Climbing, Swimming and Good Times

This morning I was making the bed and Grace was playing in her room. Suddenly I heard a cry which I immediately identified as her "I'm in a tight spot" cry. When I go to investigate here is what I found.


Does it make me a bad mother that I ran for the camera before I rescued my daughter? In my defense, I could tell that she wasn't hurt. My daughter is a climber. I used to never worry about putting her in her room with the gate up, that is no longer the case. She is very good about using various items around her room as steps. The other day I caught her trying to pull herself onto the chest of drawers. She had pushed the glider into position so she could climb from the seat to the arm to the back and onto the chest. What makes it worse is that she is strong. It amazes me the things she can move. Does anyone have any advice?

Onto the day's fun. We got out the little pool. She looks so cute in her duck swimsuit. She loves anyting with a duck.





Grace adores her Pappy and he can always make her laugh.



Also he gives her ice cream.

A Few Pictures

Doesn't she look like a proper little lady? Not quite. This was taken just before she shoved a handful of animal crackers in her mouth.


Check out this finger. Gracie is double jointed and I crack up everytime she points her finger. She also can do crazy stuff with her wrists/hands.


We has spent a lot of time playing in the yard this week. Grace will run and roll around and have the best time.

From the Mouth of Gracie

Grace always has something to say these days. You have to really be careful, because she repeats EVERTHING. Then it is permanently in her vocabulary. Some of the things that she constantly repeats and have really cracked me up recently:

Biiiiiiiiite - this is Grace's really, really southern word. She makes the word bite last forever.

Amen - we say the little kiddie prayer before meals. One day when we finished she emphatically said amen.

Ugly - her Aunt Terri came by the other day and when she came in she asked how's Grace toay. I immediately answered she's been ugly. Grace looked at Terri and said ugly.

All right - I was playing Wii and hit a home run. I said all right and that is now here phras.

Stop it - this is her favorite not mine and it does not crack me up.

Typical Gracie faking the head injury. She doesn't get enought attention.

Kaylee's Mom

Yesterday Grace and I met Kaylee's mom. I have been following her blog for some time and we recently realized that we live about 2 hours from each other. We had the best time! We had lunch, shopped and had a great time getting to know each other. It was such a blessing to meet someone with strong faith and a positive attitude.

Melanie and her husband are still waiting for Kaylee's referral. They have been waiting soooooooooo long. Please say a prayer for them. Melanie is already a mom, she just needs to see little Kaylee's face.

Happy Mother's Day

All my life we have spent Mother's Day at Memaw's. It was the one time that you saw all the cousins, aunts and uncles, family friends, etc. When my Memaw passed away the tradition continued at my Aunt Florence's house. She is my mother's only sister and they are very close. Grace adored my uncle. He has a sheep named Courtney that he raised from a baby and he took Grace out to pet her. After lunch Grace was sitting in his lap drawing a picture when she decided to lay back and take a nap.

I am happy to report that today I received a call from the office of one of my senators. A few weeks ago I wrote letters to my elected officials voicing my concerns over the situation in Vietnam. I am please to report that the person returning my call wasn't just a random staffer, but someone who knew exactly what was going on and he called to give me an update.

* I forgot to mention what the staffer told me. He was vague, but told me that the US had decided to actively pursue a new MOU with Vietnam. They will be working with reputable US adoption agencies/officials to help this process.

A Great Birthday Present

Saturday was my birthday. The singer in the family gave me the best present. Grace sang Happy Birthday to me! The only words she sang were "Happy Birthday Mom" and she hummed the rest but she was perfectly in tune. Thanks to my mother for that surprise.

Grace's musical gifts have only surfaced recently. She sings constantly! And it amazes me that she can replicate a melody after only hearing it once or twice. She sings(using "da" in place of all works of course)both verse and chorus of Jesus Loves Me.

The best part is that she is happy. She will sing a song and then say happy, happy, happy. I love that.