Grace is 8 months old.

I just wanted to let the world know I am 8 months old today! I'm a pretty busy baby. Ilike to jump in my jumper. I even make it swing back and forth. I love to roll around. Mommy calls me a roly poly olie. I can roll clear across the room and right down the hall. Sometimes I get up on my hands and knees. Mommy gets excited when I do this and tells me to "Go! Go! Go!" I just look at her, smile, and roll over. I'm also getting very good at sitting up on my own. Today I sat up on my own for a long time and listened to my own voice. I like to say "Ahh!" Sometimes I surprise even myself when I'm talking like that. Mommy is feeding me lots of different foods now too. Yesterday I had ham. That was interesting. Today I had peas and rice. I can also feed myeself Cheerios and baby puffs. I mostly use my fingers to rake the Cheerios in but sometimes I get my fingers to be pincers. I'm also learning to drink from my own sippy cup. My sister, Sylvie likes to hang around. She fed me baby cereal this morning. She's teaching me how to crawl and use baby signs. Sometimes she tackles me and smothers me with hugs and kisses and Daddy says it's Wrestle Mania. Today Mommy took my picture with this sign. It was tricky because I wanted to eat the sign and Sylvie wanted to hold it too. She got pretty upset when I finally got it in my mouth and she couldn't have it. Well, I'm off to my second nap of the day. I've got a pretty good life. Sleep, eat, play and learn, repeat.

House Work

One day after I returned from National Conference (Jeremy was at Youth Conference in Utah) my parents came to help me with the girls and help me work on the house. We worked from the time we got up in the morning until we went to bed at night. Of course we took some time out for Chi Tung, Nonna's pizza, and Jalapeno's. Dad ripped out our back bathroom, and put it all back together with a nice paint job and new vanity. Mom deep cleaned the kitchen...it's gorgeous. I went back and forth saying "What can I do?" and we all enjoyed the girls. Here are some pics from our working week.

Here is Dad doing some "prep work." He took what felt like a very tiny, crowded bathroom and turned it into something that is very enjoyable to use as well as very usefull.

Here's Mom on Gracie duty.

Sylvie zonked out in the boppy. She would play so hard then she would find a spot on the floor and go to sleep without us knowing.

Sylvie helped me clean the shower. It was a lot of scrubbing. I tore out the caulking and Dad put some new in. The shower looks so nice now.

Grace supervised and kept track of all our working hours on her abacus. She was actually quite busy that week. She started sitting up much more confidently and she poked some teeth in too. For a total of 4 currently. She is quite the little roller. She loves to roll all over the place. Sometimes I think she's going to sit up but she just keeps on twisting until she's rolling again.

St. Louis, MO

We went to St. Louis in June. It was the national conference for the Free church. Jeremy's mom came with us and we had a great time. Our lives have been nonstop ever since this trip. National Conference in St. Louis, Youth Conference in Salt Lake City, VBS in Oak Lawn, now we're on vacation in NYC. It's very good to have some time with nothing scheduled but spending time with family. And of course we're getting lots of great pictures but you will have to wait for those. I'm just trying to get caught up. So here are June's pictures from our trip to the Gateway Arch. it was so much fun. The sun was setting so the light was reflecting off the arch making the lighting beautiful for taking pictures. Jeremy took many.

One of the girls in the youth group gave Sylvie a little Chewbacca doll for her trip so we took him to the arch.
Here we are at the base of the arch. Just having a good time before going up in the little pod. Boy, we did not know what we were in for. Poor Sylvie got so scared when those doors opened and we entered that little white room.
Here is Sylvie with her Mom Mom in the magic hour lighting provided by the arch.

July?! When did July happen?

