Fun at the Farm

We went to a farm in Napoleon today after church. The hayride was my favorite...it was beautiful and we actually got to go through a stream twice. The kids were all very impressed with this. :) 

Steve and Grace rode the cow train together. Steve was nominated to ride with Grace because I really doubt I could fit in there right now! :) There were slides, mini hay mazes for little ones, milking a cow, straw to jump around in...you name it. It was a great way to spend a beautiful afternoon!

Potty Training Take 2

We tried potty training several months ago and Grace and I just ended up annoying each other big time. We stopped pushing the subject and lately Grace has been asking to use the toilet on a regular basis again. We decided to try again, but this time are taking a different approach. She has been really motivated by stickers so we started a sticker chart (very nerdy teacher I know). But since starting the chart last week she's come to us at least twice a day to tell us she has to go potty. Two times have been to poop! Oh the things I get excited about now. :)

A 2-year old moment at 2 a.m.

At 2 this morning I heard Grace saying "Mom, mama, I want to go downstairs!" I went and informed her that it was 2 in the morning and we were not going anywhere except back to bed. This is how the conversation went after that:

Grace: I want my baby.

Me: I am not going downstairs to get your baby. Go back to sleep.

Grace: I want my baby's pajamas.

Me: No. Go to sleep.

Grace: I want juice.

Me: No. 

Grace: I want to watch Word World.

Me: No, it's 2 in the morning.

Grace: I want daddy. 

Me: Close your eyes and go to sleep.

I left and went back to bed but listened to hear if she was still talking. All was quiet for several minutes so I went to check and make sure she was sleeping. She was laying down but had her foot up by her face and I saw her grab each toe and say "one, two, three, four, five toes. I have five toes on my foot." I rolled my eyes and went back to bed. 

Pumpkin Carving

Yesterday we went to Goshen to a fall festival with Jill, Eben, the boys, mom and Eben's mom. We picked apples from the orchard and let the kids pick a pumpkin to take home. Today we carved Grace's pumpkin. Her one request was for it to have a star nose. 

Grace is into music right now. She walks around singing and wants to listen to music a lot. She often comes home from church singing new songs she learned in Sunday School. She really enjoys Sunday School and anything that gets her out of the house and involved with other kids. An ornery Grace moment from last week: we were getting ready to go to Dianne's (her babysitter) and she went and got her keys from her toys. She ran back to me and said "I'm going to drive to Dianne's today and you can sit in my car seat Mama." It made me giggle all day long. 

Steve's having a great year this year. His class seems to be not quite as "difficult" as last year. He is enjoying watching Michigan choke :) but still having a better season than last year. He's also excited that basketball has started up again on Thursday nights. It gives him a chance to see a bunch of guys that he hasn't gotten to see much lately. I think it's kind of cool because it's a bunch of guys from area churches and quite a few cousins of mine. He's also very into fantasy football. He and several guys that he played softball and basketball with are involved with this as well. 

I'm also doing great. The move from 4th grade to K-1 was the right choice for me. I'm feeling very well. I'm hoping it lasts for at least the next month. :) I started having braxton hicks contractions a couple of weeks ago and they are gradually becoming more uncomfortable and frequent. I also am noticing some swelling, but I assume all of this is because I am on my feet for most of the day. With Grace I had June and July to lay and relax when needed and this time around I don't have that luxury. Despite these things I am really comfortable and hope that's a good sign since I only have 8 weeks left!

Bedtime Routine Continued

Here is what I was talking about in the previous post. I cut her off mid-prayer, but I thought the video was getting a bit long. :)

Bedtime Routine

Every day before naptime and every night before bedtime we have a routine that we go through with Grace. We sing 2 songs (Bye-Oh-Bye-Oh and Jesus Loves Me), say a prayer and then lay her down in her bed. This evening I looked over and saw Grace holding a stuffed bear like a baby, singing to it. Then she laid the bear down and kneeled on the ground beside the bear and began praying. She went through our families and said thank you for each individual person (it was a pretty lengthy prayer). :) I'm glad I was in the room to overhear it - it was a sweet moment. 

Grace is 2!

I've been pretty horrible about keeping my blog up-to-date this summer. I'll try to catch you up with everything that has been going on since the last time I posted. Grace turned 2 on Sunday (August 2nd) which seems completely unbelievable. How time flies when you're having fun! She is such a fun little girl. She loves to play in her kitchen, play with play-doh,  take walks, talk on the phone (scary), talk in general and sing. She is seldom quiet and will walk around commentating to herself what she is doing. There have been numerous times when I ask her to stop talking for a little bit... so she'll start singing instead! Sometimes this bewilders me because I was never a very verbal person. What is this need to constantly hear your own voice? It's fun to watch her continue to develop. :)

Our G. Marie

As for the rest of us...

Don't let this picture fool you...Maggie is ferocious. She is overloaded with puppy energy and for some reason feels the need to bite us constantly, although she can be so sweet too. I am ready for her to be done with this teething stage. I've lost some serious skin! 

Steve stopped working at Dunham's in early July before we went to Hocking Hills. He just finished teaching summer school for a month and has been enjoying (perhaps too much) playing golf, watching golf, talking about golf, dreaming about golf. Just kidding - but it has become a true passion of his.

I finished my master's a little over a week ago and feel a bit odd actually. Don't get me wrong, it feels amazing but what do I do now that I don't have homework anymore? I haven't had this amount of free time in almost 2 years! I am loving that I have my evenings to kick back and read like I used to. I forgot how much I loved reading for pleasure and have about 12 books on my "to read" list that I just haven't had the time to read until now. I've also been attempting to get my room around for the rapidly approaching school year (yikes). Is it seriously August 7th already? I can just see the parents jumping and skipping around at home realizing that their kids only have 2 more weeks of summer vacation. :) 

Steve and I also had our ultrasound a couple of weeks ago. Everything looks great and we are excited to know what we are having (although we won't know until December). Steve wanted to know but I didn't so I gave him the option of knowing but keeping it completely to himself or not finding out. He didn't think he could keep it in until December so he didn't find out either. The baby is sitting extremely low but I wasn't really surprised. I carried Grace low and center too. This one is even lower, the tech had a harder time getting all of the measurements because of where it was, but it's not a concern. I'll just have to pee every 5 minutes instead of every 20 minutes in the third trimester. :)