Christmas 2008

Santa Claus came to Lexington this year! What a wonderful Christmas! Grace was really into Christmas this year. She loved Santa too until she had to sit on his lap- ha ha- that was a no go. I still got a great picture though! This was probably the best holiday in a long time (because we didn't travel). It was so nice to not be exhausted after the holidays.

Bob and Sharon made the trip down for Christmas. They had a terrible drive down- the same day Indiana and Kentucky had an ice storm. A 4 1/2 hour drive turned in to a 9 hour drive- yikes! We are just glad that they made it here safely.

Grace was so funny Christmas morning. She came downstairs and saw all of the presents- what a grin! What was funny though was she waited until I gave her a present to open. Did she tear it open like most kids? No way- she would pull one little piece of paper off the present... throw it away, tear another piece off...throw it away, etc. I wanted to say, "C'mon, let's get on it" but didn't want to jinx myself. She's so good at picking up toys and putting things away. So, it was a long morning of unwrapping presents- but a really good one. And I just realized Bob has the photos from opening presents- I'll have to add those later.

It's been awhile since Grace has gotten together with her buddies but we saw both Dylan and Owen last week. Dylan came to hang out with us for 1/2 day Christmas Eve morning b/c his daycare was closed. I'm always so happy to watch him- he is just adorable! Then we got to see Owen the day after Christmas. Owen and Grace had a super time playing at the play land at Fayette Mall. They are such good buddies- even after not seeing each other for probably several months, they knew each other instantly and picked up right where they left off.

Family night tonight was crafty! We started playing Old maid and Go Fish (she doesn't really get those games yet but it's a start). Then we had a pizza picnic on the living room floor (which Grace loved). Then we made masks! Grace loved looking through the eye holes at the reflection in the mirror- what an experience! We also played charades (we would act like an animal, pretend like we were licking an ice cream cone, etc.) and let Grace guess what we were doing. Not surprisingly, she was really good at it. We need to do something more challenging next time.

I think we are going to lay low for New Year's Eve- are we getting old or what? Grace has been feeling kind-of icky the past couple of days. Hopefully Evan and I can make it until midnight so I can have my good luck kiss. Yummy!

Hope you had a Merry Christmas. Have a safe and Happy New Year's Eve!

2009- A New Year's Resolution is something that comes in one year and out the other (grin).

It snowed!

Brrr...it's been cold recently...and we got snow! Around three inches of snow fell a week ago so Grace and I bundled up to go play in the back yard! I'm not a huge fan of the cold but Grace has never played in snow so I figured why not. We tried to build a snowman but didn't have much luck. There was a sheet of ice on top of the snow so we couldn't roll the snowballs- we were able to make a little snowman by packing snowballs with our hands. Our little guy was about 7 in. tall (aww..very cute)- Grace's new phrase of choice. She really loved walking through the snow and turning around to see Mommy's, Grace's and Ralphy's footprints behind us. Hopefully we can take her sledding the next time it snows. I think she would love that!

Darlene (Grace's adopted Grandma- actually Sharon's first cousin but she says that Grace is like her Grandchild- aww. very cute) took a cruise to New Zealand and bought Grace some fuzzy lamb slippers. Aren't they just adorable? Grace really loves them- She also sent a really cute t-shirt with lambs on it to match. Grace is one lucky little girl-

For family night last Tuesday we made a gingerbread house. I don't remember ever making one growing up and Evan said that he made one ages ago- so it was a learning experience for the three of us. Evan was in charge of the icing and Grace and I mostly did the candy. How wonderful that the sets that you buy at the store have the gingerbread house pieces already cooked- basically everything we needed was sold in a great kit. Makes it very easy for inexperienced parents...and toddlers. Grace loved making the candy stick to the icing. I think we have a perfect finished product. What do you think?

Merry Christmas!

Thanksgiving

We sure do have a lot to give thanks for this year. We've had a wonderful year living in Lexington, we have our health and a smart, helpful, and happy daughter. She really is the light of our lives- pure entertainment all day, every day (well almost every day- grin).

It really is amazing to see how Grace has grown and changed over the past year. Not only is she taller but her personality and smarts have come out this year. If you can imagine- she knew her letters around 18 months old and knew all of her phonics soon after she turned two. I figured the next step was to teach her to read...and guess what...she can read! She's great at 2 letter words (in, at, of, on, etc.) and does well with 3 letter words (Sam, hat, get, etc.). She even knows some 4 letter words. I can't begin to tell you how rewarding being a stay at home mom is now that I can actually see and hear what she's learning from me. You know, when you have a baby, of course they are learning every second of the day (facial expressions, food textures, etc.) but the reward is different. You might get a smile or a chuckle. But gosh, now observing how Grace acts around strangers, how she picks up her toys, how she loves to help me around the house, how polite she is- it's just amazing. I know that she learned these things starting when she was a baby by watching Evan and I but now that she's actually doing and mimicking what we have done is just fantastic! It really does reinforce, to me at least, that I really did do something right...and have been doing the right thing around her for a long time. I wish everybody that read my blog could spend time with her because my words just can't describe her. We have been very blessed that she has been healthy this year and hope we can say the same about next year.

