Spring Break/ Reflection

As the dough is rising for my homemade cinnamon rolls, I decided it was time to update the blog... Ha! I know I am not the best blogger, and I appreciate my faithful readers that still check...

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Being a school nurse has it's definite advantages... Spring Break being one of them. This, by far, has been one of my favorites! Gracelee is really coming into her own and it is so cool to watch her! It is truly something new every day!

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She is quite the character with her puckered lips and furrowed eyebrows, telling me in her deepest voice that I am in "BIG TROUBLE" and that I need a time out... of course she is only kidding because she giggles right after she says it! * She loves the new TV show, Bubble Guppies, and her favorite episode thus far is "We Totally Rock," and in Gracelee talk it translates to her playing daddy's guitar and singing, "I totally rock!"- Very funny! * She wants to do EVERYTHING by herself... EVERYTHING... no, really, everything! Example: unscrew milk cap (which by the way she can drink an entire half galleon in 2 days), pour into sippy cup, screw cap back on, and "WAIT, momma... I DO IT!!!" screw the top onto the sippy cup.

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She loves her bounce house and her slide that she got for her birthday from momma and daddy... yes, it's early, but the weather has been divine! It was well worth it! * She is into bananas, randomly because she has NEVER eaten them before, and she could eat nothing but fruit and "little crackers" a.k.a. Cheez-Its all day, and nothing else. * She runs, dances, twirls, sings, TALKS (which I cannot get enough of!), tries to jump, wants to snuggle, and is very well- behaved... for the most part... she is not even 2 yet...

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She is a total momma's girl! She loves her puppy, and has yet to fall in love with a doll that ISN'T an animal... * She has her OWN strawberry plant that SHE waters every day (did I mention that she likes to do everything by herself?) and the plant is actually producing 6 strawberries right now! * She knows her rainbow colors, numbers, the ENTIRE alphabet... she even plays a game with her dry erase board where she has letters, numbers, and different colors... she listens to a directive (i.e. Gracelee, erase the blue 2) and follows the directions... it is VERY impressive!

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She can work the blue- ray player, which I have trouble with sometimes! When I am working on the computer, she gets her lap top and sits next to me to work on hers...

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Looking back two years ago at this very day, I was so ready to meet her... every one else that was pregnant with me had their babies already... And I was officially due... and I was very READY... but I had no idea what was in store for me... I had no clue as to how much I could love another human... and how I cannot even imagine being able to share that same love again... God is so wonderful, and He keeps me grounded and head strong and on the straight and narrow through my daughter... I want to be better, provide more, love with my whole heart times infinity, be nicer, and give more of my self because of her!

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2 years...

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Really???

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Spring Break has been amazing! We started with a birthday party for Gracelee's sure-to-be best friend Emily (who turned 2), sang happy birthday to Annabelle (who turned 2), wished Sam a happy birthday (he also is 2), and then MONDAY... we went to the playscape with bestie Caleb, Tuesday- Zoo/ train day, Wednesday- laundry/clean/ visit Pawpaw day, Thursday- shopping day, Friday- water Cookie's flowers day, Saturday- Lyla's birthday party and PUTT- PUTT day, and SUNDAY- REST...

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And now... a couple of videos... just for fun...

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On St. Patty's Day, Gracelee and I went shopping and running through Sugar Land Town Square. She saw some big kids running, and so.... she wanted to run... Run we did, and the whole time she is saying, "Come get me Momma!"

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If she only knew what that did to my heart... nearly leaps out of my chest!

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And now...

"I TOTALLY rock!"

Seriously, she is so funny!

I love you baby girl! I cannot wait until your birthday party... Sweets and Treats and wild neon pink, blue, purple, and green zebra!!!!! Whoo Hoo!

It should say...

"Daddy's Lucky Girls!"
I love her so much!!!

Lucky Charm!

Gracelee,

Thank you for always smiling when I want to take your picture!

It makes my day!

I love you!

Momma

That groundhog is always right...

A little bit of SPRING!

Afternoon picnic and a ball game

We decided today was too nice of a day to stay indoors...

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While it is not necessarily a bright and sunshiny day, it was perfect for what we had in mind!

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Lunch and a little game of baseball!

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All American!

This ball was too dirty.

So to get the game started... Little Miss Priss had to find the perfect ball...

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Once decided, she became

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A pitcher...

and an outfielder...

It is so cute to see her play with her daddy!

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It makes my heart jump for joy to see them establishing that father/daughter bond!

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"My turn daddy!"

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And what a turn it was! Nice hit baby girl!!!!

Yay!

It was a fabulous afternoon...

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Now for a GOOD nap! : )

My treasure!!

This morning before school...

(Sorry it's blurry)

At the park yesterday evening...
There is something about the innocence of a child. It intrigues me...
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The pure joy that comes from discovering something new... something that we have known for decades that we now take for granted... it is pure wonderment for them.
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Gracelee shows me every day that life is beautiful. That seconds are precious. That there is plenty of time once she is asleep to clean the dishes (which is now standard practice in our house, unless it is minimal). She reminds me to take a breath... to just watch.
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and so I stand back....
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And I watch her.
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I watch her learn. I watch her imagine. I watch her close her eyes as she swings, as she catches the breeze in her hair, and she gets butterflies in her tummy. I watch her explore and run. I watch her pretend to read her animals a story as she rocks them in her chair, not knowing I am standing there peeking at her with tears in my eyes.
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And I listen to her.
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I listen to the words she says and the stories she tells. And even if I don't unerstand some of the words she is saying, SHE does... those are some of my favorite moments... the drive home from the sitter's house... just listening to her tell me about her day... listening to her come into her own.
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And I feel her.
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I hold her. I smell her. When she says, "Momma, hold you" my heart skips a beat. When I can sit with her on the couch and she puts her soft, cold little toes on my leg or she touches my arm with her warm little hand, I know I can FEEL God.
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And He is whispering to me... "I am here!"
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And I know He is...
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Right there.
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In my little girl.
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watching me.
listening to me.
touching me.
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Filling my spirit with the innocence of youth.

