Dear Gracie

Dear Gracie, 

Right now you are 7 years old and it is hard to believe. you are excited to be baptized but even more excited to be a mom! In the past couple weeks you have said a few times, "I just can't wait to be a mom!". You actually made up a whole song about it while you were cooking dinner with me once. You make up a lot of songs and sometimes they never end, you just seem to pause them for awhile. You love singing into the ipad and making videos of it. 

You are such a big helper. You always buckle and unbuckle Joe in the car seat. And you also love to unbuckle Louise and carry her inside for me. 

You do have a gift for making a mess. You just have some many ideas of things you would like to do but rarely stop to think about the mess it will make. It usually isn't that big of a deal except right now we are trying to sell our house and keep it show ready. Making messes isn't really good for that. So I find myself frustrated with you a lot lately but I am trying to remember that you are just a child and I need to be patient. 

This is a picture I took one night when you were the last to finish dinner. You are usually the last. You are a very slow eater. I think that is because you can't eat and talk at the same time.

We were doing math one day and counting by 10's starting with 2. When we got to 102 you said "tenty-two". It was pretty funny and we both laughed quite a bit.

This is you and Joe playing Peter Pan and Wendy with a thimble for a kiss. You and Joe play so much together. That is something I have loved about home school is how much time you get to play with Joseph. you guys can play and play and play. I love how dirty your feet are in this picture. 

You are also so sweet with your baby sister. You and Louise really love each other and you love to take care of her, teach her, and help her. Here you are sharing your twinkie with her that she wanted so bad. 

One night as I was going to bed I saw this note written to me and dad with lipstick. You love to write sweet noted to people and you love to ask me questions using notes. Like yesterday in church you gave me a note that asked if we could please watch a movie when we got home. 

You have been asking for a while to learn how to sew and I finally started teaching you. You have done really well with learning to control the speed of the machine. It will be awhile before you are doing the cutting, pinning, and ironing. But one step at a time. I know you will be a great sewer because you love to create.

Here you are very proud of your knew skirt. 

You still bring so much happiness and joy to our family. 

I love you,

Mom

Dear Gracie

I don't know where to start so I will just dive right in. You are so much fun. You love to talk and most of the time you don't have anything to say or can't think if anything so you say complete nonsense. You will say sentences of half words and then fill in the rest with "da-na-na-na-nuh". It cracks me up.

(below photos from Oct 2011 wearing her Tinkerbell costume to dance)

you went through a phase where every time we went anywhere you wanted to put makeup on and wear a head band and necklace. You still want to look nice, but aren't as adamant about those few things.

You love to go and hang out in Josephs crib with him when he wakes up from a nap. You guys will play in there for quite awhile.

You also sing all the time and REALLY loud. You love to sing and talk in microphones, in fact that is what you want from Santa for Christmas.

(below pics from November 2011 her Joy school feast)

You love preschool and your favorite is when we do calendar and the pledge. You also love playing with friends. You are not the type of person to be really friendly right off the bat. You take time to get to know people and once you know them and they know you, you love them.

You love to play pretend and sometimes you want to pretend real life. Like the time you came up to me and said, "pretend that you are my mom and pretend I am a little girl." No problem, Gracie :). You love playing pretend with your brothers. 

(below pics from Dec 2011, decorating herself)

You had a dance recital recently and you have been listening to the cd of all the songs from the recital and dance to it all day long. You are getting so good at dancing and you really love it.

You  love reading books. When ever I offer to read you a book you go and grab a stack of 10. You also like  to read books to Joseph.

You still like being messy and playing in sand, dirt, and mud. You also love to help me cook. 

(below pics pretending she is Jovie from Elf singer in the shower)

Sometimes you can be very sassy and it is hard for you to stop whining. This is something we are trying to work on. It is really bad when you are tired.

You love to watch movies and ask to watch them all day long even though you know you can only watch one.

Your best friend is Connie. You got to sleep at her house and you loved it so much.

You saw Captain America and ever since you have been obsessed with being "tough". You are always telling me how tough you are and showing me how tough you are. It cracks me up. And you will salute me, which is awesome.

You love color pretty pictures and they are so pretty to me.

You fill our home with music, beauty, and dancing and I love it. You can be super independent and that can be challenging, but it is a trait that I know will make your life better. I think you are so beautiful and

wonderful and I love you so much.

