Sunday, February 21, 2010

Guitar Lessons 101

Gracelee seems to be a musical child. What choice does she really have? I mean, the title of our family blog dictates that she will be musically inclined! With a singing mama and a guitar stud for a dad, little Gracelee is likely to be the next Taylor Swift.
Hey, a Momma can dream?!?!?!
*
Well, even if she is singing in the church choir for the rest of her life, we will continue to support her and be so proud of her! God is the one she should be performing for anyway! Here is a little sneak peak at one of our many music sessions...
*
Gracelee reading the music for daddy

Strumming along
And Kisses for daddy... thanking him for sharing!
Gracelee playing the chords

And Gracelee singing her little heart out!

Friday, February 19, 2010

Mooooo!

I love the definitive "Mooooo-wa"!!!

*

Could she be any cuter?

Tuesday, February 16, 2010

Butterfly towel

I promise to get one with her wings spread and better quality! My phone did a great job of capturing those beautiful GREEN eyes, though!

Happy Valentine's Day

This as her last FIRST holiday... even though we do not celebrate it as one, I guess technically it was her 1st Valentine's Day.
*
She made  this for us at school... she cracks me up with that crinkle- nose smile!!!
*
My love bug!

10 month old pictures


Today, my love you are 10 1/2 months old... These pictures were taken on the actual day, and even since then you have grown!!!!! WE love you more and more every day! You are the most special gift we have EVER received from our gracious Lord!
*
Brown Bear Brown Bear what do you see?










Reading with Grandma



Family time


Baby and Momma


Baby and Daddy

 The girl LOVES to read

 Sweet Baby!
New duckie Bath tub... so much fun!!!
And these were too funny not to share
*
Silly Smile


And Sneeze

Nose

Pointing to her nose and hissing like a cat!

So precious~

Wednesday, February 10, 2010

Out.Of.Order

That's the way I feel these days. I am sorry for the lack of posts... really, I am. I have them ready... at home... and I will post them with there appropriate dates... I just have been tied up... our dear friend and momma of four at our school passed away on Sunday January 31st. The Memorial service was on this past Saturday... so I did not really feel like blogging... just spending time with my angel baby and my dear, sweet hubby.

*
Anyway, today I had to post some pictures and video that I took with my phone (sorry for the bad quality, but this way I can post at work :) )

*
These make me smile!




So... Baby Gracelee... does that even fit anymore... BABY???
*
You are so big! I cannot believe how BIG!!!
*
At 10 1/2 months, my angel, you are so cute! You play well with others, hiss like a cat, dance like crazy to your Mickey Mouse, crawl everywhere, point to your nose, say mama and dada, you try to say "clap", which is so cute because it comes out "ca... ca..." and your newest thing is walking with this walker!
*
You have 4 teeth and you are working on your 1 year old molars and eye teeth at the same time... yikes! Thank goodness for chamomile drops and Tylenol!!!
*
Bath time is still a favorite... you love your new pink duckie tub and all the songs we sing... 5 Little Ducks, Monkeys jumping on the Bed, and BINGO.
*
You eat like a big girl, and you are working on eating "big girl" food, like bananas, noodles, beans, sweet potatoes, and meats that mommy and daddy cook... but just a small taste!
*
You will never fully comprehend the amount of love I have for you... I cannot tell you enough how much I love you or how much you melt my heart when I look at you.
*
When you do your hands like Mickey Mouse or clap your little hands and pretend to snap I almost can't control myself... I just want to attack you with Kisses!!!
*
I miss you so much during the day... almost to the point of real physical pain, and I cannot wait to pick you up an see you smile that toothy grin when you see me!
*
I love that you read your Dr. Seuss ABC book to your cabbage patch kid and that you want to read it over and over with mommy and you point to the words like you are reading along! I love that you like it when we get to the bee part and you let me tickle you a little bit on your tummy!
*
I love that you think I am funny, and you laugh so hard you almost fall over!
*
I love that when you see your daddy, you start dancing!
*
I love that you cuddle his neck when he picks you up after getting home from work.
*
I love it when I am brushing my teeth you get your brush and put it in your mouth to copy me!
*
I love you. I love you. I love you.
You are so wonderful, so smart, so loving, so amazing, so beautiful, so... {tear}... so... special in every way and I cannot thank God enough for blessing us with you, my angel!






Wednesday, January 27, 2010

Precious


Every Letter Makes A Sound...




If you have one, then you know the tune!

*
I wanted to take you into our kitchen for an evening of fun! Daddy made a special stop for Lil' Miss Gracelee, and bought her what I think is the coolest toy! We are all about the educational toys in our house! We want to enrich her life to the fullest, and we feel that we need to start early!

*
This toy is technically for 2 years and up, but she figured it out! She has a musical soul, so I think the musical aspect of the toy pushes her to figure out how it works...
*

She is an amazing child, and we feel so blessed to have her! I love every minute of being her momma! She inspires me and motivates me... I want to be a better person for her!
*

***A Word of Warning...
Each of these videos is like 3 minutes long. They are intended to please the family that doesn't getto see her often! It will not hurt my feelings if you stop short of the 3 minutes... But I have to say, She has some ROCKIN' dance moves!***

*
Sharing with Momma


Sharing with Daddy
In this video, you will see her master the art of putting a letter in the toy to make it work...



