Like Father...Like Daughter

Happy Friday!! What's on tap for your weekend? We've got a busy weekend planned out. We're going to a Dussenberg (spelling?) car exhibit this afternoon, a birthday party tomorrow, and then church on Sunday. And in the midst of it all, I have to finish preparations for Grace's birthday party...NEXT WEEKEND! I can't believe it's almost here. My baby girl will be one year old next weekend. That went by too fast!!!

I was looking over old pictures and found these two. The first one is Jonas at 16 months old and the second one is Grace at seven months old. The similarity is uncanny!

Grace got all her cuteness from her daddy! And seems like her personality and temperament is shaping up to be much like his too. Yikes!!

It's amazing to me how much personality Grace is developing. She talks and talks and talks, shrugs her shoulders, tries to crawl away when she has something in her hands she's not supposed to, and tries to get our attention then smiles to make us laugh. It seems like she might turn out to be quite a little comedian. She sure does bring a lot of joy to us.

Have a great weekend!!

Blessings,

Beth

Mommyhood

Wow...it's now almost a month since I've been home with Grace and it has not been easy. Yesterday was an especially difficult day. Sometimes I think it would be easier to be at work. Although, when I'm at work, all I can think about is Grace! Both Grace and I were tired and fussy. And to boot, she has decided she doesn't need her morning nap anymore. I am missing that morning nap! And I can't believe she is already throwing tantrums and testing me. Wow! That was quick!!

Today has been a much better day. Both Grace and I went to bed early. I took Grace to her first tumbling class and after we got home, she took a two hour nap. Yeah for naps!

Grace has a blast at her tumbling class. She was not shy and wanted to explore everything in the classroom. I think all that rough housing with daddy gave her confidence with the mats, railings and tumbling maneuvers. She's a natural!

Grace experienced the pool for the first time on the 4th of July. She was a little unsure about the whole thing. But her 2nd time in a pool, she wanted to "swim!"

Here she is with an early birthday present from our friends Bryan and Nicole. This has got to be the biggest teddy bear I have every seen. She loves crawling on it and over it. It's a hit!

It's been a busy summer! I never would have imagined how busy it would be as a stay home mom. Other than decorations for Grace's upcoming birthday party, I haven't had much time to scrapbook. Which makes me sad! I think I left off scrapbooking with Grace's 4 month pictures! Yikes!! I hate incomplete projects...and there is more to come with baby #2! I have my ultrasound on the 21st...can't wait to see if Grace will have a baby sister or baby brother!!

Blessings!

Beth

Summer Vacation!

At last! I'm on summer vacation. And it feels great! Those last few days of work felt like torture. I was so tired and ready for a break.

Grace and I have been having a great day together. Lot's of playing this morning. And pool time this afternoon!

This is Grace's first time in a bathing suit and a pool! She loved it. I am hoping to get her into swim lessons this summer. I'm not a good swimmer and I have always regretted it. I know it's not too late to learn to swim...so maybe I'll get lessons too!

She loves splashing. I sported a bathing suit too...I was hoping to get a bit of color on my deathly white legs. I will not scare you with pictures of me! Yikes!!

I've been crafting a lot these past couple of days. Working on Grace's birthday party. I've made cupcake toppers and favor tags. Up next, favors and a birthday banner. Her birthday will be here fast!! I'll share after the birthday party.

Well off to make dinner! Not sure what dinner will be quite yet...

Blessings,

Beth

More Crafting!

I suppose I'm on a bit of a roll! In the last month I have made two chipboard albums. One was a Mickey mouse shaped chipboard album, which I neglected to take pictures of before I gave it away. The second is this puppy:

It's a cruise shaped chipboard album. This one was fun to make. I made it as a retirement gift for a co-worker. She loved it. I have lots of ideas for albums and crafting projects for this summer. I have less than two weeks left of work before my summer vacation! I just purchased four mommy and me classes for $25 through Groupon! Gearing up for lots of fun for Grace and I.

My little cupcake will be one in less than two months! Where did all the time go???

Blessings!

Beth

Finally...a bit of crafting!

