Grace's Space

Is it spring time yet?

2009-01-30T13:14:00.000-08:00

It is really cold. For some reason this winter seems to be dragging by very slowly. Grant got back from inauguration last week and as I'm sure everyone who watched it on TV knows, it went really well. We girls are sure glad that he is home. He went to Grace's school yesterday and read to her class, she thought that was really cool. It seems that I am getting bigger by the minute. I'll try to post a belly picture later. Other than my back and legs aching and not being able to take a full deep breath, I am feeling pretty good. I feel like all would be right in the world if I could only get a little dose of sunshine. But alas, it is still JANUARY. Grace is finally almost fully potty trained. It took her a while but she now makes it to the potty every time- almost. We are very proud, and thankful to have about three months of no poopy diapers in the house:)

2009-01-16T09:19:00.000-08:00

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas and New Year. We definitely did. Christmas with a three year old is so much fun. Grace had so much fun leaving cookies and milk for Santa on Christmas Eve. In the morning she had a whole pile of gifts including the train set that she asked for.

On New Years Eve day we found out that our new baby is a girl! We were both surprised because we were both feeling like it was a boy, but it looks like Grant is going to have a house full of ladies. We spent New Years weekend at Twinbrook with the entire Simmon family, 16 of us all at the house. We spent the whole time eating, talking, and playing plenty of euchre and mafia-it was just what the doctor ordered. Grant's cousin Mike and his wife Lisa have a one year old baby, Sara, and Grace got to practice her big sister skills.

Grace and I are on our own this week, Grant is in Washington DC working on the innaguration. He is one of the production managers for the event and will be there for 5 days organizing and setting up the event, the event itself, and then 2 days for the out. Grace and I are heading to Bourbonnais for the weekend to visit with the fam.

Ready Teddy Halloween Party

2008-10-30T16:30:00.001-07:00

Grace had her Halloween party at preschool today. This was the first time that I got to attend class with her and it was so much fun to see how she interacts with her teachers (pictured left, Mrs. Kramer, right, Mrs. DeAnna) and the other kids. We made a craft, played with a parachute, bozo buckets, and had a pumpkin shaped rice krispy treat. What a day! Tomorrow we are headed to Bourbonnais for trick-or-treat and sloppy joe's at my mom's house. Yum....

After preschool Saylor came by for lunch with Grace and I. For those of you who don't know, Saylor is the captain on the boat I work on.When I told Grace that she was coming she said something that I found quite cute. She looked really puzzled and concerned and said, " Mommy we live so far away, how will the boat get here?".

If anyone is not yet aware, I am almost 12 weeks pregnant! Yeah!! We are very excited for Grace to have a litte bro or sis. I have had one appointment with my midwife, Amy, so far and everything looks great. I got an ultrasound so we got to see the baby and have it measured to calculate my due date, May 17.

Grant turned 30 last Saturday. We had a breakfast of my mom's eggs benedict then in the afternoon I sent Grant to the spa for a massage followed by dinner at Shaw's Crab house with the Simmons. It was a great day and his only day off in two weeks. He has been busier than usual with work. His company, C3, is producing Barack Obama's election night party in Grant Park. His title for the show is Network Production Manager. Basically he will be in charge of handling all the media in their backstage area. I am just hoping that he can get me in, it is bound to be an incredible night in Chicago if Barack wins!

Our New House!

2008-09-18T07:18:00.000-07:00

Wow, has a lot changed around here! We moved into a new house. We made the move to La Grange Park (12 miles west of downtown Chicago). We found a great house on a cute tree lined street that is surrounded by forest preserve. It is so much better for our family than city life was. We have a yard and a big driveway for Grace to play in. There is a beautiful porch with a pergula roof in the backyard and we spend almost as much time out there as we do indoors.

Grace started preschool last week. It is SO cute. She is in the 2.5 year old class since she will not be three till November. Her teacher, Mrs. DeAnna, reports that she absolutely loves it. I cried the first day, she did not. She goes on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 11-1. I was sad to see her go off all by herself, but not that sad, I get 4 hours a week to myself- WOOHOO!!

