Gracie- 8 Months!

Our littlest girl has had another month pass by- and this is the month that Gracie decided to be on the move! She started army crawling April 24 and continues to get better each day! Though she isn't moving super fast yet, she quickly flips down to her belly when she is sitting so she can be on the go. This has been good for her, but her sister is not a huge fan as her toys have now been invaded. :) 

I took lots of pictures of Grace this month as I was experimenting with a different camera setting- and obviously she cooperates much more than my other subject. :) Not sure what I'm going to do now since she wants to take off all the time!

We adore those legs so much.  :)

And I love a ruffly bottom on a little baby. :)

Gracie did several other new things this month in addition to her crawling. She started to wave, first with her fingers, then with her whole hand. However, she doesn't like to do it on command, particularly in front of other people. :) She also has started to clap a little bit, which happened more as the result of her waving her hands together wildly!

Her smile resembles her sisters more and more the older she gets, especially since she has now started to do a cheesy smile like Bella! She scrunches up her noses and makes a little sniffing sound just like Bella did when she was a baby. :) So sweet!

Grace is still quite a vocal baby and can be very loud in her jabberings. She hasn't said any new syllables, just dadada, babababa, and yayaya. No mamama yet. :( She also makes a high pitched scream and growls! We noticed this month as well that she recognizes her name and will turn to us when we say Grace. 

Such beautiful blue eyes. :) 

Here is little missy on her seven month birthday!

A big giant smile!

However, not many people get to see Grace's big smiles. Gracie is very aware of when she is around somebody new- ie anybody other than Mommy, Daddy, or Bella. She STARES people down and will not crack a smile! This was something everybody remembered of Bella when she was a baby, but we think that Grace stares even more. It's pretty funny, but too bad that not many people get to see her beautiful smile!

The thing that helped Grace decide to crawl the most was being enticed by Bella's toys. Grace absolutely LOVES Bella's stuff- of course. So every day during Bella's nap, we practiced crawling by setting up Bella's dolls all around. And it worked! However, that led to some problems since Grace then wanted those toys when Bella was up. :) But Gracie loves whatever big sister has! She is also obsessed with laying on Bella's bed. No idea why, but she is crazy up there- rolling all over and smiling and giggling. 

This was one of my favorite outfits from when Bella was a baby. Gracie didn't get to wear it as it was still too big for her during the winter season- but I had to take a picture of her in it. :)

Gracie has always been very good at playing with her toys by herself for quite some time. I can definitely see how the second child is more content just because they have to be! However, she is now entering the stage of crying whenever I leave the room or go out of her sight. Darn. :(

I think I have mentioned before that Grace is a very content little girl. She still definitely is, but she also has been showing a very fierce little temper- as in she will totally flip out if she has something taken from her or while getting her clothes changed. She doesn't calm down easily either as she wants you to know that she is good and mad! Like her sister (and possibly her mommy...) she is very persistent in what she wants and will not be told otherwise.

Mmmm, chewing on her favorite favorite things. :) Apparently we'll need to buy her own princess dolls for her birthday.

And maybe some of Bella's shoes?

Here she is exhibiting the army scoot and crawl outside. :)

One of my favorite times with Grace is when I nurse and rock her to sleep at night- she is so sweet and snuggly then, so I wanted Daddy to take a picture of that. However, missy spied Daddy during snuggle time and gave him some big smiles. :)

But she settled back down into love mode- she plays with my face and "talks" to me. I love it. :) Nothing better than snuggling a little baby! The baby stage may be how Derek gets me to have lots of kids. :)

We introduced Grace to puffs this month- don't know why we hadn't done that sooner! She did very well with them and was actually able to put them in her mouth by herself.

However, in the past few weeks, feeding Grace has been a big pain. She spits out nearly every bite of food- and not because she doesn't like it. Rather, it is just a little game for her. Not one Mommy is a fan of as food gets EVERYWHERE. Hopefully this phase will end sooner rather than later!

Yes, this is typical- a plethora of baby toys lying around her, and she is chewing on the mermaids tail. Sigh.

Another absolute favorite of Grace's is Tommy. She seriously adores that cat. Whenever she spies him, she gets the BIGGEST smile on her face- and now she starts to take off after him to pull on his fur! Bella wasn't around Tommy too much when she was a baby, so we'll see if Tommy likes Grace like he does Bella- may not since he may be the recipient of some fur yanking. :)

Miss Bella!