And in this one, you see her RoCk Da HoUsE!!!




Monday, January 25, 2010

Beautiful weather + a Beautiful baby =



In 7 days you will be 10 months old, my angel... My beautiful, sweet baby, I love you!

My little Green Dress





Green is Sassy.
Green is Spunky.
Green is oh- so- much fun to dress her in!
*
I love her little finger point... I swear it is a miracle that I haven't gobbled it right off of her little hand!

Showering Lyla Grace with love

My very dear friend Jessica is pregnant with her second child, little Lyla Grace, expected to arrive in mid- March. I had the distinct pleasure of throwing her a baby shower on Saturday!
Jessica and I went to good ole Stephen F. Austin High School together, way back when!
(**FYI** If you visit the link, you wil notice under the faculty tab a very familiar name!!!
Hint: Last name- Derringer!)

*

Technology now-a-days is amazing! We rediscovered each other through a mutual friend and Facebook! Now her momma watches Gracelee (thank the good Lord for answered prayers!), and her and her husband have become our WONDERFUL friends!

*

Little Lya's nursery is done in pink and green, so I tried to organize the theme around that... including Gracelee's attire!
(I am a self- proclaimed dork... I know!)


I must give credit where credit is due! Through Meredith's blog, I found and fell in love with Design Dazzle, who led me to the Party Dress.
*

This is where I got all of my ideas and recipes for the shower, and I feel very blessed to have stumbled upon these wonderful sites!

*

We start with dessert: mini strawberry cheesecakes and pink and green cupcakes, the mini ones with hot pink and green sparkling sugar! And of course the diaper cake!


The lanterns were sitting in a closet for the 2.5 years we have lived in the house, and I thought they added a nice touch... again, not my original idea... a much appreciated borrow!


*


The candle holders were from Hobby Lobby, recently too, in case you want some for yourself! : )








No little girl shower is complete without some pretty pink flower arrangements, and pink punch... Recipe: One can frozen pink lemonade, One can frozen pineapple juice, One tub raspberry sherbert, and 2 liter strawberry soda (I had one on back up that I used to refresh when it was running low.)



The food was pretty good... I thoroughly enjoyed the recipes... mostly adapted from William- Sonoma.
The favors were little pink organza bags from Party City filled with green M&Ms...


We had so much fun meeting Jessica's family, and I just love throwing a baby shower... especially for the second baby because the gifts are all of the FUN stuff!!!!!!
*
Thank you to Mrs. Laurie (Jessica's momma) for the DELICIOUS chicken salad sandwiches and the marinated cheese, which I will be using at my next event if I could please get a copy of the recipe!!!!! It was a huge hit with my husband!
*
Thank you to my fellow bloggers for the information and assistance in making my friend's shower so successful!
*
Love!








Wednesday, January 20, 2010

A Precursor to the FIRST Birthday Party.... just a glimpse of the theme!







Healing prayers

Healer
You hold my every moment
You calm my raging seas
You walk with me through fire
And heal all my disease
I trust in you
I trust in you
I believeYou're my healer
I believeYou are all i need
I believeYou're my portion
I believe
You're more than enough for me
Jesus,
you're all i need
Nothing is impossible for you
Nothing is impossible
Nothing is impossible for you
You hold my world in your hands
You are my Healer.
*
*
Please pray for the Tipps family.

Monday, January 18, 2010

Sleeping like an Angel

Her crib, her room... fell asleep on her own... heart breaking to leave your child crying in there by herself... All to make her a good sleeper...
*
Gracelee,
Momma and Daddy are so proud of you!
Each day we thank God for you!
I know that learning to sleep on your own is very hard, and you are doing such a GOOD job!
The night time is still tricky, but you are getting so good at it!
Please know that hearing you cry is the most difficult thing in the world for Daddy and Momma!
It is very unnatural to let you cry, but you are crying less and less, and realizing that sleep is a good thing! I miss you so much, and you are right down the hall from me as I type this... you have been napping for nearly 3 hours!
I cannot wait to hear you get up, to feel you wrap your sweet, little arms around my neck, to kiss your little cheeks, and to play with you this afternoon!
I love you and everything about you!
My angel,
*
I love you,
Momma

Happy Birthday, Cooper!

Happy Birthday Cooper! Cooper is one of Gracelee's school friends, and he turned 2 this Saturday!
*
We had oh-so-much fun at Inflatable Zone in Katy! Gracelee was a terrific bouncer with Daddy's help! And she was even joined by her friends Caleb and Georgia!
*
After watching Justin, I am coming to the realization that we are probably going to be the proud parents of several children! My husband is so awesome with the kiddos! He can play with the best of them and they LOVE him in return!
*
It was a great experience, and I hope Gracelee can look back at these pictures and see how blessed she is to have a wonderful place to go each and every day, for the friends that she has made, and her wonderful daddy!
*
God is good!
Getting ready to play... BTW, the headband lasted only for this picture! LoL!

B-Ball anyone???




Friends!
Super Happy Baby... Look at those teeth!!! The top 2 are through the gums, and I cannot wait to snap her first toothy grin!!!!
So much FUN!!!