Our Fun Family

A lunch date with Daddy

2009-11-19T09:25:00.001-06:00

Yesterday I had the privilege of meeting Grace at her school to have a Thanksgiving lunch with her and her classmates. Grace was so excited when she came into the lunchroom and saw me seating near “her” table. I say near her table because the Round Rock Christian Academy, where Grace attends Mother’s Day Out, has a lunchroom not terribly different than most schools. Rows upon rows of folding tables and chairs, what is funny is that just beyond the last row of folding tables is a row of tiny little tables perfect for 3 yr olds! It looked like a row of coffee tables, pretty cute.

Her class had a full day of Thanksgiving fun, including story-time in a teepee set up in her classroom, complete with a fake campfire. They made hats and placemats that expressed the things they were thankful for.

Earlier in the week, I had told her that I would be coming to have lunch with her on Wednesday and honestly, she wasn’t all that happy about it. Much like Brenda, Grace has a sensitive routine. She doesn’t like it when you change her routine. And she has developed quite the personality at school. She does not display any of the timidity or shyness that Brenda and I are accustomed to. As a matter of fact, when she first came in and gave me a hug, one of her teachers, Miss Shannon, tried to take a picture of us and she buried her face in my chest. Another teacher, Miss Monica, immediately chimed in, “what is that?? Grace is shy? She is not like that at all with us!!”

I am sure it won’t be long until it is no longer cool to have Daddy come to lunch. And a kiss for Daddy at the lunch table will be out of the question, but for now I will cherish every lunch date and every kiss. Before she lined up with her class to go play on the playground, she asked me if I could come to lunch again with her some time. That’s a lunch date I will happily take!

Another first for Hailey

2009-11-14T15:20:00.002-06:00

So Hailey said her first word. Any guesses on what it was? Drum roll, please....

"DADA"!!!!!!

Sorry mommy.

Hailey goes Off-Road

2009-11-05T17:53:00.001-06:00

Gram shared these pics with me earlier. This is pretty funny. Hailey just this week has started to put one hand in front of the other and actually crawl. She has been up on all 4s for awhile now, and will rock back and forth. Usually this is followed by the face first “swim in the carpet” and fuss routine. Now that she is starting to get the motions down, looks like she is on to bigger and better things. Katy bar the door, because we have a very M-O-B-I-L-E infant now!!

This girl will need jogging shoes in no time!

Hailey’s 6 Month pics

2009-10-28T07:59:00.002-05:00

We made our quarterly trip to Portrait Innovations last week to have Hailey’s 6 month pictures taken. Here is a sampling of those pictures. You can also see more in the Public Album folder in the right navigation or on Facebook!

View Full Album

Hailey is 6 months old!

2009-10-19T22:49:00.001-05:00

I cannot believe how quickly the last 6 months have gone by. Every parent I know tells me that this is nothing compared to what is coming. “Just wait until she is 17” seems to be a common response. I hope Brenda and I can take the admonitions to heart. We truly treasure our beautiful girls and we are having a ball watching them grow.

I have added many new albums on our Public Photo Album. Use the link in the right hand navigation area to check some of them out. We also tend to keep things a bit more current on Facebook, where we can post single pics and quick updates throughout the day.

It’s fall and that means football. And football season means UT home football games and tailgate parties. That keeps us pretty busy most weekends.

Grace has started going to Mother’s Day Out this fall as well. It is amazing to see how much she has opened up. We have noticed it, especially when Grace plays with other kiddos at a playground now.

Hailey is growing a lot and we are seeing lots of her “firsts”. We know she is ‘this close’ to crawling. She gets up on all fours and rocks, then she gets mad and just lays down and swims on the carpet. Its pretty funny, but she does get a little ticked off about it. I can’t imagine where she gets her temper from… we will just blame it on the Wiseman side for now!! :)

Grace bakes with Gram

2009-09-01T22:22:00.001-05:00

Taking cooking classes at Young Chefs Academy has really paid off! Grace spent the last 2 days working on cookies with Gram. Yesterday, she and Gram made cookie dough, today it was time to actually do some real baking. It is amazing what a 3 year old can do given the right instruction, a few good tools and a lot of faith.

I can't think of a more simple joy than watching and waiting for fresh baked cookies. I never have been particularly good at waiting, hopefully Grace will learn to have a bit more patience than I do.

"Scoop, lift, flip!" Grace has been watching me make pancakes, well, for years now and that is what I have always told her a spatula is for, and how to use one. I wonder how many cookies Grace flipped before Gram convinced her that a gentle slide would do just fine.

This week we dive headlong into the college football season with the first tailgate party of the year. I am sure my little sous chef will be busy by my side. Stay tuned for pics after the game.

Family Photo Day!

2009-08-01T16:45:00.005-05:00

So, have I mentioned in the last year or so that we love Portrait Innovations?

Hailey is 3 months old and Grace is coming up on her 3rd birthday, so it was time for another round of professional photos. The studio was very busy today, surprise, surprise but they did a great job getting great pictures from both Hailey and Grace. I have created an online photo album with some of the pictures we did not purchase. Click on the link in the right hand navigation area to access our public photo albums.

