Wednesday, October 14, 2009

Pumpkin Patch and Pine Cone Birdfeeders

We'll, we've been getting into the holidays here in Lexington. Grace and I decorated the entire house to make it very halloween-y. We have halloween posters hanging up on the walls and doors, halloween window stickers on the front and back of the house and even ghosts and pumpkins hanging on our trees out front! It's fun and Grace loved it-
We went to Evan's Orchard again this year (pumpkin patch). It's our third year in a row going and this year we went with Dylan (Erik and Daniele), Owen (Megan and Chris), and Kate (Jen and Jeremy). We couldn't believe how much they have expanded their facility. What a money maker- good for them. This year we did everything...played in play land, took a wagon ride, went to the petting zoo, Grace rode a pony (named Chestnut) and of course, bought a pumpkin. What a busy and wonderful day with friends! Grace has such a super time getting together with her friends...we don't do it often enough.


Today, Grace and I made pine cone birdfeeders to hang out back in our trees. We made 10 so we may share some with friends as well (grin). We got some pine cones from Mimi and Poppy's house earlier this year and are just now getting around to making the bird feeders. I think they are best in the fall and winter so we'll see how the birds like them. I put the peanut butter all over the pine cones and Grace rolled them in bird seed. Now we just have to wait for them to harden up a bit (and stop raining) and we'll go hang them.

I have so many pictures that I did my best narrowing them down...but there are still a lot- enjoy!













Monday, October 5, 2009

Nursery pictures...and more-

Well, the day arrived- I had my 30th birthday! It was a normal day- we decided to celebrate with a party after I have the baby. When Evan got off work, he and Grace went to Dairy Queen to get me my favorite ice cream cake- yummy! Then Evan made steaks for dinner- even though we didn't have a big shin-dig, it was a perfect evening and exactly what I wanted and needed. Grace was on her best behavior also- such a good girl!

Grace's friend Abby attends a dance class that introduces ballet, tap and tumbling. Last week, it was 'bring a friend to class day' so Abby invited Grace to come along. Luckily, Grace was a ballerina last year for halloween so she already had a leotard and tutu. She didn't have ballet shoes but her Lelli Kelly's worked perfectly!


At first, Grace was nervous. This was her first time to be in a class without me there. She lasted about 10 minutes and then got upset and came out of the room to sit with me for a bit. During that 10 minutes she didn't really follow the teacher's instructions, just mainly watched what the other kids were doing (stretching). I got her to go back in and she lasted this time about 5 minutes and again, really just stood back and watched. I finally decided to use the old "bribe" trick. I told her if she went back in to finish the class, we could go to Fresh Market to pick out a sucker. She went back in and really enjoyed the rest of the class. I think the teacher
finally realized that Grace needed individual prompting to participate. Once she started calling Grace by name, Grace joined right in. Abby was wonderful with her too- it was really sweet to watch Abby show Grace how to do things.
We are hoping to enroll Grace in a gymnastics class in several weeks. I really think it will help build her confidence- she's so reserved and shy.
I've been taking her again to the library. She's now in a program called preschool play and learn. It's for children between the ages of 3-5 and meets once a week. They sing and dance, read stories and do an art project at the end. Each class focuses on one letter and the books and craft relate to that letter.
Here are some pics of the nursery. We've decided to go with a jungle theme since we couldn't really agree on any other theme. I found the jungle stickers on-line and Evan and I both loved them. You can't see the detail in the pictures but each object has really neat designs so it's very unique. Eventually we'll get the bedding, shelves and pictures to finish the room but we feel like we have a great start by painting and putting up the stickers.
We had an ultrasound last Tuesday. Everything is going great and at 21 weeks, our baby weighs around 15 oz. Heart beat was still strong at 157. We have our next ultrasound next Tuesday!
That's all for now- Enjoy-