Grace's New Friend

The day after Easter, our best friends - Jason and Jessica - had their second little boy...Colton Donald Blakely. David and Jason have known each other since they were in diapers, served as best man in each other's weddings, and now live seven miles apart. Jessica and I never had a choice when they introduced us almost six years ago! Thankfully we hit it off and became fast friends. The four of us do nearly everything together, so it's cool that we'll now have kids in the same grade. I realize it's a long shot that we'll someday be in-laws (since they'll surely look at each other like brother and sister), but the odds have got to be better now that there are two Blakely boys.

Spinning with Marmi to pass the time

Poor Reed...he knew something was up

Pretty sure he loves me :)

One lucky little boy

Don't be getting any ideas yet, Dave

Totally oblivious to all the excitement

Several weeks earlier, I (along with Jessica's best friends from high school and sister-in-law) gave a shower for baby Colton in our home. This was my first time actually providing the locale and, despite freaking out on David once or twice during the get-the-house-perfect process, it turned out just fine!

Jess & the hostesses

Yummy Grimaldi's pizza

Yummy animal print cupcakes

Jess & me...

...and at Reed's shower two years ago (weird)

Easter

This is clearly old news now, but I can't not blog about it because it was such a nice holiday and we got some good pictures. :)

Friday afternoon, Grandpa and Granzie came up to spend the night with us. We hadn't seen them since Indiana, so it was a much overdue get-together. Kyle and Kody were supposed to join them, but bailed at the last minute due to Kyle being sick and Kody having better things to do. Just kidding, Kody! We met Kim and Charles for dinner at Cyclone Anaya's that evening and then enjoyed a nice, leisurely day shopping and watching basketball on Saturday...

Modeling her new tiara from Granzie

Trying on hats with Grandpa

Saturday evening, GramB and Papa John came up to spend the night and then join us for Easter services at Watermark. Their house was in the process of being remodeled and totally torn apart. Poor Mom. We again joined Kim and Charles for dinner at Villa-O, and then at Pappadeaux's for lunch after church on Sunday. Grace finally got to wear one of the adorable dresses Aunt Kimmie bought her before she was born (thank you, Sissy)...

Hangin' with Papa John

A group shot

Checking out her Easter loot

Not as sure about this bunny

Our little family

We spent the remainder of Sunday at Aunt Christine's and Uncle Bryant's house with their sweet little clan (we decided four kids officially makes you a clan) and DeeDee and Poppa. Our nieces and nephews are always so much fun! We jumped on the trampoline, got a good game of kickball going, and also played a little volleyball. Most exercise I've had in a long time (and much needed after our gluttonous weekend)...

Loving on Brookie and Aunt Christine

Finally, a picture with Luke

DeeDee and her grandkids (minus the original, Jordan)

We are so thankful to have such a wonderful family. Even more, though, we're thankful for the resurrection of Jesus Christ, without which we'd have nothing.

Eggstravaganza

Our friends, Amy and Cooper, hosted our playgroup the week leading up to Easter and put on quite the party. We got some fun pictures that the babies will surely kill us for someday, especially the boys. Us moms thought they were adorable though!

The Bunny Pic

Grace and I accompanied our friends, Stephanie and Sam, to get the little ones' first pictures with the Easter Bunny. He was so creepy I could barely make eye contact. Thankfully, Grace didn't seem to mind.

Seven Months (a little late)

*While I realize we're fast approaching eight months by now, I'm writing this post strictly as of April 2nd. If you know me well, you know I have a slight compulsion for being exact - so rest assured these updates are true to the seven month mark and haven't been blurred by the many developments since then. :)

So, Grace officially has one bottom tooth and another ready to cut through. It's already changed her smile so much...makes her look older (sad). She's now a master at rolling around; she can get from one side of the room to another this way. This has made diaper changing a bit tricky! She wants to be sitting up all the time, but doesn't yet know how to get there on her own. She's an awesome sleeper...twelve hours at night and two naps (averaging three hours total) during the day. She pretty much smiles all the time, but you have to work hard for a belly laugh and the same thing never works twice. She does have some fiesty moments (when we're graced with a dramatic outburst) ...usually when her food is gone, or when you're trying to put her arms through a shirt, or if you walk through the room without acknowledging her. It makes us laugh more than it does anything. She's really such a great baby and we're having so much fun with this age!

Pool Introduction

Today Grace and I met our friends, Stephanie and Sam, at the natatorium to "swim". Since Grace absolutely loves her baths, I was excited to see her reaction to the pool. Especially being that this is mine and David's regular pasttime during the summer! Thankfully she did not disappoint. She splashed and kicked up a storm...even put her face in the water (although she realized immediately this wasn't a great decision). Now we just need a float so mommy's arms can get a little break!

Atlantis

Thanks to David's company, we recently spent five nights and five days at the Atlantis resort in Nassau, Bahamas. David was one of six individuals that won the Circle of Excellence Award for 2009. He won in 2006 as a rep, after his first full year in the field, and this time as a manager, after his first full year heading the Dallas/Ft. Worth district. If you can't tell, I'm incredibly proud of my husband and endlessly thankful for his hard work, which allows me to stay home with our daughter.

Speaking of Grace, it was pretty tough leaving. I cried! I knew she was in very capable hands, though, and that I'd surely miss her more than she missed me. My mom had come to stay with her and I could just imagine them reading, singing, and playing nonstop. She also had her DeeDee (David's mom) come play with her one afternoon and her Aunt Kimmie come stay overnight (she even took a day off work). David and I checked in a couple times each day, but really just tried to enjoy our time together...and we did.

The resort was amazing. Huge! And the other winners (and their spouses/friends) were so much fun, as is the VP of Sales who "hosted" the trip. We ended up spending most of the week together as a group...by the pool, at the beach, in town, on a private catamaran charter, etc. While it didn't end up being the most relaxing vacation, it was definitely a good time! Did I mention it happened to be Spring Break? Pretty crazy. Oh, and we saw Taylor Swift. We'd heard she was there with her family, but then she walked by our beach chairs with her entourage. Kind-of exciting...even if you weren't her biggest fan before! I think I like her now, though. :)


























Best part of all...coming home to this:

Where does the time go?

Well, I haven't blogged in a month and now I don't even know where to start. We've been to the Bahamas, celebrated Easter, helped welcome a new baby into the world (not ours, obviously...our best friends' second), and experienced many little milestones with Grace! I'll do my best to blog regularly until we're brought up to date. A big "sorry" to the grandparents... lots of pictures to come!