Happy 3rd Birthday Gracie!

MY LITTLE G IS TURNING 3!

Happy birthday to my Gracie Girl
Today you are turning 3

It seems like only yesterday you were a baby

Tiny, cute and cuddling with me

Time is going by too fast

I'm cherishing every moment I have with you

I don't want to you to grow up

But I know you will in a blink or two

I think back to all the things you have done this year

You love to talk and we can now have conversations together

You love to laugh and joke

These are the moments I will cherish forever

You have grown up so much since you have turned 2

You love to bake cookies and help cook

You are getting very good at doing puzzles

And you are good at reading books

You can sing your ABC's

And count up to fifteen

You know all your shapes and colors

Your favorite you tell me is green

This year you became a big sister

And how fun it's been watching you play that role

Presley and Evie love you to pieces

I know it's because you have a good heart and soul

You can now sings songs

And even use the potty

And you definately have tons of fun

When you see your BFF Scotty

You have a love for Spidey, Hulk, and Wolverine

That's in thanks to dad

You have the movies and the figurines

But I know you still love the princesses so I won't get mad

You are turing in to an independant girl

And I know you would from the day you born

You are picky about what you eat

Now we just got to work on vegetables and corn

You love to eat peanut butter and jelly

And you love to help make toast

And seeing how you love to help with everything
Is what I love the most

You have a love for animals

But your favorite is the panda bear

We go to the zoo as much as we can

And you have to ride it once or twice everytime we are there

You are getting smarter by the day

And you will be going to preschool this fall

I know you will do very well

And not get in trouble at all

I want you to know how happy you make me

I love you from your toes to your curls

May all your dreams come true

Happy Birthday my Gracie Girl

Love, Mommy

These pictures were taken by my friend Jessica.

She is a great photographer and you can view her website at

http://www.jessicajill.com/

From Little Baby to Little Lady

In just a few short hours, my little Gracie Girl, will be 3 years old!!

I have no idea where the time went. It seems like only yesterday she was placed in my arms at the hospital. For those of you who don't know, Gracie came a week overdue. She was not ready when she was supposed to be born and that's exactly how she is today: she marches to the beat of her own drum. She is very independant. You can look back in the archives on my blog here to last July to read more about Gracie's arrival. She is very special. Time has never gone by faster since I have had kids and I want to cherish every minute. Here are some of my favorite pictures of Miss Gracie from the past 3 years. In the blink of an eye, she really has gone from little baby to little lady!

Gracie minutes after being born.

Enjoying the Bumbo chair.

Gracie's first Halloween.

My little pumpkin.

2007

Gracie's first Christmas. 2007

One of her first smiles.

Blooming just like a flower.

My blue-eyed girl.

You know she had some Wizard of Oz shirts.

Gracie's first birthday. 2008

Busy little bee. Halloween 2008

My fashionista.

Silly goose.

Gracie's 2 year pictures. 2009

Gracie's 3 year pictures. 2010

Girls Day!

This morning was a girls kindof morning. I took Gracie to go get her first pedicure! She wants to look fabulous for her birthday tomorrow and for her party on Friday. She was so excited because she always wants me to paint her nails. We went to this new nail salon that has kid chairs. Gracie got to pick her color and of course she picked green, her favorite.

They painted her fingernails and her toenails so that they would match. They even added some glitter and a flower on her toes!

The chair was still a bit too big but she still got to soak her feet and had fun!

It was some great quality Mommy and Gracie time!

Here is the finished product.

And here are Gracie's pretty nails! Pretty nails for a pretty girl.

The Beach

Today was "Let's go to the beach" day!

It was very exciting because Presley and Evie had never gone to the beach before so this would be their first time. They were pretty excited!

And Gracie had been there before so she was telling them all about playing in the sand and swimming.

Gracie helped me pack up by trying to fill the cooler. She told me I needed some juice, although she was pulling out some margarite mix, she also grabbed a package of hot dogs, a jar of jelly and some salad dressing. What a great helper!

Thanks to Aunt Sue and cousin Jill, we arrived and Gracie wanted to blow some bubbles first while we waited for the lifeguards to go on duty.

So then we made it into the water and splashed around. Please igore the fat lady in the black swimsuit. I have no idea who she is...

Then we stopped to play in the sand and attempted to build a sand castle.

Then after we ate lunch, it was time to take the crusts (that Gracie needed cut off) to go and feed the fish. What ugly fish, but they sure were hungry.

Next stop was to the playground. Gracie's favorite....swings! And not just an ordinary swing, a tire swing!

Then Presley and Evie decided to put on their swim gear and get ready to go swimming, or in Presley's case, surfing!

Evie could hardly wait to get in that water.

And Presley just wanted to ride the waves.

And big sis Gracie said that she would show them what to do. Afterall, she is in swim lessons.

So down tp the water we went. Presley had fun.

Evie joined in too.

What a great day at the beach!

Gracie's First Cubbies Game!

Today was a big day for Gracie! She went to her first Cubs game! Not only was Gracie very excited about this......

But so was Daddy and Presley, although he didn't go.

And Evie was too.

So Gracie, Mommy, Daddy, Grandma, Grandpa, Auntie Amy, and Gigi, who is here visiting, and is also a big Cubs fan, headed downtown to Wrigley Field. We stopped to pose with Harry Carey.

Then we showed Gracie what Wrigley Field looked like. Do we look like a bunch of tourists or what?

Gracie had fun. She ate an offical ballpark hotdog and bought a foam finger.

And although Gracie got tired and we left at the 8th inning, and even though the Cubs ended up losing, we all still had fun!