I didn't keep track of Bella very well this month. :) So I guess she hasn't really done anything new, which is pretty true! Her life continues to revolve around playing princesses, being a princess, acting silly, singing, dancing, drawing, painting, and being the sweet little girl that she is- and getting oh so close to turning 3! Can hardly believe that my baby is going to be three years old. :( 

As I have mentioned, Miss Bella is not very cooperative when Mommy wants to take pictures of her. However, I am able to entice her occasionally, especially if she gets to stand by some pretty flowers. She is very much a girly little girl!

With a silly streak. :)

And a beautiful smile!

Here is a very typical playtime activity for Bella- dressed up like a princess while playing princesses of course. I'm sure they were singing some type of beautiful song here, as all princesses do!

Surprisingly enough, she doesn't have on all of her accessories here! Usually when she puts on her princess clothes (which was been occurring daily lately), she needs to complete her outfit with some beautiful necklaces, bracelets, earrings, and crowns. Mommy, Daddy, and Gracie also get accessorized as well. :) Despite Daddy's protests!

Bella has still spent lots of time doing sidewalk chalk, and would get very sad when April rains washed away her beautiful artwork. :(

Her favorite thing is still her beloved "nigh nighs." She always needs some snuggle time on the couch , especially if Mommy snuggles with her!

Thankfully, Bella's attachment to me has been weaning these past months. She isn't so sassy with Daddy and when he helps her do things (sometimes.:)) and doesn't need us to play with her all the time. It makes me glad that she is growing independent, but it is definitely bittersweet as I realize she's growing up and doesn't need me as much.

One fun outing Bella had this month was going to Pet Fest at a park here in town, which was held by the Marion County Humane Society. When I read about kittens and puppies to pet and hold, I knew Bella had to attend. :) Daddy was out of town, but Grandma Sheri came along to assist with the girlies!

Bella holding her favorite kitty- naturally the orange one. Not sure why, but that is definitely the color of cat she is drawn to!

She was not a fan of the puppies at the park however. THey were a little too big for her liking and definitely made her a little nervous!

Easter Celebrations!

I was very excited to dress up two little girls in Easter dresses this year. One girl is fun, but TWO girls is even better! We actually had two Easter celebrations the week before actual Easter due to family being out of town. So Bella got to participate in many Easter egg hunts, lucky girl. :) 

We went to Grandpa and Grandma De Haan's for lunch and Bella had her second egg hunt of the year afterwards! (The first one was the one held in town.:))

She got the first of many yummy candies- note Gracie found something better to chew on, a lovely piece of paper!

Searching for eggs all over!

We also celebrated Grandpa Ralph's birthday, which was later that week. Here he is with the two little ladies. :) Gracie was intrigued by the candle!

That evening, I took some pictures of the girls outside in their matching dresses. 

                                      
Couldn't get the little one to smile, but big sister cooperated!

They're cute anyway though. :) 

We then headed to Grandpa and Grandma Huyser's house to have an Easter egg hunt with her Huyser cousins. Gracie spent some time chilling with a death grip on the bench!

Bella decided to blow some bubbles, which Grace enjoyed!

Even if they were blown directly in her face. :)

Opening gifts from Grandpa Doug and Grandma Sheri! Again, Grace was more interested in the bag. :)

Bella received a very loved kitten, who was named Cream Puff after her favorite kitty down at the farm. Miraculously enough, she did not yet have an orange kitty in her collection!

Gracie received a little white one named Snowball. Bella definitely tried to swipe that one as hers, claiming that Snowball was Cream Puff's baby. Nice try Bella.

Then they had an Easter egg hunt out on the deck! Bella definitely moved a little slower than her cousins who are more experienced in egg finding. :)

But they left her plenty of eggs to find!

We attempted to take a picture of all the grandkids together- key word was attempted. This position was not working, so we tried putting Grace on Jager's lap- but she pulled an Exorcist girl and twisted her head all the way around to see who was holding her. :) I unfortunately did not get a picture of that! 

The day before Easter, we took pictures of the girls in their Easter dresses so we didn't have to mess with doing that on Easter day. I got a cute one of them together actually- love how Bella holds on to Grace when they are taking pictures. :) 

However, when we took pictures of Bella by herself, the full cheesy smile was brought out. :) Oh well, she still looks adorable! 

Gracie was much easier to get good ones of. :) 

                                     

However, the weather on Easter day was absolutely beautiful, so we were able to take a few more after church! Love those little girlies. :)