Shhh...

I put two little pony tails in Gracie's hair today and they are oh so ADORABLE! But don't tell her or she'll pull them out!!! (Thanks for the tip Jenny, letting her play with the entire thing of hair pretties distracted her quite well)

Gracie, Gracie, Gracie!

Well on our recent trip to the coast Gracie figured out the very first day how to climb out of the port-a-crib. Very fun for her, not us but we were able to tire her out enough on vacation that it wasn't too much of an issue. So we get home and guess what? Yep, she climbs out of her crib at home. NOT COOL. I am NOT proud of this accomplishment at all. It has been taking us hours to get her to bed at night and now she is back to being up 3 times a night. It is exhausting for us all, including her! I am not exactly sure what we will do about it. For now we just keep putting her back to bed much to her dismay! But honestly what else can we do? She does need to learn to stay in a bed she can get out of at some point. She is just so little. The funny thing is that when Adam was Grace's age we took him out of the crib on purpose (so dumb I know) because Tyler had arrived. It makes me laugh because I said with the third we totally learned and she will stay in that crib until she climbs out...jokes on me! :)

Other happenings around our house include Adam starting a soccer class that he loves! It's one day a week and 45 minutes of running. He is adorable to watch in that he gets so into it.

The weekend before we left for the coast our neighborhood had a movie night in the park. It was SO much fun. The kids got the biggest kick out of it. (and we did too!) We were able to just walk on down, stay as long as the kids lasted and walk home. They had popcorn and candy...it was fun!




Let's see now I seem to never have much to say about Mr. Tyler simply because he is a little young to be starting any of these sports type things and he is at the age where he isn't hitting any major milestones. But what I would like to say is how much he is growing up! He has really turned some major corners lately with his behavior. He is acting more and more like a "big kid". He is especially impressive with his little sister. Let's face it, she's a pest. She wrecks all the things he builds, tries to take his toys and sits on the books he is trying to read. He handles this SO well. He is very patient with her. Now, don't get me wrong, if Adam does something to him he is likely to take a swing at him, but not Miss Grace. He he looks out for her that just plain makes me smile. He is super excited to start pre school in just one short month!!! Oh man, he is getting so big and he is just oh so sweet!

SEASIDE 2009

We just returned from our annual family vacation in Seaside, Oregon. We go every year with my family and all stay together in a house on the beach. This year was AWESOME! I mean AWESOME! We had the best weather ever! We had sunshine every day and for those of you who are familiar with the Oregon coast, that is spectacular. There were 6 grandkids together all under the age of 6 and it was just great. Talk about quality cousin time and here are the pictures to prove it all. :)



Talk about happy grandparents, look at those adorable kids!

Gracie LOVED the carosel! She giggled and waved her little heart out! (although those this picture doesn't exactly show that:)

Adam and Grant...joined at the hip for the entire time and that is NO exaggeration!






My Dad used to vacation here as a kid. They had 5 boys in their family and each boy had to pay one night of the hotel. He has carried on this tradtion with us and I have been to the Oregon Coast every year since I was 3 weeks old. We only missed one summer my entire life! :)


You can bet Grandma's framing this one!




Grace and Vincent just 6 months apart in age.

I think I only saw this guy eat about 2 mouthfuls of sand this year...big improvement from last year! :)




On our way home we stopped at the Portland Zoo. That was a great stop to break up the drive home. The kids loved it!

If the Shoe Fits

My daughter Grace is 20 months old. This year between ages 1 and 2 is one of my favorite stages that my kids go through. I am being serious, I think they are innocently precious during that time, just learning to talk and figuring out life. HOWEVER life with a one year can be challenging. Here's a scenario: Gracie found an old pair of her shoes this morning. They are too small. She brings them to me, "shoes on". I repeatedly tell her they are too small. She continues to demand that I put the shoes on her. So, I try figuring she see they are too small and stop asking. I push and push trying to get them on and she cries, "owies, owies". So I stop. She cries harder, "shoes on!". I tell her, "Grace the shoes are too small". Still crying, "shoes on". I try again, and shockingly they are STILL too small and they still hurt her when I try to put them on. I have tried every trick I know: distraction, a different pair of shoes that do fit, food...nothing is working. She is still following me around with those blasted shoes, demanding I put them on. Sound familiar to anyone else with a child this age? So, I GIVE UP!!!!! I really believe that God made these kiddo adorably cute for this exact reason! :)
Have a great day everyone! :)

We have a SWIMMER!

After only 4 swimming lessons Adam is SWIMMING! He has done so well with the lessons this year, it is just amazing. Last year, we had many tears and by the end of lessons he was very afraid of the water. Not this year! We did semi-private lessons this year, only 4 kids in the class and the instructor is awesome. The first lesson, they spent the entire 30 mins on dunking your head which is something he has always been scared of. Not any more! By the second lesson he was front floating with his face in the water and by the third lesson he did that without help. Yesterday, the kid swam across the pool. It was amazing and has been a very positive experience. I can't wait to see what he's doing after next week's lessons!!!

Grace has gone potty in the toilet two days in a row. This girl wants to potty train, I better get on board with it! :) I was changing her diaper yesterday and she ran away without her diaper on (shocking I know)and started to go pee on the carpet and I stopped her and ran her to the toilet and she totally went. The boys and I did dances and cheers and she loved that! Then last night before bed she did it again!!! My Mom always said that I potty trained myself...I sure hope Gracie does the same.

Mr. Tyler has been doing so well staying in his bed at night. I hope I don't jinx it but now he literally never comes to our bed. Even when he gets up at 6:30 every morning, he goes to the couch instead of our room. He is growing up!! bittersweet I tell you.

Well, those are all the big happenings in our household for the time being. Stay tuned. :)

Happy 4th of July!

Happy 4th of July! We had a wonderful weekend!!! It has been a very busy last few days. Thursday evening we went to a Dust Devil's game. It was a blast, everyone enjoyed it a lot. The boys got free hats and ate junk food galore. Friday, our dearest friends Greg and Sara stopped by for a visit while they were in town for a wedding. We made star cookies for 4th of july and the kids all played while the adults visited, it was great. Friday evening Justin's brother Jason and his wife Dawn and their two kids came over. We had a bbq and then headed up to the pool for a swim. Saturday we all headed to Clarkston to see Grandma and Grandpa. It was a very hot 105 degrees but we managed to stay cool and have a super time. On Sunday we celebrated my newphew (and Godson)Tanner's 2nd b-day. We went to an aquatic center. It was SUCH a blast. Enjoy the pictures, there are quite a few :)



Gracie really enjoyed playing baseball with the group! :) She just ran and ran and when no one was looking she would go and steal the ball, it was great.


Yes, we trusted Tyler with a sparkler. I had my hand on his the entire time it was lit. I let go as soon as it went out and what did he do? why he touched it of course and yes he burned himself, but it wasn't bad. SIGH!


Little Mr. Tanner...seriously these Baerlocher boys are simply adorable!

Our attempt at a family picture where Tyler wouldn't get off the bike so we compromised and sat around him...then he wouldn't stop giving himself moose ears...oh well:)