Looking Back

This week GraceAnn and I have been working for daddy while Connie is out of town. I don't think Gracie is too thrilled about having to go to the office everyday. She gets a little fussy. You see, it's not all about her at the office. So, we are taking a break this afternoon and we'll go back later.

During our break I've been working on Gracie's scrapbook. It's only been about five months since she was born and I'm finally getting around to her book. Oh well, at least it's getting done. I have three pages done so far and it's been fun looking back at the pictures of her when she was so tiny and remembering how I felt when she was born. I don't think words can ever express how much we love this little girl and how grateful we are for her. Sometimes I can't believe she's here. She's such a joy in our lives and she's just so much fun. All her little quirks and noises she makes are so precious. We just love her so much!

First Father's Day for Travis

Today was my first Father's Day. What a great day. KariAnn sent me downstairs to get something and when I got back there was a card on my pillow from her and GraceAnn. It was so cool. KariAnn made be breakfast and we went to church. It was just a great day to relish in the fact that after all these years I am actually a dad. I have the cutest daughter in the world. She is so sweet. We had steak and potatoes for lunch and GraceAnn and I took a nap together. It was a perfect day.

I had such a sense of satisfaction and joy out of being a dad. We took some pictures so enjoy them.

KariAnn took some pictures of us and used them on a website that you can make and publish books on and ordered me a book with pictues of me being a dad with my girls. I call KariAnn and GraceAnn my girls. I cried; it was so sweet and fun to see GraceAnn growing up.

Dad's First Post

Hey all. KariAnn is posting about GraceAnn a lot. I am so glad to be a dad. I hate going to work and look forward to coming home. I am amazed at how much my life has changed for the better.

Work has been interesting lately. I have started to market 401(k)'s to companies. I can do it in all but about five states. So if you know anyone that is in need, let me know. (shameless plug for business.

I am enjoying being on the school board and hopefully we are doing some good things for the kids in Washington County.

Sick Day

It's so amazing to me that even when she's sick, she's a happy girl. We all have a cold, even Gracie, and despite the fact that her eyes are runny and she has a snotty little nose, she's laying here next to me on the bed just talking and laughing. Such a happy little girl. We're so lucky!

First Night in Her Own Room

Tonight is a big night...Gracie is sleeping in her own room for the first time. Travis asked if I wanted him to go get the sleeping bags and make a bed for us on the floor of her room. I considered it for about two seconds, then realized how lame I am. It makes me feel lonely to see her little corner empty, but this will be good. We'll see how she does on her own tonight.

Vegas Trip

Yesterday was Travis and my 11th anniversary. To celebrate, we drove down to Las Vegas and left GraceAnn with Uncle Mark and Aunt Jennifer and had our first date since before she was born. It was so hard to leave her, although I knew she was in good hands. I was just hoping she wouldn't scream the whole time we were gone. But Jennifer said she was fine and only cried for about the last half hour. Jenn said Gracie would look at her and start to cry, or Jenn would talk to her and she would start to cry. Like, "You're not my mom!" Anyway, we really appreciate them keeping her for us, and it was fun to have a dinner date together. We almost don't recognize eachother any more.

Today was Mark's birthday, so we stayed over to celebrate with him today. This morning Jenn made crepes for breakfast and then this afternoon we went swimming.

GraceAnn had her first experience in a pool. I thought she would probably like it, because she really likes her baths, and she likes it when I stick her feet and legs under the faucet to rinse them off. But when I felt how cold the water was, I thought she probably wouldn't care much for it. I was wrong. She didn't care if it was cold. She likes the water. She laughed and smiled and only got fussy when she got tired. Though we only dipped her in a little way, it will be fun to take her as the summer progresses and the water gets warmer and she can splash and play.

Lots of New Stuff

On Tuesday GraceAnn discovered that she can curl her tongue in her mouth, so for the past few days, that's been about all she's done. It's kind of funny to watch her do it, and I think she thinks she's pretty neat.

Tonight Gracie had her first taste of pears. For the first few tastes she puckered up a little bit, but then she got used to it and she ate them fine. So now she gets to have rice cereal and pears for supper, and then she's a happy girl for the rest of the night. Unless her mama's gone.

Last night was enrichment night and I was gone for quite a while. I guess Travis had quite the time with GraceAnn. She wouldn't eat her cereal and she cried and fussed most of the evening; that is until I came home.

Our enrichment was one preparedness, not only for long term storage but also preparing for a pandemic. There is a lot of information on the Church website. I think we should all read up on it prepare. The lady that did the presentation has five years of food storage in a little townhouse that's probably no bigger than my house. It made me realize that I have a lot to do yet to be prepared, but we're getting there.

Blowing Bubbles

When I started this blog on Saturday, I mentioned that one of the reasons was I filmed GraceAnn blowing bubbles. I think we may have finally figured out how to post the video clip. It only took the two of us a couple of hours until we realized that we had the software in our office and just needed to install it on the computer. Oh well. What else are we going to do? Sleep?