Stickers & Bellybuttons

One of my favorite things about this season is receiving REAL mail as opposed to bills and junk mail. Today, Amity received a letter of her very own from Lolly and PopPop! Inside the letter were some very fun stickers. She has been a bit wary of stickers up to this point but she is definitely starting to realize the fun potential they possess. We now have one more activity that has her begging to sit in her "chur" for long periods of time at the table.

Surveying her new loot

Saying "Thank you, PopPop and Lolly!"

Earlier today, we made a visit to Half-Price Books to pick up a book for me to take to a book exchange with my MOPS group tonight. While there, we visited the children's section and Amity found this book. She has really been into bellybuttons lately...especially her own...literally...it has actually gotten a little red from all of the loving attention it receives!

Adolphus Children's Parade (POTENTIAL Grover Family Christmas Tradition #4)

Usually we look forward to sleeping in a little on Saturday mornings but today we got up at 6:30 and were out the door at 8:00 to head downtown for the Capital One Bank Adolphus Children's Parade. We were a little unsure of what was in store, especially since the thermometer said 27 degrees as we were getting ready. As you can see, we decided to dress for warmth rather than cuteness!

My sweet friend Ellyn's church is right on the parade route. They allowed us to park in their parking garage, stake out a place to sit, and wait in the warmth inside while enjoying the snacks they provided until the parade started at 10:00. Ellyn played her violin for the children and read a couple of Christmas books. As the parade got ready to gear up, we went outside and listened to the church's brass ensemble play Christmas music and were entertained by the clowns from Children's Medical Center.
We were cold but happy to snuggle!

Dennis couldn't wait to give Amity her first taste of cotton candy but she wanted nothing to do with it and wouldn't even let him put any in her mouth. Oh well, Daddy had to eat all of it! Bummer!

There were even lots of big balloons (just like the Macy's Parade :))!

Supposedly, there were 100,000 people there and apparently, we have quite a range of talent here in little ol' Dallas, Texas!

This was Dennis's favorite parade entry. We have quite a few more photos of the rest of the Star Wars float if you are interested (Dennis had the camera at this point in the parade!).We were surprised and excited to see HSU's Six White Horses and...

the world-famous Cowboy Band! Go Hardin-Simmons!

We thought this car would make a great vehicle for PopPop in his retirement!

Amity was so excited about the Choo-Choo Balloon. She woke up from her nap later in the afternoon and kept saying "choo-choo ba-ooooo"!

This was pretty much her expression the entire parade...just taking it all in!

So, this parade is on the list of definite-maybe traditions for our family ("definite" if you ask me and "maybe" if you ask Dennis) ...especially if the weather is a little warmer next year! Plus, we wouldn't want to cheat Vivien of the experience, right, Dennis? :)

Reading HIS-Story (Grover Family Christmas Tradition #3)

I have a little cousin named Garrett who is not so little anymore (he's 8 years old and very smart!). When he was about Amity's age, he impressed all of us by his ability to name all of the people in his little Fisher Price nativity scene. Last year, I was so excited to find the same set for half-price at Mardels after Christmas. It has been sitting on a shelf in my closet ever since. Last week, I pulled the box down, opened it up, and set it up on our coffee table. Amity has been fascinated with it ever since. It is pretty much the only toy she has played with all week.

At night before bedtime, we typically read from The Baby Bible Storybook and practice her Bible verse (Deuteronomy 6). As we countdown to Christmas this year, we are reading the book Baby Jesus is Born every night. Amity loves to hold the Little People from her nativity as we read about them in the book. She is getting good at identifying the Mommy Mary, Daddy Joseph (Dennis tried to explain that he is really the step-daddy but I think it went over her head!), and Baby Jesus. We still have some work to do to learn who those wise men are!

What a privilege it is to share this part of the Gospel with our little girl! Joy to the World!

Counting Down the Days! (Grover Family Christmas Tradition #2)

This is the Advent calendar that we made in MOPS back in November. We have filled each muffin cup with M&Ms and are counting down the days till Christmas every evening after dinner. In future years, I'd like to see us do something a little more meaningful than M&Ms but, right now, they are meaningful to a certain little person! Let me know if you can think of other things we could put in the muffin cups!

