Flower Girl Grace and Visits From Family!

Hello!  Can you believe that I have an update already!  Twice in the same month- wow!  Since the last post, Grace, for the first time, was a flower girl!  Paul and Liz Sommer got married on June 4th and Grace did a wonderful job!  This first picture is of Grace and the ring bearer Noah at dress rehearsal getting ready to walk down the aisle.  Grace had a bouquet of flowers to hold during the wedding and pictures but both she and Noah carried pillows down the aisle with the rings on them. Below is Grace all ready for the wedding!

 This picture was taken right after the wedding on our way to take more pictures and then the reception.  Grace and Holtz were alseep in like 5 minutes!

Now, I did take several videos with my phone during the wedding.  Grace got the urge to dance every time the soloist sang...really sweet and cute.  (Remember that these could take a little bit to load so just be patient and they will come up.)  The first video she is standing down in the front row swaying from side to side.  The next one she is standing up with the girls.  Check out her curtsy!  Ha ha...so funny.  The next one is HILARIOUS!  I'm not certain what she is doing...maybe giggling to herself.  The last video is of she and Noah being introduced at the reception.  They look like pros!

 Here's yet another happy picture of Holtz outside- always a good happy boy when he's outside.  He was being really funny...chewing on grass!

Uh oh...caught red handed on top of the table.   This child has no fear!  The other day he was playing on our neighbors swing set.  He was in the top portion which is about 4 feet up and was playing next to an opening.  He grabbed on to a wood piece over his head and swung his legs out- holy crap!  Thank goodness he held on b/c even though I was only about a foot away, it happened so quickly there is a good chance that he would've fallen.

 He's gonna be mad at me in the future for these next two photos but I just couldn't resist!  Again, another picture of him in shoes-  Most of the time I wonder what his fascination is with shoes but here he had on Grace's high heeled flamenco shoes that made loud noises when he stomped on the tile.  He thought it was the greatest thing...and yes, he put the shoes on himself! 

Just a cute one...  Holtz so badly wants to be a big boy and do big boy things.  He says cawcar now for cracker, and uh oh.  He loves to sit on the bench at the table like Grace.

 We got a surprise visit from Uncle Phil and his family.  They were driving home from their vacation in Hilton Head.  Here's Grace with her cousin Lillian (also 5 years old).  They had a ball!  Grace had her first week of summer camps.  She attended 'Lets Have a Ball' camp at Camp Curiosity at The Lexington School.  She really loved it and can't wait for her next camp.  She's taking swim lessons at the YMCA twice a week for three weeks and just moved up in gymnastics to an hour and a half class once a week.  She is a busy little girl but is loving every minute of it! 

 Our 9 year old nephew Sammy.  He is absolutely wonderful!

 Aunt Michelle with Parker (just turned 2).  Holtz and Parker are going to have fun in a year or so- gonna get in some trouble!

 Parker and Holtz playing in the tent.

We also got a surprise visit from Evan's cousin Parker and his family.  They were heading home from the Mumford and Sons concert in Ashford, NC!  Parker and Katie are Grace's God Parents.  Their little boy, Henry, is 4 months old and is just as cute as a button!  Lucky little guy to have such cool parents to take him to concerts!  He is such a good little baby too!  Grace and Holtz just couldn't get enough of him!  I knew that Grace loved little babies but surprisingly Holtz really loved him too!

Here's something funny that happened.  The other day I woke Grace up and when she yawned, I noticed that she had a new molar.  She didn't even know it was coming in!  That was a nice change from teething Holtz who has felt every tooth coming in!  That's all for now, hope you enjoyed the post.

Easter, Ballet Open House, Last Day of Preschool, Lots of Outside Fun...

Happy Easter!  I know I'm a little late but Happy Easter anyways.  Hope everyone had a great day.  We were excited because Uncle Mikey decided last minute to fly in to Lexington to spend the day with us.  It was a great Easter...coloring Easter eggs, Easter egg hunt, candy galore, etc. 