Now begins the task of frame selection!

It has been awhile since I posted on the blog, and we have been a busy family lately. Brenda is back to work full-time and we are settling into real life. Grace grows daily in her vibrancy and her joy of life. She is asserting her independence and sometimes that is even a good thing. Others... not so much. We are spending a lot of time in time-out these days. Last weekend Grace and I reached a bittersweet milestone. Grace and I attended our last Big Chef/Little Chef class at Young Chefs Academy. She loves cooking class and I am excited to see if she enjoys going to YCA Kindercooks Class all by herself. Hailey is growing into her personality as well. She giggles and grins and is starting to "talk" to us more. Also, like her sister, at the young age of 3 months old, Hailey has found the jumper as a fun place to spend mealtime.

We are weeks away from the fall. Coming up we have Granddad's birthday and Grace's birthday and then we dive head first into the fall and tailgating season! In the midst of the celebrations, we are going to try to sneak out of town for one last weekend camping trip down in Kerrville.

Enjoy checking out the pictures and feel free to tell me which ones are your favorites!

Over the river and through the woods

2009-07-07T23:10:00.000-05:00

For the 3 day weekend celebrating the 4th of July, we packed up the girls, loaded up a travel trailer and headed off to Gramma's house. We met up with Missy, Richard and the boys, and with Tracy and together we crashed in on Mom and Ron, taking over the kitchen and spreading toddler cheer from one end of their home to the other. It was a lot of fun and we did get a little something out of it. See, this was a business trip of sorts. We were there for blueberries and an experiment in jarring salsas. We spent hours upon hours in the kitchen on Friday, Saturday and Sunday freezing quarts of blueberries; mincing, chopping and dicing up mangoes, tomatoes, onions, cilantro and jalapenos for salsas and tomato sauce. But it wasn't all work. We did take a break on Saturday afternoon to cook up a fajita dinner for the rest of the family. Mom brought Mema to the house and Randy and Becky both brought their kiddos. It was a full house for a fajita and tamale dinner.

Mema soaked up the time with her grand kids and great grand kids. She was very excited to see John, Robbie and Grace all playing together. Amongst all the excitement, we were also working on potty training Robbie and Grace. Both of them did really well and were cheered loudly each time they went potty. It didn't take long for Tracy, Missy and I to draw immediate comparisons to a couple of weeks during the Summer Olympics in Los Angeles when we helped Mema potty train 2 of our cousins while camping in a motor home on the Illinois River. Oh the things you remember at times like these...

I picked these pictures because it was just so cute trying to get pictures of Mema with the little ones. All of them look really cute in one picture or another, just not in the same pic! The kids did do a great job of playing together this weekend. The concept of sharing is not a concept that comes easy for Grace. While we are very thankful that Grace does a great job of "self-entertaining", the unfortunate flip side of that coin is that she has not become accustomed to sharing just yet. I am hoping that improves as Hailey grows, otherwise there is going to be a lot of time spent in timeout... for Daddy, probably.

Father's Day and a Well Check

2009-06-23T07:50:00.002-05:00

Hey guys, just a quick update. We had a fantastic Father's Day at our house. Bryan, Shannon and the boys and Gram and Granddad came over Sunday afternoon for some family time. Everyone had a good time swimming and eating. As always we ate very well, starting out with some yummy chilled shrimp and fresh fruit. We had meatball subs for dinner and ice cold watermelon and banana pudding for dessert. It was a great day and I am thankful to be such a blessed Daddy.

We also recently had Hailey's 2 month well check. I can hardly believe she is 2 months old already. Dr. Enders was very pleased with Hailey, she liked to see that she had put on good weight (she is over 11 pounds) and seems to be doing very well with her motor skills.

Brenda is back at work part-time now, she goes full time next week. It is going to be a bit of an adjustment for her, so your prayers are greatly appreciated. She enjoys her job and the people she works with, but we would love for her to be able to stay home with the girls. Maybe one day, but we have lots of obligations to take care of first.

I added lots of new pictures on our public photo album. Go take a look!!

No More Pencils, No More Books, No More Teachers Dirty Looks!!

2009-06-10T18:00:00.002-05:00

And so it begins...

Brenda and I are blessed with lots of nieces and nephews. We love them all and do take lots of pride in their accomplishments. Last weekend we headed down to Houston to celebrate the Class of '09. Amber, Barbara and Cutter all graduated this year. They are our oldest nieces and nephews and it was a blast to celebrate with so many family and friends. We filled up Becky's pool with kiddos and filled up the adults with liquid refreshment from the margarita machine.

The stars aligned just right for this weekend and ALL of the siblings were together! That has actually started happening with a bit more regularity, but this time we also had all the spouses and kids together. If I counted correctly, that makes 23 right now! That just doesn't happen nearly enough. You know you are getting old when you stop talking about "getting the family together" and you start "organizing a family reunion". Something tells me that our family reunions wouldn't look like too much the ones I went to as a kid. My family is crazy and fun and hysterical and nutty. Brenda and I left the party with big smiles on our faces and the girls were asleep before we got the to end of the driveway! Okay, so it was after midnight and Grace hadn't had a nap all day, but as I mentioned, this is a fun family.

