Fall has to be my favorite overall season (even though I’m a sucker for Christmas)!!!  I love the cool (but not too cold) weather, the changing leaves, the fun activities, all of it!  It seems like we’ve been really busy this year with work, traveling, and birthday celebrations but I am thankful that we’ve still had some time to just have fun as a family.

Last weekend we took a trip to the River Maze near Rock City.  It wasn’t as spectacular as I expected but we had fun!  I think they just do a really good job on advertising and it’s not as big as they make it sound.  But we did the corn maze, ate some kettle corn, and went on a little hayride.  Josh had a good time with the maze but it must’ve been a little scary for Graceyn because she absolutely REFUSED to walk on her own.  We tried several times, only to have her burst into tears every time!  So we decided it wasn’t worth the fight any more, especially if she was scared or overwhelmed, and we took turns carrying her through the maze.  We also all took turns deciding which way to go at each turn.  Graceyn was very thoughtful…she’d look at each option and then say, “Mmmm, that way” as she pointed to the way we should go.  We did eventually find our way out so we did okay!

Some friends of ours gave Graceyn a kitchen set that their daughter no longer uses.  She ADORES it and is so fun to watch!  Her favorite things to make are eggs (duh!) and coffee (because she uses the blender which makes noise).  Guess she’s her daddy’s girl…coffee and eggs!  She’s also really gotten into helping me cook.  She loves to climb up on the chair,  help me pour ingredients, and then stir them all together.  Last weekend she and Josh both helped me make pumpkin pancakes (fall=all things pumpkin in my book) and today she helped me make guacamole.

Wow, last weekend was so fun and busy!  On Sunday, my good friend Gretchen and her two boys came over for dinner.  We spent some time in the backyard where Graceyn had a blast in Rylan’s car!  Josh got some good exercise   Then David grilled hot dogs for us and we ended the night with toasting marshmallows and making smore’s by the fire!  They also gave Graceyn a great belated birthday gift…some very cute rain boots (pink with white polka dots and a blue bow)!!!  She loves them and will randomly put them on to wear around the house.  I’ll have to get a picture with them on soon.

The night before Halloween, we dressed Graceyn in her bee costume and the 2 of us went to Boo in the Zoo.  For those of you not in Chattanooga, they open the zoo at night; set up games; and have various characters handing out candy for trick or treating.  It was interesting to watch Graceyn.  She absolutetly LOVED going to see the animals…especially the monkeys.  And the scary costumes some of the kids wore didn’t bother her a bit.  I guess she didn’t realize they were supposed to be scary.  But she wouldn’t go near any of the characters, no matter how nice they looked.  She’d kinda sneak around beside them to whomever was handing out the candy   And there were a few who were just dressed up but she could still tell they were humans…those she didn’t mind.

On Halloween, I was in charge of a Fall Carnival at our church.  David wasn’t feeling well so Graceyn spent the afternoon and first part of the evening with a good friend of mine.  They took her trick or treating and then brought her to the church so I could still see her and have some fun with her.  David met us there   So we did a couple of games, she got a little more candy, and she was happy!   This child who didn’t have sweets the entire first year of her life is now a BIG fan of Dum Dums.  That’s the only things she cared about but boy did she love them!!!  She had one on Friday and one yesterday and you would’ve thought it was the best thing in the world.  Too funny!

I’m sure we’ll continue to have lots of fun this fall and we’ll update soon with more pics   Oh, and I just have to tell you that Graceyn is singing more and more all the time.  She now has a fairly decent version of the ABCs and has now started to sing “My God is so Big” and “This Little Light of Mine.”

Several of you have asked for this recipe so here ya go   I wish I had pics of Graceyn helping me make them…she was too cute!

