My Prince

3 years ago this day, I made the best decision of my life.

This is the type of prince I always dreamed I would grow old with...

He is a natural at this dad stuff. Nobody can make Gracee laugh like him. She starts smiling and kicking when he even walks in the room and looks at her.

I was telling Russ the other day of something that my friend's husband did that was romantic. He asked if I was ever sad that he is not romantic like that...I told him that I am never disappointed about that because he makes me laugh every single day...

He always does this sweet thing whenever I'm holding Gracee for a prolonged period of time, where he'll come up behind me and hold up my aching arm to give it a break.

He's so domestic. (He'll never admit that though) He cleans and helps in the kitchen whenever I ask. He also is great with decorating and color schemes, neither of which will he ever admit to.

This is his very most favorite picture of Gracee...

His first night with her.

Happy Anniversary sweetheart. You are the love of my life.

"I thank my God upon every remembrance of you." -Phillipians 1:3

Big Baby Bows...what's your vote?

So I consider myself a fairly 'hip chick', maybe that's part of my problem. Maybe I'm not even hip at all. But here's the thing--there are just some new styles out there that I simply do not understand, I just can't. Sure nightgown length undershirts look good on a lot of girls, and who knows maybe they'd look good on me...but no one is ever going to find out!

Big Baby Bows fit right into this category. I see them on my friend's babies and think they look cute...but the thought of them being part of our family's accessory options, has just never seems to quite "fit"--ya know?

So I also consider myself a fairly open-minded gal, so the other day, I ventured....

I put my cherub in one of the aforementioned bows. I fussed with it, put her in different positions, took pictures from different angles...

nope.

a BIG nope.

Something in my gut just didn't feel right about that thing perched on my sweet and perfect baby's head. It is similar to how I feel when I was FORCED into taking glamor shots with my sisters when I was 14... I knew some people might think I looked pretty and my mom has loved showing off the pictures from the photo shoot over the years (much to my dismay and embarassment)...but the truth of the matter is it just wasn't "me". I am more of a simple timeless, classic type of dresser. But what about Gracee? Is she a sheek Audrey Hepburn type like I dig or is she a Shirley Temple of sorts?

So I ask you dear readers, is it just "me" or does Gracee look as ridiculous in these Big Baby Bows as I feel like she does?

You wanna buy our house??

For some reason me and Russ love houses! We love going for walks or drives and talking about which houses we like...



how much we think each one would sell for, when it was probably built. In fact, we love houses so much, that we thought it would be fun to buy one that's older than us, spend any $money$ we might have used for an ever-begging-for cruise on remodeling....







and then try to SELL it a year later so that we can move into one that we like better just across the street...it's an excellent deal!







Don't get me wrong, we hate moving just as much as the next Jane or Joe (?), but we love a bargain!















These are the pictures we've used to post our house online. But don't worry, the only people hungry for it are real estate agents, bless their hearts.

our deadline to sell is the end of february, so needless to say our hope is slowly fading...but at least we like where we live. And here we'll stay for a few more happy years...unless we see another REALLY great deal!

We miss you mom/grandma!

I love you gramma! I want you to come home! I miss the cute stuff you always make me, like this hat...

(mom's been in AZ since the first week of January but has been living with us for a bit and it has been such a joy!)

The Halls miss you... (pretend everyone has the sad faces on they were instructed to make...)

Your mail misses you....

And just look at this FRO! Russ needs a haircut...We REALLY REALLY miss you!

Gracee Girl, how did we get so lucky?

To my Gracee girl,
Gracee. We love you. We love you. We love you! My eyes are tearing up as I begin this letter to you. You come to our home received with open arms and open hearts. Thank you so much for coming into this world and into our family. We want the best for you.

When your body came tumbling out of me, words, can’t express the way I felt. The only words that came out of my mouth over and over again were: “Are you serious!” I just couldn’t believe how big your were and that your body was inside of me and that you were ours and that we were yours! Your dad was right behind me, cradling us in his legs when they put you on my chest. We were both immediately overtaken with gratitude, love, disbelief and RELIEF! We sobbed and sobbed with you in our arms. Heavenly Father brought a beautiful, perfect baby girl. You were beautiful right from the start. You weren’t all smooshed and weird looking like most of us were as newborns. Your eyes were already big and striking. Your aunt Steph calls them “WHOO” eyes—like mine. Your lips were plump and pink. Your hair was dark and thick—especially in the back.

Let me tell you about your name. Gracee has been a name I have loved for over a decade. I always wanted to give this name to my first girl. It is only through the grace and mercy of our Savior that we are able to become better people and return to live with our Heavenly Father. This testimony is what draws me to the name “Gracee”. Your name represents the goodness of our Savior which you will be able to reflect many times throughout your life through your own actions. Also, your middle name was given to you after your Aunt Stephanie Ann. She is a very powerful, beautiful woman. She is one of God’s choicest spirits who has been through many hard trials and has clung to the spirit and has sought to know God’s will through it all. She stands for truth and goodness. She performs many acts of love and compassion and works to fulfill her roles here on earth with an honest and genuine heart. We wanted you to be her namesake because you are also a powerful daughter of God with many important missions to fulfill for our Heavenly Father. We wanted you carry her name so that you can remember what you stand for.

Just in the past few days of getting to meet you, finally feel your soft skin and the sweetness of your breath, I already love you more than words could ever find a way to express. You have now joined our family and I know you will be a powerful influence of good in the lives of many. My heart just about bursts at every thought of you, my little Gracee girl.

I love you dearly.
Your mother

Milestones...at 4 months

She is interacting with her toys!! (dont' mind that the date shows these pictures as a year ago! We need to fix that...) Gracee now knows that the apple talking thing is her friend on her exersaucer and that she can control when it responds to her.








Some of the other gadgets on it still are a little perplexing...

She finally likes the baby carrier!! I can't tell you how many times I've tried this and she just cried and cried until I took her out.

This is the first time she actually figured out that those ripped arms of hers can actually serve the purpose of keeping her face from being smooshed into the floor! Yea for Gracee, she can push herself up now! (Thanks Ryanne for all of these toys!)

"We're proud of you we're proud of you so very very proud of you, we're proud of you we're proud of you! And we hope that you are proud of you too..."

-Mr Rogers and Star & Stef

Shining like the top of the Chrsyler building!

OKAY KIDS, HOW MANY THINGS CAN YOU FIND WRONG IN THIS PICTURE??? (hint: items in picture are: pacifier, cough syrup, scrub brush, dirty diaper, and a fooder scraper offer thingie) Answer at bottom of post...

So why is it that mine and Russ's house never 'shines' unless we're expecting company?? (BTW, anyone that can name the quote this title is from wins a prize...)

I have been doing a lot of cleaning, side projects, and dejunking this week. Whenver I get in hyper-focus mode, the small details get a little overlooked. Hence, the huge health hazard I saw before my eyes yesterday morning (see above photo). I was alarmed at first when I came upon the scene, but then I just laughed and HAD to take a picture! Seriously, I have a hard time keeping up with the house with only ONE child! I SO admire all of those moms in my life who have more than one child, and some several! And to all of those moms out there who have it mastered and manage to have your house clean all the time even when unexpected visits occur...I say to you--We all know you secretly hire a maid! We are just being polite by not unveiling your secret. You know who you are. Just to keep the peace I won't mention any names...

(Answers: Oh I don't know...if the unopened cough syrup being next to the dirty diaper wasn't enough, we went ahead and threw in the pacifier, scrubber and food scraper just to make things exciting around here.)