The Carters

Bean Face

2012-01-30T19:11:00.003-07:00

Can you guess who enjoyed her black beans with dinner tonight?

yup

and yup

Christmas in Utah, Part II

2012-01-16T12:00:00.000-07:00

We were so lucky that, even though we stayed in Utah during this visit, we got to see my parents and brother. They all made the trek to Utah, and we are so glad that we got to spend a few days together!

(Here's one of the parts where I was lame and didn't take any pictures, even though I probably had my camera...oops!) We also got to spend an evening with my Uncle Gordie and his family playing games and generally having a ball. We also got to do a "family dinner" just like old times with my niece Kira and her family, Colleen and her family and my nephew Daniel and my parents and Brian and Eila. We had a delicious dinner and then we got to go see Kira and Stew's awesome new house. It was so much fun to get to visit with the family that we rarely get to see. Spending time with family really made us sad that we don't get to do it as often as we'd like to! I sure don't miss the nasty cold weather, but I do miss all the people we love so much!

Christmas in Utah, Part I

2012-01-15T18:51:00.000-07:00

We were so lucky to get to go to Utah for Christmas break this year. Sadly, it will probably be the last time ever that we'll have three whole weeks for traveling and visiting, so we took advantage and were there for the whole three weeks. It was fun to get to do everything that we wanted to without feeling rushed. I didn't do a very good job of taking photos...we must have been having too much fun!

The first Sunday we were there, was the annual Gweaston Nativity, where all the grandkids get to act out the Nativity story. Grace got to be the angel in her little Joy School nativity, so was pretty excited when she got to play that part again with her favorite cousin, Lucy.

Don't they make the sweetest angels? They both did a fantastic job!

Here's the whole cast. Ruby wanted to sit on Dad's lap for this go-around, but I'm sure that next time we're there for the Nativity, she'll be excited to participate. The best part of the nativity was when Will, as a shepherd, decided he was tired of standing and sat in the manger for most of it. I love this tradition!

Another fun thing we got to do was take the train downtown to see the Christmas lights at Temple Square. We went with all of Rob's siblings (except Mikey in Chile on a mission) and their kids. It was so fun to get to spend that time with everyone!

It was pretty freezing, so poor Ruby here has all of the warm clothes that we brought for her on.

Before we saw the "do not sit on the bison" sign, Grace got a little ride, thanks to Grandpa and Daddy.

She loved riding the train and did such a great job of holding on tightly.

My camera battery died soon after we got to Temple Square (bummer!), so I'll leave you with Rob showing that it was cold and with a few of the beautiful lights in the background.

Christmas at Opryland

2011-12-13T10:47:00.000-07:00

Right before my parents got into town, we met Auntie Doris and her husband Clarke for breakfast at the Opryland Hotel. It was so fun to visit and to walk around for a bit. Here are a couple pictures from that visit.

2011-12-12T10:39:00.003-07:00

Ruby loves to climb and sit in chairs, laundry baskets, anything. The other day Rob found her in the play shopping cart. She somehow climbed in and sat herself down without tipping it over. Kudos, Ruby!

Here's a picture of our cute, and independent little dresser, Gracie! I'd like to send a special shout out to her Auntie Emily for the groovy pants...they make for a sweet, bright, floral ensemble, no?

Thanksgiving

2011-12-11T10:35:00.001-07:00

We were so lucky to have my parents and brother and girlfriend, Eila, join us for Thanksgiving Break.

We started out eating at the Loveless Cafe. Oh yum. You guys have to come visit us and we'll eat there. Just don't be on a diet :) Out front they had an old tractor. Grandpa showed Grace the tractor-driving ropes from his youth, and she was off.

We had a delicious Thanksgiving dinner. Just one the many wonderful things about having my parents in town was not having to stress over doing a turkey on our own :) We showed the fam our beautiful Warner Parks on a little hike/geocaching adventure after dinner to work off some of that delicousness.

Through school, Rob had heard about a company called Stray Boots that does text message scavenger hunts in different cities. They just started one in Nashville, so we went. They text you clues and where to go and you text in your answers and then get another clue. It was so cool to learn about Nashville history and walk through downtown this way.

Grace doing what Grace does best...taking hundreds of pictures of minutiae with my iPod. Oh how I love sorting through the pictures after she's played with it for a while! :)

Of course we had to get some family pictures in while we were all together.

By the end of the week, we were all tired and happy!

Thanks everyone for making the trek to Nashville! It was so fun to have everyone here!

Nutcracker

2011-12-10T10:36:00.000-07:00

Grace and I went to see the mini-Nutcracker put on by the city ballet league. All the performers are under 18, and they did a great job! One of Grace's friends had older sisters performing in it. Grace was great and sat on my lap the whole time, completely enamored with the beautiful ballerinas on stage. She even got her program signed by the Sugar Plum Fairy!

Fall Hiking

2011-12-09T10:19:00.000-07:00

While it was warmer, the girls and I would go hiking with our friends the Meeks once a week or so. Katie has two boys whose birthdays are just weeks apart from my girls', so it's really fun for everyone. Luckily, Katie remembered to bring her camera on one of the more spectacular Fall days.

This day was so cute because Eli and Grace were playing Grandpa and Grandma. They'd call each other Grandpa and Grandma. Grace would say "hey Grandpa, can you help me over this log?" and Grandpa would come running to the rescue and help Grace. The whole time they called each other Grandpa and Grandma and Grandma would always be in need of some help and the ever-chivalrous Grandpa would run to poor Grandma's aid. It was so cute. They really get along well with each other!

How cute are Grandma and Grandpa posing together? They were cracking us up the whole time!

Obviously a kid took this one. See Katie's smile? She is one of my favorite friends because we always laugh on our hikes even when the kids are exhausted and we're what seems like miles from the car. I think it was this day that we took a reaaaaaaaly long route and the kids were tired halfway through. We ended up running most of the way to the car (even with kiddos on our backs!). The only way to get the kids moving was to pretend to get on our starting blocks and yell "on your mark, get set, go!" and we'd all run for 100 yards or so, then do it again. Even that was fun with Katie to laugh through it with!

Baby MacGyver

2011-12-08T09:57:00.003-07:00

Ruby is so funny these days, she's been having a tough time napping and is often just playing in her crib. We think she throws all her blankets and stuff out of the crib, then tries to escape with them. It's really funny to watch her on the monitor trying to climb out of her crib. Yikes...can't wait for the day she actually can....not.

There's a trash can in her room behind the rocking chair that is often knocked over and the trash is in her crib when we go to get her up. We could not figure out how this was even possible because we would move the trash can way out of arm's reach for every nap. One day Rob happened to be watching Ruby on the monitor and caught her doing it. Baby MacGyver would hold on to one end of her blanket and toss the other end at the trash can until it would catch, then she would pull the blanket so it would knock the trash can towards her crib and she could reach her little arms down and pick stuff up. I was blown away that she figured out how to do it, and only with what she had in the crib!

She is also a dare devil. She is walking a lot now, but isn't too sure on her feet. Often, if Grace runs out of a room, she'll run after her and more often than not end up on her face :( She gets really excited and lunges and things and people with no regard for bodily safety.

Yesterday, she was walking around near the coffee table and ate it on the edge of the table and was bleeding a lot from her nose and mouth, talk about scary! I'm so glad Rob was home, because I freaked out. After a call to the Ped, a little Tylenol, and some cuddling, she was walking around again and everything seemed okay with a minimum of blood on everyone. What a trooper!

Here's my "trying to be not freaked out and smile at the same time" look :)

so much to be thankful for

2011-11-26T14:46:00.002-07:00

I love thinking about all of my blessings this time of year. I am grateful for my wonderful, amazing husband. I am grateful for my sweet, loving and helpful little Gracie. I am grateful for my sweet and stubborn little Ruby. I am also so grateful to have wonderful parents, in-laws, brothers and sisters (in-laws and "regular"), nieces, nephews, cousins, everyone. I love family and am so grateful to have so much family that I adore spending time with. I am grateful for my own health and my family's health. Despite being a bit heavier than I'd like to be, I am grateful that I can run and play and roll on the floor with my kids and can cook and clean my home and do pretty much anything that I want to without pain or discomfort. I am grateful that Rob has been offered a great job that he has accepted with HP. While I may have been a bit happier to be moving to the West, I am excited to be headed to Plano, TX and for the adventure that awaits us there.

Most of all, I am grateful for my belief in God and Jesus Christ and the sacrifice that was made for me that I can return to live with God again. I am grateful for a living prophet and scriptures to give guidance to my life. I am also grateful for temples where I can be sealed to my family for time and all eternity.

I have been blessed so bountifully and am thankful for a special time to reflect upon my blessings and to thank God for them. I hope that I will remember more of this stuff that matters coming into the Christmas season, and not get so wrapped up in the fluff.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Birthday Bubles!

2011-11-24T09:14:00.007-07:00

(Bubles rhymes with Rubles (roo-bulls))

One year ago, we welcomed our sweet and gigantic baby Ruby into our family. What a blessing she has been to us. She is so sweet and stubborn. We sure do love her! Grace is especially happy to have a little sister to love on, boss around and be a little mommy and friend to.

The classic "bib" cake. Ruby got one little mini cake and Grace got the other :)

Ruby dug right in to the cake. By the end she had decimated it and loved every moment!

