Goodbye 2007!

These are the last pictures taken of our Gracie girl in the year 2007. They show Gracie helping Mommy and Daddy shop for food at Sam's Club. As always, Grace was such a big helper and she loved finding all of the pictures of various fruits, vegetables and the letters b & o on the food packaging. It is wonderful how Grace can make a routine shopping trip feel like an exciting adventure for all of us (and a wonderful learning experience for her too)!!! We can't wait to see what 2008 brings.

Another Merry Christmas!

We spent a wonderful Christmas in Massachusetts at Memere & Pepere's house. This weekend we had another amazing Christmas with Maddy & Poppy at our home in Maine. Here are just a few memories from our Christmas with Maddy & Poppy : So many fun learning toys, "apple," "buh-bye," "oh-oh" (Elmo)," "ah-duh," lotions, "Where's the Elmo phone?," Grace running down our hallway into the kitchen to find the next present, Grace eating ANYTHING as long as it came from Maddy, the letter 'm,' shopping in Freeport, the love bug song, Poppy's toothbrush, Grace delicately unwrapping all of her gifts, the pink snowmen & Elmo wrapping paper, the Haba wooden food (especially the apples!), all of the healthy play food, "Shall I mix it up?," go bus go, the ball popper, building a four block tower, trying to get all of the toys out of the packaging, 101 things to do/places to go before you're 12, butterfly kisses, Grace giving Maddy & Poppy goodnight kisses, Goodnight Vermont, BIG Ella!, the rocking moose, Grace's many smiles upon seeing Maddy & Poppy when she woke up in the morning, turning books the right side up, eyes & ears & mouth & hair.....but most of all the the precious time we all spent together as a family. Thank you so much for everything.

Our Merry Christmas

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We spent Christmas Eve & Christmas day in Leominster, Massachusetts with Memere, Pepere, Auntie Allison, Uncle Steve, and cousins Rose & baby Kimberlee. Here are just a few of our Christmas memories!

We wish everyone a very Merry Christmas!

Gracie Offers A Helping Hand

In everyone's life a little Elmo must fall. Little Gracie happened upon a large community of Elmos at Toys R' Us this afternoon. She passed by the healthy TMX Elmos, Tickle Me Elmos, Elmo chairs, Hokey Pokey Elmos, Elmo phones, Pick-Me-Up Elmos, etc., to help this one rather large injured Elmo. Grace promptly picked up this Elmo and handed it to Mommy and Daddy to bring it home to help it heal.

Sharing is Caring.....Or So We Thought!

We did not post any pictures this week because we all shared a dreadful case of the stomach flu. It began early in the week with Grace, then went to Mommy, and finally finished with Daddy! Although Grace continued to look very pretty through it all, Mommy & Daddy, well, did not! Happily, the worst of it seems to be over. All we need now is a little rest to get ready for Santa (or as Grace says, "ho, ho, ho"). Look for healthy, happy, and pretty pictures this weekend!! :) :) :) :)

Twilight

How To Survive a Maine Winter....

We had a big snowstorm today. Daddy took Grace out for a sled ride. Here is what Grace wore:

1) onesie
2) shirt
3) pants
4) 2 layers of socks (1 cotton, 1 wool)
5) footed fleece pajamas for extra warmth
6) winter coat
7) snow pants
8) boots
9) three layers of hats (2 cotton, 1 fleece)
10) fleece mittens
11) Daddy's mittens for wind protection
12) 1 blanket for Grace to sit on
13) 1 blanket to cover Grace's legs
14) scarf

And one super cute bluebird sled from Maddy & Poppy to remind us that Spring is just a little over three months away........priceless.

Grace's First Haircut!

Grace had her first haircut this afternoon! We took Grace to a wonderful hair salon called Snip- Its, which specializes in chidren's hair. Grace did an amazing job sitting in the hot pink chair (!!) and she loved looking around at the busy child-friendly atmposhere while her hair was being cut. Once the haircut was over, Grace recieved a certificate for her "bravery," a lock of her hair, and she even received a prize. Mommy was most impressed that the stylist put Grace's hair into a pigtail and wrapped with a pretty pink ribbon. Grace certainly walked out sylin'! You can click on these pictures to enlarge.

The result ~ a very cute new haircut!

"A Cow Say Mooooo."

"My Mommy told me that you're a "cow" that says moo but I know that you are really a registered Wilson-Dale Holstein."

Gracie!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The Real Gifts Of Christmas

We enjoyed a wonderful day at Daddy's family Christmas party in Hollis, New Hampshire. Grace enjoying the company of her cousins & over 30 third cousins!!! Needlless to say, nearly all of the pictures we took of Grace today are a blur since she was on the go all day. Thank you to Aunt Estelle, Uncle Gerry, Uncle George, Aunt Liz, and Memere & Pepere for coordinating this special day for all of us.

ELMO!!!

We had an AMAZING day today as we took Grace to see Sesame Street Live ~ Elmo Makes Music! Grace's love of Elmo started when she received an Elmo doll as a baby. Grace excitedly points to every Elmo she sees wherever we go. Elmo seems to be EVERYWHERE! Since we do not have Grace watch television, she has never seen Elmo move nor has she seen Sesame Street so we couldn't wait to take Grace to the show today. We were very curious to see how Grace would react to seeing a real live Elmo. Grace didn't move a muscle for the first fifteen minutes of the show. She was mesmerized by seeing Elmo move, talk, dance, and sing. It must have been magic to her! After the initial shock wore off, Grace vigorously signed "more" and loudly said, "oh" each time the characters finished singing a song. Grace also kept extending both of her arms out to try to touch Elmo on the stage. Her little pointer finger was working nonstop throughout the show! Grace loved Sesame Street Live so much that during intermission she ventured out into the lobby, grabbed a sign nearly twice as tall as she is, and started walking away with it! We think she wanted to take it home as a souvenir.

Fun in the Snow!

We woke up to seven inches of snow this morning and it has continued to snow all morning. Hooray! I couldn't wait to show Grace all of the snow outside when she woke up today. Grace and I have been preparing for this big event for weeks now by looking at pictures and reading books all about snow. When Grace first saw the snow on the tall pine trees outside her window she opened her mouth wide, pointed, and said, "oh!" Grace had her very first sled ride this morning and absolutely loved it ~ the faster the better according to Grace. Each time I stopped the sled Grace was quick to sign "more." We can't wait to go back outside this afternoon after lunch for more fun in the snow. It is going to be such a fun winter this year with Grace.

We love Grace's new snow boots. We will have to post a video soon of Grace walking in them and in all of her snow gear.....it's adorable!!!

Our Happy Birthday Girl!

We can't believe that Grace is one year old! We remember thinking on this day last year that it was the best day of our lives, however, each and every day since then has been the best day and it's all because of our Gracie girl. Being parents to our beautiful girl is the greatest gift in our lives. Grace has truly amazed us with all of her accomplishments during the past year and we can't wait to see what lies ahead in the coming year.
Grace has always been a step ahead and who knows where she'll go in the coming year. An extra special thank you to Maddy who surprised Grace with these glittery shoes yesterday, which added the perfect touch to Grace's special birthday day. They match Grace's sparkling personality perfectly and made her a shining star today! Full step ahead for our Gracie Girl....

My, How You've Grown!

HAPPY FIRST BIRTHDAY GRACE

December 2, 2007

November 2007

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August 2007

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March 2007

February 2007

January 2007

December 2006