Delicious!

She looks so big...

Happy Valentine's Day 2011

Not even CANDY is this sweet!

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I feel like I need to brush my teeth just looking at her!

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Happy Valentine's Day!!!

Love,

The Sutherlands

Be My Valentine!

Be my be my baby

Be my little baby

I want it only say

Say you'll be my darling

Be my be my baby

Be my baby now

I want it only say

Ooh, ohh, ohh, oh

She is the apple of our eye

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She is the sunshine of our life

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She is our reason for being

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She is our reminder to LOVE, LIVE, and BE HAPPY

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Happy Valentine's Day!

(we will have more V-day pictures in new posts! I love dressing her up!)

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This weekend we also celebrated my little sister's 14th birthday.

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It is hard to believe that 14 years can fly by like that!

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Brittany really has impressed me this visit... she has matured in many fabulous ways and I see her getting more womanly every day!

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We celebrated at Main Event, which was so much fun! Gracelee bowled a 78! Of course, there were bumpers, but the girl can push the ball down the lane! Then we played some ski- ball and basketball, and she even helped Grandpa and Momma lose to Daddy at air hockey... Ha!!

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We hade a BLAST!!

More Valentine treasures

The definition of a "Love Bug"

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She is so funny because she wanted to wear it until dinner! At thanksgiving she had a turkey feather hat and she would scream if you tried to put it on her... I guess it has to be her idea! LoL!!

And (sorry it is blurry), Miss Glam in all her glory... She loves sunglasses!
Thank you Grammy!

Sugar and spice

Definitely... she is sweet as sugar one minute and spicy, sassy the next!

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This Valentine picture would be titled:

You are so "Dog-gone" Special!

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Ha! Get it... there is a poodle on her cardigan!

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I know dorky...

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I could have gone with:

Hope your Valentine's Day is "Preppy" and up beat!

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Oh well!

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Gracelee,

Momma LOVES you!

love,

Momma

A "Minnie" Valentine

With all of her super cute outfits, I thought it might be fun to send picture Valentine's until the day of LOVE arrives...

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The Wink!

She is so SWEET!!!

Blogging return...

A pictorial since I cannot apologize...
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I have nothing witty to say at the moment, and no regret other than that I missed out on documenting priceless moments...
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Alas, I have returned to the world of blogging... to a world that keeps my memories fresh and real... to the place that stores ALL of my daughter's milestones, accomplishments, temper tantrums, and basically... her whole life...
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I have to say that January 2011 will have to be remembered by saying that momma needed a break from the camera and computer... selfishness... darn it!
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It will also be remembered as the month that Gracelee has really started to come into her own...
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Yes... she has proven herself sassy and smart, and now she adds fashionista, as while we are shopping she picks things off the rack, holds them up to her tiny body, and says, "Oooo, Momma, look!" (Yes including the silky men's boxer briefs... thank you Joe Boxer and Kohl's for putting them at the level only a child can see)
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She also likes to dress herself and if she could, it would be her Princess night gown EVERY DAY... we change into it as soon as we get home from "school".
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She spends a good amount of time in "time out" but in all she is a VERY GOOD GIRL... she says things like:
HI, good to see you!
I you, So much you, momma/daddy! (I love you so much!)
Just a little bit... (with her index finger and thumb squeezing together)
Daddy's name is Jus-din... (in a sentence!!)
LAAADDYY... Time out! Big CRY!
COOOOOKKKKKIIIEEEE
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Of course there are a thousand others, and those are what's coming to mind at the moment... Hopefully, 2011 will prove to be a year that I can get on and update every time she says or does something new...
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She now knows her letters to "M", she counts to 20 and backwards from 10 in English, and counts to 12 in Spanish... she knows the shapes triangle, square, and circle, she can draw a circle when asked, she knows her primary colors and purple (not sure if that is primary or not... see, I need to take classes just to keep up with her... yikes!)
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She is amazing and I love the fact that I can write about her and remember her and love her and brag about her because I am PROUD of her!

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... and for those haters out there that blog surf and don't like the blogs that talk about their kids, arts and crafts, etc....
Just keep in mind that these are not necessarily FOR YOU to read... they happen to be the baby books or idea books for the new age... just because you have access doesn't mean that we are trying to entertain YOU... MOST of the baby bloggers have family out of town that want to see pictures and read about the accomplishments of said baby...

Get over yourself and know that the WHOLE world is not about you.
SKIP MY BLOG, PLEASE and THANK YOU!

Ha! I guess I did have a lot to say... anyway, Happy February... Yay I am back, and hopefully the people that enjoy my blog come back to me because I am back and ready to gooooooo!
Enjoy!

Gracelee and her best friend Caleb at the zoo

Gracelee meets a very friendly squirrel

See... fashionista

Riding the Memorial Park Train

This was right before she puked all over the place... such a cute outfit though!

New Year's Day: 2011

Santa's mess...

The goods and bed head

New Toy chest/ bench for her room from Santa

HER car... complete with driving music

Uncle TJ

Presents, presents and MORE presents!