She's crawling....and standing up!

Well, I am afraid I'm in big trouble! Gracie has been "almost" crawling for a while now, but she figured out how to move her hands and her knees at the same time and now she cruises around like nothing! In fact, last week we were going to meet Bryant for lunch at school so I got Gracie all ready to go and then I jumped in the shower for like 3 minutes! I left her on the floor in the living room feeling sure she would be fine for a few minutes.  I got out of the shower and came to check on her.  In the corner of the room was Bryant's easter basket that had an open bag of robin's eggs in them.  Of course in the few minutes she was left alone she found the easter basket, dumped the candy out and sucked the chocolate off one the the robin's eggs! What a stinker! So, now I cannot leaver her alone.  She either has to go with me, or go in her crib for a minute or I have to wait for her to be asleep! 

Then today, she was "asleep" or so we thought in her crib.  I heard some giggling from her room so Bryant went to check on her.  The next thing I know, he called me into her room.  She had figured out how to stand up in her crib, and was looking at herself in the mirror laughing at herself! I'm afraid it won't be long until she figures out how to walk! Of course, I grabbed the camera really fast to take a few pictures of her standing on her own for the first time!

She is growing up so fast, and really, it's so fun to watch her discover new things! 

Our Little Mariner.....

Okay, first of all I want to thank everyone for looking at our blog! I am going to try really hard to keep it updated from now on!  Plus with a baby as cute as ours, it should be easy!

On Saturday, we were having some people over for dinner, so between conference sessions, I was trying to clean the kitchen (the never ending story of my life) and get dinner started.  So, Bryant was put in charge of giving Gracie a bath, which he has only done a couple of times before.  Anyway, he also had to get her dressed after her batch which meant of course, he got to pick the clothes she would wear.  In the back of Gracie's closet is a cute little Mariner outfit we bought in Seattle last year when we went for Opening Day.  In case you don't know, Bryant is a huge baseball fan and by far the Mariners #1 fan!  He stays loyal to them even though they stink and continue to disappoint him year after year! So, we bought this outfit thinking it might be fun to have her pictures taken in it since Bryant is such a baseball fanatic.  Anyway, the next think I know he comes out and says "Look what Gracie told me she wanted to wear today!" So, we had to take some pictures of her on our own camera because she was so darn cute! And hey, maybe having her wear it was good luck...the Mariners season is off to a good start this year!

Update

Okay, so it's been like 3 months since I last updated the blog. Honestly, I have thought about doing it several times, but I'm not sure if anyone really even looks at this.  So, if you look at this blog, leave me a comment and I will update more often! 

Well, we continue to be busy and especially love watching little Gracie grow.  Last time I updated the blog, she wasn't quite rolling over.  Now she is about to crawl! Check out the video below.  Excuse the voice, I was getting over a bad case of laryngitis.  She has also figured out how to sit up by herself without toppling over.  She still needs help to get to the sitting position, but she can reach for toys and stay up.  She is the most smiley baby too.  Her face just lights up when she smiles. We feel so blessed to have such a sweet, happy and healthy baby.  

In January, Celeste (Bryant's sister) came to visit us for a long weekend.  It was really cold, but we bundled up and took her to Riverfront Park downtown Spokane so she could see the beautiful falls Spokane has.  She was here to celebrate Bryant's 26th Birthday with us as well.  We loved having her here and hope she will come again! 

In February, Bryant and I celebrated our 4 year wedding anniversary.  I can't believe how fast time flies. He was in school all day, but that weekend we got a great couple from our ward to watch Gracie so we could go to the temple TOGETHER for the first time since Gracie has been born.  We have always had to take turns going, which has been few and far between I'm afraid! It was so nice to spend a few hours in the Temple together.  Now that Gracie is older, we are going to make it a point to go more often.  

Bryant has officially finished his second quarter of school and has started his third.  I think we have finally all adjusted to his very demanding school schedule.  We cherish the few precious moments together as a family and especially look forward to the breaks he has between quarters.  

Gracie and I have been away from home more than we have been at home it seems.  Bryant's parents bought a house, so Gracie and I flew to Boise the end of February for about a week to help them move.  Then, we came home for about 10 days and then flew back to Boise for our niece Ava's baby blessing.  Bryant was in the middle of finals, so he drove down about 5 days later.  My sister Kristin drove up from Rexburg for a day to see us which was a lot of fun. After being away for 11 days, we were glad to be back home! Next time Bry has a break from school, we are just going to stay here and have some relaxing family time!  Next week Gracie and I are going to California to visit MY family.  I'm excited to see my mom and dad, especially since Gracie has changed so much since they last saw her. 