So what's next for this fabulous trio? Amber will be going to the Art Institute to study photography, Barbara is going to take college classes close to home in Louisiana before heading off to McNeese State and Cutter will be packing his bags for Northern Arizona University in the fall. So many people think of graduation as a completion milestone, and it does celebrate your hard work and academic achievement in high school. But really, its the beginning of a new chapter. It will be fun to see what they do, and who they become over the next several years. We could not be more proud of them. There are lots of pics in the gallery, so check it out. You can access our online gallery from the link in the right hand navigation.

Catch up with us!

2009-06-04T22:50:00.005-05:00

Hello SUMMER!!! Summer is here, so that means pool time. Here are a few pics to show what is keeping our family busy this year. Grace has turned into a fish! She loves being in the pool and she loves how her float suit and noodle let her swim all by herself. Tonight, she even asked me to help her swim UNDER water!! Woohoo! She didn't quite make it, but she is getting there. I am definitely a proud papa when I am in the water with her.

Hailey is doing her job. She is eating, sleeping, crying and pooping. What more could we ask for? She sleeps through the night, and has practically since the night we brought her home. At 6 weeks old, she is starting to giggle and grin. Brenda seems to be the only one who can catch her in the act, but I am told it is pretty cute.

Grace is still loving her cooking classes. Last week we made campfire potatoes and indoor smores! Her confidence in the kitchen has grown by leaps and bounds over the last 5 months since our first class back in January. She is far more social with the adults at Young Chefs Academy, but is also doing really well in following instructions and participating in the class.

It doesn't look like we will be slowing down much over the summer. Up next, we are headed to Houston to celebrate high school graduation with 2 of my nieces and 1 nephew; Amber, Barbara and Cutter. It doesn't seem possible that these 3 are graduating already! Brenda has one more week home full time with the girls. Please pray for us and Gram as we prepare to transition back into full time work and daycare mode! We are also looking forward to celebrating the 4th of July in Tyler surrounded by family and blueberries. If we are lucky, we will also squeeze in another weekend camping trip! I added several new photo albums on our Picasa online album. You can access the gallery from the link in the navigation panel to the right.

Its been a busy month!

2009-05-24T22:12:00.007-05:00

How time flies when you are having fun, right?

Can you believe that Hailey is already 5 weeks old? Crazy! I have been back to work and back on the road and Brenda only has a few weeks left until she returns to her job.

Brenda has been making the most of her time off, and soaking up precious moments with both girls. Hailey is certainly a momma's girl for now. Brenda has also been working on potty training with Grace. We have hopes of putting Grace in some sort of Mother's Day Out program or pre-school program at least for a few hours each week, but most of them require potty training. It isn't going great, but we are making slow progress. Grace is still hesitant to give up the "baby" phase and fully embrace her big girl status.

Recently, we noticed that Grace has been biting her nails a lot. They were really starting to look pretty bad and we were about to resort to some of that smell, nasty stuff that you put on them so that kiddos won't like the taste. This gave Brenda a fantastic idea though. She asked Grace if she wanted colors on her fingernails. This got Grace really excited, and Brenda let her pick out any color from her collection. Grace really wanted purple, which we didn't have, so she settled for blue. Brenda dutifully painted her nails and promised Grace that if she could keep her fingers out of her mouth for 1 week, then they could go the store and pick out purple fingernail polish. Well tomorrow will be a week and while the blue is nearly all chipped off her nails, it looks like that has more to do with the daily wear and tear of a toddler than it does with her biting her nails.

Its also been awhile since Grace had her haircut. We have been letting it grow out for over a year now. Recently, we had a friend that opened her own salon and since Gram had an appointment, it seemed like a great chance to get Grace's hair trimmed up. She did much better than her last 2 visits and seemed to enjoy her morning with the girls.

I just love this picture. Grace may look like Brenda (thankfully), but there is no doubt that this little girl has tons of my personality. I hope I still think its cute when she is older.

Gram and her Round Rock girls.

Hailey's first trip to Tyler

2009-05-07T23:03:00.002-05:00

While I was off from work, we decided it was our best chance to get a quick trip to Tyler in. We got to introduce Hailey to Grampa and Mema. We tried to see Granny as well, but we didn't make it. We will plan to spend some time with Granny Jean and Derwood on our next trip, probably over the 4th of July. We tried to surprise Mema by basically sneaking into town. Usually, I would call her several days in advance so that we can make plans to meet for lunch. Sadly, I think that will be the last time we try to surprise her. I think we have discovered that Mema enjoys looking forward to our visit as much as she enjoys the visit itself. We think that she also tries to rest up and really put her best self forward when we are together. Also, we would normally take her out for lunch but now with 2 car seats filling the backseat, it would take a caravan just to get us to a restaurant. Instead, Mom called her and told her to invite her out to her house for lunch. Mema was suffering from a case of sniffles brought on from her c-pap machine. She actually started off telling Mom that she wasn't really up for it until she found out that we were there with Hailey.