2008-05-23T09:11:00.000-07:00

We took Grace and her friend Mikela, who lives down the street, to see Sesame Street Live at the Rosemont Theater. Grace is now two and a half and Mikela just turned three, the two of them are quite a pair.

2008-04-24T11:19:00.000-07:00

Here are some recent pictures of Grace for all of you who don't get the pleasure of seeing her very often. She is getting really big!

USVI 08

2008-02-17T12:53:00.001-08:00

We recently took a family vacation to St. John with the Simmon family. It was really great to introduce Grace to the island life and all of our old friends who are still there. Grace had the time of her life. She told me that her favorite things about her trip were "the beach, sand castles, and ketchup (her new love)". We stayed in an AMAZING four bedroom villa with a pool, so we had several relaxing days lounging and reading by the pool. We went to some of our favorite beaches, had burgers at Skinny Legs, and rented a power boat to Jost in the BVI's. Someone, remind me why we moved back? Please???

I Got Elfed

2007-12-09T16:06:00.001-08:00

For a good laugh, check this out:
http://www.elfyourself.com/?id=1233772035

"Santee Cause"

2007-12-09T15:38:00.000-08:00

We took Grace to Navy Pier to go to the Children's Museum and to see Santa. Last year was a disaster with lots of tears, this year was much better. At first glance she wanted nothing to do with the noisy, shiny, bustling, and very red stage platform where Mr. and Mrs. Claus sat. I casually mentioned that if she asked him to Santa might bring her toys on Christmas, this peaked her interest. I told her that she didn't have to go see Santa but that I was going to and she could come with me if she wanted to. This seemed like a somewhat less terrifying idea to her and she agreed to go with me. We patiently waited our turn while a very large group of the "Red Hat Society ladies" took their turn on Santa's lap. When it was our turn, we climbed the stairs and walked up to Santa. Grace was not impressed. She did not want to even look at him let alone sit on his lap, until he mentioned that if she is a good girl he would tell Rudolph not to miss her house on Christmas Eve. That did the trick and she took his hand and started jabbering away about toys and her house and mee-mee's. Before we left she asked Santa to bring some toys for Mommy too- she's got my back.

2007-12-09T15:05:00.000-08:00

Okay, so it has been over a month since I last made an entry. Since then, we had a wonderful long Thanksgiving weekend at the Simmon house along with Grace's 2nd birthday. We ate all sorts of variations of turkey, butter, and cream for three days and it was true bliss. On the Sunday after Thanksgiving we had all of the GP's and Great-GP's over to the Simmons for a birthday celebration for Grace. She opened a mound of presents and finally got that "mee-mee" cake (M&M's for those of you who don't speak Grace) that she has been talking about for the last two months. She enjoyed the cake ceremony so much that after she blew out her two candles she immediately asked to do it again. We re-lit the candles for her to blow out and she looked at all of us and said "sing!!". Hmmm....one time on her first birthday, two times on the second, is this going to be a trend??

Halloween 07'

2007-11-02T13:32:00.000-07:00

We spent Halloween night at my mom's house where she had the second annual Trick-or-Treating followed by a sloppy joe feast. All of the Grandparents came and of course Lucy and Jia who Grace got to go Trick-or-Treating with. This year Gracie dressed up as Raggedy Ann. She has been a little under the weather with a runny nose and cough so after about 8-10 houses we called it a night. I think it's funny how strict the trick-or-treat rules have become. It's now from 5-7 pm- it's barely even dark! I remember when I was a kid we would run around until we filled a pillow case up with candy- oh the good ole days.

2007-10-20T07:21:00.000-07:00

We took Grace to Vanna's Pumpkinland to let her pick out a pumpkin. When asked if she wanted a big pumpkin or a little pumpkin she said little. Sure enough, when we set her free she came back with the smallest pumpkin in pumpkinland.

Thrifty Nickle plays again

2007-10-08T16:28:00.000-07:00

We spent Saturday at a friend's house who was having a backyard party. All of the guys from Grant's band in college were there and they put on a great show. This was Grace's first time watching Daddy in a band- she loved it! After every song she clapped and yelled at the top of her lungs, "YEAH DADDY!!".

