Banana Mess

We've been introducing Grace to new foods. We've discovered that she likes popsicles, ice cream and pureed chicken pot pie. She also likes whip cream, raspberry ice cream sauce, hot fudge, crispy french fries, strawberries, cold celery and anything that is in her daddy's glass. I thought I would try giving her bananas again today. The first couple times I've tried it she wasn't that interested. So I cut up some small chunks of banana and put them on the table. She QUICKLY discovered that they squish between her fingers. None of the 12 small chunks made it in her mouth and only one actually hit the floor. The rest became banana mush between her fingers. Thank goodness she washes.

Things I Will Never Have Again

Since having Grace I've sort of made a mental list of things I will never have again. Some of the things on that list include my 23 inch waist that I once had. I will also never have an entire weekend to bury myself in my craft room. One more thing I will also never have is clean, print free windows.

Grace has always enjoyed looking out the windows at the world. She is so observant as she watches the birds fly by or the leaves on the trees move in the wind. A lot of times looking out the window is my only way to soothe her when she is upset. It's not surprising that she likes to now stand against the window, and even lick it at times. I guess our windows have been given the Gracie seal of approval! I'm not in any hurry to wipe those tiny little prints off the windows either, they won't be that size forever.

Having fun!

Grace and I went to the park today with my friend Jen and her daughter Rowan. Rowan is eight months older than Grace, but pretty close in size. Grace was enamored with Rowan and tried to mimic her actions. It's so funny how quickly Grace can pick up on things. She is even standing on her own while holding on to things! These are photos from our day at the park just off of the Hauptstrasse in Heidelberg Germany. It's quite a nice little park. We had a great time.

Big Girl Bath

Grace has just about outgrown the baby bathtub. She keeps hanging her legs over the side and tries to roll out of it. I thougth I would try to give her a bath in the regular bath tub. What a chore! She is such a little wiggle worm. She kept trying to lick the shiny parts of the tub. It wasn't too bad when she was licking the drain handle in the bath tub, but when she kept trying to lick the drain stopper itself we had to take her out. She just kept licking the water instead. What a funny girl.

Stuttgart Zoo

Carrera had her first softball game today. Their team lost 12 - 15. She has a good eye for the ball. She did strike out, but she also got a point for the team too. Way to go Carrera!

After Carrera's game we went to the Stuttgart Zoo. We let Carrera have the photographic duties and she did a great job. We didn't realize how big the zoo was! It was a challenge to get through it all. We still missed the giraffes and the zebras, but we managed to have ice cream! I haven't been to the zoo since Brandon and I went to the Berlin Zoo before Grace was born. These are photos from Grace's first trip to the zoo (outside my belly). Grace wasn't too amused with the zoo portion, but she LOVED the Aquarium. I think because she could see the fish up close. She even managed to give some other kids stuffed animal the "Grace Seal of Approval". The girl got too close with it as she was looking at the fish next to Grace. Grace immediately grabbed part of it and stuck it in her mouth. Thankfully the girl didn't notice. Despite the that event, we couldn't have asked for a more perfect day.

True Joy

I guess I haven't paid much attention to what different emotions really look like. At least I didn't until I had Grace. These pictures are from our trip to the park today. I can see true joy in Grace's face.

Fudgesicle

We gave Grace bites of a fudgesicle tonight. She liked it okay. Not as much as popsicles. After she got done eating it we noticed that her face was all red and covered with a fine rash wherever the fudgesicle came in contact with her skin. Looks like we've discovered Grace's first allergy.

Swinging

I've wanted to be outside more and more since the weather has gotten nicer. I always find a reason to take Grace for a walk. Usually our walk are to the playground by our house and down to the town square for some 'eiscreme' (ice cream).

Carrera is in softball now and has practices on Monday and Wednesday until 6:00 pm. I take advantage of the time before having to pick Carrera up by going to the nice park on base. It has swings for little kids. Grace thinks that is the best thing in the world. She loves to swing back and forth. It keeps her occupied for quite a long time. I'm so glad that she enjoys being outside and playing.

Family Hike

We know our time here in Germany is limited so we are trying very hard to see as much of it as possible. This past weekend was no exception. We went to Triberg Germany. We hiked up to Germany's tallest waterfall. It was beautiful as you can see in the photos. (Yes, Carrera has blue hair, no I didn't allow her to dye it that color) We also walked around Triberg and enjoyed many of the cuckoo clock shops. We took a tour of a local museum that had a variety of clocks and music boxes. I didn't realize that music boxes could be so ornate or play other instruments. We saw a HUGE music box there that played music for seven minutes and was created to replicate a 50 piece band.

During our time in the museum, I realized that Grace is now in the busy grabbing stage. She leans to get things and everything she gets goes directly in her mouth. Even while wearing Grace in the Moby Wrap I had to maintain a three feet radius around me so she couldn't grab anything. I learned that by accident as I was reading about the gigantic music box. I leaned in to see what it said about it and when I looked down Grace was licking the 150 year old music box. She is such a busy little girl now!





(The music box in this photo has
recieved the Grace seal of approval)

What a Production!

We recently got back from our visit to Idaho. While I was there I took Grace in to get her six month photos. My friend Kristi and her daughter Reese joined us. I enjoy having photos taken of Grace and I want fun and original photos of her. In order to accomplish that I always like to have multiple costume changes and props. I'm a huge fan of props! This last photo session was no exception. We brought to the studio Grace's little red vinyl sofa and my dad's pedal car. They were a huge hit with everyone in the studio. I also had to include bunny ears for Grace and Reese. Of course I had to get matching outfits for Grace and Reese because Kristi and I became friends due to matching teddy bear sweaters and names. Besides, we have to have something to put in the girls yearbooks when they get older! Well I'm sure it looked like we were moving in to the studio, but the pictures were adorable. We even managed to have Mommy and Me photos done too.