You've got to start young...

** I promise I didn't stage these pictures. She really just laid down and wanted to "read".

My birthday

I got this cute sign from Justin's mom when she was here. I love it.
Sorry about the lack of other birthday pictures- we were busy busy.


My birthday was last Wednesday and was a fabulous day. Highlights included...
1)sleeping in (at least a little bit)
2) Justin bringing me lunch from my favorite sandwich place
3)My parents coming into town and taking me shopping
4) Phone calls/ texts/birthday cards/ from people I love
5)Just feeling special and loved all day long ( I've committed that I am going to do a better job at making others feel special on their birthdays, mostly because I felt overwhelmed by the thoughtfulness of others).


My mom reading to Gracie.
Cinderella A.K.A. Gracie
My sister in law, Luci, sent this beautiful Cinderella dress for Gracie's birthday. Isn't it gorgeous? My mom added a few accessories and I'm pretty sure that Gracie would live in this princess dress if I would let her. For those of you who are far away, I'm sure I'll post more pictures later, but this is a sneak peek of what Gracie will look like on Halloween (I might just make her freeze because it looks too beautiful to cover up:).

Our Birthday Girl

Many more pictures are to come today of Gracie's happy birthday, but I first wanted to post about her 2 year old well-child/baby check-up. I wanted to post about it earlier but have had a super busy and fun week with my birthday, Gracie's birthday, a visit from my parents, and weekend crammed with fun too.
Gracie weighs a whopping 21.8 pounds (below the charts) and was 32 inches high (10th percentile). We were excited that it would be her last time to get shots, but when we got there, we found out that she had completed all of her shots in Utah and didn't even need a single shot. The doctor said that everything looks great and that she seems to be on track, with the exception of her weight. Because she is below the first percentile on weight, the doctor recommended keeping her on whole milk for another year. The doctor kept telling me ways to add fat to her diet (put tons of extra butter on her noodles, let her put peanut butter on anything she'll eat it on, lots of butter on any veggies), so... since Gracie and I usually eat together, don't be surprised if the next time you see me I'm 20 lbs. heavier.
The last funny thing about the Dr. appointment was when the Dr. had Gracie run across the room. She paused when she saw Gracie's knock-kneed run and said, "As she gets older, her run will probably straighten out a little too." It made me laugh, because I'm a little knock kneed myself and in spite of all my marathon training and running, I still don't think my run has really straightened out :) Ahhh, the power of genetics. Makes me laugh.
***The picture was one I snapped the other day when Gracie didn't know I was there.

Shoes

I finally got my act together and made some of those little felt baby shoes (link to directions on my Profi Frau blog). Anyway, if I do say so myself, they turned out pretty cute. Too bad embellishing is way more exciting and precious for girl shoes. For anyone that is bored at home and poor (these shoes cost about 50 cents to make because I used craft felt 25 cents per page, ribbon I had on hand, and then just the thread to sew them together). They were also a pretty quick little project once I got going.

Apple Crisp for two

I love GOOGLE. Last night I was craving apple crisp but didn't think it would be a good idea to make a whole pan- especially because it would just be the two of us. So I just googled "apple crisp for two" and got a recipe. I thought I would share because I know a lot of you are in the same boat as far as not wanting a whole pan of goodness around to tempt you. The crisp turned out great (I think next time I might try one T. less of butter because I felt like it had just a little more than it needed).FYI- I used the pictures from the website too, as they documented it well and I was feeling a little lazy to take pics of the same thing.

For the ingredient you will need:

• 1/3 cup of flour
• 1/3 cup of sugar (I used brown)
  
• A pinch of salt
• 1/4 teaspoon of cinnamon
• A pinch of nutmeg
• 3 Tablespoons of butter
• 2 apples

*I would bake it at 375 and 30 minutes was perfect.

The topping should end up looking like the photo below.

Sprinkle the topping on the apples. (Yes, I do like lots of topping!)

Many recipes add oatmeal to the topping which gives it a wonderful texture.

Be sure to place the Apple Crisps on a baking sheet before putting it into the oven. Just in case it bubbles over!

It will only take about 30 minutes for the apples to become tender and juicy.

Serve the Apple Crisp right in the individual baking dishes as is or with some vanilla ice cream or whipped cream.

The Colorado Rocky Mountain High

We have just had the best couple of days! Justin's parents came for a visit. We showed them around town and then yesterday, we drove to Estes Park (a local mountain town- comparable to Park City, but smaller). We also went into Rocky Mountain National Park and had a wonderful time hiking, spotting Elk and other wildlife, taking pictures, visiting, and just enjoying the scenery. We were sad to see Larry and Carol Ann go this morning, but are looking forward to more visitors this month and I'm secretly hoping that after you see the beautiful area we live in you will all feel compelled to come for a visit.
Here is Justin with his mom.

