Christmas Recital

Don't mind the camera work, Hollie was holding Gracie. This turned out much better than my 1st recital. That is also why we didn't post the 1st one. This song went pretty good too considering I had a cold.

P.S. I finished reading Twilight

And Luke has his wife back now. I learned I am not really into reading about romance. I like the action/adventure/mystery and sci-fi a lot better. I am going with a bunch of ladies to see the movie on Friday so I had to hurry and read it before I went. It's very good and a quick read, and I have heard the following 3 books do not contain as much romance ( not that it is mushy at all, just 17 year old infatuation). Read it!

French fries dipped in Ice Cream?

I went visiting teaching today with my friend Mary. It turned out we both needed to go to Wal-Mart or Sprawlmart as Luke and I like to call it. We were so hungry we needed something to tie us over and we both hadn't had fries in a long time. So... we got some fries to share and then we thought ice cream sounded good so we got one cone. Then of all things, Mary showed me how to dip her fries in the ice cream. I tried it and holy cow! It was so good. Something about the magic of hot and salty mixed with cold and sweet, like your able to taste too extreme delicious opposites all at the same time. Try it! And don't get hooked cause it is not so good in the other way. Savvy?

We had company over for dinner and...

This picture speaks for itself!
Is this forshadowing falling alseep in her soup? I am sure this is only the beginning. Where is the funniest place you or your kids have fallen asleep?

Huh-larious!

So does anybody remember watching the older Disney movie classic "101 Dalmations"? Do you remember the part when the guy (forgot his name) takes Pongo on a walk, or like they say, Pongo takes his pet for a walk. Well anyway, while on the walk Pongo meets his a "dazzling" girl dalmation with a beautiful owner and he gets them all tangled up in their leashes and the two strangers are face to face because of the dogs??? Do you remember? Well... I saw that actually happen today in our little neighborhood. It was the funniest thing to see it happening and the man and woman were so embarrassed. They couldn't get untangled and they were trying to move the leashes under and over and then they would look at each other and oh... I just laughed right out loud. Huh-larious! Okay maybe you had to be there. But now I know it really can happen!

For the love of plastic...

Gracie's favorite thing to do right now, besides smile and eat, is play with anything plastic and crinkly that makes that fun noise. This one is fun because it is clear so you can still see her. Thank you fig newton wrapper. This is fresh off press this morning. She misses all of you! Hugs from Gracie...

Sleep: A very precious commodity!

Gracie is such a good sleeper now. We are so blessed. She actually went over 8 hours last night. She usually sleeps between 6-8 hours now. Occasionally we have a bad night, but this is really helping me who needs all the sleep I can get or I have major functioning issues. Can't think well, speak right, or even enjoy things as well. I don't know how you guys do it who have sleeping problems in the family. MOM- you are seriously a trooper. I love you for enduring through no sleep. I know I have only tasted a small portion of it. No fun and you aren't happy cause your "old" better functioning self is who you want to be. I am so grateful Gracie is sleeping well now.

Bathtime!

Gracie loves baths. She gets that from me. One of my favorite things in the whole wide world is to be able to soak in a bath tub for a little while. They are definitely fewer and farther between as well as shorter if I get one. They are a luxury. I am glad Gracie likes them too. I love the way she smells just after being bathed. I love her!

P.S. Thanks Lenna for showing me that I can just put her in the big bathtub with a little bit of water in it so I can watch her and get cleaned up at the same time. It is great!

3 month photo shoot

She is holding her head up pretty good now; however she doesn't like to be on her belly very much. Does any baby?
The other day she rolled over onto her back. It was awesome but she hasn't done it again yet. We got this new bow at Dillards the other day (paid too much for it). Does anyone know how you get ribbon to stay in little tiny ringlets like this? I want to make some of my own. This is also one of my favorite dresses so far.

Phantom of the Opera

Luke sang Phantom of the Opera at his first voice recital on Saturday night. He did an awesome job. He did make some mistakes which he is bummed about, but overall we are counting it as a victory because it is a PR (personal record) compared to all of the other times he has performed in front of people. He has been taking voice lessons for a couple of months now and it is helping him be more confident in front of people, work on his middle range between falsetto and his normal voice which he always skipped before, breathing, and not being so tight in his larynx. His voice teacher sang Christine's part and it was awesome. I got the chills when they were escalating and Luke sang "Sing my angel of music". This mask took us a couple of hours to make that morning. We put plastic wrap on his face and then paper mache`d it. I had to pretty much cook it with the blow dryer to get it to dry in time and so it cracked a little. Obviously we would have put a lot more layers on it had we had the time. So much for planning ahead. Luke was a good phantom though. And his voice is beautiful. He is singing "Oh Holy Night at his Christmas recital at the end of November.

