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!

HAPPY 1ST BIRTHDAY, GRACE CALLEIGH!!!

As hard as it is for us to believe, today our baby girl is one year old! It truly seems like yesterday that we welcomed her into the world. Our lives have been abundantly blessed since that wonderful day a year ago! We are incredibly thankful for our beautiful daughter :-)

Grace's First Haircut

Today Grace got her first haircut! She was not impressed. Here she is before the scissors even appeared:

She started crying the minute I put her in the car and cried through the entire experience. We even had to take a break so I could hold her for awhile. Then the woman who was cutting her hair finished the haircut with me holding her. Overall, Grace was not too impressed with this milestone, but she sure looks cute, and I bet she'll appreciate not having her hair in her eyes all the time.

We're wrapping up a nice weekend. We had a wonderful visit with our friends, Holly and Trent, on Friday. Grace liked them a lot. She was in such a trance watching Trent that she stood for about two minutes on her own, without realizing she wasn't holding on to me anymore. We were all so excited!

They spent the night here on Friday, along with our buddy, Matt, and we managed to stay up until 2 AM. We played a great game called "Pass the Pigs." I highly recommend it. It was good fun, and it was awesome catching up with our friends from my days in Phoenix.

On Saturday, I went to the ordination of five guys who became transitional deacons. They will become priests after a year of ministry as deacons. It was neat since I've never attended an ordination. In the afternoon, the three of us went to a friend's baby shower. Grace only lasted about 45 minutes there before she was grumpy and in desparate need of a nap. We headed home, and she got some zzzzzz's. We had a quiet evening at home, complete with playing, playing, and more playing. I even managed to get some reading done for grad school. I have a TON of work to do before heading to Minnesota for three weeks in mid-July.

Today has been a good day...the haircut was an adventure, and Grace entertained us with her antics as usual. Grace and I went to the mall together this afternoon, and she was such a good girl. Now she's in bed, and I'm ready for some sleep as well. Good night, sleep tight, and don't let the bed bugs bite.