Day at the park

2007-09-14T22:00:00.000-07:00

Hot Texas!

2007-09-04T10:39:00.001-07:00

Grace and I recently spent a long weekend visiting the Przylucki's in Houston. My mom also flew down although she was on a different flight. It was really great to see everyone, Grace was only 6 months old the last time we were all together. Houston was having a heat wave while we were there so we spent a lot of time by the pool. Gracie's new phrase for the trip became "hot Texas" because everything she touched while outside was so hot. We also did some shopping damage while there. We went shopping for fake designer purses at a store that keeps the door locked until they decide whether you are a customer or the authorities. Kind of sketchy, but my new Gucci is fabulous!

On the flight to Houston Grace was an angel. We ate snacks, watched dvd's, and read books. She even helped the flight attendants serve drinks and earned her wings which she proudly wore. The return flight was another story. It was way past bedtime but things were going smoothly, until the last half hour. I don't know whether it had to do with ear pressure issues or the fact that she was utterly exhausted but sweet little Gracie started to fuss. Then she started to cry, then wail. I tried everything, even M&M's which are usually a guaranteed bribery tool. She SCREAMED the entire rest of the flight. She sobbed all the way until I got her fastened in her stroller and then fell asleep before we reached the end of the jet way. GOOD TIMES!!

First Time Camping

2007-07-27T10:22:00.000-07:00

We got some good use of our new tent (Grant's father's day gift) when we went for a three night camping trip to the Wisconsin Dells with the Billadeau's. We were very excited to discover that Grace is quite the little camper. She started by helping daddy set up the new tent. They put the poles together and she was amazed to see the boring old piece of nylon transform into a gigantic three room playhouse. She watched how Grant pounded in the stakes and when he was done she spent the next 20 minutes walking around the tent touching the hammer to each stake. Jim, Carol, Lucy, and Jia all showed up with their new pop up tent- with air conditioning! It was nice to have because during the day it was in the 90's. We spent the days at all of the Dell's attractions- water park, petting zoo, go karts, etc... At night it cooled down nicely and we cooked dinner over the campfire. Grace played so hard all day with the girls that she exclaimed "I'm tired!" and went right to bed in her pack n' play and slept all night. We all had such a good time, I hope we can do some more camping before the summer ends.

First Haircut

2007-06-30T11:44:00.000-07:00

We took Grace for her first haircut and she did really well. I held off for as long as possible, but she was starting to look pretty scrappy. She sat on a booster seat in the chair and was really curious about the whole situation. There was no one else in the salon so all of the stylists were gathered around telling her how cute she was and making her giggle. When she was done she got crayons and a first haircut certificate, she was so proud!

Jesse moved in to our other condo yesterday. We STILL have not sold it and he wants to make a move to the city so we figured it to be a win win situation for us both. We gave him low rent so in turn we get one night of free babysitting a week:)-woohoo!!

Father's Day

2007-06-20T12:50:00.000-07:00

Father's Day was this past Sunday and we had a family barbeque on Jug Band. We grilled on land and relaxed on the boat, a good time was had by all. All except for Cindy and Steve who were home sick with food poisoning- yuck! I posted a few of the photos from that day including the one with four generations of Strands. Look at all those blue eyes.

Grace finished her last Wiggleworms class this week. At the end of class she went to Miss Julie and gave her a big kiss on the lips. I think we will take the summer off because she is supposed to start swimming lessons this week. I exchanged phone numbers with one of the other mom's in class and we are going to get together with her and her daughter for playdates. The two girls would always chase each other and make faces in the mirror at wiggleworms, so I think Grace will be happy to see her again.

Grant and Grace are just headed out for a trip to the park and I have to go get ready for my charter tonight. Till next time.....

2007-06-04T08:46:00.000-07:00

Summer season is really picking up at our house and Grant and I are finding ourselves flooded with work- hooray! Grant's networking is paying off and he is now freelancing for several different lighting companies. Saylor (the captain of the boat I work on) and I delivered the Aspiration to her slip at River City this past weekend. We got her all shined up and did our first charter of the year on Saturday. The weather was perfect for boating and it felt really great to be back at work.

