A new LOVE...

Well, the past few weeks Gracie has found a new LOVE...the stairs!! She will be playing with her toys and then make a b-line for the stairs as she crawls as fast as she can. Then, she'll turn to see if you're coming (which she knows we are) and then starts to go as fast as you can and just laughs - she loves this game!!

God's creation in our OWN backyard...

I'll have to admit that when we bought our house I didn't have the appreciation for our backyard like I do now. Don't get me wrong, I loved it because there was some privacy and lots of trees unlike Mason, OH - we only had one little tree that we planted. My appreciation started this Fall when we saw some much potential when we pushed the brush line back about 15 feet (we plan to put down grass seed this Spring.) But my true appreciation grew this winter when Gracie and I began have regular visitors in our backyard from our little friends - it seems to always be around 4ish when we see a lot of activity - we've seen the usual squirrel, cardinal and a really FAT rabbit throughout the day (all three seem to enjoy our bird-feeder), but our newest friends consist of a family of three deer, a fox, a wild turkey, AND a woodpecker with a red mowhawk! Aren't they precious?

First Sledding Expedition in Minnesota

Gracie got to truly experience Minnesota's winter by going sledding right before Christmas...She wasn't too sure at first, but once we got her in the sled she liked it. Check it out:

(Our nice neighbor helping us blow off the snow....it saved Blake some time!)

(She wasn't sure about the snow at first...)

(Then she started to like it...)

(Now this is FUN!!)

Gracie's 1st Christmas in Cincinnati

Gracie had her 1st Christmas in Cincinnati and she LOVED it! I mean - it's always fun to tear paper and she was especially interested in the bows...She got a new baby doll that she adores - it's amazing, how she lights up when she sees it and talks in a high pitch voice to her sweet little baby. She loves giving the baby doll a kiss and hug - it's precious! She also loved the stroller from Aunt Melissa and crew...thank you!

Another memorable moment was meeting our newest little niece, Anna - she is just precious and soo tiny! These are the times that you REALLY wish you lived closer, but we enjoyed our time of meeting her when she was only 2 weeks old.

Our time went by WAY too fast, but it was nice to enjoy some mild temperatures for a few days before venturing back into the COLD north! Happy New Year!

(Morning breakfast with Mimi and Papa and playing a little peek-a-boo while she enjoys her cheerios and bananas.)

(Sweet little Anna - only 2 weeks old)

(Another major milestone for Abby during our visit,
she lost her first tooth on the bottom! She was so brave!)

(Sweet Kierstin with Gracie just before heading to MCC for Christmas Eve service)

(The Hillis Crew - poor little Anna, not happy)

(Kierstin is showing me how this stroller and baby doll work...
look at her twins they talk to each other!)

("Uncle Dan you are CRAZY!!")

(I love my baby doll...i love to give her kisses!)

Ok, so now onto my new trick...

(Peek - aaaa....)

(BOO!)

(CHEESE!)

(I'm really too big for this, but I thought I'd play in it one last time...)

(Bye, bye Cincinnati...hello, snowy Minnesota!!)

Pre-Christmas in snowy, cold Minneapolis...

We had our own little Christmas the weekend before we left for Cincinnati...Gracie enjoyed receiving a few new gifts and she especially loves the Fisher Price Musical Table from Santa, LuLu the Lamb and the Little People Farm...

(Thankfully, Gracie really never got too interested in the Christmas Tree this year, but she did love these bell ornaments that I let her add to her toy basket.)

(Gracie loving on Lu Lu the Lamb...so sweet)

(She loves the FP Musical table, especially the little computer and phone)

Growing EVERYDAY....milestone after milestone

I've done a poor job lately keeping track of Gracie's milestones so here's a little summary for the month of December and a few pictures to document them. She's finally started to truly crawl these but she still loves the army style. But now her big thing is pulling herself up on EVERYTHING and getting into EVERYTHING her little arms can reach - the remote, phone, any little itty bitty piece of dirt you can find. She's slowing starting to learn to walk by the use of her new little stroller/walker (a present from the Hillis gang - new post about this later)

We also went to a Christmas tree farm to cut down our own tree...I got to check out the animals, too...But boy was it COLD - single digits, folks!! I'm not sure about this weather, but my parents had me dressed warm and I could go anywhere in my BOB stroller - it works GREAT for the snow!

(Daddy, I think this is the ONE!!)

(Daddy and I posing for a picture!!)

WATCH ME...

(Look at me...I'm standing!!)

(Now I can reach the remote...my favorite, well anything with buttons!)

(Roxie and I checking out the wildlife in my backyard - we've seen all sorts of things this winter...3 deer, a fox, a peacock, squirrels and a really FAT rabbit!)

(I'm very busy these days, I love to dig through my basket of toys and books...)

Thanksgiving with the Cullen Crew

We had a great Thanksgiving with the Cullen gang here in Minneapolis! Thankfully the weather was mild (30s and 40s) and the kids were able to spend some time outside and we even took a little adventure to the zoo as well as the girls headed to the Mall of America for a few rides on the roller-coasters and then a little shopping in the American Girl Store. Above are a few pictures of our time together.

(The Cullen crew all the way from Cary, NC)

(Gracie hanging out with her cousins, Hannah and Meghan)

(Gracie getting one of MANY kisses from sweet Zacahary)

(My first Thanksgiving with Mommy and Aunt Tricia)