Happy Birthday Sweet Baby Girl! We love you!

Tara's Visit

2011-11-01T09:20:00.000-06:00

We were so lucky that my friend, Tara, got to come visit us last weekend!

Friday we headed downtown to the Bicentennial Mall. It's a neat State Park right off the State Capitol that has the whole history of Tennessee engraved on a wall that runs along a pathway. It's really neat!

Afterward we ate at Monell's. It's a neat Southern restaurant where you're seated with the 10 other people who arrive at the same time and then the food is served family style all you can eat. It was yummy and fun to try so much authentic Southern fare. After lunch, we got cupcakes at the cupcake collection...mmmmm!

Friday night, we got a sitter for the girls and Tara, Rob and I headed downtown. We walked around a bit, did some boot shopping (but not purchasing), then headed to the Wildhorse Saloon for some dancing. We had such a fun time dancing and hanging out to the live music.

Saturday morning we headed to Midtown, near Vandy and saw music row and the Parthenon. Fora world fair in the early twentieth century, Nashville built a temporary life size replica of the Grecian Parthenon. That original temporary building fell apart after a while, but the citizens of Nashville loved it so much, they built a permanent one. It's really cool! This is the first time we'd been inside. It houses the city art museum and an a.maz.ing 40+ ft. statue of Athena Parthenos like the one that was originally by the Parthenon in Greece.

That afternoon while the girls napped and Rob did homework, Tara and I headed to Franklin. We did some window shopping downtown, drove by the temple and visited the Carnton Plantation.

This was the site of one of the bloodiest battles of the Civil War. The McGavock family that lived at Carnton found themselves in the middle of a very fierce battle - the bloodiest 5 hours of hte Civil War. The house was turned into a hospital and by the end of the fighting the Carrie McGavock had thousands dead on her property and in her home and 4 Confederate Generals dead and laid out on her back porch...can you imagine?! The good McGavock family who lived at Carnton donated a portion of their land by their family cemetery and buried all of the soldiers killed there. It's really sobering to see and think about all the fighting that happened in this beautiful area.

Tara had to leave early Sunday morning. We had an awesome few days with her! Thanks for visiting us Tara!

Happy Halloween

2011-10-31T08:47:00.008-06:00

Happy Halloween! We have had a fun Halloween weekend thus far!

It started out with the Joy School Halloween party at our house Friday morning. The kids did a parade and sang "I'm A Mean Old Witch With A Hat," "First You Take A Pumpkin" and "Oh Boy, I've Got Joy" for the parents. Then we ate cookies that we had decorated earlier in the school day.

Cherelle, Caleb, Anna, Evelyn and Grace

Of course, we had to make a Jack-O-Lantern.

Grace was so excited to do it, but didn't bargain for the slimy pumpkin insides...

I just love the picture of Grace's triumphant hand-on-the-hip when Dad was the one to pull all the nasties out. After seeing him do it for a while, she decided it wasn't so bad after all.

Trying on the pumpkin nose.

The pumpkin was dedicated (and somewhat fashioned after) Ruby, who didn't get to participate this year due to sleep schedules. See the cute little smiley round face similarities?

Grace wanted to be Rapunzel this year (like every other little girl). I made her a Pascal buddy and a wig that turned out awesomely but was too heavy to stay on, ha!

Grace and Eli (another joy school friend who couldn't be at the joy school party)

Me (witch), Grace (Rapunzel), Rob (cowboy), and Ruby (ladybug)

Decorating

2011-10-17T20:55:00.003-06:00

I love that Grace is old enough to understand holidays now and looks forward to them. We had a little fun today doing a little outdoor Fall decorating.

Grace loves to point out ghosts and witches and any other Halloween stuff she finds as we drive, so I decided to make us some ghosts for our tree out of Target bags :)

The Great Smoky Mountains

2011-10-15T09:00:00.001-06:00

Taking full advantage of our Fall Break, we headed out Monday morning to the Great Smoky Mountains for a camping trip. We had an amazing time!

On our way to Atlanta we saw the Lodge Cast Iron Factory Store and had to stop. We ended up with a great deal on a little dutch oven. Here's Rob and Grace getting it all set up. Man, dinner was tasty!

Grace was a great helper and loved everything about camping...

...especially the s'mores!

Rob and Grace were telling each other stories over dinner clean up. It was so sweet!

The next morning as we were cooking breakfast, out of the corner of my eye I saw some big black animals and thought "gosh, I can't believe someone is letting their dogs run around the park unattended with all the bears around!"...

Oh wait...those are bears wandering through our campsite! A mother bear and two cubs just wandered through our site 10 feet from where we were cooking some delicious smelling bacon. I ran to get my camera and caught a few not-so-hot pictures of them as they wandered away. The picture on the left shows some perspective of our site to where they were (this was after they'd gotten farther from our site). Can you see the shining eyes of the bear cub on the left of the right-hand picture? The mom and sibling are more toward the right of that photo. It was the coolest thing to see!

The second coolest thing of the camping trip was the hammock. We spent some delightful time relaxing in it.

Grace used it as a swing and had to be pushing whoever was lying in it. We all loved cuddling in it!

The set-up. Ruby hung out in her pack-and-play because the ground was wet from the rain and we didn't want a muddy and cold little babe on our hands. She also loved camping.

Another awesome thing about this trip was the Fall colors! There are so many different species of trees in the Smokys that all turn different colors at different times and the result was absolutely breathtaking! I couldn't help but shoot picture after picture of the colors, but didn't come close to capturing their real-life splendor. I made Rob pull the car over a few times so I could get out and shoot :)

We went on a hike to Laurel Falls, which was categorized as "easy" and "wheelchair accessible," neither of which it really was. There was a pretty decent altitude gain and despite being paved, was pretty rough in spots. We were wishing that we had packed Ruby instead of taken the stroller, but we ended up having to carry big sissy, so it was nice that we didn't have two kids to carry to the falls :)

After the hike we stopped at the Visitor Center and Grace made friends with Ranger Frances who got out her special collection on real animal skins for us to see and feel. It was really special that we got to see that because not everyone does! All of the animals were really soft. It was so neat to see and feel those!

On our way out we made the drive to the North Carolina part of the park (it's always fun to cross state lines). The state line is pretty high up, so we got to drive through, and see from above the cloud that covers the Smokys and gives them their name.

It was such a fun trip, we definitely want to go back if we get a chance!

Atlanta

2011-10-14T21:20:00.004-06:00

Last year during Fall Break Rob was deep in the throes of the Human Capital Case Competition that made his "week off" even busier than he was normally. This year, he really did have a break so we took advantage of it!

We started it off by heading down to Atlanta for a MBA job fair. Grace stayed with our awesome friends the Munks, so Rob, Ruby and I had a (fairly) quiet trip. As soon as we got to Atlanta we headed to Ikea {cue choirs of angels singing}. Oh man have I missed that store. We ate delicious Swedish meatballs and meandered the aisles for a good three hours before we were exhausted. We found some good stuff, but didn't bust the budget (woohoo! Rob was a little concerned).

We stayed downtown at the Hyatt Regency, which was beautiful. It has a 23-story atrium running up the middle of it and glass elevators so you can see everything as you plummet toward ground level. Ruby was not such a fan. Every time we rode the elevator, she would cling to me for dear life. I felt kinda bad for her but secretly liked the snuggles :)

For most of the trip Ruby and I were on our own while Rob meeted and greeted about a million employers. Rob did a great job and had 4 interviews that weekend and more good contacts come out of it too. Hooray!

I don't have any pictures to show except for these of Ruby in the hotel as I played with my camera:

All in all it was a fun and sucessful trip. I'd love to go back to Atlanta and see more sights when Rob isn't so tied up with meetings!

Recently

2011-09-26T12:51:00.000-06:00

We've been:

...painting...

...car washing...

...dressing up...

...making forts...

...feeling the love from afar...

Grace got a package from Auntie Emily full of awesome stuff.

Ruby even got in on the Auntie-love action...

The Blanket Do

2011-09-25T19:43:00.000-06:00

This is Ruby's favorite blanket. She drags it around and loves it, so our friend Chelsea gave her a hip way to wear it. Whaddya think? Stylin' eh?

A Few Family Pics

2011-09-24T14:32:00.000-06:00

Since we had the camera all set up for our anniversary shot, and it was hard to keep the girls out of the picture, we decided to take a few family shots as well and they didn't turn out too badly for being taken with a timer.

5

2011-09-23T14:05:00.005-06:00

Wednesday we celebrated our 5th anniversary. We had such a fun night! We started out with dinner at an Italian restaurant downtown called Amerigo. The best part was that we had a Groupon, so we had to spend the whole $50 amount of the voucher or we would lose it. It was really fun to go nuts and order appetizers, desserts and something other than water! Needless to say, we brought most of our entrees home with us along with the dessert because we were too full by the end of dinner :)

After dinner we headed to the free Capitol Records Street Party where Alan Jackson was playing. Who could resist a free Alan Jackson concert?! (Love Nashville!) Thanks to Capitol for putting it on our anniversary! It was so fun to go to a concert with Rob and enjoy a night under the stars. That's Alan on the jumbotron and on the stage in the background. He was awesome!