In a large bowl, whisk together 1 cup each all-purpose flour and whole-wheat flour (I did 1/2 cup all purpose and 1 1/2 whole wheat…may try all whole wheat next time), 1/4 cup ground flaxseed, 2/3 cup sugar (I cut it back to 1/3 and want to try to eliminate it altogether next time… any suggestions?), 4 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice, 1 teaspoon each baking powder and baking soda, and 1/2 teaspoon salt (I probably only did 1/4 teaspoon and used sea salt).  Prepare 1 cup frozen butternut squash as directed on package (I accidentally bough yellow squash instead and it was fine).  Mash with a fork in a separate bowl.  To this bowl add, 1/3 cup canola oil (I used applesauce instead), and 1 1/4 cups finely chopped apples (about 1.5 small apples).  Stir these ingredients into the dry ingredients just until moistened.  When I did this it was WAY too dry so I added some pumpkin puree and mashed up sweet potatoes.  Pour into prepared muffin tins and bake at 400 degrees about 10 min.

Hope you enjoy them and let me know how YOURS turn out!!!

I have a friend who does this often…whenever her daughter says something she finds funny or wants to remember or whatever, she does a quick blog about it.  Now that Graceyn is talking so much, I think I’ll do the same   No pics included because these are meant to be quick and easy posts!

So for today…

From the backseat I hear over and over…”A B C D Q R S T U V W X Y and…A B C D” (you get the picture).  Usually around the third time you’ll finally hear “…Y and Zebra”  This just goes to prove what they say about the memory.  You are more likely to remember the beginning and end of a passage, phone number, etc than you are the middle!

Me:  “What are we making?”
Graceyn:  “Gua mowey! Gua mowey! Gua mowey!”  (Guacamole!)

Then once we have the guacamole in hand, she runs to the couch where daddy is watching football and says, “Fooball!!!!” with great excitement.  She climbs on his lap, dips a chip and most of her hand in the guacamole, and says “Go Blue!”  Yes, her daddy has already taught her to cheer on his favorite Michigan team…but no, they weren’t playing.  There was however, a team in blue that she apparently decided to cheer for instead

Wow, I let the entire month go by without posting!  So sorry.  This will be a long one I suppose   Our little girl is now 2 years old!!!  It is hard to believe.  I cried as I rocked her for the last time as a 1 year old.  I’m just not ready for my baby to grow up.  Thankfully, sometimes she’ll still lay in my arms and say “tiny baby” as I swing her from side to side.  I love it and so does she!

We go to the doctor on Friday so I’ll have an update on her stats then.  For now, we’ll just say that I know she’s growing and she does new things ALL the time!  We worked hard the week before her birthday on learning how old she would be.  One morning we were driving and I suddenly heard from the back seat, “I got 2!  I got 2!”  I looked in the rearview mirror and she was proudly holding up her 2 little fingers with a HUGE smile on her face   “I two!  I two!” she said.  It was priceless.

The other night at the dinner table, she kept saying something that sounded like “four.”  I kept trying to figure out what she was saying…”floor?” “four?”  “I just don’t know what you’re saying.”  So she says, “foooouuuuurrrr” very slowly as in “let me slow it down for you mom”  The tone of her voice along with the look on her face had David and I cracking up.  Then David said, “Do you want a fork?”  to which she excitedly replied, “YEAH!!!”  I’m sure she was thinking “Thank you daddy for figuring it out…poor mommy was struggling this time!”

Our biggest challenge right now is teaching her that hitting is not okay.  She usually isn’t even mad at the person she hits.  She just does it for apparently no reason.  I wish I could get inside her little brain to know what goes through her mind at those times.  But she does know it’s wrong and we just keep reinforcing that each time she does it.  If anyone has any tricks that have worked with their children, feel free to share!

She is learning lots of new songs now…starting to sing the ABCs, Rock-a-bye Baby, Happy Birthday (a new development since her birthday parties last weekend), and songs she has learned during lapsit time at the library.  That is such a good time for the 2 of us.  She really enjoys it and it’s fun to be part of a group time like that when I’m not the one “in charge.”  She does really well sitting either in my lap or beside me and listening to the storyteller; then following along during the activities.

