Christmas!

Gracie had a WONDERFUL first Christmas. Actually, she had 4! Earlier in December we celebrated with my brother, David, and his wife, Elizabeth. My mom made her traditional cornish game hens with yummy fixin's. Uncle David and Aunt Elizabeth got Gracie a soft picnic basket with food that crinkles, shakes, rattles, and rolls! Unfortunately, I forgot my camera and don't have any pictures from that Christmas.

Christmas Eve Clay and I exchanged gifts and gave Gracie her gift from us (a cute outfit and socks).

Then on Christmas day, my parents and nanny came over to our house. Clay made a DELICIOUS beef tenderloin and some more yummy fixin's. We went to the capital to see the Christmas decorations and take pictures. And of course, we opened presents. Gracie loooooooooved the paper tearing most of all!

Christmas night we headed to El Dorado and had Christmas #4 ! I had turducken for the first time--turkey stuffed with duck stuffed with chicken. It had cajun seasonings and was really good! And of course, more yummy fixin's! And an overdose of desserts. Clay's cousins made it for Christmas, so there was lots of fun and plenty of people who wanted to hold Gracie. More presents and fun and family! We also had family portraits done by the talented cousin Lauren. We will post those when they're ready (including pictures of Clay's parents--I didn't get many snapshots). You may remember Lauren took some amazing pictures of Gracie when she was two weeks old.

Here three of Clay's cousins recite a passage from Matthew. We had plenty of entertainment!

It was a wonderful Christmas, and we thank all our family for the wonderful time we spent with each of them and the wonderful gifts they gave us.

Soapbox and Christmas

Just wanted you to know the Soapbox has been updated today, and Christmas pics on this blog are coming soon (probably tonight). Now it's off to eat lunch and do some laundry.

6 Wonderful Years

Clay and I celebrated our 6 year anniversary today. We are so grateful for our relationship and thank God for the many blessings He has given us, especially our little Gracie. We celebrated tonight at Bonefish Grill and our sweet friends Jill and Brett babysat. Gracie had a wonderful time with Auntie Jill and Uncle Brett, and we enjoyed yummy salmon and mahi mahi and "adult" conversation. Love you bunches, Clay!

Engagement photo Summer 2002--don't we look young?Married December 28, 2002Auntie Jill and Uncle Brett--such naturals! Brett and Jill were recently married and make such a great couple!

Going out to celebrate--yay for dates!

My Happy Girl

What a beauty!Watching "tv"

Okay, she's not always happy. "Come on mom, some clothes here!"

So beautiful!

Prim and proper!

Best friends

6 Months!

Well I'm pitifully behind with this update! Grace turned 6 months on the 6th and is at such a fun stage. The other day she said "ma ma" twice while we were in Kroger! I am convinced she didn't know what she was saying, but I made a big deal of it anyway, and they were the sweetest words I have ever heard! Grace (now 16 pounds) loves to giggle, especially when someone shakes their head in her direction. She also thinks the word "yuck" is really funny. Enjoy these pics and videos!

Doing her pilates. I should join in.
Grace loves play time!
Daddy thought it would be funny to pull her t-shirt over her head.He was right!

Amazing Grace

I attend a bible study at Fellowship called Moms and More. Today they had free childcare, but no group time so you could shop or just have some time by yourself. Our group decided to get together anyway, and have a Christmas brunch and gift exchange. The gift I received was perfumed "buffing" wash from Glo in their "Amazing Grace" scent. On the bottle is their "philosophy" of grace. I quote:

"if grace has a definition it is undeserved favor. if grace has a response it is thank you, forgive me, pardon me, or may i help you. if grace has a destination it is in the safe arms of someone you know truly loves you. if grace has a feeling it is deeply soft, smooth, and non contracting. if grace has a face it smiles and is lit from within. if grace has a smell it is heaven scent. if grace has a goal it is that we all live in harmony and sweet peace. if grace has a job it is that we pray for one another and give thanks throughout the day. if grace has a child it is the child inside that never grew up and knows to believe in miracles. if grace has a song it is amazing."

Oh, I pray that my Gracie will exhibit those qualities and fall in love with the Creator who makes it all possible!

Thank you to Meleah and Morgan for the gifts and delicious brunch and to Mandy for hosting!

Thanksgiving

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving. We spent a couple of days in El Dorado visiting Clay's family. Mimi gave Gracie a new hairstyle with some gel--she got some cute curls! Gracie also tried apple sauce mixed into her cereal for the first time, which was fun for us because she made some funny faces. Gracie also had her first bathtub bath. You can view El Dorado pictures here (sorry I wasn't sure how to get them onto the blog directly).

Over the weekend we had Thanksgiving #2 with my family. This is when we discovered a Thanksgiving miracle....Gracie's first tooth! Gracie had not really been herself over the holiday (although she was still surprisingly happy most of the time), and finally on Friday night when I woke up 3 times with her, I finally ran my finger over her gums and discovered the little tooth starting to come through!

She is really loving her cereal!Getting some cherry flavored orajel