I can't think of a more fun date to celebrate the 5 most wonderful years of my life with the most amazing husband a girl could ask for!

2011-09-02T10:20:00.000-06:00

Ruby tried on Grace's princess hat the other day, if a little elfin

The Artist

2011-09-01T10:08:00.000-06:00

Rob had a meeting on campus the other day and I was feeling a tad frazzled, so Rob offered to take Grace to school with him. (Isn't he awesome?) Grace sat in the corner and drew some pictures. I was really impressed with her drawings. They are all from her imagination with no prompting. Here are a just a few of them, see if you can guess what they are...

For this one there are little lines all the way around the face that are hard to see. With that hint you should definitely be able to get it... :)

A tiger (or lion)

A Pumpkin (Jack-O-Lantern)

A Jellyfish

Mommy and Gracie and a Dinosaur. See it?

Imagine this one without the added stripes by the mouth and the "beard" (she added those after she got home) but do notice the legs :)

Did you guess it was Baby Ruby Putting On Her Jammies? No? Well, I'm sure you got the Baby Ruby part at least...

Mommy and Gracie
(she added the beard on me after she got home...do you think that's a hint of some sort?) :)

Grace loves to do anything artistic, be it singing, dancing or drawing and we love seeing what she comes up with!

Joy School

2011-08-30T10:02:00.004-06:00

I am sitting here at 11 am typing this blog post in complete silence except for the clicking of computer keys. Can you tell I'm a little excited for some morning silence? Grace started Joy School this morning! (And Ruby is sleeping - in fact probably sleeping the best morning sleep ever because there's no 3 year old outside her door making lots of noise.) She was so excited to go to school like Daddy. There are 6 kids in our group and every week we rotate the teaching amongst the mothers. I am a little nervous to teach, but excited to learn how to be a better teacher. I think it's Grace's dream come true to have kids to play with for sure at least 2 days a week at school. She sure is a social girl! She even got to bring her Baby Tiana for show and tell today. I am so proud of my big girl!

Cuteness

2011-08-19T08:57:00.003-06:00

My cute, clean girl and her hot daddy

Road Trip!: Destin, FL

2011-08-18T08:55:00.006-06:00

We had one week between the end of Rob's internship in Louisville and the start of his second (and final!!!!) year of MBA school, so we decided to do a little camping at the beach. Sounds beautiful right? Well, it was in Florida, so wrong! Ha! Despite warnings (thanks, Erin!) we decided to head to beautiful Destin for a few days. It was a pretty long trip down, around 9 hours, but the girls were awesome in the car. Grace watched Tangled over and over and over again. The whole way. It was really cute, because sometimes she'd sing along to the songs (she had headphones on so we got to listen to our own thing). We stopped at Cracker Barrel for lunch. We're becoming more Southern by the minute. Aunt Leslie, if you're reading - I think of you every time we go to Cracker Barrel :)

We got down to Destin. Beautiful white sandy beaches and blue water. Heaven! Until, that is, you step out of your air conditioned car. So it was hot, but nothing we didn't think we could handle, but that could have been because there was a storm blowing in, which apparently happens every day there. That, and it was after 6, so the sun was setting - that helped too. After the storm blew through, it got hot again and we didn't really sleep. The next morning I ran to Wal Mart to get us an extension cord and a fan so we could survive the next night in the tent (gotta love hookups!). We headed down to the beach, but it was windy (more storms) and the red warning flag was up for dangerous surf. By the time we headed back to camp for lunch, they had closed the beach due to all the storms running all the nasties out to sea. Bummer! This is apparently only the 3rd time in 6 years this has happened. What terrible timing! We were dying on land though, so we headed out in the air conditioned car to find some cooler entertainment. That led us to Gator Beach (which is really a pond under a tourist trap restaurant that has over 100 gators).

We fed the gators:

Just kidding! We love you Ruby!

But we really did feed the gators:

And rode the gators:

And Rob even acted nutty enough that he was chosen to get to hold a gator!

We were planning on staying three nights, but with the beach being closed, we cancelled the third night and headed back the next day (after a much better sleep, thankyouverymuch fan!). That night we had a crazy storm that lightning and thundered in our tent (almost!) and rained so hard and blew. It was pretty crazy to be that close to nature during a storm like that!

The ride home was looooooong again, but the girls were amazing for have done it two days before! Not the best camping trip, but one that we'll look back on and laugh about. What an adventure!

girlies, an impromptu photo shoot

2011-08-17T08:32:00.000-06:00

The other day we took some photos of our little girlies in the backyard
The many faces of Grace and Ruby

Swimming with Friends

2011-08-16T08:41:00.000-06:00

We loved having a pool all summer and especially having our friends come to swim with us!

Grace and Riley - too cool for school with their cute sunglasses on!

Lakai, Shanah, Ruby, me, Grace, Britney and Ben and Ben and Ruby

We were so lucky to have such great friends in Louisville to play with!

Road Trip!: Berea, KY

2011-08-15T19:23:00.010-06:00

A few weeks back we took a little day trip to Berea, KY. It is the Folk Art and Craft capital of Kentucky. That wasn't the draw for us, but it sure was fun to look around.

We had a fun time walking around the shops and funny sculptures and Ruby napped when she could.

We also got the newest addition to the family, Louis (pronounced Louie - like Louisville, hence the name!), here. We sure do love our little steel doggy!

Th reason we went out to Berea is because my great-great-great grandfather, John G. Fee, a preacher, started Berea College here. In a time of slavery in this country, John fee believed in equality for all and education for all and took a stand. He created the first interracial and co-ed college in the South. It's a really neat and beautiful school. To this day, students can only attend if they have financial need (if the family makes more than $50k, then the student is automatically denied admission). Also, the students there do not pay tuition. The school has a very large endowment, and the students work to keep the school running (they don't get paid very much, it's mostly to "pay" towards their tuition). I am really proud of my amazing ancestors who stood up for what they believed in.

Here I am with my G3-grandfather.

We went on a walking tour of the campus.

From left to right: Union Church, started by John Fee (not the original building); a building on campus; the motto of Berea College

After the tour we enjoyed some ice cream. We could hardly lick it fast enough to keep it from running down our arms it was so hot out.

After hanging out in the College Square, we headed over to the cemetery to find our ancestors.
Here's a branch of our family tree told through gravestones:

John Gregg Fee and Matilda Hamilton (front and back of their stone)

Their daughter, Laura Ann Fee married William Norris Embree
(Apparently we didn't get a picture of William Norris' gravestone, Raymond Burrit Embree is their son buried next to his mother)

Their son, Royal Howard Embree married Mary Scott
(Their son, Raymond Scott Embree was buried next to them, so I'm including it here too, but not a direct line ancestor)

Their son, Ralph Arnold Embree married Eleanor Williams, my mom's parents and my grandparents. My grandfather is not actually buried here because his plane (he was a Navy flier) was shot down toward the end of WWII and he was lost. This is his memorial marker. My grandmother is buried in Camarillo, CA.

Ralph's stone is in the background with "Embree" on it and his parents and brother's stones are in the foreground.

After the cemetery adventure, we headed back toward Louisville, but not without eating first. Rob found that there was a Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives (you know, Food Network, Guy Fieri show...) on the way back, so we took a little detour and man was it worth it!
At first we were concerned we had a wrong address because the scenery looked like this:

Sorry for the in-the-moving-car-,between-the-trees- shots, it was so beautiful! Everything I hoped and dreamed Kentucky would be and Louisville isn't!

But, not to fear, we found it! A little old country store converted into a very tasty sandwich place called Wallace Station.

Rob had the Kentucky Hot Brown...oh.my.sandiwch.love. It was turkey, ham, bacon, tomato, cheese mornay sauce all squished between two thick slices of homemade bread. Yum!

Grace watched movies and hung out in style on the ride home.

Ruby

2011-08-02T11:51:00.002-06:00

Ruby is getting really, really busy. I had forgotten how annoying it is to have all the books and movies pulled off of shelves numerous times a day :)

She is also pulling herself up all the time, even to standing when there's something that she especially wants to get. She's still army crawling though. I hope she figures out a normal crawl before we get back to Nashville since we have wood floors there, laundry will be super fun if she'd just dragging herself around dusting the floors with her clothes.

This is how I found Ruby after her nap (which, incidentally is in our closet here, just thought I should document that). Silly girl wriggled her way out of one sleeve of jammies!

My cute girls. I can't take a picture of one without the other wanting to get in on the action too!

Birthday

2011-07-31T20:38:00.009-06:00

Since G's birthday fell on a Sunday, and Sundays are very full with church, naps and Skyping grandparents, we kicked off the celebrations on Saturday and had two days of birthday fun.

We opened presents through both days. It was fun to open, then play, then open some more, then play some more all day long.

Grace got some awesome presents from Mom and Dad and family. She got a play cake, princess and dragon puppets, a tent and camping gear, bath toys, and so much more. Thanks everyone!

You can see how excited she is about the bath toys above. She lined them all up and told them stories. She also got a bathtime Ariel (see below in the sleeping bag) that she loves to give baths to and wash her hair (pass on the torture of hair-washing to someone else, maybe?) :)

Girlfriend loves her some Rolos. Whenever we're in the checkout line anywhere there are Rolos about, she always tries to convince me to buy them. You can see the happiness on her face that she got a whole thing all to herself to eat. That is until tragedy struck...
Dad threatened to eat some.

