Visiting Good Friends and Big News

Recently Grace and I went to visit Susan and Petunia! My dear friend Susan is recovering from a very painful foot surgery. My sister Terri, Grace and I had the best time visiting with everyone. Petunia is the most petite little thing. Grace looked like Yao Ming standing beside her and Grace is only three months older.

Saying hello and getting reacquainted.

Looking at books with Petunia's Aunt Lulu. The girls are both standing flat on the floor.

Here Petunia is standing on the stool she uses while playing in her kitchen. Grace is standing on the floor. Grace loved that kitchen.

Grace really loved Petunia's Nana. I am not sure how Petunia felt about that.

The big news is that I start school tomorrow!! CAN YOU BELIEVE IT?!? I have wanted to do this for years and on Thursday I decided to go back to school. Friday I registered. It has all happened very, very fast. A degree in Early Childhood Education will take about 50 hours for me to complete. I am so excited and nervous. I graduated from college in 1991. Things are very, very different now. Fortunately my niece Kristan (Grace's beloved former nanny) and I are going to the same university. She can help me get up to speed with how things work these days.

Up to this point my career has been in Resource Development, almost exclusively for nonprofits dealing with the education of young children and at risk children. I hope to finish up my degree in summer 2009. Please keep me in your prayers. As a grantwriter I am very aware of the educational needs of children and the obstacles they face. That is why I want to teach.

What will she eat next?

Grace is a great eater. I have always been very thankful that she will eat anything and I don't have to coax her during mealtime. Grace loves salads, tomatoes, grapes...all the stuff that is good for her. Grace also loves cookies and ice cream. She isn't crazy about meat but she loves bacon. She has a very diverse diet. Today Grace did some eating. After her nap she had watermelon. We were outside and had a great time. Later in the afternoon she had another snack. Crayons. She will be pooping a rainbow for the next couple of days.

What's been going on?

Today we had a glorious day! Temperatures were in the high 80s with a nice breeze. What a relief! Grace was thrilled to spend lots of time outdoors today. She would play on the gym set, run and swing in the gazebo and then run to the glider to sit. She did this over and over and over. She discovered the big girl swing and thinks that is the way to go.







While on one of her infamous indoor climbs Grace bloodied her nose. You can't really see it (even though she was trying hard to show it off) but she has a cut on her right nostril and a puffy lip. Do you think it stopped her from climbing? NO. But bless her heart after a bloody nose she still smiled.


We have also been working hard potty training. Grace has had several successes but she made me so proud yesterday. I was running her bathwater and she walked over and picked up her little seat that fits on the toilet. She laid it on the toilet so I asked her if she needed to potty. She lifted her arms up and when I sat her on the potty she immediately started peeing! Isn't it funny how the little things mean so much.

Hot, Hot, Hot

It has been in the high 90s here with 90-100% humidity. I was in Vietnam in December/January so temps were mild. However I can't imagine it is much hotter in Vietnam than it is here. I have no new pictures. When I walk outside my camera lens fogs up. When the sun hits your skin it feels kind of like it does when you first realize you are getting a sunburn. Saturday I was out with my sister and she said it was hotter than the hinges on the gates of hell.

Grace really misses playing outdoors. She has all this energy she needs to run off and she gets upset that Ellie gets to go out and she doesn't. Grace will do her best to escape when I let Ellie out. She will stand at the door and cry "OUTSIDE!!!!" Ellie takes care of her business and runs back to the door to come inside. She isn't a very outdoorsy dog.

The proofs from Grace's two year pictureswere FINALLY posted. My child doesn't smile for posed pictures. I tried all the little stuff that makes her laugh and she just looked at me like I was crazy. It occurred to me later I should have let her hold my car keys. If she gets her hands on a set of keys she will push the panic button over and over again. she thinks it is hilarious that she controls the car horn. We got one, little smile. And it is not one of the better shots. Even though there is no smile she looks so sweet and very grown up. I put her in one of the hand embroidered, smocked dresses I bought (for $5) in Vietnam and she looks so pretty. Yellow is a good color for her. The only smile came from a photo taken while chasing the photographer's dog.