Weekend in Lafayette

Last Weekend, the girls and I were in Lafayette visiting with family.  We had a lot of fun (as always).  Gracie and Anna accumulated more clothes.  Gracie now has a grand total of three pieces of clothing that light up.  She now has a Winnie the Pooh jacket, a princess shirt and a Rudolph shirt.  Anna got a few outfits that have the cute little matching hats and shoes.

Gracie and I got haircuts.  Gracie's hair was in the awkward stage between needing to be cut and growing out.  I get slightly annoyed with constantly pushing her hair out of her face.  She didn't really care to wear barrettes or headbands and her bangs didn't quite fit in the ponytail yet.  I cut my hair because I could I guess.  I'm not a big fan of long hair; it kind of grosses me out.  Dad cut his hair this weekend too!  (If you know him, you know why this is significant!)  He was able to donate a grand total of something like 18 inches of hair.  Gracie's face after he cut it when Aunt Lorraine was holding up his ponytail was priceless.  She said something like "Pa Pa hair gone."  She cracks me up.  She took a picture holding it up but it's on either mom or dad's camera.  I'll have to get a copy on here.  It's really funny looking.

I helped mom peel a whole mess of fresh shrimp and pick through crab meat for the most amazing seafood gumbo!  Mom put a whole half gallon of oysters in it.  I was so happy that I didn't have to dig for them.  I had more trouble trying to get a scoop without them than with them.  Anyway, the gumbo was AMAZING!

I thought I was going to get a chance to finish Gracie's dress.  I laugh thinking about it now.  I didn't even get a chance to finish cutting the fabric.  Maybe next time...or the time after that...

I got to catch up with a friend from high school this weekend.  It was really nice to talk about "back then."  I hadn't seen her in almost 2 years and I can't remember what made us slowly lose touch.  I am going to do my best to make sure that it doesn't happen again.  

Anna is still growing like a weed.  She is very ticklish!  When you tickle her belly she just laughs and laughs.  So so cute!!  Gracie still loves her "Anna baby sister" very much.

Anna and Gracie slept in their room for the first time together last night.  Anna slept so much longer in her bed than she did in the pack and play.  I wish I would have moved her sooner.  She only woke up once last night and somehow Gracie didn't even wake up!  It was very strange to not have Anna with us but it's also very nice to know that we can put away that pack and play soon!  

Yesterday morning Gracie was sick.  She had a little bought of the pukes.  Talk about pathetic.  My heart broke watching her.  She looked at me and said "Gracie needs medicine" and then it began.  Luckily it was a fluke thing and not a bug because for the rest of the afternoon she was her overly active self.

Tonight is the concert Gregg and I are playing.  It's at 7:30 at Guinn Auditorium on the campus of LC.  You should come if you're in town; it's going to be a fun concert!

the Alexandria Zoo

Gregg and I took Gracie and Anna to the zoo today.  Gracie loved all the animals.  When we would stop by the enclosures she would say that the animals were trying to get out.  When Gregg told the Macaws "Hello Birds!" they surprised us by responding with a clear as day "Hi!"  Some animals were a lot larger in person than they look on TV or in books.  The pelican for example is about 10 ties larger than I had imagined.  

Gracie loves the monkeys and anything that swims.  She told Gregg that she wanted to hold

 the crocodile's hand.  Unfortunately the fish food dispensers were broken so we couldn't feed the fish. She really enjoyed that last time we went to the zoo.

I love being able to take Gracie to the zoo; she enjoys animals so much!  I can't wait until Anna knows what is going on and gets as excited as Gracie.  

Anna slept most of the trip.  I took a picture of her when she was awake.  Most of the pictures are of Gracie's back; she wasn't interested in taking pictures today.  The animals were more interesting than posing for the camera.

These pictures are in reverse order.  Again, I'm still figuring this out.

-Mommy

Babies...

Aunt Jeana's baby shower was last Saturday.  Anna was a little grumpy when we got to the church.  Poor thing doesn't like to miss out on anything so she was fighting her sleep like crazy when we arrived.  Gracie was excited to see everyone and I was excited to deliver my cake.  I was very excited that it turned out as well as it did.  Of course when it was time to leave, Gracie wasn't ready to come home.  Mi Maw took Gracie to her house for the rest of the afternoon.  I know they played hard because when she came home, she was already asleep and slept for four hours.  She remembers everything because when she woke up she asked for the candy Mi Maw told her she could eat later.  