Oh, she has also picked up her Spanish again.  One day she just pointed to her mouth and said “boca.” She’d never actually said it before; just pointed to it when we asked her.  But now she does boca, nariz, ojos, and cabeza again.  So cool since we haven’t practiced in a really long time!

Below are some pictures that show what we’ve been up to the past month…it’s been fun! **Warning:  There are a ton of photos to follow**

One weekend Graceyn and I went to a fall festival. We were there for 3 hours having a blast!!! She did this slide probably about 20 times.

I love the look on her face in this one! But check out the bottom of her PINK socks that are solid BROWN...nasty! It was very muddy and of course they didn't allow shoes on the slide.

Here she is driving the fire truck...she was a natural!

She painted a pumpkin...check out that look of concentration.

And she had lots of fun in the moonwalk!

When we went BACK to the slide, she saw a bigger boy going down on his tummy. Well of course she had to try it too!

After all our fun, we rode the "train" back to our car. What a fun day!

Last weekend, in Virginia, we went to a farm with a small petting zoo. The goats were greedy but lots of fun!

Joshua was able to lure the goats away and sneak some food to the sheep.

That night we went to Trevor's birthday party. Here he is reading the card Graceyn made for him.

And I just love this outfit so I had to get a picture (Thanks once again Kathryn!)

This was one of Graceyn's favorite birthday gifts. Her cousin Leah gave it to her. And this is the first baby she's ever named! "Abigail" (the name of one of the girls in her class at PMO). Another cousin, Joel, gave her a HANDMADE elephant that is really cool...but she was a little afraid of the trunk so we didn't get a good picture of her with it. I just thought it was really special that he MADE something for her. And I WILL get a picture of her with it

The Birthday Girl

And a close up

She loved her butterfly cupcake cake! Thanks Gram!!!

She was a pro at blowing out the candles!

High Five for Daddy

Thumbs Up for Grandaddy

Let's dig in Trev!

Pretty bracelets from Aunt Allie...notice the pink icing stains on her mouth

The first morning we got home (on her actual birthday) she ran into the kitchen, grabbed her new baby...put her in her new stroller (thanks Grandmother!)...and put her new purse (thanks Gram and Grandaddy!) on the handlebars. Too funny!

After church we went to Manchester to celebrate again. This was her gift from mommy and daddy.

$11 on craigslist for THIS smile...who can beat that?!?!

Thank you Nana for this YUMMY cake!!!

Namma and Pa gave her this baby...it wouldn't stay in the seat so Amanda helped her put it in the "trunk" to ride around. Don't worry, even as she was driving, she kept a close eye on her baby! We'll have to get her a rearview mirror so she can focus on the road ahead.

This cake was a little harder to eat but no worries...she just kept dipping her fingers in and licking them off!

Thank you so much to all our friends and family for making this a fun and special birthday!!!

So hard to believe our little girl will be 2 NEXT MONTH!!!  It’s absolutely crazy.  She is at such a fun age though and we love her so much.  Her daddy loves to tell her that she’s awesome and she loves to reply with a smile and a “yeah”

Her language development has taken off once again.  She’s starting to put more phrases together on her own and is getting better at copying our phrases as well.  So take that as a warning to watch what you say!  She’s learning her letters and LOVES the letter “B” at the moment.  She’ll ask me to write it over and over again.  She also likes it when I draw hearts and loves drawing circles on her own.

One of my favorite things to watch her do is read a book.  It’s mostly jibberish to me but I can usually pick out at least a few names here and there.  She LOVES naming people!!  That’s how we pass the time almost any trip we take in the car (even if it’s just 15 min to the church or gym).  She asks about our family members and has learned where each of them are during the day; friends from the Y and from “school;” and friends we just go spend time with.

In addition to her love of dancing she also loves to sing.  Quite often she’ll just think of a tune in her head and sing whatever comes to mind.  It’s hilarious!  That ranks right up there with listening to her read.

We have a great helper on our hands at the moment.  She gets SUPER excited about helping put the laundry detergent in the washing machine; the dish detergent in the dish washer; helping carry laundry to and from the laundry room; and sweeping.  Oh how I wish I loved housework as much as she does!