Grace had her 18 month checkup last week and she is right on track. She gained 4 pounds in the last three months and is now in the 45th percentile for weight. Her verbal skills are also really picking up. My favorite is when she says shoes "oooshh". This picture of Grace and Lucy was taken yesterday when the Billadeau's came up for a visit to the city. We walked over to Lincoln Square for Mayfest which is an outdoor street festival. We drank really overpriced huge draft beers and ate brats with saurkraut, yum... It is so fun to watch the three girls together. Grace loved showing all of her toys to Lucy and Jia. She was so tired after all the excitement of the day that she slept til 8:15!

Jug Band launch!

2007-05-01T14:32:00.000-07:00

This past weekend we helped sail Jug Band from her winter storage in Waukegan to her summer slip in Chicago. The weather could not have been any more perfect. Grace did really well on the boat. She got her sea legs after about an hour and did not mind wearing her lifejacket at all. I even got her to take a nap while we were sailing. She really enjoyed "steering" the boat and pushing all of the buttons in the cockpit. For some reason the the auto helm was not working until Grandpa realized that someone had programed it to think that the boat was 104 feet long......Gracie!

Grace and I went to our first Wiggleworms class today at the Old Town School of Folk Music. There are about 10 toddlers in the class, each with a caregiver. Grace's teacher is named Miss Julie. Everyone sat on the floor in a circle and Miss Julie played her acoustic guitar and sang a hello song to each of the kids. Many of the kids sat on mom's lap, some ran around, Grace stood in the center of the circle dancing back and forth mesmorized by Miss Julie. We sang and clapped and danced and ran around. Miss Julie had puppets and shakers, and bubbles. At the end of class the kids even got to come up and play her guitar. I think Grace is going to love this!

Gracie, the easter egg hunter

2007-04-13T10:19:00.000-07:00

We went to Bourbonnais for Easter and had a really nice day. We spent the night on Saturday at the Simmon's, it was Jaymie's birthday. We had such a relaxing evening with a fire, wine, and great conversation. In the morning they went to a family gathering in Peoria and we made the rounds in Bourbonnais. We started with an Easter brunch with the Billadeau's. Every year since I was a little girl Grandma Ellen has had an easter egg hunt in her yard for all of the kids. I wasn't sure if Grace would understand the idea that she was supposed to go look for eggs that she could not see by just standing there, but with a little help she caught right on. She had a blast picking up the eggs and putting them in her basket. Every now and then she would drop them and say "uh ohhhh". Grandma and Steve fill the eggs with coins, some bills, and chocolate. Grace found one of the two eggs with a $5 bill- go baby!

After the egg maddness we went to a second meal with Mom, Steve, Jesse, Jean, and Frank. After we ate we went to the Balind's house for more easter baskets and Grandma's homeade pie! Grace got a bunny that sings and dances, clothes, and lots of candy. What a day!

2007-03-30T20:24:00.000-07:00

This video has had over 5300 views on you tube and has been linked to 5 diff sites. Grace may hate us when she is older but this is just too funny!

music time!

2007-03-27T15:12:00.000-07:00

We have had so much fun playing outside and enjoying the spring weather the last couple of days, yesterday it was 77 and sunny! The winter weather really becomes miserable about mid Feburary but it only takes a couple of nice days to remind me why I love this city so much! I can't wait until summer. Grace is going to start swimming lessons soon. We plan on doing plenty of boating and I think we would all feel much better if she could swim (along with the life jacket that she will be wearing at all times:) I am also thinking about putting her in a class at the Old Town School of Folk Music. It's called Wiggleworms and it meets for one hour a week. Grace would be in a class with other toddlers her age and Grant and I would go with her. It would be lots of music, dancing, and she would get her own kid friendly instrument to play. The girl loves to dance!

2007-03-13T13:55:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone! I know I have been slacking on the blogging, and I do apologize. My digital camera broke and Grant just surprised me with a new one, so we should be back on track. As you can see Grace is growing into quite the little lady. She had some great bonding time with the grandparents over the last couple of weeks because Grant and I just got back from doing a charter in the islands. We were gone for 12 days! It was way too long to be away from Grace, but we did have a great time. We took the same group sailing that we took 2 years ago. We had 10 guests, 2 captains, 2 crew, and a whole lot of fun. Grant and I also got to spend two days on St. John.

