Thanks #3- COFFEE

I'm not sure what kind of person I would be without a good 'ol cup-a-joe in the morning. Oh, wait, I know! A cranky, not thinking straight mother with a nice little head ache (my kids don't get it yet). Who wants that? I can't wait for my first sip of coffee in the morning, especially these days. Leah is still not sleeping through the night and we have been trying the cry-it-out method, man is she stubborn. How can a small little thing like that keep the entire house up? We are going on three weeks now, and we are exhausted. Jason and I have our way to cope-COFFEE-, but what about poor little Grace? Is it too early to introduce sweetened coffee to your 21 month old? Oh, boy. I normally make my coffee at home in the mornings, but this morning I had to walk (twist my arm) to our favorite coffee shop down the street to buy it. Yesterday, I decided our coffee maker needed to be cleaned. So, I filled it with vinegar. Well, I had to run it about 8 times before the potent smell was gone. I'm looking forward to a great cup in the morning.

Thanks #2- Our Home

So thankful for where we live. Since we have been married we have never lived in a place where we have felt connected to the community. There are tons of families with young children on our street and even those without kids we've built friendships with. Grace knows most of our neighbors names and it's funny to hear her say "Hi" to them from our front porch as she sees them. It's also awesome that we are a few short blocks from the beach. The picture below is of the sunset last Friday with Grace and my mom playing in the water.

Thanks

As it is now mid-November and we are nearing Thanksgiving I have so much to be thankful for. How bogus is it that I wait until a certain holiday season to write about things that I am thankful for every day of the year?

I am thankful that my sister, Rebecah, only has one more chemo treatment to go. She was 85% clear at her last check up.
I love her beautiful smile and infectious personality. She has been nothing but strong and positive through all that she has gone through. Our God is righteous and good.

I'm going to try and post about one thing I am thankful for everyday from now until Thanksgiving. This might not sound hard, but for me it is. I tend to wait a month or two in between posts. Now that I've said it I have to do it!

Many First's

There has been quite a bit going on with The Gregory Family these days and many firsts happening all at once. Pictures are a bit out of order.

Grace enjoyed her first ice cream cone at her cousin, EZ's birthday party yesterday. She loves being with her cousins. Today she was still singing "Hapbe bada da EZ" and asking for ice cream too! She is talking up a storm.
November 14
Our little Leah is starting to sit up for a few minutes at a time.
November 12
Sucking her thumb just like sister and momma!

Grace had her first haircut last week. We only cut her bangs, but she looks more grown up. So sad, but so cute.
November 12

My first attempt at sewing in 20 years, I made dresses for the girls. There will be more to come. I am working on their Christmas dresses. I have been inspired the last few years by my friend, Kristi, who sews all kinds of cool things. Now I am actually doing it!
October 15

Halloween Madness

This was our first Halloween at our house on Oak Street. WOW, was it crazier than we had anticipated. Apparently our street is "The Place" to go trick-or-treating. We were told that there would be at least 2,000 people coming that evening. For a Sunday we thought it wasn't possible...but it was. Our street is the only street in Laguna Beach where the police block it off to pedestrians only from 4-10 pm. Almost every house on our street is decorated to the nines. Some had haunted houses, one had a disco hanging from a gigantic tri-pod in the middle of the street with a D.J. playing music. It was party central and so much fun. I didn't get really good pictures of the chaos that was Oak Street, but you can take my word for it, or come by next year and you can see it with your own eyes!

J and Grace carving our pumpkin. Not sure what Leah is doing off to the right. Hangin' out, I guess!

Grace, our little princess

Leah, the sweet little pumpkin that she is.

Leah did NOT last long in the costume. We got a few smiles out of her!

Our little girls. Love, Love, Love them.

Jason found his Def Leppard shirt and pulled out the wig with headband!

My adorable sister Becky and Leah's second outfit for the evening.

What's happening...?

Everyone had to take shifts passing out candy. It was tiring after a while.

Our friends, Chris & Audrey, and Jason on our front lawn.

See you next year!

Disneyland

About a month ago I bought a Disneyland pass and at first I wasn't sure how often I would go, because I thought it would be challenging with Grace and Leah and their nap times. It has actually been so much fun. Every other week I meet my little sister, Becky and my step-mom and anyone else that is able to meet up with us that week. We usually go on my sister's good week (the week after her chemo). Here are just a few pictures of the last few times we have gone.

Grace loved all of the characters. Here she is with Chip.

Aunt Becky and Grace=Best Friends

My two favorite bald girls!

Kisses to Minnie Mouse.

Look at those blue eyes! I love my sweet little Leah.

Tough Road

Family vacation in Mammoth!

I have been horrible at updating my blog and I apologize. I promised pictures and they never came. I currently have both girls napping and have a few minutes on my hands. Leah was 4 weeks old when I posted last. She is now almost 12 weeks and the 8 weeks in between have been a total blur. They have also been extremely difficult. At about week 6 she turned into someone completely different (I love you with all my heart Leah). She cries for no apparent reason. It is nearly impossible to get her to calm down. It is probably colic. You don't realize how hard it is to have a colicy baby until you're walking around the house like a crazy person, up and down the street at 1:00 in the morning trying to get them to STOP crying. Totally different than Grace ever was! I'm not comparing though. I do have to say that when it comes to sleeping we have been lucky. Last night she slept for over 7 hours. That is the second time that has happened and it is a true blessing. We have both girls sleeping in the same room. We were a little worried about it at first. We didn't want Leah to disturb Grace, but Grace sleeps right through the crying.
Grace has been a great big sister, despite the one finger bite (poor Leah). The jealousy has started and so has the terrible two's. She's not even two yet. Oh boy! Grace is really into screaming at the top of her lungs when she is frustrated and whining a lot more. I would be frustrated to if this new baby showed up, started taking all the time away from me and cried ALL THE TIME! Let it all out Grace... Besides the acting out Grace is just so sweet. She is talking up a storm. She loves to stand out on our front patio and say "HIEEEE" to everyone that passes by our house. She is the friendliest little girl. She cracks me up. She is also into Skype. We skype with someone at least once a day. That is the greatest invention ever!

About two weeks ago Jason and I made the decision to have me stay home with our girls and not go back to work. It is the greatest decision we ever made. Our girls need me, and although it would be two nights a week, it is the night time that is the most difficult and I couldn't do that to a babysitter or Jason. Life is good! Play dates anyone ;)