Her sleeping has been a little off since we transitioned to the toddler bed.  She sleeps there for her naps (usually 1 – 1.5 hours) and at night now.  But she wakes up between 5 and 6 in the morning.  If we put her back in her bed, she’ll wake up again a short time later but if we put her in her crib she goes back to sleep until 7 or 7:30.  So that’s the big thing we’re working on now.

We are VERY thankful that she seems to be responding to discipline…we don’t have to spank her nearly as much as we used to because when we ask her “Do you need a spanking?” that’s often all it takes.  The time we’ve had to spank her the most is when it’s time to brush her teeth.  She REFUSES to open her mouth.  But the past couple of nights she did better and tonight I didn’t even have to ask her about spanking.  So hopefully she’s learning that this is not an area she can negotiate with us!

We’re also thankful for our little girl’s sweet heart.  She gets sad when others get hurt or are sick or sad…it’s precious to watch her face show that look of concern!  I pray that God will mold her little heart to use that for His glory someday.  What a gift to have a heart of mercy and compassion. Don’t get me wrong…she can definitely show her sinful nature at any given moment by hitting or screaming “NO” at anyone who happens to be in her path.  That continues to be another area of constant discipline.  I was happy to read that most children go through this stage BEFORE hitting what’s known as “the terrible twos” and once they hit 2, they do much better for awhile before hitting the later 2s

Here are some shots of her lately…

I love this outfit...but once I saw the picture I decided she looks too old in it!!!

What a creative way to use your asparagus before eating it!

Trying to re-create the "mooo" from her Mayfield Dairy Contest at the Lookouts Game

I love the crazy hair...SHE wants to know just what I think I'm doing taking a picture of her like that

Her daddy took this picture...he was trying to get a shot of the back of her hair but she decided to strike a pose!

We went to an event called "Touch a Truck" where all the different service vehicles were there for the kids to see and, of course, touch.

She LOVES motorcycle and always wants to ride on them...well, here was her chance! She waited so patiently while some other kids had their turn but she was ever so excited to hop on herself. And she knew EXACTLY where to hold on!!

She also got excited about the cars that were just her size.

Here she is in a cement mixer. This was the only big truck she would get in and she even honked the LOUD horn. It was the last one we visited so I guess she was used to it all by then.

We are having a great time with this great girl!  We thank God for her and the joy she brings to our family.  Stay tuned for next month’s update…24 months = 2 years = CRAZY!!!

My friend Cristen blogged about this and I thought it was a great idea!  So here is a great book give-away…you can go to www.littlepageturners.blogspot.com and register as well

As most of you already know, David was recently laid off from his job.  However, I think he’s been working HARDER since losing his job and we’ve all been missing our family time.  I try not to complain though because we are VERY thankful that God is providing work for David to do.  It’s so amazing how much He loves us and takes care of us.

But, last Monday we all decided to take the day off   We slept in (thank you Graceyn!) and I went running.  Then the 3 of us went to the zoo together.  We hadn’t been since Graceyn was really little and we had so much fun!  You’ll see more of that below.  After the zoo and some lunch, David stayed home with Graceyn for a nap and I went to use a pedicure gift certificate that was a year and a half old!!!   I was so thankful that they still accepted it and thoroughly enjoyed my time   That night, we went downtown for dinner and ice cream and an evening of hanging out together on the bridge.  It was such a great day!  Thank you to my wonderful husband for working so hard and yet still taking the time off that we all needed.  We are so blessed and so loved.

Here is our trip to the zoo.  First stop was the chimpanzees.  It was really cool…as soon as we walked in, one of the chimps walked right over to us!  I think he was lonely because he hung out with us for a long time.  It took Graceyn a little bit to warm up to him (they’re not exactly the most attractive animals) but then she wanted to pet him.  When we saw him later on he was much happier because 2 of his chimpanzee friends were around

Graceyn liked to say “hi” and wave to all the monkeys…

She also loved the area where you could pet the animals!  Here she is with daddy

trying to get the puppy to come over so she could pet him…

"Come here doggie"

Good doggie!!!

