Grace & Leo

Well, Grace is officially crawling- fast. No more of that flopping forward nonsense, she knows where she wants to go and she means business. Now that she has realized that she is mobile, she is suddenly EVERYWHERE! I set up the pack and play in the living room for her to play in but she presses her face against the side and yells to get out. She likes to be on the floor with the freedom to go where she pleases. I have figured out how to fit together all of the furniture in my living room to make a "Gracie pen" so that she thinks she is on the loose but can't get into any trouble. Today I saw her pull herself up to standing using the ottoman to our chair.

This week has been another busy one. We spent the first part of the week in Bourbonnais visiting with parents and grandparents. We stayed out at the Simmon's house and got to spend an afternoon relaxing there. I took a nap in the hammock, it was bliss. We also had a barbacue at the Billadeau's with burgers, brats, beers, and swimming. On Monday we had a wonderful lunch at the country club with Great Grandpa and Great Grandma Strand. That night we went to Great Grandma and Great Grandpa Serve's house for dinner. It was Jia's birthday on Wednesday and Grandma baked her a cake and we she opened presents. Grant and I got her a "band in a bucket" with several instruments in it. She loved it because she can now hear the music!

We have decided to buy another condo unit in the building we live in now. Our neighbor is moving out of the country and we were able to make a deal with him before he put his unit on the market. His unit is almost the same as the one we are in now, but it is a little bigger. He has the unfinished basement space below his unit that he has not started work on yet, so once we close we will begin the renovation project. We are excited to get started!

We got back from our week in Orlando late last night. We had such a great time! The Przylucki girls (Uncle Tom couldn't make it but we missed him!) came down for a few nights and we had a blast. It was a vacation of firsts for Gracie. She took her first airplane ride on which she slept for the first half an wiggled around in our arms for the second half- no crying! She went swimming for the first time, she loves the pool but was scared of the ocean. She crawled forward for the first time. It was really more of a flop forward, but hey at least it is in the right direction. She is also cutting her first tooth!

We spent a couple of days just lounging by the pool and drinking margaritas. We also had a beach day and a shopping day at the outlet mall. The guys went golfing and to the Nasa space center. On Monday we all went to the Universal Islands of Adventure roller coaster park. They have an option for people with babies that allows one person to go to the front of the line and wait with the baby while the rest of the group rides. When the ride is over you swap babysitters and ride again. This worked out great for us because we all got to ride all of the rides. We ate lunch at Jimmy Buffett's Margaritaville and ran around the park for the rest of the day. At one point it rained and the park cleared out so there were no lines. Although she was too small for the rides, Gracie spent the day napping in her stroller and smiling at strangers. She almost made it onto the merry-go-round but they kicked her off because she was not wearing shoes! Grandpa Steve didn't agree with this at all so he talked them in to letting her back on. We spent the last day by the pool followed by a truly unforgettable seafood dinner at Downtown Disney- the perfect end to a wonderful trip!