Christmas and everything else!

First of all I just love this picture of our little Miss Gracie! She has to be the most gorgeous baby on the planet! She is more and more fun everyday. She walks everywhere, hardly ever crawls and is a human tornado! We are teaching her to help pick up her toys. She's getting it. We praise her everytime she does it, so she is so proud of herself!

We had a great Christmas. It started Christmas eve with the annual get together at my parents. They have family and friends over with yummy snacks! It's fun to just hang out and chat with everyone. After everyone has left we get to open 1 gift, that is our pajamas. It's always fun to see what everyone's look like. Christmas morning we went back to my parents around 9:30 to open gifts. We had a really good time. Gracie was so fun. We would help her open her gifts and if there was one spot where the paper was gone, she would point to it. She's an angel. After gifts we made a big breakfast and relaxed for a few hours. We then went to my sister in laws to have Christmas with Bernie's family. We again had yummy food! Everyone enjoyed opening more gifts! We had fun singing American Idol kareoke ( I just watched!). I have to say, I married into the funniest family. They are so much fun, they always keep me and each other laughing!

Being with family is the most important part of the holidays I think. Maybe now that I have a baby and one on the way, but I realize that more this year. Gracie is still so little and doesn't understand Christmas but now we see it through her eyes and are so excited to see how happy she gets! When she gets really excited she opens her mouth really wide and puts her hand over it. It's so cute.

And I had a doctor's appoitment yesterday. Everything looks good and we find out what we are having on Janaury 26th. I can't wait. Should we keep it a secret from everyone?!?! :)

Baby #2 is on the way!

Yup, that's right. We are pregnant! I am due June 28th. We are very excited to be adding to our family. I'm feeling much better now. The first couple months were pretty rough. I was sick all day long and no time to rest with a 1 year old! I'm really trying to eat healthy, not just for the baby and I but because I'm hungry all the time! Even though Gracie doesn't know what's going on I know she's excited to be big sister!

Our baby is 1 already!

Our sweet little girl turned 1 on Thanksgiving day. I don't know whether to laugh or cry. Maybe both. She is just getting so big. This year has just flown by with her. It has been so fun and amazing watching her learn and grow everyday. She is really the sweetest, happiest little girl. Here are a couple pictures of her. This is her birthday outfit. She looked so cute. It made her look more chunky than she is! She wasn't feeling the greatest on her birthday but did great! (we found out the next day she has an ear infection :( She was happy all day though. We had dinner at my parents, Bernie's family came also. We had lots of yummy food and were stuffed! Some of my family came over also to help celebrate her birthday. She liked her cake, but didn't dig into it like we thought she would. But with having no nap and not feeling well, that was expected.

A few fun things about Gracie:

-She is starting to walk, she is so proud of herself when she does. As soon as she sits down she claps and looks at everyone to make sure you are too!

-She has 12 teeth and loves to have them brushed.

-She loves bath time and when I take her out she shakes her head no!

-She says hi, tickle tickle, da da, ma ma, growls when she sees the dogs

-She knows where your eyes and nose are. She pinchs your nose so you will say honk honk and when you ask her where your eye is she practically pushes her finger through the back of you head showing you!

-She gives kisses all the time and we are teaching her hugs.

-SHE IS FEARLESS! Just like her dad! She falls off the stairs and thinks it's funny! When she does get hurt she scowls makes a perfect O with her mouth and says owe really softly.

-She loves books and brings them to us all the time to read. She will point out the dogs and cats in them. She also knows who Santa is. She points at him too! We'll see how she likes to sit on his lap!

-She loves medicine! When she sees me get out her anitbiotic for her ear she scrunches her shoulders and says mmmmmm! I've had her tylonol in her diaper bag this past week in case she has needed it, she knows where it's kept, gets it out and brings it to me! I promise we don't give her medicine that much!

This has been the greatest year with Gracie. We have so much to be thankful for. We are a happy little family and she makes it better everyday. We love you more than you know Gracie Anne.

Finger painting fun!