Well, that's a very brief and condensed update of what's going on with us.  Enjoy the pictures below! And, please write me a comment if you look at this, if you do, I will update more often!

Snow Snow Snow....Even in Southern California!

Well, it looks like we made it out of Spokane just in the nick of time!  We left Wednesday morning and on Thrusday Spokane got a good 22 inches of snow.  The airport closed down, the buses did not run, only 3 major streets were open and even Gonzaga canceled classes!  However, Southern California is not much better!  We got into Ontario around 12:30.  It took my parents about 3 hours to get to the airport (normally only about an hour drive) because roads were closed due to.....you guessed it...SNOW!  Can you believe it?! Snow in the desert of Southern California!  Anyway, we were on our wayand at about 15 minutes from home we discovered the road was VERY VERY dangerous.  My parents live in the high desert at about 3200 feet.  My dad has a big Chevy Silverado and even he was slipping around on the road.  They were only letting cars contiue that had snow chains (who has snow chains in California?) So, after trying to get home for quite a while, we realized it would not be safe or wise to continue so we had to go stay in a Motel 6 in Palm Springs.  That is the 2nd time in 3 months that Bryant and I have had to turn around and stay in a hotel due to bad weather.  I think we curse everything with bad weather!

We finally made it home around 1:00 pm yesterday

(Thursday).  The roads are very slick still and even school for my mom was canceled 3 days in a row.  I know that doesn't seem that weird to many of you (in Idaho and Utah especially) but you have to remember this is SOUTHERN CALI.  It hasn't snowed this much since 1970 supposedly!  Anyway, we are here safe and sound and enjoying every minute of it!  Here are some pictures we took of the all the snow that fell in the Yucca Valley desert!  Hope you enjoy!  

One Quarter down, Ten to Go!

Finally!!! Bryant is officially done with his first quarter of school!  Poor guy was up til 3:30 this morning studying for his last two finals he took today.  He was struggling in one of his classes and really needed to do well on his final...and he did!  He is at the moment still enjoying a very long and much needed nap (so far it's lasted about 4 hours).  He has worked very hard, and I am very proud of him.  Now that we are both in the groove of this whole grad school business, hopefully it will get better.  We are very much looking forward to a few days together--school/study free, and then for our holiday trips to California and Boise!  We hope you are all enjoying your holiday's so far!

Happy Holidays!

Wow, I can't believe Thanksgiving has already come and gone and Christmas is just around the corner.  Bryant has finals this week and we are both very excited to get them over with!  Grad school continues to be more intense than I imagined!  He spends upwards of 60-70 hours on campus every week and then studies some more when he gets home.  Needless to say with his demanding schedule I feel like a single parent most of the time.  We are looking forward to the break which we get to spend with family this year!  It will be a first for us since we haven't spend a Christmas with anyone since we've been married.  

Thanksgiving was nice.  We stayed her in Spokane and had a kid that Bry goes to school with over.  That was really fun.  They are LDS too and have 2 little kids.  We all get along really well.  Plus, we will be together for the next 3 years and it's nice to have a support system.  I made the turkey again this year which I must say turned out very well.  I did get a really grossed out when I had to take the neck and stuff out and even had a weird dream that the turkey had a face and a name!  So, I had a hard time eating it, but it smelled really good!  Besides Thanksgiving Day, Bryant spend his Thanksgiving break (including Saturday) on campus. 

We also just found out that Bryant will be doing his first 5 week internship this summer in Kuna!  I'm kind of sad that he has to leave Grace and I for 5 whole weeks, but it's good that he gets to be with his parents and the rest of the Boise clan.  Plus, he will get to see Pamela, Ryan, Bayden and Baby Turner #2 a bit before they head off to Dallas this summer.  

Gracie is getting soooo big!  I put her 0-3 month clothes away the beginning of November.  She is so much fun now.  She has recently started laughing AT me!  I knew it was bound to happen sooner or later!  We also moved her into her own room about a month ago which was a big step for her and an even bigger step for her Mommy!  I think we actually both sleep better now though!

I haven't downloaded any pictures from the camera to the computer recently, but her is a new picture of Gracie on the beautiful (hand stitched) quilt her Grandma Howard made her.  I will download more pics and get them posted.  

We hope you are all enjoying your Holiday Season so far!