O Christmas Tree! (Grover Family Christmas Tradition #1)

In December of 2005, my birthday wish was to go to a Christmas tree farm and cut down a real Christmas tree, just like Laura Ingalls used to do (sort of!). After a little bit of online research, we found The Walls Family Farm in Terrell and it quickly became our first Grover Family Christmas Tradition. In the five years that we have been going, we have learned a few things:
1.) Go as early as possible. The best time to go is the first weekend after Thanksgiving.
2.) Take along a measuring tool, such as a precut ribbon, to ensure that you don't buy a tree that won't fit in your space.
3.) Be careful where you cut! Christmas Tree 2007 (see below) had a bit of a hole because we apparently cut above a rather important branch! Oh well, we decided this corner was a perfect place for our tree!

4.) Take along some friends or family! The Connells have joined us the past three years.
5.) Have fun! The Walls family is always so gracious and hospitable and their cookies, hot chocolate and cider is yummy too!
6.) Kids make the Christmas tree hunt all the more fun! Last year was Amity's first trip. The year before that, I was pregnant with her, and the year before that, she was just a much-longed for dream!

This year, we were some of the first people to arrive and the kids were raring to go find the perfect tree.

Amity thought she had found a good one... but her Daddy thought that we should look for one a little more substantial!

Eiley let Amity borrow her plastic saw.

Eli brought along his chainsaw for the third year in a row.

Amity tried using the saw to cut some grass.

We found lots of potentials, stopped to give Mom a snuggle, picked up a couple of sticks,

and finally found THE TREE! Daddy measured it with our ribbon. Mmmm...it looks a little tall!

Still looks really tall! Dad is 6'3" and our home just has 8 foot ceilings! Can you do the visual math here? :)

We're thankful for our big and strong Daddy that can fell the tree with just a few swoops of the saw.

The four of us and our tree!

Amity loves her Uncle Dylan ("Duh Duh")!

The men head back to the road with the trees. Wouldn't you know that we picked trees that were the furthest from the road?

Waiting for the tractor and posing for the camera!

The tractor and hay trailer picked us up and took us back to the house where we enjoyed some cider and cookies. We were surprised to learn that our tree measured 9 feet! Oops! Once we arrived home, we cut it down a bit and it soon fit perfectly in our living room.

We think it is our best tree yet! We couldn't wait for Amity to wake up from her nap so that we could show her our new tree!

Since Amity is talking and comprehending so much more this year and since we will be stuck at home over the holidays awaiting the arrival of Miss Vivien, we are looking forward to the opportunity to begin several more Grover Family Christmas Traditions. I will be adding them here as we think of them and have the chance to document them. I don't know who said it but I like this quote: "The most vivid memories of Christmases past are usually not of gifts given or received, but of the spirit of love, the special warmth of Christmas worship, the cherished little habits of the home."

Amity is 19.5 months old! (Recap of months 18 & 19)

Things have been a little nutty around here the past two months as we get ready for the holidays, for Baby Vivien's arrival, and keep up with a very busy little girl!

These are the pecans(or "balls" from Amity's perspective) that we picked up in our yard in just a few short minutes last night.

This is the little girl that is just 14 days away from being 20 months old and I never did an 18 or 19 month post so here it is! Due to sickness on the day of her original 18 month checkup, we rescheduled her appointment for November 3rd. At almost 19 months, these were Amity's stats:
Weight: 27 pounds, 1 ounce (85th percentile)
Height: 35 inches (above 95th percentile...we are now officially "off the charts")
Head: 19 inches (90th percentile)
We always love Dr. Moore's informational sheets that he provides at every checkup. The introductory paragraph seemed especially appropriate this time:
"Warning!! Two-year olds do not usually wait until they are two to begin acting like they are two. If you don't understand what I mean, consider yourself fortunate. For now. You will learn soon enough."

