Love...Hate

I'm writing solely based on my love hate relationship with this picture.

I think Grace looks absolutely adorable, but I HATE that she looks so grown up. Where is my little baby going?

Pretty Baby

Gracie has been so cute lately. She is starting to put some words together and use her manners. But I'm afraid she is becoming quite the Diana, with a penchant for cleanliness. For example, she refuses to eat until her bib is on. Once she is done eating and hands are washed, she will find a kitchen towel and wipe the floor under the table saying "EEE Up, EEE Up" (Clean Up, Clean Up). She is adamant about having a bow in her hair at all times. She walks around the house with a blanket around her neck like a boa. At night, she wants me to sing "Pretty Baby" -- which is a little diddy that Grandpa Rammell would sing to babies, it goes "Everybody loves a baby, that's why I'm in love with you, Pretty Baby, Pretty Baby." She loves it. If she cries in the night, I'll go in to find her binkie and she will say "Pretty Baby."

On Sunday, she was suffering with croup and having trouble breathing so we took her into the Dr. They were worried about her O2 levels. She has a lovely habit of holding her breathe when she gets mad, to the point that she gets blue in the face. That didn't help matters. The Dr. was concerned enough to send her to Primary Children's. While there, she was poked and prodded...and held her breath. When the Dr.s cleared out, she was crying the saddest little cry, looked up to me and said, "Daddie, Pretty Baby."

The Stockings Were Hung...

We have finally finished our fireplace. As you can see, the room has drastically changed since we moved in. The first pic was taken from the MLS when we bought the home. Then, wandering in late one day from work, I was met with a pile of artificial rock. According to Diana, she couldn't take it anymore. We got the debris cleared and tile up pretty quick. The delay came with trying to decide on a mantel. We checked out dozens of books from the library without any luck. Diana found this mantel in a magazine. Not a woodworking magazine (a plan would have been nice), but a decorating magazine, and only part of the mantel was showing. So we winged it. We used one sheet of birch plywood, 4 planks of popular and trim (about $100 from the lumber yard). We got the last coat of paint on it this afternoon. We still need to put up base molding in the living room that will run across the front of the mantel. We are also still hunting for the perfect mirror to hang above it. But for now, we're calling it done.

[The stockings and tree skirt are a Diana creation]

Under Construction

Please bear with this temporary delay in blogging as we are currently under construction.