My mother-in-law works at a daycare and Gracie spent the day there yesterday. I was really worried about leaving her and was getting a little choked up talking to Bernie about it after I left. She can be weird sometimes with strangers. I just didn't want her to be scared. Well she wasn't! She had a blast. I guess she was making the kids laugh with the silly way she laughs sometimes. This is a picture of her painting her firetruck. Her first piece of artwork! So precious. We also got her "report card" telling us what she ate and when and different things she did. We are thinking of sending her there a couple days a week, she loved it and the interaction with other kids is good for her. Now that she has been there once I won't worry the next time!

Fifi the Poodle!

Yes Gracie was a Poodle for Halloween. She looked so cute. We went trunk or treating at the mall with her cousins. Both of our moms came too. It was fun. She didn't know what was going on, but we had fun anyways!

I had to put this picture in there because I love her leopard outfit!

Halloween Eve

The night before Halloween we carved pumpkins with my parents, brothers and my brothers girlfriend. We had a lot of fun and some intersting conversations! As you can see Gracie is loving her Halloween cupcake, she ate the whole thing in about 5 minutes. She loved it. I can't wait for her birthday, she is going to tear the cake apart! She likes carving pumpkins and got her hands right in there, and then tried eating it. She didn't like that so much.

We really had fun carving her first pumpkin with her.

Is she walking?!?!?!!?

Yes you read right, we might have a walker! I don't know wheather to laugh or cry. She has taken a total of maybe 10 steps since last week. She is just getting to big. I want her to stay little forever. Her dad on the other hand wants her to grow, grow, grow! I can't believe she is going to be 1 next month already. It really has been the most wonderful crazy year ever!

Is it time for another baby?!?! I say YES!

Pumpkin Patch

Well I don't have a computer right now to post pictures so my post will be a little boring! We went to the pumpkin patch a couple weeks ago with Bernie's family and my mom. We had a really good time. They had a petting zoo, Gracie wasn't really impressed though! The only thing she showed interst in was the bunny which she grabbed and wouldn't let go! We took a hay ride out to the pumpkin patch and got to pick out our own pumpkin. We picked a small one for Gracie and she loved it. When we tried to take it from her to put on the floor on the way home and she screamed! So needless to say she held all the way home.

Loving the swing!

This last Saturday I took Gracie to the park with her grandma (Bernie's mom) and her cousins, Carlee and Bevin. She absolutly loved the swing! She would just laugh and laugh. It was so cute. She went down the slide a few times, with me holding her of course and she loved that too. With all of the fresh air she got on Saturday she was wiped out. She was asleep by 8:20 and didn't wake up until 8:30 the next morning!

Good thing she's cute!

Our sweet little girl....who has learned and likes to hit! She has now done it 3 days in a row. My mom watched her on Wednesday and she hit her, we were leaving my grandma's yesterday and I told Gracie to give her a kiss goodbye and she hit her so hard! It was loud! My grandma acted like she was crying and Gracie laughed. This morning I dropped her off asked for a kiss and she hit me! We're in trouble. We tell her no everytime, is it going to sink in?!

She is a sweetheart though. She says hi very good and every animal is a kitty. She has 6 teeth and a molar coming in. She is a pro walking around the furniture and is starting to stand alone for longer each time. She knows where the candy jar is. It's a pumpkin and the lid comes off. She knows how to take the lid off, drop it on the floor and pulls out every candy bar! She's a stinker!

We are looking forward to her first Holloween. We are not sure what she's going to be yet. We are also looking forward to her first birthday (already) with the WHOLE family from Bernie's family as well as mine celebrating Thanksgiving and her brithday together. We have lots to be thankful for this year!

Getting dressed!

The first picture is of Gracie crawling up the stairs!

Gracie's Uncle Jengiz (my 16 year old brother) spent the night the other night. He was playing with Gracie while I was doing laundry. I walked into her bedroom to see what they were doing and he had gotten her dressed for me. She had on shorts, a new shirt that she hasn't worn yet that is part of her fall wardrobe and a vest that she hadn't worn yet. He was so proud of himself and said that getting her dressed is hard work! It was a really cute. He's a good Uncle.

Up the stairs...