2007-01-29T11:42:00.000-08:00

These are some cute photos of Jesse, Lucy, Jia, and Grace at Jesse's graduation weekend. Yeah Jesse!!

2006-12-12T21:14:00.000-08:00

It has been a crazy few weeks at our house, our NEW house that is. For those of you who may not know, we have finally finished our rennovation and moved! Yeah!! We are finally getting unpacked and settled in and we love it. Granted, it is not too much diffenent from our old place but it is bigger and better. We have listed our old condo with a realtor and are keeping our fingers crossed.

Gracie is one!! My how time flies. She has changed so much in the last month. She has left babyhood in the dust and is a full fledged toddler. The picture is of Grace eating cake at her first birthday party. She had a mini cake all to herself, and she ate it all. Such a mess, and so much fun!

2006-11-09T09:05:00.000-08:00

We had a great halloween this year. The whole family came over to Cindy and Steve's and we took Lucy, Jia, Dalton, and Gracie trick-or-treating. Grace really didn't get it, but we took her door to door and she held onto her basket with all the loot. There were a pack of grandparents at our heels armed with cameras and camcorders. When we had had enough, we all gathered back at the house for a big meal. We spent the night and left the next morning to work on our condo. It's almost done!!! We are doing all of the finishing work and cleaning up from the construction mess. We hope to be moving in next week.

2006-10-25T10:33:00.000-07:00

There is a church by our house that has become a pumpkin patch for the season. We took Grace there to pick out her first pumpkin. She crawled around in the hay and tested several pumpkins before deciding on a large crooked one. On halloween, we are going to Bourbonnais for trick-or-treating and mom's sloppy joes. Grace is going to be a chicken!

All Hallows Couture

2006-10-13T09:22:00.000-07:00

Lucy and Jim turn 3!!

2006-10-10T10:38:00.000-07:00

We had two birthdays, one party, and some of Grandma Ellen's world famous cinnamon rolls at the end of September.

Grace goes to Vermont!

2006-09-21T08:39:00.000-07:00

We just got back from a weekend trip to Burlington, VT where we attended cousin Bill Simmon's wedding. We flew out on Saturday and spent three nights there. The weather for the most part was beautiful and our hotel was directly across the street from the mall, what's a girl to do?? The wedding was Sunday, we had such a great time. Grace had fun showing off her moves on the dance floor (really it's just rocking back and forth but don't tell her that). She was entranced while watching the older kids dance. They would run up and give her a hug- I am sorry to say I don't have a picture of that because it was so cute.

On Monday we went to Church Street and had a Simmon family + Richie and Julie pub crawl. Church St. is a quaint, brick paved street full of bars, restaurants, and shops. I think we made it to six bars before calling it quits and heading to dinner. On Tuesday we flew home and are back to work on our rennovation. The new concrete floor is poured and Grant is at this moment working down there with our carpenter building the walls. It is fun to watch as the dungeon-like basement transforms into a beautiful master suite, I will post pics soon. Cheers!

2006-09-12T07:24:00.000-07:00

I just got these photos from my friend Heather and thought that I would share them. Heather is a friend from St. John who now lives in Austin and was in town for the weekend. This was the best sailing day we had all season. It was a beautiful afternoon in August and we were out on Jug Band with some friends from Chicago and a couple of friends from the islands.

Nine months and growing

2006-09-07T07:53:00.000-07:00

Grace had her nine month visit with Dr. McGarry last week and everything is right on track. She has done a lot of growing since her last visit. She is no longer in the 10th percentile for size, she is now in the 25th for weight and 75th for length! She weighs a whopping 17lbs, 4oz.

In other news, my charter season pretty much wraps up after this week. We still have some cruises but I will have much more free time. I am looking forward to putting some time into the new condo to paint and get it to move in condition. We have hit a few bumps in the project, but we are back on track. Grant sandblasted the brick that is going to remain exposed and it looks great. The plumber is starting the "rough in" today for the bathroom. I have no idea what that means but it sounds labor intensive.