She had to work up her courage for the goats but then she couldn’t get enough of them!

We highly recommend the zoo to all our Chattanooga friends!  You can get a membership for really cheap and then you can go say hi to the animals whenever you want

My new favorite thing to do with Graceyn is what I like to call “face smooshes.”  The “smoosher” lovingly puts her nose and mouth up to the “smooshees” cheek and rubs repeatedly   It’s a great way to show affection with my girl when she’s not in the mood for hugs and kisses!  And I’ve told her that she’s NOT allowed to give face smooshes to anyone but mommy so it’s our special thing   Now when she wants to do it, she’ll say “fay?” (face) and off we go.  I love it!

Update on the toddler bed…she has been sleeping all night long in her big girl bed and finally allows me to put her down at night again!   When she wakes up in the morning (usually at 6:50 give or take a couple of minutes…funny huh?) she walks into our room, comes around to my side and then either stands there until I acknowledge her or starts to climb up.  She’ll usually go back to sleep with us at that point.  Naptimes are still hit or miss.  But we haven’t been as consisten with those so we’ll keep working!

Also, I think the very next day after I posted her 22 month update and said she didn’t really know her colors, she decide to prove me wrong once again!  When she’s looking at her markers she consistently knows pink, purple, orange, brown, yellow, green, blue and usually red.  She’s not always as good recognizing the colors of other objects but that will come with time.  She also knows the letter “Y” now and I have one shirt that spells “COX” and she recognizes each of those letters on my shirt.  She can also put together puzzles much better as of a few days ago and can put together the matching animal halves on her Leap Frog magnetic barn that goes on the fridge.  Fun to see her learning so much

Final update…Graceyn had her first 15 seconds of fame Saturday night.  We went to the Lookouts Baseball game with some friends and entered Graceyn into a mooing contest…go ahead and laugh   Mayfield Dairy sponsors this contest at every game and they always choose 3 little ones to stand on top of the first base dugout and give their best “moo.”  Graceyn was the smallest one this time so of course she won just cause she was so stinkin’ cute.  But her “moo” cracked everyone up…it was cute but very precise and barely audible!!  A friend of ours, Evan, was up there with us.  He held Graceyn’s hand so she wouldn’t be scared, definitely had the best “moo” and deserved to win.  AND he’s cute too…stinks when you’re not the littlest any more.  He was a great sport though and was just excited that he got to keep the t-shirts they gave the kids.  I was excited about Graceyn’s prize…a free 6 pack novelty item from Mayfield…Turtle Bar here I (I mean Graceyn) come!    We plan to share with Ev and his mommy and daddy   We’re kicking ourselves for not having our cameras with us but they had a good time and so did we!  We’ll have to get a shot of them in their matching shirts.

Okay, so the first night of trying out the new toddler bed ended with Graceyn in the crib crying until she went to sleep.  Naptime the next day was more of the same.  BUT, I was gone for 2 days last week and Graceyn hasn’t gone to sleep well since then.  So the bed may not be the culprit and we wanted to make the transition the least traumatic as possible.  We’ve been letting her choose where she wants to sleep and, other than in mommy and daddy’s bed, the toddler bed has been her choice.  So tonight David rocked her and rocked her before finally putting her down.  She still didn’t want him to leave and cried when he did.  So he went back in for another attempt at making the event pleasant   He stayed with her for quite awhile but she still wanted to get up anytime he made a move for the door.  We haven’t decided yet whether getting out of bed is going to be a spanking offense…and again, we were trying to reduce the trauma…so he went over and said, “Graceyn if you don’t lay down and go to sleep you’ll have to go back to your crib.”  She thought about it for a second…and laid down!!!  There was only a slight whimper to follow when David opened the door to leave but she never got up.  Apparently the wording was JUST different enough from the way I’d phrased it earlier in the day to make the difference   I am so proud of him for how patient he is with our daughter at bedtime!  When I put her down, I want to pray with her, rock for a few minutes, kiss her and be finished.  But he is so good to stay in there as long as she needs…and then to be firm when he knows it’s time for that as well.  What a good daddy!