Again, we had a great Thanksgiving this year. My brother Dave and his wife Jen were in town from California this year and made a trip Lexington to see our new house. We were so flattered that they made the time to come down because they are always so busy visiting others when they came back home to Indiana. they came to our house Wednesday and stayed until Thursday morning. Gosh, did we have fun. It was so great to have them here and wish they would move here so we could see them more often. I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

Thursday we drove to Wabash to have Thanksgiving with the Beauchamp family. What fun! We were able to see almost everybody (Grandmere, Grandad, Mimi, Poppy, all of the Aunts and Uncles...and cousins). I think the only people we didn't see were Parker and Katie and Andy and Alisa and hopefully we'll see them soon. We hope they had just as happy of a Thanksgiving as we did. Friday we spent the day and night at my mom's house and Saturday we headed to my dad's house for another feast! Again- so much fun. The entire Brunsman family was there (all of the siblings- doesn't happen often since we are all spread out). We always love to get together and appreciate the opportunity to do it- thanks Dad and Billie! Your new house looks amazing-

We've started family night here in Lexington with last night being our first night. We took Grace to see Santa and got a wonderful (better than expected) picture. Grace didn't want to sit on his lap but she did tell him that she wanted presents for Christmas (big boxes, little boxes, and red boxes...he he.- oh, and pink tights and candy). Then we went to Chuck-E-Cheese. We've been once before (Owen's birthday party). Grace was a little more hesitant this time with some of the rides but she still had a blast! And with her tickets she was able to get a piece of candy, a pink comb, stickers and a sticky frog.

Today and the rest of the week Ball Homes (our homebuilder) is going to be here to fix everything on our one year list. Believe it or not, it's been great! We'll see how the rest of the week goes- I'll keep you posted. So far, so good...no...so far, so fantastic! Yup, I'm still corny.

Grace has started playing her piano and singing along. It is toooo cute. And she has started saying "alright" after everything. I can say ,"Mommy's funny" and she'll say, "Mommy's funny alright!" Ha ha- Hilrious! Our buddy Mike (aka Milhouse) gave her a remote control helicoptor- she's really good flying it (better than me- no kidding). And we are still going strong making homemade pizza. Grace loves to roll out the dough herself- and of course, she's good at it! Ha ha.

Have a good week- Jen

Trick or treating

We've had a fun and busy couple of weeks. Evan's parent's (Mimi and Poppy) came to visit the weekend before Halloween. We took them to Evan's Orchard (the same pumpkin patch we went to last year with my mom- Grammie). Quite a coincidence on the name huh? Evan thinks so... Grace took a pony ride on O.J. and we all took a ride behind a tractor around the apple orchards. And we saw lots and lots of pumpkins! Grace and Mimi made pumpkin cupcakes here at home and Evan and I carved really cool pumpkins! Grace didn't want any part of the gooey pumpkin guts.

Trick or treating was a big deal this year because it was Grace's first time. Wow- did she have fun! She was a beautiful ballerina- make-up and all. I stayed home to pass out candy while Evan took Grace around the neighborhood. I figured they'd be back with-in 30 mins. but they were out for over an hour- Grace loved it that much! And she's still loving the candy. After trick or treating- we went over to Daniele and Erik's house (and little Dylan) for a driveway party/ cook-out. We love that they live right here in our neighborhood.

Last weekend, we went to my college gal pal's wedding in Columbus, OH. Wow- she looked so beautiful! Congratulations Mr. and Mrs. Chad and Melissa Forbes! I was honored to be asked to sing in their wedding. It was great to catch up with Melissa's family and to meet Chad's family. Thank you for making us feel so welcome during the rehearsal, rehearsal dinner, and wedding. Melissa's sister, Carrie, has a little girl named Abby who is 3 1/2. She and Grace had a great time playing together. Grace is still a little shy but warmed up to her several times. It was so cute watching them play and hold hands. We are lucky that both of our kids are so well behaved- they were both absolutely perfect the entire weekend. I don't have any pics yet but will add them later when I get some. Oh- and I almost forgot, Grace and Evan had their first father/ daughter dance here.

We went to a halloween party at a friend's house a couple of weekends ago...I made spooky cookies. Do you like them?

It's football season!

