Catching Up

I know I have a lot to catch up on and here is why. I went back to work. I absolutely love working again but the extra time is lacking. Well, that is one issue and the second is the 3 wedding weekends I have spent in Seattle. The one condition for going back to work was finding the right person to take care of the kids. Luckily, we did. Her name is Jessica and she is our saving grace.

Now on to the kids. Since Gretta turned 1 she has grown up so fast. She is talking, running and she understands so much. It's actually quite amazing. She loves balls. Maybe even more than Grady. She also loves being a girl. She wears my shoes, carries her own purse, plays with my empty make up containers and LOVES jewelry and getting her hair done.

Grady started preschool back in July. It has done wonders for him. Ms. Meslissa is his teacher. He loves playing with the other kids, they have a pet fish named "Bob" and they have a splash pad and play ground they use every day. He has also started potty training and he is doing very well. He is speaking in sentences and growing up so fast. It makes me sad. But I am so proud of how the kids are growing up. They are well behaved, they love each other, and they have really adjusted to me going to back to work better than I could have ever hoped for. The pictures are from Gretta's first birthday and Grady's second.

Gretta is 1!

Gretta turned 1 on July 22. This is a great time to write down what I know about her and how the past year has been since she entered our lives. She is a GO GETTER! Even more so than Grady, which is a little scary. She has no fear and will often be the first to do many things. She is into everything around the house and everywhere we take her. Just because she is limited by her size and speech does not mean she doesn't understand what is going on around her. I took her to get a new pair of shoes last week and I had her out of the stoller to measure her feet and see how the shoes were fitting. As I was looking at a different pair, she managed to pull down 4 boxes of shoes and pull the shoes out of the boxes. In all of 30 seconds. I am not sure if this means she just loves shoes, like her mom, or it is just a great example of how fast she is. She is a quick thinker and can be very sneaky if you let her.

We had her 1 year well check yesterday and she is 20.1 lbs, which puts her in the 30th percentile for weight and 30.1 inches, which puts her in the 90th percentile for height. Still a long, lean, string bean. She is walking all over the place, actually starting to run a little and it is just the cutest thing ever. She has brought such joy and laughter to our house we certainly cannot imagine life without her.

Last week we celebrated Gretta's birthday, on her actual birthday by taking her to Red Robin. It's a family tradition. Yes, they sang to her and gave her a sundae and she loved it. On Friday, Grandma Pam came to visit and we had another birthday dinner and on Saturday, we had the family over for yet another celebration. We have had quite the week of celebrating, which is exactly how it should be. And based on the photos, Gretta knew she was a little princess. I have some great photos and video's to post, however, my computer is not cooperating at the moment so I will have to do a catch up post later this week.

Preschool Open House

Last night we went to Grady's preschool open house. He starts a 2 year old program in a little less than two weeks. The school is amazing, which is why I picked it in the first place. We were able to meet his teacher, play in his room and play outside. Gretta enjoyed it as much as he did. He will only be going tues/thurs from 8am-11am. Just enough to expose him to a classroom setting without feeling like I am putting him in daycare. And this way Gretta won't miss him too much. Her world does completely revolve around him these days as you can see from the pictures and video.

One last photo with Uncle Josh.

Starting cycling early.

Working out before dinner.

Cuddle time.

Preschool open house.

Tent Time.

Splash Pad at the preschool.

Californication

I am so behind with posts and updates. The time has been flying because we have been very busy. Starting mid-June Tim went to Canada to go fishing with his dad. This left me at home with the kids for 10 days. I must say it was not bad at all. Very proud of myself for handling the homefront so well. The kids are at a perfect age and I know it will just get better. Gretta has been walking for a month. She can now stand up in the middle of the room and walk all over. She rarely crawls any more. This helps the two play together. Although I will worry less as she gets stronger.

The 4th of July brought my bff Kim to town. She found an amazing hotel in Scottsdale with a killer rate, pool, and food. We stayed there two nights, did some shopping and came back to the house for the 4th of July. All in all, it was a great weekend with lots of girl time.

My mom just flew home after her visit. We made some ambitious plans to drive to California with the kids. This is a 6-7 hr car trip with stops. However, we made it and overall it went very smoothly. A lot of work but definitely worth it and I would do it all again in a heart beat. Josh met us in San Diego and we had some relaxing time, beach time, site seeing time, Sea World, San Diego Zoo and great food! I have way too many pictures to post. If I get the time I might post a few more updates. But I will just say even Gretta enjoyed all of the activities. The kids are quite the little travelers now. Grady absolutely loved seeing all of the animals, dolphin and whale shows. The best part is that they are both free to get in to everything :)

Shamu Show. Of course we were in the splash zone, with a poncho.

Skyrail over Sea World. (Grady has a death grip on my jacket).

View out of the condo.

Old Town San Diego. Best Mexican food ever. And margaritas.

Candy shop. The kids LOVED it!

Kids Wrestling on the Balcony.

Grady Developments

Touchdown!!!!

This week has been a big week for the kids. Gretta is walking and getting better every day. And at 25 months, Grady now knows his colors, numbers 1-10 and alphabet. Grady is speaking in phrases/sentences and every day he learns something new. We have been working on all of this for a long time so it is very exciting that is has finally "clicked". I know they say kids at this age are like sponges and it is true. He loves to learn.

Grady absolutely loves his books and knows the name of almost every common animal as well as every different kind of vehicle made. He is still pointing out and naming everything he sees. He would rather read a book than watch anything on tv and his attention span for reading is much longer. He likes to read to Gretta and point out things to her. Then he asks her to "say it". This is hilarious to me because that is what we do with him all the time. As a result Gretta actually has picked up on many forms of communication and some vocabulary already. She says "hi" and if we just say "hi" to her she will wave back. Oh, another favorite is "uh-oh", which she says if something drops. So cute! She also says the basics, mama, dada, baba, etc...

Their world is magical at this age and their communication and vocabulary skills are impressive. I have to say the best part about being home with them is seeing the hard work payoff. I know that almost every thing they know, I have taught them. And that is something to be proud of. Life is Good.