One thing we did different this trip was to bring a travel trailer that we have borrowed in the past for camping and tailgate parties. I was concerned that having Brenda and I and both girls in the same bedroom was a recipe for no sleep. This fear turned out to be only partially substantiated. Somehow, beyond our wildest dreams, Hailey has slept through the night since we got home. I think there have only been 1 or 2 nights where she has woken in the middle of the night for a feeding. I think all of us did sleep better though with our own space. On our last couple of Tyler visits, Grace woke up very early (like 5am early) and would be hard if not impossible to get back down. In the trailer, she was much easier get down, and she slept later.

This was also the first time that Grace has been really excited about going to see Gramma and Grampa. Since Gramma left the week prior, Grace has been asking when we were going to Gramma's house. We decided that we would head to Tyler on Sunday, after church. So on Saturday, we decided that we would go pick up the trailer from storage so that we could pack up and make sure everything was clean and road ready. Brenda and I loaded up the girls and went to the storage lot and Grace immediately lit up. She LOVES being in the trailer. I guess she thinks of it as her own playhouse. The only downside was that she was ticked off that we weren't leaving straight from the storage lot to go to Gramma's house. To think, we wanted to go home, check out the trailer, pack up, eat dinner, go to sleep, go to church, go to lunch and THEN go.

The visit was great except that it rained everyday we were there. Grace was feeling bit couped up on Tuesday so we decided that after our naps, we would go do some shopping and find someplace with an indoor play scape for dinner. We were a bit surprised at how hard it was to find such a place in Tyler. Then we found a chick-fil-a on Broadway and headed in. It was good news and bad news... first, it was Tuesday, so all kids eat free (Yeah!), bad news... we weren't the only ones who was looking for an indoor playground. The place was packed. Grace is still pretty shy, especially around older kiddos. Its kind of intimidating when you aren't used to so many kids, especially bigger kids who are yelling and swinging from the rafters. Luckily, we avoided catastrophe with a quick visit to the local Braum's for some ice cream. Grace was so pleased to have her own ice cream cone, even though she only at half the ice cream and didn't touch the cone. Don't worry, Daddy sacrificed and ate the rest! There is an album of more pictures loaded on our Picasa public album. You can access it from the link in the right navigation bar.

Praying over daughters and a new family photo

2009-04-17T05:28:00.004-05:00

Yesterday was pretty busy day in our family. With the family visits wrapped up for the day, and the baby snoozing, Brenda and I tried to get some sleep. The nurse helped Brenda get out of bed and helped her get refreshed a bit, we checked on Hailey one more time and then at long last, lights out. Brenda and I had only slept for about 3 hours the night before, and aside from a couple of very brief cat naps, we were up all day.

So with the lights out, we laid down to sleep... for about 20 minutes before Hailey cried out. The poor girl was pretty gassy and just wanted to be held. Brenda was wiped out from all the days activities and after trying in vain a couple of times to get her to settle back down, I picked her up and rocked her in the glider in our darkened room so that Brenda could try to get some rest.

When you are tired and the baby is restless and your options are limited (we can't very well take her for a drive to help her fall asleep or take a walk around the block), this is the ideal time to pray. As I held her and rocked her and loved on her it occurred to me that this was my opportunity to pray over my daughter. Mind you, all day long in small pockets of time, I had thanked God for this precious gift, and countless times during Brenda's pregnancy I had prayed over Hailey's development, but this was the first time, with Hailey in my arms that I could pray over her and for her.

I am sharing this incredibly personal time because I feel that there may be a few parents out there who aren't sure "how" to pray over their children. I can't imagine a more powerless position as a parent than simply wishing and hoping that our children grow up well. And while this may not be the perfect prayer to pray over your children, maybe it will spur some ideas for you. This is the prayer that I pray over Grace every night, and the prayer that I got to pray over Hailey for the first time last night.

Holy Father, thank you for the gift of this day
with my precious daughters. Grace and Hailey are jewels in Your crown,
hand-crafted, special gifts of Your creation that You have entrusted to me.
Thank you for such a lavish and magnificent gift. Tonight as they sleep, help
them to grow physically, mentally and spiritually that they may grow to be
strong women after Your own heart. I pray Father that they will come to know You
at an early age, that they may serve You all the days of their lives. Help me to
grow as a daddy too. Give me a lion's strength to protect and defend my family.
And give me a soft spirit, able to lift the salty sting of their tears from
their faces and able to hear the soft words of their hearts. Give Brenda the
strength to demonstrate Your grace, wisdom and service as they grow. Protect us
as we sleep tonight. Send your angels to camp in our home, and watch over us. In
Jesus name, amen.