Good thing he was just teasing. On with the business of downing them. :)

Grace got to choose what she wanted to do on Saturday, so we played a lot, fed the ducks, ate hamburgers and played on the play place at McDonald's, then came home and ate cake and ice cream.

Feeding ducks

Giving Mom a heart attack and running and chasing

I love birthday cake, but I hate making it. It usually is super stressful and doesn't turn out anything like the amazing image I have in my head.
First attempt at a two-tiered (Barbie) life-size Aurora cake: FAIL.

So we salvaged what we could of the top tier and stuck a mini Aurora on it. While this could be the frosting job I would do on a cake, it's not. Grace saw the cake in the morning and took a swipe at it with her sneaky little fingers.

What a fun weekend to celebrate Grace!

Happy Birthday Gracers!

2011-07-31T19:02:00.010-06:00

Gracie is 3 now! Looking back on her birthday photos makes those 3 years seem like the longest, fastest years of my life. What a blessing she is to our family!

For those who missed out on all the birthday fun throughout the years, here's a quick re-cap:

BIRTHday

One!!

Two!

Three!

Our sweet girl is:
- a little mama...always helping, bossing, loving, cuddling, scolding or consoling someone
- a singer...she sings all.the.time. primary songs, Barney songs, cartoon songs, made-up songs (my fav!), pretty much anything
- a dancer...she took a ballet and tap class this summer and loves it. she dances all the time and loves watching Disney Princess Sing-a-longs and dancing with the kids in the bonus features
- very sensitive...she tries very hard to do what will make others happy and is very sad when that doesn't happen
- a princess...she loves to dress up in her princess regalia every day and prance around
- creative...she loves to draw, paint, color, sticker-ify, glue, you name it art-wise and she loves it
-a fantastic big sister...this year brought a lot of change in the sibling department for Grace and she embraced it (literally!) and handled it amazingly. She is a wonderful sister who adores Ruby and who is worthy of being adored back and emulated.

Here's to another year of learning and growing for us both!

love, your Mama and Papa

Grace LOVES to Sing

2011-07-27T20:16:00.000-06:00

Here's a lovely rendition of "Three Little Monkeys":

Grace's Ballet Class

2011-07-26T08:13:00.000-06:00

We got a little video of Grace dancing during her last class. This one's for all of you grandmas out there.

Singing to the Bishop

2011-07-17T15:32:00.003-06:00

Each Sunday our Bishop here in Louisville reserves the first 30 minutes after church for primary kids to either sing a song or recite a scripture/article of faith in exchange for candy. Grace LOVES to do this and asks if she can sing for the bishop as soon as we go to church. Today I filmed her singing "Popcorn Popping on the Apricot Tree":

Happenings

2011-07-09T09:45:00.003-06:00

We have recently had our love of garage saleing rekindled when last weekend we happened on a sale on a walk and got a brand new in-the-box crayola easel and a ton of brand new looking amazing branded (Janie & Jack, etc...) clothing and shoes (some with tags on!) for a steal. So today we headed out again and found the jackpot of mini princesses.

The castle and all the parts and princesses and their friends for $5. The elevator goes up and down and the top part where Aurora and Prince Charming are rotates around and plays music. So cool. I'm pretty sure Grace with love this more than any of her birthday presents next week :)

Hey, Ruby, what's that on your cute little bum?

It's a cloth diaper! We've embarked on a new diapering adventure!

Princesses Grace and Riley

Ruby is now in the puppy dog phase. She follows me around and I have to be careful where I step because she's always underfoot. She also loves to put anything and everything in her mouth to chew on, or she carries stuff around in her mouth as she crawls. What a fun stage! Her bottom two teeth just popped through last week too.

4th of July

2011-07-09T09:26:00.006-06:00

We had a lovely 4th of July with some friends here in Louisville. We started off with a BBQ and ended the night at Waterfront Park watching the fireworks.

Rob and Grace got some fireworks to set off. Grace and her friend Riley loved chasing after the parachutes.

Ruby's cute 4th outfit. I didn't get a shot with her in the matching hat.

The girls and babes

Grace loved dancing to the music from the band. Ruby was a champ, but so tired, can you tell?

Petting Zoo

2011-06-30T08:12:00.000-06:00

A few weeks back the park across the street hosted a fun, free community day. The best part was the petting zoo which had a very random assortment of animals for the kids to harass - strike that - play with.

The funniest thing was when she told us that the cow shouldn't eat her hair :) What a good memory for things other than what her mom has told her to do!

Just Chillin

2011-06-29T14:09:00.001-06:00

Watching a little tele. Note that she's crossing her legs in the first picture. All growed up...

(Please excuse the mess...)

Dance Class

2011-06-28T10:20:00.000-06:00

Saturday, Grace started a ballet and tap class. It was so fun to get her all ready for her class. I was so excited because it brought back all sorts of happy memories of my own dance classes and the fun I had.

Here she is all ready to go to class:

Halfway through class, changing into tap shoes. She's showing off the sticker she got for doing a good job. She was a little shy this first time, but I'm sure she'll warm up in no time! Since we've been home she really hasn't stopped dancing!

Auntie Emily's Visit

2011-06-27T08:04:00.001-06:00

My sister Emily came to visit last week. We had so much fun having her stay with us.

She brought some fun gifts for the girls. She especially loaded Grace up with princess treasures she found at garage sales.

Having her here was the perfect excuse for us to finally do some Louisville sightseeing.

First on the agenda was a torrential Southern downpour. It was coming down so hard that we actually went back into the house to wait until it wasn't raining so hard so we could get to the car to start our adventure.

First we went to the Louisville Slugger Museum and Factory.

The gigantic bat outside the museum and plaque describing it.

We got a tour of the factory and got to see them making bats for wholesale as well as the pro ball players. It was cool to see it all up close and personal. We also saw an exhibit of Norman Rockwell art. I love all his stuff. We even got miniature bats at the end of the tour.

Rob trying to be like Joe DiMaggio and Babe Ruth.

After the Slugger museum we ate at KFC. How can you visit Kentucky without eating Kentucky Fried Chicken? Delicious, if not gourmet, lunch :)

Next stop was Churchill Downs, the home of the Kentucky Derby. You'd think that it's out in the fields with beautiful pastures surrounding it. If you thought that (like me) you'd be wrong. It's in the ghetto. So disappointing. But the museum and tour were not! It was awesome!

Rob and Grace at the starting gate (to the museum...they're a replica).

Hats on display. I think the hats are the coolest tradition of the Derby. People wear all sorts of hats. Some are spectacular and fashionable and some are crazy like a big horse head as the hat or a miniature stable on the hat.

Here's a tribute to 2011's Derby winner, Animal Kingdom. Ruby wanted a ride. So of course Grace did too :)

We toured the grounds. It was neat learning all about the Kentucky Derby and it's history.

Above (l to r): The walkways where the horses walk are paved with "stones" like these that are actually a rubbery material that's easier on the horse's hooves; the famous twin spires; every year they get a new sign - as of 2011, the Derby has been run every year since 1875, that's 137 times!

Below: (left) The winner's circle that's used for the Derby. For all other races they use a different winner's circle that the photo is taken from. (right) The finish line.

This little guy is re-painted every year in the racing silks of that year's winner. Here he is in Animal Kingdom's jockey's silks.

Back inside the museum were some fun interactive activities.

Like "racing" horses. You could use the crop to make your horse go faster and if you sat down your horse slowed down and you could go right and left to maneuver around the other horses in the race. It was especially fun for Grace. We played against each other a few times.

Exhibit of winner's silks. I think they're so pretty and fun!

They also had a race betting simulation. You made your picks and "bet" $2 on the horses you thought would win and place.

Then you watched the video of your race and cheered your horses on. (It was really fun!)

Then after the race was over you could scan your ticket and it told you how much you won (or didn't). We did this a few times, but I was the big winner of the day with $400-some-odd in winnings from my $2 bet. (It was all simulation, no money was actually exchanged) (unfortunately) (just kidding). :)

Grace apparently takes after her mama and can't not put on any fabulous hats she sees. Here she is in a straw and aqua silk number at the gift shop.

Since we stayed so busy that day, there were no naps. Here's a rare photo of Grace sleeping in her car seat. She almost never sleeps in the car. I love that she's clutching the bat from the museum.

Thanks, Emily, for coming to visit us! We had such a blast and Grace still talks about how fun it was. Grace also keeps telling us she wants to go to California to visit Emily now.

In true Emily fashion, she got Ruby jammies that say "Me + my aunt = BFF." It reminds me that when I was little, Emily puff-painted me a really cute sweatsuit (it was the 80's!) that said "If you think I'm cute, you should see my sister!" Just thought that should be recorded for posterity :)

Swimming

2011-06-26T13:45:00.004-06:00

One fun thing about our apartment is having access to a pool all summer right in our backyard. We love to go to the pool! These girls sure are little fish!

Ruby loves to float and hang out and lap up the water like a little doggy in her pink floaty. While she's floating around her tongue is always hanging out of her mouth trying to reach the water.

Grace loves to play in the water, but is very cautious about being too far from the edge and I am just fine with that! Our pool has a nice big ledge for sitting on that is perfect for Grace to walk back and forth on and play on.