Here it is! This is the hair clip holder I have been working on for Grace. I love the way it came out. Instead of using fabric for the bodice, I used scrapbook paper. I'm a little intimidated by fabric...

Here is what her old hairclip holder looked like...a little full, huh? It was definitely time to make a new one.

Here's her new one with most of her clips...I think I need another one! Especially since I just ordered 10 more ribbon hair clips...
Here's my big girl! "Look Mommy...No Hands!" Grace is growing so fast! As soon as she started crawling, she became a whole new person! She's on the move! Crawling, crusing, standing and not being still. She's also eating big people food and slowly refusing baby food. Awww...

I love this little video of Jonas and Grace. Jonas sure knows how to get big laughs out of Grace. She loves her daddy so so much!

I have four weeks left before summer vacation! I'm so excited and I really, really need the rest. What are you looking forward to?

Blessings,

Beth

Mother's Day Review

Happy Belated Mother's Day!! Whoo hoo! We celebrated my first Mother's Day. It was a special day. It was hard to wrap my head around the fact that this year I was actually a mommy on Mother's Day. We started the day with church. Pastor Matt delivered a great sermon about Moses' mother and Timothy's mother and how their sacrifice led to God using their sufferings for His greater purpose. Moses was used of the Lord to save his people from slavery and Timothy was used to encourage Paul and the early Christians. It made me realize the seriousness of the call of the Lord to raise Grace to love and serve Him. It's really all about Him...all of it.

Our little family after church on Sunday. We attend the Village Church of Irvine. Check it out some time, you will be blessed.
After church, Jonas treated me to Taco Bell...yes, quite a culinary delight. We were the only ones there! At least there were no lines. And for dinner, we went out with my best friend Celeste and her three kids. It was very special sharing Mother's Day with her. We had been hosting them off and on for the last two weeks. They live in Colorado and I miss her every day!

Here we are with our daughters. Celeste is my long time college buddy.
I have five weeks left of work! I'm counting down the days till Summer vacation!! I have lots of plans...one of them is to take Grace to swim lessons and to enroll the both of us in Mommy and Tots classes. The City of Orange offers lots of low costs classes for babies. I'm looking forward to taking advantage of them.
As for scrapbooking, well, I'm getting going again. I have several projects in the works. I'm currently working on ballerina dress shaped hair clip organizers. I'm almost finished with my first. I'll share as soon as I'm done.
Hope you have a blessed week!
Beth

Easter Weekend

I love Easter! It will be Resurrection Sunday tomorrow. I love celebrating the most awesome event in the history of the world...Jesus' resurrection and the core of my beliefs. He died so that I may be free of my sin, defeated death, and rose again that I may have everlasting life! How awesome is that?!?! I can't wait till Grace is older and we can start teaching her about Easter.

Plans for Easter? Church Sunday morning and then heading to my sister's house for some good old fashion Carne Asada. A few other family members will be joining us. I have so many fond memories of family gatherings on Easter Sunday. I hope Grace will have those memories too.

By the way, today is Grace's 9 month birthday! 9 months!! She's getting big way too fast. Just a reminder to enjoy her as she is now. Last night, Jonas commented to me, "This is the smallest Grace will ever be." Yes! Because she will just keep growing. He has made that comment a couple times before and it always hits me hard. Grace is now crawling, walking when we hold her hands, and "cruising" from the couch to the ottoman. Yikes!

Grace loves playing with daddy. He can make her laugh so hard. They have such a precious bond and I love watching them interact with each other. It warms my heart.

Life has been incredibly busy. It's the end of the school year and we are running around like chickens with our heads cut off. My mantra..."summer vacation is almost here..." Six more weeks! Plans for the summer? Rest, hang out with Grace and get a bit of scrapbooking in. Speaking of scrapbooking? I have created a Grad Nite chipboard album.

It's for sale for $45. If you're interested, let me know. I can create one for you in about a week's time. The colors of the front cover can be customized to your student's school colors. It's also pretty big...12 inches tall and 11 1/2 inches wide. The one in the picture is going to my niece, Jackie.

Time to go hang out with Grace. Hope you have an awesome weekend!

Blessings,

Beth