Marching to the beat of her own drummer!!

This video is of Grace walking! She's really starting to get around... it's quite cute! But, we've noticed that Grace likes to do things on her own time and her own special way... not according to the "books" that tell us parents how things are supposed to happen. Grace is still not crawling and shows little interest in pulling her self up.... but as long as someone helps her stand (which is the position of choice these days) she's good to go! She's also quite her own when it comes to teeth. She has her two front bottom teeth and one "fang"--an incisor, I think. And.... as I mentioned in a previous post about Grace's new, "extreme" behavior of shrieking and some general crankiness-- just a lot of stuff out of character... well, I discovered today that Grace now has a molar waaayyyy in the back!!! Of course I looked for new teeth coming in as a possible source to her case of the cranks.... but I didn't think to look for a molar-- not typically a child's 4th tooth! So, as the title to this post states.... we'll be looking out for more things that Grace does as she goes through life rockin' to her own beat!! (and maybe we're breathing a sigh of relief that our sweet little angel hasn't totally turned on us yet.... just doesn't like it when new teeth come in!! Teething never bugged Jacob- he just drooled and gnawed on everything-- so teething=crankiness is new to us!!)

Dad + Child + River = FUN!!!

We just got home from a 5 day camping trip!!! I'll post about that later, but as I was downloading our pictures tonight, I came across a picture that I took of Mike and Grace and it reminded me of a picture that I took 4 years ago of Mike and Jacob sitting along a river on a camping trip!! In both pictures, they're just sitting together, playing with rocks. Precious. :)

Mike and Jacob (July 2004) Mike and Grace (May 2008)

Let the Good Times Roll.....

Oh- the glorious sun has finally decided to shine here in the Pacific Northwest and we took FULL advantage of our 70-80+ degree weather!!!! We hit the beach on Thursday and Saturday and the park with boyfriend Ben before we had to take Jake to school on Friday.

I think it's official...... Grace is definitely a beach girl!! And I'd have to say one of the cutest seaweed monsters around-- thanks to her brother and friend Ryan!! (and maybe mom helped a bit too!!)
Grace is all about blowing kisses-- here is the double kiss! The other night she looked right at Mike at the dinner table and just blew him a kiss-- out of the blue!! LOVE it!
To our sweet little Ben-- we will miss him. Ben, and his family, are moving to Portland next weekend!!! :( Even though Ben would cry, or run and hide by his mom every time Grace let out one of her "endearing" shrieks, we know he has a soft spot for an outspoken little lady!! And he always gave her the sweetest kisses and hugs.

Speaking of Grace's shrieks..... it's been a LONG week or so. I'm not sure how our perfect, sweet, happiest little one turned on us... but she did!! :) She shrieks/yells if she wants something, doesn't want something, wants to be doing something else--but hasn't figured out how to crawl yet so she can't get herself there, etc...... Things have actually gotten a bit better these past few days, but consistency has been the key with her. We're constantly saying, "use your nice words", "no yelling", etc.... I have even had to remove her from the dinner table a few times for her yelling when she wanted more food...... but she's now starting to sign "more" or let out a softer little "yelp" when she wants something. But, she's definitely quite the "girl" compared to the things we dealt with with Jacob. Many more emotional outbursts/little fits these days. We've had to adjust our parenting technique.... but things seem to be getting better-- at least for the time being. We'll be dealing with "issues" with both kids FOREVER, but the first set of behaviors always seem the most shocking. As one friend said, "It looks like the honeymoon stage is finally over!!" Now don't get me wrong... Grace is still sweet and happy and just so darn cute ..... she's just starting to enter the world of being a toddler! Hold on!!!!!

In case you missed this.....

"A Walk to Beautiful" was aired on PBS on Tuesday night. If you missed it, you can watch it here:

It is a documentary on the Fistula Hospital in Addis Ababa. The hospital is actually located a very short walk from the hotel we stayed in and we were able to visit the hospital during our stay in Ethiopia. It is an amazing place: sad, yet filled with hope. We talked with one of the directors, Ruth-- she's in the documentary-- and she gave us the history of the hospital and walked us through the grounds. Take the time, if you can, to watch the movie. It's pretty amazing.

A Very Special Day!

Not only is today Mother's Day, it's also Grace's dedication day! We had Grace dedicated at church this morning. It was a sweet service and Grace even giggled her way through it. She's even wearing her traditional Ethiopian dress. I was so glad that it still fit!

The following is our pastor's prayer for Grace and I just loved it and know that this is all of our hope and prayer for all our children. Happy Mother's Day!!!

"I prayed that your parents would live for the Lord Jesus so that they would always be an example to you. I prayed that when you reach the age where you understand that Jesus died to save sinners that you also understand your need of His salvation. When that time comes, may you respond to His love for you and accept Jesus Christ as your personal Savior. The Bible says, "The Lord is my Shepherd." But we have to make Him our Shepherd by asking Him to come into our hearts. This He wants to do more than anything else."