Yup, Gracie crawled up the stairs last night! She did it without a problem like she's been doing it forever. Bernie was at the top cheering her on, I was at right behind her almost crying. Our baby is getting so big. Her personality is showing more and more each day and she is a goofball!

Here is the lastest picture of Gracie. She has such a personality, she's very goofy. She instantly puts us in a good mood when we see her. We love her so much.

Another Gracie story...

I know I've said it beofre but we really have the sweetest baby girl. First of all after 9 1/2 months we finally moved her into her own room. Yes she has been sleeping in our room this whole time! But it hasn't been all me, her daddy likes her in there just as much. Anyways, last weekend we finally made the move and she loves it. She's been sleeping great. She is so sweet because as soon as one of us goes into her room in the morning she is standing there waiting and she says hi, with a big smile! It puts you in an instant good mood. Such a sweet girl...

Little Miss Hollywood!

That is what we were calling Gracie on Monday when she was hanging out in the pool. She had on her yellow rhinestone studded sunglasses on! They are so cute.

Our sweet Gracie

Just a quick story about how sweet Gracie is. The other morning we went into the bedroom to make sure Bernie was up. I sat on the edge of the bed with her and Bernie was on the other side of the bed. She scooted off my lap crawled over the balled up comforter on top of Bernie and gave him a kiss! That's all she wanted to do, she turned around and came back to me. It was just the cutest thing ever. She is the sweetest baby and will give you a kiss whenever you ask. I love it!

Marriage and a sick baby

I know it's been forever since I have posted anything. So much has happened so if this is a long blog I'm sorry! I don't even know where to start, but I'll guess I'll start with the biggest and most exciting news.....BERNIE AND I GOT MARRIED!!! We got married in Traverse City on July 13th. It was a small ceremony with family, but it was perfect. My stepmom and sisters were able to be here from Utah as well as my sister and her family from Utah also. It really meant a lot to me that they were all able to come for it. It was fun having both familes together. (pictures to come.)

Now in Gracie Girl news...

She's doing great! She has a little bit of pnuemonia right now, but it's not slowing her down. She is everywhere! She's crawling, and into everything. She is so much fun. She now has 5 teeth, soon to be 6. 4 on bottom and 2 on top. She pulls herself up and is so proud of herself when she does. She plays patty cake, peekaboo, dances (kind of, she moves her arms up and down when a song comes on). She thinks it's funny when she sneezes. One of my favorite things she does is when she's sitting in one position, to get to get to another position she pushes herself up on all fours (she looks like a little monkey!) and drops down to the other side. It's hilarious! She is such a happy baby. The first thing she does in the morning is smile when she sees you. It's so sweet. She is getting such a little personality, she's a goofball. We are constantly laughing. She's such a joy to our lives.

I am so ready for fall. I can't wait! It's my favorite season. Yesterday I bought a couple fall candles (pumpkin spice and apple spice) and lit them. They make the house smell so good. I got out my fall deco. My sister got me a couple things last year. I just love the trees changing and the crisp autumn air, the smell of autumn. We have High School football games to look forward to (Engin is playing freshman football) Gracie will be his little cheerleader. We have Gracie's 1st brithday to look forward to on November 27th, Thanksgiving day.

We have lots going on all the time and a very busy baby! Life could't be better. Married life is great, we are a very happy little family.

6 month checkup

Today Gracie had her 6 month check-up. The doctor said that she looks and sounds perfect. We already knew that though! She is in the 90th percentile for her length at 27 inches and the 97th percentile for her weight at 20.5 lbs.!

So in honor of our perfect porkchop turning 6 months here are a fews things she does and likes:

1. Blowing spit bubbles
2. Screaming (she's going to be able to compete with her cousin Adi!)
3. She tucks her hands behind her head when she sleeps and moves her head back and forth until it's comfy. (so cute)
4. Eating her toes!
5. Sits up perfect
6. Reaches for everything in sight!
7. She has 2 teeth on the bottom
8. She plays peek-a-boo
9. She loves to go for walks and look at everything, especially the leaves move on the trees.
10. She laughs and smiles all the time, she has to be the happiest baby ever!
11. She flirts and is shy with Grandpa Olgac and Uncle Engin.

