Warning: this may be LONG
Update on the kiddos:
Grace is now 10 (almost 11!) months old! I kind of can't wrap my head around the fact that she will be ONE soon. The past year has been a whirlwind, but I wouldn't trade it for the world! She is at SUCH a great age right now, and she is so funny!
She crawls like a maniac everywhere and pulls up on absolutely everything. She has a mouth full of teeth (even molars already!) and smiles the biggest smiles that show them off- it's hilarious. She is either shrieking, babbling, or growling at all times and says the words "Mama" and "Dada". She knows how to wave and how to give kisses too.
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| Our dog is a saint. |
She puts everything in her mouth, especially anything she can find on the floor that she isn't supposed to be eating. The other day, I was on a phone call in the kitchen and Quinn says to me, "Mommy, Gwace did make a mess!" So I walked into the living room and found her ripping up and eating a Kleenex. Later, Quinn confessed, "I did give Gwace dat Kleenex for her boogers"... Geez Louise.
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| Freakin' Hilarious |
Grace HATES getting her diaper changed and getting dressed. She whines and tries to roll every single time, it's so frustrating! Getting her fingernails cut may be the thing she hates most of all. She screams bloody murder, and I literally have to pin her down to do it. It's insane. So if anyone ever wonders why my baby has claws... now you know.
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| Beautiful baby! |
She is an AMAZING sleeper. We never have to get up with her at night. If she does wake up, she'll find a paci (she's got 7 in her crib with her, since she likes to whip them) and go right back to sleep. Even when she had croup, a double ear infection and conjunctivitis last month, she still slept great. She is very schedule oriented and takes two naps- one in the morning and one in the afternoon. Makes it hard for us to go anywhere though, because napping in the carseat is much harder for her. I took the girls to Traverse City a few weeks ago and Grace screamed the majority of the way home. She's not a fan of the carseat.
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| At the splash pad in Traverse City |
Quinn will be turning 3 at the end of next month! She has developed SUCH a personality and is the sweetest thing, although she does have her moments.. ha!
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| Feeding the giraffe at Boulder Ridge Wild Animal Park (this was SO COOL!) |
I think I can FINALLY say that Quinn is potty trained (PRAISE THE LORD JESUS!). Although I"m sure I'll regret writing that, lol! She hardly has full-on accidents anymore (never accidents with #2) and doesn't have to be reminded every half hour to go potty anymore either. If only I would have known it was going to take over 8 months to be able to say that... *sigh* Anyway, potty training is by far the most frustrating thing I've ever done in my entire life. The end.
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| Quinn's first sparkler on the Fourth of July |
Quinn is still so good to her little sister. They LOVE each other so much right now, and it's amazing to see them start to play together. Quinn can be in the middle of a meltdown and will see Grace and perk right up. It's hysterical. My favorite thing is when Quinn goes to greet Grace after a nap. She'll walk into her room and say in the most high-pitched voice, "HI GWACIE, HI WITTLE BABY, HI CUTE WITTLE NUGGET!" Ha!
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| First time in the Costco cart together |
-The powk (park)
-Playing in the sand
-ICE CREAM (pretty sure she loves ice cream more than anything on the planet)
-Making "nests" (throwing blankets, pillows and toys into a pile and then laying on them)
-Fruits and Veggies- we've been growing our own "matoes" and cucumbers in our backyard and she LOVES to pick them and eat them
-Having her hair in a "bwaid" (unfortunately, I am the worst braider ever, and it doesn't help that her hair is so thin!)
-Jumping and doing "fwips" on every couch or fluffy cushion she sees (we're going to put her in gymnastics this Fall, hopefully)
-Taking "snapchap" photos/videos
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| A recent Snapchat gem. |
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| Possibly one of my favorite pictures ever! |
-All kinds of meat or basically any dinner I cook
- Being told "No"
We've had a great summer so far. It's definitely harder to do things with two kids, especially when one of them cannot walk yet. We've been to the cottage most weekends, which has been fun, but even going there is difficult with a baby who dislikes being on the boat and can't go in the sand cuz she'll eat it... So I've been trying to make time to do a few fun things with Quinn so that she's not just cooped up with all her energy. We have been to two zoos this summer. One of them was interactive, so we were able to feed some of the animals (giraffe!), which was such a cool experience, even for me! I also took Quinn to her first movie in the movie theater- "Finding Dory", which was adorable. Quinn did great, even though she kept asking me if the movie was over yet, lol. Afterwards, she loved it and wanted to watch it again.
Rick and I have been finding the time to do a few fun things, just the two of us, as well. At the end of May, we saw "Phantom of the Opera" (which was amazing), and, the next morning, kicked off our four-day vacation to Florida. We had so much fun exploring Ft. Myers, Naples, Cape Coral, Sanibel Island and Captiva Island. The islands were our favorite. We went on a high-speed dolphin boat excursion on Sanibel and then ate at an awesome restaurant right on the beach on Captiva. We also did a bit of shopping and lounging. It was a blast.
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| Seriously amazing. |
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| Ready to see some dolphins! We saw so many and were soaked by the end of the boat ride! |
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| On the pier in Naples
Some other things we've been up to this summer:
 
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| Grand Haven sunset over Lake Michigan- beautiful!! Is it really almost August?! Summer never lasts long enough! Hope you enjoy what is left! Thanks for reading :) |
