New Year

I write on a blog for our church (did you know that?) It's meant to encourage women and to share what we are learning on our journeys.... I wrote yesterday about sharing what I'd like to do for next year.. Here is the link. ( I just realized how cool it is to link things in my posts.. love it-ha!) So go to it and read what my plans for next year are. What is on the list for you for 2011?

Happy New Year!

Love,

Shane, Shannon, Grace and Graham

I'm not against ...

bribing... Here is a bit of what it looked like.

It started like this..

"Grace let me take a picture of you and Graham. No, No honey, look here. Look at Mommy.. Grace GRACE! Hey! (snapping fingers)...

Grace, look at mama please. Say Cheese. Please. Puhlease!

Grace... want a treat? Want some chocolate? Say cheese and I'll find you a treat. Come on, look here!

Close enough"

Could that be why she woke up the other day at 6 am and asked for some "chockit? :)

Four Months

Graham is FOUR MONTHS old!

At four months he-

• has found his voice! He coos and oohs and aahhs a lot. I think he has a deep voice! He has this shy little grin that he will give freely, but he saves his best ones for his Daddy and he's starting to share em with Grace too.

• Got a new bib from Santa! He is a drooler. I don't see any teeth coming in yet so we may just have months of bibs ahead of us!

• takes naps best in his carseat. I just pop it in his crib. :) Otherwise he only sleeps like 30 minutes. At night he sleeps in his crib with no seat. He goes down around 7ish, but lately has been fussing for a long long time. Once he's asleep he is good till midnight/one-ish. He eats and then once more around 3 and he then sleeps till 7 or so.

• Just has his first "work day" in his office! Shane brought it down on Christmas day. He likes it!

• has a fondness for things over his eyes! He has his own chi-chi (like Grace) and he likes it near his face to snuggle up to.
• eats about 7-8 times a day
• wears a size 2 diaper but we are moving to a size 3. (and we are using cloth now too)
• likes to hold my hand when he's eating (I love that!)

His Happy Place

*
So, anyone remember this post? Yes, I do believe everyone has his/her "happy place". Well Grammers has been struggling a bit lately with some constipation. Poor little guy can hold it for a long time.... He's usually ok but ends up getting fussy after a few days. I've had to do some, let's just call it.. "work" on him a few times.

Last week I put him in his bumbo and after a few minutes he let loose. And I mean LOOSE. As in, change his clothes, and get a bath loose. A few days later, same thing. His bumbo is his happy place!!! Yesterday he was fussy and I counted the days since his last major dipe. Yup, he was in need. So, I took him to the living room, sat him in his bumbo and sure enough a few minutes later he let loose- happy as a clam again! Ha! I was pretty proud that I knew he'd do that. :)

* This pictures was not taken on a day when he let "loose" :)

Christmas with the Hartmans

We had the Hartman Christmas last weekend in Muncie. It was so fun to watch the girls play together. Grace had a ball with Rilee and Reese. She talked about them for days afterward.

The girls got to eat at the island- she loved being a "big girl" with them

Opening presents- Graham couldn't get his paci so he settled for his thumb, sucking like it was going to be gone- so cute!

She doesn't stop to pose very often these days!

I believe this was princess jammies from Uncle Shawn and Nicki and girls. We opened it and in about 2.5 seconds she had her shirt off to put them on. Ha!

Graham was my favorite Christmas present this year. (his Daddy said he didn't like the bow on his head, but I did!)

We ended the evening playing a giant (sized) game of sequence. I don't know how they did it but I am sure Shawn and Nicki rigged each game! :)

Christmas Lights

We've had a busy few days around here! (I have lots of Christmas pictures to put up but for now these will have to do) We had the Hartman family Christmas and then we went to Michigan for a couple of days.

Graham went with Mama to be with her Girlfriends and Dad and Gracie went to my sister's to visit for a bit. We had a great time! Today we did some shopping and then decided to go to see some lights at a nearby park tonight.

We got in the truck and turned on some Christmas music and set off... and then... both kids fell asleep! By the time we got there they were sound asleep! Sooo... we got some hot chocolate and sat in the silence, enjoying the lights! (I love these baby legs on Graham- his Daddy? Not so much!)

Grace woke up when we got home and was like.. "where are the lights you promised?" Ha! (this was her first sled ride of the season)

I made the greatest snack/treat today- I put peanut butter between two ritz crackers and then dipped them in almond bark. YUM! I could eat the whole plate- they are so good! (I added this picture because I like it and it's Christmas-y)

days like today...

Days like today are great. No major meltdowns.. a house that's finding it's way to clean, hubby home (or in and out but still around!), good naps for all- much better than days where we meltdown in the library!

No one can make him laugh like his Daddy. Grace is coming in a close second, but Daddy has it.