Sometimes Daddy is a little more adventurous than Grace likes. In the above pictures he threw her in and she was surprised and didn't so much love it :)

We sure do love Summertime!

The Best Daddy in the World!

2011-06-21T08:35:00.003-06:00

Rob is most definitely, hands down, the best daddy in the world to Grace and Ruby.
He gets up with them when Mommy is really tired (almost every day! ha!). Here's proof:

He is so loving and kind to our girls. They absolutely adore him. Grace can't ever wait for him to get home from work. He is always up for an adventure, whether it be camping, swimming or a trip to the grocery store or Target, even after a long day at work. He makes time every day to make sure that each one of his girls (including me) feel special and know how much he loves us. We couldn't ask for a better Daddy!

Note the "Grace" tie that Gracie made for him in nursery. It says "so lucky to be 'tied' to you forever!" I think we all feel that way!

Happy Father's Day!

Ruby at 6 Months: The Tongue

2011-06-12T10:28:00.000-06:00

Ruby is 6 months old already! I can't believe how fast time has flown by with our sweet baby. She is the happiest little squishy girl and we totally love her! The funniest thing about her is that her tongue is always out. Here is some pictorial proof:

She also has awesome rolls. They are so fluffy and I love to squish them!

I'm sad though, because she is very close to crawling, so she'll probably be losing them soon with more movement and muscle development. I'm enjoying every minute of her squishyness while I have it!

Here's a sequence of her little crawl:

Lamp Re-vamp

2011-06-11T10:57:00.006-06:00

The lighting in our apartment here in Louisville is awful (in case you can't tell by the awful pictures). The bedrooms only have side table lamps to light them. While we were in California, Rob stopped at the Goodwill and found this nice little floor lamp. Finding a good looking shade without breaking the bank was a whole other problem. While browsing Pinterest, I saw some awesome shades and thought, hey, why can't I paint a shade to be what I want? So with a cheap Wal-Mart shade and a stencil and white paint pen, I came up with this:

I love a good cheap DIY!

Mikey Love

2011-06-11T10:40:00.005-06:00

Mikey, Rob's not-so-little brother, just graduated from High School, so we put his announcement picture up on the fridge. Grace promptly decorated a little shrine for him with all of our magnets.

He also just got called on a mission to Concepcion, Chile where he will serve for the next two years for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He will leave the end of August. We are so excited for him!

California Trip

2011-06-10T07:24:00.010-06:00

I had the opportunity at the end of May to fly out to California with the girls, alone. After the flights out there, I vowed that I would never do it again. It's just so difficult to manage two little ones. I was fine when I had my stroller with everything strapped on it, but actually getting on the plane after I'd dropped the stroller at the gate was impossible without help. I found that the tactic that worked best was to look pathetically at the people walking by until one asked if I needed help and was then surprised when I emphatically said "YES!!!! Thank you!" Despite my fears, we made it in one piece and had delightful time while we were there!

My sister, Emily, came over to visit and brought some spoilage for the kiddos. (Thanks!!)

Grace got a new pair of princess (of course!) sunglasses. Grace and Emily modeling their sweeeeeet sunglasses.

Ruby loved Emily's cute and tasty necklace!

Grace helped Grandma and Grandpa make peppermint ice cream by smashing the peppermints with a mallet. What a great way for a toddler to work off some destructive energy!

One of the main reasons we came out this weekend was for one of my very best friend's wedding. It was fun to meet Corey and to be there for their big day. Tara looked gorgeous and it was so fun to be with them on their beautiful day.

Brian was able to drive out from Utah. The girls loved having him to play with too! (Plus he was an amazing help!)

The 3-hour time difference threw us all for a loop. Most days I was up with the girls from 4 or 5 am until 7 or so when one of my sweet parents would get up and take over and let me get a few more hours of sleep. Ruby rarely falls asleep on anyone anymore, so it was sweet that she loved cuddling with her Grandpa so much!

Emily and Jack had us over to her house on Memorial Day for a delicious meal and some swimming fun.

Ruby even got in on the pool action.

Grace hanging with her cousin Ryan.

We even got to check out their awesome garage full of toys.

Tuesday was my Mama's birthday (another reason for going this weekend). We headed to the beach to enjoy the sun, sand and waves.

It was a little chilly, but Ruby had the best spot for a nap.

Uncle Bri was awesome and took Grace into the (freezing) water.

And then carried her back in when she wanted to be in the water without actually touching it. :) Did I mention it was cold?

After the beach, we headed across the street to the harbor shops for a little fun carousel action. Grace was so excited to get to ride. Every time we see one she begs to ride and never gets to, it was a very special treat to actually get to ride one!

The whole time (5 min maybe?) Grace said "wheeeeeee, wheeeeeee, wheeeeeeeee" again and again as we rode around and around.

She was a little sad when it was over:

Ruby even got in on the photo taking fun.

Wednesday we were supposed to fly home, but we missed our flight (grrrr...who does that?!) and had to be re-booked Thursday (I so could have done without carefully packing and hauling the girls and all the stuff through nasty LA traffic two days in a row!). The flights home went really smoothly and everyone was so nice to us.

What a fun trip to California. Now Grace keeps asking to go back!

The Week I Went Crazy and Made Stuff

2011-05-23T12:46:00.006-06:00

Last Sunday, Rob suggested that the girls and I go to California this weekend for one of my best friend's wedding and my mom's birthday. The only catch was that I would have to travel with the girls alone. Ugh. This presented all sorts of potential nightmares with all the stuff I would have to transport and only the two hands God gave me. So I channeled my inner Dr. Frankenstein and created a few items that would help to make my life easier.

I figured that I would need to take the double stroller. Even if Grace didn't want to ride, I'd be able to put stuff in the extra seat. I also thought that it would be beneficial to have a car seat with us so that whatever child I wasn't messing with could be strapped into a seat so as not to wander the plane. I also would need to transport snacks, entertainment, tons of diapers, extra changes of clothing for everyone, you know, way beyond what would fit into my diaper bag. So Rob and I got our thinking caps on and started to create.

First off, the car seat. There's obviously no way that I could carry a gigantic car seat through the airport along with the other bajillion things I'll have to have so with some nylon webbing and carabiners we created a quick-release strap system to hold the car seat in place on the back of the stroller. We also added a gigantor carabiner to hold one of my bags (the other one will be on my shoulder or in the stroller in G's seat).

Easy enough. Now how about a challenge?

This is my beloved stroller all folded up. One thing I love about this double is that is folds so compactly (it was one of the few doubles we checked out that we could fit into our little trunk and it's narrow enough to fit through standard size doorways. I totally love this stroller, can you tell?). The problem with this stroller is that when the stroller is folded all of the fabric is on the outside of the stroller and I was concerned about it getting ripped up on the plane, so I thought I'd whip up a little bag for it. Hello, Dr. Frankenstein. I felt a little awesomely crazy creating this bag from just my little 'ole imagination, but I was so pleased when it actually worked!

I even put a zipper in (proud moment!). It was a little touch a go there for a while, but it amazingly worked. When we were putting it on for the first time, it wasn't fitting and I had a little freak out moment and told Rob to "MAKE IT WORK!!!!!" He did. I was just trying to put it on wrong.

Muah hahahaha. I was pleased as punch last night when it actually fit. Nothing feels better than a project you semi-expect to fail actually works out.

I also made a little bag to contain the portable DVD player and accessories. I think eventually I'll put a shoulder strap on it, but it was necessary for now.

And as if I didn't have enough on my plate last week I also made a pack and play mattress pad out of PUL (which the sell at JoAnn's now, woot!) since we're using it as Ruby's crib and it was needing a little protection. And I made a dress for myself that actually turned out. I think I'll make the straps a little narrower, but for now, it's fine.

And that was my week. Whew! Good thing JoAnn's is walking distance from our apartment here in Louisville, so we got a little exercise every time we had to run to JoJo's for something. Now if you think of it, feel free to send up a little prayer in my behalf Wednesday morning while I'll be braving the wonderful world of air travel with little'uns.

p.s. Here is a photo of Grace that she demanded I take and post. I guess it wouldn't really be a post on the blog without a pic of at least one of my sweet girls, right?

Napping at the Park

2011-05-14T12:56:00.005-06:00

I decided this blogging thing isn't too bad, so here's another post.

Today at the park Amanda and Grace were playing on the playground, while I sat with Ruby. Apparently I wasn't very entertaining.

Monkey Joe's

2011-05-14T12:35:00.003-06:00

Usually when I take pictures I send them to Amanda and she does a blog post. But since she wasn't there at this occasion, and since this is technically "our" blog (even though I tell her it is hers) I get to do a blog post. :)

Before we left Nashville for Kentucky I took Grace to an indoor play place called Monkey Joe's. We met another dad and his boys there and they got to play all over the inflatable toys.

Yeah, that's a big Monkey Joe she's standing next to.

My phone camera didn't take pictures very fast, but at least I caught her on this slide.

This was her favorite place she kept coming back to. She would just sit up there and look around.

Tucky

2011-05-11T12:23:00.000-06:00

We tried to prepare Grace for the move to Kentucky. The thing she was most excited about was that we were going to have a "wimming" pool at our new house in "Tucky". When she got into the club house/office she saw the pool and immediately started to take her shirt of to "wim". Then when we were driving around last night she asked where Tucky is and we tried to tell her that it was everything that she saw, that we were in Tucky. She didn't buy it. I'm pretty sure that Tucky to her means any place she can swim, and there on the interstate, was no place to swim!