If we had received that at the time of Amity's originally scheduled appointment, we would have been those parents that didn't understand, but three weeks later, Amity had made sure that we understood exactly what Dr. Moore meant! :) I also like the last few sentences that he wrote: "Do not be afraid to teach them what is best for them. You will not lose their love and they will develop respect for authority. Real parenting gets tested and shaped now."

While we originally thought we would prefer not to have our parenting tested :), we are learning that there is even more joy in watching Amity choose to obey and do so with a happy heart! Of course, along with all of these so-called "two year old behaviors" comes a lot of fun personality!

Amity loves to pretend, especially with her baby dolls. She is always careful to make sure they are well fed and never thirsty...all the while carrying out her motherly duties in her fashionable tutu!

She loves to help me vacuum and do other chores. She is getting especially good at picking up trash and throwing it away and putting her shoes and dirty clothes in their baskets.

The sound of the garage door going up always brings quite a bit of excitement from both Amity and Paco because it means that Daddy is home! She runs to the door and says, "Hi Daddy!" Who wouldn't want to hang out with a Daddy that brings home cool things like a 3-D movie and glasses?

She continues to love Elmo. After a previous post about seeing Elmo toys in the toystore, GG and KK thought she might need just one more Elmo toy!

We have also diagnosed her with CBPS (Chronic Button Pushing Syndrome)! One of my favorite outings when I was little was going to DeFord's Hardware and hanging out in the doorbell section of the store. I am sure the workers loved it when we showed up knowing that they were going to be hearing all of the doorbells ringing for the next few minutes! Amity also loves buttons and recently discovered all of the buttons on the dash in the car after we returned home from the store. She sat in my lap for more than 15 minutes pushing buttons!

Other favorite things to do right now are:

- playing in the front yard and collecting things in her bucket (Cool Whip container).

- doing puzzles. She recently sat at the table for an hour and fifteen minutes working puzzles ("tuzzles") over and over and over.

- tellings us to "shhh" with her finger to the side of her nose when one of her baby dolls is sleeping. She always puts her dolls face down when they are asleep. It looks kind of creepy but I guess that is how you think everybody sleeps when you are a tummy sleeper!

- telling us that her baby doll needs a new "bopper" (diaper) because she is "stin-keeee".

- sitting in her rocker while reading a book to her baby dolls.

Favorite foods:

- cheese, cheese, and more cheese

- apples

- bananas

- crackers

- raisins

- green beans

- broccoli

- any kind of noodle (especially ones that come with cheese!)

- apple sauce

- yogurt

- peanut butter

- cake, cookies, and ice cream (she now knows those words and often suggests them when I am preparing her breakfast or other meal! :))

Amity, there is rarely a minute go by that you don't make us laugh! We love your joy, imagination, and determination and pray that God will use those to glorify Himself. We are so thankful for you and can't wait for you to be a big sister!

She's Got the Moves!

There is nothing and no one that can distract Amity like Elmo! While we do have a handful of Elmo things in our house, we have tried to not inundate ourselves with his face and trademark. Even so, Amity can spot Elmo from an incredible distance or on the tiniest piece of merchandise.

This afternoon, we went to Babies 'R Us to shop for some baby gifts for friends. After spending a long time in the cart looking at clothing, she was set free for a short while in the toy section. Wouldn't you know? She found the Elmo aisle and, right there in the middle of Babies 'R Us, decided to break out in some of her signature moves!

Thankfully, she has not yet discovered that some parents actually buy those toys and take them home for their children to enjoy. We are hoping to delay that realization as long as possible!

I'm Falling for You!

This morning, we ventured the one mile to the Arboretum to do some exploring. Amity found lots of treasures!

Leading the way...My favorite thing about the Arboretum is that she can pretty much run free without worrying about getting into danger or bothering other people!

A bench made just her size

A perfect spot for a picnic

Teddy Grahams for dessert

Even those these fish are very calm and still, Amity was still hesitant to stick her finger in the water. She stood her about five minutes just giggling nervously and trying to work up the courage to test out the water.