Potty Training is in full force...

Grace is slowly, but surely, mastering the art of going to the potty! We've been really impressed by how quickly she's caught on. And, of course, we're looking forward to buying less diapers!

There's a great potty video with Elmo and friends that Grace loves. We've watched that DVD a LOT, so much that we pretty much know it by heart. Martin and I can sing along with the songs, which makes Grace giggle :-)

My one beef with the Elmo DVD is when it goes through all of the ways you can talk about going #1 and #2. In the #2 section, most of the names are pretty harmless. Then a little kid comes on the screen and announces, "I call it dookie." And guess what word Grace has latched on to? Yep, you guessed it. Dookie :-)

More fun at the Austin Children's Museum

Grace and I have definitely been getting our money's worth at the Austin Children's Museum. We bought a membership awhile back and have visited quite a bit. Grace loves it, and so do I! There's so much to do and see. Today's trip was especially fun :-)

Grace loves the new slide!

My personal favorite, the big cow! MOO :-)Little hard hat girl :-)

I love making these special memories with my sweet girl. Being a Mom is such a gift!

A Message from Grace Calleigh

Hello, my name is Grace. I'm a one person human tornado. I can manage to wreak havoc on any room I enter in 2 seconds flat. My Mom tries to get me to play the "clean up game." How do I help her understand that cleaning up is not a game? It's SOOOOO not fun. I prefer making the messes. Please give her this very important message. Thank you!

The Whirlwind of 2009

Is it really June already?!? The last five months have flown by. The Fogarty Family has had a wonderful first five months of 2009; it's been quite a whirlwind.

The Highlights So Far (in no particular order):

• Grace turning 2 years old! (http://thefogartyfamily.blogspot.com/2009/05/happy-2nd-birthday-grace.html)
• Amber (me) turning the big 3-0!!! (http://thefogartyfamily.blogspot.com/2009/05/on-turning-30.html)
• The Fogarty Birthday Luau (http://thefogartyfamily.blogspot.com/2009/05/fogarty-birthday-luau.html)
• Traveling to Phoenix in January with Martin to visit family and reunite with my volunteer community and visit the place where our Love Story started
• Celebrating Mother's Day in Waco with the fam
• All of the holidays - Easter (especially the Easter Play Date with Grace's new pals), Valentine's Day, St. Patrick's Day
• Joining the Austin Children's Musuem and spending quality time there with Grace
• Grace's first trip to the Austin Zoo
• Watching Grace grow and learn :-)

Life is good. Yep.

The Fogarty Birthday Luau

The Fogarty Birthday Luau was AWESOME! Last night we celebrated Grace's 2nd Birthday and my 30th Birthday with family and friends. You can see all of the pictures at http://picasaweb.google.com/amberfogarty/FogartyBirthdayLuau# or see a few of the highlights below.

Martin and Amber, ready to Luau!

Mom (Nana) and Anna, my niece

Kirinda and Grace

Isn't this cake awesome? It was made by my sister-in-law, Jen!! She's so talented. Thanks, Jen!

Blowing out the candles...

Jen, Dad, Anna, and Brian

Even Fred and Phoebe got in the spirit of the Luau!

Mom, Christie, Billy, and Martin

Ollie entertained us with his fantastic music! Check him out at www.myspace.com/oliverchilds

The best of the best!
Good lookin' people!

Thanks to all who made it a perfect Luau, especially my Mom, Keila, and Jo who all brought food. You guys rock!

All in all, a good time was had with wonderful family and friends - a great way to celebrate being born and giving birth to the most amazing little girl in the world :-)

Happy 2nd Birthday, Grace!

Today our sweet girl turns 2 years old! It's hard to believe how quickly the time has gone.

Martin and I got up early this morning and remembered the exact moment we welcomed Grace into the world - 6:09 am. It is a moment that is frozen in time, a moment we will never forget. That moment is imprinted on our hearts.

Relive the moment with us:
http://thefogartyfamily.blogspot.com/2007/08/graces-birth-story.html
http://thefogartyfamily.blogspot.com/2007/05/introducing-grace-calleigh-fogarty.html

Each day of our lives we make deposits in the memory banks of our children.

~Charles R. Swindoll, The Strong Family

We sincerely hope that Grace’s memory bank is filling up with wonderful memories. Her first two years have brought us countless blessings. Our life is more complete because of the joy she brings to us each and every day.

My Blog by Wordle

I discovered an awesome online tool that creates "word clouds." So here's a word cloud of The Fogarty Family Blog!

Image attributed to http://www.wordle.net/.

You can visit http://www.wordle.net/gallery/wrdl/869449/AF-Blog to see a larger version of this word cloud (and create your own)!