 Grace found some old sponge rollers in my closet (who knew they were in there- he he) and decided she was old enough to sleep in them.  Here's a before...and after!  At the table she's writing thank you cards to everyone for her birthday presents.  So cute with her curly hair.  She has since discovered that if she sleeps in a bun, then her hair will be perfectly wavy the next morning.  And, believe it or not, she can put her own hair in a bun-

 A one of a kind Grace performance..rollers and all!  What a beautiful bedtime ballerina-  We are lucky, Grace performs for us all the time.  Sometimes she gives us little finger puppets to throw at her when she's finished and we pretend they are roses- ha!

 Her first year of ballet lessons has come to an end.  She had a ballet open house that Bob and Sharon came down for.  All of the little girls (I believe ages 3-6ish) from all classes performed one dance for us in the studio and then we had a small reception.  Grace was the line leader in her dance and led the class in a circle skipping.

 Holtz giving Grace a big hug!  He loves her!

 So proud of our little girl!

 We met our friends Jeremy and Shannon, and their daughter Olivia, in Cincinnati at the museum.  We were supposed to go to the zoo but as you can see, it was drizzling out that day.  It's always a good time to catch up with friends! 

 Grace putting on a puppet show for Holtz.

 Grace's last day of preschool was 5/20 and they had a spring performance.  Here are several pictures showing some of the art that she did in school.  I actually took pictures of each individual piece and made a picture book so I'll always have them to treasure!

 You can see Grace in the picture above in the back row (teal shirt).  Each class had a shirt with their class color and name so when the kids went to art class and gym class (once a week) their teachers would know who they are and what class they belong to.  Grace was really sick the day of her program!  Grammie drove down to see it and really enjoyed it!  Grace's buddy, Kate, also goes to Immanuel Baptist.  She's in the front row turned a little-

 Grace's teacher on recess found a little bird (I think a parakeet) hurt on the playground.  They 'rescued' it and it became the class pet.  They named it Kibou which means hope in Japanese.  Her class had several Japanese students in it so it was just perfect! 

 Her teachers Miss Becky (Edgar) (on the left) and Mrs. Bonnie (Barber) (on the right).  Mrs. Bonnie took over for Mrs. Prather halfway through the school year.

 The next night after Grace's program the girls had a girls night out.  Usually we do a house rotation and each bring a bottle of wine and an appetizer but since this was the first month of nice weather, we decided to do it downtown!  We had so much fun!!

 Something very exciting happened during my girls night out.  Some of our best friends, Erik and Daniele, were going to have their baby!  I got the call from Daniele (too far in to my girls night out to drive) that her water had broken and she needed us to meet her to pick up Dylan for the night.  Evan came to the rescue!  He took Grace over to our neighbors house (because we needed her car seat for Dylan) and he met Daniele's neighbor with Dylan and brought him over to our house.  So, on May 21, Grace had her first sleep over with her best boy buddy Dylan!  It was fun!  Well, it was in the middle of the night when he came over but we sure did have fun the next morning!  I'll tell you, these are two cute kids in pj's!

Here is Dylan and Grace holding Allie Annette Milholland born on May 22 at 8:05am.  She was 7 lbs. 8 oz. and 19 3/4 in. long!  Daniele's delivery went great and they are all adjusting well!  Dylan loves being a big brother and is wonderful at it!  Don't they all look precious!

 Now for some random cute pictures and tidbits!  Grace has learned how to whistle.  She's been trying for awhile now but just got it figured out!  Another thing Grace is doing is pretending to talk with a helium voice.  After her birthday party, Evan thought it would be just great to inhale helium from her balloons.  Good job Dad-  I wish I had it on video because it is funny!  I'm not sure if I posted this before but Grace (and her friends) are fixated on being a dog.  Her teacher, Mrs. Bonnie, told us at parent teacher conference that the girls play dog on recess and now Grace and her friends in the neighborhood do it on play dates too.  Weird  but cute!