And my favorite thing, is the first thing she does in the morning when she wakes up is smiles at you. Sometimes when I'm trying to wake her up in the morning and she's just a little bit awake and I say her name she will smile, even with her eyes closed. It is so sweet.

We love her so so much and can't believe she is 6 months already!

6 months old!

Gracie is getting more fun everyday! She sits up perfect, and loves to play with all of her toys. She now weighs 21.5 lbs. and is 29 ins. long. She weighs more and is longer than her 16 month old cousin Adison. She still has those beautiful blue eyes, and we are thinking dark hair like dadddy! She has her first tooth and another one on the way. She is going to be 6 months old already. We can't believe how much time flies. We love watching her learn new things everyday.

This might be kind of hard for me because Gracie is only 5 months old, but we'll give it a try!

1. Typically, what time do you wake up?

Between 6:30 and 7. I usually have to wake Gracie up about 7:30.

2. On a good night, what time are your kids in bed?

Anywhere between 9 and 10.

3. How long have you been a mommy?

5 months already!

4. How old were you when you became a mommy?

26.

5. What is your favorite kids t.v. show?

She's only 5 months old so she show but she loves to watch tv! She will sit on our laps and be fixed on the tv forever!

6. What is your least favorite kids t.v. show?

We don't have one....yet!

7. What is your favorite chore?

I don't have a favorite. Anything with Gracie isn't really a chore.

8. What is your favorite meal to cook?

Bernie is pretty picky so we eat pretty simple meals. We love beef tips and potatoes and we love mac and cheese with hamburger in it! Pretty boring, but we love it! Gracie loes her vegtables so far!

9. What meal do you cook most often?

Probalby mac and cheese with hamburger. It's delicious and so easy! We also like grilled cheese and tomato soup.

10. What is your kids favorite meals?

She loes squash, carrots, cereal and her favorite so far is sweet potatoes. I seriously can't get them into her mouth fast enough!

11. What is your favorite thing your husband does with your kids?

He comes home after work and they play on the floor while I make dinner. He plays peek-a-boo with her. She get's very excited when he walks in the room. She loves her daddy.

12.What are 5 things that make you smile when you're being a mom?

1. When the first thing she does in the morning is smile. If I'm trying to wake her up and she's kind of awake and I say her name, she's smile even though her eyes are closed. It's so sweet.

2. She kicks her legs and waves her arms when we walk in the room.

3 Listening to her laugh

4. Wathcing her learn to sit up

5. Wathcing how excited and curious she is about her toys, I love her face when she's really concentrating on picking one up. I love watching her learn.

13. If you could take you kids anywhere, where would it be?

Right now I would love to take her to Utah to meet her Grandma Kaiser, Aunt Danielle and Aunt Cassidy and of course to see her aunt, uncle and cousins again!

14. When is the last time you went out without your kids?

I think maybe Valentine's day. But Bernie was very sweet a couple weeks ago. It was a Saturday and he called me and told me to pack up Gracie and everything she needs for overnight. He had arranged for his mom to take her for the night so we could go to dinner and hang out and watch a movie by ourselves. I couldn't do it! I'm not ready to leave her overnight yet.

15. What is your favorite past time/ activity to do with your kids?

Just play together, I love to take her or walks. She sits so still and just watches everything.

16. Name one thing you said you would never do as a mom?

I don't know, I can't think of anything right now.

17. Name one thing you do, that your mom did?

This is my sisters answer, but my thoughts exactly! Holidays in our house were always full of traditions, just little things that always made them special. Now I am trying to implement some of those fun traditions, along with making up new ones.

18. What is your favorite quality your mom has?

Well I have to answer for my mom and step-mom, since they are both such a huge part of my life. They both listen and give advice without judgement. I love that about them. I can talk to them about anything.

19. What is your favorite kids book?

I don't know exactly what it's called. Something about being a grandma. But Bernie's mom got one for her and my mom and at the end of the book there is a page to write down what they wish for Gracie. They are really neat to look at and read and she will love them when she gets older and can see what her grandmas wrote to her and about her.

