Camden and Grace…Cousins and Friends!

Today we went to Chattanooga to visit the Blair’s and the Medley’s.  Otherwise known as Aunt Betty, Uncle Frank, Cousin Ashley, Justin, Michelle, and of course, little CAMDEN!!!  We had so much going on the carousel, playing in the fountains, and playing with Camden.  We hope to be able to visit again soon!!

At the park again…

One of our most favorite activities is to go to Long Hunter State Park by our house.  This past week has been so beautiful that we’ve actually gone a few times.  Brad has had lots of fun showing Gracie how to catch fish or “dogs” as Gracie calls them.  Below are a few pictures we took during our fun times together!!

Gracie is Walking Like a BIG GIRL!!!

Well it may have taken her a little longer than other children but our precious little Gracie-Poo is finally walking around like the BIG GIRL she thinks she is.  This is a big milestone in her life that quite honestly has left me a little teary eyed.  Gracie is no longer a baby but a sweet little toddler, who loves to giggle and say “Hey!”  She loves toddling after her best friend Kailey and chasing Stella around the house yelling, “BAD” at her.  (I think she hears us say that a bit to much?!)  Well I guess Brad and I should prepare ourselves for more of the milestones in the future, but in the mean time well just give that small soft chubby little girl a few extra hugs and more love than she knows what to do with. 

Below are some videos of Gracie showing off her new skills, along with the walking Gracie can now point and indicate what she wants.  Most of the time, she wants whatever someone is eatting.  Tonight we had barbeque chicken which is one of her favorites!!!  **She shows some good sharing too**

 

Sorry for the loud bang towards the end….that was the video camera charger falling

Swim Lessons

During the months of May and June Gracie took what we called swim lessons but were actually water safety classes.  Instead of teaching Gracie how to kick and doggie paddle these classes teach babies how not to panic when they fall into the water accidentally.  We felt these classes were very important given Gracie’s grandparents both live near water.  While the ultimate goal of the class is to teach the baby that once fallen in to roll over and float on their back or swim to the wall, Gracie became very fluent in being submerged and not panicing (which is very important as most children drown in under 30 seconds because they panic and inhale water) and holding onto the wall.

We had a great time taking her to class, even though the first couple weeks she cried the whole time.  Once daddy was able to join us at class and show Gracie that swimming is fun she really began to enjoy it.  Now, she wants to go swimming in her pool in the backyard and at LaLa and PapPap’s all the time.  LaLa was nice enough to come to her last class and take some pictures.  As you can see Gracie is crying in a few pictures as another kid was crying that day (she’s very sympathetic) and her daddy wasn’t there.

Trip to Olive Branch

For Father’s Day weekend we went to Olive Branch, MS to visit Brad’s family.  We went to the Memphis Zoo which was so much fun.  Gracie had a blast seeing the elephants, polar bears, monkeys, pandas and tons of other animals.  You can tell by her face that she was shocked to see animals that big.  We also went to visit Grandma Case at the pool she manages and Grace had a great time swimming with the family and showing everyone what she learned in her swim lessons.  Papaw even wore her favorite shirt!!!  Enjoy the pictures!!!

!!!Breaking News!!!

Gracie began crawling today!!!  Pictures and video soon…

First Trip to the Zoo

Today we had the first Fair Family Fun Day of the summer.  In the morning we went to Gracie’s swim lessons and in the afternoon we went to the zoo.    Gracie loved seeing the animals!  She called them all “dog”  which got the other patrons at the zoo really laughing.   Gracie loved the meerkats the most and was a little unsure on her ride on the carousel. The zoo even had a petting zoo with LaLa’s favorite GOATS.  Gracie liked the goats too as you can see in one picture she is going down to give it a kiss (Gracie has yet to master the art of closing her mouth when giving someone or something a kiss).  Enjoy the pictures!!

Gracie and Stella: Best Friends?

Anyone that has spent time with Gracie in the past month or so will tell you about her fascination with all things dog and dog related.  Gracie’s first word was dog and she loves pointing them out whenever she sees one whether they are alive, stuffed, or in a book.  Gracie’s favorite dog by far is Stella.  Whenever Stella comes around Gracie gives her a hug a kisses her (Gracie now gives kisses sometimes upon request but only voluntarily to Stella and other dogs).  I captured a series of photo that I believe demonstrates their relationship perfectly.

Stella comes to sit by Grace

Gracie notices her

Gracie petting Stella

Gracie shows Stella birds

Stella decides she’s not interested and walks away

Playing on the Swing Set

Gracie’s Pap-Pap and LaLa bought Gracie a swing set for her birthday and boy does Gracie love swinging and going down the slide.  Gracie and Kailey (the nanny’s little girl) play outside almost all day when it is sunny.  Below are some pictures of Gracie’s outside play area in our backyard and some of Gracie being a big girl on her favorite toy!!

VIDEOS ARE BACK: Better Late Than Never!!!

Loyal readers of The Place for Grace may have noticed there haven’t been many videos added in quite a while.  This was not due to lack of videos but rather that Google Video (our video hosting service) quit operating and I was not quite sure where to upload videos that would make them confidential.  As I am sure you are all aware of the creeps that roam the internet and I did not want them to stumble upon Grace’s videos.  At last, YouTube has started a Private Function where videos uploaded can remain private and only viewable by permission from me.  So all that said, here is a video of Gracie eating her birthday cake on her actual birthday.  As you can see she LOVES it!!!