Painted Toes

I finally got the chance to paint her little toes. I have wanted to ever since she was born. Don't they look cute? Yes, Dad- you can be grossed out now like always. Next time I will do it while she is sleeping; it would be much easier! :p

Celebrating 4 awesome years!!!

Yes! This is our tradition to go and take pictures in a photo booth on our anniversary so we can compare from year to year. As you can see, the new addition this year is Gracie. (Click to make larger.) We actually had to take the pictures twice because we weren't ready for it the first time. Each booth is a little different but you'd think we would be pros at it after doing it for 4 years. I am afraid 4 years of marriage doesn't make us pros at that either. But we sure are twitterpated! We love each other and we love life and all the kinks just seem to go away if you think of each other first. Dad was right when he said (back when we were engaged), "You think you love each other now, you will love her more the longer you have been married and the better you get to know each other." And Luke said, "I can't love her more than I love her right now." And dad said, "Just wait and see!" He was right. :) I can't wait for more awesome years together. I love you Luke!
P.S. Can anyone imagine trying to fit like 4-5 more children in the booth with us??? Ahhh!

Sunday Smile

I'm afraid Gracie has got the "no sleep" gene...

Hee, hee, JK!

1st time in her bumbo chair!

Joker's Act...

Luke took our table out and we bought a strobe light at Target for $2.50 and placed it so that is flashed on half of his face. We had all other lights off so it made you want to look closer at what was there. Luke sat motionless and people couldn't tell if he was real or not. Some kids got a really good scare when Luke occasionally moved. As you can see, the candybowl was on the table next to him so they had to come close if they wanted any candy. We didn't really get a lot of trick-or-treaters so that was a bummer but we had a fun night. And our neighbors went all out with all kinds of gross/scary props including a lynching post, graveyard, and operating table with all kinds of bloody body parts. Kids got double the dose of fright with us being right next door. Hollie got 25 moscuito bites while walking around outside and watching the fun with Gracie. The simplicity of Luke's act was much more scary than all of the store-bought items of our neighbors. They were all pretty clever though. What a fun and memorable Halloween!

And a Bee!

Lenna bought this outfit for her!

Gracie the "Sweet" Ladybug!

Hailey gave her the outfit!

So Hollie went as Catwoman!

Why so Serious Luke?

We had fun shopping for Luke's costume at the goodwill. We couldn't find the exact colors and designs that Joker wore in the movie, but we thought these worked pretty well. Yes it is okay if you haven't seen the latest movie because it is kind of dark. Not recommended for kids at all... maybe even myself. But Joker makes an awesome villain and don't you think Luke makes an awesome joker. Some of the kids at the trunk or treat were so scared. Stay tuned for what he did on Halloween night at our house...

The Purple Gurple plays after church!

Saga of Luke and the Butterfly...

So I decorated the whole front yard and the front of the house with cobwebs and a huge spider. It looked awesome from bush to bush and around the palm tree and the garage and front porch; however, I didn't think about the consequences of a huge, real-looking spider web... in Florida. Yeah, real insects would get caught. First two huge (biggest I have ever seen) dragonflies got caught above the garage. I felt bad but they were already dead. Then this butterfly got caught right by our front door and we felt so bad. Its wings kept flapping, I thought just in the wind, and so it stayed there for 3 days, through a rain storm and everything. Then Luke noticed that it was still alive. So he carefully cut it out of the web and cut all the fibers off. He let it go out of his hands and it struggled to fly and hit the ground. Luke picked it up again and it took off, struggled, dropped but didn't hit the ground finally flew back up and up and up until it was on its way again. I was amazed that Luke thought to do this. It is definitely something that I wouldn't have thought to do. (This is also reminded me of Hailey too). Did Luke learn this from Lenna or Rick? He is so kind, to me too.

Gracie's first visit to the beach!

I forgot to add that this was my first time surfing too now that I am no longer pregnant. Luke has been a couple of times. It is a blast and so addicting to see if you can get up and stay on. It is a lot nicer to fall on than snow, except if you hit the sand hard it can hurt. The thrill is worth it though, just like snowboarding and skiing. Our friends have surfboards and we went with them. Gabe was so kind to teach us and push us into the waves so we can catch it just right. Thanks!

2 months old

She is smiling at her dad while mom is taking the picture. She definitely knows her dad now!