20. What is your advice for new moms?

I would say spend as much time as you can with your baby. Don't take it for granted because it goes by way to fast. I can't beleive Gracie is 5 months already.

21. What is the scariest/ most heartbreaking moment you have had as a mom?

I haven't had a really traumatic moments yet, thankfully. Last week she did choke on her cereal. I know it's jsut creal but it scared me!

22. What is your most joyful moment as a mom?

Watching her learn new stuff. Her curiousity. She's always been very curius and looks at everything all the time. Everything she does I love, she maes us so happy.

23. When is the last time you were told "I love you" by one of your Kids?

Well she can't say it yet, but I know taht's what she's saying when she gets so excited to see us.

Gracie is so special and sweet. We couldn't imagine life without her.

Pictures

trying to eat grandpas chips

going for a walk

sitting up!

Getting ready for cereal

Showing off my Easter outfit

Gracie is getting bigger and more fun everyday! Here are a few pictures to see how sweet she is! These were taken over the last few weeks.

Growing, growing growing!

Gracie had her 4 month checkup and weighs in at 17.2 lbs. and 25.25 inches long! She's such a chunk, but just to cute! She is starting to get some hair, finally. She is so much fun, laughs all the time and is such a happy baby! We love her so much.

Our chunky monkey!

Just a couple new pictures of our Gracie. We have started trying cereal and she seems to like it. As you can tell from the picture, it's a little messy! We found out on Thursday that we cannot give it to her when she is really hungry! She gets very angry because she's not getting it fast enough! Ah, she has such a little temper. She has her 4 month checkup on Monday, I will let you know how much she weighs and her length then! Anyone want to guess?! Last time we weighed her she was 16lbs, yes she's our chuky monkey!

I've been tagged!!!

My sister Nicole tagged me so you all get to read some interesting, or uninteresting things about me!

What I was doing 10 years ago-

I was a senoir in High School getting ready to graduate. If you read my sister Nicole's blog you will see we drove around Caro thinking we were cool and went to Subway after football games. We also went to Wal-Mart all the time! Ok, it's Caro, what else was there to do!?! We thought we were so cool! Looking back we were so not cool!

5 things on my "to do" list-

1. Stop looking at the clock! When is it going to 5:00?
2. Pick up Gracie from my grandpparents
3. Go home and figure out what's for dinner
4. Play with Gracie and attempt giving her some cereal. It will be day 3 and she does pretty good, except when she is really hungry she just gets mad because she's not getting it fast enough!
5. GO TO BED! :)

What snacks do I enjoy-

I love popcorn, cheesecake, chocolate cake with chocolate frosting! Anything sweet. As far as healthy snacks I like pretty much all fruit and veggies.

5 jobs I've had-

1. Toward Healthy Development daycare
2. Thelen car dealership
3. Horse farm while living in Lansing, I loved it!
4. CoCo Tan
5. Law firm, currently working there and really like it.

What would I do if i was a billionaire!

Well that's a lot of money but I would have no problem having it! I would pay off all debt, buy a house (maybe a couple), go on vacation with Bernie and Gracie and whatever else we wanted!

5 places I have lived-

1. Millington, MI
2. Caro, MI
3. Lansing, MI
4. Bay City, MI

5 things people don't know about me-

1. Every morning as I'm walking out the door I have to check to see if I have unplugged my straighting iron even if I remember doing it.
2. I am always late for everything! I don't think I've ever been to work on time, always five minutes late. Now that I have Gracie, forget about it!
3. Bernie and I would be getting married in May if we hadn't gotten pregnant! But we would never change it.
4. I love celebrity gossip magazines!
5. I wouldn't be upset at all if I got pregnant right now. We only plan on having 2 kids so we would be done. But we do want to get married before we have another one. I think about how upset I was when I found out I was pregnant for Gracie because we had just gotten engaged and wanted to be married before we started a family. Now, I couldn't imagine my life without her.
I might be a little freaked though since she's only 4 months old!

3 bad habits-

1. I play with my hair way to much!
2. crack my knuckles
3. I am such a procrastinator

I tag Jolyn and Julie

Proud mommy and daddy!

Is it almost April or is it still January? What's the deal with the snow?! We were spoiled with a 55 degree day a couple weeks ago.