It is a pretty simple prayer, a prayer that recognizes some things that we take for granted, such as the fact that each day is a gift. It also reminds me that God is an artisan and a craftsman. Both of my precious daughters were lovingly crafted, not from a mold, but from a plan that He drew up for each of them personally. It is a constant amazement to me that He entrusted these gifts to our care, and that He determined that Brenda and I have, or will have every tool, resource, talent and gift that will be needed to help Grace and Hailey grow. It also reminds me that such a perfect and wonderful gift is attractive not only to me, but also to an enemy that seeks to destroy God's perfect creations. My role isn't an onlooker role, but rather my role is to shepherd them, to train them up and to protect them. What an awesome responsibility. Nobody other than God himself can enable me for that job.

On a much, much lighter note, I am very proud to share the first photo of our newly expanded family. One day soon, a professional photographer will take dozens of pictures of my family and we will select a print that includes the perfect lighting, a couple of well placed props and probably well-groomed, happy smiling people. But no image on that day will be able to capture what this image does, because this image shares a proud daddy, a beautiful bride and mommy, a wide-eyed amazed big sister and our new bundle of joy just a few hours into her life.

Hailey Michelle Cornish is here!

2009-04-16T05:41:00.005-05:00

It's 6:45 am right now and we are at the hospital, in pre-op, preparing for Hailey's arrival. We are so excited to welcome Hailey Michelle Cornish into our family.

It's kind of funny how different Brenda's pregnancies have been. Part of it is because as first time parents with Grace, everything was new. With Hailey, there haven't been many surprises. We were blessed to have wonderful, healthy pregnancies with both, and fantastic care from Brenda's doctor and the staff at the hospital.

With Grace, we had hoped for natural delivery. Since Grace ended up being a c-section, and the opportunity was available, we actually scheduled this day for Hailey quite some time ago. Since we actually still a week away from Hailey's actual due date, baring any emergency, we have known that today would be the day.

With Grace, the change from a natural to a c-section delivery brought a bit of sadness. We had been here at the hospital for a couple of days, trying after being induced for the natural delivery. With Hailey's scheduled c-section, we have the peace of mind that comes with a scheduled surgical procedure.

It's 11:30am - Hailey is absolutely precious. This time it took quite a bit longer to get from the operating room to Brenda's post-partum room. During that time, Brenda was tended to, Hailey has been measured, cleaned and checked out by our pediatrician's office. We are so blessed. I am adding pictures to our photo album. Look at the right hand navigation bar, under Some of our Favorite Places to check them out.

By 12:30pm, by the miracle of modern technology, Hailey's great grandmother in a nursing home 4 hours away recieved a beautiful floral arrangement complete with 3 glossy 5x7 photos of her newest great grandbady. If health would have allowed for her to make the trip, my mother would have had an impossible task of trying to keep her out of her car. She never would have dreamed that today she would get "see" her newest great grandchild, she was simply hoping for a good report in a phone call. Needless to say, she is extremely proud and the center of attention at her facility. Mema is proud, beaming great grandmother, happy to share all the stats on the newest addition to the family.

Easter Weekend

2009-04-12T10:59:00.005-05:00

It is not even noon yet on Easter, and we have already had an event filled and busy weekend. On Good Friday, we ate dinner with some great friends at Posado's, one of my favorite spots to eat Mexican food. We talk a lot about wanting to get together with so many of our friends. It is something that we actually do far too little of. It was great company and Grace did very well eating and playing by herself.

On Saturday Grace and I went to cooking class at Young Chefs Academy while Mommy and Gram went for some pampering. Grace and I learned how to make carrot cake with cream cheese frosting (yum!) with a full class of kiddos. Its funny to think back to the first couple of classes at YCA when Grace was the only kiddo. This weekend, there were 5 kids and the full class made it so much fun. All of the kids were very excited to help and they all did a great job of being patient and waiting their turns. They also were fantastic at encouraging each other. It is truly special to hear toddlers telling each other that they "can do it" and telling each other that they "did a good job" and cheering each other on. Grace and I have learned some neat new things about helping in the kitchen during these classes, but more importantly, Grace has gained confidence, is more social, and she is much better about trusting other adults.

After class I ran some errands while Grace and Mommy took naps, then came home and mowed and raked the front yard... again. The hail storm a couple of weeks ago came just a few days after I had spent the entire weekend cleaning up the yard (14 bags of grass and leaves). The storm that brought the hail also dumped as many leaves back on my yard as I had just picked up.

We also took the opportunity to attend a Saturday night Easter service. What a fantastic service, we are very blessed by our church family. The depth of talent our church body shares seems limitless. After church, we were off to Mama Fu's for dinner with Gram and Granddad.

Since we were getting up early to go to church on Easter morning, we took the opportunity to sleep in a bit. Then, while Mommy caught a few more winks, Grace and I got up and made pancakes and bacon for breakfast. Once Mommy was up and our tummies filled to the brim with pancake bliss, we hunted Easter eggs. The sun is just now starting to break through the clouds, and while this leaves us hopeful for a sunny afternoon outside at Gram's, this morning's weather definitely called for an indoor egg hunt.