2006-08-14T20:52:00.000-07:00

Well, where has the summer gone? It seems that once you have a baby time starts flying by at warp speed. Grace is already 8 1/2 months old! We bought the second condo and have been busy starting the renovations. We hope to be done and moving in two months, we will keep our fingers crossed. When we are not working on the condo, we have been busy working our jobs. August is my busiest month for charters, and I have really been enjoying this season.

Grace is more mobile than ever. She does not ever want to sit still unless she is going to sleep, I am sensing real trouble in the years to come! I have heard stories about one year old Grant dive bombing off of furniture. I don't know wheather to be proud or terrified but Grace seems to have her daddy's sense of fearlesness and adventure!

Grace & Leo

2006-07-19T12:47:00.000-07:00

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.

2006-07-15T09:37:00.000-07:00

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!

2006-07-02T11:50:00.000-07:00

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!

2006-06-19T10:30:00.000-07:00

We have had such a busy week! Andersonville Midsummerfest was last week, this is a neighborhood street festival that takes place every year across the street from our house. We spent most of the weekend there eating yummy food and listening to music. This past weekend Grant worked on the tech for the taste of randolph festival in the west loop and I have a couple of charters this week. It feels so good to be working back out on the water again, I didn't realize how much I missed until I got back out there. On Saturday we watched Leo for a couple of hours in the afternoon. He and Grace had a good time rolling around and pulling each other's ears and hair. It is amazing how fast they grow, Leo has two teeth already! We are leaving on Saturday for a week at the Homestar Bank house in Florida. This will be Grace's first trip on an airplane! I am a little nervous about being the people with the screaming baby on the plane, but she is a good little traveler and it is only a 2 1/2 hour direct flight- we shall see. We are so excited to take her to the beach and possibly Disney World!

2006-06-11T18:03:00.000-07:00

Is this cute or what??

2006-06-11T17:41:00.000-07:00

I apologize for the lack of updates, summer has brought us beautiful weather along with busy schedules. We have been spending as much time as possible outdoors in the sunshine. Grant has been working big shows on most weekends so that has left us much of the week to spend together. Boating season is upon us, so I have started working on the charter boat that I have worked on for the last two seasons. We have inherited a jogging stroller from the Billadeaus and Grace loves it. She will happily sit in it for hours so we have been taking long walks around the neighborhood almost daily. I hope everyone is having a wonderful summer and I promise to update again soon with more Gracie pics!!

2006-05-10T17:42:00.000-07:00

On Sunday we celebrated mother's day a week early with the Simmons. We went to the Chicago Yacht Club where they were having a car show, followed by brunch and a sail on Jug Band. This was Gracie's first time sailing and she took to it like a pro (thank god!) At nap time we anchored her seat to the deck and she was quickly rocked to sleep by the waves. It was such a beautiful spring day. There is nothing quite like Chicago in the springtime, I love it!

2006-05-06T21:43:00.000-07:00

On Saturday we went to visit Deirdre, Mark, and baby Carter. Carter is getting big just like me! We compared strategies for rolling over, and since I am a whole month older I showed him how to blow a raspberry. After that our parents took us to the park and Carter and I got to swing. What a day!

2006-05-05T19:24:00.000-07:00

Life has been pretty much as usual here. Grace is getting bigger by the day. She rolls over both directions now and has started trying to scoot on her stomach to grab toys that are just out of her reach. She is such an active baby she never wants to sit still, I think she will be crawling soon. We also started feeding her peas this week. She makes a face but always cleans her plate!

2006-04-19T11:51:00.000-07:00

Our good friends Richy and Julie visited from Vermont. It was Julie's first time to Chicago and Grace was an excellent tour guide. Being a life long Chicago resident herself, Grace knew exactly where to take them. The day started with a trip to the top of the Sears Tower and then a quick bite to eat at Ed Debevic's. Their visit was short but we had a great time.

2006-04-19T11:20:00.000-07:00

We had a wonderful Easter weekend. On Saturday Gracie met the Easter Bunny at Homestar Bank's easter egg hunt. She was very excited. This last picture is of four generations of our family, Great Grandma Jean, Grandma Cindy, Nicole, and Grace.