Love, 

Mom

Dear Gracie

Dear Gracie, 

You are such a fun little girl. There were just a couple things I wanted to write about so you would know what you were like when you were almost four. 

You love to play.You play with William, you play with Joseph, and you play with your friends. I like to call you the director of play because you always tell everyone what to say, "and then you said____"...The funny thing is how William totally goes a long with it and repeats everything you say. 

The only thing you like more than playing is reading books. You will bring me a very large stack of books to read and then you want to read more.

Here you are on the front lawn, enjoying the nice day with your books. I love that you love books. I hope it never changes.

You don't take naps anymore, but you probably should because you fall asleep a lot. Not everyday, but when you have played hard you will usually crash, especially if we are in the car.

You still like to argue with anything anyone says. We are working on that. You love primary and singing songs. You love going to dance with Ms. Beverly and "your girls". You love to help me cook dinner. You are better about putting your cloths on the right way, but sometimes they are backwards. You dress yourself and your outfits are awesome. You always say, "see, I told'ja" sounding very much like Chip from Beauty and the Beast.

When you get and owie you always want an ice pack. Also when you are sad or hurt you cry for whoever is not there. When Daddy is a work you cry, "Daaadddddyyyy". And same for me if I am not there. 

You are such a joy to have around. We all love you so much.

Love,

Mom

Dear Gracie

Dear Gracie,
The best and most recent news about you is that you are potty trained! Yippee Hurray! I was nervous about training you with a new baby around, but apparently I waited long enough because you pretty much got it in one day. You had a few accidents (and still do every now and then) but really you did so well and we are all so happy about it. Sometimes when you are sitting on the potty you will look up at me and say, "I go on the potty and you are proud of me". Yes, I am.

One thing about you being potty trained is that often times you put your pants back on backwards. This means that they fall down a lot. Which means we see a lot of you tush and I love it.

And you don't seem to mind either, cause when I tell you they are on backwards you just say "no their not".

One day recently when you had an accident I told you to go and pick out some new cloths and you found this Christmas dress and decided to wear it. I could tell that you thought you were so beautiful and of course you were.

In fact that day when William came home from school he took one look at you and said, "Gracie you look so pretty." You beamed and I died. You guys can be so cute sometimes.

Another awesome thing about you is you like really cool movies. I will show you movies that I think are cool or fun and you always like them. You, like William, could watch movies all day so we have to limit it to one a day. I love the picture below where you are chillin' with Joseph, eating an apple, wearing your Daddy's shoes and watching The Labyrinth.

Here you are telling Joseph all about the Goblin King. You love Joseph too much. I have to tell you to sit back all the time because you are always right up in his face. You love to talk and play with him and he loves it too.

You get so excited when Daddy comes home. You ask about him all day and you love to visit his work and play with the big green ball. You also love seeing Connie. You pretend to talk to her on the phone all the time.

You say "beenember" instead of remember. You say "I'm not bigger enough" when you can't reach something and then you go get the black chair so you can climb up and reach it. If you did something in the past it was on Tuesday and if you are going to do something it is always on Tuesday. For example, "beenember I went to the carousel on Tuesday?" You also talk a lot of gibberish and nonsense and I think it is because you want to talk, but don't have anything to say. So you just say the first think that pops into your head.

You love dance class eve since your recital. You can't wait to go back on stage again.You refer to the girls in your class as "my girls" and are always showing me pretty dance moves.

And last, but not least, you argue a lot. This just started and already I want to pull my hair out. It does not matter what I say, you will disagree with it or tell me no. Sometimes when I ask you to do something you will tell me "no" while you are doing it. You just like everything to be your idea. You will say things that are not true just to get William arguing with you - and he will always argue with you. For example when we were all driving in the car you turn to William and say, "Mommy is not in the car." To William has to respond, "yes she is". And then we have the "nu uh, ya huh" war going. This drives me crazy. I think it is going to be a long week of time-outs but hopefully we will stop this arguing business.
But mostly you are a sweetie that brings so much happiness and song (you sing all the time) into our lives and we love you tons. I love you tons.

