Cherish

One thing that both troy and I appreciate so much is how good Gracie is with Nolan.  This kid loves her SO much.  She entertains him, loves on him, feeds him, makes him giggle, and can make him stop crying.  On our way to cincy Nolan was cry and Gracie was singing and mommy and daddy were laughing at the sounds in our car.  Finally Gracie stopped and said, "Nolan" clicked her tongue and he stopped.  He giggled at her sounds and her playing peek-a-boo.  We are so thankful each day for the love they have for each other.

some pictures are a little blurry!

unwanted hugs

laughing at gracie

cheese

and of course serious...

Cinderella

You may remember a very old post from when Gracie was little and I use to sing a Cinderella song to here.  Who would have know how much she would actually love cinderella.  On this day I could not help but get a quick shot of her coloring.  She just looked so cute and yes she is on the couch, trying to stay away from nolan.

Blueberries {Summer Spectacular}

We have been apple picking and strawberry picking, next on the list blueberries.  Although I don't love blueberries Gracie does.  We were there for about 45 minutes at about 9:30 it was already 85 degrees so we decided to head home but we got plenty of blueberries.

nolan was trying to eat the blueberries of course

9 Years & Counting

Yes, 9 years!  This next year we will be hitting a decade.  A decade since getting on one knee and saying "i do".  We are both so thankful to go through all the moments we have together.  Truly in the good times and bad of life's challenges there is no one I would rather have by my side.  To cheer each other on and to hold the others hand in encouragement and love.  I love you babe!

With our summer travels we tried to celebrate a little in 2 different locations.

#1 Hahana Beach in Cincinnati

if you have not been this place is always packed 

#2 Gervasi's

one of our favorite places 

{Food Edition} {Summer Spectacular}
Recently, my hubby and daughter were out of town.  This left me with lots of free time to get things done, have some down time, and much need girl time.  A little last minute, I decided to invite a few ladies over from church, just a girls night to sit around and chat.  I got onto evite and they had a cute pinterest invite all put together so I went for it.  I love all the yummies I have pinned but most of them are not good for you and I like making those items for events.  That way I still get to try them but they don't sit in my house and get picked at.  

foods included were: 

snickerdoodle muffins - did not taste like snicker doodles at all

peanut butter pretzel bites - my favorite!!!

no bake chewy cookies & cream bars - NONE of us loved these which is sad since we ALL love Oreos

cinnamon sugar pull apart bread - really good

really good cookies that darby made but I could not find the pin on her board

 the "P" garland I made and hung in about 5 minutes

we all got mani's thanks to Darby

strutting the 4th of July theme colors

we meant to do a picture of all our hands but we talk too much;)

This will not be my last Pinterest Party.  Have you been on Pinterest?  Have you seen the boards?  We can have lots of themed Pinterest Parties.  Working on a project, re-doing your kitchen, planning an event, or just obesssed with i.e. crafts, then you need Pinterst.  It is where you can save all your favorites in one place.  If you are not on Pinterest check it out.

You can check out My Pinterest board by clicking here.  Warning you will love it!

HOT Summer {Summer Spectacular}

Yeah my family is back and it is about 100 degrees.  So what to do with two kids and I do not want to be stuck inside all day?  Baylor Beach recently got added to my summer spectacular list.  It is about 15 minutes from our house and they have a beach perfect for kids and an area where you can grill and eat. There is paddle boats, a play ground area, and some great water slides.  We had lots of fun!

I only took a few pictures and there are none of me because I dropped my camera in the water, more like dunked it in right after the final picture.  It kind of works but the flash is dead.  Ok here we go.

nolan snacking

he is just the cutest thing

my gracie girl (you know that is a song)

sweet love

when we first put nolan in the water he acted as though

he was in one of those lazy rivers at the water park

after lunch nolan was ready to play

both of our kids love the water

nolan however needs to be held tight

he just wants to splash and kick
and try and eat his swim chair

i love my family

There No Place Like Kansas

After Cliff's wedding Gracie and Troy flew back to Kansas.  Gracie had the best time on the farm and getting to experience everything Kansas.  Here a few of the pictures that Troy took while with his parents.

 working in the garden

gracie & sam 

gracie ready to run her own farm 

I think she has seen randy on the farm a few times 

 gracie & papa

 tractor time

mema, papa, gracie, & sam

8 Months

My dear sweet boy, you keep us on our toes.  You don't sit still for long and you will climb anything. You understand and obey when you want but sometimes the excitement of going up the step is much more fun.  I can set you at one end of the kitchen while I make a salad and in top speed you head for the steps.  As I come in after you, you get so excited when I say Nolan, when I pick you up you laugh and kick like crazy.  You are a joy.  Gracie loves you so much and you follow her every move.  Best friends who can't wait to see each other first thing in the morning and love the hugs and kisses at night. You will eat and chew on anything even if it is a shelf.  You of course think you can stand and walk so very often you topple over because your mind is ready but your body is not, but you try.

Improvement:

Your eye remains in the same situation and we are praying it clears up so you won't need surgery. Although the doctor says you are not allergic to cats I don't think they help.  Whenever you are around cats your eye seems only to get worse.  1 month buddy, we got to get this fixed.

Mom Look at Me:

• you now have 3 teeth on top and 2 on bottom
• you are now on those textured baby foods.  not sure how much you like the chunks.  these new foods are gross mixes i.e. green beans and pears with random chunks of green beans.  it looks gross.
• you are mobile in all areas and have started letting go once standing.  you are not read to walk yet but you have no fear, not good for mommy.
• you are also climbing the steps.
• your hands and feet are always wet and clammy.
• you love your puffs and mums.  you have official tried table food, carrots and you did great!
• you are loud. gracie yells you yell back. funny 
• you make lots of sounds, you copy sounds as well.  so far none on que for a camera but we are working on it.  amen, dadda, bob, momma, gracie sounds like gaycie
• you are a great sleeper
• you are now in all 6 month items and 6-9 month items.
• you are full in a size 3 diaper.
• bath time has also been perfected so that both of us can enjoy it
• you give kisses & I love them
• nicknames:little man, squirt, buddy, pumpkin, sweet boy

Routine - These are pretty true

• between 7 & 8am bottle
• 10am bottle
• 12 jar of baby food
• 1:30 bottle(sometimes)
• 2pm nap
• 4:30pm bottle
• 6pm veggie & fruit
• 7:30 final bottle (this final bottle goes like this: 6oz of water, 3 scoops of formula, add oatmeal)
• bedtime around 8pm

all bottles are 6 oz

 angry bird

 just plain mad

places you can find nolan:

 under the table

 crawling after his mama

climbing on mama's legs 

pulling all the toilet paper off the roll 

drumming on the toilet lid, 

don't worry I never let him 

play in the bathroom long 

hanging out at the front door 

peeking through the window

Crafts Completed

The day I went into labor I had a number of projects that I was working on.  When my water broke I quickly threw them in the closet and there they have been for a while, some even longer.  The below are just a few of the projects that I finally completed these last couple of weeks.

i just love this tractor fabric

taking the sleeves off this shirt

this bag is an old project from last football season but it is ready now

  a little flower box for G's room

I used my hot glue gun to fill all hole

 in gracie's bath toys.  no more mildew