Easter brings a wonderful chance to recount our blessings. We celebrate a risen savior. How awesome is it that we aren't just memorializing an innocent man who died a savage sinner's death, but rather celebrating a Lord that defeated sin, conquered death and rose again so that we may have hope for all eternity.

As I mentioned, the sun is coming out, which means I should probably get outside and use this opportunity to clean up the back patio and the pool.

Good Friday

2009-04-10T22:01:00.002-05:00

We saw this at church a couple of years ago, just before Easter. It really stuck with me and I think it is AWESOME.

And here is the rest of the story.

May you and your's be truly blessed this Easter.

Getting ready for Easter

2009-04-09T22:37:00.000-05:00

Grace had "vewy bizzy" day today at Gram's. Gram helped her dye Easter eggs! She was excited to tell us about it tonight at dinner, and Gram sent pictures. There are more pictures on the Photo Album. You can access our photo album from the navigation bar on the right.

Grace has really been enjoying her cooking classes at Young Chefs Academy. At our last class, Gram came with us and got to see how much she is learning there. Because Grace really does seem to enjoy being in the kitchen, Gram and I welcome her in our kitchens as often as possible.

One of the wonderful benefits to having Grace "play" in the kitchen while we cook is that she is far more apt to try something that SHE helped cook. Brenda kind of cringes when she sees Grace eat raw onion, like she did while we were cooking tonight. But I think it is great. No, I don't particularly care for raw onion myself. But Grace is discovering texture and taste and learning, whether she knows it or not.

Tonight, I made a chicken fried rice. Grace was not a fan. But instead of her turning up her nose, pitching a fit and refusing to try it, she ate several bites and kept trying it. I caved and asked her if she wanted a Lunchable for dinner instead which brought an immediate smile to her face. We were just really proud that she tasted it first, and even tried some of each component of the dish.

One last note. We had Brenda's last doctor appointment this morning. She has been a champ throughout and though is at the point of misery, we are so very excited that we are now less than a week away from welcoming Hailey Michelle into our home and hearts. We would welcome your prayers as we head into Easter weekend and get ready to bring Hailey home. Please pray for rest for Brenda, peace for me and grace for Grace!

Grace Sleeps over at Gram and Granddad's House

2009-03-25T08:32:00.003-05:00

As we are getting ready for Hailey's arrival, we decided it was a good idea to "test" out a sleepover at Gram's, since Grace will be spending the night there while Mommy and Hailey are in the hospital. Gram sent us this update last night and I thought it was sweet enough to share.

Dear Mommy & Daddy,

I've had a good day but I have been coughing and been a little moody.

Buuuuuttt . . . Grandad took me out in the garage. He put me up on his work stool and taught me about the . . .

. . . .. . tape measure

. . . the sanding block. . and

. . . . the finger joint jig.

That was really fun!!!

I didn’t want to eat stuffed peppers tonight so I ate my carrots. Then Gram got 4 of my little spoonfuls of stuffed peppers in me by promising bites of applesauce! I LOVE applesauce! :)

After supper I got to go to HEB with Grandad! Woohoo!!! I was so good in the store and helped bring things into the house so Grandad said I deserved a little treat . . . .

STRAWBERRIES!!!!!!

Oh yeah!! I enjoyed them.

I went to bed at 8:45 just fine but Gram could tell I was a little nervous so she checked on my every 15 minutes. I stayed in bed but stared at the fish tank.

Finally . . . Gram came in at 9:45 and I was sound asleep!!!

Love you, Gracie

Getting ready for Hailey

2009-03-14T09:45:00.002-05:00

We keep a dry erase calendar on our fridge door. Its a place where we keep track of upcoming trips, events and such. Brenda updated the calendar yesterday and we realized just how close we are to welcoming Hailey into our lives.

First we had to get Grace into her big girl bed, so we could use the crib mattress for Hailey. We borrowed Missy and Richard's crib and put that in Hailey's room. Brenda picked out the new bedding for Hailey's room (ladybugs) and we put Gramma on the mission of finding the perfect accessories.

Brenda also put the pack-n-play up in the family room and moved around Grace's toybox and toys to make more room. It will be time to get the infant carrier and bases out of the garage and get those cleaned up soon.

Today we are going to tour the new Women's Center at the hospital. It is the same hospital where Grace was born, but they have added a whole new wing with the maternity center including lots of new labor and delivery and recovery rooms. I can only hope that they have improved those awful couches!

We still need to add a few more pieces to make Hailey's room complete, but it won't be long! I will have some pictures soon of Grace and Hailey's new rooms.

Grace goes to see Elmo's Green Thumb

2009-02-14T16:31:00.001-06:00

Brenda and I celebrated our fourth wedding anniversary and Valentine's Day on February 12th with a nice dinner out, just the 2 of us. You couldn't drag me into a restaurant on Valentine's Day night with a pack of wild horses, so we take advantage of having our anniversary so close. Plus, when I send flowers on the 12th, I get a 2 day head start on getting the freshest, most beautiful flowers delivered to Brenda and she gets a couple of days longer to enjoy them in her office. So what did we do today to celebrate Valentine's Day? We took Grace to see Elmo's Green Thumb! We didn't tell Grace until this morning that we were going, so it was a complete surprise. So, was it worth it to spend Valentine's Day at the Erwin Center surrounded by enough toddlers in diapers to make anyone nervous? Take a look at the grin in the first picture. It was definitely worth it.