Hooray for football season! Thanks to my college buddy KatieLady, Grace is in my Notre Dame fan club! Although Notre Dame isn't playing perfectly this year- they are playing much better than last year. Let's hope next year will be even better. Grace actually does like to join Evan and I when we watch the games and loves to throw her arms in the air and yell touchdown with ND scores. Really funny! And how about those Colts? How in the heck did they win that game last week? Unbelievable yet really amazing! Unfortunately, Grace outgrew the Colts dress I made her last year...remember that?

Evan and I attended our friends wedding on Sept. 13th. We are so happy for Jeremy and Shannon! The wedding and reception (at the Embassy Theatre in Ft. Wayne, IN) was gorgeous and it was so much fun to catch up with all of our long-time friends. Mimi and Poppy watched Grace for the night so we had a night to ourselves. It was a late night for us- reminds us that we are no longer in our college years. (grin)

Evan and I also drove to Connecticut the weekend of September 28th (aka my b-day-hooray) for another wedding. We were expecting a long and tiring drive and were pleasantly surprised when it went really quickly. We both felt refreshed when we got home- can't beat that. The trees were already changing up there so our drive was almost like driving through a painting...so beautiful. Grammie came to Lexington and watched Grace for us that entire weekend. We are so lucky!

Our friends Kristin and Mat came to visit also last month with their new bundle of joy Caleb. Gosh is he cute! And such a good baby. I think being around a baby is giving me baby fever...ha ha. Grace loved sharing her toys with him and watching him jump in his exersaucer...and loved playing with his toys too. She was really gentle and caring with him- I find it amazing how she interacts with other kids, especially young ones.

We've been staying really busy recently. We've been going to story time at the library every Wednesday morning and have also been going to the park frequently. We've been doing a ton of arts and crafts mostly for Evan's Grandmother and Grandad who are in the hospital. They are going to have quite a collection before too long. We just hope that Grace's art brightens their days. We've been coloring, cutting, gluing, painting, etc.

Oh- I almost forgot! Opening day at Keeneland was last weekend. Grace loves to see the horses and mommy and daddy love to try our luck with betting on them. I was lucky last Saturday- won $55 on a $2 bet. Wish I were a more risky gambler b/c I could've made a fortune! I was really happy with my winnings and went out and bought Grace a fish tank for her room. She feeds them every morning and night and has been a really good mommy to her 5 fish babies.

I think that's all for now! We are looking forward to my little brother Mikey's visit this weekend. Back to Keeneland we go...

Grace's week with Mimi and Poppy!

Hola amigos!
Evan and I just got back from a week in Cancun! While we were away, Evan's parents were nice enough to watch Grace for us. As much as we missed Grace, we felt very fortunate to have family watch her for us. They kept busy during most of the week here in Lexington.

They took Grace to the Kentucky Horse Park and Grace was able to take her first pony ride! They said she had a very serious look on her face the entire ride- concentrating very hard. Ha ha. The pony's name was King! Too funny! They also took her to see the Parade of Breeds, where she greeted the horses in their stalls before the performance!

During their visit, they also went to Shaker Village of Pleasant Hill. This is America's largest restored Shaker community. It's a 3,000 acre National Historic Landmark. They took Grace on a horse drawn carriage ride and found lots of sticks, leaves, and rocks later!

Grandad's 90th birthday party was a lot of fun also. It's always great fun to get the entire family together. We took Grace on a ride around the lake on a pontoon boat. She loves to drive the boat and wave to the other boaters.

Grace's new favorite thing is a water fountain. She gets such a kick out of pushing the buttons and seeing the water come out. And she doesn't just want to push it once- she wants to push it until we tear her away from it!

Photography this week is all from Bob Beauchamp- thanks so much for taking pictures while we were away. I love them!

Adios!

What to write...what to write...

Well, I've been stewing over what to write this week because, to be honest, we really haven't done anything new or exciting. I'm a complete downer!!! Well, I'm sure I can come up with something...let's see..........

The thing that gives Grace the biggest amount of joy right now is a music box that Aunt Marianne gave her for her 2nd birthday. It's the first thing she wants to play with in the morning (she says horsy) and the last thing she wants to hear before bed. Not to mention the many times throughout the day that she sneaks up to her room to listen to it. It really is something! When you lift the lid, it has a horse spinning around in front of a mirror and it plays 'My Old Kentucky Home.' She loves to open and close all of the drawers and she even knows how to wind it up when it stops playing. Out of all of her toys (throughout her entire life), I've never seen her so pleased with anything... it really is a treasure.

We took a trip up to Wabash a couple of weekends ago to visit with Evan's family. Since moving to Lexington, we really appreciate more the time we have with family, whether we visit them or they come here. My mom was nice enough to watch Ralph (our favorite black dog!) and feed us dinner both Friday and Sunday. Thanks mom! While we were in Wabash, we were able to see Evan's Grandparents (Bob and Verna Margaret), Uncle Mike, Parker and Katie, and Carl and Marianne...and of course Evan's parents. It's fun to have them see Grace and notice changes (we don't notice as much because we see her every day). You know- Grace has grown almost 3/4 of an inch in just 3 months. She's really getting tall!

