Disneyland or Bust

The morning we planned to leave for Disneyland, Gracie woke up with a cold. The first thing she told me when she came in my room was, "I hurt really bad." To show me where, she pointed inside her mouth at her throat; she later clarified that she hurt everywhere. However, her most obvious symptom was a yucky sounding cough. I told her we could wait to go to Disneyland when she felt better. "I won't choke anymore," she assured me. How could I reschedule our trip after that and several other assurances (one even as we sat in the doctor's office awaiting the strep results) that, "Mommy, I am not sick anymore." So after filling her prescription for croup medicine, we headed out. After spending the night in Vegas, we arrived and checked in at the Disneyland Hotel. I have to say, if your three-year-old is going to be a little under the weather, there is no better place to be. She had a great time. And with a little help from the stroller to keep her going, it was another Disney vacation we will never forget.

A call from Mickey, Minnie and Goofy, telling Gracie how excited they are to see her!

Gracie wanted to see Lightning McQueen and Mater the entire time we were there. When she finally had the chance, she was so sound asleep we couldn't get her to wake up to see them.

A Princess Party

It started with a seriously excited two-year-old and this:



Then Saturday, March 7th brought the fun, family, friends and frosting. Gracie ran around the house in hyper anticipation of her party. I spent the morning baking yet another layer for her cake since the instructions said three layers but the how-to video actually used four. After the cake cooled and Gracie went down for her nap, I did a marathon cake decorating session that would not have been a success without an enormous amount of help from my multi-talented husband. As he finished the last of the frosting on Princess Barbie's top and I placed the last flower on her skirt, the doorbell rang. From that moment on, the story is best told in pictures...

Once the party was over, the fun continued. On Sunday, Gracie started the day by putting on her new dress-up clothes. We had saved one of her presents because she was already so excited about all her new things and distracted by all her cousins and friends, so Sunday morning she got one final present. She has wanted a kitchen for months, and at Christmas she resigned herself to getting it for her birthday when we told her Santa couldn't bring it to Grandpa's and Grandma's because then we couldn't get it home. She was so excited!!!

Closing her eyes while Daddy brought it in.

Clapping in excitement!



Sunday afternoon Gracie played outside with her sidewalk chalk and played with Play-Doh. The next day it was more Play-Doh and paints, followed by a bath in her new "slooming suit."

New PlayDoh

New swimming suit from Grandpa and Grandma

Sharing with sis

How old are you?

The Sweetest Thing

This is the last thing I should be doing right now since I need to figure out how to coax Gracie's birthday cake out of the pan it has grown so attached to, there are three piles of laundry that must be done tonight so I can go into my foot surgery tomorrow in peace, and I will not rest (literally will not go to bed tonight) until my kitchen floor is mopped. Here I am anyhow. But I must share the sweetest moment of my week so far. And since Scott is at school and I must share it now, before the sweetness fades, I am sharing it with you.


As we were finishing up our nightly routine, Gracie and Ellie were sitting on my lap to "rock and sing." As some of you know, I do my best version of singing to my girls each night. Ellie appeared sound asleep as I whispered to Grace that she should sing "Jesus Wants Me for a Sunbeam" with me. As we neared the end, Ellie pulled her bink out of her mouth and did her most adorable version of singing along. Was she really trying to sing with us? At the end of the song, Ellie put her bink back in her mouth (and yes, I think she is too little to do that too, especially since she has been doing it for a while now). Gracie asked for one more, so I asked her to sing "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" with me. It was a test you see. And sure enough ... Ellie popped her bink out and sang along. It was seriously so cute. She NEVER does that when it is just me singing!

I just hope we can watch moments like that over and over again in heaven!

Six Years Young

Rowdy turned six years old today. In spite of the fact that it makes him middle-aged in dog years, we still call him puppy. It is hard to believe we have had him for six years! As any of you who know us very well know, we love our little guy so much! We are so lucky to have him in our family and could not ask for a more perfect four- legged little guy. Rowdy brings so much happiness to our home, and I'm not sure what Scott (or the rest of us) would do without our little boy!