovely Labor Day Weekend! Back to reality... ;)

Just Because...

They make me smile. :)