Happy Birthday Marmee!!  I WUV WU! 

Wow, its been a LONG time since I wrote a new hournal entry.  Summer is always a busy time at the  house! 

June was the craziest month ever!  Bill was in Europe on a work trip for the first half of the month.  He spent 11 days in the wine country of Spain and France.  Grace and I had a good time at home together but we missed Bill a ton!  I now have a whole new respect for single parents!!!!  As soon as Bill return, I was off on work trips as well to Louisville, KY and Atlanta, GA.  Fun times but boy was I glad to just have the whole family together at the end of June. 

Fourth of July was a big party weekend at the house.  Grace had a ball with all her aunts and uncles and buddies around all weekend, playing in the pool with her.  She has become very brave in the water....there is no fear in her!  Mommy has a ton of fear when she is near the water but Grace loves it.  She is catching on pretty quickly to kicking her feet and holding her breath when she dunks.  In fact, her favorite thing to do in the pool is to be thrown between all her uncles and also to jump into someone's arms from the side of the pool.  And yes, she looks adorable in her 50 bathing suits and Barbie sunglasses!   

 What's going on now?  Well Grace has turned into a real KID.  No more baby here.  Every day she is picking up new words and is speaking in full sentences.  She is even able to ask a question, get the answer, and understand consequences (i.e. Naughty Step, courtesy of SuperNanny!).  Its so amazing to watch her grow.

Come visit us soon!!! --Jaime

Last night, Meghan and Chris got married.  And Grace was the flower girl.  All dressed up in her pink dress and matching pink sparkly shoes, she was the prettiest girl there (she and Meghan shared that honor!). 

After spending a few hours playing with all the bridesmaids and the 2 ring-girls, Grace was exhausted by the time the ceremony started so Mommy carried her down the aisle.  However....once she saw Uncle Chris ("K"), Uncle Brian (Buddy), and Daddy standing there, she was off running.  For most of the ceremony, Gracie sat at her Daddy's feet and called out to all the people she could see in the audience.  It was precious---"Hi Papa!!  Hi Bop!  Hey, Papa!! Hi!!!" 

Meghan and Chris were the perfect wedding couple---kind of reminded me of Ken and Barbie actually!!!  We all danced all night and had a great time!!! 

Pictures are posted for all to enjoy under the "Wedding" album on this site. 

This weekend was Mother's Day and it was the best ever!  First, Mama did nothing productive all weekend (exactly how it should be on Mother's Day) and then Daddy and I gave her a present---monthly maid service for a year!  (Mama is very happy!)  And I made Mama a Mother's Day card too! 

So many fun things are happening at day care too!  We got a new playground with swings, a sandbox, and a climbing tower!!!!  We play outside every day and my new favorite thing to do is blow bubbles.  Mama found these great "spill proof bubbles" so I can do it al by myself without spilling all over the house.  I am one of the big kids now at day care so I help Afghani take care of the babies and I love to give them kisses and hugs. 

A few weeks ago, my friend Ashley came to visit.  Her daddy and my daddy went to college together.  Check out this cool picture collage that Ashley's mom put together of us:  

SO this coming weekend is going to be very busy for me.  My Aunt Meggie and Uncle Chirs are getting married!!  And I am the flower girl!!!!!  Dont worry---I will make sure Mama puts pictures up soon so you can see me in my pretty pink dress with pink sparkly shoes!!! Even my mom is wearing pink!!!  

I love you!

-Grace

This past weekend was packed full of fun. 

Saturday was Grace's 2nd birthday party.  Friends and family piled into the house for a Dora the Explorer themed party complete with tacos, chili con queso dip, and margaritas (the adult Dora beverage!).  The kids had an Easter egg hunt in the backyard and then came in to eat the beautiful Dora cake that Jaime spent an hour icing early that day (there is a picture in the April gallery for all to admire!).  Grace loved all her presents and had a great time with her friends. 

