The Gigglebox Top 10 List

Grace has become quite the gigglebox lately. (Side note: I love the word gigglebox. I remember my Mom calling me that when I was a little girl, and it always made me giggle even more.) I've been keeping a mental list of all the things that have made Grace giggle this week. Here's the top 10 and a few Honorable Mentions:

1) Seeing me for the first time when I arrived to pick her up
2) Seeing Daddy when he arrived home from work
3) Seeing Uncle Billy when he arrived at our house on Thursday evening
4) Seeing Nana and Pop-Pop when they got here to look after her on Friday evening (so I could take Martin on a birthday date)
5) Every time I asked her if she wanted "CHEESE PLEASE"
6) Hearing the opening music of "Around the Horn" on ESPN, which Martin watches every night
7) Watching the hound dogs through the window and knocking on the window to try to get their attention
8) Playing the "uh oh game" where she throws a toy out of her crib and I hand it back to her
9) The hundreds of bubbles coming out the bubble machine
10) Singing "Happy Birthday" to her Daddy (every time she hears that song, she thinks it's for her)

Honorable Mention:
- Every time anyone sneezed in her presence (sneezes are hilarious to her)
- When I handed her a cup filled with ice (this is one of her new favorite toys -- playing with ice entertains her for longer than most other things right now)
- When her piano toy played music and the monkey on top danced in circles
- When she turned off the light about 10 times in a row while I was trying to comb her hair and brush her teeth
- Each time she ate a grape (those are funny too!)
- Splashing Daddy during bath time

Happy Birthday, Daddy!

Today is Martin's 29th birthday :-) Grace and I would like to say Happy Birthday to the number one man in our lives! Here's a little top ten list about my wonderful husband and the father of my beautiful child:

1) He's always there for us and is, hands down, the best husband and father in the world!
2) He's completely a family man and his prioirities are always in the right place.
3) He knows how to comfort Grace and me when we cry.
4) He's always the life of the party.
5) Next year he'll be "tirty." And in four years, he'll be "tirty-tree."
6) He keeps us laughing all the time with his antics.
7) He rocks at Sports Bets on Facebook.
8) He's adamant about not liking lettuce, yet he loves lettuce wraps at PF Chang's (where we're going for his birthday lunch today).
9) He loves "mug of scald" (a.k.a. hot tea) and drinks at least one mug every day.
10) He believed in a girl he met at an Irish pub in Phoenix, in spite of a mountain of obstacles, married her, and made her the happiest woman in the world :-)

Here's to Martin...Happy Birthday, My Dear :-)

13 Months and Counting...

Today Grace is 13 months old! The days keep flying by, and our little girl gets less little everyday. Grace is becoming quite the character. I can see her testing the limits and seeing what she can and can't get away with. I wonder if she'll ever take us seriously when we discipline her. Right now when we tell her "No," she just laughs. Apparently, we're hilarious :-)

I'm glad the weekend is approaching. I have less than three weeks 'til I head to grad school in Minnesota, and I'm trying to finish up all of my assignments. With that, work, a handful of a 13-month old, and taking care of stuff at home, I've got my hands full.

It's been a HOT month in Texas! I think we officially passed the record for the hottest June ever. It's hit 100 degrees or higher 19 days this month! HOT HOT HOT! Needless to say, we're not hanging out outside very much! I dread our electric bill this month, but thank God for air conditioning!

Grace & Her New Tricks

Grace has completely mastered walking, and it is so much fun watching her walk all over the house! She cracks us up all the time with her antics. She's learned so many new things lately:

- She nows waves "Bye Bye."
- She gives big hugs and kisses when you ask (most of the time).
- She blows kisses.
- She's learned how to turn the TV on and off, which she thinks is absolutely hilarious!
- Grace turns the pages in books and acts like she's reading.
- She loves getting her teeth brushed.
- She talks A LOT! Words in her vocabulary include: Dada (all the time and way more than any other words), Mom or Mama, Baby, Ba (for ball), Bi (for Uncle Billy), and Oh. There are lots of other things she says that sound like jibberish, but will soon make sense :-)

In other news, Grace has a new tooth coming in on the top! Teething has made her particularly moody, but we're rolling with it. All in all, she's a good girl, and we love her to bits!

Happy Father's Day!!!

Today is all about honoring Fathers :-) It was a good weekend in our house. Yesterday we had a Father's Day lunch at our house to honor my dear Dad and my husband, the two AWESOME fathers in my life :-) As always, it was special time together.

Today we started the day with Mass. Grace is getting to be more a handful at church now that she can walk. She's not at all interested in being held these days; she just wants to explore her surroundings. She was quite entertaining at church today, as she befriended all of the people sitting around us with her sweet smile and non-stop giggling. She had her little rubber ducky with her and kept offering it to her new friends. Our girl is such a sweetheart!

We got breakfast tacos for a Father's Day treat. Martin has come to love one of the great things Texas has to offer! We had a nice quiet day at home, enjoying each other's company and watching Grace trot around the house. Now's the weekend is coming to an end, and I'm thankful for another fantastic weekend :-)

p.s. I took this adorable picture of Grace this morning before we left for church! Isn't she precious?

Blogging on the road...

Three cheers for technology...I am blogging on my Blackberry while riding down I-35 on the way to Dallas for work.We are down-wind from a truck full of cows. Gotta love Texas road trips!

I wanted to share a cute story from last night. When I got home from work, Martin and Grace were already home. They were playing on the floor, having a good time. Martin was laying down on the floor, and I came to sit next to him. Grace noticed that Martin was dozing off, so she crawled over and gave him a kiss! It was one of the sweetest things I've ever seen.

We taught Grace to give kisses awhile back. Up until last night, she only gave kisses, usually with her mouth slightly open, when we asked for a kiss.

Later in the evening, when Martin was laying on the couch, Grace crawled over, pulled herself up, and planted another kiss on his lips. That's my sweet girl!

Grace Takes Her First Steps!!!

Last night our sweet little girl took her very first steps! Just one week after her first birthday, Grace took two tentative steps from her Mommy to her Daddy.

Martin and I have known for awhile now that the first steps would happen any day. Grace has been cruising around the house like a pro and had worked up the courage to let go and stand on her own. More and more often over the last couple of weeks, she would stand proudly by herself, almost always with a huge smile on her face.

Last night we were trying to encourage her to take that first step. For the last few days, she's been lifting her foot and then going to the floor. I can only imagine what she must be thinking as she learns this new skill! But last night she went for it! Our house lit up with pride, lots of smiles, and even a tear or two. We are SO proud of daughter :-) What an unforgettable moment!