Well, we made it here to Louisville Monday evening after an insane day of packing and cleaning. Unfortunately, the apartment wasn't exactly in tip-top shape when we got here, but the managers have been great with getting everything fixed up. We're even getting new carpet on Friday because I am so allergic to the animal dander in this nasty old carpet. I'm so excited for new carpet for Ruby to be learning how to crawl on...so much better than hardwood.

Here we are at our favorite store that we will have been to many times before the week if over.

Louisville seems nice. We haven't seen much yet, we're just trying to get settled and some sleep that we've been much deprived of.

I just can't wait to get back home to Nashville! Just had to throw that in for the record.

2011-05-04T20:00:00.000-06:00

Easter

2011-05-03T19:45:00.000-06:00

Only a little over a week late :)

On Saturday we went to the Annual Adams-Albert Easter Egg Hunt.

The little kid hunt all lined up and ready to run up the hill and find eggs.
Happy girl!

Girls all ready to go Easter Sunday.

(These pictures may or may not have been taken at home as church was starting...oops. But seriously how could I not photograph these adorable girls?!?)

The girls' Easter baskets. The Easter Bunny left his footprints throughout the house leading to the eggs and finally to the baskets with goodies, clothes and homemade bunnies.

Rubley-Boobley

2011-04-15T12:27:00.002-06:00

Sweet little Rubles, my happy, (not-so-) little baby.

I love this stage of babyhood. She is growing and learning so quickly.

She is so curious about everything. She's wanting to put everything in her mouth. I love it when she grabs something to shove into her mouth, but in all her excitement, she drops it and ends up with just her fist in her mouth. I'm sure it's disappointing, but it's really cute to watch her try!

She is rolling and moving around and with a lot of effort can get to what she wants. She'll be all over the house soon though, and we'll have to re-babyproof the house. I got a video monitor for Christmas and my birthday from my parents, and I love to watch her roll around in her crib and sleep in all sorts of funny positions.

Ruby loves her sister. Grace can do anything and it cracks her up. She watches her intently and you can see the wheels in her head turning thinking how one day, she'll be able to do all the cool stuff Grace does.

She's getting pretty talkative. She loves to chat. She'll roll around on her blanket on the floor and "talk" to whatever toy she's trying to get into her mouth. The other day I was on the phone and from across the room Ruby started babbling so loudly that the lady I was talking to was too distracted to talk. She is also quite a pro at blowing bubbles and raspberries. What fun vocal cords are!

She is also interested in anything we put into our mouths. I wasn't planning on starting her on solids until 6 months, but I just felt so bad that she lunges at any food I have when I'm holding her. This week we've started feeding her some rice cereal.

She was pretty excited. Can you tell? Just like a baby bird.

She's still figuring out how to work with the food from a spoon to get it down her throat instead of down her front. I would imagine that this is a difficult thing to do, but I don't remember. Once she get the hang of it and starts eating more, I'll really have to start working out just so I can hold her for more than 10 minutes without being exhausted. Kidding. Sort of. Almost 16 lbs of wiggly-ness is a lot to lug around!

Bertha

2011-04-08T12:59:00.002-06:00

Meet Bertha:

Ahhhhhhh....{insert singing choirs of angels here}

Isn't she a beaut? She was my Christmas present from my sweet hubs. Looks like we might need more kids so I can get lots of use out of her :)

This morning Grace and I made spaghetti sauce. It's kind of an ordeal to make with all the veggie chopping and work that goes into it, so I like to make a lot of it, then freeze it in family-size zippys for future use. Hence the need for a pot big enough to bathe Ruby in.

Grace was a great helper. She (mostly) peeled all the carrots for me and counted out the garlic cloves, celery and carrots we would need.

I asked her to smile and this is what I got.

Here we are with the finished pot of spaghetti deliciousness. Can't wait for dinner tonight!

Dear Grace,

2011-04-07T15:52:00.003-06:00

I know you're only 2, but if you keep changing your clothes a million times a day, I am going to start making you do the laundry. I'm pretty sure that your little clothes account for at least half of the laundry I do. And let's be honest, it already takes me 2 days to wash and fold (3 if you count putting it away...I'm awesome like that), so I don't need any more to do.

Lots of love, your Mama

New Addition

2011-04-04T08:22:00.003-06:00

Over the weekend my little green car morphed (with the help of some money) into a BIG green car! Little green Honda Accord turned into big green(-ish, gray-ish, blue-ish...we're not sure what color it is) Honda Odyssey minivan!

Friday night we bought a minivan. I guess this really makes me a mom. You know, because moms drive minivans. :) It was a tough decision at first. I didn't so much want to drive a minivan, but really, they were made for moms with so many awesome features that I ended up loving it.

Sweet mom-ness.

I mean, how could I not love automatic doors that will open with the click of a button so G can get herself in her car seat while I get Ruby in. Or the doors that slide, so my kids can't open them into expensive cars parked next to us. Or the amount of space...this van can seat 8 people! Or the flexibility of seating and cargo room. Or the awesome gas mileage it can get (28mpg). Or the fact that it has 17 cup holders (which I think might actually be a bad idea, I mean think of all the times you're going to have to stop on a road trip if everyone is using all those cup holders!). Or just the fact that now we can all go somewhere with all the luggage and stuff we might need and a stroller. Whew, I love it.

Plus, take a gander at all of this trunk space! With two strollers (one a double!), an emergency car kit, a storage crate and plenty of room to spare!

Wow, I am in love.

You know what else I love?

This little monkey who also loves our new car:

We just have to watch her because she likes to click the push button ceiling lights. One day the battery's going to be dead when I try to start it because the lights have been on.

We're all loving our new car. Even Rob. (Though he sometimes pretends to not really like it. He really does.) (Sorry honey if I outed your little secret.)

2011-03-25T13:43:00.001-06:00

Roommates

2011-03-24T19:36:00.005-06:00

Grace officially has a roommate now. We moved Ruby into Grace's room tonight for the first time. So far, so good :) But we're still keeping our fingers crossed that we can get some more sleep. I think Grace is excited to not be the only one without someone to share a room with.

They sure do love each other!

Published

2011-03-24T13:17:00.003-06:00

As of today I am a published newspaper articler (one who writes newspaper articles, for those of you who don't speak Amanda). Well, I am one if it still counts even if you don't have a by-line :) I had forgotten that I had submitted an annoyance to my favorite section of our local newspaper, so I was happily surprised when I opened it up and saw my Ticked Off rant.

It's there, just to the right of the center fold.

Do you not love the outlaw with the symbols as the Ticked Off mascot?

My little "article"
I had forgotten how ticked off I was about this since we hadn't been to the mall in a while, but a recent trip re-kindled my ticked-off-ed-ness and I had to submit it.

SwagBucks Help

2011-03-21T07:21:00.002-06:00

Sorry, last post on this :) I just read these posts recently on how to earn SwagBucks that I thought were a helpful rundown of how to earn SwagBucks: here, here and here (it's a three-part series by MoneySavingMom.com). It took me a while to figure all this out, so I thought I'd share these great concise posts on how to earn SwagBucks quickly. If you haven't signed up yet and still want to here's the link: http://www.swagbucks.com/refer/AJC3. It really is a cool site to earn free stuff!

Have a Happy Monday!

St Patty's Day

2011-03-17T21:22:00.003-06:00

Tonight for a festive Irish dinner, we had green breakfast for dinner. Since I know you all (maybe not, but at least my mom) wanted to see our festive green fun here are the pictures. I wish I could take amazing food pictures, oh well.

Green crepes with mom's special crepe sauce (made green), strawberries, bananas, powdered sugar and green whipped cream.

With green eggs and orange cheese (who knew that normal colored eggs hid the orange cheese so well?).
There you go. Since I'm sure you all were wondering what the Carters ate for dinner tonight :)

And a special shout out to my little St Patty's Day baby brother, O'Brian!

SwagBucks

2011-03-15T08:23:00.002-06:00

If you haven't heard of SwagBucks yet, pull up a chair and let me tell you about the awesomeness of it. It's a search engine like Google that you use to search the web and every so often you're rewarded for your searches with SwagBucks. You can then use those SwagBucks to buy stuff at their SwagStore, like Amazon.com gift cards. It was hard to get used to not using Google as my search engine, but now that I'm used to it (it's not difficult, it was just different), I use it exclusively. So far in the past 6 months or so I've been using it I've gotten $70 in Amazon.com gift cards for doing nothing but searching the web like I normally do. Cool, eh? I've gotten kitchen gadgets, diapers, wipes, baby travel stuff, books, and other stuff all for free with my Amazon gift cards I got for free. Anyway, I just wanted to share with you in case you're interested in getting free stuff too. If you want to sign up click here (it's my individual referral link that helps me earn bucks too): http://www.swagbucks.com/refer/AJC3. If you have any questions, I'd be happy to answer them - email me :)

Happy searching and earning!

Headstand!