Monday, I took the girls to Forrest Hill/Lecompte to eat and shop for plants with Mi Mi, Granny and Aunt Frances.  Alayne couldn't make it because of class.  (Don't worry, we'll see you this weekend)  We were all very much looking forward to eating lunch and dessert at Lea's.  When I drove up, I knew we were all going to be disappointed.  There was not a soul in the parking lot and all of the chairs were on the tables.  This was the perfect opportunity to discover a new restaurant.  Enter: Don's Cajun Kitchen.  The food was really good and it was the perfect place for Gracie.  The walls were full of mounted fish and game.  She enjoyed looking at all of the animals.  I do fear though that there will be a day that she gets upset because she knows they are dead.  

When we were all incredibly full, we loaded into the car for a trip to the nurseries.  Granny was searching for a broad leaf dogwood tree and Aunt Frances was looking for a persimmon tree.  After hearing "No ma'am, we don't have any right now.  Try _________, he might have some." about a dozen times, they both found what they were looking for!  Mi Mi also bought Gracie a flat of flowers that we should be able to keep alive for a decent amount of time.  Hopefully Mi Ma will help us plant them because I do not have a green thumb.  We lucked out with really nice weather and I really enjoyed the visit with family.

Yesterday was the last rehearsal for Gregg and I before our concert next week.  We're playing at LC Tuesday November 18 at 7:30.  I am so glad to be playing again!

This weekend will be very busy.  I am taking the girls to Lafayette Friday.  Hopefully I'll be able to finish Gracie's dress.  I'm pretty excited about it; I hope it turns out well.  I haven't touched a sewing machine in a fairly long time.  Gregg has a benefit show Saturday night in Natchitoches for two friends of his that were in a pretty bad car accident.  If you're in Natchitoches this weekend you should stop by the Pioneer Pub and drop some money in the bucket!

I found an amazing website that lets you organize your life.  You have to register but it's free.  You can keep a calendar that is color coded by family member, a list keeper (grocery, chores, etc.) and a journal.  You can also send messages to yourself from the site.  For example, I can send my grocery list to my phone via text message.  It's the latest in my effort to stay organized.

I wanted to leave you with a few pictures but since I'm still figuring this thing out, they all posted at the beginning.  enjoy.

-Mommy

Lots of Fun

This week has been so exciting!  

Last Tuesday was District Festival for Gregg's band.  They made straight ones!  Ms. Deana watched the girls so I didn't have to take them out in the cold. (This crazy weather...)   

Friday was Halloween, so we took the girls trick-or-treating.  Anna was a pumpkin and Gracie was Snow White.  When we went to Ms. Deana's house to get her costume, her face lit up and she said "oh, Princess."  We met up with Bella, Aunt Jeana and JT at Tioga First Baptist.  They had trunk or treating and some jumpers.  Gracie loved getting treats from everyone.  She chickened out a little on the big blow up slide; Bella couldn't even get her to go up there.  We visited a few of Gregg's band parents for candy.  Gracie had a lot of fun, especially since she got to spend time with Bella.  Anna slept through the whole event.  Once I find my pictures, I'll post them.  

Saturday, the girls stayed with Ms. Deana again so I could go support Gregg at NSU.  The band was amazing and they earned the highest rating they could!  It was a very exciting night.  We are all pretty excited that marching season is over - and ended really well.  It will be nice to have Gregg home at a normal hour every day.

This Tuesday was election day!  Gracie and Anna helped mommy vote.  They got sweet little stickers that said "I voted".   While I was in Lafayette I started to make a dress for Gracie.  I'll finish it next time I'm in town.

Gracie and Anna are growing so much.  Lately Anna has been laughing and smiling when Gracie does something silly.  It's the sweetest thing.  Gracie doesn't like for Anna to cry.  When she cries, Gracie sits next to her and sings.  Now that Anna's almost holding her head up with no help, we need to look into getting her a swing.  Gracie wanted Anna to swing with her yesterday.  Gracie learned that squirrels eat pine cones, so she shares that information with anyone whenever she can.  

Nap time is almost over...

-Mommy