Grace turns Six!!

For birthdays around our house, we decorate the door and wake the special person up by singing Happy Birthday!

It's one of Grace's favorite traditions on her birthday. :) Look at that happy, shiny face!

I made sticky buns and hot chocolate for breakfast before daddy left for work and she left for school.

 Her birthday fell on a monday which was my day for volunteering anyway. So Logan and I got to hang out in her class for the morning and sing their class Happy Birthday songs to her. Her teacher wasn't there that day but the sub made sure she had her time in the spotlight. ;) She even had a fun crown she had made with her teacher previously. 

 Snack time.

 Later that day we brought back birthday cookies to share with her class.

 After school, Grace opened a birthday present from Nana and Bompa, and some of her birthday cards. She was so excited about reading all the words herself and did a great job building her new Lego sets! Thank you to all our loved ones who thought about our sweet Grace.

 I made a chocolate cake for her and Logan helped with the sprinkles.

 The dinner Grace requested was italian beef sandwiches and green beans.

 From us Grace received a doll car to go with her dollhouse family. She has been asking for it for a year and was so excited!

 We also gave her some baby doll clothes and diaper bag items. She is going to be the best little-mommy when this baby comes!

 We sure love our Gracie Girl!

Side note for journaling purposes: The cake looked terrible and lopsided, and the frosting was sliding off the sides and pooling on the platter. The dinner tasted AWFUL to me and I think my family was very forgiving... but truthfully it was a miracle I got anything on the table that night... Hopefully Grace doesn't remember any of that and simply remembers feeling special and loved. :) 

Here I am at 14 weeks and sooooo ready to be feeling like myself again. Still in regular shirts at that time though.

Our beautiful backyard at this time of year, looking out my bedroom window!

When I took Grace in for her well-check a couple days later, the kids rode their scooter and bike down the street to the clinic. So awesome! I love how close it is (literally it's 1 1/2 city blocks away).

Rainy day and Halloween

A few more shots of the leaf pile Ryan and Grace made.

It started getting chilly around here at the end of october and it was nice to finally feel some fall weather! We also started getting a good amount of rain. The kids and I spent an afternoon playing dominos by the fire and it was wonderful. :)

 Almost 13 weeks at this point and a cute view of a little foot up by baby's head. I STILL wasn't feeling very good, but I was surviving and trying to make it through each day the best I could.

 On this particular day I decided I would actually spend 30 minutes in the dreaded kitchen (with all the yucky smells I couldn't stand) and clean it as best I could. I was able to scrub the sink, counters, and even mop the floor. I seriously hadn't done that in many many weeks so I felt so good knowing that Ryan would have one huge thing off of his shoulders when he got home that night. He really was the only reason I survived and we made it through those horrible weeks (months) of nausea!

 I couldn't get over how incredibly gorgeous our yards are in the fall. So beautiful! This is the view out my living room window. The backyard is incredible too. :)

 Because my husband loves me, and knew I needed a pick-me-up.

 These strange looking fruits (persimmons) grow on our side yard and I had never seen one before! Ryan ate all of them, the kids each tried a bite, and I tried a little bit as well. Sort of strange but not bad.

 We finally started seeing some of the El Niño rains we'd been hearing all about and they are no joke! It was too beautiful with the colors not to pull out camera. After so many months not using it, it felt good to "exercise" that muscle, if you will. :) Life kept passing me by while I laid around and I'm glad I caught these that day!

 (our house is in the background on these next two)

 I still pinch myself everyday that it's ours.

 Grace was so excited about dressing up for her school parade (in the last post). I forgot to add these shots. We tried (and failed) to get a white streak in her hair just like Anna. Next time I'll plan ahead better, but her makeup and braids were cute at least!

 On Halloween night (a saturday) we went to the ward trunk-or-treat. I just sat in a camp chair and handed out candy while Ryan walked the kids around. It was fun for them and I was glad I made it through it (evenings and nights were my very worst time of the day). Grace actually won one of the prizes for best costume!!

 Grace got a few new cold-weather items like this shirt and boots. Since she is so adorable I had to take a picture! Plus she looks like she belongs in the movie Frozen with the patterns. 

This handsome dude didn't want to be left out.