Love,

Mom

Letter to Gracie

Dear Gracie,
I was thinking about these pictures the other day. I was remembering watching you drool on the purple paper and how sweet you looked in all the hats. I remember laughing at how you always stuck your tongue out when you were happy. I remember after we were done putting you back in your fuzzy green jammies that were your dads when he was a baby. There was snow outside. I knew everything about you, better than anyone else. As I thought about this I realized that I knew everything to know about you at the time, but that was so little of who you are. I had no idea that you loved to read stories so much. If it is quiet and I don't know where you are you are always in your room on the floor surrounded by books.

Here you are telling me you are "all wet"
I had no idea that you hair would spring out in golden curls and that I would love it so much.

I had no idea that you would be a little more daring then William teaching him how to do things like lay down in the tub, or try to walk off a step in the swimming pool so you can get the rings on the bottom (I know, yikes!)

I didn't know that you would be leery of strangers and yell, "no" to anyone who approached you that you didn't know or that you weren't in the mood to talk to. I could have guessed that though because you were never crazy about strangers. I had no idea that you would love to paint your nails so much and that you would sing everywhere you go. Your sweet little voice always fills the space in our home and your dad and I love it. You also love movies and are asking to watch them all the time.

A favorite time of the day for everyone is when you are bathed and dresses and ready for bed. We read stories and sing songs and you are snugly and sweet. Sometimes when Daddy is putting you to bed he will be in there for 30 minutes to and hour tickling and snuggling you. You are just to sweet to put down and you know it. The other night after I laid you down and was walking out of your room you yelled, "Mommy wait, special song." That tugs on the heart strings.

We love you so much. You bring happiness and sweetness into our home we love watching you grow and learn more about you all the time. I still feel like I know you better than anyone else, but I also realize that it is just a portion of you and the rest is yet to come. I can't wait.

Love,

Mommy

Miss Petite

Dear Gracie,

A couple weeks ago I took you to the doctor to get your shots and I realized I hadn't written you a letter in a long time. This is way over due. No one wanted you to get your shots. Daddy said and extra prayer for you before he went to bed the night before you went. I was dreading it for days and before you and I left (William got to stay home with aunt Ashley) William said, "I don't want you to go." I reassured him that we would be home in a little while he said, "but is Gracie going to get an owie?" He didn't want us to go because he didn't want you to get hurt. That's how things are around here. You have us all wrapped around your little finger, and that finger is little. You're 18 months and you only weigh 19 lbs. Which I enjoy because you are light!

Your absolute favorite thing to do is read books. If we mention books you run as fast as your skinny little legs will carry you to your room where your books are. Sometimes you come find me with a book in your hand a back yourself up onto my lap. But if I agree to read one, you make sure that there is a whole stack by us and that I go through them all at least once.Sometimes William "reads" books to you that he has memorized. You both really enjoy that. We all love reading to you. Someday I would love to just take a day and a hundred books and do nothing but just read with you. I want to spend summer nights outside reading to you like my mom used to do with us. I have wonderful memories of that.You are an adventuresome little girl. You like to climb more than William ever did and if I don't buckle you this is what happens. You love our fish and all animals for that matter. You get so excited at the sight of a puppy. You can't get enough of you Grandma Christensen's cat.
You have started coming up to me and saying "hug" and then you hug me and say "sweet". And you have no idea how sweet it is. You will also look at me and hold one finger up and say "minyet". I don't think you have any idea what that means, but it sure is cute.
You have grown rather fond of your "passy", which is my fault. I noticed it kept you happy in the store and I started bringing it everywhere and now you always want it. You have been seen with two in your mouth and this is the best picture I could get of it because whenever you see me coming with the camera, you take one out.

You love putting on shoes, especially your aunt Ashley's. When you go into her apartment you go straight for the shoes take one pair out, walk across the floor, and then go back for another pair and do the same thing. You are getting pretty good.

You get sooooo excited when you see babies. When you get around your cousin baby Matthew you squeal and scream a lot. You are very soft and love to touch but once you touch you just get so excited you don't know what to do with yourself. Grandma says you act just like I did when I was your age.

You can tell how cute you are being by the look on your Daddy's and Uncle Mark's face. You love cheese (just like me) and raisins. You will spin in circles and say "dancin" over and over again. You also walk around singing songs, sometimes I can tell what you are singing, but even if I can't it is really cute. You are an unbelievable joy to have around.

We love watching you change from a baby girl into a little girl.