I don't how to say this without making us sound incredibly pretentious, but Brenda and I decided after our last couple of shows we saw at the Erwin Center that floor seats is really the only way to go. If you are up in the arena seating, especially way up top, not only are so far away from the entertainers, but you often spend the whole show squinting from the bright stage lights that inevitably in up shining right in our eyes. This couldn't be more true if we are bringing Grace along. Brenda got advanced notice of the show months ago, and we bought tickets as soon as they were available. We ended up in the front, center section of the stage, 6 rows from the stage. The characters were larger than life, especially to Grace. They would occasionally wander off stage down the rows and were often in the aisles next to us. Grace "thinks" she wants to give them hugs and kisses, but truthfully, when we get close to anyone in one of these types of costumes, she gets so overwhelmed that she rarely even says "hi".

Elmo is one of her favorite characters. She also likes Abby Cadabby, Zoe, Cookie Monster, Big Bird, Bert, Ernie and Grover. All of her favorites were there and she had so much fun. She didn't so much follow the story, but she was always concerned where Elmo went when he left the stage. She was so cute, she would call out for him when he would leave. Since the audience was made up entirely of families with small children, we didn't feel the need to try to keep her quiet and keep an inside voice. She laughed and clapped and yelled "hi" to all of her favorite characters.

Fortunately, Grace was young enough that we able to successfully avoid the shameless marketing in the arena. Have any of you been in a supermarket recently and seen the Mylar balloons shaped like Elmo? They cost what, a couple of bucks? Let's go out on a limb and say they cost $3. At the intermission, marketers entered the arena floor with tons of these balloons. Seriously, there were hundreds of these balloons, and of course, every kid in the arena wanted one. So how much were these lovely balloons? $10!!! OH MY NO! I promised Grace I would buy her one from HEB later, and this time, it worked. I am sure that one day, we won't be so lucky.

So, that's one way to spend Valentine's Day. I have to say that the number of these types of shows that I "need" to see in my lifetime is a relatively small number, but this was definitely worth every penny and every second. Grace was so excited. Her giggles and laughs brought countless smiles for Brenda and I. And when Gracie is smiling and Mommy is smiling, that makes Daddy smile... and that makes any day a wonderful day. Check out the photo album for more pictures!

Sunset landing

2009-02-08T21:39:00.003-06:00

This past week my work travel took me to Lansing, Michigan. Before we began our descent into Lansing, I captured these pics of the sunset from above the clouds. I was pretty impressed considering these were taken with my iPhone!

I can do it!

2009-01-24T13:10:00.003-06:00

Today was our second class at Young Chefs Academy in Round Rock. Grace was very excited to be going back this morning. We have talked a lot about our class over the last couple of weeks. Grace already has plenty of enthusiasm for spending time in a kitchen, which is something we have been instilling in her at home for some time now. This week, even though this was just our second time in our class, it was a joy to see her confidence grow.

When we walked in the door, Grace was still a bit timid, clinging to my leg. She was happy to be there, but she just still needed a few minutes to warm up. By the time Miss Lesley Ann got us into the kitchen, and I got Grace's jacket off, she was already starting to warm up. This was familiar now. Miss Lesley Ann helped her get her apron on, and then it was off to wash our hands. Unlike last week though, I didn't have to take her. She had confidence in where she was, and what the routine was. Miss Lesley Ann was no longer a stranger and the only "unknown" was what fun stuff we were going to make today.

We started out making homemade tortillas from dough that was already prepared. That meant we got to get right to Grace's fun part, which is rolling out the dough. Once the rolling pin was in Grace's hand, we heard the words that bring joy to parents verywhere, "I can do it!" We rolled out our tortillas and then while those cooked on the griddle, we turned our attention to making salsa.

As much as I love to cook, and as much as I love to share that love with Grace, it would have been YEARS before I would have given Grace a kitchen tool and asked her to cut up the strawberries. After all, every parent knows you can't trust a 2 year old with a knife!

This precise moment in time is where the skill and tools at the Young Chefs Academy joins the confidence of a little girl who says "I can do it!" The result is something truly special. As you can see in the picture above, we didn't exactly hand Grace my sharpest chef knife. This is a place where kids can learn how to use tools that are designed especially for their little hands and their open hearts. It’s amazing what a small pizza cutter with a nylon blade can enable a child to do.

Grace also got to help with a kitchen tool that she hadn't ever seen in our kitchen. She helped Miss Lesley Ann turn the handle and watched in awe as the apple corkscrewed through the machine and emerged peeled, cored and sliced. Then, with pizza cutter in hand, it was back to chopping, this time the apples. Grace did really well! Of course she needed help, but for once, it was Daddy helping her cook instead of Grace helping Daddy. We also mixed a dressing made from orange juice, orange zest, apple jelly and brown sugar.