2011-03-13T07:38:00.002-06:00

In my yoga class on Friday night the teacher had us do headstand. I was really nervous, but it ended up being the most exciting day of my post-partum body. I could actually do it! Against the wall, yes, but still I could do it and hold it. I was so excited that I came home and showed Rob and of course Gracers had to do it too.

Grace is a pretty good little yogi!

We like to walk in a local park/nature preserve on Saturday mornings. Yesterday, Grace didn't want to ride in the stroller so she ran about half of the 2.5 mile loop. Here she is resting on a bench partway through the walk. I think we're going to try going on some hikes with her soon.

2011-03-06T09:05:00.000-07:00

This week has been a good one! First, Rob was elected as President of the Human Organizational Performance Association (HOPA), which is the club for his MBA concentration (HOP). Congrats to him! He also finished all his finals on Tuesday! Spring break...whoo hoo! He had most of this week and all of next week off for relaxing and catching up. On Thursday we were able to go up to Louisville to look at apartments for the summer. Too bad 3 month leases are ex.pen.sive. Especially when we will be paying rent here in Nashville for those months too so we won't lose our house here.

I cut my hair short. It feels so good to have it in a style again! Cheesy picture though!

Grace is funny. I always used to wonder how my parents knew when I was doing something I shouldn't. Turns out kids are really transparent and not quite as tricky as they think they are. Case in point: as I walked by the bathroom today as I was cleaning Grace said "Oh Mom, don't see it, okay?" Translation=I am doing something that I shouldn't that's really fun and I don't want you to stop me. Bless her sweet little honest heart.
Grace's imagination is also starting to grow. The photo above is the train that she built in the garage while I did laundry (the washer and dryer are in the garage, I wasn't just letting her play there unsupervised). I love that all this stuff just lined up can make a train!

Ruby is growing like crazy. She has the most kissable cheeks and the sweetest laugh. I love that she'll smile and laugh at anyone! She is also starting to "talk" a lot. I love having little conversations of babble with her. We are so blessed to have such a content happy baby.

Race for the Cure Quilt

2011-03-05T14:37:00.004-07:00

You may remember that last May my family "ran" (ha!) the Race for the Cure in honor of my mom. Since the shirts were hot pink, I thought that most of the guys wouldn't want to keep them. So instead of them heading to the DI, I collected the ones that weren't wanted and made them into a quilt.I used the shirts to make a pink ribbon through the middle of the quilt. Here's what the logo on the shirts looked like:

Happenings

2011-02-28T14:43:00.003-07:00

Thursday of last week we were watching Wizards of Waverly Place when this really obnoxious sound started. At first we thought it was the show, but it just kept going and was too obnoxious even for a Disney Channel show. So we muted the TV and sure enough, wasn't the show. So we turned on the news and sure enough, it was a tornado warning. We had a huge front going right over us with some super cells that could cause tornadoes. The newscaster said that people in our area should get in our "safe place", so we got the girls out of bed (it was around 10) and we make a makeshift bed in the hallway and hunkered down for about 15 minutes while Mother Nature went nuts outside. There were incredible winds and the rain was beating so hard, but we didn't have any tornadoes in our area. Thankfully.

Today it's been storming more. Like gigantic hard hitting, bounce-off-the-ground-after-it-hits rain drops. Tennessee has this crazy intense rain that is nothing like I've ever experienced in the West. We heard about a flash flood watch, then we experienced a mini one in our backyard.

Here is our yard before:

And here it is after:

I don't think that this was even at it's highest. Soon after this, it was just gone. So crazy. It's happened a couple times this morning. The neighbor's yard (to the left in this photo) was almost completely underwater.

In other news this week, Rob's heart has been acting up and giving him some pain and numbness and other not-so-good symptoms so we visited the cardiologist Friday. He has what's called PVC's that are normally harmless enough, but the doctor wanted to monitor his heart for 48 hours so he got to wear a monitor over the weekend. Here is my studly hubby all hooked up.

Too bad they didn't shave him before they put those super-sticky nodes on him. Peeling them off wasn't pretty!

The other day I was trying to find Ruby something to wear. Apparently I hadn't done the laundry in a while, so I plopped her down on the (clean) laundry pile that had found a home on our couch and thought it was cute so I took a picture. (Don't worry she is wearing a diaper even though you can't see it. Doing all this laundry once was enough!)

And since I can't take a picture of Ruby without G being in it, here's both my girls.

Cute Girls

2011-02-24T13:48:00.004-07:00

The girls were hanging out on the bed one day and Grace told me that I needed to get a picture of "your cute girls." So that's exactly what I did. (Oh the glamorous life of being bossed around by a toddler!)

Potty Time

2011-02-24T13:31:00.003-07:00

Grace and Aurora (Sleeping Beauty) and Belle (who she got for being awesome at going potty)

You don't realize how big your child is getting until you're changing her diaper and an infant diaper. Yeah, big, nasty difference. So for the past few months we've been trying to get Grace potty trained and she has wanted nothing to do with the potty. We got her princess pull ups and panties, but she was showing no interest in being independent like that. After a long few months of us desperately wanting Grace use the potty and her adamantly resisting we're finally doing the potty thing! Hooray! It is wonderful to not have to change big girl diapers any more. It took me finally giving up on potty training until she was ready and ordering a gigantic box of new diapers for her to decide (the very next day, I might add) that she wanted to use the potty and she hasn't looked back. She's been in panties for about two weeks now and has had very few accidents. It's been quite easy since she's been on board. I think this is yet one more lesson in parenting - it's not about the timing I want :)

Tea Party

2011-02-17T12:34:00.000-07:00

When I walked in to Grace's room the other day I found her having a tea party with Aurora, Belle, kitty and doggy. What a great little hostess!

Love Them!

2011-02-15T08:33:00.000-07:00

Happy Valentines Day

2011-02-13T00:12:00.001-07:00

I made the girls pink skirts to celebrate Valentines Day and wear to church out of the leftover fabric from the Race for the Cure shirts from last year (and I made a quilt...pictures coming soon!).

Wishing everyone a Happy Valentines Day!

Vandy Girl

2011-02-12T07:39:00.000-07:00

Supporting her Pops and showing the Vandy love (and a very silly face!).

That's one tired girl

2011-02-10T18:24:00.004-07:00

So the other day we were cleaning off the table after dinner and the next thing we know Grace is nodding off. Sorry the camera angle is from behind, but we didn't want to startle her.

The best part of the video is when her head falls back, hits the chair and she keeps sleeping. I guess that's what she gets for not napping. :)

Snow Day

2011-02-10T07:31:00.002-07:00

So last night it snowed and inch (and of course before it did, Nashville went nuts buying up bread and milk like they'd never be able to make it back to the store). This morning Grace wanted to play in it, so this is the little outfit she put together to keep her warm:

I love it. Jammies, boots on the wrong feet, mismatched gloves and a hat that is a tad too small.

This Week in Photos

2011-02-07T12:37:00.005-07:00

Am I lame? I love to dress the girls alike! These photo sessions right before church aren't hurting our on-timeness either! (Okay, maybe they are just a little...)

Every time we go to Target now, she wants her picture taken in the circle. I usually just pretend with my phone, but Rob actually takes them when he's with us.

Grace gave Ruby DeeDee and Lacey for her nap. How sweet that Ruby fell asleep hanging on to DeeDee?

Grace has entered the stage of I Dress Myself in toddlerhood. She will only wear dresses or skirts pretty much anymore, and she likes to layer them. It's not uncommon for her to have 2 or 3 layers of dresses on - a skirt, a dress and a princess dress on top. Cute outfits, eh? I just can't wait for summertime so people won't think I'm nuts toting a bare-legged toddler around in freezing weather. But really, it's not worth a fight! :)

Ruby loves to snuggle her face into things. Here she has scooted her swaddled little self over so she could smash her face into the side of the co-sleeper.

A Day In Our Life

2011-01-26T19:36:00.000-07:00

Rob has taken a few random pictures over the past few weeks. Here's a little glimpse into our life.

Grace singing loudly into her microphone, which makes her singing even louder. Favorites these days are the Wise Man/Foolish Man song with princess's names inserted for wise man (Ariel built her house upon the rock...), Jingle Bells, B-I-N-G-O, I Am A Child of God, Where is Thumbkin? and Twinkle Twinkle Little Star.

Laptop and sleeping baby.

Eating a DumDum after making a poopy on the potty. We're working on it!

Gracie and DeeDee dancing along with Princess Sing-Along Songs.

Ruby sleeping peacefully in her bouncer despite her noisy family.

What a wonderful life! We are so blessed.

Belle Meade

2011-01-24T11:39:00.000-07:00

Tennessee got a new governor last weekend and the whole town celebrated by offering discounts to fun Nashville attractions. We decided to visit Belle Meade Plantation which we've driven by many times and always wanted to visit. Our friends the Walkenhorsts even joined us for some fun!

Dusty and Chelsea looking dapper in turn of the century attire.

Whoops. Identity crisis...Rob?

That's better!

Belle Meade Plantation was a very famous thoroughbred farm. In fact most of the most famous racehorses today trace their lineage to here including Sea Biscuit, Secreteriat, and lots others I can't think of now.

Grace and a little jockey friend. She actually wasn't too keen on the idea of standing next to him if you can't tell...

The mansion. Very cool old house, much like the Hermitage. It's really neat to see how (rich) people lived in days of yore.