OK, OK! I got an email from my aunt scolding me for not keeping this updated enough. Here are some pictures from Kansas. I have A LOT of pics from KS, but these are the ones I could pick out tonight before I go to bed. I love this one. Sylvie is coloring with sidewalk chalk on the floor of my parent's kitchen. They were in the process of rehabbing the room and the new floor had not been put in yet, so why not color on the old floor?
Sylvie and cousin Adam. They really did have a lot of fun together. All these pics are from Mother's day. We had everyone over to my parents for dinner. It was quite a good time even though it was pretty chilly. Sylvie loved being outside so much she didn't care.
Aunt Carmen with her three neices.
Granny and Great Grandpa with all their great grandkids. These were interesting to go pick out which one to show. There were many pictures taken of this and many were quite funny. I could even see the progression of distraction as the shoot goes on. I'm glad we have these. As I said before, these are just what I could get up now before I go to bed. A lot has happened since Mother's day. It's July already! We've gone to St. Louis...Sylvie and Grace had their first stay in a hotel, Grace had her first swim in a pool, and we all went to the Gateway arch. I'll get pics of that up soon enough. And now, Papa and Gigi are HERE. It's been so much fun and a lot of work. I'll get those pics up soon enough too...I hope.

Memorial Day 5K Ridge Run ...I did it!!

Today's the day I've been training for. The Ridge Run in Chicago's Beverly neighborhood. Here's a picture of me at the start of the race. This was a wonderful experience. Not only did the run take me through one of the most beautiful neighborhoods in Chicago but everyone was so positive and encouraging. People lined their yards cheering the runners and walkers on. Some handed out water while others had the sprinklers hooked up for a cooling mist. There were homes that had upbeat music blasting. I loved this and sometimes felt more like dancing than running! Having been a bit of a slacker the last few weeks I was concerned at how well I'd be able to run. But there is something about the race environment that I did not expect. Having strangers cheer me on, and having so many others running with me kept my mind occupied and I was able to run for greater intervals than I had ever done during training. But there was someone who wasn't a stranger cheering me on. Suzanne, my friend and mentor mom from my MOPS group was outside her home, camera in hand. It was real encouraging to see a familiar face and hear my name. This came right when I needed it most. Here I am at the end of the race. You can't see it in this picture but "Go Mommy!" is written in sidewalk chalk on the street and that's right where Jeremy and the girls were waiting for me.
After the race there was a parade. We got to catch the end of it sitting on the curb.
Grace rode in the swing and she loved it. I thought her head was gonna bobble around so much that she wouldn't like it but she kept smiling, so we kept pushing.

There you have it. My race day. It was a very good experience and I'm very glad I did it.

A Series of Firsts

We spent 9 wonderful days in Kansas. It was so great to be with my family. All three girls were able to be there for Mother's Day for our mom, plus all her grandkids too. It was very special. Sylvie had a ball playing with her cousin Adam. They played outside in Papa and Gigi's yard nearly all day, every day.

First #1: Before we left for KS we noticed Gracie eyeing my peanutbutter and jelly sandwich. So, while at my parents we started her on cereal and she loves it. She often reaches out for the spoon to feed herself.

First #2: The day after we returned home Grace rolled over for the first time and we all missed it! I laid her on a blanket on the floor then went to check on Jeremy and Sylvie who were taking their Sunday afternoon nap. When I came back there she was on her tummy. She soon rolled back to her back. Mobile baby stage is on the way!

First #3: For 5 months we've been trying to figure out how to get the girls to sleep in the same room. This didn't initially seem like it was going to be a problem because Sylvie's always been pretty good at going to bed. She'd cry a little but would soon be asleep. However, adding a new sister is a big deal for a two year old and she has had trouble going and staying asleep since then. Last night Jeremy and I teamed up. He put Sylvie to bed, I put Grace to bed. Sylvie's usual crying began and we worried she's wake up her roommate but she didn't. When she came out of her room Sergeant Mommy took her right back. A few more minutes of crying and she was asleep. The best part is they BOTH slept the WHOLE night. I didn't hear a peep out of either of them until after 7 am. Let's hope we can keep this up and not make this first a last too.

A Concert in our Living Room

Just thought I'd explain the new banner below Gracie's. That's Jon Troast We met Jon at Timber-lee Christian Center when we took the youth group to winter camp. Jon is an amazing musician with a unique sound. He has performed on "Prairie Home Companion" and is currently on a "living room tour." He is traveling around the country performing concerts in peoples homes. We had him in our home last Sunday and it was amazing. Jeremy and I just couldn't get over how cool it was to have one of our favorite musicians giving us our own concert in our living room. So, check out his website and book a concert in your living room. Check out Jeremy's blog for a picture and we're also on Jon's website. I'd post some now but they're on a different computer so I don't have them.