The Month in Review

Sorry it's been so long - January turned out to be a busy month! Here's the rundown on what Grace and Mom and Dad have been up to:

1. Grace and Mommy spent 4 FANTASTIC days in Colorado with cousins "Tina" and "Adi" - we had great weather and really enjoyed playing together at lots of beautiful parks, at the zoo, and with all of Adi's new and fascinating toys (Little Miss Ants-in-her-pants-Grace even did pretty well on the airplanes). The trip was great and we are looking forward to the next time we get to see the Perrys.

*Unfortunately I didn't take as many pictures as I thought I did, but some of the cutest ones are at the bottom of this post.

**Ironically we didn't see a single snowflake the entire time we were in ski-country, but we came home and two days later were trapped in our house by 3 feet of snow and ice. Which Grace and Daddy have very much enjoyed playing in.

2. Daddy has been on several business trips this month - Boston, Arizona, Florida - to name a few. He's becoming a regular jetsetter (although we all know he secretly cries himself to sleep on the nights he has to be away from his girls).

3. Serious work has begun on the development of Grace's big-girl room. We have moved some furniture, taken a lot of things to Goodwill, bought a bed and bedding, and even bought a gallon of 'In the Pink' paint! Mommy is very excited to see how it all comes together and what Grace thinks of it. More to come . . . .

4. I'm in my 33rd week of gestation now. Translation: I can't get a good night's sleep and I pee 235 times a day. But things are really going great - I've been very blessed to have another uncomplicated pregnancy. I have appointments with the OB every couple of weeks now and it's almost time to pack my hospital bag!!!! Holy smokes - I can't believe we're going to be a family of four!

I think that covers the major events - toodles!

2009 has arrived!

We rang in the New Year with my cousin Christina and her husband Justin and their daughter Adilynn (who is a few months younger than Grace). We had a low-key night at home, and really enjoyed spending time with them.

Hooray for 2009!

p.s. Ignore the date on the picture, something is screwy with our camera :)

Oh What a Christmas!

There's so much anticipation and then it's over in a blink. Although it went as fast as ever, Christmas this year was wonderful - we had a great time 'making merry' with all of our families. Starting around 4:00 on Christmas Eve we began the two-day celebration that included visits to Mimi's house, Nana's house, Grandma's house, God's house and Great-Grandpa Smith's house (not necessarily in that order). We are so blessed to have our family close and be able to share holidays and 'every'days with them.















Grace must have been a very good girl, because she got everything she could ever want and is VERY grateful to Santa and all of her grandparents, godparents, aunts, uncles & friends who took the time to give her a special gift.

Here are some the other great pictures from this Christmas season:

(you can click on them to view a larger image)

A Busy December

Time for the weekly update - brought to you by Grandma Peggy's offer to babysit and Grandpa Bob's high speed internet.

First, some very exciting news - Grace and I will be going to visit Christina (my cousin) and her daughter Adilynn in Colorado in late January!! We are very excited - we're flying out on Tuesday, Jan. 20 (Aunt Katie's 23rd Birthday) and we'll be back on that Friday. Mommy's a little nervous about maneuvering Grace and luggage and pregnant belly through the airport by herself, but nothing ventured, nothing gained right? We can't wait to see their home and spend time playing in the snow with them!

Now, on a less exciting note - I am signed up to complete a training course with a company called Berlitz to become an English-as-a-second-language tutor. The training is the second week of January and if I successfully "graduate" I will become a paid language instructor. Here's what this will mean for our family: I can take on as many or as few students as I like (depending on my schedule) and I can select which students to take on based on when I want to do my tutoring. So basically, I can choose to work just a few hours a week (evenings, days, mornings - whatever) and earn a few extra bucks. (And, as a bonus, I will be interacting with people from all over the world and learning about their cultures and traditions!!) Should be very cool. More to come . . .

Now about Daddy - he recently had to leave home and go on two business trips and he was sorely missed while he was away. Don't let me mislead you though - he was only gone one night on each trip; the first to Cleveland and then to some sunny beach in Florida. I'm pretty sure he had a good time jetting around with coworkers and acting like a real grown up :), but Grace and I hope this doesn't become a regurlar occurence.

OK, what else??? Oh yeah, Christmas! I can't believe it's so close - the shopping is done and the house is all lit (way to go Daddy!). There are still cookies to be baked and LOTS of wrapping to do, but we'll get there.

Last night we kicked off the 'official' holiday festivities with a family trip to the Festival of Lights (see pictures below) and on Monday we're going downtown to see the train display, visit Santa on the Square and the nativity scene at Krohn Conservatory (all holiday traditions of the Rolfes Family). There are lots of other Christmas activities we're going to try and squeeze in, so look for lots more pictures to come.

Next time I blog will be post-Navidad, so MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL!

Grace bundled and rollin' through the lights

As close as Grace would get to Santa (of course she didn't skip a beat grabbing the candy cane he offered)

Daddy and Grace on the carousel
Now it's Mommy's turn