Checking out the rocking chairs. Someday we'll have a big porch and rocking chairs on it :) But we won't use them on frigid days like this!

Teach them how to work...

...then put them to work!

This was a really cool life-size play house on the grounds. Someday, Grace, when I have my porch you can have a playhouse :) (Here's to wishing!)

I {heart} My Girls

2011-01-23T20:23:00.002-07:00

Today my dreams of having little girls came true. We dressed them up matchy-matchy for church and they looked so cute if I do say so myself! :)

I am sure that I have two of the sweetest girls a mom could ask for!

Utah Trip Part V: Ruby's Blessing and Other Fun Events

2011-01-23T19:30:00.002-07:00

Sunday night (Dec. 26) we had a double baby blessing for Ruby and her cousin Jack. Our immediate families gathered at Great-Grandma and Great-Grandpa Gwilliam's house to bless the babies. (There would have been waaaay too many people for Grandma and Grandpa's house had we been able to invite everyone from the 3 families involved!). Rob gave Ruby a very sweet blessing. The thing that stood out to me (besides the fact that he blessed her to have a good relationship with her siblingS) was that she would live up to her name and shine brightly like a ruby in this increasingly dark world. It was a beautiful blessing and we sure did feel the Spirit there!

Ruby and Jack

Sweet Ruby

Bunkers

Again, I didn't do such a hot job of the picture taking but despite the lack of photographic evidence, we had a great last couple of days in Utah before flying home on Wednesday. Monday night we attended the Annual Easton Family White Elephant Party. Let me just say that Rob's family is a hoot. We always have so much fun with them!

Tuesday was Mikey's Eagle Scout Court of Honor. Mike is such an amazing young man. I am seriously impressed with all he's able to handle. He's student body president, Madrigals president, plays in the school band, works, plus does great at school and he's cute to boot! Plus he's an Eagle Scout - what an accomplishment!

Wednesday was our exciting packing day for our flight home. Now, remember how we were 13 lbs too heavy on the flight out and we weren't carrying any Christmas presents with us? Right. Uh oh. So we bought those space saver bags that you suck the air out of with a vacuum and we packed our carry-ons so tightly that they probably weighed just as much as our main suitcase! I'm happy to report that we were able to get home with only our carry-ons and the one suitcase we flew out on. It really was a Christmas miracle! The flight home went really smoothly. Both girls were very well behaved and kept everything in their diapers that they should! :) We even had the back two rows to ourselves so we could spread out and have a sound barrier between us and the rest of the passengers. We were exhausted but sad to leave our families. We were blessed to be able to go to Utah and had such a great time!

Utah Trip Part IV: Christmas

2011-01-14T08:42:00.004-07:00

We had a delightful, not white at all Christmas in Utah. It was so fun to be able to be with both of our families Christmas Day - that's a first! Usually we're either in California or Utah and Skyping the family we're not able to be with, so this year was a special treat!

Christmas Morning

Grace helped Ruby open all her presents. Here she is showing Ruby the awesome play keys she got from Santa!

Okay, okay, so maybe mom wanted this ZhuZhu pet more than Grace did....But it's really fun!

Ruby snuggled with G.G. during the great opening of the presents.

Rob felt festive :)

Grace with her presents.

Christmas Evening all of Rob's siblings got together for the sibling gift exchange.

Grandma'Nette bought the kiddos matching Christmas outfits. Here we all are getting everyone changed and ready to go.

All the cousins.

Henry (22 mo.), Chloe (7 days), Jack (11 weeks), Ruby (4 weeks), Grace (29 mo)

Cute cuddly girls.

Everyone!

Merry Christmas!

Utah Trip Part III: McChesney Fun

2011-01-13T16:46:00.004-07:00

While they were in Utah, my parents stayed with my mom's brother Gordie and his family, the McChesneys. We got to spend a couple evenings with them playing and having fun. We were too busy playing Cranium and Catch Phrase (and whooping the boys in said games) to take many pictures.

Here are the kids chomping at the bit to open their special Christmas Eve gifts.

Siler, Easton, Grace and Jade

Cute girls!

Grace modeling her Christmas jammies.

My sweet girls in their matching jammies.

I love this picture. I wish there was a picture of whoever it is behind the camera that's being so entertaining...

Utah Trip Part II: Bunker Family Dinner

2011-01-12T14:34:00.002-07:00

Wednesday night we headed down to Provo to my brother Brian's for family dinner with my side. Bri is an amazing cook and made us a roast dinner. Delish! Some girl is going to be very lucky someday!

My parents came up to Utah for the holidays so we could spend time with both of our families (thanks again guys!). Kira, Stew, Kylee and Tyson and Colleen, Andrew and Elizabeth all were there at the dinner. It was so fun to get together with (and meet!) the babies! (Again, not very good at photo-documentation this trip...sorry!)

Ruby enjoyed meeting her cousins for the first time and vice versa.

Rob, Tyson and Stew chilling on the man couch.

Uncle Bri playing with Kylee and Grace. They sure do love him!

Moms and babies,
Kira and Tyson, Colleen and Elizabeth and me and Ruby.

Utah Trip Part I: Easton Family Christmas Party

2011-01-11T12:10:00.000-07:00

Early, early (we're talking 5:30 am) on Monday the 20th found us on our way to the Nashville airport to catch our 7 am flight to SLC with one big bag to be checked and 5 carry-ons...the cheapest, but not the easiest, way to pack for a family of four for 10 days. We were hopeful that all our stuff would get us to Utah and home plus all of the kids' Christmas presents (mind you we had sent all of the gifts back earlier with Dave when he flew out earlier that month!). We only had to find a new home in our already-stuffed-to-the-brims carry-ons for 14 extra pounds. Oops. After that initial excitement, we boarded our plane in hopes that the girls would sleep and we'd have a peaceful flight. (Looking back we were doing a LOT of wishful thinking...) In the first hour of the flight Ruby blew out of her diaper, so Rob went to change all her clothes in the lavatory. Upon his return to our set of seats, Grace blew out of her diaper, so Rob went to change her. Upon his return this second time, Grace spilled a cup of Coke all over herself and pretty much everything else. Rob took one more trip to the lavatory to do some cleaning. Poor guy! (In my defense I was stuck at the window seat and it would have been much more work to get me out to do one of those trips.) We weren't excited for the next two hours, but apparently we'd gotten all the excitement out of our systems and had a fairly peaceful ride, except for asking Grace not to kick or touch the seat in front of her in any way since we weren't getting very good vibes from that direction. Hey, we tried. Unfortunately (for all of us) no one slept, so upon our arrival in Utah, we were all exhausted.
That night was the Easton Family Christmas Party with Rob's mom's family. We were pretty tired from our trip, so I didn't take many pictures. Sorry. But you can take my word for it that it was really fun and delicious. We had the traditional breakfast feast and played Don't Forget the Lyrics courtesy of Kim and Cary and family.

More highlights included:

Grace and Henry finding their long-lost cousin love for each other. Grace wanted to hold hands all night. He didn't so much.

Aunt Leslie showering the only two girls (plus Ruby, but she's a little small still) with attention. Those poor girls have so many boys to fight for attention. Lucy and Grace loved having cousin time too!

Leslie getting mauled by the kids. (What a good sport!)

Grace being very cute in a Santa hat and enjoying so much attention from cousins who are so much cooler and more fun than her mom and dad.

And Annette almost serenading the room with R-E-S-P-E-C-T, from the tabletop. Rob picked her up and put her there, but at the last moment she chickened out :)

Stay tuned for more Utah fun! I'm trying to get caught up...slowly but surely....

2011-01-10T15:47:00.001-07:00

Happy New Year

2011-01-10T15:31:00.011-07:00

This year I was lucky to get a New Year's card out, let alone a Christmas card. So we kept in the tradition of the interactive card for y'all to learn about what we've been up to this year.

Click on letter to enlarge so you can actually read it if you're interested.

Answers:

ACROSS 2. MBA; 5. Blogging; 7. Avenues; 12. General Electric; 15. Yellowstone; 17. Target; 19. Race for the Cure DOWN 1. Nashville; 3. flood; 4. Vanderbilt; 6. November; 8. princess; 9. Utah; 10. sewing; 11. nine; 13. two hundred; 14. four; 16. ten; 18. two

Christmas Cookies

2011-01-03T13:47:00.004-07:00

We had our first cookie-baking-and-decorating adventure before we left for Utah. We had tons of fun, but it was oh-so-messy!

I rolled and cut out the dough.

Grace and Daddy decorated the cookies.

And Daddy baked them. While Ruby supervised from her swing. Very fun, but I may have romanticized how fun and easy it would be to decorate cookies with a toddler...not something I'll be trying solo with Grace any time soon!

Christmas Part I

2011-01-03T13:03:00.000-07:00

While my parents were here to help for Ruby's birth, they got Grace her Christmas present. Right before we left for Utah, we Skyped them while she opened it.

What could that gigantic present be?

Her very own Cozy Coupe!!!

Oh happy day! Thanks Grandpa and Grandma!

That night, while Mommy and Daddy watched the Biggest Loser finale, Grace sat in her car with the portable DVD player and watched Sesame Street.

And ever since, she does pretty much everything in it like watch tv, eat snacks, haul toys, give stuffed animals and dolls rides, etc. What a great gift!