2006-04-14T18:39:00.000-07:00

Gracie had her four month doctor visit and she is right on track. She weighed 11lbs 8oz. and is 24 inches long. Dr. McGarry said that we could start to introduce solids to her diet. We have started with rice cereal and she absolutely loves it. She takes bites from a spoon and sort of slurps at it until the cereal is gone. She gets a little bit better at it every day. In a couple of weeks we are going to shake it up a little and try peas!

2006-04-14T18:20:00.000-07:00

After visiting Loudon, TN, we we were on our way home when the weather got really bad. There were tornado warnings all over the state and they shut down the highway after one touched down. We knew we were going to have to stop for the night so we detoured to Gatlinburg, TN. Grant spent many family vacations in Gatlinburg so it was extra special for him to be able to bring Grace there. It just so happened that Jaymie and Harry were in the area bike riding some of the Smoky Mountain trails. We met up and decided that it was too good to be true that we were all in the same place at the same time so we decided to extend our trip for a few days and rented a chalet. We rode go-carts, shopped, relaxed, and ate lots of food. Grace had a wonderful time on her first vacation and was a breeze to travel with. She was all smiles all the time and attracted TONS of attention everywhere we went. Every morning Harry worked with Grace on her "tummy time" and by the end of the trip she had learned to roll onto her back all by herself. She is getting so big!

2006-04-14T17:44:00.000-07:00

We spent a few nights in Tennessee at Jim and Carol's house with Jim, Carol, Lucy, and Jia. We had some great family time and got to relax in the sun.

2006-04-14T17:34:00.000-07:00

My Uncle Mike is graduating from the Art Institute of Chicago and we went to his gallery show. I loved all of the art, mom says that when I get a little older I can start with some finger paint.

2006-03-28T08:36:00.000-08:00

Well, we actually did it! Grant and I left Grace for an entire weekend with her grandparents and we went on a 3-day cruise to the Bahamas. I have to say that leaving her was possibly the hardest thing I have ever done, but now that we are home I am so glad we did it. I cried my way to the airport and then to Orlando, but once we called home to check in and heard that Grace was doing fine it started to get much easier. This was our first cruise and we had a blast, it was just what the doctor ordered. It went something like this: have drinks, eat buffet, have drinks, see show, have drinks, eat dinner, eat buffet while having drinks, more drinks, and then room service. Seriously, our diet starts today. I am happy to say that as much as we missed her, Grace got to spend some great bonding time with her grandparents.

Nicole

2006-03-28T08:28:00.000-08:00

I went to the flower and garden show at Navy Pier, everyone said that I was the prettiest flower there!

2006-03-11T19:57:00.000-08:00

Friday night was Mary's birthday so Grandma Cindy and Grandpa Steve came to stay with me while my mommy and daddy went out with friends. They were acting really funny when they got home, maybe they had one to many "ba-ba's."

2006-03-09T18:25:00.000-08:00

On Thursday Mary came over to visit. She is the nanny for my buddy Leo, so he got to come too!

2006-03-09T18:24:00.000-08:00

This is me with my mom and dad. Boy, do they sure love me a lot!

2006-03-03T09:30:00.000-08:00

Thursday night was so much fun! My Grandma Jaymie, Grandpa Harry, and Aunt Jessie came over to play with me. I got to stay up past my bedtime and then Grandma stayed with me while Mommy and Daddy got to go out with friends.

2006-03-02T10:02:00.000-08:00

On Wednesday night my grandpa Steve came over for dinner. We played toys until it was time for me to go to bed, it was so much fun!

2006-03-01T10:08:00.000-08:00

Grace and Leo

2006-03-01T10:07:00.000-08:00

Grace and Carter

2006-03-01T10:01:00.000-08:00

On Sunday Gracie had a playdate and made some new friends. These are the babies of our friends from our childbirth class. Leo (12 weeks old), Carter (8 weeks old), and Grace (13 weeks old).

2006-03-01T09:54:00.000-08:00

Grace loves a good bath! She takes one every night before bed.

2006-02-28T22:52:00.000-08:00

Grace Eliza Simmon, born Nov 27, 2005. She is cute.