Easter Sunday was spent with the Devey family.  Goma and Opa came over for Easter lunch.  We dyed Easter eggs and chatted all afternoon.  Greace looked adorable in her pink dress, even it was a little big!  She is so hard to buy clothes for because she is so tall that she needs 3T dresses but she is so skinny that 24 month size fits best on the waist! 

 Grace is adapting very well to sleeping in her big girl bed.  Mom did find her behind the bed this morning, playing hide and seek, however.  Looks like the bed needs to be pushed up against the wall!  She is trying to dress herself these days and even though she cant quite to do it on her own, she is very proud when she pulls a shirt over her head. 

New pictures are in the April 2006 gallery!

Today, Grace had her 2 year old doctor visit.  Quoting the doctor, "She is pefect!!". 

Her stats:

 29 lbs. (@ 75 percentile)

36 inches (@ 95 percentile)

No more visits (except those pesky sick visits) until she is 3 years old!! 

The biggest change around the Barnhart house is the absence of a crib.  Grace slept in her "new" toddler day bed this weekend for the first time!   Mom and Dad put a mattress underneath the bed so that she would have a soft place to roll if she did fall out of bed but, to our knowledge, she has not needed it!!  Mom did find her hiding underneath the bed this morning so we will have to figure out a way to prevent that but all in all, the big girl bed is working out just fine!

For Christmas, her Uncle Brian bought Grace a tricycle.  The weather was beautiful on Sunday so we put the bike together and got Grace all geared up for her first bike ride.  She loved it!  Check out the pictures in the April 2006 album; Grace looked adorable in her Dora the Explorer helmet and pads!!

Its been a few weeks since the site had been updated.  Look for some new pictures next weekend after Grace's 2nd birthday party!  Can you believe Grace is 2 already?  Time flies!

 This weekend brings a big milestone for Miss Grace; her first nights in a toddler bed.  Wish us luck!  We have one of those convertible cribs so all we have to do is take the sliding crib rail off and voila!--a toddler bed!  Hopefully, since she will be in the same bed, the fact that a rail is missing wont bother her much.  I have been doing the "Happy Toddler" dance hoping that she takes to sleeping in a real bed easily-----not sure how many times I can handle her falling out of bed or refusing to stay in bed. 

I will keep you all updated on the progress!   

Wow--Grace is a busy little girl these days! 

 Her birthday is only 3 weeks away.  Can you believe she will be 2 years old!??!  Where does the time go?  In mentioning her birthday, I have 2 reasons:  1)a birthday party is being planned but no details yet!  I am thinking about tax weekend.  Then at least we all have something to look forward to as the IRS takes everyone's money!  2)There is a registry linked to this site for everyone to use (if you want to).  I update it from time to time with things I want to get Gracie and things that she likes.  If you are wondering what to get her for the birthday, check that out first.  Otherwise, she LOVES Dora the Explorer, Miss Spider, and loves to play outside.  Books are on the top of her list too for favorite pasttimes.  Clothes---she is already in size 2T!  Tall and skinny with blond hair and blue eyes---Mommy and Daddy are in trouble; the boys are going to come knocking on the door before we know it! 

Grace's hair is finally starting to grow!  In fact, we can put it into a little ponytail.  Well, it looks more like a mullet-tail but Mommy doesnt mind---I can finally put little bows in my little girl's hair!!!  There is a pic of this most adorable "toddler-tail" in the March photo gallery for you to enjoy! 

Aunt Meghan's wedding is quickly approaching and Grace is ready to go.  Her flower girl dress is beautiful and her sparkly pink shoes are the most precious shoes ever!  We went to Meghan's dress fitting last weekend.  The first time we went Grace was scared of the dress!  Its gorgeous but something about a big white dress terrified Grace.  This time around, she couldnt take her eyes....or her hands..off of it!  She likes to pick up the train and carry it for Meghan and as soon as Meg puts it on, Grace wants Meghan to pick her up!  Grace also likes to look at herself in the mirrors at the bridal salon........she and Meghan had to compete for mirror space! HAHA! 

New pics are posted of Miss Grace!  She is such a good little girl and absolutely hysterical!