Pretty Princess Pictures

I (finally) got Gracie's three-year pictures taken. I have been a slacker, but better late... Gracie was SO excited that she couldn't wait to take her nap because then she got to take a bath (to scrub off the stamps she got on her feet at gymnastics) and get dressed up! She squealed in excitement when Alaina (our wonderful and highly recommended photographer) rang the doorbell. As you can see from the pictures, Gracie is one of the most expressive children on the planet. I love that these pictures totally capture the magic that is our Princess Grace!

When it was all over, Gracie didn't want to change out of her dress! She really is a girly-girl princess!!

Hannah Antenna

I will come clean to all of you, as I did to Scott the other day: I like Hannah Montana. When Gracie said those exact words (except she calls her Hannah Antenna) to me the other day, I realized I wholeheartedly agree. Once upon a time those words were so very not true. I was a member of the crowd who was sick of seeing Hannah Montana EVERYWHERE! I was even annoyed by the commercials for the show when Gracie was watching something else on the Disney Channel. My conversion came quite by accident. Gracie watches very little TV, and most of what she does watch is recorded on the DVR so we have control of what and when she watches something. Her knowledge of television has been pretty much limited to Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, My Friends Tigger and Pooh, and Imagination Movers. In spite of this, she knew who Hannah Montana was long ago because of the commercials for the show before and after every one of the other Disney Channel shows. Well Gracie has started turning on the TV in our bedroom when I am in the shower or getting Ellie down for a nap. Fortunately, the TV comes on to the Disney Channel because the DVR records all her shows on that TV. This is how Gracie was able to catch her first episode of Hannah Montana. As any good mommy would do, I joined her for the remainder of the episode to see what exactly she had been watching. So, I realized Miley Cyrus (aka Stewart) is pretty silly and has a silly father and brother (who all seem to love each other). So my three-year-old is a fan of Hannah Montana. And so am I.

In other news...

We spent a perfect afternoon "in the mountains" with Jim and Becky over Memorial Day weekend. Gracie kept us entertained with her shoveling skills, her dancing and her efforts to avoid the campfire smoke.

We went to the zoo with the cousins. It was Ellie's first zoo experience and the giraffes were her favorite!

We finally went swimming, another first for Ellie. She loved it! Apparently Gracie loved it too, in spite of the fact that she spent a lot of the time outside the pool wrapped in a towel, because now she asks to go swimming every day.