Justin, Gracie, Maggie and Carol Ann at Bear Lake


Our little family walking back from Nymph Lake.

There were herds of Elk all over and they were close to the road. Gracie kept calling them "Melk".
Larry and Carol Ann. We really already miss them. Gracie loved having more people to read her stories, play with , and show off for.

I like ick

Gracie has been talking up and storm and has a pretty clear speaking voice most of the time. She does have a couple of words that make me smile and they are all words that end in "T". She can say the "t" sound but can't seem to get it right when it is at the end of the word.
1. Where'd my blankeck go? (blanket. She is hopelessly attached.)
2. I like ick. (I like it. She says this when she sneaks cookie dough or dips her finger in something yummy).
3. I want choclack (chocolate. Lately, because we've been drinking hot cocoa to fight against the cold weather).

Another funny story related to Gracie talking- We went over to a neighbor's house the other day. Our neighbor is in her eighties and has a dog named Ginger. We went over to see ginger and while we were there Gracie started looking at Juanita (the neighbor) and saying, "I want cookie" I was embarrassed so I just pretended like I couldn't understand her. Gracie is pretty persistent though and it didn't take Juanita long to figure it out. In grandma fashion she had some cookies on hand. We're glad to have a nice neighbor and a shameless daughter. :)

Motherly Advice

I've just been wondering if you moms out there have set an age limit on sippy cups and what it was/is. I'd also like to know if you have any sippy cup rules (only in the car, no milk in sippy cups,etc.). Oh, and are the terrible twos real and do they ever start early? :)

Pumpkin Patch

I have to admit that I've been jealous of all the pictures I've seen of friends and family visiting pumpkin patches. So... I finally took some initiative and found a local pumpkin patch online and then invited some of my friends here. We had a great time. I think that Gracie's favorite was the hay ride. She stood on my lap almost the whole time to watch the farm dogs running toward and away from the tractor. She also loved the wagons and as you can see by the center picture on the bottom row, she didn't even want to get out of it to do the mini kids straw bale maze. Oh well. We're excited to go back sometime.

We are loving the fall and Justin is just finishing up a block semester class ( I think he starts up another class in its place though, so it won't really change his schedule- but it does represent progress and completion). We are getting really excited to see Justin's parents who will arrive on Monday of next week. I have also been doing some crafting, so I'll have to post a picture of my latest as soon as I get my act together.

Cherishing the Journey

I really loved Conference this weekend and especially President Monson's talk about change and enjoying the journey because things change so quickly. I love where I am in life- but feel like sometimes the things that bring me the greatest joy, also make my life seem most frustrating at times. I just had an awesome 45 minute battle with Gracie to get her down for her nap. It is easy sometimes to wish away the hours until I can put Gracie down for bed, or wish away being students to the day when my husband has a career, or wish away the time we are spending away from our families, or any number of things.

I hope that I can cherish these moments while they last, and enjoy the opportunities and experiences that life only offers once. This is what I am going to do to cherish my journey today.

1)Make dinner early and meet Justin on campus so we can eat together and Gracie can see him before she goes to bed (he has a class from 5:30-9:30)
2) Read more books to Gracie when she wakes up
3) Make some homemade play dough tonight or do some kind of a craft/art project with Gracie
4) Clean my house
5) Find a way to strengthen a friendship I have here in Colorado to build up my home away from home.
6) Take at least one picture today

What do you do to enjoy the journey?

It's all relative

My friends from BYU, Ryan and Stephanie had a baby come at 29 weeks. The baby has been in the NICU for 2 months and I've been following their blog for awhile and the progress of their baby,Avery. It has been an uplifting experience for me and I wanted to share a recent post with you, written by the father, Ryan. Click HERE to read it. It was a good reminder for me that we all know something of humanity and we don't have to be in someone's exact situation to feel empathy for them.

I heart October!

This morning I got in the Halloween spirit and got a bunch of Halloween stuff out. I dressed Gracie in her Halloween outfit, got out my decorations, and tried to make my house somewhat festive for my favorite month of the year. I also gushed for a few minutes with love and appreciation for both my mom and Justin's mom for the cute decorations that they have given me over the last few years.

I love October. I think I mostly love the feeling that fall has finally arrived. The huge tree in our front yard has seemed to drop half of its leaves in the past few days, the air is crisp yet pleasant and I can finally get back to making delicious soups and all of my fall/winter baked goods.

Anyway, this morning I emptied my Halloween box on Gracie's bed and was busy decorating when Gracie came out looking like this:

She found the glasses on her own. I was so glad when she not only posed for a picture, but wore them and carried them around for a full 15 minutes or so. Do you think a love for this holiday might be genetic?


Here are just a few pics from the park. The park is actually a school that is a few blocks from our house. We go there a few times a week after school is out and Gracie wishes she could live there. Most of the time I have to carry home a screaming, tantrum throwing child.