Well last week we were surprised and excited when Gracie rolled from her back to her side. Then last night after her bath she was on her stomach so I could put lotion on her back and round little bottom when she pushed herself up onto her knees and continued to roll onto her side! I couldn't beleive it. Bernie was cheering her on to keep going, I was ready to cry and tell her to stop and stay little! It is so fun to watch her learn all these new things. We think she will be sitting up soon. When she is on her back she pulls her head up. She's ready to go, go, go! She loves her teething rings and is grabbing them better everyday. My brother Engin, who is going to be 14 in July wanted to put one in the freezer last weekend. She ended up not liking the one from the freezer, it was to cold. Well later in the day she was chewing on one and Engin said, is that the one from the freezer, I told him no and he said, you know, babies like it when it's been in the freezer! It was cute, he has become the baby expert!

We had a good Easter. It was Bernie's birthday, also Cassidy's birthday, she turned 9! Already! We had a good time at Bernie's sisters with the family and Gracie enjoyed playing with her cousins, who she is going to get in all sorts of trouble with! We then went to my parents and had dinner and celebrated Bernie's birthday. It was a good day. I will post easter pictures soon!

Pictures!

Well I finally have some pictures of Gracie. She is so much fun, she's starting to giggle and today put her pacifier in her mouth by herself a couple times! She kind of shoved it in with her fist. She is starting to reach for toys and smiles all the time. Her hair is starting to grow in too and is fuzzy! We love her so much.

I'm getting so BIG!!

Gracie had her 2 month checkup today. She is getting so big! She is in the 90th percentile for her weight at 12 lb. 10 oz. and in the 75th percentile for her height at 23 inches long! She is our chuncky monkey and we love it!

The doctor said as far as everything else goes she looks and sounds perfect. That's all that matters. She did have 3 shots today though and of course screamed. She had huge tears, I felt so bad.

She is growing healthy and strong!

**We are still trying to figure out what color her hair is going to be. Brown like her daddy's or strawberry blonde like mommy's. She for sure has the blue eyes like mommy and daddy though!

Hi Everyone!

Gracie is now 8 weeks old! She weighs about 12 pounds but we will find out for sure next week. She is getting so big so fast! She smiles all the time and has adorable dimples, you can't see them very well in this picture though. In the last couple of weeks she has noticed her mobile on her swing and likes to suck on her fist. She hasn't found her thumb yet though. She is sleeping pretty good at night, I got a few helpful hints from some friends, thanks guys! She is such a good baby we love her so much and are having so much fun watching her grow.

She met her new cousin last night, congratulations John and Mary!! He is her 3rd cousin named Benjammin. He is a beautiful baby with a ton of dark hair and looks just like his dad. He was born on January 19th and weighed 7lb 4 oz. The same as Gracie! I was curious to see how big she was compared to him. I couldn't believe that just 2 months ago she was that tiny. Gracie will have another new cousin in a few weeks. Her aunt Kelly (Bernie's sister) is pregnant with Bevin, we can't wait to meet her too!

Back to Reality

Well the holidays are over and we had so much fun! I think the best part was the present that Bernie and I got, Gracie Anne. She is so sweet and starting to smile! I will post pictures of her soon. We also had visitors for the holidays, my sister and her family came from Utah. They were here for 2 weeks. Her girls are so adorable! Avery is 3 and has such a personality. When she left I told her that I was sad and she said, don't be sad, Bernie will keep you so you won't cry. She was a big helper with Gracie and loved her. Adison is 11 months and such a tiny thing. She has the sweetest voice. She took her first steps while she was here! We had so much fun, but it always go by to fast. I will post pictures soon.

Now, everyone has gone home, the Holidays are over and I'm back to work as of today. Back to reality..

Grace Anne Fournier

This is Gracie. She is the most perfect, cutest little girl in the world. She was born on November 27,2007 and was 7 lbs. 4 oz. and 18 1/2 in. She has big blue eyes and her mommys nose. She is now 5 wks old and weighs 9 lbs. 12 oz. and is 21 1/2 in. She is growing healthy and strong.