Greg's Birthday

Greg turned 36 on last Friday, Jan. 23. He had 3 days of celebrations for his birthday. On Friday for lunch Grace and I met him at Pizza Inn. For dinner, Greg's parents babysat Grace and he and I went to see a movie (Bride Wars) and went to eat afterwards at Basil's. Then, he opened some presents and we had yummy lemon cake with buttercream icing. He loved having some help opening gifts and blowing out the candles!








Grace gave Daddy pajamas so he could wear something new to snuggle with her when she awakes at 4 am!!!
Since everything goes into Grace's mouth...this present was no exception. When I wrapped it, she went right over and placed it in her mouth. It was so sweet that I couldn't re-wrap it, despite the hole she made!
Watching Greg open presents!
It's a belt!
A new collared shirt for work.

On Saturday we went to Jamesville for lunch. We had pizza to celebrate Greg's birthday and to exchange presents with Greg's dad. Greg's cake was a delicious lemon torte cake decorated in yellow and white. Greg's dad's first "Happy Birthday Grandpa" card!



Grace playing with Grammy.


The birthday celebrations continued on Sunday. We went to Fuquay to visit my parents and Greg got more presents and another cake. We enjoyed eating the white cake with the frosting. It reminded us of a giant party square!
A family portrait.
A wreath personalized for Greg's birthday...with noisemakers, stickers, etc!






It's a gift certificate to eat at 2nd Empire in Raleigh for Valentine's Day! (I'm so glad Greg had a birthday!!!)

Happy Birthday Granddaddy!

The snow was so pretty, but it got in the way of us celebrating Greg's Dad's birthday with him tonight. So, Grace wanted us to send out a birthday wish from her to Granddaddy. Have a great birthday!

A New Year Brings New Skills!

Between her 7th and 8th month of life, Grace has really blossomed! See what she can do...

Be fearful of strangers

Drive a sleigh

Impersonate Santa Claus

Do her own grocery shopping

Be a good traveler

Motivate Mommy to do laundry

Wave (and shop at the same time)

Eat her purse while wearing a fur coat

Sit still in a chair(if only for a minute!!)

Read magazines with Daddy (this is one of her very favorite pasttimes!)

Drink from a sippy cup

Appreciate the value of credit

Bring back 80s fashion! At church on Sunday she wore this cute outfit and by the time we got home, she had pushed right through her tights with her left foot. In fact, this is the second time this has happened at church!!! No more Target tights for Grace. She is really, really rough on them! I cropped me out so it would be easier to see the foot!!

Clap

Wrestle

She's also crawling now, which is very exciting! She is pulling up on everything in sight, too! She's beginning to take some naps in her crib (although it's still not helping her sleep at night!) Yesterday she imitated "Bye Bye" several times when we would say it first!

A new year brought new skills for Daddy too! Cooking spaghetti (for the first time EVER in the almost 8 years that we've been together!!!!!!) and talking on the phone---quite the multi-tasker!

Grace's First Snow Day!

We were wishing for a big snow and we got our wish! It has snowed the better part of 8-10 hours so far and it's still coming down very hard! Greg went into work this morning and came home after lunch as the snow was beginning to cover the roads. We bundled up Grace and went outside for some winter fun. We didn't get a picture...but Grace stuck her tongue out to catch the flakes...how cute! Grace takes after Mommy and Daddy--not a fan of the cold! The snow was sticking to her little eyelashes!
Grace enjoyed standing at the door watching the snow.

So we thought we'd get her dressed up and go to play in the snow. Grandpapa gave us this snowsuit for Grace before she was born. He saw it last year and thought it was precious. It really came in handy today!
Grace and Mommy getting ready to brave the elements!

Grace and Daddy all bundled up!

Grace and Mommy at a distance...

Grace and Mommy up close...




Inside at last! Greg's getting closer and closer to the big 4-0! (His 36th birthday is Friday!!) See how he will look with gray hair!!!!!

Our footprints in the snow!

Snow scenes at our house and in the neighborhood



Relaxing with Daddy watching some Elmo's World DVD...can't tell who is enjoying themselves more! This picture also shows just how much of Greg we can see in Grace. Check out the similar facial expressions!