Wednesday, April 22, 2009

Grace



Now to tell you about our little Gracie. She was so tiny when she was born! Our girls were two whole pounds smaller than the boys at birth. We were so surprised when she was born! I was kind of expecting a girl, because I could tell the baby was smaller than the two previous boys, but the surprise was that she came out with blond hair and blue eyes! I had come to accept the fact that I would never have a blond haired blue eyed kid, but here she is! And she is still that way today. She is all spit and fire, though. I think she will probably rule the world, or at least a big portion of it someday.



We have tried to teach Grace her middle name, Elizabeth, but it always comes out of her mouth, "Grace Invisible", which I think is pretty cute. At least it's cuter than what she used to say. Haley had her convinced that her whole name was Gracie Poopoo Pants. That's what she called herself for a long time.

Ben always says, "Well, you're the one who said you wanted a princess!" I guess I'm guilty. I just didn't know that I would be summoned by the princess at all hours of the day to fetch her things. Like her blanket that is lying two feet away from her, but she doesn't feel like getting it, so she calls me down two flights of stairs to hand it to her. I think she does that because there is nothing in the world Grace likes more than to be comfortable. I think it's so adorable how she carries around her stuffed kitty, blanket, and pillow to make beds wherever she can - on the couch, in my bed, on the kitchen floor - wherever the mood strikes her. And there she lies, with her finger in her mouth, rubbing the tag of her blanket between her other fingers. That is Gracie in a nutshell.



She's also a daddy's girl. He's the first person she wants to see when she wakes up and the last person she wants to see at night. All throughout the day, every day, she asks, "Where's my daddy?", even though she knows he's at work. She'll proclaim, "My daddy's nice." She's got him wrapped around her little finger, and he loves it.



But most of Grace's day is spent following her big brothers around. She thinks she's a Clone Trooper, or a Jedi, or Princess Leia. She pretends to have a blaster, a sword, or whatever weapon of choice it is that day. She makes boy sound effects and flies a Star Fighter around all day with a little Princess Leia doll in it. She loves everything the boys do, except bugs. She even tries to convince us that she is a boy. Here she is with Andrew's backpack on. She wanted to go to school just like him:



Grace is also a little artist. Sometimes she uses paper, sometimes she finds other things to draw on:



I often find her places she is not supposed to be (like the medicine cabinet). And one of her very favorite things to do is wake up her brother, Matthew:



Her other best friend is Shoji. She puts that poor dog in a headlock, lays on top of her, rides her like a horse, and just loves that dog way too much. Good thing she's such a patient dog:



We can't get over how much she and Emma (Lindsey's little girl) are so much like Lindsey and I as children. Grace looks just like me, and Emma looks just like Lindsey. Emma is 11 months older than Grace, and Lindsey is 15 months older than me. It's like deja vu!



We think Grace is such a funny girl. She can be so soft and cuddly at times, but she can keep up step for step with those boys. She loves to take care of her baby dolls, have tea parties, and play doll house, and she loves to karate chop the boys, play with cars and hammers, and play ball. She's our beautiful little cuddle bug who keeps us laughing, and will keep us hopping for many years to come!