Celebrating Christmas with the Hartmans this weekend- praying for no flu like symptoms to appear for ANYONE! :)

She shares

It was a bit of a rough day with my firstborn today. We started off great but somewhere between waking and bedtime, we clashed. It started at the library and didn't end until near bed time. I know that days like this are normal. It's going to happen (probably a lot- I am aware) but it didn't stop me from feeling so... weary. You know? That kind of tired that just makes your shoulders and back hurt.

But then we went to bed- my firstborn, my baby and I. We read Christmas books from the library and then that she leaned down, looked at her little brother and kissed him so sweetly on the top of his head. Then I remembered our good moments that day-and my shoulders hurt less.

(pictures taken of Graham with Gracie's blanket and chi chi- she shared them the other day- that means a lot. She loves those two things and does not share them freely.)

I think...

she loves her Christmas presents! My parents gave her the computer and dress up shoes..

Check out our diva!

Sleep Saturday...

It's a sleepy saturday...

The kind where you want to stay inside and make a warm drink.

The kind where you want to stay in your jammies

And fall asleep right where you are.....

Happy Day!

We think it's a HAPPY DAY!

And it's not because of this cutie, born in 2010, who is currently sleeping!

And it's not because Gracie has purple toes.

Or purple fingernails.

It's because it's Grandpa Brad's birthday! Happy Birthday Grandpa! We are not good at getting cards out (in fact we are very bad at getting them out) so consider this your birthday card. We love you!

Monday

Happy Monday! We had a great weekend. Friday Shane kept the kids and I went scrapbooking! It was a lot of fun. :) I didn't get much done but I'm going again with my girls in Michigan in a few weeks so I'll be ready then.

(Grace shared her chi chi and blanket with Graham)

On Saturday Graham and I went to a craft bazaar in town and then we all went to see SANTA! Grace was excited to go but then a little unsure. She warmed up after a bit. I'll try to copy the picture they gave us and then post it. Cute cute.

Saturday night I made one of Shane's favorite meals. Ham and Beans. Some people call them soup beans. He grew up on this with corn bread. I cooked it in the crock all day. It's not a favorite of mine but I like it ok. Side note: I would have NEVER eaten this as a child- my taste buds have grown! Grace ate the ham pieces from it but I'm pretty sure she didn't touch the beans. But it's very affordable and goes a long way. And it's filling too.

So I'm loving my crock pot. I need some more easy recipes like this. I love soup in the winter but Shane's not a soup fan. Anyone have any other easy crock pot recipes- dump and go?

Christmas...sort of...

Here are the few Christmas pictures I have.. remember? We got sick. It really wasn't pretty. :) Here are the Wilson grandkids. (can you believe how big A. and H. are? seriously!)

Aunt Shell. Gracie was the present hand-er-outer, but her spot to open was by Aunt Shell. She LOVED her gifts.

Uncle Adam and Graham. I'm sure if we would have had more time with them Adam would have squeezed a nap in with Graham. Ha!

Grandpa and his girls.

Grandma was THE BEST! Mom took care of the kids while Shane and I slept. Thanks Mom!

Grandma Diane and Grandpa Brad also popped in for a few minutes on their way home from the lake. Grace and Graham are so blessed to be loved so much!

Thankful Thursday

Today I'm thankful for:

• Mother's Day Out. Gracie loves playing with the students who help and I get a few hours to get things done.
• Pacifiers. Need I say more? :)
• Good health- being sick is absolutely no fun.
• Potty Training! Gracie is pretty much there! I love that she's so independent. She often goes by herself and flushes the toilet before I get there to help.
• Christmas! I have a great Advent devotional reading that I've been doing. Hoping to include my whole family on it tomorrow!

For your enjoyment....

So, the flu hit our house in a major way this past weekend. It started on Thursday with Gracie (not fun) and so we cancelled our fun mexican lunch plans and just hung out. On Friday I was able to go Black Friday shopping with some girlfriends (and NO kids!) and that was great. Then my family came down for the Wilson Christmas. But Friday night Shane got sick. And by sick I mean -really sick - blah. By the time everyone got up I had it. So that ended the Christmas celebrations pretty quickly. We unwrapped presents in record time and they got out of Dodge!

Praise the Lord (and I do mean that!) my parents stayed and watched the kids for us while we slept and got better. Today we are all feeling more like ourselves just tired.

So no monkey pictures today but here is a fun video for you- Well, probably only fun if you are family- a cooing baby isn't exactly Oscar material. :)

It's BACK!

The Bumbo is back! We wondered this weekend how old Grace was when she sat in it for the first time. I check the blog (handy eh?) and it was 13 weeks. Sooo... we tried it out for Mr. 12 Weeks and he liked it! I decided to show you the comparison of brother/sister!!!


ha! I thought she was just the cutest thing ever... He pretty much ranks right up there!