halloween weekend & gracie's birthday

We woke up the morning of halloween in our halloween pajamas ready for all the fun we were about to have.

After a long morning of grocery shopping for gracie's birthday party that was scheduled for the following afternoon, we went to grammy's work to show off our costume!

After everyone got home we carved pumpkins and ate pizza for dinner. This is our pumpkin family.

This was gracie's pumpkin, they both have the same teeth!

I wanted to get a quick pic with my little bee girl!

Papa and gracie trick or treating..... at grammy and grandpa's house!

At auntie kenzie's parents house

"Put it in my bag mommy!"

candy!

Brandon will be mad at me for adding this to the blog...

We were all very sleepy. It was time to get a little sleep before the big party the next day!

I told my mom what I wanted on the cake and she made it happen. The cake was chocolate and the pumpkins were carrot. My camera broke during the party so I'm waiting on people to send me their pics of her eating one of the pumpkins. She liked it at the time, but ended up throwing it up later.

Cake table

I made plain and vegetable with meat chili. There were different kinds of chili toppings and breads. We had chili because it's a family tradition to have chili on halloween!

On wednesday it was Gracie's birthday we celebrated by going to the Jungle. It's an indoor place with lots of tubes and balls and nets to climb on. You have to be 1 to go there so we thought it would be a good way to celebrate... kind of like buying smokes on your 18th birthday. LOL!!! We started her off in the toddler area but she seemed kind of bored , so we tried out the "big kid" area and she loved it!!! Her climbing amazed both of us, she would crawl behind me in the tunnels, laughing and screaming with excitement. She must have really got a taste of adventure yesterday because this morning she climbed up onto the back of the couch using brandon as a ladder! Brandon and I should have taken advantage of the knee pads they offer for adults. I'm hurting today!

Escaping the balls can be difficult!

Mommy and Gracie at the Jungle.

When we got home we opened a couple more presents. Grammy and Grandpa got her a little people house to go with the little people farm that Auntie Jen and Travis got her.

As usual she was most interested in the cards.

Birthday kisses from Charlotte!!

mac n' cheese on the move.

This struck me as funny. We were at the check stand in Raley's today. I was holding Gracie and waiting for the girl to finish ringing up the groceries. All of a sudden Gracie started laughing hysterically, so I looked at her to see what was so funny.... She was laughing at the boxes of mac n' cheese riding the conveyor belt. It's pretty silly if you think about it!

tis' the season...

I love fall and Halloween. It is my favorite time of year. I love Halloween so much I got married a week before it and had a baby less than a week after it (not in the same year LOL). Last Halloween I was gigantic pregnant and on bed rest. It was the first year ever in my life I didn't carve a pumpkin. However, I was able to lay on the couch and watch brandon grudgingly carve the pumpkin for me!Gracelyn has a handful of festive Halloween clothing that she's been wearing lately. This one in particular is my favorite! She's cruising furniture live a champ now, and stands for a few seconds without holding onto anything. I can't believe my little mamas is almost a year old!

a girl after my own heart.

Gracie has loved music since she was born. And now she has discovered the piano! I thought these were cute.

sunday knight football

I've never really been a fan of any sports, in fact I think it's safe to say the only sport I can tolerate is football and that's only because when we lived in Vegas we would wake up on Sundays have pancakes for breakfast and then spend the rest of the day snacking and hanging out on the couch. Who can resist that?

So my parents bought Gracie a little Raiderette outfit for her to wear with Papa who wears his Raiders Jersey every Sunday during football season (not pictured).

a visit with brynn

Auntie Kenzie came to Cali for a visit from Las Vegas. While she was here we also were lucky enough to see Brynn. Brynn is Auntie's niece. She's four years old and Gracie loves to spend time with her when we can. Brynn was nice enough to show Gracie how to play with her doll and shared some of her other toys. I had to put this picture up because it just cracks me up, They almost look a little Thelma & Louise-esque. I can picture them in twenty years together, the new generation of me and Mackenzie! CAN CHECK!!! LOL ! (inside Joke)

She get it from her Momma

So up until recently I pretty much thought that by beautiful little baby was a complete clone of Brandon. From the big blue eyes to the chimple (chin dimple, I got that from Kristy's fiance', Josh and I love it!) From a physical stand point, she has my exact hands. Everything else is pretty much Brandon.

But now that her little personality is starting to emerge she is starting to have more of my mannerisms. Brandon pointed out the other day that she sits like me. When I was little I used to sit in like a frog position, I still do it with one leg... I can't do it with the other since my knee was popped out, I know I sound like an old woman. But anyways... she sits like me and when shes frustrated or crying her facial expressions are like mine. It's crazy to see yourself in a child. Just another thing you really don't think about until you're a mommy.

crawl space

Gracie is crawling all over the place. Mostly into the dog bed with Charlotte. Her new thing is to steal Charlotte's bones and toys. I'm actually very surprised at how good Charlotte is with her and that she doesn't have any jealousy issues because Charlotte was my "baby" before Gracelyn was born. When Gracie takes her toys or bones, with out any growling or snapping, Charlotte just takes them back with a very matter of fact,"Ummm that's mine thanks."




I love their little friendship. I think every little girl needs a fluffy, white sidekick

baby's got blue eyes

I could stare into her eyes all day long.

OOOOPS!

I was trying to get a picture of Gracie in her flower towel after her bath and it slipped over her eyes. Her expression is priceless.

Hurray For Cheerios!!!

Gracelyn's new favorite is Cheerios . I think she is most excited about feeding herself. She's getting so big I can't believe it!!! We've noticed that one of our dogs, Charlotte, has suddenly taken more of an interest in Gracie since she has started eating Cheerios. Can't imagine why :)