I never posted this because I was waiting to take pictures.  We are now on day 3 with the toddler bed and yet Graceyn is napping away in her crib once again!  However, she DID sleep for 3 hours yesterday!!!  And has slept the last 2 nights in her big girl bed without getting up until morning.  Both times daddy put her down so I think that’s his new job   We’ll just keep both set up so I can put her down for a nap in her crib and David can put her down for the night in her bed.  That’s not a problem right?

A little coloring before naptime

"Meen uh, Meen uh" (Clean up, Clean up!)

And here it is!! She just looks too big though.

We are quickly approaching Graceyn’s 2nd birthday and I am again amazed by how much she is learning and growing!  She loves to chatter away and makes lots of new friends wherever we go    Even as we walk up and down the aisles at the grocery store, she says “hi” or “hey” to just about everyone we meet.  I love it as it brings a smile to so many people!  We also think she’s practicing for stand-up comedy because she will often go on and  on for up to 20 min just talking and laughing with anyone who will be her audience.

We are still working on colors and she is starting to recognize most of them.  The easiest for her is orange but her favorite seems to be purple.  She also likes pink, blue, yellow and red. She likes to practice her letters but I don’t think she really knows any of them yet.  But it’s fun to practice!

Graceyn loves her family and will ask over and over again where each person is.  We were with Gram and Grandaddy all last week so now she’s really missing David’s family.  She also asks for “Sho sho” (Miss Joy) and her children Lulu and Ezra; “Ela” (Evan), Sawa (Sara) and Mac; and now “Sheva” (Trevor), “Lili” (Livi), “Leli” (Levi), and “KK” (Clara Kate).

We love to sing together.  Her favorite for the past month has been “Rock-a-bye Your Bear” by the Wiggles.  It’s so fun to watch her do the motions and love every minute of it!  We did decide to buy another Wiggles video for the trip back to Chattanooga and to rotate.  The only time she watches them is in the car so that one video has gotten a little old for daddy and mommy.

Being outside is also still a favorite…especially swinging and playing in the rocks!  She also LOVES to climb and slide…her daddy already has visions of her rock climbing some day

And of course she combines her fun outdoorsy adventurous personality with her love for all things girly.  She loves shoes and bags, putting on deoderant and lotion, and telling mommy when she doesn’t like what I’ve picked out for her to wear.  We got her a pair of flip flops with pink sparkles on them and she didn’t want to take them off, even when it was time for her pj’s!  We also got her her first backpack so that I don’t have to keep carrying around the diaper bag everywhere.  Daddy doesn’t like it because she looks like she’s ready for school but it’s adorable and she loves it.  I’ll post pics of that later.

Last night we tried her toddler bed for the first time.  As we walked in the room I said, “Graceyn, what do you think?”  Her reply…”cool.”  It was so funny!  Of course she didn’t think it was so cool when it was time to go to sleep.  So she ended up in the crib last night and again today for her nap.

The pics below are from a few weeks ago when we spent a couple of hours pretending like we were back at the beach   We went to Lake Winnie to let her ride a few rides and then went for ice cream!  The ice cream part was lots of fun but she didn’t like the rides.  Finally, we all took a train ride around the park…she really loved that.  And then she consented to riding the flying elephants since mommy could ride with her.  We’re not sure why she liked the ones at the beach so much better…maybe she was just not in the mood

You'd never know it from this great smile, but less than 2 mintues later she was crying so much that they stopped the ride for her to get off!

Goin for a ride on the train!

Where are the elephants? (or elees as Graceyn says) "Pie!" (Up high!)

We didn't get a good one with her eyes open but she really did like this one since she could sit in my lap and wave to daddy way down below.

Ahhh...now this is more like it! An ice cream cone to share with mommy

Huh? Chocolate on my mouth? No way!

Mmmm...I love pretend vacations!