Christmas 2009

Yum! Wrapping paper!
Grace with her Great-Grandma Sandau
and her Great-Grandma Hamby...

...with Grandma Terry.

...and with a good grip on Grandpa Hamby's beard!

Checking out her new toys.

With her cousins Carter (2 1/2),
Byron (4 1/2; they share the same birthday of July 1st!)
and Austin (11).
A great picture of most of Michelle's cousin's kids on her mom's side of the family.

Grace and Emma on the "I" bench in front of the UI Administration building. We stopped on campus in Moscow on our way to Post Falls and on the way back.

Grace with Grandpa Tom.
Thank you Aunt Evie for the fun barking hand puppet!
She's pretty fascinated by it!

Ready for Christmas!

...And Over and Over!

Once she learned how to roll over onto her tummy, she quickly learned how to roll again to her back which has made her semi-mobile - now she's figuring out that she can pretty much roll to where she wants to go. We've decided that if we can't find her, we should probably look under the couch. :)

...This has also extended to her crib. She was supposed to be napping here, and I came in to find her very pleased with herself to have figured it out there, too, despite the wedges to keep her on her back! Such a ham.

Rolling Over!

Grace turned 5 months old on Tuesday.

Last night (Thursday) she had a fun new trick to show us....

Thanksgiving

Grace in the kitchen in her cute "Baby's 1st Thanksgiving" shirt.
On Friday we went to Marsing and

had a nice lunch with all the Salove's.
Grace with her Great-Grandma Salove.

Uncle Chris (he says "The Original!") holding cousin Mila, Chris (he says "New & Improved"!), and Grace with her Great-Grandpa Salove.
Anna sharing her headband with Emma.

Anna, Mila and Grace.

Exersaucer Fun!

Our next-door neighbors are kindly lending us their daughter's exersaucer, which Grace took to right away. She had the most wide-eyed expression when I first put her in it and was really excited by all the new toys on it!

Helping in the Kitchen & 4-Month Checkup

Chris has been baking pies all this past month, getting his method down to make them for Thanksgiving. They are really good and it's been great taste-testing (this week was banana cream pie!). His success may be due in part to having the best kitchen help around - what a cute little sous chef she is!!

Also, here's the stats on our not-so-little-anymore but healthy-as-can-be peanut, from her 4 month checkup on November 9th:

• Weight 14lbs, 2oz (70th percentile) - we don't miss too many meals around here. I'm blaming the pie. :)
• Height 24.5 inches (60th percentile) - that's right y'alll - we have a kid in the 60th percentile for height!! This kid has a chance!
• Head circumference 16.75 inches (90th percentile) - we love that little melon of hers.

Happy Halloween!

Our cute little pumpkin all decked out to say Happy Halloween!

Rockin' the Boppy

She's enjoying being on her tummy alot now, (what a change from a few weeks ago!), so we let her try the vantage point from the Boppy pillow, and that was a hit.

This last one was captured in a moment of photo session crankiness - -

"No more pictures, Mom!" - - so we called it a day. :)

Splish-splash!

She loves bathtime! We set up a little vanity mirror next to her tub and she gets even more excited when she sees herself enjoying her tub time. The legs start kicking and water goes everywhere, but we're glad she is liking the water. And Mom and Kym you were right - there really isn't anything cuter than when they are wrapped up in their towel fresh out of the bath.

Backyard Nap

We took advantage of the nice weather on Sunday to do some fall cleanup in the yard. Grace loved being outside in her bouncer chair, and found it to be the perfect place for a nice nap.

Post Falls Visit

While Chris was in Texas for a trip to see Mike, go to the Texas-Colorado game, and for work, Grace and I took the opportunity to fly north and visit family. We had a really wonderful time and Grace did great on the plane - yay!

Grace with her Grandpa Jim.

Grace with her Grandma Terry.

Four generations: Grace with her Mom (me!), her Great-Grandma Sandau, and her Grandma Terry.

Grace with her Great-Grandma Hamby.

Grace with her Great-Grandma Sandau.

She's getting so good at tummy-time and liking it better now. And her eyes really are that blue!

Sleepy girl

Happy Vandal Saturday. It's Like Christmas, only better!

Wakey-wakey! Eggs and bac-y!

Taken last Saturday morning (inspired by her cousin Elizabeth's video), we had to take one of Grace when she first wakes up. The moment she can wiggle her little arms free of the swaddling, she pops! them out and stretches her whole body as loooooong as she can. :) And then the smiles, which melt us every morning...

Three Months Old Today!

It was a beautiful day (if a little bit chilly - we had our first frost last night!) for a fall walk with Grace and Emma. So sweet!

GO VANDALS!!!

Maybe you hadn't heard,

but the Vandals are 3-1 in their season this year!

Grace says you just can't hide that Vandal pride. She likes to show her support on game day by wearing her Vandal onesie and hat, wrapped up in her awesome new University of Idaho blanket that was beautifully knit by our dear friend Erika Boncz.

Thank you so much Erika and Chris - it is so soft and she loves it!!!