Awaiting Baby!

As Sept. 19th draws nearer, we are eagarly awaiting the new baby's arrival. Gracie, as you can see, has all sorts of fun playing with all the baby toys, loves being in the crib-where she pretends to sleep and plays with the mobile, and hops her big butt into the baby swing-which sounds like its about to break when she's in there. I'm a little nervous about how Gracie will take having a new little sister around the house when she's the queen of the scene now. Hopefully, down the road they will be great friends. I imagine my next blog entry will be of her arrival as we only have 9 days left and we have decided if she doesn't come by the 21st, we will be inducing on that date due to Hoff's work arrangements. I will post her arrival as soon as possible. Hopefully, it will be soon!

First Husker Game 2009

We enjoyed watching the first Husker game on Saturday Sept 5th at Dave and Laurie's house. Gracie was the center of attention; throwing her hands in the air saying "touchdown"and giving everyone "fives". Luckily the Huskers won, so everyone was in a good mood and there was a ton of yummy food.

Happy 32nd Birthday Hoff!

Hoff turned 32 on the 3rd of September. We, of course, didn't do much of anything. We did go out to eat at Olive Garden and I made Hoff one of his favorites - chocolate rice krispy bars.

Antelope Park

All the girls got together again on August 4th at Antelope Park before the summer comes to a close. Once again, it was very good to see everyone and the kids all had fun playing on the playground equiptment.

Taylor Swift Concert

On August 9th, Dad, Mom, Colleen and I went to go see Taylor Swift at the Quest Center. She had Gloriana and Kelli Pickler open for her. They all were very good and I was quite impressed that she played for nearly 2 hours! It was really funny when we went out to eat at Zio's in the Old Market, Colleen had a couple people come up to her and tell her that she looked like Taylor Swift. I was thinking once we got to the concert we would have way more fans come up to us, but unfortunately no one did. Guess they figured Taylor wouldn't be roaming about. I was planning this huge money scheme; $10 for an autograph and $15 for a photo with her. Too bad it didn't work out. Had fun though.

Saunders County Fair '09

We went to the Saunder's County Fair the last weekend in July for something to do and check it out because we had never been there. Unfortunately there isn't much to up there except the Merry Go Round. I was almost too much for Gracie to wait in line to get onto the ride. Once she was on, she was loving it.And then the ride was over, and the crying baby scene began. Like I chopped her leg off or something.

Luckily for her she was able to ride 3 times total without much a a wait. Once she was back on the ride, she was all smiles. I rode with her 1 of the 3 times and as it was coming to an end I told her "Uh Oh, all done." And she replied, "No, No." And then I tore her clinging hands from the pole as she proceeded to make another scene. The torture of being a 1 year old.


It looked pretty pathetic her balling and clenching the fence watching the ride go around. Everyone on the ride seemed to show her sympathy and they came and went by her. Maybe next year she won't cry; I hope!

Kiddie Parade '09

Gracie dressed as a little hula girl during the July 18th Stir Up Days Kiddie Parade. I couldn't figure out how to turn the picture around, sorry.

We decided to enter Gracie into the kiddie parade for something fun to do.
This was Gracie's little float. It was all pretty much last minute as I was having a hard time deciding what we were going to do. While trying to find supplies for a princess theme in Walmart I can across this set up, meant for a party, but we made it into float decorations. Gracie ended up getting second place for "Hawaiian Fun in the Sun". Way to go Gracie! I think you won the judges over with your cuteness.

Congrats Craig and Miranda!

Craig and Miranda rounding up all the single women for the bouquet toss. It was funny cause they had to yell for Colleen over the microphone.
Gracie bustin a move during the beginning of the dance.
Gracie loving the music!
Gracie was running around with a bunch of other kids. I was a little worried that she would get knocked out one of the times, but she didn't.
A picture of us before the wedding. We had a great time and ended up dropping Gracie off later with Great Grandpa and Grandma Lund and Aunt Sheila. She had a little slumber party with Lane and Kade. I had a laugh attack when Clint requested "Beat It" by Micheal Jackson from the "Turners". Guess he didn't want anyone to know he requested that song. A good time was had by all.

Lost in Fun!

Gracie & I met the girls Friday the 10th at Lost in Fun in Lincoln. She had a lot of fun playing in the ball pit, swinging, and jumping in the bounce houses. I was a little wore out myself after chasing after her from here to there. Good thing that place isn't any bigger than it already is.

Happy 4th of July

This year we were uncertain of how Gracie would react to the fireworks, especially the booms. Turns out, the only kind of firework Gracie likes is smoke bombs. We thought she'd do well with the fountain fireworks, but she didn't care for those either. It was the first time we heard her say "House. House. House." So needless to say, Gracie spent her 4th in doors and we had to watch the Ashland firework display from the car. Maybe she'll like them next year.

Lincoln Children's Zoo 2009

Gracie finally got to ride on a "choo, choo". She thought it was fun.
Gracie got to hold a butterfly in the Butterfly Pavilion. We didn't let her hold it for too long cause we thought she would get a good grab and kill it! Although the poor guy didn't look too healthy.
Probably Gracie's favorite part of the zoo experience was feeding the goats. One time, I thought she was going to get her fingers eaten off. We had a nice little trip to the zoo.

Father's Day 2009

Hoff and his little girl on Father's Day! Hope you had a good one. They are both in yellow. Dad got to pick out what you were wearing today; of course he would pick out yellow.
Papa bought the kids a pool and they had a lot of fun swimming together. Grandma Jo brought out the bathtub toys and everyone had fun squirting one another.
As you can see, they were the center of attention. They got a ton of laughs.
This is Gracie saying, "Tada". I'm not sure what was so amazing about what she was doing.
At the end of the day, we all got to enjoy homemade ice cream, jello cake, and cookies. Gracie ate her ice cream so fast that I think she experienced a cold headache. The dinner and dessert was delicious and we all enjoyed the day and each others company.

Luke & Steph's Wedding

A picture of us before the wedding. Gracie thought it was fun to run around all over; so needless to say, she didn't get to stay long before she was Papa and Grandma Jo bound.
Our good friend Cherri was unable to attend the wedding. However, Karri had the wonderful idea of bringing "Cherri" anyways. She was very popular throughout the evening. It was hard to get everyone together in one place; sorry Jessica you were missing in this picture.

Laura, Maria and I at the wedding. Everyone had a lot of fun. Congrats Luke and Steph!

Summer Fun Around the House

Gracie loves to play in her sandbox. Especially with all of her farm animals.
We finally got the swimming pool out the other day. I was thinking just last year, she was having a hard time just sitting in the pool and this year she's swimming around and getting in and out of the pool all by herself.
We thought her little ruffle-filled suit was just darling, but she didn't. For weirdos sake I did not post the pictures of her pulling her top down and exposing her little boobies. For some reason, she did not like it pulled up in to position, she liked it down by her belly. I told her its smaller than the bath tub; maybe we'll have to upgrade.

Sprinkler Action!

We tried out the sprinkler one of these rare warm days and Gracie thought it was pretty cool. She mostly was trying to drink the water. She lasted for about 5 minutes, I think until she got cold.