Home Sweet Home and Gracie's First Easter.....

In my last post I omitted one minor (?!) detail about our trip-we missed our flight home! We arrived early for our 6:15 flight on Saturday evening, went to check our bags at the curbside check-in, and the man at the counter says to Patrick, "Why you so late, boss? This flight already boarded." Well, apparently the airline sent us an e-mail telling us our flight was moved up one hour, and we never got the "memo". They put us on stand-by for 1 pm the next day and all 5 of us (and lots o'luggage) hunkered down with Nana and Gaga in their camper for the night. (Thanks, guys!) Thankfully we got seats on the 1 pm flight Sunday and had an uneventful trip all the way to Pulaski. (Thanks Uncle Todd and Aunt Nise for your wonderful airport valet and parking service! :) It felt so good to be home!!

In the midst of all the unpacking and prepping for Easter festivities, a friend of ours offered us some bunk beds (Thanks Miss D!) , so we found ourselves assembling and rearranging furniture, bedrooms, etc this past week as well. Here is one last look at Ben's cute little transportation themed room that he's had since before Joshy was born.....



And now the new set-up, which the boys are referring to as "our" room. Here they are trying to decide who gets to sleep on the top bunk first......



Then it was on to painting Easter eggs (this time with a Star Wars theme-what else?), while Gracie looks on from her highchair...........






Opening baskets on Easter morning-Ben had written a note to the Easter Bunny describing how much he loved the year that he hid clues in eggs to help them find their baskets. He asked him if he could do that again. No pressure!
He also left them some climbing rocks to build a rock wall onto their playset, and Gracie got a baby swing, as well as some baby food, bowls and spoons in her basket. What a haul!

After church, company came, and Pop-pop and Uncle Terry hid eggs for the big egg hunt. (Thanks, guys!) Things must have gotten a bit hectic, cuz I didn't get many pictures. I did get a shot of Aunt Lisa in her last days of pregnancy. Prayers to you and new baby C!! We can't wait to meet him/her!

And prayers also for our cousin, beautiful Emma Rose!



Patrick's parents had arrived home safely from Florida the day before, and we had a nice size group. We have so much to be thankful for! After company left, Patrick took the boys to the park and I had some quiet time with my sweet girl. She is still too good to be true. Vacations are great, but for me, there's no place like home.........

Florida, part 2
The highlight of our trip (besides Darth Vader, of course :) was seeing all of our family, including our Florida family. Gracie got to meet her Great Grandma Beers, Aunt Shelly, Uncle Danny, cousins Danielle, Brian and Erika. Thanks so much for your hospitality, guys! Your place is beautiful and we had so much fun seeing you! Hope we can reciprocate sometime soon!

Disney in Pictures.....
Florida, part 1
Well, we survived our Florida trip without incident-actually, it was one of our best trips yet, especially considering it was our first with 3 kiddos (and a 3 month old, no less!) The flights went smoothly and Gracie, bless her heart, hardly made a peep and slept in our arms for most of the time in the air.










Seeing Nana and Gaga again for the first time in 2+ months. They spoiled us again, chauffering us everywhere and indulging the boys waayyyy too much (see lightsabers in pictures to follow). My favorite was the
fresh orange juice everyday!
























Checking in to the beautiful Yacht Club hotel....




















Gracie's first time in the pool................
Our first park day was spent at Hollywood Studios and the boys highlight was the Star Wars attraction, where they got to go on stage as young Jedi and were trained to battle Darth Vader. We loved the witty "Jedi" host (listen to what he says to each of the boys). We all agreed that he reminded us quite a bit of Uncle Mark V.!


Nana and Gaga were kind enough to watch Gracie so we could join the boys on some of the rides. It seems like I haven't been able to do that for years, (pregnant, I guess?) so it was so much fun. Nana did great with the baby bjorn. Thanks so much, guys!




Here are the kids all ready for the Hawaiian restaurant (one of our favorites). This is where we celebrated Nana's birthday (but I forgot the camera!)

Our next park day was spent at Animal Kingdom. The last time we were here was a couple of years ago and Josh was denied a ride on Mt. Everest due to height (or lack of ). He has been dying to return ever since, so here we are before the "climb". We even escaped the Yeti unscathed-phhhewwww!


This was the hottest day of our trip and ironically we weren't near a pool. Here's what Gracie did most of day. I felt bad since it was hard to keep her cool, but she seemed no worse for the wear... What a trooper.............





Here we are with some of our favorite characters.....
Here are a few other favorite shots..............

Can't you just hear her-"Awww, Mommmm, come onnn...."


Dining with the dinosaurs....

12 weeks.....

12 weeks.... Our baby girl is 12 weeks old! Looks like she might be teething....We are off to Florida to visit family and Mickey(with 3 kiddos-yikes!) Stay tuned for Disney through the eyes of a 3 month old! ;) Wish us luck!

Oma Mondays

Dear Oma,
Thank you for our 'Oma Mondays'. Thank you for our chats and for our walks and for changing me and holding me and bouncing me and loving me. Thank you for rubbing my back so my jammies are pilled. Thank you for this time together, even if I cry through it, even if I sleep through it. Thank you for this time together and for loving me.
Love, Gracie

Gracie at 6 weeks



Gracie at 7 weeks



Gracie at 11 weeks

Sweet Beautiful Girl

Where does the time go? I can't believe our sweet baby is already 2 months old! Seems like those big blue eyes are open a lot more nowadays and that head is up, just trying to take as much in as she can! She is really enjoying the boys lately too, giving them lots of smiles from the moment they greet her in her crib each morning....

Gracie-girl, you are loved beyond words! You are truly, truly too good to be true! I still look at you and think "Are you really mine?"

She had a check-up last week, complete with shots, :( and the scale said she weighs 13.3 lbs! She is 95%ile for weight and 75th for height. What a healthy girl! And I have to admit, I'm a bit surprised, since she is definitely the laziest eater of the three.

Here are a few shots from when Gracie's first week.....


Sweet little sleepy girl....


This last one cracks me up! What a pose......(vogue, vogue).


I really need to take a photography class-I've been wanting to for some time now. Both of my sisters got the "photography gene" such as it is, but I am sorely lacking in that department. I can be standing right next to someone and we can take the exact same picture, and somehow mine will look terrible. I would like to blame my camera, but........I know better. :)


Here are a couple shots of our Gracie at 2 months. She has changed so much already! All dressed up (just for fun), but didn't feel much like smilin'......Note the big drool spot on the front of her dress. :)







Tummy time! (usually not her favorite......) Can you tell by her expression? :)











And here is one of my favorites-I just love how her big cheek smushes her eye closed!