Almost last but not least- my brother Phil came down to visit with us last weekend. We were glad that he was able to come down to spend the time with us and see our new place. We are looking forward to having Dave and Jen down over the holidays too. Even though we are far away- our thoughts are with you guys always.

On a brighter note- we are excited to head up to Wabash again this coming weekend to help Evan's Grandad celebrate his 90th birthday! What a milestone!! We are honored to be a part of it.

Love, us

July 4th weekend and more

We were so happy to have our friends Katie and Craig VanTornhout visit us this year for July 4th. Katie has been one of my best friends for the past 9 years (met in college) and it has just been too long since we've seen each other. We decided to take part in the country music concert downtown Lexington called Red, White and Boom! It featured the artists Bucky Covington (American Idol finalist), Sarah Johns, Tracy Lawrence, Billy Currington John Michael Montgomery and more! Grace's friend Abigail came to watch the fireworks too! The kids really enjoyed themselves! We went to one of the local pools for the first time last week. It was more like a water park! Creatures to sit on, toddler water slides, fountains, bubbles, etc! Other than Grace being really cold (brrrrr), I know she had fun. We went with Grace's friends Megan and Abigail (and their mommy's of course).

We've also been going to Polo in the Park at the Kentucky Horse Park. Polo matches are played every Friday and Sunday for about 5 weeks and so far, we've been both times they've had it. We bring a blanket and some treats for Grace and watch the horses run back and forth. We even help stomp the divots at half time.

Last weekend, Grammie came to watch Grace so Evan and I could go to a bachelor/ bachelorette party. Grammie really enjoyed herself and really enjoyed being with Grace. She was so amazed with how much she has changed since the last time she saw her. Grace got her first black eye right before Grammie came- poor thing. She ran right into a chair- Ouch!

Grace and I also went to storytime at the library for the first time today with Megan (and Michelle). I am so happy that I've met Michelle and Nella because they always have something fun in mind to do with the girls.

Growing up so fast

Well- we've had a really big week here. We've been very fortunate recently to have met some really nice families in our neighborhood. We have started spending a lot of time with two different families: Justin, Michelle and Megan (almost 2 years old) and Greg, Nella and Abigail (also almost 2 years old). We also still spend a lot of time with our friends Megan, Chris and Owen also. We've had so much fun getting to know them and letting our little ones play. I feel very lucky to have met them because they have lived in Lexington longer than me and they know about things for children to do around town. Grace and I have been going to Megan and Abigail's houses for playdates mid week also which has been great fun! It's nice that they live only a block away- we are so lucky!


Last weekend, we went to a blueberry farm with Greg, Nella and Abigail. They were having special weekend events the day that we went. We started off with a blueberry pancake breakfast. Delicious! Then we went on a horse drawn wagon ride around the farm. The girls really enjoyed this. Next, we picked blueberries and rasberries and finally, while the guys paid for our new fruit, we girls had a little picnic in the shade.



Monday morning, Evan and I decided that Grace was ready for her big girl bed. As soon as she woke up, we transitioned her crib into a toddler bed. We watched her on the monitor during her nap on Monday and gosh was that funny! She was getting in and out of her bed- new found freedom! She was pulling books off of her shelf and then going back to her bed to read them. I had to go in twice to remind her that it was nap time and both times, she ran to her bed, put her head on her pillow, and closed her eyes- how does she know to pretend like she is asleep- what a hoot! Since that nap- she has stayed in her bed for all of her naps and for bedtime. We have been pleasantly surprised about how easy it has been to make the transition. We also have started her drinking out of a big girl cup during meal times. For the most part- she's done really well.

Tuesday morning, Grace and I went to the movie theatre for the first time to watch The Bee Movie. We went with Michelle and Megan and Nella and Abigail. Again- we are very lucky to have met them!!! There was a film festival in town so the movie was completely free for us to attend. The girls did a great job and really seemed to enjoy themselves. At the end of the movie the girls started to get a little antsy so we did leave slightly early but we were proud of how well behaved they were.



Tonight we took Grace outside for the first time to ride her tricycle. She has been riding it inside for the past week or two but we figured it was time to let her try out her new found skill out on the sidewalk. She again, did surprisingly well. She really is growing up so fast and we've noticed such big changes in her personality since we potty trained. She has become much more independent, "Me do it". We are really pleased with how well she follows direction and are thankful that she is well behaved...good parenting (grin).

Hope you enjoyed todays blog- we certainly have been busy. We really are living up and loving life. Love, A Very Busy Mommy