One of the things that I have really enjoyed about these classes is that the recipes are recipes that we will definitely use, probably over and over again. Anyone that knows this family knows that the summers are all about weekends and nights in and around the pool. The grill is almost always fired up, usually cooking up fajitas. Over the course of the summer, it is no exaggeration to say that I will make homemade salsa dozens of times.

This apple strawberry salsa will find its way into the assortment of tomato and mango salsas that we make all the time. And I know that Grace will be excited to get to make "her" salsa. Next we turned our homemade tortillas into cinnamon sugar chips! And while our chips were baking, we got to start tasting. Grace LOVED the salsa. Grace must have eaten 5 or 6 helpings of the salsa. And while she did like the tortilla, and the cinnamon sugar chips with her salsa, she was just as pleased to eat the salsa all by itself.

Last, it was time to clean up. We took our apron off, put it in the hamper, washed our hands and cleaned up our area. I don't know what we will make next time, but I will be excited to see Grace's confidence grow, and I know she will have lots of smiles and giggles to share. I also know that I have a greater confidence in what Grace can do. Over the last couple of weeks, ever since our first class, when Grace is helping me in the kitchen Grace has been more "hands on". She and I have both learned that "I can do it!"

Learning to make things grow

2009-01-19T17:18:00.001-06:00

Grace is Granddad's girl when he is not at work. Given a choice, she would rather be with Granddad than just about anyone, especially if he is going to be outside! With the warm temperatures in Texas this week (it is supposed to be about 75 degrees today), it is a good time to be working in the yard. Granddad built a raised bed this winter and now it is time to get the bed ready for planting.

There is something truly special about watching a toddler as they explore their new world. Today, she may just be playing in the dirt, but as the year progresses, she is going to get to see the planting of seeds and bulbs, followed by the sprouting of new plants and hopefully, the harvest of fresh veggies and herbs! Best of all, she will be able to share all of this with her Granddad. That is something absolutely priceless. I can think back to my childhood, spending weekends and summers with Pa, there were a lot of weekends that we worked really, really hard. Whether it was planting seedling trees, tilling a new garden, digging out the spring to make a new well or clearing the undergrowth, no amount of hard work, srapes or bruises from those weekends was enough to keep me from going back the next weekend.

I learned a lot during those weekends and summers. Many of the practical lessons that I learned then, I have long since forgotten. There have been several occasions where I have wished that I could remember the "how to" lessons Pa taught me. I know that Pa always knew the right way to do just about anything, whether it was mixing concrete, picking the perfect tomato, navigating the Illinois River in a canoe or laying a tile roof. But he also knew the right way do things when it came to making a grandson feel special, needed and most of all loved. One day, Grace may look back and wish she could remember how Granddad built his raised flowerbeds, but I know she will never forget how much she loved spending the day with her Granddad.

Grace's first class at the Young Chef's Academy

2009-01-10T12:37:00.000-06:00

For months Brenda has been on the email distribution list for the Young Chef's Academy here in Round Rock. The YCA is a fun learning center for kiddos, helping kids get comfortable in the kitchen, and finding the joy of cooking. They have group classes for 3 years old and older. What a great way for kids to learn and develop skills and creativity that they can use in a practical way for their entire life. We have been anxiously waiting for Grace to turn 3 so that we could see if Grace was truly interested in cooking. Grace has been "helping" me in the kitchen since long before she walk or talk, but we weren't entirely convinced that she was interested in cooking or just interested in playing with Daddy. It is probably a good mix of both.

In a recent email from the Young Chef's Academy, they announced that they were going to offer a Big Chef/Little Chef class designed for kids from 2-5 years old and a parent. I hope that this class is successful, because Grace had a great time. We were fortunate though today, because Grace was the only kiddo. Evidently they have responses from several families, but we were the only ones who could make it today. What a fun time we had. Grace got to make English muffins with honey orange butter. Since Grace was the only kiddo, we got lots of dedicated attention, which was helpful in letting Grace warm up to the new place. By the time we were done she was ready to come back again.

Grace helped scoop and stir the dry ingredients. She was pretty shy and wasn't sure she wanted to help. But by the time we got to mixing the wet ingredients and beating the egg, she was starting to open up a bit.

Then she helped roll out the dough, which required us to use all our muscles! Then it was time for her favorite part, which was cutting out the muffins with the cookie cutters. We used the circle, since the theme for the day was "Cooking with Circles". We also got to use a heart shaped cutter.

While Miss Leslie Ann was cooking our muffins on the griddle, Grace helped clean up the counter tops. And when we were all done, it was time to try our muffins. While Daddy loved the orange honey butter and the strawberry butter that we made, Gracie enjoyed her English muffin plain. We can hardly wait for 2 more weeks when we get to go back again! I also added a link to YCA here on our blog. They have franchises all over the country and I am a big fan!