 Holtz's favorite thing, by far, is still shoes.  What is wrong with this boy- he he!  He can actually put his tennis shoes on by himself (on the correct feet)!  Other than that, he's had all of his teeth since he was 14 months and we think his 2 year molars are moving in already.  We'll notice him drooling and putting his hands in his mouth more than normal for several days...then it stops for a week or two and then starts back again.  We imagine he'll have his 2 year molars soon-  He can put necklaces on and take them off by himself now, can sit in a rocking chair by himself, and do wooden peg puzzles.  He also makes blowing noises with is mouth if I say something is hot or says brrr when something is cold. 

 Parker and Katie bought these awesome shades for Grace for her 1st birthday.  I have no idea how they are still intact but they are still a favorite here!  Here's a couple of funny pics...

 Oh yeah, Grace can still rock the shades!  Get this...here's a big accomplishment for Grace.  There are different levels/ classes where she attends gymnastics.  She started out in Little Foals (3 year old class), moved up to Big Foals when she turned 4 and actually moved up to Fillies (5 year class) one session before she was 5.  She just turned 5 in April so has been in the Fillies class for, I think, two 8 week sessions.  The next class up is Star Fillies (Invite Only) and after that (Extended Star Fillies- 1 1/2 hr. class- (also invite only).  She has been moved up to Extended Star Fillies already!  Woo hoo- she's a gymnastics superstar!

 Grace still loves reading to her baby brother.  She still tries to help me with him.  Last week we went on our daily walk in the morning.  When we got home, I went in the other room for a second and in that time, Grace decided that Holtz didn't need to be on the steps so she pulled him down, causing him to fall on his mouth on the tile (she says on her shoe but it's questionable- grin).  Well, he busted up his chin, bottom and top lips and the gums above his top right tooth.  Yikes!  I took him to the dentist and they said it looked like his soft tissue took the damage and had a laceration in his tissue.  Said it could be a month or so to see if his tooth is going to turn dark- please oh please don't let his front middle tooth turn dark!  Crap right?  Will keep you posted!  Holtz surprising is very good on the stairs- when he doesn't have somebody pulling on him! 

 Now a little bragging...I decided I was tired of how dirty and gross our grout was in our foyer/ kitchen/ breakfast area.  After having Coit come out twice to clean it unsuccessfully, I decided to buy grout paint and paint the grout myself.  It was been the easiest most satisfying project.  It really looks brand new and so far has held up to my steam mop.  Can you believe the difference?  The lighter is what I've painted.

 We have been spending almost every waking hour outside recently.  The weather has just been beautiful!  Here is Grace and our neighbor Savannah.  Holtz is down at the bottom of the picture- check out his name on his hat.  Pretty awesome!  When Grace was younger, she didn't give a darn whether we were outside- she actually preferred to be inside but now that the Holtzer is here, he is happiest outside so we are outside a lot!

 Holtz and his buddy Ryder- they play really well together!

 Isn't this a beautiful picture!  Definitely frame worthy-  Another funny thing about Holtz.  When he hears Evan open his office door upstairs or if we walk by his office, he screams DaDa- loud...loud...LOUD!  Such a riot.  He gets so excited when Evan comes downstairs after work- really a daddy's boy now!  We call him spirited around here...he's a hand full- oh my!  This really is the nicest way to put it.  How could such mischief come out of such a cute little boy.

 Picnic on the back deck with Megan, Abigail, Lauren and Grace.

 Such a skinny little fella-

 Megan, Grace and Abigail in our neighbor's hammock...thanks neighbors!

 Holtz and Lauren- so lucky to have kids the same age as my kids over!

 Trying to keep the girls busy.  They were painting our fence with water and paint brushes...the determination!  Don't miss Grace's butterfly wings- she wore them all day!

 Last but certainly not least.  May 25th was Ralph's 7th birthday!  Happy Birthday Ralph man!

I hope everyone enjoyed the pictures.  This weekend we head to Indiana to help Evan's cousin Paul and his fiance Liz celebrate their wedding!  Grace is the flower girl (her first time) so this is very big.  She's been practicing every day!